The Five Tigers Severing Gate Blade
Before the spar that would serve as a clue toward the path ahead, Paeng Hu-sang spoke.
"The Paeng Family has no upper dantian martial arts. To be precise, we have no arts that deal exclusively with the upper dantian."
Namgung Woo had already guessed as much. If such a technique existed, they would have taught it to Paeng Ye-ryeong long ago in an attempt to forcibly suppress the Heavenly Gate that opened at every moment.
"The reason the Paeng Family has never sought upper dantian martial studies is simply because we never needed them. It is by no means because our family lacks capability."
The words could have sounded like an excuse, yet after facing Paeng Hu-sang's martial prowess directly, Namgung Woo realized they were anything but empty bravado.
The pressure that gripped his entire body felt as if it were crushing him. It reminded him of what it must have been like to encounter a massive tiger on a mountain as an ordinary person before learning martial arts.
The Paeng Family's martial arts were divine arts. And the reason they were called divine was because the Geon Gon Mi Heo Divine Art was an internal cultivation method that began at the lower dantian, yet as one's mastery deepened, it naturally encompassed the middle and upper dantians as well.
Compared to arts like the Reverse Muscle Cleansing Scripture or the Emperor's True Scripture that trained all three dantians simultaneously from the start, it was slower. However, by building the lower dantian as a solid foundation first, it granted an unmatched firmness.
Broaden the lower dantian to create an unshakable base. Fill the middle dantian to establish a balance that would never collapse. And atop that foundation, the upper dantian's abilities would bloom like flowers.
That power now flowed from the edge of Paeng Hu-sang's blade.
I can see it… I can clearly see it…
Namgung Woo had already activated his Blue Serene All-Seeing Eyes. From the moment he opened them, he could perceive every single movement Paeng Hu-sang was about to make. Therefore, he could instantly understand where the blade was aiming, at what speed it was coming, and how he needed to respond.
However—
"Kugh…!"
His predictions missed the mark.
Why?
His eyes were not wrong. The analysis derived from his observation should have been flawless. Yet Paeng Hu-sang's blade completely dismantled Namgung Woo's counterattack and shattered his defense.
The discrepancy arose because he trusted his own eyes too much. The irrational blade strike ultimately broke his stance.
Since this was a spar with both sword qi and blade qi restricted, Paeng Hu-sang's blade was stopped by Namgung Woo's protective energy. But if that blade had carried blade aura, Namgung Woo would have been killed instantly. Of course, in that case, he would have responded with sword aura and protective gang qi as well.
"Do you have a sense of what it is?"
"…I think I'm beginning to understand, albeit faintly."
He was still not even twenty years old. For someone so young to have reached such a high realm, his confidence and pride in his martial arts must have been immense. Therefore, it would not have been strange for him to feel anger or frustration at being so easily defeated. Yet Namgung Woo calmly reviewed the exchange that had just occurred.
At the same time, an irrepressible fighting spirit flickered within his pale blue eyes.
Seeing this, Paeng Hu-sang grinned and asked, "Shall we go again?"
"I would be grateful."
"Good. Very good. This time, I won't yield the first move."
First move.
In a martial artist's fight, the right to strike first was crucial. It was not merely a high-level expert showing off their magnanimity by conceding the initiative to a lesser opponent. Think of Go or chess. The first move was a powerful advantage. That was why, for fairness, the second player was granted a corresponding benefit—such as extra points awarded only to the second player.
But in a real fight, there were no such points. Only life or death. Nothing else.
Therefore, in actual combat, a true expert would never carelessly yield the first move. A single small mistake could lead to their own death.
Namgung Woo carefully organized his thoughts.
The Iron Sword Ten Forms are too weak. The Blue Sky Boundless Sword Art still needs more verification. In the end, it seems I have no choice but to use the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms.
After circling through his options, he returned to the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms. Among its stances, he selected the one most likely to land an effective blow on Paeng Hu-sang.
