What a windfall! Not only did he have an extra 1.3 million in his pocket, but he also learned that the little sword he acquired was actually worth hundreds of millions! If he could sell it, he'd instantly become a billionaire. So much money, what incredible enjoyment that would bring!
However, it represented a lost civilization? That's too mystical! It feels like reading Yu Qiuyu's *A Thousand-Year Sigh*.
Lu Chen wanted to ask Yang Jiangyu if she would accept the little sword, but he realized she seemed to be avoiding the topic. Not that she wasn't interested, but rather that she felt it unnecessary.
This was something Lu Chen actually admired. It was one of Yang Jiangyu's strengths, showing she had clear goals. If she felt it was necessary and she was confident in doing it, she would do it. For example, if she needed to use Lu Chen's magical ability to accomplish something important, she would take good care of him and protect him from the start. As for Lu Chen's other supernatural abilities, she didn't interfere or ask too many questions.
She wasn't greedy.
Lu Chen scratched his head, feeling he should learn from Yang Jiangyu.
However, the thought of how valuable that little sword was still incredibly exciting!
That afternoon, Lu Chen returned to Dong Qingqing's house, which was also practically his home.
Dong Qingqing wasn't home; she was at work.
Lu Chen took the little sword, the jade pendant, and the other treasures he'd looted from the three unfortunate Golden Assassins, to a place that truly belonged to him: his penthouse apartment in the Country Garden residential complex.
These things weren't safe here; after all, the Five Colors assassins had come here, and Yu Menglan often visited. If they were discovered by the enemy, it would be troublesome.
Lu Chen wasn't worried about these things being taken away; he was afraid they would bring harm to the innocent Dong Qingqing.
Speaking of which, in Yunzhou City, the woman Lu Chen cherished most was Dong Qingqing. From the very beginning, becoming her tenant, to the countless pleasures he derived from her, Lu Chen couldn't help but cherish her.
Most importantly, Dong Qingqing didn't require him to take any responsibility.
These precious, yet somewhat menacing, items were perfect for his new home.
Lu Chen sat cross-legged on the large bed in the only bedroom of the small suite. Before him was a floor-to-ceiling window, the wind blowing in from outside, causing the white chiffon curtains to flutter like a fairy's veil.
At the height of the twenty-eighth floor, looking out the window from the bed, one could see countless skyscrapers nearby, and distant green mountains, with fluffy white clouds drifting high above. The view was breathtaking.
Before Lu Chen lay the small, black gem-like sword and several gourds.
Inside these gourds, one contained a small, transparent, blue snake, while the others held various strange and unusual pills. Analyzing their ingredients and effects wouldn't be difficult; his medical supernatural abilities would suffice.
Lu Chen first picked up the small black gemstone sword, examining it closely.
"Worth billions? Representing a long-lost civilization? Hey little sword, you're not some historical relic from an ancient civilization, are you? How old are you? Five thousand years? Ten thousand years? Then you must be a spirit, right? Say something!"
Lu Chen stared at the sword, as if staring at it would cause a mouth to grow from the blade.
He sighed softly, "Damn it, what's so valuable about you? Yes, you are quite peculiar, and you could easily fetch 100,000 or 200,000 yuan, maybe even a hundred thousand. But what makes you worth millions? That's really intriguing."
As he spoke, he gently stroked the sword's blade.
Strangely, although the blade was smooth as jade, Lu Chen felt many fine, needle-like things pricking his fingers as he touched it.
"Crack, could this be sword energy?"
Lu Chen was startled. He remembered hearing from the elders of his family that although the sword energy described in fantasy novels was incredibly fantastical, it did exist, and there were two types.
The first type was sword energy generated by high-level martial artists using their internal energy; the second type was sword energy that a sword could automatically emit when it reached a state of spiritual connection.
"It really is spiritually connected? But why isn't there much of a reaction?"
Lu Chen muttered to himself, raising the sword to his eyes again, examining the blade closely for any inscriptions or markings. He remembered seeing scenes in fantasy novels where ancient masters would carve musical notation or similar symbols onto their swords.
Maybe it's even a treasure map!
However, Lu Chen was disappointed. The sword was incredibly smooth; there wasn't a single line, not even the finest hair, let alone any writing.
The sharp sword aura, however, seemed even more aggressive, stinging Lu Chen's eyes.
Lu Chen quickly put it down to avoid actually hurting his eyes.
But what secret does this little sword hold? Lu Chen gritted his teeth and decided to try something even bolder. Last time, he had subtly used his healing abilities and sensed an extremely abundant spiritual energy within the sword.
He decided to absorb it and feel its power.
At that moment, Lu Chen gripped the hilt of the black gemstone sword, using his healing supernatural ability to slowly channel energy into his palm. He had just focused his will to absorb the spiritual energy within the sword when suddenly he let out a howl!
