Child of Destiny

Chapter 1322: Peak Potential (Part 1): Thunder Eclipse

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”Go!”

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Right after Shin gave his order, the Eclipse and Phantom Clones quickly made their moves.

They separated from each other as they headed toward the direction of the two portals where the pack of insects and arachnids were gathering.

The Eclipse Clone put its hands together, holding its sword with both as it turned into a pair of katana. It seemed like it was using a similar power as Shin, but instead of using the Power of Primordial Eclipse, it chose to wield the Powers of the Brilliant Sun and Brilliant Moon.

The Phantom Clone, on the other hand, had chosen to continue using the higher form of mana as it used the sheathed katana while sprinting towards one of the portals.

Shin was rarely using his clones these days due to how taxing it was to control them under the multiple states that he was in. It would be too exhausting to control them even though he had a monstrous willpower.

But this time, he wanted their AI to control the two clones. They had decent fighting capabilities of their own after all. Since they were facing just a bunch of monsters anyway, Shin felt that it was more than enough.

But what surprised him when he summoned them was the changes that the Phantom Clone had. He did not get any extra skills under this secondary combat class since he had been promoted to Tier 3 aside from the ʼTrue Phantomʼ skill that still needed him to gather the materials to create.

It might be an overpowered skill, but it would still take a lot of time before he formed his True Phantom.

But after seeing the current Phantom Clone, he noticed that it had undergone some changes. It was now more life-like and shared a lot of similarities to the two clones that he fought during the Class Promotion Quest, the Doppel, and the Sword Phantoms.

After watching the Phantom Clone charged right at the center of the group of spiders and mantises with a ʼMoonlight Splitterʼ before creating chaos in the formation of the opposing side, Shin realized that it was much stronger than the Eclipse Clone when comparing their stats alone.

What was even more surprising was that the Phantom Clone seemed to possess skills that he did not have. It looked like it had access to the advanced skills of the Phantom Swordsman Class that even he could not access.

Shin frowned a little but did not put too much thought into it. He then turned to the Eclipse Clone and saw that it was wielding the Powers of the Brilliant Sun and the Abyssal Moon quite skillfully. He even saw it fused the two powers and turned them into the Power of Primordial Eclipse when slaughtering the insect-type monsters.

After watching the two clones fight a little longer, Shin finally turned his attention back to the Grand Centipedeus, which seemed to have finally stopped maintaining the two portals after summoning a horde of insect- and arachnid-types of monsters.

Shin raised his brows a little as he felt more confident facing it this time around. After understanding the Power of Primordial Eclipse: Origin, he felt like he would be able to crack through those tough exoskeletons.

Tilting his head to the side, Shin felt like trying to test a few things. The playful nature of his Battle Genius talent seemed to be kicking in, especially when he now had access to the five elements that match innate attributes.

Unfortunately, he had yet to learn the suitable breathing techniques for the elements of water and wood. Even though he could try using the elemental mana that corresponded to them for this battle, the result that he would get would not be as satisfying.

”I guess I will save it until I find the suitable breathing techniques and awaken them in the real world,” he mumbled as he circulated the Power of Primordial Eclipse within him.

Then as if Shin and the Grand Centipedeus had tacitly agreed on something, they simultaneously made their moves.

Shin unsheathed the [Yamato] and swung it forward, sending a crescent wave of energy, while the Grand Centipedeus opened its mouth wide and spat out a cluster of venom.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Bang!

The two attacks met in the air. The venom scattered as it hit the crescent energy and seemed to be trying to reach Shin with its droplets. But the energy from the latterʼs attack did not end there as a brilliant flame was suddenly ignited upon the collision and spread in different directions, burning the residual droplets of venom that scattered in the air.

Shin had already disappeared at this point before reappearing underneath the head of the giant centipede, preparing for another attack.

The already sheathed sword was unsheathed once again as Shin swung it upwards, releasing a sharp vertical energy that shot straight to the chin of the monster.

