Chapter 10: The Demon Sword Dragon Kui

Chapter 10: The Demon Sword Long Kui

With the experience gained from refining the Hemostatic Herb, after consuming seven Qi-nourishing fruits and four Poppies, Xiao Se finally succeeded in extracting the essences of the two medicinal materials. Unfortunately, the quality was somewhat disappointing.

After completing the first batch of materials for the Hemostatic Powder, Xiao Se did not rush to fuse the three extracts together. Extracting the essence from herbs was one thing, but merging their medicinal power was far more difficult.

Repeating the previous process, with each refinement attempt, both the success rate and the quality gradually improved.

Two hours later.

Xiao Se’s fighting spirit was completely exhausted, and he collapsed weakly to the ground. By then, he had only managed to produce five batches of herbal essences. Though each batch was better than the last, it was still far from sufficient.

Enduring the pain of depleted fighting spirit, Xiao Se struggled to sit upright before the alchemy cauldron, circulating the Burning Technique to restore his internal fighting spirit. Then, he continued refining the herbal essences.

When hungry, he fished and grilled by the pool beneath the waterfall. When tired, he lay down in the cave for a short rest.

This cycle repeated until finally, after a week of relentless effort, Xiao Se had completely refined all the Hemostatic Herb, Qi-nourishing fruits, and Poppies in the valley’s herb garden.

He obtained two hundred batches of essence.

After using up the first twenty or so batches of poorer quality materials, Xiao Se finally succeeded in concocting the first pill of his life—the Hemostatic Powder.

Staring at the viscous substance in the jade bottle in his hand, a faint smile curved Xiao Se’s lips. “Now, I can truly call myself an alchemist. I hope this first pill brings me good fortune.” He then instructed the system to exchange this pill.

[Beep. Congratulations, host, you have obtained the demon sword sealed within the World Locking Demon Tower from The Legend of Sword and Fairy 3.]

“Demon sword?” Xiao Se’s face showed surprise.

---

The demon sword—it was indeed the demon sword.

Recalling his past life, seeing Long Kui throw herself twice into the sword casting furnace, Xiao Se had always felt regretful. He never imagined it would now fall into his hands.

Glancing around, the Hemostatic Powder in his hand had disappeared, but he found no trace of the demon sword. After searching in vain, Xiao Se called out in his mind, “System, didn’t I exchange for the demon sword? Where is the sword?”

[Beep. The system’s warehouse function has been activated. All exchanged items will be stored in the system warehouse.]

Hearing this, Xiao Se suddenly understood. A faint glow appeared in his hand, and a long sword with an unusual appearance, inscribed with strange runes and emitting a purple aura, floated before him.

Unlike the thick and heavy demon sword from the game, this sword had the elegance of one from a television drama—moderate in size, neither cumbersome nor flimsy.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Se slowly approached the demon sword. It seemed to sense him and began to tremble violently, emitting a piercing sword hum filled with endless sorrow and loneliness, which weighed heavily on Xiao Se’s heart.

Sensing Xiao Se’s emotional change, the demon sword ceased its mournful cries and allowed him to come closer.

Grasping the sword’s hilt with the back of his hand, Xiao Se felt his fighting spirit rapidly draining, while the sword’s purple glow grew even more dazzling.

“Damn it, if you keep sucking me dry, I’m going to become a second anti-inflammatory medicine,” he muttered lowly, his expression darkening.

Yet Xiao Se did not let go. Deep down, he sensed that if he released the sword now, he might lose this great opportunity.

“Ah!” He roared to the sky, gripping the sword’s handle with both hands, then suddenly exerted force, lifting it overhead. His tiger’s mouth cracked, trickling fresh blood.

“Hum—”

The blood stained the hilt; the demon sword emitted a muffled sound as the purple glow gradually retracted.

At this moment, Xiao Se’s pale face was covered in beads of sweat.

His cultivation technique, the Burning Technique, was only at the low yellow level, offering minimal power and endurance. The sword’s absorption instantly drained all his fighting spirit.

With the purple light completely withdrawn, Xiao Se could no longer hold on. The demon sword slipped from his grasp, clanging as it hit the cold ground. His shoulders, strained to maintain balance, finally collapsed; his legs gave way, and his body fell limp, gasping for fresh air as his chest heaved violently.

His entire body tingled painfully; even lifting a single finger was extremely difficult.

Suppressing exhaustion and soreness, amid groans of pain, Xiao Se struggled to rise. His trembling hands formed cultivation seals as he slowly closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.

---

Familiar with the original story, he knew this was the best time to cultivate.

While Xiao Se labored to restore his fighting spirit, the demon sword emitted a low humming groan. Two beams of light, one red and one blue, intertwined and merged, forming a graceful young woman clad in wide-sleeved ethereal robes. The girl’s form flickered between blue and red, seeming intangible; through her delicate body, the scenery behind her could faintly be seen.

She stared blankly at Xiao Se, seated cross-legged on the ground, restoring his fighting spirit. A trace of sorrow appeared on her exquisitely beautiful face. She approached, lifting a jade hand to touch his cheek but hesitated.

She could feel how depleted his fighting spirit was and knew he needed to recover quickly.

Gracefully sitting on a nearby stone slab, she rested her fragrant cheek on her hand, quietly watching him. The sorrow on her face faded, replaced by relief and a flood of emotions.

After an hour of closed-eye cultivation, the once dim and lifeless energy vortex in Xiao Se’s body brightened again, nearly doubling in luminosity.

Checking his cultivation level carefully, Xiao Se found he remained a one-star Fighter and sighed in relief.

Slowly opening his eyes, the fatigue and soreness vanished. He felt comfort throughout his body, stretched lazily, and cracked his neck with crisp sounds, letting out a contented moan.

“Brother Wang, you’re awake!” A voice like heavenly music whispered in Xiao Se’s ear, intoxicating and sweet.

“What the—Wide-sleeved ethereal robe... Long Kui?” Xiao Se turned his head and exclaimed in surprise.

There, a blue-clad girl sat gracefully, resting her cheek on her hand, gazing at him tenderly.

“Brother Wang, you finally remember Long Kui,” the girl said, rising and then throwing herself into Xiao Se’s arms.

The warmth and softness against him felt unreal. Xiao Se called out in his mind, “System, what is going on? I know Long Kui’s soul is sealed within the demon sword, but why does she call me ‘brother’? I’m not Jing Tian.”

[Beep. System exclusive: quality guaranteed. At the moment of exchanging the demon sword for the Hemostatic Powder, Long Kui’s fate was irrevocably changed.]

“So, I replaced Long Kui’s memory of Long Yang and became her brother?”

[Beep. Correct.]

(The End of this chapter)