Karni meditated in front of the first years of the Junior Academy. The youngest, most impressionable six-year-olds. The point was to give them an early experience into how cultivation was supposed to work.
Right now, he was breaking through a minor bottleneck. He circulated his Soul Power, supported by his Bloodline and Spiritual Power.
He was breathing steadily and slowly. The aura of Soul Power was slowly swimming tight to his body. He wasn't compressing it. One did not compress their Soul Power while breaking through—that could only cause trouble.
It was overall a calm atmosphere in the classroom—one filled with silence, amazement and anticipation. Six-year-old kids were silent; they were quiet only once in a blue moon. It just goes to show how interesting it was for them to see a Soul King breakthrough in their cultivation.
Karni took a big breath, then let it out. Mist of Soul Power was released out of his body as the Soul Power became slightly unstable for a moment, then transfixed itself and stabilised. Karni opened his eyes. He was now Rank 54. With the pace he was going at, he was breaking through a small barrier once every three months, though it was now already close to four months. He would probably need about five months toward the end of the Soul King level.
This would mean that by the end of his and Siduo's three year stay here, they should both be at the start of the Soul Emperor level.
"Alright, for starters, how much does a Soul Master's power usually increase per rank?" Siduo asked from the side, to let Karni stabilise.
This was a basic question, but it was something that first years only started to learn, unless they were from some prestigious rank.
"Ten percent." One kid immediately answered.
"Raise your hands please." Siduo said. "I know you're all excited, but let's keep this orderly."
Immediately a few hands were raised.
"What determines these ten percent?" Siduo continued asking, and immediately most of the hands were lowered.
She smiled. "Don't be afraid to answer wrong, I want you to think with your own heads. A Dongfeng." Siduo pointed at one of the few that left their hands up.
"The quality? We based the ten percent off of the normal quality of a Soul Master."
Siduo smiled cheekily. "Ah, but what is this quality? Quality itself is quite an abstract concept."
The arms all fell. No one knew the answer to that.
"It is about the thickness of our Soul Power. The thicker, the more powerful. It's why you saw Teacher Val release a breath of Soul Power. His Soul Power is quite concentrated. I won't go into detail about that, you will learn about this when you enter the advanced academy. For now, remember that quality of Teacher Val's Soul Power gave you kids the chance to observe this. Most of the time, one cannot see our Soul Power." Siduo clapped her hands. It was at that point that Karni also got up from his meditative position.
"So, what did you kids see about my Soul Power throughout this breakthrough. Mention every detail." Karni joined into the conversation.
A few kids raised their heads. Karni pointed at one. "It felt calm… and it didn't… make many waves."
"Waves… Ah, you mean it didn't fluctuate. This?" Karni made a little presentation. A thin layer of Soul Power looked calm, then it fluctuated with waves.
"Yes, this."
"Mm. Whenever you cultivate, the less waves you have, the better." Siduo nodded from the side.
Another kid questioned before Karni called for the hand. "But it fluctuated at the end!?"
"Good observation but do raise your hand." Karni reminded the kid.
"Yes, whenever we breakthrough, every Soul Master is slightly unstable. We need to consolidate…" Karni thought of a simpler word. "We need to be stable and balanced. After we breakthrough, it's very similar to how we all are after a good lunch. We need to rest to let our bellies eat up all that food. If we're too active, we might puke. It's why I kept sitting for a while, and later on today, I will rest even more. I will cultivate to calm down my belly."
The kids nodded. They understood it through that, though a few kids were also rolling their eyes at the simile, because they were already familiar with the theory. Of course, Karni, as a teacher, had to adapt to the kids who were slower. Every kid deserved a proper education.
Siduo called out. "This will be most important for you all. You need to be diligent with your cultivation, and make sure it is always stable. If you progress too fast, you will not be as strong as others when they reach that same level. If you happen to get lucky and become stronger all of a sudden, take a rest and stabilise yourselves. Teacher Val and I had to do that quite a few times in our time as Soul Masters."
She didn't say it out loud. But the fact they were here was also part of that very rest.
"And on that note," Yi Lan stepped up front, "we will stop the class here. Thank you, Teacher Val, for this in-depth demonstration and Teacher Wu for being clear. You kids go home and focus on what you learned today."
