Tempering the Precious Sword

"Hm? Talismans?"

Su Shi'er had long read about talismans in the Sect Manual. He paused briefly, then quickly recovered.

His gaze turned cold as he twisted around to look at the servant disciple beside him.

That servant disciple had already collapsed to the ground in terror. Seeing Su Shi'er's sharp glare sweep over, before Su Shi'er could even speak, the servant produced a Level One Escape Light Talisman in his hand.

The talisman was activated, and the next second, the servant disciple vanished without a trace.

Su Shi'er furrowed his brow but didn't bother to give chase.

The sect rules strictly forbade internal conflict among disciples. This Waste Pill Room was remote and quiet—killing here would be unnoticed and untraceable.

But if he chased outside, he'd likely run into others.

"Forget it. I'll deal with them next time. After this, they probably won't dare come back anytime soon."

"Still, what a waste of those thirty high-grade Foundation Cultivation Pills!"

"Still, this sword isn't bad. It seems to be a Low-grade Magical Artifact from the records. I wonder how much it's worth. Even if it doesn't match those Foundation Cultivation Pills, it shouldn't be too far off."

Muttering softly, Su Shi'er looked down at the sword in his hand. This two-foot-long blade was entirely dark cyan, made from some unknown material.

The hilt was engraved with two small characters: White Mist.

The blade gleamed with a cold light, clearly razor-sharp.

From both appearance and quality, it was undoubtedly a Low-grade Magical Artifact.

Magical Artifacts were treasures used by cultivators, only able to be activated by a cultivator's unique true essence.

Above Magical Artifacts were Spiritual Artifacts, Magical Treasures, and so on... but those were far beyond the reach of Qi Refinement cultivators.

Whether Magical Artifacts or Spiritual Artifacts, they were graded by rank: Low-grade, Mid-grade, High-grade, and Peak-grade.

Su Shi'er recalled the descriptions from the Sect Manual and tried channeling a thread of true essence into the sword.

With the infusion of true essence, the long sword trembled slightly, and its blade emitted a faint glow.

Inspired by instinct, Su Shi'er raised his hand and swung the sword.

"Boom!"

An invisible sword qi shot forth, leaving a stark gash on the ground.

"Not bad, not bad—this is truly a fine sword! With this precious sword, my attack power will increase significantly!"

Having witnessed the power of a Low-grade Magical Artifact, Su Shi'er's heart bloomed with joy.

The gloom from losing the Foundation Cultivation Pills was swept away in an instant.

Returning to his room, Su Shi'er sat cross-legged on the bed and pulled a medicine bottle from his bosom. Seeing the empty bottle, he realized that the last batch of refined Qi Gathering Pills had all been used.

He then took out another bottle of waste Qi Gathering Pills and the mysterious pill furnace.

Just as he was about to toss the waste pills in, his gaze fell on the mysterious pill furnace, and Su Shi'er suddenly recalled the scene of activating the Low-grade Magical Artifact earlier.

"This furnace must be a treasure. What would happen if I infused true essence into it?"

Su Shi'er's eyes flickered. He took the mysterious pill furnace in hand and began channeling his internal true essence.

The moment his true essence touched the mysterious pill furnace, Su Shi'er's expression changed. In an instant, he felt a suction force surge, and his true essence drained at an alarming rate, as if his entire being were being hollowed out.

This sensation reminded him of the first time he had activated the Fire Control Technique.

Fortunately, this state lasted only a moment. Once his true essence was depleted, the furnace slipped from his grasp.

The moment it left his hand, the furnace's size doubled, and in the blink of an eye, it became a full two feet wide.

Su Shi'er tilted his head, studying the furnace before him. In his eyes, aside from being larger, it looked no different from usual.

Just as ancient, worn, and utterly devoid of any aura.

If he hadn't witnessed the furnace growing with his own eyes, he would have thought it had always been this size.

"Uh... it just got bigger? Or does it have other uses? Still, with this size, it can hold quite a lot!"

"I wonder if this furnace can refine other things too?"

Su Shi'er muttered to himself, his gaze falling on the long sword beside him.

"Give it a try?"

Raising an eyebrow, he placed the flying sword into the enlarged furnace.

The moment the flying sword entered, it was covered in a layer of cyan light. The next second, the sword's size shrank rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, it became only a little over a foot long.

"This..."

Su Shi'er's heart jolted. Just as he was about to retrieve the flying sword, he took a closer look and was overwhelmed with ecstasy.

"This... in such a short time, the flying sword has become a High-grade Magical Artifact?"

"If we continue refining it?"

