Chapter 62
Chapter 62
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: Testing Sang Gang-jo's True Skill!
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After contemplating what might happen once the Dong-ro Grand Branch was converted into the Martial Alliance’s main headquarters, I spoke.
“I have a condition.”
A flicker of joy crossed Sang Gang-jo’s face. A condition implied acceptance. But his expression quickly vanished, replaced by a serious one.
“Please, state it.”
“Even if this place becomes the main headquarters, I will only maintain my current position.”
“You mean Grand Branch Master?”
“Correct.”
It was the bare minimum I needed to remain attached to the Martial Alliance. Without that title, I would be nothing more than a guest at the main headquarters.
“I will convey your words to the Alliance Lord and secure his permission.”
Sang Gang-jo cupped his fist to his mouth, cleared his throat, and then spoke.
“Isn’t your goal to fight as many powerful warriors as possible and become the strongest?”
“Not ‘as many as possible.’ It’s an absolute.”
“Understood. If you stay here, I will do my utmost to create such opportunities for you.”
Sang Gang-jo seemed a little excited. The task of converting the Dong-ro Grand Branch, which had seemed like an impossible nut to crack, was now rapidly moving forward.
“Now, I will speak of my own matters. Will you listen?”
“Go on.”
I knew Sang Gang-jo was about to speak of his mission, but this time I didn’t stop him. I figured now was the right time to learn about it.
Sang Gang-jo glanced at Go Un-hyo, and I nodded.
“Un-hyo, you may leave us.”
I didn’t mind Go Un-hyo being present, but I wanted to make Sang Gang-jo more comfortable.
After organizing his thoughts, Sang Gang-jo began.
“For over three years, I have journeyed across the land to carry out three missions assigned by the Alliance Lord.”
I remained silent, letting him speak, yet felt no tension despite the gravity of the topic.
“First, to find a source of funding. Second, to gather people. And third, to find a location to establish the main headquarters.”
At first glance, it sounded simple enough.
But on further reflection, the amount of money involved had to be astronomical, and it was clear the Martial Alliance intended to gather truly formidable individuals.
Once those elements were in place, the main headquarters of the Martial Alliance would need to put down roots and establish itself, and carefully selecting that region would be no easy task.
“As you can imagine, the funds required to run the entire Martial Alliance are beyond comprehension.”
“I’m sure they are.”
“In the past, the Martial Alliance had its own Grand Commerce Guild, so funds were plentiful.”
The Grand Commerce Guild!
Though my knowledge of the martial world was limited, I had heard that name before. It was one of the three great merchant guilds known to all.
“Thirteen years ago, after the main headquarters was destroyed by the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union, the Grand Commerce Guild fell mostly into their hands, with the scraps going to the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path. It seems they had a meticulous plan to seize the guild before attacking the headquarters.”
I could imagine the miserable and arduous path the Martial Alliance must have walked after being annihilated and losing the Grand Commerce Guild.
“Furthermore, painstakingly persuading masters who adamantly refuse to involve themselves in the affairs of the martial world to join the Alliance is also a grueling task.”
It must have been. After all, wasn’t I pathologically averse to being associated with the Martial Alliance in any way?
Persuading a master who was living peacefully and quietly—whether out of hatred or weariness of the martial world, or simply to avoid anyone’s interference—and dragging them into a hellish battlefield was by no means an easy feat. And that was the task Sang Gang-jo had undertaken.
“Do you know how many I managed to recruit?”
“How many?”
A smile touched Sang Gang-jo’s lips.
“Fifty-three.”
I didn’t know if fifty-three was a large or small number, but his smile suggested it was significant.
“That’s quite a few.”
Sang Gang-jo’s next words surprised me slightly.
“Those fifty-three are all masters whose skills are a notch below, equal to, or a notch above the Fifteen Venerables of the Martial World.”
“Is that true?”
For the first time, I doubted Sang Gang-jo’s words. I knew very well how powerful the Fifteen Venerables were; the idea that fifty-three masters of a comparable level existed was hard to believe.
“Over the past three years, I met with over one hundred and fifty masters, and I persuaded fifty-three of them.”
If he had targeted one hundred and fifty, that meant there were at least that many masters comparable to the Fifteen Venerables.
“I have personally faced all fifty-three of them.”
“You have, Elder?”
“You seem to doubt my abilities.”
“I do.”
I was serious.
“This is important to me.”
The fact that there were so many powerful masters in the martial world was of the utmost importance.
Sang Gang-jo cupped his fist.
“In that case, please grant me a lesson.”
“Very well.”
We walked out to a distant spot on the sandy riverbank at dawn and faced each other.
Go Un-hyo stood watching from a distance.
Sang Gang-jo cupped his fist respectfully.
“I still have duties to attend to, so I ask that you show mercy and spare my life.”
“I won’t use Yin or Yang Essence.”
Sang Gang-jo looked puzzled.
“What is Yang Essence?”
“The lightning from the Fire Dragon Sword was Yang Essence, purified over tens of thousands of years.”
“Ah!”
Sang Gang-jo was deeply impressed. I had told him about the Fire Dragon Sword’s lightning before.
“So what you were studying earlier was Yang Essence.”
“Indeed.”
“To possess both Yin and Yang Essence, the purified forms of extreme yin and yang energy… my congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
Sang Gang-jo’s face and voice were filled with genuine delight, devoid of any envy or jealousy.
“I will face you using only the Eighteen Stances of Light-Splitting Swordplay.”
“I am grateful.”
Sang Gang-jo hailed from the Diancang Sect and was its second-strongest practitioner after his master.