… … …
"Little bro, why are you here?" Siduo had her arms crossed. "You're not in the Special Class. And you even brought your girlfriend."
"She's not my girlfriend! She is my friend!"
"Sure, sure. But you can't be here. Special Class students only."
Jianyu stared at her sister. "But you gave us a challenge. Where better to train but here?"
Siduo rubbed her forehead. "You… that's not the point. Jianyu, you have yet to earn Special Practice."
"But you're my sister."
Karni overheard from the side. "Eh, train them. They'll be treated like the rest. If they cannot keep up and pass out, they won't be getting anything out of it." He offered from the side, taking a break from berating Xu An on her lacklustre music.
Siduo turned to Karni, then back to Jianyu. "Fine. But if you start passing out, and your grades fall in your normal classes, I'll tell mom and dad to ground you. Then you won't be getting any practice."
Jianyu frowned. "But if we train here, why do we still have to go to normal classes?"
"Because you're not officially in this class, and we are only overseeing the combat practice. Special Class still has regular classes. Karni and I don't oversee those."
"But why would you tell mom and dad?!"
Siduo looked at her brother with a raised eyebrow. "My little brother. I get that our family does our best to support each other, but this is not our family. It's the school. And you will have to learn that you have to earn the privilege for better-than-normal opportunities. This is the only option I will give you. Yes, or no."
Jianyu looked at her sister, his eyes started to water a bit. "You're being mean!"
Siduo did not give into her spoiled brother's crocodile tears. "Yes, I am. Choose."
"I'll do it." The girl next to him stepped up. Wang Chao stepped up.
"We'll throw you out too if you cannot perform on the same level as the rest." Siduo locked eyes with the girl.
Jianyu looked at her. "Big sis!"
"Okay." Wang Chao said with resolution. It was kind of cute to see a kid with such a serious face.
"Chao!" Jianyu looked at his friend.
"Jianyu. The fact they're not telling the school is already an opportunity. If they say a single word, we would never be able to train here anyway. Let's use this opportunity."
Jianyu was about to say something, but his big sister interrupted him.
"Mm. Good mindset, Wang Chao. Get into the field of Lotuses. Be careful, you'll feel pressure on your mind."
She looked over at Karni. "Kiki!" She yelled intentionally so everyone could hear. "She'll join! Do not lower the pressure for her."
"I couldn't even if I wanted to! I don't have the control yet! Everyone would need to get lesser training."
"We can't do that." Siduo said resolutely and looked at her brother. "So."
Jianyu was still angrily staring at her sister. Siduo could not help but inwardly sigh. They spoiled her brother too much. Everyone did. Even Siduo herself would have ended up spoiled if not for a whole lifetime of experience. The expectations of the family were high, both she and her brother had pride in their power, but the family coddled them as well.
"I… I'll go in." Jianyu said somewhat dejected but tried to appear tough.
Siduo walked with him to the edge of the Lotus field. "These two will join the field, but let it be known. The training will not change at all. You will do the exact same thing as before. You will not be bothered."
She turned to Jianyu and Wang Chao. "Neither I nor Karni will help you. Nor will anyone else!" She looked to the rest, then turned back to the two kids. "All you two can do is use the environment we've created here. Seek your own opportunities. If you bother anyone else in any way, you're not welcome anymore. Do you understand?"
Wang Chao nodded furiously, while Jianyu wanted to say something again, but could not, as his sister's eyes were staring into him. He quietly entered the Lotus field along with Wang Chao.
They stepped into it, and it didn't take long for the two to fall to their knees. They immediately got a splitting headache. Karni stayed silent. He didn't lower the intensity. He was in agreement with Siduo. The Special Class had been doing this training for three months now. Their minds were much more used to it than someone new. Jianyu and Chao were also younger. Junior Academy did not have intense training classes.
They could barely keep it together.
"Jianyu. Back up."
"NO! We can't! They'll throw us out!"
"That's not what they said, Jainyu." Wang Chao tried to reason as she started crawling back. Back to the edge of the Lotus field. Just next to one of the outermost Lotuses.
She managed to pick herself up, breathing heavily. Then she sat down with some difficulty, managing to get into a meditative pose.
