Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Anxiety Unleashes Power
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“Over there.”
Jang Ung pointed to a cozy manor by the river, about thirty zhang from the main road. Inside that manor were thirteen masters from the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path.
“Wait here.”
I left Jang Ung on the road and walked slowly toward the manor.
As I did, a thought troubled me.
‘I’m not nervous at all. What should I do?’
My martial arts only manifested when I was tense, but I wasn't, and that was a huge problem.
Facing a mere thirteen masters of the Unorthodox Path was so trivial it made me want to yawn rather than feel any tension.
Even as I got within five zhang of the manor, I felt nothing.
Something was wrong. I supposedly possessed skills exceeding the so-called Fifteen Great Masters of the martial world, so how could I feel nervous about thirteen insignificant masters?
At this rate, I could get beaten to death by some neighborhood thugs on the street.
How embarrassing would that be if it actually happened? The Grand Branch Master who killed the Sword Demon Alliance Lord, beaten to death by street thugs. I’d have to bite my tongue and die before that could ever happen.
This was a serious problem.
‘What to do? Should I tell Jang Ung I’m not feeling it today and we should just go back? Or maybe…’
All sorts of ridiculous thoughts flooded my mind, and I started burning with anxiety.
When I was three zhang from the manor, I figured I had nothing to lose and tried to summon my internal energy.
*Fwoosh!*
‘Whoa!’
*Tap!*
The moment I summoned my energy, I lightly kicked off the ground and soared diagonally over the manor’s main gate.
‘What just happened?’
My martial arts had worked even though I wasn’t nervous at all. Did that mean there was no connection between my skills and my tension?
My mind was a whirlwind of confusion as I landed inside the manor.
‘What was it? Why did my skills work?’
It was crucial to figure out my state of mind just before my martial arts had activated.
‘Was it desperation? Or obsession?’
Then, something flashed in my mind.
‘I was burning with anxiety!’
Just before my skills had manifested, in that final moment, I had been so anxious it felt like my insides were melting.
‘So it’s about anxiety?’
Well, I could test that again later.
I walked toward the front building, raising my internal energy.
It was around 9 PM, so they likely wouldn't be asleep yet.
There were six buildings in total, and checking them one by one would be a hassle.
‘Should I use my enhanced hearing to find them?’
*Swoosh…*
‘What?’
Suddenly, something rushed out of my body.
*Swoooosh…*
Whatever left me seeped through the cracks of the firmly shut doors of the building ahead, simultaneously revealing the hallways and various rooms all at once.
How did I know? Because the entire rapid process unfolded before my eyes, like flipping through the pages of a book.
In that instant, my mind cleared, and a certain martial art—no, a special technique—came to me with perfect clarity.
‘Skynet’s Ultimate Reach!’
It was a manual I had chosen from the Martial Alliance’s archives simply because the title, Skynet's Ultimate Reach, sounded unique.
I remembered after reading it that it was an astonishing technique. By imbuing your spirit into your internal energy and sending it to a target location, you could see and hear everything happening there in real-time.
There were five variations of Skynet's Ultimate Reach, and the one I was using now was the Divine Eye of the Skynet—a technique that allowed one to see anything.
‘Skynet’s Ultimate Reach! I must not forget this!’
Eight of the masters were in a room, drinking together.
My spirit, carried by the energy of the Divine Eye, was looking down from the room's ceiling.
It was as if a duplicate of my eyes had left my body and was floating there.
‘Where are the others?’
*Swoosh…*
Once again, my spirit rode my internal energy, rising into the air in the middle of the manor. The presence of the others in the various buildings became distinctly clear all at once.
This technique of sensing presence with hearing was the Divine Hearing of the Skynet, and it was as concrete and precise as seeing with my own eyes and touching with my own hands.
I withdrew Skynet's Ultimate Reach and headed toward the room where the eight masters were gathered.
*Click!*
Even as I opened the door and walked in, the eight men didn’t even look up, continuing their conversation and drinking.
