Chapter 44
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Sword Debate
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Even reaching the peak realm as a master meant he had some degree of talent.
Breaking free from the limits of the vessel that holds qi, achieving the Small Cosmic Circulation that shouldn't be possible in the first place... transcending the boundaries of an ordinary mortal.
Yet despite that, Gang Pyo was convinced his martial talent was utterly mediocre.
His innate bone structure was as ordinary as could be, and his wits weren't particularly exceptional either.
The only saving grace might be his perseverance and grit, but weren't those just the basic qualities every martial artist should possess?
In other words, talent that peaked exactly at reaching the peak realm.
The healthiest among pine branches, the greenest among weeds.
That was Gang Pyo.
The reason Gang Pyo had managed to climb to the peak realm at such a late age wasn't because he was special, but due to indescribable strokes of luck.
He had taken the advice of senior martial artists as his guideposts to find direction in the martial path.
He had met a respectable master and inherited excellent martial arts, even if they fell short of being supreme techniques.
He had formed bonds with good people and, using minor favors as pretext, received precious spiritual medicines to bolster his inner power and successfully advance.
In short, human connections—like the ties he had formed with Song Seol-ryeong's parents, for instance.
He had done what was right by repaying those kindnesses, but his lacking ability meant he couldn't even do that properly.
During the recent ambush, hadn't he ended up being protected by the very young lady he was supposed to safeguard? A pathetic sight.
It wasn't rare for juniors far behind him to leapfrog ahead, and hitting walls was everyday life.
Even so, he found meaning in steady progress, no matter how slow, and piled up training endlessly...
But even that was limited by his hopelessly mediocre talent, showing no signs of further ascent after reaching the peak realm.
It was despairing.
That's why he couldn't let slip this opportunity that had fallen from the clear blue sky.
"Please, teach me."
It was earnest. Desperately so.
Without strength, he couldn't protect those he wanted to. He couldn't even repay the favors he'd received.
No progress despite devoting his all to martial training every single day without fail—it was truly a horrifying ordeal.
So please, heavens.
Grant this deficient talent the power to overcome the invisible wall before his eyes.
The merchant caravan was proceeding at a steady pace.
Matching the leisurely steps of the packhorses and caravan staff, they moved at a moderate trot.
There was plenty of opportunity to provide guidance even while traveling.
"D-Do we really...! Have to walk this ridiculously...!?"
Zhuge Hansang's voice dripped with obvious strain, sweat pouring down his face.
He was following alongside the slowly rolling carriage, bizarrely hunching his body to touch the ground with his hands, then standing to hop lightly, crawling and bounding in a grotesque motion.
"Of course? Keep the seal in place, alternate sides... Oh! Lower those thighs more!"
Over the past few days, So-hyang had employed all sorts of inventive methods to tear and shred Zhuge Hansang's muscles in every conceivable way.
Muscles in places he hadn't even known existed were pushed to exhaustion, and he gritted his teeth through the searing agony.
Somehow dragging his trembling limbs to keep up with the carriage—
"Now, release the seal and stand up for a bit."
He shot upright as if waiting for the cue, but his expression showed no relief.
He knew even harsher trials awaited.
"Down again, into Bear Step!"
A method of training by moving on all fours like a quadruped, feet planted on the ground.
Compared to the previous freakish motions, it was somewhat familiar to Zhuge Hansang.
"Bend your arms, not your back? Keep the back straight, fix the rest, and lower by bending only the arms."
But adding arm bends and extensions to the process...
"Don't skimp on inner power—circulate it fully, or your back snaps."
And with So-hyang riding atop his back, it was already extreme training beyond comparison.
The soft, yielding touch pressing warmly against his back... He had no leisure to feel it amid the overwhelming weight crushing him down.
"Gaaahhh!?"
Even accounting for the ample flesh on her chest and hips, the weight made no sense compared to her appearance.
"A-Are you using Thousand Catty Dropping or something!?"
"Well, something like that?"
In truth, it was simply using So-hyang's ultra-compressed body weight as a training tool.
Precisely, her weight exceeded a thousand catties, so she was employing lightness skill to lighten it as much as possible—what would Zhuge Hansang think if he knew?
It wasn't important.
"As I said before, unlike combat, distribute inner power evenly throughout the body?"
"Yeesssh!"
Restricting inner power and using formations to purely temper the body was effective, but training while using inner power was crucial too.
The trick was mutual interaction between circulating qi flow and muscle training for greater growth.
"Alright, Bear Step ends here!"
"Haaaahhh!!"
