20 Broken Martial Art, Forming a Sword

Li Mo Shang's face beamed with happiness, for his first qi circulation unit had been completed in less than a day, leaving him ample time to silently cultivate. Moreover, the inherited abilities gained by the Ancient Ming Tribe's inscription were very powerful, capable of overturning a fight within an instant. The only downside was that the abilities were far too devastating and uncontrollable.

The burned forest near Withered Springs resort was a prime example of the first of the two spiritual abilities obtained after the successful inscribing of the Ancient Ming's language. Activated subconsciously while in his dream, he had formed a massive array covering the entire forest and caused a feast of dragons to ravage the area, removing all presence of life, including accidental human entry.

Li Mo Shang decided to name the first ability <Dance of Dragons>, for the array's outline when observed from above formed an oriental dragon with mountains, rivers, and valleys. Although Li Mo Shang's knowledge on formation arrays was nonexistent, he could tell that specific nodes in the outline held higher concentrations of spiritual qi. It was odd however, that he couldn't determine a "central eye" of the array, where the spiritual qi was concentrated the highest.

<Dance of Dragons> was essentially an area-of-effect magic spell that relied on overlaying the surface with formulations via the language of the Ancient Ming Tribe. Condensing the emotions of fear, dominance, terror, the central nodes of the array were configured to explode with spiritual qi in the most volatile yet controllable format, as pure heat and energy. The dragons were initialized due to their innate dominant nature, causing a permanent suppression effect on the area after the usage of the spell, for the array imprinted the dragon's divine suppression onto the surface. Ordinary mortals would instantly disintegrate upon contact, hence the death of humans.

The entire array that <Dance of Dragons> laid onto the ground was derived from Li Mo Shang's torso tattoo, representing the two coiling dragons. As a result, <Dance of Dragons> became an instantly usable ability, hence Li Mo Shang could only feel apprehension and fear; such a powerful attack, definitely had to have equal repercussions, otherwise only Gods could utilize it.

The second inherited spiritual ability was in the form of nine suns interlocked by chains. Li Mo Shang had a premonition that it was also related to extreme heat and transduction of energy, but the cautiousness engendered by the subconscious use of <Dance of Dragons> caused him to hold both fear and anticipation. Given how the tattoo on his back seemed more accustomed to what he had perceived during his dream, it should be the main gift of the Ancient Ming Tribe's inheritance, no?

In addition to the area-of-effect tactical-nuclear-esque ability <Dance of Dragons> and the nameless second ability, Li Mo Shang had acquired an innate martial art technique, which he decided to call <Broken Martial Art>. Completely ingrained within his muscles and instincts, there seemed to be no sluggishness or discomfort when Li Mo Shang attempted to utilize it.

<Broken Martial Art> could not be said to hold specific moves or directed techniques, rather focusing on the application of spiritual qi during combat. Specifically, it entailed several methods of controlling spiritual qi when attacking that intended to continuously interrupt and maim spiritual qi manipulation. <Broken Martial Art> could be said to hold three layers: <In Opposition>, <In Revelation>, and <Broken Dao>.

<In Opposition> was a technique where the user would establish a spiritual qi node at points in his body, before emitting constant pulses of spiritual qi at various frequencies that disrupted circulation of spiritual qi within affected beings, preventing the use of any spiritual abilities to a certain extent. By allowing the spiritual qi nodes to adapt to various fluctuations, <In Opposition> was a perfect responsive technique, allowing the user to ignore the suppressive effects of treasures and formation arrays.

<In Revelation> was a purely offensive technique that empowered eight attacks to be increasingly lethal per strike, with the last strike guaranteeing death to the receiver. Compressing vast quantities of spiritual qi into an infinitesimal point, <In Revelation> forced the receiver to experience a false enlightenment on the Dao, weakening their spiritual defenses prior to slaughter. The only downfall was that it could be used once per person, and interrupting the technique was not difficult as the compression of spiritual qi required considerable amounts of time.

