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Martial Arts versus Futuristic Technology.
I never thought I would ever land in a world that had gone through such a ridiculous war. And the best thing, despite how the world has ended, was that Martial Arts seemed to have won.
Despite their many grievances, losses, and everything else they lost, including the continent where they all once lived and their legacy.
They won!
And their world, despite it all, is not destroyed, and not a single Void Ruler has dared to come here to devour it either.
Why?
Because despite how weak they seemed to be and despite how overwhelmed they were, the people of this world are strong.
The Heavenly Empress.
The Heavenly Demon.
Wounded and slowly dying, yet so strong, they are singlehandedly ensuring this world continues to survive and exist.
But these damned things are always coming back, desecrating their legacy by infecting them and becoming like them, imitating their martial arts, and even wielding Ki.
It’s all an insult, rubbing salt on the injury. They deserve to enjoy their victory; they deserve to feel like they actually won. Yet the remnants of this damned invasion are simply not giving up either.
And that’s why I was sent here. I wasn’t sent here to save the world; it is already saved. I was sent here to make sure of their victory.
Remains as one.
CRAAASH!
My shield bash with everything I had slammed the titanic crab-shaped mechanoid with a thunderous, metallic clash. An explosion of golden and black flames engulfed the monster’s entire head as countless cracks spread through its incredibly tough, yet not enough, metallic shell.
“I’m going to make sure that all of you bastards become nothing but scrap metal!” I roared as the giant crab swiftly spun its entire body and then greeted me with a gigantic, metallic claw.
“{Demonic Dragon Blade Mode}”
Gram’s form changed, suddenly turning into a pitch-black sword. A draconic, demonic, and evil aura surged from within him, fusing with my Aura and then summoning something else. A Demonic Dragon Spirit!
“ROOOAAAR!”
The gigantic spirit, part of Gram’s new Abilities, constantly drained my Ki and Demonic Energy, but I’ve accumulated plenty of that using my Demonic Torture Cultivation Technique imbued into my necklace. It was strong, and with its might alone, it stopped one of the crab-like claws of the titanic mech beast.
Gathering essence into Gram, I swiftly descended from the skies, swinging my sword down into the joints connecting the claw to the rest of the arm and the body. I need a single, swift, precise, and strong sword attack.
“{Eclipsing Arc}”
Darkness and Light became one; Yin and Yang rotating within my heart converged into an eclipsing slash of golden light and enshrouding shadows. Both elements swirled together, both my demonic and my angelic aspects converging into a single, powerful vertical slash in the shape of an arc.
SLAAASH!
The attack impacted the joints directly. I felt the enormous defensive power it had. The moment the sword hit the claw, I felt a strong vibration all over my body, yet despite feeling like it was too tough, it wasn’t. Cracks appeared, countless of them.
And with Thousand Blades, a single slash attack can become seven whenever I please, without any cost of Mana whatsoever!
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Seven more attacks impacted the joint; the cracks then became huge wounds, and after the seventh attack, the entire claw flew off the arm, falling into the ground below and creating a huge tremor that shook half of the island.
“OOOOHHHH!”
The mechanical beast gave a loud groan, as if annoyed. Robots couldn’t feel pain; it was a weakness to feel pain for them, but they still felt annoyed and even frustrated when they were losing.
Its second claw then followed me; chasing me were also a myriad of blue beams, endlessly being fired by the crab mech’s over a hundred cannons. I flew across the skies, evading as I could, and then I decided to summon Fang Shuan.
“{Summon Familiar}! Fang Shuan! Destroy that claw!”
“Very well!”
He summoned a golden spear out of his own metallic body, descending towards the claw and clashing against it alongside my Demonic Dragon Spirit Aura. Both managed to stop its charge as I shielded myself from the endless bombardments using my shield, accumulating more and more damage.
CRAAASH!
The crab’s last claw was then easily destroyed, as Fang Shuan’s stats were absolutely no joke. With his combination of a tremendous quantity of Ki, high Attack, his powerful Martial Arts, and his incredibly tough and heavy body, which could grow in size up to fifty meters, he easily destroyed the gigantic crab’s second limb.
“Demonic Dragon Spirit Aura, combine with him! Fang Shuan, get as big as you can and use your body to block the beams.” I commanded him as I kept tanking the hits.
“Alright!”
Fang Shuan spent a large chunk of his Ki as the Demonic Dragon Spirit fused into his body, making his size grow to a tremendous size, at least a hundred meters tall. The Dragon imbued his body, transforming part of his golden body as he gained black-colored dragon armor.
“You despicable piece of walking scrap, you dare look down on this young master?! You must be courting death!”
Fang Shuan quickly charged against the titanic mech, using his enormous limbs, which he divided into six, to strike it down and push it further into the ground. This made it impossible for its cannons to aim directly at me and revealed the large wound my initial attack had left behind.
“Perfect!”
