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"Hmm? A talisman?"

Su Shier had read about talismans in the sect's manual and was momentarily stunned before realizing what was happening.

His gaze turned cold as he glanced at the nearby servant disciple.

The servant disciple had already collapsed to the ground in fear. Seeing Su Shier's sharp gaze, he didn’t wait for Su Shier to speak and quickly pulled out a first-grade Escape Light Talisman.

The talisman activated, and in the next second, the servant disciple also vanished.

Su Shier frowned but didn’t pursue them.

The sect's rules strictly forbade internal conflicts among disciples. The abandoned pill room was remote and quiet, making it the perfect place to act without being noticed.

But if he chased after them, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t run into others.

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

"Too bad about those thirty high-grade Foundation Pills!"

"Still, this sword isn’t bad. It seems to be a low-grade magical tool, as described in the books. I wonder how much it’s worth? Even if it’s not as valuable as those Foundation Pills, it shouldn’t be too far off."

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

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

The blade gleamed with a cold light, clearly sharp and deadly.

Whether in appearance or quality, it was undoubtedly a low-grade magical tool.

Magical tools were treasures used by cultivators, and only the unique true essence of cultivators could activate them.

Above magical tools were spirit tools, magic treasures, and more… but those were far beyond the reach of Qi Refining stage cultivators.

Both magical tools and spirit tools were graded into: low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and top-grade.

Su Shier recalled the descriptions from the sect's manual and tried channeling a trace of his true essence into the sword.

As the true essence flowed into it, the sword trembled slightly, and a bright light emanated from the blade.

Su Shier felt a sudden inspiration and swung the sword.

"Bang!"

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

"Not bad, not bad! This is indeed a good sword! With this, my offensive power will increase significantly!"

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

The frustration of losing the Foundation Pills was instantly swept away.

Returning to his room, Su Shier sat cross-legged on the bed and pulled out a medicine bottle from his pocket. Seeing it was empty, he realized he had used up all the Qi Gathering Pills he had refined earlier.

He then pulled out another bottle of discarded Qi Gathering Pills and the mysterious pill furnace.

Just as he was about to toss the discarded pills into the furnace, his gaze fell on the mysterious pill furnace, and he remembered the earlier experience of activating the low-grade magical tool.

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

Su Shier’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as he picked up the mysterious pill furnace and began channeling his true essence.

The moment his true essence touched the pill furnace, Su Shier’s expression changed. In an instant, he felt a suction force, and his true essence began to drain at an alarming rate. It felt as if his entire body was being emptied.

The sensation reminded him of the first time he had used the Fire Control Technique.

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

As it fell, the pill furnace’s size doubled, and in the blink of an eye, it became two feet wide.

Su Shier tilted his head, examining the pill furnace. To him, aside from its increased size, it looked no different from before.

It was still ancient, worn, and devoid of any aura.

If he hadn’t seen it grow larger with his own eyes, he would have thought it had always been this size.

"Huh… it just got bigger? Or does it have other functions? Still, with this size, it can hold a lot more stuff!"

"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?"

With a raised eyebrow, he placed the sword into the enlarged pill furnace.

As soon as the sword entered, it was enveloped in a green light. In the next moment, the sword began to shrink rapidly.

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

"This…"

Su Shier was startled and was about to retrieve the sword when he took a closer look and was overcome with joy.

"How… how is it possible that in such a short time, the sword has become a high-grade magical tool?"

"If I continue refining it, what will happen?"

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

However, after becoming a high-grade magical tool, the sword showed no further changes.

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

Seeing this, Su Shier quickly retrieved the sword.

After tucking the now-normal-sized pill furnace back into his pocket, he examined the sword.

"Can it only refine up to a high-grade magical tool? Does that mean the sword’s potential is limited to this level?"

After pondering for a few minutes, Su Shier came to what he thought was a reasonable conclusion.

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

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

As soon as the servant disciple saw the sword-wielding youth, he was met with a flurry of punches and kicks.

"Fat Huang, is this the so-called 'weakling' you told me about? A trash spiritual root? Easy to deal with?"

The sword-wielding youth, Zhao Yu, grew angrier as he spoke, and his blows became heavier.

The servant disciple, Fat Huang, lay on the ground, soon beaten to a bruised and swollen mess.

"Zhao… Zhao Yu, spare me! I… I didn’t expect that kid to be so strong!"

Fat Huang covered his head, feeling utterly wronged.

In his opinion, Zhao Yu, a second-level Qi Refining cultivator, losing to a first-level Qi Refining cultivator had nothing to do with him!

"Spare you? That White Mist Sword was a low-grade magical tool! I spent fifty high-grade Foundation Pills to get it! How can I spare you?!" Zhao Yu stepped on Fat Huang’s body, his teeth grinding in anger.

His furious eyes gleamed with murderous intent.

Fat Huang shuddered and quickly shouted, "Brother, don’t be hasty! There’s something strange about this!"

Zhao Yu glared coldly at Fat Huang. "What’s strange?"

"That kid definitely has a trash spiritual root. The peak master confirmed it himself, so there’s no mistake. Otherwise, the peak master wouldn’t have sent him to guard the abandoned pill room."

"But he managed to reach the first level of Qi Refining in such a short time and has such strength. I suspect he must have some kind of treasure!"

Fat Huang’s eyes darted around as he spoke quickly.

"A treasure?!" Zhao Yu’s eyes gleamed with interest.

"Exactly! Otherwise, how could a trash spiritual root be so powerful? Why don’t we gather a few more people and quietly take care of him? Then the treasure will be ours!" Fat Huang nodded vigorously, his expression turning cold as he made a slashing motion with his hand.

"Hmm… your theory isn’t without merit. But let’s keep this quiet for now! We’ll discuss it further when I return!" Zhao Yu’s eyes narrowed, and he lifted his foot off Fat Huang.

When it came to treasures, he wasn’t about to let others in on the secret.

"Brother, are you leaving?" Fat Huang finally relaxed and quickly asked.

"Right! Elder Song from the Transmission Hall has gathered twenty disciples for intensive training in preparation for the upcoming newcomer trial. I have to report tomorrow morning, and I’m one of them." Zhao Yu said with a hint of pride.

"Intensive training for the newcomer trial? Didn’t they say that servant disciples from previous years couldn’t participate?" Fat Huang was puzzled.

"I’m not sure about the details, but I heard the rules have changed this year. Besides newcomers,Miscellaneous Disciple who were previously eliminated can also sign up. As long as they pass the trial, they can become official disciples." Zhao Yu explained impatiently.

"I see. Congratulations, Brother! With your potential, after the intensive training, your strength will surely skyrocket! The newcomers this year will be under a lot of pressure!"

Fat Huang quickly clasped his hands and smiled. Hearing this news, his heart also stirred.

Although his strength was lacking, the newcomer trial was still a few years away. According to Zhao Yu, he might also have a chance to pass the trial and become an official disciple.

"Enough with the congratulations. You should sign up too. When the trial starts, I’ll call my older brother, Zhao Yan, to join us." Zhao Yu said dismissively.

"Brother Zhao Yan? He’s the strongest among the Miscellaneous Disciple! With him involved, it’s a sure thing. But… are we really going to act during the newcomer trial?" Fat Huang’s spirits lifted, but he couldn’t help asking.

"Exactly! Elder Song’s training will continue until the newcomer trial begins. And what better place to act than during the trial itself?" Zhao Yu’s eyes gleamed with cold intent as he turned and walked away.

...

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