Chapter 391
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 391
Chapter Title: Just One More Time
Even after meditating, reviewing, and pondering late into the night, he still couldn't figure it out.
Not even the tiniest clue.
In the early hours of the in-si.
In the end, Kwan Ha-kyeong gave up on meditation and went to bed.
She could have kept meditating and pondering all night,
but this was the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
At dawn, she'd have to start battling the jiangshi again.
Even to maintain her condition, she needed some sleep.
She'd heard that once one reached the peak realm, they could go a full day without sleep and feel no ill effects,
but Kwan Ha-kyeong was still only at the mid first-rate level.
Dawn broke, and the same routine began again.
In truth, it had only been about ten days of this routine,
but to the Demon-Sealing Corps, it felt like months.
Proof of just how intense and packed every day had been.
Now, only three days remained in this schedule.
They moved according to Ha Mu-baek's orders, fighting and felling jiangshi whenever they encountered them.
Sometimes the whole Demon-Sealing Corps fought, sometimes just the Fierce Dragon Corps.
There were times when a single member stepped forward alone—Pyeong Deok-jo, or Pung Geon, or Yu Gwi-gwang, or Kwan Ha-kyeong, or Hwa Ryang.
Ha Mu-baek watched them closely, especially Kwan Ha-kyeong.
Her blade arts.
Perhaps because of what he'd said yesterday, there was definitely a change in Kwan Ha-kyeong's blade work.
But it was for the worse.
Hesitation and doubt had crept into her blade paths and trajectories.
Just yesterday, her blade had flowed cleanly and decisively.
Now, it wandered aimlessly, as if bumping into obstacles.
The change was obvious enough for the others to notice.
Worry for Kwan Ha-kyeong flickered on their faces, but Ha Mu-baek's expression remained unchanged.
'Good.'
Ha Mu-baek nodded slightly.
Everything was going according to plan.
And so, night fell once more.
Now, only two days left with Ha Mu-baek.
Kwan Ha-kyeong sat cross-legged again and entered meditation.
Ha Mu-baek spread his aura around the perimeter to keep stray creatures away,
while watching over Kwan Ha-kyeong.
She meditated until late in the chuk-si, preparing to sleep in the early in-si, just like before.
"Any progress?"
Ha Mu-baek's sudden question startled Kwan Ha-kyeong.
She'd thought everyone was asleep.
Before meeting Ha Mu-baek, they had taken turns standing watch.
They never knew when jiangshi might appear.
But after meeting him,
they rested without watches, following his lead.
Nothing had happened, so it felt natural now.
She assumed Ha Mu-baek was asleep too.
She'd seen him sleeping every morning.
Thanks to him, they could spend safe nights even in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, though she couldn't even guess how he did it.
"I'm too lacking... I don't understand anything..."
Kwan Ha-kyeong answered honestly.
It was the truth.
"What should I do? No matter how much I meditate and ponder, I just can't figure it out. Instructor."
A voice filled with pathos, yet burning with deep resolve.
She was asking her idol directly.
How to grow stronger.
Ha Mu-baek had told her she could,
but alone, she had hit her limit.
So she sought his help.
Ha Mu-baek smiled faintly.
"The Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade is a blade art that moves the blade. No amount of meditation will reveal its secrets."
Kwan Ha-kyeong stared at him intently.
Wasn't it he who had told her to recall that day?
"Then how should I do it?"
Her question.
"Meditation becomes meaningful only after the peak realm ripens. It's too early for you. Though, it wasn't entirely fruitless."
Kwan Ha-kyeong focused on his words.
"Hesitation has entered your blade's movements. More precisely, doubt. It's a good sign."
That was all Ha Mu-baek said.
Kwan Ha-kyeong tilted her head, lost in thought.
Ha Mu-baek was already heading back to his spot.
"It's a blade art that moves the blade."
With those final words, he lay down and closed his eyes.
While everyone else slept in small tents they'd prepared, Ha Mu-baek spent the night on a single blanket, dew and all.
Kwan Ha-kyeong's lips parted as if to speak, but no words came.
She couldn't bring herself to question him when he was clearly signaling it was time to sleep.
