Chapter 214
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 214
Chapter Title: Dokgo Lone Sword (3)
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The entrance to the sword vault rumbled shut once more.
It had been a full week—seven days and nights straight—since the wolf pup, suddenly reduced to an abandoned stray robbed of its master, let out a pitiful "kyu-aang" wail and temporarily transformed into the mascot of Sword Pavilion.
"I can't take it anymore!"
Geum Sihyeon raised the flag of rebellion once again.
But Dokgo Bulpae didn't so much as bat an eye, merely digging at his ear with a pinky.
"How did a young punk with no patience whatsoever even manage to learn martial arts?"
Geum Sihyeon held back from retorting with a dramatic dallyangson ttalkkagi pose.
"No, old man, this isn't the time for that! If we delay even a little longer, Sister Seol's gonna end up as a full platter of scrambled eggs!"
He flipped on full Geum-Cola mode, earnestly pleading his case.
But.
"Out!"
Dokgo Bulpae's thunderous roar—forged over three centuries without so much as holding a woman's hand—shook the sword vault to its core.
"Affection is the emotion furthest from martial arts!"
Three hundred years of pent-up fury, unleashed in full!
Of course, Geum Sihyeon had long since lost touch with basic human empathy.
"Fine, then when you were young, you should've slacked off on training a bit and done some dating instea— Aak! Ack! Kraaaak!"
For daring to spout such arrogant nonsense, he savored the exquisite sting of bungeonchakgol.
Even as Dokgo Bulpae ground down his acupoints with precision, he couldn't believe it.
If you cracked open this lunatic's skull, half of it would be packed with martial arts, and the other half with women.
Yet here he was, not only grasping the essence of Dokgo Lone Sword but already internalizing up to the eighth form, Breaking Arrow Style.
On top of that transcendent intellect that made even Dokgo Bulpae himself feel like a mere mortal.
And once told he couldn't leave the sword vault until he'd mastered it all, the kid hadn't slept a wink—training nonstop through all twelve double-hours.
At that point, was his talent for martial arts too freakish, or...
"With that genius of yours, all you can think to do is run outside and chase skirts? You mad bastard! Don't you crave the title of Supreme Under Heaven?!"
"Aaaak! Ack! Supreme Under Heaven too! Ack! Aak! Post-Meal Exercise! Aak! Heroic Colors! Kraaaak!"
Even with his supernaturally tough meridians and bones, enduring bungeonchakgol administered personally by someone who'd merged with the natural world—and still spitting out whatever he wanted to say.
His mental fortitude was straight-up insane too.
How in the heavens did the Supreme Lord unleash a being like this upon the mortal world?
Heaven's will was that profoundly inscrutable.
Dokgo Bulpae couldn't even fathom how utterly deranged the current martial world had become.
Well. Still.
That smartphone gadget was kinda growing on him.
.
.
.
Seven days and nights, plus a solid three more.
Geum Sihyeon had set foot in the sword vault a full ten days ago.
"Heh, heh heh..."
Dokgo Bulpae let out a hollow chuckle.
"I'm someone this extraordinary."
That arrogant prick, nose held high.
He'd fully comprehended the essence of Dokgo Lone Sword—something Dokgo himself had pondered for over a century—and etched it straight into his upper dantian.
If there was any shortfall.
"I don't know the martial arts of today's jianghu, so you'll have to fill in those gaps yourself."
To sum up the Dokgo Lone Sword he'd created: preemptive strike.
All forms have their preparatory stances, so the idea was to detect the signs before they could even swing and disrupt them first.
Thus, the nine swords were directions born from Dokgo Bulpae's own perfect analysis and counters to the martial arts he'd encountered wandering the jianghu.
But the world this lunatic showed him through that insane smartphone gadget was a far cry from his memories.
"You might not even need much hardship. These modern folks seem obsessed with flashy forms."
Ki scattered in displays so dazzling you couldn't tell if it was martial arts or mere illusion.
Plum blossoms blooming from sword tips?
Instead of wasting time scattering sword ki mimicking plum flowers, just focus it to a single point.
What happened to Mount Hua Sect's famed Life-Seizing Linked Triple Sword? How's some rootless Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique their signature now?
What an end-times world. Truly the end times.
If Geum Sihyeon could read his mind, he'd probably yell, "No shit, old man, you in Cheoncheonhoe? Sing a Cheonpop track!"—thoughts that grim swirled in Dokgo Bulpae's head.
"When you go, at least leave this behind."
"Pardon?"
"Wanna live another ten years?"
