Chapter 34
At the western edge of Langya Pavilion lay Spirit Dragon Lake, an artificial lake created by damming water.
Thud-thud-thud.
Bu Eun-seol was kicking off the surface of the vast, vast Spirit Dragon Lake.
It looked as though he was running across the water without hesitation, but in reality, he was ceaselessly stepping on the pieces of wood floating on the surface.
Tap.
What blocked Bu Eun-seol, who had crossed the lake in a single breath using the branches, was a cliff soaring into the sky—Lion Crag.
Hwiik. Tap.
Bu Eun-seol's body was repeatedly shooting up into the empty air and falling back down.
With every breath he drew in, he made a leap, and upon landing, he precisely kicked off the minute protrusions of the cliff with his toes.
It was not as high as Qi Ride to the Heavens, but it was agile; it looked as though he was performing Treading the Void, yet he could move left and right.
Bu Eun-seol's body was climbing the cliff as if it were a spring moving freely of its own will.
Hwiik.
At last, as he stepped up onto the edge of the cliff, four flying daggers pierced toward Bu Eun-seol's body along with the sound of breaking air.
Papak.
But Bu Eun-seol's body was already no longer there, and the flying daggers lodged into a tree stump.
Whirrrrr.
This time, eight flying daggers poured in from all directions, cutting off even his retreat.
With absolutely no space to evade, Bu Eun-seol leaped into the empty air.
THUD-THUD-THUD.
Then, as his body seemed to blur, the eight flying daggers once again grazed past empty air.
Because he had changed his bearing dozens of times in midair, it appeared as though the flying daggers had merely grazed past him.
Tat.
As Bu Eun-seol landed with a light movement,
"Not bad."
A small shadow emerged from behind a rock, clutching flying daggers in its fingers. It was Go Wol.
"At this level, it would be safe to say you have entered the initial stage of Ultimate Speed Shadowless."
The area around Bu Eun-seol's lower garments was sharply torn.
These were wounds caused by executing Ultimate Speed Shadowless just moments ago.
"Ultimate Speed Shadowless simultaneously executes movement technique and footwork technique while changing bearing at ultra-high speed. Because of that, even the slightest mistake can shatter your leg bones."
Go Wol gazed at Bu Eun-seol with eyes that seemed to say he was proud of him.
"Remarkable. To be able to change thirty-six bearings within a month of learning movement technique."
"It is all thanks to you, Elder."
Bu Eun-seol bowed his head.
In truth, Ultimate Speed Shadowless was a body movement martial art more complex and abstruse than even calculating the constellations.
On top of that, executing movement technique and footwork technique simultaneously was a level close to impossible.
But Bu Eun-seol had silently honed his movement technique, and at last, he had achieved a level of mastery approaching 30% mastery.
"You must not become complacent yet."
Perhaps because he had poured all his mental power into it for a month, Go Wol's hair had turned white. But his eyes gleamed intensely.
"What is learned and what is internalized are different. Until you can execute it perfectly in any moment, you must practice Ultimate Speed Shadowless while going back and forth between this lake and the cliff."
"Understood."
"Then that is enough."
As Go Wol turned his body, a faint, barely perceptible smile hung at the corner of his lips.
"I wish you good fortune on the path ahead."
Bu Eun-seol wore a puzzled expression.
Go Wol's words were like a farewell, implying that they would not see each other for a long time.
"Elder. I have only barely reached the level of being able to execute Ultimate Speed Shadowless."
"If you can execute it, then that is enough. There is nothing more this old man can teach you."
"I do not understand what you mean."
Turning his head, Go Wol spoke in a calm voice.
"The reason Ultimate Speed Shadowless is difficult to acquire is that executing the secret method of 'No Place to Stand'—which simultaneously unfolds movement technique and footwork technique—is far too difficult."
No Place to Stand.
It means there is no place to set one's feet, but in the secret method of Ultimate Speed Shadowless, it refers to the secret of being able to execute movement technique and footwork technique while floating in the empty air.
"To complete this secret of No Place to Stand, there are four conditions that are absolutely necessary."
Go Wol looked at Bu Eun-seol with eyes that said he found him admirable.
"First, persistence and endurance more tenacious than a camel. Second, thick internal energy that can endure half the time it takes to eat a meal on a single breath. Third, the wisdom to calculate complex footwork techniques."
Pausing his words for a moment, he asked Bu Eun-seol.
"Do you know what the last condition is?"
Bu Eun-seol, who had been deep in thought, shook his head.
"I do not know."
