Just like yesterday, I found a suitable spot, while Long Qi and Long Zhan began their respective tasks of luring monsters. Long Xin continued to lead the seven Eastern Guards in their diligent work; everything proceeded as smoothly as if practiced a hundred times. Meanwhile, I focused on observing the changes within my body regarding the Attack Sword Qi.
Finally, the massive army of skulls "led" by Long Qi and Long Zhan charged wildly toward me once more.
Hiss! Kill! With my twin blades in hand, I moved like the wind, decapitating over a dozen Skull Generals in the blink of an eye. The familiar surge of energy reappeared within my normally placid core, spreading slowly throughout my body like a gently flowing river before settling back into stillness. This felt much like yesterday; I knew that as the number of monsters I killed increased, the internal energy would accumulate further. Long Zhan had mentioned that when this gathered energy exceeded the capacity the body could sustain, it would automatically release outward.
Indeed, as I continued to slay monsters, the internal energy grew stronger and stronger after about two hours, swelling like an over-inflated balloon. I suppressed it with all my might, but the energy inside built up relentlessly, feeling as if it were about to burst through my frame. At last! I could hold it no longer and roared out, unleashing a strike that burst forth with a strange, silvery-white glow!
Swoosh, Thwack! The sharp blade not only severed the heads of the surrounding Skull Generals, but the silvery-white energy that shot past the edge of the blade formed a hazy, oblique crescent moon, slicing toward the chest of a skull directly ahead with astonishing speed!
BAM! The white light pierced the skull’s chest instantly! With a muffled boom, it collapsed onto the ground.
“Ah! It’s the Attack Sword Qi!” Wild, ecstatic shouts erupted from Long Zhan and Long Qi nearby.
“Roar!” At that moment, I couldn't help but let out a long cry toward the heavens, feeling invigorated to the extreme, as if my body were filled with an inexhaustible, explosive power. Good heavens! What was happening? The power surging inside me felt like it had no outlet, an unbearable need to vent, compelling me to wildly slash my blades. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! Countless dazzling arcs of light flashed rapidly. But the direction of my strikes wasn't aimed at the necks of the Skull Generals; instead, I swept horizontally across them indiscriminately.
Thwack! Thwack! I felt slight resistance in my hands with every swing, yet it couldn't halt the trajectory of my blades.
Boom, clash! A dozen or so Skull Generals fell around me in a circular arc centered on my body. But unlike before, these Skull Generals hadn't lost their heads; they were cleaved clean in half at the waist. Not only were their skeletal bodies split, but even the massive scythes they held were mostly sliced into two pieces.
Yet, I had no intention of stopping. My body seemed beyond my control, swinging my blade, Hundred Battles, crazily, occasionally unleashing dazzling sheets of Attack Sword Qi that furiously lashed out at my surroundings. Five minutes later, when not a single Skull General remained standing, I felt a profound, empty fatigue and nearly collapsed.
On the other side, Long Xin, Long Zhan, Long Qi, and the seven Eastern Guards, who had retreated far away, stared at the spectacle in the center of the field, utterly dumbfounded. They stood motionless, like ten carved statues.
After a long silence!
“Attack Sword Technique!” Long Zhan mumbled, “Is it really that powerful?!”
“Hmm! Hah!” Long Qi finally snapped back to his senses, swallowing with difficulty, “That guy... he just went completely mad!”
“Yes!” Long Xin said, still shaken, “But... why did that happen?”
“....................” The seven Eastern Guards, influenced by Long Zhan, Long Qi, and Long Xin, simply saw that Xing Chen’s performance hadn't changed much; he was still chopping down Skull Generals one by one. The only difference was that while hacking, he was shouting incoherently, and his striking point had shifted—instead of aiming for the neck, he was hitting whatever was in the way. Why the other three looked so shocked was a mystery to them. The leading Eastern Guard scratched his scalp, finding no satisfactory answer, so he squatted down to resume his work, and the other six, after a moment of daze, also returned to their tasks.
