Inside the secret chamber, Han Shuangjiang had been protecting Chu Huai Xu all along.
She could clearly sense that his aura had changed several times, but she could not say why.
It was not until the instant Chu Huai Xu opened his eyes that her heart trembled involuntarily.
It was strange. She had actually sensed a sharpness emanating from a person!
But that feeling soon vanished without a trace.
Chu Huai Xu exhaled a long breath of stale air and lowered his head to look at his body.
That feels amazing. He sighed inwardly.
If cultivating the "Sword Refining Art" could be this comfortable too, cultivation would become addictive.
Han Shuangjiang walked a few steps forward and asked with concern, "How do you feel?"
"It feels great," he replied.
"Then use the Spirit Disk and see how much your Spiritual Fetus grade has improved." She was rather curious.
What else could Chu Huai Xu do? Naturally, he had to satisfy her curiosity.
He took the Spirit Disk out of his Storage Token, then pressed his large hand against it.
The pointer no longer stopped at the first mark. Instead, it traveled all the way to the third.
"One pill actually raised it by two levels." Han Shuangjiang clicked her tongue in wonder.
Although Chu Huai Xu was still a Low Grade Spiritual Fetus, anyone who had cultivated knew that raising the grade of a Spiritual Fetus was an act of seizing creation from Heaven, and was incredibly difficult.
That was common knowledge.
That was precisely why, among all the players' attributes, Spiritual Embryo Attribute was the most difficult to improve.
Chu Huai Xu nodded and said, "This Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill was personally refined by the Pill King. Its effects are probably stronger than ordinary ones."
"It's just a pity that this thing can only improve the Spiritual Fetus of someone with a Low Grade Spiritual Fetus. If it could improve anyone's, that would be incredible." He smiled.
Actually, in theory, the Xuantian Fetal Breath Pill's maximum effect was to raise a Level 3 Low Grade Spiritual Fetus to a Level 4 Mid-Grade Spiritual Embryo.
But Chu Huai Xu had never intended to keep it and deliberately stop at that limit.
On one hand, possessing a treasure would invite disaster, and unexpected changes might arise.
On the other hand, relying on his memories, he was practically half a prophet and had other ways to improve his Spiritual Fetus.
It was better to raise his strength as soon as possible in the early stages.
Without sufficient strength, one was unworthy of possessing many opportunities.
Now, what Chu Huai Xu cared about more was the Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability: Clear Heart Sword.
"I awakened a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability this quickly?" He was greatly surprised.
Under normal circumstances, High-grade Spiritual Embryos and Super Grade Spiritual Embryos both had a chance to awaken their own Spiritual Embryo Divine Abilities during cultivation.
Generally, they would not awaken until they had at least reached the realm of a Great Cultivator.
From a gaming perspective, spells were essentially active skills, while Spiritual Embryo Divine Abilities were somewhat like passive skills.
When players improved their Spiritual Embryo Attributes, they also had a chance to awaken a divine ability.
The reason was simple. Take Chu Huai Xu's Heart Sword, for example. Its status in the Character Panel was marked as: Dust-Covered.
In theory, its upper limit was 10 points of Spiritual Embryo Attribute. In other words, the limit of the Heart Sword was a Super Grade Spiritual Embryo; it was simply still in the dust-covered stage.
Therefore, producing a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability was not surprising.
"But the problem is, according to my past experience, no player has ever awakened a divine ability with less than 5 points of attributes!"
His own main account was no exception. He had awakened the divine ability Instant precisely when his Spiritual Fetus reached Level 5.
That already counted as being exceptionally lucky.
"Why did I awaken one at only Level 3 this time?"
"Is it because the pill personally refined by the Pill King is especially overbearing?"
"Or is it because Han Shuangjiang, this World Protagonist blessed with great destiny, really brought me good luck? Did I manage to leech off her fortune?"
He remembered that many players had said on the Forum that when they entered dungeons with Han Shuangjiang, or completed certain main-story missions under her leadership, their final gains were always substantial. Their luck was explosively good.
"Could she really have some Lucky Koi attribute?" Chu Huai Xu raised his head and sized her up.
Meeting his gaze, Han Shuangjiang felt somewhat uncomfortable and asked, "Why are you looking at me?"
