[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-borrowing-the-sword":3,"chapter-borrowing-the-sword-borrowing-the-sword-chapter-36":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Borrowing the Sword",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2214601,3888,"Chapter 36: Affairs Within the Cave Abode","borrowing-the-sword-chapter-36",36,"\u003Cp>Affairs Within the Cave Abode\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For an outer sect disciple like Ruan Ci, her movements were extremely free. If she had no relatives or friends in the sect who cared for her, she could die and perhaps no one would even know. Even if her cultivation base never advanced and she never opened her meridians, she could live a carefree life like this until her lifespan ended, and no one would come to ask after her. In any case, the sect was vast and had deep resources; the monthly stipend provided to outer sect disciples was merely a tiny expense. As long as Ruan Ci’s name had not been struck from the registry, the monthly stipend would naturally be delivered. As for the rest, it was entirely up to her—whether she focused on cultivating the Dao or spent her days in leisure, the sect would never interfere. The spiritual jade was allocated on schedule every month, and robes, vegetables, and meat were never in short supply. If a servant died due to some reason, the sect would still replenish the quota to four for her, until the three sticks of divine incense lit upon taking a master were extinguished. Only then would someone strike her name from the registry and collect her remaining belongings, fulfilling the obligations of the sect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was precisely because of this that the character of a disciple was of utmost importance to the servants. These beautiful maidens and strongmen were originally people of standing in the Nine Kingdoms at the foot of the mountain; if not for that, they wouldn't even have been eligible to be listed for selection. But once they entered the mountain, let alone their future, even their lives were no longer their own. If they encountered those gloomy and violent people who would beat or kill their servants at the slightest provocation, there would truly be nowhere to seek justice for their deaths. The Spirit Valley Peak generally did not wish to step in, simply waiting to fill the vacancies with new batches of people. Even if they encountered a disciple with a gentle temperament, if the disciple themselves were not doing well, they naturally could not talk about taking care of their subordinates or bestowing elixirs to open their meridians. For a servant like Lü Qi, who not only stepped onto the path of immortality but also managed to secure a position within the sect, her fortune was already good beyond measure. Most servants eventually faded into obscurity; being able to open their meridians and cultivate before their lifespan ended, living a hundred years longer than those at the foot of the mountain, was already a decent outcome.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Profound Heaven Sect had occupied the Central Continent for several great eons; how could the Nine Kingdoms at the foot of the mountain not know of this? Knowing the fate of servants, yet still able to lay down worldly wealth to enter the mountain for service, these servants each possessed their own spirit and capability. Ruan Ci spoke a few words with the four of them, but did not make them change their names or surnames, simply taking their surnames and smiling, \"From now on, I shall call you Zhang Ji, Li Ji, He Tong, and Li Tong.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The four of them naturally flattered their master to the utmost, kneeling to thank her upon hearing this. Ruan Ci said, \"There is no need for this.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had originally wanted to say that if not for the convergence of fate, her own background was actually not as wealthy as theirs. But now that some in the sect thought she was a descendant of a powerful family from the South Zhuzhou Continent, it was inconvenient to say this. Furthermore, knowing that immortal fate and opportunity were just a contest of luck, and that these four were not inferior in aptitude to many disciples of the Grace Sect or Peace Sect, why say it and prick their hearts?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She swallowed the words back, sighing, \"I am a newcomer here and have no relatives in this place. Even though I have received some care from the Purple Void Cave Illumination Heaven, being in the outer sect, it is inconvenient to ask for help with everything, otherwise, it would be counterproductive. You all should first tell me about some of the taboos among the disciples in the sect, so as to avoid accidentally offending some formidable person. I haven't even begun cultivating yet, and I already have enemies in the sect.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her future was closely tied to the four of them; the four servants had no reason to harm her and hoped for her advancement even more than others. Hearing their master personally admit her connection to the Purple Void Cave Illumination Heaven, they were all overjoyed. Li Ji said, \"Miss, you can set your heart at ease. Not everyone who enters the sect can become a disciple under the Cave Heaven. Since you have caught the eye of Wang True Person, who among this generation of cultivators would dare to make things difficult for you?