Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Swordsmanship
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The greatest change brought about by the Iron Brain Formation evolving into an even higher dimension was adaptation to the mysteries of Iron-Cutting.
By imparting extremely fine structural vibrations, it forcibly erased the 'grain' inherent in Gang Qi.
This was akin to fundamentally transforming the physical properties of Gang Qi from the root, resulting in extreme resistance to the phenomenon known as 'Severing Strike'.
To the Patriarch, even 'abnormally sharp' sword strikes from his opponent were no longer as threatening as before.
This meant So-hyang's attacks could no longer easily pierce the Patriarch's defenses.
The Patriarch's attacks could no longer be simply countered and nullified by So-hyang.
Now, his opponent could sufficiently threaten his life.
It signified that he could no longer maintain his overwhelming superiority.
In other words, from this moment on, it was a true battle in every sense—the kind So-hyang had always yearned for.
So-hyang's senses rang alarm bells amid the onslaught pouring in from all directions.
Every attack was sufficiently lethal, sending chills down her spine while her lips involuntarily curled into a grin.
"...Yes! This is what a fight should be!"
Unable to hide her surging exhilaration, So-hyang's sword began to dance with fluid grace.
The Iron Brain Formation, a supreme Life and Fate Art, possessed two abilities.
Enhanced basic computational power and assistance with martial arts.
Adaptation and optimization against opponents.
"A powerful ability, but tricky to use."
The Patriarch was a supreme expert even without his ultimate technique, confident in his own martial prowess.
"Dealing with someone like you is the biggest problem."
Even after a single evolution of the Iron Brain Formation, it was most vulnerable against warriors with overwhelmingly powerful attacks that couldn't be breached.
Ultimately, the way to counter the Iron Brain Formation was to overwhelm the Patriarch before adaptation could occur.
"You could have done it, but you didn't. And now, you won't get the chance."
The Patriarch's declaration rang with certainty.
So-hyang would slowly wither away within the linked assault formation of Gang Qi weapons and the Patriarch's fists.
"Well...?"
Just because it couldn't be severed didn't mean it couldn't be countered.
Block, parry, dodge, deflect. There were more than enough ways to respond.
So-hyang's sword danced gracefully, her body slipping through the trajectories of the onslaught like an acrobat on a tightrope.
"Patriarch, it's far too early to speak of victory."
"Hah, you're just barely holding on against the barrage."
As the Patriarch said, So-hyang seemed to lack the leeway even to respond to the rain of attacks pouring down like a storm.
Yes. She seemed to lack it.
How foolish was it to blindly believe what the eyes saw without sufficient reflection and contemplation?
The moment she heard the Patriarch's words, a savage smile tore across So-hyang's face, and her movements underwent a drastic change.
Like a loach slipping from a fisherman's grasp amid murky waters.
Like flower petals swirling endlessly yet never caught in anyone's hand.
She began charging forward, treating the encircling attacks as mere scenery.
Breaking through the barrage of Gang Qi in forms of spears, axes, swords, chains, and more, she swung her blade toward the Patriarch's throat like a beam of light.
It was blocked by the automatically generated Protective Gang Qi and bounced off, but the Patriarch's pupils shook violently.
"...What, how."
Her superhuman physical strength was understandable.
A warrior's body varied wildly depending on trained external arts or innate constitution, and upon reaching the supreme realm, that scope expanded boundlessly.
Her abnormally keen sword strikes were also comprehensible.
The ultimate technique of a supreme expert manifesting sharpness that defied laws was no surprise—after all, even that had been overcome through adaptation via the Iron Brain Formation.
But that feat just now... what was it?
Her movements weren't insanely fast. No special ability had been used.
All actions were visible to the eye.
Yet he couldn't comprehend the principle.
It was a singularity of technique.
Truly shocking. An inexplicable experience.
"Don't act like you've already won. Things are just getting interesting—why jinx it?"
In other words, So-hyang and the Patriarch were finally on equal footing.
Each held a spear that could aim for the other's life, and a shield that could block it.
