Wulin Alliance, I've Returned (4)
Why is the Three-Step Sword Art called the Three-Step Sword Art? Because it is a sword method that contains concise forms designed to defeat the opponent with a blade while taking only three steps.
The restriction of that never-long distance and time known as three steps meant each form in the Three-Step Sword Art was extremely simplified.
So simplified that it was almost impossible to even register the swing itself.
Therefore, the forms of the Three-Step Sword Art contained neither variations nor feints. They existed solely to cut down the enemy before their eyes.
It’s harder to apply than I expected. So this is what high-level martial arts feel like.
It was only half the complete art, yet the Three-Step Sword Art was still more than useful to him.
Conciseness.
Longsword techniques also pursued concise movements, after all. As did most European martial arts.
Ox.
The blade drew a circle and gently pushed away Mok Gyeong’s sword. Mok Gyeong tried to break free of the flow, but at his current realm he could no longer evade William’s blade.
As if it had been planned from the beginning, William’s sword naturally traced a semicircle alongside Mok Gyeong’s weapon, collapsing the attack, while he himself took a single step forward.
This is… Super Peak. What a distant realm.
Longing flickered in Mok Gyeong’s eyes.
William did not miss that gaze. In response, he let his sword flow toward Mok Gyeong’s throat and pressed the edge against it.
“...I lost.”
“It was a good spar.”
“Thank you for sparring with me.”
“No need for thanks.”
“For a martial artist, the chance to spar with someone above them is nothing short of heavenly fortune.”
What does a martial artist need to overcome a wall?
Some would say luck.
Some would say trials.
Some would say experience.
But for Mok Gyeong, William was an opportunity that combined all three.
It was incredibly rare for a Super Peak expert to grant someone a spar. Once a person reached that level, they usually became too heavy in the rear to move their bodies lightly.
This was largely due to the age at which one attained Super Peak, but William’s youth was also a significant advantage. He was still too young to worry about self-preservation.
If the promise holds and he helps with my revenge…
Even the assistance of a Peak expert would be deeply moving; the aid of a Super Peak expert was on another level entirely. Looking at the man before him—one of the most prominent powerhouses in the entire Central Plains—Mok Gyeong felt his heart race.
“Your sword has grown sharper than before.”
“You flatter me. On the contrary, I was the one left in awe by Great Hero Wi’s single strike.”
“I’ve been trying to reduce my killing intent after gaining enlightenment at Wudang, but I’m not sure how successful I’ve been.”
Reducing killing intent.
Easy to say, difficult to practice.
His battlefield experience was the source of his strength, yet at the same time it had become a shackle.
Still, just as Taeheo Jinin had advised, he was making a conscious effort to diminish it.
Could a killing sword even work against someone who has reached the pinnacle of killing swords?
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art was a martial art completed like an island atop a tower built from countless slaughters. William recalled the man’s brief but overwhelming display in the original story and slid his sword back into its sheath.
“...Great Hero Wi. May I ask you one thing?”
“What is it?”
“Where are you headed, Great Hero Wi?”
“In reality? Or in the ideal?”
“...Both.”
“Living well in reality, and climbing upward in the ideal, I suppose.”
He had already overcome the wall of Master.
Aiming for Grand Master, then, was not a bad choice at all.
William thought of the three Grand Masters said to exist in Europe.
Aurelius, master of Roman gladiatorial combat.
Rodrigo, the greatest knight.
Theogenes, patriarch of the Greek martial schools.
He had never seen them in person, but they were the proper targets for him to pursue. The path he had learned and the goals he sought differed too greatly from those of the murim warriors.
“Upward… Do you intend to surpass Super Peak?”
“Of course.”
“If it is you, Great Hero Wi, I believe it is entirely possible.”
At Mok Gyeong’s words, William gave a bitter smile and nodded.
“You’ll be able to climb as well.”
“...How could someone like me? I’m still a mere novice who hasn’t even broken through the wall.”
“Well…”
William stopped speaking as he noticed Hye-ryeong approaching. As always, she handed him a towel, then offered one to Mok Gyeong as well.
Her manner was somewhat half-hearted when she gave the towel to Mok Gyeong, but it wasn’t worth making an issue of.
“Good work!”
“Thanks. By the way, Hye-ryeong, has anyone come looking for me?”
“Um… I’m not sure.”
I thought Jegal Hyeon-sang would show up around now. Is he still busy?
