The Birth of Sword God-Chapter 285 - 252: Zhong Ming Is Saved

Scholars and poets always love to give elegant names to certain things.

When the Dao Ancestor bestows a Dao Seal, even some ordinary objects end up with fancy titles.

Chu Huaixu's face was thick as ever; he didn't mind exposing his ignorance, and promptly asked what exactly "Purifying Monarch" referred to.

In the end, he got an answer that made him want to laugh and cry at the same time.

"Turns out it's a broom!"

—The Purifying Monarch sweeps away the dust, the Breezy Friend summons the clear wind.

Here, Purifying Monarch refers to the broom, while Breezy Friend is a fan.

He could never have imagined that, as the Junior Martial Uncle of the Daoist sect, a figure renowned throughout the land, the strongest on the surface, his Dao Seal would actually be… a broom?

Chu Huaixu could already picture it: the unruly Jiang Zhi, after receiving the Dao Ancestor's seal, must have had a face darker than the bottom of a pot.

And his generation's Junzi Temple senior brothers and sisters must have laughed themselves silly!

"Forget about them, even I want to laugh just hearing it now!" thought Chu Huaixu.

He couldn't resist and said, "Out of the three thousand Dao Seals, how can one of them be a broom?"

"There's even stranger ones!" Chu Yinyin giggled.

If an ordinary person got this Dao Seal, it would already be funny. But imagine: Jiang Zhi's biggest trait is—being vain.

A stubborn, self-important, extremely vain person, given the Dao Ancestor's 'Purifying Monarch' title—he probably rarely used its power out of embarrassment.

Law Enforcement Elder Lu Pan, ever the fair one, spoke up: "Of the three thousand Dao Seals, the Dao Ancestor's choices have deep meaning. Don't underestimate the words 'Purifying Monarch'."

"The Dao Ancestor's poem for these characters is: 'Purifying Monarch wields pure snow, sweeping away all the dust in the nine heavens.'"

Chu Huaixu roughly understood the meaning: comparing falling snow to Purifying Monarch, when the heavy snow falls, it sweeps clean the dust of the nine heavens—meaning to purify the world itself.

Hearing this poem, he furrowed his brow and said, "That really fits when Master descended from the mountain to exorcise evil for sixty years."

"Indeed, indeed," echoed Xiang Yan.

"Evil cultivators are the filth of this world; Junior Martial Uncle made a grand vow to clear the world of evil for sixty years, restoring purity to heaven and earth—truly worthy of the 'Purifying Monarch'." Sect Leader smoothed things over.

There was another, rather unlucky aspect—as a result, no one mentioned it.

In Jiang Zhi's generation at Junzi Temple, most either died or went mad; only he was left.

In more superstitious places, that sort of person would be called cursed—the broom star that sweeps away the family!

Hearing all this, Chu Huaixu had only one thought: "Are all these 'bestowed by Dao Ancestor' things just the product of our own imagination? Brain supplements? Or… is Dao Ancestor really this mystical?"

Is it really like he's assigning fates?

For a moment—even the cold Big Ice Cube, and the silly Xiaoxu, felt overwhelming curiosity and anticipation for the Dao Ancestor's seal.

The three new True Disciples of Junzi Temple all began to wonder:

"So, which characters will the Dao Ancestor bestow upon me?"

...

...

Inside the Purple Bamboo Forest, they chatted a bit more with Shen Man, but seeing she was still as stingy with words and a bit aloof, they led the three newcomers off towards Junzi Temple.

A thousand years ago, the Dao Ancestor was just a little Daoist in Junzi Temple.

Junzi Temple today still keeps most of its architecture from a millennium ago, just with some repairs.

Before the Dao Ancestor became world-famous, this Daoist temple was just an obscure tiny place.

No incense or pilgrims, and it looked plain.

By the entrance was a couplet, said to be written by the Observatory Master back when the Dao Ancestor was a young Daoist here.

Upper line: "A monarch surveys the heavens, watches the stars."

Lower line: "A noble son guards the mysterious origin, knocks on heaven's gate."