Karni almost wanted to whistle. The girl was bright. She also looked to be more familiar with being calm in an uncomfortable situation. Whether it was due to where she lived before or exactly because her family moved to Star Luo City, Karni did not know. The most important fact was that she kept herself together in a tense situation.
Jianyu watched what Wang Chao did with some difficulty, before finally figuring it out as well. He wasn't dumb. If this was a normal training session, he would have figured it out immediately. But his sister really threw him for a loop. He didn't have the experience to keep calm in unexpected situation.
But Siduo would not let this problem fester. She needed to nip this in the bud. She had watched her little brother become more and more spoiled throughout the years. The most egregious incident was with the train incident. But at least then he was feeling sorry, and it ended up being a lesson.
But while it taught Jianyu to be careful, he only became more spoiled after, as the family babied him when they found out what he went through. Well, their parents did especially. Her parents were the kind that threw a party when Siduo went missing for two days when she was young… they threw two parties when Jianyu returned.
Siduo loved her parents, especially due to who they were, but… well, overbearing love was also a flaw. Jianyu was getting entitled. He was loved, he was taken care of, but he took it all for granted.
Karni watched the group as they completed the combat training. He took a glance at Siduo who nodded. "Alright, Xu An, Qin Ming, get in." Xu An and Qin Ming usually trained by the side, similar to Wang Chao and Jianyu right now, because they didn't usually take part of combat training. They were still fully within the field to feel the pressure; their process was just different. They only did combat training twice a week, as that was when they fought in groups.
"Get ready for intense training. Last as long as you can."
Karni poured Soul Power into the Blooming Loti, while also pouring in his Spiritual Power; the full pressure of the field exploded. All of the Special Class sat down, starting to sweat in a matter of a few minutes. Karni was checking on Jianyu and Wang Chao in between.
Siduo was also looking at them. The kids had to crawl even further out. Karni almost wanted to give them advice, telling them to struggle a bit, as it would do them good, but changed his mind. This was Siduo's little project, and she wanted Jianyu to find his own opportunities. If they were smart, they would figure it out after a few days.
In such a way, the training continued as if Jianyu and Wang Chao did not exist.
… … …
Karni was holding his head, tapping the table with a designing pen. Siduo was looking over his shoulder, at his designs.
His designs were, for the lack of a better word, a bit strange. These were the designs of Siduo's new Whip Blades.
There was a cluster of razor-sharp blades connected to one another. Each was 4 cm in height, and a good 10 cm long. The blades when compacted would be 120 cm (4 ft) long, this made it so that a single Whip Blade would be designed from 30 pieces of smaller blades.
Each little blade was connected through a compact, yet complicated mechanism. Each of these string-like mechanisms could stretch by 8 cm. This meant that the blades could reach about 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) in length.
The mechanism was already tested. As soon as Karni started working on it, he saw the path forward. The mechanisms needed to not only be able to stretch and collapse inside the blades, but they needed to be flexible, and flexible only in the right direction. They also needed to bend to an appropriate degree and be able to collapse together without getting tangled up.
Karni used fibres, imitating small muscles between the blades. He used knowledge from his prosthetics. Four lines of wires with fibres connected one blade to another, which made them very flexible. These fibres were also knit in a way that basic physics made them bend in a certain way to keep shape. At each end of the fibre, there were also pulling mechanisms, which, through Soul Arrays dictated how it retracted—the order, the timing, the strength of the pull—so as to not get tangled up.
Siduo tested them out already, but she was also a bit despondent. The blades weren't long enough. Unfortunately for her, Karni couldn't make them longer without also sacrificing the quality. More than that, despite the physical designs being finished, the Soul Array for infusing Siduo's Martial Souls was giving him problems. And even more than that…
"I want a reach of at least 30 metres." (98.4 ft) The words from a few days ago still rang in Karni's ears. Thirty metres! At least! She wanted more than that when Karni was having trouble with just this! Karni would never be able to succeed in that unfortunately. Not as he was now. He would need to reach the 7-Star Rank to succeed. It was only then that Ziwen Geometries, also known as Non-Euclidean mathematics, would go into full blast. Non-Euclidean mathematics and geometry as a foundation on their own brought a completely different design philosophy to Mecha Designers. One which was far more flexible and competent.
The problem, however, was that for one to become a 7-Star Designer meant that one also had to fully understand the Ziwen Geometries, which acted as a whole new foundation for everything that followed at 8-Star and 9-Star technology.