"I-I'll give it!"
Keep this guy around a bit longer, and...
Dokgo Bulpae felt a gut instinct he'd sooner enter demonic possession than ascension.
Sickness unto death.
Rumble, boom!
Rumble rumble, tatatata!
Even louder than when it opened—or closed.
The seat where Avalokitesvara comfortably planted her hips began to shake violently.
"Kyauuu!"
The wolf pup, who had forgotten its duties and become Sword Pavilion's guardian tiger, rubbing against everyone for treats, snapped to attention at the noise.
And it was broad daylight, no less.
All the women of Sword Pavilion gathered in an instant.
Soon after.
Crack!
As if it had always been that way, the earth split open forcefully, and exquisitely carved stone walls rose like unfolding eight gates.
"Whoa...!"
"Major event."
"Gotta post to Musta!"
"Girl, get permission from the matriarch first. Otherwise, we all get smartphone bans again—me under, you above."
"Eeeek!"
Chatter erupted from the disciples everywhere.
And then.
Tap, tap, tap.
An aura so utterly ordinary it paradoxically felt profoundly extraordinary began stepping onto the earth.
And finally, the one who appeared there was.
A masked man whose well-groomed hair had been hacked to disheveled strands in the process of battling dozens of weapons.
"Kyau!"
Unlike the wolf pup expressing fervent joy, tail thumping the ground in a cleaning frenzy.
All the female martial artists of Sword Pavilion fell silent in awe.
Some among them.
Gulp!
Sniiiif!
Were gulping so hard their throats rattled.
He'd expected hostility, but this unfamiliar reaction left Geum Sihyeon baffled at first.
Then it hit him—his current state.
The moment he realized.
"Ah, fuck."
Geum Sihyeon finally noticed his clothes were raggedly torn, exposing skin without filter.
And considering the long gash scar between his thighs...
"This old man's esteemed name is Dokgo Mupae—spread it across the world! The Sword Immortal has returned!"
Truly, surpassing the Three Stars Family with Four Stars Family flair.
As expected of a gi-sa-myeol-jo expert.
Geum Sihyeon, surname swapped once more, hastily hopped onto the wolf pup's back in hermit recluse cosplay, leaving behind his yukhapjeonseong as he vanished.
"...Did you see that?"
"Is that... human?"
"What I knew was all..."
"Matriarch... sorry... if I learn about stuff like that, I..."
They say love for in-laws is love for country.
Thanks to that unintended glimpse of a certain viciously exposed part.
Sword Immortal Dokgo Mupae contributed immensely not just to preventing floods at Northern Sea Ice Palace, but to preventing polar bear extinction too.
Even the lofty Sword Queen dreamed of touring the jianghu with a sparring invitation.
A move befitting a true pillar of the martial world.
After igniting the annihilation of Sima Family, Cheon Siwoo had headed south without delay.
Yet his footsteps hadn't quite reached Nangong Family, lingering instead in Hefei, Anhui's grandest city.
The reason was absurd.
"Tait! Tait!"
"Shh, you're too drunk...! What're you thinking singing that song here...!"
The bizarre music called "Cheonpop" had exploded across the jianghu.
Drawing massive attention to Nangong Family in the process.
Dealing with tails was a hassle; shaking them was worse.
Unlike at Mount Ten Thousand or Heavenly Mountains, where he had minions at his beck and call.
Alone, every little thing became a monumental annoyance.
Right away! Coming now!
Thanks to that crazy bitch Hong Sundok
Sigh
I really have no idea why Blood Lord keeps defending that woman
"Hoo."
Cheon Siwoo let out a sigh.
What did that pervert hag Guima see in her to keep defending her?
He'd stayed silent even after watching her devour Huanma, because her role was pivotal to completing the grand scheme.
Anyway, with Yoma on the way, he decided to kill time.
Cheon Siwoo tossed himself into a nearby tavern, ears open, silently nursing his drink.
In the midst of that.
"Haha! Ri Yeon, junior—long time no see, great to see you! How's your first jianghu trip treating you?"
"...Baili Yeon here. Senior Nangong Hui."
"What? Baili or Baekri, both fine surnames!"
"D-Don't tease Ri, Ri Yeon too muchhh..."
"Narin, you're the worst."
"Hii, hii..."
The voices of martial artists who'd just entered the tavern grazed his ears.
Baili. Baili-shi.
Definitely.
The clan Huanma annihilated.
Curiosity piqued, Cheon Siwoo looked up toward the voices.
And.
"..."
He beheld the Heavenly Killing Star.