Chapter 91 : Intensive Training (1)
Chapter 91: Intensive Training (1)
The Heavenly Sword Hall's intensive training in preparation for the Combat Strength Evaluation had officially begun.
Bringing her treasured sword, fasting pills, and the Sword Foundation Art manual personally transcribed by Namgung Jun, Lee Se-ha decided to enter secluded cultivation for three months.
She chose to trust her disciple and devote herself entirely to sharpening her own blade.
So that, as the Heavenly Sword Hall Master, she would lack nothing even if she challenged the Hall Masters of the Three Rivers.
Naturally, the overall responsibility for the intensive training fell to Namgung Jun.
Although there were many veterans, including Gong Jun-am, they all agreed without complaint to follow Namgung Jun's instruction.
He had achieved promotion to Three-Cloud in an astonishingly short period through explosive growth, and the occasional advice he casually offered had always proven to be of tremendous help.
“I wonder what kind of training Namgung Jun will conduct.”
“Training one's subordinates is one of the important virtues of a superior.”
“Isn't he actually quite a capable teacher? The youngest's advice is easy to understand and very well organized.”
Rather than worry or anxiety, many were filled with anticipation.
Just how would Namgung Jun train the Heavenly Sword Hall?
The swordsmen of the Heavenly Sword Hall gathered in the training ground looked up at Namgung Jun as he stood upon the platform.
“I have been placed in charge of this intensive training.”
Looking at his companions below the platform, Namgung Jun raised a single finger.
Everyone's gaze naturally gathered upon that lone raised finger.
“There will be no special training methods or secret teachings during this intensive training.”
Namgung Jun continued.
“Only the fundamentals. We are going to thoroughly strengthen our foundation. Just as one builds an earthen fortress, we will reinforce ourselves firmly from the ground up before raising our peak.”
In just three months, they would have to measure themselves against the other Ten Halls.
It was natural to wonder how much their combat strength could really improve by focusing solely on the fundamentals, yet none of the Heavenly Sword Hall swordsmen voiced their doubts.
Judging from everything Namgung Jun had shown until now, he was absolutely not someone who spoke empty words.
He undoubtedly had a goal in mind.
All they had to do was trust the path Namgung Jun laid before them, follow it faithfully, and do everything they could not to fall behind.
That was why every member of the Heavenly Sword Hall stared at Namgung Jun with complete trust.
After confirming the unwavering determination in their eyes, Namgung Jun nodded.
“Let us begin the intensive training.”
He took out several manuals he had prepared beforehand.
These would become the core of the entire training period.
“This is the manual you must learn first.”
Namgung Jun handed the Heavenly Sword Hall swordsmen the Sword Foundation Art, which he had neatly reorganized by incorporating his latest insights.
---
The intensive training led by Namgung Jun was simple.
The cultivation of the Sword Foundation Art, life-and-death sparring matches, and discussions of the sword.
These three things were repeated endlessly, like the turning of a waterwheel.
“Haaah!”
“Kuh-hap!”
The members of the Heavenly Sword Hall, lined up neatly across the training ground, shouted in unison.
The dim dawn mist rippled as though fleeing from the swordsmen's battle cries. Although the morning air remained chilly, not a single person felt the cold.
Their bodies, heated by the Sword Foundation Art, and the hot breaths escaping from their panting mouths radiated waves of warmth.
Clank!
Thud!
Watching the members practicing the Sword Foundation Art upon the platform, Namgung Jun spoke firmly.
“The sound coming from the Iron Ball Sword is getting louder. Again.”
The Heavenly Sword Hall swordsmen practicing the Sword Foundation Art were holding neither wooden practice swords nor ordinary training blades.
Instead, they wielded bizarre swords that were as thick as clubs.
The Iron Ball Sword.
It was a new training tool that Namgung Jun had asked the blacksmiths of the Iron Forge Pavilion to create specifically for cultivating the Sword Foundation Art.
Though it took the shape of a sword, its blade was blunt like a club and remarkably thick. Empty chambers had been built throughout the blade, each filled with numerous iron balls of varying sizes.
Whenever the Iron Ball Sword was moved, the iron balls rolled about wildly, constantly shifting its center of gravity.
Moreover, because every part of the sword had been forged entirely from Black Iron, it weighed nearly as much as an ordinary greatsword.
