The Sect's Art

“This bodily strength is… more than just a few more kg.” - “Hmm. This kid has great experience in melee combat. What happened to the Cranium Split Pavilion's Inner Member?” - “He must have become too dumbfounded when the lass neutralized his knives.” - “Sigh…”

The leaders chatted as the first duel finished with the Forbloffende Traes Sect's victory. Although it was worded nicely, the Sect had secured that the Cranium Split Pavilion wouldn't get as much territory as other organizations could. Of course, that was considering that Pretieta and Todoro's weaknesses could be studied beforehand. Nevertheless, the old woman who encouraged her Pavilion's Inner Members sighed, and since they started first, they must finish their turns. Only 9 duels remained.

“Dammit…” On the stage, a person wielded the spear on his back before stepping forwards, swinging it in twirls with his hands as Pretieta walked back to Todoro. He gained the arena’s attention as he suddenly stopped his spear, sent airwaves around his polearm, and pointed it at Todoro, “I challenge Core Disciple Todoro!”

Todoro nodded, and the arena became slightly loud as the tall, somewhat handsome young man stepped up the stage with Pretieta indifferently walking down. They could continue dueling Pretieta as much as they wished, they could go on and on until Pretieta dueled 70 times, but they were already not confident enough going against her. They might as well give it a try with Todoro, whose cultivation base was at the peak of the Ashes Soul realm.

Who knows, maybe he has a weakness to exploit, unlike with the seemingly steel-like combatant miss Gori. If only they knew who actually practically trained her melee combat and reflexes capabilities. Todoro stepped on the stage as the Inner Disciples walked between them and prepared to swing his right arm downwards. He gave the opponent a pity eyeful before announcing.

“Core Disciple Todoro Kalavera defends the Forbloffende Traes Sect territory against Cranium Split Pavilion’s Inner Member Wang Xing at the Obsidiafying realm 9th stage!”

The cheers erupted again, making half the arena slightly tremble. Todoro effortlessly limited his cultivation base as Wang Xing lowered his stance, keeping his back slightly bent downwards at his waist level. He apprehensively looked at Todoro, who seemingly had an unstoppable aura around his body.

He held his spear with his right hand, slightly sweating in between as he prepared to mobilize his Power Energy as soon as the announcement to begin was made. His eyes flashed as the Inner Disciple shouted, “Fight!”

Whoosh- fwap!

Wang Xing swung his spear. He didn’t wait until his energy accumulated in his body and struck at Todoro’s face from his left. His energy continuously flowed towards his right arm, attempting to send it nonstop amidst the attack and after it connected. Todoro’s Spirit Sense remained imperceptible as he lifted his left hand, causing fierce airwaves wherever his blurry arm went.

“!” The spear stopped at once. Its upper shaft was grabbed, and the opponent’s strength was insufficient as he tried to retrieve it. It was a Mortal weapon, which he didn’t want to give it to Todoro, who was already monstrous enough.

Wang Xing’s face hardened as he became alarmed. He sent the Power Energy he intended to force Todoro to use his full strength to shock his hand away instead. However, Todoro’s Power Energy traveled to the Mortal spear, too. It collided with his Power Energy and seemed to bounce it backwards in retreat.

When Wang Xing realized this, he noticed Todoro’s right arm move, but he was too late to respond and could only form half a Power Energy barrier around his left chest and arm.

Punch! Whooosh…

The section between his left arm and shoulder was struck by a blurry fist, which only the VIPs easily saw through. Immediately after, the opponent flew backwards with his limbs extended forth and his head hung low like a kite whose string broke. He whistled a little until he fell before his 8 remaining fellow combatants’ feet.

“…!” The other Inner Members stared with widened eyes. They could believe what was happening and had happened, but they didn’t wish to accept it!

“Core Disciple Todoro successfully defends the Forbloffende Traes Sect territory!” The Inner Disciple said. He was just standing with his hands behind his back, looking at the duel with ease, as if knowing how it would end. When he shouted, he did so without surprise or much emotion compared to when Pretieta dominated her first opponent.

“Fellow organization leaders,” Heian Ciemnosc slightly spread his arms to the sides, lazily. His calm voice attracted their attention away from Todoro and the blackish, thin trails of smoke after he subdued the spear and sent it flying towards its owner. He said, “If you feel like it’s too much, you can send all these Ashes Soul realm and Spirit Birth realm cultivators to face my Core Disciples off. But you will still only gain a 10,000 square kilometers or 1,000 square kilometers' territory. How about it?”

