Chapter 636: Tools and skills aren’t mutually exclusive
‘Never mind my reckless action,’ Zhen Liu told Logos and Pathos. ‘How the fuck did that guy do…whatever that fuck that was. Summon a dragon spirit? Was that like…advanced dragon force shit?’
=If I had to hazard a guess, it has to that with that pretty sword of theirs. We have records of certain high tier aether treasures being able to control and summon aether beasts, as well as bloodliner gifts that do the same thing. For example there’s the [Golden Lion Double Pupil] that allows the Golden Spirit Lion bloodliners to dominate other cat-type aether beasts. Perhaps this Ren Jin Yan fellow has something similar?=
‘Okay, how the hell am I supposed… y’all want me to try and get up in his face so I can determine if he got an inheritance thing going on, don’t you?’
<=Either you or one of the kaijin, please and thank you.=>
‘Great…’
[I got this milord. Just give me the signal.]
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“Hah!”
“Oh fuck.”
Just as Zhen Liu thought he had done something incredibly clever in the act of reflecting Ren Jin Yan’s attack right back at him, the latter proceeded to cancel out the encroaching energy construct with a single slash of his sword.
Or to be more precise, Ren Jin Yan’s sword had reabsorbed the attack after he has slashed back into a stream of energy. Unfortunately for him, this also left wide open for a follow up attack.
“Hey! You should probably know that my aether puppets can use aether arts!”
“What?!”
“Like so, [Eruption Knuckle]!”
Reacting to Zhen Liu’s words like it was an order, the red jade demoness puppet charged forward, Ignati and Terraqi aether surging around its fist. From this surge, Ren Jin Yan could sense the telltale churning of an aether art in action, so they immediately concluded that Zhen Liu was not full of shit. They could feel that if this attack made contact, the damage would be quite severe.
However, in a moment that showed just how experienced Ren Jin Yan was in regards to fighting, they proceeded to duck down in the nick of time while also using their aether to strengthen their sword’s scabbard and launch it off of their hip in order to knock away the jade demon’s fist.
An explosion of heat akin to a small volcano fired off uselessly above Ren Jin Yan’s head as the attack was prematurely detonated. The tables were now turned as the red jade demoness puppet was now in a vulnerable position instead, a position that Ren Jin Yan immediately took advantage of.
[Punishing Waterspout Kick!]
Instead of using their sword, Ren Jin Yan pumped aether into their leg and made use of a minor Ethereal aether art to side kick the red jade demoness puppet directly in the abdomen, sending it flying to the edge of the orbital ring with a blast of aether made water.
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‘Shit, Nepherage, are you okay?!’
[Fuck! That’s what dragon force feels like?! That shit fucking hurts!,] Nepherage cursed in a tone that was rather out of character for the normally sterner sounding kaijin. If anything, she sounded like a wounded teenager at the moment.
[Shit, no wonder you screamed when we fought that Dragon Otter, Hurricroak. It felt like someone took a mining drill to my stomach!]
[Oh yeah, that stuff fucking hurts, Amiga,] Hurricroak agreed, [and now we have to deal with some puta who can use multiple types of dragon force! Wait, does it count as multiple types if it’s from one source?]
[Not really, no,] Hurricroak and Nepherage replied simultaneously.
=Wait, it could also be body kind of thing. Sort of like [Calamity Berserker Body] or maybe a tattoo deal. I think the ingredients for a [Soul Sealing Tamer Tattoo] still exist in this day and age. Is it possible for one of you try and cut open their clothing?=
‘You want us to fucking strip a guy in the middle of a fight? Dafuq?!’
[To be fair director, I think that’s where I come in,] Razorstella answered. [I just need a good angle and I can strip snip this sorry excuse for an extra in no time flat!]
‘I… can’t tell if I should be disturbed by that sentence or have faith in you.’
[Probably both.]
‘Fair enough.’
