Jin Muyi:_________________________Let Darkness Reign, Part 1____________________________
Observe the approaching Invader. Male, Looks young. Is likely to be over confident in achieving Foundation Establishment as such a age. Weapon, seems to be wielding a sword. Conclusion, Should be a young confident Invader reliant on his speed with the sword to dart past the arc of his polearm and reach him.
As predicted, Muyi observed coolly as the Invader suddenly burst into a sudden bound with sword thrust aimed at his throat in a blur of blinding speed. In a smooth flowing motion, he tilted his head just slightly to ensure the blade miss him by the slimmest of margins while simultaneously countering with a vicious stab from the dagger his polearm had shape-shift into dropping what had been mere moments ago a prodigious talent into nothing more but a corpse.
Twenty.
Invader, Muscular Body filled with battle scars. Likely to be a Body Focused Cultivator and is used to trading hits with his enemy. Weapon, Greataxe that he's hefting without any noticeable strain, likely to be able to swing it faster then most would assume. Conclusion, Should be a experienced Body cultivator who relies on using his body to fend off attacks while overwhelming his foe with rapid strikes from his axe.
As the whirlwind of axe blows descended upon him, Muyi kept his cool. Twirling up his polearm now in the shape of a staff he moved into a series of continuous Figure Eights that simultaneously deflected the axes blows away from him while using the momentum from doing to so to land rib cracking strikes with the other end of the staff. And as the hits added up and stole the Invader's ability to maintain his whirlwind of blows, Muyi took advantage of the gaps that appeared within the Invader's whirlwind and thrust the now bladed spear into the eye of his foe, dropping the giant with a crash.
Fifty.
Female Invader, moving in a flowing dancelike fashion with flowery gestures. Suspected to be a Cultivator focusing on illusion and misdirection. No obvious weapon spotted, Foe is either proficient with Body Focused Techniques as well or has a weapon hidden somewhere to use in conjunction with her illusions. Her plan is likely to kill with a thousand cuts.
In keeping to his expectation, the Invader behaved exactly as predicted. After taking a few steps towards Muyi, she dissolved into what seemed to be a wave of silk ribbons that fluttered around him, trapping Muyi in a sphere of everchanging colors. In mere moments after trapping him, Muyi could feel the sting of a slash as well as the burning sensation that indicate poison on his back. Reacting quickly, he swiftly changed the weapon at hand into a Sabre and sent out a sharp slash at the direction of the attack only to feel his slash cleaving through a ribbon with ease.
At the same time, another dagger wound appeared on his outstretched arm indicating that the Invader's plan was to use illusions and poison to slowly kill him. That would not do, while drawing out the fights would buy time for his juniors, it also ensured that he would fight less Invaders and hence allow for more of them to hunt his juniors down. Steeling his resolve, Muyi allowed his grip on the chains binding the
Darkness to loosen slightly and built it within him while waiting for the perfect moment to strike as he maintained a defensive guard allowing her to only strike at non-vital areas.
Muyi could feel her getting impatient, his posture ensure that her dagger had not been able to strike him deeply and spread the poison to his internals. And for a Cultivator of their level, using Qi to force blood to flow out was not hard at all, ensuring that even the few doses of poison she managed to applied had the majority of it's toxicity forced out of him. He could feel from the increase in slashes that she had began greedy, the desire to kill him and his lack of rebuttal had tricked her into forgoing all but the most basic defenses as she use her Art to swirl faster and faster around him to increase the number of slashes she could land.
His moment had arrived. She slipped up and had accidentally swung her dagger to deep allowing it to be caught by one of his bones. For a single second her technique came to a halt as the flowing motions were interrupted by the impact of dagger hitting bone. For a single second Muyi could tell where she was. He made sure to not waste it.
With a loud exhale, Muyi allowed the prepared technique to break free. In that same second, a wave of dark green Saber shaped leaves burst out from Muyi's body and landed on the Invader, the Saber Qi coating the blades ensured that upon impact the area around it was minced by a thousand cuts of Saber Qi. Instantly cutting apart both the technique and the Invader. Hearing the cheers for his foe coming to a immediate halt at his blow, Muyi looked at the crowd of Invaders and smiled.
