Chapter 4
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Slicing the Heavens (1)
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Early morning.
Someone was already running across the training grounds.
The rhythmic sound of footsteps and steady breathing echoed repeatedly.
“Hoo...”
How long had he been running?
Beads of sweat formed on his skin.
Only when his breath caught in his throat did he stop running and stand still.
Soon, Cheon Muryang came into view, looking as if he had lost some of his flabby weight.
“Two hours!”
“Is that so? A little longer than yesterday.”
“Yes!”
After hearing from Woryeong how long he had run, Cheon Muryang sat cross-legged in a corner of the training grounds.
He observed the inside of his body.
‘It seems this is the limit with only the fifth level of the Heavenly Yang Divine Arts.’
The Heavenly Yang Divine Arts were a technique of Yang.
Thus, it was somewhat effective at melting away the Yin energy within him, but less so for the Yang energy, which shared the same properties.
‘The balance must not be broken. I suppose I have no choice but to proceed this way, even if it's slow.’
The process of dissolving the elixir's energy within his body had to be done while maintaining the balance of Yin and Yang.
Cheon Muryang clicked his tongue, disappointed but accepting that it couldn't be helped.
“If only I could enter the Heavenly Dragon Archives and learn a higher-level cultivation method, things would be different. Tsk.”
What could be done?
It was the karma Cheon Muryang himself had built.
‘I'll have to be satisfied with this.’
*Flash!*
Cheon Muryang opened his eyes.
Though it was a pittance, thanks to the internal energy he'd accumulated, his muscles felt relaxed whenever he finished circulating his energy.
“Shall I start again?”
Cheon Muryang rose from his spot.
With a reverent heart, he picked up the Heavenly Light Sword.
The blade pointed high toward the sky.
It was so well-maintained that it reflected the sunlight.
*Whoosh!*
The sharp ring of the sword echoed.
The wounds from swinging the sword against Neung Ryeoun were now turning into calluses, and he felt no pain.
‘Is it tomorrow already?’
The bet with Cheon Seonhak.
It was a wager to win a duel against the top trainee put forward by Cheon Seonhak.
For the past month, he had devoted himself to training with fierce determination.
‘Did I do my best?’
He practically lived on the training grounds.
He increased the intensity of his training daily, losing count of how many times he had vomited in the process.
Despite all that, Cheon Muryang felt he was still lacking.
‘I tried to take it easy, but perhaps I was too impatient.’
Fifteen years from now, the Cheon Family would fall in vain due to the Demonic Cult's schemes.
Knowing this, Cheon Muryang had apparently grown impatient without realizing it.
‘They say too much is as bad as too little. A gentleman's revenge is not too late even after ten years.’
He steadied himself with that thought.
Nothing good ever came from rushing.
‘Let's just focus on what I can do right now.’
First and foremost was the bet with Cheon Seonhak.
“Ah, whoever gets picked is going to be so lucky. They're getting a chance to legally punish the Great Young Lord, right?”
It seemed the rumor had already spread far and wide within the Cheon Family.
This too was likely Cheon Seonhak's intention.
It was a message: if you're scared, give up now.
‘He must not have much to do. He should be honing his sword in that time. Tsk.’
This little commotion was a perfect source of entertainment for those cooped up in the Cheon Family, doing nothing but training.
Thus, there was already much chatter about this duel.
‘Of course, most of it is about how disgracefully I'll lose.’
Though it was a very small minority.
A few opinions, a very few, suggested that the Great Young Lord seemed to have changed.
It was nothing short of a huge step forward.
‘No matter who it is...’
It didn't matter.
Because winning or losing held no meaning.
All he wanted to gain from this bet was a small bit of acknowledgement from Cheon Seonhak.
“Kekek! Still the same as ever. Haven't you learned any sword techniques? All you do is endlessly slash.”
A jeering voice was heard.
He saw Woryeong about to react angrily, but Cheon Muryang stopped her with a look.
‘Still, Great Young Lord, isn't it fortunate that you have at least one person cheering for you?’
Cheon Muryang suddenly chuckled along.
