Spirit Cultivation

'What I am about to teach you are not really seven separate Sword Arts but a collection of seven moves created by the Sword God himself. They cover all three, defense, offense and counter attacking.'

Ming began her explanation, turning on her teaching mode.

'With just seven moves he was able to dominate the world, killing thousands of his enemies. Because he liked to kill and rob rich clans, he was hunted down by an alliance of many top clans. Even though they desired his Sword Arts, they wanted the history to forget about him even more so they destroyed any remains after him. Because of that, there are not many who remember him today.'

'How do you know his Sword Arts if they destroyed everything?' Xuefeng asked curiously.

'Did you forget I'm the Fate Queen, the mother of all Fate Spirits? Back in the Fate Kingdom, there is an Artefact that allowed me to communicate with all my children. Thanks to that, I was able to get a lot of information about all Fate Holders without even leaving my palace. Unfortunately, without that Artefact, I'm powerless in that regard. I wish I could reunite with my children,' Ming answered with pity in her voice.

'Wait a second… So all Fate Spirits are your children?' Xuefeng felt a need to clarify this information.

'Not all but some are. Aside from a normal birth, I have an unique ability that allows me to give birth to Fate Spirits. Once a month I can create an egg that would later grow into a Fate Spirit. All I need is plenty of Fate Qi to nourish the cell and within a few years they become a full adult being. This process is much faster than natural birth but the Fate Spirits born with this method were much weaker than natural born. I still love them all,' Ming explained, making Xuefeng even more confused.

Sensing it, she explained further, 'Back in the days, there were very few of us so I was required to give birth to many Fate Spirits to increase our population. The whole process doesn't happen inside of me but I can still be considered their mother as they were once a part of me, grown from a single small cell. Unfortunately, even if I wanted to do it again now, it's impossible. The amount of Fate Qi required for the whole process can only be provided by Fate Kingdom which is now closed.'

'Mhmm, I understand now. Ling should be your only real daughter then?' Xuefeng asked, using this opportunity to learn more about then two.

'That is correct. Though, I don't mind to have more… This time with the right person,' Ming suggested, almost making him choke.

'What were we talking about earlier? Sword Arts, right? We went off-topic for a minute,' Xuefeng swiftly changed the subject, feeling like it wasn't the best time to talk about children.

He didn't mind having some in the future, far far future. Right now he was focused on adventures and improving himself together with his wives. Their lives would get really complicated.

Ming didn't seem to mind and continued the old topic, 'Yes, Sword Arts. Thanks for that Artefact from before, I knew about his Sword Arts before he died. Sword God was actually a Fate Holder as well so we were able to keep track of his doings. We naturally can't interfere too much in the human world but we could store data without much problems.'

'Let's start with the easiest one, the charging strike. Each move is harder to master than the other so we will move step by step. This one requires the least skill, focusing on precision and raw power. It combines your bodily strength and your speed, focusing all of your power at the tip of your sword. Don't underestimate it just because it sounds easy. This charging strike grants you the highest offensive power from all the seven moves so its also the most essential to master.'

'Alright, let's do this,' Xuefeng called out, already hyped up with her explanation but his hopes to quickly get into it were crushed as he pulled out his new sword and he almost fell due to its weight.

"Cough, I need to figure out how to even use this sword before we can even start the training," Xuefeng muttered, looking at the sword hopelessly. 'Is there a way to improve my strength in a short amount of time?'

'Did you forget about your bloodline? How about putting your Titan Blood to some use?' Ling suggested as a bystander. 'Although it's not enough for a full bloodline transformation but it should give you some physical enhancement once you run those drops through your veins.'

'I totally forgot about those!' Xuefeng realized excitedly and closed his eyes, venturing deep inside his dantian with his consciousness.

He entered into his Spirit and saw a blood drops hovering next to his other bloodlines.

'Swallow one drop and it will integrate into your body,' Ming directed. 'Although it's not permanent, it should give you about an hour of a boost in strength, just enough to finish our training.'

Xuefeng didn't hesitate and followed her suggestion, taking one of the drops into his mouth before awaking back in his own body, observing it for the changes.

Bang!

In the next second, Xuefeng felt like his body exploded. The ground cracked under his weight. His muscles and veins bulged, looking as if one paper cut could slice them open.

"Wow…" Xuefeng muttered amazed, feeling the sudden power coming from his body.

Although his body didn't increase in size, his muscles seemed enhanced, making him feel like every muscle in his body was now active and ready to bring out the utmost of its potential.

He lifted Dragon Edge once again and sure enough, the sword was much lighter than before. It wasn't a heaven defying change but he could at least carry the sword in a straight manner.

"Much better," Xuefeng announced, trying out the sword and repeated the slash from before in the office.

Swoosh!

Without using any Qi, the air smashed into the Training Barrier, causing everything to vibrate. Seeing such power from a casual swing, he couldn't help but imagine the power his strike would have using the Sword Art.

"Whoa…" The girls watched him in surprise, stopping what they were doing to watch him.

Having an audience of beauties, Xuefeng couldn't disappoint them.

Just as he was about to ask, Ming displayed a scene in his mind, showing the first move in practice.

On the scene, it was actually him performing the art. He held the sword with one hand right next to his waist and charged at the enemy shadow. He was so fast that he could barely see his movements if not for the fact that it was slowed down. The point of his sword cut through air like a slim drill until it finally reached the target, passing right through him without even leaving anything.

Total annihilation.

He was so impressed that he wanted to try it immediately.

"Let me help you," Ling called out as she appeared next to him in one of her white casual dresses. "You need an opponent."

With that said, she flew towards the other side of the Training Grounds and created a copy of him, holding the same Dragon Edge as him.

"Interesting…" Xuefeng muttered with a smile and did the same, giving himself some place to gain his momentum.

"All I need to do is replicate the scene from the video. It's not hard," Xuefeng hyped himself up and set his stance like on the video.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Xuefeng launched forward, running as fast as he could.

Boost! Boost! Boost!

Multiple arts for boosting his speed activated at once, causing him to burst forward like cannonball. His eyes followed the tip of his sword, aiming it at his clone's chest, right in the middle.

His copy stood still, aiming its sword at him which sealed his doom. It was too late to run even if he wanted to.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what Ling wanted him to do.

She smiled and sent a simple order to the clone, making him send an air bomb, aimed at his legs.

He jumped to dodge it but his charge got disrupted, his sword losing the precision from before on top of slowing him down.

Bang!

Xuefeng's copy sidestepped and smashed at his sword from the side, making him miss completely.

"Lesson number one. Don't expect your opponent to just stay still and do nothing. Unless they are really slow or immobilized, try to avoid using this Sword Art. Even though it's the strongest, it's easy to disrupt your movements with external factors. Unless you can be unstoppable, you won't finish your strike."