Chapter 149
Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors
The next day, I began teaching the Soul Extinguishing Step to the Dongyoung Sword Masters. Despite it being the Soul Extinguishing Step, one must first master the basic footwork technique known as Thunder Shadow Step from the Thunder God Lineage to be able to use it, so I asked them whether they were familiar with the concepts of footwork.
To my surprise, all the Dongyoung Sword Masters answered in unison,
“Of course we know it!”
“Footwork is the foundation of martial arts!”
“Hmm.”
To confirm, I called each of them individually to demonstrate their understanding of both footwork and swordplay in a one-on-one setting. It turned out that they all possessed a certain level of mastery in footwork and had also refined their internal energy. I felt a strange sense of wonder.
‘It doesn’t seem like they’ve learned a specific internal martial arts technique, so how did they cultivate their internal energy?’
As I pondered, Kamiizumi Nobutsuna, who was revered as the sword saint among the Dongyoung Sword Masters, spoke to me.