Demon Sword Long Kui

With his experience refining Hemostatic Grass, Xiao Se finally succeeded in extracting the essences of the two medicinal ingredients after using up seven Qi Nourishing Fruits and four Poppy Flowers.

Unfortunately, their quality was somewhat disappointing.

After refining the materials for the first batch of Hemostatic Powder, Xiao Se did not rush to fuse the essences of the three medicinal ingredients together.

Compared to extracting essence from medicinal herbs, merging medicinal properties was even more difficult.

Repeating his previous steps, his success rate and the quality of the refined products gradually improved with each attempt.

Two hours later.

The Dou Qi in Xiao Se's body had been completely drained, and he collapsed weakly onto the ground.

Yet he had only refined five portions of medicinal essence. Although each batch was of better quality than the last, it was still far from enough.

Enduring the pain of his depleted Dou Qi, Xiao Se struggled to his feet and sat cross-legged before the Medicine Cauldron. He circulated the Burning Art to restore the Dou Qi within his body.

Then he continued refining medicinal essences.

When he was hungry, he went to the pool beneath the waterfall to catch and roast fish.

When he was sleepy, he lay down in the cave and slept for a while.

Over and over again, after a week of unrelenting effort, Xiao Se finally finished refining all the Hemostatic Grass, Qi Nourishing Fruits, and Poppy Flowers in the valley's herb garden.

He obtained two hundred portions of materials.

After using up the first twenty-odd batches of lower-quality medicinal essences, Xiao Se finally refined the first medicine of his life: Hemostatic Powder.

Looking at the viscous substance inside the Jade Bottle in his hand, a smile curled across Xiao Se's lips. "Now I can finally count as an alchemist. I hope this first bottle of medicine brings me good luck. System, exchange the medicine in my hand."

Ding. Congratulations, Host. You have exchanged it for the Demon Sword sealed within the Demon Sealing Tower of the Chinese Paladin 3 world.

"Demon Sword?" A stunned expression appeared on Xiao Se's face.

The Demon Sword? It was actually the Demon Sword.

Remembering how regretful he had felt in his previous life when he saw Long Kui throw herself into the Sword Casting Furnace for a second time, Xiao Se never expected it to end up in his hands this time.

He looked around. The Hemostatic Powder in his hand had disappeared, yet there was no sign of the Demon Sword. After searching in vain, Xiao Se called out in his mind, "System, didn't I exchange for the Demon Sword? Where's the sword?"

Ding. The System Warehouse function has been activated. All exchanged items will be stored in the System Warehouse.

Hearing the System's explanation, Xiao Se suddenly understood. A dark glimmer flashed in his hand, and a somewhat strange-looking Long Sword appeared out of nowhere, hovering before him. Its blade was inscribed with bizarre runes and emitted an eerie purple glow.

Unlike the Demon Sword in the game, which looked thick and heavy, the Demon Sword before him more closely resembled the one from the television drama. It was just the right size, neither cumbersome nor flimsy.

Letting out a long breath, Xiao Se slowly approached the Demon Sword. As though it sensed something, it began to tremble violently and emit a piercing sword cry. The sound seemed to carry endless desolation and loneliness, leaving Xiao Se with a heavy heart.

The Demon Sword seemed to sense the change in Xiao Se's emotions. It stopped its mournful cry and allowed him to approach.

Grasping the Demon Sword in reverse, Xiao Se felt the Dou Qi in his body being crazily drained away. The eerie purple light on the sword's surface grew increasingly dazzling.

"Damn it, it's still sucking? Keep this up and I'll turn into a second Xiao Yan." Xiao Se cursed under his breath, his expression turning rather ugly.

But Xiao Se had no intention of letting go. Somewhere deep down, he sensed that if he released it now, he would likely miss this great opportunity.

"Ah!" Xiao Se roared toward the sky. He gripped the hilt with both hands and heaved it overhead. The web between his thumb and forefinger split open, blood seeping out.

"Bzzzt—"

As his blood stained the hilt, the Demon Sword let out a muffled hum, and the eerie purple glow gradually receded.

By then, Xiao Se's slightly pale face was covered in beads of sweat.

The Burning Art he cultivated was only a low Yellow-rank technique. Its reserves and endurance were already at the very bottom, and once the Demon Sword began absorbing it, the Dou Qi in his body was drained completely dry.

Once the purple light had fully withdrawn, Xiao Se could no longer hold on. The Demon Sword flew from his hand and fell onto the cold ground with a clang. The shoulders he had been struggling to keep steady finally slumped, his legs gave way, and his body collapsed to the ground as though all strength had left him. He gulped in fresh air, his chest heaving violently.

His entire body was numb and sore. At that moment, even lifting a finger was incomparably difficult.

Forcing himself to endure the exhaustion and aching pain throughout his body, Xiao Se struggled to his feet amid miserable groans. His trembling hands formed the seals for cultivation, and he slowly closed his eyes, entering a state of cultivation.

Being familiar with the original story, he knew very well that cultivation was most effective at a time like this.

While Xiao Se worked hard to restore his Dou Qi, the Demon Sword beside him gave off low humming sounds. One red and one blue ray of light flew out from it, entwined with each other, and finally merged into one. They transformed into a graceful young girl clad in a Wide Sleeve Flowing Fairy Dress. At times she was blue, at times red. Her figure flickered as though she had no physical form, and through her delicate body, the scenery behind her could vaguely be seen.

Staring blankly at Xiao Se, who sat on the ground restoring his Dou Qi, a trace of sorrow appeared on the girl's breathtakingly beautiful face. She walked closer, raised her jade-like hand as if to touch his cheek, then stopped.

She could sense that the Dou Qi in Xiao Se's body was severely depleted and needed to be restored quickly.

She then elegantly sat on a stone slab beside him, propping up her cheek as she silently watched him. The sorrow on her face faded, replaced by peace of mind and countless tender emotions.

After cultivating with his eyes closed for two hours, the Dou Qi vortex within Xiao Se's body, which had gone dim after his Dou Qi was exhausted, finally brightened once more. It was nearly twice as radiant as before.

After carefully examining his cultivation, Xiao Se discovered that he was still a one-star Dou Zhe, and he could not help but let out a sigh of relief.

Slowly opening his eyes, Xiao Se found that the exhaustion and soreness had vanished. He felt incomparably comfortable from head to toe. He stretched lazily and rolled his neck, his bones crackling as he let out a pleased groan.

"Royal Brother, you're awake!" A heavenly voice rang beside Xiao Se's ear, utterly intoxicating.

"Damn! The Wide Sleeve Flowing Fairy Dress... Long Kui..." Hearing this, Xiao Se turned his head and could not help crying out in surprise.

There sat a young girl in blue, elegant and graceful, propping up her cheek as she gazed at him tenderly.

"Royal Brother, you finally remember Long Kui." Upon hearing Xiao Se say the name Long Kui, the girl, who had still been somewhat uneasy, stood up and threw herself directly into his arms.

Her soft, fragrant body fell into his embrace, and Xiao Se felt as if it were unreal. He called out in his mind, System, what is going on? I know Long Kui's soul was sealed inside the Demon Sword, but why is she calling me her brother? I'm not Jing Tian.

Ding. Products of the System are always premium. From the moment the Demon Sword was exchanged for the Hemostatic Powder, Long Kui's fate had already changed.

"So that means I replaced Long Yang in Long Kui's memories and became her brother?"

Ding. Yes.