Spellcraft (2)
While Won Hang of the Won Clan stood intoxicated by the thrill of anticipated victory, believing the outcome already decided, Cheon Woo-jin's mind remained perfectly still, analyzing the situation with cold, unshaken clarity.
So close-quarters combat is a disadvantage for me, after all.
Cultivators were stronger than martial artists. That was a truth no one could deny. Yet there existed exactly one situation in which a martial artist could seize the upper hand against a cultivator: when they ambushed a Qi Condensation cultivator and forced a melee.
Anyone at Foundation Establishment or above could toy with any martial artist with a flick of a finger, but Qi Condensation simply isn't at that level yet.
In truth, the Water Shield Technique Cheon Woo-jin had deployed was failing to properly block Won Hang's sword qi. Part of it was his own unfamiliarity with defensive spellcraft, but Won Hang's blade energy was also exceptionally sharp and devastating.
"Haahp...!"
Won Hang roared, and in the same instant the sword qi grew even fiercer. Perhaps he was on the verge of a new breakthrough in this very moment. And that meant death was closing in on Cheon Woo-jin. Soon the barrier of water would shatter, and Won Hang's sword qi would shear off his head.
Keeping one's life even after decapitation required a higher realm. Cheon Woo-jin, still a mere Qi Condensation cultivator, would die the instant his head left his shoulders.
So winning a contest of raw force against a master of martial arts with my current ability really is beyond me.
Cheon Woo-jin readily acknowledged his own inadequacy. Facing a supreme master of Gwiyeongja's caliber in a head-on duel was still a difficult proposition.
But he neither despaired nor desponded. He knew he simply didn't have to fight head-on — and the preparations for that were already in place.
Black Shadow.
An anomaly occurred within Cheon Woo-jin's shadow. From its depths, jet-black blades began to rise. This was anything but sudden — he had been covertly sinking his spirit qi into his own shadow since long before.
The name of this spell was the Black Shadow Technique. It fused compressed black water-attribute spirit qi with his own shadow, generating dark blades from within it. Of all the techniques Cheon Woo-jin had mastered in Gwiyeongja's cave, it was by far the most lethal.
Because the black blades could only emerge from within his own shadow, its range was extremely short. But since the blades erupted without a single sign of warning, it was nothing short of perfect for striking an opponent's blind side in close combat.
"...!"
Thwack!
A black blade surging up from the blind angle punched through Won Hang's lower abdomen. The moment the blade — formed of compressed, jet-black spirit qi — pierced his belly, time itself seemed to freeze.
Had Won Hang been protecting his body with guardian qi, he would never have fallen so pathetically. But at that moment, he was pouring every ounce of his power into his sword qi to smash through Cheon Woo-jin's defense. His back was left entirely unguarded, focused on nothing but attack. And so the black blade slid through his lower abdomen without the slightest resistance.
"M-my dantian..."
The sword qi that had bored in with such terrifying momentum guttered out into nothing. His dantian had been destroyed; he could no longer channel his internal energy at all.
Watching the color drain from Won Hang's face, Cheon Woo-jin directed his spirit qi. The black blade rising from his shadow traced an intricate, twisting path.
"Ah..."
Shhhk-shhk-shhk!
The merciless black blades minced Won Hang's body to ribbons. The sword he carried had long since been knocked from his grip. A body stripped of internal energy and fighting spirit could not withstand a cultivator's spellcraft.
Won Hang never even managed a final scream. Blood sprayed from his throat and every vital point across his body as he crumpled where he stood. Only moments ago he had been drunk on the thrill of believing he could fell a cultivator — and this was the hollow, meaningless end that awaited him.
A futile hope, Won Hang.
Certainly, a martial artist could claim the upper hand against a Qi Condensation cultivator in a melee. But that was all it was — an advantage. If the cultivator had prepared even a single move to strike at the martial artist's blind side, the outcome could be reversed at any time.
In fights between martial artists alone, no blade ever surges up from beneath your feet.
Last winter, the spell Cheon Woo-jin had trained most intensively was precisely this Black Shadow Technique. He had judged it the ideal art for reversing an ambush — for stabbing back into the gap an enemy exposed when they thought they had cornered him.