First form, One Finger Wall? Too ordinary.
Second form, White Lightning Turbulence? The continuous slashes would allow him to press the attack, but against Paeng Hu-sang, it would only expose openings—an ill-advised move.
Then it has to be the third form, Single Lightning Fall.
The vertical slash of Single Lightning Fall was perfect for seizing the initiative. With almost no preparatory movement, it was a stance whose timing was extremely difficult to read.
There was no need to announce his intent. Paeng Hu-sang was already prepared to face any incoming attack at any moment.
Namgung Woo's foot slammed powerfully against the blue stone floor of the training ground. Using the powerful stamping step of the Infinite Step, he unleashed Single Lightning Fall half a breath faster than expected. The strike split Paeng Hu-sang's vision in two—a blow that completely stole away any sense of rhythm.
Yet Paeng Hu-sang's blade drew a graceful arc and deflected Namgung Woo's sword. It was a wondrous example of striking after the opponent, one so refined that it made one question whether this was truly the Hebei Paeng Family's martial art, which pursued dominance through a combination of strength and speed.
However, Paeng Hu-sang's technique showed neither the softness of the Wudang Sect's Taiji Wisdom Sword nor the restraining counter-techniques of Shaolin, which sought to subdue without killing.
Suddenly realizing something, Namgung Woo twisted his sword path. The forced change caused his muscles to strain and his bones to creak, but he ignored the discomfort. Once again, Paeng Hu-sang's blade followed his sword path exactly.
Facing the blade riding up his own sword, Namgung Woo instinctively grasped its true nature.
Foresight…!
It was the same future vision Paeng Ye-ryeong had shown him. Within the extremely brief window of their exchange, Paeng Hu-sang was peering into the future. That was why he could perfectly counter even strikes that should have been impossible to anticipate, instantly mixing in changes to his technique.
The conclusion Namgung Woo had reached was correct.
Having mastered the Geon Gon Mi Heo Divine Art to its peak and opened his upper dantian, Paeng Hu-sang's perception extended even into the future. By raising his senses to the extreme and absorbing all information within his range, he used his transcendent intuition—awakened through the upper dantian—to foresee what was to come.
It was no coincidence that Paeng Ye-ryeong, who had only taken the shallowest steps into the Geon Gon Mi Heo Divine Art, had resonated with Namgung Woo's upper dantian and borrowed the power of his Blue Serene All-Seeing Eyes to witness the fall of Beijing.
Now that he knew its identity, the next step was counterattack.
Breaking it was simple.
An attack that cannot be stopped even if known.
Namgung Woo wrapped his meridians with the internal energy of the Blue Sky Great Expansion Divine Art and detonated the Heavenly Thunder Divine Energy at terrifying speed. Even without sword qi or sword aura, he compensated for destructive power by pushing his body's physical reinforcement to the extreme.
The only illusory sword form among the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms—Fifth Form, Dragon Illusion—was unleashed.
But if Paeng Hu-sang's upper dantian ability truly was foresight, he would have already seen through even this.
Dragon Illusion is a feint.
A distraction. The real attack was a relentless barrage of slashes so fierce they were nearly impossible to block even if seen.
The true form is the Sixth Form, Thunderclap Rending Split.
This would work. No matter how much Paeng Hu-sang peeked into the future, there were attacks that could not be stopped even if known. Just as Namgung Woo had been unable to completely block the first strike of the Mangcheonhu, Paeng Hu-sang would not be able to stop everything.
I won't fall for the same thing twice.
With that resolve, Namgung Woo thrust his sword forward—only to suddenly see a phantom-like shape.
A hallucination? No. It was the Blue Serene All-Seeing Eyes visualizing the invisible flow of energy and the trajectories of internal force.
Five massive tigers filled his entire field of vision. The sword path of Thunderclap Rending Split, which aimed to pierce five vital points in a single breath, was torn apart by the tigers' enormous fangs.
