Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: Shattered Demon Sword
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It seemed I'd been circulating my energy longer than I thought.
I'd started in the early evening, but by the time I stepped out onto the training grounds, the sun was already rising.
'Does that mean I pulled an all-nighter watching Seol-ha and Adu?'
Whatever. At the level of a first-rate master, skipping a night of sleep wouldn't leave you feeling tired anyway.
"Senior Brother. How exactly are you going to make me comprehend Intent Manifestation in just seven days and nights?"
"Simple. It's already proven effective. It's the same method I used on little So."
Jeon Gal-seol-ha had heard about it from him before.
"Isn't it a pretty brutish approach? Just exposing someone to the aura of Intent Manifestation all day long?"
"Yeah. It took So forever, but for you, Seol-ha, seven days should be plenty."
In truth, Baek Heon-so had internalized Intent Manifestation in a mere half-year, which was incredibly fast.
"The problem is doing it slowly but thoroughly enough to satisfy Master, who wants you to walk without missing a single step."
"Hmm. That does sound insanely difficult."
To put it in perspective, it was like sprinting at full speed while picking up every single pebble placed at regular intervals on the ground.
Utter nonsense.
"But it's not impossible. You're a Peach Blossom Body, after all."
Peach Blossom Body. A legendary physique that naturally bewitches those around it with its Peach Blossom Aura.
A heavenly punishment that had plunged young Jeon Gal-seol-ha into hell.
Her face darkened at those four words, dredging up memories of the past.
"It's fine. From now on, the Peach Blossom Body will be your weapon alone."
"......How can you be so sure?"
'Because that's how I'm going to make it.'
He recalled his previous life. Unlike his beautiful junior sister now, he thought of the Soul-Seducing Demon Queen who had unleashed a massive bloodbath.
Jeon Gal-seol-ha's previous incarnation. A grand demoness who had enslaved and massacred countless people with her Soul-Seducing Demon Art, built on her Peach Blossom Aura.
'Whoa, she's so different from her current self it's almost awkward.'
Yang-hui had participated in the campaign to subjugate the Soul-Seducing Demon Queen.
He had even clashed with her directly, experiencing her martial prowess and demonic power firsthand.
That was why he was so certain.
'But I can't exactly say that outright, can I?'
"Seol-ha, this is your senior brother—the world's greatest martial prodigy—speaking. Just trust me."
"You're so annoyingly full of yourself... but I can't argue."
"You'll be even more shocked by this: what you're mastering in these seven days isn't just Intent Manifestation."
"Oh?"
There were three insights needed to reach the Peak Realm.
Mind-Born Kindred Qi, Intent Manifestation, and Sword Qi Manifestation.
"Here's a question. Swordsmen at the Peak Realm can manifest sword qi. So what about a Peak Realm expert in sound arts?"
"Huh? You're right."
Jeon Gal-seol-ha looked puzzled.
Her master, the Sound Demon, had never mentioned it.
He hadn't forgotten; he must have deliberately avoided the topic.
"Junior Sister. Try deploying a Sonic Strike."
"Okay."
She plucked the string of her pipa, and dust rose from the training ground some distance away.
"Ordinary martial artists who train fist or sword techniques can't project their qi outward until they grasp Intent Manifestation, right?"
"Of course. They can only reinforce their bodies with qi."
"But you've been using Sonic Strikes since the third-rate realm. How is that possible?"
She had heard an explanation from the Sound Demon about this.
Jeon Gal-seol-ha answered confidently.
"Because for us, sound is the sword."
"Exactly."
Like striking the ground with a sword, they weaponized sound itself—sound waves—to attack.
It consumed a ton of inner energy to give sound physical force, but it looked like striking the air and hitting from afar.
"At its core, Sonic Strike is the same as a swordsman infusing qi into their blade and swinging."
So at the Peak Realm, could they infuse tangible qi into sound waves?
No, that wasn't it.
"Junior Sister. What do you think Intent Manifestation is?"
"Manifesting qi into tangible form?"