A Hundred
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Beating the Illusion user must have meant something to the Invaders. Without fail, the next few challengers that came forward were tough, just as tough as her ensuring that unlike the previous challengers where he slew them without being wounded using purely his skills with his weapon, he now had to use all of his skills such as his inhuman body as well as his Qi techniques. Even then, Muyi still found himself frequently wounded in the exchanges forcing him to rely more and more on the
Darkness's ability to siphon blood and bone before converting it into Qi that could be used to heal and replenish his Qi reserves.
This was the first time since his recovery from his wounds that he had used the
Darkness so heavily and for such a prolonged period. In all the fights and battles Muyi had been involved in before the current Trial, the
Darkness had been a Trump Card, something that allowed him to enhance his abilities to the levels of some of the Talents of the Clan. Even during those times, such usage came at a cost of having to fight to regain control over the
Darkness after the battle.
Now with the non-stop challenges from the Invaders and the heavy usage of the
Darkness to gain the power to slay them quickly, Muyi found that he did not have the time to reinforce his control over it. It wasn't as if this had not been expected, he knew that when the fight got desperate, he would have to loosen some of the chains he had binded
it with for the power. But Muyi had not been expecting it to happen so soon and to be breaking the chains of his control so quickly especially since his plan had been to alternate usage of the
Darkness in the Duels, to forge new chains and reinforce existing ones to deal with the greater strength the
Darkness would have gain from the blood and Qi of the slain.
The intensity of the duels had forced him to give up that, in fact Muyi had to break more of the chains keeping
it under control then what he had expected to gain the strength needed to survive. Not using
it would have allowed him to easily fall to attrition due to the wounds from the duels, ensuring that each fight got harder and harder as time progress. For the price of loosening the reins on the
Darkness, he had gain the ability to constantly fight at his best with each usage to return to his peak coming at the cost of the chains that was his control over
it, loosening the restraint that was all that prevented the
Darkness from going wild.
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Muyi found himself panting slightly as he leaned against the spear thrust into the corpse of his last opponent. As the last bits of Qi left in the corpse was drained by the
Darkness and funneled into him, Muyi felt his exhaustion recede as his Qi reserves were once more filled to the brim. The fight with the Invader had been a tough one, with the Invader's usage of a bow sealing off the majority of Muyi's arsenal forcing him to rely solely on the Blood Qi Cannon as his only avenue to fight back.
If he haven't gotten it during his adventures in the Wildlands, Muyi would have been forced to use either the
Darkness as a bow or the Philocrates Formation, both of which would drain his Qi reserves even faster. Even with the aid of the Blood-Qi Cannon and the sea of blood Qi stored within it by it's previous owners, Muyi still required the usage of his own Qi to be able to fire enough shots to prevent the Invader's arrows from hitting him.
The Invader had very clearly been one with a talent and Dao for the Bow and would have tilted the stalemate they were in if he had been given time. Thankfully, that pride in his abilities blinded him to other avenues of attack such as Muyi's weapon being as much a part of him as his Limbs thanks to the
Darkness. Muyi's earlier throw of his spear had missed the Invader with space to spare, giving the impression that Muyi had done so to buy the scant few seconds needed to draw and fire the Blood-QI Cannon.
As they exchanged fire, a part of Muyi's attention had been manipulating the Invader into position. To make it so that he was in a close enough radius to the discarded spear so that when Muyi sprung the ambush, he would not been able to react. That had been harder then expected and required a enormous drain of Qi to both exchange fire as well as control the pace of the battle.
But the gamble had paid off for Muyi. The trap had worked and the Invader had died without even realizing how. And from the amount of Qi he got from the corpse even after it had been converted into Blood Qi and back, Muyi had gotten lucky that the trap had worked before the Invader pulled off what he had kept so much Qi in reserve for...
