NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11: Facing The Ogre.
After having a good look through the Divine Sword Sects manuals and techniques, Jinhong could only leave in disappointment.
All of their sword techniques were mediocre at best, and completely useless at worst. It felt as if he did this for nothing.
"Sigh. Finding another cultivation good cultivation technique here is almost impossible. Maybe...I'll just have to practice 'that' technique instead."
Wrapping up his business in the town of Yuna, Jinhong abruptly left, making his way towards area the Blade Ogre Of The Green Mountain was last seen, Korla.
His wounds healed rapidly as he made the great journey, but even after all of these years, he still never understood what the limits of his body were.
He would push it to great lengths, but yet, there was never a time that he was truly close to death since his first incident. It was extremely resilient, it healed faster than a normal human body should and it seemed to not have any negative side effects.
But...
'Every time I take a greivous injury, this black mark on my arm covers more of my body. It started at my first, now it's covering most of my arm. I haven't lost any feeling in my arm though...so I don't think it's affecting me negatively...hm.'
Jinhong continued to monitor the mark as he made his journey, but there were no changes. It was an interesting side effect of the blessing he received.
Throughout the journey, Jinhong started studying the Way Of Tomoe, a section of techniques within the [Mushin Esoteric Arts] that detailed not a sword or spear technique, but an ideology.
This 'technique' was called heretical by Isshin Ashina himself and forbade his people from using it, but in dire straits, it was authorized.
'I don't plan on scouring the lands looking for a suitable cultivation technique anymore. Instead, I'll use this to combine it with or replace my current cultivation technique entirely. Whichever one offers more power.'
While practicing this technique increased the time his journey took by at least two fold, he didn't care. It was worth the effort.
From morning to noon, he would stop mid-journey and practice the 'Ichimonji' without stop. From noon to night, he would practice Shinobi Arts. From night to morning, he would meditate upon the Way Of Tomoe while continuing his travels.
This continued for about three days until he reached Korla, the place where his target was.
'Hm...it's raining. A storm is traveling throughout the region. This...might be advantageous.'
Korla was a large mountainous region filled with small villages and a few bandit groups.
The most famous band of criminals within the mountain were the Nine Vices. Normally, they would be an easy group to eliminate, but their new leader was the Blade Ogre Of The Green Mountain.
He increased the power and notoriety of the group considerably.
After all, the information Jinhong received stated that he's around the level of a Great Demon. It would be Jinhong's greatest fight yet.
As Jinhong roamed around Korla, he started to pick up on a large amount of demonic Qi being emitted a certain distance away. That wasn't the only thing.
There were pulses of it, combined with another Qi that felt like a mixture of various cultivation techniques.
'A mixture...! Someone's fighting my target! Who could it be?'
Surprised and incensed by this revelation, he immediately rushed towards the battle at maximum speed, clearing several miles with each step.
Unbeknownst to him, the lightning in the sky seemed to be increasing much more than normal as he raged across the lands, it's heavenly might spreading across the clouds.
In no time, Jinhong reached a cliff above the scene of battle, his eyes locked on everyone present.
'Number 17 and what seems to be her squad are fighting my target. That large man must be the Blade Ogre. Tch! I can't let her steal my glory!'
Jumping down on a cliff below, Jinhong quietly observed three men standing there, looking down at the battle. From their positions, he came to the conclusion that they were the remains of the Nine Vices.
'I'll start with them so that they won't interfere later.'
Unsheathing the black mortal blade quietly, Jinhong quickly moved in a blur, stabbing the first man through the back of neck, causing the blade to emerge out of his mouth.
"Mansuk!!"
The other men quicky reacted and rushed Jinhong immediately with their weapons, their eyes bloodshot by their partners death.
Sidestepping one of their slashes, Jinhong just simply decapitated the man in one move and turned to the last one.
Seeing the quick death of his friends, the last man tried to slow down in an effort to call his boss over, but...
"Fool. Hesitation is defeat."
Jinhong had already appeared in front of him and delivered a searing Ichimonji upon him, bisecting the man with ruthless precision.
Looking down at the battle below, Jinhong squinted his eyes as he saw Number 17 getting overpowered by the Blade Ogre's vicious onslaught.
She barely defend herself from his moves.
Just as he broke through her defenses and was about to deliver the finishing blow, Jinhong jumped in between them, blocking the Blade Ogre's attack with his sheathe.
BOOM!
The shockwave from the attack still blew Number 17 back, but to her surprise, Number 900 appeared out of nowhere and caught her, stopping the momentum immediately.
The Blade Ogre, a large burly man wielding a ringed Dao was shocked at the sudden influx of distractions.
Especially the young man standing in front of him, calmly blocking his attack.
