novelraw Chapter 220 - 219 - Dance of Tempering
Chapter 220 - 219 - Dance of Tempering
Lind was covered in blood and filth. His once lithe body was now more heavily muscled but not to a massive extent. He had finally figured out what the Relic was for. It was not a survival trial, but a tempering crucible.
The entire Relic was designed to push a cultivator to the limits of their physical ability and then begin to temper it through battle. If Lind had been trained heavily in combat techniques, he would have been working against his already honed instincts but instead he was able to adapt and improve quickly.
His cultivation was incredibly solid and improved from high Stone Tier to the peak in the second week. His body began to absorb the force as he realized he could temper his body in the Relic. His cultivation was not geared towards body tempering but it could only help as he had not learned a technique yet.
The creator of the Relic had intended it from what Lind could comprehend. He finally grasped it when he understood how he was improving. Rather than simply pushing his instincts to keep up with the more complex movements of the attacks, he had begun to feel his body get stronger.
He had also begun to see impurities slowly emerge on his body as he kept infusing his body with Qi. Lind had smiled when he noticed as he finally understood the Relic at that moment. Impurities could only appear in tempering baths or with a purifying elixir as he had once made for others.
Tempering a body was a painful and complex process as one progressed in cultivation. Lind saw the Relic approached the process by direct physical combat and would not stop until the body was tempered to a specific point.
As he had entered high Stone Tier, he had not taken the time to find a tempering bath or technique to work on his body. The Relic was also profound in that Lind had not even noticed as his body improved. His Qi circulation improved and thus both recovery and efficiency went through the roof.
The third week led to finally reaching the Iron Tier. His fonts had become more refined as the stone dantian was compressed until an iron orb formed at the center. His Qi reserve was massive and the process of the Relic increased when it also hit the Gold Tier in power.
The first 3 sets of rows were strictly getting a cultivator into the basic moves and figuring out how to deflect the weapons into themselves at the perfect time. It taught him moves Lind could adapt to many weapons in the future.
He saw the strengths and weaknesses as he battled entire waves of the same weapon in various numbers. He also grasped the full ability of his body as he had to dodge and use his strength more efficiently to not get killed.
As the third week wrapped up, Lind solidified his cultivation in low Iron Tier and his body was now a well muscled machine that could stand up to Gold Tier power! It was not over at all but the weapons shifted.
They were still made of stone but now elemental attacks were included. Swords of fire, halberds of ice and so forth began to attack him and it made Lind quickly adapt his physical movements with all 6 elements to protect his flesh from the elements attacking him.
Lind began to grasp not only infusing his body perfectly with World Realm Qi, but controlling the external Qi to fight weapons using elements to attack. He could not grasp the control of Qi within the weapons but the air around them could be used to weaken them before reaching him on the dias.
Lind applied the knowledge he learned in the elemental vault in the Silver Peaks. His control to create storms was far above a normal World Realm. He had all 6 elements to pull on and divine fonts to fuel his dantian while still cultivating in the Relic.
The sudden shift at the end of the 3rd week was not missed by him either but he had no time to investigate as the final set of 4 rows rumbled. He wondered how things were going to change but felt his jaw drop as the rows broke apart to reveal not weapons, but golems!
Humanoid golems emerged but their features seemed far from any human or demon Lind had ever met. There were angular faces with what looked like blades on the forearms of each creature while viscous weapons were held in each hand.
Lind frowned as it would be difficult to fight more than one of these creatures, but he had no doubt he would. A rumbling came from the vast stretch of debris as an example of each weapon appeared around him in a circle.
Once more, a one handed sword started it as it lifted up and floated towards him handle first as Lind now understood. He was going to incorporate all he had survived to true combat. Lind felt a chill in his spine as the power of the golems seemed far above any Diamond Tier he had ever met in the Heavenly Maiden Sect.
Just what standard did the creator of the Relic use?
The first golem to move held 2 short swords much like Cyntilla which at first made Lind confident but the technique was far more vicious and powerful. The Dual Fang Dance was the name of her skill.
Her 2 words literally seemed to form the fangs of a mighty beast to pierce or rip apart her enemies. While the lethal strikes were vicious, the steps leading up to them were almost beautiful as her 2 blades hummed in the air and drew one into the deadly flickering of death at her hands.
The golem, by contrast, had no beauty nor elegance. It brought only one thing with its blades, death. The 2 blades moved almost independently of each other. The first would come from above while the other swung from the side.
Lind could try to dodge but the speed of the golem told him at least one blade would adjust depending on his direction or deflection. The only way to stop it was to fight both!
Lind infused his Qi into the sword and felt it get much heavier but he also made his left arm as strong as steel. He was quick to firm his stance and the 2 swords met. He expected to feel a heavy weight but was shocked when the golem's sword sliced through his like a hot knife through butter!
