Chapter 368
Chapter 368
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 96
>Chapter Title: Sword (6)
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“Allow this old man to beg for mercy like this. I shall do anything you desire, so please show us compassion.”
‘!!!!!!’
Silence fell for a moment.
Everyone looked at Manor Lord Gu Cheon-mu with faces full of shock.
How could this be happening?
The lord of Spirit Sword Manor, hailed as a holy land of swords, and one of the Six Heavens at the pinnacle of the current martial world—he had not only severed his own arm but even knelt on his knees.
‘...This isn’t right.’
‘Is it really because of the second young master?’
‘Isn’t this as good as declaring defeat?’
Only then did the sword guards of Spirit Sword Manor, and even the guests, begin to find it all suspicious.
No matter how precious a son might be, it was unthinkable for a martial artist at the peak to so easily cast aside his dignity.
Had he judged that no matter what he chose, he couldn’t do anything about it?
It was while everyone had lost their words in shock.
-Pak!
At that moment, the youngest, Gu Yeon-su, hurriedly approached, prostrated himself, and said,
“Lord of the Holy Land, I beg you as well. Please show mercy!”
“Young master!”
The sword guards of Spirit Sword Manor shouted in angry voices at Gu Yeon-su’s actions.
It was already suffocating to see the manor lord behave like that in front of the guests—what was this madness?
But that wasn’t the end of it.
-Pak!
Young Manor Lord Gu Ung-hwang also approached beside him, knelt, and bowed his head.
In a resolute voice, he said,
“If it’s difficult to quell your anger, then I, as the heir to this manor, shall offer this head right here before everyone’s eyes. Please, show mercy and end it here.”
“What?”
“Why is even the young manor lord doing this?”
The onlookers couldn’t contain their frustration.
Why were Manor Lord Gu Cheon-mu, said to be near the best in the world when it came to swords, and his family enduring such humiliation and lowering themselves before this man?
They took pride as sword guards, and regarded the manor lord’s swordsmanship as the world’s finest, gathering here because they called this place a holy land of swords.
To see the one they respected voluntarily endure such humiliation was something they simply couldn’t accept—no, couldn’t tolerate.
-Chang! Seureung!
The guests drew their swords as well.
One by one, they shouted,
“Manor Lord! If you’re doing this to prevent your son and everyone here from sacrificing themselves, then stop it now. We are martial artists too. We are prepared to die at any moment.”
“That’s right! If the manor lord leads us, we’ll all fight together.”
“Don’t show weakness to the enemy!”
“Exactly! Let us stand by the manor lord!”
“Don’t just stand there watching—help Lord Gu and protect Sword Valley with our own hands!”
“Waaaaah!!!”
The sword guards, their anger turning to righteous fury, and the guests raised their morale and let out cheers.
Seeing this, Mo Yong-hak, the Justice Alliance investigator dispatched to observe from a short distance away, couldn’t contain his excitement and said,
“Situation... Shall we help as well?”
At his words, Jeong-myeong, the senior monk from Mount Heng Sect, replied with a grave expression.
“...It doesn’t seem like something that can be resolved just by helping.”
“What do you mean? Lord Gu has his son taken hostage and is being toyed with by that heretic from the Blazing Flame Cult—are you saying we should just watch?”
“Amitabha. Does Investigator Mo Yong truly not understand why Lord Gu is acting this way?”
“Yes?”
“Lord Gu isn’t doing this because of his son or the guests.”
“What do you mean?”
“...If this monk’s judgment is wrong, then so be it, but it seems Lord Gu believes there’s no hope even if he fights that man.”
‘!?’
Mo Yong-hak’s eyes widened at those words.
What was this?
Did that mean Lord Gu, one of the six great grandmasters called the pinnacle of the current martial world, had intuitively sensed defeat before even clashing with some unheard-of outsider and bowed his head?
It was incomprehensible.
No matter how strong the man was, it was impossible for him to overwhelmingly surpass Lord Gu, who had reached the pinnacle with the sword.
In that case, he should have staked his life to protect his own honor.
Even if the opponent was strong, a master of Lord Gu’s caliber should stake his life to defend his honor, no?
Where had his pride as a martial artist gone?
‘I can see some who are disappointed.’
Ji Oe clicked his tongue inwardly as he watched the situation unfold from afar, hands behind his back, as if it were someone else’s affair.
In the end, this was what happened.
He had wondered if such a situation would arise because of his fame and the awe of the Central Plains folk, but it had.
‘As expected, Gu Cheon-mu, you were ultimately nothing more than a craftsman.’
Gu Cheon-mu’s martial arts had reached a realm everyone acknowledged.
To say he was near the world’s best in swordsmanship was almost calling him the absolute pinnacle.
That was certainly true.
However, Ji Oe, who had stayed here long observing Manor Lord Gu Cheon-mu, believed he fundamentally lacked two things.
One of them was precisely,
‘A lack of real combat experience.’
Among the Six Heavens and Eight Stars called the greatest masters of the current martial world, Gu Cheon-mu could be said to have the least real combat experience.
Spirit Sword Manor was close to a neutral sect not aligned with any orthodox faction.
The reason was that they had long focused more on activities as craftsmen rather than as martial artists.
As a result, they had no particular enmities or battles with other sects.
‘At best, it was just sparring or sword discussions with the guests of Sword Valley.’
From the previous generation onward, he had accumulated insights by experiencing the secret techniques and sword styles of numerous sword guards, so he was bound to stand out in spars or sword discussions.
But he had never once staked his life in true combat.
Nevertheless, the reason Lord Gu was called one of the Six Heavens was because Jeong Hyeon-mun, another of the Six Heavens and the Alliance Leader of the Justice Alliance, had discussed swords with him and acknowledged that he had reached the pinnacle of the sword.
