Chapter 58 : Chapter 58
Chapter 058. Proof (3)
"Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style...!"
At the moment Dam Jeok-san's momentum changed completely, a low lament flowed from Lee Myeong-gi's mouth.
A voice where one couldn't tell if it was anger or joy. In it, the old swordsman's lingering regret shimmered.
The Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style is the martial art of the Martial Sovereign's lineage, who have reigned as absolute rulers of the Murim generation after generation. It is a supreme technique that ordinary people struggle to see even once in their lifetime, but for him, who once ate from the same pot as the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable in the Severing Sword Squad, it had to be very familiar.
When he first met Un Wol-hyang. She was an incomplete swordsman who hadn't yet escaped from wandering. She came looking for the Severing Sword Squad Leader who tenaciously dug into a single realization. Bearing an intense desire to become strong. Lee Myeong-gi discussed the sword with her merely as a fellow swordsman and a comrade.
Over ten years passed like that.
When Lee Myeong-gi crossed the Peak and reached Ultra-Peak after a desperate struggle.
Un Wol-hyang became a master of the Entering Transformation Realm, as if it had been destined to happen.
It's not that he felt deprived by her achievement. Because he couldn't dare guess how desperate the efforts behind that brilliant achievement must have been.
However, it is an undeniable fact that the one he thought of as a companion, even for a while, had gone too far ahead. He can no longer clash swords with Un Wol-hyang with all his might. Because he wouldn't be able to withstand even a single strike of hers.
Of course, Lee Myeong-gi accepted that reality. Because it is the principle of the world that an old man cannot catch up to the speed of a young person with shining talent.
But now.
A young man who mastered the same martial arts as the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable, a young man whom the old swordsman could compete with using his full strength. Appeared before Lee Myeong-gi once again.
The precursor of the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style reminded the old swordsman of that fact anew.
Of course, the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable's Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style and Dam Jeok-san's Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style would have completely different forms. Because that martial art is originally something the successor completes themselves.
Despite knowing that, Lee Myeong-gi felt a certain nostalgia.
However, the time he could be lost in thought was not long.
Because the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style is a divine art discussing the number one under heaven, and the momentum of Dam Jeok-san unfolding it had changed distinctly from before.
The moment Lee Myeong-gi looked at Dam Jeok-san. His figure changed faintly as if wavering.
WHOOSH!
Simultaneously, a swift and fierce sword strike rushed in as if to pierce through space. An extreme fast sword technique that made Lee Myeong-gi feel a chill. At a glance, it is a product of sublimating the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style into his own.
The old swordsman burst into empty laughter, dodged the sword strike, and swung his sword.
Dodge and cut. Even with the fiercer sword momentum, there was no change in his response.
The old swordsman knows. The fact that Dam Jeok-san will also surpass him before long. Because he possesses a talent shining even brighter than the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable.
However, that process will never be easy. The momentum of the old swordsman, who gained the opportunity to do his best against the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style once again, became fierce.
A fight that became even more intense. Sword light flashed sharply, and fresh blood whose owner could not be distinguished splattered up.
* * *
"Phew..."
Rough breathing sounds flowed from Dam Jeok-san's mouth. A figure visibly exhausted despite suppressing it as much as possible. Even deep sword wounds were carved all over his body, too deep to be called scratches now.
Traces of a fierce battle. Dam Jeok-san could hardly seize the victory against Lee Myeong-gi even though he used the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style.
Dodge and cut. What Lee Myeong-gi uses is simple yet nearly perfect swordsmanship uniting offense and defense. and movements close to a dance unfolding it ceaselessly.
‘That itself is at a level where it should be called an ultimate technique.’
It wasn't time to keep in check ultimate techniques that he didn't know when would pop out. Probably if he endured without using the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style, the balance would have collapsed and he would have been defeated before long.
"That swordsmanship, what is its name?"
Dam Jeok-san opened his mouth for the first time. Because he thought it was swordsmanship worth remembering regardless of victory or defeat.
"It is called Severing Sword Dance. It has no grand meaning. Just the sword dance of a Severing Sword Squad member."
"It was too excellent for that."
"It's just a trivial principle realized in old age. However, the Young Master's sword... is definitely different from the Branch Manager's. Still, I was able to feel a nostalgic feeling after a long time."
Lee Myeong-gi said in a sentimental voice. Seeing that, Dam Jeok-san's eyebrows twitched slightly.
Was there some connection between that old swordsman and the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable? Come to think of it, he seemed to have heard that she also once belonged to the Severing Sword Squad.
