IRM Chapter 118

Ji Chi blinked his eyes. Since coming to this world, this was the first time he had seen someone with a physical disability. The unscientific potions of the Demon Sword Continent seemed capable of healing any wound—forget about limb regeneration, even resurrection on the spot was possible.

Only now did he truly understand what Natasha meant when she said Snow Wolf Valley’s medicinal herbs were in dire shortage.

Aqi noticed the two sneaky teenagers and shook his head with a smile. “Did the blizzard on Beast God Peak stop blowing today? Isaac actually came here to train.”

The young men and women gathered around him burst into laughter, looking teasingly at Isaac.

Of course, there were also unfriendly voices. A white-haired youth with a very disdainful look toward Isaac crossed his arms and mocked, “Heh, him? Training? I think he’s just here to show off his strength again. And mock us people doing useless work while he’s at it.”

The young beastmen thought these two sworn enemies were about to fight again. They tacitly stepped back to clear a space, standing to the side with expressions full of anticipation for the drama.

But today’s Isaac was very unusual. He restrained his usual reckless demeanor and said sincerely, “No, I came to learn swordsmanship because I suddenly realized that sword techniques are indeed much more important than pure strength.”

The white-haired youth’s mocking smile froze at the corners of his mouth. He could hardly believe these words came from Isaac! But as lifelong sworn enemies, his opponent’s viewpoint didn’t matter—he just had to argue. “I think you’re afraid that if you don’t learn sword techniques, you’ll be pinned to the ground and beaten by me in the future!”

Isaac looked at him with an expression that said ‘God, how could you think that?’ “Aren’t you saying it backwards? Whether I learn sword techniques or not, I can still pin you to the ground and beat you, right?”

The white-haired youth froze, then became so angry his hair stood on end, lunging forward to fight him to the death!

In the end, Aqi stopped them both. His gaze drifted to the other silent figure and he asked Isaac, “Who is this youth? How could a human be here?”

Only then did the young beastmen notice Ji Chi’s unusual black hair and black eyes, and his aura that was clearly no less imposing than those of Snow Wolf Valley. They immediately became alert, eagerly gripping their weapons, wanting to kill this “invader” right here.

For once, Isaac proved reliable. He quickly moved to shield Ji Chi, saying, “He’s someone Sister Natasha brought back. He has no ill intentions toward the tribe, and the chieftain has already allowed him to live in Snow Wolf Valley from now on!”

The white-haired youth scoffed and immediately argued, “What, bringing back just any human? Are we going to set up a church in Snow Wolf Valley next?”

Isaac’s expression finally changed. He warned in a low voice, “Simon, if you have a problem, come at me. Natasha and Rechel have saved so many tribe members—they’re not here for you to slander!”

After speaking, Simon also realized he was wrong. He wanted to apologize, but he really couldn’t bring himself to lower his head to Isaac, so he could only turn away with a cold expression, pressing his lips tightly together without speaking.

Aqi sighed and came out to smooth things over again. He looked Ji Chi up and down. “Since the chieftain agreed to let you stay, then live well here. By the way, judging by your build, you’re a mage, right? Mages shouldn’t rush to learn sword techniques. Your body can’t yet withstand the release of sword energy.”

Aqi looked around and pointed to a boulder half the height of a person, saying to Ji Chi, “Once you can lift that stone, you can come learn.”

Isaac, as if hearing something amusing, instantly forgot the unpleasantness from moments ago. He snickered and said to Ji Chi in a mock-serious whisper, “That’s right, I almost forgot about this. Back when Sister Natasha was learning sword techniques, she had to lift the stone over her head with one hand, then jump up and split it apart!”

Ji Chi nodded. Actually, he was wary of Isaac’s unreliability, but he was misled by his own pitifully scarce common sense and the training scenes of young beastmen he had witnessed before, so he took Isaac’s words as truth without hesitation.

He stepped forward and said to Aqi, “May I try it right now?”

Aqi, well aware of the competitive mentality of youths this age, smiled leisurely. “Of course. Only after trying will you understand your own deficiencies—”

His words hadn’t even finished when he saw Ji Chi easily lift the boulder with both hands. Since balancing such a large stone with one hand was difficult, Ji Chi shifted it left and right to find the balance point before releasing his right hand.

