Child of Destiny

……

Shin and Dylan exchanged a couple of blows after using their respective energy alongside their attacks. And based on those exchanges alone, the two of them were able to become more familiarized with each other’s habits.

They were also able to use more complex techniques during their next exchanges which made their battle more intense.

But as their match progressed, the differences between their experiences started to show up. Shin, who just reached the state of being one with the sword, was starting to get pushed back little by little.

“As expected, Shin is still a little inferior when it comes to it,” muttered Nathan as he suddenly appeared beside Eugene.

The Sword Immortal didn’t even turn his head in that direction as he responded. “Well, what do you expect? That little genius is already been in the state of being one with the sword since he was seven, so it is pretty natural for him to have a slight advantage when it comes to sword fighting.”

Nathan pursed his lips a little and shrugged his shoulder before saying. “Well, it is to be expected, I guess? But we are still not sure who will be the one to win this match.”

In the meantime, Arthur was currently wearing a dark look on his face after seeing Shin being pushed back as the battle progressed. “I knew it! Shin is still a little weaker compared to that guy when it comes to sword fighting alone.”

“But they both on the state of being one with the sword, so their sword attainment be on the same state,” said Leonard while frowning his brows.

“Tsk! What do you even know when you only know how to use your fist?” said Arthur as he rolled his eyes. After that, he turned his attention back to Shin and Dylan before continuing. “In terms of martial attainment with weapons, there are still 3 stages that you need to achieve once you reached the state of being one of them.”

He paused for a moment before listing out the stages that he was talking about. “The first stage is ‘Resonance’. It is a state where you feel that your weapon became part of your body – as if it is acting as an extension of your limbs.”

“The next stage is ‘Unification’. It is a state where you and your chosen weapon seem to fuse together. The weapon becomes yourself and you being the weapon itself.”

“And the last but the least is called ‘Transcendence’. It is where you don’t need a particular weapon anymore as you will become that weapon itself. You can also use anything with a similar form as that kind of weapon.”

He then took another pause before continuing. “As for swordsmen, they are calling that state the ‘Swordless State’.”

After that, he turned back at the two who were having a match before adding. “Shin recently reached the state of being with the sword and just touched the ‘Resonance State’. On the other hand, that guy Dylan has already been in that state since he is you, so I will not be surprised if he is close to reaching the ‘Unification State’.”

“On top of that, Shin is not really a swordsman. He may be a Dual-Partitioner who can wield both Internal Qi and Mental Energy, but this is currently a contest of swordsmanship. And with Shin’s current restrictions and Dylan’s Sword Genius martial talent, it is not surprising for the latter to have a slight edge.”

“Based on what Shin had said, he is more comfortable with his swordsmanship when it is partnered with his Mental Energy. But despite that being the case, it still holds a couple of conflicts. It is because his Mentalism Techniques seem to be not compatible with the style of swordsmanship that he chooses to use.”

“On top of that, Shin’s sword-drawing style seems to be countered by Dylan’s honest and direct swordsmanship.”

Leonard wore a deep frown before asking. “If you are in his situation, what are you going to do then?”

Arthur raised his eyebrows before answering. “Hmm… If I were in his situation, then I will definitely be going to use the other style that I am used to since you. After all, even if I am more suited to a particular style it is still useless if my available skills and techniques don’t complement it.”

“So, it is better to use something that I am most familiar with,” he added while curving his lips upwards.

“Are you telling me-…”

Leonard is in the middle of talking when Arthur suddenly pointed his chin toward the battle. “Look, he is about to do it now.”

Casting his gaze back to the battle, Leonard he saw Shin forcing Dylan to move away from him with a powerful strike alongside a strong blast of energy.

…

Going back into the battle, Shin didn’t pursue Dylan as he stayed standing on his spot, unmoved.

The young swordsman also didn’t make any sudden moves the moment when he saw Shin not making any follow-up attack. 𝘣𝑒𝘥𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝑙．𝘤𝘰𝘮

At first, Dylan knitted his brow as he was quite confused at that sight. After all, that situation was a perfect opportunity to get back control of the match.

He became even more confused when he saw Shin retrieving the violent Mental Energy that was surrounding his body.

But it didn’t take long for him to realize the plan of his opponent when he saw the sudden surge of Internal Qi coming from Shin’s body.

‘So, he is a Dual-Practitioner, huh?’ thought Dylan to himself before adding to his thoughts. ‘I wonder if this is his real style of swordsmanship.’

Then he became surprised at what he saw next. A pair of Internal Qi with opposing properties suddenly enfolded Shin’s body before moving to each of his swords.

The silver-white Qi moved towards Shin’s right-hand sword and formed a layer over it. This Qi was carrying a warm and holy aura as if it could vanquish any evil in the vicinity.

On the other hand, the pitch-black Qi also created a layer of aura on Shin’s left-hand swords/ This cold aura was making the appearance of the sword completely wicked. It was as if it was the incarnation of evil itself.

What was even more surprising about this was the fact these two opposing Qi were forming a strange balance instead of clashing against each other.

‘Huh? Isn’t it the technique that he is using inside the game?’ thought Dylan when he saw what was happening, especially when he saw an imaginary image of the yin-yang symbol behind Shin.

‘No! This is the real version of it! If that is the case, then I should give him the respect that he deserves,’ he thought before taking a battle stance where he positioned his sword horizontally in front of his chest and pointed its tip towards his opponent.

Then his sword started to hum with a soft and quiet sound as his Sword Qi spread throughout his entire body, forming an extra layer of protection.

Whoosh!

The surrounding air also started to revolve around him and slowly formed a gentle vortex that seemed to be protecting him from any harm.

…

“Hoh~! Yin-Yang Swordsmanship? That Old Monster passed down his signature swordsmanship? I thought someone needs to be on Ethereal Opening Stage before anyone can learn it,” said Eugene when he saw the stance that Shin had alongside the pair of opposing Qi surrounding his swords.

“There is always been an exemption on everything,” replied Nathan in an instant.

Then Eugene suddenly squinted his eyes as he focused his gaze on Shin, especially on the dark Qi that was surrounding the left-hand sword in particular.

“But isn’t it a little dangerous to let someone young as him wield such a dense Demonic Energy?” he asked as his frown turned deeper.

“You don’t have to worry about that. Someone already took care of the issue that you are thinking about,” said Nathan in a nonchalant tone before pointing his chin towards Shin and adding. “How about you take a careful look at that kind?”

Eugene knitted his eyebrows further before using a special observation technique as he stared closely at Shin.

Not long after, his eyes turned slightly wide as he was able to see the twin cores revolving within Shin’s dantian, one was solid gold while the other is crimson red. Each of the cores was now enfolded by the Qi that was opposite to their respective properties.

The crimson core was surrounded by the Sacred Qi that was trying to calm its vicious nature. On the other hand, the golden core was situated within the Demonic Qi, seemingly suppressing its evilness.

On top of that, the two Qi were moving in a circular matter alongside the cores within them, creating a cycle that seemed to be creating a strange balance between them.

“That is-…!”

Eugene suddenly turned to Nathan before looking at the latter with a questioning gaze. “Adam already visited you and fixed that kid’s dantian?”

Hearing that, Nathan suddenly smirked before saying. “It is still too early to be surprised.”

…