Nangong Yue smiled at those words.
Even though it was just a faint smile, it looked like flowers trembled and danced in bloom.
"You really are greedy."She looked toward Chu Huaixu and said.
This Ninth Elder of the Dao Gate quickly gave an answer.
"For Dao Gate disciples to ascend Hidden Spirit Mountain, there are only two paths."
"First, to obtain a mountain-climbing wooden token through the Disciples’ Courtyard and Hidden Spirit Courtyard."
"Second, a special approval from the Sect Master."
"However, even the Sect Master may only issue one charred-black wooden token every three years."
"And wasn’t that special privilege used by you already?"
Upon hearing this, Chu Huaixu immediately understood:"So that’s how it is. It seems the disciple truly was too greedy."His tone sounded quite sincere.
In truth, he hadn’t known that the charred-black grade token, even under the Sect Master’s special approval, was limited to one every three years.
As this thought surfaced, he suddenly reacted:"Could it be that Little Xu, in Borrowed Sword, got the chance to reach the summit precisely because of this special privilege?"
Chu Huaixu felt that this was a real possibility.
Because if that kid didn’t rely on luck or pill-popping, there was absolutely no way he could’ve qualified by merit alone.
Nangong Yue looked at him, thinking he still wanted to grab another magical treasure, and said:
"With your current cultivation, having the Dao Ancestor’s Sword Scabbard and the Black-Gold Robe is already enough."
"In actual combat, trying to control too many magical treasures will only divide your focus—something you’re not capable of yet—and instead, will create more openings."
Naturally, Chu Huaixu couldn’t explain his true purpose, so he simply responded:"Yes, this disciple has learned."
The Ninth Elder turned around, nodded slightly, and then asked:"Would you like to see how he performs on the mountain?"
"Can I?"Chu Huaixu looked delighted.
He really wanted to watch the live feed.
"Close your eyes."said Nangong Yue.
As soon as he shut his eyes, she extended a finger and gently tapped between his brows, activating a secret technique.
Chu Huaixu faintly smelled a waft of fragrance—it had a woody scent, most likely coming from Nangong Yue’s hands.
This artifact-refining grandmaster had probably been refining just moments ago.
In the next moment, an image appeared in his mind—it was Xu Ziqing on the mountain.
Little Xu had already reached the area where lower-grade spiritual artifacts were placed.
The young man, who clearly hadn’t seen much of the world, slightly parted his lips, filled with curiosity about each and every magical treasure.
Unfortunately, they seemed...:::.not that interested in him?
Even those lower-grade spiritual swords!
On Hidden Spirit Mountain, a trace of disappointment appeared on Xu Ziqing’s face.
"None of them seem to have chosen me?"he thought.
Before ascending the mountain, he surely had many beautiful fantasies in his heart.
But the scene before him had undoubtedly shattered them all.
"If I want revenge, I need to raise my strength!"
"I must fight to obtain a spiritual artifact of high enough quality!"
"What’s more, Senior Brother has high hopes for me—he wants me to get a top-grade artifact, maybe even a supreme one."
"He paid such a great price for me to get this Pass Token. I hope I won’t disappoint him."he prayed inwardly.
Since the selection on Hidden Spirit Mountain was mutual, if these artifact spirits weren’t interested in him, then no matter how hard he tried, it would be pointless.
Therefore, Xu Ziqing could only place his hopes on the other spiritual artifacts further up the mountain.
With that thought, he bit his lip lightly and quickened his pace.
After all, his goal had never been the base area of the mountain.
The young man’s gaze was resolute. Not long after, he reached the middle of the mountain, where the spiritual pressure suddenly grew much stronger.
He furrowed his brows slightly, feeling the change, but it wasn’t unbearable.
Even the worst artifacts here were at least of middle grade.
Xu Ziqing continued upward and finally encountered a magical treasure that extended an olive branch to him.
It was a suit of armor.
"Fused-body Armor?"He approached and checked the engraved name.
This armor was rather strange—once worn, half of it would directly fuse into the wearer’s body.
In that case, rather than saying he wore armor, it was more like an extra layer of animal-like scales had formed over his skin.
The refined youth imagined the scene and felt it wasn’t very aesthetically pleasing.
Still, at the very least, a magical treasure had acknowledged him!
The sorrow on the boy’s face eased a bit.
"Thank goodness, at least I can still be chosen."he murmured to himself.
Little Xu was thus encouraged and even threw a grateful glance at the Fused-body Armor—consider it...:..a polite refusal.
He continued ascending the steps and soon was about to leave the mid-mountain area.
Along the way, three mid-grade spiritual artifacts had chosen him.
However, to put it nicely, they were all rather niche. To put it bluntly, they each had some sort of strange or sinister attribute.
What troubled him most was that, up to this point, not a single sword had chosen him!
This scene stood in sharp contrast to the sword cries that had echoed when Chu Huaixu climbed the mountain.
After all, he came from a prestigious martial family rooted in swordsmanship, and his talent in the sword was outstanding since childhood.
"Even Senior Brother said that when it comes to swordsmanship and techniques, my comprehension is exceptional."
"So why hasn’t any spiritual sword taken a liking to me?"
"Is it because I’m currently a Body Training cultivator?"Xu Ziqing was puzzled, and a little disheartened.
