บท 98: Spiral Force

They got back in Shrek Academy. They were faster than Karni thought they'd be, though that was due to Ya Li—the Divine Spirit Douluo—flying the group over personally.

They landed directly on the Sea God's Island. It did not seem like they were going to get any free time before their punishment. Ya Li dropped the two in front of a giant entrance that led inside a tree, while she took Jianyu away to Siduo's temporary residence on the island—the island provided temporary residences as soon as they heard the news. Jianyu would find out what the house looked like before Siduo herself.

Karni and Siduo were instead faced with the mighty presence of the Golden Tree and the Sea God's Pavilion.

"Come in." A man's voice echoed from inside the Pavilion. Karni recognised it.

They entered the Golden Tree—so rich with Life. Karni breathed in. This place was incredible! If he could cultivate here all the time…. His Fluffy Bamboo Panda was jumping for joy just breathing in the air. Particularly the rarely felt Bamboo attribute it had.

Karni and Siduo were greeted by two people. A lady dressed in Purple and White dress, and the man they heard before, dressed in gold. Their faces were both serene. But Karni and Siduo felt like they were about to receive a reward instead of punishment. Both elders were full of smiles.

"Hmm. Good job you two." The female elder spoke. "Wu Siduo, come with me. Yun Ming, I'll see you later."

"Thank you, Elder Long. I'll take your ideas into consideration. I like them."

"Good. Come now." She waved to Siduo.

Siduo wouldn't dare to complain, so she simply went along while waving Karni goodbye.

Karni was left along with the Pavilion Master. He suddenly felt nervous, despite the fact he had met the guy before. He once told him to visit him if Karni had a vision. Karni hadn't, so he never did visit him.

Karni realised. Oh no. He said to the authorities that he had a vision. Yet he didn't go to Yun Ming.

"It seems you just realised. Which begs the question. Did you forget, or is there something else? I heard from Ya Li already that you spat some blood when you tried to tell the vision this time."

Karni sighed. "It's something else. I think I couldn't tell the recent vision due to its sheer weight."

"That sounds worrying."

Karni nodded. It was. A ruined city recently. That was millions of lives lost. All cities on Douluo Continent were highly populous. Of course it would be better if he could tell someone.

"So what about this time? What happened?" Yun Ming raised his eyebrows and invited Karni to sit down. The man seemed surprisingly patient despite the whole situation.

Karni was nervous. Should he just tell the truth?

"I… knew things. But it wasn't due to visions. I should have contacted you anyway, I'll admit. I was just…"

"Sloppy. You were sloppy, if you knew. How did you know?" Yun Ming stared into Karni's very soul.

Karni thought about avoiding the gaze but forced himself to meet it instead. "I know some things about the future, even without the visions. But I-"

"Can't tell me about it." Yun Ming finished his sentence, not really sounding surprised. "Can you at least tell me what you know?"

Karni relaxed his shoulders a bit. Yun Ming didn't press why he knew. He just believed him. He wondered why. "I'm going to be honest. My guess is no."

"Your guess?"

Karni nodded. "The most recent vision, the one I couldn't mention when I tried forcing it… I'm 90 percent sure that it was an event I already knew of, but touching Mo Wu triggered an actual vision of it as well. Something that has never happened to my visions until now."

Yun Ming thought about it. "Until now… You only had visions about things you never knew about, while the event you saw recently might be an event you know about." Yun Ming chuckled a bit, it sounded weird saying it.

"I want to question how you know things of the future, but I will let you keep some secrets for now. I don't truly trust you, and you don't truly trust me. We'll leave it at that."

Due to this Karni now thought of a way to prove things. A way to increase Yun Ming's trust. To the point he might eventually be able to tell him about the truth. He didn't dare now. Yun Ming might do drastic things instead of helpful ones. "We could try the experiment again. You could help me focus. Maybe I could see what I want for a change."

Yun Ming was a bit surprised. "It didn't work last time… yet you had a different vision this time. You think it will be different?"

"It might." Karni answered without confidence.

"Alright. Come here."

Karni sat in a meditative pose. Yun Ming placed his palms on Karni. Karni focused on an event he wanted to see again. That ruined city. He summoned his Martial Soul, trying to focus himself with Sound.