Two hundred and sixty-four.
A thunderous roar heralded the arrival of his next opponent. A Invader accompanied by three tigers of different shades strolled within reach of the arena his Dao set up indicating that he was ready anytime Muyi was. Tugging the spear out of the corpse of his former foe, Muyi got into a ready stance while shape-shifting the spearhead into that of a Kwandao in an attempt to use wide swings to keep the beasts from pouncing at him.
In an instant all parties involved in the Duel moved. Muyi swung the Kwandao to intercept the closest tiger as it leapt at him only for the blade and the Saber Qi coated around it to glance off the tiger's now stony coat in a shower of sparks. At the same time, the other two tigers moved to strike his open back and side, darting forward like flashes of lightning with traces of Wind Qi around their paws lending them speed.
Even if Muyi had cleaved the first tiger with his strike, there was no way for him to react in time to the other two tigers. Now, with his weapon trapped by the Earth Qi imbued in the tiger's coat Muyi had no choice but to once more let another few of the chains holding the
Darkness back shatter, allowing more of the raw uncontrollable power blaze through his veins. With a sharp crack, the skin on his back split in twain allowing for a mass of thorn vines to burst out towards the tiger aiming for his back.
The beast in question was by no means slow in reacting to the sudden threat the vines presented to it. In a flash, the Wind Qi assisting it's movement was converted into flying blades and sent to counter the vines all who seemed to be targeting it regardless of how many vines were chopped off by it's Wind Blades. With the Tiger aiming for his back now halted, it meant that all that was left was the sole tiger aiming for Muyi's throat via his unguarded side as well as the Master of the beasts who was chanting in a low voice what seemed to be a mantra that was coordinating the simultaneous attacks the tigers had launched.
Having no other choice, Muyi resolved himself to make a trade and seize the battlefield advantage. In a blink of an eye the weapon held in his hand changed, shrinking into that of a saber that let out a rasphy screech as Muyi drew the blade back in a vicious cut along the tiger's stony coat while his other arm flung itself towards the grasping jaws of the tiger targeting his throat. In a brief clash between the two opposing foes, the tiger aiming for Muyi's throat bit off the intercepted arm while the vines from his back suddenly shrunk in volume as a series of dark green Saber shaped leaves burst out from the wrist of the hand holding the saber and into the soft unprotected belly of the tiger intercepting Muyi's blade.
For any other cultivator, this would have been a bad trade. Losing an arm and exposing your back to another foe was not a worthwhile exchange, especially since the slain foe in question was already being suppressed by the blade held in the other hand. However, for Muyi and his inhuman constitution the trade was worthwhile. With the aid of the
Darkness, the leaves buried in the body of the slain tiger start to pulse in rhythm as they worked at draining both the Qi and Blood of the deceased foe, turning it into Qi that Muyi could used for his own purpose. All of which was sent towards his crippled arm causing Vines to burst out from his stump and weave themselves into a semblance of a hand which gradually turn into the exact same hand that had been used as bait.
Taking advantage of his foes being shocked motionless at the rapid regeneration he had just displayed. Muyi activated the second part of his plan and commanded the little bit of
Darkness still held in the mouth of the tiger to explode into a wave of vines that pierced through the tiger's throat and into it's internal organs before it could react as he whirled to defend his now open back from the tiger seeking revenge for it's slain brethren. While losing an arm and exposing your back to kill one foe was a bad trade, killing two made it worth the cost especially since Muyi could use them to recover from the 'cost'.
Sparks flew once more as the saber in his hand batted away at the Wind blades the last tiger was still launching at him. From the corner of his eye, Muyi was able to see that the Beast Cultivator had also halted his chanting, the Mantra now useless since only one Tiger was left. Instead, the Invader had chosen to dash towards him with whip held high as tears rolled down his face, as he sought vengeance for his slain partners and friends. The way the cultivator swung the whip indicate to Muyi that he had almost no knowledge on using it as a weapon, as such a slight command to one of the vines still protruding from his back was all that was needed to get it to draw the blood-qi cannon holstered on his waist and fire it at the approaching cultivator with a series of Qi blasts that forced the Invader to roll and work to parry away the blasts of Qi that were seeking his life.
