Chapter 12
Grasp!
At that moment, a spray of blood scattered from the area near Bu Eun-seol's shoulder joint.
The instant it touched the sword tip laden with ferocious rotational force, the flesh near his shoulder joint had been sliced off in a chunk.
"Haap!"
It was a wound severe enough that an ordinary person would have screamed in agony, but Bu Eun-seol instead let out a spirited shout and continued to execute his sword technique.
'Just a little more...'
Having heightened his Beast Path, Bu Eun-seol brought his face even closer in order to control the rotating sword.
Whiriririk.
The passing blade grazed his cheek and forehead, but he paid it no mind and rotated his body and sword even faster.
'Just a little faster!'
Once again unleashing Ten Thousand Lights Illuminating the World, Bu Eun-seol's two legs began to rotate.
That rotational force traveled through his waist, to his shoulders and arms, and all the way to his fingertips.
Hwirk, Whirrrrr.
Spinning ferociously like a top, Bu Eun-seol thrust the iron sword he was gripping forward with all his might.
BANG!
At that instant, as a fierce wind burst forth, one wall of the martial arts hall was completely shattered.
Kurrrrrr.
Along with the dust, the Ironhard Wood, said to be harder than iron, had been torn apart like a sheet of paper, and Bu Eun-seol was kneeling on one knee, having dropped his sword.
"Umm."
As Cheon Un-gwang let out a groan, Bu Eun-seol forced himself to his feet with difficulty.
"I apologize."
Staggering as he rose, Bu Eun-seol picked up the iron sword that had fallen to the floor.
"I will try once more."
A blood light rose in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
Even if every piece of flesh on his body were to be sliced away, he would never stop his sword technique.
"Stop!"
For four days, without missing a single day, this situation had been repeating itself.
Cheon Un-gwang, utterly exhausted by Bu Eun-seol's malice and persistence, waved his hand.
"You may stop now."
"But..."
"It's enough. It seems you have already grasped the profound principles of the Fire Rain Thunder-Splitting Sword."
There were two reasons why Bu Eun-seol had been wounded so terribly.
The first was Unity of Sword and Hand—that is, he had not been able to control the sword as delicately and precisely as his own hand.
"The Fire Rain Thunder-Splitting Sword requires the body to rotate rapidly in order to alternate between the Quick Sword Form and the Linked Ring Sword Form. On top of that, all of its foundational forms are designed to swing the sword around the body, so it cannot be used in real battle."
Watching Bu Eun-seol, drenched in blood and gasping for breath, Cheon Un-gwang narrowed his eyes.
"And yet, you are trying to use every sword form in real battle."
The second reason.
It was because Bu Eun-seol, as if facing a mortal enemy, had imbued every form with killing intent and sharpness.
"As if you are trying to kill someone."
Bu Eun-seol, who had been panting heavily, answered with a serious expression.
"Is that not the original purpose of sword techniques?"
"So you harbor the Killing Sword within you."
"Not at the moment."
"Not at the moment?"
Biting his lip for a moment, Bu Eun-seol flashed a sharp light in his eyes.
"Right now, I simply wish to survive."
"Umm."
Cheon Un-gwang, who had been silent for a moment, nodded heavily.
"I heard there was one who survived alone in the Second Trial. So it was you."
Among the trainees on Hell Island, Bu Eun-seol alone knew the weight of the name "Ten Demonic Heir."
"Your name."
For the first time, Cheon Un-gwang became curious about a trainee's name.
"Your name, I mean."
"It is Bu Eun-seol."
"Good."
Everything was good.
Because he had mastered the Way of the Beast, he possessed extraordinary senses and reflexes.
Not only that, but he also had a peculiar talent for transforming ordinary sword forms into sharp killing moves.
Though his body seemed gaunt, his two legs were as stable as if they would not waver even if the heavens collapsed, and his two eyes burned like a sun frozen in time.
Above all, there was an unyielding will to achieve the Way of the Sword no matter what.
'When in my lifetime will I ever encounter such a peerless martial prodigy again?'
Something hot surged up from within Cheon Un-gwang's heart.
