The ten elders who had arrived with the Clan Leader imdiately split their forces. Five of them remained near the main group to secure the periter and assist the escort elders with the wounded. The other five elders spread out across the sky as they darted in different directions to investigate the epicenter of the anomaly.
A sickly purple rift spewing mutated aquatic beasts and a Creation Lord monster did not simply happen by chance. They needed to find what allowed the rift to open here in the first place and then who was behind it. The investigation into what exactly had occurred here and if the spatial tear was a natural disaster or an artificial construct was underway.
Li Yu found a relatively clean outcropping of stone near the edge of the crater once he saw everyone was already being treated. He sat down heavily and began his own rest. He closed his eyes and began to regulate his breathing as he cycled his cultivation technique to soothe his aching body. While he was being topped off by the Kraken, the strain of everything in the battle did not go away.
As his physical body rested, his mind raced. He thought through the chaotic events of the battle from start to finish to see what he could have done better. He analyzed his own performance with a cold and objective eye. Li Yu had turned himself into a literal hurricane of weapons and Qi.
He realized that the spinning death formation of his weapons was an incredibly effective tactic in conflicts with dense enemies such as this. It was sothing he needed to further expand upon.
Normally, controlling four flying swords required an imnse amount of ntal bandwidth. A cultivator had to calculate flight paths, adjust angles to bypass enemy guards, parry incoming strikes and actively track multiple targets simultaneously. Even with his Nexus Mind technique, managing Pale Extinction, Whispering Frost, Firmant's End and Gilded Calamity in a chaotic lee was highly taxing on his soul.
However, his tactic today had revealed a loophole in that ntal burden.
When he pulled the swords into a tight and rapidly spinning orbit directly around his body, the ntal strain almost completely vanished. He was not aiming or controlling them and was not calculating complex trajectories. He was simply setting them at a fixed rate of rotation and a fixed distance from his physical form. It beca a passive defense and a at grinder rolled into one. The swords just spun and any beast foolish enough to enter that fixed radius was instantly shredded.
‘The ntal strain for keeping weapons in a fixed orbit was practically zero.’ Li Yu continued to think.
The only real cost was the amount of Qi required to sustain the rapid motion and the heavy montum. That was a cost he could comfortably afford when fighting alongside allies or when he had access to external energy sources like the aquatic beasts he had siphoned with his Koi martial spirit.
Li Yu opened his eyes and looked at his hands and a plan began to form in his mind. He could add more weapons before he made further progress in his Nexus Mind technique. He did not have to stop at four or five swords right now. If the ntal strain of a fixed orbit was truly negligible, he could surround himself with dozens of weapons.
He could spin them all around his body in a vast and layered storm of destruction. It would be the ultimate technique for large scale fights where he was surrounded by enemies and did not have allies standing in his imdiate vicinity.
"You look entirely too peaceful for a young man who tried to fight a Creation Lord beast." A deep voice interrupted his thoughts.
Li Yu looked up as the Zhan Clan Leader walked over and stood beside the stone outcropping. The man possessed an aura that was naturally heavy and commanding. Yet, he looked down at Li Yu with a warm amusent in his eyes.
"I was just reviewing my mistakes in battle and seeing what I can do better." Li Yu replied respectfully as he stood up to greet the leader. "And thinking of ways to improve for the next encounter."
The Clan Leader threw his head back and laughed. The sound was rich and booming.
"Improve?" The Clan Leader chuckled while shaking his head. "I think you have done quite enough to impress. I was speaking with the elders and the juniors while they were bandaging their wounds. Do you have any idea what they are calling you?"
Li Yu frowned slightly in confusion. "Calling ? Isn’t it Li Yu?"
"They are calling you The Spinning Calamity of Madness. Quite a long na I must say but they say it's suitable." The Clan Leader revealed with a wide grin.
Li Yu blinked and he was taken by surprise. He had never heard of such a moniker before in all his years of cultivation. To suddenly be branded with a title that sounded like a natural disaster was a strange feeling compared to ‘Little Crab.’ It was not a very elegant na either.
"The Spinning Calamity of Madness," Li Yu repeated slowly. He could not help but let out a small laugh. "That is quite a mouthful."
"They say it is entirely fitting." the Clan Leader comnted as his grin remained. "But you have to appreciate the irony of the situation. You are standing among the Zhan Clan and sohow you earned that na. We are a lineage of brutes who love to fight. For a clan of reckless brutes to look at your fighting style and call you crazy and mad... well, you must be truly insane."
Li Yu laughed out loud at the observation and the Clan Leader joined him. The two of them shared a mont of humor amidst the destruction of the forest as the tension of the battlefield lted away.
