Skyfrost Sword

Karni forgot about Tang Wulin's absence. It was actually this very event that originally caused a problem within the council group. Though right now, Karni couldn't remember the reasons behind the absence. This incident wasn't particularly influential in the grand scheme of things.

At least Gu Yue stopped the staring contest with Wu Siduo and stood up, doing her duties as the Vice-President. "Stand up."

Everyone stood and saluted the teacher. Wu Zhangkong glanced at Tang Wulin's seat. "Where's Tang Wulin?"

Gu Yue shook her head. "I don't know. He didn't come back to the dormitory last night."

Wu Zhangkong frowned. "He did not tell me that he would be absent, nor did he provide any excuse, so that's one strike against him."

Karni glanced at Siduo. Oh she was pissed. After everything they planned yesterday? It was hard not to be. Karni knew there was a reason, but even he had to admit that this was unpleasant. He had many questions to ask Tang Wulin.

A loud bang disturbed the awkward mood in the classroom. A young man in his twenties entered. "Hello, Teacher Wu. Elder Feng sent me to tell you that Tang Wulin is currently at a crucial point in his cultivation and shouldn't be disturbed, so he won't be attending class. Please excuse his absence today."

The class turned to look at the man, wondering—Wu Zhangkong among them. "Elder Feng? As in Feng Wuyu?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I understand."

Karni finally remembered and whispered under his breath. "Right. That elder is one of the more wild ones."

He turned to Siduo. She seemed to have heard him and now she wore a drastically different expression. Calmness. She could accept that, but it was still a big inconvenience. "He better come back a Soul Elder. If he does, we might be able to progress in our plan as well. But… if he doesn't." She sent a sharp look at Gu Yue.

Gu Yue was confident. "He will." She refocused on the lecture, sharpening her look. The relationship was now somewhat strained again.

Karni sighed to the side. Seriously. If there was anyone who would break apart this group it would be these two. They were both full of pride.

Karni sat diagonally behind Gu Yue. He could see her mask fall as soon as she turned around. She wasn't actually confident. Karni was slightly confused. Did Gu Yue not know anything at all? From his memory, wasn't Tang Wulin about to break through some time now? Or was he missing something?

Then it clicked. That elder gave Tang Wulin some medicine this time didn't he? Maybe that's the reason why Tang Wulin's companions were confused. The guy wasn't at the breakthrough point before this.

… … …

Karni and Siduo were with Mo Qing in the Tang Sect Science Division section. This was not their regular visit. They weren't here as a part of the Human Augmentation Project or as part of Advancing the AR Goggles. They were here to get some advice about their chosen metal for Battle Armour since they couldn't ask Tang Wulin.

"Honey Titanium and Energy Palladium? Great choices. Yes, these should be perfect for you two. But… at what rank are the refinements for you to choose these for Battle Armour?"

"We managed to find someone who can refine 1st grade thousand refinements for us."

"Ho. That's impressive. That's good. Karni, in your case, make sure what type of refinement you want for Honey Titanium."

Karni was confused. "What kind?"

"Mm. You'll know once you speak to your blacksmith. I think you'll find the decision quite simple, but I do not want to influence you, just in case. As for you Siduo, you should be fine with starting the designs. Karni, if you have any questions about her metals you can ask. I'll let you borrow Energy Palladium so you can plan around it until you talk with your blacksmith again."

Siduo's eyes shined. "Let's get to it then!"

… … …

Karni completed the design for the right forearm piece to about 50 percent yesterday. He would've likely been able to complete it to a rough degree if he hadn't needed to go to the other projects in the Science Division. He was busy, though he had to admit he didn't get to do much in the Human Augmentation Division right now. He wasn't even included in the newest advancements.

But it did not matter to him. If anything, he welcomed not being in active development there. He was busy as it is. 

Right now he completely forgot about the small complaints yesterday. The person who's been the focus of the class for some time now was back. Tang Wulin. And he felt stronger.

"Stand up." Tang Wulin said with a steady voice as Wu Zhangkong took the place behind the lectern.

Karni and Siduo stood up without a fuss. Siduo nodded a little bit. It seemed that the guy did indeed break through to Soul Elder. She didn't have further complaints. When the rest of the class saw that they did not complain, they felt like they shouldn't have complaints either. Tang Wulin wasn't particularly accepted among the class, but other important people seemed to have accepted him. Yes, Karni and Siduo were already looked upon as one of the leaders of the Genius Youth Ranking.