Another vine found itself dispatched towards the corpse of the second tiger where it quickly connected with the little bit of
Darkness buried in it's throat before obeying Muyi's command to drain and convert the blood and qi left in this tiger into the Qi needed to fire the blood-qi cannon at it's master. The sheer desecration of the act involved causing the grief on the Beast Cultivator to turn into rage as he switched from all attempts to dodged the shots just so that he could remain standing and force his way to Muyi step by step, parry by parry.
Regardless of the Invader's intent, Muyi found himself now able to focus his attention on the lone threat left in the Dao Arena. The sole remaining tiger who was launching both feigned attempts at pouncing as well as Wind Blades at him, Muyi had the saber once more take the shape of a spear which he soon used to launch a flurry of Spear Qi bursts that not only intercepted the Wind Blades but also pierced through them and towards the tiger forcing it to focus more attention on dodging over it's attempts to get within biting range.
Things seemed to once more be in a stalemate when suddenly a vine burst out from the ground and impaled the tiger through it's chest and back. For despite the pace of the combat and the dramatic turns involved, a observant watcher would have noticed that Muyi had not moved a single step from where he stood since the Duel begun. All of it had been for this, giving up the initiative to the Beast Cultivator and his pets, making no attempts to dodge and choosing to face them directly as a group without any attempts to handle them individually had all been to buy the time needed to let a tendril dig it's way from Muyi's foot into the ground and under the tigers before springing the trap when they were to distracted by the rigors of combat.
Alas, the Invader had not been that observant or cautious, and so with all the beasts now removed from the battlefield, Muyi found himself taking a moment to catch his breath from the intensive Qi usage he just put himself through. Controlling the
Darkness had never been easy, and now with so much of the chains restraining
it shattered for the power needed to survive, Muyi had to use his Qi to brute force his Will over it so that it would do his bidding during the fight instead of lashing out at any Qi source within reach as per
it's instinct.
As the cultivator himself was no threat, Muyi devoted most of his Qi and will towards repairing the few remaining chains still holding the
Darkness back, in hopes of gaining back some sense of control over the frenzy it was writhing in within his body. The rest of his Qi was used to call up a personalized variant of the Hoplite Formation, one that allowed the created Hoplite to fight without Muyi's input via puppeting his armored clad body as if it was a Golem using prepared easy routines such as GUARD, DEFEND and in this case KILL. While it would have been the height of foolishness to use such a formation and fight in such a robotic manner against most of the Invaders, for this cultivator who relied solely on his beasts, it was more then sufficient.
Focusing within himself, Muyi reinforced the chains on the
Darkness link by link as the Hoplite finish the fight, it's armor and shield easily deflecting the blows from the enemy's whip before closing in and impaling him through with a single thrust of the Qi created spear. Making sure to pull out of his meditative state the moment the enemy's death rattle was heard, Muyi prepared himself for the next challenger while recovering as much QI as he could.
Two hundred and sixty-five.
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He was the Elephant-Lord of the Fallen Mountain Southern Temple. With a single word he could determine the fate of millions. With a single gesture he could command his Diamond Body Elephant to raze a sect to the ground. While the Fallen Mountain Southern Temple might not have been from one of the powerhouses of the 5th Sea, they still had enough backing to secure a spot in the legendary Hunting grounds for their juniors after paying a ruinous cost. He had been tasked to watch over his juniors, to make sure that no harm came to them during the trials even if he had to strike down at those beneath him and pay the forfeit the Hunting Grounds demanded.
He was now watching one of the juniors in question get impaled by a Golden Devil as if said junior was nothing more then a training target. Oh the junior had work well with his Spirits Beasts and had dealt wounds that would have won the fight or at least bleed the Golden Devil out if he was any normal cultivator. Except as proven by the multiple bodies of the slain, this was no normal cultivator.