Just over a minute, such a short exercise, yet sweat streamed down Zhuge Hansang's face.
It signified intense training, so So-hyang pushed him to the brink then allowed rest.
"Hey, no collapsing?"
But rest was part of training too, so she propped up his utterly spent body—unable even to twitch a finger—and guided him through stretches.
"Good, maintain breathing, circulate inner power, infuse vitality into torn muscle fibers..."
The stretches loosened knotted muscles, but the key was the breathing method.
The foundational art of the Sword Spirit School, mimicking the Spirit Sword's ability to absorb heaven and earth spiritual energy with the human body.
Yes. So-hyang had passed down a portion of the Bright Mystery Sword Art to Zhuge Hansang.
"L-Lady's profound art...? Is it okay for me to learn this...!?"
"Psh, it's not some grand supreme art, just a half-baked fragment anyway?"
Fully awakening the sense to absorb spiritual energy without a Spirit Sword was near impossible, so So-hyang had adapted just the vitality aspect for healing and recovery.
Modeling the blood energy that once circulated to heal wounds, it became a healing art and longevity method.
"Can't accumulate energy, so besides circulating it internally, no real benefit—hardly qualifies as a martial art, right?"
Even absorbing spiritual energy via breathing, it couldn't be stored as inner power and was exhaled right back.
But if the practitioner's body was sufficiently damaged, the vital spiritual energy—via osmosis-like principle—restored torn muscles, stabilized crooked bones, and gradually absorbed into the body.
"...Nngh! No matter how I think, isn't this a divine art?"
Amid slow stretches, white steam hissed up, extreme pain mingled with real-time bodily recovery—Zhuge Hansang naturally voiced his doubt.
This couldn't be ordinary...
"Hehe, told you it's nothing special?"
Mechanically, bioengineer-like, destroy the body thoroughly without mercy.
Recover the torn, broken, exhausted form via spiritual energy breathing.
The trainee endured full-body forging, crushing, shredding agony, but gains were certain.
Completion of a body transcending limits.
"Impressive. A nicely systematized method."
The essence: repeated emptying and filling.
Emptying.
Pummel, pull, shave, shred, exhale to empty the flesh.
Filling.
Inhale heaven and earth's energy, fill the emptied body layer by layer.
A disarmingly simple training method, but in this Central Plains martial world—unlike her previous life—it held profound meaning.
Originally devised to help Zhuge Hansang, it had formed a more complete system than expected.
Unlike external arts that infuse qi into essence to alter properties, this purely strengthened the body's essence.
Differing from existing martial artists whose bodies expanded following inner/spiritual growth.
No great help for her, already beyond bodily completion, but meaningful enough to commit to memory.
"A pure body-tempering art..."
Call it a Body Refining method?
While rolling, squeezing, and shaking Zhuge Hansang like a rag, were the others idle?
Of course not.
Song Seol-ryeong, like the day before, collapsed unconscious after intense sparring and was carted along in the carriage.
The issue was Gang Pyo.
Not untalented per se, but lacking genius or even prodigy status—merely better than average mediocrity.
Yet undaunted, he steadfastly built his foundation to his current level.
Not raised in luxury, yet mastering orthodox, refined, serene, upright swordsmanship—a true swordsman.
"Maybe we're a bit alike."
"Haha, what a joke... How could a mediocre like me compare to Lady So-hyang."
Gang Pyo brushed it off with a wry smile, but So-hyang truly felt kinship.
Not with her current self, but her previous life's self before taking the name So-hyang.
If present Gang Pyo struggled against innate talent limits,
Previous-life So-hyang had records of flailing against her birth world's limits.
Under congenital conditions, they weren't so different.
After clashing swords on the caravan's first night, deeply understanding Gang Pyo as a martial artist, her sense of kinship deepened.
"...H-How is it?"
So-hyang met Gang Pyo's gaze—earnest, desperate, tinged with sorrow and fury—with calm eyes.
Most vivid emotions: anticipation and fear.
A lofty peak master evaluating his hard-built martial arts.
Ecstatic if shown a path forward, but what if she shook her head, declaring no hope?
Gang Pyo stared at her slowly parting lips, eyes trembling.
"-Put down the sword."
Of course, not to abandon the sword forever, just set it aside temporarily.
For now, until the caravan journey ended—no sword handling, even for training.
Gang Pyo reacted with puzzled dismay.
"-Lady So-hyang, for someone like me, even a day's break means regressing ten steps. How could you say..."
"I know it seems suspicious, but why not try it my way? There's reason behind it."
If he disliked it, no need to force—So-hyang didn't insist.
