Chapter 225: Sword Destruction (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 225: Sword Destruction (1)
The Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord had already rampaged across nearly ten different battlefields. Consequently, countless martial artists from the Righteous Faction had witnessed his slaughter firsthand.
They, along with the lucky few survivors from the Black Lotus Union, all echoed the exact same sentiment:
'The Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord is a blood-crazed madman!'
For anyone with a normal human psyche, killing dozens—let alone hundreds—of people was a harrowing ordeal. But what about hundreds, even thousands, dying with a single flick of the wrist? What kind of monster could swing their hand so callously?
Every martial artist who stepped foot on those battlefields agreed on one thing.
'The Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord does not view the martial artists of the Evil Sect as human.'
Unless he saw them as mere insects to be crushed beneath his heel, it would be impossible to employ such merciless methods.
The number of martial artists he had slaughtered was already approaching five digits. Countless lives had been snuffed out with just a few casual gestures.
Because most of his victims on these battlefields were at the Peak Realm or higher, the death toll had fortunately stopped there. Many speculated that if he had targeted weaker martial artists, the body count would have grown exponentially.
As a result, those who had seen him in person preached of his absolute terror whenever the title 'Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord' was uttered. And alongside that personified fear, a new rumor had taken root.
'The Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord wields Demonic Qi. His wicked heart must have corrupted his very energy!'
The name of the Evil-Annihilating Heavenly Lord became an object of profound dread, even among the Righteous Faction. Fueled by horrific eyewitness accounts, the rumors spread like wildfire.
Inevitably, those rumors reached the ears of Jegal Tong.
“…That is the current situation,” Jegal Tong reported.
Sitting across from him with his chin resting lazily on his hand, Seo-jun merely sneered.
“It’s none of my concern.”
“It might be wise to clarify the rumors regarding the Demonic Qi….”
“Clarify? To whom?”
Deep red eyes shifted toward Jegal Tong.
“What can those insignificant fools possibly do, even if they doubt me? Ignore them. What I need right now is a status update on the Sword Sect.”
“Mmm…. Understood.”
Jegal Tong’s subsequent report could be summarized quite simply.
The Transcendent Realm martial artists who had arrived to support the Sword Sect had not immediately returned to their respective sects. As if some unspoken agreement had been reached, they were maintaining an ambiguous distance from the Sword Sect's borders, hovering like hawks, ready to intervene the moment anything happened.
“Hmm….”
Seo-jun, deep in thought, tapped a finger against the map on the table.
“That man who drew so much attention crossing from the east to the west of the Central Plains earlier—did you say he was a former master of the Great Black Mountain Sect?”
“Yes. A man named Ryeo-won.”
He was the primary suspect behind subduing Namgung Yeon while luring Namgung Jin-cheon away.
“That works out perfectly.”
Seo-jun’s gaze locked onto the territories of the Sword Sect and the Great Black Mountain Sect marked on the map.
“I suppose it's time I paid my respects to the Great Black Mountain Sect as well.”
* * *
Upon hearing the plan Seo-jun proposed, Jegal Tong nearly had a fit.
“That is far too reckless! That isn’t a strategy; it’s a sheer gamble!”
“They did it, so there’s no reason I can’t.”
Jegal Tong was utterly powerless to stop Seo-jun as he strode out of the Murim Alliance.
“Ugh…. Even so, this is just….”
Left alone in the room, Jegal Tong clutched his aching head. Naturally, his suffering was of absolutely no concern to Seo-jun.
Instead of putting the plan into motion immediately, Seo-jun first returned to the Namgung Clan.
For his scheme to succeed, he needed to quickly eliminate the former leader of the Sword Sect—a man he'd heard went by the name Geom-hyeon. To accomplish that, he had to devise a martial art capable of perfectly countering the man’s Sword Control Art.
At the same time, he wanted to check on Namgung Su-ah’s progress, as her schedule had recently freed up.
Swish—!
Heading straight for the training grounds, he found Namgung Su-ah wielding two blades: a relatively short straight sword in one hand, and a massive greatsword in the other.
As she swung the dual blades, her movements had already begun to take on a definite Form.
“Bravo.”
At the sound of his slow clapping, Namgung Su-ah paused, panting for breath as she turned her head.
“Ah, you’re here…?”
She offered a faint, bitter smile. Her complexion looked terribly pale by any standard.
‘This is actually an improvement compared to before, but still….’
