Chapter 22
Chapter 22
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 22
Chapter Title: Reversing the Flow
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‘Fast!’
The Murderous Ghost's pursuit was several times faster than Bu Eun-seol had anticipated.
At this rate, he would be struck from behind and killed without even getting a chance to fight back.
‘I have no choice but to fight!’
If he couldn't shake his pursuer, he had to face him, come what may.
*Thud.*
Bu Eun-seol dashed out of the wide-open red gates of the training hall and drew his black sword with lightning speed.
*Chaaeng!*
But the Murderous Ghost was already standing tall before the hall's large gates, as if he'd been there all along.
“…”
With only the red-painted gate between them, Bu Eun-seol and the Murderous Ghost stared at each other.
As the standoff continued in the suffocating tension, a bead of sweat trickled down Bu Eun-seol's forehead.
But even as a quarter of an hour passed, the Murderous Ghost remained motionless.
‘So that's it.’
Finally sensing something, Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened.
‘The Murderous Ghost can't leave the restricted area!’
The moment he stepped outside the training hall, the sound announcing the restricted zone had stopped.
It was clear now: the restricted zone was confined to the inside of the Hwau Sword Sect's training hall.
“…”
Even though Bu Eun-seol was staring right at him, the Murderous Ghost didn't even glance his way.
The eyes visible above his mask seemed to be gazing at some distant place.
*Ssk.*
Bu Eun-seol cautiously backed away, then turned and fled with all his might.
‘All I could do was run for my life.’
Since he started learning the Ya-su-do, this was the first time he couldn't even perceive a trace of an attack.
He couldn't even guess what kind of weapon had been used. The Murderous Ghost's skill might even surpass that of the instructors.
*Whoosh. Thud.*
After running like a madman, Bu Eun-seol arrived at the southern shore of Hellfire Island.
The black ship was moored before the Contemplation Rock, and the sun was setting beyond the horizon.
“Hoo.”
Bu Eun-seol stopped running, his back drenched in sweat.
*Pat.*
As he stopped, a few strands of his hair fell to the ground.
It was the rest of the hair that had been severed by the Murderous Ghost's attack.
“I was a frog in a well…”
Picking up the fallen strands, Bu Eun-seol's eyes filled with a dazed light.
“No, perhaps a frog that never even made it out of the well.”
The Murderous Ghost's martial skill was at a level Bu Eun-seol couldn't even begin to fathom.
And yet, the cut ends of his hair were ragged.
“But that man…”
The fiend who killed his grandfather had sliced through the living flesh and blood of two human arms as smoothly as if they were glass.
It was a truly boundless realm of skill… one that even masters who had trained for decades would find difficult to reach.
Bu Eun-seol had to surpass that realm to get his revenge.
*Shhh.*
Just then, a figure appeared, walking toward him with the setting sun at his back.
He had a sturdy build and carried a large blade slung over his shoulder.
“Bu Eun-seol.”
To his surprise, the boy with the blade called his name calmly.
“I've been looking for you for a long time.”
Bu Eun-seol stood frozen in place, not moving a muscle.
‘He feels similar.’
He has a similar aura to the Murderous Ghost I just saw.
If I move rashly, that blunt-looking blade will slice me in two.
“My name is Peng Ak. Here, I've been learning the Blood Flame Saber.”
After calmly introducing himself, Peng Ak's eyes glinted as he looked at Bu Eun-seol.
“I hear you've been learning the Ya-su-do. Is that true?”
A trainee from the Blood Flame Saber House knows about my situation?
But Bu Eun-seol wasn't particularly surprised.
There were many factions on this island. If Peng Ak's group had a member from the Hwau Sword Sect, it wasn't a big deal for them to know about him.
“No more words are needed, are they?”
Watching the tight-lipped Bu Eun-seol, Peng Ak slowly drew the great saber from his shoulder.
*Chuk.*
It was a peculiar stance.
Peng Ak raised the large saber over his head as if he were about to split firewood. It was the characteristic opening stance of the Blood Flame Saber Style.
But Bu Eun-seol remained still, not even drawing his sword.
He had a gut feeling that the moment he tried to draw his blade, a strike like a thunderbolt would come flying at him.
“So you've already grasped the Blood Flame Saber's posture.”
The terrifying thing about the Blood Flame Saber's posture was that it delivered a strike timed perfectly with the opponent's movement.