"...No. I'll follow."
Odd policy by his reckoning, but guidance from a super-peak master.
Surely reason behind it.
Daily training yielded no change anyway.
Gang Pyo unbound the sword at his waist and set it down in the carriage.
"Hm..."
His body felt strangely light, face sour as he asked So-hyang what next.
"Come, sit beside me. Shall we discuss swords together?"
"...Pardon?"
Sword Debate.
Discussing swords literally—verbal sparring simulating combat without physical moves.
To Gang Pyo's knowledge, akin to book annotations or footnotes, meaningless alone.
Exchanging insights via mere talk? Braggarts' bluster, surely...?
To So-hyang, the training suiting him best wasn't grueling physical/mental torture like the other two.
"Same realm, swift sword based on Wind Cloud Sword wielded by a warrior similar in build to you—a swordsman. Distance between us now. I'll yield first move."
Wind Cloud Sword. Common second-rate art Gang Pyo had encountered often—
But what meaning in armchair debate? Skeptical, he engaged anyway.
"Six Harmonies Sword, initial form of Heaven's First Flash—downward slash."
"Wind Cloud Sword, circle left with Cloud Turn Illusion to deflect."
"Half-step back, Earth Leaveth No Trace—slash left thigh."
"From deflecting posture, hurl body shoulder-first. Orthodox Iron Mountain Rely."
"...Regain balance, two steps back."
"Wind Cloud Sword, Cloud Stream Flash—throw sword at warrior's heart."
"...Pardon? Throw the sword—"
Gang Pyo was momentarily speechless.
One step back: counter before throw.
Three steps: ample time to parry or dodge flying sword.
But two steps: awkward stance, couldn't evade impalement.
No, better to press forward instead of retreating.
"Ah..."
Why only think of it now?
Gang Pyo focused more gravely on the sword debate with So-hyang.
The group pressed on.
Song Seol-ryeong, fed up with five daily spars against So-hyang, charged in with sheer grit.
Zhuge Hansang tempered his body via So-hyang's prescribed exercises.
Amid it, So-hyang and Gang Pyo sporadically conversed, continuing the debate.
"Three Calamities Sword variant, reverse Human Finger Path—handle strike to nape."
"...Grab elbow, pull and twist arm to break."
"Which direction pull?"
"Pardon?"
"Inside, right, left? Rotation—twist right or left?"
"...May I think it over?"
"Of course, as long as you need."
Gang Pyo often faltered mid-conversation.
Answering took ages.
Debate lasted nearly all day, but actual talk volume was low.
"Th-The sword debate's fine, but must you sit on me...?"
While serving as exercise equipment for Zhuge Hansang's training.
"Can't skip Hansang's training, right? Efficient."
"No, the optics... Never mind. Sit comfortably."
So-hyang in lotus atop broad-backed Zhuge Hansang crawling in Bear Step.
Odd sight drew stares like freaks from caravan folk—Zhuge Hansang endured, powerless to protest.
Better to give up.
Gang Pyo, closest, paid no heed.
Truth: lacked focus to be distracted.
"...Twist right, hook right leg to trip."
"Hm, trip successful?"
"...A moment, please."
"As I keep saying, take your time."
Debate prolonged, deliberation time lengthened.
Soon, one move took a full day—debate slowed to a crawl.
"Warrior Gang, you alright?"
Song Seol-ryeong asked worriedly; Gang Pyo couldn't spare attention.
Enraptured eyes, drooling mouth, muttering incoherently.
Next morning dawned, sun midsky—he finally answered.
"...Trip successful."
Hoarse, cracked voice firm; So-hyang beamed.
"Wrong! Bent left knee to balance."
"-Ah, ah!"
Gang Pyo exclaimed shortly, eyes sparkling like recovered memory.
Deliberation resumed.
The group savored fateful serendipity any martial artist would dream of, all growing steeply.
And, So-hyang guessed, first to hatch from the egg would be...
"Lady So-hyang, fork in the road here... Which way?"
"Hm? I don't know local geography? How could I..."
Song Seol-ryeong spread a map insistently—reason behind it.
One path detoured longer, other straight.
Shortcut not rugged, detour not smoother.
"Reason to detour?"
"This path has a forest..."
With a tiger inside.
Not ordinary beast mortals fear, but monstrous tyrant wielding savage power and mystery...
Mountain Lord.
"Psh, such things exist? Just tall tales."
So-hyang dismissed laughingly. Song Seol-ryeong seemed to protest but swallowed it.
"Perfect timing..."
Time to test training results.