"Deceive you? I really didn't make a move. You ran into the sword yourself and died. Can you blame me for that?" Su Shi'er said expressionlessly.
This guy had been trying to kill him from the start. Moreover, his cultivation was far superior. Letting him go would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains.
Though tempted by the Zhu fruit, he hadn't lost his mind.
Talking so much with the opponent was merely to make him completely lower his guard. For Su Shi'er, conserving a bit more energy meant having a bit more ability to face any crisis that might arise at any moment.
"Ah! You... you bastard! You won't die a good death!" The turbaned youth shouted hysterically, blood streaming from his mouth.
In just a few breaths, he lay on the ground, life almost drained, utterly weak. His scattered gaze fell on Su Shi'er, and he began to plead, "Please! Please save me, I don't want to die! I still want to reach the pinnacle of the Great Dao..."
But whether he cursed or begged, Su Shi'er stood coldly by, ignoring him.
A few minutes later, the turbaned youth lay motionless on the ground, lifeless, his eyes wide open in a deathly stare.
Su Shi'er drew the White Mist Sword, struck a few times from a distance to ensure the person was truly dead, then sighed in relief and approached with his sword.
He's really dead! Su Shi'er stood there, a bit dazed. After all, it was his first time killing someone. Besides the relief of surviving, there was also a hollow feeling in his heart.
However, over the years, the number of demonic beasts that died by his hand was countless, and his mind was already quite resilient.
After just a brief moment of distraction, he regained his composure. He picked up everything useful from the person and the ground, then threw out a fireball, incinerating the corpse completely, and hurriedly left with the items.
Though the place was remote, the commotion from the fight was considerable, and he feared someone might come.
If discovered, he'd be dead for sure.
Private duels between fellow disciples were a serious taboo, and killing a fellow disciple was a capital offense.
Half an hour later, Su Shi'er returned to his residence.
He meditated quietly for a while, calming his mind and restoring the True Essence within his body, before taking out the items he had collected to examine them one by one.
The first thing he picked up was the identity token of the turbaned youth. Six small characters were clearly written on it: Heavenly Splendor Peak, Meng Tianyi.
"He was actually from Heavenly Splendor Peak? Well, according to the sect manual, Heavenly Splendor Peak is mostly sword cultivators. Since he claimed to be a sword cultivator, it's normal for him to be from Heavenly Splendor Peak!"
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Su Shi'er muttered softly, then sent out a fireball, burning the identity token to ashes.
After doing this, he picked up a round shield from the side.
Without the infusion of True Essence, the round shield had shrunk to the size of a palm. The patterns on it resembled turtle patterns, with three small characters faintly visible: Turtle Pattern Shield.
"No wonder this round shield could block attacks from a High Grade Ritual Artifact; it's actually a Mid Grade Ritual Artifact. Luckily, I attacked at close range earlier. Otherwise, if he had activated this Turtle Pattern Shield in advance, who knows who would have won!"
"It's just a pity that the Turtle Pattern Shield has a crack. I wonder if the mysterious Pill Furnace can repair the crack after tempering it."
Looking at the long crack on the Turtle Pattern Shield in his hand, Su Shi'er felt both fortunate and a bit pained.
After some thought, he took out the mysterious Pill Furnace, injected a bit of True Essence into it, making the Pill Furnace slightly larger than the Turtle Pattern Shield.
Then he tossed the Turtle Pattern Shield inside.
Just like when he tempered the White Mist Sword, as soon as the Turtle Pattern Shield was placed inside, it was enveloped in a faint blue light.
A few breaths later, the transformation stopped. Su Shi'er carefully put away the mysterious Pill Furnace and then re-examined the Turtle Pattern Shield.
After tempering, the Turtle Pattern Shield was only half its original size, and its entire body was crystal clear. The sand-brown shield faintly emitted a crystalline glow.
"This... this has actually become a Top Grade Ritual Artifact?"
Su Shi'er's eyes widened in delight. In the cultivation world, defensive artifacts were even more precious and rare than offensive ones.
And a Top Grade defensive artifact was no less valuable than ordinary spatial artifacts.
With such a treasure in hand, his safety was significantly enhanced.
"If I had this treasure before, Meng Tianyi's Sword Qi couldn't have hurt me at all!"
"But, come to think of it, I should thank him for bringing me such a good thing before the newcomer trial."
"It's just a pity that the crack on the Turtle Pattern Shield wasn't repaired. It seems the mysterious Pill Furnace can only temper and enhance the grade of treasures, not repair them."
Suppressing his excitement, Su Shi'er took a few more glances at the Turtle Pattern Shield before carefully tucking it into his chest.
Although it had a crack, the Turtle Pattern Shield, now a Top Grade Ritual Artifact, had greatly enhanced defensive power. The crack was a secondary concern.
Putting away the Turtle Pattern Shield, Su Shi'er also stored the two Low Grade Gathering Qi Pills and three escape talismans he found.
His gaze then fell on the last item he found on Meng Tianyi.
It was a book that Meng Tianyi had kept close to him.
The book looked old and worn, with the cover missing. The pages were yellowed, and many characters were blurred.
But since it was kept close to him, Su Shi'er thought it must be something valuable.
Opening the pages, Su Shi'er's pupils immediately shrank upon seeing the content.
In an instant, veins bulged all over his body, and he became agitated and furious.
Breathing heavily, he quickly flipped through the book.
Most of the book recorded a sword cultivation technique called the Skeleton Sword Technique.
This sword technique could only be practiced by those with a cultivation level above the sixth level of the Qi Refining stage, and it only contained parts for the sixth to ninth levels of the Qi Refining stage.
Moreover, practicing it required the use of a large number of Yin-attributed treasures and corpses.
Once mastered, it allowed the user to unleash a unique Skeleton Sword Qi, which could devour the blood of living beings during attacks. The more blood devoured, the stronger the Sword Qi.
Such a description immediately reminded Su Shi'er of the black-clothed person who killed his grandfather and the villagers.
He remembered clearly that the Sword Qi unleashed by the black-clothed person that day was skeleton-like, almost identical to the description in the book, and even more powerful.
"Skeleton Sword Technique! Could it be... that black-clothed person is hiding in Heavenly Splendor Peak?"
"However, although this technique was carried by Meng Tianyi, it doesn't rule out the possibility that he obtained it elsewhere."
"It seems finding that black-clothed person will require some effort. No matter where he is, I will find him eventually. But for now, the priority is to enhance my strength."
Su Shi'er sat on the bed, lost in thought for a while before regaining his focus.
Over the past four years, although he had been diligently cultivating in the Discarded Pill Room, he had also been secretly searching for the black-clothed person's whereabouts.
Unfortunately, he had found nothing.
Although he still had no useful clues at the moment, at least he now knew the name and characteristics of the sword technique used by that person.
Taking a deep breath, Su Shi'er picked up the unknown book again and continued to read.
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