Chapter 113 – The Legendary Sword, Blackice!
by spirapiraChapter 113 – The Legendary Sword, Blackice!
“A breakthrough is coming!”
The thought flashed through Su Xing’s mind, and he hurriedly sat down to meditate and regulate his breathing.
Immediately after, the aura around Su Xing surged dramatically.
Nascent Soul seventh layer… Nascent Soul eighth layer… Nascent Soul ninth layer!
Nascent Soul Stage, Grand Perfection!
In just one short minute, Su Xing’s aura had climbed three full stages.
After his cultivation rose to Nascent Soul Stage, Grand Perfection, Su Xing didn’t rush to test his new powers. Instead, he kept his eyes closed and continued meditating.
A quarter of an hour later, once Su Xing had fully familiarized himself with this power, he slowly opened his eyes and began to comprehend the increase in strength that came with his explosive rise in cultivation.
Whoosh!
With a thought, a ball of flame appeared in Su Xing’s hand—the divine ability, Separation Fire Technique.
Su Xing manipulated the flame, making it dance continuously in his palm.
From a faint flicker to a roaring blaze, Su Xing kept experimenting.
After a moment, Su Xing withdrew the Separation Fire technique with satisfaction, murmuring:
“Not bad. After reaching Nascent Soul Stage, Grand Perfection, the density of spiritual energy in my body has nearly doubled! And the quality of my spiritual energy has improved too!”
“Even maintaining the Separation Fire Technique, I could go a full day and night now without feeling fatigued…”
Su Xing nodded with satisfaction.
Beyond the leap in combat strength, the more important benefit of his cultivation breakthrough was that Su Xing could now refine pills more consistently and efficiently!
After all, for Su Xing at this point, pill refinement was the most important use of his spiritual energy.
“Nascent Soul Perfection—this was a cultivation level I expected… The question is, how effective will this Alchemy Prodigy talent actually be in practice?”
After the simulation ended, Su Xing began his daily routine of refining pills.
The path of cultivation was long and tedious. Su Xing had to keep his composure and refine enough pills every week—only then would his strength improve faster!
“To think that just over half a year ago, I was merely a Qi Refinement stage cultivator, equivalent to a Bronze-stage Class User… Who would’ve thought that half a year later, I’d become a Nascent Soul patriarch! I’m already close to Martial Emperor level strength!”
Between batches of pills, Su Xing couldn’t help but let his mind wander. The rapid surge in power was making him a bit cocky.
“Holy crap! I didn’t control the heat properly—this batch is ruined!”
It wasn’t until he saw the mass of black gunk inside the pill furnace that dark lines appeared across Su Xing’s face.
He’d refined Beauty-Preserving Pills so many times he could do it in his sleep, yet one moment of distraction today and he’d still botched it.
“Damn it, I really can’t afford to get cocky! Stay steady, don’t get reckless, Su Xing!”
Su Xing silently chanted a few self-motivational phrases, adjusted his mindset, and then resumed refining pills.
In just one short week, Su Xing had refined nearly six thousand pills!
This was a production speed that Su Xing previously could only achieve by grinding day and night without rest, but now he accomplished it in just ten double-hours of work.
The efficiency had improved considerably, giving Su Xing an extra two double-hours of leisure time.
As for sleep… for Su Xing, now a Nascent Soul patriarch, he only needed one double-hour of seated meditation per day to feel fully refreshed.
Soon, a week passed.
That day, Su Xing gathered his pills and was about to head to the usual villa to meet Jin Congxue, when he received a message from her ahead of time.
“Boss! Come early today—this lady has prepared a big surprise for you! Want to guess what it is?”
Su Xing smiled when he saw Jin Congxue’s message and tried replying:
“Let me guess… is it the high-quality sword-type weapon I asked you to find last time? You found one?”
Jin Congxue: “…What the hell, can you read fortunes? How did you guess that?”
Su Xing: “Hehe! Want me to do a reading for you? Would you like your love life read, or your career line?”
Jin Congxue: “Quit being cheeky and get over here! Otherwise this lady is throwing this sword away! (eye-roll.jpg)”
Su Xing sent a few more replies, then hurried toward the villa.
A dozen minutes later, Su Xing arrived at the villa’s room and saw Jin Congxue wearing a purple dress with light makeup.
Two words: stunning.
As always, Su Xing and Jin Congxue had a meal together first.
Then Jin Congxue mysteriously retrieved a sword case from her storage ring and handed it to Su Xing.
“Go on, open it and take a look!”
Jin Congxue prompted.
Su Xing could barely contain his excitement as he opened the sword case, revealing a sword as black as ink from tip to pommel.
