Chapter 115 : Chapter 115
Chapter 115. Heaven-Dominating Saber
After summoning the Hidden Heaven Guard to handle the aftermath, Dam Jeok-san’s group descended the mountain at an unhurried pace.
“If we keep going this way, there is a fairly large tavern called Silver Tear Pavilion. I used to frequent it quite often.”
Kwon Gi-il spoke while looking at Dam Jeok-san and Bukgung Wan, his gaze noticeably softer than before.
In particular, the way he looked at Bukgung Wan had changed greatly. Most of the suspicion and hostility had faded.
It was because he had seen how naturally Bukgung Wan interacted with Dam Jeok-san.
The Young Cult Leader of the Ming Cult and the third disciple of the Martial Sovereign Castle Lord.
They were figures whose statuses should never have mixed, yet perhaps precisely because of that, there was something that resonated between them.
The fact that the Martial Sovereign Castle Lord privately associated with Heavenly Demon Bukgung Wan likely stemmed from the same reason.
“This old man will cover the expenses, so why not rest comfortably before returning to the Main Castle?”
“That sounds good.”
Dam Jeok-san nodded readily in response.
“Do as you please.”
Bukgung Wan crossed his arms with a detached expression, but he did not refuse.
Within the Ming Cult, he was the Young Cult Leader, second only to one and above tens of thousands.
Peers of his generation did not even dare meet his eyes.
Even the cult’s senior figures and elders, while appearing to pledge blind loyalty, would constantly test him whenever they found an opening.
It was an exhausting environment.
The people of the Martial Sovereign Castle, however, were different.
They neither bowed their heads to Bukgung Wan nor felt the need to incessantly test his worth.
That fact felt strangely comfortable.
Perhaps because of that, this companionship proved quite satisfying for all of them.
Before heading to the tavern, the three found a nearby stream and washed themselves.
Kwon Gi-il, who had merely observed from the rear, was unscathed. But Dam Jeok-san and Bukgung Wan, who had personally carried out killing blows, were a complete mess.
Even so, it did not take long.
Both of them were Ultra-Peak experts. They entered the water fully clothed, rinsed away the blood, then heated their genuine qi through a samadhi-ignition technique, instantly drying themselves.
“Impressive.”
Kwon Gi-il let out a note of admiration as he watched them emerge from the water, dry and immaculate.
Even for him, igniting samadhi with such precision was difficult.
‘It requires an extremely delicate sense of control over genuine qi.’
But for Dam Jeok-san and Bukgung Wan, it was as natural as breathing.
To them, qi perception was both a sixth sense and something as freely controllable as limbs they had been born with.
That was a fragment of the innate talent possessed by those destined to contend for the title of Number One under Heaven.
“There is not much I cannot do.”
Dam Jeok-san replied shamelessly to the praise.
“Still, what I do best is cutting things.”
He casually brushed back his hair as he spoke. In the eyes revealed beneath, sharp killing intent flickered.
As though he were anticipating something.
His body itched.
Not only had he compressed his genuine qi, but he had also brought the harmony between footwork and swordsmanship into alignment.
He wanted to test it quickly. If not in real combat, then at least against another martial artist.
And Kwon Gi-il—clearly superior to him—was a perfect opponent.
“Do you wish to spar?”
Kwon Gi-il asked, folding his thick arms across his chest.
The look in Dam Jeok-san’s eyes was far too obvious to misunderstand.
“Can it truly be called a spar?”
Dam Jeok-san countered as his hand drifted to the hilt of his sword.
There was a clear gap between them.
Could something like this be called sparring rather than instruction?
Would Kwon Gi-il truly find enjoyment in crossing blades with him?
Such was the question in his eyes.
“Even one-sided instruction can still be considered sparring.”
Kwon Gi-il answered as though it were obvious.
“However.”
His tone shifted, as if what he truly wanted to say began now.
“I am not certain that my spar with the Third Young Master would unfold in such a manner.”
He was confident of victory.
But in the process, Kwon Gi-il himself would undoubtedly gain much.
