Chapter 335: Testing Abilities To The Limits!
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Following having obtained all the Demonic Cursed Seals and also my ascension into an Immortal, the next two days would be spent training about Demonic Cursed Seal Arts with Master. I had obtained a whole lot of new power, but we couldn't really waste our time after that. So the easiest thing to do to test our abilities and improve them was sparring, of course.
We sparred for hours; the Heavenly Demon helped me get used to my new body in the only way he knew, quite literally by making the two of us beat each other like barbarians… but it’s not like I disliked that. I’ve never really been the type of girl that would shy away from being hit; if I hit him back, then he has the right to hit me too, right? And in a fight, things such as manners and whatnot matter very little.
Maybe it’s my inner Demonic Cultivator awakening there or not, but I’ve never cared about the “never hit a lady” part, and my master and adoptive father certainly didn’t care either. It wasn’t that he hated women or something either; he saw everyone as equals, actually. If he saw a mighty opponent, he wouldn’t shy away from fighting them to the death.
And that even included me… Yeah, never mind; he’s a bit of a nutjob. But even then, he taught me a lot of things through our many training sessions, and this one wasn’t an exception.
So right after my ascension, our spar included punching each other without doing anything else but harnessing Demonic Cursed Seal Ki into our fists; he said this would help me make the harnessing of this complicated energy as easy and instinctive as breathing.
It was painful, but it also helped me realize how much tougher my body had become.
BAAAM!
“Never shy away from danger, Anna!”
CLASH!
“You must always stay focused!”
CRASH!
“Now that you’ve mastered the Seal of Pain, the feeling of being hurt has been mastered and dominated! It doesn’t mean you’re still not going to feel pain; in fact, you still do!”
CLASH!
Indeed, all of his hits hurt a lot back then. I swear if I was the same Anna from before, I would be crying a little bit, though I would still be gritting my teeth.
But at this point, all of my tears had been dried, and the only thing that there was within me was…
Focus.
Calmness.
Serenity.
And my emotions, formerly a swirling chaotic storm.
It was now completely below my control; my emotions were now a tool for my strength.
My Anger, my Sorrow, my Regret, my Frustration, my Frenzy, my Desire, my Self-Sacrificing Nature, and my Pain.
I started to understand how to use my own Emotions instinctively; I could change how I felt within my own heart; I had full control.
“Yes, master!”
I swung my fists, imbued with the Flames of Anger, he intercepted with the Frost of Sorrow, only for me to quickly kick his legs with the combination of ice and fire of Regret.
BAAAM!
“Hah!”
He smiled defiantly; his fists came punching down into my face at a rapid pace, using the power of Frustration and Frenzy to unleash an explosive series of attacks.
However, I embodied a golden statue using the power of the Seal of the Martyr, taking upon all the damage and using every amount of Pain I felt into new power through the Seal of Pain.
“HAAAH!”
With a mighty roar, I punched his stomach as I charged against him, followed by an explosion of flames with Anger and Frustration combined, resembling a roaring dragon that charged forward with my punches reaching his body.
“ROOOAARR!”
“A dragon? Hahahah! You sure love standing out, huh?!”
However, he responded by embodying the fists of King Yanma, punching the draconic aura, and making it explode into pieces.
BOOOM!
“Pathetically weak! Are you really my disciple?!”
“Yes, I am!”
I didn’t let his words get to me; they were provocations to make me doubt myself, quite literally a way of training as well.
“Then prove it! Harness the power of your dark Emotions better!”
“I’m trying!”
“Remember the past! Remember your suffering... remember the suffering of others!”
“I am!”
Visions constantly flashed through my mind; suddenly the powers I wielded became stronger. Yes, this was the feeling I wanted.
“It’s hard at the beginning, but once you master the cursed seals, you will be able to do this instinctively! Have it engraved into your very mind and body! Now hit me with everything you have!”
“RAAAAHH!”
I harnessed the power of Anger, turning it into countless coiling serpents wrapping around his body, then he freed himself with frost, only to be greeted by countless spikes made of blood ice, a combination of Sorrow and Pain.
“Interesting…!”
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
The spikes reached him, yet he easily sent them flying away from him. He charged against me, but I intercepted his charging attack, kicking him in the chin with the power of Frenzy, creating a volcanic eruption of Wrathful Flames.
BOOOM!
“Ah! Interesting…!”
He smiled back, grabbing me by the leg and then spinning around, before sending me flying into the seas of his Inner Realm.
SPLASH!
I once more reached the oceans, but this time I didn’t take it as a defeat. Using Sorrow I froze my surroundings, and through Anger and Pain, turned them into volcanoes of boiling blood.
“How about this?!”
“Oh?”
Several explosions reached him as the volcanoes, made entirely out of the elements of nature and my own emotions, surged, erupting and exploding, bombarding his entire body.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
He seemed slightly more affected, yet he didn’t escape, charging downwards like a fiery crow as his entire aura fused with his body, making him resemble a black phoenix.
“{Wrathful Black Phoenix}!”
CRASH!
I intercepted his attack with my arms, imbuing them with all the Pain I’ve accumulated; I gained an explosive amount of power.
Right, he used the power in his body too, right?
Then…
“{Infernal Cat of the Black Sun}!”
I absorbed the elements of my Seals and converged them into my body, becoming a huge beast made of black flames and crimson frost in the shape of a black panther.
“Impressive!”
He smiled as his blazing talons reached my fiery claws; crimson frost surged, piercing through his phoenix form as he quickly opened his jaws, black flames covering my body.
