Borrowed Sword

Chapter 269 : The Dao Ancestor Is Practicing Sword

Chapter 269: The Dao Ancestor Is Practicing Sword

“Ninth Senior Brother, what’s wrong?”

The fat Daoist sitting nearby asked.

“Nothing.”

The Ninth Senior Brother turned his head back and continued lowering it to drink his porridge. After finishing, he even went to get another bowl.

Chu Huaixu followed behind him and once again raised his hand, gently touching the corner of his clothes—his fingers passed straight through.

“Hm?”

He felt puzzled.

He no longer limited himself to touching the hem, but reached out toward the Ninth Senior Brother’s back.

Chu Huaixu’s entire hand passed right through.

And this time, the “Dao Ancestor” showed no reaction at all.

This made him frown slightly, his gaze once again gathering on that black bead as he fell into thought.

As a body cultivator, his sense of touch was extremely sharp and clear.

Chu Huaixu was certain—just now, it wasn’t an illusion. He had indeed touched that bead.

While pondering, he continued following behind the Ninth Senior Brother.

Seeing him return to his seat after refilling his porridge, Chu Huaixu once again “sat” beside him in midair in that abstract posture.

Unconvinced, Chu Huaixu raised his hand again and lowered his head to poke the black bead.

“Nice! I touched it again!”

He even felt a bit delighted.

He glanced down at his finger, then deliberately raised his hand once more.

Sure enough, the Ninth Senior Brother turned his head again.

Chu Huaixu still couldn’t “see” his expression, but for some reason, he felt that he was looking at him, shaking his head with a helpless smile.

On the other side, Han Shuangjiang’s situation was similar to Chu Huaixu’s.

She naturally recognized at a glance that this was the Gentleman Temple from a thousand years ago, and immediately realized that this so-called Ninth Senior Brother was the Dao Ancestor himself.

The girl even respectfully performed a disciple’s salute toward him.

Her attitude was extremely reverent, and her eyes were filled with boundless admiration.

“Disciple Han Shuangjiang greets the Dao Ancestor.”

Compared to her proper demeanor, Chu Huaixu’s side was clearly much more unruly.

She certainly wouldn’t dare to casually touch the Dao Ancestor.

However, Han Shuangjiang tentatively touched the surrounding buildings. When her small hand passed through them, she roughly understood her situation.

And the girl was by no means foolish—only Chu Huaixu occasionally saw her slightly naive side.

She quickly noticed that on the Dao Ancestor’s waist hung a black pendant.

“Isn’t that the pendant on that Dead Fox’s sword scabbard?”

“At this stage, the Dao Ancestor wore it as an ornament?” Han Shuangjiang thought.

However, she did not reach out to touch it.

Otherwise, she too would have witnessed something extremely astonishing.

It could only be said—the girl was still too well-behaved.

After finishing their meal in the dining hall, the four little Daoists chattered all the way outside.

Chu Huaixu recognized the direction—they were heading toward the Dao Bell.

Which meant the open ground outside the main hall.

After arriving, the four began adjusting each other’s clothing.

After a while, seeing an old Daoist approaching with four middle-aged Daoists, they immediately stood in a neat row.

Chu Huaixu had nothing better to do, so he also lined up with them.

Naturally, he stood next to the Ninth Senior Brother.

Following their gaze, he looked to the right.

“This old Daoist should be the Temple Master of this generation of the Gentleman Temple, right?”

He indeed had an air of immortality—at least in appearance, he looked like a true master.

But Chu Huaixu knew that at this time, the Gentleman Temple was just an ordinary Daoist temple, not a cultivation sect.

Everyone here was just a normal person.

As for the four middle-aged Daoists behind the Temple Master, each of them held a wooden sword with both hands.

The wooden swords were made entirely of black wood, and so were their scabbards.

Chu Huaixu’s gaze lingered over the four swords and scabbards, thinking:

“So which one is mine?”

His 【Ding Fengbo】 must be one of them.

Although the four wooden swords and scabbards looked identical, there had to be subtle differences.

Relying on his sharp eyesight and familiarity with his own spiritual artifact, Chu Huaixu quickly locked onto the leftmost one.

But soon he felt a bit stupid.

Because the four middle-aged Daoists stepped forward and stood directly in front of the four little Daoists.

Thus, the wooden sword facing the Ninth Senior Brother naturally belonged to him.

The Temple Master stood there and began speaking.

What he said before granting the swords—Chu Huaixu barely understood, only grasping fragments.

Daoist speech was like this—using the fewest words to convey profound meaning.

The more concise it was, the harder it was to understand.

After the Temple Master finished his “muttering,” he solemnly said:

“Grant swords.”

The four middle-aged Daoists stepped forward.

The four little Daoists bowed respectfully and accepted the swords with both hands.

At this moment, quite a few Daoists had gathered nearby, all watching with smiles.

Some had traces of reminiscence in their eyes.

Others had a hint of amusement.

Chu Huaixu could clearly hear their whispered conversations.

“Sigh, when I received my sword from the Temple Master, I was just as excited. I woke up every day for morning practice without slacking. But after a while, it just became torture.”

“Yeah, I originally thought maybe we could train something out of it. Even if not like real sword cultivators, at least not weaker than martial heroes.”

“Who would’ve thought—it was just daily fitness.”

“You two should stop talking nonsense. What we cultivate is not the sword, but the heart.”

Chu Huaixu found it quite relatable.

If it were his former self on Earth, getting a sword at first would definitely feel novel.

The first few times getting up to practice would be full of enthusiasm.

But if it was just health exercises, over time, waking up early would definitely feel like torture.

Of course, now that he had embarked on the path of cultivation, his temperament had changed—he wouldn’t find it that painful.

Standing beside the Ninth Senior Brother, Chu Huaixu watched as they held their swords with solemn expressions.

Suddenly, he grew curious.

“Since I can touch that black bead… can I also touch 【Ding Fengbo】?”

With this thought, he lightly poked the scabbard.

But his finger passed right through again.

This made Chu Huaixu frown slightly in confusion.

“Only the black bead works?”

He didn’t know why, but his fingers felt itchy—he had the urge to poke the bead again.

But he restrained himself.

After the sword-granting ceremony ended, the Temple Master gave a few brief words of encouragement.

Then everyone gathered on the open ground and began morning practice together.

One black wooden sword after another was unsheathed.

The Temple Master did not specifically teach the four of them, but simply practiced swordsmanship at the front.

The senior brothers and elders who were already familiar with the technique practiced calmly on their own.

Only the four little Daoists at the back fumbled as they tried to follow along.

Chu Huaixu observed from the side and could tell at a glance—

the Dao Ancestor was the fastest learner among the four.

He had basically mastered it after just one round.

By the second round, he was already moving exactly the same as the Temple Master.

The morning practice at the Gentleman Temple wasn’t intense—it was merely for health.

The entire sword routine was performed only three times.

With Chu Huaixu’s current realm, he didn’t even need the system—after watching it three times, he had already learned this health routine.

After all, he was now at 【Comprehension 7】!

And after the morning practice ended—

something astonishing happened.

The entire world seemed to freeze, suddenly solidifying.

The Temple Master and the others stopped moving.

Even the birds flying in the sky froze midair.

Chu Huaixu looked at a large tree behind him—a leaf that had just fallen was now suspended in midair.

But not everything had stopped.

Only the Dao Ancestor—

was still practicing his sword.