The Birth of Sword God-Chapter 284 - 251: What Is the Daoist Ancestor’s Seal?

The second-ranked pick on the "Accompanying Play Must-Eat List" knew very well—little girls need to be coaxed.

Of course Chu Huaixu wanted these treasures, and he also wished he really could have eight super badass masters.

But you can't let the old girlish heart go cold, right?

"After all, she's my 'angel investor,'" he thought to himself.

Besides, he knew very well what Chu Yinyin wanted most, what she really longed for!

Because of this, this second master truly felt her beloved disciple's respect.

Right now, the hefty initiation gifts were all laid out before him, and he could totally just follow his will and accept them.

After all, it's just a Master of the Art, no need to get her approval, right?

Chu Huaixu knew clearly—she just loves showing off, doesn't she?

Lovable, but no brains.

Let her show off all she wants!

For a moment, all eyes instantly turned to junior martial sister.

Chu Yinyin immediately puffed up her chest—which was about as flat as her back.

She put her hands behind her back, and went into a dramatic, ten-seconds-long "Hmm... let me think..."

The old girly girl was absolutely loving this moment.

But she just couldn't help but sneak a glance at Chu Huaixu.

He still kept a completely serious face, obviously leaving the decision totally up to Second Master—in no way overstepping.

What does it mean to respect your master?

This is what it means to respect your master!

In Chu Yinyin's heart, fireworks were already going off with joy.

"With a disciple like this, what more could a master want!"

"As your master, I surely can't stop you from taking treasures and embarking on the path of magic, right?"

The Daoist Ten Elders finally nodded slowly, putting on a super cool attitude: "Fine, fine, let you guys be the Masters of the Art!"

This made Li Chunsong and the others practically burst with happiness inside.

"Little martial sister, from now on we're just minding our own business! No more fighting over third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, or eighth master!" zipped up-eyed Zhao Shuqi said immediately.

Chu Yinyin huffed her little mouth in disdain, "Me, mighty Second Master, who'd stoop to fighting with you lot?"

For a moment, everyone was just overjoyed.

Chu Huaixu immediately bowed deeply to the crowd.

"Disciple Chu Huaixu greets his masters!"

Everyone's faces instantly lit up with smiles and satisfaction.

—So satisfying.

... 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

...

Next up in the true disciple competition, everyone got ready to scramble for Han Shuangjiang and Xu Ziqing as disciples.

Chu Huaixu had already discussed all this with them before.

"Big Ice Cube seems to favor Nangong Yue more."

"Xiaoxu wants to keep being closely tied with me, so he plans to apprentice with Shen Man—to become my real junior!" mused Chu Huaixu.

After hearing their choices, Nangong Yue was clearly beaming with happiness.

Their master-disciple duo, standing together—one imposing and fruitful, one with long jade legs and a peachy, plump behind—was pretty pleasing to the eye.

Zhao Shuqi, standing off to one side, gave a sigh, "Seventh Sister shut herself away in the Bamboo Grove but picked up two beloved disciples in a row."

Xiang Yan just laughed, "Come on, let's all go to the Purple Bamboo Forest, time to see what Seventh Sister thinks for herself."

The group set off in grand style toward the Purple Bamboo Forest, leaving Mo Qingmei behind to see them off.

She couldn't wait to share the good news with Niu Yuanshan.

"That bull guy cares about Chu Huaixu most of all."

It's not like I actually want to see him.

I'm just, you know, being nice and letting him know, out of sheer Buddhist compassion.

...

Meanwhile, the group had already arrived at the Inner Sect's Purple Bamboo Forest.

Because there's a restriction between inner and outer sects, it had always been a hassle for Chu Huaixu to get around.

If no one brought him here, he'd have a hard time even seeing his senior master.

All this time, Chu Huaixu was most curious about Shen Man.

Maybe because they'd met the least, or maybe because "Borrowed Sword" never said much about her either.

This thin, pale Daoist Nun sitting on a huge rock with her back to everyone, always seemed shrouded in a thin mist, mysterious in Chu Huaixu's eyes.

She's the Daoist Seven Elders, recognized as the strongest in the Seventh Realm under Profound Yellow, and the only female sword cultivator among the Four Great Divine Swords.

Xiang Yan raised his head towards Shen Man, smiling: "Seventh Sister, Xu Ziqing wishes to become your apprentice. Do you accept him as your direct disciple?"

After quite a while, everyone finally heard her painfully slow, halting reply:

"Must... I... really?"

Just like when accepting Chu Huaixu, she really didn't care whether she took disciples or not.

If everyone told her to take them, she would.

"Alright, accept, accept!" Chu Yinyin chimed in without hesitation.

Xu Ziqing's sword talent was obvious to all—making this Divine Sword his master truly was the best fit.

"Okay." The thin Daoist Nun on the boulder nodded.

Straight away, the group performed the initiation ceremony right in the Purple Bamboo Forest.

The Inner Sect Disciple Tokens they'd just hung on their belts barely long enough to remember what they even looked like were now all replaced by the highest honor among their peers—the direct disciple token!

Outer Sect Disciple Tokens: brownish-red.

Inner Sect Disciple Tokens: black.

Direct Disciple Tokens: black-purple.

This made Chu Huaixu feel he had a bit of a color-party hanging from his waist now.

So he slid the white Body Refining Jade Pendant over, giving it pride of place on his left side all by itself.

Xiang Yan's ugly mug broke into a big smile—feeling pretty delighted.