I descended at lightning speed, charging my body with large quantities of Ki, which pumped through my Meridians, into my Inner Martial Core, and back through my entire Physique.
I combined {Brilliant Nova} from my Physique Abilities with my Inner Martial Core’s Ability {Combusting Darkness} to become the embodiment of bright golden light and darkness. With the shield and gram in both hands, I struck it down for good.
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CRASH!
I penetrated through all of its internal circuits and metallic parts with my blazing body, exploding everything I could, until I reached a blue-colored sphere charged with electromagnetic energy, the core. I destroyed the cables connecting to it and stored it inside my inventory; I’ll happily take that from you!
BOOOM!
The entire titanic mech exploded into pieces, which landed all over the surrounding forest and into the sea. I slowly crawled out of a pile of metallic rubble, sitting over the crab’s giant, neon blue-colored eye, which slowly turned off.
[Step 3: Hunt the [Giant Crab-type Mechanoid (SS+ Rank)]: 0/1 -> 1/1]
[Congratulations! You have completed the {Special Quest}: {The Heavenly Empress’ Test}!]
[Rank: SS+]
[Excellently done! Not only have you satisfied all steps, but you’ve done so with flying colors, right before lunch! Now go report your great success to your new master.]
[And don’t forget to grab the rewards.]
[Step 1: Hunt one thousand Mechanical Beasts: 1000/1000]
[Step 2: Gather Starlight Grass from the Starlight Hill: 30/30]
[Step 3: Hunt the [Giant Crab-type Mechanoid (SS+ Rank)]: 1/1]
[Completion Rewards]: [20.000 Plot Points] [Ki Restoration Potion (S Rank)] x5 [Ki Enhancing Pill (S Rank)] x5 [Favorability With The Heavenly Empress: +10.000] [You can become the Heavenly Empress Disciple] [Skill Level Elixir (S Rank)] x5 [Primordial Martial Beast Heart Fragment (??? Rank)] x1]
The rewards were much better than I had originally imagined! And they seemed all useful, so I was taking them all. Except this thing, a small yellow and transparent-colored crystal, which is apparently the fragment of a primordial martial beast? Where did this even come from? Whoever manages this quest must have a really huge treasury of items.
And Plot Points… Yeah, wait a second. Right! Plot Points. If I could use them on the Heavenly Empress, maybe I could find a way to sponsor her and make her stronger? And perhaps heal her? Sponsorships can be many things, as long as I have enough Plot Points though.
Well, would it be that easy, though? Although I should definitely do it either way, even if it wouldn’t be easy to heal her or impossible, Sponsoring her would still be nice to make her stronger and help her regain some of her powers.
And while I am in that, I should also be able to see the copy conditions for her Skills, hehehe.
“Alright, we’re done for today.” I said, storing the giant mech’s body. “Fang Shuan, how do you feel- Huh?!”
“I-I’m good…” Fang Shuan’s giant body had suddenly been reduced to a tiny golden doll. The demonic dragon spirit aura had already gone back to Gram. “I think I drained all my Ki, so when that happens… My body shrinks a lot.”
“Oh wow, you really look like a mini figure now!” I gasped.
“He’s truly a little doll.” Laughed Sepa.
[“This is the funniest backlash I’ve seen in a while… I wish it would be the same for you instead of just vomiting blood like any generic warrior would do, Anna!”]
“Shut up, Gram.”
I grabbed Fang Shuan and then summoned Violet, who helped bring us back to the village in a couple of minutes of running across the empty jungles. Of course, I made sure to store as much scrap as I found from the giant crab.
All these burned circuits and metals will definitely become important for my research into a cure, especially the intact core from the giant mech. Maybe with that, I can find some clues.
Or perhaps even craft something that could extract the nanomachines out of the Heavenly Empress? Maybe I am thinking too positively, but I need to try.
“Open the gates; it’s me!” I said, greeting the guards.
“The bald monkey girl!”
“So was she the one making all the commotion?”
“It is her! Open the gates!”
As they opened the gates, I walked inside. Among all the people here, these guards were very disrespectful. Despite most of the people having bowed to me after thinking I was an Immortal.
“Stop calling me a bald monkey girl! I’m a human!” I said angrily. “Please call me by my name next; it is Anna.”
“A-Ah, right! Right! Hahaha! Sorry!” A gray-feathered dove man laughed melodically.
“We apologize.” A tiger woman sighed, bowing her head. “It appears you’ve completed the trial our Master has given you, respected Immortal?”
“Indeed.” I nodded. “It was quite hard, but not TOO hard. What’s your name?”
“A-Ah! My name is Wai Tien.” She said. “It is nice to meet you, Lady Anna.”
“Nice to meet you as well, Wai Tien.” I smiled, incapable of holding back or petting her fluffy head. She purred slightly after I did that.
“I-It is an honor to be petted.” She blushed a bit. “But please, you might now know this, but within our people, petting our heads is a show of love and affection… D-Don’t do it so eagerly and to everyone, please.”
