Chapter 163
Chapter 163
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: The Taoist's Sword
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As Bu Eun-seol looked into the young Taoist's eyes, his heart began to beat faster.
Song Ak, a Master of Great Righteousness from Wudang.
His presence was on a completely different level from any Master of Great Righteousness he had seen before.
‘Gentle, and empty.’
Song Ak's presence was vast and open.
Yet it was boundless enough to embrace everything in the world.
If he were to draw his sword, it would surely unleash a sword art as free and natural as the wind by the river or the moonlight in the sky.
“However…”
A strange light appeared in Song Ak’s eyes when he spotted A-yeon.
Then, noticing the Sword Pavilion’s sword at her waist, he clasped his hands together.
“I am Song Ak of Wudang. And you are, milady…?”
“I am A-yeon, a disciple of the Sword Pavilion.”
“Did you come here to fight him?”
A-yeon nodded.
“Originally, yes. But… not anymore.”
Song Ak wore a puzzled expression.
“I heard that the disciples of the Sword Pavilion are no different from those of the Buddhist sects, maintaining a very solemn demeanor.”
He chuckled in bewilderment.
“But seeing you now, you seem to have a fine sense of humor.”
“I’m not joking.”
A-yeon said, taking a deep breath.
“Because this man is not evil.”
Gazing into her sparkling eyes, Song Ak nodded.
“Ah, so that’s what you meant.”
He glanced at Bu Eun-seol and nodded again.
“To be honest, this humble Taoist also found that point suspicious. I have been watching for some time, you see.”
Bu Eun-seol wasn’t particularly surprised by his words.
Song Ak’s presence was one with nature, like a cloud that stood before him yet could vanish at any moment.
Besides, he had been in the middle of a fierce battle, so it was no wonder he hadn’t sensed him.
“Prepare yourself.”
As Bu Eun-seol stepped forward to draw his sword, Song Ak shook his head.
“I don’t mean we should fight right now.”
When Bu Eun-seol furrowed his brow, Song Ak smiled faintly.
“Have you not just been through a series of harsh battles? I am not so wicked as to strike a man who needs rest.”
“As if.”
Sensing the mockery in Bu Eun-seol’s voice, Song Ak’s shoulders slumped.
“I heard that Junior Sister Cheong and the young lord ganged up on you. But they do not represent the conduct of the entire Orthodox Faction.”
He let out a deep sigh and shook his head.
“Furthermore, that incident has dragged the honor of the Nine Sects, One Union and the Masters of Great Righteousness through the mud. The Great Sword Manor has sealed its gates, and both the Diancang and Emei sects have recalled the disciples they sent into the world.”
“So, you’ve come to restore the honor of the Nine Sects, One Union, which has fallen to rock bottom?”
“That is correct. I thought I might face you in a fair and honorable duel to try and restore the honor that has been so tarnished.”
His eyes then glinted as he scanned Bu Eun-seol’s body from head to toe.
“The wounds on your skin seem minor. I imagine you’ll recover after an hour or two of rest. Am I right?”
When Bu Eun-seol nodded, Song Ak grinned and set down his bundle.
“Excellent. Since it has come to this, let’s share a meal together.”
When he untied the bundle, it revealed all sorts of ingredients.
Dried fish and jerky. Rice powder and an iron pot to cook it in, even a gourd filled with water…
There was truly nothing he lacked.
A-yeon couldn’t hide her bewilderment and spoke up.
“Do all disciples of the Wudang Sect carry food like this?”
“Hahaha. Of course not.”
Song Ak, who was pouring rice powder into the pot, burst out laughing.
“Our sect may maintain a life of humble poverty, but we provide enough travel funds for our disciples in the world to comfortably use inns.”
“Then why do you carry food around like a peddler?”
Though her expression and tone were stern, A-yeon’s beauty was like that of a celestial maiden descended from the moon.
Momentarily mesmerized, Song Ak cleared his throat and spoke.
“Ahem. It’s because I’ve spent a long time wandering here and there to train in martial arts. One must eat well to master them, after all.”
While Song Ak and A-yeon talked, Bu Eun-seol had sat back down in a corner to rest.
‘A peculiar man.’
The figures of the Orthodox Faction that Bu Eun-seol had seen were, for the most part, prideful and held themselves in high esteem.
