Armipotent

Chapter 2258: Five Days Before the Duel

Tang Shaoyang utilized the five days until the duel with a spar. The spar would help him to understand his sword, fist, and palm better. The spar involved no skills, just cultivation, not a single skill used. That was the restriction he put on himself.

Bing Lianxin and Bing Ruohan of the Ice Pavilion had to bear his fist and palm. Different from a skill, there was no cooldown for techniques. Though cooldown didn’t really matter anymore when one reached a God Rank. It was something new for Tang Shaoyang, but also delightful, for him at least.

The techniques didn’t have a cooldown. It all depended on how much energy he could muster and how he fast channeled the energy into his technique. In this regard, a player with the Cultivator Class had a big advantage since they had two different energy reservoirs.

The Ice Pavilion gained a bit of success in incorporating Ethereal Frost into its cultivation. They put that success into the spar, but failed miserably to contain Tang Shaoyang’s tyrannical fist and palm.

The two Grandmasters of the Ice Pavilion decided to go for a closed-door training after the beating. The defeat was bitter, but it was also enlightening. They realized the weakness and which path they must follow in their new technique.

Grandmaster Bai of Bai Pavilion, Grandmaster Sikong of Blazing Pavilion, and Grandmaster Duanmu of Wind Blade Pavilion became Tang Shaoyang’s next punching bags.

The three welcomed the opportunity with open hands. The three joined the Thousand Vows Pavilion at the 7th-Stage True God Realm. They stagnated in that realm for over a hundred years. Breakthrough seemed to be out of reach until they accepted the System.

With their cultivation, the three Grandmasters were flying in levels. They got to Epic Ranks within two days, fighting the monsters in the Dimensional Tower. They reached Demi-God Rank in six months.

They might have reached the rank earlier if not for Tang Shaoyang. While they were powerful, they brushed off the first three advancement trials. They still needed to take the class about the trial and how the reward works. How important it was to complete the trial instead of merely passing the trial.

As they stepped into the Demi-God Rank with their newfound power, they broke through the bottleneck in the following month, quickly reaching the peak of the True God Realm. They didn’t need to worry about their foundation. They stayed in the 7th-Stage True God Realm for too long, which didn’t affect their foundation negatively for quick succession breakthroughs.

They reached the peak of True God Realm—underwent body refining with the additional attributes by becoming a player—received the bonus from accepting class, bloodline, and talent. The three believed they had shortened the gap with the Emperor. They believed so until the friendly spar.

They agreed not to use skill, bloodline, or any perks from the player. It was just a spar between cultivators. They exchanged their swordsmanship, yet the result was resoundingly clear.

They had the advantage in their execution, but they lacked the strength to overcome Tang Shaoyang. While they were beaten, they also learned a way to improve their own way of fighting. The spar didn’t just benefit Tang Shaoyang, but them as well.

The three Grandmasters from the True Sword Pavilion. He was familiar with the former patriarch of the Sword Manor, Grandmaster Tian Zhong. But this might be his second or maybe third interaction with the two Grandmasters from the True Sword Pavilion: Grandmaster Jian Ruwei and Grandmaster Pian Zhengjian.

This time the spar went longer than the previous sparring. Tang Shaoyang had an hour-long session with Grandmaster Pian and Grandmaster Jian, respectively.

It was to be expected that Grandmaster Jian and Grandmaster Pian were better in terms of understanding the sword than Tang Shaoyang. They had a big advantage in their mastery of swords. But they encountered the same problem, lacking the strength to put them in favor in the spar.

Tang Shaoyang’s mysterious dark-golden energy pushed them off. Their technique was weakened in the class, reducing the force behind their strike. At the same time, Tang Shaoyang was also learning from them. The way they handled the sword, their movement, and their anticipation in each strike.

They didn’t swing to win the fight as they positioned themselves for the worst or for the opportunity presented for them in each of their swings. It didn’t mean their swing lacked force, but it gave more flexibility for all kinds of unknown possibilities that would come for them.

Grandmaster Pian’s sword was seamless yet deadly, and Grandmaster Jian’s sword was destructive, but lacked control compared to Grandmaster Pian’s.

Tang Shaoyang started to pick up their characteristics. The flesh cut on his body that instantly healed became his teacher. While he was still lacking, he picked up what he lacked in the spar.

Then he had a session with Tian Zhong, a two-hour-long session. His sword was seamless as Grandmaster Pian’s, yet no less destructive than Grandmaster Jian’s sword. On top, Tian Zhong’s sword was unpredictable.

He accumulated more flesh cuts compared to the previous seven spars. He was pushed and cornered by the sword. It was the description of what the text in the Heavenly Scripture mentioned, the sword was alive. There was no flashy or overly destructive technique, just a sword exchange between the two.

The two-hour friendly spar ended with Tang Shaoyang’s first loss of the day. The loss was because he was out of the boundary. He was fully absorbed in accepting each of Tian Zhong’s swords. That made him forget the boundary that had been cut by their swords until Zaneos announced it.

The demon Swordsmaster was interested in the spar, deciding to be the referee halfway through. He wanted to watch the sword clash, so he volunteered to oversee the spar.

The spar continued with the last two challengers coming from the Origin Sword Pavilion. Grandmaster Nangong Xiang Yu and Grandmaster Nangong Hao also wanted to try their newly developed technique.

Tang Shaoyang could feel the clear distinction between the True Sword Pavilion’s and Origin Sword Pavilion’s swords. The former was flexible, creative, and elegant. The latter only contained one concept, sharpness, which wanted to cut everything with their sword.

Without a doubt, the Origin Sword Pavilion’s sword was more fatal, but being more destructive and fatal didn’t mean it was effective. The power behind their sword cost them dearly, making their sword more predictable. If he knew where and how the sword would cut him, he easily deflected, blocked, and dodged.

The Nangong Family’s sword was not dangerous. It was just not dangerous to Tang Shaoyang, someone with Absolute Sense. It might be dangerous to the people who underestimated their sword, as it contained more power than it looked.

He had an hour-long session against each Grandmaster. The way they fought was similar, but he still learned their sword in the fight. Both were defeated by him, though Nangong Hao seemed not to be able to accept it. His loss against Tang Shaoyang meant it was his loss against Tian Zhong. The rivalry between them didn’t disappear just because they were under the same roof right now.

Nangong Hao wanted to have another session, but Tang Shaoyang refused with a reasonable excuse, ”I have enough for today. I want to consolidate what I have gained for the day. Come back to me in four days if you are still dissatisfied with the result.”

He didn’t want to hurt the old man’s pride. That was something he learned from Li Shuang. It was good to be blunt, but it also didn’t take much effort not to be mean or hurtful.

As he was about to meditate and reflect on his spar, a figure stepped in front of him, ten meters across from him. Zaneos was standing with his armor and sword.

”It’s my turn now!”

If it were someone else, Tang Shaoyang would refuse another spar. But the demon was his first teacher. The first one to teach him to fight ”properly”. One of the first companions who accompanied him on his journey.

”I guess it’s the right thing to do to let my teacher check my progress,” He responded with a smile.