These three are all good seedlings—they're the future of the Daoist Sect!

He said, "Junior Martial Uncle has gone down the mountain to hunt devils, so he's not around. Normally, he'd be acting in place of the Observatory Master, arranging your housing and everything."

"But today I'll handle things. Later, you three just pick whichever place you like for your accommodation."

"Also, as you may know, anyone joining Junzi Temple receives the Daoist Ancestor's Seal."

"Later on, come with us to the Dao Bell. Lay your hand on the bell, and you'll receive a wisp of its power within you."

"After that—you'll have to take a trial."

"In simple terms, you're to go down the mountain and hunt devils—the evil cultivator you slay must be at least one major realm above your own."

"The Dao Bell will grant your seal based on your specific performance."

Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang understood instantly.

Back in the Daoist Ancestor Secret Realm, they'd been tested in an illusion realm.

In the end, the Dao Ancestor passed down the Three-Character Dao Seal based on their performance in that illusory world.

The only difference now—they've joined Junzi Temple, so the illusion realm has become reality, and they'll have to do some honest-to-goodness mountain-descending devil slaying.

It can be seen—the Daoist Ancestor's Seal, exactly which words or what kind of seal it'll be, isn't random at all.

Xiang Yan glanced at Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang, smiling: "You two already have your Three-Character Dao Seals. Now, do you know what the Daoist Ancestor's Seal really means?"

"Disciple does not know, and requests master's guidance." Chu Huaixu replied instantly.

Hearing the word "master," Xiang Yan's old heart felt at peace, and his ugly face grew even uglier with joy.

"The so-called Daoist Ancestor's Seal—it either comes from one's temperament, or their actions and style… but, it always follows some logic."

"The words on the Dao Seal may be the Ancestor's instruction, or encouragement, or sometimes a warning."

"What it really means, you'll have to discover and reflect on for yourselves in time."

At this, Lu Pan seemed to think of something: "Oh right! After you got your Three-Character Dao Seals, you probably didn't notice which little inscriptions appeared next to the bell, did you?"

"Hmm?" Chu Huaixu blinked, confused.

"Shuangjiang's Dao Seal is 'Returning True Essence.' And next to the Dao Bell, the words appeared: 'Returning True Essence shines on my courage, temper jade blood to sweep the world clean.'" Lu Pan intoned from behind his dramatic, blackened face.

"Your Dao Seal, Huaixu, is 'Nan Liujing,' with the lines: 'Nan Liujing breaks the heavy cloud barrier, washing ten thousand miles of dust from the sky.'"

Both paused, then began to savor each of their phrases carefully.

Only Xu Ziqing, having nothing yet, stood there with wide-eyed curiosity.

Chu Huaixu couldn't help but feel the expectations in that poem for him were a little overwhelming.

It's hard not to start thinking of the Origin Spirit Realm and some kind of cosmic calamity!

Lu Pan continued, "When you enter Junzi Temple, the Daoist Ancestor's Seal is generally a two-character Dao Seal."

"If you really like those two characters, you can always use them as your Daoist title."

"Like me. My Daoist Ancestor's Seal was Pine and Cypress, so now I'm known as Songbai Daoist."

Big-mouth Chu Yinyin piped up, "Well, that's because you actually like those two characters! Of course you'd take them as your title!"

Which makes sense—after all, 'Pine and Cypress' mean all kinds of nice things to the literary types.

Pine and cypress symbolize: resilient, upright, refusing to bend to the corrupt.

Maybe that's exactly what Lu Pan's practiced all his life, which is why he ended up as Law Enforcement Elder for the Daoist Sect.

Some characters, even if they look ordinary, have extraordinary symbolism behind them.

For some reason, seeing that Lu Pan got "Pine and Cypress" and ended up as the Law Enforcement Elder just made Chu Huaixu feel the Daoist Ancestor's Seal was getting more and more interesting!

At this moment, with Junior Martial Uncle away, Chu Yinyin grinned and added, "People like you, Lu Pan, are a rare case. My two characters, Tumi, are fine and all, but a bit weird to use as a title. But just look at Junior Martial Uncle—no way would he take the Daoist Ancestor's Seal as his title, haha!"

Girl forever young, the Daoist Ancestor's Seal: [Tumi].

The first thing Chu Huaixu thought of was: "flowers blooming late as Tumi."

After all, he'd gone through nine years of compulsory education, so of course he knew what Tumi meant.

—It's the last flower to bloom in spring.

Not sure why, but thinking about how she'd deliberately delayed her realm breakthrough, always staying at the Sixth Realm, made the Daoist Ancestor's Seal seem extra mystical to him!

As for Jiang Zhi's Dao Seal, Chu Huaixu got curious all of a sudden.

For a guy as much of a killer as him, what kind of Dao Seal would the Ancestor give?

"Second Master, Junior Martial Uncle—er, wait, should be calling him Grandmaster—what are Grandmaster Jiang Zhi's Dao Seal characters?" he asked.

Just the thought that Jiang Zhi ended up with a disciple-grandkid like him made Chu Huaixu feel the old guy was crazy lucky this lifetime—probably burned up all his good karma in one shot. How the hell did that turn out for him?

Chu Yinyin just looked at him and burst out laughing.

"Junior Martial Uncle? His Daoist Ancestor Seal is—[Purifying Monarch], hahahaha!"

Chu Huaixu was stunned when he heard that—caught off guard by his lack of culture.

What the heck is a [Purifying Monarch]?

...

(ps: Second update, gimme your monthly votes!)