Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Melody of the Sword
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Composition. Simply put, it's the "creation" of making something and the "melody" of a tune.
In other words, a melody born from linking notes at unique intervals.
Of course, Baek Yang-hui had never learned a single note in his entire life.
Back when he wandered the world as a ronin, music was something you only caught in upscale taverns after dropping serious coin.
No chance to learn it, and he'd never really wanted to anyway.
"Master, why music all of a sudden...?"
"You'll come to understand naturally as you compose the melody."
Pressing her further wouldn't get an answer out of the Melody Demon.
"But I've never composed anything before."
"I don't expect much from you in swordsmanship either. Just make something with highs and lows, intervals that flow into a decent tune. You can manage that, right?"
Baek Yang-hui, who always answered with brimming confidence, made an exception this time.
Compose a melody? Him?
'Sigh... This seems tough.'
He had unshakeable faith in his own martial talent.
He loved the martial arts more than anyone and burned with the desire to advance further.
But music, out of nowhere?
"Honestly, I have no confidence in satisfying a master with a title like Sky-Shattering Melody Demon."
"I'm not after excellence in the melody, so don't worry. With that, I'll go teach Seol-ha."
The Melody Demon lifted Je-gal Seol-ha with invisible energy and vanished.
Baek Yang-hui was left utterly alone.
'Compose... music?'
He wasn't stupid. He grasped her intent right away.
'She wants me to harmonize Peak Resonance Sound with sound arts to push my swordsmanship to the next level.'
He knew it. Intellectually, he got it.
But actually trying to craft a tune? Total blank.
If it were about smashing something, he'd roll up his sleeves without hesitation.
No matter how he racked his brain, music and ceremony weren't his strengths.
What choice did he have? His master was the Sky-Shattering Melody Demon herself. He'd make it work somehow.
Whirrr!
She hadn't even given him an instrument.
So his tools for drawing out a melody were just his voice and his sword.
He stared blankly at the sword trembling like a bee's wings.
A swift vibration resounding at steady intervals.
"A melody. Melody. In other words, notes and rhythm."
Put differently, sounds with pitch and the patterns governing those sounds.
A tune.
'Let's start like I did for the Pure Tone Five Passes.'
Back then, passing the auditory trial, he'd matched his sword strikes on iron cores to his heartbeat, coaxing out a rhythm.
It was the beat most familiar to him, so repeating that method felt right.
But...
'Hm. Uh... Tougher than I thought.'
Peak Resonance in the Peak Resonance Realm wasn't just about making the sword vibrate and emit sound.
It involved swiftly executing the first half of the Heaven-Covering 108 Swords to generate that vibration.
And each form had its own unique flow.
'I've got to blend the forms' flows with my heartbeat's rhythm.'
An attempt he'd never made before—it felt utterly alien.
'Alright. From the beginning.'
The Heaven-Covering 108 Swords—why attach "108" to a sword art of fifty-four forms?
Because executing all fifty-four twice in a single breath produced that signature sword cry.
That level of speed was still beyond him, but...
Pack nine forms from one of the six harmonies into a single breath.
Whirrr!
He unleashed Peak Resonance six times in sequence, once for each harmony direction.
In the midst of it, a realization struck.
'The vibration... the sound is subtly different.'
To Baek Yang-hui, Peak Resonance was merely proof of his realm, not something he dwelt on.
That's why he'd never noticed until now.
Forms differed by direction, and the rapid repetition of those flows produced subtly varying Peak Resonance sounds.
Which meant...
'I can control pitch with Peak Resonance.'
Pitch as a note? Solved.
Now for rhythm—the beat.
This should be easy.
Whirrr! Whirrr!
Whirrr! Whirrr! Whirrr!
Whirrr!
He poured out the six Peak Resonances at varying intervals.
Suddenly, a tune emerged—something you could pass off as a melody at first listen.
...Composing was easier than expected?
'Maybe I'm a natural at music too?'
A sigh escaped him soon after.
"Talent, my ass."
Whirr whirr whirrr whirr?
She wouldn't settle for this level.
This shallow approach couldn't be her true intent.
'She didn't explain in detail on purpose—wants me to figure it out myself.'
In other words, there was some insight he needed to reach.
"Hoo. Let's rethink from the start."
He posed the question to himself.
What is a melody, fundamentally?
Rite and joy.
Rite as exquisite skill, joy as delightful pleasure.