"I just feel that today's fortune seems absurdly good."
His next words caused even the Cold-faced girl's expression to change in shock.
"I awakened a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability," Chu Huai Xu said.
Spiritual Embryo Divine Abilities were generally exclusive to powerful cultivators and were also one of the symbols of powerful cultivators.
Therefore, they were often mentioned in the stories passed down among mortals.
Han Shuangjiang had not expected that Chu Huai Xu, who was still in the Aperture Opening Stage and had not even officially begun cultivating, would actually awaken a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability.
"And isn't he a Low Grade Spiritual Fetus?" The girl was baffled.
Yet despite her surprise, she was still happy for him.
She was even happy for Senior Lei Wenyen.
Shuangbao was kind-hearted at her core.
She tactfully did not ask what the specific divine ability was.
But Chu Huai Xu's heart was actually filled with questions.
"Why is it Clear Heart Sword?"
"Why did it have to be Clear Heart Sword?"
His Spiritual Fetus was the Heart Sword, and he had awakened Clear Heart Sword. Judging by the literal meaning, they did seem quite compatible.
But he knew very well that the Sword Heart was actually a realm of Sword Cultivators.
Sword Cultivators who possessed great strength and profound comprehension of the sword path would all develop a Sword Heart.
The so-called Clear Heart Sword was the supreme realm of the Sword Heart!
The four peerless Sword Cultivators of the current age, collectively known as the Four Great Divine Swords, had all reached the realm of Clear Heart Sword.
This looked extremely impressive, but Chu Huai Xu's feelings were still somewhat complicated.
The reason was simple. If he chose the sword path and became a Sword Cultivator, then as he grew stronger, he would sooner or later develop a Sword Heart.
That meant he had needlessly lost one Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability! How could anyone have a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability that was simply the Sword Heart?
But looking on the bright side, developing a Sword Heart was something that happened in the middle and later stages of cultivation.
As for the realm of Clear Heart Sword, it was even more distant.
To put it arrogantly, the Four Great Divine Swords could kill me as easily as stepping on an ant, but when it came to comprehension of the sword path, you four were merely shoulder to shoulder with me.
At the instant Clear Heart Sword awakened, Chu Huai Xu seemed to gain a profound understanding of the sword path. It was also as though he saw countless scenes in an instant.
But in the blink of an eye, he remembered nothing at all. Only a profound Artistic Conception lingered in his heart, impossible to explain or describe.
He had become carried away, grasping the meaning while forgetting the form!
Chu Huai Xu opened his Character Panel and carefully examined its description.
As Chu Huai Xu had expected, the effect of this Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability was exactly the same as his understanding of Clear Heart Sword. It was not merely a case of sharing the same name.
Simply put, after a Sword Cultivator developed a Sword Heart, all his Sword Arts and their various effects would be enhanced.
In game terms, when the Sword Heart first formed, the effect increased by 10%.
With Minor Accomplishment in the Sword Heart, it became 40%.
With Major Accomplishment in the Sword Heart, it became 70%.
Clear Heart Sword was 100%!
One should not underestimate such a small percentage gap.
In actual combat, this was truly overwhelming!
That was because it was an across-the-board increase. It improved not only the damage of Sword Arts, but also their speed, armor penetration, and more.
For Chu Huai Xu at his current stage, the so-called invincibility among those of the same rank was merely basic operation.
Besides that, he could feel that the Little black sword in his Sea of Consciousness had clearly become much more active. It was no longer so lifeless.
"Did it evolve from a dying state where it was barely clinging to life into a sickly state?" That was how Chu Huai Xu felt, at least.
For some reason, he felt as though he were raising a child, making it healthier and healthier.
"There's one more thing, and it's extremely important."
Chu Huai Xu and this Heart Sword were connected heart to heart, so he could clearly sense its condition.
Relying on his perception, he could detect that the power of Clear Heart Sword was actually hidden within the Little black sword.
"Thinking about it carefully, that does make sense. After all, it manifested in the form of a Spiritual Embryo Divine Ability, and my Spiritual Fetus is the Heart Sword."
At this thought, his eyes suddenly narrowed, and an extremely bold conjecture emerged in his mind.
"Does that mean I still have a chance to develop a Sword Heart myself?"
Before you continue