Su Shi'er's eyes lit up, and he immediately stared unblinkingly at the pill furnace.

But after becoming a high-grade magical artifact, the precious sword showed no further changes.

Instead, a few minutes later, the pill furnace began to shrink.

Seeing this, Su Shi'er quickly retrieved the flying sword.

Tucking the restored pill furnace back into his bosom, his gaze fell upon the flying sword.

"It can only be refined to the level of a high-grade magical artifact? Could it be that this flying sword's potential is limited to this extent?"

After pondering for several minutes, Su Shi'er arrived at a conclusion he deemed fairly reliable.

Smiling, he put the flying sword away and resumed his cultivation.

At the same time, at the foot of Cuihuan Mountain, two figures were huddled together.

As soon as he saw the menial disciple, the Sword-Bearing Youth, who had lost his sword, rushed over and began beating and kicking him.

"Fatty Huang, is this the useless trash you were talking about? Mixed spiritual roots? Easy to handle?"

The Sword-Bearing Youth grew angrier with every word, and the angrier he got, the harder he struck.

The menial disciple lay on the ground, his face soon swollen black and blue from the beating.

"Zhao... Martial Brother Zhao Yu, spare me! I... I didn't expect this kid to be so strong either!"

The menial disciple covered his head, feeling deeply wronged.

In his view, Zhao Yu, a Qi Refiner at the second level of the Qi Refining Stage, had lost to a Qi Refiner at the first level—how was that his fault?

"Spare you? That White Mist Sword was a low-grade magical artifact. I spent a full fifty high-grade Foundation Cultivation Pills to trade for it. How do you expect me to spare you!" Zhao Yu stomped on Fatty Huang's body, gnashing his teeth in fury!

His furious eyes flickered with a murderous intent that seemed ready to devour.

Fatty Huang's heart jolted, and he shivered, quickly shouting, "Martial Brother, don't be hasty! There's something strange about this!"

Zhao Yu stared coldly at Fatty Huang. "What's strange?"

"That kid definitely has mixed spiritual roots—the Peak Master said so himself, no mistake. Otherwise, the Peak Master wouldn't have sent him to guard the Waste Pill Room."

"But he managed to cultivate to the first level of the Qi Refining Stage in such a short time, and with this kind of strength. I suspect he must have some kind of extraordinary treasure on him!"

Fatty Huang's eyes darted as he spoke rapidly.

"Extraordinary treasure?!" A gleam of light flashed in Zhao Yu's eyes.

"That's right! Otherwise, how could a waste with mixed spiritual roots be this strong? Why don't we gather a few more people, quietly take him out, and then the treasure will be ours?" Fatty Huang nodded repeatedly, his gaze turning cold as he made a chopping motion with his hand.

"Hmm... your guess isn't without merit. But don't spread this around for now! Wait until I get back to handle it!" Zhao Yu's eyes shifted, and he lifted his leg, releasing Fatty Huang.

When it came to an extraordinary treasure, he wasn't willing to easily let others in on it.

"Martial Brother is leaving?" Fatty Huang finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked.

"That's right. Elder Song from the Transmission Hall has summoned twenty disciples for intensive training for this year's Newcomer Trial. I have to report tomorrow morning—I'm one of them." Zhao Yu squinted, speaking with some pride.

"Intensive training for the Newcomer Trial? Can't we, the previous menial disciples, participate anymore?" Fatty Huang was momentarily stunned, confused.

"I don't know the specifics either. I only heard that the rules have changed this year. Besides the newcomers, menial disciples who were eliminated in the past can also sign up. As long as they complete the trial, they can still gain the status of an official disciple." Zhao Yu explained impatiently.

"I see. Congratulations, Martial Brother! With your potential, after intensive training, your strength is bound to skyrocket! The newcomers this year are going to be under a lot of pressure!"

Fatty Huang quickly cupped his hands and smiled. Hearing this news, his own heart stirred.

Although his strength was poor, with several years still until the Newcomer Trial, according to what Zhao Yu said, he might actually have a chance to complete the trial and become an official disciple.

"Enough, save the congratulations. You should sign up too. When the trial starts, I'll call my elder brother Zhao Yan to join us." Zhao Yu pursed his lips and said.

"Martial Brother Zhao Yan? He's the strongest among us menial disciples. If he's involved, it'll be foolproof. But... are we going to make our move during the Newcomer Trial?" Fatty Huang's spirits lifted, and he immediately asked.

"That's right. Elder Song's training won't end until the Newcomer Trial begins. And what better place to make a move than the Newcomer Trial?" Zhao Yu's gaze turned cold, and with that, he turned and left.