Lately, just looking at Namgung Su-ah made his chest ache. He felt an overwhelming urge to feed her something—anything—to put some meat on her bones.
If the young Geum Chun-bong gave off the vibe of a child he wanted to lovingly fatten up, the current Namgung Su-ah made him want to fix her sickly complexion before even worrying about her weight.
Reaching into his robes, Seo-jun pulled out a skewer of Tanghulu—a sweet treat he usually kept on hand as an offering for whenever a wild Geum Chun-bong appeared—and held it up to Namgung Su-ah’s lips.
“Here, at least eat this.”
“…Why are you always trying to feed me something whenever you see me lately?”
Namgung Su-ah let out a hollow laugh, but she obediently tucked a stray strand of sweat-dampened hair behind her ear and took a bite of the Tanghulu.
“Mmm….”
Her brow furrowed slightly. It seemed the candied fruit was a bit too sweet for her palate.
‘Should I start carrying savory snacks just for her?’
As Seo-jun pondered this, Namgung Su-ah stepped closer. Her natural scent, slightly deepened by the musk of her sweat, wafted into his nose. Without a word, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight embrace.
“Instead of food… just give me a tight hug every now and then.”
Seo-jun’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. After a brief moment of hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed her back.
“Just every now and then?”
“More often would be better.”
That simply wouldn't do.
“I’ll make sure to hold you like this every single time I see you.”
Seo-jun effortlessly lifted her off her feet and set her down on a nearby bench to rest. A light breeze drifted through the training grounds, though it wasn't quite enough to cool Namgung Su-ah’s sweat-drenched body. She lingered in the warmth of his embrace for a long moment before finally tapping Seo-jun’s arm.
“Wait a second.”
As he let go, Namgung Su-ah stood back up, gripping her two swords. Her hands were practically itching to move. Every martial artist experienced moments like this—a sudden, inexplicable surge of inspiration where you just knew your forms would flow flawlessly.
‘Dual swords, huh….’
There was a common question that always followed the path of dual wielding:
If you hold two weapons, doesn't that make you twice as strong?
Naturally, the answer was a resounding no.
If martial arts worked like that, then Asura Lee Seo-jun, with his six arms, would have been the undisputed strongest under the heavens. That fifty-bladed human centipede monstrosity he'd seen back in the Demonic Cult would have been casually beating up Profound Realm masters.
Dual swords certainly offered distinct advantages, but they came with equally glaring disadvantages.
‘The weight of the blades isn't an issue at all.’
Namgung Su-ah was a Super Peak master. Wielding a heavy blade with a single hand was child's play for her. She could easily swing a sword weighing a ton without breaking a sweat, so that wasn't the problem.
‘But the problem lies in the opponents she will face.’
If two fighters possessed equal internal energy, a strike delivered with two hands gripping a single hilt would naturally overpower a strike delivered with only one hand.
Of course, it wasn't a fatal flaw. Unless she was clashing blades mindlessly like a brute, someone with Namgung Su-ah’s profound level of swordsmanship could easily compensate for the difference in raw leverage. However, it remained a tangible weakness.
Furthermore, dual swordsmanship tended to be far more defensive in nature than most people realized.
‘If that's the case, wouldn't it be more efficient to just hold a shield in her off-hand….’
As Seo-jun watched in silence, Namgung Su-ah began her sword dance.
“Oh?”
It was similar to the swordsmanship she had displayed in the past. By perfectly shifting her center of gravity, the flow of her strikes continued without a single interruption.
The two blades utilized their drastic difference in length to completely deceive an opponent’s depth perception. When the shorter straight sword suddenly lunged from the shadow of the greatsword, its speed was like a blinding flash of lightning.
In the eyes of an enemy desperately searching for an opening, they would see nothing but the massive greatsword acting as an impenetrable shield. And when she transitioned from defense to offense, the explosive, crushing power that erupted from that greatsword truly made one realize the sheer weight behind the name Namgung.
“Whew….”
Exhaling a long breath, Namgung Su-ah lowered her blades and looked at Seo-jun.
“How was it?”
“You’re much better at it than I thought.”
Seo-jun completely tossed aside his previous worries about dual wielding. Namgung Su-ah possessed a terrifyingly natural instinct for the blade. Even if left entirely to her own devices, she would refine the technical aspects flawlessly.
