Vampire System- The Last Mystic Swordsman-Chapter 172 Taking The Pagoda Test [1]

-----

Congratulations! You have unlocked the mystic sword domain!

You have taken another big step in the path to become a Sword Saint

Your overall swordsmanship abilities have increased by 1000%

----

That was how much different a mystic swordsman who already unlocked the mystic sword domain was from that who only unlocked the sword domain.

By unlocking sword domain, a mystic warrior was able to fight and utilize a large part of his inner potential with the sword. The sword becomes an extension of the body, thereby enabling unmatched efficiency in battle.

Efficiency was not the only requirements in mystic battles though. As the mystic world developed, warriors had epiphanies and discovered more ways to improve their specific battle domains to get stronger.

Every era, mystic warriors learned from the mistakes and stumbling of their ancestors and the mystic beasts to device more effective methods.

Just like science, the study of mystic energy had continuous breakthroughs through the years which opened the veil to greater individual strength.

Even for an extension of your body like your fingers, you didn't have full control and perception of it. Most body processes were controlled by the nerves and the more complicated processes took place in the cells.

Unless mystic warriors became capable of understanding their fingers to the very minor details like the cells, they could never fully make use of it.

This was the goal of Tiajutsu practitioners. The same way that mystic swordsmen pursued a goal of understanding their sword better, Tiajutsu experts also strived to understand their body better. 𝒇r𝙚𝙚𝓌𝙚𝑏𝗻𝑜𝘷𝗲𝘭.c૦𝑚

The strongest Tiajutsu warriors in the world understood every single detail in their body to the tiniest cell and blood vessel.

They were the true experts and controllers of their body.

That was for Tiajutsu practitioners, as for mystic swordsmen, making the sword an extension of your body was not enough. To fully make use of this new body extension, they needed to understand a lot of mysteries.

Mysteries behind why a metal object could become a body extension, mysteries of mystic energy that connected the sword to the warrior.

To know these mysteries though, inner peace was needed.

By soaking in Lord Asuka's words of wisdom about swordsmanship for the past few months, Rex was able to saturate himself with the necessary knowledge.

Apart from being an incredible swordsman and puppet master, Lord Asuka also dabbled into sword craftsmanship. This was his way of understanding the physiology of swords to better make use of them.

Lord Asuka imparted every bit of knowledge in him to the vampire.

Rex was soon like a bowl that was filled to the brim with water, any slight shake and the water would spill. All that he needed to progress now was to organize every piece of information into perfect whole.

When Rex picked up his sword to practice again, the water in the bowl was finally spilled and he attained inner peace.

Rex's system notification was like a mirage to him, he did not pay attention to it, all his mind and body was already taken over by the feeling of inner peace.

Rex felt so much at peace with himself that even as he forgot all his worries, he was also able to peer deeper into himself unlike ever before.

He recognized his faults, he recognized ways through which he could improve, and he recognized some silly decisions that he took throughout the years.

"I've been really foolish at times". He muttered in a daze.

For a full week, Rex meditated in the feeling of inner peace before he finally woke up. Once he did, he woke up as a new being.

Like his system indicated, his swordsmanship increased by approximately 1000%. This was a ridiculous figure that increased his swordsmanship from the previous master level that it was to the grandmaster level.

At this moment, Rex felt like a sage who finally discovered the goal of life. He did not just seem to understand Nirvana, he also seemed to understand death, life, and even the mysterious nature of reincarnation.

At this moment, Rex felt a connection unlike what he had experienced before with his upgrade mystic ability. For a long time, this mystic ability of his was dormant but now it seemed to rear its head again.

For some reason, achieving inner peace seemed to have awakened hidden abilities of his upgrade mystic ability that were not visible before.

Despite the strange phenomenon that achieving inner peace did to his upgrade mystic ability, the greatest change was still his swordsmanship.

With his sword now, Rex felt like he could battle an army of thousands alone and emerge victorious, that was how confident he was of his swordsmanship now.

Rex grabbed Berserker and swung it a few times to check it out.

"Shing!"

The excited chiming of his sword as soon as he grabbed it spoke volumes to Rex on how excited Berserker was to be held by him again.

After letting him to acclimatize, enjoy, and soak in the feeling of having discovered inner peace, Lord Asuka finally asked. "Will you like to continue listening to my silly stories?"

"Yes, of course". Rex grinned.

Having benefited once from the old man's stories and lectures, Rex already recognized that the best way for him to benefit from this inheritance opportunity was not training but to continue listening to the old man.

Despite the specialized training chamber for swordsmen that was here where with each training session could yield him at least 3 times more results than normal, Rex still recognized that the old man's stories were the best.

For maximum gain with the old man, there was no need to work hard, what he instead needed to do was to work smart.

Rex was glad to be patient this time as he listened to the stories of Lord Asuka and Saint Minato's adventures as they roamed the earth during their heyday.

Considering the Saint's legendary life and legacy, most of the stories were exciting adventures that sent his blood racing while only few were boring.

Despite the boring ones, Rex listened to them all.

After every story session, Lord Asuka would ask Rex for his opinion and what he understood from the experiences. This was where Rex got to learn as Lord Asuka corrected his opinion and understanding of the adventures.

For the next 14 days, they kept at this until Lord Asuka finally drew the curtain close. "Well, that's all, you've sapped me dry of all stories".

"I have bestowed all the notable stories of the Saint to you".

Lord Asuka looked straight at the young warrior. "Train for 4 days with your sword, master all the new realizations and understanding that you got about swordsmanship, then take the pagoda test".

"If you can finish all 7 floor tests that correspond to your current understanding with the sword, you'll be eligible to take the Saint's other inheritance, the most significant of them all".

Rex bowed respectfully before this mystic warrior. "I will not fail!"

With that, he gave himself some rest to meditate for 2 hours. After the meditation session, Rex finally grabbed his sword and started training.

With his eyes closed, Rex navigated through the army of training dummies that were before him as his sword continually cut, slashed, and stabbed.

With each movement of the sword, one of the training dummies became the victim as the dummy was dispatched of. Rex's movements and body coordination as he fought with his sword at this moment was completely off the charts.

Each move that he made with his sword instantly became more natural to him, at this moment, he fought in an inspired state.

As he fought, Lord Asuka's words of advice kept on reverberating in his head. He did not oppose it as he let the words flow and lead him.

After a training session that lasted 2 hours, in which time Rex got to defeat every single training dummy for the first time, he finally stopped.

Rex turned to face Lord Asuka. "I'm ready to take the test!"

…

Once Rex was ready, Lord Asuka did the thing and instantly, a portal appeared before him as he was transported inside the 12-floored pagoda.

Like the others, his first test was a mental torture test.

Rex saw himself appear inside what seemed to be a massive Lion's den. All around him were menacing lions with teeth that could tear him apart.

His only escape channel was the wall that seemed to extend infinitely into the skies. But for some reason, his instincts told him that it had an end and this was his only path to escape this den.

"Roar!!!"

The Lions barely got to roar before he jumped on the wall and started climbing. Soon enough, Rex learned that it was not as easy as he thought.

For 5 days, he was still climbing and the most horrifying fact was that the Lions could climb too. On the 6th day, one of them caught up to him as his speed already reduced due to tiredness.

Once the first Lion bit him, the 2nd did, followed by the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, and in no time, he was torn apart like a rag doll.

The sensation of pain sent Rex mad. "Ahhh…!"