Then he strode toward the trainee who was mocking him.
“Are you perhaps the top trainee?”
Cheon Seonhak had been clear.
He said to fight the 'top' trainee.
“Ah. That's right, Great Young Lord. I am the top trainee.”
“I see.”
“Don't worry, Young Lord. I'll go easy on you and end it quickly.”
His smarmy, sly smile was displeasing.
Suddenly, a face came to mind, but it was strangely different from the one in his memory.
‘Come to think of it...’
So, he asked.
“Alright, top trainee. What is your name?”
“My name is Lee Seok-gi.”
“Ah!”
Lee Seok-gi.
He remembered.
He hadn't recognized him because his face was different, but how could he ever forget that name?
‘The traitorous bastard.’
He had been a close aide to Cheon Muryang in the past.
After joining the Heavenly Dragon Sword Corps, he had connected with Cheon Muryang through politics rather than swordsmanship, becoming one of his closest confidants in power.
The past Cheon Muryang had favored Lee Seok-gi, who only offered flattery, over Nameless, who spoke the truth.
‘His face was quite sharp back then.’
The reason he hadn't recognized him was that, by that later time, greed had etched itself onto his face, and he had become a fat pig, just like the current Cheon Muryang.
However, Lee Seok-gi fell for the Demonic Cult's temptations and began leaking all sorts of information.
‘By the time I realized it, it was too late.’
It was already too late then.
*Grit.*
Cheon Muryang gritted his teeth.
Fury surged within him.
‘I thought it didn't matter... but I've changed my mind.’
Regardless of who the top trainee was.
Cheon Muryang had merely wanted to show his sword to Cheon Seonhak.
But now, it was different.
‘An opportunity has come to cut that traitor's life short.’
Watching Lee Seok-gi with his sly smile, Cheon Muryang also smiled.
“I see. Lee Seok-gi, I will remember that.”
“Then I'll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes. Let's do that. Let's have a fair fight.”
“Yes, Young Lord.”
Lee Seok-gi disappeared, leaving a faint sneer behind.
It was a sly smile that the past Cheon Muryang would never have noticed.
“Tsk. Now I have another reason to swing my sword as if my life depends on it.”
The judgment he couldn't carry out in his past life.
Of course, the current Lee Seok-gi hadn't committed any crime yet, but it felt like he had to pay for it in advance.
And so, Cheon Muryang once again swung his sword.
*Whoosh!*
He still only repeated the slashing motion.
How long did he swing it?
Suddenly, Cheon Muryang recalled Cheon Seonhak's past teachings.
*What is it you seek to cleave?*
*Pardon?*
*Just as I thought. Simply swinging a sword is not the answer.*
*Please teach me.*
*There is not much to teach. Ultimately, the essence of swordsmanship lies in the cleave. What you cleave defines the value of your sword.*
*What I cleave...?*
*Yes. Look to the sky. What you must cleave is not some mere scarecrow.*
*Fwhooosh!*
Cheon Seonhak's sword moved.
The sword that soared to the sky was like an ascending dragon, and that furious dragon cleaved the heavens.
It was the sword that cleaves the heavens.
*...!*
*It is the heavens. Cleave the heavens.*
Since that day.
Cheon Seonhak's sword became a goal he had to one day reach, a milestone that guided his path.
‘What I must cleave is the heavens.’
Cheon Muryang closed his eyes.
The key was the mental image.
Fortunately, Cheon Muryang remembered Cheon Seonhak's sword that had cleaved the heavens.
He entered a state of selflessness, advancing toward infinity.
*Wooooong!*
A fraction of that sword's essence faintly manifested in Cheon Muryang's blade.
He couldn't feel the sword.
When its weight completely vanished.
The Heavenly Light Sword became a part of Cheon Muryang.
A part of that mental image, the one that had cleaved the heavens, overlapped with the Heavenly Light Sword.
*Paaat!*
A brilliant ray of light, so intense it would have blinded Cheon Muryang's closed eyes, scattered in all directions.
And in Cheon Muryang's imagination, the sky split apart.
