Modern Awakening - A cultivation, LitRPG, apocalyptic novel

Shen had decided to go all out in pursuing the last Concept. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was critical to finishing forming his Path. The closer he got to it, the more eager he became.

If Shen was his Path, and his Path was incomplete, didn't it mean he, himself, was also not whole?

So he first let go of his spear to approach his enemies more easily. He used a bit of deception to leave it close by in case he wanted it, but in the end, someone had seen through it and thrown it close to the boss.

That was fine. Ever since becoming one with Zephyr in the race's final boss, Shen had been wondering. Shouldn't he also become one with his foundational Concepts? He wasn't sure what becoming one Zephyr actually meant, but it had felt intimate and important.

So he focused on dodging as many attacks as he could to survive longer while using his fists to feel the impact they caused. He was seeking a Concept to give him an extra punch. Nothing like actually punching to find that, or so he thought. At the same time, he let himself be ruled more and more by his foundational Concepts of War, Combat, and Sharpness.

War was once again the easiest to follow. It made him aware of everyone and told him where to be. By itself, it wouldn't care about self-sacrifices, but since he had learned to dominate it with his will, he could direct its purpose. The goal of this war was to survive as long as possible to connect with his Path.

Combat was the second most used Concept. It helped Shen find the best place to punch and avoid the very few counterattacks by the defenders.

Sharpness was almost ignored. It let him see where he should cut, but his knife hand wasn't strong enough for that.

Meanwhile, he kept using Zephyr, Boundlessness, and Flow to support what he was doing. Boundlessness especially helped counter the spells slowing him down, while the other two let him avoid almost all projectiles—but not all.

Things weren't going well at first. Punching shields and armor of people who could easily withstand it made him extra aware of how he needed extra explosive power but gave him no idea how to do it. His HP was slowly drained by the attacks he received. It would be a matter of time until he had to change his approach.

Then Scott came.

When the man turned into a walking torch, War and Combat instantly told Shen that that was it. The way forward was right in front of him. He needed to fight Scott under pressure, see what the man was doing, and adapt it to Shen's own Path.

But he couldn't do that without more focus than he had right now, so he roared to signal Sai to go ahead with the plan—and maybe Alicia if she was in—and punched Scott.

His punch was received by another. Fist met fist head-on. Scott's flames exploded on contact, and the shock wave traveled through Shen's arm. His E resistance helped, but it was his qi that stopped his arm from instantly getting mangled. He still felt cells rupturing under the stress and knew that a dozen of such punches would be the "death" of his arm.

Fortunately, he estimated he had just about a dozen punches left in him while Sai and Alicia distracted the mages.

Shen rotated his body and roundhouse kicked Scott, who raised his arm to protect himself and punched Shen in the chest. Shen also blocked, but once again, the explosion and shock wave damaged his arms, and he was pushed back because of his unstable footing. He fell, rolled back, and stood up.

He heard someone coming from behind and twisted his body. It was an old female agility fighter. Shen dodged most of her attack, but the tip of her dagger still grazed his shoulder.

Shen used his footwork to the max to kill her. He followed her movement and made a knife hand, aiming for her neck. He hit and had even added Sharp Qi to the edge of his attack, but Sharp Qi only increased sharpness, it didn't produce it out of nothing. At least not at Shen's level. It was only the impact of E+ strength moving at E+ agility that broke her neck and—

He widened his eyes as he stepped back to avoid an incoming sword, but his mind was elsewhere.

Impact, speed, power, and shock; the answer laid there somewhere.

Scott was upon Shen again, punching, and Shen moved quickly to punch back, once again striking the man's fist head-on. The shock wave moving up his arms was painful, but in a way, also just what he wanted.

It reminded Shen of when he died agonizing electrical death by the golem.

It reminded him of Lightning.

He had already considered how Lightning could be an option. Some alternatives had come to mind later, like Space or even Annihilation. But now, as he felt Scott's power coursing through his veins—trying to destroy them—he understood that his last Concept definitely belonged to Lightning.

Shen's personal experience with Lightning was the pain of electricity, both from the golem and from other mages, but he had seen spars between cultivators that focused on the Laws of Lightning before. They were fast, and they were mighty. Sometimes they overwhelmed their opponents the same way the golem had done to Shen. Other times, they released powerful explosions.

Shen dodged other people's attacks and hit Scott's fists time and time again. Each time, he understood more. Each time, he connected to more.

The Feng Clan practiced the Hurricane Martial Arts. They synergized Water cultivation and Wind techniques to bring unbridled destruction. Yet, Shen had read of hurricanes before. Sometimes, they also produced lightning.

Lightning would synergize to different degrees with everything he had, except maybe Sharpness. But he wanted an extra punch precisely for the moments when Sharpness wouldn't cut it, so it was alright.

That was it; the last Laws to enter his Path would be the Laws of Lightning.

But as Shen moved and dodged, the first Concept that came to mind wasn't anything that released his desired shock wave. It was the Concept of Speed.

Even as he just acknowledged its existence, barely touching it to feel if it was the Concept he wanted, he already moved faster. For a few instants, no one could get even closer to touching him, no matter how many or how fast they were.

But Shen let go of that Concept by straight-up hitting Scott's fists again.

