Managed to fit this one more in. More of what Serph has been up to during this period. There's a chance I might abandon this story after this arc. I'm just not cut out to try to write Xianxia. I may take what I learn from here and try to write another story like it.

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Serph had finally returned to West Wind Academy from his Artifact hunt, but what he found was a Spirit Core, not an Artifact.

"Can you tell me what this is?" Serph asked.

"I'm not sure," said Master Pai Mei. "It is a Spirit Core, but it gives off the feeling of some sort of strange Internal Energy. You can try to ask Master Shifu or Grandmaster Kongming when the Immortal Realm opens again."

Serph went to the Vault to ask Master Shifu. "This feels like the spirit of something someone made rather than a Spirit," said Master Shifu.

"A man made Spirit?"said Serph. This was the first time Serph heard that a Spirit could be made. "Why didn't the person who made it use it?" he asked.

"Plenty of reasons," said Master Shifu. "They were not compatible, it was not suited for the person's fighting style, or even the owner may have just forgotten about it."

"Is it dangerous?" asked Serph.

"No," said Master Shifu. "It is just a Spirit Core like any other Spirit Beast Spirit. The only difference is that this one is man made and not taken from the corpse of a Spirit."

"If you say so, then I'm going to absorb it," said Serph.

"I want to see what it is myself as well," said Master Shifu.

Serph absorbed the Spirit Core into his body and felt a sudden rush of Internal Energy flow to his back. Four swords appeared from his back. "What is this?"

"It looks like a Sword Spirit of some kind," said Master Shifu. "That is probably why it felt like a person made it like they would another machine."

Serph had wanted an Artifact, but perhaps this was just as good. "Thank you for the advice Master," said Serph.

"You're welcome here any time," said Master Shifu. "It must be tough trying to keep busy until your special friend returns."

"I find ways," said Serph. "Now to practice with using five swords," he said to himself.

It was time for the Immortal Realm to open again. This time, Serph wanted to see Grandmaster Kongming about how to better utilize his Divine Energy. When the fog lifted in the Immortal Realm, it was deemed safe because the strongest Spirit Beasts went into hiding, but when the fog returned, it was dangerous as the strongest Spirit Beasts returned.

"Grandmaster Kongming are you there?" Serph asked standing in front of the stone house.

"Come in," said Kongming. "What brings you here today?"

"I want you to teach me how to better control my Divine Energy like you do," said Serph.

"Controlling Divine Energy is just like controlling Internal Energy," replied Kongming.

"Can you teach me how?" Serph asked.

"Are you willing to stay another year in the Immortal Realm?" asked Kongming.

"Yes," said Serph. "I am willing."

"Then I can train you, but you will have to practice," said Kongming.

"I will practice diligently," replied Serph.

"Do you remember how I gave you your Divine Energy?" asked Kongming.

"Yes," said Serph.

"I'm going to give you one more drop, but this time, I want you to feel its flow throughout your body," said Kongming.

"Okay," said Serph. He watched as Kongming put his index and middle finger on his Dantian. Serph focused and felt the drop of Divine Energy flow throughout his body, from his Dantian and outward. It ended in his finger tips, toes, and forehead.

"You must recreate that feeling when channeling your Internal Energy," said Kongming.

Serph practiced every day from the moment he woke up until he got tired. He only stopped to hunt Spirit Beasts for food.

"Do you have other elements besides earth and metal?" asked Kongming.

"No, just these two," replied Serph.

"Oh okay," said Kongming.

"Why do you ask?" asked Serph.

"If you had multiple elements, you could actually combine them in different ways to create new ones," explained Kongming. "Master Cixi can combine earth and water to make wood for example and something like fire and earth could create something much more explosive."

Serph only had earth and metal. The two did very little together. As he trained, he looked for ways to possibly combine them, but it did not work. It was the hardness of earth against the hardness of metal. Metal could also be shaped much more effectively making it superior to earth, so Serph gave up on trying to develop something stronger with his earth.

Instead, Serph practiced primarily focusing his Internal Energy into his hand and finger tips. This allowed him to channel more of his Internal Energy into his sword, resulting in a much stronger attack. When Divine Energy was placed in it, it could pierce almost everything. His armor could also be focused on only one part of his body, resulting in creating a much stronger piece being created there whether it was to protect himself or to reinforce his hand to punch something.

