"Tricked you? I really didn't make a move. You ran into the sword and died yourself—how can you blame me for that?" Su Shi'er said expressionlessly.
From the very beginning, this fellow had wanted him dead. And his cultivation was far stronger than Su Shi'er's. Letting him leave would be like letting a tiger return to the mountain.
Though he was tempted by the Cinnabar Fruit, he had not lost his head.
All that talking had merely been to make the other party completely lower his guard. The more strength he saved, the better able he would be to face any danger that might appear at any moment.
"Ah! You... you bastard! You'll die a horrible death!" Blood streamed from the Youth in Silk Scarf's mouth as he screamed hysterically.
Within a few breaths, he lay flat on the ground, his life force nearly drained away, his entire body incomparably weak. His unfocused gaze fell on Su Shi'er, and he began begging again. "Please! Please save me! I don't want to die! I still want to reach the Great Dao..."
But whether he cursed or begged for mercy, Su Shi'er stood coldly to one side and ignored him.
A few minutes later, the Youth in Silk Scarf lay motionless on the ground, without breath. His eyes were wide open, leaving him with the look of one who could not rest in peace.
Su Shi'er pulled out the White Mist Sword and struck him from afar several more times. Only after making sure the man was completely dead did he let out a breath and approach with his sword in hand.
He was really dead! Su Shi'er stood where he was, somewhat dazed. After all, it was his first time killing someone. Besides the relief of surviving a calamity, he felt an emptiness in his heart.
However, over the past few years, the demonic beasts that had died by his hand were beyond counting. His temperament had long since become exceptionally resolute.
After only a brief lapse, he came back to his senses. He picked up every useful item from the man and the ground, then tossed out a fireball and burned the corpse to ashes before hurriedly leaving with the loot.
Though this place was remote, the commotion from the battle had not been small. He was worried someone might come over.
If anyone discovered him, he would be dead meat.
Private fighting between fellow sect disciples was a grave taboo, while murdering a fellow disciple was a capital crime.
Half an hour later, Su Shi'er returned to his residence.
After silently meditating for a while to calm his mind and restore the True Yuan within his body, he took out the things he had collected and inspected them one by one.
The first thing he picked up was the Youth in Silk Scarf's identity token. Six small characters were clearly written on it: Tianhua Peak, Meng Tianyi.
"He was actually from Tianhua Peak? That makes sense. According to the Sect Manual, Tianhua Peak is mostly made up of sword cultivators. Since he claimed to be a sword cultivator, it's only natural that he came from Tianhua Peak!"
Su Shi'er murmured softly. As he spoke, he released a fireball and burned the identity token to nothing as well.
After doing all that, he picked up a round shield from the side.
Without True Yuan supporting it, the round shield had already shrunk to the size of a palm. Its patterns resembled turtle shells, and three small characters could vaguely be seen upon it: Turtle Pattern Shield.
"No wonder this round shield could block the attack of a high-grade magical artifact—it was actually a Mid-grade Magical Artifact. Good thing I attacked at close range just now. Otherwise, if he had activated this Turtle Pattern Shield beforehand, who won and who lost would still be uncertain!"
"It's just a pity that this Turtle Pattern Shield has cracks. I wonder whether the mysterious Pill Furnace can repair those cracks after refining it."
Lowering his head to examine the Turtle Pattern Shield in his hand, Su Shi'er saw a long, narrow crack across it. He felt both fortunate and somewhat pained.
After thinking it over, he took out the mysterious Pill Furnace, poured a little True Yuan into it, and enlarged it until it was slightly bigger than the Turtle Pattern Shield.
He then tossed the Turtle Pattern Shield inside.
Just as when he had refined the White Mist Sword, the Turtle Pattern Shield was covered in a faint azure glow the moment it entered.
A few
moments later, the changes stopped. Su Shi'er carefully put away the mysterious Pill Furnace before examining the Turtle Pattern Shield again.
After being refined, the Turtle Pattern Shield had shrunk to half its original size. Its entire body was crystal-clear, and the sandy-brown shield faintly emitted a gleaming radiance.
"Th-this actually became a top-grade magical artifact?"
Su Shi'er's eyes widened, and he was wild with joy. In the Cultivation World, defensive magical artifacts were far more precious and difficult to obtain than offensive magical artifacts.
And a Top-grade Defensive Magical Artifact was no less valuable than an ordinary spatial magical artifact.
With such a treasure in hand, his chances of survival had risen dramatically.
"If I'd had such a treasure earlier, Meng Tianyi's sword qi would never have been able to injure me!"
"Still, I should thank him for delivering such a fine thing to me before the Newcomer Trial."
"It's just a shame that the cracks on the Turtle Pattern Shield weren't repaired. It seems the mysterious Pill Furnace can only refine treasures and raise their grade; it has no ability to repair them."
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Su Shi'er looked at the Turtle Pattern Shield several more times before carefully tucking it into his robes.
Though it had cracks, now that it had become a top-grade magical artifact, the Turtle Pattern Shield's defensive power had greatly increased. Those cracks were of secondary concern instead.
After putting away the Turtle Pattern Shield, Su Shi'er also stored the two low-grade Qi Gathering Pills and three Escape Talismans he had found.
Only then did his gaze fall upon the final item he had found on Meng Tianyi.
It was a book Meng Tianyi had kept close to his body.
The book looked old and tattered, and its cover was already gone. Its pages had yellowed, and many of the characters had become blurry.
But since Meng Tianyi had kept it on his person, Su Shi'er felt that it had to be something valuable.
When he opened the book and saw its contents, Su Shi'er's pupils suddenly contracted.
In an instant, veins bulged all over his body, and he became agitated and furious.
Gasping heavily, he rapidly flipped through the book.
Most of the book recorded a sword cultivator technique called Skull Swordplay.
This swordplay could only be cultivated by those at Qi Refining Stage Six or above, and it only contained the portions from Qi Refining Stage Six through Nine.
Moreover, cultivating it required large quantities of Yin Attribute Treasures and corpse remains.
Once mastered, it allowed one to unleash its unique Skull Sword Qi, which devoured the essence and blood of living people when attacking. The more essence and blood it devoured, the stronger the sword qi became.
That description immediately made Su Shi'er think of the Man in Black who had killed his grandfather and the villagers.
He remembered it with exceptional clarity. That day, the sword qi unleashed by the Man in Black had been shaped like a skull, almost exactly matching the description in this book. It could even be said to have been several times more powerful.
"Skull Swordplay! Could it be... that the Man in Black was hiding on Tianhua Peak?"
"Still, although Meng Tianyi carried this technique with him, I can't rule out the possibility that he obtained it elsewhere."
"It seems finding that Man in Black will still take some effort. No matter where he is, sooner or later I'll find him. But my most urgent task is still to improve my strength."
Su Shi'er sat on the bed, lost in a daze for a while before pulling himself together again.
Over the past four years, though he had been cultivating bitterly in the Waste Pill Room, he had also secretly investigated the whereabouts of the Man in Black.
Unfortunately, he had found nothing at all.
Though he still had no useful clues now, at least he knew the name of the swordplay that man used and its characteristics.
Taking a deep breath, Su Shi'er picked up the nameless book again and continued reading.
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