Chapter 39 : Sword Force
At the continued provocation, Myeonggwang's eyes turned, and he soon rushed at Jang Baekseo, swinging his sword clad in burning sword qi.
Swish!
Thud thud thud!
The huge trees, which would have easily passed several hundred years, were lightly cut down by the sword clad in sword qi.
"Damn it!! You cowardly bastard, don't run away and fight me!!"
But the man who had accomplished such a tremendous feat, Myeonggwang, shouted, panting, as if he was not satisfied at all.
"You crazy bastard, you're old enough, but you're saying that to a kid who hasn't even passed the age of learning?"
The answer came from the bushes a little away from Myeonggwang, and Myeonggwang quickly rushed there and swung his sword.
The area was destroyed by the Seventy-Two Wave Sword that was unfolded in an instant, but Jang Baekseo was not there, and only the remains of a rabbit that had not been able to escape the sudden misfortune and had been slaughtered were left.
"Damn it!!! You rat-like bastard!!"
Myeonggwang felt like he was going to go crazy because of this rat-like brat.
He had thought he was no ordinary person from the first time he saw him, but this was really beyond imagination.
As soon as he had deployed his sword qi and rushed at him, Jang Baekseo had hidden himself among the bushes.
At first, he had thought it was ridiculous. Myeonggwang was a peak master. As such, his ability to search using his qi sense, five senses, and sixth sense far surpassed that of a wild animal.
That's why, at first, he had intended to see through Jang Baekseo's shallow game of hide-and-seek at once and cut him in two.
But what on earth was this? He couldn't locate Jang Baekseo, who had just hidden himself in the bushes.
'What kind of trick is he using!!'
Swish!
"Ugh!?"
And when Myeonggwang showed a gap for even a moment, he appeared like a ghost and left a wound on him…
"You bastard!!"
Swish.
He disappeared like a ghost again.
Myeonggwang thought that he could not delay any longer.
Myeonggwang and Myeongryo had set a point to meet up after escaping in case something happened.
On the assumption that a net that could not be escaped had already been laid, it was impossible for Myeonggwang to break through it and escape alone.
Only by somehow joining up with Myeongryo would a way to survive be opened.
'For that reason, I have no time to waste here…'
Jang Baekseo, who knew the name of the association, was definitely a person to be eliminated first, but no matter how big a thing a person was trying to do, they had to be alive to do anything, right?
The moment Myeonggwang, who had hardened his resolve, was about to throw himself.
Swish!
"…Why?"
"Why…? What do you mean why? It's obvious that you've given up and are trying to run away. I came out to tell you to try a little more~"
"…Huh? You're really not in your right mind, are you?"
He didn't know what kind of trick he had used, but Jang Baekseo had a way to completely hide his presence, and he was cornering Myeonggwang using that technique and the geographical advantage.
But if he came out in the open like this, those two advantages would be completely gone.
In other words.
"You're a fool, to come out to die on your own."
Jang Baekseo's action now was nothing more or less than a suicide act.
Myeonggwang rushed at Jang Baekseo, swinging his sword from which sword qi was spouting.
"Die!"
Jang Baekseo looked at Myeonggwang, who was rushing at him, shouting a classic villain's line, with deep eyes whose end could not be known.
The sword qi that was swung along the sword path of the Seventy-Two Wave Sword was literally a powerful wave that was irresistible to a human.
The moment that wave was about to swallow Jang Baekseo whole!
Kwaang!
"Keuk!?"
At the sudden impact, Myeonggwang opened his eyes wide and stepped back.
"Sword qi is certainly a powerful weapon."
It wasn't for nothing that they said to fight sword qi with sword qi and sword force with sword force.
But there were always exceptions in the world.
Although it didn't sound like much when you said sword qi, in the end, this was also a type of energy.
If, in the realm before the peak, one was emitting internal energy as a 'phenomenon' called energy, when one reached the peak, one was materializing it as a 'form' called sword qi.
In other words, although there was a difference in level, in the end, sword qi was also a type of energy.
Then what was the difference between energy and sword qi, and what was it that divided the boundary between the two?
Simply put, the boundary between energy and sword qi was divided depending on the absolute total amount of internal energy and whether one had the technique to maintain the form of the internal energy emitted outside the body.
This meant that even a person with an insufficient absolute amount of internal energy could create a force similar to sword qi, even if for a moment, if they had the technique to form and maintain the form with the internal energy emitted outside the body.
Of course, it was an absurd thing. How could a person who did not have enough internal energy to create and maintain sword qi have the technique to create sword qi?
It was something that could not even be imitated unless one was an absolute master who had reached the transcendent realm and had returned to the past, defying the heavens.
And Myeonggwang's misfortune was that the boy who was blocking him was the Sword Demon who had reached the transcendent realm and had returned to the past, defying the heavens.
"This… this is ridiculous!!"
For a moment.
No, it was a short time, as if a moment, which was not even enough, had been divided into dozens of pieces, but the power that was dwelling in Jang Baekseo's sword was definitely that of sword qi.
The fact that a boy who was not even of age yet had created sword qi was astonishing enough, but what was more unbelievable was that the sword qi created by that young boy had surpassed his own sword qi.
"How…"
"Ho ho? You're quite alright for someone who has received the Dragon-Slaying Sword, aren't you?"
But unlike Myeonggwang's surprise, it was rather Jang Baekseo who was surprised.
Among the sword manuals created with the Twelve Paths, Three Forms, the one with the most powerful destructive power was the Dragon-Slaying Sword manual, and the Dragon-Slaying Sword manual was a sword manual created by focusing on the destructive power created by energy rather than movement methods or sword paths.
Before his regression, Jang Baekseo had defeated countless masters of the Orthodox Faction with this Dragon-Slaying Sword manual and had received looks of fear and awe from countless people.
