Episode 195
Midday in the forest.
I focused all my concentration and unleashed the sword technique.
Mukrang Sword Style, Second Move: Gaechun.
Swoooooosh!
It was an absolutely extreme slash.
Every time I used it, the space seemed to tear open, revealing a rift into the abyss.
Yet, despite having fully mastered Gaechun, I had no choice but to grit my teeth.
Because even after unleashing this tremendous technique, I couldn’t catch my opponent.
The figure before me moved like flowing water, effortlessly deflecting my sword.
Clenching my teeth, I shouted,
“I won’t let you escape!”
I pursued him, deploying the still imperfect Mukrang Sword Style’s next move.
Mukrang Sword Style, Second Move: Bisang.
Shuuaaaak!
Though it was still beyond my natural ability to wield fully, since I had activated the Moonlit Phantom Sword Dance’s Third Form, Hyunmangwol, my sword was able to execute this extreme phantom sword technique.
It bore some resemblance to my own Sunwoo Thirteen Sword Style, which made it somewhat easier to learn—an ultimate phantom sword technique.
Whoosh!
Around me, massive wings of deep purple spread wide, as if to cover the entire world.
The essence of a phantom sword—both illusion and reality intertwined.
As this deadly technique surged forward, threatening to tear my opponent to shreds, he suddenly smiled faintly and spoke.
“Not bad.”
Then added,
“But you’re still far from mastery.”
At the same moment, his sword moved toward me, muttering softly,
“Hwangeomgyeong.”
Whoosh!
With his words, brilliant sword shadows radiated from his blade like the sun.
In a calm voice, he recited the next phrase,
“Gongjeuksisaek.”
Swoooosh!
His radiant phantom swords, as bright as the sun, instantly solidified into real blades, clashing against my Mukrang Sword Style.
Zhezhzhzhzhzhzhzh!
My Bisang move was extinguished in an instant.
The Mukrang Sword Style, born from the greatest magical martial art, Cheonma Divine Skill, was blocked by the final move of the Sunwoo Thirteen Sword Style.
The absurdity of the result left me muttering in disbelief,
“I don’t know whether to be glad that Gongjeuksisaek stopped my Bisang, or to lament that after using Bisang, I was still stopped by just Gongjeuksisaek.”
He laughed and said,
“Why lament over something so minor? At your level, you could have easily blocked it using just the Samjae Sword Style.”
Ugh, Samjae Sword Style.
It stung even more because it wasn’t an exaggeration.
He smiled gently and said,
“Don’t compare yourself to me. Comparing yourself to others only traps you within their limits. What matters is that you’re better than you were yesterday, isn’t it?”
I smiled weakly and nodded.
“That’s true. It should be that way, but knowing that doesn’t help much when the gap feels so huge.”
He chuckled warmly.
“Of course it’s not easy. But if it were easy for everyone, then what would make it great? Keep striving.”
His cheerful voice, yet his words stirred my spirit. I bowed respectfully and replied,
“Yes, Elder Sword God.”
“Oh, don’t call me that.”
“Ah, yes. Sorry, Elder Mukrang.”
I apologized and glanced at his serene face.
Here, he looked like a very handsome middle-aged man.
I’ve been told I’m good-looking, but if he were younger, I doubt I could even compare.
He was probably on par with Gu Yusang, the late Blood Demon heir Baek Okjirong.
But he paid no mind to my admiring gaze and changed the subject.
“Now, it’s time to learn the Nine Schools’ sword techniques. You were supposed to start with Cheongpung Sword Style from Cheongseong, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. Though I’d like to focus more on Jeokha Sword Style.”
“Hahaha! So you’re more drawn to your brother’s Jeokha Divine Sword Style, huh? But don’t favor one just because it’s from someone close. Cheongpung and Jeokha Sword Styles can’t be said to be better or worse. Besides, you need to master Cheongpung first to learn Jeokha more easily.”
Lately, I’d been learning the Nine Schools’ martial arts from Elder Mukrang.
He said that his True Spirit Technique could only be mastered after learning all the martial arts of every existing sect.
Of course, that was practically impossible.
Even Elder Mukrang probably didn’t know every martial art out there.
But at the very least, I had to master the martial arts of the Nine Great Sects, he explained.
