The Sword That Mends the Heavens
As they wrapped things up, Namgung Woo found himself genuinely taken aback. He had half-expected the man to come flying at him with a blade the moment things turned sour, yet the reaction was completely different from what he had anticipated. At the very least, he had assumed the leader of a gang that ruled an entire county would try to preserve some shred of pride.
“Then you’ll abide by the conditions of the spar, right?” Song Chae-ji cut in while Namgung Woo stood momentarily speechless. Her demand for victory was simple: pay a fair price, not some ridiculous pittance.
“Of course, I will.” Hwang Mu-tak had been about to slip into his usual casual tone with Song Chae-ji, but he caught Namgung Woo’s gaze and quickly added a respectful suffix.
“I heard the surrounding area was affected as well…” Namgung Woo remarked lightly. It was a deliberate prod. The unspoken pressure—if you don’t like it, then fight me—made cold sweat trickle down Hwang Mu-tak’s forehead.
“…I will make sure appropriate compensation is given to them as well.”
It would cost him a fortune, but there was no helping it. Swallowing his bitterness, Hwang Mu-tak answered with perfect deference. After all, survival came first. He wasn’t foolish enough to pick a fight with a Transcendent Realm expert. That was the kind of choice only people with megalomania or severe anger management issues would make.
“The Hangsan Sect will verify everything later.”
“Do as you will.”
Once Hwang Mu-tak accepted even that, Namgung Woo no longer had any leverage left to press. So he decided to simply state his final request outright.
“And one last thing…”
Hwang Mu-tak cursed inwardly. He had already been squeezed dry—how much more did this man intend to wring out of him? The fact that he never once considered the crimes he himself had committed showed that, at his very core, Hwang Mu-tak was a true Black Path scoundrel.
“Let’s have a spar.”
“A… spar, you say?”
It was different from a duel to the death. This was training—exchanging pointers to improve each other’s skills while avoiding lethal techniques as much as possible. At least no one would lose their life.
“Yes. A spar.” Namgung Woo smiled faintly.
“Ah, does the Black Bear Gang happen to have any swords? I’d like to borrow one.”
Upon arriving at the training ground, Namgung Woo’s question made Hwang Mu-tak answer carefully.
“I apologize, but the Black Bear Gang only practices blade techniques. We have plenty of blades, but…”
Blades, huh. Namgung Woo recalled the blade techniques he had occasionally used for fun. Namgung Mae had once suggested fighting with something other than his main weapon, so he had tried it.
‘It’s not like I can’t use one.’
Still, if possible, he wanted to test the sword arts that formed the core of his martial foundation.
‘Should I treat the blade like a sword?’
His dilemma showed clearly on his face. He saw no reason to hide it.
“Use mine.”
“Miss Song?”
It was often said that a warrior’s weapon was as precious as their life. Handing such a weapon to another was practically proof of deep trust.
“Ahem. It’s because I received your grace.”
No one had even asked for a reason, yet Song Chae-ji offered one anyway. Watching her awkwardly scold the giggling Yang So-dang, Namgung Woo accepted the kind offer with a warm smile.
“I will use it with care and return it safely.”
“…It might be a little small for you.”
“It’s fine. This is more than enough. It’s an excellent sword.”
He wasn’t just being polite. Song Chae-ji’s blade had clearly been crafted to perfectly suit her frame, so it felt somewhat short in Namgung Woo’s hand. Yet the way it nestled perfectly against his palm and its superb balance told him, even without swinging it, that it had been forged by a master smith.
The sense of stability it gave—completely different from fighting bare-handed—made Namgung Woo breathe deeply. As he circulated his breath according to the Heavenly Thunder Emperor Divine Art, the Thunder Emperor Qi in his lower dantian began to stir in response.
‘Which sword art should I use? The Thirteen Lightning Sword Forms that best complements the Heavenly Thunder Emperor Divine Art? The basic Great Expansion Sword Art would work too. The Blue Sky Boundless Sword Art feels a bit excessive…’
The various sword techniques of the Namgung Family stored in his mind rose and fell in turn. In the end, Namgung Woo chose to return to the fundamentals.
‘As expected, the Iron Sword Ten Forms is the most fitting.’
