Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: The Will to Surpass Limits
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“Hmm.”
The long silence was broken by Cheon Un-gwang's strained groan, as if his throat were constricted.
Cheon Un-gwang, not only cruel by nature but also a veteran of countless battles.
Even he hadn't predicted that Bu Eun-seol would unleash a killing technique as swift as lightning to murder Byeok Han-seong.
“So you've learned the Ya-su-do.”
The wooden sword Byeok Han-seong wielded held enough power to shatter boulders.
Yet, despite being struck repeatedly by the ultimate techniques of the Sura Sword Sect, Bu Eun-seol didn't even have a light bruise.
“That is correct.”
At Bu Eun-seol's reply, Cheon Un-gwang's caterpillar-like eyebrows twitched.
“Were you originally a disciple of the Nang-ya-gak?”
“I was not.”
“Then you're saying you mastered the Ya-su-do in just a fortnight?”
“I have only learned the basics.”
Cheon Un-gwang was mistaken.
He thought Bu Eun-seol's Ya-su-do had reached the highest level, allowing him to completely neutralize the force of an attack before it landed.
“The basics?”
Cheon Un-gwang scoffed at Bu Eun-seol's answer.
“It seems the Nang-ya-gak teaches its disciples to lie first these days.”
“I…”
“No need for excuses. Whatever your foundation is, it's of no concern to me.”
Cutting Bu Eun-seol off, Cheon Un-gwang pointed to Byeok Han-seong's cold corpse.
“Get this thing out of here immediately.”
They had once shared the bond of martial brothers, one teaching and the other learning like a master and disciple.
Yet Cheon Un-gwang's attitude was as if he were ordering someone to clear away a rotten fish from a display stand.
“Drill Instructor.”
Just then, a girl with long hair tied up in a bun stepped forward from among the trainees.
“I have something to say.”
“Speak.”
“That man committed murder during an ordinary sparring match.”
“Murder?”
As Cheon Un-gwang raised an eyebrow, the girl pointed at the proudly standing Bu Eun-seol.
“Yes. His crime must be severely punished to ensure this never happens again.”
Staring intently at the girl, Cheon Un-gwang let out a low snort.
“It wasn't murder. It was an accident during a sparring match.”
“What?”
“That one used a killing technique first, aiming to crush his head. This one merely countered in response.”
“But…”
“Just because it's called a martial hall, did you truly believe this was some ordinary training ground?”
Looking down at the girl with a contemptuous expression, Cheon Un-gwang spoke, his eyes blazing.
“This place is a living hell.”
These were the same words spoken by the junior drill instructor, Jin Gak, when they first disembarked from the ship.
But when Cheon Un-gwang said them with such killing intent, the meaning seemed to have changed completely.
This place is hell.
The fierce blaze in Cheon Un-gwang's eyes seemed to say just that.
As the trainees milled about in confusion, Cheon Un-gwang spoke in a low voice.
“Let the test resume.”
***
The duels were fierce.
The original purpose of observing how they handled a sword, regardless of victory or defeat, became meaningless. Every trainee now swung their sword as if their life depended on it.
The reason, of course, was the outcome of Bu Eun-seol's duel.
—One could die in a duel.
In the tense duels that followed, no one else lost their life.
However, as the series of intense fights, reminiscent of real combat, unfolded, the number of injured trainees gradually increased.
“You, to the left. You, to the right.”
After each duel, Cheon Un-gwang divided the trainees to his left and right.
Sometimes, he sent both to the left or both to the right.
Although he gave no explanation, the trainees could guess that this was the process of separating the passing from the failing.
“That's the last of them.”
Cheon Un-gwang looked at the trainees lined up on his left and right and nodded lightly.
Most of the trainees who had finished their duels bore injuries, large and small, and some were still breathing heavily.
“Fifteen of you.”
Cheon Un-gwang stroked his chin as he looked at the trainees standing on the left.
“You may all proceed immediately to the advanced hall.”
The trainees waiting on the left, their faces bright with joy, hurriedly exited the martial hall.
