A body is a treasure trove of mystery. Every time you look into it, you will find something new. A body of any being is a complex structure that hides countless mysteries inside of it.
It was the duty of a cultivator to excavate these mysteries and, at the same time, improve upon them and make their full use.
'A body without form is useless.'
*Form is temporary, but the class is permanent.*
It was a well-known phrase on Earth. Rihan understood it in his own words.
'A body should choose its form according to the situation, not the other way around.'
Be adaptive to the environment; mix with your surroundings, not fight with them.
𝘍𝘪𝘳𝘦!
The Yeti King fired the Ice Beam. A wide blue streak of light utterly razed the surroundings. The snow-covered mountains became encased in ice for a few hundred metres. But...
"Grr?"
The Yeti King was confused as to why there was no ice statue of the puny human. Did he disappear from his Ice Beam? Or did he run off in fear?
"Grrr."
The Yeti King roared in anger as he realised that the puny human had run away. It was a disgracing matter for him, as a prey—who had insulted it—slipped out of his clasps. But, was it actually the case?
"𝘚𝘯𝘢𝘱!"
Suddenly, a sound of something snapping came from its right. So, with a 𝘎𝘳𝘳, it looked towards it right, but nothing was there.
"𝘚𝘯𝘢𝘱!"
Again, the same sound. But this time, it sounded from the left. Just as the Yeti King rotated its head to look left...
𝘚𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩!
"Grrrrraaaaahhhhh!!!"
Its eyes were slashed by a sword from nowhere. No, the attack actually came from its back. It flailed and rolled on the ground from the sudden bout of pain. It was a pain he felt after a long time.
"Pathetic."
Rihan ridiculed the Yeti King, who was rolling on the ground from just this much pain.
"Grrraaahhh!!!"
The Yeti King roared even louder.
All this time, Rihan has never left the side of the Yeti King. Using his 'Spiritual Body' Trait, he had killed his presence as much as possible.
He first took a long breath and then stopped breathing altogether. His heart slowed down, his pores closed, and he controlled his muscles to exert only the minimum force.
Because of this, the clueless Yeti King didn't even realise that Rihan was standing on its shoulders. Its skin was akin to hard ice, and its weight was so much more compared to Rihan that it didn't even register in its brain that his opponent was playing with him.
[You showed master control of your body beyond what a normal human can display.]
[New Class Options are available for your Class Selection at LV50.]
'Its annoying to get disturbed during combat.'
The system messages constantly disrupted his focus; it was still bearable since there was not much tension yet, but in a more fast-paced fight, it could be fatal.
'Well, it is kind of training for mind if you look at it another way.'
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Undisturbed mental focus. It was a virtue of the mind that was very difficult to achieve and even more difficult to master. Our mind was always active; countless thoughts were involuntarily generated nonstop inside of it. Stopping these thoughts from generating would be akin to a mental death.
That's why, instead of outright stopping your mind from its activity, it was important to take one central thought and let it flow continuously, eternally.
'It is difficult for me in my current status.'
"Well, whatever. It will be my misfortune if I ever lose my focus during a serious fight."
The Yeti King quickly regenerated its eyes and stood up in humiliation and anger. There was no more pride or spite for a lower being in its eyes. There was only bloodlust.
[The Yeti King reveals its bloodlust!]
['Fear' Status is being applied.]
['Paralysis' Status is being applied.]
[Your mind is unaffected.]
[The immense bloodthirst in you is being stimulated.]
"Oh? You want to compete in who killed the most?" Rihan was smirking in contemplation. He was contemplating how he should deal with the monster before him. "But it's not right. Let's try something new."
"Grrr. Grraaahhh!!"
The Yeti King ran towards Rihan like a mad bull. The ice on the ground cracked and splintered as a result of its mad sprint.
"Mana."
[Mana Sense is being amplified.]
[Mana is being poured into 'Sharp Cold Iron Sword'.]
[Your Mana Mastery is sufficient.]
[Your understanding of the sword is sufficient.]
[Sword Aura is being generated.]
[You can cut through anything as long as you 'understand'.]
[You gain EXP]
[All EXP will be calculated at the end of battle.]
A blue film of energy coated his sword. It was a beautiful display of energy control skills as well as a thorough understanding of a sword and its structure.
'As long as I understand, huh. Then...'
He made the Sword Aura even thinner. The mana emitting from the sword became that much denser instead.
'And for the final touch.'
[Principle of Vibrational Energy is being applied to your Sword Aura.]
[Your Mana Mastery is insufficient.]
[Durability of the sword is being consumed due to a lack of control.]
'Tch, it's all the more sloppy now.'
"Grraahh!" The Yeti King was almost in front of him. It's outstreched limbs seemed to want to tear him apart.
"Still, it's enough for you. Let's be more wild."
𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘶𝘢𝘢...
The air got ripped apart from just the pressure from the Yeti King. 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘮! 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘮! The air exploded almost instantaneously as steam rose out of its fur from the friction between air molecules and and it's body.
The measly distance of 100 metres was covered in an instant. Rihan was also done preparing as he relaxedly assumed a stance.
