Under John's eloquent persuasion and sugar-coated barrage, Shadowcloud eventually, albeit reluctantly, forgave him.
As John had anticipated, Shadowcloud indeed ca to teach him, specifically, a mystical technique coveted by countless awakeners - the "Godslayer Blade."
Turning to serious matters, Shadowcloud's deanor changed, adopting a grave tone.
"Learning the Godslayer Blade isn't sothing that can be achieved overnight.
It requires a considerable amount of ti and effort.
Moreover, frequent use of the Godslayer Blade can inflict severe damage on your body," he cautioned.
His eyes briefly clouded with a touch of lancholy, "And this damage is irreparable. Are you sure you want to learn it?"
Without hesitation, John affird, "Of course, I want to learn!"
The power of the Godslayer Blade was evident to all; it could unleash strength far beyond one's level in an instant.
In critical monts, it might just save his life.
Faced with such an opportunity, John wouldn't dream of declining.
After all, if it could preserve his life, what did side effects matter?
Shadowcloud wasn't surprised by John's decision.
With a smile, he said, "Since you've made up your mind, there's nothing more for to say. Prepare yourself; we start training tomorrow."
John nodded eagerly.
Afterward, Shadowcloud left with Victor and others, leaving John to continue his training in the room.
Once outside the training room, Shadowcloud halted his wheelchair, turning his gaze towards Victor, who silently acknowledged, understanding Shadowcloud wanted a private word.
He led Shadowcloud to a quiet office.
Upon entering, Victor personally poured a cup of tea for the legendary awakener of the Federal.
As Shadowcloud blew gently on the mist rising from the cup, he inquired, "Has that person not been found yet?"
He referred, of course, to the shadowy figure lurking behind the scenes.
Without this individual being found, Stellarburg could not settle into peace, and they couldn't lower their guard.
Victor frowned, "There are so clues, but the person remains elusive. They might be related to House Foster, but by the ti we got to them, they had vanished, likely having left Stellarburg."
Shadowcloud's brow furrowed in frustration, fearing the possibility of their adversary having left Stellarburg the most.
Within the city, though the foe was like an unstable bomb, at least they knew where the bomb was located.
Should the individual leave Stellarburg, finding them would be akin to searching for a needle in a haystack.
With a deep look, Shadowcloud expressed, "I've always had a bad feeling about this, fearing this person might cause significant trouble for the Federal in the future."
Their goals remained unknown, and now, their only lead, House Foster, had disappeared, indicating the severity of the situation for individuals of their caliber.
Lighting a cigarette, Victor revealed, "Things have been unstable lately, with demons erging incessantly. The Southern Sea Fortress has descended into chaos, seemingly under the influence of soone wishing to establish their divine kingdom there. And it's not just the Southern Sea Fortress; the dark gods outside the eight fortresses are restless too.
The higher-ups have already secretly dispatched powerful beings to maintain order, but it's uncertain if they can stabilize the situation."
Victor's recent mission to the Southern Sea Fortress was, in fact, a secret assignnt to suppress those harboring ill intentions.
Shadowcloud's expression carried a hint of weariness as he shared, "A few years back, the principal of the Star Cluster Academy divined the stars and foresaw signs of impending chaos. It appears that prediction is indeed coming true."
He paused for a mont before adopting a more carefree smile, "I'll leave these matters to you younger folks. I'm practically a cripple now, eager to help but physically unable."
Victor remained silent.
Shadowcloud had devoted his life to the Federal, and now in his later years, it was indeed unnecessary for him to exert himself further; a rest was well deserved.
Suddenly, sothing crossed Victor's mind, and he asked, "I heard from John that you've known him for quite so ti and that you taught him the Stealth Spell quite early on. Did you see sothing special in him?"
With a sip of tea, Shadowcloud chuckled, "You're overthinking it. I simply took a liking to him."
Victor gave him a glance but said nothing more.
He didn't quite believe Shadowcloud's claim, but since Shadowcloud was unwilling to elaborate, Victor didn't press further.
However, he couldn't shake off a hunch.
Perhaps the semi-divine figure from the Star Cluster Academy foresaw not only the Federal's imminent turmoil but sothing more...
A day passed quickly, and John found himself in the training room early the next morning, only to be surprised that Shadowcloud had arrived even earlier.
However, the reason for his early arrival...