Because of this, the martial artists recognized him as one of the Six Heavens.
But,
‘He lacks the pride of a true martial artist.’
A martial artist shouldn’t excel only in theory.
They trained in martial arts to protect themselves and fight others.
Ultimately, a martial artist was one who cut down enemies.
However, Manor Lord Gu Cheon-mu—no, the Gu family of Spirit Sword Manor—possessed a clear sense of mission and pride as craftsmen, but lacked any will to fight others.
Without the will to fight, it was only natural they lacked pride as martial artists.
‘Ahhh. Lord Gu, are you finally revealing your limits?’
Ji Oe let out a sigh of disappointment.
He had vaguely sensed a lack of battle intent in him, but now in this extreme situation, it had become fact.
‘He was only half a man after all.’
Shaking his head, Ji Oe’s gaze shifted away from Manor Lord Gu Cheon-mu.
The time spent here breaking sword-after-sword pinnacle wasn’t wasted, but he had lost all interest in this man who had revealed his own limits.
No, there was no reason to remain interested.
Especially now that a opponent worthy of drawing out his battle intent had appeared.
-Sseuk!
His gaze naturally turned toward Mok Kyung-un.
Mok Kyung-un glanced at the prostrated Manor Lord Gu Cheon-mu and his two sons, then scoffed and said,
“Those people in the back seem to want the manor lord to fight me.”
In response, Manor Lord Gu Cheon-mu raised his head and spoke.
“Do not interfere any further, my clansmen and guests. This is a matter for this old man and this young master here to resolve.”
“Manor Lord! How can you say that?”
“We are prepared to stake our lives...”
“Enough!”
His thunderous shout left the sword guards and guests flustered and silent.
As they quieted, Manor Lord Gu Cheon-mu continued without even glancing their way.
“That sword on the cliff is in a place even this old man cannot reach. What can you all, who can’t even see it properly, accomplish by staking your lives? Interfere no more.”
“...”
Faced with his firm resolve, the sword guards and guests fell silent.
It was hard to step forward when the manor lord had spoken so definitively, but disappointment flickered in their eyes.
They had gathered here solely out of respect for him.
Even if they lacked skill, they had the will to stake their lives if he led them.
Yet seeing him ultimately abandon his pride as a martial artist and choose humiliation and defeat shattered their resolve as well.
Ignoring them, Manor Lord Gu Cheon-mu bowed his head once more and said,
“I shall do whatever you—or should I say, young hero—desire. Please show mercy.”
‘Ah.’
Mok Kyung-un, who had been staring intently at the man thoroughly debasing himself, soon smacked his lips.
He had pushed him to see how he would respond after growing interested from the self-amputation, but it had turned out differently from the picture he’d hoped for, so his interest waned.
It belonged to neither the self-respect of a martial artist nor paternal love for his child.
-Now what do you plan to do?
At that moment, Cheong-ryeong’s voice rang in his ear.
Mok Kyung-un shrugged.
-What else? End it moderately.
-If you’re going to end it moderately, why push him so hard?
-Well, to eliminate future troubles, it’s necessary to be thorough... and even knowing the difference in inaction, I was curious how someone at this level would react.
-...Was fighting that sword guest not enough?
-I figured gauging my own level would be clearer against a proper Six Heavens.
-Ha?
Cheong-ryeong was exasperated.
To test his own level against one of the Six Heavens called the pinnacle of the current martial world—only this brat would think of that.
This cautious guy was acting so boldly because he had some confidence in his own strength.
‘...The time is ripening.’
Cheong-ryeong didn’t show it, but her excitement was building.
No matter how talented the brat was, she had thought it would take at least ten years for revenge.
But this monster-like guy had shortened it to an absurd degree.
In just half a year, he had reached the level of the Six Heavens—or beyond.
‘Maybe now it’s possible.’
He already had a decent power base within the Heaven-Earth Society, and the subordinates he’d gathered outside were no ordinary folk.
Now, her revenge might actually be possible.
No—this guy could make it happen.
‘It’s not far off.’
She couldn’t hide her inner excitement.
Meanwhile, Mok Kyung-un withdrew the qi he had been using to tear at Second Young Master Gu Ung-seong’s tongue.
As the qi left his tongue, Gu Ung-seong collapsed to the ground.
“Keuheuk...”
“Hurry and stop the bleeding. He might die from blood loss.”
At those words, Young Manor Lord Gu Ung-hwang rushed to the fallen Gu Ung-seong, pressed his pressure points to staunch the blood, and hastily wrapped the severed arm stump with cloth torn from clothing.
Seeing Gu Ung-seong barely saved, Manor Lord Gu Cheon-mu unwittingly let out a sigh of relief.
No matter what, a child was a child.
To him, Mok Kyung-un said,
“You said you’d do anything—how far does that go?”
‘!?’
Manor Lord Gu Cheon-mu’s expression turned subtle at those words.
He had essentially surrendered out of extreme fear of Mok Kyung-un, but this phrasing made him dread what would be demanded.
“...I shall do anything within this old man’s power.”
He couldn’t comply with demands like cutting off another arm, so he drew a line.
At least, it meant to demand within reasonable bounds.
“Within your power... Then it shouldn’t be difficult.”
“If it’s a sword you desire, I can forge the finest named blade suited to you...”
“No. This sword is sufficient.”
Mok Kyung-un lightly patted the two demon swords at his waist and said nonchalantly.
“Then swear loyalty to me—you and Spirit Sword Manor.”
‘!!!!!!!’
In that instant, everyone doubted their own ears.
[Chapter 96: Sword (6)] End