Chapter 88 : Shortcomings (2)
Chapter 88: Shortcomings (2)
Namgung Jun's imposing demeanor left Sword Neighing Demon momentarily speechless.
Narrowing his eyes as he stared at Namgung Jun, Sword Neighing Demon finally let out a sinister laugh.
“So it's true that you're a man suffering from the Nine Yin Severed Meridians. It seems you've lost your mind.”
Sword Neighing Demon strode toward Namgung Jun.
“You really intend to face me alone? It doesn't seem like you're waiting for some other variable.”
Despite the continued ridicule, Namgung Jun leisurely stroked the hilt of his sword.
Meanwhile, Sword Neighing Demon sharpened his senses as he examined Namgung Jun's aura.
He intended to determine why Namgung Jun was so confident.
‘Hm.’
Although Namgung Jun was not openly releasing his aura, neither was he completely concealing his martial prowess.
From the very beginning, Sword Neighning Demon had heightened his perception to its limit out of caution toward the potential of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians, allowing him to gradually glimpse the strength Namgung Jun had hidden.
As a supreme expert at the realm of Three Flowers Gathering at the Summit, Sword Neighing Demon thoroughly assessed Namgung Jun's objective capabilities.
‘Even now, it's astonishing enough.’
According to the intelligence, Namgung Jun should have only reached the peak stage of the Peak Realm.
No matter how fast his growth had been, the furthest reasonable expectation would have been someone approaching the very limit of the Peak Realm.
The harmony of essence, energy, and spirit that symbolized the very limit of the Peak Realm.
It was never an accomplishment that could be achieved so easily in such a short time.
Were there not countless martial artists throughout the Gangho who had trained all their lives without ever achieving that harmony?
Especially Namgung Jun, who suffered from the unusual constitution of the Nine Yin Severed Meridians despite being male.
‘Just how? Even if the Azure Sky Society poured every resource into him, this achievement completely defies reason.’
No matter how extraordinary his talent, reaching the very limit of the Peak Realm in such a short time was astonishing.
‘Had I met him just a little later, he would have become a supreme expert.’
Sword Neighing Demon considered himself fortunate to have encountered Namgung Jun now.
Had they met even slightly later, he would have been facing a supreme expert instead.
In that case, every one of his plans would have fallen apart.
“With Black Cloud Wandering Beauty here, I can't afford to drag this out.”
Having finished judging Namgung Jun, Sword Neighing Demon immediately kicked off the ground.
Closing the distance in an instant, he naturally thrust his drawn sword toward Namgung Jun's shoulder.
It was a vicious strike aimed at the instant between Namgung Jun's breaths.
Thud!
Namgung Jun neither withdrew nor twisted his shoulder.
Instead, he pushed it forward.
Judging the current distance and Sword Neighing Demon's martial prowess, he knew that retreating carelessly would risk surrendering the initiative in this life-and-death battle.
Bracing his sword diagonally against his shoulder to block the thrust, Namgung Jun used the impact to his advantage.
Tilting his waist and shoulder slightly to the side as he rotated, he infused the sword tip with the mysteries of Silk-Reeling Force before unleashing a sword strike toward the opposite direction.
Whoosh!
The diagonally sweeping blade cleanly split the air as it surged forward.
It was one of the Thirteen Sword-Thunders of the Lightning Flash.
The sword strike wrapped in continuous lightning briefly trembled before instantly splitting into five branches.
A feint executed through sword speed so swift that even an opponent of equal level would struggle to react.
Claaang!
Yet Sword Neighing Demon simply raised his sword vertically and blocked it with ease.
The unique perception of time granted by the unity of essence, energy, and spirit had given him enough time to react.
“Hm!”
Despite blocking the attack effortlessly, Sword Neighing Demon's eyes narrowed.
The perception of time unique to Three Flowers Gathering at the Summit stretched even the briefest instant.
Yet even within that expanded moment, Namgung Jun's sword had seemed astonishingly fast.
Had he been even slightly careless, that single sword would have struck his shoulder.
‘The Thirteen Sword-Thunders of the Lightning Flash! It's even greater than the rumors suggested.’
One could easily believe it was a strike unleashed by a master who had devoted his entire life solely to fast swordsmanship.
The depth of Namgung Jun's swift sword was that astonishing and dangerous.
As Sword Neighing Demon blocked the swift sword that sharply bent in from the side, he understood one thing.
The Thirteen Sword-Thunders of the Lightning Flash was merely one of Namgung Jun's primary sword arts.
Whoooosh!
