Chapter 437
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 437
Chapter Title: Just These Two?
The eighty-first form of the Galactic Phantom Sword Method.
The eighty-first form.
It encapsulated the variations of every form from the first to the eightieth into a single strike.
It was the ultimate sword form.
A form that Dan Mok Un-roe had never once succeeded with up to now.
No, he hadn't even properly imitated it.
"To execute the final eighty-first form, your realm needs to rise several levels higher."
Those were Ha Mu-baek's words as he oversaw Dan Mok Un-roe's training.
"Can't you show me what that form looks like, Instructor?"
Dan Mok Un-roe pleaded earnestly.
"I can't demonstrate another sect's sword technique. To perform it as a proper form, I'd have to master it myself in the end."
Dan Mok Un-roe's face fell momentarily at the response.
"However, I could imitate it somewhat by referencing the incantation manual to teach you."
With that, he lightly swung his sword.
Just once.
A form he dismissed as not even a proper imitation.
Dan Mok Un-roe hadn't been able to imitate even that.
But still.
Now.
His instincts told him it was time to unleash it.
Because right before his eyes, Joo Woo-myeong was deploying the Taiji Beneficent Sword once more with the sword that had summoned his sword aura.
No matter how much internal energy Dan Mok Un-roe squeezed out.
He couldn't overcome the sword aura in his current state.
That left the swordsmanship as the deciding factor.
Yet even that fell short of Joo Woo-myeong's enlightenment.
So the only option left for Dan Mok Un-roe now was a gamble.
The final form of the Eighty-First Style of the Galactic Phantom Sword Method.
Milky Way Radiance.
A strike containing a myriad colors shining like the galaxy.
All variations poured into one sword thrust toward Joo Woo-myeong.
Joo Woo-myeong focused on the ominous sword movement flying toward him and swung his own blade with full power.
The opponent before him.
As he had felt during last year's Eastern Tournament.
Was no enemy to be taken lightly.
He swung his sword, embodying every subtlety of the Taiji Beneficent Sword.
Slice.
A short cutting sound rang out, and Dan Mok Un-roe's sword snapped.
Whoosh.
In that instant.
A gash appeared on Joo Woo-myeong's left cheek, blood trickling down.
"I didn't reach him..."
Dan Mok Un-roe muttered with a regretful expression.
"That was close."
Joo Woo-myeong murmured calmly as he sheathed his sword.
It had truly been dangerous.
Because Dan Mok Un-roe had thrown everything into it without a second thought.
Had those variations been even a bit more refined.
Joo Woo-myeong's neck might have been severed.
"I lost."
Dan Mok Un-roe acknowledged his defeat and descended from the arena.
Waiting below the arena was Han Seol-bing.
She had rushed over after seeing that final sword form.
"Instructor Han?"
Dan Mok Un-roe looked at her puzzled.
Grip!
Han Seol-bing seized Dan Mok Un-roe by the collar.
"Urk."
Dan Mok Un-roe let out a groan as he was lifted into the air.
All eyes gathered on the sudden scene.
"No matter how badly you wanted to win, no matter how much you gave your all. There are lines you must not cross."
A cold voice pierced into Dan Mok Un-roe's ear.
Whoosh.
She flung him to the ground and turned away, vanishing.
In the spot where she had disappeared, only a chill lingered in the air.
"A line I must not cross...?"
Dan Mok Un-roe murmured blankly the words Han Seol-bing had left behind.
Then.
His eyes caught sight of Joo Woo-myeong descending from the arena.
The wound on his cheek.
What if his sword had been a bit closer to perfection, and Joo Woo-myeong a bit weaker?
The thought struck him.
"Gasp..."
He realized it.
"Did I use a killing move against Woo-myeong?"
His face showed he hadn't even considered it.
He was utterly shocked.
His entire body trembled.
Mugeuk gazed at Ha Mu-baek's right hand.
A hand poised to strike at any moment.
