CH 168

-Amazing. Even if you opened the way, it would only be meaningful if you learned it.

‘It is all because of the teachings of Elder Immortal Sword.’

-It would have been nice if there was a little more time, but it would be more beneficial for you to embody the will, innate qi, and flame.

‘Tell me more. Didn’t the old man tell you? It is time when I need to attain enlightenment.’

-You have a strong desire to learn. I want to teach you more, but I need more time than I have.

‘What do you mean by that?’

-No matter how much slower the world flows compared to the outside, it cannot be stopped. Now, you must head back.

With those words, the fog gradually disappeared. I then urgently asked the old man.

‘Tell me more. Was it the elder’s arrangement that I returned to the past?’

The man smiled at that question.

He was smiling, yet I didn’t feel positive about it.

-What is this now? How did that happen?

Short Sword asked me in surprise.

‘It really blew my mind.’

Those who used weapons such as the sword or the blade could sharpen their energy as they reached higher levels.

This was called the drive qi.

Warriors who had gone beyond that wall would be able to fully master the qi within their body, so they would also be able to handle it freely.

-So you crossed the wall?

No.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to. It would be more accurate to say I put my chin close to the wall.

-You went as close as the chin, huh? So are you saying that you have yet to reach the peak realm?

It was a bit vague.

Despite being able to embody what the old man taught me, my own enlightenment was still lacking. Even if the image was able to flow slower than the outside, it still wasn’t enough to completely cross that wall.

I could at least say that I am in the peak realm.

It wasn’t at a level where I would be able to easily use arts like using my hands and feet, but it was possible to use the medium of the sword.

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For now, this was the limit.

This was originally only possible when one crossed over that wall. It was possible now since the Immortal Sword had opened all of the Qi points on the Big Dipper in my hand.

Iron Sword was surprised and asked.

-You couldn’t hear us because you were actually talking to him?

‘Right. I was being taught by him.’

-Then you were meeting the real Immortal Sword?

I replied yes to Short Sword’s fussy question. It was a totally unexpected encounter.

-That dead old man became pitiful.

The old man Short Sword referred to was Chun Mu-seong. In my opinion, he was truly unfortunate.

He had barely escaped that prison but then lost his life because he couldn’t learn the treasure. Seeing how things ended up, I realized there was such a thing as fate.

In any case, I was able to receive a chance to grow because of this, so I think I should be satisfied.

-It is a pity the Eight Great Warriors were right in front of me.

‘He told me not to be impatient when it came to enlightenment. And…’

I should be able to draw out more of the Will of the Blood Demon now.

While the Will of the Sword Saint remained within the treasure, my body didn’t accept it properly yet, leaving the possibility of growth open.

“S-stop him!”

Someone who seemed to be the head of the masked men beckoned toward me. He was the one with a better level of strength compared to the others here.

If my sense of discerning classes was right, this man was roughly around the Super Master level.

-He tried to feed something to you.

That pill in his hand, it bothered me.

Once I subdue him, I will know what it was and his purpose.

-Be careful.

I raised my sword to the side following Short Sword’s warning.

Sring!

The masked person who swung the sword at me was pushed back lightly by my sword.

Judging by how I could cross the wall through training, the air changed.

Pak! Chak!

“Kuak!”

I kicked the man running at me from the side in the wrist and cut him in the thigh. I then drew my sword at the head of one of the masked men running up the stairs.

The space around me shuddered and trembled as he felt a sharp intent to his rear.

“Kuak!”

He hurriedly rolled on the ground after sensing that. Since he had reached the peak as a warrior, my opponent could be somewhat more sensitive.

But could he avoid it when I am using the drive qi?

Chachachak!

I moved around too quickly, eliminating any chance of avoiding it.

“You!”

Perhaps he, too, thought that it was unavoidable as he turned around and performed a splendid showing of palm arts.

The path of his palm increased to cover dozens of areas and created a shield.

Papapak!

His palm technique collided with my slash.

He tried to block using the anticipation of a tight defense, but he ended up being bounced back.

Bang!

‘Uh?’

