Does Tormenting Me Amuse You?!
At his single authoritative word, the elders filed out of the hall like water draining from a tide pool.
Before I knew it, only three remained in this place — me, my master, and Cheon Myeong, the Sect Leader of Wudang.
In that quiet, the middle-aged Taoist in Wudang's ceremonial robes, his beard worn long, looked at me and asked.
"I won't pry into anything further. But... can you swear that you will not betray Wudang, or the Orthodox Sect?"
"I'm not so shameless as to forget a debt of gratitude once it's been given."
Cheon Myeong's gentle gaze pierced straight through me.
The moment our eyes met, I realized this was no ordinary look. I couldn't say I understood the exact principle behind it, but it seemed to be some kind of technique that discerned whether the words a person spoke were true or false.
It sat slightly outside the realm of ordinary martial arts, so I couldn't quite fathom how it worked — but one thing was clear: whatever it was, I could use it.
"...What was that just now?"
"You noticed, did you? It's a technique that separates truth from falsehood. It has been passed down through the generations to whoever holds the position of Wudang's Sect Leader."
"A technique..."
"You can ask your master about the details later."
"Yes, understood."
When I nodded, he rose from his seat and approached me slowly. His wrinkled hand tapped me lightly on the shoulder.
"Disciple Baek Sihyeok. You cut down the Madou of the Transcendent Realm, and you did us the great service of warning the Orthodox Sect of the Demonic Cult's movements — a threat that could have grown immense. For that, you have my thanks."
"You honor me with too much praise."
"Then name your reward. Wealth, if it's wealth you want. Martial arts, if it's martial arts. Ah — though I suppose martial arts would mean little to you. Anything else... as long as it lies within this Sect Leader's reach, I shall grant it."
That was one thing I didn't need to think about.
After all, my lack of internal energy had been weighing on me already.
"Just one elixir — something that can boost my internal energy. That's all I ask."
"An elixir... Very well. I'll speak to the head of my Medicine Hall and have something delivered to Cheonjugwan."
"Thank you."
"Good. Off you go, then."
Apparently my master still had matters to discuss with the Sect Leader, because she remained standing exactly where she was. I left the two of them behind, stepped out of the Taeguk Hall, and broke into a run toward Cheonjugwan.
With the Celestial Grand Taiji Step unfurled, I arrived in the blink of an eye.
My eyes found Cheon Seolhyeon, deep in training with the Taecheong Sword Technique. Her blade carried a pale azure sword qi, sweeping through the air in soft, flowing arcs, as if she were painting a picture upon the empty sky.
One by one, the flaws in her form began to register in my eyes.
I carefully stepped up behind her and took hold of her wrist.
"When you grip the sword, twist the wrist a little more. Spread your feet wider, and drop your stance a bit lower."
"...!"
She jolted in surprise, her sword path scattering and her wrist trembling for a moment — but she steadied herself quickly. And just like that, we began to perform the Taecheong Sword Technique together.
The intent carried in her blade was flawless, so there was nothing there for me to criticize.
Her sword qi flowed with gentle grace, tracing the shape of a blue river coursing through empty air.
Only then did I let go of her hand and quietly admire the beautiful image of nature her blade had drawn.
"So prodigies really do exist. I just barely adjusted your grip, and you absorbed the answer in one go and swung it exactly like that."
Unlike me, leaning on some inexplicable power — that's what real talent looks like.
I watched her for a while, then drew my own sword.
Cheon Seolhyeon's eyes went wide.
"Why are you drawing your...?"
"You said it yourself. Swordplay isn't something you do alone."
"Wh-what, even so, that's going a bit—"
"Maybe so."
The faster you climb to a higher realm, the stronger my Heavenly Escape Sword Technique gets, doesn't it?
From the way she swung her sword, it looked like all she needed now was that one flash of enlightenment to reach the Peak Realm.
My internal energy was top-tier in any case. If I amplified it with a special technique or skill, I could unleash a single strike at the Transcendent level — but matching her level and crossing swords with her wasn't all that difficult.
A vivid blue sword qi gathered at the tip of my blade.
"I'll teach you the insight of the Peak Realm — how to pour your intent into your qi."
"And how exactly does one do that..?"
"Usually... it comes when you suffer something truly unjust, or when your rage boils all the way to the crown of your head. When your emotions amplify to their absolute limit, the breakthrough tends to follow."
For me, it was the moment right before I died of old age — my lifespan spent to the very last drop.
Blaming the heavens, I had swung my sword with nothing in my heart but the wish to leave a single scratch on the sky.
That blade had been brimming with every injustice I'd suffered since falling into this world — and every emotion I'd felt in those moments, one after another.
That radiant, gold-drenched sword qi had left a faint scar in the clouds before scattering into nothing.
I recalled the feelings of that moment and began to trace the azure sword qi of Taecheong — the Great Clarity — into the empty air.
****
"...What?"
Cheon Seolhyeon stared, dazed, at the blue current surging toward her.
So let me interpret what that cursed bastard is saying...
