Child of Destiny

……

As Leonard and Diablo joined hands fighting the Grand Centipedeus, Shin remained trapped in the rock formation of the demon monster. It was as if the earth itself was alive and preventing him from going anywhere.

Shin could tell that the Grand Centipedeus seemed to understand that it could not let these three join forces and fight it together. It was as if it knew that it would lose if they teamed up and used their powers as one.

Earth pillars and stone spikes continued to shoot from the ground and chased after Shin while his surroundings were blocked by tall rock formations, sealing any kind of escape route.

Some of the pillars and spikes that were chasing after him seemed to improve as time went by. They bent and turned soft as they chased after him, giving them a more flexible approach and versatile attacks.

But Shin was able to either dodge or cut them time and time again. They were not the only ones who were improving, he was as well.

Moreover, he understood the flow of mana within him and learned more about controlling them. He was trying to understand how the Power of Eclipse worked.

When he compared it with how he utilized the Sacred Qi and Demonic Qi before and the Powers of Brilliant Sun and Abyssal Moon, he found out that they indeed shared a lot of similarities.

The only difference that he could find was the missing piece that made the Power of Primordial Eclipse pure and united. It was as if there was something hidden within this higher form of mana that made the previous powers fused.

But instead of finding something that he could not find, he chose to focus on the principles that the ‘Yin-Yang Arts and Swordsmanship’ and wanted to apply it to his new swordsmanship. He even transformed the [Yamato] into a pair of katana and used the ‘Yin-Yang Swordsmanship’ while using the Power of Primordial Eclipse.

He transitioned between the two swordsmanship repeatedly as he tried to understand the difference between the two. Even though he could not use the other Elemental Spirit Possessions that he had, he could at least still apply the innate attributes that he already awakened along with the three special breathing techniques.

What surprised him was despite using other methods to utilize his innate attributes, he realized that they could naturally be fused with the Power of Primordial Eclipse seamlessly. It was as if they were returning to their origins and becoming one once again.

There were also a few more things that he had discovered. It was whenever he was using the two swordsmanship. He found out what made the two styles different yet also similar.

Whenever he was using the ‘Myriad Transformation Swordsmanship’, he realized that he was ‘linking’ the sub-styles that were within it. He was transitioning between different sword styles by linking them together.

After his polishing, he was able to transition with different styles and energy controls more seamlessly and much smoother than before.

It was because of this ‘link’ he had during the transitions and between each element that he was able to control them properly and use each style smoothly.

On the other hand, the ‘Yin-Yang Swordsmanship’ followed another principle linked by their ‘flow’. This ‘flow’ gave Shin, or even Uno, too swift between the two styles within this swordsmanship seamlessly.

The shift between the Sacred Qi and the Demonic was because of this flow, which made everything more natural and easier to control.

“The flow,” mumbled Shin before something clicked inside his head.

“I see. So that is how it is,” he continued to mumble to himself as he dodged and blocked the incoming attacks with his sword and the Power of Primordial Eclipse.

“I understand the cycle of creation and destruction of the five elements, but I only link them together and do not follow the natural flow.”

The more Shin talked to himself, the more ideas and inspirations flooded inside his head. His style was also adjusting accordingly as he applied the new principles that he was getting during this moment.

“It is not like the Light and Darkness don’t coexist, they are just but the two sides of the same coin. When one steps forward, the other steps back.”

He was also starting to understand more about the Power of Primordial Eclipse as he got more inspirations flashing inside his head.

Yet again, he was gaining enlightenment in the middle of the battle.

It was to be expected since this was the Natural State that he had for his Battle Genius Talent. But this time, he became more aware of what he could achieve.

“When the Light and Darkness merge, there will be an ‘Ultimate Chaos’. But when they are separated from one another, they will maintain the balance and restore the ‘Absolute Order.’”

“The Order and the Chaos are also the same side of a coin.” 𝘳.𝑐𝘰

As Shin mumbled these words, he separated the [Yamato] once again into a pair of swords. But this time, the Power of Primordial Eclipse followed as it was separated from one another and became the Powers of the Brilliant Sun and the Abyssal Moon.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

But unlike how he usually utilized these two higher forms of mana, Shin seemed to put a link between them while also following the natural flow.

“Just like the Yin and Yang can be fused to return the Origin. The Origin can also be broken down to form the Yin and the Yang.”

The blazing white flame and the chilling black light intertwine with one another, cutting all the earth pillars and stone spikes that were trying to approach him.

After that, Shin turned the [Yamato] back to its original form while also fusing the two forms of mana back and turning them into the Power of Primordial Eclipse once again.

Swoosh!

Swinging the sword around, a destructive wave was released from it and swept through everything destroying all the rock formations in his surroundings.

“The Creation is the Order while the Destruction is the Chaos.”

