Chapter 46
Could one truly learn martial arts in such a chaotic battlefield?
The one saving grace was that he had mastered the Ultimate Speed Shadowless, allowing him to evade the Restrained Power Ghosts' attacks with ease. And the fact that the Innovation Unit's force was overwhelming the Restrained Power Ghosts.
Because of this, Bu Eun-seol did not throw himself fiercely into the battle, but instead wove his way through the battlefield, managing to approach the vicinity where So-jeon was fighting.
Pak! Whirrrrr!
By nature, the blade is a weapon specialized for slashing.
But So-jeon's saber technique, rather like a sword technique, consisted more of thrusting and coiling, twisting movements.
'If he's going to execute his forms like that, he might as well use a greatsword—why does he insist on the great saber?'
Bu Eun-seol's eyes, which had been attentively appreciating So-jeon's saber technique, flashed.
'Could it be... he's executing sword techniques with a great saber?'
It could not be understood through sight alone.
Bu Eun-seol drew the longsword he was holding and began to imitate So-jeon's saber technique, which was cutting down everything in all directions.
Swish swish swish swish swish!
But So-jeon's saber technique was so swift that it was impossible to grasp the precise postures.
'I need sharper senses!'
Bu Eun-seol raised his internal energy to full combat power.
Using the dharma formulas he had obtained from the Wilderness Single Turn, he intended to expand the senses of the Way of the Beast once more with Reverse Polarity True Qi.
Flash!
When Bu Eun-seol opened his eyes again, they blazed like lightning flame.
At the same time, his pupils trembled rapidly, and he could faintly perceive the paths of So-jeon's saber strokes spreading out like rays of light.
Clink.
Gripping the longsword again, Bu Eun-seol began to imitate the saber strokes that So-jeon was pouring out.
'This is...'
Only after holding the sword himself and imitating the saber strokes could he realize it.
What So-jeon was using was not a formalized saber technique, but a Blade Stance that shifted in response to the enemy's attacks.
'So the Practical Combat Martial Arts of Langya Pavilion also contains techniques that use the Blade Stance!'
Bu Eun-seol recalled Dan Cheon-yang's Sword Theory Analysis, which he had heard in the Upper-Level Hall of the Fire Rain Sword Sect.
—When sword techniques reach a certain realm, they are no longer bound by form and pattern. At that point, merely the stance of holding the sword can produce magnificent sword strokes.
Hwiik!
At that moment, So-jeon's great saber once again split the empty air like lightning flame.
Then, fountains of blood erupted from the bodies of the nine Restrained Power Ghosts surrounding him. The curious thing was that some had their legs, others their necks or arms, sent flying.
'It really was the Blade Stance, not a saber technique!'
So-jeon had not executed any particular saber technique; he had simply drawn his great saber along the openings the Restrained Power Ghosts had exposed.
At last, having grasped the essence of So-jeon's saber technique, Bu Eun-seol swung his longsword with all his might.
Whoosh!
Then, lines of blood spread as he cut the necks of two Restrained Power Ghosts.
'This isn't it!'
Bu Eun-seol bit his lip.
'The squad leader cut down nine Restrained Power Ghosts in a single move.'
So-jeon produced nine lines with one blade.
Bu Eun-seol could only manage two.
'A little faster!'
Bu Eun-seol gritted his teeth again and imitated So-jeon's saber technique.
But because his internal power was lacking and his hand technique was not precise, he still could not produce more than two lines.
'That bastard!'
So-jeon, who had been swinging his great saber, faltered in his movements.
In truth, he had known for a while that Bu Eun-seol was watching him.
But after observing for some time, the boy had suddenly begun producing two sword shadows in imitation of him, hadn't he?
'He produced One Blade Two Strikes after seeing it once?'
Watching the sword strokes Bu Eun-seol was pouring out, So-jeon's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
The saber technique he used was the Heaven Conquering Blade Ultimate Stance, which could only be executed after mastering the Way of the Beast to its extreme limit.
So-jeon had undergone bone-grinding training to learn the Heaven Conquering Blade Ultimate Stance, and it had taken him two years to enter the realm of One Blade Two Strikes.
And yet this brat, who had only just learned the Way of the Beast, was imitating One Blade Two Strikes from sight alone?
Hwiik!
At that moment, a long scythe came slashing down toward So-jeon's face.
Because his gaze had been fixed on Bu Eun-seol and his mental power had been scattered, he had failed to notice the Restrained Power Ghost approaching.
Chang!
Quickly blocking the scythe with his great saber, he cried out in his mind.
'Thoughts are for later!'
Whether Bu Eun-seol imitated his Blade Stance or danced a jig, he resolved to pay it no mind for now.
"Now, to the deputy unit leader..."