Su Xing drew the sword from the case and pulled it from its scabbard. Instantly, he felt an irrepressible stirring in his heart.
It was as if this sword had been made for him…
Su Xing gripped the sword, and immediately felt a cool sensation wash over his heart.
It wasn’t the kind of cold that made one uncomfortable, but rather a pleasant, soothing coolness that calmed the mind.
“What a fine sword!”
A sharp glint flashed in Su Xing’s eyes. With this sword in his hand, he could almost feel the sword’s intentions, and it put his heart at ease.
Su Xing knew this was his Sword Maniac talent at work, allowing him to achieve better harmony with a sword.
Su Xing’s gaze fell to the hilt, where a translucent black square jade was inlaid. Carved upon the jade in bold, elegant calligraphy were two characters.
Blackice!
Su Xing froze the moment he saw those two characters.
“This sword—it’s Blackice?!”
The words burst from Su Xing’s mouth before he could even remember that Jin Congxue was standing right beside him.
Seeing Su Xing’s enraptured expression, Jin Congxue pursed her lips and said:
“That’s right! A legendary-grade weapon—Blackice! It’s one of the few quality sword-type weapons produced from dungeons!”
“Do you have any idea how much effort this lady went through to get this weapon?”
But Su Xing’s entire being was focused on the sword at this moment. He hadn’t even heard what Jin Congxue said beside him.
Could there really be such a coincidence in this world?
This sword was the very weapon Su Xing had obtained in a previous dungeon simulation, worth tens of millions of energy points. And now, through some twist of fate, it had found its way back into Su Xing’s hands…
Su Xing had obtained this sword more than a decade earlier than in the simulation.
“Could it be… that fate truly exists?”
Su Xing murmured softly.
At that moment, the Blackice sword in Su Xing’s hand began to emit a soft, resonant hum, as if welcoming Su Xing as its master.
“Truly a magnificent sword!”
Su Xing held Blackice in his hand and performed a flourish, finding it incomparably natural.
Su Xing’s sword techniques had originally been honed using this very Blackice sword. Now that Blackice was in his hands, Su Xing didn’t even need a period of adjustment—he could wield it right away.
Without exaggeration, this Blackice sword boosted Su Xing’s combat strength by at least thirty percent! After all, Human Sword, Minor Mastery was currently one of Su Xing’s greatest offensive assets.
When Jin Congxue saw the Blackice sword humming in Su Xing’s hand, she too was inwardly shocked:
“I never expected you to gain this sword’s recognition so quickly!” “Even those swordsman Class Users typically need years to earn a sword’s recognition… This is the first time I’ve ever seen someone so perfectly matched with a sword!”
Su Xing raised an eyebrow curiously after hearing this:
“Gain the sword’s recognition?”
Jin Congxue nodded slightly:
“Divine swords possess spirits! Although this Blackice isn’t a divine artifact, its legendary-grade quality is enough for it to have developed a faint sentient will.”
“And this sentient will grows stronger through interaction with its master…”
“A sword with a sentient will can even choose its own master. If it doesn’t like someone, the sword will actually resist the swordsman. So whether the sword’s temperament is compatible is undoubtedly crucial…”
After hearing Jin Congxue’s explanation, Su Xing felt even more affection for the Blackice in his hand. This legendary sword truly shared a connection with him.
Su Xing believed that in his hands, this sword would absolutely unleash its maximum power.
After keeping the sword close on his person, Su Xing discussed business matters with Jin Congxue.
He handed over the pills he’d refined that week to Jin Congxue and received the next week’s goods from her in return.
After Jin Congxue finished counting the pills, her eyes widened with astonishment:
“Another six thousand pills… Goodness, I really don’t know how you manage it!”
Su Xing smiled without answering. Nothing special—just years of practice.
With Dual Focus, Su Xing could refine two batches of pills simultaneously, which already doubled his speed. Combined with his talent bonuses, and the fact that he was refining unranked pills…
It was a piece of cake!
Jin Congxue put the pills away, then said to Su Xing:
“Oh right, the exotic metal mining dungeon you asked me to apply for last time—there’s been progress… The military just released two previously-mined exotic metal mineral deposits.”
“Most commercial associations apply for secondary mining zones—ones that have been officially mined for decades and are no longer needed, so they’re released for civilian use…”
Su Xing frowned slightly upon hearing this:
“A previously-mined zone—can the quality of the exotic metal still be guaranteed?”
Jin Congxue nodded:
“The mining zones that circulate among commercial associations have mostly been mined for over a hundred years. These dungeon zones produce exotic metal at extremely low efficiency… but there’s still profit, and many associations actually scramble for them.”