He's telling me he's going to make me furious, right here and now?!
She poured every ounce of her strength into the tip of her sword.
A current roughly the same size as Baek Sihyeok's took shape, and she sent it surging toward the incoming sword qi.
But why?
The instant the current Cheon Seolhyeon had drawn collided with Baek Sihyeok's, it simply burst apart.
"...Huh?"
She stared blankly at the shards of her own sword qi scattering in every direction like droplets from a burst of spray.
And in that heartbeat of confusion—
Baek Sihyeok's sword flat slammed into her side.
"Kgh..!"
Her body stumbled back several steps. And without giving her a moment to breathe, his sword came swinging again.
A Taiji diagram bloomed beneath Cheon Seolhyeon's feet and exploded, launching her out of the spot at incredible speed.
The Heavenly Thunder Taiji Step granted speed a full realm above its wielder's own. In the hands of a First-Rate martial artist, it could produce Peak Realm velocity, if only for an instant.
Which made it a technique of extreme efficiency when it came to fleeing.
There was just one thing Cheon Seolhyeon had failed to account for: right now, Baek Sihyeok was holding something even better than that.
Barely a heartbeat after she touched down, Baek Sihyeok appeared in front of her — moving faster than she had.
Cheon Seolhyeon unleashed the Taecheong Sword Technique with everything she had.
A force so massive it could only be called a waterfall gathered along her blade.
Water flows from above to below. And nearly all of Wudang's sword arts took the form of flowing water.
Cheon Seolhyeon raised her sword overhead, then brought it down toward Baek Sihyeon carrying the absolute maximum of power she could produce — a scene like a waterfall come crashing down, unfolding at her hands.
And Baek Sihyeok's sword swung from below, upward.
Water flowing in a broad, steady river met the violent torrent of the falls — and the waterfall was split apart by that single, unhurried current flowing against it.
"No way... that's not even possible."
"A sword swung without heart is a weak sword, plain and simple. You've still got plenty of internal energy, don't you? Let's go a little longer."
"Grrraaagh...!"
And so Cheon Seolhyeon's sword was pushed back, again and again, by Baek Sihyeok's.
Sometimes she wasn't merely driven off, either — he'd catch an opening she left exposed and smack it with the flat of his blade. And every time he did, he'd toss out some creepy little line like:
'You just died once, right there.'
'You just lost your right arm.'
'Your head just came off.'
"You damn bastard! Does tormenting me actually amuse you?!"
"A little?"
"Uuuugh..."
Her grip tightened around the sword hilt. Glaring at Baek Sihyeok as he closed in on her, she ground her teeth.
I will land one hit on him. Whatever it takes.
If I can just smash that smug face with the flat of my sword, I could die happy today!
She swung her sword again at the incoming tide of sword qi.
But her composure had been swept away by her emotions. Her sword path scattered, the tip of her blade wavered, and her form grew worse than it had been before.
Another heavy impact slammed into her abdomen.
"Khahek..!"
Again.
Baek Sihyeok's sword qi split Cheon Seolhyeon's clean in half.
Again.
Her sword was batted aside, and his fist cracked against her forearm.
Again. Again. Again.
With every blow she took, she could feel the rage piling up, brick by brick, inside her chest.
It was hatred, too — and resentment. Whatever it was, it was nothing positive.
Because this wasn't a spar. This was a beating wearing a spar's clothing.
And yet, even in the middle of all that—
Cheon Seolhyeon remembered the warmth of the arms that had held her.
She chose to believe that Baek Sihyeok wasn't pounding on her because he hated her.
Only then did she empty her mind and pour everything she had into the tip of her sword.
Somehow, it felt as though the sword and her body had become one.
In this place, right now, there was only me, my opponent — and the sword.
Through her dimming consciousness, Cheon Seolhyeon began to unfold the sword she had honed, without pause, day after day.
The last trace her family — now gone — had left behind for her.
Which was exactly why she could never, ever let it go.
Her blade began to reach out, searching for the sword that carried the heart most easily of all.
In this moment, the intent woven into Cheon Seolhyeon's sword was... longing.
And also — fury at the Evil Black Alliance, the ones who had stolen her family from her.
The old memory surfaced: her vow that someday, without fail, she would grow strong enough to erase them from this world entirely.
Along her sword, a vivid blue thunder-light crackled into being.
Heavenly Escape Sword Technique, First Form —
Heavenly Thunder True Mirror.
Lightning danced in the air. Hidden within its flicker, Cheon Seolhyeon hurled every last bolt of it straight at Baek Sihyeok.
Baek Sihyeok silently swung his sword and received it all.
His blade traced a Taiji diagram — and that Taiji gently embraced every bolt of lightning she scattered, drawing them all in.
And just like that, Cheon Seolhyeon reached the Peak Realm.
She'd spent every last drop of her strength, and she sank down where she stood.
Baek Sihyeok came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her steady.
"If you need my help with your revenge, just say the word. I'll help you whenever you need it."
"..."
Cheon Seolhyeon sat there where she'd collapsed, unable to rise for a long while.