Mysteriuos Battle Axe

Back in the mine, the black skeleton still sat in silence as it absorbed the mysterious Qi from the rotting bodies. It had been three weeks and surprisingly, the corpses had decomposed to the point that only a few scraps of flesh could be seen on the bones. The skeleton had somehow increased the decomposition rate. After just one more day, only brittle bones were left. At this point, there was no more Qi to be absorbed. The black skeleton opened its 'eyes'.

The red glow had become brighter and much more intense.

The black bones seemed to be thicker and much more compact. The skeleton stood up from its throne of bones.

The first step it took shook the entire mine shaft. It did not seem to care. It took another step making the mine shake even more intensely. With each step it took, it left a footprint in its wake. Its weight had more than tripled. It now weighed over five hundred kilograms. It looked small in comparison to its weight.

The skeleton had felt something calling out to it deep within the mine. The desire to go towards this call was very great but the skeleton had not wanted to waste the corpses and so it had taken some time to first use them. The skeleton could see in darkness even the pitch darkness of the mine was nothing to it. It moved quickly descending deeper into the mine. It moved faster than any animal. All that could be seen was a blur. After two hours of moving at this incredible speed, the skeleton reached a dead end.

The skeleton could hear the call coming from deeper underground.

It did not even think about what to do. It simply began digging. Its hands were tougher than any instrument it could have gotten its hands on. It dug through soil and rock. It did not care that the soil and rocks it dug up were blocking its exit. It did not need to breathe, eat or drink and it had no fear for the dark. It had been born from the earth and had always felt comfortable burying itself during the day.

The skeleton dug for days. With its strength, endless stamina, speed and single-minded nature, it dug at least two kilometers each day.

After a week of continuous digging, the skeleton finally dug up the object that had been calling it for months.

It was a small red ball. It had a radius of less than a centimeter. The skeleton subconsciously grabbed it.

The moment the small sphere came in contact with the skeleton. the skeleton felt pain for the first time since its birth.

This pain was soul deep. It did not matter that the skeleton did not have any nerves.

Waaaagghhaaaaaaaaa, the skeleton roared with all its power. The entire mine shook and the small mountain began crumbling. The clouds above the machine dispersed as the shock wave from the roar swept through the Sky continent.

All the powerhouses of the continent were startled. They all looked towards the mine. Prince Jie Shui and his new friend Tu You were traveling to the Wind sect when they heard this roar.

They immediately knew that it was not something that belonged in the world of man. The prince quickly associated this roar with the black skeleton.

 In the mine, the skeleton looked at the sphere that was releasing endless crimson light. The light covered the skeleton from head to toe.

The skeleton felt something coming out of its sternum. It looked closely at itself and that is when it saw a metal rod coming out of it. The rod came out quickly and soon, the entire object had come out. It was a small black pick axe.

The pain stopped after this. The skeleton looked at the axe with its cold red eyes.

The red sphere floated to the axe where it entered a groove on the axe cheek.

The axe glowed crimson as it flew towards the skeleton. The skeleton quickly grabbed the axe.

In less than a minute, the axe transformed into a double headed battle axe.

The axe looked sharp and sinister. Its handle transformed to become much more pleasing to the eye.

The skeleton looked at the axe in its hand. It could feel a deep connection with the axe. It was as if it was the axe and the axe was it. There was no difference.

The axe also suited its height and size. It perfectly fit in its hands. The skeleton wanted to examine the skeleton further. It knew that it had caused a commotion and the humans were most likely on their way to the mine. It thought further and decided to stay put. With the power it had relapsed in its roar, the skeleton understood that the feeble mine shafts must have collapsed. Even if someone were to come to investigate, the skeleton was buried hundreds of kilometers underground. To the skeleton, this place felt safer than above ground.

The skeleton sat down cross legged and began examining the battle axe.

On one of the axe heads, the skeleton saw a few characters appearing out of nowhere. At first, the skeleton did not understand what these characters meant but when it looked closer, it began to understand them.

The characters looked sinister and evil.

They felt familiar to the skeleton.

(Corpse Qi )

These were the first words at the top of my head.

The skeleton quickly understood that this was the qi it had been absorbing from the dead bodies all this time.

The next word was instructions on how to effectively circulate the corpse Qi through its bones so that it could increase its power much faster .

The skeleton understood all this but it was still skeptical.

It did not try out the method. It instead channeled its corpse Qi into the axe. The moment the Qi entered the axe, the axe glowed crimson and before the skeleton could understand what was happening, the Qi from the small black sphere hidden behind its sternum circulated it self and moved around its bones in the exact way described on the axe. This circulation was very fast and rapid. The skeleton could feel its corpse Qi depleting rapidly. After twenty circulations, the axe stopped glowing and the corpse Qi stopped circulating.

The skeleton felt a new high. It felt as though it had broken through some barrier to reach a new level in its evolution. It felt endless power coursing through its bones.

The skeleton had just broken through and it was all thanks to the battle axe.