Chapter 103
Chapter 103
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 103
Chapter Title: The Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts
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Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo forced me onto the bed and meticulously treated the wounds on my body.
These were the cuts on my shoulder and both calves from O Ma-hwang's Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword, Rainbow Zenith, as well as the slash and stab wounds on my shoulder and side from Song Ga-hyeon.
They were minor wounds that would have healed on their own, but Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo wouldn't leave them be, treating them whenever she had a spare moment.
Once the treatment was finished, I put on my shirt and called to her.
"Byeok-gyo, do you know anything about O Ma-hwang's Rainbow Zenith?"
Ever since my fight with O Ma-hwang, I had been curious about this Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword called Rainbow Zenith.
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo sat beside me on the bed, her hands folded neatly on her knees, and spoke calmly.
"As you know, Yong oppa, there are quite a few Ultimate Fast Swords in the martial world. But there are three sword arts even faster than those, known as the Supreme Ultimate Fast Swords."
It was unexpected that there wasn't just one, but three Supreme Ultimate Fast Swords.
"Is Rainbow Zenith one of them?"
"Yes."
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo gathered her thoughts for a moment before speaking.
"I suppose you want to know about the Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts in general, Yong oppa?"
"In general? Does that mean there are other Supreme Ultimate Fast martial arts besides the sword arts?"
"The names of the arts don't necessarily contain 'Supreme Ultimate Fast.' It's a moniker given to techniques that surpass the Ultimate Fast level."
"What kind of arts are there?"
"So far, the Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts include sword arts, saber arts, fist and palm arts, archery arts, and whip arts."
"There are that many?"
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo smiled faintly.
"Yong oppa, do you think a single 'best' martial art exists?"
"Well, I don't think so."
"I agree. While there are martial arts at the highest level, their effectiveness and true value depend entirely on who trains in and wields them."
No one would argue that the Wudang Sect's Taiji Sword is one of the highest-level sword arts in the martial world.
However, the level of mastery one could achieve would vary greatly depending on the practitioner's aptitude.
"These martial arts are called the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts."
"There are twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts?"
It was astonishing. I had never even heard of the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts. This just showed how pathetic my knowledge of the martial world was.
"Three sword arts, four fist and leg arts, two saber arts, two archery arts, and one whip art make up the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts."
"Hah!"
I felt like I'd been struck.
"I heard your goal is to become the strongest in actual combat, the Martial Emperor of the Battlefield."
"Yes."
My reply was listless.
"In that case, you'll have to overcome the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts."
"Hmph!"
"If, on average, two people have mastered each of the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts, that's a total of twenty-four people."
At least twenty-four. There could be more, but not fewer.
It's unlikely that only one or two people have mastered each art. If three people had, that would be thirty-six. If four, a staggering forty-eight.
It meant the path ahead of me was long and arduous. It also made me wonder if I could truly achieve my goal.
"Rainbow Zenith is one of the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts."
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo knew a great deal.
"And from what I know, O Ma-hwang, who learned Rainbow Zenith, has two martial brothers."
This meant that two other individuals, either on par with or stronger than O Ma-hwang, had also learned Rainbow Zenith.
"Do you know all of the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts?"
"I know of the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts and a few of the people who have learned them."
"Tell me."
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo explained everything she knew in detail.
After Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo returned to her room, I sat alone on the bed, lost in thought.
*Among the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts, there are three that I have mastered.*
Heaven-Severing Divine Sword.
Red Mist Divine Fist.
Celestial Silk Starshot.
Of course, I didn't tell Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo.
The Heaven-Severing Divine Sword, an art I frequently use in battle, is apparently one of the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts.
In other words, it's a Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword. The manual for the Heaven-Severing Divine Sword didn't state that it was one. It must be that later generations of martial artists classified the Supreme Ultimate Fast Swords and Arts.
However, when comparing the speed of the Heaven-Severing Divine Sword and Rainbow Zenith, Rainbow Zenith was far faster.
While there might be a hierarchy among the three Supreme Ultimate Fast Swords, I couldn't accept that the Heaven-Severing Divine Sword was inferior to Rainbow Zenith. In terms of power, the Heaven-Severing Divine Sword was overwhelmingly superior.
In that case, I must have missed something or made a mistake while training in the Heaven-Severing Divine Sword. Otherwise, there's no way it would be slower than Rainbow Zenith.
Red Mist Divine Fist, despite having 'Fist' in its name, is a comprehensive art that includes fist, palm, and leg techniques.
When I trained in it at Gwalchang Mountain, I thought it was an extremely fast art, but I never imagined it was one of the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts.
No, back then, I didn't even know such things existed.
I had also learned Celestial Silk Starshot, but my internal energy was insufficient at the time, so I had never been able to properly execute it. It required at least a hundred years of internal energy to perform.
Celestial Silk Starshot is an archery art, but instead of a conventional bow, it shoots internal energy.
When released, internal energy erupts like a finger wind, traveling farther than an arrow.
The preface said it could shoot a force like a finger wind over a great distance without a bow, which piqued my curiosity and made me choose it. To think it's one of the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts... it's like a blind squirrel finding a nut.
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo told me of the people she knew who had learned the Twelve Supreme Ultimate Fast Arts; there were eight in total.
She added that she estimated there were at least thirty masters who had mastered one of the arts.
***
As I was about to leave the annex, An Do-pil and Hyeong In-geol entered, carrying large bundles.
"Grand Branch Master! The clothes you ordered have arrived!"
