Chapter 84
"I'll let you have the first move."
Hong Gukyul spoke, taking on his peculiar stance with both arms relaxed at his sides.
Of course, Jaseong did not refuse.
He immediately activated the Samadhi Eyes.
Sssaaa—
Time slowed, and Hong Gukyul's intention became visible to him.
But the instant he saw that intention, a fierce shock quaked in Jaseong's pupils.
'... What is this?!'
Every expert he had faced so far had encircled themselves with their intention like a tight spiderweb.
A radius of ten zhang, twenty zhang—something like that.
But Hong Gukyul's intention wasn't like that.
It covered the entire sky and earth.
As if heaven and earth themselves were his domain.
"Heheh. As I thought, those eyes are extraordinary. To peek at this master's intention at merely high-class level..."
"......"
"Then, would you show me the secret art of the Three Paths, which no other executor of Heaven's Mandate before you ever mastered?"
He had intended to activate it anyway.
Jaseong went from Samadhi Eyes straight to the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
Up to his maximum limit—the Eight Gates and Closing Gate.
KWAKWAKWAKWAKWA!!!!
Tremendous energy swept the courtyard.
Golden true ki erupted from Jaseong in a storm, violently shaking the nearby trees.
"Ho, seeing it with my own eyes, it's an even more explosive secret art."
Hong Gukyul's eyes narrowed.
In his gaze was both astonishment and a deep regret.
What if, when alive, he had succeeded in mastering that secret art?
Could he have reached the end of Heaven's Mandate... such reluctance lingered.
"Well then... here I come."
Jaseong spoke, laying his sword horizontally.
Then—
FLASH!
Suddenly, a flash burst forth, and Jaseong's sword tore towards Hong Gukyul.
An attack with explosive increase in power and speed from opening the Eight Gates.
An assault even peak experts would struggle to withstand.
Yet, Hong Gukyul deflected it with ease.
WHIAA!
With a twist of both hands in the air, he made Jaseong's sword tip waver, disrupting his first move.
Since his attack had been nullified without even a clash, Jaseong frowned.
But he didn't waver, preparing his next move.
'Heaven Evading Flash Sword, eight move—Silent Shock Thunder.'
Jaseong's sword ki carved through the air, unleashing a blinding flash.
Then, with the flash, a thunderous roar exploded forth.
KWAAAAANG!!!
A sonic attack like thunder descending from the sky.
It was a technique he'd used in his duel with Han Soweol in the past.
But what was different this time was that it was Silent Shock Thunder with the Eight Gates open.
Yet even this tremendous sound wave, Hong Gukyul deflected with ease.
"Hup!"
With a single inhale, Hong Gukyul erupted with formless energy, repelling Jaseong's sonic attack.
'He blocked that so easily?'
But there was still more to be astonished by.
The moment Jaseong looked forward again—
"?!"
Hong Gukyul had vanished.
"Up here."
Suddenly, a voice came from above his head.
When Jaseong looked up, Hong Gukyul was floating in the air above him.
THWACK!!
In the next instant, Hong Gukyul's Dog-Beating Staff struck Jaseong's shoulder.
"Urgh?!"
Jaseong let out an involuntary groan at the bone-shattering pain.
But gritting his teeth, he swung his sword to take his stance again.
Unfortunately,
SMACK!!!
This time, Hong Gukyul appeared to his left and struck his back.
"Guh!"
Even with the Eight Gates open, Jaseong couldn't keep up with Hong Gukyul's speed.
Enduring the pain, Jaseong continued to launch counterattacks.
He created seven phantoms with Heaven Evading Phantom Step, searched for Hong Gukyul's openings with the Samadhi Eyes, and unleashed Heaven Evading Flash Sword with his surging power.
However—
SMACK! SMACK!! WHACK!!!
Jaseong was ruthlessly pummeled by Hong Gukyul.
Like a dog on Boknal.
'... It feels like fighting the untouchable wind.'
Since entering the martial world, Jaseong had never been beaten so thoroughly.
The gap was vast and insurmountable.
As expected of the Fist Emperor, Hong Gukyul, who had once vied for the top among the Ten Great Experts.
