NOVEL WEB Chapter 15: Blockade
Han De was sitting inside his room. In front of him were more than 300 scrolls and jade slips. His servants were very efficient. Under an hour, they were able to collect the standard weapon scriptures for every type of weapon.
'This is just too much. There is a scripture for a dagger, a curved dagger, a curved dagger that is more curved than normal, a dagger with a longer handle, a dagger with a thinner blade. Is there really a need to create this many standard scriptures? Are you guys really that bored?'
Popular weapon types had different martial art scriptures for even the slightest variation in weapon shape. Having a sword martial arts method mastered inside his mind, Han De was aware of the number of sword type weapons. However, he was still a bit taken aback at the sheer number of it all.
'It's not like these are just one-off martial arts techniques that are highly specialized. Although basic, they cover a rather large surface area, hence they are called scriptures and not methods.'
They were created for guiding the disciples, but most disciples don't choose to study them further, let alone master them. Being generic and comprehensive, they were difficult to make progress with. A disciple would rather learn the basics then move on to a more specialized martial arts method that suited them better.
'This is actually an MC template, isn't it. MC learns a weaker generic method, but their foundation becomes stronger because of it. They'll then find an impossible to practice martial art and learn it thanks to their strong foundation."
[Starfall Mountain Standard Sword Scripture]
Power: Extremely Weak
Notes: Requires 1 Profound Point(s) to completely master.
[Starfall Mountain Standard Saber Scripture]
Power: Extremely Weak
Notes: Requires 2 Profound Point(s) to completely master.
[Starfall Mountain Standard Spear Scripture]
Power: Extremely Weak
Notes: Requires 1 Profound Point(s) to learn.
[Starfall Mountain Standard Scimitar Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Falchion Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Scythe Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Whip Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Pike Scripture]
[..]
Han De didn't miss that anything similar to a sword only required a few points to completely master for him, thanks to his own mastered sword method.
'I'll just choose the most popular ones and master them. I only have 45 points, I can't even learn a quarter of them, let one increase my comprehension of them.'
Spending about an hour, Han De chose 13 scriptures that had the most coverage and popularity. He didn't bother with the rare subtypes like a pugio, he just learned the most generic dagger scripture.
[This action requires 42 Profound Points in total]
'Confirm!'
[Starfall Mountain Standard SwordScripture]
Power: Extremely Weak
Comprehension: Master
[Starfall Mountain Standard Saber Scripture]
Power: Extremely Weak
Comprehension: Master
[..]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Dagger Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Spear Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Halberd Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Axe Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Mace Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Hammer Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Whip Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Staff Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Bow Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Throwing Scripture]
[Starfall Mountain Standard Shield Scripture]
Han De sat silently as he received a giant amount of information.
*sigh* 'The amount of knowledge here is just massive. I can see why no one bothers mastering them. Not even their creators had done that.'
It was obvious that each of these scriptures had many generations of refinement done to them. Unfortunately, each refinement also made them more and more obtuse.
Realizing how long it would take to write everything down, Han De stopped standing around and grabbed a brush.
* * *
"Hundreds of standard scriptures?"
Ming Nui's face was blank. He was listening to his intelligence guru friend, Zhang Cheng.
"Yes, a servant of Han De took them from the archives. Only the standard scriptures. The most basic ones. Nothing else."
Zhang Cheng has been following Han De's movements ever since the gathering. It was a dull affair, but things have been taking interesting turns for the last two days.
"Just a smokescreen isn't it. If he truly hadn't taken any other technique, then Ning Bi must be a sword cultivator. It was the most likely possibility from the beginning."
Zhang Cheng nodded. He also knew, to acquire standard scriptures of the sect and in many numbers on top of that, was a poor attempt at misdirection.
"Any more movements from his people?"
Han De sending 20 experts to a mission had caught the attention of many powers currently visiting the Starfall Mountain Sect. The conference was still ongoing, so the retainers had nothing to do but keep their eyes and ears open.
"After the 10 returned two days ago, everything was silent. However today some movements emerged again. Nascent Soul cultivators are arriving from the Han family. They are in a hurry too. A number of Core Formation experts are also mobilizing."
Ming Nui closed his eyes. According to Han De's character, he liked to take care of things himself. Only for small fry, he would send his people. Yet now Nascent Soul and Core Formation experts are gathering.
"Latest count had 4 Nascent Soul and more than 60 Core experts."
These cultivators were nothing to people like his father, but they still represented a scary amount of power. Just this many could crush a few small sects without breaking a sweat.
Did some sect actually offend him? Was there a sect in the area that was stupid enough to do that?
* * *
It took Han De a full day and night to write down the 13 scriptures. He looked at the little hill of scrolls in satisfaction and smiled while unconsciously rubbing his wrists. He was a Core Cultivator with a powerful body, but using a brush for such a long time still had a psychological toll on him.