It was not a matter of transmitting the Fire Rain Thunder-Splitting Sword under the orders of his sect, but a genuine desire to pass on the sword studies he himself had realized and achieved.
"Hm."
Cheon Un-gwang, whose gaze had clouded for a moment, opened his mouth as if he had resolved something.
"You are about to walk down the wrong path."
Looking down at Bu Eun-seol, who had his lips pressed firmly shut, he continued.
"To learn Demonic Path Martial Arts, one inherently requires a strong killing intent. However, it can become a tremendous obstacle to learning this sect's sword studies."
"I do not understand what you mean."
"The Fire Rain Sword is as deep and exquisite as the martial arts of Shaolin. That is partly because it encompasses all the sword studies scattered throughout the Demonic Path, but also because it abandoned the Killing Sword rooted in the Demonic Path."
Killing intent and the Killing Sword.
Bu Eun-seol did not understand the difference at all. Sensing this, Cheon Un-gwang began to explain about the sword once more.
"Do you know why the sword is called the King of All Weapons?"
Bu Eun-seol had a thought that came to mind, but he shook his head.
"I do not know."
"It is because a single sword can express the variations and sharpness of all weapons."
Cheon Un-gwang spoke again.
"What is the pinnacle of the sword? In order to ascend to an endlessly high and higher realm, this sect abandoned the Killing Sword that solely severs the lives of enemies, and pursued the utmost principle of the sword."
Cheon Un-gwang spoke solemnly.
"If you cannot erase the murderous intent burning in your mind, you will ultimately create a martial art that harms your own body. Like the Fire Rain Thunder-Splitting Sword that you cannot control."
A self-deprecating smile was drawn somewhere on his face.
Perhaps this advice was something he was saying to himself.
"In the past—no, even now, this hall instructor has also lived harboring the Killing Sword. I was unhindered by anything, and I cut down everything that came into sight."
His expression was calm, but in Cheon Un-gwang's eyes, anguish and torment flickered past.
"Because of that, my standing, my honor, and even my martial arts all fell to an inferior level."
In his youth, Cheon Un-gwang had been a figure even mentioned as the next Sect Leader of the Fire Rain Sword Sect.
But he had failed to control his rage and killing intent, and in the end, he had been forced to settle for the position of a unit leader.
"The Killing Sword seems to lead you to infinitely higher realms, but in truth, it is like an obstacle blocking an endlessly unfolding path. From now on, cast aside your killing intent."
Perhaps it was because he had spoken of his own past? The gaze of Cheon Un-gwang, which had always been as sharp as the tip of a sword, had softened slightly.
Bu Eun-seol, who had been listening silently, felt a question arise.
—Martial artists greatly dislike speaking of their own pasts.
Those were words his grandfather, Bu Jan-yang, had once told him.
Over the years, while preparing the bodies of those who had died away from home, the type he had seen most often were martial artists concealing their identities.
—Why do martial artists deny their pasts, Grandfather?
At Bu Eun-seol's question, Bu Jan-yang, who had held a bitter smile for a long while, had answered thus:
—Because the pasts of warriors who live by the sword are all stained with grief and misfortune.
At the time, Bu Eun-seol had not understood those words.
But seeing Cheon Un-gwang agonize as he spoke of his own past, he suddenly understood.
'Warriors who live by the sword... are all grief and misfortune...'
Perhaps that was also the story of Bu Eun-seol's own future, living by the sword.
'Why is he telling me this?'
Sa-u and Jin Gak had also sincerely taught him martial arts, but they had never spoken of their own pasts.
So why was Cheon Un-gwang, who was colder and more filled with killing intent than either of them, speaking of his past?
"Why are you telling me this?"
When he asked with an expression that said he truly could not understand, Cheon Un-gwang answered after a long silence.
"I told you, didn't I? That this hall instructor also once carried a Killing Sword."
It was a dishonest answer.
Because he could not say: Your persistence lit a fire in me too. I was going mad with curiosity about how strong you would become.
"And right now, you have a serious problem."