Nothing was happening, but unlike last time, Karni was feeling something. Felt the future. How could he strengthen this feeling? He subconsciously hit his Martial Soul in Drumstick form. The Sound made his ears twitch. And the feeling intensified.

It was working! He activated his first and third Soul Rings without waiting. Sound and future sight. Could he amplify this? He tried.

The sound grew, and he tried to centre his first Soul Skill inwards. Towards that thought, that feeling. Yun Ming's energy intensified as well.

A flash of gold. A flash of a city. Ruins. Then it disappeared.

Karni and Yun Ming both stopped. Yun Ming looked pleasantly surprised, but worried. "I saw that image as well."

"You did?!" Karni was shocked. "What if I also used my second Soul Ring on you? Vision Bestowal? It shares what I see of future sight with other people. Or the effects at least."

Yun Ming shook his head. "I already tapped into that ability of yours when you activated your Soul Rings. I sensed the energy of the first Soul Ring. Your ability has connections with fate; of which I have little understanding, but enough to connect with you."

Fate? This man can tap into the future as well, but it's due to his understanding of cultivation, not Martial Soul.

Karni then thought of an opportunity. "Pavilion Master. Can we try again? I want to see another event that I know of. A bigger one than this."

"Bigger than a ruined city? Hm. Okay, but before we continue, I have to ask. How exact was your vision the first time? This one was incredibly muddy and unclear."

Karni tried to remember. "It had quite a lot more details. It had a-" He choked.

"Interesting." Yun Ming stabilised Karni, he was still connected to the teen. "Your Soul Power was involuntarily disturbed when you tried to tell me. It seems you know enough details for me to recognise it. This is worrying. The Federation has been unstable for a while now. Your visions only heightens my worries."

Karni wanted to say: "You have no idea. Shrek will be destroyed as well." But he couldn't even if he wanted to. But he might get a vision if he concentrated enough. It was his hope. "Can we try what I wanted still?"

Yun Ming nodded. "Let's experiment for a while."

Karni focused on Shrek, while playing the melody again, as well as using his first and third Soul Ring.

For a split second he felt it. Nature's destruction. But that was it.

Yun Ming was sweaty. "What was that? That was a dreadful omen."

"I wish I could tell you." Karni felt genuinely upset that he couldn't tell this. But he made a little vow. He would get strong enough to be able to help. The event was still years away.

Yun Ming stayed silent for a while. Then he finally asked a question. "What changed since last time? In your Martial Soul."

Karni was shaken out of his depressing thoughts. "In terms of my abilities, I only adapted the Disordered Splitting Wind Hammer method to my Bo Staff in Drumstick form, while fusing it with Sound. Nothing else, really. I was busy with school."

Yun Ming's eyes widened. That was it! This was a sign. "Everything has to do with that Sound of yours. You also used it twice now to get visions as well. Your understanding of it changed."

"Could that really influence it?"

"Then why did you use Sound just now, if you think this isn't connected?"

Karni was left silent. Indeed. He just… felt like it would help. And he was correct.

"You should continue working on your understanding of your adapted technique, but you can do more."

Karni asked with his eyes instead of words. What more could he do?

"You can become my disciple."

… … …

"Tell me girl, how is your relationship with that boy? Is it going well?"

Siduo was taken aback. "I don't see how that has anything to do with… anything."

"Oh, you just remind me of myself in my younger years. In more than just character." Long Yeyue turned to Siduo.

"It's going well." Siduo answered as neutral as she could. These days it was still hard to perfectly control her emotions, despite getting used to her body running wild at times.

Long Yeyue chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't interrogate you about such things in detail. I have more personal interests with you. Are you aware of my Martial Souls?"

Siduo thought about it. "Light and Dark Dragons, or something like that. Right?"

Long Yeyue nodded with a raised eyebrow. The girl was cheeky even to an Elder of the Sea God Pavilion. "Indeed. Light Holy Dragon and Dark Holy Dragon in fact."

Siduo listened, then she started to get an inkling of what was going on. "Can you fuse your Martial Souls?"

