Chapter 79: Arc 5: Chapter 12

“So, this Purity of Essence will be the new technique that you’ll cultivate?” Bianca asked, and Song Ming nodded eagerly.

“This means that these skills would be most advisable for you. Try them out right now, even with your current cultivation, as it would help you get used to them more easily once you switch, and also ensure that you know which of these suit you and which do not,” Yan Taijun said, separating out a few certain manuals while putting the rest into a corner of the table.

That seemed sensible enough, so Bianca let Song Ming browse through those few remaining manuals.

Among them, there was Multiplied Strike, Planar Stream, Violet Kick, Energy Wave, Nebulous Aura, Planar Current and Planar Tide. Aside from the naming of it all, which she would’ve changed if it was within her power, she could only guess the function of a few, which were named the simplest of the lot. Multiplied Strike could either involve somehow attacking several times at once, or increasing the power of a given strike further. Violet Kick was, hopefully, a kick – because if it wasn’t, she was going to give up on humanity and just lie down and die.

Well, not literally, but she would be disappointed, especially because it wasn’t exactly necessary to call out these names when one used the move, so naming it something counterintuitive wouldn’t help.

‘And even then, just provide alternate names in the manual and make it clearer on the cover so that people don’t have to guess what they’re going to be learning… Though this one is probably just simple, and I’m getting needlessly worked up,’ Bianca thought, letting herself relax while Song Ming sorted through them.

Soon enough, she was done with her first read – none of the manuals were exceptionally long, and they all had a bunch of introductory nonsense and future steps that could be disregarded if one was only interested in trying the skill – and going to stand, handing over her manual for Bianca to hold.

“Could you hold it up for me? Just in case I need to reference the things in there?”

“Sure, look all you like,” she nodded, resting the manual on the side of the couch and holding it up with one hand, resting it on the top, “What is this that you’re trying?”

“Well, Multiplied Strike relies specifically on the properties of the Planar archetype – and pure planar energy – so I’ll have to start with Planar Stream. Luckily, it’s a rather simple defensive technique that’s meant to distort planar energy around me and make it harder to absorb for an opponent,” Song Ming recited, “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to replicate it in full yet, but at least it should match my current element and archetype.”

“Water, Stream… Yeah, I guess it might,” Bianca shrugged, ‘Please ask me something that makes more sense. Even the weirdest math questions would be simpler to solve than all of this… so I guess I should be glad I’ve got the Demonic Tyrant to do that for me.’

While she was thinking, Song Ming began, steading herself and reaching out with one hand, letting it guide her spiritual perception as she attempted to follow the instructions on the manual. Bianca glanced at them for a second, and quickly figured out that she couldn’t even attempt to guess what the pictures meant, never mind the text, so she stopped her futile effort and simply focused on Song Ming’s aura flickering with a soft blue shade.

It took her a while, but eventually she moved her hand aside, and a wave of energy – vague and faint, though most certainly present – followed her movements, accelerating with each moment until it exceeded her motion and circled all the way around her, forming a feeble veil of light around her.

That same veil earned approving nods from Xue Yaling and Yan Taijun, although they were hardly going to be impressed by simple usage of simple skills.

“How would this be tested, by the way? Should I just try to absorb energy near her, or does this thing also block attacks?” Bianca asked out of curiosity, since she had a feeling that she’d otherwise have zero clue what would be happening the rest of the day.

“It’s got a certain degree of direct defensive capability – at least in its full state – so a test of Song Ming’s ability with the skill could be performed easily enough,” Yan Taijun said, looking back at Bianca, “If you wish, you may have the honour, especially since you ought to better understand her limits than I would. After all, you have known her longer than I, and from my understanding, you’ve also gotten closer to her than our foxy cutie.”

That much couldn’t be denied, and she recalled that she had complained not long ago about Yan Taijun attempting to test Song Ming, so it was probably best for her to be the one to do this. Unlike her ability to recognise suitable skills and effective techniques, which would easily bite her in the ass later if she wasn’t helped out now, her skill with these… well, skills had to be increased as quickly as possible.