This was not a simple counter—pa-hae—but utter destruction—pa-hoe. It was an extreme destructive technique that rendered Namgung Woo's attempted counter completely useless.
Watching his sword path shatter helplessly, Namgung Woo recalled the name of the blade art Paeng Hu-sang had just displayed.
"This is…"
And at that exact moment, Paeng Hu-sang completely shattered the training sword in Namgung Woo's hand. He pointed his blade at him once more and spoke.
The ultimate technique of the Paeng Family. A supreme blade art that fuses the five core blade styles into one.
"It is the pinnacle of the Paeng Family's martial arts—the Five Tigers Severing Gate Blade."
An attack that could not be stopped even if known. It could no longer be called a mere blade technique. The art itself functioned like a spell. If upper dantian abilities were to be transformed into martial techniques, would they look like this?
It was the very essence of wonder—an art so profound that even with eyes that could not possibly be mistaken, one still doubted whether what they had seen was real.
"…I have lost."
"Hmmm."
At Namgung Woo's words, Paeng Hu-sang let out a meaningful hum and sheathed his blade.
"Martial arts that take gang qi as their ultimate form tend to struggle when internal energy is restricted. If you had used the gang qi techniques you displayed on Mount Wanse, even I would have found it difficult."
It was not empty praise meant to spare Namgung Woo's feelings, but the sincere words of one martial artist to another. If he had used the latter half of the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms—techniques whose profound principles were based on sword aura—the outcome might have been different. Though the final result would likely have remained the same.
"It is called Five Tigers because it contains the five blade arts of the Paeng Family, and Severing Gate because it severs the vital points of any martial art. It is the culmination of the Paeng Family's martial heritage, a technique that cannot even be learned unless one has mastered the Geon Gon Mi Heo Divine Art to its peak and fully attained all five blade styles."
Namgung Woo now understood why Paeng Ha-ryeong had been so overjoyed when he taught her the Heavenly Thunder Divine Energy and allowed her to enter the Geon Gon Roaring Thunder Blade.
While gaining another option as a martial artist was significant, the greatest reason was this: it meant she now had the hope of fulfilling the entry requirements for the Five Tigers Severing Gate Blade. She had rejoiced at the prospect of stepping into an absolute supreme art that could not even be approached without mastering all five blade styles.
"Linked Soul Seizing White Blade. Iron Blood Red Star Blade. Geon Gon Roaring Thunder Blade. Origin True Like Blade. Dominating Strike Shattering Desolation Blade. All five blade styles melt into one within the Five Tigers Severing Gate Blade. Simply witnessing this technique means you have essentially seen the entirety of the Paeng Family's martial arts, my benefactor."
Paeng Hu-sang asked in a dignified tone, "What do you think of the Paeng Family's martial arts?"
"They are astonishing. Truly powerful. I felt the weight of martial arts enhanced by upper dantian abilities."
Namgung Woo trembled with awe. The power of martial arts fused with upper dantian abilities far surpassed his imagination. And it gave him a crucial clue regarding a certain martial art he had been completely unable to comprehend.
…I lacked understanding of upper dantian abilities. That was the prerequisite condition for learning that technique.
The Iron Sword Ten Forms, the Great Expansion Sword Art, the Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms, and even the Blue Sky Boundless Sword Art—he had been able to wield them all from the moment he took this body. But there was one exception. A martial art whose very form he could not even picture in his mind.
Paeng Hu-sang had personally demonstrated both the cause and the solution.
Perhaps satisfied by the gratitude and joy evident in Namgung Woo's answer, the corners of Paeng Hu-sang's mouth lifted slightly.
"Indeed. The power of the Paeng Family is strong. And from now on, that power will also be yours, my benefactor."
Paeng Hu-sang set down his sheathed blade and accepted a jade box from a guard who had approached at the right moment. He opened it and took out the object inside.
"This is the Paeng Family's Token of Trust. It is the Five Tigers Token, permitted only to the family head. Take it. And remember this well—behind you, the Paeng Family will always stand."