After following So-jeon around like a shadow for a while, Bu Eun-seol's next target was none other than Je-un.
'Is he trying to imitate my forms this time?'
Je-un, too, had been closely watching Bu Eun-seol as he moved across the battlefield imitating So-jeon.
But when Bu Eun-seol quietly approached his vicinity, Je-un allowed a faint smile to settle on his lips.
'Heh heh. Does he think he can just watch with his eyes and imitate my Dragon Chant Sword Art and Flying Dagger Art?'
As he glanced sidelong at Bu Eun-seol, who was copying his movements, the corner of Je-un's mouth twitched upward.
'The unit leader's Blade Extremity Stance is based on the Way of the Beast, so it could be mimicked somehow. But my sword art and flying dagger art cannot even be imitated without the practical combat methods.'
As if to prove it, he unleashed the Willow Leaf Flying Blade Art with his left hand, scattering a fan-shaped burst of light, while executing his sword art with his right.
'Watch all you want. See if you can steal my martial arts with your eyes.'
Je-un's eyes, which had been crinkled with amusement, suddenly began to widen.
Now that he looked properly, Bu Eun-seol was not imitating his flying dagger art, nor was he imitating the Dragon Chant Sword.
Bu Eun-seol was gripping a longsword in one hand and a short sickle he had picked up from somewhere in the other, swinging them wildly this way and that like a madman.
'That brat?'
Watching that sight, Je-un felt a stinging sensation in the back of his head, as if he had been struck from behind.
What Bu Eun-seol was doing—wasn't he imitating the Divided Mind Dual Use Art, the secret technique that could truly be called Je-un's own unique mastery?
'Are you saying he saw through my greatest secret art just by watching?'
Je-un, who could throw flying blades with one hand while executing the Dragon Chant Sword Art with the other.
His trump card, his ultimate technique, was precisely the Divided Mind Dual Use Art—the ability to execute two different martial arts simultaneously, one with each hand.
'A terrifying bastard!'
As he watched Bu Eun-seol clumsily swinging the sword and sickle, Je-un felt goosebumps rise.
Because although it was crude now, he had a premonition that one day Bu Eun-seol would wield the Divided Mind Dual Use Art more perfectly than he himself ever could.
Whik!
At that moment, a sharp spear tip drove toward the space between Je-un's eyebrows.
Distracted by Bu Eun-seol, he had—just like So-jeon—allowed a Restrained Power Ghost to approach.
'Now is not the time for idle thoughts!'
No matter how easy an opponent a Restrained Power Ghost might be, its raw strength and movement were at the level of a murim master.
If he let his mind wander in this situation, he could lose his life to an unexpected blow.
"As expected, it's not a martial art that can be learned in an instant."
After imitating Je-un's Divided Mind Dual Use Art for a long while, Bu Eun-seol soon stopped moving.
'If I hadn't read that secret manual in the Demon Hall, I could never have built the foundation of practical combat martial arts this quickly.'
Bu Eun-seol had been able to examine the two masters' forms using the principles written in the Wilderness Single Turn.
Not only that, he had been able to indirectly learn the practical combat methods contained within their movements.
"But this isn't something that can be learned in a short period."
If he continued imitating advanced martial arts on this chaotic battlefield, there was a high probability he would fall into a trance and be ambushed.
"Now, let's try to grasp the secret of that sword art."
After taking a deep breath, Bu Eun-seol this time went to the side of Han Dan, the unit member who was executing his sword art.
Paaht! Paaht!
Every time Han Dan executed his sword art, the blade's light flashed and Restrained Power Ghosts toppled in droves.
The sword art was not particularly profound, but the power contained in each strike of the sword split the heavens and made the earth resound.
'The terrifying thing about that sword art is precisely its power.'
The sword Han Dan wielded was at a level where even Restrained Power Ghosts, whose bodies were as hard as steel, died if merely grazed—and if struck squarely, their bodies burst apart in all directions.
'But I can't figure it out at all. How such simple sword strokes can exert that kind of power.'
In truth, the sword art Han Dan was using was an application of the principles of the Heavy Sword, which, alongside the Phantom Sword, was regarded as the pinnacle of sword arts in the murim.
But merely studying the sword strokes with his eyes was not enough to grasp the profound principles of the Heavy Sword.
'It can't be helped.'
He did not know when he would again carry out a mission alongside the Innovation Unit.
The battle would soon end, and the sword art Han Dan was executing would also stop.
'I have no choice but to do what I can.'
After sheathing his sword, Bu Eun-seol began to examine the corpses of the Restrained Power Ghosts that Han Dan had dispatched.
He did not simply look at them—he tore their clothes and probed the burst muscles and sliced wounds with his hands.
'...?'
Han Dan, who had been executing his sword strokes, wore a dumbfounded expression.
