Chul Namgoong (3)
The Heavenly Devil once said that in order to become a swordsman that can achieve the state of Two In One, he had to master the basics. Yoon-seok finally realized what that meant.
The tip was pointed, and the end was blunt. There was no distinction between the blade and the handle. But the moment he thought that Yoon-seok could handle it as if it was part of his body.
Swoooosh!
Afterimages were left in the wake of Yoon-seok’s swift movements; the crimson sword was divided into several blades. Yoon-seok spread the sword wide without limiting it to one place. There seemed to be no place to hide in this arena, which now felt so narrow. But…
He was surprised that it was called an invisible sword. Chul Namgoong came to his senses when he saw the crimson sword firing off energy. He shouted angrily as if he’d realized something belatedly.
“This is not an invisible sword. You’re trying to fool me with your petty skills!”
He never said it was an invisible sword. He never knew the difference between Invisible Sword and Sword Manipulation. Yet now he was saying it wasn’t an Invisible Sword and grew angry because he fooled him. How did his brain work?
He would never know, but Chul Namgoong continued to shout angrily.
“Gal!”
Was it possible to put magic in your voice? The air trembled at the sound of his shout. At the same time, blue energy began to flow from his swords. Surprisingly, it began to form a shape.
“Mounting Azure Dragon!”
Chul Namgoong leaped back and stabbed the sword into the air. The blue energy surrounded by the sword roared upwards. No eyes, no nose, no beard, no scales. However, the wiggling movements and aura reminded him of a dragon. The blue dragon roared as it appeared and swallowed the incoming crimson sword, then swept up Yoon-seok’s body.
‘What the…’
Were all the people who reached the final floor of the tower monsters? Or was it just that these people were particularly strong? He didn’t know. If it was the former, though, would he be able to break through the final floor even if they failed to?
Chul Namgoong’s move was powerful enough to fill the heart of anyone observing with terror.
Yoon-seok calmly regained his breath. He didn’t think he could avoid the approaching phantom dragon solely with Bloodseeker’s Energy. Or, for that matter, even if he gave it everything he had.
“…”
Yoon-seok recalled his duel with the Heavenly Devil, which felt like it had happened long ago. There was the one move she showed at the end. If only he could recreate the tsunami that seemed to cover even the mountains with his own hands…
He didn’t know how.
‘The perfect balance between strong and fluid….’
She had emphasized that strongly while teaching him about swords. He could only reach the perfect state if he combined the power that could break everything and the softness that could embrace anything. Yoon-seok could find some balance between the two, but it was still far from perfect.
No, he hadn’t found a good idea of what perfection was yet. How could he achieve perfection when two contradictions were mixed? If Yoon-seok hadn’t seen the last move the Heavenly Devil had made, he would have denied it was even possible.
‘Honestly, I still don’t know….’
At that time, the Heavenly Devil didn’t have Inner Qi and thought that certain skills must be learned to use sword energy. Nevertheless, she used a single blade stroke to cause a tsunami. There was no magic intervention in the process, only a human touching the sky with her sword.
Yoon-seok had continuously trained with the goal of reaching that heavenly status while climbing the tower. Therefore, he knew that he was still too short to cross the line. But…
Now, he had the energy to replace his Inner Qi, and his knowledge about swords had greatly improved.
“I might be able to imitate it right now….’
No, he must do it.
Yoon-seok quietly stared at the dragon before him. Then, he pushed strength into both of his swords. As if it were the right way to use it, instead of raising the energy violently as he always did, he applied it almost gently. For some reason, Yoon-seok felt like he was starting to grasp the method. Somehow, the road to perfection wasn’t extreme, but instead, harmony with fluidity…
‘There’s still a long way to go….’
Yoon-seok let out a short sigh at his foolishness. Two In One wasn’t a state that he could reach just by handling the sword like a part of his body. In a true sense, the sword became one with the self. After all, grinding a sword was no different from grinding himself.
The moment that realization struck his mind.
Swaaaaaaaaaa-!
Red waves crashed and swept over the dragon. It swallowed half of Chul Namgoong’s body as it swept over him.
“How come…”
Chul Namgoong, who collapsed with only half of his body left, babbled blankly. His face was filled with doubt, but about something other than his defeat.
“How the hell…? Heavenly Devil…sword…?”
Yoon-seok flinched.
‘Do they know each other?’
They were both from Moorim. But on second thought, it didn’t make sense. Ragna, the merchant from Seheranbad, said the last time the Tower had opened was 500 years ago. That meant Chul Namgoong was at least 500 years old…
How did a man like that know about her?
“You…are you a student of that oldie?”
Maybe he was curious, as Chul Namgoong asked the question while coughing up blood. He didn’t know if the oldie he was referring to was the Heavenly Devil Yoon-seok had met.
But Yoon-seok neither confirmed nor denied it. Let’s say he was talking about her; the problem was whether he could confidently say that he was a student of hers. But did he take his silence differently?
“Pfft! Pfft Hahahaha! She said she would never take in any students, so the oldie did deceive me after all!”
Not knowing what’s so funny, Chul Namgoong laughed. However, his gaze started to die down like a winter breeze. Feeling out of place, Yoon-seok looked at him.
“…Deceive? What, did you get rejected for asking her to take you as her pupil?”
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