The others of the Genius Youth Ranking didn't seem too happy about that though. If Karni and Siduo hadn't stood up, they wouldn't have either. At least not when Tang Wulin, some unknown, ordered them to.

Karni and Siduo had an internal agreement. Unless there was intentional trouble from Tang Wulin's side, there won't be any repercussions from their side. They held true to that agreement.

Tang Wulin sent them a short, but deeply thankful gaze.

Shen Yi nodded, satisfied. "Take your seats. Today we're having combat class. You'll be fighting together in your mecha making groups. You won't be sparring with each other, but with either me or Teacher Wu. Group leaders, lead your groups out! We're leaving now."

The council members glanced at each other as they formed a group and led at the front. Siduo made a point to start a conversation. "So you've reached Soul Elder rank, Class President."

Tang Wulin nodded. "I was lucky."

"That's good. If it weren't at least a major breakthrough, then we'd have problems."

Tang Wulin smiled wryly. She stated her dissatisfaction, but also told him that she's still okay with him. It put pressure on him. This was a warning.

That being said, Tang Wulin quickly forgot about it. Instead, everyone around him could sense excitement. Siduo approved. She always approved of battle junkies. The guy was eager to test things out after breaking through a major bottleneck.

They were led to a large circular arena south of their classroom. This time they were to have an actual battle outside the virtual environment. Karni could feel Siduo's blood start to boil. Real battles always made her excited. In Spirit Ascension Platform she didn't feel much pressure mentally.

They weren't the only ones with such a mindset. Every student started merrily discussing the combat class. A real fight against their teachers. Shrek teachers! Who wouldn't be excited to test things out?

The teachers ascended the stage, but the students did not quiet down. Chit-chat was everywhere. Tang Wulin was aware of it too. As the class president, he took it upon himself to quiet them down. He made a gesture to the class, but the chatter barely lessened. Some people even outright ignored him.

Karni noticed it as well. These kids were so petty. The elder himself excused Tang Wulin, yet they still felt like they could ignore the rules of the academy all of a sudden. They were acting like children. … Karni realised what he just thought. They were teens. Worse than children in some ways. 

A Purple Soul Ring lit up on Karni's staff. The third one. The surrounding sound gradually turned quieter and quieter—like turning the radio silent so one could talk on the phone. Eventually everyone quieted down since they noticed their voices didn't produce as much sound as they should've. They turned to look at Karni.

He put his index finger on his lips with a small smile. "Shh. The president told you to quiet down." Then he turned back and paid attention to the teachers.

The looks he got were that of utter bafflement. He forced this on them. Karni wasn't aware of it, but more than giving a stronger impression on Tang Wulin, or showing that Tang Wulin had some allies, Karni only made his own reputation better.

Siduo whispered to him. "You should do this more often."

He ignored her. Teacher Shen began to speak with a calm voice. "The combat class naturally consists of live combat. Today's focus is teamwork. As I've said previously, together with your groups, you will fight me or Teacher Wu. Apart from our Battle Armours, we will use our full power." Her lips curled slightly upward. "Any group that defeats us will get full marks. Otherwise, your score will depend on your performance. Decide who you want to fight: me or Teacher Wu. We will also be judging your decision. You will have five minutes to discuss, after which the battles will start with the Class Council group."

Gu Yue, Tang Wulin, Val Karni and Wu Siduo gathered up. Since Tang Wulin was already warned by Wu Siduo about his absence beforehand, he skipped the formalities. "I think we should choose Teacher Wu."

Karni and Siduo disagreed. "He's strong isn't he? What rank is he?"

"He's stronger than Teacher Shen, yes, but he was mine and Gu Yue's teacher back in Eastsea City. We know his abilities better. As for his rank, he's a Soul Sage."

Karni was still sceptical. "A Soul Sage is much stronger than a Soul Emperor. Are you sure about this? In this case, our knowledge of his skills might not necessarily help us. He has an avatar. They said they'll fight at their full power."

Tang Wulin didn't really know how to answer that. It was true. Karni was being respectful in his reasoning as well. He wasn't challenging his authority. But then another voice offered a complaint.

"Kiki. Are you chickening out? Yes, he's stronger, but if we perform well, it will be more worthwhile than defeating a Soul Emperor."

Karni gave Siduo a side eye. Damn that sense of challenge she got. "I can't argue against that. Teacher Wu it is then."