He was curious how long Di Huiying's Whip Blade Artifact from twenty thousand years ago was when fully stretched. He was equally terrified and amazed to find out that it could stretch a total of 60 metres (approx. 200 ft). Its compact length was also that of 2 metres (6.5 ft). When he looked at a publicly available video of it retracting and stretching, he noticed that there were blades within the blades. If the Blades hidden within were to be part of the compact blade, it would likely reach close to 6 metres in length.
It was quite smart—something he hadn't thought of—but it was also unrealistic with his current designs. If Karni made the insides of the blades any hollower to add room for new things, they wouldn't be viable for battle. Currently, he couldn't even add more blade parts in the normal way, for the fear of the connecting mechanism becoming overburdened. Either way, to make better Whip-Blades, he was going to have to study up.
He was already in the full swing of studying up on Ziwen Geometries, as that would unlock many new avenues. For starters, it would allow him to create more complex Soul Arrays, ones that could potentially enable Siduo to perform Self Fusion within the weapons themselves. But studying Ziwen Technologies took a lot of time, because of how different the math was compared to the normal usage. It usually took years for Designers to jump from 6-Star to 7-Star, where Ziwen Technologies were required as foundation. Because of that, Siduo had to settle for simpler Whip Blades for now.
But there was a problem with these simple Whip Blades as well. The space within this compact size. Karni managed to figure out the mechanism, but he had trouble laying out the Soul Arrays and functions to allow for fusion between the weapon and the Martial Soul.
Unlike his Greatsword, which was really just a sharp plank that also happened to transform, the whip blades were delicate, and a thing of beauty in terms of design. Precise and complex.
Within these tight spaces, he was supposed to not only enable Siduo's Martial Soul to fuse into the weapon, but he had to adapt the Soul Arrays for the Soul Rings, so the effects transferred properly.
So far, the only thing he'd been able to design was the Connecting Array at the handle, where Siduo's Blood could go in to connect her Martial Soul to the Whip Blade. The rest of the arrays couldn't be within the handle. They had to be woven in between the different blades, between the mechanisms.
"Hey, what about this part?" Siduo pointed to one section of the mechanism. The complexity there was smaller, and it was close to a bit of space within the blade itself. Just at the corner.
"Wait, wait, wait." Karni held his breath as he started drawing left and right. He layered a few Hexagonal arrays over that part at the blueprint, then connected them to the rest of the mechanism through the Icosahedron Arrays. A full picture was starting to form.
"Yes. If I do it like this… then this connects… and it connects here…" He grabbed another paper. On this one, he started drawing smaller Icosahedrons within Icosahedrons, angled perfectly for them to overlap at crucial points. A shape for an Array to Transform the Soul Skills ability started to form.
"It's a bit tight, and precision will be necessary, but… it should come back on this side to connect and… YES! Fucking finally!"
He banged his head on the table, smiling. He needed a whole damn month to figure this one out. There was a lot of brute forcing involved, with him building the whole formation step by step. This corner Siduo noticed was in just the perfect position. Sometimes everything just lined up. He finally made one complete formation for a single Soul Ring and how it would function.
It might seem like small progress. Only a single Soul Ring. But now he had a template to work with. And it was compact enough that all Siduo's current Soul Rings should fit on the Whip Blade. He finally used his 6-Star Designer knowledge on a new big project.
"Gimme a week. I'll finish the blades by then."
"Oooh, I can't wait to try them out!"
… … …
Having whips was bad enough when they trained. Back then it was Karni's Purple Mecha vs Siduo's Motorbike.
Now it was just Karni vs Siduo. Except Siduo had Whip-Blades instead of Whips. The bastard. He shouldn't have made those weapons!
Siduo was absolutely terrifying with them. She was way too flexible. And the way he implemented the skills was also obviously the best, which meant she was even more terrifying. In fact, that was one of the only two things she did have to get used to. How to utilise her Martial Soul on the Whip Blades. And how to use two of them at once.
She was an unstoppable force!
He was practicing with his Greatsword. He mostly used constant spins to carry over weight, along with combining these spins with Shifting. He could cut space apart as he wished, but did it matter? Not really.
