This was truly the only Jian ever actually had, willpower. He had the right mind to survive such an experience, because pain was all he had ever lived through.
Despair had been his companion for all those years, the feeling of being weak having stuck to him ever since he understood just how he was from everyone else. So he endured, he suffered, he would get up all the time, not because he had a dream, not because he was determined to never go down, no. He would always get up, because he always could. Nothing could get hold him down forever, and no matter how much he had gone through, he wasn't ready to abandon, no matter what...He would keep going forward, for that was the only way for him, he had nothing worthy of being looked back at in his past.
He could only push forward, forever.
And it showed once more, for no matter how much his body screamed in pain, he remained alive and conscious. No amount of pain would ever win against him.
"JIAN ?! What's going on ?!" Uma exclaimed as she freaked out besides him. He was just staying there on his knees, his entire body trembling as he screamed to the heaven. She had lived a long life, but she had never seen someone in such pain before. This went beyond simple physical pain, this was something that could shatter one's soul and mind.
And yet he clung to his life, for not only was he a monster of pure willpower, he also had goals now. He had reasons to become stronger other than just live a normal life without having to struggle to make it for another day.
Now finally, after all those years, he could afford to have ambitions. He propably won't be able to truly enjoy his life until a few years passed, but at least he wouldn't have to struggle for 40 years to reach the weakest of realms, like many cultivators have done.
"GODDAMNIT ! I WON'T GO DOWN !"He screamed before clutching his throat as he coughed blood. All his nerves were flaring up, and his veins were now showing through his skin enough to scare Uma to death.
"JIAN TALK TO ME ! WHAT'S GOING ON ?!"
She quickly came to regret asking him, as he suddenly turned around and looked at her, his bleeding eyes gazing into her very soul. She had a pressing urge to look at the ground enough to burn a hole through it, as the sight of the current Jian was qite overbearing even to her.
He had lost so much blood, he shouldn't even be alive anymore, and after enduring such suffering, his mind should've broken and he should've turned into nothing more than a husk.
"I'LL LIVE !!!"
With this final cry, Jian extended his now regenerated arms towards the sky and smiled, blood going through the cracks between his teeth and escaping his mouth as he laughed.
The sword finally fused with his body and completely disappeared, meaning that the process was finished and he was now fully healed.
He could've marvelled at the result, however he wasted no time. He immediately rushed towards Zhao Shu and the others. For even if this was truly Zhao Shu's fight, Jian was determined to have his revenge.
Maybe they could both get what they wanted. After all...Rivals weren't necessarly each other's nemesis and could help each other every once in a while.
Hircen and Daiyu snapped their head around as they heard someone crashing through the houses that had still been standing.
A fully healed Jian appeared before them, completely unarmed but looking quite enraged.
"You...Time for round 2 !" Jian exclaimed, pointing a finger at Qiang who smiled before kicking Zhao Shu away.
The young zhao warrior just so happened to land right on Jian who caught him. They looked at each other for a few seconds before smiling.
"You didn't think I was gone so soon now did you, Rival ? " Jian said cheekily.
" Rival ? You're so arrogant, Jian." Zhao Shu said as he got back on his feet and stretched his body.
"Jian ? You're calling me by my name now ? Quite an evolution." The young orphan said. Zhao Shu looked up and down, analyzing Jian before giving him a thumbs up.
"Well, you're now interesting enough to be remembered,just slightly though. Don't go and consider yourself my equal ."
Hircen and Daiyu looked at this weird scene with a smile on their faces. They had no idea of what was the history between those two, especially Hircen who hadn't heard about any rivality going on between them. However this was quite a happy little moment, a moment ruined by Qiang who appeared between the two young disciples.
" DON'T YOU START IGNORING ME, KIDS !" She yelled while hitting the both of them.
Jian successfully blocked her elbow, while Zhao Shu, who was already quite tired , couldn't stop her blow and ended up getting punched straight in the face.
' You aren't going to use that form of yours brat ? Great, you aren't going for the easy path. Now allow me to explain what other benefits you get from this secret power of yours. However do keep in mind one very important thing...The only reason you can even use this power is because you have an impressive willpower. Your moral will guide you through, lose it and you won't be able to use any of those abilities. That power of yours allow you to use this strange form of course, fortunately it also gives you some useful abilities. Actually I think you should ask your system to explain, given that it's much more easy for it to explain things clearly...I tend to ramble a bit too much.' Mara said.
[ Congratulation Host ! You have unlocked the rest of your potential. The benefits that come with the sub race 'Kishin' are now yours ! Those benefits come with a price , that being an untold amount of pain being delivered at random times after using any of these benefits. Please do keep in mind that the more you become used to this kishin part of you, the less painful this whole process will be, however it will be atrocious in the beginning. On a scale of 0 to 10, 10 being the maximum amount an extremely resistant human can feel without passing out instantly, those pains will start at 10. The benefits of the sub race 'Kishin' are:
- Mark of the Kishins: A mark located on your palm and that can only be seen if you decide to show it, or if a being who is stronger than you is looking for it on your palm. This mark allows other kishins or descendants of Kishins to recognize you.
