A Sky of Endless Blue
Jegal Seon-a, now safely rescued, poured her inner vision into the Baekseo. The Yucheon Divine Sword Baekseo. Its power to command spirituality resonated perfectly with her empathy ability, overlaying a vast domain of perception across the battlefield. Her mental strength was not yet great enough for the effect to stand out, but resonance was by nature a two-way force. With sufficient mental power, it was entirely possible for her to bestow her own onto others.
"Everyone, swallow the Pahwandan!" the Black Sword Ghost ordered, realizing the situation too late. The Pahwandan was literally a pill crafted to shatter sorcery-induced illusions. It had been prepared as a counter to the Jegal family's Delusion Array. Yet the formation Jegal Seon-a had deployed was fundamentally different from the ordinary illusions they had faced before.
"This is...?"
The Black Sword Ghost suddenly found himself wrapped in the sensation of floating through the sky. An endless heaven. Above, below, and in every direction, the world was filled with nothing but a vast blue expanse.
Did she overlay her own thoughts onto others through the Baekseo?
The moment he identified the phenomenon, the Black Sword Ghost returned to the real world. Having opened all three dantians and achieved harmony between essence, energy, and spirit, even the Baekseo's power had lost its luster against him. More precisely, it was the limit of the person wielding it.
"So you have no intention of letting me leave..."
The endless sky he had witnessed in that mental space now seemed to stare back at him. Facing Namgung Woo's piercing blue eyes, the Black Sword Ghost let out a bitter sigh at the realization that he had no choices left.
"At this rate, the numbers simply don't add up."
Creak.
A spine-chilling screech rose from the Black Sword Ghost's blade. In the same instant, both men moved.
Clang!
The very first exchange was a merciless collision of condensed sword energy. The situation had completely reversed. Where Geumsin had been the challenger and the Black Sword Ghost the examiner moments ago, their roles were now flipped.
How long has it been since I fought an opponent like this?
The Black Sword Ghost circulated his internal energy throughout his body via his meridians. The power spreading through his four limbs and hundred bones filled him with a sense of omnipotence, as though nothing were beyond him. The sword spheres of the two men resembled the calm eye of a storm. Even though Geumsin, standing nearby, had raised his defensive energy to the limit, the violent vortex of power was still enough to leave him with scratches. Yet within the two combatants' sword domains, their supreme control perfectly canceled out the opposing energy waves.
Five exchanges passed in the blink of an eye. Though the difference in the depth of their internal energy sent bone-deep shocks rippling through him, the Black Sword Ghost was overcome with ecstasy. This was a battle he had entered prepared to give his life. Now, he saw a path to survival.
This man lacks experience!
Who was the greatest expert Namgung Woo had ever faced? Without question, it was Paeng Hu-sang. Commander Gwak Dan had been formidable as well, but during that battle Namgung Woo had been too focused on his own fight to fully gauge the man's full strength. Against Paeng Hu-sang, however, he had personally experienced the Family Head's true ultimate technique, the Five Tigers Severing Gate Blade. That alone placed the Blade King at the pinnacle.
Setting those two absolute masters aside, who remained? Lee Ja-ryong had been a Transcendent Realm expert, but his nature leaned far more toward sorcery, so he could be excluded. That left only Han Gye-ran, the East Sea Matchless.
She had been strong. So strong that Namgung Woo had calculated he might need to sacrifice two of his limbs to secure victory. Yet now he realized how wrong that assessment had been.
Two limbs? No. I should have prepared myself for mutual destruction.
Facing the Black Sword Ghost's blade, he finally understood. In physical ability, depth of internal energy, and level of martial arts, Namgung Woo was not inferior in any regard. Nevertheless, the scales of victory refused to tip. The difference lay in experience. The Black Sword Ghost's accumulated real-combat experience was bridging the gap in their respective weight classes.
He's even blocking my upper dantian ability.
The overwhelming presence that had once shattered the Sound Fiend Wolf's mind like a spiritless husk had no effect on the Black Sword Ghost. It was only natural. The man was also an expert who had opened his upper dantian. Had the ability been seamlessly integrated into his martial arts like Paeng Hu-sang's Five Tigers Severing Gate Blade, the story might have been different. But using an unrefined upper dantian technique alongside martial arts was not enough to crush the mind of a supreme expert like the Black Sword Ghost.
Of course, the Black Sword Ghost's focus was split between protecting his own mind and fighting, yet decades of accumulated experience allowed him to neutralize the distraction. The all-out battle between two supreme experts devastated everything around them. Trees caught in the energy waves were ripped out by the roots. Deflected sword winds gouged long furrows across the ground. Each stomp overturned the earth, while fists and kicks aimed at openings shattered the very air.
It was a miraculous clash of titanic power, the kind that should never have been possible from such small human frames.
Namgung Woo did not grow impatient. In a battle of attrition, victory was his. No matter how vast the internal energy of supreme experts might be, it was not infinite. With his advantage in both the quantity and efficiency of his qi, the Black Sword Ghost would be the first to reach his limit.
Yet that, too, was part of the Black Sword Ghost's plan.
"Aaaack!"
The scream from behind shattered Namgung Woo's concentration. The resonance ability Jegal Seon-a had spread across the battlefield with the Baekseo as its axis was being violently shaken by the shockwaves of their duel. As a result, the Black Sword Ghost's men were beginning to regain their senses.
