"Hmm? A talisman?"

Su Shi'er had already read about talismans in the sect manual, and after a brief moment of surprise, he quickly understood.

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

The servant disciple was already so frightened that he sat paralyzed on the ground. Seeing Su Shi'er's sharp gaze sweep over, he didn't wait for Su Shi'er to speak and quickly produced a Level One Escape Talisman.

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

Su Shi'er frowned but didn't pursue him.

The sect rules strictly prohibited internal conflicts among disciples. This Discarded Pill Room was remote and quiet, making it easy to act without anyone noticing.

But if he chased outside, there was no guarantee he wouldn't encounter others.

"Forget it, I'll deal with it next time! After this incident, they probably won't come back for a while."

"It's just a pity about those thirty High Grade Foundation Pills!"

"However, this sword is quite good. It seems to be a Low Grade Ritual Artifact as recorded 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 bad."

Mumbling softly, Su Shi'er looked down at the sword in his hand. The two-foot-long sword was entirely dark green, and it was unclear what material it was made of.

The hilt had two small characters engraved: White Mist.

The blade shimmered with a cold light, clearly extremely sharp.

In terms of appearance and quality, it was undoubtedly a Low Grade Ritual Artifact.

Ritual Artifacts are treasures used by cultivators, and only the unique True Essence of a cultivator can activate them.

Above Ritual Artifacts, there are Spiritual Artifacts, Spiritual Treasures, and so on... but those are too distant for a Qi Refining stage cultivator.

Both Ritual Artifacts and Spiritual Artifacts are graded as Low, Mid, High, and Top Grade.

Recalling the introduction in the sect manual, Su Shi'er tried to channel a trace of True Essence into the sword.

With the infusion of True Essence, the sword trembled slightly, and the blade emitted a bright light.

Feeling inspired, Su Shi'er swung the sword.

"Bang!"

An invisible Sword Qi shot out, leaving a noticeable mark on the ground.

"Not bad, not bad, it's indeed a good sword! With this treasure sword, my attack power can increase significantly!"

Seeing the power of the Low Grade Ritual Artifact, Su Shi'er was overjoyed.

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

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Returning to his room, Su Shi'er sat cross-legged on the bed and took out a medicine bottle from his pocket. Seeing the empty bottle, he realized that the Gathering Qi Pills he refined last time were all used up.

He then took out a bottle of Discarded Gathering Qi Pills and the mysterious Pill Furnace from beside him.

Just as he was about to throw the discarded pills in, his gaze fell on the mysterious Pill Furnace, and he suddenly remembered the scene of activating the Low Grade Ritual Artifact earlier.

"This Pill Furnace must be a treasure. What if I infuse True Essence into it?"

With a glint in his eye, Su Shi'er picked up the mysterious Pill Furnace and began channeling his True Essence.

As soon as the True Essence touched the mysterious Pill Furnace, Su Shi'er's expression changed. In an instant, he felt a suction force emerge, and his True Essence rapidly drained, making him feel hollowed out.

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

Fortunately, this state lasted only a moment. Once his True Essence was exhausted, the Pill Furnace slipped from his hand.

As it left his hand, the Pill Furnace doubled in size, and in the blink of an eye, it became two feet wide.

Su Shi'er tilted his head, examining the Pill Furnace before him. In his eyes, aside from its increased size, it looked no different from usual.

The same ancient, worn-out appearance, with no aura flowing from it.

If he hadn't seen the Pill Furnace enlarge with his own eyes, he would have thought it was always meant to be this size.

"Uh... it just got bigger? Or does it have other functions? But with such a large size, it can hold quite a lot!"

"I wonder if this Pill Furnace can refine other things?"

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

"Should I try?"

With a raised eyebrow, he placed the Flying Sword into the enlarged Pill Furnace.

As soon as the Flying Sword entered, it was enveloped in a layer of blue light. In the next second, the Flying Sword rapidly shrank.

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

"This..."

