Before the explosion had been heard, Wei Lu and Jian were simply talking inside the room the doctor had placed the two young disciples in. Wei Lu had entered the room quite abruptly. She then rushed at Jian and examined his sword. She was absolutely shocked when she saw that the once broken sword was now completely fixed. It was a long sword, but not quite imposing enough to be a broadsword. It was completely black, with a red cloud carved on the grip and the word crimson written at the center of the blade. The middle of the blade may be black, but the edges were crimson, as if the blade was always soaked in blood.
"It really is the red sky blade. Amazing....To think we were right since the beginning." Wei Lu exclaimed as she marvelled at the sword. She tried to take the sword, but a sharp pain in her hand stopped her. She looked in awe as her fingers bled...Even though she hadn't even touched the blade.
"Woah...That's something else." Jian let out a gasp as he looked between the blade and Wei Lu's fingers.
" Haha...I think your value just skyrocketed, Jian. You see....The red sky sword isn't really a treasure in itself. No one really knows how it works. The previous emperor of the Wukong Empire had been gifted the sword by a mysterious creature after he had slayed the last dragon on the continent. That blade was then revealed to be the prized heritage of a noble family that no one knew anything about. The emperor was then supposedly poisoned by his rival who wanted to prevent an alliance between the ruler and that family. Though it was also said that it could've been the family itself that had killed the emperor since he wouldn't return the blade. Anyway only those of that family know how it works and no one ever wanted to try their luck since it would kill anyone that dared touch it. I don't know how you can use it, it must be linked to your unique Qi. One thing is to be sure.....You better train and become stronger before that family knows about you and comes to kill you. They are easily the strongest noble family on the continent and could wipe out the entire sect with a mere flick of the matriarch's hand." Wei Lu as Jian shivered. He kept getting new reasons to become stronger as the days passed.
He needed to get stronger to never return to his old life, he needed more power to discover the mystery behind the unholy being and the system and now he needed to become stronger than the patriarch of the sect himself so as not to get instantly killed by that family as soon as they become aware of his existent. Ever since he joined, he wasn't all that pressed for power. He had decided to take his time, learn to appreciate life, but once again he was forced to survive instead of living.
The previous light in Jian's eyes dimmed, replaced by something much more vicious.
" Let them come then. By the time those guys even begin to know I exist, I'll be ready to slaughter them. I've had to battle for everything in life. Those are stronger ennemies, but in the end...Everyone was stronger than me since the very start." He said, strengthening his grip on the sword while gritting his teeth.
Wei Lu thought she had motivated him, instead she had angered him beyond what she thought was possible for the easy going boy. It's at this very moment that Wei Lu got to see for the very first time, the unique Qi that Jian had, the unholy Qi.
As the elite disciples recoiled from getting hit by the full force of his aura being unleashed, the sergeant who was behind the door glared at Jian and kicked the door wide open.
Wei Lu turned around in panic just as the sergeant lunged forward. Their eyes met, while Wei Lu stepped back and the sergeant closed in on Jian.
Both his eyes opened, his pupils having turned red, while his hair became black and white.
' The moon in a sun.....Where did I see that symbol ?!' Wei Lu's eyes widened in recognition as the sergeant was sent flying back by an invisible force.
However this time, this wasn't the unholy being taking control of Jian's body, this was still Jian , as proved when he opened his mouth to let out a quiet hiss. He still had the same voice. His hiss however wasn't a normal as some weird black smoke escaped his mouth and immediately flew towards Wei Lu. Her reflexes allowed her to whip out a dagger she had strapped to her hip and slice the smoke in half with it.
The black smoke covered her dagger and she let go of it, which proved to be an excellent decision as it crumbled and turned to dust.
" You wanted to hurt me, huh ? Then come at me, woman. But be aware of this, this will turn into more than just a stretching for me if you try to actually kill me." Jian said as he pointed at the sergeant. The strong aura had now decided to stick to jian instead of flying around freely. A strong and completely visible black and white aura swirled all around him, it was completely different from what a cultivator of his level should have as an aura.