The force of his bounce managed to shatter the walls of the building around us. It also created a faster way to move up compared to using the stairs.

If this continues to happen, I might end up missing him.

“Hap!”

The masked people were blocking my path, seemingly trying to help their leader escape.

They used a combination of sword and blade techniques, but I avoided it by only lightly moving my upper body. The masked people looked dumbfounded at the difference in skill.

“A gap!”

I stabbed one of the masked men between the eyebrows.

He collapsed without even being able to scream. Another masked man panicked after seeing this and tried to run, but I ended up slashing him in his side.

Puak! Crack!

“Kuak!”

Along with the sounds of his ribs breaking, he coughed blood and bounced back. Seeing that even their best warriors couldn’t defend against me, it looked like I really did grow stronger.

When there were no more people in my way, Short Sword said,

-Hurry up and go there!

‘Wait.’

I used the silver thread at the corpse lying on the ground and pulled it towards me. It was the body of the man who had killed Chun Mu-seong.

I wanted to use both hands to wield the silver string and also attempt to learn the art of using them efficiently. I thought that active practice would be enough.

Clack!

I removed the armor from the corpse and equipped the string that was on his waist and right arm.

-Taking care of the book even in death. That’s just like you.

Should I throw this away?

If it fell into the hands of another, it would be as if my rights were being stripped.

I focused on caring for the string and moving it through the dead man’s hole.

-Do you know where it is?

I lowered my blindfold and opened my closed eye. The golden eye opened in the dark tower as the whole place came into my view.

While confronting the masked men, I firmly grasped the quality of their qi. I could see even further without the blindfold.

There was qi from many people around me. Among them was one that was running away quickly.

That was him.

-Can you catch up with him?

‘It might be… possible…’

-What would you do, though? At this distance, he could probably run and hide.

I spread my arms wide.

-What are you doing?

Chak! Chak!

The silver string from both of my arms fired out to the walls and served as a binding.

-What are you doing! You! No!

I ran towards the wall on the other side that had a hole in it and fixed the silver strings so that they would stretch.

The strings seemed to be really flexible to movement. The strings would become taut when attached to something as if it would pull the entire thing down.

Tung!

As if someone had blown me away, the elasticity of the silver string pulled my body out of the hole, and I stretched out straight through the sky.

Using two strings instead of one highlighted the elasticity even further.

My body crossed the air as if I was using some light footwork, my speed making it seem like my body had turned into an arrow.

Woong!

I could see the man.

He was wandering around the alley as if trying to avoid being trailed. I immediately aimed at him using the string attached to Short Sword.

-Again?

Short Sword sighed in resignation.

I immediately used the silver string towards the wall of the building in the direction that the man was headed.

Kwak!

Crack!

When Short Sword penetrated the wall, I reduced the distance by infusing qi into the silver string.

Once the direction changed, I pulled Short Sword out immediately and flew towards that direction.

Tak!

And I landed in front of the masked man.

“Huk!”

He couldn’t hide his shock when I suddenly appeared from the sky. The eyes visible from behind the mask were trembling.

“H-How is this?”

Hearing this, I smiled and pointed up.

It was true that I flew across like a man in the sky.

The flustered man tried to turn his body to the other side as if he had no intention of fighting.

Check!

I used the silver string again and caught his leg.

“What is this now?”

What do you mean? I caught you.

I pulled the string.

The man struggled to get it off his leg but then seemed to change his mind and jumped towards me instead. The head of the masked men then unleashed a palm technique at me.

His palm was read as he aimed towards my chest and face.

‘I see it.’

Since I was standing in front of him, I had to close the golden eye. However, since I already noted the flow of qi, I could see the gap between its flow as he used the technique.

The teachings I received from the Immortal Sword weren’t wasted. I just had to move my upper body to dodge it.

I then moved toward him and fed him a punch infused with qi into his stomach.

Puak!

“Kuak!”

The man who was punched groaned with a sound similar to a puke. He raised his head as if he couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

“Y-You hid your true power?”

