Chapter 90
Chapter 90
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Learning the Thirteen Thunderclaps of the Lightning Sword and the Infinite Steps!
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The tip of the sword aimed at me seemed to waver slightly before swiftly drawing three circles.
*Swish!*
The distance between Gu Bon-gyeong and me was five steps, but it closed to two in an instant as the circles multiplied to five, spinning rapidly.
The moment I saw them transform back into five swords and thrust fiercely toward me, *swoosh!*, my martial art activated.
*‘Flying Cloud of Sea and Sky!’*
This was the Flying Cloud of Sea and Sky, the seventeenth stance of the Thirty-Six Swords of the Southern Sea, the signature sword art of the Hainan Sword Sect. The incantations for all thirty-six stances surfaced in my mind. The Thirty-Six Swords of the Southern Sea was among the martial arts manuals I had mastered.
A perfect execution of the Flying Cloud of Sea and Sky forms eight circles—or sword orbs—which then spin furiously, scatter, and strike eight of the enemy's vital points.
However, Gu Bon-gyeong had only formed six sword orbs, two short of the full technique. If this was the best he could do with the seventeenth stance, I could already guess how the next one would turn out.
I used Floating Light, Divine Shadow to weave through the six sword orbs, then leisurely passed through the empty space where the two missing orbs should have been.
Whether it's a sword art or a saber art, it must be executed perfectly to prevent the opponent from evading.
The measure of a superior sword art is its ability to leave no room for escape.
Since I had already mastered the Thirty-Six Swords of the Southern Sea, there was nothing more to see.
*Whoosh!*
I surged forward, closing to within two feet of Gu Bon-gyeong, and shot out my fist, stopping it dead just a handspan from the bridge of his nose.
“!”
Both Gu Bon-gyeong and I froze. My fist was poised, almost touching his nose.
Seeing his eyes widen, I withdrew my fist and glided to the left. *Swish!*
Gu Bon-gyeong stood there, stunned and motionless.
He instantly realized that I had slipped through the space of the two sword orbs he had failed to create.
He also understood that I had seen through the flaw in his attack.
And he knew that by stopping my fist before it landed, I was showing him mercy.
At this point, he should have withdrawn his sword and yielded, but Gu Bon-gyeong instead soared into the air.
*Taht!*
I spotted two openings in his ascent, and as he swung his sword dazzlingly downward from the air, two more flaws became apparent.
*Chwaaaak!*
The eighteenth stance: Dragon-Slaying Wave Splitter.
A technique that creates twenty-four sword waves descending from the sky, but Gu Bon-gyeong only managed to form twenty.
Naturally, this left four openings.
I entered the storm of sword waves and deliberately moved through those four openings.
I wove in and out of the shower of sword waves, passing up four clear chances to attack.
To an observer, it might have looked like I was floundering in a chaotic flurry of blades.
But Gu Bon-gyeong, the one in the fight, knew the situation better than anyone.
*Chk!*
Gu Bon-gyeong ceased his attack at that point, held his sword behind his back, stepped back, and bowed his head respectfully.
“I am defeated.”
He realized that my earlier fist-stop had not been a coincidence.
I hadn't drawn the Fire Dragon Sword, nor had I landed a single blow, yet I had won. Gu Bon-gyeong was an opponent I could defeat in a single move.
Gu Bon-gyeong sheathed his sword and clasped his fist in his palm.
“Thank you for your mercy.”
After the duel, Gu Bon-gyeong's attitude toward me changed significantly.
He shook his clasped hands, unable to hide his admiration.
“Truly, the Great Warrior of the Fire Dragon Sword! You have broadened my horizons!”
The second opponent, the Golden Dragon Young Master, stepped onto the dueling stage and stood facing me.
He clasped his fist respectfully.
“Namgung Yeong-ho of the Namgung family greets the Great Warrior of the Fire Dragon Sword.”
Following Gu Bon-gyeong, the Golden Dragon Young Master, Namgung Yeong-ho, also addressed me as ‘Great Warrior’.