The elder shook her head. "No, which is exactly why you are so special. I have learnt many techniques in my life which enabled me to combine my powers. But I could never perform a Soul Fusion. Which begs the question. What would happen if my skills, which focus on opposites would be used by someone who could fuse together opposites?"

Siduo's eyes widened in excitement. If this meant what she thought it meant, then the elder was about to-

"Would you like to become my disciple, little one?"

"YES!" Siduo shouted in excitement, before fixing herself and went through the proper procedure. "I mean. The student greets the teacher." She even kowtowed three times. Karni might not do such things, because it wasn't part of the culture he was raised in, but Siduo was. That being said, it was still Siduo. Instead of respect, it seemed she was doing the act in a hurry so she could get to practicing as soon as possible.

Long Yeyue started laughing out loud. "I did not think of you to be that kind of a person. Maybe we are a little different after all. Good. I accept you as my disciple. Stand."

Siduo stood, her face flushed yet happy.

"Let's see," Long Yeyue started. "Mm. Yes. That could be good for starters." She raised her hand. Balls of black and white energy started spinning in her hand, before the two conjoined and were sent into a wall. An explosion spread with the energies. Siduo could feel the wind. Even the wind had the energies fighting within it.

Yet the wall was completely fine. It was built to withstand a Titled Douluo. Just what was this tree?

"This will be the first skill. You need to have balance to form both energies at the same time. It will be good for first training."

Siduo smiled. "So is this the punishment I was promised?"

Long Yeyue. "Indeed. Though later you might face some consequences you might not like as much."

"Elder Ya mentioned that as well."

"Did she now? What else did she say."

"Only that I was going to face consequences for the plays me and Kiki had." Siduo made a sour face.

"Good. You'll find out eventually. We'll start with the theory, but before that, I would like to know more of your current techniques. I remember you could already have both skills activated from your opposing Martial Soul. I want to see you do it."

Siduo nodded. She brought out her Hell Cat, partially fused it with White Tiger, before starting to switch between the two. In a matter of a few seconds, she had the Diamond Transformation, Hell Rush and Diamond Layer active at the same time.

Long Yeyue nodded. Though her words said otherwise. "This won't do. You will not be allowed to do this half-fusion thing. It will spoil you. It will also make you inefficient."

Siduo listened. She didn't have complaints. "So if I learn to do without it, I can also be stronger once I do with it?"

The elder seemed surprised. "Well then, aren't you quite aware of my goals? Indeed, that's what I want. As for how, for starters, we need to teach you how to call out the energies without relying on your Martial Soul. Come here."

Siduo closed in.

"Sit." Long Yeyue pointed.

Siduo did as ordered.

Long Yeyue put her palms on Siduo… then put in an incredible amount of Yang energy.

Siduo screamed. A terrifying imbalance. She had both Yin and Yang in her. One prevailing was a disaster! Her Martial Souls screamed. She wanted to summon her Hell Cat to counter the Yang energy.

Long Yeyue tapped Siduo, sealing her Martial Souls with ease. "You first need to feel the energies without trouble. The best way to do it is… well, painful."

… … …

"Those are quite some interesting customs you have at your hometown." Yun Ming just went through an awkward acceptance of a new disciple. Karni didn't go through the typical ritual.

Karni was embarrassed. This was the third time already that this happened in this life.

"It does make me wonder. Is this hometown of yours the reason for your future knowledge?"

Karni coughed. Not because of some disturbance in his Soul Power, but because he was surprised.

"Don't worry. I won't push you. You can tell me if you want to in the future. If you'd be from our continent, I would have authority over you as your master. Our relationship is now fundamentally different. There shouldn't be secrets between us, but…" he sighed.

"Thank you." Karni bowed slightly, genuinely thankful.

"It's okay. I cannot just force one to change his whole viewpoint on life. It would be denying who you are. And that is something you must never do as a Soul Master."

Their conversation was interrupted by screams of pain not so far away. It was Siduo's voice. Karni immediately went into panic.

"Don't worry," Yun Ming held Karni back. "She became a disciple of Elder Long. This is great, the elder's techniques will be inherited. Her ways are just a little forceful. Speaking of, we should start training as well. Let's go." He dragged Karni away, who wanted to go see if Siduo was really okay but couldn't force his way out.

