Chapter 85
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Rebirth
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So-hyang didn't know the incantations of the Taiji Benevolent Sword, but she understood the principles of Taiji.
"Taiji isn't some kind of origin so much as a way of looking at the world..."
The subtleties of the Bright Mystery Sword Art—which inhales brightness and exhales darkness—were connected to Taiji.
"Rotate."
The center of circulation was the heart, and the circulation of qi followed the same path as the blood.
"Rotate."
A massive circle was completed.
The fiercely depleting spirit energy was sucked back into her body through rotation, beginning to emit a faint glow.
This was more than enough to call a new chapter of the Bright Mystery Sword Art. If the breathing method of inhalation and accumulation she had prepared earlier was at the entry level...
Now, it wasn't full mastery... but it had certainly reached minor accomplishment.
"A circle drawn with spirit energy... Let's call it the Spirit Circle."
The effect of the Spirit Circle was simple.
Recovering the spirit energy that had been used.
Now, the amount of spirit energy So-hyang could use was practically limitless.
Of course, even before, thanks to the dual intake structure of drawing it in with the spirit sword and inhaling through the Bright Mystery Sword Art's accumulation, she could recover a considerable amount continuously.
But expending a vast amount of internal energy at once had the drawback of temporarily overloading the spirit sword.
In contrast, now she was truly free from any constraints on spirit energy consumption.
To put it to the extreme, she could pour all her available spirit energy into every sword strike without any issue.
When projecting sword qi or firing gang qi—releasing spirit energy at range—the utility was somewhat halved, but it was still a satisfying enlightenment.
She had secured peak combat endurance, able to wield full power constantly without the slightest burden.
As a bonus, since it involved reabsorbing wasted energy back into the body, it even perfectly erased her already faint presence.
Bright Mystery Sword Art.
Entry, First Chapter: Inhalation.
The method of breathing like a sword.
Minor Accomplishment, Second Chapter: Spirit Circle.
The method of circulating and gathering breath.
Gradually, a new martial system called the Sword Path Ultimate Gate was taking shape.
"This is it, exactly. How could I be more grateful?"
Who could have predicted that she would gain an enlightenment even the sacred peaks of Mount Wudang couldn't provide—from a mere peak-level Demonic Cultist?
Of course, it was possible because of her foundational experiences, but the [Same Plane] realm had clearly provided decisive help.
"...What the actual hell."
For the Demonic Cultist who had just been beaten to a pulp, skin flayed by hand blades, and rolling around spectacularly, it was impossible not to curse.
Suddenly cackling alone, sparkling with light, and saying thanks—what nonsense was this?
"Just kill me...!"
The madness filling his marrow had drained away with the successive beatings, and his sanity returned in an astonishing turn...
"Hey, you can still move, right!? Let's play even more spiritedly!!"
This time, So-hyang's eyes began to roll.
How long had it been since she last sweated like this, or tasted blood in her throat?
If she pushed to the absolute limit like this, how much greater enlightenment could she gain?
It was simply too hard to hold back the impulse.
"-Then don't hold back!"
"You, fu-ck...!"
Just as the Demonic Cultist's great scythe and So-hyang's hand blade were about to clash again, they paused at the sound of someone tapping the barrier wall from outside the realm.
"...Lo, Lord, can you hear me?"
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She hadn't deployed divine sense inside the realm since the fight had become too easy, but she had set it up outside to guard against any additional ambushes.
In other words, while her companions outside couldn't peer in, So-hyang could hear what they said.
"Sorry to interrupt your fun, but the train is almost at its destination."
"-What, already...?"
It was natural for So-hyang to be surprised.
The train they were on had departed at dawn and would arrive by moonrise...
From the edge of Hubei, through Henan, to Beiping in Hebei—it had taken less than a day, an absurd speed.
It far exceeded the early steam locomotives and fell just short of modern high-speed trains.
"Is the technology really this advanced...?"
So-hyang, who had expected two or three days and thus been leisurely, looked troubled.
"Tch, no helping it."
Continuing to fight even after arrival would be rude to Zhu Yeonhwa and the others...
"As much as I hate to say it, this is it."
So-hyang drew her spirit sword, which she hadn't used until now, and swung it lightly with intent.
The spatial walls enveloping the surroundings in a black sphere were sliced in half and shattered to pieces.
"-What?"
Under the fragments of the barrier scattering like pitch-black powder, shock filled the Demonic Cultist's face.
No matter how inferior to a proper realm, it was still a realm—being cut like paper made no sense...
"Ah, no, this...?"
Ignoring the stammering Demonic Cultist, Zhu Yeonhwa poked So-hyang's side with her finger.
"It's been a while since I last saw your face. Did you enjoy the fun?"