Chu Huaixu's learning was limited, so he couldn't judge if it was good or bad—only noticing the first characters made up 'Junzi' (noble one).

But he did know that 'knocking on heaven's gate' had a connotation of ascension.

But in the Profound Yellow Realm, ascending is just a mythical idea.

Even in Kunlun Cave Heaven, all boast of being cultivators, but there's no real ascension; reaching Divinity Transformation Stage and obtaining the Heavenly Dao's Fruit Position is already the peak.

Xu Ziqing was already quite familiar with Junzi Temple; Chu Huaixu had also secluded himself here before, while Han Shuangjiang was rather unfamiliar with the place.

The three quickly chose their living quarters.

For now, Chu Huaixu and Xu Ziqing shared a room, Han Shuangjiang lived alone.

Once they'd picked, Xiang Yan looked at the three and said, "I know you're all eager to earn the Dao Ancestor's seal?"

"So, I won't call out your senior brothers and sisters yet. On the day you receive your seals, they'll come flocking to watch and greet you then."

"Alright," said Chu Huaixu and company.

Next, Xiang Yan swept his sleeve and led everyone to the Dao Bell.

This so-called Dao Bell was just an ordinary but timeworn Hongzhong bell.

"It's said that when the Dao Ancestor was still a junior Daoist here, he'd often be tasked with ringing the bell," Xiang Yan told them with a chuckle.

"Later on, he sealed all the three thousand Dao Seals he refined inside this Hongzhong, which is why we now call it the Dao Bell."

"When you two gained your seals in the Inheritance Secret Realm, the Hongzhong rang twice with three chimes each."

Finished, he looked at Lu Pan and said, "Senior Brother, you'll preside over this, as always."

Lu Pan nodded and stepped forward.

He walked over to the Dao Bell and said to the three, "Each of you, take a drop of blood from your fingertip."

The three obeyed immediately.

Three drops of fresh blood floated towards the Dao Bell, merging into it.

Right after, three wisps of green smoke drifted out from the bell.

They floated gently to Chu Huaixu and the others, entered their bodies, and surged towards the Sea of Consciousness.

Chu Huaixu controlled the black Little Sword in his Sea of Consciousness, just in case it resisted the green smoke and blocked entry.

The green smoke settled in his Sea of Consciousness, then began to expand and spread, as if painting a thin mist over the mind.

But, for some reason, the system task wasn't triggered.

When all this was done, Lu Pan instructed, "Now you may go to the Inner Sect's Disciple Courtyard to choose a proper demon-cleansing assignment."

"Remember—you must kill, alone, an evil cultivator at least one whole realm above your own."

The three replied in unison, "Understood, disciples accept the order."

Soon after, Chu Huaixu said, "If I count the days, it's time to treat Fifth Master again. I'll go see him first before going down the mountain."

"Good idea," Lu Pan replied with a smile.

But soon, everyone's smiles froze.

Because Chu Huaixu immediately asked, "Which master would like to accompany me?"

After all, Zhong Ming was a Ninth Realm madman, and even with all the restrictions in his house, Chu Huaixu's meager cultivation made solo visits unsafe.

So Jiang Zhi had long since ordered that every time treatment took place, someone must go with him.

But that also meant someone had to eat the dreadfully nasty Victory Cake.

Previously, Chu Huaixu and Jiang Zhi had agreed—next time he treated, he'd focus on operating 'Nan Liujing', while the companion would take care of eating.

Fifth Master liked to quietly watch others eat the cakes he'd made; that made treatment more convenient.

"So… whose turn is it?" Law Enforcement Elder Lu Pan looked sternly around the crowd.

Diehard gambler Li Chunsong reluctantly stepped out, wearing a bitter smile: "Guess it's my turn to eat."

"Alright then, Sixth Junior Brother, this way." Xiang Yan said with a smile.

The two soon headed off to Zhong Ming's little courtyard.

Li Chunsong handled the binge eating, while Chu Huaixu unleashed the power of 'Nan Liujing'.