“No. I still believe in my School’s younger generation.” - “I concur. This won’t be the end of the mini tournament. There’s still more than half a day left. Isn’t Sect Master Darkness afraid that your disciples will get tired? Hmph!” - “There’s no need to stop this now. We should see more. Do you mind, Esteemed Darkness?”

“Of course not,” Heian Ciemnosc calmly said, not moving an inch. He turned to his Core Disciples, who were looking at him, and nodded. Then, he stared at the leading figures who became immensely interested in the [Chronicles of Life & Death] before smugly smiling.

… The dozens and dozens of battles continued happening. However, 1 or 2 cultivators surrendered before they even fought, and those who wanted to surrender after the fight commenced were too slow and incapable to do so.

Being the first organization group to face the Core Disciples, 3 of the Cranium Split Pavilion ended up surrendering, not even daring to look at Pretieta, who fought 5 more times amidst their surrendering.

From then on, Todoro became unpopular as Pretieta was constantly exhausted, dealing with so many opponents consecutively more than Todoro. She couldn’t use alchemy products, only weapons and armor. After 40 battles, her armor became finally broken, while her body started growing exhausted, albeit slightly.

Todoro was still challenged at times, but Pretieta was on the stage in 7 out of 10 duels. After the resplendent black armor was deteriorated, and she took it off, her magnificent black clothing with great, smooth decorations and designed folds everywhere showed in the surprised, outsiders’ eyes. It was tight from her upper arms to her wrist, from her lower thighs to her heels, and around her waist and just below her breasts.

She appeared even more strict and indifferently cold. Her ponytail remained as such, with her temples sweating as she continued her battles. She didn’t swing her saber once, letting it rot with some of the opponents’ blood, especially some wordy fellas and gals. She was polite with her opponents, even when she brutalized them. But there were some people who just didn’t understand their place.

Besides, if she didn’t do it, Todoro might find trouble later. That thought put her exhaustion away as she occasionally flashed blackish smoke trails every now and then across the stage. She wished to get rid of these people before facing the purple clothed that looked at her with interest and wariness.

At last, when she finished her 70 duels, she only had a small portion of her Power Energy in her Dantian. Her Spirit Sense felt a little numb, and her limbs were sore. Her skin only had a few cuts here and there, with her magnificent black clothes showing some superficial gashes. Pretieta’s back fell on Todoro’s hands as soon as the Inner Disciple declared her 70th successful defense.

While the crowd and the guest organizations became wondrous to see the ease at which they showed their intimate relationship, and half the mini tournament was practically finished. Heian Ciemnosc suddenly looked at an organization leader and casually asked with slightly narrowed darkest eyes. “Am I really that much of a black monster wannabe?”

“… … …” The leaders became silent. Some sweated a little, feeling uncomfortable at his question. Nonetheless, Darkness didn’t push it and just chuckled. A few minutes later, in the late afternoon, as Todoro one or two shot his opponents, a leader started a chat with Heian Ciemnosc.

“Is there an Art involved in this?” The organization leader asked. Heian Ciemnosc looked at him and said after calmly blinking. “Of course. It is the Forbloffende Traes Sect’s seminal core Art. Only the greatest members of my Sect can train in it.”

“What is it called?” Another organization leader asked. Heian Ciemnosc tilted his head and expressionlessly said as his voice remained calm, “It is secret. Nobody but I and those who know about it, which means they’ve trained it, would know. It’s not a Sect rule, but only those worthy should be aware.”

“Are we not worthy? Esteemed Darkness, some of our organizations also specialize in our very own Art.” Yet another leader asked, dissatisfied with Heian Ciemnosc’s all ‘so mighty’ attitude. Heian Ciemnosc calmly shrugged and spoke without a hurry, “It is my Sect’s business. But you can join my Sect if you wish to try it. The requisites to become viable to learn it are harsh, though.”

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“Then, is there something special about those two?”

“Only that they were my Sect’s first true disciples. They’ve stared from the Outer Disciple status to the Core Disciple Status. You may not really understand the difficulty of this, but you will after my Sect disciples tour the Vrida Region more often. This one is really no secret, and I believe many forest people are aware of, somehow. Oh.” Heian Ciemnosc calmly replied, silencing everyone.

“It must be a really good Art, not far from being developed to the Supreme classification. How did you come across this one?” The old man asked, truly intrigued, but his eyes revealed scorn and hostility.

“You don’t create your own stuff?” Heian Ciemnosc didn’t look at the person and said, sounding calm still, without anything in between. The VIP seats became silent afterwards.

… The mini tournament continued, becoming relaxing and enjoyable still throughout the remaining dozens of duels. Todoro cleanly finished everyone off, with just a few needing an extra kick or punch.