But just as Jaseong was shocked, Hong Gukyul was equally amazed.
'... I've struck his vital points several times. Yet rather than collapse, he only grows more ferocious... As I noted before, this brat's true weapon isn't prodigious talent, but indomitable tenacity.'
Hong Gukyul had said he'd show Jaseong as many as twenty deaths.
But Jaseong just refused to fall.
On the contrary, the more he was clobbered by the Dog-Beating Staff,
GOOO—
He charged forward, eyes burning with even fiercer resolve.
Because of that, Hong Gukyul increasingly had to use his full strength.
And as Jaseong tasted the power of a supreme expert, at some point—
ZZZZT!
Suddenly, something flickered through Jaseong's mind.
'The difference between Hong Gukyul and me... It's power, speed, experience—but ultimately, it's freedom and lack of freedom!'
Dog-Beating Staff, in theory, had forms and routines.
But the way Hong Gukyul wielded it, those forms and routines shifted seamlessly.
In other words, he was unrestricted, moving as if alive.
Conversely, Jaseong's swordplay was strictly bound to its forms and routines.
Its power was tremendous, but in the end, it was 'bound.'
'... Because I move within pre-set routines, my sword is dead...
Whereas Hong Gukyul's staff moves as if sentient...
How can a dead sword overcome a living staff?!'
Having realized this, Jaseong began using Samadhi Eyes to bring life to his 'dead sword'.
He observed Hong Gukyul's routines and true ki flow with the Samadhi Eyes.
Then, imitating his freedom, he began to break out of fixed forms.
He was finally drawing close to the true meaning of the sword.
How much time passed like that?
WHIAA! BOOM!!
Until now, Hong Gukyul had evaded Jaseong's sword by mere footwork, but, for the first time, he extended the Dog-Beating Staff to block Jaseong's blade.
'... What? He's already realized?'
A subtle tremor showed in Hong Gukyul's eyes.
Because the swordplay Jaseong had just shown was fundamentally different from before.
Hong Gukyul tried attacking with the Dog-Beating Staff a few more times.
Then—
WHIAA! BOOM!! WHIAA! BOOM!!
Unlike at first, Jaseong blocked Hong Gukyul's consecutive attacks.
It was barely—painfully so—but he was still creating a 'living sword' again and again.
In that moment, Hong Gukyul understood fully.
Jaseong was finally crossing a realm.
'The Sword Immortal said half a day would suffice... but it hasn't even been half of that... What phenomenal talent!'
Throughout the duel, Hong Gukyul had guided Jaseong's realizations with each move.
Yet, with just that, he had comprehended the concept to leap to the peak...!
Truly, he was advancing at a monstrous rate—befitting a prodigy who had even opened his upper dantian by himself.
Of course, the reason Jaseong could enter this peak state so quickly was because he already had every condition except 'meaning.'
Some fail to reach the peak for lack of internal energy.
But Jaseong possessed the inner power of a full sixty-year cycle.
Some never reach it for lack of skill in wielding sword ki.
But Jaseong could manipulate sword ki at will thanks to the Samadhi Eyes.
There were even more conditions, but all that had been missing for Jaseong was conviction.
Through thousands of exchanges with a supreme expert, he obtained that conviction.
"I believe further contest is meaningless."
Hong Gukyul lowered the Dog-Beating Staff.
"Sit and cross your legs. I'll help you organize the realization you just found."
Silently, Jaseong sat cross-legged.
Hong Gukyul placed a hand on his back.
Sssaaa—
A warm energy flowed in, gathered at the baihui point on his crown.
His head cleared, and the meaning he'd just realized solidified even more clearly in his mind.
'This is the realm of the peak...'
Freedom from forms and routines.
Penetrating insight into the essence of the martial way.
Hard to explain in words, but with this feeling, it seemed he could defeat most experts without even using the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
"Thank you, Hong Gukyul."
"You're the first to thank me after being so ruthlessly beaten with the Dog-Beating Staff. Heheh. Now, let's have a drink before time runs out."
Jaseong chuckled quietly and nodded.
Then, under the tree in the courtyard, he and Hong Gukyul shared glasses of Jiannanchun.