Tang Wulin smiled. This was going rather smoothly. It seemed like this team could still be saved from falling apart due to his absence. Though he wasn't really an actual leader either. It felt like they were mostly equals. Well, all except Gu Yue, who always supported him. "Good. In that case, his characteristics are…"

… … …

Tang Wulin went over all the skills and their characteristics. They only had about a minute left. He focused most on the things to watch out for within the skills.

Karni was thinking. "In that case, it will probably be best for me and Gu Yue to offer support, while you two charge." He turned to Gu Yue. "Are you okay with you taking care that Tang Wulin isn't in trouble, teleporting him out, while I take care of Siduo? That way, we shouldn't have a clash when teleporting."

Gu Yue turned to Tang Wulin. "If Captain is okay with it."

Tang Wulin nodded. "I'm fine with that."

Their time was up. Tang Wulin turned around. "We choose Teacher Wu."

As they entered the arena, Karni had some final words. "I'll throw Siduo far above Teacher Wu at the beginning. Tang Wulin, you'll be alone, but I'll try my best with helping to delay Teacher Wu as well."

Tang Wulin nodded at him. They were ready. 

"Begin." Teacher Shen acted as the referee.

Wu Zhangkong stood 50 metres away. Tang Wulin charged up front, a forest of half golden vines of Bluesilver Grass both blocking the view of his team as well as protecting them from attacks.

Behind, Karni already swung his Bo Staff and Shifted Siduo far above Wu Zhangkong. Gu Yue was already preparing flaring icicles to send once the vines couldn't block Wu Zhangkong anymore.

From the other side, Wu Zhangkong instantly activated his First Soul Ring. Frost Scar. There was no build-up. Instant swordsmanship. Wu Zhangkong really started out with his full power.

The Icy Cold sword of Wu Zhangkong sent out a bundle of scars focused on the vines in front of him, soon supported by the second Soul Ring activating, releasing icy mist directly in the air above.

"Shit." Karni cursed from behind. He ran to the side, opening himself up, his eyes met with Wu Zhangkong. His Soul Bone activated Nerve Authority, shooting out the Spiritual Ray, while his Martial Soul activated Vision Bestowal.

Karni felt muddled for a second, but did not get a Spiritual Backlash. He immediately Shifted behind the cover of the vines, wearing a slight smile. Teacher Wu was not at the Spiritual Abyss Realm yet! Though his Spiritual energy was still drained by 20 percent in that single manoeuvre. The man was still above Karni in his Spiritual Realm.

He noticed an Icy Slash hit from where he just Shifted. He frowned. He didn't affect the teacher much after all! 

He heard a mighty tiger's roar as well as a golden shine in front of him. Tang Wulin and Siduo noticed an opening. He managed to disturb Wu Zhangkong for three seconds. It was just that Wu Zhangkong attacked him before his skills applied.

However what Karni saw from behind the vines was the worst scenario. A Black Soul Ring shone with menace. The Seventh. Then another one immediately after. The fifth Soul Ring, also Black.

Siduo's four Soul Rings fused together. Hell Rush, Hell Blade, Diamond Body and Sun Tiger Meteor. She was already fused. She used her time well while falling.

Tang Wulin's claws glowed gold within the Bluesilver Grass vines. Golden Dragon Dreadclaw was struck—five streaks of gold tearing apart everything in its path.

The fifth Soul Skill of Wu Zhangkong, boosted by the Skyfrost Avatar, intercepted the combined charge of Siduo and Tang Wulin. The two were stopped. Completely and confidently. Siduo was shocked. She still remembered how her teachers reacted on Star Luo Continent. This really was Shrek! Shrek was still the most powerful!

As the two were pushed back, Wu Zhangkong's first and second Soul Rings shone again. Just as both Tang Wulin and Wu Siduo were about to be hit, they vanished and reappeared in front and behind Wu Zhangkong.

Wu Zhangkong took this chance to rush towards Tang Wulin who was in front. Yet there a ball of flame, ice, wind and earth replaced Tang Wulin. It was Gu Yue's doing. She was building up that attack. All three of her soul rings shone. "Val Karni!"

"Yes!" Karni had also prepared during the clash. His Martial Soul in drumsticks form, and only one was filled with an immense song of harmony that threatened the surroundings. He threw it, then turned his other drumstick and teleported the first one directly into the ball of elements.

When Karni returned, he shared his vision with Gu Yue, they made a quick plan of action when Tang Wulin and Siduo attacked. And it worked.