Siduo didn't need to use her Martial Soul to beat him anymore. That's how much of a difference it was now. He was scared to imagine how she would be if she had 30-metres-long Whip Blades. Or worse. 60-metres long ones like that artifact.
Even as Karni parried on one side, even if he tried to parry with a Dagger and a Longsword, the Whip-Blades reached him no matter what. The only saving grace was that when Karni changed forms of the Guardian, those changed automatically with his Cosmic Instrument. If he had to do it manually and stick the Drumstick form into the Guardian each time, he would perform even worse. But despite that. Siduo knew exactly how to bend the Whip Blades to hit Karni.
Correction. It wasn't Karni who would be hit. It would be his clothes. What he wore now was already his fifth set. She shredded them all without touching him even once!
Karni had never before felt so humiliated. So, all of that time that he managed to keep up with her… It really was because she had to learn things she wasn't used to. She wasn't used to the Hell Cat, the White Tiger, the Yin and Yang Powers. Even if she comprehended Fire and Ice, she didn't have the pure elements which she could manipulate.
But Whip Blades? She really was wielding them as freely as if they were her body. Karni could feel the years of experience behind her moves.
Despite stretching only 3.5 metres, it felt like the Whip-Blades were so much longer. They reached everywhere. He constantly had to Shift, and he was getting slower and slower despite being able to orient himself through the grid.
Finally, he saw her smile. Just after he came out of a Shift. Soul Rings shined all around her. Her right Whip-Blade turned fully white, white flames covering it as well, and the left turned fully Black, looking icy cold.
One came rushing in, suddenly lighting into a giant flame and burning brightly. She was using Sun Tiger Meteor through the Whip Blade.
The other looked to have shadows following it, multiple of them. The handle was a pale moon white. The Moon Feet Clones were activated on the other blade.
Karni could only place himself inside a Lotus and activate his Panda alongside with strengthening the Guardian through Quivering Silver Feathers. He knew by now that those Whip-Blades reached all around him.
Just as the Whip-Blades touched the Lotus, he felt a presence envelop his whole being. Squishing him in from all directions, constricting him before the Whip Blades even touched him.
They cut through the Lotus like butter, whipped around him and locked him in. The very presence of the Whip-Blades completely messed with his perception. It was like his very mind was captured in a net. Siduo was in the Spirit Sea Realm while Karni was in the Spirit Abyss Realm, yet she still managed to capture his very mind.
Yet this cage felt soft, while feeling physical. It was the Comprehension, the Intent. The Whip Blade Soul. The Whip-Blades did not cut him, only pulled him directly toward her.
Siduo swung her arms, and he spun into her embrace and directly into a kiss. A deep one as well, one Karni could tell Siduo was enjoying very much. Not that he wasn't. He would never say no to a kiss from her, unless there were some very odd circumstances.
She finally let his tongue go and looked at him with deep affection. "Told you, you can't fight me anymore."
Karni grumbled something underneath his breath.
"What's that!"
"You taste nice." He went in for the kiss.
The kiss lasted long again.
The two parted and she stared at him.
Karni sighed. "Didn't catch you off guard with that cringy line, huh?"
"Of course not, I plan to do a lot more embarrassing things to you before we return to Shrek."
"You know, with you holding me like this, it's a bit hard for me to wait until we're 18." Karni stared into her eyes.
She looked at him and instead of getting embarrassed and sending him away, she kissed him again.
"Ahem. You two know that this is the Tang Sect practice ground, yeah?"
"O-Oh!" The two quickly parted.
"Sisi, how could you make me do this?!"
"Your body is a me magnet, I can't not do it!" She complained.
"Stop it. Just…" The staff sighed.
"Let's go." Karni chuckled.
When they got out of the room, Siduo tapped her chin, turning serious again. "You know, the Whip Blades being shorter than I want might be a blessing in disguise."
Karni raised his eyebrow. "How so?"
"I'm not used to two Whip Blades. If they were the length I was used to, they would likely get tangled up. This way I get to experiment a bit."
Karni stared at her, genuinely, utterly… something. He didn't know what to say. So she would get stronger than that? Karni put that at the back of his mind, lest he started feeling overwhelmed. He focused on what they still had to do instead.
Siduo ignored Karni's worries. "Oh, and I finally thought of the name. Sun Moon Whip-Blades."