"I cannot take all the credit for the madness." Li Yu joked while wiping a smudge of dirt from his cheek. "I think my outings with the Zhan Clan are simply cursed. I have gone out two tis since I arrived and each ti has resulted in a massive battle. First the trap not long ago and now a rift with a mutated Kraken. I am starting to think I should stay indoors."
Li Yu ant it as a lighthearted joke. He expected the Clan Leader to laugh it off and bla the chaotic nature of the cultivation cosmos. Instead, the laughter of the Clan Leader abruptly ceased.
The tall man turned his gaze away from Li Yu and looked out over the ruined landscape. His heavy brows drew together in a deep and troubled frown. The amusent vanished from his eyes and was replaced by the cold stare of a seasoned warlord.
Li Yu noticed the sudden shift in deanor and he realized his joke had struck a very serious chord. The Clan Leader crossed his thick arms over his chest and he fell into so deep thoughts.
Li Yu was entirely correct, two outings resulting in two catastrophic encounters was an anomaly. Clearly there was more to all of this than t the eye. Soone, or so faction, was actively moving pieces on a very large board. The Clan Leader did not speak his suspicions aloud though. He kept his thoughts guarded but the fierce intensity in his posture indicated that the Zhan Clan would not simply sweep this incident under the rug.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Co." The Clan Leader finally said. His voice was flat and commanding once again. "The injured are stabilized and we are returning to the clan. The elders will remain behind to tear this forest apart until they find the source of that rift or any clues."
Li Yu nodded and followed the leader back to the main group.
The journey back to the Zhan Clan territories was swift and uneventful. The juniors were physically exhausted and traumatized by the scale of the swarm but their spirits remained unbroken. Zhan Mo was resting inside, he was heavily bandaged but his breathing was steady.
Upon returning to the central estate, the group dispersed. The injured were taken to the dical pavilions for extensive treatnt. The combat ready warriors returned to their quarters to rest and cultivate.
Li Yu did not stay at the main headquarters. He imdiately took to the sky and flew toward the lush green valley that held his new ho. He touched down near the pristine shores of the Five Star Lakes. The tranquil beauty of the estate was a sharp and welco contrast to the blood soaked Primal Howl Realm. The thousands of spiritual fish swam peacefully in their designated basins and the dark wood pagoda stood tall against the setting sun.
Alden, the head butler, rushed out to greet him. The older gentleman took one look at Li Yu's torn robes and the lingering aura of battle around him and imdiately sprang into action. He ordered the staff to prepare a hot dicinal bath and sent word to the kitchen.
Li Yu secluded himself in the highest chambers of his central pagoda for several days. He focused entirely on fully recovering from the battle. Nadia, the skilled chef, prepared incredible als using local ingredients and their own fish. Li Yu circulated his Qi relentlessly, purging the residual fatigue from his ridians and nourishing his soul with quiet ditation. He digested the combat experience, solidifying his foundation and reflecting on the limits of his physical vessel.
When he finally erged from his pagoda, he felt completely refreshed. His dual Qi nodes were full to the brim and his mind was clear. He was ready to put his new orbiting weapon theory into practice but he needed weapons. He needed a lot of them for his idea to work as planned.
Li Yu left the Five Star Lakes and navigated back to the sprawling architecture of the main Zhan Clan estate and he made his way to the primary armory pavilion. The structure was a towering fortress of black iron and solid rock. The intense heat of nearby forges radiated on the thick walls.
He walked into the main hall and found the elder in charge of the clan's weapons. The elder was a stout and imnsely broad shouldered man with a thick braided beard and arms like ancient tree trunks. He was currently inspecting a ledger engraved on a slab of stone. Li Yu approached respectfully and bowed his head.
"Greetings, Elder," Li Yu said politely. "I am looking to acquire so new armants for a specific combat technique I am developing."
The armory elder looked up from his stone ledger and he recognized Li Yu. The tales of the Spinning Calamity of Madness had already saturated every corner of the estate since it was the latest news within the clan. The hunting realm was attacked by an unknown force.
"Ah, Li Yu." The elder greeted him with a curious nod. "What exactly are you looking for? Did that Kraken manage to damage your weapon or do you need to replace a broken blade? We don’t have many swords here, just so you know."
"Not exactly." Li Yu replied. "I am looking to heavily expand my arsenal. I was wondering if the clan had any weapons available that are on the level of the Ten Great Swords of the Li Clan?"
The elder stared at him for a long and silent mont. Then, the broad shouldered man burst into a fit of uproarious laughter. He laughed so hard he had to lean against a heavy stone display table just to support his own weight.