If she ended up in a fight, as was nearly inevitable thanks to this cruel world, she would need to have the ability to defend herself. It would only take a single failure to use a skill, or to properly use it, to end up injured or outright dead… and even considering the concept nearly made her throw up on the spot, so she wasn’t about to let it happen. Thus, she left the manual for the kitsune to hold on to, took out her knife, and took position a short distance from the edge of the planar veil, so that she could cut through it with her weapon without any risk of injuring Song Ming.

“Are you ready?” she asked, holding out the knife.

“Yes, go ahead.”

There was a hint of nervousness on Song Ming’s face even with the precautions she had taken, but Bianca steeled herself and swung her weapon right through the veil, using as much force as she could without accidentally unleashing an energy wave.

It was hard to tell exactly what made that happen, given that she didn’t control her energy herself, so she simply abstained from letting any of it appear on the blade.

As her knife’s edge hit the veil, there was a brief feeling of resistance, but it broke the moment she applied her full strength – which, it has to be noted, it far lower than it could be had her body cultivation technique affected it more. If she had a body technique that focused mainly on strengthening her, rather than increasing her durability, even the initial obstacle might not have phased her.

“Uh… Was that supposed to work like that?”

“It is a second realm skill, and it’s focused on negating planar energy recovery, not actually blocking strikes, so… it wouldn’t be too different if used properly,” Xue Yaling muttered, though she seemed deep in thought for quite a while, “Hm, and while water assists the flow of energy, it won’t necessarily improve the defensive property… Try it again, Song Ming. Don’t just repeat it, but attempt to redo it from the start, just in case there was anything you missed.”

Song Ming nodded and focused on her use of the skill, taking almost a whole minute to begin moving again, performing a similar motion and producing a similar veil. There might’ve been some differences, but they were entirely unknown to Bianca at the very least.

Furthermore, when she swung the knife and struck the veil, it felt almost like the defensive layer was weaker than before. She and Song Ming both raised an eyebrow and stared at one another, confused, until Yan Taijun spoke up.

“Well, this isn’t entirely unexpected, given that it’s your second attempt to perform this skill. You’ll need a lot more practise to get it to be effective and consistent – and the latter is far more important. A skill that succeeds only every other time may kill you every other time, no matter how well it works the other half. Meanwhile, a skill that succeeds on every attempt but is a tenth of its full potential at least allows you to use it and know exactly what you’ll get,” she said, glancing to the kitsune.

Xue Yaling nodded, “A sensible approach. It seems like you’re able to pull off the bare minimum for now, so let’s not waste time with that one. Go through the rest, and if you can pick up the basic circulation paths for them as quickly, then this archetype would be a suitable one for you. It’s fortunate to find one that you can handle after only a few attempts…”

“Like whatever you’ve switched to, eh, Xue Yaling?” Yan Taijun asked, “Shard half-archetype, like you’ve been dreaming of the whole time, right?”

“… You know me well. Indeed, I’ve had some luck and managed to get artefact shards, and they’ve already been influenced by a previous cultivator, so they’re more powerful than they would otherwise be.”

“Mind introducing them? I’ve been curious about the archetype for quite a while, truth be told,” the leader of the Dancer’s Abode said, leaning back in her couch, crossing her legs, “Just a few of the shards while Song Ming is working upon the next skill, whichever one she is most comfortable with. So, what are they?”

“Fine… First is Aureate Sword, a piece of an immortal gold blade. Despite its material, it can mute its presence and then unleash it within a powerful attack – and with the new added benefit of being able to shift the presence of the weapon onto something else, so I can make people focus on a certain hand, weapon or part of me if I need,” the kitsune started, tossing the Planar Stream manual onto the table as she also leaned back, “It’s a decent first weapon, and I’ve managed to acclimate to the second one already.”

“Ooh, do tell.”

“Anathema. It’s a rather impressive tool, and what it allows me to do is to negate planar energy, excluding it from an area completely. Better yet, with the changes to it, I can absorb some of the energy that has been negated, and thus increase the pace of my planar energy recovery during combat.”