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ruan Ci had put in effort when selecting people, not choosing close relatives of the imperial family—these close relatives, unless there was a special reason, would not come up the mountain for service, and they likely all had stories in their hearts, wanting to use their influence to return home in glory. If they were Jin Dan or Nascent Soul cultivators, they wouldn't care about these things and would take them in as they pleased. For Ruan Ci, if the other party became her disciple, it would be a great disappointment, and she would have no use for such people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She chose those from second or third-rank families of the Nine Kingdoms, descendants of generals and marquises. For these families, if they could not inherit the family business, serving on the mountain was a decent destination. It was likely that every generation had people who managed to enter the sect for service, returning after their term with long lives to marry and have children, passing on their bloodline. It could be said that they were well-versed in family traditions, their connections were naturally broad, and before entering, they would try their best to inquire about many taboos, which was exactly what Ruan Ci needed now. Sure enough, once she asked, they all spoke at once, explaining the life of Qi Refining disciples in the sect clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether they were true cultivators or miscellaneous cultivators, when a cultivator entered the mountain gate, there was no tuition, and the sect even issued a monthly stipend. Such a good thing naturally could not last forever; once a sect disciple had a certain level of cultivation, they had to accept tasks from the sect. For example, at that time, Chen Yuzi and Liu Jizi were ordered to guard the Song Guo. The two of them should have been taking turns, and guarding in the Song Guo meant they could not cultivate, which to some extent delayed their progress. It was likely that the Lingxiao Sect must have provided considerable compensation for this task.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In ordinary sects, there were tasks to do after entering. Some tasks were set specifically to temper disciples, and there were monthly exams, annual exams, and even the sixty-year grand exam, sect grand competitions, and small gatherings of heroes from various sects, all of which were to temper talents and let outstanding disciples stand out. But for a prosperous sect like the Profound Heaven Sect, the rules were different from those of a flourishing sect. Qi Refining disciples were not assigned tasks by convention; only after reaching Foundation Establishment were tasks assigned. But the assessment was only once every hundred years, and they often missed the exam, because the sect was full of talents, and there were no mediocre people occupying high positions or worrying about production.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this did not mean that Profound Heaven Sect disciples could be leisurely. Cultivating in the sect to Nascent Soul, or even directly entering the Cave Heaven, the number of disciples lost during the Qi Refining stage was no less than in other sects, and perhaps even more. This was because the Profound Heaven Sect had another rule: the external medicine required for a cultivator to break through a realm was never provided by the sect; disciples had to find it themselves. In short, whether it was sect assessments or auctions, as long as it was hosted by the sect, there would never be any trace of external medicine for breaking through realms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Langhuan Zhou Tian, most cultivators needed precious materials and external medicine to harmonize when breaking through realms. For example, opening meridians and Foundation Establishment, opening meridians by convention required three types of spiritual objects as catalysts, and Foundation Establishment also required three. By the time they condensed the Jin Dan, the number of external medicines was even greater and more precious. These breakthrough external medicines were numerous in variety, and their quality varied. Their places of origin were scattered across the world, and the external medicine a cultivator needed was not fixed; it had to be sought according to their cultivation technique and their own constitution. If one was unlucky, a Qi Refining cultivator, when breaking through, might need an external medicine produced in the South Zhuzhou Continent that could only be kept fresh for a few years. According to the rules of the Profound Heaven Sect, they could only try to search for it in the Central Continent first, or beg a senior cultivator of the sect to come forward. If they still couldn't find it, they could only take a boat to the South Zhuzhou Continent to seek their own fortune.