In that instant of absorption, Lu Chen had already felt the surging spiritual energy within the sword, and the next moment, that energy seemed to transform into countless sharp, fine needles, lunging towards Lu Chen's hand!
The pain was excruciating! Lu Chen grimaced in agony, and the sword fell onto the bed.
He quickly pulled his hand back and was shocked.
His palm was covered in a dense patch of blood beads, and he felt a tingling, numb sensation, as if a thousand swords had pierced his hand. He grabbed a tissue to wipe his hand, and strangely, despite the numerous blood beads, there were no visible wounds.
It was as if these blood beads had been squeezed directly from his pores!
"Damn it!" Lu Chen muttered, frowning as he wiped the blood from his hands. Accidentally, a drop of blood fell, landing squarely on the blade.
A strange sight appeared!
The blade was like a puddle of water; the blood droplet hitting it actually created ripples. Then, the blood droplet disappeared, and the blade remained the same. It had clearly swallowed the blood droplet!
Lu Chen became excited again, scratching his head with his other hand: "Damn, isn't this what they call 'blood binding' in novels? This is a spirit sword, isn't it? It's fused with my blood; it'll be connected to my bloodline."
He immediately dripped all the blood from his hand onto the blade. Sure enough, after the ripples appeared, the small sword swallowed every drop of blood.
Lu Chen carefully picked up the small sword, thought for a moment, gritted his teeth, and carefully channeled a surge of healing energy into it. He was even prepared to release it at any moment, but the expected barrage of needles didn't materialize. The vast spiritual energy remained unmoved, as solid as a rock.
Lu Chen quickly figured it out: after the blood-binding ceremony, the little sword wouldn't harm him, but it also wouldn't allow him to absorb its spiritual energy.
This was truly interesting.
Lu Chen simply used his Divine Healing ability again, channeling a burst of spiritual energy into the little sword.
The little sword actually trembled slightly in Lu Chen's hand, then automatically rotated, shooting off in a northwest-northwest direction.
Whoosh…
Pfft!
Lu Chen was instantly dumbfounded.
Damn it! It pierced a hole in my wall?!
Indeed, the little sword had shot straight through the wall and disappeared in an instant.
Then, Lu Chen screamed hysterically:
"Hey! Come back! Come back! Damn it, you're worth millions! What an idiot I was, how could I have shot you out like that? You fucking come back here!"
He jumped out of bed and ran to the wall where the small hole had been shot, pressing his eyes against it.
He couldn't see the small sword anymore. All he could see was a sliver of blue sky and white clouds.
Lu Chen's heart sank, and he almost cried. However, he didn't give up. He quickly ran downstairs and searched in that northwest-northwest direction. Fortunately, that direction wasn't a populated area, so no one should have been hurt, and no one would have found it. It was a mountainous area with a small, wild lake.
As dusk fell, in the twilight glow, a series of bubbles suddenly rose from the lake, followed by a head covered in mud and various kinds of weeds. The face was almost unrecognizable; only a pair of bright, darting eyes were visible. That was Lu Chen. He had painstakingly climbed ashore, covered in black mud, looking like a mudskipper or something—utterly pathetic.
He let out a long breath, looked at a small sword in his hand, equally covered in mud, and muttered,
"Damn! Luckily, we have a blood oath system there, so I have some connection with you. Otherwise, you'd be stuck here forever! All that money, worth millions? Gone!"
Earlier, Lu Chen had been chasing this direction when he suddenly had a mysterious feeling, as if the small sword had fallen into the lake. He gritted his teeth, took off his clothes, and jumped in to search. After more than an hour, he finally found it.
Although the incident was thrilling, it gave Lu Chen some inspiration.
"It actually chooses its own direction? To the northwest? Is there some secret there?"
"It needs the intervention of external true energy to fly out, like refueling. Once the true energy is used up, it will fall. Its own spiritual energy has no effect. Hmm, let me try."
Next, Lu Chen, full of enthusiasm, ignored the mud covering him. He repeatedly channeled true energy into the small sword, only a small amount each time. Sure enough, it flew up again, but only shot out in a northwest direction.
It ignored all other directions.
Furthermore, the moment it flew out, Lu Chen tried to control its direction with his mind, but he couldn't. But a feeling told Lu Chen that it wasn't that he couldn't control it, but rather that he hadn't yet mastered the method of control.
But at least, after countless experiments, Lu Chen basically knew how to control the small sword's flight distance.
It's very simple; it's just a matter of how much spiritual energy is channeled. The more it penetrates, the farther it flies; the less it penetrates, the farther it flies.
Although it sounds simple, Lu Chen was exhausted. Because the little sword could only fly in a northwest-northwest direction, he could only run in that direction as well.
Lu Chen knew very well that if he could master the way to control the little sword's flight, he would essentially possess a weapon of immense destructive power! That was the legendary flying sword!