In the midst of this hellish battlefield with blood flying everywhere, he was groping the dying Power Liberation Demons?
He was deploying the Swift Shadowless at opportune moments, but if he let his attention wander even slightly, his head could go flying.
Ssssss!
Just then, one of the Power Liberation Demons silently approached Bu Eun-seol from behind.
But Bu Eun-seol did not even turn his head. It seemed that, so focused was he on examining the corpses, he had not even sensed the approach.
Clank.
Just as the Power Liberation Demon raised its great scythe and was about to deliver a decisive blow,
Bang!
With a thunderous sound, one arm of the Power Liberation Demon that had been ambushing Bu Eun-seol burst apart limply.
Bu Eun-seol had swung his sword without even looking back.
It was remarkably similar to the power of the sword stroke Han Dan had just extended.
'So that was the principle.'
Bang!
When he swung his sword again, the Power Liberation Demon's body split into two pieces with an explosion.
Clank.
Having sheathed his sword again, Bu Eun-seol's eyes sparkled.
'He didn't inject true qi into the sword. When the sword struck the enemy, he detonated the true qi at the tip of the blade!'
The wounds of the Power Liberation Demons struck by Han Dan's blows had been crushed, not as if by a sword, but as if struck by a heavy hammer.
A sword study that increases power by pressing down on everything the blade tip touches with true qi.
That was the core technique of the Heavy Sword.
"It's over."
In the meantime, So-jeon, who had been swinging his great blade, muttered flatly.
At last, he had cut down all of the Power Liberation Demons, whose numbers had not diminished no matter how many were killed.
"Uwaaaah!"
At that moment, a thunderous roar rang out.
When the masters of the Innovation Unit had cut down all the Power Liberation Demons, a giant of a man came charging out of one of the halls, bellowing.
It was none other than Do Pae, the Lord of Wind Thunder Valley.
"Langya Pavilion, you wild dogs! You dare ambush this valley!"
Having researched the Power Liberation Technique for many years, he possessed strength on a completely different level from ordinary Power Liberation Demons.
"I'll tear every last one of you to shreds!"
Do Pae unleashed a ferocious palm technique upon the exhausted Innovation Unit members.
"It's a poison palm!"
As a fishy smell spread in all directions, Je Un shouted loudly. It was the Dead Soul Poison Palm, the signature technique of Wind Thunder Valley.
"So you finally crawled out."
Gripping his great blade, So-jeon deployed his swift movement technique and charged toward Do Pae.
"Out of my way!"
Do Pae, who had been firing the Dead Soul Poison Palm, pushed out both palms with all his might when he saw So-jeon charging at him.
"Haap!"
As Do Pae fired the Dead Soul Poison Palm with all his strength, the area around the charging So-jeon was covered in black poison mist.
"Hmph!"
As the poison mist enveloped his surroundings, So-jeon raised the great blade he held high into the sky, then slashed it down toward the ground with all his strength.
Flash!
Nine strands of blade qi shot out from the great blade, spreading in all directions, then fell into the center of the black mist.
Kuuung!
At that moment, the earth shook, and dust and wind spread out in all directions.
Whiiiiing!
When the black mist cleared, the towering figure of Do Pae stood upright at its center.
Trembling.
Do Pae, who had been trembling lightly,
Paaaah!
With a sound like a watermelon bursting, his head vanished without a trace.
This time, it was not a blade stance, but the creation of powerful blade qi, unleashing the ultimate technique of the Thunderbolt Nine Flashes.
Thud.
As Do Pae's headless corpse collapsed to the ground, a silence like death fell over Wind Thunder Valley.
At last, the Innovation Unit had annihilated yet another sect.
Clank.
Having slung his great blade onto his back again, So-jeon looked around at the unit members.
Their lives were not in danger, but due to the bloody battle against the endlessly pouring Power Liberation Demons, about half of the unit members had sustained serious injuries.
'That bastard...'
But Bu Eun-seol, who had raced across the battlefield with the Swift Shadowless while mimicking martial arts, stood tall without a single hair harmed.
Moreover, he seemed to have gained some great insight, as he appeared lost in deep thought with his gaze fixed on empty air.
'There's no need for a test.'
Bu Eun-seol was showing progress so fast that it was impossible to believe he was a disciple who had just entered Langya Pavilion.
If a test were needed, it would be years from now, not now.
Because So-jeon was curious to see how Bu Eun-seol would unfold his own Heavenly Domination Saber Extremity.
"Unit Leader."
Seeing So-jeon staring at Bu Eun-seol as if entranced, Je Un sidled up and asked.
"Do you have something to say?"
Only then did So-jeon come to his senses, let out a low snort, and shake his head.
"We're returning. To Langya Pavilion."