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“Damn, that is good… and it doesn’t interfere with any skills you might want to cultivate, right?” Yan Taijun asked.

“Mhm, more or less. In fact, I can accentuate certain skills with it, especially those that are designed around the Shard half-archetype. The next two that I’m planning to integrate are Nocturnal Aegis and Butcher’s Cleaver,” the kitsune pulled out two small shards that didn’t seem especially noteworthy on first glance, “The first will allow me create a sort of… broken shield. It’s actually perfect for the archetype. When whole, the shield is broken, and when broken, the shield is whole. Each shard has incredible power if, say, it was released with Spearing Pieces or Lancing Shards.”

“… You lucky bitch. You sure you haven’t picked up a Luck archetype somewhere along the way?”

“Hah, as if. However, it is an incredibly suitable artefact. The next one seems to be called Butcher’s Cleaver. This will help with my offense, since it will let me unleash large sweeps that could cleave through a dozen men if they’re grouped up close enough. Furthermore, the changes to it appear to allow me to place down a phantom of the so called Butcher on a stationary location, letting it slice several times before it dissipates.”

The leader of the Dancers’ nodded, “And the rest? If you’ve gotten some Shard cultivator’s hoard, they would’ve had more than four.”

“Haven’t had enough time to fully comprehend them yet, but these seemed like the best choices for immediate returns. The rest had more complicated uses, and therefore would be more… circumstantial, and therefore less useful overall. Of course, that doesn’t mean that they might not be powerful, but…” the kitsune shrugged, “I’ll find out in due time, I’m sure.”

“Mhm, I hope you do, and when you do, please show me. I want to see what this archetype could unleash when finally completed.”

“So would I, in truth,” Xue Yaling chuckled, “But enough for now, let us focus on Song Ming’s efforts. She’s spent so much time studying, and yet here we are distracting her and preventing her from showcasing the results of her work.”

When the attention turned to Song Ming – Bianca had already been glancing at her while listening to whatever it was they were talking about – she had already managed to grasp her next skill.

“Mind telling us, cutie?” Yan Taijun asked.

“Well, I’ve looked at both the Violet Kick and Energy Wave, and the former seems rather straight forward. Unlike a lot of these, the creator of it must not have wanted to put people to sleep with their descriptions,” Song Ming noted, “Energy Wave was as lengthy as the Planar Stream, unfortunately, so that took most of my time… Anyway, is there anything I can use for a target?”

“Just try and strike me. I can handle it, no matter what, and it should give you some hint of your overall strength in the process,” Yan Taijun stood up and offered, and before Song Ming could voice a single complaint, she interrupted, “I’m in the fourth realm, and I’m good with both evading and blocking.”

“If… if you’re sure. Bianca?”

“You don’t have to ask me every time, you know… Make sure to kick her ass, my lovely pet,” Bianca smiled, going as far as to wink when Yan Taijun glanced at her.

For whatever reason – that was almost certainly named Han Rushu – she didn’t feel much shame about saying it out loud, directly to her face, although the nature of Yan Taijun’s work and her city helped. It was easier to speak about lewd things to someone whose faction specialised in providing lewd things.

Song Ming smiled at her encouragement, managing not to blush much to Bianca’s disappointment, then steadied her footing and began with the Energy Wave. Her energy gathered at her hands, and then she unleashed a wave of light, as blue as her energy usually was. It flooded forth akin to a true wave on the ocean, the peak rising until about half-way of its journey, at which point it sped up and its peak fell, rushing towards Yan Taijun.

With that said, the wave wasn’t even remotely close to being a solid and threatening force. As per the rules of this world, which were rather specific in certain circumstances, energy in the second realm could only manifest as a gaseous fluid outside of the body, and the offensive capability of it was also limited. The wider it was spread and the more complicated it was, the less power it would unleash.

Bianca’s own skills, produced – presumably – by the Demonic Tyrant, were somewhat exempt, though even then, Xue Yaling claimed that her skills would become significantly more powerful once she reached the third realm – and significantly ahead of schedule, from what she recalled.

