Chapter 4
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: We Have the Sword of Completion (2)
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"Jin Je-yong, disciple of the Divine Sword, has come looking for his student, Jeok-sam."
A guard of the Gyeongmun Sect rubbed his eyes and sized up Jin Je-yong.
He had been forewarned by Yi Ik-hyeon, a master within the sect, and was told to treat whoever came looking for Jeok-sam with respect.
This was because a guard of his level lacked the discernment to judge whether someone was a master or not.
*No matter how I look at him, he’s just a greenhorn novice.*
Dressed in cheap hemp clothes, Jin Je-yong looked like nothing more than a country bumpkin. If not for the sword at his waist, his shabby appearance would have made him indistinguishable from a simple farmer.
Even that was caked in dust, making him look far from a martial artist, let alone a master.
He also looked much younger than his supposed student, Jeok-sam, making it impossible to believe he was the master of the man who had beaten ten warriors to a pulp.
Having reached this conclusion, his confidence swelled.
"Hah! What's with all these damn pests showing up at the great Gyeongmun Sect!"
The guard spat out a string of curses befitting an unorthodox practitioner and glared at Jin Je-yong.
The Gyeongmun Sect might be a small sect in the countryside, but to put it another way, in this rural backwater, they were the absolute powerhouse with no rivals.
"So Jeok-sam did come here a few days ago."
Jin Je-yong asked, not batting an eye at the guard's threat.
The guard, feeling he was being looked down upon, drew his blade. The heavily curved saber looked weighty enough to easily cleave a man in two.
"Is this bastard deaf? Get lost!"
"Ah, there. Your grip is wrong."
Unfazed by the blade pointed at him, Jin Je-yong approached the guard.
The guard swung his saber wildly, but it sliced through empty air.
"If you don't grip it properly with both hands,"
Jin Je-yong caught the swinging blade and twisted it. The guard's wrist twisted along with it. Then, with a scream, he was disarmed with absurd ease.
"you'll lose your weapon this easily."
*A master?!*
Only then did the guard realize that the young man before him was skilled enough to take his head without effort.
Jin Je-yong walked toward the guard. Startled, the guard stumbled backward, tripped on a stone, and fell.
*I-I'm going to die!*
Cold sweat poured down like rain. As his eyes blurred with tears, Jin Je-yong placed the saber back in his hand.
His hand wrapped around the hilt, filling his grip.
"It's better to hold it like this. It's more stable, and you can put more power into the blade."
"Ye-Yes?"
As the guard stared in bewilderment, Jin Je-yong smiled warmly and patted his shoulder.
"I'll teach you in more detail when I have the chance. I'm a sword instructor at the Sinnae Sword School, you see."
With that, Jin Je-yong walked into the Gyeongmun Sect's grounds.
The guard stared blankly at Jin Je-yong's retreating back before his legs gave out and he collapsed.
Even as he left, his appearance was still that of a simple country lad.
"Who the hell is that bastard?"
Was it just a mistake on my part, a moment of carelessness? Or is he a genuine master?
The guard quickly snapped back to his senses.
It didn't matter whether he'd lost his weapon by mistake or if his opponent was a terrifying master. He was an enemy, an intruder to the Gyeongmun Sect.
He blew the whistle with all his might.
***
*Peeeeeeek!*
A sharp whistle blast sounded from behind him.
Before long, dozens of Gyeongmun Sect warriors burst through the gates and rushed to the front entrance.
Their movements were too well-trained for a rural sect.
"Hmm, about a hundred of them?"
Considering the size of Yimun-hyeon, it was impossible to gather this many warriors. As far as I knew, even if all the young men in Yimun-hyeon gathered, they wouldn't number fifty.
Moreover, they surrounded me in an orderly fashion, a testament to their training.
"So you're that so-called Sword of Completion?"
A burly man with a deep voice appeared.
His temples bulged, and his prominent arm muscles and broad back spoke of his strength.
"My students sometimes call me that, but I am still far from completing the sword."
This wasn't humility. I had yet to master the Three Talents Sword Art my master had spoken of.
The true Three Talents Sword Art was a technique that could slice through heaven and earth, and ultimately, even time and space.
But that realm seemed impossibly distant, no matter how much I swung my sword.
"Haha! I see. It was all a bluff."
The man laughed heartily as he approached. But unlike his laugh, his eyes were filled with killing intent.
