n

n

nZhao Luo had his hand on the shield as he felt the artistic carvings of the silver lion that was beating the golden drum with his palms.

n'JINGLE~'

nDrion, the shield released an exciting sound like it could feel the touch of its master. The sound kept on echoing out of the shield while drion kept on vibrating.

n'Smack.'

nZhao Luo hurriedly slapped the shield so it could stop making the 'jingle' sound.

nThis sound had left a deep mark of embarrassment in Zhao Luo's mind thus he couldn't bear to hear it anymore.

n'JINGLE~, JINGLE~'

nAs if Drion couldn't understand Zhao Luo's suffering, it started to vibrate at an even higher frequency.

nAn image of a cat lady appeared in his mind who was wearing a bell collar.

nThen another image of a Senior who was wearing armor appeared in his mind. The senior was Vellum who was looking weirdly at Zhao Luo like Zhao Luo was a culprit.

n'Don't look at me with those eyes. I didn't watch it intentionally.'

nZhao Luo thought unconsciously as he closed his eyes.

n'Why are you doing this?'

nZhao Luo questioned as he opened his eyes to look seriously at Drion.

nThere was no hint of anger in Zhao Luo's eyes.

nHis eyes only had condemnation for himself as his image reflected in the shield.

n'.....'

nDrion finally stopped making the 'jingle' noises.

nDrion then emitted a shine that covered Zhao Luo.

n'What?'

n'Roar, Treaa, ROAR, TREAAAA.'

nZhao Luo was shocked as the mysterious shine that covered him had two beasts that were looking at him.

nZhao Luo could hear them as they tried to tell Zhao Luo something.

nThe Silver Lion roared while the Earth Turtle snapped its mouth as it extended its neck out of its shell but for now, Zhao Luo wasn't able to understand them.

nThe shine soon started receding and eventually it had completely disappeared.

n'I feel calm.'

nZhao Luo was feeling refreshed.

nHe then stared at the shield while thinking about Bellum.

n

"Senior must have given me this.

"

nZhao Luo said as Bellum was the only one he had come in contact with since his master had disappeared who could have given Zhao Luo such a precious item.

nZhao Luo went around the shield but there was no strap or a handle from where he could hold the shield on his hand.

n

"Maybe I have to throw it like a boomerang.

"

nZhao Luo thought while looking at Drion which was as tall as him.

nIt didn't take long for Zhao Luo to act on his thought.

n'Summon.'

n'Fwoosh.'

nZhao Luo thought as nine apparitions appeared in front of him.

nAll of the apparitions of Zhao Luo looked even more solid than before.

n'Interesting.'

nZhao Luo thought while inspecting his apparitions.

n

"Warriors!

"

nZhao Luo shouted as he called his apparition with a new name.

nThe nine apparitions gathered around Zhao Luo.

n

"You all can see a shield here, I assume. So, let's welcome it.

"

nZhao Luo said while pointing his hands at the Drion.

n'Clap, Clap.'

nZhao Luo then started clapping while looking at it.

nEven though it was a shield Zhao Luo knew that it had a conscious presence.

n'Clap, Clap.'

nThe apparitions also started clapping awkwardly following Zhao Luo's lead.

n

"Okay, Stop.

"

nZhao Luo ended the short welcoming party with that note as he squinted his eyes.

n

"It's time to train. But this time the training is a little different.

"

nZhao Luo told his apparitions.

n

"I will throw and you will catch.

"

nZhao Luo instructed them while grabbing the big shield that was as big as him.

nThe nine apparitions had also taken their positions as they waited for Zhao Luo to make his move.

nZhao Luo was still going further increasing the distance between him and his apparitions.

nAfter going away for a little more, Zhao Luo finally stopped.

nWith Drion in his hands, Zhao Luo arched his back.

nHe Curved his body backward while rotating his arms towards his right.

nAt the same time, he raised his arms at a slightly inclined angle.

nThen like a cannonball shooting out of a Canon or a bullet being fired from a gun, the shield 'drion' was thrown by Zhao Luo which spun at an immeasurably fast speed while going towards his apparitions.

nThe next moment the shield had sliced through all of his apparitions. The nine apparitions were passed by the shield at once as they were unable to stop it.

nThus the nine apparitions fell at the same time turning into disappearing shadows.

nThis was the first time Zhao Luo saw his shadows being destroyed so easily.

n'The shield passed through them so easily but where did it go.'

nDrion never stopped even after slicing through his apparitions it just kept on moving forward as it went so far that Zhao Luo couldn't even see it anymore.

nZhao Luo's dark space was vast so 'Drion' could be anywhere which left Zhao Luo in confusion.

nBut the solution to this confusion was simple.

nSoon the shield came back spinning from a far distance.

nZhao Luo could see a dot coming towards him as time after time its size kept on increasing when finally the shield slowed down when it reached in front of Zhao Luo.

n'Grab.'

nZhao Luo held it with both of his hands.

n'Powerful and Incredible.'

nZhao Luo thought as he was planning something.

n

"I can just throw it at the enemy frontline and destroy them. Haha, or slice all the trees in half with this shield.