Cheon Un-gwang then turned his gaze to the trainees lined up on the right.
These were the ones who had not yet achieved Sword-Hand Unity.
“You are to leave this place at once and find another martial hall.”
Hearing these unexpected words, the trainees on the right were greatly flustered.
“But we've only failed the test once, haven't we?”
As one boy spoke with an aggrieved expression, the boy next to him also shouted.
“We will train harder and are determined to pass and advance to the next hall!”
Cheon Un-gwang shook his head with a firm expression.
“Impossible.”
“What?”
“The fact that the sword has not yet become an extension of your hand, despite having trained in the Hwau Byeokroe Sword, means you lack the fundamental aptitude for it.”
“But…”
“You are all of reasonably good physical constitution, so you were able to pass the beginner's hall with ease.”
As Cheon Un-gwang continued in a low voice, a divine light burst from his eyes.
“However, to learn the Hwau Sword, one needs more than just a good constitution; one needs outstanding talent.”
There was an undeniable force in Cheon Un-gwang's low voice.
“The talent of a peerless martial genius, one who can overcome their own limits through bone-grinding effort.”
The trainees could say nothing.
For among those standing on the right, not one had put in the bone-grinding effort required to master the Hwau Byeokroe Sword.
“Those with complacent and lazy dispositions can never learn the Hwau Sword.”
At Cheon Un-gwang's words, the trainees left the martial hall in silence, unable to retort.
“…”
Once all the trainees had left, a heavy silence fell once more.
Inside the empty martial hall, only Bu Eun-seol remained.
Cheon Un-gwang looked at Bu Eun-seol and spoke in a cold voice.
“And why are you just standing there, gawking?”
“Am I supposed to leave as well?”
“With the skill to dismantle the Sura Sword Sect's chaotic sword style at close range, you must have considerable sword learning.”
Looking down into Bu Eun-seol's cold, still eyes, Cheon Un-gwang scoffed.
“Was it your plan to show up late to the intermediate hall and make a strong impression in the duels?”
The corner of his mouth lifted as he looked down at the tight-lipped Bu Eun-seol.
“If you were all schemes and no substance, I would have smashed your head in. But… it seems you have the skill to back it up, so I'll acknowledge it.”
Cheon Un-gwang pointed to the open door on his left.
“You, too, may proceed to the advanced hall.”
To skip the intermediate hall and go straight to the advanced hall? It was an unprecedented privilege.
But unexpected words came from Bu Eun-seol's mouth.
“I have not yet learned the martial arts of the intermediate hall.”
“What did you say?”
“I will learn the sword arts in the intermediate hall.”
His gaze fixed on Bu Eun-seol's face, Cheon Un-gwang wore the expression of someone looking at a bizarre object.
“Why on earth would you want to remain in the intermediate hall?”
“The only sword form I have learned is the Hwau Thirteen Forms.”
“Are you still spouting nonsense?”
“If I am lying, you may cut off both my hands.”
From Bu Eun-seol's ice-cold eyes, a light as hot as the sun shone forth.
“Fine. I will teach you. But,”
Cheon Un-gwang looked down at Bu Eun-seol, his eyes shimmering with killing intent.
“the moment I find any trace that you've learned a sword form other than the Hwau Thirteen Forms, I will take your head.”
***
Four days later.
*Swish!*
A swift sword form, unleashed with the explosive energy from within his body, suddenly split into three paths mid-motion, transforming into a rotating chain sword form.
‘Kuh.’
The abrupt mid-air transformation of the light-speed sword move sent a twisting pain through his wrist and elbow.
But Bu Eun-seol showed no sign of it, continuously rotating his shoulders, wrists, and body to execute the chain sword form.
*Sh-sh-sh-sh-shk. Whoosh!*
With the sound of slicing air, the continuously unfolding sword moves transitioned once again into a lightning-fast sword form.
Chain, utilizing rotational force, and Swift. To simultaneously execute two diametrically opposed sword arts that should never be mixed.
That was the Hwau Byeokroe Sword.
“Hah!”
