Chapter 148: Chapter 141: The Real Sword Pill
"What’s wrong?"
Seeing him remain silent, Wu Neng quickly looked at the box and saw a pill inside.
The pill was entirely silver and about the size of a silver coin.
Everyone quickly gathered around. After a good long look, they discovered that the pill was not a single, solid piece, but was instead formed by countless tiny swords, each smaller than a strand of hair, clustered together.
They were packed so tightly that at first glance, it looked like a complete metal pill.
"Is this... a Sword Pill?"
An older locksmith spoke up uncertainly. Seeing everyone looking at him, he cleared his throat twice.
"It appeared in an old movie from two hundred years ago called *Sword Immortal’s Quest for Love*. You could find it online a few decades ago, but not anymore..."
Everyone suddenly understood. No wonder they’d never heard of the movie.
At the same time, they looked at Chen Che with eyes full of envy. This was a truly incredible treasure!
"How much is it worth? At least a few million, right?"
"No way. A Tier One Pure Jun Sword is already over a million. A Sword Pill is at least a Tier Three Magical Artifact, so its value could easily be hundreds or even thousands of times greater. Plus, this is an antique, which makes it even more valuable!"
"If you sell it, you’ll be set for life. Your family wouldn’t be able to spend it all in seven or eight generations."
Even Wu Neng looked over, curious.
"I’m not going to sell it. I plan to keep it for myself."
If he were in Yunzhou, Chen Che would have definitely sold it immediately, because he wasn’t strong enough to protect it there. But on Earth Element Star, he had no such worries.
Besides, it wasn’t like he was short on money.
There was no need to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
No one was surprised.
They all knew about Chen Che. He had guaranteed admission to the Yiben Daoist School. He might even reach Foundation Establishment before graduating high school and could possibly condense a Golden Core within a hundred years.
Even if he didn’t use it himself, he could leave it for his descendants as a family heirloom.
「Back at home.」
Chen Che eagerly took out the Sword Pill and examined it carefully once more.
The Sword Pill was neither gold nor jade, and it was impossible to tell what material it was made of. It felt almost weightless in his hand, and even his Divine Sense couldn’t penetrate it, let alone determine how many Flying Swords it was composed of.
Moreover, every tiny sword fit together seamlessly, as if they were a single entity, making them impossible to separate.
He tried tapping it gently with his Pure Jun Sword, and a nick immediately appeared on the blade.
’This thing is incredibly hard... As for controlling it, it can’t be that simple.’
After examining it for a while to no avail, Chen Che tried to control it. After infusing it with True Essence, the Sword Pill immediately took flight, zipping nimbly around him as if it were an extension of his own arm. But he instinctively felt that as a Tier Three Magical Artifact, its use shouldn’t be the same as an ordinary Flying Sword.
’There’s no accompanying Sacrificial Refining Technique, and I don’t know its specific grade either.’
He searched the safe box again, but there was nothing inside except for the Sword Pill.
After a moment’s thought, he immediately opened his computer and started searching for information related to Sword Pills.
But the webpages were flooded with news about ’A Sword Pill Discovered at He City God Temple.’ Reporters from half the Immortal Sect had rushed over, not to mention tourists trying their luck and influencers and clout-chasers trying to ride the hype.
Skipping past all the news, he spent a good while searching before he finally found a relatively complete description:
Sword Pill!
This is a special, Flying Sword-like Magical Artifact, a condensed collective of countless Flying Swords.
It belongs to the category of offensive Magical Artifacts and possesses extremely formidable killing power.
However, its forging difficulty far surpasses that of a Same-Tier Flying Sword, and the materials required can be a hundred or even a thousand times greater. Often, an entire Golden Core Clan could spend a lifetime and still not gather enough materials for a single Sword Pill.
Before the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall, there was a Sword Cultivator who, relying on a single Sword Pill, suppressed his entire generation, remaining undefeated.
Unfortunately, he died during the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall, and his Sword Pill was damaged. That same Sword Pill is now on display in the Immortal Sect’s museum.
However, the Immortal Sect later began to regulate high-tier resources, and Sword Pills, which require a vast amount of High-tier Materials, were classified as strategic weapons. Setting aside those that were already scattered among the populace, any future attempts at forging one would require navigating layers of bureaucracy and passing qualification reviews.
Therefore, in the five hundred years since the Calamity of Heaven’s Fall, only one new Sword Pill has been created, and it is currently in the possession of the vice president of the Zhurong Daoist School.
"So it’s that incredible!"
Only then did Chen Che realize what kind of treasure he had stumbled upon.
This Sword Pill was very likely a Tier Three High Grade Magical Artifact, or perhaps even a Tier Three Top Grade Spiritual Artifact!
At the same time, however, he grew even more curious about where Ye Zhihan of Yunzhou had obtained this safe box.
If he had simply gotten lucky and found it, then so be it.
But if it was taken from an ancient tomb or a forbidden land, didn’t that mean there might be other items of the same tier there?
’He may be dead, but it’s still worth looking into...’
He then searched for how to use a Sword Pill and found that many people had different explanations.
However, one point caught his attention:
Some High Grade Magical Artifacts possess their own spirituality. The method to control them is different from ordinary Magical Artifacts; one must perform a blood-binding ritual, similar to activating a new device from the factory before use.
After a moment’s hesitation, Chen Che decided to give it a try.
Of course, if even this didn’t work, he would have to ask Old Li for help. After all, Old Li had a sister in the Nascent Soul Realm.