'Siigh. I'm getting hungry. I don't want to eat pills, or cultivate. Should I go outside and find a restaurant?'
Of course, the sect didn't have any restaurants. There were dining halls for the cultivators that were Foundation Establishment or below, but no Core Formation cultivator would go to them.
'Maybe I should hire an immortal chef and open a restaurant inside the core area. Even the inner area might not be a bad idea.'
Han De realized he hadn't cultivated since his roots were upgraded. Even though it was boring to the extreme, he still had some anticipation about it. While still grumbling inside about the lack of eateries, Han De located Ning Bi. She was currently meditating in an armory.
When Han De arrived she opened her eyes and greeted him. Han De could see how tired she was. After all, she was just a Qi Condensation disciple. She could cultivate for ages if she had enough pills, but the physical effort was different. Even in Foundation Establishment a person would need to eat, drink, and sleep regularly if they were going to do extensive training.
Ning Bi nodded as Han De explained this to her. Her initial plan was to train by the day and cultivate by the night. But master's words were law for her.
"It seems you have practiced blindly long enough. In this storage bag, there are some scriptures I have re-written for you. They are the sect's standard scriptures for different types of weapons. You will study them for the next few days. Right now you don't need to cultivate for too long. Just an hour a day is enough. Take care of your body. Do not try to exceed your limits."
Ning Bi took a look inside the bag, after a moment she asked with a hopeful smile. "Um, teacher, is there no scripture for warglaives?"
Getting caught off guard, Han De just stared at her for some time. He didn't want to remember that part of his history. Still, he had to keep up appearances, so he steeled himself.
"There are no warglaive scriptures or methods in the sect. You'd have to go in blind if you want to use them as weapons."
Not wanting to stay there for a moment longer, Han De left after giving her a few more random pointers.
* * *
1 cycle.
2 cycles.
3 cycles.
4 cycles.
5 cycles.
6 cycles.
7 cycles.
8 cycles.
9 cycles.
10 cycles.
[Cultivation: Core Formation - Mid Level ((+40) 3849/500000)]
'It increased the XP per cycle but the cycle time is the same. So, if I cultivate 6 hours every day for the next 6 years I'll be able to reach the Advanced Core level...'
Han De was, again, devastated. If a Nascent Soul expert knew about Han De's thoughts, without a doubt they would start puking blood. Only 6 hours of cultivation every day? And it still takes only 6 years? Are you tired of living?!
Nevertheless, being a modern guy, Han De thought cultivation was simply insufferable. He had never even tried meditating before coming to this world. If it wasn't for that cultivation idiot's memories, he probably wouldn't even be able to enter a meditative state.
'I really need some kind of entertainment to take my mind off these dreadful events.'
He couldn't even cook without risking his Profound Teacher getup with Ning Bi. He was blaming himself for the stupid decision to place her in his house. He now understood why the servants had to confirm twice before placing Ning Bi in one of the rooms.
'Wait, I can fly can't I?"
Han De suddenly stood straight. Of course! He could fly!
'I didn't want to use it as a transportation method for the fear of crashing everywhere. But there is no end to the sky is there? Why would I need to go to a mountain when I can just fly upwards? Damn, why didn't I think of that?!'
Han De was feeling a bit silly for this slip-up. However, he didn't take it to heart. As he headed to a clearing he giggled nonstop. He didn't want to take off from near his house, he was worried about the sonic boom making a mess.
Han De took off his sword from his storage ring. Cultivation maniac always carried it on his side, but Han De found it extremely awkward. It kept getting in his way. So he had stopped carrying it after his first day.
'Alright, I'll just aim directly upwards. If I don't see the ground, there is no way of knowing how fast I'm going, right? And when I'm high enough, everything will be waaay smaller anyway.'
Core Formation experts could only rely on spiritual weapons like swords to fly. Although they had rich spiritual energy compared to Foundation Establishment, they still couldn't just fly through the air. Hovering was possible, just needlessly taxing. Nascent Soul cultivators didn't need any spiritual weapons to fly. With their power reserves, brute-forcing was much more efficient for them.
Han De jumped on his sword. Gathering his spiritual energy and infusing it to the sword via his martial art, he took off. He was already traveling much faster than sound, and he was adamantly just looking up. So he had no way of noticing the crater he had left on the ground.
'Hahahaha, yes! I can fly! ... Why does the air feel rather thin here?'
After getting enough clearance from the ground, he finally started dashing around at full speed. Han De's definition of enough clearance in this context was not being able to see a person's silhouette. He hadn't taken his cultivator eyes into account.
* * *
"You mean Han De left with the 100 cultivators?"