The Grand Centipedeus seemed to have expected that attack already and was about to slam its head down, planning to crush Shin with its massive body and hard exoskeleton.

Bang!

But the energy that was released from the [Yamato] seemed to be much stronger than what it had expected.

Its pointed tip accurately hit the chin of the monster, creating a noticeable crack on its surface. At the same time, the force behind the attack sent the giant centipede bouncing toward the air, lifting the upper part of its body.

Clack! Clack!

Sounds of the sharp legs of the Grand Centipede could be heard as they dug into the ground and clutched into it hard, preventing the rest of its body from being lifted into the air.

Swoosh!

Then Shin saw the giant centipede move the lower part of its body, swinging its tail toward him. He felt like a massive train got off the rails and swept toward him after seeing the incoming attack.

Shin wanted to dodge at first since it was what his instincts were telling him. But he wanted to test his current powers.

He took a stance and covered his entire body with the Power of Eclipse. With both of his hands holding the sword, he raised it over his shoulders and inclined its blade upside down.

He focused the mana on his feet, arms, and sword as he waited for the incoming massive body of the monster to come at him.

Bang!

When the massive body arrived, Shin squatted his hips a little before putting more strength on his arms and shoulders.

”Urgh!”

He then absorbed some of the impact before sending it toward the ground underneath his feet. The ground naturally sank and formed small craters as Shin lifted the sword, guiding the massive body upwards.

ʼJade Kirin Scripture: Second Movement – Returning Waveʼ

Swoosh!

The ground shattered as the clutching legs of the giant centipede dragged them up as its body flew over Shinʼs head.

Despite achieving such a feat, Shin still received quite a decent damage. He still felt that the protection of the current energies that he had was still not enough. Or to be more precise, his control over it was still far from being perfect.

Bang!

When the body of the Grand Centipedeus landed in the distance, Shin suddenly focused the mana on his feet before kicking the ground. He lunged forward and flew straight to the giant centipede, targeting the joints of its leg.

He now wanted to try if he could at least cut one of them.

The Power of Primordial Eclipse gathered on the sword as he raised it. He skillfully manipulated the mana and compressed them into a thin layer covering that sword, which was barely noticeable to the naked eye.

The sword cut through the air as he slashed with the sword. A glowing light was left in the air as the horizontal slash was thrown.

ʼJade Kirin Scripture: Fourth Movement – Tempest Strokeʼ

(-2,000,234)

Swoosh!

The thin line that was drawn in the air cut through one of the legs of the giant centipede, targeting its joints.

Shin was unable to cut it like he wanted, but a deep gash was formed. The exoskeleton was destroyed, and he could see the outer layer of the flesh of the monster.

Green blood gushed out of that wound, making the Grand Centipedeus cry in pain.

Shriek!

He finally could deal direct damage to this troublesome monster despite the attack barely scratching the total value of the Health Bar that it had.

But despite seeing this, Shin was still frowning deeply behind his mask. It was because he felt that there was something wrong.

He was not satisfied with his performance as he found that he was missing something. Or more likely, he was doing something wrong.

”The sword movements of the Jade Kirin Scripture seem to be used with another form of energy. More like wind and water, and lightning and thunder,” he mumbled as he suddenly kicked the air and propelled himself toward the opposite direction.

Swoosh!

Acidic and venomous liquids flew past his previous location as the Grand Centipedeus spat at him.

”Basically, the wind is one of the main ʼingredientsʼ for the formation of the lightning bolt. Or more specifically, the air. This is why some in the teachings of cultivation say that the lightning is called a higher form of the wind element,” he continued to mumble while dodging the attacks of the rampaging centipede.

”Positive and negative discharges, warm air and cold air-…” Shin was mumbling as he realized that this was also following the principle of duality.

Glancing at his sword which was covered with the Power of the Primordial Eclipse, Shin had gotten an idea. ”Should I give it a try?”

He asked himself but he had already decided what to do.

He did not summon the twin katana this time, but he divided the current form of mana that he had and separated them from each other.

