Chapter 363
Chapter 363
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 96
>Chapter Title: Sword (1)
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“Hah...”
An exclamation escaped Cheongryeong’s lips.
She had been watching the duel from above with bated breath.
Even if she considered herself well-versed in various experiential aspects, Mok Kyung-un had long surpassed her in martial prowess.
And the enemy he faced wasn’t just at the Profound Realm—he was a monster who had transcended human limits by devouring a spirit beast’s essence.
That was why even this time, predicting the outcome had been impossible.
She had thought there was a chance Mok Kyung-un could lose if things went wrong, so she had prepared for any contingency.
‘If needed, I’ll intervene.’
Her opponent was such a monster that she might not be of much help, but she couldn’t just let the one bound to her by fate die.
Yet, as the hazy fog obscuring her vision and the thunderclouds dissipated, an astonishing result unfolded.
Mok Kyung-un had won.
‘What... what is that?’
A sword formed entirely of qi embedded in the Dao Guest’s chest.
Seeing it, she couldn’t contain her shock.
It was a profound realm she had never imagined or witnessed, even in life—and now even in death, when she had never let go of her sword.
‘...A true state of No Sword, where no sword is needed.’
A genuine sigh of admiration escaped her.
Sticking out her tongue in awe, she soon descended to where Mok Kyung-un was.
But then,
*Thud!*
The Dao Guest, who had been kneeling, collapsed.
His face, flung backward, had a gaping hole in its center. No matter the regenerative power, there was no hope of revival looking like that.
Cheongryeong approached Mok Kyung-un.
“!?”
She suddenly froze.
The reason was that Mok Kyung-un, upon seeing her, wore a smile she had never seen before.
The smile was so radiant that Cheongryeong was momentarily dumbfounded.
Was this an expression the mortal boy she knew could make?
‘What... what is this...?’
He had always worn a smile, but she knew it held almost no emotion, so she had seen it as expressionless.
But this smile was entirely different.
In the way he looked at her, she could feel a genuine joy.
‘...What?’
Staring at him blankly, Cheongryeong felt a strange sensation.
It was as if her lifeless heart was pounding.
Cheongryeong quickly turned her head away.
Meeting his gaze felt strangely difficult.
Not burdensome or repulsive—just eye contact alone made her feel off.
How should she describe it?
Embarrassment? Or shyness?
“Excellent.”
“W-what?”
“I said excellent. Seeing you again, Cheongryeong, without dying.”
“W-what are you suddenly talking about?”
Cheongryeong stammered unexpectedly at Mok Kyung-un’s unforeseen words.
What had this boy eaten wrong? Suddenly making such expressions and saying things he never had.
Unsure how to respond, she tried to change the subject.
“You... just now...”
Before she could finish,
Mok Kyung-un walked straight back to the fallen Dao Guest.
*Step step!*
Standing before the collapsed Dao Guest,
*Slash slash slash slash!*
He sliced through his neck and limbs with his demon sword, Gyeopsal.
The Dao Guest, now severed into six pieces, was a gruesome sight.
Cheongryeong asked,
“Are you making sure?”
“Yes. His head was nearly blown off, but just in case.”
With that, Mok Kyung-un shook the blood from his sword onto the ground.
At this judgment, Cheongryeong shook her head.
He was the type who never left any loose ends in such matters.
“Hmm. Since we’ve chopped him up, should I dice the body into smaller pieces?”
“Here? You’re going to pulverize it completely...”
But then,
*Rumble rumble rumble!*
The ground suddenly trembled.
At the abrupt phenomenon, Mok Kyung-un glanced at the shaking earth before telling Cheongryeong,
“It’d be best to fall back for a moment.”
“Indeed.”
*Whoosh!*
As Mok Kyung-un lightly leaped backward and Cheongryeong flew to the rear,
*Boom!*
A massive roar erupted from the ground as something enormous burst forth.
It was the monstrous Earth Dragon.
The Earth Dragon had precisely broken through the surface where the Dao Guest’s body, divided into six parts, lay.
Swallowing the chunks of the Dao Guest’s flesh as it emerged, the monster let out a satisfied roar.
*Groooaaarrr!*
It seemed the blood pooling on the ground had triggered its feral instincts, drawing it up.
After devouring the Dao Guest, the Earth Dragon glanced toward Mok Kyung-un as if aware of him, then burrowed back into the earth.