“No, that's not it.”
Observing Bu Eun-seol's stance, Peng Ak took a deep breath and nodded.
“You've predicted the path of my saber's force with your beast-like senses. With the Ya-su-do.”
A strange thought crossed Bu Eun-seol's mind.
What group does this man belong to? Is he with the masked man I just encountered?
How does he know not only my face, but also the specific abilities of the Ya-su-do?
As these thoughts spiraled, Peng Ak suddenly began to say something strange.
“As I thought… you're destined to become one of the Ten Demonic Successors.”
*Shhffk.*
Suddenly, Peng Ak's stance changed.
From the Blood Flame Saber posture that looked ready to unleash a Heaven-Sundering Strike, he abruptly shifted to a bizarre stance, as if casting a net.
“The seeds of demons must be cut down early!”
‘Seeds of demons?’
In that instant, a thought flashed through Bu Eun-seol's mind like lightning.
—Hmph, do you really think everyone gathered here wants to become one of the Ten Demonic Successors?
Those were the words of Seo Jin-ha, the advanced hall trainee who had displayed swordsmanship comparable to his own.
From that one statement, Bu Eun-seol had deduced that this island held not only geniuses of the demonic path, but also spies infiltrated from the righteous factions.
‘This man, Peng Ak… he must be one too.’
*Clang!*
Just then, a gleaming blue blade stopped right before Bu Eun-seol's forehead.
In the moment he was distracted, Peng Ak's swift saber had descended, and his body had reacted faster than his mind to block the technique.
If he hadn't learned the Ya-su-do, he would have lost his life in that single exchange.
‘I need to clear my mind!’
Screaming inwardly, Bu Eun-seol gripped his black sword with both hands.
Just now, Peng Ak hadn't used the Blood Flame Saber Style, but another saber art. This was proof that he had mastered a style more powerful than the newly learned Blood Flame Saber.
“Bu Eun-seol, you will die here!”
*Taaang!*
Once again, the black sword and the saber clashed.
In that instant, a powerful force traveled up the sword and into Bu Eun-seol's wrist.
“Kuh.”
It felt as if a sharp, long needle had pierced his wrist and was stabbing every corner of his body.
The saber art Peng Ak used not only had a powerful suction force, but each time their weapons clashed, a potent energy invaded his body.
*Crack.*
With each clash, Bu Eun-seol felt a shock that rattled not just his wrist, but the bones throughout his entire body.
‘The Hebei Peng Clan…?’
At that moment, Bu Eun-seol recalled a time years ago when he was helping his grandfather prepare a body for burial.
—My, this one was killed by a master from the Hebei Peng Clan.
His grandfather, Bu Jan-yang, shook his head as he looked at the corpse laid out on the cleansing table.
—How can you tell?
—There are no external wounds, but can't you see his bones are riddled with hairline fractures?
This is the telltale sign of someone struck by the Hebei Peng Clan's Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber.
Bu Jan-yang clicked his tongue and sighed.
—The masters of the Hebei Peng Clan rarely show themselves in the martial world… This man must have committed a truly grave sin.
Dipping a clean cloth into a basin of warm water, Bu Jan-yang muttered in a low voice.
—When fighting a master of the Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber, you must use their overwhelming Suction Art against them to counterattack. He must have tried to meet it head-on, and that's why his body ended up like this.
As the memory ended, Bu Eun-seol's eyes gleamed.
In the past, those words had been completely incomprehensible, but thanks to his sword studies in the advanced hall, he could now grasp their meaning.
‘Use the Suction Art to counterattack…’
*Swaek!*
At that moment, Peng Ak's great saber came cleaving down toward Bu Eun-seol's shoulder again.
“Hah!”
In that instant, Bu Eun-seol drove his black sword into the ground with all his strength.
The Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber Style.
The unique saber art of the Peng Clan, which dominated the Hebei province, it possessed a power heavier than Mount Tai.
Not only that, but each move had the effect of pulling the opponent's weapon in, allowing the user to pour immense force into them at the moment of impact.
‘What?’
Peng Ak, who had been striking at the shoulder with his swift saber, widened his eyes.
He had expected Bu Eun-seol to raise his sword to defend his shoulder, but instead, he was thrusting it into the ground?
*Whir.*
As the black sword, caught in the Suction Art, moved in an unexpected direction, Peng Ak's vertically descending saber was thrown slightly off course.