"What clothes?"
An Do-pil looked excited but also watched my expression carefully.
"We've had new uniforms made for the Dong-ro Grand Branch members. Please take a look."
Uniforms were hardly important to me, but I was part of the Dong-ro Grand Branch, and its leader.
An organization has rules, order, and etiquette. Ignoring them makes one a tyrant, and the organization collapses.
Therefore, as long as the members didn't defy me, it was best to follow along.
An Do-pil respectfully offered me a set of clothes.
"These are your clothes, Grand Branch Master. Please try them on."
I couldn't care less about clothes, but seeing the expectant looks on An Do-pil and Hyeong In-geol's faces, I couldn't refuse.
As I changed my clothes under their watchful eyes, the two of them beamed.
"They suit you perfectly!"
I looked down at the clothes. The head of a golden dragon was embroidered on the left chest, and on the right, the large characters for 'Grand Master' (太上).
It was tacky at a glance, but what did it matter? Clothes were just for covering the body.
Leaving Go Un-hyo behind, I walked alone to the sandy riverbank. I planned to test the three martial arts in my secret spot.
I sat cross-legged in the middle of a cluster of rocks and attempted to activate the arts through meditation.
I sank into meditation, approaching and uniting with my dantian, which was constantly circulating energy.
It took half a quarter-hour. If I had to close my eyes and meditate for that long to activate an art in a real fight, I'd be as good as dead.
First, while seated, I activated the Skynet Divine Eyes to survey the scenery across the river, choosing one of several thick trees on a cliff as my target.
The distance was about one hundred fifty paces, quite far. I would use a hundred years of internal energy to perform Celestial Silk Starshot and hit the tree.
Following the incantation for Celestial Silk Starshot, I extended my left arm, opened my palm, and pointed my thumb toward myself, gathering my internal energy.
*Shwooo!*
With the thumb and index finger of my right hand, I grasped the faint line that appeared between my left thumb and index finger and slowly pulled it back.
It was like drawing a bowstring. There was no actual bow or arrow, but I had created an intangible bowstring from internal energy.
The faint line between my left thumb and index finger was the bowstring. The method was to pull it taut with my right thumb and index finger, then release it to launch the Celestial Silk Starshot.
When I was training in this, my internal energy was too shallow, so I had only practiced by mimicking the motion dozens of times. Now, I finally had the chance to perform it for real.
I mentally recited the incantation, circulated my energy through my body for one full cycle, pulled the intangible string taut, and the moment I infused the energy into my right thumb and index finger, I released the string.
*Twang!*
With a short, resonant sound, a white line shot out from between my left thumb and index finger like a flash of lightning.
No, the instant I thought it had been fired, my Skynet Divine Eyes confirmed a hole being pierced through the tree one hundred fifty paces away.
*Thwack!*
A breath later, the sound of the impact reached me.
Then, a long, thin white line stretched in a straight path from me to the tree across the river. It was a phenomenon that appeared after the target was pierced.
The sight was like a meteor shooting down from the sky, leaving a long trail of white silk.
That must be why it was named Celestial Silk Starshot—like shooting a star that leaves a trail of silk.
"Hah!"
An exclamation escaped me. From my perspective, the hole appeared in the tree the very instant I fired. The sound came later. This meant it was faster than sound.
Although I missed my intended target and pierced the tree next to it, I now understood just how fast Celestial Silk Starshot was.
*Twang!*
My tenth shot was aimed at a large, prominent rock on a mountain three hundred paces away—one hundred fifty paces farther than the first target.
Less than a breath after I fired, stone dust burst from the rock three hundred paces away.
*Kuuuuung!*
Afterward, the sound of the impact on the rock reached me like a faint echo.
*Incredible!*
If Celestial Silk Starshot was this powerful with a hundred years of internal energy, it would shoot even farther and faster with one hundred and eighty years.
I spent the entire night huddled in my secret spot by the river, trying to unlock the secret of the Heaven-Severing Divine Sword.
Drawing on old memories, I managed to test the Red Mist Divine Fist to a certain extent, but I couldn't figure out why the Heaven-Severing Divine Sword was called a Supreme Ultimate Fast Sword.
*What did I miss?*
Celestial Silk Starshot and Red Mist Divine Fist took only four hours, but the Heaven-Severing Divine Sword, which I had used dozens of times in actual combat, was giving me trouble.
I performed the three stances—Violent Heaven, Ruling Heaven, and Severing Heaven—over fifty times, scrutinizing them for any clues, but came up empty.
*That's not it. It's not in the execution. I must have missed something in the incantation!*
From that point on, I began to delve into the incantation of the Heaven-Severing Divine Sword.
*Is this it?*
An hour later, as dawn was breaking hazily across the river, I found a suspicious line in the incantation.
-Look at the target and shoot the sword-
*'Look at the target and shoot the sword?'*
I tilted my head in confusion.
*'Shooting a sword is Sword Control, isn't it?'*
The Heaven-Severing Divine Sword wasn't a Sword Control art. But the key had to be in that phrase.
*'Shoot the sword.'*
I stood up, gripped the hilt of the Fire Dragon Sword at my shoulder, and stared at the rock in front of me.
*Let's try drawing the sword as if I'm shooting it!*
Recalling the first part of the incantation, 'Look at the target and shoot the sword,' I circulated my internal energy and infused it into the Fire Dragon Sword.
*As if shooting it!*
*Chwaak!*
A dark light flashed before my eyes and vanished. Nothing else happened.
*Was I wrong?*