In his view, Fifth Master didn't seem to be getting much better.

He just didn't have sudden fits anymore, but remained dazed.

"Isn't this just treating the symptoms, not the root?" Chu Huaixu started doubting himself.

To be precise, doubting the Dao Ancestor's seal.

Yet, after this round of treatment, Chu Huaixu suddenly received a system prompt.

"[Current treatment progress: 1%.]"

This made his eyes light up!

"There's progress, so it must be working!"

"Maybe it didn't pop up before because the effect was too tiny, not even reaching 1%?"

Chu Huaixu had a strong mindset; even with so many attempts and only a bit of progress, he wasn't discouraged.

"At least this proves I'm not wasting my time!" He was genuinely excited.

The stronger he got, the faster the progress would be.

He even felt pretty accomplished.

So much so that when he left the courtyard, he was all smiles, while Li Chunsong looked like his soul had left his body.

"Is it just me or is Fifth Uncle's cakes getting nastier each time?" he couldn't help but mutter.

Next, Chu Huaixu and the others said their goodbyes to Xiang Yan and quickly headed to the Disciple Courtyard to claim their sect missions.

Because of Black Moon Sect's bizarre antics, evil cultivators were popping up all over, more rampant than ever.

This led to a flood of demon-cleansing jobs in the Disciple Courtyard; the sect sent experts skilled in body arts and breath concealment to patrol the foot of the mountain, tracking the evil cultivators' movements and trying to mark them for positioning.

"But that makes it easier for us to complete assignments," Chu Huaixu thought.

They compared tasks but couldn't find anything perfectly suitable.

The ideal mission? Facing exactly three Early Fourth Realm evil cultivators; a few First or Second Realm small fry would be whatever.

But that was wishful thinking.

In the end, Chu Huaixu's gaze landed on the West Gorge Mountain assignment.

There were traces of five Early Fourth Realm evil cultivators there, plus several Third Realm ones.

"Why not this one?" he suggested to the others.

"You two take one each, I'll handle the other three," Chu Huaixu started planning.

Han Shuangjiang and Xu Ziqing exchanged glances.

Killing above your realm's level—let alone taking on three at once?

If it was anyone else, they'd think the guy was nuts.

But if it was Chu Huaixu… let him be!

Even the Dead Fox saw these guys as walking Experience Points.

He actually felt like moving into the Disciple Courtyard and taking daily jobs.

"Thanks for the feeding, Black Moon Sect Leader."

As for how many Third Realm evil cultivators there were, Chu Huaixu didn't care at all.

Those small fry? With his sword scabbard, 'Calming the Storm', each stored Sword Qi could one-shot any of them.

Total appetizers.

Meanwhile, all their moves in the Disciple Courtyard were monitored by Xiang Yan and company via Divine Sense.

"He's got some guts," Zhao Shuqi commented.

He only needs to kill one evil cultivator above his realm, but insists on taking out three.

Even Xiang Yan couldn't help but laugh and cry: "Before entering the Origin Spirit Realm, Little Martial Uncle and I deliberately sent him down the mountain for training, afraid he was too softhearted."

"Now it looks like he's got more than enough killer instinct—just like Little Martial Uncle."

Once Chu Huaixu and the others got the assignment, they immediately mounted their Divine Steeds and headed down the mountain.

In Junzi Temple, Sect Leader Xiang Yan glanced at everyone and said, "Things are getting unstable at the foot of the mountain lately."

"This Black Moon Sect Leader is probably no ordinary man," he said solemnly.

Lu Pan offered, "Let me take a trip down and follow them."

"Good," Xiang Yan nodded.

The Eighth Realm Law Enforcement Elder then turned into a streak of light, vanishing into the clouds.

Xiang Yan lifted his head, looking in the direction Senior Brother had gone.

In his heart, Senior Brother was the most reliable, the one who made him feel truly at ease.

He still remembered, when Lu Pan received the Dao Ancestor's seal, the poem beside the characters 'Pine and Cypress'.

—Pine and cypress hold up the heavens, iron-boned in the wind from all directions.

...

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