Ch16 - Black Jade Necklace

Yue Yang looked at the waiting Chang Dao for a second before whispering to Yi Nan.

"He is said to have a very quick sword strike, so he is possibly faster than me in his attacks. He could easily kill your beasts or mine if they got in his range. He could also have a beast of his own which he kept secret. I'm going to engage him, you summon your spider witch to hinder him with her web. Don't summon your phantom panther unless necessary."

"Wait! Are you sure?" she whispered back with some worry in her beautiful eyes.

"Yes. Besides, I need to test my combat skills against another person with that focus. Better to do it now when I have some back-up."

With that said, he jumped down, landing not far away from his enemy. Said enemy turned halfway toward him, a carefree, if a little lazy expression on his face.

"Ah. Hello my friend. Finally decided to join me?"

Yue Yang didn't answer. He observed him, and while he tried to look nonchalant, it was clear that he was already in a fighting stance. Even if he still had the alcohol jar in one hand, the other was near the hilt of his sword, ready to pull it and strike in a single movement. Meanwhile, Yi Nan had summoned her grimoire, as well as the spider witch.

"2 against one? That isn't really fair, my friend."

"This isn't a competition" he answered in a grim tone that surprised Yi Nan. "This isn't a formal challenge. We are here to kill you, end of the story."

He pulled his halberd from his inventory and entered a basic spear stance. His though acceleration, memory partition and occlumency were still at the beginning stages, but it significantly improved his focus and reactions. Chang Dao eyes narrowed, his friendly expression melting a little.

Yue Yang thrust his halberd forward just as he used his celestial step to close the gap and get in striking range. Chang Dao's eyes widened, his hands around the handle of the sword. In a flash, he drew it and clashed against the halberd just as he desperatly leaned backward. The power of the blow made him stagger 2 steps, but he was able to defend against the following thrusts. He had dropped his cask of alcohol, and it laid broken at Yue Yang's feet.

They stopped and looked at each others eyes. Chang Dao was no longer smiling. Yue Yang also realised something. Chang Dao wasn't a level 3 Hero like he originally thought. He was a level 4 Champion. This battle was really going to be a good test of his skills.

"That was an impressive first move, my friend" he said, his tone not at all friendly. "I guess I'll have to take you seriously."

This time, Chang Dao went on the offensive. Yue Yang was impressed. His movement speed and footwork were good. But his skill with the sword surpassed his own skill with the spear. His attacking rate was superior to his own. And most importantly, he was much more experienced than him. A few hours per day in the instant dungeon for less than 3 months couldn't compare to real world travel and battles. If not for his higher attributes he would be in trouble.

For every 4 moves, he could only attack once. He quickly found himself forced to use the defensives moves of the Yue clan spear technique. Chang Dao always found a way to enter his guard to try and cut him. While he had trouble going back on the offensive, he wasn't yet being cornered. They were about evenly matched.

Back on the rooftop, Yi Nan was watching the battle in awe. 'Han Jeehan' was a storm of thrusts, slashes, tiwsts and sweeps, and only the size of his weapon allowed her to follow his moves. She couldn't see Chang Dao's moves. All she saw was flashes and sparks as their weapons collided. She had doubted 'Han Jeehan's words before, but now she believed him. If her beasts got close, they would be killed in a second. Her respect for him grew again, and she remembered to support him.

She was about to order her spider witch around when she stopped. She observed the fight again, this time not solely focusing on their weapon skills. 'Han Jeehan' had been trying to pull his attention away from her, but Chang Dao kept them in a position where she would also be within his eyesight. He was also trying to push 'Han Jeehan' toward the narrower streets to hinder his spear work.

If she wasn't careful, she could very well hit her comrade instead of her enemy. Worse, Chang Dao may very well use the actions of the spider witch against her comrade. It didn't take long for her to find an opening, and it was provided by 'Han Jeehan'.

With his 3 mental skills working in concert, Yue Yang was slowly but surely improving as the fight continued. His movements improved, and he started to anticipate Chang Dao's moves. His spear skill improved by a level, and moves that he usually had troubles performing during training became clear.

With one of those, he broke his enemy's guard, deflecting his sword away while disturbing his footing. Chang Dao had gotten so used to Yue Yang's current skill that the move surprised him, delaying his reaction. He wasn't able to completly evade the spear thrust that followed, and he was cut in both the pectoral muscle and the shoulder of his sword arm. With the speed and power of his strikes lowered, he was heavily pressured by Yue Yang, and forgot about Yi Nan and her beast.

Following Yi Nan's order, the beast carefully moved around the rooftops, and shot her web from nearly above Chang Dao. He heard the attack, but couldn't afford to ignore the spear user in front of him. He used his other hand to try and block whatever was coming. Part of the web struck his arm and the rest landed on the floor, pinning him in place.

"AAAAARGHH!!"

Yue Yang opened a bone deep cut on his sword arm, rendering it useless. He dropped his sword and brough his arm against his chest, trying to reduce the bleeding in vain. His clothes quickly got soaked in his blood and he started to sweat profusely. Yue Yang followed with a vicious low kick to the knee, breaking it and renewing Chang Dao's pained screams. Only then did he relax a little. Yi Nan joined him with her beast.