Lind used Shoti's movement technique as he could not move his body faster on his agility alone. The 2 blades sliced hairs off his head almost but the golem was hardly disgruntled as it kept turning and bringing the blades back around as Lind was now in a difficult position to move again.
His legs were spread out to let him move quickly while his arms were keeping his balance or ready to flip over using the sword as a counterweight. No matter how Lind looked at it, he was going to be cut in half by one of those blades.
"The hell with that!" His muscles bulged and he used the stub of sword to channel his Qi completely like an attack. Normally he had to counter the forces as his body could not withstand the counterflow, but he was much stronger as emerald light exploded like a cannon from the broken sword end.
The golem did not even defend but it was blown in half by his attack. Lind quickly downed elixirs as the golem crumbled to pieces. He had been desperate but he knew it was not the right answer as the golem melted and returned back to the top ring.
Worse, now a spear wielding golem joined it.
"Stop thinking, remember!" Lind closed his eyes and quickly reviewed not only the fight but his tempering until that moment. It was not just about survival, he had been guided to temper his body for these fights.
Why? What was the point?
Infusing Qi was the default response to using a weapon but it was clearly not what he was supposed to do there. He had used his body to turn the weapons of one row against the next and then both into the next after that.
He had been learning moves and toughening his body. He was given weapons but he was not using them in the normal way. How was he supposed to fight?
Lind gave into the previous 3 weeks of tempering and began to dance with the spear now in his hands since the sword was broken. The dual wielder tried to catch him but he moved in circles and tripped the golem into the spear wielder.
Weapons can be deflected and blocked but the wielder was the goal. Without the wielder, a weapon was just an object with no power to fight or move. Lind's spear creaked but the spear golem had been smashed by the 2 swords from the first and crumbled to nothing without returning.
Lind smiled as he now understood. He was the point. His body was the weapon, the tools around him could be applied in many ways to win, not just directly. Shoti and Cyntilla had been trying to explain it to him while Fey simply took it for granted.
They chose weapons to specialize in but the weapon was not the goal, adding to themselves was. Sword Qi was a manifestation of the cultivator making the sword a part of themselves!
A dam broke in Lind's mind as his spear suddenly glowed with Qi. These were not weapons, but extensions of himself. Mastering a weapon was not the only way, but mastering the body to be able to adapt to any foe!
The spear shattered as Lind tried to pivot behind the dual wielder but he quickly grasped the shield and then ducked down as a golden light flared to stop the swords cold. The sound of more golems moving warned him danger was closing in.
The battle slowly became 4 against 1 but Lind was hardly winded as he led the golems to their death. He could not fight them directly but control the flow of battle. A war was not won by strength alone but by applying the strength wisely.
If you are stronger than your enemy, then you can win, but it is not absolute. He remembered his desperate gamble in Veritas. He had brute forced his victory but also used his comprehension and control of his cores to win against a Ruin Spirit.
The golems slowly dwindled but their strength also increased.
Lind was starting to fear he did not have enough elixirs to last and he had no time to summon more from his ring. The warhammer shattered suddenly on a massive shield used by the last golem.
Its power was far above all the others but he had used that to get rid of the stragglers. Now, Lind was alone against it but its defenses were quick and solid. The mace it used was the most dangerous weapon as well as the weight and power easily crushed any weapon he used.
Lind looked around but there was no longer any weapon left to choose. He frowned as there had been a few left but now all were gone. He pushed his body hard as he dodged the attack but stone shrapnel from the previously defeated golems exploded outward.
Blood began to flow and Lind realized he was out of elixirs in his pouches. He was backed into a corner and knew he could not take on the shield or mace directly.
"I am the weapon then?" Lind smiled strangely as laughter bubbled up. He felt his body fully in an instant. Every muscle, tendon, ligament, and bone thrummed with power as emerald light began to glow from his eyes. His meridians sang with Qi as his heart pumped blood quickly to the limits of his limbs.
"COME ON!" Lind roared as he vanished from the dias as the mace suddenly smashed where he had been standing. The golem whirled to bring the shield to its back side but Lind was not there. It looked up with its fierce features but still there was no Lind. Where had the human gone?
The debris below suddenly exploded outward as emerald light blinded the world for just a moment. Lind smashed straight up and shattered the golem's head into pieces as his fist cracked but held strong.
Pain lanced up his arm but Lind smiled as the golem collapsed at last. The Qi quality skyrocketed as all the debris was absorbed back into the Relic and a bleeding Lind was left on the dias.
All the old blood stains were gone yet Lind did not fall but looked up at the very top of the rings to see a massive golem in the shape of a human now. He wore ornate armor that made him look like a demon but it smiled down at him.
"You have danced with death and tempered the soul. The great enemy waits for you in the war. Bring death to them and life to us. May the spirits watch over you!" The Relic began to glow as a massive formation lit up with Lind at the center of it.
His body began to burn and he roared into the sky as the entire group of people outside felt massive pressure beyond anything that should exist in the mortal realm. What had happened inside and what was the fate of Lind Frey?