Myriad Devils-Chapter 214: Killing the mind

The weight of mountains disappeared.

"You do know, the battle cloud has already been established. I was busy perfecting my battle arts, but you wanted to commence a slaughter battle, and now we have no choice." Anon said with a mocking smile.

His smile only widened, and he continued, "Not that I intend to find a way out of this battle either, you need to die by my hands."

Empyrean Eclipse crossed his blades and locked them in place on his back.

"Continue to practice. At that time, I wrongfully slew him. I was wrong to commence this slaughter, so I will allow you to continue growing. As for this dimension, you need not worry."

Eclipse took a step and appeared at the edge of the battle cloud. He stood calmly, and under such a weighty gaze, the churning crimson seas, at least in the surrounding area, were forced into a docile state.

Anon did not know whether to be offended or ecstatic.

’He doesn’t view me as the slightest threat.’ he thought, shaking his head. Such arrogance being displayed was comparable to his own.

This Empyrean Eclipse was commendable in this aspect. After all, he went toe-to-toe with him, the young lord.

Initially, Anon would’ve accepted this opportune time to perfect his battle arts; however, even if he did, what would that change?

Supreme mastery, even in its pseudo state, was too far to confront with merely his core of true mastery. Even if augmented by the undying flames or the black and white lightning...

The strength between an Empyrean with a cloud of a hundred thousand meters and one of more than two hundred thousand meters wasn’t even that noticeable.

What truly separated Empyreans wasn’t the size of the cloud but the nature of their power.

If Anon could’ve wielded the same quality of undying flames as the flaming daemon, he would be more confident in confronting the Empyrean before him, even with only the core true mastery over the body.

Battle spirit...

Anon pinched his chin in thought.

’The logic behind the battle spirit resembles the will, rather than emotions and desires.’

He didn’t need to think for long before a bold idea formed in his head.

Anon glanced at the pair of blades attached to Eclipse’s back. The first time he saw them, he had a desire to wield them.

Not these blades in particular, but dual blades in general. He had no such desire with the longsword, nor the spear, nor the staff.

This fact greatly intrigued him, so when he confirmed that he was really going to push through with this bold idea, he didn’t hesitate anymore.

His gaze caused the pair of blades to tremble slightly. Eclipse immediately frowned and turned toward Anon with a questioning gaze.

He asked, "What arrogant thoughts are you thinking?"

"Arrogant? No, I just think that this is destiny speaking." Anon boldly laughed.

"I’ve never touched a pair of blades before, but I suddenly wish to wield them. I think, to defeat you, I’ll simply achieve pseudo Supreme mastery in dual blades."

Boom!

The mountainous pressure returned.

Empyrean Eclipse shouted, "Good, good, good!" He didn’t expect this one to be even greater than his past self.

Standing before what was basically the god of blades in this inverted sky dimension, this boy really had the gall, the arrogance to claim this!

Empyrean Eclipse flicked his wrists.

Two blades, not his own, shot towards Anon, who was still crushed under the force created by the mountainous will.

Black and white lightning crackled in his surroundings.

The mountainous pressure seemed to disappear as Anon lunged toward the two blades and grabbed hold of them, landing back on the battle cloud with practiced elegance.

Perceiving the black and white lightning, or more so, its nature, which did not originate from the Infernal realm, Empyrean Eclipse’s mood greatly lightened.

’He really isn’t from this world,’ Eclipse was sure of it now.

Ever since the daemons appeared, besides the original natives, the natives of this world lost the spirit affinity they held with the principles of the cosmic space.

Seeing Anon wield such principle power, Eclipse easily reached this conclusion.

Anon observed the dual blades.

It had long grown rust, and there were even cracks in parts of its body. Nine times out of ten, this was a useless weapon even if nurtured by an ancestor, and protected during battle.

Anon slashed at space, and what was left was a faint chuckle.

Eclipse appreciated this boy, but he was too arrogant. A single slash was enough for Eclipse to see through everything.

A gloating light passed through his eyes, ’If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll give up in a few hours at most. In the odd chance he doesn’t,’ A cold light flashed through his eyes.

Indeed, he wasn’t particularly skilled at wielding dual blades. Even if he could wield one blade like a sword, wielding two weapons simultaneously was new.

Not really...

He could wield four weapons, but they were his own limbs.

Hmm...

To wield something like it was one’s own limbs; that was the essence of mastering a weapon. Only the body, with a plethora of muscles, tendons, and fibers, was slightly different.

Anon assumed a lotus position and meditated on this.

Within his mind realm, a figure wielding a sword, another wielding a staff, one wielding a spear, and a final martial artist, wielding his body, stood surrounding him.