Staring at her intently, Seo-jun asked, “Do you want to sleep together tonight?”
“Wh-what…? Okay…. I’ll go get ready….”
Flush!
Namgung Su-ah’s face turned so violently red it looked like it might spontaneously combust.
‘Oh.’
Could that bright crimson flush be considered her complexion returning to normal? Seo-jun nodded in deep satisfaction.
* * *
His suggestion to 'sleep together' was by no means meant in a lewd or inappropriate way. It was purely for the sake of martial arts.
“Uh-huh, keep talking. You’d better explain yourself very clearly.”
Chun-bong stood with her weight shifted onto one leg, glaring down at Seo-jun with absolute zero in her eyes.
“I’m being framed here.”
“For a Lust Demon, feeling wronged is a luxury!”
“No, seriously. And even if I did mean it that way, we’re engaged anyway….”
“Wh-what…!”
Chun-bong jumped back as if she'd been burned.
“How can a man and a woman who haven't even held their wedding ceremony yet do something so utterly shameless…!”
Seo-jun easily restrained the rampaging Confucian scholar by pulling Chun-bong into his lap and wrapping his arms around her.
“No, I’m being completely serious. Think about the Chun-bong Divine Art.”
“What about the Chun-bong Divine Art?”
“If we're being honest, the Su-ah Divine Art is a bit less complete compared to yours, isn't it?”
This disparity was unavoidable. Lee Seo-jun and Geum Chun-bong had originally been one and the same. Seo-jun knew the exact pathways of her inner body better than she knew them herself.
“Hmph….”
At those words, which sounded undeniably suggestive out of context, Chun-bong’s body stiffened in his arms. Seo-jun casually continued.
“It’s because I’m with you all day. We sleep in the same bed, and I’m constantly checking the flow of your qi because of your Severed Meridians.”
“Is that so…?”
“Probably?”
Seo-jun wasn't entirely sure himself. It could very well just be because Geum Chun-bong was Geum Chun-bong.
“Anyway, don't you think something might click if I drastically increase the amount of time I spend with her?”
“…Are you sure?”
“Sure about what?”
“Are you sure a baby won't happen instead of a martial art breakthrough?”
“Wh-what.”
Seo-jun covered his mouth. Now that he actually thought about it, it wasn't an entirely impossible scenario.
“Well… we’re getting officially engaged soon anyway, so does it really matter?”
“…Die!”
He got punched.
Seo-jun merely chuckled as he weathered a flurry of Chun-bong Punches.
‘A child…. It’s best to wait until after this war is over, one way or another.’
He had joked about it to tease Chun-bong, but he truly had no intention of having a child right now. The current era was far too dangerous. If anything were to happen to his child, Seo-jun didn't trust himself to remain sane.
‘A father….’
More than anything, he simply wasn't ready. Him? The father of a child? Far from the concept feeling real, only dark, bloody thoughts came to mind when he pictured trying to protect a family in this chaotic world.
Suddenly, Chun-bong’s ears—which had been twitching as she playfully 'massaged' Seo-jun with her fists—perked up.
“Huh? What’s that sound?”
As she stared off toward the outer courtyards, Namgung Su-ah, who had been quietly blushing off to the side while listening to their entire conversation, answered.
“A new class of recruits is officially entering the Namgung Clan today.”
“Even in times like these?”
“No matter the times. Namgung has always been this way.”
New martial artists joining the Namgung Clan?
Seo-jun, who had been relaxing while receiving his 'massage,' sat up straight.
‘I’m sure the elders filtered out any enemy spies properly, but….’
He was genuinely curious. Wasn't this exactly like having fresh juniors join the Green Forest back when he used to be the youngest bandit in the stronghold?
As Seo-jun glanced toward the source of the commotion, Namgung Su-ah gently took his hand.
“Do you want to go see them?”
“Is that okay?”
“Of course it is. You’re the Grand Master of the Namgung Clan.”
It wouldn't have mattered even if he wasn't the Grand Master, but since Seo-jun currently held the supreme position, his presence alone would serve as immense motivation for the new blood.
“Oh…. Then I suppose I should go set the discipline.”
A wicked grin touched Seo-jun's lips as he immediately began to walk toward the courtyard.
Since they had dared to set foot in the great Namgung Clan, they had no choice but to become overwhelmingly strong.
‘I’ll personally make sure of it.’
Seo-jun’s eyes glowed with a faint, demonic red light.