The extra speed gave him additional power. It helped; Scott's hand was pushed a few inches back for the first time.

But that wasn't what Shen sought. His Path didn't need pure speed to be completed. It required a blast.

His connection to the Laws of Lightning continued as he dodged and exchanged new strikes with Scott. The spells also resumed coming as Sai, and maybe Alicia, should be dead by now.

Shen's arms hurt. Moving them became more difficult as their muscles swelled. It also made them a little slower, and it affected his ability to take them away from danger, further increasing the damage he took.

His time was limited. He had three strikes left on each arm before they became useless.

Shen struck with his left fist; he learned nothing.

He struck with his right hand; there was an echo of an idea forming in his mind.

He struck with his left a second time; the echo got louder.

He struck with his right once more; it became a clear image of a tree trunk getting split by a lightning bolt.

Shen shook his head. No, that felt wrong. He knew, he just knew, there was something more.

His left fist hit Scott's fist for the third time. His finger bones shattered, caving inwards, his arm bones fractured, and his muscles ruptured. The arm became useless, but something else came with the painful personal experience: the image of pressured air expanding quickly because of something electricity did.

An Arc Blast.

That was it, what Shen wanted.

And yet...

And yet, that something the electricity had done to produce the blast tempted him. The Arc Blast was the mere consequence.

Shen was finalizing his Path. It would determine his entire future. He wanted it to be as close to perfect as possible, and after also recalling the speed of Lightning cultivators...

He punched with his right hand for the third time.

Even as he moved his arm, it was faster than normal despite the limb's terrible state. As it approached, there was no explosion, to extra pressure on the air. He wasn't using Arc Blast.

He was using something else.

When his first was about to touch Scott's, a hair's breadth away from the man's skin, Shen's qi touched Scott.

A tiny spark with an enormous charge ignited between them.

A powerful explosion released a flash of light and a lot of heat, instantly followed by a supersonic shock wave. Both happened exactly the same instant Shen's fist reached the boy's.

Scott and Shen were both thrown a few feet back by the blast's power. The flames surrounding Scott even momentarily quenched before burning again.

Shen's arm became utterly mangled. The burns were the worst. His hand and forearm had become bright, painful red. His flesh was exposed in many places, his skin burnt.

Despite all the pain, Shen raised his head to the skies and laughed as he connected to the Concept of the Arc Flash.

Information about it came to his mind. Things he had never considered before, like electrical arcs, arc faults, charge, and discharge, became clear to him. It took an instant like it usually did when he connected to a new Concept, but it was enough.

His Path was complete.

Something clicked inside him at the conclusion. Everything was where it should be. Shen felt a sense of wholeness that he hadn't felt since... ever. Even when he had woken up with healed meridians, he hadn't felt like this. Even when he grabbed a spear after a few stages without one, the sensation hadn't been this strong.

His Path had never felt so intimately himself.

He was the Spear in his foundations, but also the Wind, Water, and Lightning on the surroundings. If the Spear was his body or head, the others would be his limbs. Boundlessness occupied a strange position, being both his nails and weird flexible muscles for longer reach.

That was him.

That was the Path of Feng Shen.

That was Feng Shen.

His arms couldn't be used, but he didn't give up. He had never felt so whole. He had wanted to become one with his foundational Concepts, but he achieved something much grander.

He became truly one with his Path.

Shen was the War and the Combat. He used the qi in his arms to keep them glued to his body and jumped, dodging an incoming spell and thrusting his leg against a nearby strength fighter's neck.

He was the Arc Flash. The point of contact between his foot and his foe's neck exploded in light, heat, and blast that killed the man, and burned and broke Shen's foot.

He was the Zephyr, moving like a ghost between spells and attacks, redirecting arrows when they got close enough to the few inches he could push Zephyr Qi outside his body.

He was Boundless, escaping all physical attempts to encircle and resisting all magic endeavors to slow him down.

Only Sharpness eluded him until he recalled he had teeth and bit through leather and neck to kill an agility fighter.

Shen raised his head to the skies and laughed again as the pieces of flash and leather in his mouth turned into light. He was inebriated by the realization that he didn't need a Spear in his hand to feel whole. His stupidity had fooled him once more.

Shen was Shen, and for the first time, he was complete in himself.

He roared in triumph, this time a legitimate roar, for he had never felt so free as now that he realized that absolute truth of himself.

The Heavens roared back.

The previously blue skies instantly turned black, filled with ominous clouds that rumbled with thunder. Spells, arrows, swords, and fists were coming his way, but when they got close enough, golden lightning struck from the skies, hitting each attack, then following back to their source. Dozens died instantly, reviving in their circles. The others learned quickly enough and redirected their attacks. Those nearby moved away, getting as far from Shen as possible, afraid of whatever was going on.

Shen briefly entertained the ridiculous idea of his Concept of the Arc Flash having made him a chosen son of the Laws of Lightning. A single glance to the skies was enough to reveal the truth.

A giant spearhead pierced the dark clouds, followed by a massive wooden shaft with a red tassel. As it descended upon the world, it created an enormous vortex surrounding it, like a hurricane half water, half wind. Common, blue lightning appeared all over the spear and hurricane, millions of bolts per second, giving everything a blue, eerie aura.

Shen had never heard of a tribulation related to completing one's Path.

Yet here he was.