—My True Spirit Technique, Mangagong, is sealed until I reach a certain place. Like the five swords containing their own martial arts, I can only learn them after obtaining the swords. But the Nine Schools’ martial arts have no such restrictions, so I should train every day from now on.
So until recently, I had been learning unfamiliar techniques from Jeomchang, excluding the ones I already knew like the Saire Sword Style, and had studied Hoepungmuryu 48 Sword, Bungwang 18 Water Sword, and Yukmaek Divine Sword.
And now, I had just begun training in Cheongseong’s martial arts.
After training Cheongpung Sword Style for some time, a voice suddenly echoed through the space as if the entire area was resonating.
—What kind of brat sleeps this much?! Someone who’s reached the ultimate realm, yet sleeps so obliviously? Perfect recipe for getting killed!
I chuckled dryly at the voice.
Then I said to Elder Mukrang,
“Looks like Senior Jeung has woken up, Elder.”
He smiled softly and said,
“Is that so? Seems like dawn has come. Time to head out.”
I bowed politely and said,
“Then I’ll see you again in my dreams tomorrow, Elder.”
He smiled serenely and waved goodbye.
And then I woke up.
I opened my eyes in the forest just as dawn was breaking.
Right in front of me, stretched out on a tree branch, was the black tiger, watching me.
Even after breaking the Demon King’s Crossbow, the black tiger had continued to follow me.
I tried signaling that it was okay to return to its cubs, but it ignored me.
According to Mukrang, it felt it hadn’t yet fully repaid its debt of gratitude.
I exchanged a glance with the tiger, silently asking if it had slept well, then got up and spoke to Jeungchil.
“I just woke up, Senior Jeung. Are you hungry?”
He snapped angrily,
“Do you think I’m the kind of person who bothers you because I’m hungry?! The beast already went to prepare breakfast! Parasite brother, you look so pathetic being so lazy! How can someone at the ultimate realm sleep so much?!”
Actually, the reason I could wield the ultimate martial art was thanks to the Moonlit Phantom Sword Dance.
But since he had already labeled me “ultimate,” I didn’t feel the need to correct him.
Anyway, since Seolpung, the squad leader, had already gone to prepare breakfast, it was clear he was hungry.
He had always been like that on expeditions—if he was hungry in the morning, he’d wake up early and poke everyone else.
So I smiled and teased back,
“You’re ultimate, but there’s also Senior No who always makes others do the hunting. If you’re hungry, you could just catch your own breakfast. That’s impressive.”
But he refused to admit it.
He insisted it wasn’t hunger, only complaining about my sleeping habits.
“It’s not because I’m hungry! Why can’t you wake up properly? Should we really set a night watch?”
We weren’t setting watches while sleeping; everyone just slept.
For masters above the ultimate realm, watches were meaningless since their senses were always alert.
Plus, with the black tiger around, it was even less necessary.
But knowing this, his complaints were clearly just to pick a fight.
I thought for a moment about how to respond, then grinned and said,
“Actually, this is a secret… I often meet immortals in my dreams. So I take my sleep seriously. I have many questions to ask them. But don’t worry, my senses are still sharp.”
He widened his eyes in surprise and hurriedly asked,
“Immortals? Come to think of it, you once said you met an immortal in a dream and averted danger. So that wasn’t a lie?”
Though he grumbled all the time, after the last expedition, he seemed to trust me deeply.
He actually took such nonsense seriously.
In the past, I would have told him to stop joking, but now he believed even this.
I just smiled and changed the subject.
“Well, it’s hard to say for sure… Oh, here comes the squad leader.”
He eagerly pressed me,
“Ah, really? You meet immortals? Do they tell you the future? Did the immortal say anything about me?”
I hesitated for a moment.
“Hmm, sharing that might be revealing a heavenly secret…”
Seeing me hesitate, he clung to me.
“Just a little bit, please! Just a tiny bit!”
“Well… the immortal said…”
“The immortal said?”
“To Senior No…”
“Yes, to me! What? What did they say?!”
I smirked and teased,
“They told you to stop making others do everything and prepare breakfast yourself.”
His face twisted in frustration.
“What, what the hell, man?! You’re just spouting nonsense, right?! Seeing an immortal in your dreams—that’s all a lie, isn’t it?!”
I let his frantic words wash over me and chuckled softly.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t exactly an immortal, but wasn’t it true that I was meeting someone like one? Every night in my dreams, I met Elder Mukrang and received his teachings.