“You brat!”
His attack having missed, Peng Ak spun his great saber again and swept it toward Bu Eun-seol's waist.
*Shwiik.*
But Bu Eun-seol paid it no mind, moving his sword in another odd direction.
As his moves missed time and again, Peng Ak scoffed.
“So you're resorting to petty tricks!”
He called them petty, but Bu Eun-seol's actions were incredibly audacious.
How many in the martial world had the nerve to perform a completely unrelated action instead of blocking an enemy's blade as it flew toward them?
‘This isn't enough.’
He had used the Suction Art to nullify the attacks, but that was all.
This method would never defeat Peng Ak; on the contrary, it would only drain his stamina.
*Whoosh!*
The great saber fell from above like a meteor, but Bu Eun-seol opened his stance as if welcoming a guest.
However, the Suction Art was stronger than he'd anticipated, and Bu Eun-seol's black sword was pulled toward Peng Ak's body.
—I will teach you the way to achieve the principle of 'striking second to gain control' in swordsmanship.
As his black sword moved against his will, the voice of Dan Cheon-yang, who had interpreted the texts in the advanced hall, suddenly echoed in his mind.
—Speed is relative. In other words, you don't need to be exceptionally fast; you just need to be half a step faster than your enemy.
‘I'll use the Suction Art to make my sword faster than his saber.’
*Flash!*
As realization dawned, a glint of light flashed in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
*Paaat!*
Just then, Peng Ak's great saber sliced violently through the air, aiming for Bu Eun-seol's torso.
But Bu Eun-seol paid it no mind, instead thrusting his sword swiftly toward Peng Ak's throat.
*Whoosh.*
Bu Eun-seol's movement was slow, yet his black sword reached Peng Ak's throat in the blink of an eye.
“What?”
Greatly surprised, Peng Ak halted his technique and retreated.
‘How can that slow swordsmanship be faster than my saber?’
Gritting his teeth, he unleashed his saber art once more.
*Krrrr.*
With a faint rumble of thunder, dozens of saber afterimages enveloped Bu Eun-seol.
*Whoosh!*
But once again, as Bu Eun-seol slowly extended his sword, it pierced through the saber afterimages and drove toward his throat.
“Kngh!”
Leaning back, Peng Ak narrowly avoided the black sword aiming for his Tiantu acupoint.
Bu Eun-seol's swordsmanship was unhurried, so how could it be faster than his own saber art, which sliced violently through the air?
“Hah!”
Mustering all his internal energy, Peng Ak unleashed his saber art once more.
And using the intense Suction Art, he tried to force Bu Eun-seol's black sword to clash with his great saber.
“What?”
But the black sword, which seemed about to clash with his saber, suddenly changed direction and attacked his throat instead.
‘Don't tell me this devilish bastard is using the power of the Suction Art to perform his own swift sword technique?’
The Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber Style, which destroyed an enemy's insides by clashing weapons.
To use that secret art, one had to unleash a powerful Suction Art with every move.
And Bu Eun-seol was using that pulling force to rapidly extend his sword, then slightly altering its trajectory at the last moment to attack Peng Ak.
‘Impossible!’
The Suction Art of the Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber could pull in a boulder from thirty feet away.
To skillfully manipulate such an intense force was a feat not even sword masters could easily accomplish.
*Shk! Shk!*
Just then, Bu Eun-seol once again performed his slow swordsmanship.
His movements were unhurried and the form was simple, yet it was just a fraction faster than Peng Ak's saber art that cut through the air.
“Fine!”
Peng Ak roared, twisting his grip on the great saber. Then, he began to execute his saber art with blinding speed, wielding the large saber as if it were a pair of chopsticks.
*Trrrrr!*
A sound like the snorting of an enraged beast echoed out as a gale of sharp saber strikes rained down like a sudden storm.
*Fwoooosh!*
As the saber moves unfolded, an intense suction force enveloped Bu Eun-seol's black sword.
*Brrrr.*
The black sword in his hand trembled like a lone boat in a storm, but there was not a hint of wavering in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
‘The stronger the Suction Art, the faster my sword becomes.’
The Five Tigers Severing Gate Saber was less a profound art and more a style that used overwhelming internal energy to injure the enemy.
Without the clash of weapons, it couldn't display its true power.