“Eh?! I’m really sorry!” I apologize. “I didn’t mean it like that! I hope you don’t see me as a creep now, Wai Tien.”
“Fufu, of course not, Lady Anna seems like a strong hearted and very respectful person; you simply don’t know the ways of this land yet.” She smiled charmingly. “Now, shall I escort you to her majesty’s palace?”
“Sure, thanks.” I nodded as I followed her behind.
Wai Tien was that type of calm and silent yet very smart and talkative once you spoke to her. Her stern look and slightly menacing eyes made most people afraid of her, but she was really chill and nice. Because I wanted to know a bit more about the people here, I asked her about her family and anything else.
“I am one of the few last members of the family of Orange Tigers.” She said. “We once governed the northern lands of the Pangea Continent. Our Martial Arts specialize in the use of our sharp claws, punches, and bites. Most considered us barbarians and savages… But there was a lot of technique and refinement in our martial arts.”
“Oooh! Sounds interesting!” I nodded. “Comparing you to the rest, you’re probably one of the strongest mortals around here… Yet working as a guard is diminishing your true potential from blossoming.”
“I fear that in these times, that doesn’t matter much…” She sighed slightly, sorrowfully. “I wish I could become stronger and help eliminate the mechanical beasts, but every time I clash against them, my claws break and my hands bleed… They’re entities that we mortals can’t simply fight.”
“Are they? I can punch through their metal with ease…” I said.
“Haha, well, you’re an Immortal. You’re on another whole level from us, Lady Anna.” Wai Tien smiled. “It is always nice to see many strong women; her majesty is also a good example. Back in my clan, I was discriminated against and shunned by my family for being a female who wanted to learn the techniques, which were usually only reserved for males. Once I stepped into the wide world outside, I learned of many female cultivators and martial artists, and that one of the strongest beings in our world was also a woman. It inspired me to strive further.”
“That’s inspiring, really.” I giggled. “Ah, we’re here. Anyway, come in! I want you to see the empress.”
“Eh? Why me?” She gasped, feeling flustered. “P-Please don’t force me, Lady Anna; I don’t deserve to be below her eyes…” She was panicking.
“Just come with me.” I grabbed her arm and dragged her inside.
After all, she was someone I also wanted to learn from the Empress.
After having seen her potential, I couldn’t let her go.
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[Player Name]: [Wai Tian]
[Title]: [Tigress Of The Northern Highlands]
[Sponsor]: [None]
[Potential Innate Skills (4)]: [Claws Of the Fiery Tigress (S)] [Roar Of Dominance (S)] [Tempestuous Blazing Wild Charge (S)] [Divine White Tiger’s Embodiment (SS)]
[Overall Description]: [Wait Tian is a warrior of Pangea’s Northern Highlands. Raised in a clan full of strong men, she constantly persevered to become stronger despite her clan's reluctance to accept females as part of their warriors.]
[Ultimately, in order to expand her horizons and learn more, she left her clan and traveled across the vast continent of Pangea, learning of many legends and ultimately working as a part-time guard and escort through the many years, gaining funds and investing them in her cultivation.]
[Despite her efforts, she has yet to break through her bottleneck and has been stuck as a Peak Mortal ever since then. By luck, she survived the cataclysm that destroyed the Pangea Continent by happening to be traveling on a boat, escorting some fishmen through turbulent waters.]
[She was then saved by the Empress alongside many other mortals and sheltered in this last bastion of Bestia’s last people.]
[She’s brimming with great potential and has four powerful hidden skills, but has yet to awaken any of them.]
[Skill Copy Conditions]: [Wai Tian’s heart is full of doubts about herself and her own shortcomings. And despite her entire clan being gone now, she still hasn’t been able to shake away the discrimination she suffered back then. She wishes to prove to not only herself but also to those around her that she’s strong and someone they can rely on.]
[To copy one of her Skills, help Wai Tian regain her own confidence, and also help her breakthrough her bottleneck.]
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Three S-Rank Skills, one SS-Rank Skill!
She is probably the most talented person I’ve ever seen so far.
I HAVE to become her sponsor.
And also, I HAVE to convince Lady White Crane to make Wai Tian her disciple as well!
“Anna, you’re back.” Her melodic voice greeted me. “I was rather… shocked to see how fast you completed my trials. I thought you would end them by the skin of your teeth, but it appears you had even more hidden trump cards than I imagined- Oh? Wai Tian, was it? Why are you here?”
“I-I…! I didn’t mean to come here, great heavenly empress!” Wai Tien bowed down before her, hitting the floor with her forehead. “L-Lady Anna dragged me here against my will…”
“Yep, I did it. Sorry.” I laughed. “I just found in her a lot of potential; have you analyzed it?” I asked her.
“Potential, you say?” Hue Xian wondered, rubbing her black beak with her fingers.
Wait, don’t tell me that because they’re Skills, she can’t see them?!
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