050
050
This is the Combined Attack Technique.
A martial art devised so that fighters of slightly lower rank can face a single stronger opponent together. To the one on the receiving end, it is an infuriatingly unfair Miscellaneous Technique.
'If it succeeds, it's a Formation. If it fails, it's a Miscellaneous Technique.'
The combined attack of the Flying Heaven Three Demons was undeniably superb and perfectly balanced. The vanguard Blade Demon, the center Bandit Demon, and the rearguard Illusion Demon moved as a single body for the purpose of killing one target.
'Originally, it was meant to kill the Heavenly Demon.'
The three had honed their combined attack to defeat the Heavenly Demon. The Beast-like Blade Demon rampages in front, the Bandit Demon scatters hidden weapons while covering the Blade Demon's openings, and the Illusion Demon constructs a spell formation to weaken their opponent while strengthening the two demonic practitioners.
The harmony was so flawless it could be called golden. Turned against me, it becomes an unbelievably annoying and vexing affair.
"Don't you think three-on-one is cowardly?"
I fought with both swords independently, deflecting their attacks. With the sword in my left hand, I unfolded the Taiji Sword to block the Blade Demon's thrust, then drove the sword in my right hand forward to exploit the opening he left.
Crack!
One of his iron whips bounced to the ground. The art of covering the Blade Demon's openings while simultaneously attacking the enemy meant that if I pierced his opening, my own attack could also be deflected.
"You pulling that switch trick again like last time?"
"Bastard!"
The Blade Demon recovered his blade and threw his body into a wide spin. The Shadow Escape Tracking Blade—a style that pursues any existence to the death to sever its neck—specializes in slashing attacks. An ordinary slash could simply be dodged, but—
"Heavenly Demon Shadow Escape Slash!"
Black Demonic Energy seethed along the Blade Demon's edge. An attack where merely dodging by a hair's breadth would let the demonic energy gnaw into my flesh. The blade technique carried the exact form of the Shadow Escape Tracking Blade, but the internal energy art driving it was the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, layered atop his original cultivation.
The only counter was to shatter the attack head-on. I infused Internal Qi separately into both swords and swung.
"The Duality Sword...? Blade Demon, dodge!"
The Bandit Demon's scream cut in from behind. But the Blade Demon, drunk on his own assault with blazing red eyes, watched as I swung the sword brimming with Yang Energy in a wide diagonal arc.
"Ghk?!"
I met the Blade Demon's blade head-on and deflected it downward. The Blade Demon's brow furrowed, and I saw the strength drain from his numbed wrist. I filled the remaining sword to the brim with Yin Energy and swung horizontally.
"Heavenly Demon Poison Wind Strike!"
"Heavenly Demon Phantasmal Hand!"
The sword I aimed at the Blade Demon's neck was blocked by two weapons. One was a fan of black iron. The other was a bear's paw of giant proportions crafted from internal energy.
"Commendable, rushing all the way to the front to save your comrade."
I faced the three demonic practitioners at a single sword's distance. All three Flying Heaven Three Demons radiated killing intent with flashing red eyes, but I kicked off the ground and leaped backward.
"Unfortunately, I don't wish to chat with men while close enough to feel their breath."
"You crazy bastard...!"
"So what is your identity, you lunatic?!"
The Flying Heaven Three Demons pressed for my identity even now, never lowering their guard. I simply aimed both swords at them and sneered.
"Sex Demon!"
"Don't make me laugh! Where in the world is there a Sex Demon who uses Wudang Sect martial arts?!"
"Isn't there a Bandit Demon who recombines Tang Clan martial arts and wields them as demonic arts?"
"You bastard!!"
They wouldn't listen. I'd already made it clear through evasion that I refused to reveal my identity—they should have figured it out by now. I was utterly sick of the Flying Heaven Three Demons pestering me about who I was.
"I already told you my identity. I am the one who will take your lives."
"Have you no sense of courtesy?! At least give me an alias before you kill me!!"
"Sex Demon!"
"Fuck!"
Demonic Energy began to seethe from the bodies of the Flying Heaven Three Demons. Bloody tears streamed from their eyes, and my mouth went completely dry.
"Exploding Blood Great Art?"
A demonic art that forcibly enters Complete Demonization to explosively increase internal energy. They're running the Heavenly Demon Divine Art while forcibly injecting demonic energy into their original internal energy art, and on top of that, forcibly drawing out latent power to manipulate their qi?
"They're going to burst."
"Kraaaaaah!!"
Monstrous Qi surged from the bodies of the three demonic practitioners. They had already shed their human appearance, looking more monstrous than the demons recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
Monsters in human form. Who could say these were not demonic practitioners?
"You're fully determined to kill me."
The Exploding Blood Great Art does not release until it sees the opponent's blood. For ordinary small fry, their blood meridians would twist and kill them after using the Exploding Blood Great Art, but for the Flying Heaven Three Demons wielding the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, the Exploding Blood Great Art only slightly warps their appearance into something more grotesque.