The Pavilion Master dragged Karni to an arena on the Sea God's Island. A squeaky clean one, meant to withstand even high-level attacks.

"Focus now," Yun Ming immediately went into the lesson. Karni did not have time to think of distractions. "I'll only show it once, so you can see the principle. You need to figure out what works for you by yourself."

Yun Ming summoned his Martial Soul.

Karni took a sharp breath. What was this feeling? Absolute Sharpness. A piercing energy. Like the very surroundings were being pierced through. This was Yun Ming's Martial Soul. The Atlas Spear.

"Activate your first Soul Ring. Focus and feel."

Karni activated Golden Insight without a second thought, then concentrated all of his Spiritual Powers on Yun Ming's movements.

Yun Ming made a single step. His energy increased. He held the spear in both hands. Pointed forward in a forceful manner.

He made a single stab while spinning the spear like a drill. "It's called the Tearing Spiral Spear."

Karni's eyes widened. Even his body and senses felt like they were being pulled in by the centripetal force generated.

The spear continued its charge while spinning around its axis, before Yun Ming suddenly held it firm, stopping its spinning. The suction force vanished. In its place Karni felt the spear trembling. Yun Ming's hands were steady, yet the spear trembled ever so slightly. Just how much power was in that simple motion?

Then the spear spun the other way. Karni noticed that it wasn't just Yun Ming's hands spinning the spear, his whole body seemed to be moving in small patterns.

The force exploded outwards. Centripetal force turned centrifugal. The air was pushed out. Karni had to take a few steps back. The pressure which was centred on the spear before was now released upon the surroundings. Close by, the very space seemed to be tearing apart. The name of the technique was suitable.

After a few seconds, the pressure vanished. Yun Ming stood tall, while Karni's feet were slightly trembling.

"Now then. You can stay in this hut," Yun Ming gave Karni a little map of the island. "Practice every day. I will be checking your progress regularly. If you happen to have any vision, contact me immediately."

Karni took the map and nodded.

"Good. Every month now, we'll check if you can focus your vision more. It's imperative that you further your understanding of this power. Furthermore, we need to hasten your growth, since your ability to tell us such things can help us greatly in the future."

"If I become strong enough, I might be able to tell you the visions. Seems like a plausible theory."

Yun Ming nodded. "Precisely. It is unfortunate that it is only a theory. The people in Shrek who have had premonitions have been those who have reached the very pinnacle. With you we have the chance to increase our understanding of such rare knowledge."

Karni sucked in some breath. The very academy was now looking for him to increase knowledge. He nodded sternly.

Yun Ming smiled. He was satisfied. "I'll leave you be now. Learn well."

Yun Ming vanished before Karni could say goodbye and his thanks.

He looked at his Martial Soul. Yun Ming really did give him a technique that was not exclusively a spear technique. This was good. He took the Bo Staff form.

After he understood it enough, he would start applying it to Drumsticks. They were his main combat style now. They have the same shape, only shorter. There was no reason for him to not be able and apply this technique on Drumsticks.

Finally, if he succeeded, he would hope to combine this with Disordered Drumstick Resonance. Creating something new. Hopefully.

Karni shook his head. One step at a time.

He made a similar pose to Yun Ming's before and made a checklist. He needed a spin and a centripetal force. But to do that he needed correct movement. Of the body and his hands.

First: The Spin.

He smoothly turned his hands, focusing on the fingers and the wrist movement. The Staff spun. But it didn't feel quite right. There was no force. The speed was lacking. He needed to get it right.

He spun the staff again. Stabbing with it like a drill at the same time. He added Soul Power to bring out force, but it was unstable. The spin was a bit faster at least.

Karni didn't like it. It didn't feel right. Soul Power also just muddied his senses. It felt better before. "No Soul Power for now. And slower speed?"

He repeated the movements. Slower, but also steadier. "Mm. This is closer."

Next order of business: Make the spin steady.

… … …

Late at night. Yun Ming went to check on Karni. He grinned as soon as he saw what Karni was doing. "He's still learning how to spin. Good disciple. Patient."

He stayed to watch Karni until Karni stopped an hour later. He didn't use Soul Power the whole day. Karni took out a map and followed it to his hut. Exhausted, he went to sleep.

