"Spirit weapon?" I asked, bemused. A whirlpool spun toward me as the Deep Sea King slashed from afar, this time accompanied by those lethal energy serpents from before. I ducked and weaved through the nest of snakes before sliding underneath the whirlpool. "How do I summon a spirit weapon?"
-The principles are the same as the user's Azure Rain Celestial Arrows. How does the user materialize those arrows? –
"Those are spirit weapons?" I felt a sense of doubt creep into me. If it was so easy to summon spirit weapons, then wouldn't everyone be able to achieve it? Not only that, my arrows weren't powerful enough to take solid form like the Deep Sea King's clawed gauntlet.
-No, the user's arrows aren't spirit weapons, but they follow a similar principle. They are the foundational stage. In time, the user will be able to summon a bow-type spirit weapon without needing a physical bow. –
I glanced at the bow I was carrying before shooting down a couple of serpents and obliterating the next incoming whirlpool with a volley of azure arrows.
"Most cultivators use weapons, though. I don't think I've actually seen anyone use spirit weapons before."
-That's because physical treasure weapons still have their advantages. Spirit weapons are draining on the wielder, requiring the user to continuously supply them with qi in order to maintain their manifestation. They also consume much more qi than a physical weapon. Not only that, a physical treasure weapon can boost a wielder's skills and techniques, augmenting their attacks and power. –
"Then why would anyone bother with spirit weapons?" I tried not to roll my eyes.
-It's because spirit weapons have their own advantages. Depending on how the wielder uses them, they can be more powerful than physical treasure weapons. After all, no matter how divine the treasure weapon is, it cannot possibly have more affinity with the wielder than a spirit weapon, which is an extension of the cultivator's own self and the pinnacle of his or her cultivation. Not only that, a spirit weapon is not subject to the same disadvantages as physical treasure weapons. Any damage can be repaired by infusing them with qi, and they do not require maintenance, repairs or other logistics. –
So spirit weapons had their own strengths and weaknesses when compared to physical treasure weapons. That was good to know.
I took a deep breath and considered my options. Given how I was cornered at the moment, it couldn't hurt to try.
"All right…I guess I'll start by turning my arrows into something bigger…"
What I was lacking right now was a sword. Since I had a bow, I didn't need to condense my qi into one. At this moment, I needed a sword more, especially when I caught sight of the Deep Sea King lunging at me. His gauntlet's claws gleamed as they slashed toward my torso.
"I am the bone of my sword."
Nothing happened. Instead, I was forced to duck under a swing of the Deep Sea King's gauntlets. The claws slashed the air above me as I bent backward, and I kicked at him before propelling myself away. The Deep Sea King sprang at me once more, but I deterred his charge with a barrage of azure arrows.
"Damn it, he's not even giving me time to try!"
I skidded back, dodging both whirlpools and energy snakes while firing back with azure arrows. The Deep Sea King charged forward, swatting away my arrows with his claws, and pressured by his approach, I tried again.
"Um…trace, on!"
Again, nothing.
-What is the user trying to do? –
I could almost read the exasperation displayed by the system even though it was just text on a hovering window. Grimacing, I shrugged.
"I'm trying to summon a spirit weapon. I figured some magic code words would do."
Too bad I wasn't a master who could summon one out of seven servants, or I would have succeeded with my projection magic. Wait, what magic? This was a world of cultivation. I shouldn't mix things up.
Sucking in a deep breath, I continued peppering the Deep Sea King with more arrows while backing to a distance. If I had some time, maybe I could…
-Reminder to user: The principle is similar to how you conjure your azure arrows. –
"Yeah, I got it. But knowing that and actually doing it are two different things."
Frustration was leaking out of my voice, and I tried to clamp down on it. Letting my anger get the better of me would only make things worse. Forcing myself to calm down, I assessed the situation. I ran the system's words through my mind again to see what I had missed.
Then I glanced at my bow for a few seconds. Coming to a decision, I put away my bow. The Deep Sea King chortled when he saw my move.
"Oh! Have you finally given up?"
With a guffaw, he streaked toward me. This time, he generated a whirlpool under the soles of his feet before launching himself forward like a rocket. His gleaming claws scythed down upon me, poised to tear through me from my collarbone to my hip.
As if I would let him!
Exhaling, I condensed my qi into both hands. Remembering the sensation of creating arrows, I at first shaped them into my usual azure arrows, but I didn't stop there. Pouring more qi into them, I lengthened and continued molding them into longer, sturdier shapes. I could feel something different, an impression that I was about to make a breakthrough.
"Come on, let me succeed!" I yelled and unleashed all of my qi. A blinding flash blasted around my hands and I was momentarily dazzled. Even the Deep Sea King was taken by surprise, his charge halted when he collided with the dense field of qi that crackled around my body and was sent hurtling back.
"You!"
With a bellow, I condensed my qi into something more solid, feeling my spirit weapons take shape in my hands. Heaving wearily, I blinked and glanced down at my hands, catching sight of a pair of identical short swords with slightly curved blades. At first glance, they resembled swords made entirely of ice, gleaming crystalline with an azure tinge. Vapors of mist unfurled from the frozen blades and the surrounding temperature dropped a little.
