Chapter 82
Chapter 82
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: That's Not How You Do It
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ching, ching, ching!
Unhwi's Fear Wind Sword and Dang Gyujin's Blue Steel Sword clashed repeatedly in the air in an instant.
'He's gotten even faster!'
Watching from the side, Sima Seon-ui let out an inner exclamation of admiration.
Unhwi was like a sponge soaking up water.
At first, his sword strikes had seemed chaotic and all over the place, but as time passed, they gradually began to take shape.
The intense killing intent that had stung the skin was steadily dulling.
It still wasn't fully contained within, but at least now it no longer burst out wildly, wasting unnecessary internal energy.
Even that alone was a massive change for Unhwi.
Being able to contain the energy-draining killing intent meant his control over his internal energy had become much smoother.
And that, in turn, meant the concentration of killing intent per unit area had become far denser.
Unhwi's sword was slowly starting to take on the form of a killing sword.
Was that why?
Occasionally, the sword strikes Unhwi unleashed were so vicious they even startled Sima Seon-ui, who was observing intuitively from the sidelines.
A killing sword filled solely with the intent to slaughter the opponent.
It was the complete opposite of the living sword that Dang Gyujin pursued.
'But... on the flip side, he's mastering Sister Jin's style better than anyone.'
They say opposites attract, and it seemed to hold true here as well.
'He's dissecting Sister Jin's swordsmanship down to its basics and mimicking only the necessary parts. Once he fully grasps the applications, he adapts them in different ways, tailoring them to himself.'
She had even pierced through the weaknesses of certain forms to devise counters.
Imitation might be the mother of creation, but to fully master the usage after just imitating a move two or three times was an absurd talent.
'To put it bluntly, Young Master Unhwi wasn't born with martial genius. That suits Sister Jin more—if we're talking pure talent, he's even below my sect's disciples.'
Sima Seon-ui never missed the trajectory of the Fear Wind Sword.
Like go players who could replay their games in sequence without forgetting, she possessed a similar skill.
She intended to etch every one of Unhwi's trajectories into her mind.
'But Young Master Unhwi has exceptional eyes. Eyes that see the big picture. That's something you can only have with a deep understanding of the sword.'
In that moment, a flash of insight struck Sima Seon-ui.
'I get it! I've been thinking about it wrong from the start. Myriad Sword Fragrance! Young Master Unhwi isn't newly realizing the applications of Sister Jin's sword techniques one by one. He's just reviewing what he already knew!'
Doesn't that happen in life sometimes?
You "feel" facts through various experiences but freeze up when asked to explain them verbally.
This occurs because the essence of experience lingers in the unconscious—you know it intuitively but haven't grasped it consciously.
Enlightenment is exactly that.
Knowing but not knowing.
That is called embodiment.
But when you can repeatedly reflect on that enlightenment and explain it easily to others in words, it becomes integration.
It's called that because you've melted it beyond the mental level into the physical.
Unhwi was undergoing exactly that process of integration.
Brr!
Realizing this, Sima Seon-ui shuddered without realizing it.
Just reviewing what he already knew?
She couldn't even imagine what form the martial theory stored in Unhwi's head took.
'With martial theory like that... no, if he possesses sword theory like that, it's not strange at all that he emits Myriad Sword Fragrance.'
Sima Seon-ui's thoughts continued to chain together.
'But if he keeps using it like that, it'll be dangerous later—'
Chaaang!
Right on cue, with the fierce clash of the Fear Wind Sword and Blue Steel Sword, Unhwi and Dang Gyujin leaped back widely from each other.
'I want to help!'
That thought crossed Sima Seon-ui's mind.
'I want to spar with him too and teach him about sword fragrance! What should I do!?'
There's nothing as enjoyable as sharing common interests.
"Haa... haa... Seriously, you—"
Meanwhile, Dang Gyujin looked at Unhwi with a weary face.
At first, she'd picked up her sword thinking she'd just give him some light guidance since Unhwi was burning with enthusiasm, but she hadn't expected him to stick so relentlessly and try to steal her entire swordsmanship.
Since Unhwi's sword was a sword, there were plenty of dangerously perilous moments during the spar.
Yet Unhwi didn't blink an eye and instead unleashed even more vicious killing sword strikes, forcing Dang Gyujin to counter with even stronger killing blows.
With strong clashing against strong repeatedly, even Dang Gyujin tired out quickly.
The problem was that he kept clinging on afterward, completely draining her stamina.
Only then did Dang Gyujin recall just how obsessively devoted to training Unhwi was.
Drip, drip—
Sweat poured endlessly down her cheeks.
Unhwi looked just as exhausted as her, but his eyes still burned with drive.
Like a demon with nothing left but greed, craving something more.
"It was a delightful spar. Thank you, Sister."
Dang Gyujin smiled bitterly.
If it was really delightful, tone down that murderous glare.
The Blue-Faced Ghost had hidden itself completely out of fear.
"Then, may I request the next spar as well, Lady Yu?"
Unhwi's gaze now turned toward Yu Sumin.
"...A spar is no big deal. But are you sure you're okay in that state?"
"I would appreciate it."
Yu Sumin nodded with a reluctant expression and gripped her sword, switching places with Dang Gyujin.
