The Regressed Sword Demon Changes the Future

"Achoo!"

Meanwhile, Jang Baekseo, who had received an apology in his master's heart, was engrossed in swinging his sword, even though it was the middle of the night.

"Hoo, focus again…"

Through his fight with Jeongpung during his trip to the Geumjo Merchant Guild, Jang Baekseo was able to understand his current state more clearly.

'It was a fight so pathetic that my face burned.'

If someone had seen it, they would have evaluated the fight between Jeongpung and Jang Baekseo as an overwhelmingly dominant fight where Jang Baekseo had unilaterally toyed with Jeongpung. But Jang Baekseo was not satisfied with that fight at all.

Even if his body's movements were restricted by the Bone Shrinking Art, to Jang Baekseo, his movements in that fight felt pathetic.

He had just supplemented those pathetic movements by using the subtlety of the useless and the useful!

That's why Jang Baekseo decided to put more effort into training his sword techniques, in addition to building his body and cultivating his internal energy.

Jang Baekseo, who was the Sword Demon before his regression, knew and had learned countless sword techniques.

Starting with the Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword he had used on Jeongpung, to the divine arts and secret techniques of the various Orthodox Faction sects that the Demonic Cult had annihilated, and of course, the various sword techniques of transcendent power in the Demonic Cult!

Of course, he had also learned the three great divine arts, the secret of the Sword Demon, but one of them was an internal energy technique, and the remaining two were a fatal technique for surely killing an opponent based on a powerful qi technique, and another was a technique that used the art of controlling qi to form a sword.

Then what was the sword technique that the Sword Demon Jang Baekseo had mainly used?

The sword technique that Jang Baekseo had used as his main force was neither a sword technique of the Orthodox Faction nor a sword technique of the Demonic Cult.

Twelve Paths, Three Forms!

The sword technique that had made him the Sword Demon, or more precisely, the name of the Comprehensive Sword Technique.

The Twelve Paths, Three Forms was a martial art created by the Mixed Blood Guild, a coalition of different ethnic groups located in Xinjiang.

The harsh environment of Xinjiang had made even different ethnic groups with different cultures gather, and thus, various ethnic groups had gathered to form a guild, which was called the Mixed Blood Guild.

These gathered ethnic groups had gathered all the sword techniques of each ethnic group to create a single sword technique for their harmony, and the sword technique created in this way was the Twelve Paths, Three Forms.

The sword techniques of the various ethnic groups had distinct characteristics and were heterogeneous, so they could not be easily woven into a single sword technique. That's why they had created a sword technique with a slightly unusual structure.

They had split the elements that made up a single form into three.

The first was the movement method, including footwork, the second was the sword path, the movement of the sword itself, and the third was the energy technique, the method of using the energy contained in the swung sword.

The identity of the Twelve Paths, Three Forms was to create and use a single form by combining the twelve movement methods, twelve sword paths, and twelve energy techniques according to one's situation or disposition.

But as one could tell just from the explanation, this could not be called a proper sword technique.

That's why, even within the Mixed Blood Guild, this sword technique was only for commemorating harmony and was for ceremonial purposes, not treated as a sword technique for use in actual combat.

Thanks to that, Jang Baekseo, who had visited the Mixed Blood Guild as a warrior of the Demonic Cult to support the internal problems of the Mixed Blood Guild, was able to get a chance to learn the Twelve Paths, Three Forms without difficulty.

At that time, the other warriors had laughed at Jang Baekseo. Jang Baekseo himself did not think he would learn anything great. He just believed in an instinctive attraction that could not be expressed in words.

Jang Baekseo, who had learned the Twelve Paths, Three Forms in that way, had at first only used it to supplement the shortcomings of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Technique he was using at the time.

But in the midst of that, he suddenly began to think, 'Couldn't I create a single sword manual using only the Twelve Paths, Three Forms?' and soon put it into practice.

Although it had started out of interest, this act of 'creating a sword technique by oneself' had greatly grown Jang Baekseo as a swordsman, and the more he did it, the more he gradually realized the true nature of the Twelve Paths, Three Forms.