He bit his finger and dripped his blood onto it.
One drop, two drops, three...
When the ninth drop fell...
BUZZ—
The Sword Pill trembled violently as if awakening from a deep slumber. Its body acted like a sponge, instantly absorbing the blood.
Then, it shot into the air.
Chen Che’s eyes widened.
The Sword Pill opened up layer by layer, like a flower bud blooming. The whole process was magnificent and filled with an indescribable mystery. Before his stunned gaze, it transformed into an exquisitely structured flower of swords.
The countless tiny swords, as fine as strands of hair, were the very petals of this sword-flower.
Each tiny sword shimmered with a dazzling light, radiating a menacing killing intent. In an instant, the entire room was brilliantly illuminated, a scene of utmost wonder.
"...This!"
Before Chen Che could react, countless petals fell from the sword-flower.
Then, they turned from tangible to ethereal, transforming into innumerable transparent, formless streaks of Escape Light that seemed not to exist in this world, shooting directly toward the spot between his eyebrows.
"What’s happening?"
Startled, Chen Che quickly touched the spot between his eyebrows. At the same time, he enveloped himself with his Divine Sense, scanning his body from top to bottom.
After confirming there was nothing wrong with his body, he found the Sword Pill once again within his sea of consciousness.
However, it had returned to its previous pill-like form.
At the same time, a stream of information was slowly released from the Sword Pill.
"I see!"
After closing his eyes to digest the information for a moment, Chen Che had a sudden realization:
"...The method to control the Sword Pill is different from an ordinary Flying Sword. It doesn’t require much True Essence; it mainly relies on Divine Sense. Then, using a Spell, you peel them off like petals. When activated to its limit, ten thousand swords are unleashed at once."
’Is this how you use a High-Tier Magical Artifact?’
A moment later, having understood how to operate the Sword Pill, he was eager to try it out.
He silently recited the spell and swiped with two fingers together.
He saw the Sword Pill within his sea of consciousness tremble slightly, and one of the Flying Swords began to slowly peel away like a flower petal.
However, it only managed to peel off halfway.
Chen Che immediately felt an intense wave of dizziness wash over him. His vision went black, as if he had suffered a Divine Sense attack, forcing him to stop at once.
’My Divine Sense is at the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer, but I can’t even peel off a single Flying Sword? This Sword Pill is terrifying!’
He quickly lit a stick of Concentration Incense. It took him a long while to recover, but Chen Che eventually felt better.
Looking at the Sword Pill in his sea of consciousness, which had returned to its original state, he couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement. He knew in his heart that it would be impossible to control it as an extension of his own arm within the next few years...
Because:
The Sword Pill contained a full ten thousand Flying Swords!
After a moment of contemplation, Chen Che quickly accepted this fact.
But he wasn’t disappointed.
From the experiment just now, Chen Che predicted that once his Divine Sense reached the Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer, he might be able to peel off a single Flying Sword for use. And given his current Divine Sense Level, that wouldn’t take too long—two or three months at most.
First, he had broken through to the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, and now he had obtained a Tier Three Sword Pill. It was truly a double blessing.
So, for the past two days, Chen Che had been in high spirits during class.
"I finally bought my Sword Pill!"
A joyful shout suddenly rang out in the classroom. Chen Che glanced over and saw that it was Huang Zhongfei.
"Awesome, awesome!"
"Is that a Sword Pill? Did you see the news about it too?"
The classmates immediately gathered around to join the excitement. They saw him showily pull a basketball-sized iron ball from his backpack.
"A new product from the Ouyi Subsidiary Company: the Divine Strategy Sword Pill!"
"It’s made of a total of sixty-six Flying Swords. I had to beg to buy it. If it weren’t for the news a few days ago, I wouldn’t have been able to get one... There’s an instruction manual here, too. You just need to inject True Essence to control it."
Huang Zhongfei sat on his desk, showing off his new toy to his classmates while intentionally-yet-casually glancing at Chen Che.
After learning that Chen Che had reached the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, he had completely given up on competing. Since he couldn’t compare in terms of cultivation, he would compete with Magical Artifacts.
Amidst everyone’s cheers, Huang Zhongfei injected his True Essence.
CLANG!
The sound of clashing metal rang out as the Sword Pill slowly blossomed open, accompanied by a melodic tune.
Chen Che was also drawn over. He watched for a moment, then pointed at a Sword Leaf and asked:
"Can those be separated?"
"...No."
"Can this Sword Pill be absorbed into the body?"
"...No."
"So, it can only do this... and this?"
Chen Che made an opening and closing gesture with his hand.
"Yup."
Huang Zhongfei nodded. This was just the kid’s version of a Sword Pill. His family couldn’t afford a real one.
"Do you want to play with it? I can lend it to you for a week."
"Thanks, but no thanks."
Chen Che chuckled, waved his hand dismissively, and returned to his seat.
Zong Yudao, captivated by the Sword Pill, shamelessly called Huang Zhongfei "Godfather" to get a chance to play with it. Lin Yi watched the show-off Huang Zhongfei, feeling secretly annoyed. Qi Fengzhu took out his phone, preparing to trade access to his secret websites for a turn.
In truth, Huang Zhongfei felt a little regretful. In his mind, everyone else was just a background character. If he could have made Chen Che, the student with guaranteed admission, beg to play with it, his vanity would have been satisfied to the extreme.
Unfortunately, after seeing that the Sword Pill was nothing special, the other party seemed to lose all interest on the spot.