Karni woke up refreshed the next morning, despite working for a whole day yesterday. There was no sign of fatigue in him. Sea God's Island really was wondrous.

And wouldn't you know it, the first person he saw on his morning stroll was Siduo.

"Cocoa?" Karni asked instead of saying hi.

"Cocoa." Siduo nodded, looking a tad groggier than he.

… … …

"You bitch! That's all you have to do? I'm being charged with Yin and Yang energies forcefully to get a feeling for them!"

Karni tried to hold back a chuckle but couldn't.

"Sis, what are you complaining, you get to live in a place like this!" Jianyu voiced his opinion from the back. They grabbed him on the way.

"Well, you don't have to train in such ways! Of course you don't mind it."

"Speaking of," Karni washed the last cup. "We should return to training anyway. And get him some training as well."

Siduo sighed. "We should." Then she turned to Jianyu. "You'll come with me today."

"Okay." Jianyu just smiled.

The two said goodbye and went their separate ways. Siduo took Jianyu to Long Yeyue to find training for him.

Karni was alone in the arena.

He first repeated the movements from the day prior. After about 30 minutes of warm up, he nodded. He could now keep a somewhat constant rotation for 10 minutes straight. Time to start learning how to control it with Soul Power.

… … …

"When can we get out! I've only been training, training, training." Jianyu complained. They managed to find an old elder that wielded Lightning. Apparently the man came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. He did not know how lucky he was. That elder only took him in because apparently he had nothing better to do.

"What did you expect? Being a Soul Master isn't really supposed to be fun. If you want to get into Shrek, you'll have to get used to this." Siduo berated her younger brother.

"But a week straight? No fun?"

"Yes. We rarely have fun during cultivation. Besides, you have free time in between! Find a hobby! You'll have something to show at the academy. And to our parents! They come back in two weeks."

"I knooooow." Jianyu sighed. And yeah. He liked that idea. He will find a hobby. Maybe gaming?

"Well," Karni stretched. Siduo was on cleaning duty today. They spent most of the mornings in his hut. "Ima go train. See you guys tomorrow."

Siduo gave him a quick hug. They didn't spend much time together this last week. "See you."

Karni left and Siduo was left alone with Jianyu. "Sis, you're getting worse and worse at hiding your feelings."

Siduo looked at her brother. "Well, maybe I'm not trying to hide them."

Jianyu paused, then looked at her. "In that case, you're not doing a good job at expressing them. You're just kind of in the middle no matter what."

"Come here you little shit. How are you my little brother?"

Meanwhile Karni reached the arena and stepped into his usual position. He spun his Staff once, just to make sure of the speed, then nodded. He started spinning, then slowly added more and more Soul Power.

Suction appeared. He formed centripetal force, though it wasn't particularly strong.

But it was getting stronger along with his Soul Power input. The tricky part was keeping the spin steady along with keeping balance.

After a few minutes he started to sweat. His hands forced the Staff to a stop, and his Soul Power peaked.

The staff trembled. His hands trembled. Even his body could feel the amount of force locked in his Martial Soul.

Then he spun the other way. Centrifugal force was released, much more powerful than the centripetal one. All of the Soul Power released at once, visible, light blue energy spinning outwards.

But the Staff flew out of his hands, spinning irregularly mid air. Karni cursed. That amount of Soul Power released at once was hard to keep steady.

He picked up that Staff and smiled instead. His base was steady. He has reached the base of what Yun Ming showed him and could feel so much more mastery was still ahead of him. But this wasn't the technique he had to master. No. His was a variation.

He returned to the base stance. His first Soul Ring shone, then his third. He needed to sense this as best as he could.

He started gathering Soul Power. Then he added Sound. Smoothly. Slowly. Only a bit at first. It was easier than he expected. It didn't take long for him to repeat the previous movements. Stop his hands.

His hands trembled, yet differently this time. Different kinds of vibrations were present in his staff. Harmonic. The feeling was surprisingly similar to Disordered Drumstick Resonance.

Then he turned, the sound exploded in a chaotic manner along with Soul Power. His ears hurt. It did not sound nice. The Staff flew out of his hands again.

