The eternal hell tower deemed him as worthy and threw him out after an entire year of torture.
When he was thrown out, his clothes were in tatters, barely hugging his bony body. He was covered with both old wounds and new wounds, stacked on top of each other as if he had been a butcher's chopping board. Most of his skin had been burned off and he was covered in red. He had lost a lot of weight and could hardly be recognized as a human being.
The disciples of the Jin sect, who saw him first, immediately felt a shiver run down there spine and screamed in horror, thinking that he was a ghost.
Actually, on second thoughts, they felt that even ghosts would probably look better than this.
His cultivation hadn't improved even a single bit. He was still at the half-step stage of the Core formation realm.
However, when he came out, there was a new sword in his hand.
The sword didn't look any better than him.
If one were to see the sword, they would even frown and wonder if it really was a sword or not.
This was the Celestial grade Qi-collecting sword that Jie Fu Lian had risked his life for. He was proud of it, but even he felt that the appearance of this sword was a bit... Ugly.
The tip of the sword wasn't pointy enough. The blade was neither smooth nor straight. There was no luster and it looked like the metal had corroded. The hilt looked very uncomfortable and seemed as if it had been carved out of the blade in a hurry.
It was so unbearable to look at that Jie Fu Lian immediately hid it away in his spatial ring and sighed.
'Well, at least it works...' Jie Fu Lian thought in his mind as he tried not to be too disappointed.
Jie Fu Lian's sudden appearance had shocked a whole lot of people and a huge misunderstanding had been created.
While Jie Fu Lian was still worrying about the Qi-collecting sword, some of the Jin sect disciples had already reported the appearance of a strange ghost in the punishment hall and the sect master was called to help.
When Jin Gengxin saw Jie Fu Lian, he naturally failed to recognize the boy.
He was clearly not to be blamed for this since Jie Fu Lian's current ghost-like appearance had no resemblance with his previous handsome self.
"Who are you?!" Jin Gengxin immediately unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Jie Fu Lian as he questioned with a frown.
This snapped Jie Fu Lian from his thoughts and he looked back at the man, feeling confused.
"Huh?" Jie Fu Lian blinked a few times as he tried to make sense of the situation.
"What are you doing here?!" Jin Gengxin questioned.
"Sect Master Jin, it is me," Jie Fu Lian finally sighed as he looked down at himself and realized the problem, "Jie Ming."
Jin Gengxin's eyes widened with shock and he looked to be even more terrified.
He immediately dropped his sword and took a step back in fear as his eyes swept over the boy from head to toe.
He suddenly remembered his old friend, Jie Yang Zan, and felt that their friendship was soon going to shatter because of this boy's current appearance.
His mind went blank and when the shock had eventually settled in, he couldn't help but curse at himself for actually letting the boy enter that damned eternal hell tower!
"What happened to you...?!" Jin Gengxin gulped as he immediately pushed all thoughts to the back of his head and approached the boy with a worried expression.
Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, Jie Fu Lian passed out.
He had let his friend's son enter the eternal hell tower and not only was the boy injured to the point of death but he had also passed out right in front of him!
Jin Gengxin was afraid that he would have a really hard time explaining all this to Jie Yang Zan without being beaten to death first.
If Jie Fu Lian died in the Jin Sect then Jin Gengxin would have even more things to worry about so instead of treating the boy's injuries, he directly sent Jie Fu Lian back to the Yan sect.
Jie Yang Zan was shocked to see his son in such a state but he wasn't as angered as Jin Gengxin had expected him to be.
At the end of the day, Jie Yang Zan had still thanked Jin Gengxin for looking after his son.
Around three or four elder of the Yan sect looked after Jie Fu Lian's condition. It took them three weeks to completely heal most of the major injuries, but Jie Fu Lian didn't gain consciousness even when the injuries were healed.
He had lost a lot of weight and it seemed like he hadn't slept for a whole year, so it was only natural that he would not wake up anytime soon.
It was also reported that his cultivation hadn't improved at all.
Taking his current condition as a factor, it was said that he would wake up after four months.
However, Jie Fu Lian woke up after just a single month.
Of course, the first thing he heard when he woke up were scoldings from his senior martial sister Yin Ru, but he didn't complain about it since he also felt that he deserved it.
He didn't dare mention the sword to Yin Ru, afraid that the woman would be further angered by it. Instead, he went straight to his father and told him about the Qi collecting sword.
Jie Yang Zan looked to be quite dissatisfied with the boy's decision to enter the eternal hell tower, however, when he heard about the sword, his mood seemed to have lightly brightened up.
He immediately asked to see the sword but Jie Fu Lian was too embarrassed to show it so he said, "The sword is still a bit unfinished. It works perfectly but the appearance... can certainly be improved. I'll show it to father once I have finished working on it."
His father didn't seem to have any problem with it and simply nodded his head.
"I'm proud of you," Jie Yang Zan spoke as he looked at the boy with a gentle smile and Jie Fu Lian felt as if all the hard work he had done over the past year hadn't been for nothing.
"But you already have Changbo. What do you plan on doing with this new sword?"
When Jie Fu Lian heard this question, he was a bit taken back. He had certainly not thought about it too much. There was no rule stating that a cultivator can only wield a single sword. In fact, there had been many instances where cultivators had weilded more than a single spiritual weapon. Hence, he naturally thought that it would be his.
"I heard that Sect Master Quan of the HuiXue sect was searching for a sword for his disciple, Hua Tianshu," Jie Yang Zan sighed as he spoke, "He and his sister closed the east gate of the demon realm and saved our lives. We owe them. Hua Tianshu is around the same age as you and has a pleasant character. I feel like this sword would be perfect for him. How about we gift it to the HuiXue sect as a token of appreciation for helping us back then?"
Jie Fu Lian felt his heart drop as he heard this.
This sword was a celestial-grade spiritual weapon. It was certainly a perfect match for Hua Tianshu who had great innate talent, a bright future, admirable achievements and a noble character.
However, Jie Fu Lian still felt his heart break as he heard his father's words that he couldn't defy.
He did owe Hua Tianshu a favor for saving his life back then and this sword was perfect to repay such a big favor.
"You can take time to think about it," Jie Yang Zan sighed as he leaned back and spoke, "If you want to refuse then I'll understand your decision."
Jie Fu Lian gulped as he heard these words and couldn't help but look down at the ground with tears brimming in his eyes.
He didn't want to look greedy in front of his father nor did he want to show such an unreasonable side of him to the man.
It took him an year to forge this sword and he was already too attached to it.
However, his father's opinion was more important to him than this sword.
Although it pained his heart to let the sword go, at the end of the day, he simply hid away his true feelings and spoke, "There is no need to think about it. I agree with what father has said. In the first place itself, this sword was never fit for me. It would be better for a person like Hua Tianshu to have it."
His father smiled as he heard these words, "I'm glad to see you share my thoughts. I knew you were a smart kid."
Jie Fu Lian bit his lip and kept his eyes on the ground as he nodded his head and forced himself to act normal.