He could
see how the Golden Devil had prepared for this encounter. How he made sure to turn what could have been victory with the aid of numbers into a battle of attrition with the usage of his inhuman body and the Arena that contained wisps of his Dao.
Elephant-Lord had to admit that it was a impressive technique. Creating an arena to enforce the rules in his Dao and using Qi to sustain it, something that usually would have drained the Qi of any normal cultivator after just a few battles was now being sustained indefinitely and used to face-off against hundreds thanks to the Golden Devil's strange ability to rapidly convert the Blood and Qi of his Opponents into his own Qi and using it for healing and keeping the Arena running.
The rules in the Golden Devil's Dao help tilt the odds even further, perhaps this entire plan was only thought up and made possible by the Golden Devil because of his Dao. It was clearly a Dao of Combat, and likely had ties to Honor, Reward and even Glory with how it only allowed for singular combat between Cultivators and how Junior after junior remained willing to challenge the Golden Devil despite the many he had slain. The Hunts despite the claim of facing Devils for Rewards had remarkably low fatality rates and yet in the few days Elephant-Lord had spent watching the farce before him, more then double the usual casualties had been slain by the Golden Devil.
Elephant-Lord couldn't help but suspect that the offered Reward for victory proclaimed by the Dao Area for beating the Golden Devil was what was tempting the Juniors. Just the Golden Devil's body was valuable to them considering how it allowed him to heal without any price beyond the blood of his foes. No more need to be said about the Karma he was worth as well as the Bounty that would be paid by the families of those slain by him. However, said ability to heal rapidly with just the blood of his foes remained the main factor towards why the Golden Devil was undefeated.
It had long been established that any fight between the Golden Devils and the juniors where they were not slain in the first encounter was usually turned into battle of attrition where the Golden Devil's Qi and body would be drained and exhausted by attack after attack that left them weaker and weaker with each clash until they fell. But for this Golden Devil, his body ensured that any wound he took in a fight was healed by the next, and the sheer speed of the healing meant that none of the Juniors could land enough consecutive blows to kill him before the first wound healed up.
Any attempts to prepare a powerful enough strike to kill the Golden Devil with a single blow and thus bypassing his healing by ensuring that there was nothing for the Golden Devil to heal from found itself stopped by the plain fact that such a skill could only be prepared if all of their attention and Qi were on the strike, leaving the Junior in question open and undefended to the Golden Devil. With how the arena had been set-up for singular combat, that left any attempts to implement it all but impossible for all but the few Beast Cultivators most of who were Fallen Mountain Southern Temple disciples.
It spoke to how desperate his Juniors must be feeling for them to be willing to attempt to break through the Golden Devil's healing with brute force, especially since since most of the arts they cultivated were Beast Taming Arts instead of Offensive Qi Techniques. If things continued proceeding like this, all of the Fallen Mountain Southern Temple Disciples would be lost to this Golden Devil due to misguided hope and an overestimation of their own abilities...
Elephant-Lord had no choice, breaking the Dao arena would be counted as striking those beneath him and he would be forced to pay the forfeit demanded by the Heavnes and be kicked out of the Hunting Grounds without being sure of the Golden Devil's death. The only way to guarantee the Golden Devil's death would be to kill him personally while suppressing his cultivation to the same Realm as the Golden Devil to prevent himself from being kicked out on the first blow. Oh, he would still be thrown out after killing the Golden Devil, Heaven would not be fooled that easily, but it would still meant that this menace was dead and his Juniors could actually reap the gains their Temple had paid such a heavy price for..
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The heavy pressure in the air was the first indicator of the danger he was about to face. Muyi could only grit his teeth as he felt the sudden pressure on him and the Dao Arena increase in weight, first doubling and then tripling his body weight to the point that he had to focus some of his Qi on assisting him with keeping his body upright.
The pressure must have meant something to the Invaders, since it's sudden appearance on the battlefield not a single Invader had stepped into the arena to face him. Instead they seemed to be frozen with fear as they awaited the arrival of the source of the pressure. The source in question appeared without much fanfare, easily walking through the path the Invaders had opened up for him before stepping foot into the Dao arena.