The Iron Sword Ten Forms was a completely foundational training sword art. It only dealt with the most basic methods of handling internal energy. It was an introductory sword style meant to help one grow familiar with the blade. It was also the very first sword art Namgung Woo had learned in Chukrok Murim.
His game senses and real-world senses had not yet fully synchronized. He needed to approach the sword with the mindset of learning it anew from the beginning.
‘It’s like rehabilitation training.’
Taking the opening stance of the Iron Sword Ten Forms, Namgung Woo calmed the thunder qi of the Heavenly Thunder Emperor Divine Art in his lower dantian. Instead, he focused on the internal energy residing at the Jade Hall acupoint in his middle dantian. It was the qi of the Blue Sky Great Expansion Divine Art.
If the Thunder Emperor Qi leaned heavily toward extreme yang, the Blue Sky Qi was the energy of boundlessness. It achieved harmony between yin and yang, approaching the original state of non-duality, making it perfect for the middle dantian—which governed emotion and sat at the center of the body.
Unlike the Thunder Emperor Qi, which was incomparably fast yet felt difficult to control, the Blue Sky Qi was dignified. Like the endlessly stretching sky, it moved with serene grace as it circulated through Namgung Woo’s twelve main meridians and eight extraordinary vessels.
The moment he began circulating his internal energy, waves of qi began radiating from his entire body.
Hwang Mu-tak’s palms grew slick with sweat.
‘What kind of qi wave is that…?’
It was a qi wave he had never seen in his entire life. The man had simply completed one full circulation of his internal energy, yet such a protective qi aura was already leaking out. He couldn’t even begin to guess how profound the man’s cultivation was. Though he had never witnessed it himself, he wondered if the Lord of the Peerless Gate—the one called the greatest in Shanxi—would feel like this.
“Shall we begin?”
Namgung Woo assumed the opening stance of the Iron Sword Ten Forms. The movements themselves were familiar from countless repetitions in Chukrok Murim, but it was completely different from simply copying the motions back then. The mental imagery contained within each form was now etched deeply into his mind.
There were ten sword styles in total. They represented the ten fundamental paths of how to wield a sword.
Horizontal cut. Vertical cut. Left diagonal cut. Right diagonal cut. These four basic cuts, along with their four reverse variations, formed the Eight Directions cuts. Add thrusting and defensive forms, and the ten styles that made up the Iron Sword Ten Forms were complete.
They were incredibly simple movements, yet the Iron Sword Ten Forms that Namgung Woo displayed now held a completely different depth compared to when he had merely imitated them before. It was no coincidence that simple vertical and horizontal cuts were given grandiose names like Mount Tai Pressing Down or Sweeping Across a Thousand Armies. It was because true qi followed the mental imagery appropriate to those names.
Qi infused with intent naturally extended into the sword strike, displaying power worthy of its name. And that was exactly what Namgung Woo’s sword was doing now.
“Hup!”
A sharp intake of breath escaped Hwang Mu-tak as he blocked the eighth form of the Iron Sword Ten Forms—Flying Eagle Ascends—a powerful upward diagonal cut that pierced through his guard. An upward cut was inherently a reverse heaven technique and should have been weaker in power, yet Namgung Woo’s sword force felt as heavy as if he had struck downward with full strength.
If this had been a life-or-death battle where he could pour out his internal energy without restraint instead of a spar that limited it to the minimum required to execute the forms, that single strike would have decided the outcome.
Namgung Woo swung his sword freely. Even the delicate act of channeling qi into the blade without damaging it became a joy. He danced as if he had forgotten all distracting thoughts, moving without restraint.
The movements that had looked somewhat awkward at first now flowed with perfect naturalness. It was the realm where one treated the sword as naturally as one’s own limbs. The name for that state left Song Chae-ji’s lips.
“Body-Sword Unity…?”
Could it really be achieved so easily?
Watching Namgung Woo’s spar—which looked closer to a sword dance—Song Chae-ji felt a profound sense of distance. It was too far away. From her.
But…
‘I think… I understand a little now.’
It was a stroke of fortune. Her master, Eulju Jinin, was a Peak Realm expert that the Hangsan Sect proudly boasted of, yet even he had not reached the realm of Body-Sword Unity. Perhaps only the sect leader, Eulcheong Jinin—the greatest sword of Hangsan—had attained that level?