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ruan Ci had once heard Dong Shuangcheng say that the rule of the Taibai Sword Sect was that after Foundation Establishment and before Core Formation, one had to go to the ten great forbidden lands to experience life. It was likely that this was also a way for various sects to temper their disciples. With the ability of the Profound Heaven Sect, if they were willing, what external medicine in the world could they not collect? Doing this was naturally to add a shackle to the disciples, so that they could not just know how to cultivate and blindly pile up magic power, only to not know how to respond when encountering things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they wanted to beg their elders to bestow it, they had to curry favor with their teachers and try to make themselves valued. If they wanted to search for it with heavy money, they had to find ways to trade and profit, earning their own fortune. If they wanted to visit and search for it themselves, they had to wear out their iron shoes, travel through mountains and rivers, experience dangerous situations, and not know how many fights and how much human malice they would have to endure. Doing this was much more useful than any sect grand competition, but it was more time-consuming, and the loss of talent was also greater than in sect grand competitions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the Profound Heaven Sect was a prosperous sect in the world; there were only those who begged to be apprentices and couldn't find a way in, and none who couldn't take in disciples. This loss of talent was naturally not taken to heart, so they had no requirements for the disciples' cultivation base and did not conduct assessments, only tempering their Dao hearts at this hurdle. Their future achievements depended entirely on the disciples themselves. For the disciples, although Foundation Establishment was a matter of course for them, once they entered the sect, they did not dare to be the slightest bit slack, trembling with fear. After just getting familiar with it for a few days, they had to start preparing to search for external medicine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"To let Miss know, actually, the reason why we servants of the Nine Kingdoms are trusted by the young masters and young ladies is also because of this connection.\" Li Ji was eloquent and naturally took it upon herself to explain, \"Listening to the elders in the family talk, most sect disciples do not want to trouble their elders with everything. Even the bloodline of the Cave Heaven True Person has many who search for external medicine on their own from the Qi Refining stage. After all, human favors are hard to come by, and it is a pity to waste them on small things. In our Nine Kingdoms, there are also quite a few spiritual realms and dangerous places that produce many external medicines. The sect does not collect them itself; they are all bought by merchant firms outside the mountain gate. They can buy and sell; it's a business they've been doing for tens of thousands of years, and it's quite trustworthy. If the external medicine Miss needs can be found within the Nine Kingdoms, it is also cheap. Some remote and hard-to-find items can be passed on first to inquire about; if they are available, we can buy them first.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ruan Ci found it interesting and couldn't help but smile, \"But I have no spiritual money, what should I do? High-quality external medicine must not be cheap.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ji covered her lips and smiled, \"Just owe it first, it doesn't matter. If it is really inconvenient to accommodate, our families also have some thin wealth and will naturally help with all our strength. After Miss reaches Foundation Establishment and goes out to walk, what spiritual money will you not be able to earn back?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Ruan Ci looked young, she was not an ignorant child. Having worked as a laborer in the Altar City for two years, she had seen many tricks. Hearing this, she understood, knowing that if she nodded, many businesses would come to her in the future, many of which would only be easy to do by relying on her status as a Profound Heaven Sect disciple. As for whether there were traps hidden behind these businesses, that would depend on luck. For the most part, they should be small businesses that it wouldn't matter if she did or didn't do. In any case, looking at this Central Continent, the status of cultivators was far superior to mortals, and Profound Heaven Sect disciples stood at the top of the cultivators; there were not many people who could shake their status. And Li Ji and others, and even the families behind them, could also profit from it, and perhaps even gain more than her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although this was said, for Ruan Ci, all external medicines had Dao rhymes, so she could eat them, but they would not have any effect. All precious materials and external medicines that could not absorb spiritual energy through the Donghua Sword were useless to her, so she just listened to it as a story. She neither agreed nor refused, just asking about other things. Learning that everyone had already planted rice seeds in the spiritual field this morning and raised two little birds sent by Steward Feng, she said, \"How many people are usually needed to farm this spiritual field?