I wasn't given much time to study my new spirit swords, however. The Deep Sea King bounced back immediately and slashed at me, but I parried his claws with my crossed swords. For a moment, we were locked in a stalemate, but I managed to fend him off and countered with a kick from below, forcing him to jump back.
"An archer trying to be a swordsman?" The Deep Sea King narrowed his eyes scornfully and snorted. "You're just a faker!"
"Why don't you test me out?" I asked, twirling my twin spirit swords about. "You can see for yourself whether my swordsmanship is fake or not."
The Deep Sea King didn't bother with a retort, springing forth once more to slash me. I deflected his claws to the side with one sword before cutting his chest with the other blade. Blood spurted and the Deep Sea King staggered back for a moment, clutching his chest with his free hand.
Snarling, he slashed at me once more, but I read the flow of his movements and parried them. Allowing him to strike, I moved in tune with the currents of his attacks and retaliated when he exposed a vulnerability, this time cleaving him from shoulder to waist on his back. he cried out and swung his arm back, trying to rake my cheek with his claws, but I knocked them away with one of my swords before plunging the other down into his neck.
The Deep Sea King was no pushover, however, and he dodged to the side, my blade only scoring a shallow cut across his shoulder. He spun around and launched an orb at me, but I sidestepped it and allowed it to hurtle past my head.
"What's this!? What are those movements?"
Flowing River Clear Sword. I didn't voice the answer out, but I remembered my dad teaching me the essence of the technique. Be like a rock in the middle of a rushing river. Don't resist the flow but allow the currents to wash past me.
Spinning my swords, I stepped in and attack, leaving another two bloody cuts across the chest of my opponent. He roared in fury and retaliated vengefully with another slash, but I hooked the barbed tips of his claws with one of my blades and pushed them to the side before ramming the other sword into his stomach.
I could have eviscerated him, but the Deep Sea King realized the danger at the last moment and twisted his body to the side to avoid a mortal cut. Whirling around, he kicked at me, but I knocked his foot away with the blunt end of my sword hilt.
The two of us burst apart in a shower of sparks and frost, the claws screeching against my blades. The Deep Sea King bit his lip and glared at me hatefully as he spun his claws about for a stabbing maneuver. Once again, I thwarted him by deflecting the pointed tips away with my left sword. My right sword almost opened up his throat, but he jerked his head back and avoided having his carotid artery laid open.
"To think that I will have such a hard time against a mere human!" He growled and hacked at me, but I stood my ground, exchanging another blow with him. "Did my millennia long slumber truly weaken me this much?!"
His eyes narrowed.
"Or is the restriction of this space supposed to be this vexing?"
His other hand glowed and a second gauntlet manifested over it. With a ferocious roar, the Deep Sea King swung both sets of claws down, bearing down on me. Even though I parried both claws with my crossed swords, my newly manifested spirit swords shattered into shards of ice. I was blown away by the impact, an explosion of black and blue qi unleashed from the forceful strikes of the Deep Sea King.
"Ugh!"
Crashing to the invisible ground, I rolled before coming to a halt. The roaring Deep Sea King swung both his claws down to his sides, unleashing another watery storm that buffeted me. Snarling, he surged toward me with his outstretched claws.
"I won't be able to block that with the swords from earlier…what if I create another spirit sword? One that is sturdier?"
Even if I used Flowing River Clear Sword technique to deflect his slashes and go along with the flow of his movements, the sheer spiritual force that he was emanating would break my relatively fragile twin swords.
What if I condensed the qi used to create both of them into an amalgamated form? Would that be more durable?
Putting my hands together, I formed a longer sword. Like the twin swords from earlier, it seemed forged from ice, with an elegant hilt and snowy designs intricately sculpted into its misting blade. Taking a deep breath, I held my ground and met the Deep Sea King's claws head-on.
Despite the blade being more durable, I was still blown away by the enemy's momentum. The impact that reverberated across my body felt like I had just been hit by a freight train. Every bone in my body creaked and I almost blacked out. Still, as I skidded to a halt, I was gratified to see that my newly conjured spirit sword had remained unbroken and unbowed. Frost continued to condense along the thin length of its blade.
"That was just a fluke!" The Deep Sea King snarled and lunged at me again, torrents of water raging around his claws as he brought them together to rip me to shreds. While he approached, I calmly took my bow out and fitted my frost blade to it, pulling the bowstring as far as back as possible.
"You know, you were right earlier," I said, even as the Deep Sea King widened his eyes, astounded by my move. "I'm primarily an archer, not a swordsman."
And then I released my frost spirit sword, unleashing it like an arrow. The azure blade streaked forward like a comet and slammed into the Deep Sea King's chest, blasting past his entwined claws, before exploding in a destructive blizzard.
A chilling cloud of fog blossomed throughout the void, and the frozen body of the Deep Sea King plummeted from its midst to crash into the unseen ground before shattering into thousands of fragments.