"This is similar to the technique in the book you gave me," said Serph.

"This is what it is based on," said Kongming. "Whereas the book focuses on transferring Divine Energy into another person, this technique focuses on moving Internal Energy around in your body more efficiently. They are based on the same principles, but applied differently."

"So... application can change use," thought Serph. He fully Armatized. With a full suit of armor and five swords, one in his hand, four floating behind him, he had an incredible attack and defense now. The only thing he was missing was sufficient speed.

Serph trained moving the swords on his back, increasing their speed immensely over time. "Very good," said Kongming. "You are using those like your arms and legs, it will be difficult for your opponent to defend if you are attacking them with all of those."

"Thank you Master," said Serph.

"But you still still need to be careful of a strong opponent," said Kongming. He had stepped forward and broken all four of Serph's swords in an instant. "It requires a lot of concentration to move that many and it may be more effective to just use one sword yourself."

"Then what is the point of having so many?" said Serph.

"Do you remember where you got this ability from?" asked Kongming.

Serph remembered, the Sword Golem. If you could spin the swords around they would act like a defense. Serph immediately did the same, he focused and was able to get the swords moving around himself.

"That's it," said Kongming. "With so many, it creates a pretty good defense. Swords are balanced in that they can be used for offense and defense. The only problem is maintaining focus in a difficult situation."

"What do you recommend then?" asked Serph.

"It's mostly mental," said Kongming. "If you can fight something like an Emperor Stage Spirit Beast while maintaining them, you should be fine in most situations."

Serph interpreted that as to defeat an Emperor Stage Spirit Beast with his swords. "I'll get on it Master." He left to go look for one.

"Really?" thought Kongming. "I thought he would want more practice before actually trying it out. Kids these days."

Serph spent a long time looking in the Immortal Realm for an Emperor Stage. Kongming had killed most of them as a way to keep things under control, but there are a few that emerge once in a while. Eventually, Serph was able to find one. It was an enormous snake. One that rivaled large dragons and it contained an enormous amount of Internal Energy.

When the snake saw Serph, it immediately lunged towards him. Serph immediately Armatized into his armor and his swords. BOOM. The ground shook as the snake hit the ground.

The snake spat a green liquid out of its mouth. Serph moved to the side but part of his shoulder armor was caught by it. HISS. It was an acid that was cutting into his armor. He immediately removed his shoulder before it ate away at more. The acid disappeared with his Armatization. It was an anti Armatization ability.

Serph threw a sword at the snake, but it flexed and dodged it. Serph threw a few more around on the battlefield. The snake dodged them too. What the snake didn't realize is that Serph was not aiming for the snake, he was setting up the battlefield by limiting the movement of the snake and spreading out a few swords he could jump to and use.

With a single sword in his hand, Serph waiting for the snake to lunge forward again. He stepped to the side, barely avoiding the fangs of the snake and slashed the skin. CLING. SHUUSH. The sword had made contact, but it slid off the skin of the snake. Serph focused his Internal Energy into his sword and waited for the snake again. As it flung its tail towards Serph, he tried to cut its skin again. CLING. SHUUSH. It simply slid off again.

"What's wrong?" thought Serph. "Am I just too weak? No, it is at Emperor Stage and so am I, I should have the strength to do it."

Serph thought as he avoided the next few attacks. The swords that normally floated on his back could be used effectively to deflect single attacks. It was poor for multiple consecutive attacks though luckily, the snake did not have any.

Akiza's single attack came to mind. The Rising Phoenix Strike. It focused a lot of power into her fist. Serph tried the same thing, focusing all of his power into just the tip of his sword. "Sonic Thrust!" shouted Serph as he jumped forward with his sword.

The snake saw this and spat acid. Serph intercepted it with one of his swords blocking the acid. The tip of his sword stabbed right into the head of the snake. It died instantly. "So focusing it all at the very tip can improve stabbing or thrusting power," he said to himself. "I will need to experiment more with this."

Serph continued to test his swords and improve the flow of Internal Energy as well as learning to apply it to different places for the remainder of the year in the Immortal Realm.