Chapter 441
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 441
Chapter Title: Is This It?
The countless stars that had filled Namgung Hu's space vanished.
Thousand Stars.
They disappeared.
And in their place,
a single star blazed brilliantly, plummeting toward Namgung Hu.
A lone star trailing radiant light as it fell through the pitch-black night sky.
Meteor.
Thousands of stars converging into one, hurtling toward Namgung Hu.
The brilliant meteor forged by Baek Ri-pyeong's sword.
The light enveloping that star
was sword aura.
In an instant, Baek Ri-pyeong entered the sword aura realm and charged at Namgung Hu.
The crowd gaped at the sight, mouths hanging open.
A smile crept across Namgung Hu's face.
A grin that said it was finally worth his while.
Namgung Hu's sword moved.
Emperor Sword Form.
Yet the number of sword auras had increased.
From a single strand to three.
The crowd gaped once more.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, the two clashed and staggered back.
A single exchange.
And the outcome was decided.
"Cough."
Baek Ri-pyeong coughed, spitting blood.
Namgung Hu stood with his sword held high, eyes fixed on Baek Ri-pyeong.
The three strands of sword aura still coiled around his blade.
Baek Ri-pyeong raised his sword again.
A pure white strand of sword aura gleamed intensely.
The moment their swords turned toward each other,
Baek Ri-pyeong smiled in relief and lowered his blade.
"I lost."
He had to admit it.
Thanks to the sudden enlightenment, he had stepped into a new realm and manifested sword aura.
Yet even so, he was one step behind.
He knew continuing would change nothing.
So Baek Ri-pyeong readily conceded defeat.
Namgung Hu lowered his sword as well.
The same relieved smile lit his face.
"Next time, I'll be the winner."
With those words, Baek Ri-pyeong turned away.
The arena was cleared.
Yeon Ha-min and Joo Woo-myeong stepped onto the stage.
"Begin!"
At the referee's shout, Joo Woo-myeong unleashed sword aura and launched himself forward at full speed.
He had witnessed Namgung Hu's achievement.
Impatience stirred in his heart.
He needed to wrap up the semifinals as quickly as possible and prepare for the finals against Namgung Hu.
Yeon Ha-min evaded Joo Woo-myeong's thrusting sword with light, effortless movements, as if she knew exactly where it was headed.
Her own sword traced a beautiful arc.
Clang!
But it collided with Joo Woo-myeong's blade, wrapped in sword aura, and bounced away.
Joo Woo-myeong's sword pursued the retreating Yeon Ha-min.
Yet it couldn't even brush her hem.
Yeon Ha-min's sword seemed poised to draw another graceful path.
But it was different.
The pink sword qi that had shimmered on her blade had solidified into a strand of sword aura.
A change so natural that no one noticed until it was too late.
Boom!
Joo Woo-myeong swung desperately to block.
A massive explosion rang out.
"Your opponent is me."
Yeon Ha-min spoke calmly, her voice laced with chill.
In that instant, Joo Woo-myeong snapped back to his senses.
Right.
He hadn't won the semifinals yet.
His gaze locked onto Yeon Ha-min's eyes.
"My apologies. I beg your pardon."
An honest admission and apology.
Then Joo Woo-myeong's aura shifted.
He, who had been staring past her at Namgung Hu, now focused entirely on the foe before him.
Taiji Insight Sword.
Wudang Sect's supreme sword art, unleashed with extreme concentration.
Yeon Ha-min held her ground.
She poured everything into the martial art her stepfather—no, her father—had left her: the Moonlit Dance Swordplay.
Clang!
Boom!
Clang!
Boom!
Relentless clashes erupted.
Like dragon and phoenix locked in combat, their swords twisted and tangled fiercely.
Yeon Ha-min yielded not an inch to Joo Woo-myeong's blade.
"Hoo. Hoo."
Rough breaths poured from Joo Woo-myeong's mouth.
"Hah. Hah. Hah."
Yeon Ha-min fared no better.