Gwiyeongja had lacked the aptitude to master it himself, but Cheon Woo-jin, with his Water spiritual root and Body of the Dark True Abyss, had no such impediment. For all that time, he had refined his water-attribute qi with the Five Elements Dao-Entering Art and driven it into his own shadow tens of thousands of times — a punishing, bone-scraping regimen. As a result, he could now wield the Black Shadow Technique with enough cunning to pierce the guard of even a supreme master.
Of course, the Instant Killing Heavenly Eye would have ended this far more easily.
Had he used it during that contest of force, the fight would have been over on the spot. But against a mere martial artist like Won Hang, spending the Instant Killing Heavenly Eye was unthinkable. It could be used exactly once every twenty-four hours — no more. Squander it carelessly, and the day would come when a true crisis arrived and he could not use it. So he had to defeat his enemies without it whenever possible.
That's one of the reasons I have to keep sharpening my own skill.
Viewed through that lens, Cheon Woo-jin still had a long way to go. Fleeing at the start to hurl his Sword-Controlling Talismans at Won Hang's underlings, then grinding out a contest of force before striking the blind side with the Black Shadow Technique — all of it stemmed from the simple fact that his power was still insufficient. If he had possessed the strength to crush them head-on, none of those maneuvers would have been necessary.
Once I enter Foundation Establishment, moments like this will disappear entirely.
Battles this precarious against martial artists were a problem only up to Qi Condensation. Reach Foundation Establishment, and a contest of strength could no longer even be called a contest. Every time a cultivator crossed into the next realm, their growth leapt forward by quantum bounds.
So I need to reach the great completion of Qi Condensation as soon as possible. Only then can I challenge Foundation Establishment.
It was time for Cheon Woo-jin to leave this place and step out into the wider world. But he had no intention of wandering aimlessly.
If this were a game...
Cheon Woo-jin called up his memories of Yeongro Suseonjeon. In the game, the standard route was to head for the Won Clan first. Behind the Won Clan stood a capital sect; earn enough merit within the clan, and that sect would reach out to you first. Pass the entrance examination, join the sect, and the true path of cultivation opened before you.
But I have no need to walk through all of that.
Cheon Woo-jin swept his gaze over his surroundings once more. Blood spilled from the corpses of Won Hang and his men was soaking into the earth.
It reeks of blood.
If no word came from Won Hang, the Won Clan would inevitably dispatch more warriors before long. And when they found these corpses, there was a strong chance they would hunt down the killer and seek revenge. To prevent that, the bodies would have to be removed entirely.
But Cheon Woo-jin did not lay a hand on them. He left the blood-soaked corpses exactly where they lay, walked to a suitable boulder nearby, sat himself down on it, closed his eyes, and began circulating his energy according to the formulas of the Five Elements Dao-Entering Art.
Now and then a wild beast, drawn by the scent of blood, crept close — but the moment Cheon Woo-jin released his spirit power, it fled in abject terror.
Half a day or so had passed when he felt something extraordinary cleave across the sky. It passed over his head toward Mount Goeyu, then wheeled about and returned almost at once.
"Heheh. How very interesting."
CRACK-BOOM!
With a roll of thunder, a man in azure Taoist robes dropped from the heavens. The instant his feet touched the earth, the very air changed. An oppressive pressure no ordinary martial artist could ever hope to match crushed down upon everything in every direction.
"I came to investigate after hearing rumors that Heukha-ryong's presence had vanished, and here I find myself treated to such an entertaining spectacle."
The man drew a crane-feather fan from his robes and raised it to cover his face, so that the stench of blood would not reach his nose directly.
"Was it you who slaughtered these warriors of the Won Clan?"
Face still hidden behind the fan, the man asked with condescending hauteur.
"You appear to be a rootless loose cultivator. Did you truly believe you could commit such an atrocity knowing the Won Clan enjoys the protection of our Taiyi Easy Separation Sect?"
The Taiyi Easy Separation Sect — the cultivators' sect standing behind the Won Clan. And now one of that sect's own cultivators had flown straight into the web Cheon Woo-jin had spun.