*Rumble rumble rumble!*
Once the Earth Dragon’s presence fully vanished underground, Mok Kyung-un shrugged and said,
“No chance of revival now.”
“...Indeed.”
What rotten luck.
Not only diced into meat chunks but also beast fodder.
With the Earth Dragon’s aura completely gone, Cheongryeong surveyed the devastated surroundings and said,
“I have more than one or two questions. That blackening, and forming a sword with qi.”
“...The blackening, I truly don’t know.”
“Really?”
“Yes. If I find out, I’ll definitely tell you, Cheongryeong.”
“...”
Cheongryeong’s expression turned peculiar at his words.
This boy seemed somehow different.
He used to speak without leaving any room for nitpicking.
Yet now he promised to tell her specifically.
Why did it feel so favorable?
Puzzled, Mok Kyung-un spoke.
“You mean forming a sword with qi like this?”
*Hummm!*
As he extended his hand, qi gathered above it, taking the form of a sword.
Seeing it, Cheongryeong couldn’t hide her admiration.
“Amazing. Wielding a sword with qi. To make a non-existent form exist like this.”
“Indeed.”
“Since it exists yet has no form, it should be called the Formless Sword.”
“Formless Sword? Intangible Sword?”
“Yes. That fits. But how did you attain such enlightenment?”
“Enlightenment?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it wasn’t something I gained by seeking to comprehend.”
“Then how did you reach this supreme realm?”
“Hmm.”
“Sudden enlightenment?”
“Something like that. When I thought I might die by that man’s blade, I just burned with the will to survive on the boundary between life and death.”
“...The boundary between life and death?”
“Yes.”
Mok Kyung-un had manifested a fierce will on the boundary between life and death.
That will gave even qi, which couldn’t form on its own, a tangible shape.
It was an enlightenment surpassing sword-body unity.
For Cheongryeong, who believed the wall beyond walls—the Profound Realm—was the ultimate, this was a shocking awakening.
“Your innate talent and martial arts have surpassed what this seat can teach.”
She had avoided excessive praise, believing it hindered growth, no matter how strong Mok Kyung-un became.
But judging he had reached a supreme realm no longer novice, she had to be honest.
Mok Kyung-un shook his head at her words.
“Not at all. There’s still much I don’t know, so you need to stay by my side and teach me, Cheongryeong.”
“Empty words.”
“It’s not empty. I want you to stay by my side always, Cheongryeong.”
“...”
Cheongryeong was momentarily speechless.
The flow of conversation suggested one meaning, but his gaze and softened tone made her conscious of something else entirely.
Afraid she’d get swept up in the mood, she changed the subject.
“You! Is your body alright?”
“My body?”
“Yes. If your body’s fine, aren’t you going up from here?”
She pointed to the cliff above.
So deep that even the light shining from above felt distant.
At her question, Mok Kyung-un checked his condition.
Having concentrated his power to a point and stopped, the backlash had torn all his muscles, so he had compensated with Reverse Blood Death功 and other muscles.
Yet,
*Swish swish!*
His body moved perfectly.
After the new enlightenment, the ruptured and torn muscles seemed fully healed.
No, the movements felt even smoother than before.
More elastic, perhaps?
“No need for circulation exercises or anything.”
More importantly, he had dropped something during the fight and needed to retrieve it.
Mok Kyung-un scanned the surroundings.
Not far away lay his signature weapon, the demon sword Eakjeuk.
Around it were countless sword and blade marks.
Traces from clashing ultimate techniques with the Dao Guest.
‘...I would’ve died without luck.’
An incredibly strong—no, dangerous foe.
The essence power was one thing, but the Dao Guest’s swordsmanship was another realm entirely.
Thanks to trajectories ignoring joint ranges and muscle limits, he had struggled at first to adapt.
Once adapted, though, those paths became visible, making it not hard to counter.
Still, this perspective seemed helpful.
“Why do you ask?”
At Cheongryeong’s question, Mok Kyung-un extended his hand,
*Swish! Thud!*
Pulling the demon sword Eakjeuk with void grasping technique, he replied,
“I was thinking what if I created a swordsmanship transcending joint ranges and muscle limits.”
“Joint ranges and muscle limits? From fighting that guy?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm. His swordsmanship was bizarre, but is that possible?”
“Don’t think so?”
“It required joints, muscles, and body structure completely unlike a normal person’s. Even with your exceptional memory and embodiment ability, this seems a separate issue.”
Cheongryeong judged even Mok Kyung-un would struggle with this.