“RAAAH!”
I roared back, opening my cat-like jaws and releasing a breath of spiraling crimson fire, followed by black ice shaped into tridents that followed him around, piercing his body and exploding.
At the same time, I expanded my Aura into a Domain, materializing the Frenzy and Frustrations of many people I empathized with.
The coldest frost of Baihe, the poisonous spiders of Annabelle, the glistening golden spear of Kevin.
My friends from Earth, you’re still ever-present in my heart!
“{Frost Queen’s Frozen Sigh}”
“Huh?!”
The figure of the Baihe of the future, the villainess, emerged; demonic frost materialized into her shape as she sighed, releasing frost that covered half of our surroundings.
FLUOSH!
“Ack!”
The Heavenly Demon felt his flames quickly freezing and becoming weaker. He countered them by releasing an explosive shockwave of flames before reaching me and kicking me dexterously, using many mixed martial arts.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
“{Demonic Spider’s Spiderweb}”
However, he had just fallen into my trap.
“Ah! What?!”
Suddenly, spiderwebs made of cursed energies trapped him within the frozen sea; his energies were being temporarily suppressed, and countless venomous spiders emerged, rushing to bite his body.
“T-This is even better visualization than me?!”
That wasn’t even the end of it!
“Dammit, just spiders at the end, though!”
He roared like the fiery phoenix he had become, his black flames consuming everything, the spiderweb that temporarily paralyzed him dissipating.
However, it didn’t leave without weakening him; spiderweb covered his body, slowing him down even now!
“It’s still so damn sticky—Ah!”
His eyes widened as glistening light surged from the powers of the cursed seals.
Yes, I was not using any trick, I wasn’t using any skill, and I wasn’t using any other martial arts.
I embodied the power of Empathy within the Seal of Pain, materializing the appearance of Kevin behind me.
Yes, this was the Kevin of the future, a strong young man wearing heavy armor and a huge spear made of light.
I transformed the dark emotions into bright emotions, embodying light itself.
“{Prince Of Asgard's Spear of Light}”
I swung the gigantic spear of light against my master, swinging my fists as I punched through his defensive techniques and made my way towards his pain body within the phoenix embodiment he had conjured.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
“Hahaha…! Hahaha! Impressive! You never stop amusing me, Anna!”
Eventually, the phoenix exploded and dissipated as the spear of light reached him. However, his cursed seals suddenly glowed brightly across his body, and then…
They flew outside of his body.
Wait, what?!
“I’ll show you the pinnacle now.”
Each seal that came out of his body combined together into a massive armament he created within seconds.
“{Divine Venerable Imperial Armament}: {Cursed Axe of Seven Hells}!”
A massive axe of black and red flames materialized, rushing down and cleaving through all of my techniques, splitting them apart and then engulfing me on a slashing wave of tremendous force.
CRAAASH!
All of his power at once engulfed me completely, as I fell into the frozen seal, shattered the ice beneath, and drowned in the cold ocean’s depths.
Using the power of the Seal of Pain, I healed my wounds, although my body was so tough I somehow survived that blow without being split apart instantly…
“Wow…”
I just felt speechless.
I had no idea he could do that!
Just how many secrets do these techniques harbor?
Every time I think I’ve figured it all out, new things emerge!
It’s incredible…
So this is the power of Martial Arts!
Neverendingly evolving, improving, transforming, adapting.
Indeed, they’re much superior to Skills.
“Master!”
I screamed, swimming out of the seas and rushing towards my master with a smile on my face.
I quickly materialized two swords out of my Aura, trying to make them as hard as possible out of black ice.
The Heavenly Demon smiled, intercepting me with his massive axe.
CLAAASH!
“Please, teach me how to do that!”
“Not yet! You must first master the seals and their techniques! Now, round two starts! Are you ready?!”
“I am!”
I had to be honest; he was infecting me with his insanity.
We clashed, and time passed.
A day ended, and another day began.
Our fights continued, as I attempted to continuously master my techniques faster and faster.
The elements converged in countless ways, yet only a few selected shapes were strong enough to even hold a candle against that axe.
Everything else simply exploded and was overcome, completely overwhelmed.
But I wasn’t going to give up…
I continued merging their effects, trying to find just the perfect technique.
CLAAASH!
Until suddenly, a sword of black light surged as I combined the Empathy towards my brother and even Fenrir.
“WOOF!”
A furious black wolf born from Sorrow and Frenzy; a cheap imitation of Fenrir, materialized out of my Cursed Aura.
But that wasn’t enough; I had to go even further.
The black light sword grew larger, absorbing the imitation of Fenrir.
It became a giant sword of pure blight.
For a couple of seconds…
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
“Oh?”
Crack, crack…
CRASH!
I was able to hold my own against the axe, but the sword immediately shattered afterwards.
It was something, though; it gave me a glimpse of what I had to focus on.
Visualization and form.
And then…
To compact it all together.
However, time and time again, I failed.
Ultimately, I was unable to perfect it by the end of this short training.
“And tonight is the day our three-day training has finished,” he said. “My disciple, you’ve reached new heights already. And you’ve almost gotten it. Now go train with your mother. She will teach you another perspective. Perhaps once you go through her training, you might be able to figure out what’s missing.”
“Yes, master,” I nodded.
“Just call me… Just call me father,” he said, patting my shoulders.
“Ah… yes, father!” I said happily.
“Now, shall we go eat? I’m starving.” He laughed.
“Sure!” I happily followed him.
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