The Regressed Sword Demon Changes the Future

"Huuuuuuup~!"

In a dark room with no windows.

The man, no, the boy standing in the center was breathing in and out deeply and slowly.

"Hoooooooooooo~!"

Flash!

Even though it was a dark room, a brilliance that could be called demonic was clearly dwelling in the boy's eyes.

"Kehehehehehe!"

The boy, no, Jang Baekseo was laughing to himself as if he was in a very good mood.

'How long has it been since I felt this sensation?'

A realm where the internal energy not only filled the dantian but also filled the blood vessels and meridians of the four limbs, and the qi circulated constantly even without consciously circulating it.

A realm where one could materialize internal energy outside the body!

He had reached the peak realm.

Three months. It was a long time if long, and a short time if short.

And it was also the time that had passed since Jang Baekseo had regressed.

'Come to think of it, I'll be of age soon…'

He had regressed when it was already deep in autumn, and since three months had passed since then, a year would pass soon.

At the strange realization, Jang Baekseo stood blankly in the darkness for a moment.

But he soon turned his body and headed for the door of the closed-door training ground.

"Well then, shall we go out?"

***

"…"

"…"

"Why are those brats always like that?"

Looking at Geum Hyeonah and Sohyun, who were waiting blankly in front of the closed-door training ground, Cheong Yeonah said with a dumbfounded face.

"…I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen…"

"But it's surprising. I thought you would be there too?"

Yuhan, who had heard Cheong Yeonah's words, shook his head.

"Since my senior brother has entered closed-door training with such a determined mind for the achievement of his martial arts, how can I, as a junior brother, be lazy in my training?"

The words that Jang Baekseo had said, that he and Yuhan would one day lead the sect together, were still deeply engraved in Jang Yuhan's heart.

"But why are you here today?"

"…A feeling."

"A feeling?"

"I had a feeling that my senior brother would come out today."

"What… are you a shaman…"

For a moment!

Cheong Yeonah's eyes, which had been looking at Yuhan with a dumbfounded expression, turned to the door of the closed-door training ground.

In closed-door training, the door was basically locked from the outside.

It was the general method of closed-door training to set a time and have the door opened from the outside when the set time came.

Of course, if one wanted to quit in the middle, one could send a signal from inside and ask for help, but by having at least one such preventive measure, it was made so that one could not easily quit closed-door training.

The closed-door training ground of the Mysterious Profound Sect was the same, and since it was to prevent not ordinary people but martial artists from coming out, the door of the closed-door training ground, including the lock, was all made of hard and thick steel.

But,

Paat!

The iron door of such a closed-door training ground was shattered in an instant, and a man, no, a boy walked out from inside.

"Senior Brother!"

"Senior Brother!"

"…!"

As soon as the boy, Jang Baekseo, came out, all of his junior brothers ran to him.

"W-wait, I haven't bathed in a few days, so I'm dirty…!"

Although there was a lot of water prepared inside, it was not enough to take a bath, so the smell of sweat was strong from Jang Baekseo's body, who had not washed for several days.

But none of his junior brothers cared about that, and they all ran up and hugged him.

"You disobedient brats…"

Although he said that, a deep smile appeared on Jang Baekseo's face.

"…You have achieved a great deal in a short time."

Cheongmu's eyes, which were looking at his disciple, were sparkling.

He had thought that there would be some progress as he was taking the Qingha Divine Pill.

But he had not expected that he would actually reach the peak realm.

But now, seeing Jang Baekseo, who had completely digested the elixir, Cheongmu admitted that his thoughts were wrong.

'Peak! And his qi is very stable… as if it has been decades since he reached the peak realm, he is perfectly mature!'

Cheongmu, who now understood to some extent that his disciple was a genius, could not help but be surprised to be reminded of it again.

"Thank you."

Seeing Jang Baekseo, who was bowing his head and showing his respect, Cheongmu took a few steps away from Jang Baekseo.

"But there is a limit to what can be confirmed with the eyes. May this master confirm it with his own body?"

At those words, Jang Baekseo also grinned and said.

"As you wish."

And so, the duel between the master and the disciple began.

Mysterious Heaven Sword.

The skill of Cheongmu, who was chosen as one of the top ten masters in Sichuan, was amazing.

The Mysterious Heaven Sword Technique that unfolded in his hands was fast, strong, and at the same time, deep and gentle.

At the same time, the other sword techniques of the Mysterious Profound Sect that were unfolded at the right time, the Red Tiger Twelve Swords and the Throwing Mysterious Sword, were also extremely sharp.

Of course, there was no child in the third generation of the Mysterious Profound Sect who could withstand this for even a moment.

Except for one person.

Except for Jang Baekseo, who was now dueling with Cheongmu!

Strength with gentleness.

Speed with heaviness.

Depth with brilliance.

And he countered gentleness with slowness. His understanding of the sword was by no means inferior to that of his master, Cheongmu, and in the flexibility of his thinking, he even showed an appearance that surpassed that of his master.

Of course.

This was also Jang Baekseo holding back a lot.

Had they exchanged nearly a hundred blows?

Cheongmu smiled and clad his sword in sword qi.

Jang Baekseo also soon realized what his master was trying to say.

He was asking him to show it.

The proof of the peak, that is, the sword qi.

