The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

Isaac was not surprised by this news; it was something he already knew and had studied. Blood Path forces were willing to extract the Qi Cores of living victims and use them as ingredients to increase the talent of one individual. Other resources were also necessary, but the main one was solid Qi that came from a recently extracted Qi Core. Of course, higher class talents had Qi Cores made of purer Qi, so it was necessary to use 3rd class Qi Cores if you wanted to raise your talent to 3rd class or 1st class Qi Cores if you wanted to raise your talent to 1st class.

However, Isaac knew that somebody who improved their talent would never truly be as talented as one who had that class naturally. Even if somebody improved their talent to 1st class, they could never reach Rank 5 – something a natural 1st class talent could do with considerable difficulty. However, a 'false' 1st class talent would still reach Rank 4 much more easily than a natural 2nd class talent. The 'false' 1st class talent was also more likely to reach Rank 4 middle or even upper stage, whereas 2nd class talents would mostly be stuck at lower stage even if they did succeed in reaching Rank 4.

For this reason, many Blood Path cultivators with the means to do so did decide to improve their talent. The only reason thing stopping countless Blood Path cultivators improving their talent and conquering the world was the expensiveness of the method. Furthermore, only some higher-ranking Blood Path forces knew the method, so it wasn't available to everyone.

Isaac had already evaluated his options. He aimed for the peak of cultivation: the venerable Rank 6! How could he be stuck with shaky foundations, unable to reach even Rank 5?! Not to mention, he couldn't afford to improve to 1st class as that would require an unthinkable amount of temp points.

He could barely afford to improve to 2nd class but he chose not to. That would limit his future even further: he might not even reach Rank 4. Isaac would rather not waste his only opportunity at increasing his talent until he was sure it was the right choice. Now was certainly not that time.

While many people pondered what to do, the official continued speaking,

"The reason we are here is because this is one of the sect's Rank 1 Anima Storage Facilities. As new cultivators, we are giving you the opportunity to choose your first Anima. Of course, you will still need to pay for it with temp points. You have 2 hours to find and choose an Anima."

After that, the official listed all the prices for improving talent. Isaac listened for a bit, then left after they stated the prices for 3rd class talents to improve.

He walked towards one of the transparent boxes near the edge of the room. On the wall above the box was a poster with a brief description of the Anima and its price.

'Soft Aura Veil Anima: 58 temp points

A defensive Anima which creates a glowing layer of protection around its user which softens the impact of blows, projectiles and other blunt objects.

It is less effective against sharp weapons and very weak to fire, dark energy and other formless energies.'

Isaac read the description. This would be a good starting Anima in the other 3 continents, but it seemed subpar in Northern Tundra. The most common Anima here were ice-style Anima but the Soft Aura Veil Anima couldn't defend against ice energy.

Because of this, Isaac moved on. Sword Anima could be found in every continent but they were rather uncommon and Isaac wasn't sure if there would be any here.

Because of this, Isaac was contemplating whether to take an offensive, defensive or movement Anima. Most people took an offensive Anima first since it was essentially impossible to win a fight without one. However, Isaac was skilled with the sword, giving him an attacking option which didn't require an Anima. In that case, he could take a movement or defensive Anima to increase his survivability.

Isaac wasn't overly cautious, but he did have a risk-averse nature so he favoured a defensive Anima. That being said, he would consider a movement or offensive Anima if he found a really good one.

After looking for 20 minutes, Isaac had checked all the Anima on the 1st floor. This contained many of Northern Tundra's most popular Anima. For example, there were 10 whole boxes of Ice Fragment Anima, the Anima the village head had used in trial 2.

There were 100 Anima in each of these boxes, meaning the sect expected 1,000 of the 2,500 disciples to pick this Anima! A ranged Anima might pair nicely with his sword so Isaac considered it as one of his options. Other potential choices were the Ice Shield Anima which formed a thick, floating shield of ice about the size of a dinner plate. Isaac also rather liked the Snowshoe Anima which allowed the user to glide over snow-covered surfaces.

These Anima were all cheap, easy to form a complementary set around, and versatile: much better than the Soft Aura Veil Anima which specialised in fighting physical wild beasts but wasn't very useful in fights between cultivators.

Finally, there was Isaac's favourite: the Black Ice Anima. It could make portions of the ground within 15 metres of the user incredibly slippery. It was a more unconventional method and wasn't truly offensive, defensive or movement-related. However, it had incredible application in creating openings during battle, especially if the opponent didn't expect it.

After one more look around, Isaac descended to the first underground level. If the ground floor showcased Northern Tundra's most popular Anima, this floor had the Full Moon Sect's specialty Anima. It contained a multitude of beast-style Anima including some Anima unique to the sect. These Anima were invented and created by the Full Moon Sect and probably didn't exist anywhere else in the world.

There was more variety on this floor. However, some boxes didn't have many Anima in them. Every box on the ground floor contained 100 Anima, but here boxes such as the one for the Beastly Glare Anima had as few as 10.

There were also less sets of boxes which contained the same Anima. This meant there were more types of Anima and it took Isaac longer to look at them all. Despite this, he only liked 2 of them.

Beast-style didn't really appeal to Isaac and he certainly didn't plan on accumulating a complimentary set of Beast Anima. The Full Moon Sect focused on wolves, meaning most of its movement type Beast Anima involved transforming paws or running on all fours, things Isaac couldn't do whilst wielding a sword. The 2 Anima he had noticed were both defensive type and he wasn't sure either of them was better than the Ice Shield Anima, let alone the Black Ice Anima.

Therefore, with over an hour left, he moved to the bottom floor. This floor was filled with miscellaneous Anima and none of its boxes were full. In fact, most of them contained less than 10 Anima and many only contained 2 or 3.

However, this floor had nearly as many boxes as the 2 above combined since there was no hole in the middle of it. Since he wanted to leave 10 minutes at the end to make his final decision, Isaac didn't think he could search the whole floor.

Starting in the middle and working his way outwards, he observed the boxes methodically. Crocodile Skin Anima, Dark Pulse Anima, Spring Cricket Anima; even Fixing Flesh Anima, a healing Anima. All useless to Isaac.

Time was running out and he was preparing to take one of the Anima from the 1st floor. However, the goddess of fortune seemed to be smiling his way! The sect even had a Fire Anima here, so why couldn't they have swords too?

Isaac was standing in front of a box with its description poster stuck to the lid,

'Spirit Sword Anima: 41 temp points.

When Qi is supplied to this Anima, it will take only an instant to create a sword in your hand. This sword will be much sharper and more durable than a normal sword and can pierce the hide of Rank 1 wild beasts.

To maintain the sword, you must supply a small but constant stream of Qi and the sword will disappear the moment it loses this supply of Qi.'

At first, Isaac sighed. Though he had found a sword Anima, it seemed like a trashy one with many drawbacks and few benefits. However, the more he thought about it, the better a choice this seemed.

While his sword would be useful against commoners and regular animals, it wouldn't be sharp enough to pose a threat for wild beasts and hunting them would be impossible. A better, more dangerous weapon would be crucial for fighting opponents like wild beasts with strong defences.

Furthermore, the sword was not just a means of attack. A skilled swordsman could also defend with his blade: this sword Anima was more durable and would be better for defending.

Only the last sentence worried Isaac. Having to maintain the sword would hinder him in battles of attrition. It also meant he couldn't throw the sword, give it to anyone else, or even let it leave his hand.

Isaac's brows furrowed as he wondered whether to take this sub-par sword Anima.