He thought that Elder Wijigon had indeed raised his disciple well.
Or perhaps it was because the young man was so exceptional, having already delved deep into experiences before arriving here?
"The abyss is the primordial will, the intent."
Mugeuk gave a brief answer to Ha Mu-baek's question.
"Then..."
"Yes. It seeks to merge into one. But it can't. The six fragments have shattered apart once more."
"The work of Myriad Emperor?"
"Myriad Emperor wishes to annihilate the primordial fragments."
The more he heard, the less sense it made, only deepening the confusion.
"When Myriad Emperor rebelled against the primordial origin, and the two clashed, an unforeseen variable arose that neither the primordial nor Myriad Emperor had anticipated."
'A variable?'
Ha Mu-baek pondered silently in his mind without voicing it.
Mugeuk continued the tale without pause anyway.
"As the primordial origin coalesced similar natures into six fragments, its will—the abyss—split accordingly, developing thoughts divergent from the primordial will. Their intents manifested. Just as Myriad Emperor rebelled from the singular whole."
"Are you saying that among the six abyssal fragments, some refuse to return to the original primordial one?"
Mugeuk nodded at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"Having lived in this world, what do you think of it?"
Mugeuk asked Ha Mu-baek.
Ha Mu-baek reflected on his life at the elder's question.
The beginning had been happy.
Then came hell, followed by a path stained in blood.
And now.
Honestly, he wasn't sure.
'Well, maybe I'm enjoying it in my own way...'
Mugeuk gazed intently at such a Ha Mu-baek.
"You have quite the story, don't you."
Ha Mu-baek offered no reply, yet Mugeuk nodded as if he had heard one.
"Joy, anger, love, pleasure, sorrow, fear, desire. You've experienced them all. That's what the world is, and life too. So, what do you think the world is like?"
"I don't know."
Ha Mu-baek answered honestly.
"Then what of your life?"
"It was intense."
"Did you ever feel like ending that life?"
Ha Mu-baek shook his head.
He couldn't.
He had a precious little sister named Ha Seol-ran.
There were also those amusing cadets.
And comrades who had overcome hardships together.
He had no intention of abandoning them to end his life.
Mugeuk nodded.
"That's it. Living beings cherish their own lives. The foundation for such beings to survive is this world. No matter how it flows, this is now a complete world."
"What do you mean?"
"The primordial origin, Myriad Emperor, the singular whole. This is no longer their world. They split and fragmented, and eons have passed since this world was formed. Existing as it is now—that is the will and desire of the beings that constitute this world. I have made my judgment."
"You have?"
"Yes. Among the primordial fragments, Mugeuk. The abyss of Mugeuk is me."
The answer to Ha Mu-baek's question.
The response to what he had dared to ask.
"Precisely, I am the first human to obtain Mugeuk. The abyss of Mugeuk rendered a decision against the primordial will. And it fully merged with me."
"Then Yeo-ui is...?"
"Yeo-ui is the second fragment I found. It too made the same decision, so its abyss merged with me as well. Mugeuk means boundless infinity. Wishing this world to continue endlessly. Yeo-ui means as one wishes. Desiring the beings of this world to exist according to their own wills. The intents of these two primordial fragments have united."
Mugeuk's long explanation.
Only then did Ha Mu-baek understand the elder's initial introduction.
Mugeuk and Yeo-ui.
"Then Master's words that there's no need to worry about the abyss while cultivating the Mugeuk Yeo-ui Heart Method...?"
"Since the abyss has manifested in physical form like this, the power of Mugeuk Yeo-ui contains no abyss. So naturally, there's no need for concern."
"Ah!"
Ha Mu-baek let out a small exclamation.
"Then how have you survived all these long eons, Elder?"
Mugeuk smiled faintly.
"My physical body died and vanished long ago. This is the lingering intent of a martial artist who merged with the abysses of Mugeuk and Yeo-ui. It remains in the world to convey the mission of the Mugeuk Sword Sect to descendants who inherit its power."
