Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Gang Qi
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Fundamentally, a supreme expert who has reached the Absolute Peak...
Has fundamentally different units for basic stats like physical strength and internal energy. They possess exceptional skill befitting their realm.
But among all these traits, the most distinct is whether they can manifest Gang Qi.
Starlight forged by human hands.
Sword Qi alone can slice through steel—what power do you think Gang Qi holds?
In other words, Gang Qi is the densest substance in the world.
Only equal or superior Gang Qi can oppose it, and beyond physical force, it wields the power to interfere with the spirit itself.
Those slain by Gang Qi are annihilated body and soul, denied even reincarnation, and it can destroy Demon Weapons that possess inherently indestructible properties.
Thus, paradoxically, Lee Se-min could not unleash Gang Qi for offense, only defense.
A demon is a calamity manifested in material form.
Destroying it recklessly could lead to unforeseeable disasters.
If demonic energy erupts and turns the surroundings into a hellscape, that's fortunate by comparison; it could even spawn a new demon, causing greater catastrophe as a matter of course.
Hence, the standard method for handling demons was suppression, isolation, and sealing.
That was why it was called the Demon Seal Cave, not the Demon Extermination Cave.
And now, Lee Se-min began seriously contemplating whether to unleash his Gang Qi.
Wouldn't destroying it outright be better than leaving it be?
-----
Wielding dual swords doesn't allow for the relentless flurry of strikes one might imagine—it's physically nearly impossible.
Eventually, with swords in both hands, one becomes offense while the other acts as a shield, leading to monotonous movements.
Its practicality is minimal compared to the difficulty, making a shield in one hand far more efficient than dual swords.
To emphasize again, efficiency was never the goal here.
Combining the dual sword techniques honed in his previous life, the principles of swift swordplay understood through Moon Shadow's manual, and the unique properties of the Hand Sword—
He improvised a brand-new sword art on the spot.
So-hyang's hand blade moved with razor sharpness, unleashing a mad barrage of slashes without the inevitable stiffness.
A ferocious onslaught that ground down the pouring barrages and even the air itself.
"...This thing is ridiculously sharp?"
So-hyang's hand was a far superior weapon than the sword she'd used before.
It was a bit shorter, but she was confident she could compensate with skill.
Even as she strained her bloodshot eyes to draw up her internal energy, she pierced Lee Se-min's barrage more easily than before and closed the distance successfully.
"-Ha!"
Another shout. A shockwave erupted omnidirectionally without warning.
Its scale was too vast to fully counter with sword pressure, so So-hyang was helplessly pushed back, yielding distance once more.
"Tch, that again?"
As the gap widened, the wind pressure came flying again.
So-hyang considered parrying it as before but came up with a slightly different approach.
Her most recent insight.
Testing deflection.
If the hand blade was the edge, then the palm was the flat. She spread her palm wide to meet the incoming wind pressure head-on, twisting the impact to send it rebounding back.
Kaang! With a clear ring, the reversed wind pressure scattered like sand just shy of Lee Se-min.
"Hm?"
"Outrageous. What qi practitioner would be wounded by their own qi?"
So-hyang was equally stunned.
"Oh dear, and I thought it was my trump card—"
It's like saying you won't bleed even if your own bullet ricochets.
The world of martial arts was truly profound.
From then on, it was a tedious back-and-forth.
Charge, check.
Approach, repel.
After repeating the same process several times, a brief lull settled in.
Lee Se-min's complexion was poor.
"Huff, huff."
His already pale skin now had a bluish tint, and his bloodshot eyes looked ready to weep blood tears.
Not quite at the brink of shattering his innate true qi and succumbing to qi deviation, but clearly overexerting himself.
The main culprit was likely those omnidirectional shockwaves without prelude.
"You, can you keep using that technique? Your face looks awfully pallid."
"And you—your hands don't look too healthy either."
"Haha, true enough."
So-hyang's hand, enhanced by intent, was peerless in sharpness but not so much in durability.
It might withstand up to tempered steel, but the impacts exceeded mere steel's limits.
Skin had torn open with blood streaming, and her pinky finger was grotesquely broken.
Both were in states burdensome for prolonged combat.
Of course, Lee Se-min never hesitated when it came to slaying demons.
So-hyang hesitated.
Should she end the fight here?
Unlike the relentless battle just moments ago, now there was time to persuade.
Flash the Imperial Dragon Badge to prove her identity, snap her fingers to ring the Evil-Breaking chime—she could surely sway him.
