Chapter 260: Snow Wolf Sword Technique
Chapter 260: Snow Wolf Sword Technique
A day had passed since Jin Tae-do descended from Bongam Peak of Phoenix Mountain and resumed his pursuit.
And as time went on, Jin Tae-do's mind grew increasingly impatient.
Contrary to his expectation that he would be able to catch up quickly, he hadn't managed to close the distance on his targets at all.
For some reason, the speed of the ones carrying off the injured had actually increased compared to before.
As a result, the problem instead arose on Jin Tae-do's side.
"Sect Leader! Guh...!"
"You, you! You useless bastard!"
Jin Tae-do's subordinates had been coercively pushing forward with the pursuit under his constant urging.
It was also because of Jin Tae-do's bold assurances that they would catch them soon.
But as time passed, the pursuit achieved no results, and his subordinates, unable to endure any longer, began dropping out one by one from exhaustion.
No matter how much Jin Tae-do browbeat and threatened them, it was useless.
Their completely depleted stamina would not return just because he yelled at them.
So now, Jin Tae-do had to leave most of his subordinates behind and continue the pursuit with a shrinking force.
Yet at this very moment, even the subordinate tasked with handling the Unmyo Baek-a—which could be called the core asset of the pursuit—had collapsed in exhaustion.
For Jin Tae-do, it was a situation that left him feeling not only fury but also sheer bewilderment.
"Can you not get up?!"
"I-I'm sorry, Sect Leader. I can't go on... any further...."
Jin Tae-do stood before his collapsed subordinate, his body trembling with rage.
In his heart, he felt like beating him to death on the spot.
At that moment, sensing the gravity of the situation, the Six Harmony Swordsman Ja Seong-jin-in quietly approached and called out to him.
"Sect Leader Jin."
Then Jin Tae-do snapped, shouting.
"What do you want?!"
Jin Tae-do could no longer maintain the facade of an amiable man.
At his sensitive reaction, Ja Seong-jin-in clicked his tongue inwardly and asked cautiously.
"If we leave him behind, the pursuit itself cannot be sustained, so how about carrying him on our backs? Just as that man Inparang did for his group."
At those words, Jin Tae-do fell into a brooding silence for a moment.
"Mmm...."
Carrying a subordinate on his back was something that would not have even been a matter of contemplation for Jin Tae-do up until now.
That was because, for a man of his authoritarian nature, it was absolutely impossible.
But now, Jin Tae-do had no choice but to accept that there was no other way.
He asked Ja Seong-jin-in.
"Could one of your Six Harmony Swordsmen carry him, Jin-in?"
"..."
Ja Seong-jin-in cursed him inwardly.
Why should one of his own squad members carry Jin Tae-do's subordinate?
But outwardly, he laughed heartily and accepted Jin Tae-do's proposition.
"Hahaha! It goes without saying. How could you, Sect Leader Jin, carry him yourself?"
"Hmph, then I shall leave it to you, Jin-in."
Thus, Jin Tae-do's party was able to resume their pursuit once more.
The remaining force was sparse, consisting only of Jin Tae-do, Pa Cheon-jo the Six Harmony Swordsman, and one subordinate handling Baek Ah.
However, Jin Tae-do no longer had any complaints.
That was because, as the numbers thinned, the pursuit speed had actually increased.
Especially when a Six Harmony Swordsman carried the subordinate handling Baek Ah on his back, increasing their speed. Now, they could finally unleash their movement techniques as transcendent peak martial masters and chase after Seonwoo Jin's group.
"Sect Leader! The distance to the bastards must have closed significantly! Baek Ah's reactions are growing more active!"
"Is that so?"
Hearing those words, Jin Tae-do was able to smile for the first time in a long while.
Their current location was Fujian Province. They were about two days' distance from Sangpo Port, which was probably where the bastards were heading.
'He's likely planning to board a ship at Sangpo and find Ma Gyeong. So I must catch the bastards before they reach Sangpo.'
Jin Tae-do's eyes gleamed sharply.
From now on, the road all the way to Sangpo was a straight, open highway.
Meaning that variables like Phoenix Mountain could no longer arise.
'As long as it's not a situation like Phoenix Mountain, there's absolutely no way I'll lose them. This time, I'll finish it for good!'
This was a situation where he, one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World, and six transcendent peak masters of the Hengshan Sect were pursuing together.
If they could just catch up by any means, the entire situation would surely be over.
Jin Tae-do recalled the face of Seonwoo Jin, who had slipped through his grasp several times, as he gazed down the straight, open highway.
***
Meanwhile, Seonwoo Jin was sleeping while riding on the back of the Black Leopard Sak-wol.
He had told the others that he was sleeping to replenish his stamina, but in truth, there was another reason.