The gap between them was not large enough for this to become a purely instructive bout.
Kwon Gi-il genuinely believed that.
After all, Dam Jeok-san must be thinking the same thing to provoke him like this.
“Be careful.”
Bukgung Wan, who had been listening silently, tossed a remark toward Kwon Gi-il.
“The Sword Dragon is a madman.”
It was something only Bukgung Wan—who had been thoroughly crushed in sparring—could say.
“Hahaha! Should I thank you for the warning? To think I would hear such words from the heir of the Ming Cult in my lifetime.”
Kwon Gi-il laughed heartily.
Within the insulting word ‘madman,’ he sensed Bukgung Wan’s respect for Dam Jeok-san.
“In any case, very well, Third Young Master. If you seek an opponent, I will gladly oblige.”
Kwon Gi-il released his folded arms and placed his hand on the Willow Leaf Saber.
At the same time, the empty air around him began to change.
Like a storm preparing to devour the world.
“Then, this junior, Dam Jeok-san… dares to request instruction from Senior Heaven-Dominating Saber.”
“Good! But I will not yield the first move.”
Dam Jeok-san asked to meet him as a fellow martial artist, casting aside their respective statuses.
Heaven-Dominating Saber responded that he would face him likewise—not as senior and junior, not as superior and inferior, but simply as warriors.
Without a word, both men kicked off the ground, drawing their blades.
A speed like lightning itself.
Yet the one who was slightly faster was Heaven-Dominating Saber Kwon Gi-il.
KRAAACK!!
From his Willow Leaf Saber, tightly compressed deep-green saber qi erupted.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Kwon Gi-il swung the saber, drenched in qi, straight toward Dam Jeok-san’s nape.
CLANG!
Dam Jeok-san barely blocked the strike, but Kwon Gi-il’s assault did not stop there.
He lifted his left leg and smashed it into Dam Jeok-san’s abdomen. A masterful leg technique.
“…!”
But Dam Jeok-san was no easy target. He twisted his body forcibly, dispersing the impact, and at the same time slammed his shoulder into Kwon Gi-il.
A move that revealed his will not to remain on the defensive.
Yet Kwon Gi-il’s body was as solid as Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron.
It was Dam Jeok-san who was pushed back instead.
Even so, as though he had anticipated this, Dam Jeok-san thrust his sword precisely through the opening.
“Excellent!”
Kwon Gi-il roared as he saw the single sword strike flashing toward his chest.
His saber spun in a wide arc, knocking the blade aside.
But Dam Jeok-san came for his nape with another sword that seemed to appear from nowhere.
Rather than twin swords, it felt like facing the combined assault of two swordsmen.
A feat made possible only by precisely calculating the rebound from a blocked strike.
It was possible because his footwork and swordsmanship had gone beyond harmony and achieved unity.
CLANG!
Kwon Gi-il swung his saber again, deflecting even that strike.
A maneuver possible only because he was clearly stronger than Dam Jeok-san.
The Third Young Master was forcing his own rhythm upon Kwon Gi-il, as though completing a grand play.
Shoulder check to create an opening.
Thrust through that opening.
Swing again through the rebound.
It was superb. Against an opponent of equal standing, this alone might have ensnared them into defeat.
But where there was a clear disparity in power, the snare could be torn apart.
KRAAACK!!
Terrifying genuine qi gathered into Kwon Gi-il’s Willow Leaf Saber.
Within that qi dwelled an intent of total severance—an intent capable of cutting through all phenomena.
Though only a simplified form, the mental image Kwon Gi-il had cultivated revealed itself.
“Hah…”
A hollow laugh escaped Dam Jeok-san’s lips.
As expected, a true Entering Transformation Realm expert was different.
Even without going all out, this level of pressure…
He fixed his stance and cast aside all stray thoughts as he looked at the saber descending toward him.
Endure.
No matter what, endure.
Leaving only a single thought behind.
Dam Jeok-san’s twin swords interlocked, blocking Kwon Gi-il’s single saber.
