Chapter 1260 Myriad Transformation Swordsmanship (Part 1)
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Bang! Bang!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
In the middle of the four powerful clones, Shin held his ground without being overwhelmed by the opposing side despite being outnumbered and surrounded from every direction.
From the spectator's point of view, Shin was like a little tuna being hunted by four great white sharks. But despite that being the case, he nimbly and skillfully avoided each of their advances. He did not let them touch him, not even a graze.
Shin's mind kept on working as he processed the information that he was getting.
His eyes, which were glowing with a pale golden light after he activated the 'True Sight' skill, read the movements of his enemies and the trajectory of their attacks.
At the same time, his other senses were keeping an eye on the blind spots that he had. His 'Sensing Circle' was able to detect the movements from the surroundings, giving him a rough idea of how the four clones planned to approach him from an unseen angle.
But what helped him greatly in this battle was his Personal Trait, the Ultra Instincts, which helped him dodge all the incoming attacks without a problem.
From a different angle, it felt like he was barely able to avoid those attacks. it seemed like he was barely hanging on. But if people were watching him right now, then they would notice that Shin was, in fact, purposely moving at the very last moment when dodging.
There was only a hair's breadth margin when he was dodging the attacks, making it look like he was struggling during the battle. But upon closer inspection, it would be visible that he was in total control of everything.
And to make it worse for the opposing side, Shin was continuously growing during the battle. He was constantly polishing his current style and thoroughly drilling everything into his system.
He had already used this ever-changing style before and even used it in actual battle. At that time, even someone like Justin could barely be able to hold his ground during their first battle.
But this time, the overall style was thoroughly polished. It now covered all the weaknesses that it had before and reinforced everything with elemental enhancements and strengthening.
Even though it was still a little far from being perfect due to the absence of the 'Holy Azure Dragon' and 'Heavenly Black Tortoise' Methods in the system. He also lacked the breathing techniques that could be used alongside them, so it could be said that he still had a lot of room for improvement.
The 'Jade Kirin Scripture' was also not fully in the system, so there were still a couple of holes that he needed to patch up. Fortunately, the Ultra Instincts Personal Trait was able to fill up the gaps in his style during the battle.
Whenever he was able to successfully dodge an attack, he would gain enough space that he could use to change his swordplay and the transition between different forms of his sword or switch from the sword techniques that complement the 'Four Symbol Scripture' to quick draw and sword movements from the 'Jade Kirin Scripture.'
Despite having these small problems, he was still able to showcase a powerful performance and fought against these four strong clones without being at a disadvantage.
The Battle IQ of the four clones could be considered as one of the highest AI that could be found in the current stage of the game. But despite that being the case, Shin was still able to fight them on an equal footing alone.
This indicated that Shin's current strength already reached the peak of the game – at least in the First Continent, the Aurora Continent.
The same could not be said when he reached the Second Continent, the Awakened Continent.
…
During the battle, Shin discovered something that surprised him greatly. He realized that his Battle Genius Talent, the Natural State that complimented it, and the Ultra Instincts Personal Trat seemed to be coming together. They seemed to be merging into one and creating a new 'entity.'
Shin was not sure what it was, but he could feel that something within him was changing. Or more like 'awakening' in some sense.
But he did not put too much thought into it since he was too busy combining the 'Four Symbol Scripture' and the 'Jade Kirin Scripture' into a whole new system and polishing his current battle style.
Bang! Bang!
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Shin was able to ward off yet another series of coordinated attacks from the four clones with ease.
He exchanged blows with the Elemental Clone and sent the latter flying with a powerful strike. Then he swayed his body side to side and side-stepped from left to right, dodging a sneak attack from the Sword Phantom, before blocking the sword strikes that were thrown by the Eclipse Clone that welcomed him from that side.
Everything happened within a couple of seconds, showcasing how fast the trades were. But despite that being the case, Shin was still able to respond to each attack with a calm and collected look on his face.
Shin's left hand trembled a little as the greatsword that he was holding turned into a rapier.
After charging from 'Judgement Form' to 'Conviction Form' of 'Mondi's Style' legacy skill, Shin suddenly twisted his waist and swiftly threw a series of stabs toward the Eclipse Clone.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The tip of the rapier was covered with a raging flame as he threw those stabs. Then his arms turned into blurs as a series of fiery flashes enveloped the Eclipse Clone from the front.
lightsΝοvεl ?οm 'Four Symbol Scripture: Celestial Vermillion Bird – Pheonix Nest'
Eclipse Clone swiftly responded and swung the pair of katana that it was holding and threw a series of slashes to ward off the attack.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Eclipse Clone was doing relatively well in blocking those attacks. But after a couple of exchanges, a small gap was suddenly revealed in its defense, which Shin instantly seized.
There was a brief pause in Shin's movements when that gap was revealed. His left arm, which just turned into blurs when throwing the blazing stabs, also 'materialized' for an instant before disappearing once again.
The 'Multiple Stabs' skill that he used as the model from the previous attack was switched with another in-game skill. It was another stabbing attack, but with a much higher priority when being used, the 'Heart Seeker' skill.
Swoosh!
The flame dancing on the blade of the rapier created a spiral movement as Shin twisted his arms a little when stabbing forward.
'Four Symbol Scripture: Celestial Vermillion Bird – Pheonix Talon'
Puchi!
There was a soft and subtle sound when the rapier flew past the gap between the defense of the Eclipse Clone and reached its target.
The rapier penetrated the chest of the clone, hitting its heart before piercing through its back.