Thus, victory or defeat hinged on the skill of those wielding spear and shield.
And this was So-hyang's specialty.
"You might not realize it, but I'm far more comfortable fighting like this."
So-hyang had never been the type to dominate with overwhelming power; she was an extreme technician who always fought from the underdog's position.
So equal footing wasn't enough.
Not even slightly superior would suffice.
Come at me with an even more overwhelming spear and shield.
"Arrogance to think that armor of yours will hold forever."
So-hyang relished the sensation from moments ago, her eyes gleaming as she savored it in her mind.
The formation hovering behind the Patriarch's head grew even more complex, drastically altering the properties of the generated Gang Qi.
And she had already parried, blocked, deflected, and slashed through that Gang Qi dozens of times.
She was starting to get a feel for it.
"If you've granted yourself resistance specialized against Severing Strikes, how about blunt impacts?"
So-hyang reversed her grip on the Spirit Sword, the pure white longsword.
Mordhau—a variant grip using the blade as a handle to bludgeon the opponent.
Now the sword had become a blunt weapon of equal weight.
And So-hyang's Spirit Sword was a massive lump exceeding a ton in mass.
With a sonic boom as space itself tore, the Protective Gang Qi shielding the Patriarch's upper body was shredded like paper.
"...Kuh?!"
He urgently twisted his head to evade the trajectory, but the mere shockwave tore his earlobe, leaving it dangling.
So-hyang slung the blade—still gripped by its edge—over her shoulder and swaggered mockingly.
"Adaptation isn't your exclusive privilege. If you don't want to fall behind, you'd better step it up."
Beaming cheerfully, as if declaring the conversation over, So-hyang began swinging the blunt weapon.
"...Tch!"
The leisure in the Patriarch's eyes vanished without a trace, replaced by a rising sense of crisis.
Even after two adaptations, the possibility of defeat loomed.
The flow of offense and defense hadn't changed.
Numerous weapons formed of Gang Qi generated from all directions linked together to form an assault formation.
At its core, the Patriarch gripped his sword and pressed the attack relentlessly.
At times he wielded a spear, at others an axe, varying his approach unpredictably.
As evident from this pattern, the Patriarch had no signature weapon.
All his weapon techniques were derivatives learned by stealing opponents' martial arts and devising counters during the process.
Derivatives they may be, but they were no inferior to the originals.
From the Eighteen Arms to esoteric weapons beyond classification, the Patriarch was proficient in every type.
This was also the optimal way to maximize his ultimate art of analysis and adaptation.
Observing responses to diverse variables accelerated and refined his analysis.
However, the enemy before him was a type the Patriarch had never encountered in his life.
"Wow, wielding axe and spear in dual hands, then coordinating them seamlessly—impressive."
Even novel combinations were smoothly blocked, and she even preemptively disrupted their flow.
She claimed to be a novice in the martial world, and her appearance suggested youth, yet her proficiency was incomprehensible.
And there was an overwhelming, alien mastery that experience alone couldn't explain.
A gap as if she fundamentally understood every possibility of martial arts a human could achieve.
"...Damn it, what sect are you from?!"
The potential of the Iron Brain Formation was truly limitless.
It could shape internal energy antithetical to the opponent's nature, dismantle Gang Qi density, or even adapt to the peculiarities of supreme Life and Fate Arts.
However, such methods were somewhat inefficient.
Just as building a new bridge to cross a river was inferior to finding an existing one.
Creating an impossible method was less effective than exploiting an existing flaw.
For instance, analyzing the opponent's techniques to find weaknesses and devising counters.
No matter how seasoned the warrior, they couldn't be devoid of even the slightest flaw.
"...It should be possible."
But this opponent had no flaws.
Time wasn't the issue either. The Iron Brain Formation's adaptation had already deepened considerably.
Precisely twice, in fact.
From the Standard Sixteen-Cell Form to the Standard Twenty-Four-Cell Form.