"Hohoho. It is the courage to overcome the fear and terror of having your legs severed, and to execute the movement technique and footwork technique at high speed."
Go Wol looked at Bu Eun-seol with eyes that seemed to hold a myriad of crossing emotions.
"This is precisely why so many disciples of Langya Pavilion have failed to learn the Swift Shadowless. Because no one is willing to risk becoming a cripple just to learn a mere movement technique and footwork technique."
Go Wol spoke with an expression of admiration.
"To be honest, this old man has never seen anyone with such nerve at your age."
"You mean... me?"
"That's right. Old men who have tasted both bitterness and sweetness may not have much lingering attachment to life, but it is a difficult thing for someone your age to regard your life as worthless as a blade of grass."
Bu Eun-seol wore a peculiar expression.
He was not someone who knew no fear, nor was he a person born with extraordinary nerve.
He simply wanted to obtain outstanding martial arts capable of dealing with the murderer who had killed his grandfather.
"I would like to ask what secret allows one to gain superhuman nerve and confidence at your age."
At Go Wol's question, Bu Eun-seol lowered his head.
"I possess no such superhuman nerve."
A long moment later, when he raised his head again, his eyes seemed to flicker with flame.
"I simply had no other choice."
—He simply had no other choice.
A fierce current of air seemed to pour out from behind Bu Eun-seol.
At the same time, Go Wol felt the illusion that the entire open Clear Bright Platform was being filled with an immense and terrifying killing intent.
'What in the world is this boy...'
Only then did Go Wol realize.
That within Bu Eun-seol's heart lay a killing intent of thunderous force, enough to tear the heavens and overturn the earth.
"So that was it."
Having guessed Bu Eun-seol's circumstances, Go Wol let out a heavy breath.
"The Swift Shadowless is not a simple movement technique. Through countless real battles, it will develop infinitely according to the realizations you gain."
Gazing at Bu Eun-seol's eyes, which were filled with light, Go Wol spoke in a subdued voice.
"For a long time, this old man kept a teahouse here, waiting for a prodigy capable of learning the Swift Shadowless. And now that wish has finally been fulfilled..."
With a lighthearted smile on his lips, he spoke again.
"The teahouse will now close."
"Thank you, Elder."
As Bu Eun-seol bowed his head, Go Wol gave a light nod and went inside the teahouse.
Thud.
And the door of the Clear Bright Tea House truly closed.
The reason he had opened the teahouse was also because he had been waiting for a prodigy to whom he could teach the Swift Shadowless.
Now that his long-cherished wish had been fulfilled, his Clear Bright Tea House had met a pleasant closing.
Whoosh. Tak.
There were ten shadows coming toward Langya Pavilion.
The shadows, running along the steep mountain path as if it were flat ground, were cutting through the air in a triangular formation.
The ten shadows, racing at the speed of light, suddenly shot up into the air the moment the main gate of Langya Pavilion came into view.
Paaht.
The ten shadows that had soared into the air scattered in all directions like firecrackers bursting.
"It's the Wind Cloud Brigade bastards."
The figures of Langya Pavilion, looking up at the covert shadows spreading across the night sky, clicked their tongues.
"They could just come in through the entrance. As if to prove they're spies, they always have to..."
The Wind Cloud Brigade.
It was the intelligence unit of Langya Pavilion that roamed the martial world to gather information.
They periodically left Langya Pavilion to wander the rivers and lakes and then returned, and there were rumors that every time they returned, a ground shift occurred in the martial world.
Ssssss.
One of the shadows, darting out with covert movement technique, came to a stop on the roof of a pavilion overlooking Langya Pavilion.
Swish.
The shadow, illuminated by the moonlight, removed the mask that had been covering his face.
Then, the features of a middle-aged man with thick dark eyebrows and a prominent nose were slowly revealed.
"If you've returned, you should come straight to the Hall of Heaven and Earth. Why are you lingering so pathetically in a place like this, Baek Yeon?"
At that moment, along with a clear, ringing voice, a figure in white garments descended onto the roof of the pavilion like a cloud.
He was a man with a robust physique and handsome features, but with eyes that were somehow languid.
It was none other than Dan Cheong, the Deputy Pavilion Master of Langya Pavilion.
"Or perhaps, like that time, you intend to have a drink on the rooftop, using the night scenery as your side dish?"
Dan Cheong, who had approached the man, said with a soft smile.
"If it were ever revealed that the leader of the Wind Cloud Brigade—the one who oversees all the information under heaven—possessed such handsome features, it would surely cause quite a stir in the martial world."
