The Regressed Sword Demon Changes the Future

The sixtieth birthday party of Geum Gadong, the master of the Geumjo Merchant Guild, continued without end even as the night deepened.

As it was the sixtieth birthday party of the master of the best merchant guild in Sichuan, there were many guests, and among them, there were many who came at dawn due to circumstances. For them, Geum Gadong was continuing the party all day long.

Of course, as it was night, the number of people enjoying the party had decreased, and as such, there were more quiet and deserted places.

And in the courtyard of one such deserted pavilion…

Crash!

"Damn it!!"

A man in his early twenties in the martial robes of Qingcheng, Jeongpung, was throwing a tantrum.

Jeongpung, whose face was red and whose body reeked of alcohol as if he had already drunk a lot, threw a bottle of alcohol on the floor and still couldn't control his anger, breathing heavily.

As he was breathing heavily, Jeongpung recalled what had happened in his quarters after the incident in the morning.

'You foolish brat! How could you do such a foolish thing!?'

'I only gave a small lesson to the unrighteous ones who betrayed the great Qingcheng and injured a young disciple of the main sect with a cowardly trick!'

'You brat!! You should be ashamed of yourself and admit your mistake, yet how can you be so brazen!!'

'It was all for the great Qingcheng!! What on earth is the problem!?'

'Shut up!! Ho ho… I have raised my disciple completely wrong… You are not worthy of mentioning the name of Qingcheng. You will reflect on yourself until you return to Qingcheng. Also, when you return to Qingcheng, you will be punished according to your transgression, and I will also officially inform the master of the Qingcheon Sect, your father, of this matter.'

'M-Master!? Please reconsider!! I will gladly accept any punishment, but please, just not to my father…'

'Aigoo! Do you now even look down on your master's orders!? Or is it that a Daoist is afraid of his father but not his master in the slightest!?'

'N-no, I'm really sorry, Master.'

Jeongpung and Jeongho were blood relatives of the Qingcheon Sect, which had caused a conflict with Mysterious Profound Sect in the past. And they were the children of the master of the Qingcheon Sect…

But they were illegitimate children. That's why the two brothers and their mother were always despised by the legal wife and her children, and were always treated as second-class by the master.

Their situation changed one hundred and eighty degrees after Jeongpung and Jeongho were recognized for their martial arts skills and entered Qingcheng.

The Qingcheon Sect had sent the blood relatives of the master as disciples to Qingcheng for generations, and the Qingcheon Sect had always treated them with importance.

And in this generation, Jeongpung and Jeongho had taken on that role.

That's why, to Jeongpung, Qingcheng was not just a martial arts sect. It was a benefactor that had completely changed the world of himself, his younger brother, and his mother, and it was the source of his confidence and his pride itself.

That's why he had tried to hold Mysterious Profound Sect accountable. Not for the Qingcheon Sect, but only for the great Qingcheng!

But Gwang Ohjin, his master, had reprimanded him for that. In addition, he was going to punish him and even inform his family of his mistake.

Jeongpung could not accept it at all. Why was it wrong for a disciple of the great Qingcheng to hold a disciple of a sect that had betrayed Qingcheng accountable? Of course, he admitted that it was a mistake to shout that Qingcheng was the best in Sichuan in front of the people of Emei and the Tang Clan. But this was a mistake of the level of a first-place winner shouting that he was first place in front of the second and third-place winners, and it was neither more nor less than that. Who would deny it?

That the great Qingcheng was the best in Sichuan?

But he could not say this in front of the current Gwang Ohjin.

For some reason, Gwang Ohjin was overly angry about this trivial matter and was worried about the consequences.

'Hmph! It must be because of that guy from Mysterious Profound Sect, Cheongmu or whatever!'

The Mystic Heaven Sword, Cheongmu! His martial prowess was truly amazing. A skill that surpassed even the great elder of Qingcheng, Gwang Ohjin!

Jeongpung thought that the reason Gwang Ohjin was so angry was because he was wary of the Mystic Heaven Sword's unimaginable martial prowess.

'But it's impossible for a transcendent master like that to be born normally in a low-class sect like Mysterious Profound Sect! He must have learned some unorthodox method or a forbidden art!'

Thinking that he might have stolen and learned Qingcheng's martial arts when he was in the Qingcheng branch, Jeongpung thought that he must tell the elders of his sect about this later.

"Mysterious Profound Sect… to give me such a humiliation… I will never let it go."

As Jeongpung was harboring a poisonous heart and vowing revenge by himself…

"Bullshit! I thought you were reflecting, but this is a complete bastard!"

A reply came from somewhere.

'How!?'