Mugeuk smiled gently.
"What is that mission?"
"Until now, it was merely something kept in the heart. But seeing you, it seems you must act swiftly."
"Pardon?"
"You've already encountered Tae among the Myriad Emperor's fragments, haven't you? I sense its energy in your body. And you've obtained Radiance as well."
"Yes."
Ha Mu-baek nodded.
"Transcending eons, it seems the time has come again when the primordial origin and Myriad Emperor stir—in your era."
Seriousness settled on Mugeuk's face.
"Your task is to live as you desire. Protect this world so it endures as is. Ideally, walking the righteous path."
"Protect the world..."
"You said you don't know what this world is like. That too is an answer. To some, it's paradise; to others, hell. That's part of the world. It's for its inhabitants to live by their own thoughts and overcome it. The world cannot be made to vanish at the whims and desires of ancient beings."
Ha Mu-baek's eyes deepened gravely.
The Blood Cult or Demonic Cult.
This was on an entirely different scale from exterminating those vermin.
"To do that, what must I do?"
"Annihilate the abysses of Darkness and Chaos. And destroy the will of Myriad Emperor's fragments as well."
"Darkness and Chaos. Just those two?"
Mugeuk nodded at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"When the singular whole existed, there was only darkness, and all was in chaos. Primordial Chaos. That was the state of the singular whole."
Ha Mu-baek could easily accept that explanation.
Darkness and Chaos.
States matching their very names.
"Thus, they will seek to follow the primordial will and return to the origin."
"What of Emptiness and Radiance?"
"Emptiness is just that—emptiness. Whether the world remains as is or returns to origin holds no meaning. Radiance only illuminated the world after Primordial Chaos fragmented, so it has no desire to revert. Isn't that right?"
Mugeuk looked at Ha Mu-baek and asked.
"Ugh, ugh..."
In that moment, excruciating pain erupted in Ha Mu-baek's dantian.
Pain so intense that even he couldn't endure it, letting out an involuntary groan.
'W-what is this...'
Flustered by the sudden onset.
One of the energies residing in his dantian began moving on its own.
Even circulating the Mugeuk Yeo-ui Heart Method had no effect.
As that energy stirred, light began emanating from Ha Mu-baek's entire body.
And soon.
A brilliant light burst forth from his dantian.
So intense that Ha Mu-baek had to close his eyes against the radiance pouring from his own body.
A moment later.
When the pain in his dantian subsided.
He opened his eyes.
Floating between Ha Mu-baek and Mugeuk was a multicolored orb shining brilliantly.
"T-this is..."
Ha Mu-baek stared at it in shock.
"It's been a while."
Mugeuk murmured upon seeing the orb.
But.
His voice had changed.
Two voices overlapped in resonance.
'W-what in the world...'
[Is this our first meeting since we shattered and split?]
A will emanated from the multicolored light orb.
One that Ha Mu-baek could hear as well.
"C-could this be the abyss of Radiance?"
The thought flashing through his mind prompted Ha Mu-baek to ask.
"Indeed."
Mugeuk replied.
Ha Mu-baek gazed at the multicolored light orb in astonishment.
He hadn't expected it to be real.
To think such immense power had been dormant within him.
Ha Mu-baek felt his entire body tingling from the energy radiating from Radiance's abyss.
Yet his internal energy remained undiminished.
How had such vast power lain hidden in his body without any sign?
'Can I win against it?'
The thought crossed his mind.
But he couldn't be certain.
He couldn't fathom the limits of that power.
"It seems you've just met Radiance's abyss for the first time."
At Mugeuk's words, Ha Mu-baek nodded.
There had been no hint until now.
He understood now why Hyeonhwang had prattled about whether he had encountered the abyss.
With such power.
The strength gained would differ based on whether one had met it.
[Your power was insufficient yet, so I withheld my will. Among those who obtained fragments of Radiance, none were worthy.]
The response flowed from Radiance's abyss.