At that mont, Shadowcloud, seated in his wheelchair, was engaging in conversation with a few cleaning ladies.
With his worldly experiences and bawdy jokes, he had the group of ladies giggling uncontrollably, all the while casting lecherous glances at their ample bosoms, presenting a rather unsavory sight.
John couldn't help but twitch his mouth in disdain.
Despite being wheelchair-bound, the old man was still up to no good.
Upon seeing John approach, Shadowcloud made plans to grab coffee with the cleaning ladies at a later ti, then asked them to leave first.
The cleaning staff reluctantly exited the training room, leaving just the two of them in the spacious area.
Shadowcloud gave John a once-over and remarked with a hint of emotion, "Yesterday, you were beaten to a pulp; I didn't expect you to recover in just a day. Being young is great; you can withstand rigorous training."
Observing the smile on Shadowcloud's face, John suddenly had a bad feeling.
But it was too late for any second thoughts now.
The training officially began.
Shadowcloud didn't start by teaching John how to wield the Godslayer Blade right away.
Instead, he first adjusted John's training schedule.
He eliminated most of the courses John had already mastered and extended the original 12-hour training period to 18 hours, leaving John with only 6 hours of rest each day.
Additionally, Shadowcloud increased the frequency of John consuming transcendent food, ensuring John ate again every few hours.
John thought Victor's training was strict enough, but he was now realizing that the real hellish training was just beginning.
Learning the Godslayer Blade was more challenging than he had imagined.
The most difficult part was that the user not only needed to highly compress their own power but also had to bring their mind power into a peculiar state.
This state allowed them to discern the opponent's fatal weakness in a split second.
As Shadowcloud put it, everything in this world, including gods, has its weaknesses.
Once those weaknesses are discerned, even mortals can bridge the chasm and slay gods!
This was why Shadowcloud was able to use the Godslayer Blade to intimidate a deity in his heyday.
Although it sounds simple, the execution is challenging.
rely the first step, compressing one's power, proved to be a significant hurdle for John.
He had always believed he had decent control over his power, but it was only during the compression training that John realized his understanding of compression was fundantally different from what Shadowcloud described.
Shadowcloud's concept of compression involves condensing one's internal power to a single point, achieving a qualitative transformation, not rely using mind power to forcibly compress elental energy as John did with his skill fusion technique.
The two approaches are fundantally different.
Besides teaching John how to master the Godslayer Blade, Shadowcloud also imparted knowledge that's difficult to find in books.
For instance, "mystical techniques" are essentially a form of skill fusion technique.
However, "mystical techniques" are more mature and stable, allowing others to learn or mimic them.
The "Stealth Spell" that John mastered is a mystical technique uniquely created by Shadowcloud.
Similarly, Victor's "Starfall Blade Rain" and most of his skills are also his own creations of mystical techniques.
However, Victor's situation is unique.
His mystical techniques are tailored only for him and not applicable to everyone else, which is why he cannot teach them to John.
As Shadowcloud puts it, Victor has taken the "swordsman" class to its extre, even transcending the limitations of talent.
He has forged his own path, one that others cannot replicate.
Moreover, Shadowcloud imparted to John so knowledge about the "Divine Realm," a power that originates from the gods.
John's Crimson Realm is an instance of such a Divine Realm.
Once his strength reaches a certain threshold, he will be able to manifest the Divine Realm into the physical world at will.
Within the confines of his Divine Realm, he would wield godlike omnipotence!
However, John's current strength is too limited to harness the full potential of the Divine Realm, to the point where he can't even fully control the monsters within it.
Thus, alongside teaching John the Godslayer Blade, Shadowcloud is also guiding him on how to master the Crimson Realm.
Mastering either the Godslayer Blade or gaining control over the Crimson Realm is not sothing that can be achieved quickly.
John is ntally prepared for this.
In addition to learning from Shadowcloud, John continues to partake in Victor's combat training without fail.
Victor's contributions to John's education have been focused solely on combat.
No matter how John attacks, Victor can perfectly deflect his assaults with his iron staff, then counter with a seemingly effortless strike, rendering John incapacitated.
Victor's swordsmanship, at tis lightning-fast and at others ghostly elusive, has left a significant psychological impact on John.
Under such rigorous training, ti swiftly passes by.
Each day, John experiences both agony and ecstasy.
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