I guess he was surprised at how rapidly my skills had changed. To him, I said,

“Lord Guyang. It was you, I see.”

“What?”

The man clearly sounded shocked.

The mask that he wore had been removed. Actually, I was the one who did it.

In the same instant when I had punched him in the stomach, I had let go of my sword for a split second to pull off his mask.

“Kuak! You!”

Guyang Gyeong could not hide his incredulity.

I knew.

I knew that the head of the Martial Heavenly Sword order, which was within the Dual Martial troop factions, had sent someone to try and corner me when I had revealed them to be fake. However, I didn’t think they would still attack me in the open.

So my doubts then grew.

“… you were one of them, too, I guess.”

That man called Mu Ack, and that man who referred to himself as Han Ji-sang’s teacher.

It seemed like this had something to do with them.

Considering how Guyang Gyeong’s eyes were moving back and forth, it seemed like my words weren’t reaching his head. Instead, he seemed to wonder how he could get out of this situation.

-….

Seeing that, alongside the sound of metal, my senses felt highly stimulated. A lot of people were headed here.

It seemed like there were those who saw me move through the air.

Guyang Gyeong, who had slightly recovered, must have noticed it as well, so he was even more confused.

“Damn it!”

He was trying to free the silver string tied to his ankle.

Would I let him leave?

I pulled the string.

The man who was trying to get away then closed his eyes and took something out of his pocket.

‘A pill?’

It was the one he had tried to feed me.

“I cannot forgive you.”

I didn’t like this, so I moved forward to cut him down.

Chak!

The man then hurriedly lowered his body and gulped down the pill. I grabbed him by the neck as I got close.

“Kuak!”

I was ready to punch him in the stomach and make him puke it out, but then I noticed the black veins standing out his face.

‘What?’

This was a bizarre thing, and I felt that his blood vessels were struggling. In order to subdue him, I hurriedly used a blood-sealing technique.

Tak! Tak!

However, a vast amount of qi came up through the expanding veins and interfered with it. I knew this wouldn’t work, so I punched his chest.

Puak!

The man began to bleed through his lips. He was already puking out black blood but then spoke with a sly smile as he looked at me.

“Haa. I feel good.”

As soon as he said this, he immediately aimed toward my head, so I responded with a fist to meet his palm.

The moment the palm and fist collided, we were pushed back from each other.

Chakk.

This man’s internal qi seemed to have suddenly increased.

I thought he would kill himself with how his body changed, but it looked like I was wrong.

His eyes also showed visible red blood vessels while his entire face was filled with disgusting, bulging black veins.

Urrr!

At that moment, dozens of people rushed toward us. Wang Cheo-il was in front of them.

My father, Jin Song-baek, was nowhere to be seen.

“Lord Guyang? What is this?”

Hearing his question, I decided to speak first.

“Lord Guyang aimed for me and the head of Martial Heavenly Order, who was in the clinic. The proof of that is that mask.”

I pointed to the mask that had fallen on the ground. Hearing this, Wang Cheo-il looked at Guyang Gyeong.

Anyone could see how his clothes matched the mask. This situation was also strange.

“Lord Guyang! What did you do?”

But Guyang Gyeong simply laughed viciously in response and said,

“You are all fucking screwed! That bastard will have to die by my hands!”

It was quite different from how he normally spoke. It wasn’t only about the rough tone, either.

“What are you talking about! Lord Guyang! If you don’t stop now, we will be forced to…”

Pat!

Guyang Gyeong immediately rushed toward Wang Cheo-il. I tried to pull the silver string to block him, but then.

“Do not interfere!”

Puak!

Guyang Gyeong cut away the string that was tied around his ankle. I had been curious about how long the string would have lasted, but I didn’t expect to find out like this.

As I was about to step in, Wang Cheo-il held out his hand.

“It is dangerous, so stay back! I will hold him.”

As one of the four lords here and a swordsman who lived from the time of the Martial Heavenly Sword Emperor, he was truly skilled.

Chachacha!

He seemed unrivaled when it came to martial arts. However, the problem was Guyang Gyeong.