Since the sect leader rarely drew his sword, this was the first time Song Chae-ji had ever witnessed Body-Sword Unity.
Unaware of how the gazes around him were changing, Namgung Woo’s consciousness sank deep into his own inner world.
‘This is fun.’
So swinging a sword could be this enjoyable. The power of a body that had transcended human limits. The majestic internal energy dwelling within him spurred him on even further.
Body-Sword Unity? It was only natural. Namgung Woo’s body had already reached the Transformation Realm and achieved the Five Qi Returning to Origin. Essence representing the body. Qi representing internal energy. Spirit representing the mind. The unified essence, qi, and spirit were forcibly elevating the distorted realm of spirit by infusing it with Namgung Woo’s own consciousness.
His awareness, now elevated into a higher domain, began to observe his own situation beyond mere swordplay.
‘Returning to my original world can be figured out slowly. In the meantime, let’s enjoy this world a little more. If I train my martial arts and travel the world, a path will surely reveal itself.’
He now clearly understood where he stood. This was the moment Namgung Woo truly set foot in this world.
Clang!
The moment essence, qi, and spirit united once more, Namgung Woo’s sword force leaped to an even higher dimension. Even though he had not advanced beyond the level of qi-infused sword, the condensed energy wrapped around his blade grew vastly stronger, shattering the large blade Hwang Mu-tak was holding.
“Hah…”
No matter how ordinary a training blade it was, it had still been crafted by one of the finest blacksmiths in Pyeongyo County. For it to shatter so completely… Hwang Mu-tak stared down at his suddenly lighter hand with a stunned expression.
“I have lost.”
Hwang Mu-tak quickly bowed his head. Only then did Namgung Woo gently pull his consciousness back down from the euphoric state it had been floating in.
“…I as well. It was a good spar.”
Namgung Woo had been using casual speech out of displeasure at the Black Bear Gang’s atrocities. But now that they had exchanged swords, his tone had changed to one that showed greater respect for his opponent. Of course, he would still make the man pay for the crimes he had committed, but gratitude for willingly participating in the spar was a separate matter.
Hwang Mu-tak felt similarly. No matter how clearly the lines between the Righteous and Black Paths were drawn in this era, respect toward a supreme expert transcended such boundaries. He offered a fist salute—not to curry favor, but with genuine reverence.
“It feels as though my eyes have been opened by the sword of a noble expert. I swear that our gang will provide compensation that more than makes up for the harm we have caused to those affected by this incident.”
“I will trust your word.”
Namgung Woo could sense the sincerity in Hwang Mu-tak’s voice. Even his Blue Serene All-Seeing Eyes, which could see through all phenomena with perfect clarity, confirmed that his intuition was correct.
‘Is this matter finally over?’
He could leave with a refreshed heart. Namgung Woo felt satisfied that he could repay those who had shown him kindness before departing.
Sheathing the sword he still held, Namgung Woo turned toward Song Chae-ji and Yang So-dang, who stood behind him with dazed expressions.
Seeing that he truly intended to leave without staying any longer, Hwang Mu-tak asked urgently.
“Your name! May I ask for your honorable name?”
His appearance suggested he had not even reached the age of standing on his own. He might be an old master who had undergone physical rejuvenation, but Hwang Mu-tak had a vague feeling that the age Namgung Woo appeared to be was his true age. If so, the existence of this young man would undoubtedly bring enormous upheaval to the martial world.
A Transcendent Realm expert in his twenties. Geniuses with talent that could be counted on one hand across the entire world always caused massive incidents wherever they went.
And Namgung Woo’s answer drove a nail into the certainty of Hwang Mu-tak’s thoughts.
“Namgung Woo. My name is Namgung Woo.”
The moment the name Namgung Woo left his lips, the surrounding atmosphere seemed to shift.
That name carried special weight in the current Murim world.
“Namgung…? Did he say Namgung…?”
The instant Hwang Mu-tak stammered the surname, Song Chae-ji ran up to Namgung Woo and shouted.
“Young Master Nam! I knew I could trust you! Just watching Young Master Nam’s sword arts has been incredibly helpful!”