I had never seen Sang Gang-jo’s true abilities. The last time, he had fought against dozens of pursuers from the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union.
But one cannot grasp a person’s true skill in such a chaotic brawl against many opponents.
I had a rough idea of his level, but only a one-on-one duel would reveal it accurately.
Facing Sang Gang-jo, my body tensed, my mind cleared, and my internal energy surged.
It wasn’t due to tension or fighting spirit, but because I was sincerely approaching this duel. Sincerity, too, could summon martial prowess.
*Fwoosh!*
Sang Gang-jo kicked off the sand and charged straight at me, drawing his sword.
As he closed the distance of four lengths to one in an instant, I grasped the Fire Dragon Sword.
My plan was to defend against his attack without dodging, to gauge his strength.
As Sang Gang-jo rushed to within a single length, his sword drew a cross in the air.
*Kiiing!*
The movement was so fast it only appeared as if his sword drew a cross. In truth, that single stance concealed four variations and sixteen smaller changes.
It meant that one stance could attack eight parts of the body while simultaneously blocking all eight possible avenues of escape.
Therefore, his opponent, unable to evade, would be forced to block every single attack.
It was an all-out offensive, a challenge to settle the match head-on, regardless of who fell.
This was the sixteenth stance of the Eighteen Stances of Light-Splitting Swordplay, the Leaping Splendor of Light.
From his very first attack, Sang Gang-jo was demonstrating exactly how he had earned his title, the "Light-Splitting Sword."
And it was clear his true skill was a notch above what I had estimated.
Sang Gang-jo’s attack was so swift that it unfolded before I could even draw the Fire Dragon Sword.
I could block three of the attacks while drawing my sword; the other five had to be dodged.
Since the eight variations were sealing off the outside, I had to evade from within. Of course, I had no intention of retreating outside his attack range anyway.
I deployed the Phantom Void Steps of the Floating Light, Divine Shadow. No matter how close the combat, the Phantom Void Steps could evade anything.
My body could sense the flow of air, regardless of whether the attack was a sword or something else.
*Swish-swish-swish-swish!*
The eight blades—stabbing, slashing, and cutting—brushed past my body, missing by less than half a hand’s breadth.
I believed no martial art could neutralize the Phantom Void Steps of the Floating Light, Divine Shadow.
After the first attack ends, no matter how quickly the second follows, there is always a minimal gap.
For the attacker, the shorter that gap, the more advantageous, leading directly to victory.
Furthermore, it is common sense to retreat after a failed first attack, anticipating a counter.
But Sang Gang-jo did not retreat; he immediately followed up with a second attack.
It meant he was reading my movements perfectly, as I had declared I would only use the Eighteen Stances of Light-Splitting Swordplay.
In the gap between the end of his first attack and the beginning of his second, I swiftly thrust the Fire Dragon Sword toward his head.
*Shwick!*
Six parts of my power. If Sang Gang-jo could handle sixty percent of my power without issue, he was at least a notch below the Fifteen Venerables.
*Swoosh!*
He dodged.
Simultaneously, Sang Gang-jo kept his head still as his lower body spun upward like a windmill, attacking my left flank.
*Shwish-shwish-shwick!*
It was a modified version of his first Leaping Splendor of Light. The variations that had targeted my entire body and blocked all escape routes were now concentrated solely on my left side.
Dodging to the right at this moment would be a foolish response, falling right into his trap.
His attack on my left was a feint, intended to make me dodge right.
We were both fighting with only our real swords, without using any sword wind or sword energy.
Instead of dodging, I simultaneously evaded his eight strikes to my left flank and blocked them with the Fire Dragon Sword.
*Clang-clang-clang-clang!*
“Ugh!”
As his sword clashed with the Fire Dragon Sword eight times, Sang Gang-jo groaned in agony, his arm feeling as if it would fall off. He hadn't considered the sheer power of the Fire Dragon Sword itself.
But that was due to the sword's strength, not because I had infused it with my internal energy.
In an instant, five exchanges had passed without me using Yin or Yang Essence, sword energy, or sword force.
Sang Gang-jo had attacked three times, and I twice.
That was the result of facing him with six parts of my power, not holding back. Of course, I wasn't using my full strength.
Ultimately, it meant that defeating Sang Gang-jo would require seven or eight parts of my power, placing him at least on the same level as the Fifteen Venerables.
In all three of his attacks, Sang Gang-jo had only used the sixteenth stance of the Eighteen Stances of Light-Splitting Swordplay, the Leaping Splendor of Light.
It was because he had not yet perfectly mastered the seventeenth stance, the Azure Shadow of Light, or the final ultimate stance, the Transcending Wall of Light.
Now, it was my turn.
The moment his third Leaping Splendor of Light ended, I unleashed the very same technique.
*Whiiing!*
“Hngh!”
As eighteen dark shadows from the Fire Dragon Sword rained down on him like a tightening net, Sang Gang-jo’s eyes widened in shock, and he swung his sword frantically to block.
*Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!*
“Ugh!”
Had I put even a little more force into it, his longsword would have shattered without a doubt.
The Leaping Splendor of Light I unleashed was different from his.
Sang Gang-jo had dedicated eight variations to attacking and the other eight to blocking escape routes.
But I didn’t bother dividing the sixteen variations at all; I poured every single one into the attack.
The assault was so fast that dodging was unthinkable; one could only block.
Therefore, wasting half the variations—eight of them—on blocking escape routes was inefficient.
Sang Gang-jo’s face contorted as he clenched his teeth, barely managing to block all the attacks.
I hadn’t held back, putting my all into it with seven parts of my power. I simply refrained from using sword energy, sword force, Yin Essence, or Yang Essence.