"

nZhao Luo started laughing thinking about how easy his battles could be if he just used the shield in the right way.

nZhao Luo turned the shield to place it back as it was before.

n

"Summon.

"

nZhao Luo said as his nine apparitions appeared again.

nSame semi-solid forms as before but this time there was a slight change in these apparitions.

nThey all looked terrified.

n'Getting sliced by a shield would have taken quite a toll on them.'

nZhao Luo understood the reasoning behind their faces which were filled with fear.

n

"Ifrit.

"

nZhao Luo called out Ifrit as it appeared in his hands.

nZhao Luo held the crimson sword which shined like Sun in his dark space brightening the surrounding.

nThe eyes of his apparitions shined with greed as they stared at Ifrit. That is how enchanting his sword was.

nZhao Luo smiled as he looked at his apparitions who had already forgotten the fear that they were feeling when Zhao Luo had summoned them.

nIfrit's shine finally dimmed a little as Zhao Luo opened his mouth.

n

"Swords.

"

nThe moment Zhao Luo said the word swords, nine swords were formed which were stuck in the dark ground between him and his apparitions.

n

"Take your pick.

"

nZhao Luo instructed them with a smile as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

n'Even though they all look the same?'

nAll the apparitions thought the same thing.

nIt was true that all the swords were back and shiny and looked the same too as they were all just copies of each other.

nOne by one the apparitions kept on pulling out the swords. Soon all of the apparitions had a sword in their hand as they stood facing Zhao Luo who had Ifrit in his hand.

n

"Sword.

"

nZhao Luo said again as he imagined two more swords that appeared on his left and right side of the ground.

nZhao Luo held Ifrit between the jaws of his mouth as he grabbed the two swords by his hands and pulled them out of the ground.

nIn the dark space where no wind factor was involved, Zhao Luo's hair still swayed as if dancing on his head like a boss while he faced his apparitions.

n

"Unfair.

"

nThe apparitions shouted together.

n

"We get one while you have three.

"

nThey shouted again while complaining about the unfair and unequal self-treatment shown by Zhao Luo.

n

"Shup pup anch choke ad Mesh.

"

nZhao Luo tried saying something but with Ifrit in his mouth he couldn't say it correctly.

n

"Translation: Shut up and come at me.

"

nOne of the apparitions repeated Zhao Luo's sentence but in a clear tone.

nThen both sides rushed at each other.

nThis could just as well be the New Era's biggest sword fight.

n

"Three sword style: Skewering Cut.

"

nZhao Luo said as he ran towards his apparitions with his knees bent and his back facing the ground.

nHe was running at them like a bull.

n

"Run.

"

nThe apparitions dodged Zhao Luo's weird attack and countered him.

n'Slash, Slash, Slash, Slash.'

nSlash after slash all the apparitions attack Zhao Luo with their black swords from all angles.

n

"Three sword style: Sword wall.

"

nZhao Luo shouted the name of the move as he started spinning with Ifrit in his mouth.

nBecause of the position of his hands and his swords, the moment he started spinning a tornado was formed which had dark crimson color.

n

"Ting, ting, ting, ting...

"

nZhao Luo blocked all the attacks thrown at him by his apparitions.

nZhao Luo stopped his move thus breaking his spin after blocking the attacks and throwing his apparitions away in the collision.

nZhao Luo looked prideful after pulling off a successful defense.

n'If only Senior was here... Sigh.'

nZhao Luo felt sad as in this whole world only he knew how to pull off such crazy moves.

nThe moves that Zhao Luo had showcased just now were like his hidden trump cards.

nThey were the moves of the best 'fictional' swordsman of his time from the 'two-piece daoist' drama.

nZhao Luo felt nostalgic while reminiscing the past as he dropped the swords in his hand and grabbed Ifrit in his hands.

n

"Time to start for real.

"

nZhao Luo rushed at his apparitions as they were coming at him in a line.

n*Dang*

n*Ting*

n*Thud*

n*Slash*

nZhao Luo fought them equally for a while even though he was outnumbered by them.

nThe collisions of swords kept on echoing around the dark space of Zhao Luo's Mental world.

nSlash after slash, Zhao Luo's body kept on taking damage by the swords of his apparitions as he never backed down.

n*Slash*

nZhao Luo slashed one of his apparitions and smiled.

nAfter being slashed by Ifrit the apparitions couldn't recover. The immortality factor which made it invincible in this dark space had been countered by Ifrit.

n'Woosh.'

nAfter not being able to recover the apparition disappeared.

n

"Keke, eight more to go.

"

nZhao Luo said as he laughed like crazy.

nThis was how being exposed to Zi Fei affected Zhao Luo.

nThe intense sword fight continued. The nine versus one was already at eight versus one.

nAfter bourse and bourse of sword clanging and slashing sounds, only two remained in the vast dark space.

nZhao Luo versus the last apparition.

n

"I have improved.

"

nZhao Luo said as he rushed past his apparition.

nThe apparitions didn't even notice when Zhao Luo had cut him in half. It could only see a crimson beam that passed its eyes in an instant.

n

"Huff.

"

nZhao Luo breathed as he unconsciously sat in the lotus position on the dark floor of his space.

nSoon he exited the dark space and opened his eyes as he stared at the roof of his hut.

n