Chapter 86 : A Secret Report (2)
Chapter 86: A Secret Report (2)
Boooom!
The owner of the sword wind that had first targeted the crow, Sword Beast, began exchanging blows with Lee Se-ha atop the tree branches.
“You insolent wench! So you're one of the Azure Sky Society's Hall Masters?”
“Old man. You should be ashamed of yourself.”
Sword Beast's sharp slashes resembled the swiping claws of a tiger.
Within every broad sword path were hidden five fierce strikes resembling claws.
Tiger Scenery Sword Art.
A sword art created after raising seven Great Tigers over more than twenty years and imitating their movements.
In particular, Sword Beast had woven the various ways a Great Tiger pounced upon martial artists into a single technique. Perhaps because he had devoted himself to endless study in the process, enlightenment had naturally followed.
Perhaps that was why.
Compared to the days when he had practiced the orthodox martial arts of the Savage Beast Palace of the Southern Barbarians and followed its rigid training methods, his progress had been far swifter.
Because of that, Sword Beast firmly believed this extraordinary training method of his would eventually carry him beyond Three Flowers Gathering at the Summit and into the realm of Five Qi Returning to the Origin.
‘I'd planned to become a peerless master and return to the Savage Beast Palace of the Southern Barbarians!’
But things had begun to go awry.
“You Azure Sky Society bastards! A few monks disappear from Mount Jiuhua and no one would even notice.”
“That's only what you think.”
Boom!
Lee Se-ha struck sideways, deflecting the sword strike that split into five streams and slashed toward her flank.
Since both sides wielded devastating sword arts, the shockwaves from each clash violently shook the surrounding area.
Every swing of their swords shattered the trees beneath their feet.
The two supreme experts descended into the wide clearing created by the aftermath of their clash, glared at one another, then collided once more.
Sword Beast briefly shifted his gaze toward the back of the young swordsman, who was surrounded by his four junior brothers.
“You've let your arrogance get the better of you. To think you'd bring only one subordinate to face us.”
After sensing Namgung Jun's aura, a sinister smile full of confidence spread across Sword Beast's face.
‘The very limit of the Peak Realm. An astonishing accomplishment at such a young age.’
Even so, it would be difficult for him to withstand all four of his junior brothers at once.
All four had reached the peak stage of the Peak Realm, and two of them stood on the verge of reaching its very limit.
If the four attacked together, they could surely hunt down that talented young swordsman.
In Sword Beast's assessment, the overall battle overwhelmingly favored the Five Beasts of the Southern Barbarians.
“Perhaps this is for the best. I'll kill you today, refine my martial arts, and then enter secluded cultivation.”
“I'll bury you underground so you can remain in seclusion forever.”
Sword Beast slowly swept his gaze over Lee Se-ha's graceful figure before angling his sword.
“Don't expect a peaceful death. You'll be treated worse than an animal.”
“Hmph!”
Boom!
Just as Sword Beast had complete faith in his junior brothers' victory, Lee Se-ha never doubted Namgung Jun's.
That was why she focused solely on the opponent before her.
As the increasingly violent night rain whipped about like a rainstorm, blue lightning flashed brilliantly.
Rumble!
Thunder roared in the wake of Lee Se-ha's unrestrained sword.
In response, Sword Beast let out a beast-like roar.
---
Four Peak Realm experts encircled Namgung Jun, revolving around him.
Each of the four wielded a different weapon.
A saber strike that tore through the air without restraint lunged toward Namgung Jun's chest.
As Namgung Jun gently twisted his ankle to redirect it, a whip lashed upward from below to hinder his movement.
Stepping lightly on the tip of the whip, Namgung Jun leaped into the air.
At that very moment, fist techniques and claw techniques precisely exploited the opening created by his jump.
Whoosh!
The gentle sword path of the Cloud-Treading Layered Wall Stance calmly received the alternating assaults of the four weapons.
Saber, fist, whip, and claw.
Though the Peak Realm experts before him each wielded different weapons, there was a common flow binding them together.
Their techniques and movements faithfully imitated the actions of beasts.