Even though I looked to be in my early twenties, my exceptional martial arts earned me the title.
I knew nothing of the Namgung family's martial arts and had never fought one of their members before. Namgung Yeong-ho was the first.
Without lowering his clasped hands, Namgung Yeong-ho spoke.
“If I lose, I will become your subordinate, Great Warrior.”
“Not my subordinate, but a member of the Dong-ro Branch.”
“Understood.”
Unlike Gu Bon-gyeong, Namgung Yeong-ho was refreshingly straightforward.
Both Gu Bon-gyeong and Namgung Yeong-ho knew they would become members of the Dong-ro Branch if they lost to me, yet they still chose to fight.
This was the so-called Martial Way, the stance of a warrior. My own goal was to walk this path and ultimately become the Supreme Lord of Combat. This was just part of the process.
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo sat to one side, watching calmly, with Go Un-hyo standing tall behind her.
“I shall begin.”
With his words, Namgung Yeong-ho drew his sword and executed a footwork technique, gliding toward me.
*Sssst!*
He seemed to be standing still, his upper body swaying lightly like a reed in the wind, yet in the next moment, he had surged to within two steps of me.
This was the Namgung family's famous footwork, the Infinite Steps, but it was the first time I had ever seen it.
*‘Interesting. A useful footwork technique.’*
As I was carefully observing Namgung Yeong-ho's footwork, he launched his attack.
*Shwiiit!*
The white blade flashed like fish scales, embroidering the air as if a long, white silk cloth were fluttering.
*Papat!*
In an instant, the fluttering silk seemed to tear into multiple pieces, becoming several flashes of white light that struck down on me like lightning.
This was the Thirteen Thunderclaps of the Lightning Sword, one of the Namgung family's sword arts. This, too, was a technique I had never seen before.
Exactly thirteen bolts of lightning rained down on me.
However, their speed and power were unimpressive, so I used the Divine Trace of the Illusory Void to make it seem as though I were dodging with difficulty.
My intention was to induce Namgung Yeong-ho to use the Thirteen Thunderclaps again. It wouldn't be a bad idea to learn a Namgung family sword art on this occasion. Come to think of it, it had been a while since I learned something new.
*Rumble!*
A faint roll of thunder echoed after the sword art passed.
If Namgung Yeong-ho were to increase his internal energy and master the Thirteen Thunderclaps of the Lightning Sword, he would become a formidable expert.
Namgung Yeong-ho used the Infinite Steps, his upper body blurring as he closed the distance in an instant.
*Shwiiiit!*
For his second attack, he leaped into the air and once again unleashed the Thirteen Thunderclaps of the Lightning Sword.
I could easily dodge even after he had initiated the technique, so I watched his execution carefully.
As before, it looked like a long, white silk cloth fluttering in the air, then thirteen flashes of white light poured down.
*Papat!*
*‘Hmm! So that’s the principle behind it.’*
In truth, all martial arts share a common root, and sword arts are no exception.
For someone like me, who has mastered a staggering one hundred and sixty-one martial arts manuals—excluding the twenty-five miscellaneous texts on heart arts, divine arts, and medicine—it's possible to grasp most techniques with a single glance and learn them after seeing them two or three times.
After seeing the Thirteen Thunderclaps of the Lightning Sword twice, I had a rough grasp of its principles. The rest I could master and review through practice.
As Namgung Yeong-ho unleashed the technique for a third time, I dodged the cascading white lights and closed in on him.
“Ah!”
Namgung Yeong-ho was startled as I approached him as smoothly as a drifting cloud.
It was because I was calmly using the same footwork he had just demonstrated: the Infinite Steps.
Then, drawing the Fire Dragon Sword, I skillfully executed the Thirteen Thunderclaps of the Lightning Sword.
*Sssswish!*
Namgung Yeong-ho had leaped into the air to strike down with his technique, but I used the Infinite Steps to advance directly and unleashed my version horizontally.