Twelve movement methods, twelve sword paths, twelve energy techniques. In other words, the number of possible forms that could be created using these was one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight.

But Jang Baekseo, who had deeply honed the Twelve Paths, Three Forms, had learned that this number of cases was actually close to infinity.

For example, among the movement methods of the Twelve Paths, Three Forms, there was a movement method called the Left Flow. It was a technique of moving as if sliding, using only the movements of the knees and toes. When he first created a form based on this, Jang Baekseo had naturally thought that he had to unfold the sword path while using the Left Flow, and that the sword path had to end at the same time as the Left Flow ended. But as his understanding of sword techniques increased, he came to realize that it didn't necessarily have to be that way. Using the Left Flow in the middle of unfolding a sword path, unfolding a sword path when the Left Flow was about halfway through. The results of these were all different, but at the same time, they had their own meaning and use. This was not all.

It was also possible to use two movement methods in a row and unfold a sword path in the middle, or conversely, to mix and unfold two sword paths during one movement method.

If you added the number of cases of using energy techniques to this, you could really create a number of forms close to infinity.

Of course, if there were this many cases, one might wonder what the difference was from creating a sword technique from scratch, but no matter how finely they were split, the forms of the Twelve Paths, Three Forms were all a single crystallization that had been learned, verified, and supplemented and developed among each ethnic group for a long time.

As such, creating a form by gathering the three forms of the Twelve Paths, Three Forms was much more complete than creating a single form from scratch, and rather, because there was a certain fixed framework, it was possible to create more diverse forms.

Jang Baekseo thought that the creators of the Twelve Paths, Three Forms might not have known this, but that the Twelve Paths, Three Forms was not a sword technique, but a blueprint for creating a sword technique.

Jang Baekseo had created a total of twelve sword manuals through the Twelve Paths, Three Forms before he met his death as the Sword Demon.

And he had only mastered half of them to defeat the other Sword Fiends and become the Sword Demon.

To Jang Baekseo, this regression was an opportunity to protect all the precious things he had lost, but at the same time, it was also an opportunity to challenge the realm of martial arts that he had not reached before his regression.

Now, Jang Baekseo was engrossed in adapting the six sword manuals he had mastered to his body.

Soul Break, Diamond, Whip Lash, Twin Wings, Soul Strengthen, and finally, Dragon Slay.

The sword manuals he had mastered before his regression were mostly martial arts with the nature of movement, which were aggressive and destructive.

'I will master the sword manuals I mastered before my regression as quickly as possible and make the six sword manuals I couldn't master my own!'

The road was long, but a deep smile appeared on Jang Baekseo's face.

***

About a month and a little more had passed since Jang Baekseo had returned from the Geumjo Merchant Guild…

"Hehehe! This is it, this is it!"

Jang Baekseo, who had been circulating his internal energy, sweating profusely from his whole body until just a moment ago, stood up from his seat and suddenly laughed, carefully examining his body here and there.

"First-rate took longer than I thought…"

If someone had heard it, they would have said, 'Are you out of your mind?', but Jang Baekseo was serious. In fact, if he hadn't gone to the Geumjo Merchant Guild, he would have reached the first-rate level long ago.

Of course, the time he had spent going to and from the Geumjo Merchant Guild was only two days, but in the process, there had been a series of incidents where he had to forcibly squeeze out his internal energy, and thanks to that, although it wasn't enough to be called an internal injury, he had suffered considerable internal damage, and because of that, reaching the first-rate level had been delayed more than expected.

"Hoo… well, let's just think that I did a good thing…"

What was the point of obsessing over the past?

Although it was a slightly roundabout way, a life that should have died was saved, and a merchant guild that should have been ruined was not ruined.

That was enough.

Jang Baekseo decided to think so.

After organizing his thoughts, Jang Baekseo picked up the sword he had placed on one side of the old training ground and swung it.

Swoosh!

At the sword's cry, which was clearly different from before, Jang Baekseo smiled deeply.

What was the difference between third-rate, second-rate, and the first-rate above them?

The distinction between peak and transcendent was simple.

If you could use sword qi, you were at the peak. If you could use powerful qi, you were transcendent.