“But military zones that have only been mined for a few decades are different. Since they haven’t been released for civilian use yet, the quantity of exotic metal is actually quite abundant… These are already the highest-quality mining zones an ordinary commercial association can obtain.”
“Of course, these zones can only produce first or second-tier exotic metals. Anything higher grade… is already under government control.”
Su Xing nodded slightly.
He truly didn’t understand these matters. If Su Xing wanted to acquire large quantities of exotic metal from higher-grade mining zones, he could perhaps contact the government and demonstrate his value—then obtaining a high-grade mining dungeon would be effortless.
But while that would dramatically accelerate his energy acquisition, it would be far too dangerous.
The assassination attempts Su Xing had experienced in his simulations were proof enough…
Until he had the absolute power to protect himself, Su Xing would never put himself in harm’s way.
“In that case, I’ll leave it to you… I’m not very knowledgeable about this stuff,” Su Xing said.
Jin Congxue nodded:
“Don’t worry, it’s basically a done deal. I have very strong connections with the military!”
“It’s just that the approval process is a bit troublesome. It’ll probably take at least four or five months, maybe even half a year…”
Su Xing nodded without saying much, but thought to himself:
Of course your connections are strong. The Martial Emperor of Great Xia, the general guarding Demon-Sealing Pass, is your grandfather…
After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Jin Congxue, Su Xing returned to school and expertly entered his Blessed Spirit Field.
First, he converted the equipment and dungeon items Jin Congxue had given him into energy.
This week’s goods totaled 9.8 million simulation energy points.
Although it wasn’t as much as last time, it was still plenty for Su Xing.
An average of ten million energy per week was already more than enough for Su Xing, as long as he was frugal in the dungeons and avoided using immersive simulation.
Of course, once his cultivation reached the Spirit Transformation stage or the Divine Power Realm, it probably wouldn’t be enough anymore.
After all, at the Nascent Soul stage, Su Xing needed a million energy points to break through each sublevel.
At the Spirit Transformation stage, perhaps ten million would be needed just to advance a single sublevel…
“Sigh, when it comes down to it, I’m still short on energy!”
“For now, all I can do is hope that Jin Congxue gets the mining dungeon rights approved soon…”
Su Xing said this, then opened the simulation panel.
On the afternoon of April 22nd, New Era 2024, Su Xing punctually started a new round of simulation.
“Begin simulation!”
【Ding! This simulation costs 3,300 energy points. Remaining energy: 24,763,003 points. Remaining simulation attempts: unlimited.】
【Simulation begins!】
【Drawing a green talent costs 1,000 energy points, a blue talent costs 10,000 energy points, a purple talent costs 100,000 energy points. Would you like to draw?】
Although Su Xing already anticipated a future energy shortage…
But the philosophy was: save where you should save, spend where you should spend. A mere 100,000 energy for a purple talent draw was something Su Xing could easily afford.
So Su Xing said without hesitation:
“Draw a purple talent!”
Immediately, the simulator’s notification chimed in Su Xing’s ears.
【Congratulations! You have obtained the purple talent: The Prettiest Guy in the Room!】
【The Prettiest Guy in the Room】: Purple talent. Wherever you go, you are the center of attention. Even walking down the street, your head-turning rate is one hundred percent. No matter where you are, you will draw the attention of everyone around you. Of course, being too eye-catching isn’t always a good thing…
Su Xing frowned slightly when he saw this newly drawn talent.
The Prettiest Guy in the Room—this seemed to be a conceptual talent.
Su Xing couldn’t figure out what use this thing had for the moment. He could only test it out within the simulation.
【In the Blessed Spirit Field, you become aware that you are in a simulation.】
【You take out a mirror to examine your face and discover that you’re still as handsome and dashing as ever—no difference whatsoever.】
【So you carry on refining pills as usual, preparing to deliver next week’s goods to Jin Congxue.】
【Just then, the spirit chickens you keep penned up in their coop all turn to look at you. One by one, they hop out of the pen and waddle toward you, clucking and chattering as if trying to say something.】
【Using your Level 10 Beast Tongue, you successfully hear the chickens’ inner thoughts: “Huh? That two-legged beast is SO handsome! Did any chicken hear me? Everyone come look…”】
【After hearing the spirit chickens’ conversation, you are immediately rendered speechless. You then hurriedly renovate the chicken coop to prevent them from coming out to gawk at you.】
【But in the days that follow, you attract attention wherever you go. While walking through campus, an old man on a bicycle nearly gets hit by a BMW because he was too busy staring at you.】
【You end up getting scammed over the incident and have to pay 66,000 in compensation!】