The Back of the Blade
"Got it loud and clear. Geomgak's weakness—'She uses the flat of the blade, not the edge?'"
"Yes, Senior Brother."
"What exactly does that mean? Does her style include moves that use the flat, or did she improvise it once on the fly?"
Saubi narrowed his eyes, his face plainly showing he couldn't quite wrap his head around it. As if he'd anticipated that reaction, his senior brother nudged the junior in the ribs.
"What are you waiting for? Show him right now."
"Ah, yes, Senior Brother."
The junior sprang up at once. He took a step back into open space and drew his sword.
The basic stance of Haenam Sect swordsmanship involved standing tall and straight, holding the sword vertically in front of the brow. It exuded a mountain-like momentum, a domineering posture ready to launch a preemptive strike at any moment. A pose brimming with the bold spirit and magnanimity befitting a prestigious sect.
But the stance the junior took now was far removed from that. He didn't hold the sword vertically but thrust it forward at a slant. That in itself wasn't strange. There were as many sword styles as grains of sand in the world, after all, and every conceivable stance existed among them.
The problem was...
He was gripping the sword backward. Blade up, flat down.
No sect in the world, no sword art, held the weapon like that. A sword was made for cutting. No one would do something so idiotic as flipping the cutting edge upside down.
That one detail turned the junior's stance into a ridiculous clown show.
Saubi clicked his tongue in utter disbelief.
"You're not seriously saying Geomgak took that stance, are you?"
"...That's exactly what I'm saying, Senior Brother. Geomgak definitely assumed a posture just like this."
"Hah, what?"
Saubi finally let out a disbelieving chuckle. He'd been curious what kind of dramatic situation had prompted her to pull out such an unorthodox move with the flat of her blade. But this? This went beyond that. A style that attacked with the flat from the start. Hell, could you even call that a style?
"So when, in what situation, did she take that absurd stance?"
"That's... the whole time, Senior Brother."
"What?"
"From drawing her sword to the very end, the entire fight..."
Hearing the answer, Saubi clutched his forehead with a strange expression.
And then...
"Hahaha! What a spectacle. Truly a spectacle."
He burst into roaring laughter.
Watching him, his senior brother ventured cautiously, "Well, Senior Brother... it might look ridiculous, but she utterly demolished the Haesabang pirates with that swordplay..."
"Hahat, sure she did. Of course she did."
Saubi grinned, baring his teeth.
"When the gap in martial prowess is like heaven and earth, you can smash your foes with a mere twig."
"That's true, but..."
"I get it. I really get it."
Flutter.
Saubi unfurled his folding fan and fanned himself leisurely.
"What exactly do you get...?"
"Geomgak's weakness."
"Pardon?"
The senior and junior brothers' eyes widened. Even for the formidable Saubi, had he already pinpointed Geomgak's flaw?
It was astonishing.
"You've already figured out her weakness...? What is it, Senior Brother?"
"Hahahat! Overconfidence."
"Overconfidence?"
"Exactly. Overconfidence. The belief that she's the best."
Thud.
Saubi's eyes sharpened as he snapped his fan shut and set it on the table.
"Martial artists obsessed with showing off their skills are a dime a dozen. Usually cocky young pups, though."
Saubi critiqued them casually, despite being one of those young pups himself. He simply didn't consider himself in the same league as those run-of-the-mill brats. A crayfish in a narrow ditch could never be lumped with a dragon of the vast sea.
"So Geomgak's got that kind of arrogance too...?"
"Nah, not quite."
Saubi shook his head with a smirk.
"No one's crazy enough to swing only with the flat just to show off. Well, in this case, it's a crazy bitch. Anyway, it's simple: 'I can crush you lot no matter what.' Why? Because she's the best. She's always been the best. That's why she can pull off that insane bullshit without a second thought."
"Hah, now that you mention it... yeah, it did give off that vibe."
"Yeah, me too..."
The senior and junior brothers nodded, convinced.
"Perfect for me. Smashing an overconfident foe is the right of the vigilant. Flat of the blade or scabbard, I'll make her pay for her arrogance without flinching."
"As expected of Senior Brother!"
"It'll surely turn out that way!"
"Hahahat, hearing that from you juniors fires me up even more."
Saubi let out a confident laugh.
That was when the junior blinked, as if remembering something, and spoke up.
"Um, Senior Brother. We should tell Senior Senior Brother about that too..."
"Ah, right. I was just about to mention it."