No sooner had the thought of Namgung Jun's other sword arts crossed his mind than a heavy blade wind descended upon him.
Sword wind tinged with an especially deep shade of blue lashed toward his right flank and thigh in succession.
As multiple overlapping layers of thick sword wind surged toward him, it felt as though invisible walls were restricting his movement.
Boom!
Sword Neighing Demon's right sleeve fluttered violently but did not tear.
Retreating with a bizarre footwork technique, Sword Neighing Demon's sword flashed brilliantly as it tore apart the sword wind itself.
A savage sword strike that shredded the air into dozens of pieces.
Sword Neighing Demon was not satisfied with merely neutralizing the Heavenly Wind Sword Art.
A long streak of dark blue sword energy burst forth, aiming to sever Namgung Jun's waist.
It targeted exactly the same part of the body Namgung Jun had just aimed for.
A careless response would undoubtedly result in being toyed with by the vine-like sword strikes intertwining endlessly.
Sword Neighing Demon's swordsmanship was that chaotic and dangerous.
Thud!
Yet instead of widening the distance, Namgung Jun stomped firmly onto the ground.
Using his planted left foot as the foundation, a straight aura flowed outward, wrapping around his entire body like a pillar.
Advancing steadfastly through the mysteries of the Heavenly Pillar Supporting the Body, Namgung Jun held his sword upright and confronted the dark blue sword energy head-on.
Slash!
Eight streams of blood burst forth as his blue robes split apart in several places.
Despite receiving sword wounds across his body, Namgung Jun did not flinch in the slightest.
After minimizing the damage through the Heavenly Pillar Supporting the Body, he drew his sword in a curved arc.
His steadfast strike deflected Sword Neighing Demon's horizontal slash.
Immediately afterward, Sword Neighing Demon's sword techniques rained down one after another toward Namgung Jun's upper body.
By then, however, Namgung Jun was already tracing a twisted semicircle.
Using a single movement of the Cloud-Treading Layered Wall Stance to redirect Sword Neighing Demon's assault, Namgung Jun immediately stepped backward as though flipping his body over with Infinite Steps Footwork.
Sword Neighing Demon gave Namgung Jun no opportunity to widen the distance or steady his breathing.
Having already closed to beneath Namgung Jun's chin, Sword Neighing Demon's blade poured forth dense dark blue sword aura.
It was a characteristic shared by the experts of the Sun and Moon Demonic Cult, who had unified yin and yang demonic energy into one.
“I've heard all about you. They say your talent for sword techniques is extraordinary.”
Extending his sword, Sword Neighing Demon smiled wickedly.
“Let's see how you deal with my sword.”
Sword Neighing Demon's blade exploded into countless variations.
The twenty branching sword strikes blanketed Namgung Jun's front before splintering even further into countless fragments.
The instantly multiplying sword strikes completely filled Namgung Jun's vision.
‘The slightest lapse in concentration will be fatal.’
Namgung Jun observed Sword Neighing Demon's technique as a whole without allowing himself to be drawn toward any single point.
At the same time, he boldly thrust his own sword forward, relentlessly targeting the key sword paths that governed the transformations of the technique.
Clang!
Sword Neighing Demon's blade, which had been weaving erratically through the middle guard, abruptly stopped.
The Eternal Tranquility Sword had slipped in unnoticed and disrupted the unfolding technique.
Sword Neighing Demon twisted his wrist to redirect the blade, but Namgung Jun's sword immediately pursued it.
Its own transformations unfolded continuously.
The techniques of the Sugwoo Sword Art were already in motion.
Sword strikes resembling a raging rainstorm spread in every direction.
Shhk!
Sharp tearing sounds echoed as Namgung Jun's bamboo hat and robes were sliced apart in several places, yet he remained unmoved.
Instead, he began severing Sword Neighing Demon's attacks one after another from the front.
Namgung Jun forcibly inserted the transformations of the Sugwoo Sword Art into the exchange.
The techniques that had seemed intent on swallowing him whole gradually slowed, their variations becoming increasingly simple.
Meeting Sword Neighing Demon's chaotic barrage with equally masterful transformations of his own, Namgung Jun steadily dismantled his opponent's techniques by interfering with the crucial sword paths.
Meanwhile, the Eternal Tranquility Sword relentlessly advanced toward Sword Neighing Demon.
Watching the blue sword light surge like a raging rainstorm, Sword Neighing Demon's eyes narrowed.
‘This brat!’
Sword Neighing Demon immediately realized what Namgung Jun was doing.
The insolent young swordsman before him was dismantling his techniques.