'Without asking the Iron Tower Hall Master for advice, this training tool could never have been made.'
Having personally experienced the Iron Tower Hall's training, Namgung Jun had realized the importance of proper training equipment and applied that lesson here as well.
The Sword Foundation Art could certainly be practiced with wooden swords or ordinary iron practice swords, but using a specialized training tool like the Iron Ball Sword more than doubled its effectiveness.
That was why Namgung Jun had boldly suggested its production to Lee Se-ha.
'The Heavenly Sword Hall's budget took quite a hit because of the Iron Ball Swords... but it'll be worth it.'
Remembering Lee Se-ha's eyelids trembling repeatedly after seeing the estimate sent by the Iron Forge Pavilion, Namgung Jun let out a bitter smile.
Determined to repay his master with good results, he refocused his attention on the movements of the Heavenly Sword Hall members.
“Senior Jin, your wrist is bending inward. Don't let yourself be thrown off by the Iron Ball Sword's constantly shifting center of gravity. Hong Mok, steady your breathing and focus on your lower body.”
Standing atop the platform, Namgung Jun continuously observed the Heavenly Sword Hall members and offered guidance without pause.
Even if the advice was not directed at themselves, the swordsmen listened carefully and spared no effort in observing and correcting their own movements.
As time passed, Namgung Jun no longer repeated the same corrections, but instead began offering even deeper martial principles behind the Sword Foundation Art.
As Namgung Jun and the Heavenly Sword Hall devoted themselves wholeheartedly to mastering the Sword Foundation Art, the average level of accomplishment throughout the hall rose sharply.
Rattle!
Clank!
The battle cries of the Heavenly Sword Hall swordsmen practicing the Sword Foundation Art while thrusting the Iron Ball Sword never ceased, and the sound of clashing metal was just as deafening.
“Urgh!”
“Be careful not to lose your grip on the Iron Ball Sword! You'll get hurt!”
Among the One-Cloud and Two-Cloud disciples, whose external training was comparatively weaker, it was common for the Iron Ball Sword to fly completely off its intended trajectory.
Even the Three-Cloud veterans broke into cold sweats trying to control it.
“This is rather difficult.”
The words came from Gong Jun-am, who possessed some of the strongest external training in the Heavenly Sword Hall thanks to his frequent use of greatswords.
He had more or less adapted to the Iron Ball Sword by now, but incorporating the Sword Foundation Art into it proved anything but easy.
Sweat dripped past his eyebrows into the corners of his eyes, stinging sharply, yet every ounce of his concentration remained fixed upon extending the Iron Ball Sword correctly.
'It's exhausting and difficult... but it's undeniably different.'
There was not a single martial artist present who had ever neglected external training.
Everyone knew that one could never reach higher realms while ignoring it.
Yet the Sword Foundation Art differed greatly from every form of external training they had experienced until now.
Unlike the crude trial-and-error methods they had relied upon in the past, the Sword Foundation Art was systematically constructed upon sound martial principles.
Nor was that all. Hidden within it were numerous sword paths and sword techniques.
As one faithfully followed the Sword Foundation Art while training the body, one's swordsmanship naturally deepened as well.
'It forges and tempers a body befitting a swordsman rather than merely a martial artist.'
Recalling the opening verse of the Sword Foundation Art, Gong Jun-am swung the Iron Ball Sword powerfully.
Clank!
When he had swung it on the first day, the iron balls had rattled deafeningly.
Now, however, the sound was noticeably quieter.
He had begun to grasp the proper way to use both sword and body through the Iron Ball Sword and the Sword Foundation Art.
Only three days had passed since he began training with the Iron Ball Sword, yet Gong Jun-am felt absolute certainty.
Simply mastering the Sword Foundation Art through the Iron Ball Sword would raise the Heavenly Sword Hall's overall combat strength.
He was not the only one who sensed the changes taking place beneath the surface.
Boom!
Man Ye-won caught her breath after violently swinging the Iron Ball Sword and smashing the wooden training dummy before her.
“Ugh.”
Her hair tightly tied back so it would not interfere with training, Man Ye-won gritted her teeth as she raised the Iron Ball Sword once more.
Her palms had turned bright red, yet she refused to let go of it.
'I really have relied far too much on my internal energy. My external training... and even my foundation with the sword... are sorely lacking.'