"What's that?"
Saubi shot them a quizzical look.
"Well, it's something Senior Senior Brother absolutely needs to watch out for..."
"Watch out for?"
"Yes. Geomgak's lightness skill is downright terrifying..."
"Terrifying lightness skill?"
Saubi leaned forward, intrigued.
"Yes, right before our eyes, she used Dengping Doshu..."
"What did you just say?"
"Dengping Doshu..."
"Den-what?"
"Dengping Doshu..."
"..."
"Dengping Doshu..."
Thud.
Saubi spread his palm wide, signaling them to stop. Their mouths snapped shut.
For the first time, Saubi's pupils wavered. Clear agitation, plain as day. But his brothers didn't notice. His palm cleverly masked his expression.
He'd spread it deliberately for that reason.
Saubi was that kind of man—one who hated showing even the slightest gap or tremor.
Especially not to juniors on a stage he'd meticulously prepared.
Instead...
"Hahahahat! Hilarious. See? I was right. That's why she can afford to be so overconfident."
He laughed even more nonchalantly.
But inwardly...
'Fuck, did she practice lightness skill since sucking on her mom's tit? What the hell is Dengping Doshu?'
...he spat curses in irritation.
He knew full well how hard it was to catch someone superior in lightness skill.
Saubi himself was pretty confident in his. Haenam Sect wasn't famed for lightness skill, but he'd mastered the sect's fairly advanced Four Seas Soaring Winds to the tenth stage. Among notable young experts, he prided himself on never falling short.
But Dengping Doshu? That was another level entirely.
His head already ached at the thought of capturing Geomgak.
'No, wait.'
A shift in thinking. If he couldn't catch her, make her come to him.
'The answer is provocation.'
Taunt her every time she pulled away, and Geomgak—arrogant as they came—would charge in raging. Once she did, lightness skill superiority wouldn't matter.
His smile quickly regained its natural poise.
His brothers noticed nothing of the inner turmoil.
"Haha, as expected of Senior Brother. Geomgak will pay dearly for her overconfidence."
"Our sect's prestige will echo through the Central Plains via Senior Brother's sparring match. No doubt."
"Hahat, I'll make sure of it."
Saubi's mind was already filled with visions of victory.
"Indeed, this must be the caliber of a prestigious sect."
Bang So-un murmured as he arrived at the Haenam Sect's mountain gate at the foot of Yeomo Peak, eyeing the disciples.
More of them than usual had turned out to manage the influx of spectators climbing up. Each one radiated extraordinary presence. Minor sects—no, even mid-tier ones—couldn't dream of this.
Just think of Iron Blood Sect, one of Hangzhou's mid-tier sects where he'd brawled with their maids at the Red Flower Pavilion. The difference was night and day.
"A sect like Haenam is bound to have first-rate martial artists like grains of sand, Young Master."
Yeon Su-rin quietly laid out the reality.
"I see. So that's how it is."
Bang So-un twisted the corner of his mouth in a meaningful smirk.
Golden Dragon Battlefield had shelled out fortunes for its first-rates. And they still weren't even thirty. That was the limit of a mid-tier group flush with cash but no martial foundation.
Haenam Sect, on the other hand? First-rates piled like sand. Once the runt of the Nine Great Sects, now not even that.
This was the power of a true prestigious sect.
To realize his mad dream of dominating the martial world, he'd have to scale not just these walls, but dozens.
A massive, heavy barrier.
Yet Bang So-un felt not frustration, but a thrilling excitement.
Yes, that's how it should be. Only walls this grand made the single-minded pursuit worthwhile. The rougher the path, the greater the explosive satisfaction upon reaching the peak.
"Young Master, looks like they're checking identities...?"
Just then, Jang Il asked, a hint of fluster in his voice.
He'd imagined the usual roadside brawl: crowds freely gathering to watch third-rate scrappers duke it out.
Inexperienced, he'd overlooked that a major sect like Haenam hosting, with a senior disciple facing Geomgak no less, wouldn't play out that way.
"Haha, what does it matter? Just declare your identity boldly."
"Huh? That works?"
"Of course. The goal's already achieved, so who cares."
Bang So-un dismissed it like it was nothing.
If there was anything to hesitate over, he wouldn't have come. He was thorough to a fault.
"Don't sweat it. Let's go. Hurry, or we'll end up at the back of the line."
Bang So-un chuckled and joined the queue of people lining up.