And yet.
Sorry as she was to this stubborn, earnest youth, this fight was too enjoyable.
How long had it been since she'd faced a proper equal?
Not even worth mentioning in this new life; even across her past one, such thrills were rare enough to count on one hand.
Someone matching her personal prowess—a gap of at least decades, even conservatively, across both lives—so how could her excitement not surge?
Thus, So-hyang's satisfaction was beyond imagination.
Each exchange hinted at ways to refine her movements further, inspirations flooding her mind in real time.
It was a high more intense than any narcotic she'd sampled seriously in her past life.
Hence, a faint temptation crept in.
Why not persuasion or simple suppression by force—both paths to peace?
Immoral, sure, but if she'd clung so rigidly to morals, she never would have taken up the sword in her past life.
So-hyang decided against resisting the impulse.
-----
That didn't mean she intended to kill Lee Se-min to subdue him.
By So-hyang's sharp eyes, her opponent was a bit rigid and self-righteous, but earnest and kind-hearted.
To let desire sweep her into killing such a man? Unthinkable—and she'd lose a future sparring partner.
Subdue without killing or permanent injury.
Tricky, given their evenly matched power.
In the end, she needed more strength.
"You see me as a puppet dominated by the Blood Curse, don't you?"
"...It looks like you've evolved into a new demon based on the host. You're the main body now."
In Lee Se-min's Ghost Eye, a faint connection linked So-hyang and the Blood Curse.
At first, he'd thought it a weak link maintained to deceive others.
But faint blood qi traits, high intelligence rare in inanimate demons.
Likely, the Demon Weapon had devoured its host and metamorphosed into a higher demon.
"Good guess, but—"
When she first seized the Blood Curse on the mountain.
Unshaken by its blood qi and demonic allure attempting to consume her, she'd subdued it instead with a knuckle rap infused with Evil-Breaking intent.
So what was this faint connection Lee Se-min had pierced?
"—you're dead wrong."
This was a bond of dominion.
Not the Demon Weapon ruling the human.
The human ruling the Demon Weapon.
Restored to its original purpose as a tool, So-hyang was the Blood Curse's true master.
She drew a light breath, clenching her fist in empty air.
As if yanking a horse's reins or a hound's leash, she called it—
And along the spiritual link, transcending space, the Blood Curse tore from the void into her grasp.
Demons were fantastical beings that mocked reason.
Crossing space was a relatively common trait.
-----
Lee Se-min's mind raced.
Subduing and sealing it was practically impossible.
He'd need two or three more warriors of his caliber at minimum.
In an instant briefer than a blink, his deliberation ended.
"I will destroy you."
No matter the fallout, it paled compared to letting this entity persist.
Starlight bloomed amid the winds swirling his fan.
Not radiating like Sword Qi.
Yet supremely stable in form, vivid in hue, dense with unimaginable power.
The hallmark of the Absolute Peak.
A bullet shot with a casual fan swing.
Same trajectory, but leagues faster, untouchably potent.
Destructive enough to erase space, pulverizing all it touched.
The apex of destruction, the pinnacle of raw power.
"Yes. Now you're showing your true intent."
So-hyang faced the brilliant starlight undaunted, drawing her blade fluidly and tracing a straight line.
Perfect draw without deviation, paired with a simultaneous cleaving strike.
Recognizing So-hyang as master, the Blood Curse channeled her full intent into slashing with Gang Qi.
"...Left unchecked, you'd grow to city-threat level at least."
From a mere Demon Weapon sealable with talismans and rites, it devoured a human body, gained sapience, and now cleaved Gang Qi.
Ridiculous growth potential—the top threat among demons Lee Se-min had seen.
Regardless, So-hyang marveled at the Blood Curse's feel.
"Whoa, it fits my hand even better now? As if rewarding its master's trust..."
Viscous blood qi enveloped her body.
Torn skin on her mangled hand knit closed, her broken pinky crunched back into place.
Blood qi was fundamentally the power of life.
Not strange if its innate demonic corruption and depravity could be overcome for beneficial use.
The issue was that overcoming it was impossible—but not for So-hyang.
Scrapes across her body healed unwittingly, damaged muscle fibers from exertion mended.
Ssssh! Steam hissed as her body surpassed peak condition.
"Oh ho, it has this function too?"
Recovery complete, the Blood Curse wailed to kill the human before it.
Kill. Show blood. Reap life.