His right hand, reeking of blood, was ready to draw his sword at any moment.
"Your name is Jin Je-yong?"
"Yes. I am Jin Je-yong, disciple of the Divine Sword, Jin Sang-ho."
I cupped my fist and bowed my head.
A cool breeze brushed past the nape of my neck. Then, something heavy tapped the top of my head.
"Divine Sword? Divine Sword... Is bluffing part of his teachings? Haha, this is rich."
"What do you mean by bluffing?"
When I looked up, the flat of a blade was stopped an inch from my face. The man had drawn his sword and was tapping my head with it.
The man gestured to the Gyeongmun Sect warriors with a sneer.
"I heard you had some skill, so I thought I'd be cautious. Even made all these preparations... But in the end, you're just from some third-rate country dojo?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, but is my student, Jeok-sam, here?"
"He is. That bastard."
The man looked me up and down and snorted.
"No. No matter how I look, it's not right."
"What isn't?"
"You're obviously not the Sword of Completion, and I can't even believe you're that Jeok-sam fellow's master."
"Jeok-sam is indeed my student."
There was no word of Jeok-sam learning martial arts from anyone else after leaving the Sinnae Sword School, so I was his master.
The man spoke with a look of disbelief, then disappointment.
"Then why does the master look weaker than the student?"
"As they say, the student surpasses the master. It's possible he has surpassed me. So, where is Jeok-sam?"
The man cracked his knuckles as he spoke.
"The kid injured ten of our men. We'll need compensation for their treatment..."
He scanned my body from top to bottom. From his talk of medical fees, it was clear he intended to use Jeok-sam as an excuse to extort money.
*So he's a swindler.*
Now that I knew what he wanted, talking further would be a waste of time. I gave up on conversation and decided to find Jeok-sam myself.
"This isn't something that can be settled with just a few coins, you know?"
"My master always said,"
"What?"
"Never talk to a swindler."
My master taught me more than just the Three Talents Sword Art.
He taught me how to read people, how to escape effectively, how not to make enemies—he taught me how to survive in this harsh world.
*Conversation is pointless. I'll just find Jeok-sam.*
The man before me was sneering. Even so, his right hand was on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw at a moment's notice.
*He's weak.*
In terms of skill, he was about on par with Jeok-sam after three months of training.
Judging by his gait and breathing, his achievements in internal energy and martial arts didn't seem very high.
Looking around, the other hundred or so warriors were even less skilled than him. They were holding swords, but their skill level was worse than a child's.
"Then, I'm coming."
I gave them a warning and ample time to prepare before drawing my sword.
***
Jang In-hyo, the martial captain of the Gyeongmun Sect, had been thoroughly warned by their top master, Yi Ik-hyeon.
This was because Jeok-sam's skills were formidable, and he had mentioned the Sword of Completion.
He was already displeased about being dispatched to a rural place like Yimun-hyeon, and he was further annoyed that Yi Ik-hyeon, the sect's supposed top master, was wary of the words of a third-rate warrior like Jeok-sam.
*He's nothing special, is he? Getting scared like an idiot.*
The young man before him, Jin Je-yong, looked utterly unimpressive.
As internal energy accumulates, the temples are supposed to bulge, but Jin Je-yong's temples were not noticeably prominent.
Nor was he at a level so profound that he could fully conceal his energy, or had undergone a complete physical transformation, which would make his temples perfectly smooth.
*This guy is the Sword of Completion? What a joke.*
Besides, he wasn't a Sword Saint (劍聖), but a Sword of Completion (劍成).
Who would dare put "Completed the Sword" in their title?
Furthermore, his master was called the Divine Sword, yet even the Twenty-Two Masters Under Heaven, the greatest martial artists of the current era, called themselves Emperor (皇) or Sovereign (帝), but never dared to claim divinity.
Therefore, Jin Je-yong was either all talk or a big fish in a small pond, mistakenly thinking that being strong in the countryside made him the greatest master in the Central Plains.
"Then, I'm coming."
Jang In-hyo suppressed a scoff.
So what if he came? No matter how strong Jin Je-yong was, over a hundred warriors were surrounding him.
They might be third-rate, but their numbers were in the triple digits. Moreover, the man standing before Jin Je-yong was Jang In-hyo, a warrior whose skills approached the first-rate.
*The bastard's getting cocky.*
Jang In-hyo wanted to show Yi Ik-hyeon the foolishness of this hick instructor from the sticks.
