Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Incomplete State, Testing Out His Ring and Trial Grounds(remake)
Chapter 7: Incomplete State, Testing Out His Ring and Trial Grounds (remake)
New word count = 2843 on 8/3/2023
Original word count Word count = 2649, published =6/27/2023
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As Xue Tie's spirit power stabilizes, he finds that his gloves now reach halfway to his elbow and claws have grown more prominent on his gloves fingers. His spirit power had stabilized at level 11. Xue Tie gets up with a smile on his face, excited to test himself out.
"Excellent, It seems you have achieved your own form of unique power with whatever it is that you did with the spirit ring just now. Make good use of it but wherever you choose to go to study and train at. You will likely have to hide this.
Xue Tie nods at his fathers warning with a serious face that still has a slight smirk on it due to gaining the actual ability to use magic.
Magic.
Something that no human in his old world could ever understand or use with the exception of David Blaine, but he is just built different.
The pair leave the room and exit the kennel, out to a training field.
"Go on, test it out." Xue Tie hurriedly nods and runs forward towards one of the dummies.
He stands before a dummy with his gloves equipped. His first spirit ring flashes out and swipes forward with one hand. It feels like his hand got caught 'on' the air and is stuck. Until he applies more force and shreds the very air before him. A large red gash appears that explodes outwards a second later. The dummy is covered in burns and soot from the explosion.
'Well. This is expected, but it is indeed a timed bomb. Good for traps if the need arrives. But maybe, just maybe, direct contact.'
Xue Tie thinks to himself as he tries once more but as he rends the air. His claws pass over the dummy as well. He then quickly kicks it away since it isn't fully stationary. At the very least, the dummy bends over but just as it is about to come back when the bit of air where the slash started explodes as well as the dummy.
Xue Tie has a malicious grin on his face as he realizes the implication of this.
(A/N: imagine the face Sukuna made in the early episodes of jujutsu kaisen when he found out he had control)
He has grenades. Just carve on a rock and immediately throw it at someone. Physical and spiritual damage in one go. Or just distract someone, the possibilities are endless.
Xue Mao looks at his son and is bewildered by the malicious intent he feels. He shakes his head as he thinks to himself. 'Guess it runs in the blood. We were never good people. I'm just hoping the blood madness doesn't control him'
"Alright, Hope you've had enough fun. Let's explore the rest of what's new" Xue Tie calms down at his father's words and follows along. As they make their way over, Xue Tie collects loose stones into his pants pockets. With the map from the crevice (2 chapters ago that had the chalk and talisman too), they find the new area. Xue mao lights up the talisman and finds the words
'Great…Ahead'
Xue Mao looks at the map and with another sigh, he writes out 'chest'. The pathway opens with the new word disappearing once more. They both walk through as it closes behind them. A stone monument lies in the middle of the new room. The monument has written on it
"A trial ground for the young folk,
An ancient relic discovered,
Pass the trials for the Revival of our Dynasty"
Xue Mao stands back as he reads it while Xue Tie comes forward and rubs the word Dynasty, he has a frown on his face as he has a flashback of his death once more. Taking a deep breath, he takes a step back and looks to the next room, it appears empty but you never know.
Xue Mao looks to his son and says "This is clearly for you and the other young folk from the subordinate clans. Go on"
Xue Tie nods and nervously makes his way inside. He has afterall, only gained his first spirit ring, no notion of strength whatsoever except grenades to his name.
The wall closes behind him as the room lights up and a voice is heard.
"What is thine purpose??"
Xue Tie is shocked that the trial is a question and so he speaks honestly. "I seek strength to find the reason for my life here. Why has Mohg Brought me to this world. I won't stop until I find the answer."
The wall in front of him shifts and opens up. Xue Tie has no idea the reason behind all this or if there was a correct answer or if any sort of resolute answer would have been sufficient and staying quiet would be a sign of cowardice. He just cant tell.. So he cautiously walks through but there is nothing in the new room either.
"What is Thine fear??"
"My fears?" Xue Tie asks, confused before the walls glow and a figure appears. An 8 foot tall figure in black, gray and seemingly dark blue robes is shown. The figure wears a pauldron on their left shoulder that has more of the robe on it. Boney hands are shown at the end of the sleeves, the right hand holds an even larger trident that looks like a messy work of welding and possibly crystals. A mask of what seems to be tree like roots curled around in all sorts of fashion with the center looking like a mini dragon head of just a disfigured person face.