That is, assuming they absolutely kill the opponent and see blood.
"If you use the Exploding Blood Great Art and still lose, you'll simply die."
It is a technique deployed only with the conviction to kill. If they fail to kill, instead of returning to normal, they themselves perish.
Because that is the nature of demonic arts.
"Keuheuheu, you bastard! I will definitely kill you!"
"I'll find out how you discovered my identity!"
"I will expose your true identity!"
"Good grief."
They wanted so many things. Leaving one sword stabbed into the ground, I drew out the pinnacle of the martial arts I was using against them.
"What do you think was the reason the Taiji Sword Empress learned the Sword Control Art?"
"What...?"
The Blade Demon tried to cut off my words and swing his sword surging with ferocious energy, but the Illusion Demon halted him with his staff. True to his experience as a veteran old master, the illusionist's mind was sharp—the moment I opened my mouth, he tried to extract information.
Even though he had no idea who the Taiji Sword Empress was, nor why I mentioned the Sword Control Art, the Illusion Demon bored into me with his blood-red eyes.
"Her breasts were so large they hindered her movement. So, it's only logical, isn't it? If she can't move her body freely, she can just deploy her martial arts on their own."
Click, click, click.
Three well-tempered steel swords floated into the air. The Flying Heaven Three Demons gaped in shock at the swords moving freely under their own power, and I raised one hand.
"I'm only using it because I find moving bothersome. You know what this is, right?"
"Taiji Wisdom Sword!!"
At the Illusion Demon's scream, I grinned broadly and nodded.
"Behold the power of the Taiji Wisdom Sword."
Sagong Hee becomes me.
* * *
Swords began to dance in the sky.
Even the Murim Alliance Leader rose in astonishment, and the eyes of everyone present fixed on the arena.
"Excellent! Vice Sect Leader, what in the world is happening?!"
The Murim Alliance Leader smiled brightly like a child, unable to hide his joy. In the arena, a dark-haired woman was being driven back under pressure from two swords flying through the air.
"The Duality Sword and the Taiji Sword simultaneously!! Ooooh!!"
Offense-Defense Unity. She thrust with the Duality Sword while deflecting the enemy's counters with the Taiji Sword. The match had clearly started as a one-on-one, but the Demonic Cult Little Princess was now fighting as though facing two Wudang Sect martial artists.
"As expected! It was the right decision to change the tournament bracket so this match would be the finale! Huahaha!"
The Alliance Leader clapped his hands, openly admitting he had committed an impropriety. But no one could fault him for it.
"Isn't this already... no longer a fight between Rising Stars, but a battle between peak experts?"
Standing alone and proud, Taiji Martial Phoenix stood ramrod straight, as though looking down from the summit. The twin swords in her hands hung limply toward the ground as she focused all her will into the Sword Control Art cornering the Little Princess.
"When did you raise such a formidable female master?!"
"Haha, it is the grace of the previous generation."
Who would believe it if you said she just appeared out of nowhere? Vice Sect Leader Hyeoncheol savored the gazes directed at him and inwardly rejoiced. He had always thought Taoist Hyeongi and Taoist Hyeonta only blocked his path and caused him trouble, but behind the scenes, they had been nurturing a tremendous female master.
A rising new female master of Wudang defeats the Heavenly Demon's daughter? Where else could such a thing so magnificently elevate Wudang's prestige?
As though exacting revenge for being unilaterally attacked, Taiji Martial Phoenix's Sword Control Art was endless. By all appearances, her internal energy should have been running dry, yet Taiji Martial Phoenix's internal energy was so profound it showed no sign of depletion.
If the flow continued like this, victory was practically assured. The Little Princess was slowly being pushed toward the edge of the arena.
But just as Taiji Martial Phoenix had escaped her crisis, the Little Princess would not simply take the beating lying down.
"The Little Princess is incredible too!"
"At this level, shouldn't she be called the Young Heavenly Demon (小天魔) rather than Little Princess?"
"Hyaaat!"
She detonated Demonic Energy in all directions to blast away the Taiji Sword and Duality Sword that were both unfolding upon her. In the brief moment her breathing was disrupted, the Little Princess plunged through the gap between the two swaying swords and dashed in a straight line.
"That's right! Facing an opponent using the Sword Control Art, you must target the main body!"
"Alliance Leader, whose side are you on?"
A blazing red line traced the path the Little Princess ran. The instant the spectators turned their heads to follow the line, the Little Princess had already arrived right in front of Taiji Martial Phoenix.
"Hgh!"
Taiji Martial Phoenix swung the twin swords in her hands and received the strike. Even though sword met fist, the sound of metal striking metal resounded, and the spectators held their breath, hands slick with sweat at the increasingly fierce back-and-forth between the two experts.
"Kuu... if only I'd been a woman, I could've fought them like this...!"
"What is this crazy brother of mine saying right in front of me? I am genuinely disgusted."
"Y-Yurin! What I meant was..."
"Ugh, forget it."