<Broken Dao> was a combination of <In Opposition> and <In Revelation>, employing weaker versions of both to form an illusory attack, trapping the receivers in an illusion that forced them to slaughter an opponent before them. Once they did so, however, they would have successfully crippled their own cultivation, resulting in a very vicious attack. Li Mo Shang felt palpitations while thinking about the consequences of suffering such an attack.

Leaning against the tree, Li Mo Shang felt euphoria regarding his rewards in creating the qi circulation unit and thought that it was an opportune moment to create a spiritual sword, using the Ancient Ming Tribe's innate dominance as the central impetus. Relaxing his body, he willed the spiritual core to relinquish several strands of spiritual qi from each orbital layer, of which he then began the creation process.

First, Li Mo Shang created a basic frame of the sword. Referencing the plundered knowledge from the general studies library in Blue Rose University, he envisioned a simple longsword of a meter in length, fifteen centimeters in width, and three centimeters in thickness. Based on his preference, he allotted most of the weight near the base of the blade and intersection with the handle for ease of usage.

Once the spiritual qi had been manipulated into the form of a rough sword, Li Mo Shang then applied an attribute of intense heat to agitate the spiritual qi to evenly distribute and connect the blade, tang, and handle as a single unit. Suddenly, the interlocked nine suns tattoo on his back emerged, blazing with glory as thick chains rushed towards the forming sword before Li Mo Shang.

The chains coiled around the blade rushing towards the point, forming the edges and bloodletting channels of the blade. Once it had reached the top, the chains transformed into scarlet engravings on the blade surface, emitting quite a sinister vibe. The agitated spiritual qi instantly calmed once the chains passed by, solidifying the general form of the blade.

Out of a moment of whimsical behavior, Li Mo Shang engraved nine suns onto the tang of the sword, before shaping the pommel into a dragon's head, utilizing the knowledge obtained from ancient jewelers. Once the nine suns were added, however, everything changed.

The moment the ninth sun was engraved by Li Mo Shang, the nearby worldly qi suddenly trembled before streaming towards the flickering spiritual sword. As worldly qi continued to merge with the sword, the nine suns began to glow in gradually increasing intensity, before emitting a resplendent light that cleansed all sorrows and pain. The engravings of the chains on the blade suddenly squirmed before rushing towards the suns, coiling around the nine spheres of golden light.

As the chains locked around the suns, the resplendent glow emitted by the spheres diminished until the engravings returned to their originally dullness. However, Li Mo Shang could sense that the worldly qi was still accumulating within the blade, as if it were a slumbering monster. The chains returned to their original position before the spiritual sword fell to the ground with a loud bang.

Picking up the completed sword, Li Mo Shang marveled at the finished product, for it differed far too much compared to his original expectation. Instead of an utilitarian steel sword, the finished sword was composed of a bronze-gold metallic pommel, a bluesteel tang, and a blade of an unknown black metal. Although the spiritual aura was restrained, Li Mo Shang had no qualms on its lethality.

Giving it a practice swing, Li Mo Shang truly felt as if he were one with the sword; it felt just like an extension of his arm. Soon, these clumsy practice swings became increasingly refined, and a figure dancing with a longsword could be seen in the desolated woods. Utilizing spiritual qi to jump prior to slashing with the sword, Li Mo Shang had an idea; what if a larger sword were to be created, to then slam onto the ground from a tall height to create a shockwave?

As if responding to his thoughts, the sword in his right hand trembled once before suddenly growing larger in size. From a slender longsword, the spiritual sword enlarged to a medium-sized zweihänder, causing Li Mo Shang to gape in surprise. Leaping into the air once more, he gave an energetic shout before slamming the greatsword onto the ground at maximum velocity, creating an intense shockwave on impact that caused the last remaining tree to fall in the burnt forest.

For the next few days until the Li family meeting, Li Mo Shang practiced with his sword, acclimating himself to sudden changes in the blade's dimensions and weight, until his motions became seamless and fluid. From afar, he would seem like a sword wielding immortal dancing in the skies with a blade in hand.