The Hallowed Sword and Unexpected Bonds

As time elapsed, Lin Shenyue clearly observed Chris’s face growing progressively paler, her hands, gripping the longsword, beginning to tremble. Lin Shenyue understood that Chris was likely reaching her limit.

This trial, after all, was her father’s challenge designed for a Level 30 individual; even at Level 25, it would have been formidable. However, with Chris currently only at Level 15, her strength was significantly lacking.

In her previous life, Chris had no one to assist her, so she only attempted this after reaching Level 30. Though subduing the sword was still troublesome, she ultimately succeeded without major incident. In this life, however, a Level 15 Chris possessed less than a fifth of her former strength, which was clearly insufficient to subdue the sword, even in its nascent state.

Seeing Chris’s expression grow increasingly troubled, Lin Shenyue felt compelled to step forward. While it was generally impossible to interfere during the process of subduing a weapon, she possessed a rather unique skill that might prove useful.

‘Coercion: Usable on non-player units. The unit is affected by coercion, halting its actions for 3 seconds. The smaller the player’s level compared to the unit, the weaker the effect. The effect on BOSSes is reduced, and successive uses on the same unit also yield diminished results.’

However, this skill would also affect Chris, causing Lin Shenyue to hesitate. Yet, upon seeing Chris’s entire body begin to tremble, she cast aside her reservations and immediately activated the skill. Instantly, an invisible aura surged from her.

Chris was locked in a mental battle with the sword’s faint consciousness. She felt her own consciousness slowly dissipating, a wry smile touching her lips. It seemed attempting to subdue this sword now was indeed strenuous. But having come this far, there was no turning back.

Suddenly, an invisible aura emanated from beside her, causing her to pause. Aside from her, only Lin Shenyue was in the cave, meaning this aura originated from Lin Shenyue.

Lin Shenyue had no control over the Coercion skill’s target, so Chris was also affected. However, Chris was already at a disadvantage in the mental struggle, meaning Lin Shenyue’s greater impact was on the faint consciousness within the sword, which held the advantage.

Moreover, because the sword’s consciousness was only nascent, Lin Shenyue’s Coercion had an even more profound effect on it. The faint consciousness itself seemed to flicker, on the verge of extinguishing under Lin Shenyue’s influence.

Chris recovered as soon as Lin Shenyue’s 3-second Coercion duration ended. The sword’s consciousness, however, remained utterly chaotic, not yet having recovered its bearings. Chris seized this opportune moment to brand it with her mental imprint.

Having successfully subdued the sword, Chris let out a long sigh of relief. She turned, a smile gracing her lips. “Thank you, Yue’er Jie-jie.”

Lin Shenyue smiled and shook her head. “It’s nothing. Wasn’t it only right for me to help you?” After speaking, Lin Shenyue looked at the sword with a hint of curiosity. “How are the attributes of this sword?”

Chris directly handed the sword to Lin Shenyue, saying, “See for yourself.”

Lin Shenyue took it in hand and examined its attributes.

‘Hallowed Sword (Gold-tier (Growable)): Level Requirement: None. Physical Attack +107-116. Magic Attack +104-113. Strength +44, Intelligence +40, Constitution +39, Agility +10, Spirit +33.

Special Attribute: All Warrior skill power increased by 10%, all Warrior skill cooldowns reduced by 10%.

Special Attribute: Hallowed Slash. Gathers all strength to form a 10-meter-long sword qi, dealing 1000% physical attack damage to enemies in front.

Special Attribute: Enhanced Toughness. Immune to 50% of control skill effects.

Special Attribute: Sturdy. This sword cannot be destroyed and has no durability loss.

Special Attribute: ??? (To be unlocked)’

Lin Shenyue couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath. This sword was already incredibly powerful at the current stage. However, its most crucial attribute was its ‘growable’ nature, meaning it would remain viable even at the game’s peak. Furthermore, precious additional properties like enchantments and enhancements could be applied. Of course, Lin Shenyue wasn’t aware of all this; she merely compared it to her own weapon.

It was noteworthy that this sword was clearly a warrior’s weapon, yet it simultaneously boasted magic attack and increased Intelligence and Spirit. While the Warrior skill special attributes were useless to her, the basic attributes alone were formidable. Not to mention the sword’s inherent 50% immunity to control skills.

As Lin Shenyue observed, she suddenly noticed that the sword was equipable. She paused slightly, then asked, “I can use this sword too?”

Chris was also taken aback upon hearing this, then realized, “It must be because Jie-jie used a mental skill during the subduing process, leaving your imprint on the sword as well.”

Lin Shenyue pondered, “Does this affect your use of it?”

Chris frowned in thought before replying, “It shouldn’t have any impact, but it might affect the weapon’s upgrading process. Or it might not.”

Lin Shenyue pursed her lips slightly, resigning herself. “Then what should we do? Is there a way to remove it?”

Chris considered it, then finally said, “I haven’t heard of one for now. Such a weapon would normally be bound to you, meaning it couldn’t be dropped. Although this weapon was still subdued by me due to a special reason and isn’t bound to Jie-jie, removing the adverse effect would likely require a precious Unbinding Stone.”

Lin Shenyue was curious. “What is an Unbinding Stone?”

Chris mused, “It’s a type of stone with a strange power that can remove equipment bindings. I’ve only ever heard of such a thing, never seen one.”

Lin Shenyue nodded, secretly committing the information to memory.

Chris then surveyed her surroundings. There was an inner door within the cave. She opened it and walked inside, discovering a spatial ring her father had left for her. Inside were many medicinal herbs she might need for her growth, along with various warrior equipment.

Chris spotted some skill books. Upon taking them out, she found not only warrior skill books but also two priest skill books. She immediately pulled them out and handed them to Lin Shenyue.

“Jie-jie, you helped me immensely this time. Consider these skill books an extra reward.”

Lin Shenyue took them and examined them. One was the skill ‘Prayer,’ and the other was ‘Resurrection.’ Both were relatively rare skills. The ‘Prayer’ skill’s effect was: ‘The player stands still and prays, restoring 40 + 50% of magic attack power in health per second to friendly units within a 10-meter radius for 5 seconds. This skill can be interrupted. Cast Time: 1 second. Mana Cost: 100. Cooldown: 1 minute.’

‘Resurrection,’ on the other hand, was: ‘The player uses this skill to revive a player who has not yet reincarnated (i.e., chosen to revive at a revival point). The revived player’s experience loss is reduced by 90%, and the weakness duration is reduced from 3 hours to 10 minutes. Cast Time: 3 seconds. Mana Cost: 300. Cooldown: 5 minutes.’

Both of these skills were among a priest’s most valuable, with Resurrection being an absolute necessity for any priest. Yet, even in the mid-to-late stages of the game, priests possessing Resurrection only accounted for about 20% of the total. This was because the drop rate for Resurrection was extremely low, only potentially dropping from BOSS-level monsters or above Level 20. Therefore, no skill books like Resurrection had appeared on the market yet.

Lin Shenyue immediately clicked ‘Learn,’ acquiring both skills. Concurrently, her quest, “Chris’s Request,” was completed.

“Ding! Congratulations on completing the quest ‘Chris’s Request’! You have gained 650,000 experience points and 30 gold coins.” The experience was substantial, and when combined with the two skill books Chris provided, the rewards were undoubtedly generous.