"Probably the Young Master's sword will also advance to a place this old man can no longer chase. However, that won't be today."
Lee Myeong-gi cut off Dam Jeok-san's thoughts and concluded his speech. At the same time, a terrifyingly sharp sword strike rushed toward Dam Jeok-san.
A feast of sword strikes pouring down like heavy rain.
Ripples appeared in Dam Jeok-san's eyes.
‘Strong.’
His insides shake even though he blocked it, and scratches remain on his skin even though he stepped back. His vision shakes dizzily, and blood surges up.
It means the difference in level between Lee Myeong-gi and himself is clear.
Just as Dam Jeok-san hid the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style, Lee Myeong-gi had also not been using the Severing Sword Dance with full power until just before.
This, perhaps...
‘It might really be difficult?’
Dam Jeok-san thought of the word ‘defeat’ in his mind for the first time after regaining his dantian.
Unless he can mobilize all sorts of methods like when killing Murong Gang. Because what the current Dam Jeok-san can do was very limited.
However, he had no intention of being defeated like this. Defeating Lee Myeong-gi is merely the start of this operation. Giving up already is something his pride cannot tolerate, leaving aside pros and cons.
Dam Jeok-san's thoughts were cut off there.
WHOOSH!
Because Lee Myeong-gi's sword strike rushed toward Dam Jeok-san, emitting a chilling sound of breaking air.
Dam Jeok-san clenched his molars tight watching the approaching sword and raised his sword to meet it.
CLANG-!
With a sharp metallic sound, the two swords collide.
Dam Jeok-san was pushed back a few steps and barely regained his balance. Dull pain covered his whole body, but he blocked it somehow.
Grind. Dam Jeok-san swung his sword while clenching his molars tight. A sword strike containing the will never to be pushed back.
Monkey-Destroying One Flash of the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style. A fast sword that seemed to pierce through space rushed toward Lee Myeong-gi. At the same time, Dam Jeok-san's Sword Flame, which was perilous like a candle flame, swelled explosively for an instant.
However, Lee Myeong-gi received the sword without fail. And without any damage at that. He read the trajectory of the Monkey-Destroying One Flash.
‘Damn it.’
The understanding of the sword itself is on a different level. If this goes on, certain defeat. He must create a variable somehow.
And as far as Dam Jeok-san knows, there is only one way for a weaker person to create a variable against a master.
It is risking one's life.
Mutual destruction is excessive greed. Tenacity to cut the enemy even if giving up a bone to take flesh is needed.
Only that boldness can create confusion.
And in confusion, a weaker person might be able to inflict a wound on a master.
BOOM!
Dam Jeok-san kicked off the ground with explosive momentum.
His figure moved forward quickly like an arrow piercing the air. Intense power differing in dimension from before was rippling throughout Dam Jeok-san's body.
"Oho."
Seeing that, a strange gleam settled in Lee Myeong-gi's eyes. There's no way the worn-out old swordsman wouldn't read Dam Jeok-san's intention.
He realized that Dam Jeok-san was rushing in with the determination of mutual destruction.
And.
A seasoned Severing Sword Squad Leader might avoid it. But the swordsman with boiling blood, Lee Myeong-gi, does not avoid the contest.
Distinct flames burned along Lee Myeong-gi's sword blade. An honest downward cut without artifice. But its power was enough to split Dam Jeok-san in half.
‘This is beyond expectation.’
Dam Jeok-san twisted the corners of his mouth up, feeling the chilling killing intent emitted by Lee Myeong-gi.
I die. The moment I receive that sword strike, I will definitely die. If I clash with my current capability without transcending my limits, it will certainly happen.
That certainty of death granted Dam Jeok-san immense exhilaration.
As if time stretched out like taffy for an instant, the world began to move slowly. The cornered mind is struggling to survive.
All sorts of memories rose and disappeared randomly in Dam Jeok-san's mind. Some were his own, and others were Seo Woo-joo's. The boundary was blurred like a dream, so he couldn't distinguish them clearly.
He realized instinctively. That this moment is more precious than any understanding. Now, he would be able to melt even Seo Woo-joo's understanding, which is far ahead, into his own.
Of course, if he gets too greedy, the Spirit of the Upper Dantian will go berserk, but where in the world is there something that can be achieved without risking one's life?
Lee Myeong-gi's sword slowly falls above Dam Jeok-san's head. The moment that touches him, irreversible death will be sentenced.
He must think. How to escape this crisis.