‘Nonetheless, this looks pretty good, and Yan Taijun is only two realms ahead. From what I recall, Xue Yaling wasn’t significantly more powerful than those Blazing Skies disciples, so perhaps she’ll manage to do something with…’ her thoughts were cut off as she saw the wave being met with a flurry of ribbons, tearing through it with seeming triviality.

Some small clumps of light remained and still travelled towards Yan Taijun, but when she let them hit her – and she almost certainly could’ve stopped them, just based on how quickly those ribbons appeared and lashed out – they merely passed through.

“Hm, I see. If this hit me while I wasn’t paying attention, at full strength, it could lead to me failing to perform a skill at least for a few moments. It may not sound like much, but it is precious time that would ideally be combined with a second strike with far, far more direct offensive capability to guarantee a kill or at least an injury,” Yan Taijun said, “Come on, try it again and combine it with the Violet Kick – or any attack, really.”

Her excitement and eagerness had been visibly dampened, though not by much, and certainly not enough to stop her from trying again. Song Ming took a breath, some energy from the air around her flowing towards her as she prepared a second wave, taking quite a bit longer this time.

Bianca managed to realise that she was carrying on with the previous suggestion of not replicating her usage of the skill, and instead trying it out anew. This meant that it took a bit longer to pull off, but unlike last time, this seemed to benefit her. The energy that manifested around her, rushing forward when she pushed it out with her palm, and produced a larger yet denser wave that moved at a greater speed.

Yan Taijun did her the favour of not tearing it apart the instant it appeared, pretending as though she hadn’t noticed or hadn’t managed to react to it, allowing Song Ming to rush in with it, being only a step behind when the wave hit the dancer’s body. It did little to her clothes, but her aura visibly fluctuated. It was a faint difference, that’s for sure, but if what Yan Taijun said was true, then it might well allow Song Ming a chance to strike against a weaker foe, for whom the disturbance would be significantly greater.

Even now, the cloud of energy was so dense that with sight alone, it was difficult to spot Song Ming until she burst out from it, stomping on the ground and using the force to pivot and kick start her next strike, the Violet Kick.

A vast amount of energy gathered at her foot, and when she kicked with it, the energy erupted out in a mixture of blue and violet, emerging with unexpected density and power. It almost competed with the sheer might of Bianca’s more powerful energy waves, and forced Yan Taijun to unleash the ribbons yet again. They got in the way of the light and quickly overlapped with one another, creating a thick layer of ribbons that acted like a shield.

Violet and blue clashed with the ribbons, and exploded out, spreading throughout the room as it dissipated into naught, ultimately doing little damage other than the minor damage to Bianca’s eyes.

“Well, that was quite something. I’ll need to check where Violet Kick came from, as it’s quite the impressive beast,” Yan Taijun said, pulling her ribbons back and separating them, “Anyway, keep this sort of combination in mind. No single skill is likely to overwhelm your foe, but when you make use of several properties and force the opponent into a weaker position, then capitalise on it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, thank you… Did I do well?” she asked, looking between Bianca and Yan Taijun.

“You managed to improve over your execution of the skill in just one go, and perfectly executed another within the span of a minute. That is better than most can accomplish.”

“I have no idea what anything she said meant, but you looked gorgeous and you nearly did kick her ass, so I’m proud of you,” Bianca smiled, feeling a little bad for how half-assed her review had to be given her lack of understanding in terms of technical details.

And yet, while Yan Taijun’s compliment only served to put a small smile on her face, Bianca’s words instantly made Song Ming light up, a silly grin and vivid blush appearing on her face as she struggled to maintain eye contact. Out of the corner of her eye, Bianca saw Yan Taijun’s visible confusion, though it faded very quickly as she looked between the two of them.

Perhaps Xue Yaling mentioned something via spiritual perception or however that worked, maybe she just figured out that there was something going on – either way, she didn’t really care.

She just went up to Song Ming and embraced her, rather unsubtly groping her ass as she did so. All of this stuff was interesting to some extent, but she was still more interested in getting Song Ming alone at some point, ideally in bed.

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