"Amazing. When did you master sword aura?"
Joo Woo-myeong.
He himself had entered the sword aura realm less than a month ago.
Even Baek Ri-pyeong had only just stepped into it today.
"About ten days."
Yeon Ha-min replied curtly.
Joo Woo-myeong's eyes widened in shock.
"Incredible. Truly astonishing."
He had no choice but to react that way.
He knew when Yeon Ha-min had begun her martial arts journey.
Not even three years had passed since her initiation.
And yet,
the sword aura realm.
No disciple at Wudang would believe it.
Yeon Ha-min's ascent to this level came from perfect alignment of factors.
But the greatest was
talent.
The gift Ha Mu-baek had called the finest among the Fierce Dragon Corps' seven squad cadets.
Coupled with Ha Mu-baek's guidance, mastery of the foundational Three Talents Arts, and the inner power gained from the Infinite Ring.
Everything had fallen into place.
A prodigy one in ten thousand.
Even Dan Mok Un-roe hadn't reached sword aura yet.
"Hoo. Let me apologize once more."
Apologizing again for his rudeness in overlooking her for Namgung Hu, Joo Woo-myeong kicked off the ground.
The fierce duel resumed.
Rough, aggressive motions unbefitting the softness-rooted Taiji Insight Sword.
Joo Woo-myeong was neglecting his defense.
Inevitable, as his strikes kept whiffing.
Excitement was building unconsciously.
As the match wore on,
Yeon Ha-min gradually seized the advantage.
Unbelievable.
Yet the reality unfolding before their eyes proved it.
Foresight.
The ability Yeon Ha-min wielded now with utmost concentration.
Her eyes felt like they might burst from their sockets.
That's why she couldn't even acknowledge Joo Woo-myeong's second apology.
Loosening her focus for a moment would mean instant defeat.
Though her expression remained impassive, Yeon Ha-min had hit her limit long ago.
Joo Woo-myeong was simply that formidable.
Even foresight was useless if he moved faster than she could react.
His speed danced right on the edge.
Yeon Ha-min had no choice but to go all out.
Tracking both present and future movements, responding perfectly.
No easy feat.
Eyes burning, head pounding like it might split.
By enduring through gritted teeth, her edge grew ever clearer.
Joo Woo-myeong clenched his jaw.
And
with the resolve of a final, all-out strike, he thrust his sword.
Slash.
It cut.
The tactile feedback at his fingertips was clear, the sound unmistakable.
But Yeon Ha-min moved with perfect naturalness, extending her blade.
Before Joo Woo-myeong could even withdraw.
Her sword halted right before his eyes.
"Hoo. I lost."
He had no choice but to concede.
His full-power strike had merely sliced Yeon Ha-min's side hem.
No— it had wounded her.
A thin red line traced her pale skin, blood seeping slowly.
That was the extent of the sensation he'd felt.
Yeon Ha-min sheathed her sword.
"Winner: Yeon Ha-min!"
After the referee's declaration, she turned and descended the stage as if nothing had happened.
Every spectator's gaze followed her.
"Ha-min!"
Ha Seol-ran rushed over and draped her outer robe over Yeon Ha-min.
She hadn't realized.
The tear in her hem ran longer than expected.
"Ah, thanks......"
Her voice was faint, drained.
Only then did Yeon Ha-min notice her hands trembling uncontrollably.
'I poured it all out.'
She glanced up at the arena.
The Summer Combat Festival now awaited only the afternoon finals.
Twenty years passed.
In the space of Mu-geuk Yeo-ui.
Ha Mu-baek was now cultivating the Mu-geuk Yeo-ui Eight Severing Sword Waves and Infinite Breaking Fist.
He moved without pause.
"Impressive."
Gwang-hwi murmured, a hint of awe in her voice.
"What do you mean?"
As if responding to her words, Mu-geuk materialized.
"Your descendant."
"Not precisely a descendant. A disciple, perhaps? Or an heir?"
"Whatever."