It was as though the brutality and savagery unique to wild animals had been combined with human composure and psychological warfare.
Their style was truly bizarre, yet undeniably threatening.
‘It feels like fighting four beasts that have learned martial arts.’
If the Great Tiger he had just slain had possessed human intelligence, perhaps it would have fought like this.
The techniques and styles they displayed were certainly unlike anything found in orthodox martial arts.
Even so, Namgung Jun's footing and movements remained as steady as ever.
Like an ancient tree with deep roots that refused to sway no matter how fierce the storm.
Ferocious attacks resembling fangs and claws raged around him, yet Namgung Jun paid them no mind as he swung his sword.
Clang! Clang!
Saber Beast, who had been driven back five steps by the tremendous force of Namgung Jun's sword, clicked his tongue.
Fist Beast, whose wrist had nearly been severed after throwing a punch, wiped away a cold sweat.
Meanwhile, Whip Beast, holding his whip, and Claw Beast, wearing Tiger Claws on both hands, ceaselessly tried to shake Namgung Jun's composure with words.
“Where would you ever have encountered martial arts like ours? Before long, your hands and eyes will lose their bearings.”
“You're full of strength now, but I wonder how long that'll last.”
Thud!
Driving them back as well with a downward slash while stepping firmly into the ground, Namgung Jun slowly lowered his eyelids.
“Yes. Your martial arts certainly follow a path unlike the orthodox.”
Even while fending off the combined assault of four Peak Realm experts, Namgung Jun suddenly raised his head and looked toward the sky.
The dark night sky poured forth endless rain.
The rain grew steadily heavier until it resembled a raging rainstorm.
It did not simply fall from above.
Driven by the wind, it constantly shifted directions.
Namgung Jun removed his bamboo hat and tossed it aside.
The falling raindrops drenched his entire body all the more clearly.
“Even so, compared to the ever-changing myriad phenomena of the world, your movements are no different from standing still.”
Until now, Namgung Jun had merely defended against their combined assault with orthodox sword forms.
Suddenly, however, his sword changed completely.
The sword that had hung low suddenly shot upward, tracing an astonishingly strange sword path.
At times it twisted freely like a serpent.
Then it suddenly bent in every direction like violently surging water.
“Hm?”
“His sword art suddenly...”
“Be careful! Something's wrong!”
The four Peak Realm experts were inwardly shaken.
Namgung Jun's sword had abruptly become filled with variations and feints, making it seem as though he had become an entirely different person.
The once perfectly straight sword paths now twisted, curved, broke apart, then unexpectedly reconnected from impossible angles.
Shhhk!
Sword paths multiplied until they filled their entire vision.
There were too many to count, yet not one lacked danger.
Nor was it only the sword paths.
Every moment between extending and withdrawing his sword, the distance and grip changed endlessly, making it all the more bewildering.
“Urgh!”
A groan escaped Saber Beast, who stood at the front.
Blood began spreading around his wrist.
‘When did that happen?’
He had been cut before he could even react.
“Keep your head straight!”
“His sword is coming from completely impossible directions! It's like his arms and legs are stretching at will!”
Whip Beast and Fist Beast shouted from behind, but they fared no better.
Sword strikes raged in from every direction.
Like the rainstorm now sweeping across all of Mount Jiuhua.
‘The changes in his swordsmanship have completely surpassed ours! How did it suddenly become like this?’
Claw Beast's arms trembled.
He could not find even the slightest opening.
No matter where he moved, twisted and winding sword strikes curled toward him.
The four Peak Realm experts were suddenly confronted with overwhelming despair.
Like walking through a torrential downpour, they could see no possible way to avoid it.
The only option was to face it head-on.
Yet it was impossible to respond to every variation.
Just as clothing gradually became soaked by rain, sword wounds and flowing blood steadily accumulated across their bodies.
Meanwhile, Namgung Jun's sword became ever faster, more intricate, and more dazzling.
‘Like a raging rainstorm.’
Namgung Jun poured all the mysteries of Illusory Sword and Changing Sword that he had accumulated throughout his journey across the Gangho into a single sword.
Until now, his realizations and martial logic had remained scattered like fragments.
