Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Vast Sky Unfettered Sword
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In response to Hwa Ryeon's question, the Namgung family head let out a groan.
“Obviously, it should be someone from our house stepping up...”
But given the Namgung house's current situation, that was easier said than done.
Namgung Hyun, who knew this better than anyone, spoke with a sigh.
“As you know, the only people in the house right now fit to compete in the martial tournament are me and Father. We have half a month, but that's nowhere near enough time for our patrolling warriors to return.”
In other words, they needed one more person to enter the tournament.
And every warrior in the Namgung house worth asking for help was gathered right here in this room.
Master or Hwa Ryeon might be recognized as someone from Tyrant Heaven Fortress, so they were out.
Seol-i and Seol Sojeo would probably just lose if they went out there.
By process of elimination...
“Hmm, looks like I'll have no choice but to step up. Ha, what can you do? Guess I'll have to sacrifice this body of mine.”
“Why don't you say that after wiping that goofy grin off your face?”
At Master's scolding, I tugged at my facial muscles, trying to school my expression.
I absolutely wasn't thinking that I couldn't miss out on such a fun event.
This was purely out of goodwill, helping the Namgung house in their dire straits.
Of course it was.
“Are you sure that's alright? You've already helped us so much. The tournament on top of that...”
Namgung Hyun looked genuinely apologetic, but I just smiled lightly and shrugged.
“Don't worry about it. I'm helping because I have my own reasons anyway.”
At my words, Namgung Hyun and the family head's gazes shifted to Hwa Ryeon.
What I wanted was obviously not my own amusement... but approval of Hwa Ryeon's earlier proposal.
That word alone made my heart race: the Murim Alliance.
The Namgung house was the first step toward forming that alliance.
We couldn't let them stumble on the very first step.
“...Understood. Considering what those vile scum did to our house, Tyrant Heaven Fortress is already an irreconcilable enemy for the Namgung. If we overcome this trial, our Namgung house will fully commit to your young lady's plan.”
Hearing this, the family head nodded vigorously, signaling his agreement.
Seol-i and Master's faces visibly brightened, and Hwa Ryeon's eyes sparkled too.
It was conditional, but we'd achieved our goal in coming to the Namgung house.
Feeling my own motivation surge, I grinned.
Now that it had come to this, I'd have to smash through the tournament or whatever and win it all?
*
The time until the tournament was half a month.
All the minor preparations, like selecting the venue, would be handled by Tyrant Heaven Fortress's side.
So all we had to do was prepare for the tournament.
And preparation for a martial artist? Obviously, training.
Honestly, if the opponents were on the level of that Heavenly Radiance Troop Leader or whatever, I could probably sweep them all by myself.
But it was dangerous to assume things would go that easily.
Seol Sojeo's words about that woman Chilji suddenly regaining her composure when she saw her were nagging at me too.
For these reasons, I decided to make every preparation possible before this major event.
And at the same time, I resumed the group's training, which had been on hold during our rare half-month breather.
But upon restarting the training, I learned something new.
“Kyaaak!?”
“Aigoo...”
I quickly chased after Seol-i as she flew through the air and caught her in my arms.
Stopping just short of the courtyard wall, I checked her condition.
“You okay? Not hurt anywhere?”
“I-I'm, I'm, I'm fine!”
Her face beet red, she freaked out and wriggled free from my embrace.
Since there didn't seem to be any issues with her foot movements, she really was alright.
I let out a relieved sigh, inwardly marveling.
“As expected, her channels and vessels are tough. I was limping around for a good while myself.”
The reason Seol-i had gone flying just now was because she'd released too much internal energy through the Yongcheon acupoint on the sole of her foot.
Just like I'd explained on the way from Heonbi, she'd failed to control the flow's intensity and ended up soaring into the air.
Recalling my own childhood black history, Seol-i should have been hobbling around properly for a while too.
But the Seol-i standing before me now had a perfectly fine Yongcheon point, not even slightly damaged.
Paradoxically, it was thanks to that brute-force circulation method.
By endlessly circulating her energy faster and stronger, her channels and vessels had ended up wider and tougher than mine.
Master, Hwa Ryeon, and Seol-i would all have much smoother internal energy operation than me.
Who knew this crude method had such an effect? What a surprise.
Shaking my head at the thought, I turned from Seol-i to look at Master and Hwa Ryeon.