“Th-this... is Attack Sword Qi?” I could barely believe my own sensation. Although I was utterly exhausted moments ago, my stamina recovered swiftly. Was this body even mine? Why did it feel completely different from before, like possessing an inexhaustible well of strength?
“Xing Chen!” Long Xin and the other two hesitated but slowly approached me, “Are you alright?”
“Fine!” I muttered to myself, “Of course, I’m fine, better than fine!”
“What’s wrong with him?” Long Zhan asked, concerned, instinctively reaching out to touch my back.
“Something feels off,” Long Qi said cautiously, waving his hand in front of my eyes, “Wake up, Xing Chen!”
“What are you all doing?” I finally came back to my senses and saw the three looking at me with strange expressions.
“Are you absolutely sure you're okay?” Long Xin seemed worried.
“Yes, I’m... fine now,” I murmured, looking back at Long Zhan with some confusion. “It’s just hard to believe! Is the Attack Sword Technique really that formidable?”
“This!” Long Zhan looked equally bewildered. “I can’t say for sure!”
“Can you tell me the difference in how you felt before and after mastering the Attack Sword Technique?” I sought a comparison point from Long Zhan to understand the cause.
“How to put it?” Long Zhan pondered for a moment before slowly replying, “Actually, right after I unleashed my first surge of Attack Sword Qi, I felt completely changed; my strength was several times greater than before! And whenever I was in a fight, the Attack Sword Qi would generate naturally. The longer the fight lasted, the more Attack Sword Qi accumulated inside me, until my body could no longer bear it, and I had to release it!”
“Strength several times greater than before?” I murmured. “So my situation is actually normal then!” I carefully sensed my body. “I feel confident I could punch a bull dead right now! Or is it just an illusion?”
“Hehe! I felt the same way,” Long Zhan chuckled. “I was excited then too, but not as maniacal as you were!”
“Well, whether it's an illusion or not, we'll know soon enough,” I said, looking at Long Zhan seriously. “Long Zhan, let’s arm wrestle. I want to test my strength.”
“Hehe!” Long Zhan smiled confidently. “If it’s about strength, I won’t lose to you!”
“Alright! Hey!” Long Xin adopted an expression of someone watching a good show. “I’ll get the table!” Long Xin opened her spatial pack and took out a small square table, setting it up.
Thud! Long Zhan’s arm, which was as thick as my thigh, rested on the table, and I extended mine. However, I felt embarrassed by my own arm; it was so slender, fair, and smooth. It was completely disproportionate to Long Zhan’s, pitifully small.
Long Xin looked at me oddly, “That arm is thinner than mine, and you want to challenge Long Zhan’s strength!”
“Hehe! Xing Chen, go for it!” Long Qi cheered. “Looks aren't everything!”
“En!” I nodded firmly, placing my arm on the table and grasping Long Zhan’s hand. Our thumbs interlocked, and our palms met—but the contrast was stark: one thick, one small; one dark, one pale. The disparity was so obvious that Long Zhan looked like he had just swallowed a large toad, his expression extremely peculiar.
“You dare underestimate me!” I protested. “A small arm doesn't mean less strength! You better be careful!”
“I’ll count to three,” Long Xin said, looking excited, while the seven Eastern Guards watched curiously from afar, muttering amongst themselves.
“One, two, three—”
“Roar!” I exerted my strength suddenly!
Long Zhan countered with equal ferocity! His entire arm suddenly bulged, veins crisscrossing like countless writhing earthworms.
I felt as if my arm were gripped in a massive iron clamp. I poured all my might into my arm, but found I couldn't budge Long Zhan’s massive limb in the slightest. Although Long Zhan’s face was flushed red, he appeared calmer than I was. Furthermore, I sensed his strength increasing, his arm inevitably pushing toward my side, while I was already running out of reserve power.
“Stop!” I managed to gasp out. The winner and loser was obvious.
“Hah! I told you, when it comes to strength, I won't lose to you!” Long Zhan muttered.
“Hah!” I struggled to steady my violently pounding chest. “It seems it was just an illusion then!” I felt a pang of disappointment.