But Wu Zhangkong had decades of experience. His Skyfrost Sword enlarged with the fourth Soul Ring, Frost Song, and then slashed with the remaining power of the Skyfrost Slash of the third Soul Ring. With his last chance, another Black Soul Ring shone.

A great clash of elements exploded, and even then Wu Siduo rushed into it, her body turning red and growing horns in her Hell White Tiger form. Her skills fused again.

Karni noticed a problem with the future he saw. He didn't share it with Siduo at the beginning, because he knew he would immediately lose it once he'd forcefully apply Vision Bestowal on Wu Zhangkong. She still didn't have it. "Sisi! Watch out!"

A sword of immense power slashed towards a boosted Siduo. She barely reacted by using her torso bone at the last second, forming a hexagonal shield. She didn't put her other defensive skills in her charge, nor could she if she wanted to at this point. She was knocked directly in the wall, left unmoving. The fusion reached its end.

Karni teleported above Wu Zhangkong, his whole Bo Staff filled with Sound, ready to attack Wu Zhangkong's head. What happened? Wu Zhangkong activated his sixth Soul Ring during the explosion. Condensed Frost. It could store force, and the force of that explosion was very much at the level of a Soul Emperor. Wu Zhangkong decided to face Siduo head on in favour of protecting himself. A risky move even for him. Yet the reward was a shockingly strong counter attack.

Karni swung his Bo Staff on Wu Zhangkong, but the teacher's free hand turned icy blue and was about to intercept the Bo Staff. Karni knew the power of Mysterious Jade Hands when it came to blocking his Sound based attacks. He quickly split his Staff. Half of it hit the hand, the other missed, Karni quickly turned it and teleported away, but not without a plan. He could see Tang Wulin in his peripheral vision, charging up another attack.

He decided to Shift their places. Tang Wulin was slightly surprised, but that surprised instantly turned into a smile. He released a point blank Golden Dragon Dreadclaw.

Unfortunately, Wu Zhangkong wasn't exactly someone who couldn't move. As soon as he noticed Karni missing him, he sensed something wrong and executed Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. Tang Wulin's attack missed.

Tang Wulin was quickly teleported away by Gu Yue, but Wu Zhangkong sent a Skyfrost Slash, his third Soul Ring, directly towards her. Gu Yue gathered a quick tornado of wind and fire to block it. It was destroyed with ease. In the next instant, Wu Zhangkong arrived next to Karni, who was where Tang Wulin was before, that is, too close to run away. It was too quick for Karni to Shift or dodge, but Wu Zhangkong stopped.

They lost. As soon as Karni was defeated, the other two were open after failing with their attack previously. No new moves to follow up with meant defeat.

Wu Zhangkong stood still in thought. "Decent teamwork, but overcomplicated. And too simple."

Karni sighed. It was true. They had many combination attacks, but they never simply charged at Wu Zhangkong with full force. It was either a combo of Wu Siduo and Tang Wulin, or Val Karni and Gu Yue. After Gu Yue and Karni joined forces, it worked brilliantly, but they relied too much on surprises, hence the "too simple" comment. The ending was Karni's last attempt at turning the situation around, but with so many surprise attacks, Wu Zhangkong was starting to expect it beforehand.

Overall? Their team work was decent due to two great Control Systems and two great Assault Systems. The team wasn't complicated. Yet with them having so little experience fighting together, they relied too much on the simple explosive power each of them knew that the team had. They turned the simple advantage they had into a complicated advantage, which, when it stopped working, turned into a major disadvantage.

Karni hopped over to Siduo. She was already standing, though she looked miserable. She could barely walk off the arena with Karni's help. The fact that Wu Zhangkong didn't hold back with his strongest attack against her was a compliment to her prowess.

When they walked next to Tang Wulin, the guy looked distraught. Karni decided to comfort him a little. "Hey, don't worry about it. We didn't have the time to get familiar with each other's abilities. The few times we managed to work together well was because me and Gu Yue happened to be of the same mind. If we have another chance, we might make it."

Tang Wulin sighed. "Speaking of, how did you two work together?"

"I can share my future sight. We just happened to be of the same mind on how to deal with a lot of events we saw."

Gu Yue nodded as well. It was a fluke, but a fluke that happened due to sharpened instincts of Control System Soul Masters.