"The Ten Great Swords of the Li Clan?" The elder wheezed as he wiped a tear of amusent from his eye. "Boy, do you think weapons of that caliber are simple cabbages? Do you think we just grow them in the dirt out back and harvest them by the dozen whenever we feel like it?"
Li Yu offered an apologetic smile. He knew it was a lofty request but it never hurt to ask.
The elder caught his breath and shook his head. "You are from the orthodox Li Clan on your father's side. Your people are renowned across the cosmos for forging peerless swords. The Zhan Clan does not have renowned weapons of that nature. We do not forge legendary blades ant to elegantly cut the fabric of heaven."
The elder stepped away from the table and flexed his thick arm. The muscles rippled like shifting boulders under his skin.
"As you know, we are body refiners." The elder stated proudly. "Our bodies are our best and truest weapons. Our bones are our iron. Our fists are our blades. We pour our imnse resources into dicinal baths, beast blood refinents and crushing weight chambers. A weapon is rely a temporary tool to us. If a tool breaks against an enemy's skull, we simply forge another one or keep punching."
Li Yu nodded in understanding. It was a different philosophical approach to combat. He already knew this about the Zhan Clan but hearing it stated so plainly reinforced his own plans.
"However," the elder added as he gestured toward the heavy iron doors at the back of the hall. "We do have weapons, of course. They are secondary to our fists but every warrior needs a tool for certain, specific jobs. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?"
Li Yu thought about the spinning orbit of his proposed technique. He did not need swords for that. If he just spun them in a rapid circle to shred incoming enemies was a terrible waste. The fine edge would eventually dull against heavy rock armor and the blade could chip.
"I am looking for incredibly tough weapons," Li Yu clarified. "I want things that can smash into targets with extre force. I do not care about sharpness or elegant design. I only care that they are extrely durable. I want weapons that I do not need to worry about breaking, no matter how hard I swing them or what they collide with."
The elder paused and the amusent returned to his face, accompanied by a wide and almost predatory grin.
"Tough?" The elder laughed once more as his voice echoed off the high stone ceiling. "You want durable weapons ant solely to smash things into bloody pulps?"
"Yes," Li Yu confird. "Exactly that."
"Well, boy," the elder chuckled as he walked toward the heavy iron doors. "We do not have renowned weapons but if you are looking for tough tools to smash with, the Zhan Clan can certainly deliver those goods. Follow ."
The elder pushed the large iron doors open with a single hand and the hinges groaned loudly. Li Yu stepped through the doorway and his eyes widened. He was standing in the true armory of the Zhan Clan.
It looked nothing like the pristine, carefully curated weapon pavilions of the orthodox Li Clan. There were no velvet lined racks holding shining swords. There were no glowing arrays preserving the fragile spirits of ancient daggers.
This armory was a sprawling monunt to blunt trauma.
The walls were lined with heavy stone brackets. Resting on these brackets were weapons of terrifying and oversized proportions. There was a clear and overwhelming focus on maces, clubs and warhamrs.
Li Yu walked down the central aisle and observed the inventory. He saw iron clubs that were thicker than his own torso. They were covered in crude, jagged spikes designed to tear flesh and shatter armor simultaneously. He saw imnse warhamrs with heads the size of small boulders. The handles of these hamrs were forged from solid steel and wrapped in thick beast hide to provide a grip for hands accustod to breaking mountains.
There were double-sided great axes that looked more like executioner blocks attached to iron poles. Their edges were thick and deliberately blunted. They were not ant to slice smoothly through an opponent. They were designed to hack through a target using undeniable weight and impact.
In one corner, Li Yu spotted a collection of heavy iron spheres attached to thick chains. They were brutal flails ant to crush shields and shatter defensive formations through montum. Everything in the room was dark, heavy and completely devoid of artistic flair.
This was not a place of martial elegance. This was a place of uncompromising destruction.
The armory elder walked beside him and watched the young man observe the weapons. He expected soone who has been to the Li Clan to turn up his nose at the crude tools. He expected Li Yu to be disappointed by the lack of spiritual resonance or delicate craftsmanship.
Instead, Li Yu smiled.
His eyes scanned the heavy tal spheres and the thick, blunted axes. He imagined them spinning in a rapid, relentless orbit around his body. He imagined the devastating impact they would have on a swarm of charging beasts. A sword might break when striking an armored tortoise but a solid iron mace would simply cave the shell in and keep moving.
This was exactly the kind of unrefined durability his new technique required. He did not need cabbages. He needed boulders and the Zhan Clan had a mountain of them.
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