"Wrong. The key is control strong enough to shape intangible qi into tangible form."
Control over qi. That was the essence that defined the Peak Realm.
"Since Master deliberately skipped this, I'll stop here. Let's start training Intent Manifestation first."
Without giving Jeon Gal-seol-ha time to prepare, Yang-hui unleashed his aura.
A vicious killing intent at that.
💥 KILLING INTENT 💥 Vicious Onslaught
"Kyaaak...!"
Jeon Gal-seol-ha felt a chill run down her spine.
It was the first time in her life she'd been exposed to such horrifying killing intent.
'How can he emit killing intent this intense...?'
Killing intent stemmed from the will to kill.
Naturally, the stronger the desire to kill, the denser the intent.
Or from familiarity with murder itself after repeated killings.
It couldn't be the former, so the latter—but her peer senior brother couldn't have killed that many people.
"I warned you it'd be tough. Hang in there, Seol-ha. You can do this."
"Kyaaak, ugh...!"
Jeon Gal-seol-ha wasn't used to killing intent.
Of course not—she'd been raised delicately before holing up in the mountains.
Her first kill had been just yesterday, after all.
Her body trembled like a leaf, her legs buckled.
She felt like collapsing, tears welling up.
But.
'I can endure...!'
Jeon Gal-seol-ha's gaze fixed on Yang-hui's inner image.
A scarred but steadfast rock.
Surrounding it was a warm glow.
If it were true killing intent, it would be cloying darkness, not warmth.
So she could bear it.
'It's just training. Senior Brother's true heart is different. It's warm.'
'She's handling it better than expected.'
Yang-hui watched Jeon Gal-seol-ha with satisfaction.
At this rate, she might internalize Intent Manifestation without even needing the full seven days.
'Anyone else, maybe not—but Seol-ha? Totally possible. She's got the Peach Blossom Body, trained in Profound Origin Full Altar Divine Art, and she's a sound arts practitioner to boot.'
Sound arts weaponized sound waves.
Thus, sound artists were inherently more attuned to external vibrations than others.
They handled waves from the basics, using Sonic Strikes as forms.
'Plus the Profound Origin Full Altar Divine Art.'
Profound Origin: The mysterious root source.
Full Altar: A tree fully rooted in the altar.
True to its name, it was an inner cultivation art that nurtured divine energy from the upper dantian.
It enabled upper dantian awakening from the start—a divine art worthy of the name, reachable by only a handful of Peak experts.
'With the upper dantian open... she'll be more sensitive to intent.'
That was why Jeon Gal clansmen grasped Intent Manifestation with relative ease.
They advanced quickly but often missed subtleties; reaching the realm itself wasn't hard.
'Add the Peach Blossom Body. Seol-ha can catch everything she might miss on the way.'
Seol-ha could see inner images.
She wielded Super Peak-level abilities as naturally as breathing since childhood.
Though uncontrolled, with her weak mind yielding only horrific memories.
'That's why she became the Soul-Seducing Demon Queen in her past life. And she's basically my age.'
For reference, it took around ten Peak masters, including Yang-hui, to finally subjugate her past self.
In a way, Jeon Gal-seol-ha had the world's greatest talent.
'Well, considering the drawbacks, I'm still the best.'
But that wasn't the point.
Now, talent sensitive to auras, wielding the upper dantian, even peeking at inner images.
How to cook this into a quick, delicious dish?
He varied the aura he emitted.
Same killing intent, but like changing water to mist.
"Urgh!"
Jeon Gal-seol-ha reacted immediately.
A change most wouldn't notice.
Mist or water, it was still killing intent.
But she detected the shift in intent and responded.
She couldn't counter yet, but reacting alone was incredibly fast.
He'd expected at least a day.
'No issue with Intent Manifestation, as expected.'
Fast, but without missing anything.
Instead of making her pick up pebbles, just hand them over directly.
No need to bend down—just extend her hand, and they'd fall right into her palm, one after another.