“Not exactly!” Long Zhan said solemnly. “Your strength is considerable too, just not as much as mine!”
“What!” A shock went through me.
“I’m telling the truth!” Long Zhan affirmed. “I used eighty percent of my strength just now! When I arm-wrestled others before, very few forced me to use even eighty percent!”
“So it wasn't an illusion!” I suddenly realized, overjoyed. “It’s just that your strength is truly immense.”
“That’s right!” Long Zhan looked certain. “At the very least, your current strength is several times greater than Long Qi’s! If you don't believe me, challenge him right now!”
“Hehe, I think that’s unnecessary,” Long Qi waved his hands repeatedly. “Xing Chen, you are a Warrior after all; even if you won, it wouldn't be a fair fight!”
“That’s true!” Having received confirmation from Long Zhan, I felt a surge of camaraderie, but I was still puzzled: if my strength didn't match Long Zhan's, why could I cleave Skull Generals cleanly in half at the waist, while Long Zhan could only manage to gouge grooves into them? Could it be the weapons? I analyzed it inwardly and became more certain of my guess. Although Long Zhan's raw power was greater than mine, he wielded an axe, and his attack speed was far inferior to mine. Therefore, his instantaneous destructive impact at the point of contact was much weaker than mine. Sometimes, greater strength does not necessarily equate to greater destructive power. It's like a bullet versus a lead ball: if you strike a wooden plank with a lead ball, it might not make a hole, but a bullet hitting the plank would definitely punch a hole through it. This illustrates the instantaneous destructive power generated by speed. It also proves a principle: strength does not equal destructive power. However, when strength is perfectly combined with speed and skill, the resulting destructive power is absolutely terrifying. In other words, my effective destructive power far exceeded Long Zhan's. I could achieve with just thirty percent of my power what required Long Zhan to use his full ten-tenths.
Having figured this out, my mood lifted considerably, and I decided to undergo a few more rounds of slaughter. This time, however, I wouldn't aim for the necks. More importantly, I wanted to use these rounds of killing to meticulously experience the application of the Attack Sword Qi. I also desperately wanted to uncover the reason behind my uncontrollable frenzy earlier.
“Let’s kill a few more rounds!” I proposed.
“Alright!” Long Qi readily agreed. “Let us see you show off a few more times!”
“Hehe!” Long Zhan smiled, immediately getting up and rushing toward the deeper parts of the cave. I returned to my established position.
“Unbelievable!” Long Xin packed away the table and quickly retreated far away, running toward the seven Eastern Guards.
Two minutes later, the Skull army "led" by Long Qi and Long Zhan reappeared.
Roar! Without hesitation, I channeled energy into my hands and swung my blades like lightning. Almost simultaneously, I felt something like a current of air rapidly flowing inside me, repeatedly impacting my wrists, seemingly trying to burst out of my body. This was very similar to the feeling before.
Thwack, thwack! After killing a few Skull Generals, those two currents of energy grew increasingly intense. Furthermore, as the battle continued, a feeling of heat and impulse began building in my mind! I realized with a start: this was it, this sensation.
Two minutes later! The two currents of internal energy could no longer be contained; they burst directly through my wrists and poured into my blade, Hundred Battles. Immediately, a dazzling surge of Attack Sword Qi materialized. But this was only the beginning; like a burst dam, the single surge of Attack Sword Qi I had unleashed earlier was merely a tiny fraction of the total. Following the first wave of Attack Sword Qi, the two streams of energy continuously poured from my wrists into the Hundred Battles blade and shot outward. Simultaneously, the impulse and maddening desire in my mind grew stronger and stronger until I could no longer control it.
Finally, the scene from half an hour ago replayed itself! My body felt controlled by another soul, frantically hacking at the surrounding Skull Generals, yet I could do nothing but watch helplessly as my body changed. As the Attack Sword Qi inside me was fiercely discharged, it gradually diminished. Once the level dropped to a certain point, the frantic killing intent in my mind faded, and I swiftly regained control of my body.