With a shout, the iron sword in Bu Eun-seol's hand spun fiercely, unleashing a shower of light like a firecracker.
The final form of the Hwau Byeokroe Sword, ‘Ten Thousand Lights Illuminate the World,’ a technique impossible to perform without complete mastery over the sword, was unfolding.
“Kuh.”
A low groan escaped Bu Eun-seol's lips as he continued the sword form.
Because he had been constantly spinning his body to perform the sword art, the iron sword had slipped from his control, grazing his shoulder, neck, and face.
No matter how great his talent and determination, he had only been learning the Hwau Byeokroe Sword for a mere four days.
He still couldn't control the sword with the same delicacy and perfection as his own hand.
“So it was true.”
Cheon Un-gwang watched Bu Eun-seol's practice with a dumbfounded expression.
“To think that learning the Hwau Thirteen Forms in the beginner's hall was really all he knew.”
Cheon Un-gwang was a master of the sword who had honed his skills his entire life.
The very first day he taught the Hwau Byeokroe Sword, he had seen from Bu Eun-seol's movements that the boy had never properly learned a sword art before.
“A brat who just started learning the sword is performing the Hwau Byeokroe Sword in only four days?”
It was enough to make him laugh in disbelief.
Although he had not yet reached Sword-Hand Unity, Bu Eun-seol's learning speed was beyond imagination.
“Does that mean he really learned the Ya-su-do in just a fortnight?”
It felt as if a cold wind brushed past his earlobes, and goosebumps rose on his skin.
How many martial prodigies had died in the past trying to learn the Ya-su-do?
A martial art of hyper-sensation envied even by the masters of the Ten Demonic Sects.
How could he have learned such an unconventional art from beyond the known world, one that couldn't even be attempted without innate genius, in just a fortnight?
“Kgh.”
Just then, another choked sound escaped Bu Eun-seol's lips.
He had finally lost control of the Hwau Byeokroe Sword's rotational momentum and had begun to cut his own arms and legs.
“But he's still a long way off.”
Watching the scene, Cheon Un-gwang clicked his tongue.
The Hwau Byeokroe Sword—a technique that would ultimately harm its wielder if they couldn't control the blade as delicately as their own hand.
Even for a heaven-sent martial genius, it was not a sword art that could be mastered in an instant.
“No matter how I look at it, he doesn't have the skill to defeat that brat from the Sura Sword Sect.”
Cheon Un-gwang couldn't understand.
Even if his learning speed was fast, Bu Eun-seol was a novice who had just begun learning the sword.
How could he have defeated Byeok Han-seong, who had perfectly mastered the Hwau Byeokroe Sword and could also skillfully wield the Sura Sword Sect's chaotic style?
*Sh-sh-sh-shk!*
Meanwhile, the rotational force of the Hwau Byeokroe Sword grew stronger, and the iron sword Bu Eun-seol wielded began to slice deeper into his skin and muscle.
But Bu Eun-seol did not stop.
“Stop. If you keep swinging that sword, you'll end up destroying your own body.”
At Cheon Un-gwang's words, Bu Eun-seol clenched his teeth and shouted.
“I'm fine.”
“What?”
“A little more… and I think I can do it.”
Despite being covered in his own blood from practicing ‘Ten Thousand Lights Illuminate the World,’ Bu Eun-seol started practicing the Hwau Byeokroe Sword again from the beginning.
“Good heavens.”
The rotational force grew even stronger, and now only a grim ‘shick-shick’ sound echoed from the sword's tip.
Bright red blood sprayed from Bu Eun-seol's body as he spun round and round, performing the sword art.
Even as his pitch-black uniform became drenched in blood, Bu Eun-seol did not stop moving.
“So that's how it was.”
Cheon Un-gwang finally understood.
How Bu Eun-seol had managed to learn the Ya-su-do in just a fortnight.
Indomitable perseverance and obsession.
He was practicing his martial arts with all his might, as if he would die if he failed to learn.
Not only that, but he showed none of the fear or pain that a boy his age should possess.
Only an unyielding obsession to become stronger enveloped that lean body.