An Exchange of Insights
A feast of blue stars embroidered across the crimson sky.
Watching the stars fall like a meteor shower, Dok-go Cheon could not help but marvel.
Ah...!
Was it because the boy had embroidered the sky with a meteor shower made of sword threads?
Or because his control over space was so exceptional that it dyed the very heavens?
It was neither.
It is deep.
The trajectory drawn by a martial artist's sword carries the traces of their life.
Whether they wielded a sword, a blade, a spear, claws, a whip, or a staff.
The essence of a martial artist remained the same.
A being who stood on two feet and carried out their will with two hands.
Therefore, the movement of a martial artist could not help but contain the history of their life.
Abandoned by his relatives, wandering the absolute bottom as the lowliest of the low.
Rising with nothing but his bare hands, desperately building his martial arts.
And finally becoming the Overlord of the Black Heaven.
How deep must the history and traces within Jeok-un be?
Although the sheer power of the attack could never inflict meaningful damage on him due to the limits of the boy's internal energy.
The scent of enlightenment contained within it was by no means inferior to his own.
Dok-go Cheon could not help but admire it.
And was that all?
It is so similar.
Jeok-un's sword was like looking at a reflection in a mirror.
Indeed. The Red Heaven Galaxy Sword was incredibly similar to his own Lion Heaven-Shattering Blade.
The forms unleashed were different, but the intent they carried was the same.
For their textures to align so closely, it could only mean that the source of their martial arts was the same.
But that was impossible.
The Lion Heaven-Shattering Blade is a technique I created entirely on my own.
He had no master.
It was a divine art he had forged himself over decades, repeatedly crossing the boundary between life and death in mortal combat.
Yet the opponent before him was a green youth who had not even reached his twentieth year.
Faced with this incomprehensible contradiction, Dok-go Cheon made up his mind.
I will just have to test him to his absolute limit.
With that thought, Dok-go Cheon watched the Falling Rain until the very end.
It was a split second where a mistake of even a fraction of a breath could prove fatal.
Only at the absolute last moment did he move.
Swish!
He swung his blade.
Second Form
Lion's Roar
It was a simple diagonal slash.
Rumble!
Yet that single strike shook the entire area.
Like the king of beasts roaring toward the heavens, the shockwave generated by the blade rushed straight ahead.
Naturally, the Falling Rain was shooting directly toward Dok-go Cheon.
The collision of these two profound techniques was inevitable.
Crackle!
Along with fierce sparks, a steam-like shockwave billowed upward.
And with that, Jeok-un's offensive weakened.
The Lion's Roar had swallowed the Falling Rain.
Sizzle!
Rumble!
The falling meteors resisted fiercely, as if unwilling to yield their lives so easily.
Shhh!
But in the end, they vanished without a trace.
It could not be helped.
Even if Jeok-un had temporarily harnessed the internal energy of the Peak Realm.
Dok-go Cheon was a master of the Master Realm who had transcended the Peak Realm, and a Grandmaster of the Profound Realm who could toy even with the Master Realm.
And then.
Rumble!
The aftermath arrived.
Falling Rain was a technique unleashed with Peak Realm internal energy, and Dok-go Cheon had forcibly torn it apart and swallowed it.
The unstable atmosphere shattered in all directions, sending a violent whirlwind sweeping through the spectator stands.
"Ugh...!"
"W-what is this?!"
Naturally, the watching executives were horrified.
They coughed repeatedly, choked by the swirling dust.
"What just happened?"
"Are you blind? That bastard tried something foolish, and the Lord took care of it all."
"I-is that so...? But from what I saw, his sword..."
Although a marvelous display of divine might had unfolded, many of the executives could not properly grasp the truth of what had occurred.
They did not understand that Jeok-un had unleashed the first form of the Red Heaven Galaxy Sword.
Nor did they realize that Dok-go Cheon had savored and admired that first form.
And they certainly could not comprehend the process by which the Lion's Roar had torn the Falling Rain to shreds.
But that was only natural.
This was the realm of high-speed combat.
It was a world that even masters of the Peak Realm and above could not perceive without true capability.
Jegal Jeok-un...!
That kid is definitely no ordinary fellow!
However, those who did manage to see were struck with utter astonishment.
Just as a strange light flickered in the eyes of the high-ranking executives, including the Vice Lord.
Dok-go Cheon was consolidating the enlightenment he had gained through Jeok-un.
Is the depth of one's accumulated enlightenment unrelated to a martial artist's realm?
The sword strike shown by a mere Peak Realm martial artist contained an interpretation of martial principles that rivaled his own.
And that had provided a clue to a new domain.
It had been ten years.
Ten years since Dok-go Cheon had reached the peak of the Profound Realm and stagnated.
For ten years, he had not been able to take a single step forward.
But at this very moment.
I sought freedom, but the very thought of pursuing freedom had become another shackle.
Through Jeok-un's truly free sword, he had gained the step of enlightenment needed to head toward the unknown domain: the Life and Death Realm.
Finally, having consolidated all his insights, Dok-go Cheon slowly spoke.
"...You."
"Tsk. I ended up doing you a favor."