Tang Wulin nodded. "We weren't covering each other enough. My skill might be explosive, but it does us no good if I cannot hit. Wu Siduo's attacks need some time to charge, and I failed to match her timing after the start. And while you two controlled the battlefield well, we were too focused on not getting hit instead of counterattacking. When you two managed to make a suitable position to counter attack, neither me nor Wu Siduo reacted soon enough."

Karni stared at the guy a bit. He had a scarily accurate awareness of their faults. A sharpened sense of battle and analysis. Yet also a way of taking blame for many of the faults. Karni wasn't used to this, but to Tang Wulin it was natural. They were a team and he was supposed to be the leader.

Tang Wulin finished his thoughts. "At the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that neither of us were used to each other's abilities, and we were forced by Teacher Wu to work with the duo that we weren't used to working with."

Karni had to cooperate with Tang Wulin, while Gu Yue was left alone. When she pulled Tang Wulin to safety, Karni was left wide open. Their team work fell apart eventually, even with two Control System Soul Masters. Or perhaps… that was exactly the problem.

"Next!" Shen Yi called out.

… … …

"Those metals should work perfectly." Tang Wulin nodded. "Though I have to ask. Do you want your Honey Titanium to be in a more liquid state or hardened state? From what I know, the liquid Honey Titanium Refinement version is quite hard to inscribe Soul Arrays on, but the other is very inflexible in its shape and role."

Karni didn't give it much thought. "I can only have the liquid state. My flexibility is a key to many of my skills." He pointed at Siduo. "And I have complete confidence in Sisi's skills at inscribing the Soul Arrays."

Tang Wulin nodded. "That's perfect then. And Wu Siduo?"

"Karni has a half finished design for my Battle Armour already finished." Siduo nudged at Karni.

Karni nodded at Siduo and brought out his blueprints. "It's worth going through it so you get the idea of my style."

The table gathered around. Gu Yue raised her eyebrows. Even though it was a half finished design, she immediately felt the distance between their skills. 

"For starters, I needed to take care of energy absorption." Karni pointed at one of the many blueprints. "Energy Palladium got its name for a reason. It's a greedy bastard that wants to absorb the energy of the wielder, no matter what kind. I did this by adding the Soul Direction Array and pointing it into the two filtering arrays which are further connected by cleansing arrays as well as secure physical barriers of protecting metal, just in case. These two can then, by her will, transfer the energies to the front of the forearm, where I combined the sharpening array with the compaction array. This should allow you to boost both the sharpness of her Hell Cat as well as the power of her White Tiger."

Gu Yue looked at the array that combined the sharpness array with the compaction array. Her eyes widened. "It looks like a dual-core array, but you used the general theory and combined different arrays with it."

Karni nodded. "As for the rest, I plan on putting the enlarging and tempering arrays on the backside of the forearm. Those are for adapting to her fusion form. These arrays will similarly be sprinkled elsewhere on the armour. On the side, I'll connect them together so that the different functions can connect together."

"That will leave you with no space for the three circuit cores that each Battle Armour piece requires though." Gu Yue wondered out loud.

Karni nodded. "That would be a problem, unless I used the Circuit Cores for the connection. They can be the centre of the energy combination. And before you worry about the two different energies. Two would be the leading circuits to guide the connection, while the third would be the balancing act for the mixed energy."

"Wait, how would you balance them?"

"With the Hexagonal Absorbent Balance theory. The positioning of the connections will be the main actor to make it work. While it absorbs the energies with the first array installed on the top side, that energy will flow smoothly into the rest of the forearm." Karni showed the parts on the blueprint, an already designed part.

It took advantage of the fact that every piece was three dimensional, forming a hexagonal shape when looked from a side view, hence the name. Its role was simple. Absorption and balance at the same time, no matter what is absorbed. It was a theory taught at the 4-Star level, but he only fully understood it when Mo Qing taught him about Battle Armour. As with every new toy a child gets put in their arms, Karni was excited to utilise this technique to its fullest.

Gu Yue stared at it for a second and sighed. "I understand it in theory, but I wouldn't be able to design that. Not yet at least." All the hexagonal theories, which were the core of a higher ranked Mecha Designer, started appearing at the 5-Star level.

Tang Wulin felt an odd sense of excitement as Karni explained his designs. Their Battle Armours would soon start to take shape. He looked at Siduo expectantly.

Gu Yue pulled out Tang Wulin's Battle Armour design. "Val Karni, please criticise as much as possible. I want everything to flow smoothly. For starters. Here on the forearm…"