There was no blood but there was a huge number painted in blood-red color floating above the head of the Eclipse Clone after getting hit by that fast and ruthless attack.
Shin did not even bother to look at those numbers as he quickly pulled the rapier back while simultaneously swinging the sword on his other hand.
Unlike the rapier, which was covered with blazing flame, the [Yamato] was currently shrouded by a metallic luster. The glittering dust surrounding the sword indicated that he was using a completely different element for this attack.
Adjusting his breathing and using the 'Golden Immortality Technique', Shin swung the [Yamato] in full force.
The tip of the sword left a golden light in the air, following the trajectory of the sword.
He then drew a straight line in the air as if he were stroking on a clean sheet of paper. This horizontal line passed through the neck of the Eclipse Clone without any hint of resistance, scoring him a clean and unhindered stroke.
'Four Symbol Scripture: Sacred White Tiger – Severing Stroke'
Everything happened a little too fast!
The movements were way too clean and too smooth, not giving the Eclipse Clone a chance to respond. If it could not respond to it, then what more than the others that were still a step away from the exchange?
They could only watch from a distance without being able to stop the inevitable.
The head of the Eclipse Clone then flew in the air, rolling and spinning rapidly after being separated from its body.
Shin did not even bother to look at it as his spinning body was already preparing for the next move.
He faced the Doppel Phantom that suddenly appeared behind him while he was busy dealing with the Eclipse Clone.
But since he was a little too fast and decisive with his previous actions, the Doppel Phantom was unable to stop him from finishing off the Eclipse Clone.
Stunned, the Doppel Phantom paused its movements for a moment before quickly retreating.
It could sense the overwhelming pressure coming from Shin upon turning around. It might not have the ability to think rationally unlike the NPCs and intelligent monsters in the game, but it could at least understand that the current Shin in front of it was a very dangerous being.
These clones only had their good senses in battle since that was how they were programmed. Other than thinking of how to defeat Shin and protect itself, it could not think of any other thing.
But at this very moment, it seemed to have understood what 'fear' felt like. It instinctively wanted to retreat and get away from Shin as soon as possible!
Unfortunately, it was already too late at that moment. Its body seemed to be frozen by fear right after Shin's eyes landed on it.
From its perspective, Shin seemed to have transformed into a huge and majestic tiger. This ferocious beast was glaring at it with a pair of savage eyes.
At the same time, the rapier on Shin's left hand had already become a longsword.
After transforming from 'Conviction Form' to 'Meteor Form,' Shin quickly channeled his elemental mana on each of the swords maintaining the 'Golden Immortality Technique.'
Within the next instant, his arms seemed to have disappeared as he threw a series of ferocious slashes in front of him.
Sword lights and flashes intervened in the air as he threw those multiple slashes.
The light filled the vision of the Doppel Phantom as it tried its best to ward off the attacks. It even summed a large number of flying daggers and paralyzing needles at Shin as a form of counterattack.
Unfortunately, all of them were smashed into pieces and shattered like broken glasses in front of the ferocious barrage of attacks from Shin.
'Four Symbol Scripture: Sacred White Tiger – Fangs of Insanity'
Swoosh!
While Shin was busy dealing with the two clones, the Sword Phantom suddenly charged at him from a tricky angle and launched a ruthless sneak attack.
Shin had already sensed that incoming attack, so he did not panic despite being in the middle of finishing off the Doppel Phantom.
He calmly took a step back while waiting for the Sword Phantom to arrive. Then he took a step forward, facing the incoming opponent, while twisting his waist toward the left and holding the air of swords over his shoulder.
The breathing rhythm that he had also changed along with the elemental mana covering his body; an earthen glow was released from his body and formed an extra layer over his skin and armor.
His feet were firmly planted on the ground as he adjusted his posture and braced himself for the incoming collision.
Swoosh!
The Sword Phantom reached him not long after and unsheathed its sword at that very moment. It swung the sword horizontally while carrying the momentum that it had during the initial charge.
Shing!
Shin, on the other hand, inhaled deeply as his muscles expanded a little during the process. He then re-twisted his waist toward the other direction while swinging a pair of swords over his shoulder down to meet the attack of his opponent.
Swoosh!
'Four Symbol Scripture: Divine Yellow Dragon – Mountain Cleaver'
Boom!
The collision quickly erupted with a powerful explosion. The shockwave spread in every direction, sweeping the white dust and dirt from the snow-white floor of the Trial Ground.
Shin skidded back upon the collision. His feet, which remained planted on the ground, drew long and deep marks during the process.
In the meantime, the Sword Phantom barely moved from the point of collision. Aside from the deep footprints in front of it, indicating that it had taken a couple of steps before halting its tracks.
Raising his head, Shin noticed a flow of mana gathering around the Sword Phantom.
He then squinted his eyes and noticed that this continuous flow of mana was from the corpses of the Eclipse Clone and Doppel Phantom that he had just killed earlier.
Seeing such a familiar scene, Shin could not help but click his tongue while muttering to himself. "Why do I feel a sudden sense of déjà vu?"
Nevertheless, he still released the 'Meteor Form' of the sword on his left and turned it back to its sheath form before putting the [Yamato] in it.
Seeing that the Sword Phantom was already getting ready for the next round, Shin also assumed a sword-drawing stance to prepare for the next collision.
This time, he was planning to end this part of the promotion quest if possible. Since he had already taken down both the Eclipse Phantom and the Doppel Phantom after a prolonged battle, he was not willing to end everything with just that.
"At least let me proceed to the next part before calling it a day."
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