At the foot of the mountain, Chu Huaixu could actually see the disappointment on the youth’s face.
In truth, he, too, was a bit confused.
"Little Xu was even able to claim that Bronze Sword—why won’t any of these spiritual swords choose him?"
"How odd."
Still, this did help him confirm one thing indirectly—his own popularity when ascending the mountain had entirely come from that small sword inside his Sea of Consciousness.
It was just a pity that he was destined to be a swordless one, seemingly unable to possess a sword of his own.
As time passed, Xu Ziqing never halted his steps. He had already walked through the entire mid-mountain area and stepped directly into the summit region.
The spiritual pressure intensified once again. He felt slightly short of breath, his chest stifled, and his head a bit dizzy.
"Feels kind of like heatstroke?"he thought.
"I wonder whether Senior Brother was also troubled by the spiritual pressure when climbing the mountain?"Xu Ziqing mused.
However, thinking of how Senior Brother had ascended the mountain twice in one go and even visited the summit to see that sword, such mere spiritual pressure likely wouldn’t have affected him much.
The number of spiritual artifacts in the summit region was relatively small.
Each time Xu Ziqing passed by a magical treasure, he would stop and pause for a while.
He understood very well that these were exceedingly rare treasures.
Even if they didn’t choose him, he couldn’t help but take a few more glances—just to broaden his horizons and gain some insight.
After a long while, a light suddenly flashed across the youth’s eyes, and joy surfaced on his face.
At the foot of the mountain, Chu Huaixu—who had been “watching the livestream”—couldn’t help but mutter inwardly:"As expected!"
Because what was now in front of Little Xu was a jade pendant,
A jade pendant that had once extended an olive branch to Chu Huaixu as well—a magical treasure exceedingly suitable for body cultivators.
It was a defensive-type spiritual artifact. When worn over long periods, it would continuously nourish the flesh, producing effects similar to soaking in a medicinal bath.
Its nourishing effects couldn’t be called stunning, but they excelled in gradual accumulation.
Such top-grade spiritual artifacts suited for body cultivation were extremely rare in the world.
Additionally, they had to constantly soak in medicinal baths and often rely on pill consumption. The expenses were considerable, which made many body cultivators quite poor.
Most top-grade spiritual artifacts were crafted by artifact-refining grandmasters. These people weren’t fools—when the market for body cultivators was so small, why bother refining high-end artifacts suitable for them? After all, they couldn’t afford them!
Even with the Dao Gate’s deep foundation, there was only this single jade pendant on Hidden Spirit Mountain that could assist in body cultivation. It was crafted specifically for body cultivators—an absolute luxury item!
Xu Ziqing stared at it, visibly tempted.
The jade pendant trembled slightly, clearly having taken a liking to the youth cultivating the Ice-muscle Jade-bone Method.
Little Xu’s face began to show signs of deep inner conflict.
In his heart, he still yearned to obtain a spiritual sword.
The Six Formations of the Broken Array—which had led to his family’s ruin—was, after all, a sword technique.
Xu Ziqing still planned to master it, and use it to behead his enemy—to bring peace to his family’s spirits in the afterlife!
And yet, this jade pendant was simply too suitable. Even Chu Huaixu had once hesitated over it.
At this moment, the pendant seemed rather perceptive and sensed the youth’s inner struggle.
As a result, the frequency of its trembling began to increase—as if trying to win him over.
However, a strange scene unfolded.
After trembling slightly for a while, the jade pendant suddenly stopped!
Without any warning, it ceased—abruptly.
As if it had changed its mind in an instant, no longer wishing to acknowledge Xu Ziqing as its master, no longer wanting to be taken down the mountain by him!
Its previous efforts to win him over now felt like it had been toying with him.
"What’s going on?"Chu Huaixu at the foot of the mountain froze for a moment.
He even felt a bit annoyed in his heart.
Is our Little Xu really that unwanted?
"But that makes no sense. I’m balanced in both inner and outer cultivation, but Little Xu is a pure body cultivator, practicing a Heaven-rank body refinement technique, and he even laid a foundation with the Sword Refining Art."He couldn’t figure it out.
This scene even prompted a gasp of confusion from Nangong Yue at the mountain’s foot.
She was in charge of all affairs on Hidden Spirit Mountain and had never encountered such a situation before.
As a grandmaster of artifact refining, she knew very well—this wasn’t consistent with the usual behavior of artifact spirits.
Artifact spirits were actually quite rigid. How could they change their mind so whimsically?
She expanded her divine sense and began to investigate carefully.
Soon, she couldn’t help but exclaim:"Something’s wrong!"
Nangong Yue sensed an aura.
More precisely, it was a spiritual pressure released by an artifact spirit.
It descended from above, pressing down on the jade pendant, directly suppressing it—rendering it too afraid to show goodwill toward Xu Ziqing!
That spiritual pressure... came from the sword at the summit!
This was serious. Nangong Yue immediately sent a voice transmission to the Sect Master and others:
"Everyone, come to Hidden Spirit Mountain immediately."
"Today, Chu Huaixu brought a disciple named Xu Ziqing to climb the mountain. The sword at the summit... has stirred again!"
"It actually suppressed the other magical treasures—preventing them from choosing Xu Ziqing!"