It seemed they never dreamed an outsider would just walk in.
I slowly approached and stopped five paces from them. Killing men while they were drinking wasn’t fun, nor was it my style.
“Alright! Freeze!”
The eight men looked at me, then shot to their feet in a flurry of alarm.
“Hah!”
“Who are you?”
I smiled faintly.
“I am the Grand Branch Master of the Martial Alliance’s Dong-ro Grand Branch.”
“…”
A heavy silence descended upon the room.
The eight men blinked, their minds racing to make sense of the situation.
Then, at a certain moment, the meaning of “Grand Branch Master” struck them like a bolt of lightning.
“Agh! It’s him! The Grand Branch Master!”
*Ch-ch-chang!*
All eight drew their swords and sabers at once and charged at me.
‘That’s more like it.’
I flared my nostrils, enjoying this.
‘Drawing the Fire Dragon Sword for rabble like this is overkill. Is there something better?’
Necessity is the mother of invention.
‘That’s it!’
*Swish!*
As the eight men lunged, fiercely swinging their weapons from the ground and air, I extended my right hand and flicked my four fingers twice.
*Fwoot!*
Eight thin, translucent, blue-white beams—Blue-white Ice Flowers—shot out like the ribs of a fan, four from each flick.
*Thwack-thwack-thwack!*
“Guh!”
“Keuk!”
The eight streaks of icy light pierced the foreheads of the eight men with unerring accuracy, as if finding their way home.
*Thud! Thump!*
The eight men fell heavily to the floor, their bodies convulsing for a moment before going still.
A smile bloomed on my lips as I looked at them.
‘Oho! So I can use the Five Elements Divine Finger technique to shoot Blue-white Ice Flowers!’
The Five Elements Divine Art included the Five Elements Divine Finger technique.
Its true power lay in its ability to precisely pierce thumbnail-sized holes in the foreheads of eight men moving from different directions.
*Craaack!*
Just then, a sound like thick ice shattering came from the eight dead men.
*Crack-crack-craaack!*
Starting from their foreheads, their bodies began to freeze in a blue-white hue, becoming completely frozen in a matter of moments.
*Pow!*
No, they were frozen for but a moment before shattering into hundreds of ice fragments.
It seemed that even a glancing blow from the Blue-white Ice Flowers would lead to this.
As I walked toward the entrance, I sensed several people rushing toward this location.
It seemed the other masters, scattered about, had heard the clash of weapons, the shouts of the eight men, and the dull thuds of their bodies hitting the floor.
It was a hassle to hunt them down, so this worked out well.
*Creek!*
As I opened the hall door and stepped out, four masters who had been rushing over from both sides spotted me and immediately drew their weapons, charging forward.
*Ch-chang!*
There should have been five, but one was missing. I’d deal with these guys first and find the last one later.
I drew the Fire Dragon Sword as I watched the four men converge on me from four directions.
It wasn't that I was using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken; I was simply curious to see what kind of sword art would emerge this time.
So far, the Soul-Severing Star Sword Style and the Eighteen Stances of Light-Splitting Swordplay had appeared. Perhaps another sword art would manifest. It was unlikely I had mastered only two.
‘I hope a different one comes out this time.’
*Swoooosh!*
The four men closed to within one zhang, their swords and sabers unleashing a storm of blade winds.
The ability to create blade winds signified that they were masters, a level above mere warriors.
I gripped the Fire Dragon Sword tightly and deliberately clenched my jaw.
*Swoosh!*
As the tempest of blade winds from the four weapons rushed toward me, the hem of my robe fluttered.
Blade winds were not created by internal energy, but by the movements of the sword and saber themselves. Being touched by them was no different from being struck by the actual blades; you would be pierced and slashed all the same.
The blade winds were right in front of my nose, but no new sword art emerged, not even the Soul-Severing Star Sword Style or the Eighteen Stances of Light-Splitting Swordplay.
‘Anything, just come out!’
I was truly burning with anxiety.