At Namgung Pae's slip of the tongue, Namgung Yurin displayed genuine revulsion and irritation. It was a remark truly worthy of a martial artist and truly worthy of one who is arrogant and unrestrained—but the problem was that the remark came from the World's Greatest Dragon.
"Taiji Flower! Taiji Flower! Taiji Flower!"
"Don't lose, Little Princess! I bet on you!!"
The cheers of countless voices resounded toward the arena where the contest for the title of World's Greatest Phoenix was unfolding. The match to determine the superiority of white and black had already transcended the logic of black and white, becoming a duel of pride between two genius martial artists walking the martial path.
Yet in the end, one would win and one would lose. Before anyone knew it, the exchange of strikes had surpassed three hundred bouts. And in this match where both displayed the very summit of their martial arts, it was the Little Princess who gradually began to show signs of defeat.
"Ghk!"
Two fists cannot block four swords. Against the swords of Taiji Martial Phoenix—who wielded twin swords in her hands and twin swords with her will—the Little Princess slammed her fist into the ground and widened the distance.
"Haa, haa, haa."
Sweat drenched her entire body. Her opponent was similarly out of breath, but the consumption of internal energy was far more severe on the Little Princess's side.
"Just how much internal energy do you have?"
"Well... I myself don't know how much I've accumulated."
Taiji Martial Phoenix crossed her swords in front of her dantian with a subtle smile.
"Please surrender. This match is my victory."
"......."
Their levels of martial arts were similar. Or rather, the Little Princess's was actually higher. She also had more practical experience, and in truth, Taiji Martial Phoenix had allowed a few of her mid-attack thrusts to pierce through her openings.
"How much energy in this world have you built up in your body?"
Yet Taiji Martial Phoenix overcame all obstacles with internal energy as vast as the sea. Even as her internal energy was consumed in real time by the Sword Control Art, her swords continued to fly through the sky.
"A month ago, I was definitely stronger...?"
"He said one month was enough."
Taiji Martial Phoenix lowered her swords to her sides.
"One month. He said that if I continued accumulating internal energy to face you, I would win."
"Who said that?"
"The one... who taught me."
Taiji Martial Phoenix smiled quietly and took her stance. Her Daoist robes fluttered as four swords began to rotate around her.
"You have a truly good master. ...Enviably so."
The Little Princess smiled bitterly and clenched her fists.
"But I cannot concede victory. For my own sake, and...."
For your sake. The Little Princess swallowed her final words and tightened her fists. Just as her opponent had floated all four swords into the air, she too drew up all her remaining Demonic Energy to bring about a decisive end.
"The Heavenly Demon does not lose!!"
Sarak, sarak. Along with the sound of something falling, the Little Princess became a beam of light and leaped upward.
* * *
"Special feature of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Side effect: hair loss."
I wielded four swords through the Sword Control Art, dealing with the Flying Heaven Three Demons separately. I turned one-versus-three into three-versus-three, isolating the three demonic practitioners from each other and steering the situation into three simultaneous one-on-one fights.
"Uwaaah! Why won't your internal energy decreaseeeee!!"
The Blade Demon, now fully a demonic practitioner, shrieked and swung his blade. The Shadow Escape Tracking Blade carrying Demonic Energy gradually began to lose its light. I tapped my chest and laughed.
"Because I've accumulated internal energy through a method even greater than the Heavenly Demon Divine Art!"
- Kehaha! Accumulated up to 5 Gapja through Absorption of Yin to Nourish Yang? You crazy bastard! I acknowledge you! You fucking Sex Demon bastard!!
The Heavenly Demon acknowledged me. He acknowledged my Absorption of Yin to Nourish Yang. He acknowledged me, the one who had once defeated him as a Blood Jiangshi, as a Sex Demon.
"Seems we've already fought half a day... by now, things over there should be settled too."
I had attacked when the moon rose and pinned the Flying Heaven Three Demons here. With the sun now high, the match was probably already over.
'That kid, she wouldn't get excited and float four swords, would she?'
I told her she still lacked the internal energy for that and to hold and use only two swords. But one trait of disciples is that when they fight recklessly, they completely ignore their master's teachings. If she did raise four swords, she might well take a hit from the Little Princess.
And then the Little Princess would be the World's Greatest Phoenix—
"......Ah, forget it. Whatever happens, happens."
At last, it was settled. I cornered the three demonic practitioners, who had resisted to the very end, into one spot. I had withstood them until every last seething wisp of Demonic Energy from the Exploding Blood Great Art was exhausted.
"Lift your heads."
I raised the three demonic practitioners' heads with the edge of my blade. The Blade Demon, the Bandit Demon, and the Illusion Demon all wore expressions of satisfaction—they had fought to their hearts' content.
"Let me teach you one thing."
There is only one thing the Ten Demons can teach an existence.
"Losing to the strong is nothing to be ashamed of."
The Taiji Sword Empress was simply stronger than the Flying Heaven Three Demons.
"Your lives—I will take them."
Slice.