Even though he was drunk, he was a disciple of the great Qingcheng and at the same time an outstanding martial artist who had reached the first-rate level at the age of twenty. How could he not even feel the presence of someone approaching so close…

Whip!

He quickly turned his head to where the voice had come from, and there stood a man in the black indoor clothes that were consistently prepared in the quarters provided by the Geumjo Merchant Guild, with a black cloth wrapped around his face.

"Who are you?"

'I can't feel his presence properly!?'

With a hoarse and grating voice of unknown age and a physique similar to his own, he spoke in a polite tone because he could not identify the opponent's identity, but internally, he was trying to read the opponent's level somehow.

But he couldn't.

He could feel a presence, but it was too weak and at the same time, it was changing strangely in real time, so he couldn't properly guess his level at all.

As Jeongpung was trying to deduce the opponent's identity somehow, the unidentified man in black continued to speak.

"I have good memories of the Geumjo Merchant Guild in my youth, so I came all this way to celebrate a good day."

While feeling a little angry that his question was ignored, Jeongpung continued to listen to the man in black's continuing words. For some reason, his instincts were shouting that something bad would happen if he interrupted or cut off his words here.

"But some bastard made a fuss on the first day of the party, so the atmosphere became chaotic! It seems the master is worried and having a hard time, but some young brat is acting arrogant and increasing his worries, so I came personally to break that young brat's head."

"…Are you perhaps referring to me as that arrogant young brat?"

"Well, look at you? You know right away?"

Saying so, the man in black took out a wooden club from his waist.

"I won't say anything else. Let's just get a hundred hits. Get hit and become a new person and start anew."

"…Do you know who you are saying such outrageous things to?"

"I know. An arrogant and young brat who is also insolent."

At this point, Jeongpung could no longer endure it and began to ignore the warning of his instincts that was ringing in his head.

Anger and humiliation had blown away his instinctive sense of crisis!

"I don't know who you are, but I don't think you think you can get away with insulting a disciple of the great Qingcheng like this… draw your sword."

With his eyes sunken eerily, Jeongpung drew the sword from his waist, and a sharp energy like a blade rose from his whole body.

The man in black looked at Jeongpung with a 'what's that dog barking about~' expression, picked his ear with one hand, and then opened his mouth.

"Insolent child, didn't I tell you at the beginning?"

"…?"

"I'll give you a hundred hits and let you start anew."

Saying so, the man in black held the wooden club in one hand and let it hang down naturally.

"…I'll say it again! Your sword…"

"Shut up and come at me. Or are you scared?"

Snap!

"I won't let you go!!"

At the man in black's provocation, Jeongpung, who had thrown away not only the warning of his instincts but also the minimum etiquette and formality as a disciple of a prestigious Orthodox Faction, quickly closed the distance of about ten steps with his footwork and swung his sword.

Even while entrusting his body to anger, there was no shaking or opening in his sword path. What was unfolding in Jeongpung's hand was the Seventy-Two Wave Sword, one of the famous sword techniques of Qingcheng!

The Seventy-Two Wave Sword, a secret technique of Qingcheng that added the subtlety of power to the connection and illusion modeled after the movement of waves, rushed towards the man in black with a terrifying momentum.

However…

"What!?"

The man in black was avoiding all the forms of the Seventy-Two Wave Sword with very simple movements, as if he were avoiding a slowly flying fly!

"Heh heh! Why are you so surprised like a sparrow hit by a stone? Did you think your clumsy sword would even graze a single hair on me?"

Laughing at Jeongpung, who was desperately unfolding the Seventy-Two Wave Sword, the man in black launched his first attack.

Thwack-!

"Ugh!?"

The man in black's wooden club, which had slipped through the gap in the forms of the Seventy-Two Wave Sword, struck Jeongpung's waist.

The wooden club, which seemed to have been swung lightly, made a heavy sound as it hit Jeongpung's waist. At the same time, Jeongpung's body tilted forward for a moment due to the shock and pain.

"Ahem~ there are still ninety-nine hits left."

"Keuk!?"

The man in black's instep kicked up at his face, which was bent down due to his tilted body.

As a result, Jeongpung's body, which was about to fall forward, was straightened up again.

"Tsk, your flesh is soft too, you pathetic brat!"

Even though he could have continued to attack in this gap, the man in black didn't even care about Jeongpung, who was writhing in pain, and was swinging the wooden club in the air.

"Tsk, it's a good thing this one is soft too."

Jeongpung, who had barely come to his senses, barely managed to regain his balance, which he had lost due to the impact on his head, and took his stance again.

Although he had somehow managed to recover from the physical shock, his mind was a complete mess, as if a typhoon had hit.

'How… how can he avoid the Seventy-Two Wave Sword so easily!?'