In that instant, my mind brightened, and the incantation of a sword art flashed before me.
‘That’s it!’
Ignoring the blade winds that were now just two feet away, I let the Fire Dragon Sword dance.
*Flash!*
*Craaackle!*
Four blinding, azure-blue bolts of lightning erupted from the Fire Dragon Sword, piercing through the bodies of the four men.
“Kaaargh!”
“Gack!”
*Thud-thud-thud!*
The four men were thrown backward and slammed onto the ground.
*Fwoosh!*
The bodies of the four men, pierced by the lightning, burst into ferocious flames.
Watching them, a triumphant smile spread across my face.
Though the Azure-Jade Lightning was a form of sword energy, the Fire Dragon Sword had unleashed actual lightning.
‘This is the Azure-Jade Lightning.’
Now, I could unleash my martial arts at will.
All I needed was to be anxious.
***
Jang Ung, who had spotted me walking leisurely out of the manor and onto the road, emerged from the forest and ran toward me.
“My lord!”
Jang Ung couldn’t hide his shocked expression as he pointed at the manor.
“Just now, there was a flash of blue lightning and a clap of thunder inside the manor!”
“Hahaha! Were you surprised?”
“Lightning and thunder fall from the sky. Was that your doing, my lord?”
“It happened when I used my sword art!”
Jang Ung’s eyes widened.
“Ah! What kind of sword art could possibly do that?”
“It’s called Azure-Jade Lightning.”
If he asked about its origins, I wouldn't be able to answer, as I knew nothing.
“Did you say Azure-Jade Lightning?”
To my surprise, Jang Ung looked as if he was about to faint. He was getting shocked far too much today.
“You know of it?”
“Who wouldn’t know of the legendary Three Divine Swords Under Heaven?”
‘Three Divine Swords Under Heaven?’
I was inwardly surprised but couldn’t let on that I’d never heard of it.
“Ho! You are quite knowledgeable.”
“Seven hundred years ago, the Azure Heaven Divine Sword was hailed as the greatest swordsman under heaven, boasting an undefeated record. Everyone but a sniveling child would know of Azure-Jade Lightning, one of his signature techniques from the Three Absolutes of the Azure Heaven.”
“Is that so?”
‘Even if I’m a sniveling child, this feels good!’
Jang Ung looked up at me with reverence.
“Ah! As expected, my lord, you are truly magnificent!”
Late that night, as we walked side by side on the main road, Jang Ung spoke.
“Did you kill them all?”
“I let one live.”
“An excellent decision.”
Jang Ung guessed why I had let one escape. That man would return to the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path and describe how I had killed the other masters. Then, they would send a much stronger expert to Dong-ro Hyeon than they had originally planned.
***
A carrier pigeon arrived for Sang Gang-jo.
It was a routine message sent from the Martial Alliance’s Hangzhou branch to the Dong-ro Grand Branch, but the words “Special Delivery” written on the outside of the letter meant it was for Sang Gang-jo.
-Stay by the fledgling’s side until he is given a title. It would be even better if you could become his close confidant. Assist and support the fledgling to the best of your ability.-
The message was written vaguely so that if the carrier pigeon were intercepted, the reader would not understand its contents.
After reading the letter, Sang Gang-jo remained motionless for a long time, lost in deep thought.
The letter had only deepened his worries.
***
I summoned Sang Gang-jo.
“Uncle Cho, I have a favor to ask.”
“Please, speak.”
“I’d like you to teach my subordinates martial arts.”
“Team Leader Three’s subordinates… who might you be referring to?”
I pointed to Jang Ung, who was standing beside me.
“Jang Ung’s men.”
“Are you perhaps asking me to teach martial arts to those… lowlifes?”
Jang Ung politely corrected him.
“We are not lowlifes.”
“Aren’t you from the Lowly Five Sects?”
“The lord has elevated us to a proper sect.”
“Oh! Is that so? Congratulations.”
Sang Gang-jo spoke with genuine sincerity, without a hint of mockery.
“Thank you.”