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asking and learning that two people could farm it on weekdays, she let the two male servants farm the land, and the two maids wash clothes, cook, and clean the courtyard for them. They were not to come to the main house often if there was nothing to do. She would go out to cultivate from time to time, and perhaps go to the Purple Void Cave Illumination Heaven to open her meridians. If she was not seen, there was no need to panic and search for her, and so on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These four people were here to take care of her daily life and clean the house; these were their basic duties. And they also knew that Ruan Ci had now obtained a cultivation technique, and the most important thing was to open her meridians and cultivate, otherwise there was no need to even attend the classes at the Qingfeng Luan Book Hall on Spirit Valley Peak, so they all accepted the order and retreated. On the way back to the room, He Tong said to Li Ji, \"Li Ji, you are too impatient. Miss hasn't even opened her meridians yet, and you are already talking about Foundation Establishment external medicine. Being so hasty, I'm afraid it will be counterproductive.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ji disagreed and smiled, \"Is what I said false? Isn't it all the truth? Our family background is not as good as others. If it were a local disciple, they wouldn't pick us at all, and we could only mix here for a few years and go back in disgrace. It was Miss's discerning eye that picked the four of us. How can we not repay her with our lives? I am planning entirely for Miss, and Miss will naturally understand my loyalty.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The implication was that she vaguely considered herself the leader of the four, and suspected that He Tong was competing with her for power. He Tong shook his head and did not argue with her, going to get the farm tools himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, Ruan Ci, after cultivating the Dao, had sharp ears and eyes, and actually heard some of the servants' arguments. However, she did not take these verbal disputes to heart. Seeing that all four had retreated, she took out the unfinished spiritual beast meat jerky from her bundle, chewed a few pieces to satisfy her hunger, then changed out of her Daoist robe and put on a set of short clothes. She took out the Spirit Flower Jade Wall and hung it on her chest, put on a long sword, and decided to do something slightly suicidal—go for an excursion (or hunting, one could say) in the back mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Updated, sorry for the long wait, everyone. I'm having a stir-fried yellow beef set meal for lunch today... still takeout TAT. Although my dad is back, he is in good spirits and went out to play with friends from his hometown, so I can only continue to survive on takeout, crying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Q&A time: Why do you still need to absorb spiritual energy to cultivate after Intent Cultivation?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is actually stated very clearly in the text. Intent Cultivation is just a cheat for a great power's reincarnation. A level 80 account can be rolled back to any level between 1-80, but it cannot exceed 80, and it still needs to continue to cultivate upwards. For a big shot, this is an optional item, but for Ruan Ci, this is a mandatory item, mainly because she cannot break through the realm through normal cultivation and can only cultivate to the full in this stage. If she doesn't do Intent Cultivation, she has to switch to Tool Cultivation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The red envelopes from the previous chapter will be sent after the update tomorrow. Sigh, I didn't write any stock yesterday and went out. I hope I can write more today...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>. Thanks to the little angels who cast overlord votes or irrigated nutrient solution for me between 2020-07-26 20:05:02 and 2020-07-27 12:05:26~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to the little angel who cast a rocket launcher: Wan Tang (1);\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to the little angels who cast landmines: Time's Delusion, Orange Flavor (1);\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: yj993206 (10 bottles); Haven't updated yet (6 bottles); Little Fatty Loves to Eat, Qin Se, sidewalker, A Dai (25 bottles); Open it, I'll count 123, Qi Qi (3 bottles); Yun Ran, Laughing to Death, 18205385, Chen Xiaochuang (1 bottle);\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thank you all very much for your support, I will continue to work hard! ===== CHAPTER 41 =====\u003C\u002Fp>",3288,"2026-06-17T08:48:53.797Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","07e1f48d6149d32c56a886ccfdce0f42fa8c63b9e2ffc736e262b11c6b9be100","borrowing-the-sword-chapter-37","borrowing-the-sword-chapter-35",286,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fborrowing-the-sword-cover.jpg"]