As things progressed, and the last organization younger generation member was thrashed outside the stage, nearly collapsing against a wall, the old man stood up and shouted. It was understandable, after all, it was his organization group that had just lost their last chance, and were last. Everyone’s bothered eyes were on them, and yet they still failed to accomplish anything.

“Sect Master Darkness!” The old man stood up in front of his seat, “This is obviously bullshit! We’ve come here to decide the distribution of the south. What makes you think you can fool us like this?! We need an answer!”

“…” Heian Ciemnosc didn’t respond and only watched as the arena’s people’s attention remained on the stage, which was being cleared up after the last duel. Then, he stood up, grabbed his drink, and downed it before storing it in his Covert Space bag.

Then, he finally looked at the old man and said, remaining calm and casual. “There’s nothing I’ve done wrong. Instead, let’s talk of the situation from before. You wanted to group together as 14 peak First Step organizations to amass a million troops so they could contend against my Sect’s barely 900,000 Outer and Inner Disciples?”

“You really dared treat me incorrectly. Your side would’ve selected their best troops and done their utmost to waste my ‘inexperienced’ disciples before ending them. After that, it wouldn’t matter what happened later, my Sect would be completely over.” Heian Ciemnosc leaned his right shoulder to his right, letting his neck hang as he added in a hushed tone, “You expected me to say nothing about it? Fine. I still have an opportunity left, which you can take.”

“The rules and bets remain the same. Only, you cannot change your minds nor act against it. Swear it under a blood vow, and you can proceed to send your purple clothed with my Core Disciples, who will only rest for an hour with meditation. You can take up to a tenth of my Sect’s territory and unoccupied territory for every win in return. How’s that for cheating and fairness?”

Pfwuop. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t hesitate to take out a blood vow with all those words written on it, with his sign already on it.

“… … …” The leaders were absolutely silenced. They stared at each other before placing their eyes on the old man’s body. Even the old woman from the Cranium Split Pavilion said nothing about the arrangement. Her Inner Members lost fair and square, and the Forbloffende Traes Sect’s disciples won with their own capabilities.

“Fine… I just wanted to ensure the veracity of this event and your intentions. That’s all! Hmph!” The old man crossed his arms and expressed before sitting down. He looked at the arena and nodded towards his 2 purple clothed, who were no longer looking after the defeated obscure gray clothed. Their obscure purple clothes fluttered in the air as they few towards the arena and sat down cross-legged.

Heian Ciemnosc didn’t bother with making any sounds and watched as the Inner Disciple received the news. He announced it to the arena, which brought tensed, loud cheers from the bleachers. As night came, and the skies turned dark, Pretieta Gori and Todoro Kalavera walked to the stage from below. They walked to a different stage each, preparing to finish this quickly.

“… Great Teacher Alamenda and Teacher Coraceus challenge Core Disciples Todoro Kalavera and Pretieta Gori!” The Inner Disciple declared as the Core Disciples walked up the stage. The arena became loud as the 2 pairs stood on their respective stage.

The arena became silent as the 2 sides faced each other. One was a Great Teacher at the peak of the Ashes Soul realm, like Todoro, facing the latter. The other was at the peak of the Spirit Birth realm, like Pretieta, facing her in another arena. They each wielded a shield and sword, of which one is Mortal and the other is a top-notch defensive tool. Unlike Sky weaponry or above, which can extend the sword’s grade to the shield, acting as an individual weapon together.

“Fight!” From afar, the Inner Disciple gulped down twice before the arena settled down. He didn’t wish the Sect humiliation, as these were older people with more worldly experience than the First Disciple and Senior Sister Pretieta. However, these were the Sect Master’s orders.

Immediately, without doubting for a moment, Pretieta unsheathed her saber while stomping forwards with both feet. She released a bout of Power Energy from its tip, rapidly traveling beyond her and her opponent’s speed. The latter defended himself with the shield, losing momentum and stopping for a few seconds before resuming his charge.

The stages weren’t greater than 1,000 square meters, with a few ‘baby’ arenas for lower realms with only 50 or 200 square meters in size.

Pretieta and the Teacher exchanged several moves through the air between their dashing figures. Their bodies flew to each other, still trying to outbest the other and gain advantage, but neither side showed weakness.

It was like this before, and it is so now, with the other organizations groups not deciphering a vital weakness to defeat these Core Disciples. Right now, the Craftsmaking barrier to ascend their position in the Sect seemed ridiculous. How could Core Disciples have this strength? Only those First Step organizations transitioning to the Second Step might be like this genuinely.

When they finally clashed, their sword and saber blades sparkling, the Teacher retracted his other arm to thrust his shield tool at Pretieta. But she threw her right palm forwards. Only, her fingers were crooked and folded, looking like an aggressive claw that targeted the Teacher’s left arm.