Resigned, she turned toward her own small tent to sleep—then stopped.
'The Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade is a blade art that moves the blade. Hesitation in the blade's movement is a good sign.'
Repeating his words,
she turned back.
A small clearing a short distance from where the group slept.
Not much space due to the trees, but just barely enough for her to swing her blade alone.
Before sleeping.
'Just one more time.'
Kwan Ha-kyeong decided to execute the Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade once.
Thinking of her fruitless meditation and her poor performance in battle today,
she started from the starting stance and moved her blade.
As expected, hesitation and doubt permeated every part.
The blade halted several times.
In real combat, she couldn't stop, so she'd swung clumsily without conviction.
Now was different.
At each point of hesitation, she pondered, reinterpreted the manual's verses, chose the optimal path,
and stopped again.
Repeating the process.
She'd meant to do it just once,
but that once stretched on endlessly.
She lost herself completely.
Executing the Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade once took nearly half a shichen.
Ha Mu-baek, who had lain down, had gotten up and glanced at her—but she noticed nothing.
'She's heading in the right direction.'
Ha Mu-baek lay back down and intensified his aura.
To keep any stray nuisances far away.
"Hah... Hah... Hah."
Just one execution of the blade art,
and her whole body was drenched in sweat.
Her breathing grew ragged.
Yet she felt refreshed.
She couldn't be sure, but something had changed.
'Just one more time.'
This time, she wouldn't deliberate like before.
She just wanted to confirm the blade art she'd forged through hesitation and doubt.
And so.
Kwan Ha-kyeong executed the Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade again.
From starting stance to the final form, Soaring Heaven Demon Annihilation—in an instant.
The Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade was utterly different from yesterday.
Yesterday and today,
both were unmistakably the Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade.
But its power was worlds apart.
Kwan Ha-kyeong herself didn't fully realize it,
but she felt her blade's movements grow far smoother and freer, ending her training on that note.
The next day.
Slice.
A blood jiangshi's head tumbled endlessly under Kwan Ha-kyeong's blade strike.
Thud!
Pung Geon's sword pierced the fallen head.
He looked at Kwan Ha-kyeong and asked,
"What happened? This is completely different from yesterday."
"Uh, well..."
She couldn't answer properly.
Even she was bewildered.
Had one training session really changed her this much?
The entire Demon-Sealing Corps stared at her in shock.
Compared to yesterday's mess, it seemed even more impressive,
but she had truly grown stronger.
The difference felt like her realm had shifted overnight.
'High first-rate now? Or upper? Somewhere around there.'
As Ha Mu-baek had seen and confirmed, her potential was brimming.
She'd just lacked the trigger.
Back in her Dragon Training Pavilion Wa Dragon Corps days.
No, even earlier.
Steadily.
With utmost effort.
Silently.
Diligently.
Her training had filled her vessel to the brim, on the verge of overflowing,
but without that trigger,
she couldn't break past the mid first-rate wall.
Then.
Ha Mu-baek sensed two blood jiangshi approaching.
She'd grasped a thread—time to push harder.
"Everyone fall back. Kwan Ha-kyeong alone. Two blood jiangshi coming soon. Fight them as long as you can."
At Ha Mu-baek's order, the Demon-Sealing Corps hesitated briefly.
They'd never had one person face two before.
But seeing his usual calm face, they slowly moved behind him,
leaving Kwan Ha-kyeong alone.
Her expression was serene.
No fear or surprise at facing two alone.
Her face was filled only with thoughts of her blade.
Soon enough,
two blood jiangshi appeared.
Taat!
Kwan Ha-kyeong kicked off the ground the moment she saw them.
And began swinging her blade.
Her blade, infused with full internal energy, trailed blade qi as it flew toward the two.
Clang!
It seemed locked in a struggle against their claws,
but her strike followed a subtly different, far more profound path, slicing off a blood jiangshi's arm in a flash.
The other one's arm soared into the air—or so it seemed.
Her movements had no hindrance.
No hesitation or doubt.
Slice. Slice.
She severed both their necks.
Thud. Roll roll roll.
