Alex stood on the barren land, the chasm to his left. He held Midnight in his right hand, the dark blade with glittering white specks in it made from starforged tungsten.
He stood calm and collected, as if not a single thought concerned him at this moment.
On the other side of him, with the chasm to his right stood Shan Wangjiu. His gray robe flapped in the wind, a look of nervousness and excitement both filling him from head to toe.
He held his sword in front of him which was nearly twice the size of Midnight.
"I'm ready," he spoke with no audible hesitation in his voice.
Alex cracked a small smile. "Then watch carefully."
Shan Wangjiu poured every ounce of his Qi into his sword and it drank it all. It consumed the Qi until it could accept it no longer. Full, the budding sword spirit was half aware that it could use the technique carved into it, should that be necessary.
His face grimaced as Alex started using Qi. What was he doing? How much Sword Intent was he using? What elements was he using?
The young man tried to see it all, learn it all. That was why he was here after all. To learn. To understand what it was that made Alex's technique seem so strong.
The technique that had made him decide to call him master.
The young man was slightly disappointed to see rays of golden light as Metal Qi was being used in it. He had seen those glows before but this was the first time he actively tried to figure out every step.
He was disappointed because someone without any Metal Spiritual would have no chance of using the technique should he ever figure out how exactly it worked.
'Wait,' Wangjiu thought as something caught his eye. Something he hadn't noticed until now.
The Qi being used was of Metal element certainly, but it didn't just come from Alex. It came from the atmosphere itself. From the air, from the ground.
'Dao,' the young man understood. 'He's using Dao.'
If it was Dao, then the young man had a chance. Without a Metal Spiritual root, it was nearly impossible to learn any Metal Dao, the young man knew. And that was what gave him hope.
It was nearly impossible.
Not absolutely.
'If there's a chance, I will find it,' he thought.
His thought lasted only for a split second as he saw Alex's sword move. He got ready for the attack as Alex swung his sword.
And then…
Part of the cliff crumbled and fell into the chasm behind Shan Wangjiu. He stood still, unsure of what happened. He slowly moved his head to the right until he was looking behind him.
He saw a large gouge on the cliff until the end where it crumbled. He gulped a little, looking at the damage.
He hadn't even seen the attack coming.
Judging the trajectory of the attack, the young man knew that it must've passed right next to his hands. Yet he never sensed it at all. Was that what happened to all the people who fought against this sword technique?
He gulped.
All of this time, he had been on the outside watching where he could see the challengers get taken out by the sword strike. He had always wondered how good the technique must've been to do so.
This was the first time it was used against him and he finally understood why they were all caught off guard as if unprepared.
For all his preparations, he hadn't seen it coming at all. No, there was no attack at all. Was there? The young man started getting confused.
"Did you get that?" Alex asked from the front.
The young man could only breathe. "It… I didn't see it at all. It was like… like it didn't exist at all. Not until it struck the ground behind me," the young man said. "Did it teleport or something?"
Alex chuckled. "Nothing of that sort," he said. "I have just been working on compressing it as much as possible. It's also fast on top of that, so you might have missed it."
The young man nodded.
"I'll try to make it weaker now," Alex said. "See if you can stop it."
Shan Wangjiu gulped quickly and nodded. He tried his best to let go of all his thoughts and concentrated on Alex once again.
He saw the golden light, he felt the metal Qi. And he saw the compression.
'The compression,' the young man thought slowly. 'So I should compress it.' That was the only thing he got away from it.
'Do I need Metal Qi to compress it?' he wondered. He didn't think that was necessary, but then what did he know?
'Focus!' he told himself and looked back at the sword.
It glowed with faint light, almost nothing. No doubt all the energy was compressed to the point that nothing leaked. He saw something else he hadn't noticed the first time around.
It was the look of concentration on Alex's face as if he had to force himself to do what he was doing. 'All this time and he still has that face,' the young man thought. 'How much Intent does it require?'
He was catching onto things that he wouldn't have had he remained on the sideline.
"Careful," Alex suddenly spoke. "This is coming for you."
The young man felt a tinge of panic flare up within him which he quickly calmed down and looked in front of him. He nodded slowly and took a deep breath.
He put all his attention into Alex's sword and for the first time, he actually saw the technique through his spiritual sense.
An attack that was thinner than a hair flew toward him, its power seemingly warping space itself where it moved. It cut space with its raw power, but not to the point that space couldn't immediately mend itself.
A thought flashed in the young man's mind to let his sword handle the defense portion, but he felt doubt there. Without waiting, he flared up his Qi and the defensive bubble of the sword formed around him like a protective barrier.
Even through the barrier, the young man saw the attack pass right through it, hitting him in the chest. Pain flared on his right side from the cut that was skin deep and only then did the barrier begin shattering.
The attack had been so sharp that the barrier then took a moment to realize that it had been cut.
Even as Shan Wangjiu fell to the ground, he could only think one thing.
'Incredible.'
His talisman buzzed as he skidded along the floor, stopping right before he fell into the giant chasm. He slowly stood up, his sword still in hand.
'We lost,' he thought and the sword sent back a vague impression of understanding. It was meant to happen.
Light sprung forth from inside his robe as the talisman sent out silver light that quickly covered him. He had reached his limit of 30 Losses.
He readied himself to leave.
Alex appeared in front of him and quickly hoisted him up. "How was it?" he asked the young man.
"Incredible, master," he said. "I can't imagine how you ever managed to think of it"
Alex smiled. "I had a bit of help," he said. "And the Dao I knew helped me create it."
"Dao?" the young man asked. "May I ask which ones?" The Silver light had surrounded him by now, but it didn't seem to tug him along, so he spoke casually.
"3 as of now and I won't tell you which ones. Those are my secrets," Alex said. "If I find I need more, I'll add. At that point, if you are around, I wouldn't mind showing it to you."
Shan Wangjiu gave a dry chuckle.
"3 Dao?" he asked. "That's more than what most people learn in their lifetime and you used it one a sword technique." He shook his head. "It must take a lot of Intent."
"It does," Alex said. "Using Dao simultaneously uses up more Intent than using it one after another as if the heavens do not like the idea of us using it at once. And I have to use 3 at the same time."
"Not all is bad though, it is because of the Dao that the attack is strong. It's because of it that I can do what I can do," Alex finished.
"I see," the young man said and thought of things to ask, but looking at the silver light surrounding him, he feared he didn't have much time. He only had one thing to say.
He bowed deeply with more respect in that bow than to anyone he had ever shown that respect, even to Alex. "Thank you for all that you have done for me, master. You may not consider me a true disciple, but I will always consider you my master."
Alex paused for a moment, thinking of what to say, and then said. "I had as much pleasure teaching you as I could've had in this place. Thank you for being there for me for the past 8 months."
The young man looked up.
"I will meet you again, master," the young man said with a bright smile.
Alex smiled back. "See you again."
The young man felt the tug of the silver energy appear suddenly, missing the small hand gesture Alex had done to no longer keep the young man there.
Shan Wangjiu left the Martial Transcendence ground and Alex was left alone by the chasm.
"Now then," Alex turned around. "Time for more training."
