Chapter 17

"Huh? Talisman?"

Su Shier had seen the introduction to talismans in the sect manual before. He was slightly stunned but quickly reacted.

His gaze turned cold, and he turned to look at the servant disciple beside him.

The servant disciple was already scared stiff, sitting on the ground. Seeing Su Shier's fierce gaze, he didn't wait for Su Shier to speak and produced a first-grade escape light talisman in his hand.

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

Su Shier frowned but didn't chase after him.

The sect rules strictly prohibited internal strife among disciples. The abandoned pill room was secluded and quiet, and any action taken here would go unnoticed.

But if he chased out, he might encounter others.

"Never mind, I'll deal with it next time! After this incident, they shouldn't come back for a while."

"Too bad about those thirty high-grade cultivation pills!"

"But this sword is quite good. It seems to be a low-grade magical artifact as described in the book. I wonder how valuable it is! Even if it's not as good as those cultivation pills, it shouldn't be too bad."

Muttering to himself, Su Shier looked down at the sword in his hand. This two-foot-long sword was entirely dark green, made of unknown materials.

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

The blade shimmered with a cold light, clearly indicating its sharpness.

In terms of quality and material, it was undoubtedly a low-grade magical artifact.

Magical artifacts are treasures used by cultivators, which can only be activated by the unique true essence of cultivators.

Above magical artifacts, there are spirit artifacts and magical treasures, but those are too distant for a Qi Condensation cultivator.

Both magical artifacts and spirit artifacts are divided into four grades: low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and supreme-grade.

Recalling the introduction in the sect manual, Su Shier tried to channel a thread of true essence into the sword.

With the true essence infused, the sword trembled slightly, and its body emitted a bright light.

Feeling inspired, Su Shier raised his hand and swung the sword.

"Bang!"

An invisible sword qi shot out, leaving a prominent mark on the ground.

"Good, good, indeed a fine sword! With this treasure sword, my offensive power will be greatly enhanced!"

Seeing the power of the low-grade magical artifact, Su Shier was overjoyed.

The gloom from losing the cultivation pills was instantly dispelled.

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Back in his room, Su Shier sat cross-legged on the bed and took out a medicine bottle from his pocket. Seeing the empty bottle, he realized that the Qi Gathering Pills from the last refinement were all used up.

He then took out a bottle of failed Qi Gathering Pills and the mysterious pill furnace.

Just as he was about to throw the failed pills into the furnace, his gaze fell on the mysterious pill furnace, and he suddenly remembered the scene of activating the low-grade magical artifact.

"This pill furnace is definitely a treasure. What would happen if I infused it with true essence?"

Su Shier's eyes twinkled as he held the mysterious pill furnace and began to channel his true essence.

As soon as the true essence touched the mysterious pill furnace, Su Shier's expression changed. Instantly, he felt a suction force, and his true essence rapidly drained, as if his body was being emptied.

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

Fortunately, this state lasted only a moment. When his true essence was exhausted, the pill furnace slipped from his hand.

The moment it slipped, the pill furnace grew in size, becoming about two feet wide in the blink of an eye.

Su Shier tilted his head, examining the pill furnace. To him, the furnace looked the same as usual, just larger.

It was still as ancient and worn, with no aura flowing from it.

If he hadn't seen it grow, he would have thought it was always this size.

"Uh... Just bigger? Or does it have other functions? But with this size, it can hold a lot of things!"

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

Su Shier muttered to himself, his gaze falling on the sword beside him.

"Should I try?"

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

As soon as the flying sword entered, it was covered in a layer of green light. In the next second, its size rapidly decreased.

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

"This..."

Su Shier was startled and was about to take the flying sword out when he noticed something that made him ecstatic.

"This... In such a short time, the flying sword has become a high-grade magical artifact?"

"If I continue refining it?"

Su Shier's eyes lit up, and he stared intently at the pill furnace.

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

A few minutes later, the pill furnace began to shrink.

Seeing this, Su Shier quickly took the flying sword out.

Putting the pill furnace, which had returned to its original size, back in his pocket, he examined the flying sword.

"Can it only be refined to the level of a high-grade magical artifact? Does this mean the flying sword's potential is limited to this level?"

After a few minutes of contemplation, Su Shier reached a conclusion he believed was reliable.

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

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

Seeing the servant disciple, the sword-carrying youth who had lost his sword immediately started punching and kicking him.

"Huang Fatty, is this the weakling you said was easy to handle? A mixed spiritual root? Easy to deal with?"

The more the sword-carrying youth spoke, the angrier he became, and the harder he hit.

The servant disciple lay on the ground, quickly beaten black and blue.

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

The servant disciple hugged his head, feeling extremely wronged.

In his view, Zhao Yu, a second-stage Qi Condensation cultivator, losing to a first-stage Qi Condensation cultivator had nothing to do with him!

"Spare you? That White Mist Sword is a low-grade magical artifact. I spent fifty high-grade cultivation pills to get it. How can I spare you!" Zhao Yu stomped on Huang Fatty's body, his teeth grinding in anger.

His eyes, filled with rage, flashed with a murderous intent.

Huang Fatty was startled and shivered, quickly shouting, "Brother, don't be hasty, there's something strange about this!"

Zhao Yu glared coldly at Huang Fatty, "What's strange?"

"That kid definitely has mixed spiritual roots. The peak master said it himself, so it can't be wrong. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been assigned to guard the abandoned pill room."

"But he managed to cultivate to the first stage of Qi Condensation in such a short time and has such strength. I suspect he must have some extraordinary treasure!"

Huang Fatty's eyes twinkled as he quickly explained.

"Extraordinary treasure?!" Zhao Yu's eyes flashed with interest.

"Exactly! Otherwise, why would a mixed spiritual root weakling be so strong! We should gather a few more people and quietly take care of him! Then the treasure will be ours!" Huang Fatty nodded repeatedly, his eyes turning cold as he made a beheading gesture.

"Hmm... Your guess isn't without reason. But don't spread this around! We'll discuss it when I return!" Zhao Yu's eyes twinkled, and he released Huang Fatty.

Involving an extraordinary treasure, he didn't want to easily share it with others.

"Brother is leaving?" Huang Fatty breathed a sigh of relief and asked urgently.

"Exactly! Elder Song from the Transmission Hall has gathered twenty disciples for intensive training for the new disciples' trial, and I have to report in early tomorrow. I'm one of them." Zhao Yu narrowed his eyes, somewhat proudly.

"Intensive training for the new disciples' trial? Weren't servant disciples from previous years not allowed to participate?"

"I'm not sure about the details, but the rules have changed this year. Besides the new disciples, servant disciples who were previously eliminated can also sign up. If they complete the trial, they can also become formal disciples." Zhao Yu explained, somewhat impatiently.

"I see, congratulations, Brother! With your potential, after the intensive training, your strength will surely skyrocket! The new disciples will face a lot of pressure!"

Huang Fatty bowed and smiled. Hearing this news, he was also excited.

Although his strength was poor, there were still a few years before the new disciples' trial. According to Zhao Yu, he also had a chance to complete the trial and become a formal disciple.

"Enough with the congratulations. You should sign up too. When the trial starts, I'll call my brother Zhao Yan to join."

"Brother Zhao Yan? He's the strongest among us servant disciples. With him, it will definitely be foolproof. But... during the new disciples' trial?"

"Exactly! Elder Song's training will end when the new disciples' trial begins. And where else is more suitable for action than the new disciples' trial?" Zhao Yu's eyes turned cold, and he turned and left.

...