It was to enter the space within his dream using the Dream Soul Great Method and conduct training.
"Hyaaap!"
Shaaaaak!
Inside the space of the dream, when Seonwoo Jin swung his sword, a white chill burst forward.
The frozen vapor crystallized into white ice crystals and spread out like a fan.
"Hmph."
Mukrang, who had been standing before Seonwoo Jin, smiled faintly and stepped lightly out of the chill's trajectory.
His movements resembled the wind even more than Seonwoo Jin's when performing the Cheonpung Shinbeop.
Then, refusing to give up, Seonwoo Jin threw his sword toward Mukrang again.
"Here I come again!"
Shuhaaaak!
What burst forth from Seonwoo Jin's sword this time were five white wolves.
Five wolves made of ice howled and charged at Mukrang.
Wooooo!
"Oh ho!"
Mukrang let out an exclamation, as if acknowledging Seonwoo Jin's skill.
Then he swung his sword lightly.
Whiririririck!
Instantly, Mukrang's sword split into five and lightly extinguished the five ice-white wolves.
Peoseoseooseok!
But at that moment, Seonwoo Jin had already approached close enough to be right in front of Mukrang.
He drew his sword and shouted.
"Heavenly Ice Wall!"
Chwaaaaak!
Then a pure white wall of ice shot up from beneath Mukrang's feet.
It was using the defensive move of the Seolrang Sword Technique, the Heavenly Ice Wall, as an attack.
Mukrang swiftly stepped backward to escape its domain and shouted.
"What an innovative attack!"
The sword moves Seonwoo Jin was using against Mukrang now were the forms of the Seolrang Sword Technique that Ma Yu-gyeom had learned. The first move, North Wind Sword Strike; the third move, Seolrang Jucheon; and the second move, Heavenly Ice Wall.
He had become proficient in all three of the moves from the five-form Seolrang Sword Technique that Ma Yu-gyeom had managed to learn.
It was nothing short of astonishing.
But now, having used all three moves, Seonwoo Jin was gleaming behind the ice wall as though it was not yet over.
He located Mukrang's position using the Mind's Eye, then thrust his sword toward the section of the ice wall where Mukrang stood.
The fourth form of the Seolrang Sword Technique.
Absolute Ice Sword.
Shuhaak!
His sword pierced the ice wall.
Then a remarkable thing happened.
From behind the ice wall Seonwoo Jin had stabbed, a transparent ice sword stretched out directly toward Mukrang.
Sararararak!
It was an attack that felt less like a projectile weapon being launched and more like a transparent sword forming out of thin air.
And that transparent sword extended in an instant, piercing through the body of Mukrang, who had retreated three jang back.
Seonwoo Jin flashed his eyes and shouted.
"Did it succeed?!"
But at that moment, Mukrang's body, which had been pierced by the ice sword, blurred.
It was an afterimage.
And Mukrang, who had somehow moved a step to the side to evade Seonwoo Jin's attack, smiled faintly and lightly flicked the flat of the ice sword with a finger.
Ting!
"As if it could."
Then the ice sword shattered into pieces, and Seonwoo Jin's attack ended in failure once again.
Pasasak!
Seonwoo Jin watched the crumbling ice wall along with the ice sword with a regretful expression and said to Mukrang.
"If I could have chained into the fifth form, Manseolgaese, at this point, it might have actually landed on you, Elder. What a shame."
At those words, Mukrang shook his head with a pleased expression and replied.
"The Manseolgaese is still beyond you. If you could have unleashed that, you would probably be able to unleash the Heaven Annihilation of the Mukrang Sword Technique by now as well. And aren't you being too greedy? As soon as you learned the Seolrang Sword Technique, you even demonstrated the fourth form, Absolute Ice Sword, which Ma Yu-gyeom hasn't yet mastered—and you feel regret?"
"Well, that is true, but still."
Ma Yu-gyeom, who had shed tears for a long time after gaining Seonwoo Jin's understanding, had immediately passed on the Seolrang Sword Technique to Seonwoo Jin afterward.
Although he couldn't physically move to demonstrate because his body hadn't recovered and he was under acupoint sealing, he had first transmitted the oral formulas through telepathic sound transmission.
Upon this, Seonwoo Jin had initially tried to dissuade him.
It was because he was worried that Ma Yu-gyeom might still harbor a desire to die and was trying to pass on the Seolrang Sword Technique to someone else beforehand.
But Ma Yu-gyeom's will was firm.
[I have absolutely no intention of dying by my own hand now. But I am injured, and we are in a crisis situation, are we not? To prepare for the worst, it is better to leave the Elder's ultimate techniques behind.]
Ma Yu-gyeom, who said that while conveying the Seolrang Sword Technique to Seonwoo Jin, refused to learn the Mukrang Sword Technique when Seonwoo Jin offered to teach it in return.
