The Secret of the White Serpent Sword Art

Yielding the first move was a courtesy a senior of the martial world extended to a junior. It was also, like granting a handicap in a game of Go, a master's way of letting a lesser opponent strike first.

Whatever the intended meaning, Haewol found Seo Joo-cheon's offer both irritating and absurd.

Dare he offer that to me?

In his mind, he was granting this lowly Unorthodox nobody the honor of witnessing a secret art of the Nine Great Sects — something a man of that station would never see in his entire life.

He recalled the words his third senior brother, Gok-in, had quietly passed along before the duel.

Even so, anyone who drove off the Undying Demon isn't a complete nobody. Don't waste time with other techniques. Overwhelm him from the start with the Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword — that's the art you trust. That's how you beat a man who's let his guard ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠down.

The Qingcheng Eight Talents placed boundless faith in the Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword. In truth, they had never lost a fight with it. Sword arts that carried an electric current were vanishingly rare in the world. The Peng Clan's Purple Lightning Thunder Tiger Saber was practically the only other one.

"You're already dead."

Haewol muttered the words as he launched himself forward.

The ground thudded under his stride.

The Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword ran on an entirely different track from the rest of Qingcheng's martial tradition. Every trace of Taoist fragrance vanished, replaced by a thick, overbearing, tyrannical force. Qingcheng was already known as a sect of practical martial arts, but this sword art went beyond "practical." It carried the murderous character unique to a true war-sword.

Taoist and Buddhist martial studies typically avoided a person's fatal points and meridians. Their purpose was guidance, not killing. Haewol's blade, however, drove at the body's vital acupoints with every single form. It was a vicious, heretical sword art with not a shred of the "righteous way" the Orthodox factions so loved to preach — no different from a Demonic, Black Path, or Unorthodox blade.

Yet among the martial artists filling half the training ground, not a soul raised that complaint. They were Unorthodox and Black Path themselves. If anything, they watched with keen fascination as one of Qingcheng's next generation of masters — one of the Eight Talents — unleashed such a sword.

Seo Joo-cheon found himself inwardly admiring it. The forms were stripped of all excess, as biting and razor-sharp as the White Serpent Sword Art itself. It could hardly be called a Taoist sword style, but it was unquestionably a high-level art. Variation and transformation were balanced in just the right measure, and within them, speed and weight were held in disciplined restraint. That meant the sword art was extraordinarily demanding. Most martial studies took a single quality and pushed it to the extreme to create a secret technique.

Even facing such a superb high-level sword art, Seo Joo-cheon felt no fear at all. Had he not attained One Gapja of internal energy, he might well have been floundering against it.

Haewol smiled brightly at the man answering him with such unhurried ease. The image of Seo Joo-cheon crumpled on the floor rose so vividly that the smile came of its own accord.

So he's got some scheme, does he?

What filled Haewol's mind was the future in which he himself won in glorious fashion.

The instant the two of them crossed once more, Haewol murmured,

"Now I'll show you the Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword's true power."

Seo Joo-cheon tensed for a moment.

True power?

There was only one reason for the tension. The Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword was a sword art he had never written. He had no idea what kind of power it might hold.

Qingcheng's supreme secret art was supposed to be the Azure Cloud Crimson Sunset Sword. If they were calling the Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword the highest art instead, the revising author must have tweaked the lore.

If it looks dangerous, I can always use Time Dilation Authority. Nothing to be that scared of.

Matching the Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword with the White Serpent Sword Art, Seo Joo-cheon realized his own creation was no inferior school of the blade.

I had no idea the White Serpent Sword Art I wrote was this powerful.

Even as he executed the forms, he found himself marveling. It held its own against one of Qingcheng's supreme secret arts.

A low hum rolled out. With the ringing of the blade, a blue aura surged from Haewol's sword.

Sword Qi? He's already achieved One Gapja of internal energy at that age?

It was a reminder of how painstakingly Qingcheng had cultivated the Eight Talents. They were disciples raised on nearly every spiritual elixir the sect possessed.

No wonder they came at me so hard.

Even the youngest of the Eight Talents had attained One Gapja. They had every right to be proud.

But this is a little different from ordinary Sword Qi.

When Haewol attacked with the same form as before, Seo Joo-cheon met him blade for blade. Their exchange was flawlessly clean and breathtakingly swift, drawing gasps of admiration from the onlookers. And yet a savage killing intent filled every motion, raising gooseflesh on those who watched. The forms were so vicious that a single mistake looked as if it would cost an arm in an instant.