What Unhwi had requested from the three was simple.
Three Sword Continuous Battle Spar.
The three sword experts would spar with him in sequence.
However, since it was called "continuous battle," it wasn't just casual practice or sparring—he wanted them to cross swords as intensely as in real combat.
He said the sword style he practiced developed further the more intense it got.
But seeing the stamina-packed Dang Gyujin utterly exhausted, the level of intensity seemed beyond what she'd imagined.
They hadn't mixed in internal energy, but it was no different from facing off on a battlefield.
'...I just want to lie in bed and roll around.'
But now that she'd been caught, it didn't seem like Unhwi would let her go easily.
With a light sigh, Yu Sumin kicked off the ground.
Paat!
* * *
「As expected, the Emei sword takes a different path from Qingcheng's purity and orbit. Perhaps it's the difference between Daoist and Buddhist sects—」
「It's surprising that sects in the same Sichuan region have such distinctly different tendencies.」
Yu Sumin was right.
Emei and Qingcheng were different.
Emei's Demon-Subduing Sword was slow in speed but rigidly patterned, trapping the opponent within and forcing them.
If Dang Gyujin's sword clashed unfavorably with Mara Heaven Sword Form, Yu Sumin's was closer to a natural predator.
Simply put, if Dang Gyujin's sword was just spicy, Yu Sumin's was like ghost pepper.
So for me, who practiced a sword style that could go berserk unpredictably, it was actually welcome.
Thanks to that, the longer I exchanged strikes with Yu Sumin, the Mara Heaven Sword Form took on a complete form before I knew it.
It fully merged with Wild Wind Dance, to the point where it was hard to distinguish what was Mara Heaven Sword Form and what was Wild Wind Dance.
The boundary between swordsmanship and dance became meaningless.
Pababak!
"Thank you for your hard work."
"You worked... hard."
Drenched in sweat, Yu Sumin looked at me with a fatigued expression and shook her head.
I'd squeezed her relentlessly to see the essence of Emei's Demon-Subduing Sword down to its roots, so it was a natural outcome.
Covered in sweat and dust, she looked like a homeless person—it was believable.
Yu Sumin collapsed weakly next to Dang Gyujin.
"...Minnie, you okay?"
"......Sister."
"Hm?"
"I've decided."
"What?"
"Even if I return to lay life, I absolutely won't date an obsessive guy."
"......Couldn't agree more."
The two, who usually loved chatting, exchanged no further words.
No, "couldn't" would be more accurate.
「Is the Young Leader alright?」
「After two continuous battles, plus the demon-subduing power lingering—some internal injuries might be accumulating—」
'This much is nothing.'
The demon-subduing power was burdensome, but thanks to the Poison Dragon Heart Formula, I hadn't accumulated demonic qi in my body yet, so no major issues.
Moreover, the final opponent in this spar was the one I'd been looking forward to most. I couldn't miss it.
The Blue Heaven Sword Emperor was evaluated as potentially surpassing even my master in pure swordsmanship.
Opportunities to glimpse and steal his martial arts were rare.
Besides, something had been shimmering before my eyes since earlier—if I just finished this spar well, I felt I could fully control Mara's killing intent.
So I tried melting the creeping killing intent back into the Wild Wind—
"That's not how you do it."
Suddenly, Sima Seon-ui, standing in the sparring ground, tilted her head with a doll-like blank expression.
...What the hell?
"You don't contain the fragrance like that."
Fragrance?
Did she mean a scent?
But I hadn't sprinkled anything like that.
"You release it when needed and seal it when not. You have to approach it with the concept of opening and closing."
No.
It seemed she was still referring to the demonic killing intent wafting off me like body odor as 'fragrance.'
But instead of controlling it, think of it as opening and closing.
It was advice that felt similar yet aimed in a completely different direction.
「She doesn't mean you need actual doors or locks, right? She's likening it to fragrance.」
At that moment, Number Fifteen shouted urgently.
「Ah, now that you mention it, I've heard! The Sima bloodline could smell sword fragrance long before founding Blue Flower Village! I learned it when Ghost Valley tried digging up Sima graves!」
My eyes flashed at the word "ability."
Because I had something similar.
Eyes of the Dead.
If my ability was vision-based, were the Simas' olfactory?
A strange sense of kinship welled up.
"Ah, I told Mina not to say things no one else understands—"
I reached out and stopped Sima Seon-ui as she awkwardly bowed in apology.
"No, no. If it's not too much trouble, could I ask for more advice?"
"Really... is that okay?"
Sima Seon-ui's eyes widened in surprise.
She could make that face too?
"Of course."
As I nodded, Sima Seon-ui quickly turned to Yu Sumin.
Is it okay? Huh? Huh?
Eyes pleading desperately for something.
Why did she need permission for that? I glanced between them.
I'd thought she was cold from her blank face.
But she seemed pretty airheaded.
Yu Sumin smiled wryly and nodded, so Sima Seon-ui hurriedly turned back to me.
"Fragrance is just consumable material."
Her two eyes sparkled like they held a cluster of stars.
Like someone who'd found a fun new hobby.
And her explanation dragged on—
"Ah. That girl."
Yu Sumin smacked her forehead like she had a splitting headache.