But the moment he drew his sword, Jang In-hyo felt his blood run cold.
Goosebumps erupted on his skin as the surrounding energy seemed to plummet.
Jin Je-yong plunged the tip of his sword into the ground.
The stone floor yielded to the blade as if it were tofu.
"A master!"
Jang In-hyo gasped.
He, too, could stick his sword into the ground without much difficulty.
But to do so without any resistance, as Jin Je-yong had, was impossible without using sword qi.
*But why stick it in the ground?*
As Jang In-hyo wondered, the ground rose up.
As Jin Je-yong lifted his sword, the patch of earth it pulled up soared into the sky.
*Huh?*
Jang In-hyo couldn't comprehend what was happening.
Only when the mass of earth blotted out the sky did he realize that Jin Je-yong had used his sword to raise the ground and was about to bury the Gyeongmun Sect warriors alive.
*Is that something you can do with a sword?*
Faced with this unheard-of event, Jang In-hyo couldn't help but scream.
"I-It's an illusion!"
As the earth overturned, all he could do was deny reality.
The earth swallowed Jang In-hyo and the hundred-odd Gyeongmun Sect warriors, then fell silent.
Other than the hard stone ground turning into soft earth, not much had changed.
Because Jin Je-yong had controlled the range of his technique, the nearby buildings were unharmed.
"Now that it's quiet, I should go find Jeok-sam."
As if the martial feat he had just displayed was nothing, Jin Je-yong's voice was perfectly calm.
***
In the Gyeongmun Sect's underground prison, Yi Ik-hyeon, the sect's greatest master, pulled up a wooden chair and sat facing Jeok-sam.
Jeok-sam, his face pale, was leaning against a wall.
Between them, newly installed iron bars glinted silver.
"An earthquake?!"
The ground shook violently.
The Sword of Completion he was waiting for hadn't arrived, but an earthquake had, startling Yi Ik-hyeon to his feet.
But Jeok-sam, despite his exhaustion, smiled.
"I don't know what you all are planning, but now that my master is here, you will fail."
"The Sword of Completion is here? Are you saying that because of this earthquake? And how would you know what we're planning?"
"You bastards spread drugs in my hometown. It's not a wealthy place, so why bother distributing narcotics there? I kept thinking about the reason while I was locked up here, but there was no need."
"No need?"
"Because my master is here. Whatever you were planning, it's over. Haha... *Cough! Cough!*"
Jeok-sam's laughter aggravated his wounds, and he broke into a fit of coughing.
Yi Ik-hyeon couldn't understand where Jeok-sam's confidence was coming from.
*He couldn't be this bold unless the Azure Sky Sword King himself was coming, could he?*
The Gyeongmun Sect wasn't native to Yimun-hyeon; it was formed by bringing in warriors from the outside.
Only the sect leader was from Yimun-hyeon. Yi Ik-hyeon, Jang In-hyo, and the hundred-plus warriors had all settled here on their organization's orders.
Among them, Yi Ik-hyeon was first-rate. Jang In-hyo was a second-rate warrior approaching the first-rate.
"I don't know what you're mistaken about, but we have over a hundred warriors. No ordinary master—no, even an exceptional one would find it hard to handle. How can one hand fight ten?"
Jeok-sam sneered coldly at Yi Ik-hyeon's threat.
Just then, he sensed a presence on the stairs leading down to the underground prison.
A single person. Yi Ik-hyeon assumed it was one of his men, coming to report after subduing the intruder.
"Looks like it's over. I don't know if he surrendered immediately or was taken down in an instant, but that was fast."
Yi Ik-hyeon dismissed Jeok-sam's bluff and rose from his seat.
A moment later, his eyes widened in shock.
"Who are you?"
A young man in his early to mid-twenties, wearing shabby martial arts attire with a single steel sword at his waist.
His clothes were clean but old and patched in several places. Though his hair was tied up with a hero's bandana, stray strands stuck out here and there, giving him the unmistakable look of a country youth.
This young man, who showed no aura of a master whatsoever, answered Yi Ik-hyeon's question.
"I am Jin Je-yong, disciple of the Divine Sword, Jin Sang-ho."
Behind Jin Je-yong, who answered with a polite fist-and-palm salute,
"It's the Sword of Completion."
Jeok-sam, still in his cell, shouted triumphantly.