“Great Hero Wi! Young Master Jegal has arrived!”
“Let him in and tell him to wait a moment!”
At the servant’s shout from the Hainan Hall, William roughly wiped his face with the towel and turned away. He could not meet a guest in his current state, so he intended to wash quickly and return.
He started toward the bathhouse, then paused, turned back to Mok Gyeong, and asked.
“There’s no time. Care to wash together?”
“N-no, that’s quite all right…”
At the sudden suggestion of a mixed bath, Mok Gyeong’s face flushed bright red. The proposal had clearly caught him off guard.
“Absolutely not!”
Hye-ryeong exploded the moment she heard it. William tilted his head at her outburst.
“Why are you the one getting angry?”
“Y-you can’t do that!”
“Fine. I’ll go wash first. Mok Gyeong, get ready to bathe as well.”
“Understood…”
Is that really something to get so flustered about?
Still tilting his head in confusion, William headed for the bathhouse.
“It has been a while.”
“It’s only been four days.”
“We live less than thirty li apart. Four days is quite a long time, wouldn’t you agree?”
Is it?
“Well… never mind that. What’s the information?”
“First, regarding the Seongcheon Merchant Guild. It is not confirmed whether they possess the Three-Step Sword Art, but rumors are circulating that they intend to auction off a famous expert’s secret manual.”
Were they trying to sell the Three-Step Sword Art?
Or… were they trying to obtain the latter half instead?
They could not possibly be unaware it was buried in the hidden cave, yet perhaps they suspected someone had carried the latter half out alive.
At any rate, that wasn’t important right now.
“What about the Yunnan Dan Family?”
“The force that annihilated the Yunnan Dan Family appears to be the Sahyeol Sect of the Demonic Faction… however, there are suspicious details.”
“Suspicious details?”
“While the Yunnan Dan Family is not a particularly large clan, they are by no means weak enough to be wiped out by a mere Demonic Sect. The Sahyeol Sect currently has no Peak experts, yet the head of the Yunnan Dan Family is the White Flower Sword—one of the Yunnan Seven Swords.”
“So there is a hidden power working behind the scenes?”
“Correct.”
His intelligence network is better than I thought.
I listened to Jegal Hyeon-sang’s answer, which came remarkably close to the information from the original work, and made my own assessment. Asking him about the Yunnan Dan Family had also been a test of how reliable his information would be.
“So, do you have any guesses who it might be?”
“There are a few places I suspect, but I cannot discern the reason. The Yunnan Dan Family is not a clan particularly worth targeting. They are not one of the Nine Great Schools, they fall somewhat short of being called a prestigious orthodox sect, and they have not accumulated many grudges.”
Jegal Hyeon-sang stared down into his teacup with a genuinely frustrated expression, as if he truly did not understand.
“...Well, if it were going to be revealed so easily, it would have come out long ago. In any case, there are far too many rotten points in the destruction of the Yunnan Dan Family. I’d appreciate it if you could dig deeper.”
“For anything further, the Hao Clan would be more effective. Since the surface culprit behind the Yunnan Dan Family’s annihilation is the Sahyeol Sect, information from the Hao Clan—which maintains ties to the Demonic Faction—will be of higher quality.”
“Aren’t those guys expensive?”
“With your status as a Super Peak expert, Great Hero Wi, surely you can afford such a request fee at any time?”
Now that he mentioned it, thinking about the market value of a Super Peak expert made the sum seem reasonable.
Jegal Hyeon-sang’s words made me truly feel the weight of having become a Master.
“Well… let’s set that aside for now. Have you found a way to arrange a private meeting with the Wulin Alliance Leader?”
“I went around gathering information, but… under normal circumstances, there is no way to secure a private audience. Given his position as Alliance Leader, he must always remain mindful of his safety.”
“At the level of Alliance Leader, most opponents wouldn’t even be worth fighting.”
He was a Super Peak expert himself, after all.
“However, the Alliance Leader is ultimately still human. Openings are bound to appear.”
“I see… so normal methods won’t work?”
“Correct. With normal methods.”
There was no path to a private meeting through ordinary means.
Conversely, that meant there was a path through extraordinary means.
“So what is it?”
“Challenge the Wulin Alliance Leader to a spar. A succession duel, to be precise.”
An unexpected answer.
“Simple enough.”
I smiled at his suggestion and nodded.