Unlike the still-inexperienced Seol-i in many ways, the two of them already seemed to have mastered controlling the circulation's intensity.
Master was already zipping around the courtyard, changing directions this way and that.
Hwa Ryeon was darting left and right at high speed, dazzling my eyes.
Seeing them, Seol-i set her stance again with a determined expression.
“Hey, Seol-i. Hold on a sec...”
-Bang!
“Kyaaak!?”
“Ao-!”
Overly fired up by the two ahead of her, Seol-i went flying off again.
What was she planning to do if I hadn't caught her?
Still, her bold attempts seemed to bear fruit, because after ten tries, Seol-i's energy control improved by leaps and bounds.
By the twentieth, I no longer had to stay on edge, ready to dash out.
“Progress is faster than I thought.”
Watching the three rampaging in the narrow courtyard, I nodded inwardly.
It was just applying energy release to footwork, after all.
They'd only just taken their first steps, but it was still much quicker than expected.
“Of course, the road ahead is still long.”
They hadn't even attempted manifesting sword energy yet.
On top of that, they'd need to change their circulation method, and then adjust their swordsmanship to match.
I couldn't help with that part, so it'd take them a long time.
“And I've got my own nose to worry about.”
I glanced at the group, then quietly slipped away to a deserted spot.
No need to keep watching Seol-i's footwork anymore, so now it was time for my own training.
Or rather than training, developing? Reconstructing a martial art?
Shrugging, I walked for a bit and arrived at another empty courtyard with no one around.
-Shing
I drew my sword from its sheath and lightly gripped it.
First, I assumed the basic stance of the Three Fundamentals Sword Art and flowed through its three forms in sequence.
Mt. Tai Crush, Horizontal Thousand Troops, Piercing Vital Points.
A simple, basic downward strike, horizontal slash, and thrust.
In all our fights so far, these three forms alone hadn't given me much trouble.
But I didn't think we'd avoided real difficulty because my improved Three Fundamentals Sword Art was so great. It was just good luck.
From Shin Je-gon and Dark Heaven Troop to the ronin band and Heavenly Radiance Troop Leader Sa Gong-chan.
Honestly, aside from the ronin band, they'd all let their guard down against me and paid for it.
It'd be too optimistic to think things would keep going my way.
“I really need another martial art.”
Of course, some of this was personal greed on my part.
Honestly, as a martial artist living in the jianghu, using only the Three Fundamentals Sword Art my whole life? That just wouldn't do.
And if I was going to learn something new, I wanted the techniques that had ignited the heart of that boy waiting to die in a sterile white hospital room.
For example, the Vast Sky Unfettered Sword Art.
“...Yeah, the Vast Sky Unfettered Sword Art.”
The Namgung house's signature technique that I knew of.
A sword art said to encompass the endlessly vast and high heavens.
When I first heard that neither the Vast Sky Unfettered Sword Art nor the Sovereign Sword Forms existed, it felt—like exaggerating a bit—like the sky was collapsing.
The excitement of seeing with my own eyes the Namgung house's symbolic martial art, only to have it dumped in the gutter. You can't understand unless you've been through it.
For a while after, I'd get depressed just thinking about it.
But I quickly changed my mindset.
It might actually be a good thing.
Come to think of it, everything I'd longed for in this weird wuxia world had been illusions.
Sword aura, lightness skills, all of it.
But after years of effort, hadn't I given those illusions substance myself?
Sure, the lightness skill was still a bit incomplete.
“How the hell do you even lighten your body...”
Grumbling softly about the stuck point in developing lightness skills, I shook my head.
Anyway, I'd been turning fictional concepts into reality this whole time.
Why not do the same this time?
“If it doesn't exist, I'll make it.”
With that resolve, I'd been recalling memories of the Vast Sky Unfettered Sword Art in my spare moments.
First, I tossed aside all the abstract descriptions like "encompassing the heavens."
How could I capture meaning without even a form?
I focused on the form descriptions of the Vast Sky Unfettered Sword Art.
-A sword art that closes in on a distant foe in an instant and slashes them down.
-A technique stabbing into vitals like an eagle snatching prey.
-A sword integrating offense and defense with the wonders of weight and speed.
Repeatedly visualizing descriptions like these, I pieced together several form shapes in my mind.
And now, it was time to give substance to the illusions in my head.