Perhaps it was an effect of the pill he consumed, but his internal qi seemed to have increased and would allow him to overperform here.

Papapak!

Wang Cheo-il was also swinging his sword strongly. Still, Guyang Gyeong seemed unafraid of anything and simply continued to move forward with his palm technique.

“Did this man go insane?”

Although his skin had been cut, Wang Cheo-il’s sword was still bouncing back rather quickly.

Once the sword bounced, a gap was formed that Guyang Gyeong would not miss. His palm hit Wang Cheo-il squarely in the chest.

Pang!

“Kual!”

Wang Cheo-il coughed blood as he got pushed back and went down on one knee. It was a victory that happened because of a super boost to internal qi in just 3 seconds.

A lot of veins stood out on Guyang Gyeong’s body, but he spoke as if he felt no pain.

“Hahahah! Wang Cheo-il! You are nothing!”

“You!”

Wang Cheo-il, who had suffered an internal injury, tried to get up from his knees while I shouted.

“Lord Guyang, am I not the opponent you must deal with?”

Hearing those words, the man turned towards me, surprising Wang Cheo-il.

“Young lord So! Do not provoke the man! You cannot handle him!”

But this wasn’t a situation where I could step back. Guyang Gyeong’s body moved quickly toward me.

He threw a palm technique at my head, and I tried to cut off his arm with Iron Sword in response.

Papapak!

Guyang Gyeong stretched out his palm to block the sharpness of my sword and used another technique toward my heart.

As a result, I had to step back while he raised his hands. I then stabbed him in the chest with my sword.

“Huh!”

The man simply snorted at my attempt and fired another palm blow at the tip of my sword.

Pang!

Winds rose up around my sword, making it difficult for me to pierce through his palm, pushing us both back.

Wang Cheo-il was dumbfounded.

He seemed quite surprised that I didn’t go down as quickly as he did.

-Is the body stiff?

‘It isn’t like this.’

He had managed to counter my sword by temporarily concentrating the internal qi into his palm. However, he was still hurt despite my internal qi not being that great.

The blood dripping down his palm was proof of it.

But he still ran at me like he didn’t care about the pain.

“Die!”

In an instant, we both clashed with each other. His internal qi was higher than mine, but it was still almost close to equal, but this had to be because of that pill.

Puak!

“Kuak!”

His palm made contact with my chest, but I, too, managed to kick him in the stomach though he didn’t feel any pain now. His form didn’t deviate as he continued to aim toward me.

Drip.

Looking down at the blood flowing down his mouth, Wang Cheo-il shouted,

“Lord Guyang has fallen into a demonic form. We need to subdue him!”

“Yes!!”

Hearing his order, his men rushed out in unison. However, intervening in this fight would only cause more damage to them, so I shouted.

“Stop!”

“What are you saying! You cannot do it alone!”

I replied to Wang Cheo-il’s shout.

“… it cannot be helped. He needs to be subdued.”

“What?”

Papak!

I pushed Guyang Gyeong away with a couple of kicks and then made a distance of five paces between us. Then, changing the grip on my sword, I pulled it back.

Just looking at my form, it would be obvious that I would be doing something else instead of a sword technique. The sword was only bait.

“I will kill you!”

Guyang Gyeong launched himself at me.

‘Returning Dragon Sword technique.’

Bang!

I stepped forward, raised my internal qi with Iron Sword, and rotated my body by drawing a circle with the sword.

“It will be of no…”

Chacang!

“Uh?”

At that moment, Guyang Gyeong’s palm was pushed back while his body came closer to the sword.

Chachacha!

The whirlwind that followed the attack wrapped itself around him.

Guyang Gyeong’s entire body was shaken with shock.

-Isn’t this the Returning Dragon Sword technique?

Iron Sword was also shocked.

Thud!

Being caught in the wind of internal qi, Guyang Gyeong fell.

Still unable to feel pain, he tried to stand up, but his twitching body made him unable to do so.

I brushed my hair and swung my sword to remove the blood.

Wang Cheo-il, alongside his men, was unable to keep his mouth shut.

“You… how…”