Even acknowledging So-hyang as master, its essence was demonic; the Blood Curse imprinted its desires into her mind—
"Tch, no intent to kill."
Her voice, eerily calm compared to the shriek, halted the frenzied blade hum.
"Do you know how rare it is for me to get this excited? Don't ruin it with distractions."
Blackened sclera, crimson-glowing pupils.
From her perspective, words to subdue without killing—but to Lee Se-min, nothing could be more horrifying.
"No intent to kill, huh..."
A demon whose goal wasn't mere human death was, regardless of power, perilously unique.
Lee Se-min knew many fiends that wrought fates worse than death.
"You are a demon that should not exist."
With a voice laced in mission, his fan swung, countless Gang Qi bundles engulfing So-hyang.
-----
With a proper weapon and peak condition restored to So-hyang.
Lee Se-min unleashed fiercer offense than before.
A qi practitioner fighting without Gang Qi was like fighting bound.
Firing Gang Qi winds seemed less burdensome than before.
The battle pattern remained similar.
Lee Se-min repelled, So-hyang approached.
Differing only in Gang Qi exchanges versus blood-glowing slashes.
Suddenly, the Blood Curse trembled, emitting a hum.
Kieee—
"Tch! I said shut—hm?"
Unlike the ear-shredding wail, a quiet, almost cute sword cry.
Within: knowledge, demand, proposal.
"Hmmm..."
A tentative request: Won't you wield me like this?
"Alright, let's try it."
Blood qi surges!
The Blood Curse wailed with palpable glee, drawing up blood qi.
Power condensed into tangible form in the blade; So-hyang swung as guided into empty air.
A crescent Sword Qi embroidered the void.
The blood-hued mass flew straight at Lee Se-min.
"...Firing qi at a qi practitioner? Think that'll work?"
It dismantled against his arisen Gang Qi.
"What kind of nonsense is this?"
Fine, immune to own bullets—but invincible to enemy fire too?
What manner of folk were qi practitioners?
Kie...
So-hyang lightly knuckle-rapped the sullenly whining blade.
"Still, the technique itself was intriguing."
Firing slashes was a long-cherished dream from her past life.
After grasping sword pressure, she could approximate it—but only at close range.
"But as a ranged slash? Far too crude."
More shockwave than Sword Qi, like crushing with a hammer over slicing with a blade.
Now, per So-hyang's will, blood qi roiled.
Highly dense, compressed blood qi—tiny as part of the blade—
Infused with pure slashing intent, swung like a beam of light.
A graceful crimson line slashed the air.
"Kuhak!?"
Piercing the dense barrage and Protective Gang Qi in a flash, the slash cleanly severed Lee Se-min's shoulder without chance to react.
"Indeed, a blade must be sharp."
Kiieeh...!
The blade chimed admiration at its master's superior handling of its power.
-----
Grind.
A quiet grinding of teeth.
Wrath unmasked in his expression.
Even unlocked, Gang Qi couldn't claim superiority.
Qi practitioners specialized in overwhelming firepower for quick kills.
Scattering internal energy into the air precluded prolonged fights.
"Huuuu..."
Forcing more internal energy strained his body, but it fell short.
At best, damaged health, shaved years off lifespan, shaken organs—insufficient against her.
Lee Se-min's eyes chilled.
Already coldly rational pupils now devoid of spark, his mechanical mind fixed solely on purpose.
Demon subjugation.
To achieve it, he'd shatter her even at death's cost.
"Oh dear, no time to play."
So-hyang sensed his resolve.
The eyes of a Blood Chase Squad Leader—fanatical zeal to fulfill duty unto death.
Any longer, and he'd die enjoying the fight.
From Lee Se-min's view, his internal energy had limits; he couldn't drag it out.
From So-hyang's, he seemed ready to throw away life in the charge.
Short decisive battle—ironically aligned intents.
All-out Gang Qi in one strike to smash utterly.
Sever Protective Gang Qi cleanly, punch head to knock out.
Neither held back, unleashing full power simultaneously.
As Gang Qi winds engulfed So-hyang, intent-honed blade clove Protective Gang Qi—
"...What in blazes is this?"
In the pitch-black cavern, a blue sky draped down.
------
Murim Alliance Leader, Namgung Geukbeon.
Outsider to the Namgung Clan, yet its greatest shame.
Simultaneously, the greatest Namgung bloodline.
Sword Venerable.
The mindscape of a Transformation Realm Venerable descended upon the Demon Seal Cave.