574: The Black Blade's True Power

The Black Blade's True Power

There was a strange sound that came as well as if something had been torn apart! 

When Ming Yue opened her eyes, they widened in shock as she saw something she wasn't expecting. 

"What... what is that? What did I just cut?"

She couldn't help but ask out loud, staring straight ahead of her. There was a thin black void where she had swung and nothing else. A part of her wanted to come closer and examine it but another part could only sense something uncanny about this thin void. The was no sound, no aura, nothing. 

But the void didn't last for very long, closing up after a few seconds. 

Ming Yue just stood there, dumbstruck as to what happened before looking at the weapon in her hands.

"You just cut everything. The air, the world, the very fabric of creation, you just cut it", Senior Zhen explained. 

The weapon spirit turned silent for just a moment. 

"I had thought that you wouldn't have been able to tap into my strength but it seems that I was wrong. Whoever taught you was quite an expert and must have wielded me before, how else would you have been able to do that?"

All she did was casually strike with the sword for that to happen and this result was what made it so terrifying. So much so that even Ming Yue was speechless. 

"Y-yes, I didn't think I would be able to do that..."

Her voice turned a bit quiet and her view went a bit blurry. In an instant, her breathing turned rough as she dropped to one knee, stabbing the Black Blade into the ground. Xiao Yin suddenly landed in front of her, cooing with concern. 

"Hah, hah, hah."

Her body felt weak and she barely had any energy left. 

"That is the price you pay for using me in your current state. You are simply too weak to do anything more than a casual strike. You should recover first before returning", the elder advised.

Ming Yue did as he said, crossing her legs and meditating. Considering how dense the energy was in the Beast Continent, it didn't take her very long to recover enough to get back. Afterwards, she stood back up, glancing at the Black Blade before picking it up. 

"With that sort of power... how would I even use it?" she wondered to herself. 

Quietly, she floated up and flew off returning to the house where the others awaited her. Dinner was soon prepared, and everyone ate over the stone slab as night had risen. Everyone gazed at the stars until Hongyu suddenly yawned, rubbing her eyes and trying to stay awake. 

"Heh, I think it's time for you to sleep. You should be tired, you did so much today."

Ming Yue chuckled, coaxing her to sleep and the child could no longer keep her eyes open. Her head leaned against Ming Yue's shoulder, drifting off. Watching her, the young woman slowly turned, moving her arms under Hongyu and lifting the girl up. 

She then moved into the house as the three beasts followed her in. 

Turning the blankets over, she placed Hongyu onto the bed and tucked her in before quietly exiting. 

"You three should rest too."

The three beasts nodded but followed her outside where she sat down and they curled up around her. Ming Yue watched them all snuggle up around her body, feeling the warmth of their bodies surrounding her. 

A smile formed on her face as she continued to look up at the stars. 

Not long after, she brought out the two swords, laying them next to each other on her legs. The Black Blade was dormant as Senior Zhen was asleep, resting and recovering. However, she could feel a faint energy from Blood Moon. 

"Xue Yue", she called out. 

At first, there was no response but her counterpart soon answered. 

"What is it?"

"If Senior Zhen's special ability is to cut everything, what is yours?" 

After seeing what the Black Blade could do, Ming Yue was curious about Xue Yue's ability. If she were strong enough to do so, what could Blood Moon do? 

Xue Yue was quiet, perhaps thinking of how to best answer this question. 

"This, I don't know?" she said.

"Oh, really..." 

One could hear the disappointment in her voice as she truly was curious. 

"Xue Yue is a young weapon spirit, it is only expected for her to not yet know what her ability is. After all, it depends on the wielder as well."

Having awakened, Senior Zhen explained why. 

"As powerful as a weapon spirit is, it is only as strong as the one wielding. As you get stronger and as time passes, Xue Yue's ability will reveal itself to the both of you."

"I see, so those are the conditions", Ming Yue muttered. 

Hearing this, the disappointment subsided a bit but she was still hoping to see what Xue Yue's ability was. She then looked at the Black Blade, her eyes lingered on it as the scene of the void she cut. 

"I already have Blood Moon but I can just let this collect dust. What should I even do with this sword?" 

There was turmoil in her heart as she thought about the two swords. Xue Yue seemed to sense it and so, she came up with a suggestion, a simple one at that. 

"Why not just use both?"

Ming Yue suddenly looked at Blood Moon as if looking right at Xue Yue. 

"It's not as simple as that, I mean to use both... How would you even feel about that?!" she asked. 

But the weapon spirit had merely scoffed as she retorted. 

"What do you mean by that? It's not like you're throwing me away for another spirit. Do you think that I'm some immature child who'd get jealous?!" 

"Still... wielding both swords, I'd have to completely change the way I fight! I've been fighting with just one sword all this time, using two swords... it just doesn't seem right", the cultivator reasoned. 

"We won't know unless we try, no?" said Xue Yue.

"Senior Zhen, what do you think?" 

Ming Yue couldn't quite refute her and so she glanced over to the Black Blade once again, looking for his opinion. 

"There's nothing wrong with switching from one sword to two swords. You never know when a situation would require more than one. On the other hand, there is also your Dao to consider", said the senior. 

"My Dao? What of it?"

"It seems that you practice three of them. The Sword Dao, the Wind Dao, and the Thunder Dao, although, your grasp of the Thunder Dao is lacking compared to the other two. You seemed to have melded the three together but I believe that there is plenty of room to improve in."

Hearing his words, Ming Yue started to examine the three Daos but Senior Zhen had more to say. 

"Don't forget that you are now in the Sky Realm, you have merely touched the surface of the scope of your abilities. There is much more for you to do and much of it is in regards to the Dao", he explained. 

"What do you mean?" she asked him, "What am I to do?"

Despite her questions, Senior Zhen couldn't provide her with any more guidance. 

"There isn't much for me to say, my strength is weak and my memories have faded. But it is best for you to decide and discover on your own." 

In the end, Senior Zhen went back to slumber while Ming Yue spent the night thinking about what both weapon spirits told her. There was her Dao and her swordsmanship to reconsider. 

How would she change it? Could she even do so?  1

The freedom to do what she wanted was there, it was a matter of what she wanted exactly and Ming Yue didn't know what she wanted. 

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