He kept altering the intent in his aura, conveying the answers like a cheat sheet.
Insights couldn't be put into words, but inner images could.
As shapes of will, they allowed direct, intuitive transmission.
'Now for Mind-Born Kindred Qi and Sword Qi Manifestation.'
Aligning will and qi movement.
And gaining control strong enough for tangible manifestation.
'Gonna need to think on this.'
That was when three days had passed.
"Ah! Senior Brother!"
Yang-hui's jaw dropped in a daze.
Jeon Gal-seol-ha had begun infusing her qi with intent to counter his killing aura.
"No... I knew it'd be fast, but this fast?"
It was so easy and quick it felt unfair.
Was this right?
Even with his direct help, it felt off.
Could the world really be this forgiving?
"Hehe. I've got some once-in-a-generation talent myself, you know."
"Did the Peach Blossom Body include genius-level talent too?"
"I'm just that good."
"......"
Anyway. At this rate, they could go more aggressively.
Mind-Born Kindred Qi and Sword Qi Manifestation.
In truth, internalizing Sword Qi Manifestation would bring Mind-Born Kindred Qi naturally.
Control for tangible qi stemmed from powerful will, and strong will naturally drew qi in its wake.
"Let's take a more direct shortcut, Junior Sister."
"How?"
"By borrowing the power of a divine weapon."
"Like the Baek Clan's White Cloud Sword or the Crouching Dragon Pavilion's?"
"Yeah. We've got one too."
Yang-hui returned momentarily with a single sword.
"Senior Brother."
"Yeah?"
"A divine weapon?"
"Yep. Weapons with mysterious, bizarre powers are divine weapons."
"Isn't this a demonic sword?"
"It's pretty bizarre, at least."
The one Yang-hui had brought was the Blood Demon Sword he'd obtained from the Sword King's cache.
A sacred relic of the Blood God Cult, a demonic thing that dominated and drove its wielder mad.
Of course, it had no effect on Yang-hui with his righteous energy.
Like a bully picking on the weak—powerful against inferiors, weak against superiors.
"How can you carry a demonic sword like this? If anyone finds out, they'll brand you a public enemy!"
"It's fine, it's fine."
"No, the whole clan could end up as martial world's outcasts! Possessing a demonic artifact is that serious!"
"We weren't planning to keep it."
He intended to smash it so it never returned to the Blood Cult, then use it.
The issue was even Baek Cheol-jo, the Baek Clan's top blacksmith, couldn't figure out how to destroy the Blood Demon Sword.
"Anyway, if we have it, we use it. I'll stimulate your upper dantian with this demonic sword and force your Peach Blossom Body's potential to awaken."
"Isn't that just qi deviation?"
"......Maybe a bit?"
"Senior Brooo!"
"It's fine, it's fine. Shortcuts always come with some risk."
Jeon Gal-seol-ha eyed Yang-hui coldly.
It felt like peeking at the secret behind her peer's rapid growth.
Embracing this much risk? No wonder he advanced so fast.
'Come to think of it, even in this last fight, he used innate true qi.'
Did this guy think he had multiple lives?
"I guarantee it's safe. You know I have righteous energy. If you're still worried, we'll just test it lightly."
The Blood Demon Sword's power: soul domination.
Meaning it housed a sword spirit with directional will.
Spirituality potent enough for a mere sword.
This would be a new "pebble" for Jeon Gal-seol-ha.
"Draw out your Peach Blossom Aura with the Profound Origin Full Altar Divine Art and examine the Blood Demon Sword's inner image. If it's dangerous, I'll cut it off immediately."
"Got it. I can trust you, right?"
"Blessings come to those who believe."
Jeon Gal-seol-ha cautiously drew out her Peach Blossom Aura and probed the Blood Demon Sword's inner image.
That was the moment.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Star-Conferred Fate Transfer] The Blood Demon Sword shattered into pieces.
"Huh?"
"Ah?"
Yang-hui's expression turned serious.
The voice he'd just heard.
It matched exactly what he'd heard upon his regression.