The Sword Emperor Transmigrates

Chapter 154

The reaction wasn’t necessarily unfathomable.

The most advanced martial arts in Daoism and Buddhism generally had the power to chase away evil, and the One Origin Five Elements Cultivation Method could also be said to have such a unique power. When Yeon Mu-Hyuk had fought some notorious users of the demonic arts in the wild, he had had a similar reaction when facing their renegade occult arts, which were famous for their wickedness.

But the repulsion I feel is enormous. If I even emitted my internal energy, it might direct itself to the Demoniac. The energy was leaking from him on its own accord, as if to say that it could not tolerate the existence of the writhing lump of flesh. It was spilling out with a violent sense of hostility.

If the One Origin Five Elements Cultivation Method only had a few lines about chasing away demons and extinguishing evil and was already reacting like this, he couldn’t imagine how techniques built on the foundation of annihilating evil spirits would react, such as the Kongtong Sect’s Demon-Killing Heavenly Thunder Cultivation Method.

Leonard could feel his anticipation growing.

“Miss Meliora,” he said.

She looked at him. “You can call me Melo. What is it?”

“If it’s not too much, may I try fighting these Demoniacs directly? There’s something I’d like to test.”

At that, her eyes glinted with interest. “Do you have some unique trait? If that’s the case, I’ll also be interested. You see, we mages would also love to have our own unique laws of nature.”

“I... do not. It’s more of an aura technique.”

When he said that, the excitement vanished from her face, and she grumbled. Compared to how she treated Calantha, she was very friendly to Leonard. “Please. Simple aura techniques don’t work on Demoniacs, but I’ll still let you use one as a favor. The laboratory is over there, so let’s head over and you can try fighting one.”

“Thank you.”

Meliora waved her hand, and the cover of the glass case that was tightly binding the monster opened. At the same time, the lump of flesh raced toward the three of them like a predator trying to catch its prey. After being captured and locked in the case, the Demoniac had been starving for days—no, weeks—but its vitality hadn’t decreased at all.

If he were in an upper-mid Degree of the External Force Tier, it would not be surprising if he were devoured on the spot.

“It’s true what they say about how ignorance makes you brave. Even teeth and tongue Demoniacs know better than to recklessly rush three Masters,” Meliora said Her face told him that the Demoniac wouldn’t try a surprise attack. She overpowered the monster with the same hand gesture she’d used to open the case.

Leonard watched her cast the magic with his dragon eyes, and he couldn’t hide his admiration. The spells themselves were only Class 2 or 3, but her technique was very sophisticated. She had created a force that obstructed an opponent’s power in the same way that Shield did, but it was facing the opposite direction to trap the target.

Indeed, this was the ability of a Wickeline Archmage.

“Over here.” After she casually took control over the flesh Demoniac, Meliora gave it a kick, and it rolled over toward the laboratory.

A few minutes later, Leonard and the two mages entered a cavernous room.

Reading the confusion on his face, Meliora began to explain, “Not all laboratories are designed for quietly writing papers. There are spaces where you can experiment with Demoniacs however you’d like, just like you want to do.”

“I see.” He understood now. He took a few steps into the testing chamber, which was as vast as an arena or a coliseum.

“Should I let go?” Meliora asked.

“If you would.”

“I’ll release it on three. One... two...”

As soon as the word three left her mouth, the lump of flesh, now free from its bonds, immediately rushed toward Leonard.

Even though it doesn’t look like it has any organs that give it senses, it pinpointed my exact location and started toward me.

Leonard took a leap back, frustrating the creature. Instead of unsheathing his sword, he held out his hand. Since they said that slashing and stabbing weren’t supposed to be effective, he was going to try to use palm arts to channel internal energy directly in its raw form.

In his past life, he hadn’t been able to witness the Shaolin monks’ Great Force Vajra Palm or the Potala Palace’s signature Impenetrable Origin Great Hand Seal. Even the Sword Emperor, if he carelessly tried to emulate such highly acclaimed hidden cultivation methods, would essentially be declaring war on the prominent sects.

But I can learn a few martial arts that use advanced principles. The profoundness of the scriptures isn’t far off. There wasn’t really any difference between hidden cultivation methods and martial arts at the entry level. They were simply a milestone for Apex and Creation Realm masters.