The Teacher had no choice but to defend himself, but when the right palm-claw stance struck his shield tool, it went through, landing on his left arm and breaking apart his clothes. A hot, electric bout of pain traveled from his arm to his torso. Then, to his brain. When this happened, as their Mortal weapons remained in a stalemate, Pretieta let go of her power over the clash.

Her left shoulder was torn open thinly by the sword, right at the center. But, in exchange, she cut 4 inches deep into the Teacher’s clavicle. His eyes widened, but before he could retreat, and he felt Power Energy bits biting at his cut open, wounded skin, the right palm-claw on his arm gripped tighter.

He barely moved backwards when his shoulder dislocated. When he wanted to stop pulling his body apart from her, she kicked his chest and somersaulted backwards with her right arm delicately holding the arm… As it was torn off.

“AAAAAH!” The Teacher screamed, more fearful than angry, and scared. Someone this young crippled him so badly? And this quickly, too?

Nevertheless, the Teacher wasn’t the only person in this state, as his comrade on the other stage wasn’t any better. But he suddenly received an open cut to his stomach, followed by a sole hitting him squarely on the chest, which sent him flying away with blood curling out of his shoulder hole.

Todoro’s opponent, Great Teacher Alamenda, was a fine woman with jet-black hair and a ponytail with a unique, female layer of hair with an inwards coil at its tip. When the battle began, she charmingly smiled at Todoro before rushing at him with her sword sweeping laterally from the left to the right.

However, like before, Todoro simply raised his hands. Although his imposing aura increased, and he also took off his resplendent black armor despite it being mostly untouched, it was as if its aura remained, like on Pretieta. On him, though. It was a great addition to his already innately imposing aura. Without it, he still radiated an imposing aura that didn’t affect others, but still made them feel apprehensive.

When the woman’s sword was caught by his right hand, her eyes revealed shock, but she expected it nonetheless. After a moment of shock, she rushed her shield to Todoro’s ribs, wanting to put his defense to the test. From the 2, this Todoro Kalavera was the one to have greater melee capabilities, even capable of comparing himself to the melee growing legendary cultivators of this Change.

But Todoro’s mere imposing aura rushed forth, colliding with the shield before passing through it as it became tiny chunks. They were much faster than Spirit Birth realm cultivators, so their bout initiated before theirs. As this happened, the woman became astounded and decided to act quickly.

She threw her left arm to her right, over her right shoulder, to spin on the spot and avoid the imposing aura, which left cuts on her clothes and some thin lines on her skin. She flowed through the air like a dance before facing Todoro in a readied stance.

When Todoro rushed at her after seeing her healthy appearance, her face reddened slightly and she smiled a little. Just before he arrived, with a left-handed palm-claw elegant stance, her fingertips pinched her top, revealing her bountiful breasts.

But this did not stop Todoro, who remained unfazed. The Great Teacher also expected this, as she hopped forth as a last effort to stop him, presenting her chest sticking outwards, and blushing like an innocent but ready and horny young lady.

Her left breast came close to his left palm-claw. Just as she believed Todoro would avoid her body out of respect and honor, which he has shown all day and even just now after she escaped his imposing aura. His skin connected to her. However…

“GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH…!” The Great Teacher shrilly screamed. Array formations glowed around her arena and the bleachers, suddenly activating to protect them from the all-out energy empowered shrill. Meanwhile, the Great Teacher’s left breast disintegrated to Todoro’s full-out palm strike and imposing aura outlining his body like a divine halo, separating him from the ordinariness of the world.

Everyone backed away or jolted in their seats. A ghastly hole, worse than the Teacher’s shoulder Pretieta was facing, formed on her left chest as ¼ of her torso showed bones, spread flesh, and even her lungs with a glimpse of her tumultuously beating heart.

She picked her arms up, pained and sorrowful. But they didn’t know Todoro was extra careful. With her stupid auctions, he almost killed her. This was a mini tournament to avoid irreconcilable conflict, not to brew it. At least the Sect Master intended to make it that way. If it wasn’t because of his carefulness and on-guard teachings he’s honed in the Sect for more than 15 years, the unprotected woman wouldn’t even move… Which now seemed better than living her alive like this.

“I…yield!” The woman insanely trembled nonstop as she knelt before Todoro, who waited for her next move. He nodded and turned around after her declaration, wanting to step down the stage, when he saw Pretieta smile at him with ease… He noticed the cut on her shoulder. His eyes became… wrathful as he changed them to look towards the organization groups’ purple clothed, whom the Sect Master told them not to care about their condition after the duel.

…