"...Huh? A while?"
"Look outside. The sun has set, and now the moon is rising, isn't it?"
In the pitch-black night sky, under the pale moonlight, her time sense—distorted in the black marsh-colored space—returned to normal.
"Ah, already this late...?"
"Goodness, you've bathed in sweat. I just can't understand how you martial artists enjoy brawling so much...?"
"Hey, even looking like this, I held back my rising excitement and stopped—show some appreciation?"
"...Your Highness, not all martial artists are like that. She's the unusual one."
"Exactly! Fighting just makes you hungry!"
The lively chatter of the group didn't even reach the Demonic Cultist's ears.
All he could see was the pure white spirit sword in So-hyang's hand.
The insane sword technique that sliced space effortlessly without any real force.
"Haha, damn it..."
No need for petty tricks like predicting attacks or targeting vitals. If that woman had wanted, his throat would have been severed long ago.
...He had been toyed with from start to finish.
He no longer had the will to struggle further.
He couldn't even remember why the fight had started in the first place.
The fiercely burning flames of jealousy had died down, leaving only ashes.
"Kill me. I won't resist."
The Demonic Cultist knelt with a hollow laugh.
"Ha, talking like resistance would let you live is ridiculous. You only have two choices."
Moon Shadow's eyes flashed with fury at those words, and she pressed her thin sword to his throat with an angry expression.
Though she'd forgotten during the half-day lapse, he was still the fiend who had ambushed her lord.
"Spill the reason for the attack, your backers, your base—everything you know—and die painlessly, or—"
Mid-sentence, Moon Shadow's finger, wrapped in hand qi, pierced through the back of the Demonic Cultist's hand.
"-Grrgh...!"
"-Endure all sorts of torment until you can't take it and spit out the info before dying! Choose!"
"Hoo, don't get so heated. I'll tell you everything you're curious about..."
"What?"
Confusion appeared on Moon Shadow's face, which had been snarling with killing intent.
"...A Demonic Cultist, volunteering information?"
Demonic Cultists, who built twisted demonic qi on a foundation of warped minds, were inherently breeding grounds of all madness—extremes who devoted their lives to trivial, filthy values.
Especially those who made jealousy their core desire never helped anyone better than themselves.
Unless imperial coroners dissected their brains directly, interrogation meant crushing their minds with extreme pain and extracting leaks—that was it.
But this one?
"...Trying to feed us false info? My choice of words was poor. Whether you confess meekly or not, you'll be tortured."
"Um, hold on?"
So-hyang's hand landed lightly on Moon Shadow's shoulder as she prepared to coldly begin the torture with eyes full of distrust and contempt.
"He's not lying. Hard to believe, I know, but after beating him up inside a bit, his eyes got a little kinder?"
"...Lady So-hyang, even you know that doesn't make sense."
Demonic arts were a kind of contagious plague, a spreading ideology, an irreversible aberration that arose naturally.
Those who voluntarily accepted demonic nature and imprinted twisted qi into body and soul could never return to before.
"No amount of beating or pain will have any effect. It's a fact verified throughout the empire's long history."
Their flesh mutated, souls corrupted, temperaments muddied.
They were a separate species, even if they looked similar.
"This one's appearance has even deviated from human. He can't possibly recover his mind."
His grotesquely changed nails and claws, elongated limbs, beastly facial ferocity.
"Yeah, I know. But... it worked?"
By pounding pain into his flesh with successive strikes, neutralizing his demonic nature with the spirit energy infused in them...
And crucially, teaching him martial arts to steady his mind.
For someone innately dull and rejected as a Demonic Cultist, it was guidance he'd never experienced in his life.
Simple violence and pain alone wouldn't have worked, but So-hyang's violence had doubled as psychological therapy.
It induced him to reflect on his life and reforge his resolve as a martial artist.
Refining essence with blows.
Purifying qi.
Igniting spirit.
In the end, worthless scrap had gained the potential of reusable scrap metal.
She hadn't realized it while gleefully pummeling him, but in retrospect, it was the optimal treatment—even if coincidental.
"No, how...?"
Moon Shadow, checking his pulse by gripping his wrist and peering into his pupils at the seeping demonic nature with dubious eyes, was too flustered to continue.
This had actually been cured...?
"So, what I'm saying is, can we keep this guy alive and take him with us?"
"Pardon? What do you mean—"
"Not out of forgiveness or goodwill, of course... His realm was kinda useful."
[Same Plane], a weakening realm that brought the opponent's level down to hers.
An ability perfect for training, and the fact that weakening was based on her perception made it highly versatile.
"Well, since you subdued him, Lady So-hyang, you can do as you wish... but shouldn't he pay for his crimes?"