‘Is he also proficient in Changing Sword and Illusory Sword? There wasn't a single report saying he'd learned sword arts related to them!’
Namgung Jun's clear eyes, as he fully unfolded the Sugwoo Sword Art, remained fixed upon Sword Neighing Demon.
‘He's quite accomplished with the sword. In that case... shall I try it?’
Whoosh!
Namgung Jun's grip, which had been producing one unpredictable variation after another, changed once more.
At the same time, his sword stance transformed.
It became faster.
Then heavier.
Then suddenly slower.
It twisted chaotically before tracing graceful circles.
Various martial principles burst forth from Namgung Jun's sword stance without restraint.
Namgung Jun had begun displaying every sword art he had mastered in this life within a single sword.
Until now, he had learned many different sword arts in order to master many different kinds of swords.
Now, however, he focused on harmoniously melting those many sword arts into a single sword.
Techniques.
Styles.
Intent.
Realizations.
Everything differed.
Because of that, the fleeting instant during which one sword art transitioned into another was not yet perfectly natural.
Watching the subtle interruptions in Namgung Jun's sword stance, Sword Neighing Demon flew into a rage.
He did not know exactly what Namgung Jun was attempting.
But one thing was certain.
Namgung Jun dared to attempt some entirely new challenge while fighting him.
“How arrogant!”
Naturally, Sword Neighing Demon aimed for the openings created by Namgung Jun's still imperfect transitions.
Yet Namgung Jun did not fall so easily.
‘Do you think I wouldn't notice the openings you've discovered?’
Namgung Jun paid little attention even when Sword Neighing Demon found new weaknesses.
The moment he executed each sword strike, he had already sensed them himself through his own body.
Rather, he turned them into feints and traps, gradually luring Sword Neighing Demon farther forward.
“Urgh!”
Sword Neighing Demon's breathing grew rough as he desperately exploited every opening in Namgung Jun's sword.
‘Something's wrong!’
He had focused relentlessly on the flaws and weaknesses created by Namgung Jun's reckless experimentation.
Yet somehow, he felt as though he himself was being drawn into the trap.
For the first thirty exchanges, the advantage had undoubtedly been his.
But from the moment Namgung Jun unveiled an unfamiliar sword art, the flow of their life-and-death battle had begun changing strangely.
Namgung Jun no longer allowed a single sword strike through.
Instead, he steadily seized the advantage.
And now—
As Sword Neighing Demon continued exchanging swords with Namgung Jun, he felt an unfathomable depth.
The longer they fought, the more it felt as though he were sinking into an invisible swamp.
“What exactly are you doing!”
“I've seen enough.”
“What?”
Sword Neighing Demon stared into Namgung Jun's eyes.
Those were not the eyes of someone facing a mortal enemy.
‘This bastard... Just what is he thinking while looking at me?’
Claaang!
For the briefest instant, Sword Neighing Demon's blade faltered before being violently knocked aside.
To Namgung Jun, Sword Neighing Demon was nothing more than an exceptionally fast, exceptionally powerful, and exceptionally well-made wooden training dummy.
A perfect opponent for melting together every sword art he had accumulated until now.
Nothing more.
Woooong!
A tremendous aura erupted from Namgung Jun's entire body.
The Heavenly Thunder True Yang Art.
And the Azure King Blue World Qi.
Namgung Jun's aura surged powerfully, founded upon those two internal arts.
For now, the two internal arts coexisted without conflict, strengthening one another.
But even that was not enough.
‘Someday, these two internal arts will also become a single cultivation art...’
The thought flashed through his mind for only an instant before Namgung Jun focused once more upon his sword.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Judging from the exchange of sword strikes, the battle was evenly matched—or perhaps slightly in Namgung Jun's favor.
Considering the gap between the realms they had achieved, such a thing should have been impossible.
Boom!
A transition from Swift Sword to Illusory Sword.
Then crushing downward with the Heavy Sword.
To all of it, he added the mysteries of the Flexible Sword.
Boom!
With a heavy crash, Sword Neighing Demon's body sank downward.
He barely managed to block Namgung Jun's sword, but his posture completely collapsed.
Considering Sword Neighing Demon was a supreme expert, it was an enormous mistake.
“Urgh!”
Namgung Jun poured even greater strength into his wrist as he pressed the sword downward.
Looking down upon Sword Neighing Demon, Namgung Jun's eyes were filled with lonely disappointment.
“So this is all you amount to.”
The young swordsman's heated breath slowly escaped.
“You are not enough.”