To master a weapon, he first needed to rid the uncomfortable feeling of wielding it.

This was very simple.

To protect himself, he had no choice but to use these dual blades.

In the real world, under the weighty gaze of the strongest Empyrean, Anon fought four illusory figures.

Quickly, the initial awkwardness disappeared.

To get a grip on dual blades in a few seconds was impressive, but it did not surprise the Empyrean.

Developing, for his blade, counter techniques to the spear, staff, swords, and the arts of martial practitioners, and thereafter reverse-engineering techniques suitable to the blade, creating a stable foundation of blade techniques, and achieving mastery of the blade, in a few minutes, was indeed stunning.

The Empyrean did not show any reaction, but in the depths of his eyes was a flicker of emotion.

Whether he was impressed by Anon or not, one could only wonder.

But who was Anon?

He had achieved true mastery in the staff, the core of true mastery in the spear, sword, and over his own body.

The counter techniques only increased in complexity, and his adeptness in nurturing a soul within his weapon was second to none.

Even though to develop a blade soul, it would’ve meant shattering his sword soul, his sword soul was already shattered...

On the other hand, the battle spirit, and the core of true mastery over the body, was a completely different concept.

Under the Empyrean’s gaze, a gaze that weighed more than sky-propping mountains, Anon nurtured a blade soul in less than ten minutes and perfected his blade soul in thirty.

Empyrean Eclipse folded his arms.

He genuinely refused to believe that Anon could achieve pseudo-Supreme mastery. Even if he achieved the core of true mastery relatively quickly, after all, this was only the core of true mastery.

The difference between this stage and pseudo-Supreme mastery...?

Worlds!

Otherwise, every warrior and their aunt would be wielding weapons at the level of pseudo-Supreme mastery.

Anon’s movements came to a halt.

Seeing this, Eclipse let go of a breath that he did not know he was holding.

His erratic heart calmed, and he sighed, ’Am I really afraid? Is this his purpose? If he were to really achieve my level in one leap, then cracks would certainly appear on my blade.’

Empyrean Eclipse smiled knowingly, ’So he does not intend to defeat me through a confrontation, but to shatter my will.’

The moment he was able to see through Anon’s scheme, he suddenly felt even calmer than before.

Such an idea was inherently flawed.

Although it might indeed damage his will, how would one achieve this process in the first place?

It was akin to a mortal dreaming of stepping outside the bounds of the sky in a single step. In the first place, this mortal could only cross a meter or so of distance at most with each step.

Such an ambition was inherently flawed.

But there was a smile on Anon’s face. This was a smile that Empyrean Eclipse disliked, a smile that made him feel discomfort.

An unsettling smile.

Nurturing a battle spirit was simply the manifestation of one’s will. Emotions and desires would likely complete this battle spirit, and very likely, this was the way to go beyond the core of true mastery over the body.

How to go about achieving this, Anon did not know, nor did he find a need to decipher a way.

In his current position, he had the luxury to choose whether he wished to achieve pseudo-Supreme mastery over his body or the blade.

He had no choice with the spear, sword, or body. At the time, Seth wielded a staff, so he decided that it would be best to wield one as well.

After all, his comprehension, back then, was incomparable to his current comprehension ability.

To compare both levels of comprehension was a laughable idea.

The blades now, this had struck a cord in his heart. This was the first time that he felt like wielding something. Not out of a need to, but a genuine desire to.

To sacrifice the path of body mastery to lay the foundation in achieving pseudo-Supreme mastery in the blade path, rather than vice-versa, was not even a decision to think long over.

The process of amalgamation was one where he, Anon, did not need to do much movement.

To Empyrean Eclipse, it simply appeared as if he had found some difficulty, or even given up, but Eclipse had not achieved pseudo-Supreme mastery this way.

Anon had the luxury of realizing that pursuing both the path of the body and the path of weaponry simultaneously was the only way to reach further in either one.

Only by bringing both paths to the core of true mastery can one, upon enlightenment, sacrifice one path to the other and naturally achieve pseudo-Supreme mastery.

This was a difficult path in the beginning, but it made achieving pseudo-Supreme mastery almost as easy as breathing.

Eclipse’s path, focusing solely on the bladed path, was easy in the beginning, but made achieving pseudo-Supreme mastery umpteenth times more difficult, and likely, the limit of his potential as well.

So it came as no surprise to Anon, his attainment of pseudo-Supreme mastery.

Under the weight of such a soul, and due to the nature of this blade soul, the already flimsy blade instantaneously imploded.

But for Anon, the blade itself was not important.

He had already achieved his goal, so he looked at Empyrean and stated matter-of-factly, "Pseudo-Supreme mastery?"

"Not really difficult."