And the moment the three blades collided—
BOOOOM!!
A deafening explosion rang out, and thick dust billowed in all directions.
At that moment, Kwon Gi-il’s eyebrows twitched sharply.
‘He did not cut through…?’
He had intended to cleave apart Dam Jeok-san’s swords and stop his blade before the man’s nape.
To teach him a lesson: that careless movement before a true Entering Transformation Realm expert meant losing one’s head.
Yet Dam Jeok-san had blocked his strike.
“Huff… huff…”
Granted, he was staggering in a battered state.
‘No, that is not quite right.’
There were shallow cuts all over his body, and a thin trail of blood at the corner of his mouth, but none of them were serious wounds.
“How did you manage that?”
Kwon Gi-il asked in disbelief.
“I simply blocked it.”
Dam Jeok-san answered, forcibly steadying his breath.
With the single-minded resolve to endure.
Under normal circumstances, the will of an Ultra-Peak expert could not halt the intent of the Entering Transformation Realm.
However—
“So this is Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style… no, is this the true face of Sword Dragon?”
Kwon Gi-il nodded as though he finally understood.
A supreme art that allowed an Ultra-Peak expert to wield intent.
Yet among those who practiced Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style, only a handful had ever used it properly.
At most, there were rumors that the current Castle Lord, Man Su-geuk, had defeated several Entering Transformation Realm experts even before reaching that realm himself.
But after seeing Dam Jeok-san, Kwon Gi-il knew those rumors were likely true.
If Dam Jeok-san were to reach the absolute peak of Ultra-Peak, even Kwon Gi-il would not be confident of an easy victory.
“Since we have begun, we should see it through.”
By now, Dam Jeok-san’s body was sufficiently warmed up.
The same was true for Kwon Gi-il.
The two charged at each other like madmen.
Not to the point of killing.
Or rather, not to the point of being killed.
Sword and saber crossed endlessly.
CLANG! KRAAACK!
The sounds of clashing steel and bursting lightning tore through the air without pause.
After more than a double hour had passed—
The two finally separated, gasping for breath.
From the moment Dam Jeok-san had blocked that intent-laden saber strike, Kwon Gi-il had abandoned the idea of deciding victory or defeat.
‘This is my loss.’
Because his realm was higher, he could have forced a win.
But at least in the contest of wits and exchange, he had lost.
Dam Jeok-san had drawn out his ultimate technique—and countered it.
“Dam Jeok-san, you have won.”
Kwon Gi-il said as he sheathed his saber, addressing him not as the Third Young Master, but as the swordsman Dam Jeok-san.
“No. That is not so.”
Dam Jeok-san shook his head.
“This is not the victory I seek.”
Winning in some strategic exchange meant nothing to him.
To Dam Jeok-san, victory had to be absolute.
Unless he placed his sword at Kwon Gi-il’s throat and received his surrender, it was not a victory.
“You have grand ambitions.”
“I am told that often.”
“Those are the ones who succeed.”
Those who harbor great dreams.
And possess the ability to realize them.
Then Bukgung Wan, who had been watching the spar, suddenly spoke.
“Ten days from now.”
“Ten days?”
“I want to spar again.”
Whatever had stirred him, he was challenging Dam Jeok-san.
“Hm…”
Dam Jeok-san tilted his head slightly as he looked at Bukgung Wan.
It was true that Bukgung Wan was strong. But Dam Jeok-san had continued to grow even after subduing him.
Did Bukgung Wan stand a chance now?
“I know that too.”
Bukgung Wan spoke as though he had read Dam Jeok-san’s gaze.
“I simply learned something through you, Sword Dragon.”
The courage to accept defeat.
But he needed time to prepare himself for it. That was why he said ten days.
“Well, fine.”
Dam Jeok-san nodded readily.
“In any case, let us think about the rest over a meal. I am hungry.”
“Agreed. Silver Tear Pavilion lies just below this mountain. Let us head down.”
Thus, the three extraordinary figures fell into step together and made their way toward Silver Tear Pavilion.