*A year later*
"Clang, clang", the sound of swords colliding could be heard, accompanied by huffing and panting.
Gritting his teeth, Ryan didn't have the luxury of wiping the sweat off his brow as he focused intently on the man in front of him. It was Old man Rico, or rather, a clone of Old man Rico.
After a year of arduous cultivation, he had finally cultivated to the 9th level of the Spirit and Soul realm, the peak of such cultivation realm, and as it would be, was also the highest level all Demonic beasts in the Sword of Dark Death could cultivate to.
And as such, Old man Rico decided to train Ryan by himself, creating clones of himself, which he called his representatives, as Ryan's sparring partners.
Managing to dodge a lethal strike from the smiling old man in front of him, Ryan dashed back to avoid another one, as he began to float, the wind gathering beneath his feet.
Flying was not uncommon among Cultivators, but only Cultivators at the Myriad Formation realm, the level after the Spirit and Soul realm, could do this amazing feat.
Ryan, however, although was at the peak of the Spirit and Soul realm, was able to fly.....something even Old man Rico was shocked by, constantly boasting that it was his arduous training method that managed to bring out the full potential of his student, Ryan.
"A push in the right direction is all that was needed anyway", the real old man Rico murmured to himself as he secretly increased the Cultivation level of his clone to the peak of the 1st level of the Myriad Formation realm.
Ryan, whilst still trying to catch his breath mid-air, was soon stunned, as his sparring partner suddenly disappeared from sight. The hair at the back of his hair suddenly rose up, as Ryan made a swiping motion with the makeshift sword in his hand, a sword ray emerging from the strike.
"Bang!!!", a loud noise could be heard, as Ryan's sword strike collided heavily with something, causing dust to swirl around in the vicinity.
A few moments later, the dust cleared, revealing the slightly injured clone of Old man Rico, it's right hand completely gone.
Seeing this, Ryan furrowed his brows.....such a strike of his would usually cut Demonic beasts at the Peak of the Spirit and Soul realm in half immediately, why then couldn't it do much damage to a clone at the Beginning level of the Myriad Formation realm??.
Ryan was still thinking about this when the severed arm of the clone started growing back!.
"Don't forget, Cultivators at the Myriad Formation realm have fast regeneration!", Old man Rico's yell snapped Ryan out of his shock.
Taking a deep breath, Ryan focused intently on the clone as he landed.
"Myriad Forms Palm", the clone softly muttered as it dashed towards Ryan, it's hands becoming blurry and seemingly becoming hundreds as they rained down on Ryan.
Dodging left and right, Ryan managed to dodge a few palm strikes, but still got hit by many, his internal organs in turmoil as he vomited blood.
"Eyes of Death!", Ryan also muttered as he activated his most powerful skill. The Eyes of Death was the only combat skill Old man Rico had personally taught him.
The Eyes of Death was a vision type skill, allowing the user to see through the fabric of illusions and dreams. Since the Myriad Forms Palm was an illusion type skill, the Eyes of Death would be the best skill to use in such a situation.
Activating the skill, Ryan's eyes turned blue as the ends of his hair also turned blue.
Focusing on the clone in front of him, Ryan finally saw through the Myriad palms that was raining down on him.....It was a single palm that seemed to drag on forever, creating illusions of hundreds of palms.
Dashing forward, Ryan half floated and half ran as he dodged the now visible Myriad Forms Palm, his blue eyes turning dark blue as also used the Sword Shadow.
Slicing through the remainder of the Myriad Forms Palm, Ryan arrived in front of the clone as he screamed, slicing mercilessly through the clone.
In his usual dark shade, old man Rico vomited blood as his clone was violently destroyed by Ryan's Sword Shadow.
Finally landing, Ryan wiped the blood away from his mouth as he angrily turned towards Old man Rico.
Using the Eyes of Death had it's own advantages, as it allowed him to see the true cultivation level of his opponent.
Picking up his makeshift sword made out of the bone of a peak level Demonic beast, he grumbled as he saw old man Rico looking at him with his usual smug smile.
"Care to explain what you did back there??", Ryan asked as old man Rico only shrugged.
"I could have died back there!", Ryan angrily announced again.
"But you didn't. Besides, in the real battlefield, people always hide their true cultivation level so as to catch their enemies off guard", Old man Rico snapped back.
Sighing, Ryan rolled his eyes as he knew it was true, his enemies wouldn't allow him know their true cultivation level but, luckily, he had the Eyes of Death.