"Hm...you're definitely stronger than her. Where are you young ones coming from? Why do you all want to die by my blade so badly?"
Looking back in the direction where his comrades were, the Blade Ogre gritted his teeth when he realized that they were all dead, their bodies strewn about as if they were nothing.
CLANG! CLANG!
The two of them clashed blades quickly before separating, the two men taking the measure of each other as they stood still, staring intensely.
"Your blade is heavy, but manageable. Blade Ogre, you are already dead. 17, 900, control your men. Do not interfere. His head, is mine."
Jinhong got into a low stance, holding his blade vertically at the side of his head.
"Arrogant brat! Let's see who'll be left standing after this battle!"
WHOOSH! CLANG!
The two of them wasted no time as they started clashing blades incessantly, the ensuing Qi waves pushing back the weaker onlookers.
Blade Aura against Sword Aura, the two of them held nothing back as they fought.
'A single edged sword that looks so...flimsy is keeping up with my Dao? How? What kind of sword could that be?'
The Blade Ogre was a bit surprised Jinhong's capabilities. For his age, his skill with the sword was nothing short of remarkable.
No matter where the Blade Ogre would attack from, Jinhong could easily deflect it and counter attack in the same motion, no matter the angle his body was in, giving his swordsmanship a sort of flow that couldn't be easily seen through.
"Ichimonji..."
CLANG!
A shockwave surged out from the spot the Ichimonji hit the Blade Ogre's weapon, shaking the surrounding trees.
"That attack has some weight, boy. How about you try-"
"...double."
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Two more Ichimonji's came out in rapid succession, forcing the Blade Ogre's feet through the ground as the surrounding trees started falling over.
"...triple."
The Blade Ogre immediately jumped away as he heard this, refusing to block those attacks anymore.
"You can't run, Ogre."
Jinhong appeared in a blur behind him and slashed down three times in rapid succession, each one faster than the last.
"Dammit!"
The Blade Ogre was sweating blood as he somehow managed to defend himself from all three slashes, causing him to grit his teeth in anger.
"You think you can kill me runt?!"
His speed suddenly increased explosively as he attacked Jinhong unceasingly from several directions, each hit forcing him a few steps back.
'He was hiding this much power?'
Jinhong didn't have the time to be surprised though, he had to focus on defending.
Breaking through his defenses with a faint, the Blade Ogre slashed Jinhong across the chest, sending him flying up into the air.
"Nine Dao Rings Of Annihilation!"
Nine large, overwhelming Rings of Qi shot out from the Blade Ogre's weapon as Jinhong was still floating midair.
The Blade Ogre could already see Jinhong's body being turned to paste by this attack.
Number 17 gasped as she was sure Jinhong was about to die.
Number 900 reluctantly stayed put as he watched this scene, hoping that there was some way Jinhong could reverse this.
As for the man in question, time seemed to be in slow motion for him. He felt the Blade Ogre's Qi getting closer to his body, the blood from the slash pouring out of his wound, a searing pain coming from said wound and...a faint tremble upon the blade of his sword.
Looking up at the clouds, Jinhong could feel something calling out to his heart.
Calling to his body.
To his arm.
To the edge of his blade.
A faint tremble that eventually became stronger.
A faint buzzing that eventually became louder.
A faint light in the clouds, that eventually surged down upon his sword, becoming brighter.
BOOM!
Lightning from the heavens surged down upon his blade, jolting him awake as he could feel it's tyrannical strength trying to destroy him.
Remembering the teachings in the [Way Of Tomoe], Jinhong gripped his weapon as tight as possible and flipped around mid-air, holding his weapon above his head.
'I will not lose to this technique!'
Using all of the power he could muster, Jinhong shouted furiously as he brought the lightning blade down upon the Blade Ogre and his technique.
"Lightning Of Tomoe!"
BOOM!
A large explosion of lightning surged through the area, forming a blade slash that was embedded into the earth across several kilometers.
The onlookers were shocked at what they just saw. A human just caught lightning with his sword and used it as a weapon. What kind of power was that?
As the smoke cleared at the area of the battle, two figures could be seen. One on his knees and the other, on the ground.
"Keurgh!"
Jinhong felt lightning surging through his body, searing his organs as he knelt on the ground, struggling to stay conscious. This was the result of using the Way Of Tomoe for the first time.
On the ground was a dismembered and decapitated Blade Ogre, his torso completely mutilated by the overbearing nature of lightning.
"I...won! All of my training wasn't for nothing."
Jinhong staggered up to his feet as he sheathed his sword and strapped it to his back, his legs stumbling over to the head of the Blade Ogre.
"This...is my prize. I've...won..."
THUD!
For the first time in a long time, Jinhong's body finally said, 'Enough'. The man passed out with a smile on his face, his hand upon the head of the Blade Ogre.