"Listen, friend" he said the word with clear sarcasm. "You're going to die. I can end it quickly, or I can make it long and painful. I'm sure you're here partly because of Tie Kang's death, and if you're here, then Xie Huo shouldn't be too far. Tell us where he is, what's his fighting style, what beasts he has."

"Haha..." he started to laugh while breathing heavily. "Hahahahaha! ... You will soon join me in death... Xie Huo will send you to hell, bastard."

"So you chose to go the painful way. Leave Yi Nan. I don't want you to see what's going to happen next."

She looked at him with uncertain eyes, but nodded. She recalled her beast and left the immediate area. Yue Yang had never had any intention to give him a quick death. He guessed that Chang Dao would spite him in front of his coming end, so he made that proposition to justify his actions in front of Yi Nan while keeping his true intention secret. He was going to feed him alive to his thorny flower. A minute later, Chang Dao was cursing in his mind for not choosing the other option. His begging screams didn't last long as he was swiftly swallowed.

He did let slip that Xie Huo would be there within a day. Yue Yang soon found Yi Nan and relayed the information.They agreed to seek him the following day. Then he went to pass the news to his girls as well.They would have to stay at the base for another day, and he left them with some daily necessities.

He spent the rest of the day in the instant dungeon, honing his skills. At the end of the day, hehad reached level 25 and improved his attributes with all his bonus points. Especially his constitution and spirit. His spear technique had gained a level, and his mind skills gained 2-3 levels.

[Name: Yue Yang - Age: 19 - Race: Human Male

Level: 25 - Rank: Hero - Alignement: Neutral Moral

Occupations: Apprentice Summoner - Titles: Yue clan's third young master, Yue clan's failure

Life: 100% - Stamina: 100% - Qi: 100% - Bonus points: 00

Strenght: 187 - Constitution: 250 - Agility: 212 - Dexterity: 227

Wisdom: 261 - Spirit: 309 - Charisma: 331 - Luck: 311]

[Twin Star Inherent Skill: Divine Vision lv3 - Counterfeit lv3

Summoning lv17

Instant Dungeon lv21

Structural Grasp lv15

Shadow Clones lv7

Thoughts Acceleration lv5

Memory Partition lv4

Occlumency lv3

Yue Clan Spear Technique lv20

Earth and Heaven Cultivation Technique lv10-max

Mountain Tiger Body Cultivation Technique lv10-max

Poison Resistance lv5

Shadow Concealment Technique lv25

Forest Lord Scouting Technique lv25

Celestial Step lv13

Fierce Fist Technique lv18

Revolving Guardian Technique lv17

Binding Fighter lv15

Hidden Hand Technique lv21

Accupuncture lv20

Field Medecine lv17

Angel Hand Massage Technique lv18

Heavenly Runes lv6

Alchemy lv6

Smithing lv1

Mechanic lv1 ]

There was one last thing left to do before going to sleep. Yue Yang took the Black Jade Necklace and looked at it. His canon counterpart was nearly killed when it was forcibly entered in it. He was different. His soul was different. He wasn't sure that he would be spared because of that. That really scared him. He simply hopped he was well integrated enough in the body that it wouldn't make any difference, and that maybe his gamer cheat would help as well.

"Here goes nothing" he said, piercing his finger and puting his blood on it. "More than 300 in luck, buddy" he told himself.

A few minutes later, the pendant was activated. It was worse than his death. A black hole tearing the entire body appart at the same time was an apt description of what he experienced. When the destructive forces reached something within him, they stopped, and his body was put back together. But his mind was still reeling from the tortuous experience.

"That... Was... Some nasty... Sh*t!"

"Eh? You actually haven't died yet?" a mature and dignified female voice said. "You're such a strange human boy. Wa, you're even cultivating innate qi? At such a young age?"

And just like his counterpart, he was lifted without effort and kissed. Since he already expected it, he didn't resist. But he did keep track of how much qi she was draining from him. He would bite her if she went to far. Thankfully, like in canon, she had some restrain.

"It's the first time I felt so comfortable in 10 000 years."

Only when she released him did he have a good look at her. Around 2m tall, creamy skin, sapphire blue eyes, long golden hairs cascading her shoulders and covering her perfectly shaped and generous breasts. She had 6 arms, with 2 of her hands resting on her hips. Below her waist, was a snake tail instead of feet, mesuring a few meters on its own. Her scales were a lustrous white jade. It was then that he realised he was completly naked as well. He managed to push the embarrasement down, as well as his arousal at the sight of her body.

"Beautiful" he let slip as he admired her.

"Why, thank you for the compliment" she replied with an amused smile.

"Sorry" he said with a small bow. "My name is Yue Yang, from the Soaring Dragon Continent. It's a pleasure to meet a gorgeous lady such as yourself. May I know your name?"

"What a charming human boy. Very well, I shall introduce myself. I am the Serpent Empress Fei Wen Li."