But of course, martial artists who were trying to reach the Ascension Realm would probably faint from trying to use hidden cultivation methods.

It’s not as if I’m trying to reach a milestone at my current level, so as long as the principles I apply are generally as fast and profound as that of hidden cultivation methods, there shouldn’t be much of a difference.

The scriptures of the Vajra Palm, which was basically the inverse of the Impenetrable Origin Great Hand Seal; the Demon Felling Tiger Bowing Palm, which lacked strength but specialized in exorcisms; and the Cape Falling Demon Art, which was known more for its use of protective qi, flickered through his head.

Leonard decided to try the Demon Felling Tiger Bowing Palm first. The technique was both destructive and effective, with its effectiveness against demons being greater than its destructiveness.

Krrr! Krrrrr! Though the lump of flesh had struggled a few times in vain, its bloodlust hadn’t waned, and it targeted Leonard again. The flesh Demoniac didn’t have bones or organs, which meant that its entire body was made of muscle tissue.

Not only did it show off its lightning speed, but it also displayed enough destructive power to take down a fortress wall just by tackling it. It also should have the ability to change its shape at will, but Leonard didn’t get to see this, perhaps because it had gone mad with hunger.

“Come.”

Just then, he raised one arm and pointed the other toward the ground. His pose resembled a lion’s open mouth, and he crouched down a little.

The Demon Felling Tiger Bowing Palm got its name from its ability to make evil spirits surrender and make a tiger bow, but the opening display created an image resembling a crouching tiger as well.

A martial artist would have frozen in place due to the graveness of the sight, but one couldn’t expect a Demoniac to understand what it was looking at when its low intelligence had already been eaten away by hunger.

The lump of flesh shot forward as fast as an arrow in an attempt to catch its prey.

Demon Felling Tiger Bowing Palm

Third Form: Tiger Emerging from the Forest

Arms spread like a tiger showing off its fangs, Leonard moved with the momentum of a tiger leaping out of the forest, clapping his hands together. He caught the Demoniac with precision, crushing it between his palms. It thrashed from the pain and confusion, which overpowered its hunger. There was no heat or cold, and the Demoniac felt as if it were being ripped apart.

Krrr? Krrrrr?!

Leonard had already taken two steps back, having finished his attack, but the creature kept convulsing from the blow because the energy from the Demon Felling Tiger Bowing Palm was shredding its very being. This didn’t seem like the reaction of a monster who could apparently only be stopped by burning or freezing.

When Leonard saw its reaction, it confirmed his suspicions.

Martial arts... work.

He didn’t even need to use a hidden cultivation method. This was proof that even First Class martial arts could do extensive damage to a Demoniac.

The creature barely managed to pick itself up before attacking again, but it was much less vigorous than the first time. The monster wasn’t supposed to be able to feel fear, but now it felt a strange sense of agitation.

And Leonard didn’t move to dodge or block its advance.

Clang!

Leonard stood in place as he took the attack. A thin augmented energy shield covered his body, and he used the Cape Falling Demon Art to repel the monster like a monk.

Those Shaolin deadbeats wouldn’t believe their eyes.

In truth, the Cape Falling Demon Art was not a very difficult technique. Other than the Divine Monk, who was considered the leader of the Supreme Ten Venerables, it was hard to find any master martial artist in the Peak Realm and above who trained in this move when there was a whole mountain of other Shaolin techniques to choose from. It wasn’t very useful in cultivation, other than when fighting against heretic or demonic qi. Even then, its defensive capabilities were inconsequential.

Krr...krrrr...krr...

However, the Demoniac had lunged into the Cape Falling Demon Art without knowing anything, and its body charred where it made contact with Leonard, making it spasm.

The monster was demonic itself, so the technique did an incomparable amount of damage compared to when it was used on demonic energy. It was also notable that the Demoniac wasn’t able to even touch Leonard.

He gave the creature some time to heal and held out his hand.

Vajra Palm

The attack couldn’t be called a unique technique, and it was more of a method of manipulating energy. It shot up several meters into the air and lashed at the Demoniac.