Man Ye-won reflected upon her childhood.
When she was young, she had been fortunate enough to consume many spiritual medicines.
Her grandfather, the head of the Elder Council, had given every spiritual medicine he had gathered in his youth to his granddaughter.
Thanks to that, her internal energy far surpassed others of her age.
But it was equally true that she had gradually developed the habit of depending upon it.
Man Ye-won quietly glanced toward the surrounding One-Cloud and Two-Cloud disciples.
Though their internal energy was inferior to hers, they were adapting remarkably quickly.
Judging solely by their mastery of the Sword Foundation Art, several had already surpassed her.
She did not dismiss it as coincidence or some trivial incident.
This was a warning.
A warning delivered to her by the Sword Foundation Art, and by Namgung Jun.
'I've had it too easy until now.'
The countless verses contained within the Sword Foundation Art pierced deeply into her heart.
She instinctively realized that if she failed to change now, the higher her cultivation rose and the longer she practiced martial arts, the further she would eventually fall behind.
'According to one's achievement in external training, the sword forms will differ as greatly as branches and mountain peaks. The flower known as Sword Aura that blooms at the end will become something entirely different depending upon the foundation of those sword forms.'
Reflecting upon her past through the teachings of the Sword Foundation Art, Man Ye-won swung the Iron Ball Sword with all her strength.
Clank!
The endless clangs of metal and battle cries echoed from every direction.
Not only did Namgung Jun observe every member of the Heavenly Sword Hall at a glance, he also evaluated their progress through the sounds they produced.
'Their overall progress isn't bad.'
Though everyone practiced the same Sword Foundation Art, the changes and accomplishments differed according to rank.
For the One-Cloud and Two-Cloud disciples, who lacked both external training and sword techniques, the priority was reshaping their bodies into an ideal form.
The Three-Cloud disciples already possessed reasonably trained physiques, so their focus shifted toward muscle control and refining the sword techniques that matched them.
The priorities within the Sword Foundation Art differed according to one's rank and martial proficiency, yet one thing was certain.
The Heavenly Sword Hall as a whole was steadily becoming closer to the ideal swordsmen.
---
The Sword Foundation Art training, which had begun before dawn, finally came to an end only after the sun reached its highest point in the sky.
After finishing lunch and taking a short rest to regulate their breathing and circulate their Qi, the Heavenly Sword Hall members immediately moved on to the next stage of training.
Following the predetermined order, each member sparred with Namgung Jun, while everyone else either devoted themselves to sword practice or sparred among themselves.
During these instructional sparring sessions, Namgung Jun imposed a single restriction.
No one was allowed to use any sword art other than the Great Expansion Sword Art.
Once the swordsmen of the Heavenly Sword Hall had gained a reasonable grasp of both the Lesser Expansion Sword Art and the Great Expansion Sword Art, they usually learned additional sword arts according to their own preferences and circumstances.
Some learned two, while others mastered as many as four.
However, throughout this intensive training, Namgung Jun restricted everyone to practicing only the Great Expansion Sword Art.
'The potential of the Great Expansion Sword Art far exceeds what the Heavenly Sword Hall believes.'
After examining everyone carefully, Namgung Jun judged that most members had achieved roughly sixty to seventy percent mastery of the Great Expansion Sword Art, while the best among them had reached eighty to ninety percent.
Other than Lee Se-ha and Namgung Jun himself, no one had fully mastered it.
Instead, everyone focused primarily on the sword arts they had learned afterward.
'The Great Expansion Sword Art is a sword art that embraces countless martial principles. At first glance, it appears to be nothing more than a versatile but unremarkable sword art.'
But Namgung Jun thought differently.
Because it allowed one to fuse the insights of every branch of swordsmanship into a single sword, he believed that fully mastering the Great Expansion Sword Art offered far greater benefits than learning numerous separate sword arts.
Especially when combined with the Sword Foundation Art, which refined one's very foundation, the synergy would be tremendous.
Namgung Jun turned his gaze toward the man within the Heavenly Sword Hall who desired more than anyone else to devote himself to a single sword.
“Are you ready?”
“Of course, Young Hero Namgung.”
Heo Il pointed his sword toward Namgung Jun.
It was the opening stance of the Great Expansion Sword Art.