[Wait, Razorstella,] Spring Brawler interjected, [you sure you can get in an attack without getting hit? If that Ren Jin Yan guy hits you with one of those weird dragon force attacks…]
=To be fair, Nepherage felt the pain because Ren Jin Yan used a water affinity aether art. Razorstella should be fine otherwise.=
[Yeah, my element is a subtype of light…I think,] Razorstella added, [so unless they got darkness type dragon force up their sleeve, then sleeves about to come right the fuck off!]
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Having successfully repelled the red jade demoness puppet, Ren Jin Yan proceeded to spin back to their original position and bring their attention back on the puppeteer himself.
“Now I’m going to-huh?”
Before Ren Jin Yan could follow up on any plans to attack though, the bladed ballerina puppet had suddenly appeared directly in front and above them with their legs curled up, having apparently leaped into position during or after they had used [Punishing Waterspout Kick] to send the other puppet flying.
[Meteor Shower Kick!]
“FUCK!”
And now it was the puppets’ turn to kick back.
A deluge of aether blades fell down on to Ren Jin Yan’s position as the bladed ballerina puppet continuously kicked towards the young warrior’s direction.
[Cyclone Dragon Viper Dance!]
They could barely bring up their sword and guard in time to defend against a majority of the energy blades, as the shadow of a giant feathered serpent suddenly appeared and engulfed the warrior’s form, allowing them to prevent all but a scant few blades bypassing their defenses.
“Tsk! My shirt!”
Luckily for Ren Jin Yan, none of the attacks turned out to be especially deadly, with the worst injuries they were now dealing with being mostly surface scratches and torn clothes.
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[Okay, I ain’t seeing any tattoos on their body,] Razorstella commented as she kept her assault. [Although, I am impressed that they’re able to defend against my relentless onslaught over here.]
=Hmmm, perhaps it’s not bodily phenomenon at all…it could very well be a feature of their cultivation formula. I mean…our lord is an example of that kind of thing. Although, I’m not entirely sure if we have any formulas that can do anything similar to-=
[Uh…guys?,] Spring Brawler interjected, [I hate to be the guy to point out Occam’s razor, but isn’t it possible they can use all of these types of dragon force, because of that funky sword in his hands?]
=That…=
Logos and Pathos were stunned as Spring Brawler made an observation that was getting more and more obvious the longer the two thought about it.
As for Zhen Liu, he decided to simply ask about it.
‘Spring…how did you figure that out?’
[Everytime they used one of those weird dragon force techniques, they’d pump the blade with a lot of aether, more specifically, they seem to be redirecting their aether into those funky looking jewels. Although, it does seem like that this sword is somehow connected to their soul so you don’t really notice any aether fluctuations that differ from one another.]
‘That…is definitely not how most other aether treasures work…which is worrisome…’
[Not as worrisome as that guy’s incoming attack on Razorstella. Look out!’
[Uh oh!]
‘Shit!’
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Eventually, the deluge of blade energy came to an end as the bladed ballerina’s aether art had finished its casting. It was in the moment of weakness though that Ren Jin Yan decided to attack the puppet once more.
Technically speaking, they should’ve been aiming for the puppeteer, Zhen Liu. It was common knowledge that if one were to take out the puppeteer, any aether puppets under their control would immediately disappear, since there was nothing controlling them anymore. However, for a reason they could only describe as “instinctual”, Ren Jin Yan felt compelled to attack the puppets instead. Which is precisely what she did.
[Crimson Draguar Strike!]
Ren Jin Yan took their swords with both hands this time around as the glowing in the hilt switched from the green colored gem to the red one, causing the feather serpent shadow to disappear as well.
As Ren Jin Yan slashed forward though, a fiery construct in the shape of a dragon-jaguard hybrid launched forward and pounced at the descending bladed ballerina puppet.
While Zhen Liu wasn’t entirely sure, he felt as if this attack could melt even steel.
“Shit! Got move fast!,” Zhen Liu cursed as he prepared to summon even more “puppets”.