It only had about as much destructive force as Magic Missile. The experimental attack shouldn’t have been able to overwhelm a Third Class martial artist, but shockingly, it shredded through the lump of flesh. What was more, its body burned wherever it made contact with Leonard’s energy, as if it were held up against molten iron.

Krrrrrrr—!

The creature thrashed and convulsed a few times before it stopped moving.

The Demoniac, which had healing abilities incomparable to that of adult trolls, had died after taking three light hits.

Not even Leonard had known that it would die so fast. While he was trying to figure out what he should say to Meliora, he turned to where the two Archmages were standing and watching.

“...”

“...”

They were frozen like statues. Leonard looked straight at them, having a strange feeling that something was off. Then he remembered.

Esther had a similar expression on her face when I showed her Magic Missile for the first time.

He could not only optimize spells with his dragon heart but also morph their shape with his willpower. When Esther saw, she had been unable to accept reality for a moment and short-circuited.

The two Archmages had a similar reaction.

He thanked the stars when they didn’t fall over and cry like Esther had. Their mouths were shaped into an ‘o,’ and they stepped toward Leonard and just stared at him.

“...” n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“...”

He couldn’t stand the silence any longer and raised his hands. “Don’t just stare. If there’s anything you’re curious about, please ask.”

“...Do you really not have a unique trait? That was all aura?”

“...Even if you do have a unique trait, it has amazing efficacy. The last technique you used was only the Class 1 spell Magic Missile, but you did enough damage to cancel out its healing abilities. How did you do it?”

Their questions flooded out like a deluge, and Leonard took it in stride. He waited until they stopped before he began to answer.

“Yes, I only used aura. It’s something I discovered by chance. It turns out that if you channel the mana inside your body through a bit of a roundabout path, the output of power will decrease, but you can create a unique shape.”

“A unique...?”

“Shape...?”

“Yes. For example, even with an unrefined aura, you can infuse it with elemental energy, or you can manipulate mana to enhance only part of your body as if you were receiving support magic. I thought such abilities were interesting, so for a long time, I have been researching unconventional ways of using mana.” This was the best explanation Leonard could come up with without bringing up the memories from his past life.

The martial theory regarding this was also very similar.

Unlike the martial artists of the Central Plains, the martial artists in this world were born with all the smallest vessels in their bodies open, but they couldn’t absorb the energy in the air and relied on ingestible sources until they reached the Transcendence Tier, which was why they didn’t develop cultivation methods. They had no incentive to go through a countless amount of trial and error to create unique cultivation methods. From Cardenas’ knights to the mercenaries at the frontiers, there wasn’t much of a difference between how they manipulated mana.

In a world where everyone can channel energy efficiently, they have no reason to research less efficient ways. Ultimately, cultivation methods were developed with the goal of surpassing the gifts and limits a human possessed, or to find ways around them.

In murim, even if someone was born with all their vessels open, a genius who unlocked all their meridians only appeared once every few generations, if that. This included unlocking the Baekhoe point, which was the threshold for the upper dantian, of course, but it was even harder to unlock the conception and governing vessels, which were symbolic of the Peak Realm. However, the people of this world were born with all the smallest vessels in their bodies open, and they could obtain internal energy from ingestible sources, so they didn’t develop cultivation methods.

If one already had wings, there was no need to find the best way to grow them.

And the fact that I was able to discover something new by using a less efficient way of channeling mana means that no one would have ever figured it out had I not tried it out.

When the Archmages understood what Leonard was saying, their expressions changed. They’d realized what his explanation implied.

“Then how many years do we need to train to learn how to use mana like that?” Meliora asked. Because this method of using mana did not require a unique trait, anyone could do it, not just Leonard.

Calantha seemed to be thinking the same thing. He added, “Even though Leonard is very talented, considering his age, I don’t think it will take more than ten years. This might be something that all the Seven Orders should learn, not just the Black Dragon Knights.”

“Ten years is so fast! You’re saying we might be able to break the centuries-long deadlock at the front lines?”

“Such an amazing feat will go down in history.”

Leonard listened to them from the side and couldn’t help but feel a little bitter. “A few days should be enough, not a few years. Though it will take some time to become proficient, it won’t take long for a Transcendence Tier master to learn enough to use it in battle.”

“...”

“...”

Unfortunately for the two of them, there were still many things that would shock them.