Spirit Cultivation

"Damn!" Xuefeng cursed as he was blasted away by the shock wave, his wing force not enough to stop himself midair. He didn't have much time to react it such small space and his back quickly smashed against the barrier. 

Crack! 

The barrier was really sturdy, but even with that, cracks began forming on the outside due to the impact. Xuefeng dropped to the ground with a thud but he quickly lifted himself up, wiping the blood from the corner of his lips. Ling was very quick in her actions and his injuries healed momentarily. As Ming was providing her with her own Fate Qi, the effects were even stronger than normal. 

"See!? I told you Pio will be fine. The real fight will start now. Let's see how is Xuefeng going to defend against him. They should be even in power now. Darkness Attribute in Pio's ability was purely for the offence. Xuefeng will need something extra to defeat him. Haha, this is so exciting!" Liena called out excitedly as she laughed, seeing that everything was happening just as she predicted. 

The youth next to her could only sigh quietly, hoping that nothing bad would happen. Their whole organization's success was dependent on this battle and his Milady was taking it too lightly. Their only way to enter the Fate Kingdom, their promised paradise, was through gathering top ten Fate Spirits and passing all the trials set by the Fate Kingdom King. 

If only one was missing, their mission would fail. They were only Fate Holders after all. None of their Fate Spirits knew the reason for the Fate Kingdom's closure so they could only depend on the information they had. 

When Xuefeng looked at Pio, he didn't spot a silver-haired boy anywhere and instead Pio was replaced with a black-clad character. His whole appearance changed. His hair and second eye both turned black while his body began oozing black mist. Both his arms and legs were covered with it, looking like a black armour. If there were two horns added on top of his head, Pio would look exactly like a demon. His white sword also turned into a black one with similar mist dripping out of it. 

Ling was the first one who jumped in to give out a warning, 'Xuefeng, watch out! We still don't know it's abilities. I have never seen this second form. Most of the previous Star Shaper Fate Holders were loners. They rarely showcased their abilities, especially this second form. He seems to have a similar absorption ability that turns everything into darkness before consuming it and using it against his opponent.' 

Naturally, Xuefeng already knew that, not rushing straight into battle without thinking and Pio also stood behind, observing Xuefeng from the other side of the arena. Xuefeng tried to figure out his next moves as he commented in his mind, 'He is not attacking me right away. Maybe he just wants to absorb all my attacks with his ability and use it against me. Let me test him out a bit.' 

Xuefeng planned to strike while the iron was hot and find a way to defeat him with his actions but Drakos stopped him, giving him a proposition, 'Your flames are impressive but I doubt they will work on him anymore. How about you give me one thousand Fate Stones and I will end Pio for you?" 

'Huh? How?' Xuefeng got quickly confused but before Drakos could reply, Pio finally moved, dashing towards Xuefeng in a blink of an eye. The speed he showed was double or even triple compared to how he was before his transformation, and Xuefeng could only respond with a quick burst of flames in Pio's direction together with activating his invisibility. 

Bang! The ground got smashed as Pio's sword hit the spot Xuefeng was just a moment ago, the flames no longer dealing any damage to him, burning on the black armour before being quickly consumed. Just like Drakos said, it didn't have any effect on Pio whatsoever. 

"So strong… Xuefeng, what are you going to do now?" Liena's eyes brightened when she saw the strength finally got balanced, even more excited for what will happen next. 

At that moment, Pio didn't bother to find him and sent three black arcs of darkness in random directions, hoping to snipe Xuefeng with luck but that didn't happen. For some reason, Pio's eyelid twitched as he called out frustrated, "Stop hiding coward!" His voice sounded as if he had a sore throat but he didn't seem to care, staring into the emptiness on the arena. 

Fortunately for him, Xuefeng didn't make him wait for too long as two of his copies suddenly appeared out of nowhere, rushing towards Pio a meter above the ground with their Air Qi Wings working wonders. They were both identical, this time forgetting the Black Flame Slayer as they moved swiftly from two sides with double Lightning and Air Qi bombs in their hands. 

"I won't fall for it twice!" Pio called out with a smirk as he already prepared himself to defend against the third opponent, the real Xuefeng, who was hiding in the shadows. 

Unfortunately, he didn't expect that Xuefeng wasn't even attacking at that moment, standing on the other side of the barrier and was focused on his talk with Drakos while Ling and Ming were the two making Pio busy on his stead.

'What were you talking about earlier?' Xuefeng asked, curious how would Drakos help him kill Pio for one thousand Fate Stones. It wasn't that low of an amount for him, but if he could kill Pio before he was saved by the two members of that Fate Organization, it was a worthy trade for him. 

'You might not believe it but this mighty Drakos is actually injured… I know, I know it is unbelievable, but sometimes even the best make bad decisions… Like stealing underwear from a hundred beauties from the Nagoa Race— cough, cough! Let's leave that conversation for later… After getting injured by their Queen, I lost a lot of my Fate Qi. Only by gathering a lot of Fate Qi can I repair my body.' Drakos explained, sidetracking from his path a bit but Xuefeng managed to understand what is going on with him. 

He earlier learnt that only by reaching a certain stage in Fate Cultivation, could a Spirit be able to materialize in the outside world and form their own body. The only thing he didn't know was the number of stones needed to achieve that. 