The heat that was being released by the Power of the Brilliant Sun as it became the warm air while the chill of the Power of the Abyssal Moon became the cold air.

Shin experimented a little as he circulated the two with absolute control, not letting them collide yet. He observed their movements while comparing them to the scientific explanations that he knew from the real world.

He continued to dodge the attacks that the Grand Centipedeus was throwing at him as he experimented with the two energies that were flowing through his sword.

It was quite bold, but Shin was very confident this time.

He adjusted the heat and coldness of the two while trying to find the right situation where they could produce the lightning.

This was not necessarily the ideal step if he compared it to the lessons that he had. But all he needed was to recreate the scenario where the positive and negative charges were formed and moved.

He just had to create a field that was similar to the highly intensive electric field that was formed during the process.

Crackle!

Then, all of a sudden, a spark was formed. It might be brief, but it was more than enough for Shin. He had already achieved what he wanted.

Boom!

Dodging yet another stone spike that flew out from the ground, Shin suddenly executed one of his advanced movement techniques.

Shin formed multiple afterimages as he flashed through different places, moving around the giant centipede.

ʼYin-Yang Arts: Ghost Evanescentʼ

Then he shifted with another movement technique when a bold idea flashed through his mind.

ʼYin-Yang Arts: Mystic Movementsʼ

This movement technique was much faster than the previous one as it contained no illusionary technique. It was also similar to his favorite sword technique that he had, the ʼInfinity Edgeʼ or ʼSword Transmigrationʼ, which was gradually getting stronger the more it was used.

The movement that he had was gradually getting stronger as Shin continued to move. Then he circulated the energies within him and applied what he had learned just now.

Crackle! Crackle!

The sounds of electric sparks could be heard as Shin covered his body with the Powers of the Brilliant Sun and Abyssal Moon that were circulating and clashing with a certain rhythm.

His speed grew faster as electric sparks could be seen lingering in the air behind him.

It was an original art!

”Letʼs call this ʼMystic Lighting Stepsʼ then,” he smiled

After familiarizing himself with the process, he suddenly gathered more energy into his sword. That was when something unexpected happened.

Boom!

A thunderclap could be heard as was forced to stop.

In his hand, the [Yamato] was releasing a powerful and violent energy. Lightning sparks could be seen crackling around the blade of the sword along with the black and white energies circulating through it.

He had gotten ahead of himself and starting to lose control.

But he was quite stubborn as he forcefully controlled the rampaging energies, suppressing and containing them in the sword.

The Grand Centipedeus saw this an opportunity and suddenly gathered its venom in its mouth before spatting a torrent of green liquid at Shin.

That was when another unexpected thing happened.

The Powers of the Brilliant Sun and Abyssal Moon merged once again and returned to being the Power of Primordial Eclipse.

But this time, it was releasing the black and white sparks dancing on its surface.

Shin was caught off guard, but he did not hesitate to use this energy while following his instincts. His body seemed to move on its own as he performed the advanced sword technique that he could not use from the Jade Kirin Scripture before.

Crackle!

ʼJade Kirin Scripture: Sevent Movement – Thunder Eclipseʼ

Boom!

The attack came a little too fast he swung the sword at the torrent of acidic venom heading his way. It was so fast that even Shin, who performed the sword movement, could not believe that he did it.

Moreover, there was a huge crescent lighting energy that flew toward the acidic venom and cut through it. This energy continued to fly forward, splitting the torrent in the middle before heading toward the giant centipede.

Shriek!

The monster cried in pain as the crescent lighting energy cut one of the pincers that it had at the corner of its mouth before proceeding to hit its body, exploding and shattering its exoskeleton which caused a huge injury and left a massive wound.

Boom!

(-20,524,555)

(-71,023,562)

Then there was a pair of massive red numbers that appeared above the head of the Grand Centipedeus, chunking a huge portion of its Health Bar.

”Woah!” even Shin was impressed at what just happened.

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