"I see you're not even bringing Sword Qi into it. You don't want anyone getting hurt, I take it."

"Using Sword Qi in a duel is a bit too dangerous, after all."

A touch of Sword Qi could slice a small stone clean through — hence the remark.

That was when it happened. A blue aura rippled along Haewol's blade.

A sound like frying electricity ripped through the air as current flowed — and leaped onto Seo Joo-cheon's sword.

To Seo Joo-cheon's eyes, ordinary Sword Qi was an aura layered over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the blade. Haewol's Sword Qi erupted in blue sparks, radiating outward. It looked exactly like electromagnetic discharge from the modern world.

"Kh—!"

In that instant, Seo Joo-cheon felt as if he'd been electrocuted, his entire body burning. Even a tiny static shock stung; a current of this magnitude looked like it was at or above the level of a modern stun gun or taser. He'd never actually been hit by a taser, but he imagined this was what it would feel like.

The gathered martial artists flinched in shock. Until now they had only ever heard the name of the Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword. Not a single one of them had ever witnessed it.

Having discharged the current once, Haewol stepped back with a victor's smile. Smoke was already rising in thin wisps from Seo Joo-cheon's body. From his head, something like steam curled upward.

Haewol recalled, from years ago, electrocuting a wild boar to death with this same sword art. Thunder-qi that had killed even a beast that strong in a single strike. Anyone who took that hit and remained standing was no longer human. All that remained, he thought, was for Seo Joo-cheon to topple like a felled log. He watched in silence.

Seo Joo-cheon was having a very strange experience. When that enormous current had surged through him, his body had gone electric-tingling and his mind had reeled. It was not an attack Time Dilation Authority could dodge. Current flowing along a blade could not be blocked.

He had worried the current would throw his true qi into chaos. That was probably the very purpose for which the Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword had been created. No matter how high one's internal energy, few people remained intact once electricity had passed through them.

And yet, strangely, after the current passed, his body felt… refreshed.

What is this? Why do I feel better after taking a shock that strong?

Even Seo Joo-cheon, the original author, had no explanation.

When Seo Joo-cheon didn't fall, Haewol ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠let out a short laugh.

I suppose fighting the Undying Demon means his internal energy is fairly high. Well, if he dropped in one hit I'd feel cheated. This time I'll pour on even stronger thunder-qi.

As Haewol closed in, Seo Joo-cheon flicked his sword. It was a form that looked as if he meant to clash blades on purpose.

The two swords met with a ringing crash, and the current flowed again. This time even stronger blue electric sparks leaped up, crackling and bursting in successive waves.

Seo Joo-cheon reeled under the even greater force of the electricity — and yet tasted a strange excitement. His inner energy wasn't being thrown into chaos. If anything, it felt as if his internal power was growing. And as the current ran through each meridian, he even felt a sensation of being charged with strength.

What on earth is this? I feel stronger after being electrocuted.

He thought it through and soon arrived at a conclusion.

It means my body is suited to using electric current too.

Current poured into his body once more. And in his mind, a spark flashed.

Wait. When I practiced the Boundless Serpent Coiling Skill, that coiling sensation in the meridians — was that because of this? Is it an internal art designed for using current?

It might have been a leap of logic, but if he could take the Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword's current and remain unharmed, that was the only explanation.

And at last, Seo Joo-cheon understood the names of the final forms of the White Serpent 72 Sword Art.

When he had created the Shaanxi Four Fiends, he had only named the sword art itself and a handful of forms. He hadn't bothered with the rest of the detailed form names. There was no reason to put that much work into a character who was supposed to die at an inn at the protagonist's hands.

But once he had entered Po Un's body, he found the sword art's forms already in the man's mind. He had only written that Po Un knew the first thirty-odd forms, so he didn't know them all. And so Seo Joo-cheon had been inventing the later forms with an author's imagination, completing the White Serpent 72 Sword Art as he went.

And now, from among those later forms, the ones that belonged to the very end rose up from Po Un's memory.

These forms all carried names related to thunder and lightning.

The White Serpent Sword Art was, at its ultimate, a sword art that used the power of thunder-qi. The Boundless Serpent Coiling Skill was the internal art for wielding that thunder-qi.

So that's why I could never properly learn the Phoenix Soaring Heaven Sword, no matter how I tried?