Zhang Cheng was currently comfortably sitting on his chair, and occasionally sipping his tea. He was getting a report from one of his subordinates. Ming Nui was also with him, he raised an eyebrow at this news.
"Not only that, but his takeoff was extremely fierce. We were so far away but we still felt an extreme pressure weighing down on us."
Ming Nui, having suffered humiliation from that aura before, clicked his tongue in frustration. He was a prince, he had to act princely in front of his subjects, but he was too frustrated to care about that now.
Witnessing the Prince Nui's behavior the intelligence operative hurriedly continued.
"We also found out Han De's men positioned themselves between Starfall Mountain and the Ming Empire border. They spread themselves around a wide area and are preventing anyone from crossing. Current numbers are 10 Nascent Soul and 90 Core Formation experts."
Both Ming Nui and Zhang Cheng were frozen when they heard of this. This also explained some of the movements of the Ming Dynasty servants on Starfall Mountain. Since they reported to the emperor, they had access to better resources and had already found this out some time ago.
"Is he doing a blockade? It's too few for that. Is he trying to destroy a sect? It's too much for that..."
Ming Nui and Zhang Cheng looked at each other, they were both at a loss.
* * *
After having his fun for a few hours, Han De made a happy landing. His descent was much, much slower than his takeoff and the location he chose was in the middle of the wilderness that was bordering the sect.
'Man that pond looked small, I thought it would be fine if I fell down to it in case I lost control. Nice, small, but far enough that nobody would see...'
That was no pond. That was the Nine Yin Lake, the biggest body of water inside Starfall Mountain Sect boundaries. Thankfully it wasn't far and Han De had landed on the side closer to the sect. He could get back to his house in a few hours of nice and slow sword flight. Or maybe a day of walking.
'I can't even tell my full speed right now. It used to be around Mach 2. Now I can't really tell just from the sonic boom. Is it 4 times faster? 8 times faster?'
Han De decided to walk.
* * *
Ning Bi had studied the scriptures that she received from her master for the past 5 days. She had already learned all of the scriptures and practiced their moves.
'Master is so knowledgeable. These scriptures are astonishing. So easy to understand, so easy to practice, yet so profound at the same time. This sword scripture is nothing like the one in the Archives!'
She had learned while talking to the servants that her master was a peerless sword cultivator. During her visit to the Archives, she had secretly looked at the Starfall Mountain Standard Sword Scripture. Back then she had thought it was bland, she couldn't really understand it. Yet the scripture in front of her now was completely different.
She had also stubbornly tried to use warglaives while training with the 13 scriptures. Despite that, she had to admit defeat if she compared it to any other scripture weapon. Even if she had to use a shield and nothing else, the shield's destructive power would be still higher than warglaives.
'Master was right. Both times.'
Ning Bi could feel her eyes getting wet. She plumbed down to the ground. She thought warglaives really looked cool, but going in blind wasn't the right choice.
After a few minutes of staring into nothingness, the previously dim light in her eyes suddenly started shining again.
* * *
Another 3 days had passed, Han De was waiting patiently for Ning Bi to choose a scripture. If her selected weapon was not in the 13 she had, he could still use the remaining 3 Profound Points to master her preferred weapon's standard scripture and use Martial Arts Method Upgrade Tokens to upgrade it twice. This was one of the reasons why he chose to have such a large coverage with the initial 13 scriptures.
Now, with only 2 days left, Han De didn't want to wait anymore. He needed to find out which weapon she had chosen.
As he neared the armory, he heard Ning Bi's grunting noises, evidently still training. He decided to keep quiet and watch her a little bit first. Perhaps he could 'Sagely Nod in Approval' after she notices him and stops.
Sneaking in slowly, Han De looked at the scene in front of him, but he didn't feel any joy. Ning Bi was swinging warglaives with utmost concentration. After a few seconds, an eerie smile crept up on Han De's face.
'Uugh, this is painful but maybe with this, I might have a deterrent for the future. Even if she doesn't think so now, this will become her dark history in the future, it is inevitable.'
Han De decided to keep silent and watched.
'Actually, her movements are not bad. Hmm, no they are actually really good. Wait, is she wearing a blindfold??'
His previous angle was rather poor, but as he watched he was able to catch a few glimpses at her face. She really was wearing a blindfold. Evidently, she had ripped it off from her robe and now was wearing that grey piece of cloth as a blindfold.
'I know you are an MC, but you are not... Are you kidding me? Are you in the middle of enlightenment?!'
With his eyes wide and his jaw hanging freely, Han De just watched. He had lost the ability to think. It took him quite a while to get back to normal.
'F#$%, I knew her luck was max, but damn, do you have to rub it in like this?'
Even the cultivation maniac hadn't seen anyone going through enlightenment. No one in his generation had.