According to the elder, this was a training method called the Dream Soul Technique. It involved creating a space in the dream as real as the waking world, where one could train. Elder Mukrang appeared there in his true form and taught me various things.
That’s why I had already mastered the “Soaring Strike” technique of the Mukrang Sword Style, even though I hadn’t had a chance to properly train in reality. It also explained how I’d learned all the martial arts of the Jeomchang Sect, which I’d never studied before.
Ignoring Jungchil’s words, I turned to Seolpung, the squad leader, and asked, “Leader! What did you find?!”
He smiled brightly and replied, “I spotted some pheasants and caught three! I’ll roast them right away, Senior Jung!”
Jungchil, either sulking from being teased or displeased with the catch, immediately scowled and snapped, “Ah, you fool! Pheasant meat is dry and tough! How can you bring back such tough meat first thing in the morning? Don’t you have any sense for cooking?!”
Despite having gotten up early to prepare food, he shamelessly complained. Typical Jungchil.
But the squad leader just smiled cheerfully, seemingly unfazed by Jungchil’s attitude.
“Oh, you don’t like pheasant meat? Next time, I’ll catch something else.”
Jungchil, clearly deflated by the calm response, grumbled as if bored, “Ugh! How can a man be so spineless…”
Then, suddenly, he brought up Bisa-yeong.
“That lunatic was good at picking food, though. And he was fun to talk to.”
Though he was talking about food, I could tell he missed Bisa-yeong. They’d always bickered, but it seemed that was his way of enjoying himself.
I’d tried to banter back, but since I wasn’t on Bisa-yeong’s level, it never felt quite as lively.
I smiled and said, “Then why didn’t you go with Sayoung back then?”
He snorted. “Hmph! Why would I go with that arrogant guy just to mooch off his food? If I’d gone with him, I’d just be training nonstop. Where’s the fun in that?”
“Hmm.”
Honestly, I still didn’t understand why he wanted to follow us. He’d resisted going to Muhwang Stronghold before, so he seemed to dislike hassle. And from what he said, he seemed to prefer Bisa-yeong over us.
I was debating whether to ask him when Mukrang suddenly spoke.
“Ah, I see.”
Being with Elder Mukrang was comforting like this. He could read others’ intentions with just willpower.
I wanted to learn that skill myself.
Mukrang continued.
Legends of the martial world, huh.
I gave a wry smile and thanked him silently.
‘That’s quite an unexpected reason. Still, thank you. It’s amazing you can read such feelings.’
He chuckled in reply.
A little later, we were eating the well-roasted pheasant.
Jungchil, who was grumbling about how dry the meat was but eating the most eagerly among us, glanced at me and asked quietly, “By the way, we’re almost at Guangxi Province. Where do you plan to go next? If we keep heading east and then a bit south, we’ll reach the South Sea. How about seeing the ocean for once?”
“Oh, you mean our route.”
We were currently near the northern part of Yunnan Province, having traveled east along its outskirts toward the border with Guangxi Province.
Since we had to go east anyway, and going north to Guizhou might attract Jeogal Jikang’s attention, we decided to continue east.
If we did, as Jungchil said, we might see the South Sea from southeastern Guangxi.
The sea—the one I’d never seen in both my lives.
Still, I felt a twinge of regret and answered, “I’ve never seen the sea, so I’d like to go, but that area belongs to the Hainan Sect. It’s risky to cause trouble there, so I think it’s better to move north until we reach the northern part of Hunan Province, then head east again.”
Jungchil, who had looked uneasy, suddenly jumped and asked, “H-Hunan Province?!”
“Yes. Since it’s the territory of the Hyungsan Sect, I think we can move there without problems. Why? Is there an issue, senior?”
His face looked troubled to anyone who saw it.
But he jumped up, vehemently denying it.
“I-Issue? What issue?! There’s nothing like that!”
He shouted, but his eyes darted anxiously as he fell into thought.
He didn’t even touch the pheasant he’d been eating so eagerly.
Seolpung and I exchanged glances.
Something was definitely wrong.
I silently asked Elder Mukrang in my mind.
‘Do you know what’s going on, Elder?’
He answered.
“Ah, they used to be, but not anymore. Nowadays, the Hainan Sect belongs to the demonic factions. They’re the largest pirate group in the world.”