Sensing Mu-geuk's wordplay, Gwang-hwi furrowed her delicate brows.
"Thirty years?"
Mu-geuk glanced at Ha Mu-baek and said.
"Impossible for a human mind. Focusing solely on one thing for thirty years—the psyche would shatter first."
Mu-geuk nodded at Gwang-hwi's assessment.
"Even I didn't anticipate this. Not a single break in thirty years."
A realm of the heart,
where movements were of the mind, not flesh.
Yet time flowed as truly as thirty years in the real world.
Even if mere three hours passed outside.
"He doesn't sense the flow of time. He's forgotten it entirely. Lost in the sword alone."
Gwang-hwi clicked her tongue.
"Might surpass expectations."
Mu-geuk gazed at Ha Mu-baek with approval.
"Heavenly Flawless Harmony Physique, yes?"
Gwang-hwi inquired.
"Indeed. Innate genius of the highest order. I fixated on that, but this focus and diligence... it transcends talent."
Mu-geuk was genuinely awed.
He hadn't foreseen it upon first seeing Ha Mu-baek.
He'd attributed his feats to that physique.
But it wasn't everything.
The concentration and effort loomed far larger.
"Now it's taking shape......"
Gwang-hwi watched Ha Mu-baek's sword.
The abyss power, supreme force, flickered intermittently.
Now, one in every five swings manifested a decent form.
Twenty years prior, a mere sliver.
Now, walnut-sized.
Ha Mu-baek, oblivious to the two abyss gazes upon him,
devoted himself to the sword.
The final form of Mu-geuk Yeo-ui Eight Severing Sword Waves.
Mu-geuk.
The form used only against Blood Cult Leader Gae Hong-cheon and Demonic Cult Leader Seok Won-cho.
As he executed it,
a flash of insight pierced his mind.
Without halting, he pressed on.
Mu-geuk Yeo-ui Eight Severing Sword Waves comprised eight forms.
Yet the ultimate essence fused their principles into a single strike.
The very form realized in the instant he pierced Blood Cult Leader Gae Hong-cheon's heart.
The ninth form of Eight Severing Sword Waves.
As he completed it,
enlightenment surged through his entire body.
A brilliant sword flash.
Ha Mu-baek halted his sword for the first time.
And quietly regarded his hand.
"Is this it?"
Not certain, but it felt right.
He raised his sword once more.
Executing the ninth form,
instinct confirmed it.
This was it.
Lowering his blade, Ha Mu-baek turned.
There stood Gwang-hwi and Mu-geuk.
"Is this it?"
Mu-geuk nodded.
"Tiny, but correct."
The walnut-sized abyss power.
Ha Mu-baek could now wield it by his own will.
"Did you intend this? Create it?"
Mu-geuk nodded again.
"I included it as a possibility. Never dreamed it'd be perfected. Hence 'eight forms,' with mere hints for the finale."
Yet the successive lords of Mu-geuk Sword Sect had mastered it.
They never grasped the true supreme power.
But the sword technique itself was complete.
However,
the founder unnamed it, calling it only the 'ultimate essence.'
Thus, past lords dubbed it Mu-geuk Heaven-Rending Yeo-ui World-Exterminating.
"What is it?"
"Ninth Form: Abyss."
The true name slipped from Mu-geuk's lips.
"Did I perform it right?"
Mu-geuk shook his head at the follow-up.
"I don't know. A martial art for abyss power... I never finalized the concept, just left clues. Imagined it might be like this if possible. Held 'Ninth Form Abyss' close, awaiting a successor one in eons."
A satisfied smile graced Mu-geuk's lips.
"You have no idea how preposterous your feat is. Even if the primal origin existed, none would believe."
Gwang-hwi cut in.
"Humans are specks less than the origin's dust. For that dust to wield even a mote of primal power... it defies the world's laws......"
Gwang-hwi trailed off.
"Heh, the world's laws, no less."
Mu-geuk let out a wry chuckle at her theatrics.