(here)
"Fuck me" Xue Tie says as he sees the object of his fear and his past life's killer. Mohg. Xue Tie quickly takes out a rock and summons his gloves, he carves on his first spirit skill, the Bloodflame talon on the rock and tosses it. It explodes in front of Mohg , he seems unphased. Mohg rushes forward, swiping his hand, yet instead of swiping out with his own talons, Xue Tie finds himself lifted up by what he thought was an apparition.
"What The Hell !!!!??" Xue Tie yells out in sudden shock and potent fear.
"You belong to me and me alone. Do you not understand this!?" Xue Tie is slammed into the wall behind him by Mohg.
"You have all that I have and more. So rise up Whelp, rise up and showcase the glory of our dynasty. Abandon the weakness of your old life. Take only the essentials and prove your worth. The worth of your blood you now have and your soul. For you have access to so much more than me in this life."
Xue Tie is only in shock over hearing new words as Mohg's face gets closer. "Do you not see it? The potential you have, Ahh, I can see it, clear as day! The coming of our dynasty! Mohgwyn!" He ends and vanishes, Xue Tie falling to the floor, coughing over being slightly choked. He rubs his back as he was slammed pretty hard into the wall. The next wall opens but Xue Tie decides to sit down first to recover a bit and ponder.
"Really, what the hell was that? Some sort of spiritual seal? But supposedly Mohg should have existed during the peak of the dynasty and this trial grounds was only recently set up. Or is it some sort of formation that uses me as its focal point?"
Xue Tie theorizes to himself and after checking his body, he finds that he was indeed drained of a bit of energy over time. This has not stopped yet. 'Does this mean that the trial scales with its users. But what about people who don't fear Mohg like I do. Will they just be killed by some beast or fall off a cliff? Too many questions. I can only go forth and get stronger like I said, pursue the truth of it all. Maybe kill a god or two as tribute to my current ancestors' he jokes to himself, unaware of the future that awaits him.
Xue Tie gets up and moves on to the next room, it closes and a new voice line is said
"Survive"
Xue Tie is put on alert by the one word as he summons out both martial spirits just in case. To his side, a piece of the wall begins moving, The rock Golem faces Xue Tie and begins charging him.
"Oh fuck you too" Xue Tie curses as he dodges the slab of rock that would be a hand, he quickly kites behind the slow golem and uses his first spirit skill to swipe at the golems back
"It said survive, but if the trail is based on my energy, then I just need to whittle you down. You can't be immortal after all." Xue Tie announces with logic as the golem's back explodes but it appears unharmed. It continues charging at Xue Tie and he keeps kiting, he sometimes tries to stab it with his spear as compared to wasting his little bit of energy left on consecutive spirit skills. Afterall, he doesn't know if there is just a timer or some other prerequisite even though he was only told to survive.
This back and forth continues for 5 minutes and Xue Tie has unleashed his spirit skill 5 times against the golem when it finally stops. He doesn't know if it's a timer or it just ran out of energy but it has looked unharmed this entire while. Well, except for the scorch marks but those don't look like they actually did anything as it moves back towards the wall it came from and blends in once more while the pathway opens again. Xue Tie rests for a few minutes because he doesnt know what to expect next.
Though that was a bad idea as he regains very little energy due to the trials draining him just as much as he gets. So he only recovers his stamina and reluctantly progresses to the next room. He hears.
"Congrats, you have passed. Choose one treasure to take with you."
Xue Tie feels the drain stop, he doesnt know why it didn't stop earlier but he continues on through the 2nd open door that was just made. He sees 5 altars with an item on each one along with one high quality painting of Mohg himself. A small tablet describing each item's effect.
1:Ring of Opening-Vin: Increase effectiveness of spirit skills in exchange for more spirit power
2:Amulet of Nature-Cruise: Increases natural energy regaining.
3:Shield of retribution-Ser: using spirit power allows the user to summon a special shield and returns part of the power inflicted onto it. 1 second delay for the backlash
(A/N: something like a better aegis shield)
4: Sword of Blood-Vorm: The 2nd Mohgwyn kings personal sword, styled after the Blood Trident Martial Spirit. Requires Spirit King level strength to utilize special ability. (A/N: like a thicc rapier or if a stalagmite was attached to a sword hilt)
5:Mask of Tragedy-Rell: Hides the user's energy signature and assists in cultivation.