Then, in a volleyball serve-like posture, he threw the boulder upward with his left hand and swung his vertical right palm forcefully through the middle!

Bang—The boulder split in half like tofu, both pieces slamming onto the ground. The mirror-smooth cross-sections were so flat and smooth they could even reflect the dumbfounded faces of the beastmen.

Aqi & Simon: “???”

This wasn’t some ordinary rock for young cubs to train with—this was black corundum! Even the beastmen didn’t find it easy to lift, let alone split it bare-handed!

Isaac clutched his belly, laughing uncontrollably. As expected, misfortune was only fun when everyone shared it together! He glanced at his sworn enemy’s life-doubting expression and mockingly taunted, “What good is your sword technique? Can you easily split black corundum like him? Oh~ And he’s just a frail mage too~”

Simon’s face turned ashen, his lips trembling without producing a single word.

By now, how could Ji Chi not know he’d been played? He shot Isaac a cool glance and turned to Aqi, saying, “I’m somewhat different from ordinary mages. I possess all the qualities beastmen should have. You don’t need to treat me differently.”

Aqi stood there stunned. “Ah… no, you’re far superior to beastmen. Humans really are a miraculous race…”

Ji Chi didn’t want to explain. He nodded slightly to Aqi. “Then I’ll be in your care for the upcoming sword technique training.”

Aqi had no reason to refuse him now. He nodded and called back the attention of the young beastmen.

He temporarily set aside the earlier incident and selected a thin, flexible branch from the wooden frame on the ground. Holding it in his remaining left hand, he said to the young beastmen, “Since we have a new tribe member today, let’s give a simple introduction to sword techniques again.”

“For warriors, sword techniques are just as important as a mage’s magic. Through special techniques, they can multiply the power within your body.” As Aqi spoke, he swung the branch in his hand at the snowy ground. The dry, easily breakable branch struck the snow, leaving a shallow mark, and itself shattered into several pieces.

Aqi explained, “This is simply using a weapon with raw strength. Isaac should be very familiar with this—every one of your hammers ends up like this.”

He kicked at the broken pieces of branch in the snow with his prosthetic, which indeed reminded Isaac of his hammers that died with their eyes wide open.

Aqi took out another thinner, dried vine. The vines of the Northland were covered in ice and snow year-round, so limp they would break at a touch—they couldn’t even tie hair properly.

But when Aqi gripped it, his eyes changed. Sharp brilliance revealed itself through his gaze, carrying an aura of pressing forward courageously. Even the dried vine in his hand became wrapped in a layer of faint red thorn-like radiance, making it look like a ferocious iron whip.

Aqi gave a short shout. The thorn-like radiance snaked out like a spirit serpent, striking the boulder Ji Chi had split earlier. The hard black corundum, facing the soft vine, exploded on the spot without resistance. Scattered stones flew everywhere. The young beastmen hurriedly raised their arms to shield their heads and faces, but were still hit by debris, bouncing around in pain with continuous cries.

Ji Chi smoothed out the small dents on his clothing from the stones, his eyes thoughtful.

Actually, everyone’s use of profession abilities had limits. For example, a mage’s limit was their stored magic power value, a summoner’s limit was their life value—and what about warriors?

Ji Chi opened his interface and also picked up a branch, attempting to swing it.

He quickly discovered that his stamina value decreased by a negligible amount. Then he swung the branch in his hand until it became a blur. After swinging continuously over a thousand times, his breathing through his nose became slightly heavier, and his stamina value dropped a little.

However, once he stopped swinging, his stamina value quickly climbed back to its initial state.

Oh, so this is the meaning of skill CD (cooldown time) existing… The greater the striking force, the more stamina value consumed, and the longer the CD. And the meaning of sword techniques’ existence was to compress power, using the least stamina value to deal the highest damage.

Ji Chi recalled the skills he had used in the game. His arm muscles tensed as he felt stamina gathering bit by bit in the branch in his palm.