But Song Ak showed no such tendencies; on the contrary, he possessed a clear spirit, like a boy raised in the remote mountains.
‘But his skill is by no means inferior to mine.’
Though he revealed a flawlessly clear gaze and aura, his presence was so powerful, and yet so gentle, that it startled even Bu Eun-seol.
‘If I had joined the Orthodox Faction… would I be stronger than I am now?’
After leaving the Pyeong-an Escort Agency, Bu Eun-seol had chosen the path to the Demonic Cult without hesitation.
He believed the Demonic Cult, with its Ten Demonic Disciples project, would make him stronger, faster than anyone else.
However, Song Ak, who seemed only five or six years his senior, also displayed an incredibly powerful presence.
—You could have easily taken a different path.
A-yeon’s words suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Was there truly another path? Did he simply choose not to take it?
‘A pointless hypothetical.’
He had entered the world solely for revenge. Whether it was the Demonic Path or the Orthodox Faction, it didn’t matter.
‘Besides, isn’t life just a temporary state, carrying death on its back?’
Bu Jan-yang had told Bu Eun-seol that life in the netherworld was no different from life in this world.
The Creator bestowed death upon all humans equally, and after it, only a quiet silence ever followed…
Thus, the netherworld where humans go after death was not so different from this world.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
Just then, Song Ak approached Bu Eun-seol and offered him a bowl of rice porridge.
“Eat. You need strength to fight, don’t you?”
Soon they would have to cross blades, fighting as if to kill each other.
Yet he treated Bu Eun-seol as naturally as a long-time friend.
Bu Eun-seol accepted without refusal and drank the rice porridge.
The hot food, a rare treat, seemed to jolt his senses and fill his body with strength.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“I’m glad. Then have some of this, too.”
Song Ak offered him jerky and a gourd of water.
Bu Eun-seol accepted them without hesitation. He sat by the campfire and ate and drank without reservation.
Dawn was deepening.
Bu Eun-seol was circulating his internal energy inside the main hall, while Song Ak and A-yeon warmed themselves by the fire outside.
“I have eaten and rested well.”
As A-yeon, now fully recovered, stood up, Song Ak blinked.
“Are you saying you’ll miss this fine opportunity?”
Bu Eun-seol and Song Ak were, in essence, the grandmasters of the next generation.
If she were to observe their duel, A-yeon would gain a tremendous advantage.
But she shook her head.
“I don’t particularly want to watch the two of you fight.”
A Master of Great Righteousness and one of the Ten Demonic Disciples were not about to engage in a leisurely spar.
Someone would win, and someone would lose. Someone might even lose their life. And she didn’t want to see it.
Because a faint sense of goodwill had grown in her for both Bu Eun-seol and Song Ak.
“I see.”
Understanding A-yeon’s feelings, Song Ak smiled warmly.
Then he said something unexpected.
“To be honest, this humble Taoist has also lost much of his desire to fight.”
“What do you mean?”
Song Ak smiled with the innocence of a child.
“According to the rumors, he is a villain who finds infinite pleasure in slaughtering the masters of the Orthodox Faction. But having met him, his character doesn’t seem so bad…”
He paused for a moment, then said with a bashful expression.
“His features are exceptionally handsome, yet his aura overflows with the wildness of a fierce wolf.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“I have never found a person in the world who captured my heart, yet for some reason, I find myself drawn to him.”
A-yeon looked slightly surprised at Song Ak’s honest and pure words.
—I like him, too.
He was a Master of Great Righteousness from Wudang, which, along with Shaolin, could be called the head of the Nine Sects, One Union.
Yet he had just frankly expressed his liking for a figure from the Demonic Path, one of the Ten Demonic Disciples of the Ten Demonic Sects, no less.
“You should have joined Wudang as a secular disciple.”
At A-yeon’s sigh, Song Ak smiled warmly, his eyes curving into crescents.
“You as well.”
“Nonsense.”
A-yeon turned away coldly and said in a placid voice.
“My Pavilion has, for generations, only punished those stained by evil. I simply do not wish for him to die merely for being a member of the Demonic Path.”
“Hahaha. I see.”
“Well then, I wish you good fortune in your battle.”
“May you live a boundless life. I hope you too will achieve all that you desire.”
After gazing at the distant sky for a moment, A-yeon immediately executed her movement technique and vanished.
“Hmm.”