Xue Tie reads each item's description before he gets stuck with 2 items which are Vin and Cruise. Afterall, having more power or simply more energy in the long run is better. The shield is nice but he already has his gloves which may very well grow into a full fledged armor. The sword is redundant and the mask is nice but with proper control, the same condition can be achieved. Also it is unlikely that he would fall behind in cultivation with 2 powerful Martial Spirits.
Xue Tie stands between the two podiums he chose and keeps looking back and forth between the two in uncertainty. He lightly leans on both of them by placing his hands on each altar when he gets a sudden idea. He hovers his hands around, measuring things when he realizes that he is able to touch both the items at once. He checks by touching the altars themselves and nothing happens.
'Oh me and my devilish deeds' He thinks to himself as he positions his hands over both treasures and quickly swipes them. As he does, spikes rise up on all alters and they seep into the floor.
Xue Tie pockets them both and looks around for where to go next or go back. He finds 2 doors open this time around. One of them has the word exit above it, so he turns his attention to the other pathway in curiosity. He looks through it and notices that it's a long winding tunnel going deeper. He takes out both items and inspects them. Putting them on doesnt seem to do anything so maybe there is an extra step.
Xue Tie thinks to himself and looks back at the Chinese light novels he has read. 'A blood bond maybe?'. He summons our his trident and pokes himself enough to bleed a bit and drops it on the pendant and ring.
"Ow"
They both flash and he puts them on. He feels that he regains energy much faster. So he rests some more while putting his finger in his mouth , hoping that the bleeding stops quick since it was a small cut. After a few minutes he recovers all his energy and heads inside. He faces nothing but another mural and tablet at the end. There is also an altar with another item on it. The tablet says
"A true Xue doesn't settle for mediocracy, greed and wrath are sins, but ones they relish and thrive in. Take it. Consume. Go beyond your mortal means"
Xue Tie grows nervous over the words but takes the bag that is on the altar. Inside is some sort of plant, more specifically a Herb. He sees an area in front of the room light up into some sort of circle. Akin to a formation. Xue Tie decides to go balls to the wall and sits down in the circle while digging out the herb. He crumples it up and pops it into his mouth. After some chewing, he swallows it down.
"AAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH" he yells out as a myriad of energy begins flowing through him. His body burns from the powerful energy but he also feels his spirit power increasing. He doesnt know a cultivation method yet so he can only allow it to run rampant but not so much that it escapes his body. He coats his body in his spirit power to try stop any escaping energy. This increases his pain and this continues over the course of 2 hours when it finally settles.
Xue Tie is sweating all over and panting from the exertion. His whole body is sore but he found that he is already at level 19. Just moments away from level 20 and becoming a Spirit Grandmaster. You have to know that TangSan was only able to achieve this a year after his awakening while he was a work study student at school. A 6 year old Spirit Grandmaster is valuable to many organizations. Xue Tie smiles as he realizes
"Ohhhh, my future wife. Just wait, if I'm still unable to meet you under these circumstances then that just means that the Spirit hall is actually blind." He says to himself before he groans while getting up. Pushing himself to make his way back and then through the exit pathway. He ends up next to the initial entrance to the Trial Grounds. His father finds him when he passes out.
"It seems he has pushed himself quite a bit in the trial grounds. But what's this?" Xue Mao says as he sees the new pair of necklace and ring along with Xue Tie's new spirit power that is slightly leaking out due to him being unconscious and not in control.
"Well, ill find a place for you to rest while I gather other things you might need in the meantime. Let's go" He says to his son, even if he can't actually hear.
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So for anyone wondering about these 'remakes', it's mostly me adding more details to the story as a few chapters are shorter due to me having typed and published multiple ones once I actually started regularly releasing after the first mass release of this novel since i was hungry for attention at the time, and seeking some sort of guidance from yall.
Which I never really got so I settled for just writing the story how I wanted before later changing it to 1 chapter a day and that is more consistent with over 1k words. With this 'update', this should be my 4th longest chapter with 3.3k words and 3.1k words being the first and 2nd place and third being 2.9k but that may change as I do further updates.
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