Beneath the moonlight, the two executors of Heaven's Mandate enjoyed a brief moment of peace.
Sssaaa—
Before long, the air cracked open, and a stream of light poured in before Jaseong's eyes.
Hong Gukyul's allotted time was up.
"It's time for me to return now."
Hong Gukyul stood up slowly.
"It was a short while, but thank you."
"I hope next time I can stay longer. Heheh."
Returning to the darkness of eternity, Hong Gukyul's face was filled with regret.
"Farewell then. I'll be watching from the darkness of eternity for your 'martial world disruption' to succeed."
Bathed in light, Hong Gukyul gradually vanished.
Peace returned to the courtyard with his departure.
'At last... I've become a peak expert.'
Jaseong clenched his fist.
The realm reached by only a handful in all of the Central Plains, the peak.
Now that he had attained what only elders of famous sects could dream of, his sense of achievement was immense.
'Wait for me. I'll come to settle everything soon.'
Now, the blade of vengeance had grown even sharper.
* * *
Having bid farewell to Hong Gukyul, Jaseong returned to the safehouse.
The first person he saw upon leaving the courtyard was Gu Janghu.
Despite guarding all night, he stood without a trace of disorder.
"Leader, did your training go well?"
Gu Janghu asked as he approached.
But his expression was a little odd.
"Why that look?"
"Actually... I saw your training. Only me."
Jaseong felt a tinge of alarm.
'... Did he see Hong Gukyul?'
But his fears were misplaced.
"But you were mumbling to yourself and scattering stances into the air... as if you were fighting someone. Why were you training like that?"
Apparently, Hong Gukyul had been invisible to him.
It seemed entities of the other world only showed themselves to an executor of Heaven's Mandate.
'Even the pain from being hit by Hong Gukyul's staff is gone... how strange.'
Jaseong checked his body.
He had clearly taken a beating before, yet now there wasn't a trace of injury or pain.
As if it had all been a dream.
"For now, let's eat."
Jaseong re-entered the house with Gu Janghu.
The next person he met was Lee Rin's nursemaid, Han Soweol.
But the moment Han Soweol saw Jaseong, an earthquake ran through her eyes.
"Huh...? Huh?!"
"What's wrong?"
"Ansun Branch Leader... you've broken through the wall...!"
"......"
As a peak expert herself, Han Soweol recognized his surge in realm at once.
"What on earth did you realize?! How could you reach that state in such a short time?!"
Her shock was only natural.
The gap between first-rate and peak is enormous.
It's just a single stage, but it takes fifty first-rate experts to match a peak one.
To reach this level, a martial artist of the Central Plains will train for decades.
Many will never cross the wall, even after a lifetime of training.
Yet Jaseong had achieved realization and exuded the aura of a peak expert in a single day, so Han Soweol could only be dumbfounded.
"... Sir, does this mean you've become a peak expert???"
At that, Lee Rin, listening nearby, widened her eyes and asked.
"You could say that."
Jaseong responded calmly, brushing aside their amazement.
Then, he turned to the matters he had set aside during training.
"Any movement from the Zhongnan Sect?"
Jaseong asked.
One of the safehouse's informants replied.
"No. It's quiet over there. Actually, all of Yinyang County is quiet. Ever since our leader absconded with the fake Seven-Star Cloud Blade, all the martial artists who gathered here have nothing left to do."
"And the dropouts?"
"Our sources say demonic experts like Venomous Palm Ghost Throat Yin Tianhou, executioner Ghost Dong Goonghyeol, and the Mount Hua Plum Blossom Swordsman have retreated with injuries."
Jaseong nodded silently at the report.
'... Looks like the first batch to clash under the cliff have dropped out.'
Thus, the 'first rift' was successfully concluded.
Now, it was time to open the 'second rift.'
But the direction of this one was very different from the first.
The first rift had pitted orthodox and unorthodox forces against each other;
the second would spark conflict among the orthodox sects themselves.
'That should make the chaos in the martial world even worse, opening me up to even more opportunities.'
To spark the second rift, Jaseong prepared the martial robes of the Murong Clan.
Then he left for the place where the Zhongnan Taoists were gathered.