He then started applying the new enlightenment that he had gotten to his self-created swordsmanship.

He then proceeded to use ‘Mondi’s Style’ to swap between different sword forms while also using the three special breathing techniques along with it.

Even though the innate attributes of respective breathing did not appear as they seemed to be ‘devoured’ by the Power of Primordial Eclipse, the principle when utilizing each sword form and innate attributes was still present.

“Everything returns to Origin. The five elements are nothing but a part of the origin.”

As Shin muttered these words, the Power of Primordial Eclipse seemed to be broken down into different parts once again.

But instead of the Powers of the Brilliant Sun and the Abyssal Moon, five forms of energy appeared. There were five different spheres behind Shin, which represented the five elements, forming a certain formation – a ball of fire, a clump of earth, a sphere of metal, a drop of water, and a cluster of wood.

As he did this, Shin finally realized why he was more talented than Uno in terms of Mentalism while the other was better than him when it came to Swordsmanship and Martial Arts.

“I am more gifted in understanding the energies.”

Then he seemed to have remembered something as a portion of his forgotten memory flashed through his mind.

– “I will be the Light while you will be the Shadow.” –

– “We will be the same side of the coin. You are me, and I am you.” –

Then Uno’s voice suddenly sounded inside his head. [When there is Chaos, there will also be the Order.]

Hearing that, Shin seemed to have realized something. “You have completely mastered the Sacred Qi and Demonic Qi. You must also have successfully combined the states of ‘White Dawn Boundary’ and ‘Black Origin Threshold’.”

[Everyone one of us has our respective ‘Natural State’. We may be one, but we are also different.]

Uno might not have answered him, but he had already gotten the answer after hearing those words. Uno must have combined his ‘Natural State’ with the unification of the ‘White Dawn Boundary’ and ‘Black Origin Threshold’.

“How you do you call yours?”

[True Equinox.]

Shin smiled and said. “Then I shall call mine the ‘Perfect Zenith’.”

As those words left his mouth, Shin seemed to have entered another special state. His mind was calm while his heart was burning. The energy within his body flowed like violent waves of a raging river, yet still maintained a certain order.

He had entered the berserk mode of the ‘Black Origin Threshold’, but still maintained the absolute tranquility of the ‘White Dawn Boundary’.

The five representations of the elements revolved around his body as he suddenly halted his track. He stayed still in his position and waited for the incoming earth pillars and stone spikes to fly at him.

The five elements spun rapidly before gathering at one point and merging once again. But this time, Shin felt a different feeling when they transformed back to the original energy.

That was when the system notified him.

*Ding*

System: You have harnessed the Power of Primordial Eclipse perfectly!

System: You have mastered the Power of Primordial Eclipse: Origin!

Shin raised his brows as little as he heard those notifications, but he also could not help himself from raising the corner of his mouth. He could not hide his smile as he seemed to have now another clue on how he would advance in the real world.

At that moment, the attacks were about to land at him. But before they could even reach a meter away from him, they suddenly stopped midair before they crumbled and turned into dust.

He did not even bother to look at them as he closed his eyes and immersed himself in the current state that he was in – the new Natural State that he just achieved, which was the product of combining the previous one and the two special states that he had learned from Professor Plum.

‘Natural State: Perfect Zenith’

This was what Professor Plum wanted to achieve, but it was also a little different since it was for his Mentalism and personal swordsmanship.

He thought that Uno’s Natural State, the one that he called ‘True Equinox’ might be the one that was closer to what Professor Plum wanted. Although, it was supposed to be called the ‘True Zenith’.

Shin felt that Uno and himself seemed to have divided the ideal state that Professor Plum wanted to achieve as they created their own.

“I at least now can share it with the Old Geezer and let him complete his research and achieve his dreams. He also has said that he needs it for some other project, but he never has told me about it.”

After that, Shin opened his eyes. He then sheathed the [Yamato] before looking at his hand and the black and white aura that was covering his body.

He stayed like that for a couple of minutes before asking Uno. “Have you also completed the unification of Sacred Qi and Demonic Qi?”

There was a silence for a while before Uno finally answered, albeit indirectly. [Let’s talk again when you form your Natural Force.]

Shin raised his brows even further as he had gotten an idea of what was going on. Uno might have not achieved it yet, but he was very close to it.

“Alright,” he nodded his head he turned his head toward the direction where Leonard and Diablo joined hands when fighting the Grand Centipedeus.

From what he could see, the two seemed to have been making progress with their respective powers.

But when he was focusing on the two, Shin seemed to have noticed something strange going on with Leonard. It might be his imagination at first, but the closer he looked, the clearer that feeling had become.

He then was suddenly reminded of the time when he first fought Arthur right after the latter finished his bloodline awakening.

“Don’t tell me.”

…