Cheon Un-gwang's eyes, as he looked at Bu Eun-seol, were smoldering with a veiled intensity.
"Even if you go to the Upper-Level Hall now, you will not be able to properly learn the Fire Rain Sword."
"Why... is that?"
"You have far too little foundation in martial arts."
Cheon Un-gwang was seeing through Bu Eun-seol's condition.
He possessed extraordinary senses, persistence, and a glittering talent, but he had no True Body Martial Art, and he had never learned the fundamentals of martial arts.
"Your competitors are prodigies who have been training in martial arts since childhood. If you begin learning the Fire Rain Sword in earnest at the Upper-Level Hall, that gap will only widen."
Cheon Un-gwang's tone was as strict as that of a master instructing his disciple.
"To close that gap, you must quickly learn Superior Martial Arts and establish a foundation upon which you can learn the Fire Rain Sword Art."
Shing.
Cheon Un-gwang drew the treasured sword at his waist and spoke in a low voice.
"From this moment on, I shall teach you the Peerless Thunderbolt."
The Peerless Thunderbolt.
It was a unique sword art created by Cheon Un-gwang himself.
Though it could not match the depth and might of the Fire Rain Sword, it was a sword technique supremely suited to embodying sharp killing intent and destructive power.
Cheon Un-gwang had made his name in the murim with this Peerless Thunderbolt, and it was because of this sword technique that he had been unable to become the Sect Leader of the Fire Rain Sword Sect.
The Fire Rain Sword must become a rain of fire droplets that burns away all martial arts. But the Peerless Thunderbolt was a sharp Killing Sword, like a single flash of lightning.
"Thank you."
When Bu Eun-seol clasped his hands together and bowed, Cheon Un-gwang waved his hand.
"There is no need for thanks. This method may very well ruin you."
Cheon Un-gwang spoke with a grave expression.
"Because if you fail while learning the Peerless Thunderbolt, all ten of your fingers could fly off."
Cheon Un-gwang pointed to his own right hand, which he had kept calmly spread open the entire time.
"Because I failed while learning the Peerless Thunderbolt, all the nerves in my fingers were severed. That is why this hall instructor wields the sword with his left hand."
Only then did Bu Eun-seol realize why Cheon Un-gwang had always carried an ordinary longsword on his back.
Carrying a sword on the right side was no different from announcing that one had trained in the left-handed sword.
"Indeed, all living beings are bound to find what suits their own nature. Though I created, in my later years, the ultimate killing sword form befitting this body..."
Cheon Un-gwang, looking down at his own hand, wore a pained expression.
"This sword form is as abstruse as the Fire Rain Sword, and harder to control than the Fire Rain Thunder-Splitting Sword. If you cannot quickly understand and acquire the essential principles of Superior Martial Arts and the Sword Principle..."
Cheon Un-gwang paused for a moment, then spoke in a grim voice.
"Rather than going to the Upper-Level Hall, you may become a cripple who cannot use either arm."
The Fire Rain Sword was the Myriad Swords encompassing all sword studies, but the Peerless Thunderbolt was a Killing Sword that greatly stirred up killing intent.
In the end, even a sword adept like Cheon Un-gwang had been unable to free himself from the Killing Sword.
"In the end, the ultimate end of the Killing Sword is no different from cutting down the enemy, and cutting myself down as well..."
But Bu Eun-seol's eyes held not the slightest wavering.
Even if he was well-versed in the human body and possessed outstanding talent, Bu Eun-seol was a novice who had only recently begun learning martial arts.
Learning the Fire Rain Sword Art—called the greatest sword study of the demonic path—step by step, without taking risks, was impossible.
"Knowing all this, will you still learn the Peerless Thunderbolt from this hall instructor?"
"I will learn it."
It did not matter.
Whether his hands shattered or both his arms were lost.
For the one who had always brewed medicine day and night for his weak body, who had carried him on his back and put him to sleep.
Who had always held him warmly even when others pointed fingers at him...
If he could destroy the murderer who had brutally killed his grandfather, Bu Jan-yang, then Bu Eun-seol would have offered up not just his arms, but even his very soul.