"I'll need to control how the Sound is released. Combine it with the right flows… But before that, let's stabilise the final movements."

He repeated the end for another six hours before he could finally hold the Staff steadily for a while. It didn't fly out anymore. It was a matter of controlling Soul Power output.

Karni sat down and meditated. Instead of training the movement with Sound, he had to first train Soul Power and Sound. He hadn't often combined the two before this. He needed a different approach.

He focused Soul Power on his hand alone. Then added Sound to it. Making it flow within his hands.

Then he separated Soul Power into little stripes and added different frequencies of sound to each.

"Now to combine." Karni focused. He added two stripes. Ones that felt right.

Then he combined another two that felt right. Yet his instincts could tell that these new combinations didn't fit together if he were now to fuse all four.

"Change the frequency. Change the flow of Soul Power…" Karni tried both. Time to test millions of combinations.

… … …

Karni released his hand, almost numb from how long he held Soul Power in his hand. This would be difficult. The smallest differences in the frequiencies dictated whether the Soul Power and Sound could mix well. He wasn't controlling this. He had to guide it. Rarely could one forcefully control. True control would only come when he understood how to guide perfectly.

He heard a whoosh from behind him. "I've watched for a while. You're doing well. But what you're attempting now. There is a better way to go about it."

Karni raised his eyebrows. It was his new teacher who approached.

"You could try this in a suitable environment. One where sound resonates yet does not have disturbances from the outside."

"A personal cultivation environment?" Karni's eyes shined.

Yun Ming nodded. "Indeed. I know you've used the Bamboo environment in the Outer Court before due to your second Martial Soul. This one will serve your main Martial Soul much more. There is just one condition."

"That is?"

"Not willing to go in if it's too punishing, eh? Smart kid. It's not too bad. You'll just have to stay there until the second semester starts. I'll be bringing you food. I want you to focus solely on this." Yun Ming was serious. The goal here was for Karni to be undisturbed for around two weeks.

Karni nodded immediately. "I accept."

"Good. Meet me in the Pavilion tomorrow at sunrise. We'll start then."

… … …

Siduo sipped the last bits of cocoa. Her mood was somewhat sour. She took her time with cocoa today. Karni was already running late. "So we'll see each other when the next semester starts then."

"Mm." Karni nodded. He stood up to take her cup and wash it. Then he prepared some clothes so he could switch them in the cultivation space.

Siduo stood up and hugged Karni from behind. A bit stronger than usual. "I'll see you then, Kiki."

"Now, now. It's not like we'll never see each other again. It's only two weeks." He smoothly put away her hands before stepping out of the door. To him the time will probably pass faster than for her.

He looked back at her. Her appearance melted his heart somewhat. He walked to her and gave her a big hug. "Find something to distract yourself so you won't always be thinking about me."

She pushed him away. "Who'll be thinking of you?"

Karni chuckled. "You. Well then. I'll see you later."

"See you," she said. It was only two weeks, but the week here was already somewhat depressing for her, only seeing him in the morning.

Jianyu snickered from behind while he was playing games. "Oh, sis- Ouch. Ouch!"

Karni reached the Pavillion. Yun Ming was already waiting for him.

He took him to what would be the basement of the tree. The roots so to say. They reached a row of rooms. Yun Ming opened one somewhat on the side. "This is the place. Go in, figure out how it works. I'll be back to bring you food during lunch."

Karni nodded and stepped in. The doors closed behind him. The room was pitch dark. He took a few steps before stopping to listen. "Even the steps resonate… so does my voice. This is perfect."

He sat down and summoned his Soul Power. Time to train.

… … …

Siduo reached her teacher Long Yeyue. "Teacher. I want a harsher training program."

Long Yeyue raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

"I need a distraction."

"Otherwise, you'll feel lonely?" Long Yeyue grinned.

Siduo glanced away for a second before returning the look. "Yes." She said somewhat embarrassed. Damn it. It was only two weeks. Only two! Damn this teenage body of hers. Two weeks felt so long! And she'd had lifetimes of experience!

"That's fine. Just don't regret it." Long Yeyue smiled, seeing the troubled look of her student. Oh, youth.