Unlike the peak and transcendent, whose levels could be gauged by visible elements like this, the difference between third-rate, second-rate, and first-rate was not easily visible.

But of course, there was a difference.

First, the difference between third-rate and second-rate was simple. If you could only strengthen your body through accumulating and circulating qi, you were third-rate.

It was a level where you simply unfolded martial arts with your physically enhanced body with internal energy.

And when you became able to emit the accumulated energy to the outside through energy, you were second-rate.

Although energy was a comprehensive term for the way of expressing power to the outside, in this case, it meant a special technique of emitting the physical force generated by internal energy to the outside.

And finally, first-rate. The difference between second-rate and first-rate was divided by the difference in the proficiency of this technique of emitting energy.

Even a second-rate martial artist could emit energy to the outside, but this was by no means an easy task. Only after training in the complex parts of the amount of internal energy, the control and sense of qi to handle internal energy, and the degree of training of the acupoints and blood vessels, could one freely handle the emission of energy. And those who were unhesitating and natural in the emission of energy were collectively called the first-rate level.

Of course, Jang Baekseo could freely use the emission of energy even when he was at the second-rate level. But this was only something he was doing half-forcefully through the control, understanding, and sense of qi to handle internal energy that had reached the transcendent realm!

But now, the story was different.

Jang Baekseo continued to swing his sword, thinking that.

If before, it was just simply putting energy into the sword and swinging it, now he was unfolding a sword manual created with the Twelve Paths, Three Forms.

The first sword manual that Jang Baekseo unfolded was the Soul Break sword manual. The Soul Break sword manual was, as its name suggested, a sword that broke the soul.

Of course, it didn't mean that it really broke the soul, whose form and substance were unknown. What Soul Break meant was, so to speak, to break the opponent's spirit and will.

The core element of the Soul Break sword manual was to maximize the sharpness of the sword, that is, the subtleties of sharpness and cruelty.

A martial artist who lived on the tip of a sword had to treat a sharp blade indifferently, as if it were a willow tree in a field!

Although it was an exaggeration, a person living in the martial world should not have a fear of blades. That's why all martial artists had a certain degree of tolerance for cold weapons.

But that did not mean that the instinctive fear disappeared so easily.

The Soul Break sword manual was a sword technique that brought out that fundamental fear of blades in humans. The forms, which were created by combining an extremely static movement method to prevent the opponent from reading one's movements, and an energy technique that extremely raised the sharpness in the sword path, would cause a large amount of bleeding just by the tip of the sword lightly grazing the skin, as the sharpness seeped into the skin.

Of course, the superhumans called martial artists were those who could use the mysterious technique of suppressing bleeding or healing wounds using internal energy.

But even so, if a large amount of bleeding occurred continuously due to a sword technique, the instinctive part of a human would inevitably be activated.

In other words, the fear of blades would be awakened.

Thus, the Soul Break sword manual was one of the sword manuals that Jang Baekseo had often used before his regression, as a sword manual that shook the opponent's spirit and awakened their instinctive fear.

'I subdue the opponent's weakness with my strength.'

This was one of Jang Baekseo's theories on martial arts. It was quite troublesome to deal with an enemy whose fighting spirit was not broken and who was not afraid of death, even if their skill was lacking.

That's why, before his regression, Jang Baekseo had favored the Soul Break sword manual, which brought out the opponent's fear rather than their fighting spirit.

Jang Baekseo, who had unfolded the entire Soul Break sword manual once, shouted loudly towards the door of the old training ground.

"It's over, so come in!"

Then, just like on that one day, two heads popped out from the door.

"Senior Brother is cool!"

"It was really… really an amazing sword technique, Senior Brother!"

Sohyun was always a lively child, but it had been a long time since Jang Baekseo had seen Yuhan so excited.

"It's a sword technique I've never seen before. May I know from whom you learned it?"

He was a child who had always liked martial arts. Otherwise, no matter how talented he was, it would have been impossible for him to achieve that level of achievement at such a young age.

As such, it was a natural result for Yuhan to be interested in seeing an excellent sword technique like the Soul Break sword manual.