[The Elder's ultimate technique is far too undeserved for me. The Seolrang Sword Technique alone was already more than I deserved, so I cannot lay my hands on yet another ultimate technique. And... I intend to train in the sword of Jeomchang once more now. So I no longer have any need for other sword techniques.]
Looking at Ma Yu-gyeom like that, Seonwoo Jin could not help but realize that he had truly become a different person from before.
And he decided to respect his will.
Then Seonwoo Jin immediately entered the space of the Dream Soul Great Method and began learning the Seolrang Sword Technique from Mukrang.
All he had learned from Ma Yu-gyeom were the oral formulas of the Seolrang Sword Technique, but Mukrang had taught him even the remaining forms and shapes.
"It was a rule I set that sword techniques like the Mukrang Sword Technique or Seolrang Sword Technique would not be taught to successors of other swords. But it wasn't as if I didn't teach them because I didn't know them. But now, hasn't the successor of the Seolrang Sword Technique decided to teach you the Seolrang Sword Technique of his own accord? So there's no need for me to deliberately pretend not to know. Now, let's start from the first form, North Wind Sword Strike."
That was how the situation unfolded.
And astonishingly, Seonwoo Jin succeeded in mastering the Seolrang Sword Technique immediately upon learning it once from Mukrang.
It took a bit of time to learn the Seolrang Heart Method, which was the Cold Ice Art, but the sword technique itself could be used naturally as if he had known it all along.
This could not be anything but an immensely surprising thing even to Seonwoo Jin himself.
Mukrang suddenly gave a meaningful smile and asked Seonwoo Jin.
"Do you know why you were able to learn the Seolrang Sword Technique so easily?"
Seonwoo Jin looked at Mukrang, who had asked that question, for a moment.
That was because, judging by Mukrang's meaningful expression, it felt as though he was driving at something.
Seonwoo Jin asked him, wearing a suspicious expression.
"You aren't hoping to hear an answer like, it's because you taught me so well, are you, Elder?"
Then Mukrang chuckled and answered.
"Isn't that so obvious that there's no need to even say it?"
Seonwoo Jin, who had slightly frowned at Mukrang's rhetorical question, reflected on the earlier situation for a moment.
"Hmm, if you ask why I learned it so easily... I'd have to say that it just didn't feel any different. Converting my internal energy into cold and releasing it—ultimately, swinging a sword is, after all...."
Having spoken that far, Seonwoo Jin paused for a moment.
Then he fell into thought with a blank expression.
At this, Mukrang silently wore a pleased smile and waited for Seonwoo Jin.
A moment later, Seonwoo Jin, who had been lost in thought, stirred and murmured vacantly.
"In the end, it was all the same. Strong Sword or Quick Sword, it's merely the difference between swinging the sword powerfully or quickly—the very fact of swinging a sword itself doesn't change at all."
And he said, as if in lamentation.
"In the end, all swords were the same."
Then Mukrang finally smiled brightly.
Seonwoo Jin's enlightenment had at last reached the state of all streams return to the source.
Seonwoo Jin hastily called out to him.
"Elder!"
Then Mukrang nodded and said.
"Hurry. If you miss this enlightenment, there's no telling when such a chance will come again."
Seonwoo Jin was currently standing before the wall of the transcendent peak.
Thus, if he seized this enlightenment now, he might finally be able to enter the domain of the transcendent peak as well.
"Thank you, Elder!"
Shouting that, Seonwoo Jin hurriedly extracted himself from the Dream Soul Great Method.
Then he yelled to the group that was following behind Sak-wol, on whom he rode.
"We must stop here for a moment!"
At his sudden shout, the other members of the group looked at him with puzzled expressions.
***
Jin Tae-do and the Six Harmony Swordsmen were racing along the highway like the wind.
That was because, since there was only one road anyway, they didn't need Baek Ah's guidance.
They were merely stopping occasionally to confirm they were heading in the right direction, spending the entire day running to chase after Seonwoo Jin's group.
That was when it happened.
His subordinate in charge of the Unmyo Baek-a shouted.
"It's right nearby, Sect Leader! The bastards passed through here not long ago!"
It was news that couldn't help but make one's eyes flash open.
Jin Tae-do, feeling his energy surge again at the welcome news, shouted.
"Good! Let's increase our speed, Jin-in!"
"Understood!"
They now increased their speed to the utmost without even checking Baek Ah's reactions.
Sangpo was now a day's journey away; it seemed they could catch them well before that.
And after about an hour had passed, Jin Tae-do opened his eyes wide and shouted.
"There they are!"
Ttwo figures, a man and a woman, running ahead, came into his view.
And among them, the man dressed in white was none other than the detestable Inparang, the very bastard himself.