Without years of training to alter muscle structure and joint ranges, how?
Then, gripping the demon sword Eakjeuk’s hilt, Mok Kyung-un assumed the Demonic Sword Art’s qi stance.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying it out.”
“Trying?”
“Yes. Maybe I can refine the Demonic Sword Art’s basics further.”
*Whoosh!*
No sooner said, Mok Kyung-un recalled the Dao Guest’s swordsmanship in his mind and tried incorporating it into his self-created basic forms of the Demonic Sword Art.
If successful, it could expand the trajectory ranges in the forms’ gaps.
Thus, he executed what was in his mind.
*Slash slash slash slash slash!*
To Mok Kyung-un now, the sword was a brush.
Like wielding a brush on blank rice paper, he drew trajectories with his sword.
Cheongryeong watched skeptically, but her eyes gradually lit up.
For Mok Kyung-un was truly extending trajectories beyond joint ranges.
‘Still manageable for now.’
Partly because his muscle elasticity had improved.
So the start was fine.
*Slash slash slash slash!*
But as expected, as the forms continued, pain from tearing muscles hit.
Drawing trajectories beyond joint ranges and muscle limits inevitably caused issues, no matter how he endured.
*Crack! Creak!*
Though strained, Mok Kyung-un pressed on with the forms.
Ordinary people would’ve stopped midway from the pain, but with extreme pain tolerance and muscle control, he compensated torn muscles with others, continuing despite unchangeable joint limits.
*Slash slash slash slash slash!*
Demonic Sword Art forms enhanced with new trajectories.
A gasp finally escaped Cheongryeong.
“Hah!”
Truly astonishing.
She had thought his Demonic Sword Art basics were near perfection, needing no further refinement.
Yet adding transcendence of limits evolved it into a formless, flawless swordsmanship devoid of weaknesses.
‘Was this possible?’
Cheongryeong was genuinely dumbfounded.
Did this mortal boy’s talent truly have no limits?
As she marveled,
*Thud!*
Mok Kyung-un halted the forms.
Cheongryeong asked,
“Why stop?”
“Ah.”
He exhaled lightly, then,
*Slash slash slash!*
Carved sharp qi words into the cliff wall.
不可能 (Impossible)
It meant “not possible.”
Not yet added to all forms, so Cheongryeong asked puzzled,
“What’s impossible? It seemed plenty feasible.”
“For now, it’s tough.”
“For now?”
“Yes. Forcing it might work eventually. But joints are already strained—if I push, they’ll dislocate completely.”
“Didn’t you account for that?”
“Yes. But... a thought struck me.”
“What thought?”
“Spending time expanding joint ranges and altering muscles could make it free-form. But that feels like a waste.”
“Hah? You wrote ‘impossible’ for that reason?”
“No. It’s that only I could do it.”
“What?”
“With just the number of forms, Demonic Sword Art is hard for anyone else. Adding forms transcending joint and muscle limits would make it impossible for anyone.”
“...”
Cheongryeong fell silent at his words.
Completing it would birth near-perfect swordsmanship.
But as he said, already extreme in forms, adding transcendent trajectories—who could learn it?
His point had merit.
For martial arts to pass down generations, some universality was needed.
Mok Kyung-un shrugged and continued.
“And even without worrying about others learning it, with the Formless Sword, no need to forcibly train muscles and joints for gap trajectories.”
“Formless Sword... right. That exists.”
“Anyway, let’s stop adding trajectories here.”
“If you decide so, then so be it. But making that choice while talking revenge... you plan to leave a legacy after all.”
“Legacy?”
“Yes. Ahem.”
She had nearly said “descendants” but changed to “legacy” with a bitter tone.
Not descendants, but disciples possible.
At her words, Mok Kyung-un replied nonchalantly,
“Well, keeping it to myself forever is fine, but it feels wasteful.”
“Oh? So you want a legacy now?”
“Legacy aside, if that prophet was right, I might have descendants too.”
“Descendants... Didn’t you say you had no interest?”
“No interest.”
“Then why suddenly descendants? Survived death and instinct for reproduction kicked in?”
“Nothing wrong with having them.”
“Nothing wrong?”
“Yes. I think it’d be fine if you possessed someone and bore my child, Cheongryeong.”
“!!!!!!!!”
At the unexpected words, Cheongryeong froze like ice, her face and spirit body rigid.
End of Chapter 96 Sword (1)