'But what should I say to this…'

At Yuhan's question, Jang Baekseo contemplated what to say. Yuhan seemed to think that the sword technique Jang Baekseo had just unfolded was a sword technique he had learned from one of the elders of the sect, but in fact, not only had he not learned it from anyone, but there was not a single person in Mysterious Profound Sect who knew this sword technique.

In the first place, this Soul Break sword manual itself was a sword technique that did not even exist in this time period, so who could know it?

That's why, after a moment of contemplation, Jang Baekseo opened his mouth with difficulty.

"W-well, it's a sword technique I made for fun, yeah, for fun."

'It's not a lie…'

Jang Yuhan, who had no idea of Jang Baekseo's thoughts, opened his eyes as wide as a lantern at Jang Baekseo's words.

"Th-that sword technique, Senior Brother, d-did you, that is, did you make it by yourself?"

Jang Baekseo, who was calming down the rarely stuttering Yuhan, scratched his cheek and said.

"It's nothing great, so don't make such a fuss."

'Bullshit, what do you mean, it's nothing great…'

It was something to make a fuss about. If a fourteen-year-old boy had really created this Soul Break sword manual by himself, it would have been an event that would have shaken the entire martial world, not just a fuss.

But what was here was a boy whose body was that of a fourteen-year-old, but whose inside was a transcendent being who had reached the transcendent realm and was over forty.

To him, the Soul Break sword technique was a unique sword technique that was quite useful, and it had no meaning beyond that.

'Compared to Diamond and Dragon Slay, it's actually like that…'

While thinking that, Jang Baekseo, who was calming down the uncharacteristically fussy Yuhan, asked when Yuhan had calmed down to some extent.

"By the way, what brings you here at this time? It should be time for morning training…"

At Jang Baekseo's question, Jang Yuhan took a sharp breath with a 'hot!' and hurriedly spoke.

"Senior Brother, it's the Sect Leader's order. He says all the disciples of the third generation should gather at the central training ground."

"Huh? Is there something he wants to say?"

Jang Baekseo searched his memory to see if the Sect Leader had ever issued a summons at this time before his regression, but there was definitely no such thing in his life before his regression.

'Is this a result of the future that has changed because of me?'

The reason was probably because of the incident at the Geumjo Merchant Guild. In the world before his regression, Jang Baekseo had not caught Cheong Yeonah's eye, so of course, he had not followed her to the Geumjo Merchant Guild.

Since Jang Baekseo had not gone to the Geumjo Merchant Guild, of course, Yuhan and Sohyun, who had followed Jang Baekseo, had not followed him to the Geumjo Merchant Guild in the world before his regression. And since Yuhan had not gone to the Geumjo Merchant Guild, of course, a conflict had not arisen between the young disciple of Qingcheng, Jeongho, and Yuhan, and as a result, the rampage that Jeongpung had caused afterwards had not happened.

No matter how much he thought about it, the only thing that came to mind as a reason for the Sect Leader to summon all the disciples of the third generation was something related to that, so Jang Baekseo decided to check it out for himself.

Thus, Jang Baekseo headed to the central training ground with Sohyun and Yuhan.

***

When Jang Baekseo arrived at the central training ground and stood in front as the representative of the third-generation disciples who were lined up, the elder of the first-generation sect who was supervising this event nodded his head and sent a telepathic message somewhere.

Then, the Sect Leader entered the training ground where all the disciples of the third generation were gathered.

'This is the first time I've seen him since my regression…'

In Jang Baekseo's memory, the Sect Leader was a very cowardly and opportunistic person.

After Sichuan was conquered by the Demonic Path before his regression, the Sect Leader, Ju Yulgok, who had delayed his choice until the very end in the choice between resistance and submission, even though he had to choose submission if he didn't want to die, was remembered by Jang Baekseo as a cowardly and indecisive person even now.

Of course, the Sect Leader's gaze, which had looked at him with pity as he had not shown much prominence despite being the senior brother, had also influenced that memory.

But…

'What's with that look?'

The Sect Leader, who had always looked at him with pity, was now looking at him intently with sparkling eyes that he had never seen before in his life.

