> "The Little Demon of Winding Bloods did not break in," Jin said, his tone calm. "He was captured and placed in the hidden realm by the sect. They wanted to separate the wheat from the chaff, and likely crippled him in some way to give the best of us a chance."
>
> "But even crippled, we are all unlikely to survive an encounter. After all, how can someone on the first step defeat a demonic cultivator on the path of the next stage- Foundation Establishment?" - Jin, Provisional Outer Disciple of the Ben Nui Sect
Chapter 104: The Lake of Blood and Tears
Alex frowned, Jin's words sinking in slowly.
"The elder is probably hoping the demonic blood arts will empower his fledgling phoenix," Jin continued.
Alex shook his head. "But that's horrible. So many have died."
Jin straightened up, brushing off his hands. "People die every day. This one's just more... dramatic." He glanced at Alex appraisingly.
"You handled the first encounter well, though. Most would have run."
×××
Sometime later.
Alex and Jin moved silently through the hidden realm, their eyes sharp and senses heightened as they both searched for any hint of the powerful spirit beasts they were tasked with retrieving evidence of.
Alex followed closely, his senses heightened, detecting the faintest sounds and movements. his sharp gaze caught the glint of blood on a nearby rock, as well as distant shattered trees and deep sword slashes marking paths tread by surviving prospective disciples.
His competition.
So they're not just fighting the beasts... Alex realised as he scanned the area within his range, noting every broken or chipped weapon and discarded piece of equipment, each telling a story of struggle and defeat. They're fighting each other, too. They're competing. He glanced ahead at Jin, who was excitedly muttering about something that sounded like 'spirit resonance'. Perhaps I should expect Jin to betray me, too. Although I can't imagine what he'd gain from it, Alex thought.
He pulled up the notifications his 'fellow disciple's' arrival had previously distracted him from viewing.
[A ranked Skill - SwordSaint’s Domain (Passive) gained!]
You have defeated [Error - Non-System Entity - Quantifying…]
[Quantification Accepted]
[You have defeated level 0̴̰͈͖̊͋0̴͎̟̣̈́̐0̵̠͉̥̔̊̈0̴̰͈͖̊͋0̴͎̟̣̈́̐ Blood Familiar (Qi Gathering: Second stage) - additional experience points due to the level difference. Assimilating experience.]
[Experience Assimilated.]
[Qi 6 > 8]
Huh. That's interesting, Alex thought as he studied the increase in his internal Qi. He had learned that the 'Qi' section of his status represented many things. Not only did it roughly translate to the amount of hours he had spent cultivating, it also dictated the amount of Qi he could utilise at any given time, and the amount of spiritual power stored within his dantian. It took me about 5 hours of cultivating to get that number to increase from 1 to 6, that's probably why I felt so drained after killing the Blood Familiar... I don't have enough Qi for extensive use... But then again, killing a single spirit beast at the lowest stage just gave me 2 extra points... So I'd have to beat about 4000 of them to gain a year's worth of Qi, but...
Two hours of cultivation gained just like that? As experience?
Alex was keenly aware of his present advantages and disadvantages in the sect. All of the other disciples would likely possess years worth of experience and results from cultivating to bolster and strengthen their dantians, in comparison to his few hours. Back on earth, many martial groups often trained their disciples from childhood, and he would not expect much different from a society that seemingly valued martial prowess above all else. Whether it was archery, muay thai, or something more common like taekwondo, on Earth, although many joined at all stages of life, many others would start in their youth. If they're anything like the Shaolin, or even football, even the worst of them will have loads of years worth of training, cultivating, and strengthening themselves, he thought, glancing at Jin in consideration. But none of the others possessed multicoloured spiritual roots or the system... that's got to count for something. He thought. He would have to master his unrestricted system to gather as many techniques and as much Qi as possible, as without it, he would find himself deeply disadvantaged- not in skill, but in energy and physicality. With that thought, he found a question stirring within him. If my system assimilates Qi from any spirit beast I defeated, wouldn't it grant me Qi as experience for defeating other cultivators?
it made sense, that had to be the case.
At this rate, finding and defeating spirit beasts or imperials would probably be the most efficient method of growing in strength... He considered the numbers. he would have to kill thousands of cultivators at the first or second level of Qi gathering to gain a single year's worth of cultivated strength. So I have a ticket to power... As long as I go on an unchecked killing spree... and don't face any powerhouses along the way... I could catch up to the others in no time, he sighed, moving on to the details of his latest skill, SwordSaint’s Domain.