Karni nodded. "Solid name. Very descriptive."
He got a soft punch in the shoulder for that comment.
With the Sun Moon Whip-Blades completed, all they had to finish up was the new Mecha and the Motorbike.
… … …
"Alright, we follow the plan." Karni nodded to Siduo. The two were out in the city. They've finally decided to go full in. It had been five months since the announcement in the arena. They were basically prepared to face anything. They finished with preparation a month early than their self-imposed time limit.
They walked about and noticed a few officers. They all looked at them. Some wore mixed emotions, but most just looked at them with hostility. Since the Shrek Students badmouthed the police chief, the police had been under constant pressure and questioning, whether one was corrupt or not. It did not help that the academy kept on pushing and asking questions.
But Karni and Siduo continued walking. The same route they walked yesterday, the day before that, and everyday since the last week.
They were making an intentional routine. Let the police notice, show their faces, appear arrogant. Make it look like they dropped their guard.
And it had already started to work. There were more and more police stationed where before there were none. They only watched, and hopefully, reported on their non-changing routine.
But for now, they decided to keep to public spaces. The public was currently against the police, hence why the police didn't dare bother the two most famous people in the city right now. They were greeted regularly on the street.
They always wore casual clothes, held hands, and simply looked like they were on a date. The only thing they changed here and there was at which coffee shop they stopped at, but the route stayed the same.
Day after day, the same routine. Week after week. And finally, a full month.
They were ready, the attention was on them, it was time to set the bait.
A break in the routine, but an unconventional one. The same route.
But Siduo walked alone today, looking a bit absentminded even.
She looked around and had to hide her smile, had to pretend to be somewhat moody instead. It was working. All the policemen, the same faces she'd been seeing on this route for the past month, were talking over their communicators.
She looked up at a roof with her eyes and moved her mouth. She was ready.
Another break in the routine followed.
She turned down the alley. An abandoned one. But one that Karni and Siduo were intimately familiar with despite this not being in their routine the past month.
Now to hope someone took the bait.
Siduo closed her eyes and waited. Then sensed. Someone took the bait.
A police officer approached her. A flat-faced looking dude. But the kind that looked uninterested and found this all to be annoying.
"Look. Lass." The man lit a cigarette. "I don't want to do this. But I'll have to bring you in. As long as you don't resist you don't have to get hurt."
Siduo smiled. "What? Didn't you watch the match?"
"Oh, I watched it alright. You're quite a strong one. And I am a Soul Emperor. A level you definitely reached in power, but uh…" The man scratched his head. "I'm also a Two-Word Battle Master. So, can we not do this? Just come with me. Get to the boss and let's get this over with."
"No can do, sorry." Siduo waved him and continued walking.
"Ugh… Fin-" The man fell on the floor in the alley. He was knocked out.
Behind him stood Karni. "Well, that was easy." His Cosmic Instrument resonated with Sound.
"Let's get out of here." Siduo came close to him and Karni nodded. His Fourth Soul Ring activated and the two Shifted away…
To a little abandoned warehouse not far from here. A place they were as familiar with as that alley before. The former base of the corrupt police gang they took out. It was the perfect place to go to. Police avoided it, specifically because of what happened here. They did not want to bring attention to it.
Siduo tied the man up and pointed at a few pressure points, blocking the man's blood flow and Soul Power.
Karni hit the guy's head and the man woke up. He looked around. "Thought it was weird… huh. You two kids know how to block Soul Power as well eh? Shrek is not to be trifled with."
"Yeah, yeah." Karni waved his head. "Look. All we want to know is what Police Chief Tai wants with us."
"She wants you dead. As simple as that."
"Nothing else?" Siduo raised her eyebrows.
The policeman laughed. "Nothing else? What more could it be? You want your family to be dead as well or something? No. She only wants to finish you off discretely, that's all."
"And why is no other police force interfering? The general region? The military?"
"Because our chief has friends in high places… and dark places that have friends in high places too."
"So, it's Evil Soul Masters again." Siduo sighed.
"Yes, though there is no proof. Only rumours. Everyone obeys, because the last couple of lads who said something didn't come back to the job, you see?"
"Hmm. Sisi, I have an idea, but we'll need to get the approval and some help from the sect first."