The particularly frightening thing about the Dragon-Slaying Sword manual was that it made the opponent hesitate to receive the sword more and more.
Since it was a destructive sword technique using energy, even a master of the same level would be slightly injured internally by the destructive energy of the Dragon-Slaying Sword if they received the Dragon-Slaying Sword manual, and if that continued, they would eventually fall into a serious internal injury or qi deviation.
Even though he had received such a Dragon-Slaying Sword, Myeonggwang did not seem to have suffered that much damage, so it was natural for Jang Baekseo to be surprised.
Of course, before his regression, Jang Baekseo had used the Dragon-Slaying Sword manual with a sword clad in sword force, and now, since he had used it with sword qi, no, something that was embarrassing to even call sword qi, it was inevitable that its power would decrease.
Of course, Myeonggwang, who had no way of knowing Jang Baekseo's thoughts, was dazed by the internal damage he had suffered from the exchange of blows just now.
It was not a serious internal injury or anything like that.
But the important thing was that he had just been pushed back by such a brat in a clash of sword qi and sword qi, and as a result, he had even suffered internal damage.
"This… is ridiculous…!!!"
For a moment, a red light shot out from Myeonggwang's eyes.
He had used the Raging Blood Art.
Myeonggwang, whose strength and speed had been boosted in an instant, rushed at Jang Baekseo.
"Die!!!!"
The sword qi, which was burning fiercely with the physical ability amplified by the Raging Blood Art and anger, swept through the area, showing off its ferocious power without reservation.
But.
Chwaaak!
"Keuaaak!"
The Seventy-Two Wave Sword, which he had unfolded with all his might, still could not even graze a hair of Jang Baekseo, and a deep cut was engraved on Myeonggwang's waist.
Although Myeonggwang did not know, in this place where there were no eyes, Jang Baekseo had no reason to hide his power.
That's why he was using all sorts of advanced martial arts subtleties he had without reservation.
The subtlety of the useless and the useful, which he had used to play with Jeongpung, was restricting and interfering with Myeonggwang's movements, and he was deceiving Myeonggwang's senses with the subtlety of becoming one with the environment, which erased his presence by melting into the surrounding environment. And when he swung his sword, he fought by unfolding the sword manuals of the Twelve Paths, Three Forms to his heart's content without reservation.
The difference in level between the peak and the first-rate was meaningless if there was this much difference in the level as a martial artist.
Chwaaak!
Chwaak!
Although Myeonggwang was swinging his sword like a madman from beginning to end, his sword could not do more than cut the empty air or damage the scenery of Qingcheng.
"Heok-! Heok-!"
Myeonggwang, who had been beaten one-sidedly for some time, somehow stepped back and checked his body.
His whole body was covered with large and small wounds, and his whole body was already covered in blood.
"Wow, as expected of a first-generation disciple of Qingcheng. He's tenacious, probably because he's a vicious bastard who even killed his own senior uncle."
"Sh… shut up!!"
Myeonggwang's appearance, glaring with bloodshot eyes while bleeding profusely, was reminiscent of a demon, but Jang Baekseo was not shaken at all.
Throughout Jang Baekseo's current life and his life before his regression, there had not been a single proper person among those who were only good with their mouths.
"I'm getting tired. How about you just surrender? You can't beat me. Everyone but you knows that, so why are you still holding on? Well, if you're in a situation where you can't be captured alive for some reason, you can just bite on a poison pill and commit suicide~"
From the moment he knew that the Hundred Rivers Association was behind this, Jang Baekseo no longer had much business with Myeonggwang.
No matter how much information Myeonggwang knew, it was as clear as day that Jang Baekseo, who had fought with them as the Sword Demon before his regression, would know more information.
Nevertheless, the reason why Jang Baekseo was taunting and dealing with Myeonggwang like this was because he was hoping that he might leak some information he didn't know in his anger.
Of course, the absolute amount of information about the group called the Hundred Rivers Association was far superior on Jang Baekseo's side, but there was always information that one would not know unless one was on the scene.
Whether he knew Jang Baekseo's thoughts or not, Myeonggwang could not even refute Jang Baekseo's continued ridicule and just glared at him.
Then.
"Yes… I'll admit it."
"Huh?"
"It's an unbelievable thing, but since I've experienced it myself, I have no choice but to believe it. You are stronger than me."
"…Now that you admit it like that, it feels strange in its own way."
"…So."
Myeonggwang, who had said that much, put his hand in his bosom and took something out.
And he threw it into his mouth.
At the same time, Jang Baekseo kicked off the ground and rushed at Myeonggwang.
'…Did he have that too!!'
The sword qi of the Dragon-Slaying Sword was created on Jang Baekseo's blade for a moment, and the moment that blade was about to cut Myeonggwang in two!
Kwaaaaaaaaaang!!!
A roar, as if dozens of thunderbolt bombs had exploded at once, shook the mountains of Qingcheng, and the trees near the epicenter of the roar shed countless leaves from the shockwave.
Jiiiiiik!
"…Sh*t, I'm f*cked…"
Jang Baekseo looked down at his right arm, which was not just broken but shattered.
Even this was only to this extent because he had changed from the Dragon-Slaying Sword to the Diamond Sword manual, which was specialized in defense, at the last moment. If he had been a little late, his arm would have been torn to shreds.
Jang Baekseo looked at Myeonggwang, who was standing at the epicenter of the roar.
No, to be precise, he looked at the sword in Myeonggwang's hand, which was emitting a brilliant blue light.
"Sword force…"
The symbol of the transcendent, the purification of destruction, the tooth of the thunder god that ignored and destroyed the cause and effect of all things, was dwelling in Myeonggwang's sword.
In the martial world, it was called sword force.
(End of Chapter)