“Ahh!”
The thirteen bolts of black lightning erupting from the Fire Dragon Sword shot out in all directions—ten forward and to the sides at varying heights, while the remaining three soared upward before striking down from behind Namgung Yeong-ho.
Namgung Yeong-ho had sent his thirteen bolts in a single direction, but I had scattered mine to completely surround and attack the opponent.
Namgung Yeong-ho was so shocked and bewildered that he stood frozen, not even thinking to dodge or block.
If I hadn't stopped, Namgung Yeong-ho would have been pierced and cut in thirteen places, dying instantly.
*Shaaa!*
When I halted my attack, the bolts of black lightning vanished as if washed away.
Namgung Yeong-ho stood there with a bewitched expression before snapping back to his senses and muttering.
“How did you do that?”
“Are you ready to stop?”
“Yes. I have lost.”
Namgung Yeong-ho looked as if he had seen a ghost. I had just demonstrated a more masterful version of his own technique. Only a madman would continue to fight after seeing that.
“Great Warrior, how can you use the Infinite Steps and the Thirteen Thunderclaps of the Lightning Sword? Who taught you?”
“So the footwork is called Infinite Steps, and the sword art is the Thirteen Thunderclaps of the Lightning Sword?”
“What are you saying? You used them and you don't even know their names?”
I smiled faintly.
“I simply saw you perform the footwork and the sword art, found them interesting, and decided to copy them.”
I said earnestly.
“If you work hard and master the Thirteen Thunderclaps of the Lightning Sword, few will be able to stand against you.”
Namgung Yeong-ho wore a look of disbelief.
“You learned it just by watching me perform it twice? You expect me to believe that?”
I shrugged.
“I didn't ask you to believe it. I'm just stating the facts.”
In situations like this, it's easier to keep one's mouth shut than to offer a lengthy explanation.
Whether Namgung Yeong-ho believed me or not was his business, not mine.
Namgung Yeong-ho stared at me intently before his expression turned serious.
“If what you say is true, Great Warrior… then who in the world could possibly defeat you?”
His shoulders slumped as he walked off the dueling stage.
***
The Thousand Illusions Wanderer's martial arts evaluation was scheduled for after lunch.
After the meal, I went to a certain manor within Dong-ro Prefecture.
It was the manor purchased by Cho-seon, the Palace Lord of the Mysterious Jade Palace's Hangzhou Branch, to establish a branch in Dong-ro.
The modestly sized manor was in a state of disarray, with repairs being made here and there.
Cho-seon led us to a clean lounge and asked Aeng-a to bring tea.
“There are so many people moving to Dong-ro Prefecture that finding a manor was like plucking a star from the sky.”
According to Jang Ung, it wasn't just commoners who were migrating to Dong-ro.
When hundreds of thousands of people move, countless merchants and artisans from various trades gather. Stables, escort agencies, martial arts schools, pawnshops, taverns, inns, pavilions, and tea houses—all the necessities of life—would spring up like mushrooms after a rain.
That's why Cho-seon had such a hard time acquiring a manor.
“A manor of this size should have cost five thousand silver taels at most, but I had to pay a whopping thirty thousand!”
“Why did you want to see me?”
Cho-seon looked at Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, who was sitting next to me.
“Who is this?”
Ignoring my question and changing the subject like that, she must have discovered something significant.
“My younger sister.”
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo didn't even nod. She didn't know who Cho-seon was, but since I hadn't told her to greet the woman, she figured she could be ignored.
Cho-seon, who was frank and not one to mince words, looked at Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo with admiration.
“This young lady is so beautiful, I thought she wasn't human! Even a celestial fairy wouldn't be this lovely!”
Before I could stop her, Cho-seon turned to Aeng-a, who had brought the tea.
“Aeng-a! Am I wrong? Isn't she just so beautiful it's almost too much?”
“You’re right! I thought something was wrong with my eyes, I even went to wash them!”
Despite the two women's highest praises, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo didn't bat an eye or crack a smile.