[A ranked Skill - SwordSaint’s Domain (Passive) gained!]
[SwordSaint’s Domain (Passive) - Within the Sword Saint's Domain, every breath resonates with silent power, weaving destiny and fate into a song of unwavering precision, where blades sing of mastery and power. Within the Domain, the user's consciousness is capable of extending beyond their physical body, gaining heightened sensory awareness. They can perceive every movement, sound, and subtle change in the environment whether from highly attuned sensitivity to vibrations transmitted through surfaces such as the ground, plants, or the walls. detect air currents, vibrations and sound waves, energy chemical signals within the domain, and gain a detailed, almost three-dimensional view of your surroundings that transcends several mundane materials and limitations.
The user gains unparalleled control over their sensory perception within the domain, able to enhance any of their choosing, including their perception over the flow of time. The user can experience time slightly slower than their surroundings, granting them more reaction time and allowing them to perceive and plan movements with greater precision. allowing the user to exploit micro-moments of stillness to accelerate their actions. Increased perception and reaction time will allow for the exploitation of micro-moments for sudden bursts of speed and the execution of rapid movements with perfect bodily control. The user gains a clarity of vision to perceive most energies within their domain's range, can freely manipulate any internal energy as they wish, and gains a very limited influence over any external energy they perceive within their domain.
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The range of the domain can be condensed from 20 feet to 1, with the shorter range resulting in vastly increased perceptual and martial capabilities in exchange for reduced awareness beyond the domain's borders. Within this domain, all sword techniques are amplified, and a heightened awareness allows the user a clear view of all weapon trajectories. Higher levels of mastery will lead to better control over the domain's benefits, range, and capabilities.
Current range: 15 feet]
So it consolidated Inner Focus, Outer Focus, Bestial Senses and Monarchs Temporal Drift while adding the ability to sense sword trajectories. And then it turned them all into a domain I can control? He slowed his stride, very briefly considering the skills possibilities.
The skill pairs really well with Sword Sense's enhanced reaction time and Pierce Reality's spatial strikes... I wonder what influence it would have on Techniques? He suspected it would be significant.
And it says I can become a little omniscient or omnipresent within it depending on how much I condense and concentrate its range?
With each step, Alex could distinctly feel the edge of his domain. I can see past its borders just fine, but the world beyond 15 feet feels... fuzzy. Outside of his domain's range, the world felt the same as it would to any baseline human with nothing but sights and sound to rely on. On a whim, Alex concentrated, focusing all of his attention on the space between himself and the prodigy, Jin.
Within the seven feet between them, the world snapped into sharp, all-encompassing clarity.
He felt infinitely attuned to vibrations through surfaces within the reach of his blade and the space between them, air currents shifted, alerting him to passing insects and notes of dust, sound waves brushed past not his ears, but his skin, and energy-infused chemical signals painted a picture much more vivid than any eye at his level or stage of cultivation was ever meant to see. He could see the surrounding Qi and mana clearly, as well as other energies he couldn't quite recognise, gaining a clearer look than he'd ever thought possible. He could see Jin's dantian as clearly as he could see the distant sky, and Alex felt that if he condensed his domain further, his sight would be enhanced to capture every facet and detail of his companion's internal energy. Within just seven feet, he had gained a detailed, fourth-dimensional perception of his surroundings that transcended what should have been possible.
Beyond the space between them and past his condensed domain's borders, however, the world dimmed, as though fading from existence. So that's the drawback, he realised. When I condense the domain, my skill improves but I can hardly even see the world beyond it. He squinted at the slightly dimmed and faded world, attempting to improve his senses beyond the condensed space. It said I could extend my consciousness outside of my body, too...let's give it a try.
He blinked, and found himself disjointed, staring at Jin and himself from the opposite side of their path. The sensation was somewhat nauseating and much more intense than any of his other experiences with skills. He felt as though he had possessed the senses of every blade of grass, insect, and molecule of air within the space, gaining thousands of eyes in an instant.
Whoa. Omniscience is trippy, he thought, clutching and shaking his head to alleviate the nausea as he released his focus, his sensory domain expanding and returning to its natural state, allowing him to continue his journey unimpeded.
As they advanced, they encountered various system monsters and lesser beasts, dispatching them swiftly and efficiently, leaving fresh trails of blood and new scars on the landscape. Each sign of previous conflict from other disciples, Qi-infused remnants of destruction, or evidence of blood creatures they encountered was meticulously noted, guiding their relentless pursuit of the two most powerful spirit beasts that lurked deeper within the realm.