Song Ak watched the direction A-yeon had disappeared for a while before letting out a deep sigh.
Then he walked toward the main hall where Bu Eun-seol was resting.
At last, the pride of a Master of Great Righteousness and one of the Ten Demonic Disciples was on the line, and their showdown was about to begin.
Moonlight descended from the distant sky, and a campfire burned before the mountain gate.
Bu Eun-seol and Song Ak stepped outside the gate and stood facing each other.
A full moon cast a pale white light upon the dark sky, and the low chirping of insects was languid.
Amid this peaceful scenery, Bu Eun-seol drew the Muk-geom.
*Screech.*
As the low cry of the sword rang out, a murderous aura instantly descended upon the tranquil landscape.
Wudang’s ultimate sword art, the Taiji Wisdom Sword, was a perfect art that harmonized softness and strength.
Moreover, since it consumed very little internal energy, a prolonged battle would be disadvantageous.
Bu Eun-seol intended to unleash his ultimate killing sword to settle the fight in a short, decisive battle.
“What fine spirit.”
Song Ak smiled gently and drew his sword.
Simultaneously, a round luminescence began to spread from the tip of his sword, eventually enveloping his body in a circle.
It was the opening stance of the Wudang Sect’s sword arts, the first move of the Taiji Embrace, which in itself was the ultimate defense.
Watching the gently moving Taiji sword, Bu Eun-seol finally unleashed his own sword art.
*Flash!*
A streak of light, like a meteor crossing the night sky, shot toward Song Ak’s neck.
It was the first stance of Meteor Chasing the Moon.
“A fine technique!”
Song Ak exclaimed as he executed his own move.
But what he unleashed was not the Taiji Wisdom Sword, but the ultimate techniques of the Two Forms Sword; he consecutively executed Yin Earth Turns to Yang and Yin Cannot Resist Yang.
*Clang!*
The circular sword energy that bloomed forth easily deflected the first stance of Meteor Chasing the Moon.
“...!”
Bu Eun-seol looked slightly surprised.
To think he had so easily blocked the first stance of Meteor Chasing the Moon, which no one had ever perfectly defended against, with just two techniques.
*Vrrrr.*
Bu Eun-seol’s Muk-geom, blocked by the Two Forms Sword Art, began to change again in mid-air.
*Flash! Flash!*
Simultaneously, a purple sword energy cut in a zigzag pattern, slashing from Song Ak’s shoulder down to his leg.
He had consecutively unleashed the Peerless Lightning Style, a sword art of extreme speed.
*Tssssk.*
In response, Song Ak once again executed a technique of the Two Forms Sword, Yin and Yang in Harmony.
*Swoosh!*
A series of circular sword energies formed one after another, pushing aside the sharp slashes of the Peerless Lightning Style in all directions.
‘This sword art is…’
Bu Eun-seol’s eyebrows twitched.
Song Ak had blocked both Meteor Chasing the Moon and Peerless Lightning Style, sword techniques of extreme speed, by using the Two Forms Sword instead of the Taiji Wisdom Sword.
‘He’s creating the same circular sword energy as the Taiji Wisdom Sword while using the Two Forms Sword…’
“Be careful!”
In that instant, Song Ak swung his sword slowly, thrusting toward Bu Eun-seol’s chest.
*Shiiik.*
The sword technique, which had been pouring out slowly, suddenly accelerated, and in the next moment, it was aimed at Bu Eun-seol’s shoulder.
‘Hah!’
Bu Eun-seol let out a silent cry of alarm.
This time, Song Ak had not used the Two Forms Sword, but a technique from the Taiji Wisdom Sword: Accumulated Virtue.
‘He’s not switching between sword arts!’
At a glance, it seemed as if he were alternating between the Taiji Wisdom Sword and the Two Forms Sword, but in reality, his sword technique was transforming mid-execution.
*Thump, thump.*
Bu Eun-seol’s heart was pounding.
Song Ak’s swordsmanship was not only superb, but it also employed an astonishing technique he had never seen before.
And he realized that with the techniques of the Formless Heavenly Flow he had used so far, he could never defeat him.
‘In that case…’
The Reversal Flame Light flickered in Bu Eun-seol’s eyes.
What he had not unleashed until now, no, what he could not unleash…
He was about to unleash the techniques from the latter four stances of the Formless Heavenly Flow.