A deep gaze filled with a pained heart, Guizou awaited, still caressing his skin. His scars glowed a translucent white. Pale and freezing. Holy and torturous.
"Why now..." It had been so long since it happened. His most despised heart demon. His first true suffering. Where even his greatest arrogance could not match the other party.
The time when he, the soon to be Nine Skies Great Emperor, was branded under the endless whips of the Sword Dao. Punished and humiliated for eternity. His entire vessel left stranded into the sword river. Even as a soul he could not escape it. Even his spirituality was branded from these Principles.
Something even a Nine Skies would be unable to free himself from.
He would never forget it. Eight Skies Great Emperor, Eternal Emperor, Mythical Emperor, Endless Sword, Myriad Swordsman, Ancient God, Absolute Sword.
Myriad Sword Saint. The third Eternal Emperor, having outlived all his predecessors by many folds. Having lived for millions of years, at the absolute peak of Eight Skies, unfortunately to forever remain as such. His talent was crippled when young, something he could not evade to survive. Not only this crippled past having forever damaged his potential, but to live so long, he also needed to use a forbidden method.
He sacrificed his talent in exchange for longevity. An old school but still kind Eternal Emperor. Because Guizou used a forbidden method, demanding him to slaughter countless living beings, he was targeted and ended in this state.
He still regretted nothing.
His drive never subsided because of it. He was prepared to face the whole Land. But, the means of a forever stuck Eternal Emperor were dreadful. Methods and an accumulation of strength rivaling, if not surpassing, even a Nine Skies.
Back to his meditative state, Guizou's focus returned to his task. Spirituality emerging and converging, comprehension and accumulation solidifying.
Lost in a trance, he continued to repeat this process every moment he could.
A faint blue glow was showing, layered over his entire being. Opening his eyes, he had already been cultivating his soul for five years. Wu Tian and him had been training for just as long in the icy cave, sometimes going out for multiple reasons.
They had tried once to cross the giant hall but were soon met with another golem within a corridor. It was only because they were not noticed that leaving had even been an option. As for the Principles, Guizou decided three years ago to go all out and form a barebone array. It was an esoteric mess of carved lines on the ground, forming an invisible dome not blocking but deflecting the Principles around. It would not last forever, but could still buy time while remaining easy to craft. Of course the main benefactor still remained Guizou's spiritual energy and Daos.
Exiting the pendant, Guizou yawned, very happy with his progress. Halfway done. Wu Tian greeted him with cupped fists. Ever since two years ago, Wu Tian's attitude took a small shift toward respecting his elder. Being beaten to the ground day after day was daunting yet invigorating.
"Time for our last spar before we go back in." Wu Tian had some sparse wrinkles, appearing a bit older than he truly was. Even though the young man was only thirty-four years old, his lifespan had been damaged many times over his life. In truth, he might die before breaching the Warrior Realm's midway point.
Truthfully speaking, Guizou was not even sure if he could save Wu Tian from his current fate. It would be possible for him to change disciples not so far into the future. We'll see, we'll see...
Snapping his fingers, the duo reappeared within a dark space. Comfortably standing on the dark ocean, Wu Tian unsheathed his longsword. He aimed it at the horizon, his body generating a layer of earthen armor all over itself.
Guizou still stood on the horizon, ethereal weapons of a myriad colors floating behind him. His crossed arms showed his superiority. Gazing down at Wu Tian like looking at a kid trying to learn from him.
"Ready? Doesn't matter now that I think about it." Waving a dagger, a black translucent clone of himself appeared before vanishing on the spot, only leaving a trail of dark smoke behind. A couple minutes later, Wu Tian's eyes caught onto something.
Using the first move, Wu Tian's body abruptly gained forward momentum, crossing twenty-five meters in a single burst. His longsword thrusted just in front, the tip of the blade meeting some resistance mid-air, suddenly deflected to his left, pulling his arm and shoulder as well. Not panicking, Wu Tian rooted his left foot on the black water, his other leg kicking a bit to his right.
Just as his sole collided with something, his hardened scales cracked before shattering, a black Guizou condensing from a lump of dark mist. The dagger in its right hand was still ringing from the impact, soon thrown at his face.
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Seeing the blade enlarge until it covered his field of vision, Wu Tian's forehead received a sharp pain, the scales on it cracking as his neck was nearly broken from the sudden pushing force. He was sent flying a couple meters back, collapsing on the ominous liquid. Raising his left hand still holding the sword, he aimed his palm at the running shadow. "[Dual Peaks Strike]!" A brown shockwave erupted from it, making the air shiver. The shadow was hit bluntly, nearly taking a step back as it lost its balance, barely rooted with its left foot.
Catching the opening, Wu Tian immediately rose to his feet while the shadow regained a proper foothold, he followed up with the second part. [Imperial Step Burst]! Shouting in his mind, his body blurred, the longsword thrusting forward, immediately impaling the burly shadow. Not as inexperienced as before, he did not crumble under the strange sense of restraint. [Imperial Cleave]. Gritting his teeth, his muscles bulged, visible from the distancing scales, veins popping. The longsword hummed, soon dividing the ethereal shadow from the sternum up to the head. Not stopping, he brought the blade back down, finalizing the full vertical split.