"...!!"
Had he seen it?
The boy had clearly realized that Dok-go Cheon had gained a glimpse of enlightenment.
Yes, I understand now.
Only then did Dok-go Cheon realize Jeok-un's true nature.
A genius or a monster possessing earth-shattering talent.
There was no other way to describe him.
Dok-go Cheon spoke in a low voice.
"I must return as much as I have received."
The onlookers misunderstood this as a declaration of punishment, but it was an expression of gratitude, not condemnation.
Only Jeok-un understood the true meaning, smiling playfully as he replied.
"But no matter how I look at it, this doesn't seem like it's worth even half the price."
In an instant, the look in Dok-go Cheon's eyes as he stared at Jeok-un changed.
It was no longer the anger directed at an insolent brat before stepping onto the training ground.
Nor was it interest in someone who possessed a slightly special talent or power.
It was "respect," a sentiment reserved only for a martial artist he recognized as an equal.
Whoosh!
Dok-go Cheon gathered his energy and replied.
"Behold the ultimate state I have reached."
With those words, Dok-go Cheon lunged forward.
With a light tap of his feet, Jeok-un responded in kind.
Within the high-speed world that ordinary people could not fathom.
The vision of the two men shifted.
Secret Art
Heavenly Lion Shatters Heaven
Shattering Heaven. To break the sky.
The martial arts and techniques of the Unorthodox faction were often grandiose and exaggerated, and one might think that a name like "Shattering Heaven" was surely excessive.
However, watching the Heavenly Lion Shatters Heaven unleashed by Dok-go Cheon would instantly banish such thoughts.
Rumble!
Crash!
An immense momentum worthy of the name swept over like a tidal wave, like a landslide.
Good!
Jeok-un cheered internally as he witnessed the Heavenly Lion Shatters Heaven.
He had wanted this moment.
A moment where life and death overlapped.
This was exactly where he belonged.
Without hesitation, Jeok-un gripped Moon Under and charged toward the Heavenly Lion Shatters Heaven.
"Haha!"
He shuddered before the internal energy that was quite literally like a tidal wave.
One might think he could manage because Moon Under could absorb the power of the technique, but...
Thud!
Bang!
That was not the case at all.
The internal energy absorbed by Moon Under had already exceeded its limit.
His energy pathways were already torn to shreds like rags, and his blood vessels were on the verge of bursting.
It was no exaggeration to say he was on the brink of death.
Yet the reason Jeok-un could enjoy this situation was...
Is it wind?
If he was a star, his opponent was the wind.
Like a tidal wave, like a landslide.
Even while clawing, crushing, and trampling everything.
Through the gentle breeze licking between his palms.
Could the Tyrant's Path also contain softness?
He, too, was gaining enlightenment.
Thinking this, Jeok-un felt a burning thirst.
Just once, just once more...
He wanted to see it one more time.
The true essence of Dok-go Cheon.
If he could see that secret art just one more time...
He would be able to make it completely his own...
The surrounding atmosphere rushed in to fill the space shattered by the wild waves of energy.
As if comforting the wounds, a gentle breeze blew away the light dust.
Whoosh...!
Soon, the state of the training ground was revealed.
It looked as if a giant monster had clawed it.
It was an aftermath that did not even amount to a hundredth of the original power of Heavenly Lion Shatters Heaven.
But it had to be so.
Had he used his full strength, the fortress of Sadocheon would have collapsed, and the commoners outside the walls would have been swept away and injured.
This was the ultimate blade strike, containing all of his enlightenment while restricting its destructive power to the absolute limit.
Yet, surprisingly.
W-what?!
That guy...!
Jeok-un was standing upright.
No, to be precise, he was not exactly "fine."
His martial robes were shredded, and he was a mess from the dust of the explosion.
Yet Jeok-un was clearly glaring at Dok-go Cheon, still gripping his twin swords.
A cold silence fell over the arena at this unexpected sight.
"I see."
Step.
Dok-go Cheon slowly began to walk toward Jeok-un.
Stubborn bastard.
Dok-go Cheon clicked his tongue inwardly.
Jeok-un was not fine at all.
The light of consciousness had vanished from Jeok-un's eyes.
To lose consciousness while standing.
It was an end that showed his stubborn refusal to fall unsightly to the ground.
Gasps erupted from all around.
The executives had finally realized Jeok-un's condition.
Then, Dok-go Cheon looked at his subordinates and ordered.
"Throw him in the dungeon."
"Y-yes, Lord!"
At Dok-go Cheon's command, the waiting members of Sadocheon hurriedly rushed onto the training ground.
You insect!
I'll torture you until you can't use your limbs!
The eyes they cast at Jeok-un were filled with murderous intent.
However, Dok-go Cheon's next command was completely unexpected.
"And once he is fully healed, bring him before me again."
"Pardon...?"
Whoosh!
Leaving only those words behind, Dok-go Cheon departed.
While the executives of Sadocheon were left in utter bewilderment.
...A black cow giving birth to a white calf. Misfortune and blessing are tangled in chaos. I wonder how this will end.
A subtle smile played on the lips of the turning Dok-go Cheon.