'So you're telling me if I give you one thousand Fate Stones, you will rebuild your body and help me kill Pio?' Xuefeng asked directly, not planning to let Pio slip away this time even if he had to use external help. 

'Haha, not exactly that but—" Drakos laughed, thinking how good it would be if that was the truth and just as he was about to explain more, Ling suddenly cried out, 'Maybe make it a little bit quicker?! We can't stall for much longer! His body is absorbing every Qi that comes in contact with him so we can't do much. Only brute force will work on him now.'

Drakos couldn't be more than happy when he heard it as he called out right after, 'Perfect! That's my speciality! Give me one thousand Fate Stones. I won't be able to recreate my whole body but one limb is enough to crush him.' This many Fate Stones wasn't Xuefeng's entire stock but at least a big chunk of it but Xuefeng still believed it was worth it. 

"F.u.c.k you!" At that moment, Pio had finally exploded, cursing at the two clones which were dancing around him while bombarding him with different spells. He was naturally mad that Xuefeng was playing with him and his transformation didn't help him much with containing his emotions, strengthening them even more for some reason. 

After the curse, he gripped his dark sword with both of his hands and suddenly smashed it against the ground, sending a wave of darkness all around him which consumed both Ling and Ming's clones before absorbing them both as the matter returned into his body. 

'Oof, we were able to retract Fate Qi out of the clones before he gobbled us up else we would just feed him unnecessarily.' Ming sighed in relief, fortunately being able to predict that move earlier. 

Seeing what just happened, Xuefeng didn't hesitate more and said as he decided, 'Ling, pass Drakos the Fate Stones he wants. For some reason, I think the battle will be stopped very soon. If we don't act fast, he might escape today. His transformation seems to have a toll on his body.' 

It wasn't hard to notice the change in Pio's behaviour and appearance as his eyes were already having black veins, darkness slowly filling Pio's body. He didn't seem to mind any of it which could force the Fate Organization to act in order to save him. 

Just as if Xuefeng could read the future, this time it was Liena who decided to end the battle earlier, seeing the same symptoms which Xuefeng pointed out. If she ignored it anymore, Pio would be taken over by darkness as he clearly didn't learn how to control it properly yet. 

"Let's go stop them. Nothing good will happen anymore." Liena called out to the youth next to her as she finally moved. She couldn't say she was disappointed by Xuefeng not showing anything that would shock her before the crucial moment but she couldn't blame him. Her expectations were just too high in the sky. 

The youth naturally didn't complain about such decision, wanting it from the start. Fortunately, his Milady returned back to her senses before anything major happened. Just then, Xuefeng reappeared as they were heading down from the sky and cried out in laughter, "Haha! Did you want to fight? Let's do it like men! I can't believe your swordsmanship is better!" 

He didn't wait for Pio's reply and immediately rushed towards Pio with confidence planted on his face. To the youth's surprise, Liena halted and decided to watch the scene which almost boiled his blood. 

"Milady…?" The youth tried to remind Liena the seriousness of the situation but she just shushed him, changing her mind once again, "Shhh, this one should be good, I feel it!" 

'Damn it!' The youth cursed in his mind but naturally, he couldn't say anything out loud. Normally he was the oasis of peace but today the current situation was triggering him.

When Pio who saw Xuefeng charging at him, he naturally smiled evilly and quickly accepted the challenge, preparing his sword in an offensive position before dashing forward himself, trying to gather similar momentum. 

Unfortunately, Pio didn't expect that Xuefeng would have the help from the inside and just as they closed in on each other, there was a sweet surprise waiting for him. 

Xuefeng lied about the swordsmanship battle as just before they clashed, Xuefeng returned the Black Flames Slayer back into his Dantain and in its place, something different appeared. Xuefeng swung his arm just as Drakos instructed him and only after Pio was blasted away did he saw what had happened. 

His hand turned into a giant, almost four meters long and one-meter thick claw! It wasn't a surprise for Pio but also for Xuefeng. Wasn't it supposed to be a fist instead? Drakos wasn't a human? Xuefeng had many questions he wanted to ask but couldn't as he fell to the ground under the pure weight of the claw. Only after his hand returned to normal was he able to regain his balance. 

'What the hell Drakos?! You are not human?' Xuefeng finally called out in his mind which made Drakos laugh as he revealed, 'Haha! Who told you I was human? I'm the Legendary Drakos! I naturally have to be a mighty beast!'

Thud! Thud! Bang!

Pio wasn't blasted far into the sky but instead, he bounced two times from the ground with a dull sound before finally crushing against the barrier, completely smashing it with his body. His dark armour quickly dimmed as it dropped on the ground outside the barrier before also disappearing, together with his transformation which reverted his appearance back to normal. 

When the cultivators saw Xuefeng's beast claw skill that shattered the barrier with Pio's body, they naturally cheered loudly, "Young Master!" To know that their future master was this strong when he was at such an age was obviously huge news and a blessing for them. 

On the other side, Liena, although not surprised with the Drakos's strength, she was satisfied with the show, commenting, "The dragon's power is truly too powerful… Let's go pick up Pio, he should be done for today." She didn't wait for the youth, activating her teleportation as now they didn't have any other choice but to bring Pio back. 

"What the…" To her surprise, even after she tried to do it, nothing happened, their bodies not moving for even a centimeter. Liena could feel like something was blocking them but they were not held in a mystery for too long as they suddenly heard an aged voice coming from behind of them, "And where do you think you are going?"