Seo Joo-cheon let out a short laugh.

The revising author actually cared about internal consistency. If someone with a thunder-qi martial art could just pick up other arts too, that would be a genuine plot hole.

The parts he didn't know, he assumed, were revisions by another writer. There had been a reason he couldn't master other martial arts.

The White Serpent Sword Art taking its name from a snake — that might have been a way of expressing the nature of thunder-qi.

Seo Joo-cheon had only named it White Serpent because it sounded fitting for the Unorthodox path. The revising author had taken that and expanded the entire background around it.

The writer revising my novel right now might actually be better than I am.

The thought occurred to him that elevating the Shaanxi Four Fiends to protagonist-level might have been because that writer was confident they could tell a more interesting story than the one he had originally set down.

As current flowed through his body once more and that refreshing sensation returned, a sudden gratitude toward Haewol welled up.

If I hadn't dueled Haewol, I would have gone my whole life without ever knowing the secret of the White Serpent Sword Art.

Or perhaps this was the author's arrangement. Either way, it was an event that required Haewol. The gratitude was strong enough that he felt something closer to affinity than hostility.

"Wh-why? This is impossible!"

No matter how many times he struck with powerful thunder-qi, Seo Joo-cheon refused to fall — and was even grinning. Haewol faltered and stepped back.

"Thunder-qi of this level should drop even a Peak master."

He had never fought a Peak master himself, but his master had said that while wandering the Jianghu he had defeated a Peak master with the Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword. So it had to be true.

"Wh-what's wrong with it?"

He looked down at his sword, wondering if his thunder-qi was simply too weak to hurt Seo Joo-cheon. He had poured out every last drop of his body's internal energy; the blue thunder-qi was stronger than it had ever been. He had attacked with something close to killing intent — that was the only reason it was possible.

"Qingcheng's secret art truly is formidable. If it had been the Undying Demon, he'd have been burned to death by the thunder-qi long ago."

Seo Joo-cheon raised his sword.

A rattling hiss of power ran the length of the blade as Seo Joo-cheon activated the Boundless Serpent Coiling Skill and sent his inner energy surging through those coiled meridians. White aura crackled and leaped along the White Serpent Sword.

Now I know how to draw up thunder-qi.

Genuine gratitude toward Haewol surged through him. The method of raising thunder-qi was surprisingly simple. From the dantian to the upper dantian, along the meridians, he released his inner energy all at once, like an explosion. He had learned it by experiencing Haewol's thunder-qi with his own body.

"Oh! Are we about to see the true essence of the White Serpent Sword Art?"

"We're finally going to witness the martial art that drove off the Undying Demon!"

The watching martial artists leaned in, expectation at its peak, their full attention locked on the two men.

Whatever the others felt, Gok Un went distant-eyed at the aura Seo Joo-cheon was radiating.

That's almost the same presence Master gives off when he demonstrates the essence of the Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword.

Looking at it now, Seo Joo-cheon resembled not the eldest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠senior brother, but their master.

Seo Joo-cheon took a single step forward, and Haewol could not so much as twitch — a frog before a snake. He, too, was already overwhelmed by Seo Joo-cheon's aura, unable to move.

Gok Un discarded every last scrap of the dignity and pride that came with being the second senior brother of the Qingcheng Eight Talents. He could see, with brutal clarity, what Haewol's future would become if he lost here. Proud Haewol might well be ruined by this. They had tried since childhood to curb his competitive fire, but that nature had not changed even as he grew. Haewol was the eldest senior brother Gok Cheon's greatest worry as well.

Seo Joo-cheon glanced at Gok Un.

Seo Joo-cheon was curious about the principle by which the Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword generated thunder-qi. If he understood that principle, he felt he could approach the Boundless Serpent Coiling Skill more easily.

Gok Un flinched at the voice transmission and looked at him with dark, grim eyes.

When Gok Un didn't answer, Seo Joo-cheon took another step.

But Seo Joo-cheon didn't reply, and as he closed in on Haewol, Gok Un sent another transmission.

Seo Joo-cheon gazed quietly at Haewol, who had taken a defensive stance, a smile on his face. The thunder-qi of the Blue Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword was a martial art born from the revising author's imagination. Seo Joo-cheon wanted to know what principle that writer had used to create the generation of thunder-qi. If he understood that principle, he felt he could grasp the profound meaning of the White Serpent Sword Art far more deeply.