Enhanced Touch of Pain

It didn't work out quite the way Wu Qianyu hoped. The goblin leader was simply too tough and obstinate for her immature Dao of pain. The detestable goblin even started to laugh and taunt her.

She was frustrated but undeterred. She moved to the goblin underlings that were still alive. She went through them one by one, ruthlessly subjecting them to unbearable pain. They screamed and uttered all kinds of unmentionable insults about her and the human race in general. It was clear how deeply demons hated humans and it only urged her to use even more power.

She tortured all of the smaller goblins and discovered a problem. She couldn't break their wills and it seemed that her pain energy was less effective on them than her human test subjects. The father and son pair of Ye Zongxie and Ye Wuzhi had capitulated rather quickly and it had filled her with confidence. Now, that confidence was being seriously tested by a few insignificant demons.

Wu Qianyu sighed and stood back up. She looked around the forest and wondered what she should do. Something probably happened to the mercenary fortress but she wasn't concerned with it for now. It was place filled with hardened mercenaries. If they couldn't take care of themselves, it wasn't her fault.

The fortress was also only a convenient stop for her, not a necessary one, what with all the supplies stuffed into her spatial bag. She didn't need to be anywhere specifically, only somewhere that was beneficial to her cultivation. Thus, she decided to continue training with the goblins.

To be safer and attract less attention, she buried the dead goblins and moved the others several kilometers away off the beaten path and into the ancient forest.

She made camp above the ground in a massive tree. It's thick horizontal branches were wide and flat, a perfect place to stay out of the way of roaming beasts. She tied up the goblins on smaller branches, ate a small meal, and went into meditation.

Wu Qianyu drifted into her memories and dreams. She relived her life in the Green Leaf Sect, the death of her family and friends, as well as all the other times she experienced pain herself or from others.

Her understanding of pain and the emotions it wrought came from her experiences and it was important for her not to lose that connection. She patiently relived the days long past, refreshing those agonizing moments over and over until they were fresh in her mind.

Wu Qianyu stayed like that until the next morning when she was disturbed by the raucous goblins. They were struggling against their binding energetically and the strongest one was about to escape by the time she got to it.

"Slut! Human woman!" The goblin spat. "Untie me and I'll show you my true power! You'll be screaming underneath me. Hahaha!"

She resisted the urge to chop off its head and instead stuffed its mouth tree bark so it couldn't make noise anymore. She pulled an underling over and pointed her finger at it, with the leader watching her every move furiously.

The power of pain gathered from within her spiritual sea but this time it was tinged with something extra, a mental attack. This was due to a small breakthrough that she had during the night. She realized that her Dao of pain contained a mental component as well as the obvious physical component. She was already unconsciously using it against human targets because, as a human herself, she understood human thoughts and emotions. It was easy to naturally manipulate a person's mental defenses the same time they were afflicted by pain.

This time against the goblins, she was consciously adding that same mental component to her attack. Demons were different from humans but, in many ways, they were also the same. They had fears, dislikes, and things that caused them pain. Goblins, from her studies, were most afraid of starvation, competition from other goblins, and death. They weren't unfeeling, mindless creatures.

"Ahhhhh! Save me, big brother!" The small goblin howled as pain surged through its body.

Its screams were three times as loud as yesterday. The mental attack was rapidly breaking down it's stubbornness and attacking where it hurt the most. It writhed in its bindings but it was helpless. It couldn't escape the pain that was driving it crazy.

Helpless, it gave one last shout of defiance, "Go to hell, human!"

It then proceeded to bite through its tongue. It bled out a few moments later and died.

Wu Qianyu expression barely changed. She wasn't too surprised by the goblin taking its own life. In the past, she had wanted to do the same when she had been captured. But it did prove one thing, that her improved Touch of Pain was doing a better job.

She went around and tested her improved secret art on the other goblin underlings. The result was the same, with all of them committing suicide. They all saw what had happened to her first victim and decided to end their own suffering quickly rather than suffer at the hands of a sadistic human.

The only one that remained stubborn was the goblin leader. It stared at her with fury and hatred, as if by simply staring, it could strike it down the human before it.

Wu Qianyu stared back at the large goblin impassively. Its defiance suited her just fine as she had one more breakthrough to test out.

The power of pain gathered in her right hand. But instead of her one finger, she held out her index and middle finger. It was universal hand sign for cultivator of the sword. It was a form honed to perfection by countless generations of sword practitioners. It was the embodiment of sword Dao. All kinds of sword Daos contained some usage of this hand sign in their martial arts and meditative practices.

With two fingers extended, she gathered two forms of power. The first was the power of pain, enhanced with a mental attack. It was joined by the sharpness of sword energy. This was inspired by Dugu's 10th Sword but it did not originate from it. It was her own making, designed to perfectly meld with pain into a brand-new move, an enhanced Touch of Pain.

Piercing Pain!

The combination of spiritual energies shot out from her fingertips in an invisible beam.

It impacted against the granite goblin's rocky hide and immediately made a deep cut. The goblin's eyes widened in horror as the sword energy component of the attack steadily dug its way into its defense.

Soon, there was a spurt of blood as the attack pierced into its body. It shuddered and opened it's mouth in disbelief as pain energy tore through.

"Gahhhhh! AhhhhhHHHH!"