‘Ah...’
In that instant, the state of selflessness shattered.
Feeling his entire body go limp, Cheon Muryang collapsed where he stood.
“Haa, haa!”
He gasped for breath.
When he opened his eyes, Cheon Muryang realized his surroundings had grown dark.
“Ah...”
It was deep in the night.
A night when no one should be around.
However, Woryeong was there.
For she was the moon's shadow.
“Y-Young Lord?”
Woryeong had always been supportive, but today was different.
“W-What in the world... was that just now?”
Her wide-eyed look of astonishment was an expression Cheon Muryang had never seen before.
At this, he smiled brightly and asked.
He was curious about Woryeong's impression.
“Why? What was it like?”
“W-Well, that is... I don't know much about swords, but...”
“Just tell me what you felt.”
“For a moment, I felt as if the sky had split apart.”
At those words.
It was Cheon Muryang's turn to be surprised.
The sky he had cleaved existed only in his imagination.
‘She saw that?’
How could she have seen it?
Cheon Muryang laughed.
‘How could no one have recognized such a talent? Not even me?’
Woryeong was an unexpected talent.
A talent too precious to be kept as a mere handmaiden.
“Woryeong, about the duel tomorrow.”
“Yes?”
“Don't look away for a second. Watch carefully. And tell me your thoughts afterward.”
It was a strange request for Woryeong.
He was talking about the duel tomorrow when she was just giving her impression of his swordsmanship.
“Yes. I will.”
“Indeed, the darkest place is under the candlestick.”
“Y-Young Lord?”
Though clearly exhausted, Cheon Muryang laughed loud enough to shake the heavens.
The darkest place is under the candlestick; it was dark right under the lamp.
* * *
The Trainee Training Grounds.
From early morning, a large crowd had gathered.
However, everyone was just milling about the perimeter of the grounds.
No one stepped onto it.
“He's coming!”
Someone was walking over from the distance.
It was Cheon Muryang, who had been at the training grounds until dawn but had just returned after changing into clean clothes at Woryeong's nagging insistence.
All eyes were on him.
“Has he... lost weight?”
“Seems like it?”
He had noticeably lost weight.
How many years had it been since his jawline was visible?
Those who hadn't seen Cheon Muryang in a long time were quite surprised.
“So what? His true nature won't change.”
“Right. What good is losing weight if he doesn't lose that scoundrel nature? And it's not like his past misdeeds will just disappear.”
But the sentiment was still negative.
Cheon Muryang was not unaware of this.
He simply endured the stares fixed upon him in silence.
“You've come?”
Cheon Seonhak also stepped onto the training grounds.
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Enough with the pleasantries. I assume you are ready.”
“Anytime.”
“Good. Come up, top trainee.”
“Yes, Grand Commander!”
Lee Seok-gi came up as if he had been waiting.
His face held the conviction that there was no way he could lose.
‘Right. He's probably still thinking about how to handle me.’
This was a stage of opportunity.
Cheon Seonhak was here.
That meant the commanders of the Heavenly Dragon and Heavenly Phoenix Sword Corps under him were also present.
It was a chance to impress them both, so of course, Lee Seok-gi would be deliberating.
‘But what can you do? I don't have the slightest intention of letting that happen.’
Cheon Muryang planned to shatter that stage of opportunity entirely.
“You will fight until I say stop. Understood?”
*Nod.*
The two of them nodded.
“Take the wooden swords.”
“...”
Cheon Muryang and Lee Seok-gi received the wooden swords.
A real sword fight was not permitted.
After all, the status of Great Young Lord meant he was the next family head.
He couldn't be allowed to get hurt, could he?
Cheon Seonhak stepped down from the training grounds.
Then, as if declaring to all, he shouted.
“Begin!”
The start was announced.
Lee Seok-gi was completely off his guard.
Even now, he was likely pondering how to create a spectacular scene of defeating the Great Young Lord.
“Idiot.”
“Huh?”
Thus, Lee Seok-gi failed to react in time.
Cheon Muryang's sword, raised high to the sky, struck down like a bolt of lightning.