He could understand if he had avoided the attack with a mysterious and strange footwork. In fact, it was the same when he had a guidance duel with his master, Gwang Ohjin.

But the way the man in black avoided the Seventy-Two Wave Sword was completely different from Gwang Ohjin's.

The man in black's movements were slower than Jeongpung's. Even though they were slow and small movements, Jeongpung's attacks could not even graze a single hair on the man in black!

With Jeongpung's level, which was only at the first-rate, it was impossible for him to even notice, let alone recognize, the identity of the subtlety contained in the man in black's movements, which had reached the extreme of martial arts.

The subtlety of the useless and the useful!

Creating a meaningful result from a meaningless thing!

Even if they were only third-rate martial artists, their five senses easily surpassed the limits of those who had not learned martial arts. And what about the masters who had honed their sixth sense through long training and the sense of qi they had learned while learning internal energy techniques?

Just speed and strength were not enough. That's why martial artists created and used things called forms, which contained the subtlety of martial arts.

And feints were a technique that was often used in creating such 'forms.' Deceiving the opponent with flashy movements and hiding the real attack 'true form' that would harm him!

In other words, a feint was a technique that deceived the opponent through action.

But the man in black, who used the subtlety of the useless and the useful, was different.

Deceiving the opponent not by doing, but by not doing!

Of course, it wasn't that he was really doing nothing. But he was creating a hole in the opponent's perception by using very small, trivial things.

The direction of the eyes, a small movement of the shoulders, a slight tremor of the fingertips, the direction and movement of the toes, the pattern of breathing. Using all of those to make the opponent's subconscious perceive his next movement as he wished!

And the man in black had applied this to avoid Jeongpung's Seventy-Two Wave Sword.

Jeongpung thought he was unfolding his forms towards what he felt was the man in black's opening with his own will. But he was not. The forms that he thought he had aimed and unfolded with his own will were actually all being unfolded towards the direction and part that the man in black wanted.

Using the subtlety of the useless and the useful, he had made Jeongpung's subconscious feel that that place was an opening and a weakness!

As a result, all of Jeongpung's attacks were inevitably read in advance by the man in black.

"Tsk~ you're all hunched up just because you got hit a little…"

Even at the man in black's provocation, Jeongpung did not move. He knew it too. That there was no chance of victory by just pouring out attacks like this without thinking!

"Gulp-!"

Jeongpung tensed his nerves and watched his opponent. And the man in black watched Jeongpung for a moment and then snorted loudly and said.

"If you don't come, I'll go."

"!!"

With those words, the man in black slowly, as if he were an old man of sixty who had come out for a walk at noon, walked towards Jeongpung.

Since he had already confirmed the man in black's skill, Jeongpung was preparing to block the man in black's attack without even a hint of carelessness at his relaxed appearance.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

The moment the man in black came within a distance of less than a zhang…

Thwack!

"Keuk!"

The man in black's wooden club struck Jeongpung's shoulder diagonally.

Jeongpung couldn't believe it. It was unbelievable that he had avoided his attack by moving slower than him, but the move that the man in black had shown this time made Jeongpung even wonder if all of this was just a fleeting dream he was having because of the alcohol he had drunk in a fit of anger.

But the unbearable pain he felt in his shoulder reminded him that all of this was by no means a dream.

"Kuaaaak!!"

He desperately tried to unfold his footwork to avoid the man in black's attack, but it was all in vain.

The man in black's attack was by no means fast. Nor was he unfolding a flashy form. Nevertheless, for some reason, he could neither block nor avoid his attack, so Jeongpung felt like he was going crazy.

And of course, the man in black was also using the subtlety of the useless and the useful in his attack.

If the subtlety of the useless and the useful he had used to avoid the attack had planted his own opening or weakness in Jeongpung's subconscious to induce his attack direction and part, now he was using it in the opposite way.

Making the opponent subconsciously mistake the direction and part he was going to attack!

As a result, the opponent's perception was focused on that side for a fleeting moment, and he swung the wooden club towards the gap in perception that was created.

Due to this series of actions, Jeongpung was being beaten unilaterally without being able to resist properly even while watching the man in black's movements with his eyes wide open.

Jeongpung, who had been beaten unilaterally for a long time, thought that he couldn't go on like this and started swinging his sword indiscriminately.

"Kuaaaaaaaaaak!!"

Jeongpung, who had already lost half of his reason due to the pain, swung his sword wildly in all directions, but this time too, the man in black was not even a hair's breadth injured.

The man in black had not been injured at all by the Seventy-Two Wave Sword, which had been unfolded with full concentration and precision. Moreover, there was no need to use the subtlety of the useless and the useful to avoid a sword that was being swung indiscriminately with half of his reason lost.

(End of Chapter)