This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

Rows of data emerged before Lu Qingshan:

"You have acquired the attribute of the Crying Soul Sword!"

"The true master of Crying Soul is manipulating the Crying Soul Sword... ’Innate Swordseed’ is activated, judgment in progress, judgment passed, the true master of Crying Soul has failed to manipulate!"

"The true master of Crying Soul is manipulating the Crying Soul Sword..."

"You have activated the Sword Artifact Skill ’Soul Shock’."

"’Soul Shock’ successfully hits the target, causing the target to fall into a brief Soul Loss State..."

"The true master of Crying Soul’s ’Flying Sword Technique’ gets interrupted!"

"You use the Falling Bright Sword Technique against the target, Falling Bright Sword Technique hits... inflicting 10 points of damage, with an additional bonus of 5 (10*0.5) points of critical damage, causing a total of 15 points of damage to the target!"

"Target has been killed, you have slain the true master of Crying Soul (Lv26), achieving an over-level kill and earning experience rewards, receiving a total of 2000 (Base Experience) x2 (Multiplier) = 4000 Experience Points!"

...

Sword slashes through Foundation Establishment!

With this strike, a huge gash appeared on the face of the true master of Crying Soul, with blood gushing out profusely, looking extremely grisly.

Until the moment of his death, the eyes of the true master of Crying Soul were still filled with doubt and confusion.

—Why had he died by the hand of a Qi Refining Cultivator, and why was it that he was killed by his own Life-bound Sword?

For Sword Cultivators, their Life-bound Sword is tied to them; except for the Sword Cultivator themselves, no one else could use it, a well-known iron rule within the Nine Heavens.

However, today, Lu Qingshan had broken that iron rule.

’Innate Swordseed’: You can use any Sword Artifact without restriction.

Any Sword Artifact, naturally including the Life-bound Swords of Sword Cultivators.

Legendary Talent, truly living up to its legendary name.

...

From engagement to the killing of the true master of Crying Soul, it was only a matter of a few moments.

It appeared extremely dangerous and even somewhat reckless.

But everything was within Lu Qingshan’s expectations.

Sword Cultivators inherently have low health pools, even those in the Foundation Establishment Realm cannot change this fact of being inherently frail.

Although due to the rank difference, the Heavenly Eye Technique was unable to accurately ascertain the true master of Crying Soul’s health.

But on the Attribute Panel full of question marks.

There was one very important piece of information.

—Behind the health bar of the true master of Crying Soul, there was an additional status: (Severely Injured).

A Sword Cultivator with a low health pool, especially one in a severe injury state, likely had health around just ten points.

In Lu Qingshan’s current state, the output of one Falling Bright Sword Technique was 11 points.

But that still wasn’t enough.

This was only theoretical damage, not taking any Defensive Spells or Defensive Artifacts into consideration.

Luckily, Lu Qingshan remembered what Wu Yi had said, that the Crying Soul Sword possessed the ability of ’Soul Shock’.

This was also the true master of Crying Soul’s signature skill.

——————

Crying Soul Sword (Life-bound Sword·Water)

Description: A sword crafted from Soul Stone.

Sword Master: True Master of Crying Soul

Level: Lv2 (131/2000)

Sword Artifact Effects: Flying Sword Speed +5%, Sharpness +1, Sword Light Differentiation +1

Sword Artifact Skill: ’Soul Shock’

Launches a Soul Shock Technique towards the target, with a chance to put the target into a brief Soul Loss State.

Note: This sword is restricted to the Sword Master’s use only.

————————

The moment Lu Qingshan took control of the Crying Soul Sword, he used the ’Soul Shock’ skill against the true master of Crying Soul.

Secret techniques at the level of the Divine Soul, whether defensive or offensive, are all considered an extremely precious category.

Lower grade cultivators, for the most part, could not possibly possess such skills.

This was also why the true master of Crying Soul, with the Soul Shock Skill of the Crying Soul Sword, was almost invincible in magical combat with peers of the same level and had made a name for himself.

And the true master of Crying Soul, being a lower grade Sword Cultivator in Foundation Establishment, similarly had not cultivated any Divine Soul Defense Secret Art.