At the appearance of his master, who was demanding with his actions rather than words, Jang Baekseo couldn't help but laugh and concentrated his internal energy on his sword.

Then, a dark sword qi rose from Jang Baekseo's sword.

"Ho ho, your sword qi is a dark color, Baekseo?"

There was a common belief that circulated in the streets that one could distinguish whether a person was from the Orthodox Faction, the Unorthodox Faction, or the Demonic Path by looking at the color of their sword qi or sword force, but of course, such stories were all rumors.

Of course, depending on the nature of the internal energy art one learned and the energy art that handled that internal energy, there were colors that were often manifested in each sect, but this was by no means absolute.

And as proof of that, Jang Baekseo's master, Cheongmu, was also using a deep red sword qi, not the light blue color that was mainly produced in the Mysterious Profound Sect.

"It's wonderful."

"Thank you."

The two, who had exchanged a word of praise, soon continued their duel.

Chaang!

Chiing!

It was not the sound of metal and metal colliding, but a sharp high-pitched sound, as if hundreds of strings of a zither had been plucked at once, echoed in all directions.

"…I thought that brat was amazing, but he's beyond imagination."

"Hehe, right?"

And there were two people watching the duel between the master and the disciple, Cheong Yeonah and Ju Yulgok.

"When he first came out of the closed-door training ground, shattering the door, I wondered if he had, and indeed, he has reached the peak realm…"

"…Why did he shatter the door there?"

If it was a respectable sect, shouldn't it have a good-looking closed-door training ground?

It was a closed-door training ground that Ju Yulgok had prepared with a big heart and a large sum of money after he had become the Sect Leader.

In fact, closed-door training was called closed-door training for a reason. It was so hard and arduous that there were actually few people who did it.

Still, if it was a respectable sect, it should have this much… and he had been maintaining and managing it with difficulty…

"…Is that door expensive?"

"You'd have to steal my slush fund about a dozen more times to get the price of one door…"

"Wow…"

If that money had been in her hands, she would have hit the jackpot at the Go-Pa game last time! Cheong Yeonah was thinking.

"It's about to end."

"…But if this gets out, things will get very troublesome, won't they?"

"So we have to keep it a secret."

"I knew that, so I've already told Baekseo's junior brothers to keep their mouths shut."

"Good job."

A peak master at the age of fourteen.

It was a word that nine out of ten people would turn their heads at if shouted in the streets.

If a disciple raised in a prestigious sect reached the first-rate level when they passed twenty, they were evaluated as a well-raised disciple.

But for a boy from a small and medium-sized sect, and not even twenty, but not even of age yet, to have reached the peak master level, just imagine the talk.

Probably the attention of the whole world would be focused on him.

"A protruding stone gets hit by a chisel."

"Well, that's a common story…"

"We have to protect him."

Although the words 'protecting a peak master' might sound ridiculous in a way, Cheong Yeonah nodded her head without a word.

In the meantime, the duel between the master and the disciple, which had been continuing, was slowly coming to an end.

Chaang!

Jiiiiiik!

Chiiiiiiiiik!

Thud!

The two, who had clashed their sword qi in the center of the training ground, were pushed back by the impact.

Cheongmu stopped about three steps away from the end of the training ground, but Jang Baekseo was pushed all the way to the end of the training ground and landed below the training ground.

"Excellent."

"Thank you."

At his master's blunt praise, Jang Baekseo also bluntly expressed his gratitude.

For this master and disciple, that one word was enough, without any flowery language.

"But perhaps because of the rapid increase in internal energy, I see some shortcomings in the external art part."

Although he was only fourteen years old, Jang Baekseo's physique was already not far behind that of an adult.

But even if his visible physique was like that of an adult, his inside could not be the same as that of an adult.

Moreover, the current Jang Baekseo had reached the peak realm, and as it was a rapid growth, the physical part was not completely keeping up with it.

"I will work hard to supplement it in the future."

"If you need anything, just tell me anytime."

If he could, he wanted to say to leave everything to him, but Cheongmu held back his words, worried that his actions might hinder the growth of the genius Jang Baekseo.

"Hey~! You were awesome, brat!"

"Ahem, ahem, Yeonah, please watch your words…"

The two, who had finished their duel, went to the audience who had been watching their duel.

Seeing the smiling Cheong Yeonah, Jang Baekseo, who felt uneasy for some reason, said as if he were throwing it out.

"Senior Aunt, just in case, but you have to keep it a secret that I have reached the peak realm."

Seeing Jang Baekseo, who was saying that, Cheong Yeonah made a dumbfounded expression and said.

"…If you were going to say that, you shouldn't have come out of the closed-door training ground by cutting the door with your sword qi."

If it weren't for that, even if there was a difference in level, since they had reached the same realm, Cheong Yeonah would not have easily known that Jang Baekseo had reached the peak realm.

"That's because…"

""Because?""

Cheongmu and the Sect Leader, who were also curious, waited for Jang Baekseo's answer with an anxious expression.

"…I thought it would look cooler to the kids if I came out like that…"

"…"

Thump!

At those words, the Sect Leader finally fell to his knees with a 'thud'.

"…You were a Yeonah-type too…"

Jang Baekseo, who had no words to refute this time, just quietly avoided his gaze.

(End of Chapter)