He cannot create something completely new. There is no time for that, and the Upper Dantian wouldn't be able to withstand the load either.
Then he must sharpen what he possesses even more sharply.
‘The most powerful thing among what I possess.’
That was, as he thought before, Sword Intent.
Will contained in the sword tip. The realization that made it possible to overwhelm Baek Ri-gwan's blade with only the Three Talents Sword Technique. The weapon that allowed him to cross swords with the Ultra-Peak master Lee Myeong-gi.
That was exactly Sword Intent.
Then, he must find a sword path to melt it vividly.
The Three Talents Sword Technique is not the answer. The two forms of the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style forged before realizing Sword Intent are the same.
Then what is the answer? Dam Jeok-san could find the answer in the nearest place. It was exactly Lee Myeong-gi's Severing Sword Dance.
Sword Intent is the will contained in the sword. The way to unleash it most efficiently is ultimately the simplest way.
WHOOOOSH!
Dam Jeok-san loaded all the genuine qi wrapping his body onto the sword tip. Without leaving even a minimum reserve to defend his body.
And he thrust the sword forward with all his might. An extremely concise thrusting form. Both the sword path and the principle were extremely simple.
The moment that thrust cut through the air, Dam Jeok-san felt the exhilaration draining away and his consciousness returning to reality.
At the same time, Lee Myeong-gi's sword falls with lightning speed. A sight that looks absolutely impossible to dodge.
The Squad Leaders watching the battle gasped from here and there. Because it looked like it was already too late for Lee Myeong-gi to withdraw his sword no matter how one looked at it.
No matter how used to blood and death they are, they wouldn't have thought Dam Jeok-san, the disciple of the Castle Lord, would die in this meeting.
However, mocking that astonishment—
Dam Jeok-san's sword extended toward Lee Myeong-gi, distorting the empty air. A strange sword path as if ignoring the providence of the world.
However, Lee Myeong-gi could feel the extremely simple principle contained within it.
"Surprising. I was certain it wasn't today."
The old swordsman muttered in a tone where his inner thoughts couldn't be guessed, whether feeling vain or proud.
"Breaking this old man's certainty. And taking away this old man's thing as if it were natural. Everything resembles her."
Simultaneously as those words ended.
Sword and sword.
More precisely, the sword paths created by the two swords collided.
BOOOOOM!!
From the place where the two swords collided, a fierce explosion sound burst out along with blindingly intense brilliance.
Lee Myeong-gi's downward cut containing his full power.
And Dam Jeok-san's thrust containing his full power.
An interlocked exchange. Each other's strike was a fierce stalemate.
However, surprisingly, the one pushed back was Lee Myeong-gi.
Cough―
Bright red fresh blood trickled down from the old man's mouth.
His age is seventy.
Although aging was partially suppressed as he reached the realm of Ultra-Peak, there is a limit to that too. Lee Myeong-gi's body was already old and sick.
Accepting a head-on confrontation in that state was an act far removed from common sense. However, for Lee Myeong-gi, who lived his whole life like that, there was no other option.
THUD!
Lee Myeong-gi with a pale complexion barely regained his balance by embedding his sword into the ground like a cane.
However, Dam Jeok-san's sword was already touching Lee Myeong-gi's neck.
"Squad Leader of the Monster Repelling Squad, you won."
The old swordsman declared. In a dignified tone unlike that of a loser.
"...However."
"Stop. Do you intend to insult this old man?"
Lee Myeong-gi shouted sternly toward Dam Jeok-san, who was about to bring up the story of accepting the head-on confrontation.
It was he who made the choice knowing it was disadvantageous.
There was no regret. Because he competed with the successor of the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style with all his might again.
Being defeated was also not particularly shameful. It is just a natural order that the back waves of the Yangtze River are pushed by the front waves.
When he was pushed out by Un Wol-hyang, he couldn't accept it easily, but being pushed even by Dam Jeok-san, he realized it clearly.
"I will tell you again. Squad Leader of the Monster Repelling Squad, you won."
Lee Myeong-gi said while wiping the blood from his mouth. His internal organs were completely shaken, making him unable to continue the battle any longer.
Dam Jeok-san had the strength remaining to take a step forward and aim his sword at his neck. That is all.
The victory and defeat were already decided.
"Isn't that so? Sword Venerable."
Lee Myeong-gi suddenly looked at the corner of the training ground and said.
"..."
And.
In that spot, Un Wol-hyang was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.
Dam Jeok-san and the other Squad Leaders didn't notice, but the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable had been in this meeting place from the beginning.