But a sudden flash of insight pierced deeply into his mind.
[Night rain, rainstorm, dampness.]
Following the key principle spreading through his mind, all of his realizations and martial logic rushed to complete the sword.
Like flowers blooming wide after receiving a long-awaited rain.
The night rain soaking Mount Jiuhua.
The rainstorm mocking the martial artists dancing with blades beneath the midnight sky.
The damp droplets running down the hand gripping the weapon.
[The blood dripping from the blade gives rise to a rainstorm.]
The Eternal Tranquility Sword gradually became blurred within the rainstorm.
It was not because it had become faster than before.
Within a single breath, over a dozen consecutive changes blurred the sword blade itself.
It was as though the Eternal Tranquility Sword had dissolved into the rainstorm.
Sword strikes surged forth wildly like sheets of rain, tormenting the four Peak Realm experts.
They desperately tried to block them, but it was futile.
Just as clothing slowly became soaked, more and more sword wounds accumulated upon their bodies.
“Aaagh!”
“You little bastard!”
The four Peak Realm experts desperately unleashed their martial arts, but it accomplished nothing.
Their savage martial arts modeled after beasts failed to touch Namgung Jun even once.
No matter how desperately a beast struggled, could it ever escape a rainstorm?
Thud!
Meanwhile, the sword paths dripping from the Eternal Tranquility Sword became ever richer and more chaotic in their transformations.
[The sharpness of each slash shall remain damp within one's grasp.]
Blue sword light spread through the forest, melting into the raindrops swaying violently beneath the fierce wind.
It was the moment the rainstorm pouring from the heavens and the rainstorm unleashed by the sword became completely one.
“Huff!”
“Cough!”
The four Peak Realm experts, enduring the twin rainstorms with their entire bodies, gasped violently.
There was not a single sword strike deadly enough to kill them instantly.
But the endlessly changing sword strikes soaked them like rainwater, until their entire bodies became drenched in blood.
Thud!
Saber Beast and Whip Beast, who had lost the most blood, dropped to their knees where they stood.
Whip Beast and Fist Beast barely remained standing, their entire bodies stained crimson.
The combined assault of the four Peak Realm experts naturally came to a halt.
All of them stood soaked in blood.
Meanwhile, Namgung Jun, who had shattered their coordinated attack, remained completely unharmed.
Only his martial robe had become thoroughly soaked compared to before.
“Your hunt ends here.”
Namgung Jun's sword appeared to sweep horizontally—
Then suddenly fluctuated midway.
In an instant, four diverging sword strikes simultaneously pierced the vital points of the four Peak Realm experts.
Excessive blood loss from the endlessly changing sword strikes, followed by the final strike piercing their vital points.
The breaths of the four Peak Realm experts ceased where they stood.
Shhhh!
Though he had shattered the combined assault of the four Peak Realm experts, the night rain continued to fall.
Namgung Jun's martial robe had already become completely soaked.
He slowly closed his eyes.
Even with his eyes shut, he could vividly feel the raindrops drenching his body from every direction.
Feeling himself continually soaked by the rain, Namgung Jun gathered the sword strike he had just displayed into a single branch.
“Night rain, rainstorm, dampness.”
Murmuring the key principle that ran through the sword art, Namgung Jun realized it.
At last, he had woven the realizations and martial logic of Illusory Sword and Changing Sword into a single mnemonic, then forged them into an entirely new sword art centered around the key principle that pierced through his mind.
“A sword art like wind and rain.”
Namgung Jun gave the new sword art its name.
“Sugwoo Sword Art.”
Having established his new sword art, Namgung Jun shifted his gaze.
The endless explosions echoing from the clearing in the distance had come to a stop.
The waves of aura crashing over like shockwaves could no longer be felt.
The life-and-death duel between Lee Se-ha and Sword Beast must have ended.
‘Master.’
Namgung Jun did not worry about Lee Se-ha.
He never doubted his master's victory.
Shaking the raindrops from his sword, Namgung Jun walked toward the clearing.
The young swordsman's steps, advancing through the raging rainstorm, remained as steadfast as ever.