Just as the claws of the Yeti King reached in front of Rihan's face and were about to clench and squish it into paste...
𝘛𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨.
The sword's blade met the Yeti King's hand. And then...
𝘗𝘰𝘰𝘧!
The whole of the hand disappeared into a mist of blood and then froze into ice particles. It was the result of colliding of the Yeti King's [Icy Hide] colliding with Rihan's vibrating Sword Aura.
"Grrr?"
The Yeti King stood in utter confusion and bewilderment. It looked at its hand, or what had left of it. For a few seconds, that was what it did.
"Aye, still not accepting reality, are you?"
Then it dawned on the Yeti King. What—
"Grraaaahhhhh!!! Grraahhh!!! Grraahh!!!"
"How amusing. I have never seen a monster as weak to pain as you."
It was the truth. Monsters were inherently more vicious and bloodthirsty than normal humans. There was nothing like understanding or agreement between monsters. The moment one monster crossed another, it was a fight to death for dominance and blood. It could be said that their pain tolerance was naturally outstanding, as was their grit.
But this Yeti King...
"You are a coward, aren't you? Sometimes, there are monsters like you who are a little smart. Instead of absolute strength, you use underhanded means to survive."
"Grrraahh! Grrraa!! Gr... "
"And after becoming the King or Leader of the area, the real monsters inside of you started to appear and consume that pitiful intelligence. Thats what you are."
Slowly, the Yeti King regenerated its lost hands. Even though the Yeti King returned to its peak physical condition, Rihan did not disturb it since he didn't see any need to do so anymore.
"Grrr...."
The Yeti King backed off little by little. On its hideous face, the expression of wariness was etched for the first time.
"What? You are trying to retreat. That won't do."
𝘏𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘩𝘢.
"I have not had much fun yet."
Was Rihan excited to see blood after a long time? Honestly, yes. Even though he wanted to change, habits were hard to rectify. Well, he also wanted to test out his new powers and abilities a bit.
And the Yeti King, with its impressive regenerative abilities, was the best target. So, he couldn't help but show his sadistic tendencies a little.
"Let's try qi this time."
[Qi Sense is being amplified.]
[Qi is being poured into 'Sharp Cold Iron Sword'.]
[Your Qi Mastery is nigh perfect.]
[Your understanding of the sword is more than sufficient.]
[Sword Aura is being generated.]
[Your sword can cut through your enemy as long as you have the 'will'.]
The blue film of mana covering the sword disappeared as a hazy white kind of aura now wrapped the sword.
"Will, huh."
'What a vague term to use. But it certainly is an apt description for it.'
Spirit, will, qi, determination, desperation, etc. These were terms that could be used interchangeably but had certain differences between them. In particular, will could be understood as the strong desire to do something.
At the same time, how you do things and while harbouring which mentality and emotions, determine the outcome of your actions.
"You know, there is a fire boiling inside of me for you."
[Your will burns with hatred.]
[Your qi expresses yourself through it.]
[Your Sword Aura has acquired 'fire' and 'bleeding' attributes.]
[Your every foe shall burn in your hatred and bleed to death by your sword.]
𝘗𝘴𝘴𝘴𝘴𝘵.
The surrounding temperature of a few metres dropped rapidly. The ice melted and turned into water. 𝘎𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘢. Even that water boiled and turned to steam in no time.
The bone-chilling cold was transformed into a burning hell.
[Your 'Sharp Cold Iron Sword's' durability is decreasing rapidly!]
"Grrr? Grrr...!"
"Hmm. It looks like I can use my qi without any problem, unlike mana. Okay, let's finish the test quickly."
𝘙𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦.
He raised the sword with one hand over his head. From a distance, it looked like he was trying to split the mountain top in half.
[Your immense killing intent seeps into Sword Aura.]
[The Sword Aura becomes more vicious.]
[The Yeti King is falling into 'Fear' Status.]
𝘓𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳.
Rihan swiftly lowered his sword. It was a perfect motion that drew a straight, fiery red line in the air.
[Sword Light has been fired!]
A red vertical line was fired towards the mortified Yeti King, who stood there stupidified by the current turn of events.
"Graaaaa!" But after noticing the abrupt attack, it regained some of its senses and tried to dodge the Sword Light. But it was already late...
"Grrraaahhh!!!"
Once again, the Yeti King cried in pain as his left hand was torn off and burned to a crisp. But it was not the end.
[Yeti King has been inflicted with 'Heavy Bleeding' Status.]
[Yeti King's 'Snow Regeneration' has been interrupted due to a drastic area change.]
['Sharp Cold Iron Sword' durability has fallen below half.]
"Oh ho. Wasn't it beautiful? Such a clean strike!"
Now, the Yeti King was only whimpering and shivering while losing copious amounts of blood from its wound. It was only alive because of its enormous vitality. It had lost all confidence and was only waiting for death. Its regeneration was also not working, and it couldn't endure the pain any longer. It's spirit has died down completely under the despairing force he felt for the first time.
Run? Where to? Even it knew that running was futile. The Yeti King, King of the Himalayas, only hoped to die a little bit sooner.
"Okay, let's try prana this time."
"Grrr...."