Looking at the Cultivator in front of him, Muyi could tell that this was a Core Formation Cultivator, and his presence in front of him meant that he had failed in his attempt to halt the Invaders' progress towards Pleuron. Oh while the rules for the Trials might have decreed that only Cultivators of the Same Realm could face each other, the penalties for not doing so differ greatly between the Clan and the Invaders.
For the Clan, striking at Invaders below the Clansman's Great Realm meant death dispatched by the Ancestors the Invaders had overseeing the Trial. For the Invaders, striking at Clansmen below their Great Realm meant being kicked out of the Trials without any further repercussions. Clan History was rife with records of a Invader with higher Cultivation taking out a Golden Devil before disappearing in a flash.
Never in his wildest dreams did Muyi think that he would be the next entry in the Clan's records of such a incident. The last trial where he had slaughtered most of the Invading Foundation Establishment cultivators at great personal cost had not brought down such a response, but this time it seems that the price he had paid thus for against the Invaders was not enough to balance the scales in their eyes. Perhaps it could even be seen as a matter of pride that stopping him was worth removing a Core Formation cultivator from the Trials?
The Invader in question looked perfectly normal, just a Cultivator wearing a helm fashioned in the like of a strange beast with a long nose and sharp tusks. Yet his every step increased the pressure weighing Muyi down, the closer he approached the harder the Dao Arena start to shake and crack. Gazing down at Muyi, the Invader spoke.
"A Qi technique created based on your Dao by someone of your level actually managed to remain impact in my sheer presence... You have my praise Golden Devil. I can see why you managed to deal with my Juniors, your insight in your Dao is commendable.
You can feel proud. Your actions so far has likely saved hundreds of your peers from my Juniors. Even more incredible is that by making me come out to deal with you, you have lower the threat to your Elders by 1 Cultivator. As a reward, I will suppress my Cultivation to within the same realm as yours and play along with your little Dao Arena. Do try to survive at least one blow."
At the end of his speech, the Invader disappeared in a blur before appearing right in front of Muyi and landing a punch hard enough to send him flying. Despite Muyi's defensive stance, he had not been fast enough to dodge the blow nor defend against it. Now, getting up from the crater he was in, Muyi knew that even that punch was the Invader toying with him and not his full might.
Left with no recourse, Muyi could only reach deep within and loosen the chains laid on the
Darkness. Chain after chain of control, rules and will forged over the last hundred years to keep
it in check shattered and discarded save but the one chain forged when he regain his Self after the events of the last trial. In an attempt to prevent the freed
Darkness from overpowering him, Muyi convert
it into Power. Enough power to take the hits the Invader would deal to him, enough power to remain standing against the hits and enough power to recover instantaneously from the hits.
With a loud roar, vines burst out of Muyi's body and allowed his the full breadth of his inhumanity to show. His feet were now roots digging deep into the ground to maintain their grip. His body was now layered with layers and layers of bark to keep his core safe beneath layers of armor. His arms split open to reveal multiple vine tendrils each ending with the head of a weapon, threatening the Invader with the full arsenal of Weapons Muyi had access to.
The Blood-Qi Cannon was in turn crushed and absorbed into Muyi's body, it's addition causing flower buds to sprout up all over the Demon Tree Muyi had become. With a single thought, the flowers blossomed opening up their petals to reveal a compressed spheres of Qi that fired at the Invader in beams consisting of different types of Qi.
In the span of a second the beams of Qi approached the Invader whose's only action was to allow the beams of Qi to strike him before revealing that he remained unharmed with only his skin taking on a gray shade indicating that he had activated a Body Cultivation Technique. Before Muyi could fire another wave of Qi Beams at the Invader, the Invader moved once more with astonishing speed and appeared in front of Muyi before he began pounding away with fists adorned with tusks that rip and gouge at the bark protecting Muyi's Core.
