Demon Spider Greatsword

Together with Zengu and Ashin, who had gone to get their down jackets, I headed for the mountain path leading into the demon realm. Kanru and Chenfa were waiting there.

“You’re late.”

Kanru and Chenfa were carrying what looked like expensive treasure swords. I noticed Zengu looking at those treasure swords with envy. It was only natural for him to feel envious.

Kanru looked at us as though appraising merchandise.

“Zengu uses a spear, Ashin a warhammer, and Kou uses a warhammer and a broadsword. If I remember right, Kou, you learned a broadsword technique in the library, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I learned the ‘Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique.’”

“Have you become able to use it?”

I made a troubled face.

“I’ve become able to use it a little. But the ‘Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique’ is difficult.”

“Of course it is. Normally, unless you receive instruction from an elder, you can’t properly master it.”

“Once I become an inner disciple, I’ll receive proper instruction. More importantly, Senior Brother Kanru, have you mastered the ‘Dragon Qi Sword Art’?”

“The ‘Dragon Qi Sword Art’ isn’t a martial art you can master that easily. You’d need to practice for at least two years.”

I had also memorized the manual for the ‘Dragon Qi Sword Art,’ but I still had not touched it. However, since I had confirmed the memory many times, I had no worry of forgetting it.

“That doesn’t matter. There are formidable yōma on the Mushao Plateau. Before we encounter them, we’ll probably run into a great many weaker yōma. Getting rid of those is your job.”

Chenfa said.

“Even though there are plenty of inner disciples, why did Elder Tsuen choose us outer disciples?”

I asked Kanru.

“The elder chose only Kou. He said to check whether you had become able to use the broadsword. But since Kou alone wouldn’t be enough for carrying the luggage, I chose Zengu and Ashin.”

It seemed Zengu and Ashin had been assigned this work as collateral damage because of me. Still, the job of carrying baggage, which the inner disciples disliked, would most likely have fallen to outer disciples anyway. Even so, Kanru seemed to be the kind of person who could not keep things hidden. More than honest, he was probably the type who did not think very deeply.

What bothered me a little was that they apparently needed a large quantity of Star Dew Fruit. The Renren Pill made from Star Dew Fruit was an immortal medicine that supported the Foundation Establishment Pill and raised one’s qi level. How much of that Renren Pill did they need? A talented Taoist practitioner should not need Renren Pills in the first place.

“You lot are carrying this baggage.”

Kanru pointed at what looked like camping equipment. There were exactly three loads, so the three of us ended up carrying one each. I shifted my own backpack around to my front and hoisted that baggage onto my back. It was not heavy, but it was bulky.

Kanru and the others started walking, and we also began making our way toward the Mushao Plateau. The wind blowing through the mountains was cool and carried the feeling of autumn.

After descending the mountain and entering the demon realm, we first encountered a pack of Piercing Wolves. There were seven of them, so it was not that large a pack.

“All right, your turn.”

Chenfa called out while giving us an unpleasant look. Was he still holding a grudge over having lost? We quickly set down the baggage.

I removed the sheath that was concealing the blade of the Demon Spider Greatsword. When Kanru saw the sword leg that emerged from within, his eyes widened. He had probably realized it came from a Sword-Leg Spider.

Since this was in front of Kanru and the others, I had no choice but to fight using only the Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique. I used the special breathing method and key principles to raise the pressure of my qi and poured it into the Demon Spider Greatsword. At that instant, a Piercing Wolf leaped at me.

I controlled the hilt of the Demon Spider Greatsword with both hands and sent the blade into the Piercing Wolf’s neck. The moment the blade struck its neck, I saw the qi shine just a little like flame, and its neck was severed.

Seeing that, the Piercing Wolves came at me one after another. I read their movements and swung the Demon Spider Greatsword along the shortest path, slashing them apart.

“That just now was Fox-Flame.”

Kanru exclaimed in surprise.

“Hmph, a flame that small is no Fox-Flame.”

Chenfa seemed unwilling to acknowledge me.

“Even a small flame is Fox-Flame. He only just started learning the ‘Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique.’ And he did it without an elder’s instruction. Normally, he should still be at the stage of practicing the basics in order to learn the breathing method and the key principles.”

Kanru and the others were saying something, and it caught my attention, but I focused on the Piercing Wolves. When I circulated through my whole body the qi whose pressure I had raised using the principles of the Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique, I entered a state called “Moment of Foam.”

It resembled a zone state, where one’s concentration rose to the utmost limit and only the absolutely necessary senses grew sharpened, but it differed in that the amount of information I could handle increased. Mastery of the Broadsword Fox-Flame Technique meant fully learning this “Moment of Foam” and Fox-Flame and becoming able to control them freely.

However, my “Moment of Foam” and Fox-Flame were still incomplete. Fox-Flame was a flame like a shooting star, and my “Moment of Foam” only amounted to my mind’s processing ability increasing slightly. Even so, it was enough to defeat Piercing Wolves. I repeatedly read their movements, evaded their attacks, and slammed the Demon Spider Greatsword into their necks.

By the time Ashin and Zengu had killed one each, I had taken down five Piercing Wolves.

“I really can’t compare to you, Kou.”

Ashin gave a wry smile.

“Ashin, the ‘Demonic Horn Warhammer Art’ you just started practicing was already beginning to look the part too.”

Ashin, who had been using a battle rod, had switched weapons to a warhammer. Since there had been no manual for battle rods in the Wallside Hall library, she had started learning the ‘Demonic Horn Warhammer Art,’ which used the similar weapon of a warhammer.

Chenfa checked the corpses of the Piercing Wolves.

“Passable enough. Let’s go.”

Saying that, he started moving again. We hurriedly hoisted the baggage and followed after him.

“He won’t even give us time to rest?”

Zengu said in a low voice. Hearing that, I shrugged, picked up the sheath, and covered the blade of the Demon Spider Greatsword with it.

“Kou, that isn’t an ordinary broadsword, is it?”

Zengu looked at the Demon Spider Greatsword with curiosity. I had known from the moment I brought the Demon Spider Greatsword that someone would notice. I explained that I had made it from the sword leg of the Sword-Leg Spider I had defeated.