The heads hit the ground rolling.
Poke. Poke.
At Ha Mu-baek's glance, they burst into dust.
"Uh... Um..."
Kwan Ha-kyeong felt a vague sense of regret.
An itchy, tickling sensation.
As if more battles would resolve it.
Like the memory from that day she'd lost to her blade arts.
A feeling like it was on the tip of her tongue.
Moving the blade herself.
That was the answer, as Ha Mu-baek had said.
No hints from meditation,
yet it reacted like this.
But it wasn't enough.
She needed to face more of these things.
Decision made,
Kwan Ha-kyeong requested,
"Can I ask for a bit more?"
Toward Ha Mu-baek.
To fight more jiangshi alone.
Ha Mu-baek chuckled.
Tomorrow was the last day.
"Everyone except Kwan Ha-kyeong, form up and stand by here. Kwan Ha-kyeong, handle the jiangshi appearing there. Up to two at a time. If three come, join the formation."
With that order, Ha Mu-baek vanished.
Time to herd.
To toss suitable foes to Kwan Ha-kyeong craving real combat, he stirred up nearby corpse jiangshi, poison jiangshi, and blood jiangshi, luring them in.
Jiangshi kept coming relentlessly.
One, or two.
Sending them in controlled batches was skill in itself.
Thanks to that, Kwan Ha-kyeong swung without rest,
and each time, her strikes grew bolder.
The fruits of last night's deliberation ripening further.
Kwan Ha-kyeong's Heaven-Severing Demon-Slaying Blade advanced toward a new realm.
The Demon-Sealing Corps, formed up in formation for emergencies, watched her in continual shock.
Such unhesitating Kwan Ha-kyeong.
A sight they hadn't imagined.
The more enemies she felled, the more frustrated Kwan Ha-kyeong grew.
A tickling sensation, like something was about to burst free.
But it just kept tickling, refusing to break through.
Then.
One each of corpse jiangshi, poison jiangshi, and blood jiangshi.
All three appeared.
As the Demon-Sealing Corps moved to engage per Ha Mu-baek's orders,
"Kwan Ha-kyeong handles them alone."
Ha Mu-baek, returned unnoticed, commanded, and they halted.
'Just a little more.'
Ha Mu-baek recognized her frustration too.
The real breakthrough was imminent.
In his eyes, surviving these three would trigger it.
"Kraaaah!"
The poison jiangshi roared and charged Kwan Ha-kyeong.
One Ha Mu-baek had herded from a nearby poison pit.
Its claws gleamed dark purple.
A lethal venom that could kill on a graze.
It aimed for her right arm, but
she calmly shifted, dodging, and swung her blade.
Slice.
The poison jiangshi's forearm flew off—then, targeting her back,
"Groooar."
The corpse jiangshi lunged, but
it was slow.
The real threat was the blood jiangshi swinging from the front.
Kwan Ha-kyeong retreated without overcommitting,
prioritizing the poison jiangshi.
The one with graze-lethal poison was the most troublesome.
But interference from the corpse and blood jiangshi kept her from severing its other arm.
In a flash, the blood jiangshi blocked her path, thrusting its claws.
And the slow corpse jiangshi persistently targeted her back.
No ordinary foes.
Again, the blood jiangshi obstructed.
Her blade lodged in its right shoulder, but at a slant, failing to sever.
She yanked it free and withdrew hastily.
She couldn't afford to lose her weapon embedded in an enemy.
'If I could cleave them all in one go...'
Frustration and longing welled in Kwan Ha-kyeong's heart.
In that gap, she spotted an opening in the charging corpse jiangshi and beheaded it in one stroke.
Down to two.
She aimed to fell the quicker one next, but
their coordination was decent.
Against humans, the shoulder strike would have dropped it,
but jiangshi.
They ignored such things and pressed on.
No change in movement beyond the useless arm.
As both lunged at once,
Something exploded in Kwan Ha-kyeong's mind.
Internal energy surged from her dantian, racing through meridians to her palm and into the blade,
as if infusing it with sword qi—
Clang!
A chilling blue light began to frost over the blade edge.