- Kishins' Enhancement: The ability to enhance any equipments with the Kishin's unique aura. Yanhua type equipments will evolve in a unique way if enhanced by a kishin before their first evolution.
-Kishins' Form: A form that the kishins can tranform into, boosting all of their abilities and enhancing their bodies.
-Kishins' Black Heart Style: A fighting style developped by the kishins. It uses the Kishins' aura to deliver precise, swift and poisonous strikes. Can only be learned by practicing in the Kishins' Form. ]
Jian was trying his best to not get crushed by Qiang while reading all of this. He wasn't supposed to use the Kishins' form so that was useless for now, same for the fighting style. The mark was useless too, and plus he had never heard of Kishins before, so it would be difficult to get recognized by some, if they just weren't there.The kishins' enhancement though....
Jian began to move toward the corpse of a buddha guard to recover his lance, while also dodging Qiang's attacks. Zhao Shu had decided to rest and use pills to resplenish some energy, since Jian seemed to be handling the situation. That and Zhao Shu was standing on his last leg, another hit and he would've most likely passed away.
Gasps came from all the people present there, after Jian grabbed the lance from the corpse and whispered the name of some ability. The lance suddenly turned entirely black, it's blade literally oozing some sort of black liquid that would fade away whenever it fell from the blade.
But Jian went even further. He whispered the name of the ability again, and right after that, Qiang who had been a meter away from him and ready to slice his head off was blasted away by a sudden burst of power.
"Hoho.....This is truly amazing." Jian exclaimed as he looked at his new appearence. His entire outfit was now covered in the same black gas, acidic black smoke slowly leaving it and flying away.
Qiang licked her lips as she saw that and finally picked off the amount of power that Jian was letting out.
"...Interesting, boy. You went from Qi core 5th step to....I would say maybe Mortal Realm 6th Form. Impressive....But not enough. I think I really should stop playing around now. Playtime is over Kid." Qiang said as she pointed her halberd at Jian, while he did the same to her with his lance.
"Playtime is over, huh ? Quite funny of you to say that..." Jian said, smirking at her.
Before they could resume the fight though, Zhao Shu suddenly came back, ready for more.
"Are you sure about this ? A single mistake and you're dead." Jian said. All he got in response was a nod, and that was all he needed.
Hircen, Daiyu and Uma , who had finally decided to show herself, wanted to join in. However they decided to wait on the side instead. It was Zhao Shu and Jian's time. They would only intervene if Qiang proved to be just too overbearing.
"Let's get her !"
"YEAH !"
The two disciples lunged at Qiang at the same time. Zhao Shu was too slow to land a hit on her, however Jian could. However he didn't hit her with his fist or feet. Instead he elbowed her right on the face, and the results were horrifying.
"ARGHHHHHH !!! MY FACE !!!" She screamed before pushing the two away with a swing of her halberd.
Everyone looked in shock as she removed her hand and revealed her burnt face.
"What....." Zhao Shu looked at Jian with a questioning gaze, while the boy smiled as he looked at his outfit.
"Hhahaha....Seems like that strange gas has some interesting effects...You won't get me again though !" Qiang said. She had now decided to use everything she had.
And she wasn't some random cultivator just slightly stronger than the masses. She was someone whom people had every right to fear. For she was a cultivator of the Laws Realm.
The outburst of power that she unleashed was even more shocking than Jian's. Her aura swept everyone off their feet and sent them flying away. However Jian and Zhao Shu were able to recover by stabbing their weapons on the ground.
As soon as it was over, Jian understood this wasn't a fight he could win with power alone, at least not if he couldn't use his Kishin's form.
" Hircen ! I need your strength !" Jian yelled as he pointed at his lance. Hircen seemed to get the message, and so did Zhao Shu who immediately went to distract the woman.
It didn't last long however, as he got swatted away and crashed on the hard ground.
It was enough however for Hircen to get close to them, while Jian appeared behind Qiang and actually stuck his sleeve on her hand. The gas instantly started to melt her fingers, forcing her to drop her halberd.
Grabbing it, Jian retreated back to Hircen while throwing his lance in the air. Hircen who had understood Jian's plan quickly jumped and unleashed a devastating kick that sent the lance flying forward at an impossible speed.
Giang just didn't have the time to react, the lance piercing her shoulder and taking her with it. She crashed in a nearby statue that hadn't been previously destroyed by the Zhao Warriors, and tried to remove the lance...However it was already too late.
A huge fireball came her way, and while it didn't damage her in the slighest, it blinded her for a moment.
Jian came out of the fireball, he slid on the ground, spun around and when he reached her body, jumped high enough to reach her.
Spinning his new halberd around, he went for the final strike.
He crashed a few meters away, unable to land properly due to the speed he had gained while going for the kill. He got up, turned around and...Screamed.
Blood poured out like a fountain, covering the stairs that lead to the palace. Zhao Shu walked towards the corpse in disbelief, the death being too sudden for him to even understand what was going on.
He walked until he reached the head that had been separated from the body.
A few tears escaped his eyes against his will....
"....Goodbye.....Master."