Pathway

Ju Feng saw a bronze coloured sword floating in front of him. His own soul weapon. His heart beat faster as he kept on looking at the weapon. This was the moment he was expected to take the weapon. He could only hope nothing would go wrong. Ju Feng moved closer and grabbed the weapon with his extended hand.

Instantly, his mind went blank. It took him several minutes to regain consciousness. He fell on his as his breath came in shallow takes. He looked at the bronze sword and smiled happily. It was a generic sword, but it was his. He would take it anyday. He would keep it until he opened his soul space, probably. If he was alive by then. He sighed and put the sword in his spatial sac. 

He turned towards the entrance and was about to leave when darkness descended on the whole valley. There was a great silence in the valley. Apart from Ju Feng, every blood knew darkness indicated the birth of a cosmic weapon. Who had summoned a cosmic weapon? Which clan? These were the questions going on in the minds of those present. 

There was a thunderous sound that covered the whole valley. The ground of the valley shook violently. Ju Feng watched in apprehension as a violet lightning streaked down from the raging sky. As the light disappeared, Ju Feng saw dangling in the air, a silver-white greatsword. With his mouth wide opened, Ju Feng rubbed his eyes in shock. Silver-white? That could only be divine Mithril blade. Was it for him? He looked around his section of the valley but didn't see any other blood there. He was the only one there. It had to be for him. 

Knowing what happened to him when he touched a generic weapon, Ju Feng decided to prepare himself. He pushed all the chi energy he could afford into his body and mind. After some seconds, he walked up to the greatsword and grabbed its hilt. The moment his hand touched the hilt of the sword, he screamed out in total agony. It was as if his soul was almost rendered apart from his body. He pushed more chi energy into his body and mind, fortifying it further. He fell on his knees still holding the sword in his right hand. His left hand held his head. It was as if his head would explode. 

It took several long hours for him to regain himself as his headache receded. He stood up and stared at the greatsword. It was a massive sword but it was as light as a feather. Even a mortal could wield it easily. He was still looking at the great sword in shock when he heard a sound of drifting water. It was like that of a stream. He turned to the sound and saw the stream of water no more than five yards to his left. The churning column of water suddenly resolved into the shape of a giant figure striding towards him in great speed. Water seething and dancing furiously at its feet as it ran. Despite the fact that it hadn't gained momentum, its speed was still frightening.

Water elemental.

Immediately, Ju Feng remembered the conchi guardian he encountered in Deathkeep. If this one was like that, there was no way he could face it in battle. A quick glance at the approaching elemental, Ju Feng couldn't help but wonder how powerful it was. He looked at the entrance, it was still sealed. Then, he stared at the greatsword in his hand and nodded. He quickly raised his arms, holding the greatsword up to the sky, and blistering light burst into life in an arc beyond his hands. He could feel the heat it gave off; even with his eyes almost entirely closed the light was nearly unbearable.

The powerful energy vibrated in the swrod as he fought to control the power of the massive sword. The impact of the magic smashing into itself reverberated down into his massive shoulders. The air shuddered and screamed around him as the streams of energy within the arc writhed about each other, but after a few moments Ju Feng felt the magical power of the sword slowly submit to his control.

He felt as though he were rising up on the air, and all sensation other than the enormous power in his hands fell away. Ju Feng struggled not to scream at the overwhelming strength flowing through his body. And for a moment, he felt invulnerable, divine. 

The elemental seemed to recognise the power of the sword too. Its advance faltered, but instead of stopping, a palpable surge of rage radiated out and on it came. Ju Feng watched the fluid motion of the limbs of the elemental as it gathered more speed and streaked towards him. It looked like the cosmic elementals as it moved. The white froth of its body was tinted the faintest of blues, and it was as deceptively quick as the conchi guardian. The deadly power of the elementals. 

But there was a little difference to the previous encounter he had with the water elemental. He was now a true premier. As the elemental surged towards Ju Feng, fists bunched and ready,  With a simple control, Ju Feng split the weaves of chi in his body and pushed it into the greatsword. But the elemental didn't stop. The vast energy in the sword would disrupt the elemental's body, even if nothing showed. 

Nearing Ju Feng, the elemental manifested massive claws and swung them towards him. The young cultivator ducked and spun around, letting momentum carry the blade into the elemental belly and on through its body. The elemental howled as it stopped and turned. It looked at the greatsword again in fury. Slowly, it raised one claw after the other. Then all of a sudden, it blurred towards Ju Feng in different after images. 

Seeing the deadly attack , Ju Feng swung the sword in circles. The attack of the elental collided with the great sword, knocking Ju Feng flying. To Ju Feng, it felt like a titan hammer had been slammed down on him. It drained a bit of energy from him, reeling him for a moment. The elemental saw its advantage and moved. Instictly, Ju Feng slashed wildly upwards and felt the greatsword cut something, momentarily driving the elemental off.

The elemental seemed to be wary of the greatsword now. It was trying to avoid the sword by all means. Watching the sword, the elemental attacked again. But this time Ju Feng was prepared, riding the blow as he cut to the knee, then reversing his blade and ripping it up into the groin, and right through to the elemental's shoulder.

Again the creature screamed, but the cuts, heavy impacts as Ju Feng felt them, seemed to pass through and out without causing any obvious damage other than a blaze in the water of its body as the greatsword cut through it. Ju Feng wished he knew any sword technique now. If he was fighting the water sword elemental, he would have been dead since. This elemental was fast, but far from the level of the one he encountered at the Deathkeep. 

Ju Feng gave steady ground, cutting forward again and again, until at last the elemental seemed to slow and he felt his chance come. With every scrap of a premier's power and speed, he slashed and tore at his enemy, using the size of the sword as a defensive shield while following each blow with another. The elemental reeled under his furious assault and squealed like a wounded boar before bursting apart into a sudden torrent of water.

Ju Feng stopped and looked around at the puddle of water he was standing in. There was no sign of the elemental. The still air above seemed frozen with shock at the raw power of the greatsword. He noticed his breathing again, ragged through his tight throat, and then the sounds of the valley once more rushed back to him. His toes twitched automatically as he felt the chill of the water invading his straw boots and that brought him much needed relief.

After some seconds, he looked at the greatsword and put it inside his spatial sac. He was supposed to pull it into his soul space but he hadn't opened his soul space yet. If he was to loose his weapon before forming his soul space, he would never be able to have another one until he entered reincarnation.

The darkness covering the valley disappeared. The seal blocking the entrance to his section of the valley also vanished. Ju Feng slowly made his way to the entrance just as the other four bloods too were leaving their own sections. There was no way for the bloods present to know who had the cosmic weapon among the five that exited the summoning grounds.

Outside the entrance, Ju Feng stopped and looked around. He was holding the generic sword. Others present didn't pay him much attention after seeing his soul weapon. Realizing no one was paying attention to him, he quickly made his towards the main entrance. He was about to exit when he heard his name.

"Ju Feng?"