The middle-aged man wearing the mask was none other than Baek Yeon, the leader of the Wind Cloud Brigade, who managed Langya Pavilion's intelligence.
"Deputy Pavilion Master."
Baek Yeon, the Wind Cloud Brigade leader, fixed his star-like eyes on the ground with his hands clasped together.
At this, Dan Cheong spoke as if disappointed.
"Did I not say you may speak comfortably when it is just the two of us?"
"The discipline of the Main Pavilion is already loose to the point of unraveling as it is. If we make exceptions one by one like that, the order of the Main Pavilion will fall into disarray."
At Baek Yeon's stiff reply, Dan Cheong clicked his tongue.
The two were friends who had shared a deep friendship since childhood.
But the rigid Baek Yeon always maintained a courteous and solemn attitude, whether in private or public settings.
"I was just about to seek you out, so this is fortunate."
"Me? For what reason?"
As Dan Cheong blinked, a cold gleam rose in Baek Yeon's eyes.
"The Ten Demonic Heir..."
"Hm?"
"I heard that the Deputy Pavilion Master brought back a Ten Demonic Heir of the highest caliber from Hell Island."
Dan Cheong, who had been standing blankly, burst into laughter.
"For you to already know a fact that only the high command of the Demonic Path Ten Gates and the Demon Hall are aware of—I am astonished."
"Did the Deputy Pavilion Master not originally oppose the Ten Demonic Heirs Plan?"
Baek Yeon stared at Dan Cheong with deep eyes.
"Then why did you bring a prodigy who was bound for the Fire Rain Sword Sect to the Main Pavilion?"
"So that's what this is about."
Dan Cheong, who had been picking at his ear, clicked his tongue and spoke.
"That boy was not brought here by me."
"If he was not brought here..."
"That boy chose the Main Pavilion himself. He refused the Fire Rain Sword Sect's offer to take him, cutting it down with a single stroke."
"That prodigy said to be unmatched under heaven... chose the Main Pavilion?"
"Indeed."
As if recalling that moment, Dan Cheong touched the area around his neck.
"Thanks to that, I nearly came to blows with that insufferable Sword Demon."
Baek Yeon, unable to hide his frustrated expression, spoke.
"Why did you accept such an exceptional situation? It would not have mattered who was brought, in any case."
"Well, it was admirable. The boy said he would walk into the Main Pavilion on his own two feet."
As Dan Cheong shrugged his shoulders, Baek Yeon furrowed his brows.
"Because of that matter, the Fire Rain Sword Sect ultimately did not select a Ten Demonic Heir. The leader of the Fire Rain Sword Sect also expressed his regret."
"So that happened."
As Dan Cheong answered indifferently, Baek Yeon let out a deep sigh.
"People of the martial world call the Main Pavilion a dying sect. But have you forgotten that, in truth, it is because we have long been under the Demon Hall's pressure?"
"Baek Yeon."
Dan Cheong, who had let out a brief sigh, shook his head.
"Have you not... led the Wind Cloud Brigade for too long?"
"What do you mean?"
"I am asking if you have not drunk too deeply of the rivers and lakes."
Dan Cheong's eyes, looking down at Langya Pavilion from the rooftop, grew profound.
"The Main Pavilion is simply the Main Pavilion. What our Langya Pavilion aims for is reaching the pinnacle of martial arts—not dominance over the martial world."
"Deputy Pavilion Master. Such things are merely ideals. Do you truly believe you can lead Langya Pavilion with nothing but hopeful aspirations?"
"Earlier you spoke of discipline... and yet, though I am still the Deputy Pavilion Master, your words are quite harsh."
As Dan Cheong jested, Baek Yeon clenched his fist as if suppressing his emotions.
"The current martial world is a situation like a time bomb that could go off at any moment. If you continue to hold such complacent thoughts... the Main Pavilion itself could be endangered."
"I understand. I understand."
Dan Cheong waved his hand as if he had no choice.
He knew well that Baek Yeon spoke this way because he thought of Langya Pavilion with a loyalty deeper than anyone else's.
"Since you have returned after so long, let us at least ease the feelings accumulated during that time."
Dan Cheong waved his hand as if sweeping away the heavy air.
"I have prepared a feast at the Blue Cloud Pavilion. Let us drink until our noses are crooked, for once."
"I will have to decline the drink for now."
"Why?"
"There is an urgent matter I must attend to."
"And what might that be?"
Baek Yeon looked at Dan Cheong with a face more serious than ever.
"Where is the one who has become the successor of the Main Pavilion right now?"