Exploiting that paper-thin opening, the Black Sword Ghost's blade streaked toward one of Namgung Woo's vital points.
Namgung Woo's mind accelerated. The experience gained from his battle with Lee Ja-ryong moved his qi faster than conscious thought. The defensive energy of the Heavenly Steel Secret Palace blocked the incoming blade.
Kwoooong—!
The razor-sharp thrust of condensed sword gang was perfectly stopped by the Heavenly Steel Secret Palace. Yet completely neutralizing the impact itself proved impossible. Instead of planting his feet and absorbing the force, Namgung Woo surrendered to it, allowing his body to be hurled backward.
His body floated lightly into the air. The instant he used the Thousand Pound Anchor technique to regain his balance and planted his feet on the ground, Namgung Woo swung his arm in a wide arc. The Heavenly Thunder Divine Energy he had raised in a single breath raced up the hand channel of the twelve meridians. He poured true qi into his sword to manifest sword energy, then immediately unleashed the Flying Strike Thunder form of the Flying Sword Energy technique.
Slash!
The arm of a Black Sword Ghost warrior who had been about to drive his blade into a fallen Hwaseong Temple monk was severed by golden sword energy.
He's using my own attack against me...!
Watching both arms of the disciple he had personally raised fly off, the Black Sword Ghost let out a furious roar.
"Where do you think you're looking!"
"It's already too late."
Namgung Woo smirked as he blocked the incoming strike.
And then—
"These bastards!"
Slash!
"Don't let a single one escape! Kill them all!"
Thud!Thwack!
The melee had begun. At last, the righteous faction warriors who had set out from Gyeonghyeon had arrived. Among them, two in particular displayed exceptional skill.
The leader of the Huangshan faction warriors, the Daoist Jeonggwang, split a Black Sword Ghost warrior in two along with his sword using his hand blade. The Dragon-Severing Moon-Seizing Seal. The Huangshan faction's vaunted supreme hand technique unleashed devastating power.
Not to be outdone, another warrior displayed astonishing divine might. It was Paeng Ha-ryeong, now freely wielding two different blade techniques. Her Linked Ring White-Stealing Blade form deflected incoming strikes while her Heaven-Earth Roaring Thunder Blade form crushed enemies with deafening booms.
The Black Sword Ghost warriors who had been slaughtering the Hwaseong Temple monks were collapsing like a crumbling dam.
The Black Sword Ghost ground his teeth and glared at Namgung Woo.
"Gaga! Are you all right?"
Paeng Ha-ryeong rushed to his side, ignoring the murderous, hate-filled gaze directed at him. Though she knew his ability better than anyone, she still scanned his body anxiously, checking for any injuries.
The sight of her devotion left someone behind them staring in blank astonishment.
"Ha-ryeong...? Gaga...?"
Jegal Seon-a, who had been enduring the backlash of the forcibly destroyed formation, doubted her own eyes and ears. Yes. My senses must have broken. After all, she was still too inexperienced to properly wield the Baekseo. On top of that, she had used the Resonance Star Heaven Chart multiple times, leaving both her mental energy and internal qi nearly depleted. It was only natural that the backlash would cause confusion in her perception.
"No! It really is Ha-ryeong!"
Snapping out of her denial, Jegal Seon-a cried out sharply. The formation had been deployed through the medium of the Baekseo. Even if it was forcibly broken, the backlash would not reach her while the treasure supported her. Her senses were perfectly intact. Her eyes were clear, her ears sharp. The woman standing beside the great hero who had protected her was indeed Paeng Ha-ryeong, and the affectionate term she used for him was undoubtedly "Gaga."
Namgung Woo gently pushed Paeng Ha-ryeong away at the sound of the shrill cry behind him.
"It's dangerous. Stay back and watch from there."
"Ah, yes..."
Paeng Ha-ryeong trotted over to Jegal Seon-a.
"I knew you would come."
"Who wouldn't realize you were waiting? You planned to block with your defensive energy and cut me down. To go so far as to use Six Severings, Bone Shattering... even at your level, you show no mercy."
He had not originally intended to go that far, but protecting Paeng Ha-ryeong had demanded it. The Black Sword Ghost had read as much and chosen not to overextend, instead using his energy waves to pressure the righteous faction warriors and protect his own men. He still had one final card to play.
"Stop this at once!"
A group appeared on the slope. They were holding people dressed in the martial uniforms of the Jegal family.
"That man is the Destroyer Demon," said Jeonggwang, approaching while blood dripped from his soaked hand. He looked toward the leader of the newcomers. "And the person he is holding appears to be the Biyun Corps Leader."
Jegal Pan's vitality was faint. Deep wounds covered his body as he hung limply in the Destroyer Demon's grasp.
"Release the Black Sword Ghost unit, and I will free these people."
"Destroyer Demon! The Baekseo..."
"Then will you take responsibility for fighting that man? Because I won't."
"...Tsk."
When the Black Sword Ghost abandoned his protest and stepped back, the Destroyer Demon turned to Namgung Woo once more.
"Will you accept the terms?"
Should he be the one to decide? Namgung Woo had already made his choice but had not yet spoken it aloud when Jeonggwang addressed him with deep reverence.
"Please make the decision, Great Hero."
Great Hero. The clear change in how Jeonggwang addressed him made Namgung Woo keenly aware of the importance of power. With even the person responsible for the Jegal family in such a state, no one would object if Namgung Woo made the call.
"First, release the people of the Jegal family. Then I will let your men go."