Hearing Guizou's clapping, he then saw him disperse the black dagger before grabbing hold of a red glaive. It was small, lacking many ornaments. Swinging it casually, a red Guizou came forth, rushing toward him with a short glaive in its right hand.
The clone soon came into range, this time Wu Tian with the reach advantage without any stealth tricks.
Deciding not to restart because of it, Wu Tian waited patiently, soon only two meters away. He was already in a stance, the longsword going from left to right on the spot. [Imperial Cross]. The red clone swung its glaive as well, going in the opposite overall direction. Being lighter but also wielded by a stronger being, Guizou's blade came faster, clashing with the longsword before it could even close in on his ethereal robes.
Smacked away, Wu Tian's martial method was also halted once again. Still with enough distance not to be soon hit, he clenched his teeth, taking a large step back. [Imperial Retreat]. Focusing on the red figure overshadowing him, Wu Tian slashed down diagonally. [Imperial Cleave]!
Easily dodged by a left sidestep and a duck, the red Guizou was now in Wu Tian's opening. A heavy strike later, Wu Tian's right side was split open, right under his ribcage. Frowning at the sight, he was unsure about what to do. Thankful to his scales, he was only hit superficially, barely having damaged the muscles.
His method unable to resume, he was forced to change which one he used for offense. Taking a step back, the red Guizou chased him like an annoying bug, unwilling to grant him any speck of space. Each second passing, Wu Tian's right side would take more and more damage, soon a slash reaching his core area. With his right abdominal muscle split and damaged so much, his balance was off, having a hard time bending to his right to offset it.
Still trying with great difficulty, Wu Tian swung his longsword as he finally managed to turn around. "Leave me alone! [Mirrored Strike]!" The longsword coming down diagonally from above, it aimed to come out from Guizou's left thigh. The red Guizou playing dumb, it smirked before purposefully attempting to block it. Sure enough, the blade was only a mirage, passing right through while his left clavicle was split open, the longsword exiting from the right thigh.
Frowning even more at the outcome, Wu Tian wiped the non-existent sweat off his chin before turning his head, meeting eyes with his old master.
"Well, your opponents might not be able to infer much from a name. But don't shout it next time. It's fine when it doesn't matter, but this method's part has its pattern into it. And yes, as you saw, the clone played the role and didn't move like I or someone who knew would."
"In any case..." Grabbing hold of a turquoise poleaxe, Guizou waved it around, a faint glow forming where his blade landed. From it, a burly clone was birthed.
Standing, Wu Tian silently observed the giant. "I believe you haven't faced many poleaxes during our training. Let's remedy that. One of the best weapons in the world on paper. Especially if you customize it. This time I won't, but maybe I will next time." Smirking, Guizou crossed his arms again. He watched the show ahead with relish.
A mere minute passing, the turquoise clone was already within its weapon's range, three meters away. On guard, Wu Tian prepared to use his method when the opponent immediately took a large forward step, its right hand easily wielding the two handed weapon like a feather. It thrusted at Wu Tian's chest, the three meters breached in an instant by the weapon slightly above two meters in length.
Panicking a bit, Wu Tian's longsword managed to offset the attack, deflecting it to the left. About to step in and reduce the reach disadvantage, the translucent opponent regripped the weapon, spinning on itself, the axe blade swung, aiming at Wu Tian's right side. Realizing it, he ducked, the blade whistling right above his head. About to resume his offensive attempt, the clone halted its incredible momentum, loosening its grip on the long haft, letting it slip slightly as the weapon began to fly out bit by bit, all the while exuding a rotative motion, forcing the poleaxe to switch sides.
Retightening the grip, the poleaxe was barely held from the very bottom, a hammerhead ready to strike.
Aware of this, Wu Tian who had not even blinked since it happened, was shocked. Trying to instead retreat this time, his crouched figure lacked the required time. Still managing to evade the most brutal impact, the poleaxe was slammed on the black water, causing waves to form for the first time. They were strangely heavy, drenching Wu Tian. The shockwave from it fluttered his messy hair and beard, straining his organs. Coughing from the discomfort, the turquoise Guizou raised the weapon once more, rotating the weapon again, slashing down with the axe blade, splitting in half the young man still on his bottom.
Opening his eyes, he heard Guizou's nonchalant voice. "Also, remember that mortal weapons were made for mortals. Artifacts are nothing more than sturdier and sometimes more advanced mortal weapons. As a cultivator, you don't have to use them as mortals intended. A mortal wouldn't be able to wield such a weapon from the very bottom of the haft, and especially not gather so much power with it. The dagger, glaive and longsword are all based off a simple weapon type. They are straightforward and mostly incapable of increasing your opportunities by much. Unless you obviously use Qi to change things."
"But at this juncture, would it even be worth it to hold such a weapon then? Artifacts only become more precious once they help the cultivator in other ways. A sword that is incredibly sharp is useful, but only if it is sharper than the cultivator's Qi. A poleaxe's reach is useful, but only when the cultivator's Qi cannot go so far yet. Or maybe if the artifact can be infused with Qi while using less than without."
Snapping his fingers, Guizou sighed. "Alright! That's it for today, let's explore that damned cave some more!"