Despite his best attempts at retaliating, Muyi could feel the futility of the act. The sheer confidence the Invader had in his Body Cultivation Technique as blow after blow of his vines slash and stab on the Invader's hide to no avail. The Qi Beams fired from the flower blossoms glancing off and not even leaving a mark. All the while the Invader landed blow after blow as he dug his way toward's Muyi's core, turning the whole thing into a contest on if Muyi could replace the layers of bark protecting his core faster then the Invader could tear them away.
If things continued proceeding in this fashion, the outcome would be predictable. Left with no other choice, Muyi decided to take a gamble. Instead of constantly regenerating what would soon be destroyed, Muyi converted all the Qi he had left into a singular vine, leaving naught but his body with layers of bark and a vine that took the shape of a drill with flowers blooming all along it's side.
There was a certain nostalgia in the act, in taking this gamble. Of trading away everything just to last long enough to deal a blow with all of his might just like he did a century ago. Muyi could tell from the Invader's widening eyes that he realized what was going to happen, that Muyi had been pushed to the brink and was no using a suicidal attack in a attempt to take out the foe before him. He found that fear comforting. It meant that even the Invader thought what he was about to do could hurt him.
A quick thought at the bark in his body change to vines that lashed out and held the Invader as he sought to withdraw. Chuckling weakly at the sight of the Invader now attempting to flee, Muyi felt the Qi in the drill come to a peak as the Vine Drill start to spin, the flowers on it releasing bursts of corrosive Qi that sheath the spinning drill in a cocoon of bloody red. The Invader in turn upon seeing the drill start to spin had given up on getting away and was instead redoubling his efforts in gouging his way to Muyi's core, seeking to kill crush it and stop the Drill before it could break his technique, his Qi rising and rising as he sought to break the limitations he had placed on his Qi and strike Muyi down with his full Core Formation Cultivation.
Letting the nostalgia fill him once more, Muyi found himself chanting aloud words last said a century ago to another Invader. " Protect the weak against the evil strong, Giving up IS FOR LESSER MEN!" as he thrust the drill at the Invader, letting it bit deep into his chest and seek out his heart as all the Qi within the drill was released in a flash of brilliant red that blinded all who was watching the duel.
Muyi could tell. He had won the bet, and that the Core Formation Invader had been slain before he could return to his full Cultivation. A feat only possible due to the underestimation from the Invader and the raw power contained within the
Darkness from the Blood and Qi of those slain by
it. Still things had gone better then he thought despite him currently having minimal control over the
Darkness.
Considering there were more foes to face, Muyi had no choice but to use the
Darkness to consume the Qi and Blood of the Core Formation Invader so that he could fight once more. It was an experience, the quantity of the Qi flowing through him from the Invader's Blood and Qi was astonishing and healed the many wounds from the duel in the blink of an eye before moving on and filling up his Qi reserves to the brim, leaving Muyi to feel as if Qi was about to burst from his body.
In an attempt to get it to stop, Muyi attempt to withdraw his vine only to find to his horror that it remained stuck in the corpse. The
Darkness refusing to let go and in fact draining the remaining Qi into itself causing it to grow and swell, causing it to strain against the one remaining chain of control Muyi had left restraining
it. Even as Muyi watched, the chain strained to hold the growing Darkness back, with cracks starting to appear in it's links and Muyi's control of his body start to recede once more...
"Ah, this feels familiar.. how amusing that in the end everything happened as it did before..." was the last coherent thought Muyi had as the Darkness broke the last chain and send him spiralling down into it's depths.
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(6098 words)
This is the first part of Muyi's stand based on his Fate. I was going to write everything, but got worried i would lose my draft when the vote is opened. Since i managed to get to a decent stopping point, i'm gonna split it for now.
I got a rough plan already on Part 2 that would finish things up + work in some more stuff about the Darkness since it's going to affect Muyi with how it's the source of his strength. And in Xianxia, great strength comes at a price, so going to try and explore that along some conventional xianxia tropes.
@Humbaba Threadmark please.
