Divine Sword

No, no, no—it's better not to keep thinking about this!

Li Ke felt a massive threat looming and immediately made a decision that was appropriate, reasonable, and lawful: he would stop pondering such dangerous questions.

"But what ability should I choose this time?"

Looking at his reward list, Li Ke didn't know how his abilities functioned, but he was still very much looking forward to the rewards.

If it were anything else, he wouldn't be so conflicted, but memories were out of the question. His simulations were just that—simulations—and did not represent events that had actually occurred in this world. There was no need for the girls of this world to suffer the pangs of lovesickness over him.

After all, he was so dashing and handsome that it would be all too easy to hurt those delicate flowers.

Vitality went without saying; a strong vitality meant a strong body, and a strong body meant powerful swordsmanship and spirit.

This was the foundation. If this wasn't strong, then everything else was moot.

However...

A good sword could vastly amplify a swordsman's strength!

Take Li Ke's previous sword: although he had managed to snap Yasuo's blade with the aid of his Qi, that was only because Yasuo had been too careless. Striking the back of a blade with his own edge made it easy to break a katana.

Even so, his own sword had shattered in the process.

And if it were Yone's sword, infused with his Qi...

He had already demonstrated it before—it could blow through hair and slice through iron like mud. With equal skill and a sword of that caliber, there was no way to stop him from destroying an opponent's weapon.

Fighting armed opponents while unarmed was essentially a death sentence.

Don't let movies and TV shows fool you into thinking the unarmed ones are the masters; in a real fight, the longer the weapon, the better.

For a Sword Soul like Li Ke, the better the sword, the higher the ceiling of their strength.

There was no other way around it.

The better the sword, the longer it would last in their hands.

Using Yone's sword, he had only used Overdrive a few times before he started worrying that the blade would shatter in the middle of a fight.

As for his very first sword, it had been ruined after a single use.

A good sword was vital to him right now; it could even cause his combat power to soar more than twofold in an instant.

"This sword must be the top-tier treasure Shen spoke of. If even someone with his discerning eye calls it top-tier, then it must be a powerful blade."

After a moment of hesitation, Li Ke ultimately chose the sword.

Vitality was something that could always be improved as the number of simulations increased, but a rare, once-in-a-lifetime treasure sword was not.

Moreover, since it wasn't an item from this world, even if someone saw it, he could claim it was a replica.

As he made his choice, the Void appeared before his eyes once more. A strange sensation welled up in his heart, and that endless, flowing river surged again. After a series of fluctuations he couldn't comprehend but felt he "understood," a burst of light appeared before him.

Li Ke reached out and grasped, pulling a warm, exquisite sword from the radiance.

The crimson scabbard housed a silver-white blade with intricate patterns, and the hilt was inlaid with incredibly expensive red gemstones.

Li Ke had only seen these gems in rumors, but that didn't stop him from knowing their effects.

They increased the wielder's speed, focus, mental resistance, and magical defense, while accelerating the recovery of both spirit and stamina.

He drew the sword in excitement, and the dim room was instantly illuminated by the blade's light. The straight edge shimmered with a brilliant silver-white glow, yet it lacked any biting chill; instead, it felt as warm as a spring breeze.

The moment he unsheathed it, Li Ke felt the powerful energy contained within: the surrounding magic was continuously pouring into the sword, and the sword was, in turn, feeding new magical energy into his body, making his speed and strength surge while bathing his entire being in warmth.

It felt just like lying on the grass by a river on a spring day under the sun, with a young girl resting your head on her lap, her fingers gently stroking your hair along with the breeze.

Most importantly, this was a straight sword—the type Li Ke was most proficient with.

Near the hilt, there was a ruby on both sides of the blade, radiating a scorching heat. With a shift in Li Ke's intent, the sword suddenly trembled, and then something astonishing happened.

A red, translucent blade manifested atop the physical one. Li Ke reached out and gripped it, finding that although it was composed of magical energy and slightly shorter, it radiated intense heat as he swung it. He slashed casually, and the corner of the table was scorched into charcoal!

"A fine sword!"

A thousand words could only be distilled into this one phrase. Li Ke truly hadn't expected the heirloom of Irelia's family to be this formidable!

Not only was it a straight sword perfectly suited to his style, but its ability to manifest an energy blade was perfectly compatible with the Ghost Sword Technique he had witnessed on the Arad Continent!

As he poured his Qi into the blade, Li Ke felt it hum, yet the sword suffered no damage whatsoever!

The material of this sword far exceeded his imagination, and the magical energy within stabilized the blade's structure. Even if he kept Overdrive active while hacking away, he wouldn't damage this sword in the slightest!

With just this one sword, his actual combat effectiveness had at least tripled!

This wasn't a joke; it was a fact!

But there was one downside.

"Even if I can claim it's a replica, it's just too conspicuous and too flashy..."

Looking at the intricate patterns, the luxurious exterior, the unmistakable Irelia family crest on the blade and scabbard, and the magical gemstones embedded within, Li Ke felt a mix of envy and a splitting headache.

It was good, but given his current status and position, having this sword was actually a disadvantage.

It was too good.

Even if he wrapped it in anti-magic cloth, the moment he used it, he would expose the sword's extraordinary nature. There were far too many stories of commoners meeting their end because of divine weapons, and in the seemingly peaceful Ionia, such occurrences were far from rare.

"Treasures belong to those with the virtue to hold them"—in Ionia, this saying carries two distinct meanings.

At first, Li Ke had actually considered this, but he had thought that no matter how fine the sword was, if he simply swapped the scabbard and applied some paint, anyone who saw it would only assume it was a replica and no trouble would arise.

After all, how could you possibly police others for using a sword of the same shape?

But the problem was that this sword exceeded his expectations to such a degree that calling it first-class would be an understatement; in Li Ke's eyes, it was no different from a divine artifact.

"Hmm, it seems I won't be able to use this for daily tasks."