From the Standard Twenty-Four-Cell Form, evolving once more to the Standard One Hundred Twenty-Cell Form.
The Iron Brain Formation, now transformed into a form too high-dimensional to describe in words, glowed with intricate complexity, unleashing vast computational power.
But.
As adaptation refined his responses and pierced flaws, So-hyang's movements refined further, her flaws vanishing.
Her techniques were sharper, honed to a finesse beyond what the Patriarch's knowledge could explain.
"...Ugh."
Now, his brain could no longer withstand the maximally amplified computational load.
Dry heaves rose, warm blood trickled from his nose, and his eyes turned bloodshot.
The adaptation had certainly been meaningful.
His movements were honed to unprecedented precision.
Yet he couldn't exploit the opponent's flaws.
"Are you... even human?"
"My, what an rude question."
So-hyang's face was flushed more than ever before.
His absolute power wasn't that impressive.
Superior to Lee Se-min, certainly, but not overwhelmingly so as to denote a realm apart.
The special Gang Qi resisting her Severing Strikes was noteworthy but not astonishing.
In raw power alone, none of them could touch the toes of the Sword Venerable.
But.
With each successive adaptation, the Patriarch's movements were catching up to hers.
In terms of technique!
Not yet at her level, but undoubtedly transcending human limits.
From here, the exhilaration So-hyang felt surpassed any narcotic pleasure.
Even the Alliance Leader, the Sword Venerable of the Flower Realm, couldn't keep up with her swordsmanship.
Yet this warrior before her, the Patriarch of the Jegal Clan, was clearly matching her...!
So-hyang saw the potential and gradually elevated her technical precision to match.
One adaptation flushed her face; after the second, her heart raced.
She surmised that one more adaptation, a single drastic evolution of the Iron Brain Formation...
He would surely reach her level.
Her body faltered under extreme anticipation, her hands trembling uncontrollably.
"Cough."
But So-hyang had underestimated her own attainment.
No matter the analytical adaptation ability, no matter a supreme Life and Fate Art circumventing laws, limits existed.
Even the Alliance Leader, who transcended laws, deemed her swordsmanship inexplicable.
A mere embryonic mechanism, not even a false god, couldn't bear such wisdom.
"I shouldn't have tried to find flaws from the start."
The Patriarch reset his two adaptations aimed at dismantling So-hyang's techniques, reverting to the Standard Eight-Cell Form.
Manifesting the fifth adaptation, the Standard Six Hundred-Cell Form, was impossible for him now.
He might sustain the Iron Brain Formation, but his brain couldn't endure the overload.
"Hoo..."
He swept back his blood-smeared face and sighed in lament.
The Gang Qi tracing paths of light in the air lost form and dispersed.
"...Ah, aah."
So-hyang sighed, but she wasn't surprised—she'd anticipated it.
Nosebleeds from overload, tears of blood from his eyes; it would have been stranger if not.
Still, it was regrettable. Would she never exchange blows with a warrior of equal technique?
"Tch, is this the end...?"
So-hyang muttered disappointedly.
And the Patriarch's face twisted ferociously.
"...End? Who says it's over?!"
His words about not seeking flaws from the start didn't mean surrender.
Attacks of unavoidable power, area-wide assaults impossible to evade.
Inefficient and crude, but he'd realized this was the most effective against her.
The Jegal Clan's martial arts were rooted in formations.
Beginning with substituting earth's vast power for internal energy and ley line flows for circulating qi.
Within Yin-Yang, it embodied Yin properties.
Among the Five Elements, it most resembled Earth.
The amassed internal energy mimicked ley line power, allowing communication via internal energy for fine-tuned control in formations.
And one who reached the supreme realm...
The Patriarch dropped to one knee, placing one hand on the ground.
"O Ley Lines, exhale a deep breath. And lend me a single strand."
⟨ Earth Pulse Incantation ⟩
Dozens of Gang Qi axes had already embedded themselves as pillars around them.
The incantation laden with profound intent rumbled the earth.
And in response, the great earth began to quake.
"...Oh my."