"…What's with him?"

Jang Baekseo, who had muttered in a small voice that no one could hear, thought that the pitying eyes were the worst, but that looking at him with such greasy eyes was also the worst in another sense.

Whether he knew Jang Baekseo's thoughts or not, the Sect Leader, Ju Yulgok, looked at Jang Baekseo with eyes dripping with honey.

'Aww, that cute brat! He really has reached the second-rate level!'

Although Jang Baekseo had already reached the first-rate level, he was thoroughly concealing his level so that others would not notice, so in the Sect Leader's eyes, Jang Baekseo only looked to be at the second-rate level.

If Ju Yulgok, who was already surprised enough by the second-rate level, had known that Jang Baekseo had already reached the first-rate level, he would have probably fainted.

The Sect Leader, who had been looking at Jang Baekseo with greasy eyes for a while, soon looked over the disciples of the third generation who had gathered at the training ground and…

He began his speech.

'…Right, come to think of it, that old man loved the stage like crazy, didn't he?'

The speech, which had started with a cliché phrase about the weather being nice today, continued with the Sect Leader's martial arts philosophy (a cliché story that a master is someone who wakes up early to train and trains until later than anyone else and goes to bed), and then a long and boring story about how he had roamed the martial world in his youth (the Sect Leader had not achieved any particular results in his martial world travels) and how one should act to be respected by others in old age.

The other third-generation disciples who were lined up were standing there, using their skills to slack off, but Jang Baekseo, who was at the very front, could not do so.

Moreover, if he had said this after stating the purpose of summoning people like this, he would have been at ease, but since he had skipped the main point and was only continuing with the introduction, he couldn't completely relax and was really going crazy.

As all the third-generation disciples who had gathered at the central training ground were suffering in the endless hell of speeches, the Sect Leader finally began to bring up the main point.

"…And so, auspiciously, a new secular disciple has entered our sect."

'A secular disciple?'

Unlike the Nine Great Sects of the martial world, whose essential part was either a Daoist or Buddhist sect, Mysterious Profound Sect was only a place with a Daoist color, and by no means a Daoist sect.

That's why the distinction between a secular disciple and a direct disciple was rather ambiguous, and they lived together without distinction. When they became second-generation disciples and some time had passed, those who would leave the sect would leave, and those who would remain would remain.

Of course, they didn't just leave and cut ties. They gave a natural reward for being fed, raised, and taught martial arts. They would help the sect from the outside, or they would donate a portion of the income they earned from other work to the sect.

Of course, those who had entered with the intention of just learning martial arts and leaving the sect when they came of age had paid a corresponding amount of wealth when they first entered the sect, and even after that, they had steadily paid a considerable amount of wealth while they were in the sect.

And most of those people were the children of fairly wealthy families.

From the Sect Leader's words, it seemed that the secular disciple who was coming in this time was the child of such a wealthy family.

The Sect Leader, who was inserting nutritious speeches in between while talking about the main point, soon shouted loudly.

"Come in!"

At the Sect Leader's shout, a small figure walked in through the main gate leading to the central training ground.

And the moment he confirmed the identity of that figure!

"Huh?"

Jang Baekseo, forgetting that there were people around him, let out a dazed sound without realizing it.

That was because he knew the face of the person who was now entering the training ground!

No, to be precise, he knew her silver, shimmering hair and her beautiful face with an indescribable sense of frail beauty!

"Geum Hyeonah?"

"Fufu, it's been a while, Young Hero Jang Baekseo."

Geum Hyeonah, who smiled shyly, stood next to the Sect Leader. And.

"This is Young Lady Geum Hyeonah, the daughter of the Geumjo Merchant Guild, who has newly entered as a secular disciple of the third generation! Everyone, get along well!"

Afterwards, the Sect Leader repeatedly said pathetic things like 'You really have to get along well!', 'If you bully her, I'll bully you!!', 'I'm really asking you, please don't cause any trouble, kids, okay? You understand, right? Please…', but not a single word entered Jang Baekseo's ears.

He just stared blankly at the one girl who was walking a completely different fate from the original history.