The sergeant used her mace to get back up, and glared at Jian.
"More than a stretching ? Well maybe I shouldn't give you the chance to attack me then !" She yelled, lifting her mace in one quick motion and pointing it at him. A small ball of energy formed at the tip of Jian's finger, while the sergeant's mace began to burn.
Wei Lu who was between the two decided to actually participate instead of stopping the two, since she knew that they were past the point where this fight could be prevented.
At least that's what she thought until Jian suddenly turned back to normal just before Berum appeared behind him and striked him with a chop to the head. The captain appeared behind the sergeant and gripped her hand, making her let go of her mace, but not before actually launching her attack at Jian. The fireball flew towards him, but neither the captain nor Berum looked worried.
Berum merely swatted it away, making it crash on the ceiling and provoke the explosion that Li Kuo had seen.
The sergeant was quickly put to sleep by the captain. He decided to take her to a room on the lower floor so she could rest, however Li Kuo suddenly appeared before them. He had his ice sword pointed at the captain who merely an eyebrow before appearing behind the disciple, having moved so fast Li Kuo couldn't even follow him with his eyes.
" Don't worry kid. My sergeant here doesn't know a lot, except that all things evil in this world should be slaughtered, since that's the way the Ryu Knights Orders have taught to all their members. I'll lecture her once she wakes up." He said before leaving. Li Kuo turned to face Berum, but the man had also disappeared, but not before putting Jian back on his bed.
'This was quite a tense moment....But still...I had the courage to point a blade at a man like the captain...Hehe' Li Kuo thought as he began to blush while scratching his head. It was a beginning for him. The experience with the Asura had really unlocked something in him, just like the revelation of Wei Lu had unlocked something in Jian. They were both more than ready to fight against anyone who stood between them and their dreams. One's dream of living instead of surviving, and one's dream of being weak no more.
********
( A few hours later )
Jian woke up feeling a bit groggy, and hungry if his stomach's rumbling was anything to go by. He had decided to get something eat before doing anything else, but that was before he noticed Li Kuo sleeping against the wall, clutching his ice sword.
Jian looked down at his own sword and smiled.
" Seems like we both got ourselves some pretty toys, huh.....Brother Li." He said smiling warmly at who might truly be the only new friend he made in years.
Since he didn't want to wake Li Kuo up, he discreetly left the room and headed for the inn after asking a villager for directions. When he entered, he was surprised to find nearly all the tables occupied by the knights. He heard them whine about how a two days break wasn't much and they didn't wanted to continue on so soon.
He found an empty table near a window and sat down at the same time as the weird looking man from the Vishnu Institute. Jian wanted to avoid talking to anyone so early in the morning since he wasn't really a morning person, and fortunately enough the man seemed too tired to even acknowledge the disciple, immediately telling the waitress to get him a strong drink to get him on his feet.
Instead of ordering anything, Jian decided to do something he should've tried much sooner. His eyes shone brightly for a second, before they went back to normal. While no one noticed, he had actived the first stage of the All-seeing Buddha eyes.
Instead of seeing things as he normally would, he could now see through anything if he wanted, but more than that, even if he didn't want to, he was forced to see the cores of the knights burning at the center of their bodies, while their spirit and soul were more akin to some quiet pulsing around the head and the heart.
He looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary until he looked at the man named Berum. All of a sudden his status appeared, even though Jian hadn't ordered the system to show it. What Jian saw shocked him, because this technique seemed to actually add more infos to the statuses of the people he looked at.
[ Name: Sheor-Sung Berum
Age: 450
Race: Seraph
Tier: 6 ( Equivalent to a Celestial Realm cultivator )
Talent: 0
Martial Spirit: Non-Existent
Soul Heritage: Non-Existent
Unique Technique: Non-Existent
State: Bored
Energy: ??????, Qi (Rank: Mortal Realm ), ????? ]
"...450.....Tier.....What ? "