The branch trembled minutely but urgently, as if tremendous power was brewing within it. The keen beastmen at the valley bottom sensed some kind of aura. They all raised their heads, twitching their noses with solemn expressions, as if sniffing approaching danger.

“Crack!” The dangerous aura suddenly dissipated. The beastmen lowered their raised guard and looked toward where the cracking sound came from.

The black-haired, black-eyed mage lowered his head. His hand had somehow gotten covered with something, all black, but as a breeze blew, it dispersed with the flowing air, and his slender fingers became fair again.

The branch, unable to withstand the stamina he input, had collapsed into powder in moments.

Aqi had been watching this mage the whole time. He couldn’t help but gasp. He paced in place for a while, gritting his teeth to suppress the shock in his heart, and ended today’s training early.

The young beastmen’s learning was very free. They didn’t insist on how much content was learned today, treating this merely as an interesting demonstration. If they learned it, they would apply it in combat; if they didn’t understand, they would learn it through combat.

Soon, only Aqi and Ji Chi remained at the valley bottom. Isaac and Simon had started arguing again. The two fools pushed and shoved each other as they ran off to fight, making a mess of the valley.

Aqi slowly walked to a weapon rack. His left hand brushed over the cold weapons one by one, finally stopping at a short blade the length of a forearm.

He took down the short blade and slowly walked to Ji Chi, handing it to him. “Try this again.”

Ji Chi took it, puzzled. “What?”

Aqi: “The branch was too fragile. You need a more solid weapon to practice with.”

Ji Chi knew he’d been discovered and didn’t hide it anymore. Right in front of him, he gathered his power again—

“Crack!” The short blade also shattered, though not as dramatically as the branch—it only broke into small iron fragments.

Aqi, with an unchanged expression, selected a long saber and handed it to Ji Chi. “Try again.”

The long saber lasted longer, only showing spreading cracks at the very end.

Aqi stared at Ji Chi’s hand and nodded. He bent down to pick up a piece of the short blade’s iron fragment and gestured to Ji Chi. “I roughly understand now. Use your own sword now, then recall the feeling from the second time and swing it toward the rift valley.”

Ji Chi paused, then followed his instructions. He drew the longsword from his waist and compressed a small section of stamina value onto the sharp blade—

[Pi Mi] let out a satisfying hum. The entirely crystalline black longsword continuously reflected light as it trembled, making the mirror-like blade flow with radiance.

Ji Chi glanced at Aqi, and under his expectant gaze, swung casually toward the rift valley—

[Ultimate Rend]

Skill CD: [5 seconds]

Skill Effect: [Ignores 100% defense, deals 200% attack power damage to target, and inflicts the Intimidation debuff]

Skill Description: [Warriors bathed in blood and fire rend not only the enemy’s armor and chest, but also their courage and fighting spirit]

A pitch-black arc tore through space and the cold wind, landing in the rift valley ahead. With a roar-like tremendous sound, the valley floor trembled endlessly. A crack two meters deep spread out, tearing dozens of meters deep into the rift valley.

The trembling sensation alarmed everyone in the Snow Wolf Tribe. They gathered at the rock ridge to look down but discovered nothing unusual.

“Was that an earthquake?”

“Probably, but I feel very uneasy…”

“Right, me too! It feels like my mother is about to charge over and beat me…”

“Oh, that’s not an illusion—your mother really is charging over.”

“……”

The old chieftain stood in the noisy valley. He didn’t even look at that crack, but kept gazing at the figure at the valley bottom.

“Mother Goddess, is he the hope you’ve been waiting for?” The old chieftain sighed and turned back, tapping his cane and humming, “Wolf knight amid surging waves, one sword freezes, one sword invincible…”

TL/N:

披 (pī)

original meaning: to split open, to cut apart

extended meanings: to charge into, to break through, to overcome

imagery: tearing through an enemy line

靡 (mǐ)

meaning: to fall down, to collapse, to be scattered

extended meaning: to be defeated, to be crushed

often used to describe enemies in disarray

Combined meaning (披靡):

→ to cut through and make the enemy collapse

→ to rout completely; to be overwhelmingly victorious

=verb / idiomatic expression, most commonly seen in 所向披靡 (“invincible, sweeping all before one”).