Naturally, he couldn’t resist the Soul Shock Skill of his own Life-bound Sword.

In a state of Soul Loss, he was unable to make any response to Lu Qingshan’s attacks.

In fact, most of the skills of a Sword Cultivator relied on the Sword Artifact for execution.

This was precisely the most seamless and sharp attack routine used by Crying Soul—the control using Soul Shock to ensure the accuracy of the Flying Sword.

Lu Qingshan gave him a taste of his own medicine.

Worried that this strike was not harmful enough, Lu Qingshan aimed his attack at Crying Soul’s head.

Before reaching the Nascent Soul Realm,

The head of a Cultivator was considered a vital part.

Attacking a vital part would result in a 1.5 times damage bonus.

With multiple assurances in place, Crying Soul couldn’t be more dead beneath this strike.

Looking at the body of Crying Soul lying in a pool of blood,

Lu Qingshan was filled with disdain.

Seizing the sword seemed easy, but the risk involved was actually quite high.

Even with the "Innate Swordseed" as powerful as it was, he was only a Qi Refining Cultivator.

It was highly likely that Lu Qingshan, being a rank below, wouldn’t pass the assessment when seizing the sword from a Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivator.

If he failed the assessment, directly holding the opponent’s Life-bound Sword would be giving it away for nothing.

But then, how much effort would a Sword Cultivator who delved into the lowly Technique of Harvesting Qi put into nourishing their sword?

Moreover, he had earlier asked Wu Yi and learned that Crying Soul was skilled in the Flying Sword Technique.

Flying Sword, one of the signature skills of a Sword Cultivator, naturally wasn’t easy to master.

Since Crying Soul wasn’t a player, he couldn’t use Experience Points to quickly level up his skills. If he wanted to become proficient in the Flying Sword Technique, it would require immense time and effort dedicated to arduous practice.

In that case, it was even less likely that Crying Soul had any time left to nourish his sword.

"Sword Cultivation" suggests that one must cultivate their Life-bound Sword.

Once a Sword Cultivator has chosen their Life-bound Sword, they must spend a great deal of time and effort on its nourishment.

The sword would become progressively stronger through such care, the connection with the Sword Master tighter, and the power wielded correspondingly mightier.

If translated into game terminology, the Life-bound Sword would be the Sword Cultivator’s growable equipment.

The importance of sword nourishment to Sword Cultivators can’t be overstated.

Considering all these factors, Lu Qingshan was sure that Crying Soul’s mastery over his Life-bound Sword wouldn’t be very strong.

Lu Qingshan was ninety percent confident that during the sword seizure, he could at least pass the first assessment.

That was why he chose to take action.

The moment he gained the attributes of the Crying Soul Sword, Lu Qingshan knew he had succeeded.

A Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivator of level 26, yet with a Life-bound Sword of only Lv2—Crying Soul’s neglect of sword nourishment was even more severe than Lu Qingshan had imagined!

One must know that in the "Nine Heavens" game, an average Sword Cultivator of level 26 would have their Life-bound Sword at least above Lv4.

...

For a Sword Cultivator to die under their own Life-bound Sword is a rather ridiculous matter.

But for a Sword Cultivator like Crying Soul, such a death doesn’t seem strange at all.

Lu Qingshan no longer pondered the matter and shook his head, beginning to take stock of his spoils of war.

In addition to a substantial amount of Experience Points added to his account, the wealth of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was also a bountiful harvest.

Lu Qingshan bent down to loot the corpse.

A moment later.

Huh?

Lu Qingshan looked at the two Storage Rings he found on Crying Soul’s body and let out a light exclamation.

A Storage Ring, unlike a storage pouch, already had a spacious storage space inside.

Therefore, the saying about the Beggars’ Sect elders and their several pouches didn’t apply to Storage Rings.

——The storage space of a single Storage Ring could already meet the storage needs of most players.

So why would Crying Soul have two Storage Rings on him?

Two possibilities: one is that Crying Soul was exceedingly wealthy.

The other possibility is...

With this thought in mind, Lu Qingshan examined the two Storage Rings in his hands.

Afterward, a slight smile crept across Lu Qingshan’s lips.