[You have defeated...]
[You have defeated...]
[You have defeated...]
[You have defeated...]
[2-hour mana cooldown ended. Skills now available fo-]
Alex's review of his notifications came grounding to a halt as a disturbing sight came into view.
Both he and Jin stood at the edge of an unnatural space, crushed and hacked trees met flattened ground, and a small lake of blood inches deep that shone almost imperceptibly with Qi covered the floor of the collapsed space.
in the centre of the lake lay the corpse of a blood creature similar to the one Alex had faced but smaller, and around it lay the bodies of those that had slain it. about 13 disciples lay at different intervals in the lake of blood. Each within Alex's view bearing fatal injuries.
Alex paused, surveying the gruesome scene with concern, curiosity, and paranoia in equal measure. Before he could voice his queries, Jin paused too, raising a hand and drawing in a deep breath. "You hear that?"
Alex strained to listen, his eyes darting around the dense forest. "No birds... No creatures.... It's too quiet." His senses tingled with an unusual void. "Something's wrong."
Jin nodded slowly, eyes scanning their surroundings. "Yeah, it should never be this way. Stay alert."
They moved cautiously, their footsteps muffled by layers of fallen and displaced leaves as they approached the edge of the lake of blood, neither daring to set foot in it. Instead, they circled the edge of the lake, slowly, the stench of death hitting them before they could see the carnage in greater detail.
The unnatural lake soon came into greater view, littered with the remains of a small herd of deer and greater creatures. The bodies were torn apart, blood still above the soil. The silence was almost oppressive.
Suddenly, Alex stopped and pointed ahead.
"Look, over there!" He whispered, spotting movement. "Something's on the ground."
in the centre, a sobbing girl sat beside the blood creature's corpse amidst the bodies in grief, her blood covered hair covering her face, and her robes drenched in blood.
Jin eyed her warily. Alex did too.
She's drenched in the stuff, did she fall? But if so, how is she uninjured?...
Alex peered closer.
Something's not right... The sobbing girl was far out of the range of his SwordSaint's Domain, and as such, he couldn't glean any details other than what his eyes could see from where he stood.
"Let's wait and see what happens," Alex whispered. Jin nodded in agreement.
"Someone... Anyone... Help!... They're dying!"
The blood-covered crying girl in the centre of the lake of blood and corpses, screamed the words to the sky. Her voice echoed strangely across the red body of liquid.
'They're' dying? Who? There's nobody else here! Alex looked around and saw none living except for him, Jin, and the bloody girl. This is obviously a trap, and a poor one at that, he scoffed. Surely nobody would fall for thi-
A crash sounded.
Another group of 10 or so disciples burst through the trees and into the lake without hesitation. All of them rushing towards the blood-soaked girl.
Alex recognised the boy leading them. Lui Xian, the only other prodigy to have a golden spirit root of supreme potential at the spirit stone test. Besides Jin, that boy was probably among the strongest of those who had entered the realm. "!" The boy screamed a name Alex couldn't quite hear as he arrived at the centre of the lake.
The name of the crying girl.
Oh, so he knows her, they're all shouting her name, Alex thought, relaxing his grip on his blade as he eyed the reunion. The 10 disciples surrounded the blood-soaked girl with relief, each seeking to comfort her through her unrelenting bloody tears. I guess it wasn't a trap after al-
The sobbing girl in the centre of the lake exploded, bursting into a wave of blood,
As did the corpse of the blood beast beside her.
And every unmoving body in the lake.
A wave of red liquid rose high into the air.
The wave engulfed her would-be saviours until nothing remained but a slightly deeper lake, which shone gold with Qi and quickly receded, transforming into the form of tens of blood creatures,
Then a hundred,
Then slightly more in number, each swivelling to face the two surviving observers.
"Run!" Jin yelled, but Alex had already Leapt.
The creatures charged at Alex and Jin's retreating forms, each creature their equal in strength and cultivation, every single one exceeding them in speed, and each exploding into waves of red death that engulfed them both as it had engulfed Lui Xian and the others.
As death closed in around Alex, he condensed his domain, slowing time as far as it would go, and did the only thing he could think of.
Allocation, Sovereign Clone... Thousands Become One.
Wait... Eclipse... Eclipse absorbs blood... it's the only way out of this.
As all swords within the region gathered beneath his will and the blood of the creatures engulfed him whole,
He plunged his transfoming humanoid sword into his chest, merging it with his soul.