Su Shi'er was startled and was about to retrieve the Flying Sword when he looked closely and was overjoyed.

"In such a short time, the Flying Sword became a High Grade Ritual Artifact?"

"What if I continue refining it?"

Su Shi'er's eyes lit up, and he stared intently at the Pill Furnace.

But after becoming a High Grade Ritual Artifact, the sword showed no further changes.

Instead, a few minutes later, the Pill Furnace began to shrink.

Seeing this, Su Shi quickly retrieved the Flying Sword.

After putting the Pill Furnace, now back to its original size, into his pocket, he focused on the Flying Sword.

"Can it only be refined to the level of a High Grade Ritual Artifact? Does this mean the Flying Sword's potential is limited to this?"

After examining it for a moment, Su Shi'er concluded with what he believed to be a reasonable assumption.

Smiling, he stored the Flying Sword and resumed his cultivation.

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

Upon seeing the servant disciple, the sword-wielding youth who had lost his sword immediately started punching and kicking.

"Huang Fatty, is this the worthless trash you said would be easy to deal with? Mixed Spirit Root? Easy to handle?"

The sword-wielding youth grew angrier as he spoke, and the more furious he became, the harder he hit.

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

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

The servant disciple clutched his head, feeling extremely wronged.

In his view, Zhao Yu, a Qi Refining cultivator at the second level, couldn't defeat a Qi Refining cultivator at the first level. What did that have to do with him?

"Spare you? That White Mist Sword is a Low Grade Ritual Artifact. I spent fifty High Grade Foundation Pills to get it. How can I spare you?" Zhao Yu ground his teeth in anger, his foot pressing down on Huang Fatty's body.

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

Huang Fatty shivered, quickly shouting, "Senior Brother, don't be hasty. There's something strange about this!"

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

"That kid is definitely a Mixed Spirit Root. The Peak Lord himself said so, and he wouldn't be wrong. Otherwise, the Peak Lord wouldn't have sent him to guard the Discarded Pill Room."

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

Huang Fatty quickly explained, his eyes darting around.

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

"Exactly! Otherwise, how could a Mixed Spirit Root trash be so powerful? Why don't we gather more people and quietly take him out? Then the treasure will be ours," Huang Fatty nodded repeatedly, his gaze turning cold as he made a throat-slitting gesture.

"Hmm... your speculation isn't without merit. But for now, keep this quiet! We'll discuss it when I return!" Zhao Yu's eyes shifted as he lifted his foot off Huang Fatty.

When it came to treasures, he didn't want to let others benefit easily.

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

"Yes! Elder Song from the Transmission Hall has gathered twenty disciples for special training for this year's newcomer trial. I have to report in first thing tomorrow morning, and I'm one of them," Zhao Yu said with a hint of pride.

"Special training for the newcomer trial? Weren't past servant disciples not allowed to participate?" Huang Fatty was puzzled.

"I'm not sure about the specifics, but I know the rules have changed this year. Besides newcomers, past servant disciples who were eliminated can also sign up. As long as they complete the trial, they can become official disciples," Zhao Yu explained impatiently.

"I see. Congratulations, Senior Brother! With your potential, your strength will surely soar after the special training! The newcomers this year will be under a lot of pressure!" Huang Fatty quickly congratulated him, his heart also stirring with excitement.

Although his strength was poor, there were still a few years before the newcomer trial. According to Zhao Yu, he might have a chance to complete the trial and become an official disciple.

"Enough with the congratulations. You should sign up too. When the trial starts, I'll call my big brother Zhao Yan to join us," Zhao Yu said with a dismissive wave.

"Senior Brother Zhao Yan? He's the strongest among us servant disciples. If he participates, we'll be unstoppable. But... are we going to act during the newcomer trial?" Huang Fatty was excited but then asked.

"Yes! Elder Song's training will end just as the newcomer trial begins. Besides, what better place to act than during the newcomer trial?" Zhao Yu's eyes turned cold as he spoke and then walked away.