'An exquisite skill using sound to stir the heart.'
The Melody Demon ordered him to craft a melody to advance his swordsmanship.
Why?
The direction of resolving sword principle's deficiencies through melody...
'No clue.'
With no knowledge of music, no leads surfaced.
So, reverse it.
Harmony of sword and sound.
Don't know sound? Start from the sword.
At least on swordsmanship, he wouldn't yield to anyone.
'What is a sword, fundamentally?'
A weapon for killing?
Perhaps in essence, but to Baek Yang-hui, it was more.
A means to achieve his grand dream of the world's greatest clan.
...No... deeper into the heart.
'Sword. To me, the sword is...'
The sword as martial might.
Yes.
A milestone for further progress.
A staff to climb higher.
That was the sword to Baek Yang-hui.
To the Melody Demon, sound must be the same.
'Composing a melody means infusing sound into the sword.'
So the problem: method and means.
How to infuse sound into the sword?
How to harmonize the two paths to advancement and ascent?
Back to basics.
'Melody. Pitch and rhythm.'
Applied to swordsmanship: forms and tempo.
That's why his first try spaced the Peak Resonances variably to form a melody.
"......"
But insufficient.
Something more—to advance further, climb higher.
"Young hero."
A voice pierced his ears. Baek Yang-hui surfaced from deep immersion.
There stood the Melody Demon and Je-gal Seol-ha.
"Master."
"A day has passed. Shall we hear your melody?"
Baek Yang-hui grinned awkwardly.
"Don't be disappointed."
He rose and danced his sword dance.
Whirrr! Whirrr!
Whirrr!
Whirrr! Whirrr! Whirrr!
Diverse forms, linked into one sword dance.
Same method as before, but more harmonious.
Depth had emerged, unlike the start.
Still not satisfying, of course.
"That's it. I made a melody with the sword, but didn't infuse the melody into the sword."
The Melody Demon didn't rebuke her disciple.
Instead, her eyes held faint admiration.
"Your insight is truly remarkable, young hero. I gave only the barest hint—'advance freely'—yet you grasped the direction so brilliantly. And in just one day."
His realization from the koan wasn't off-track, thankfully.
"Thank you for the praise. But I couldn't find the path forward."
"Indeed, it seems so. Still, you've progressed, that's fact. Here's a hint suited to your current stage."
The Melody Demon snapped her fingers.
A melody spread out.
Ting, ting, ting-a-ling!
Just a single snap.
Yet the sound lingered, unfolding into a tune that delighted body and soul just to hear.
An utterly absurd feat.
'Saw it before, but still... pure awe.'
This is what it took to reach Heavenly Martial Ten Lords.
Even with unfamiliar sound arts, such harmony...
How mind-blowing would it be to witness a sword master's divine skill at that level?
"Young hero. What sounds do you think you can produce?"
Instead of answering, he unleashed Peak Resonance.
"Six sword cries. And adding voice, that's it."
The Melody Demon shook her head.
"Is that so? You can produce countless sounds with just your sword."
What method did she mean?
Infuse qi into the sword for varying pitches?
He tried immediately.
Weng! Wooong! Weng weng!
"That could work too. But not the direction I seek."
"This lacking disciple begs instruction."
The Melody Demon snapped her fingers three times.
Three distinct melodies echoed, ever-changing.
"With just my fingers, I can draw ten thousand notes at ten thousand intervals. You can do the same with your sword. Right now."
Same action, utterly different notes and rhythms.
He was genuinely awed and shocked.
'Not qi manipulation. The qi quantity and quality were identical each snap.'
With his hypersensitive qi sense—and her open demonstration—he was certain.
'...I get it. Just a little further, I can almost touch it.'
But short by a hair. One knuckle short of the end.
Lack of musical insight, probably.
Had a swordmaster been his teacher, debating principles, he wouldn't feel this impasse.
"Ahaha! Young hero, I'd love to mirror that face for you. The ever-confident one showing such frustration. Right, Seol-ha?"
Je-gal Seol-ha beside her smirked at his expression too.
"Yes, Master! Seeing this new side of senior brother makes me happy."
Petting Je-gal Seol-ha's head, the Melody Demon continued.
"Young hero. Frustrated to death?"
He answered honestly.
"...Yes."
A mind remembering everything learned since birth without fail.
Innate perfect meridians and qi pathways, keener senses than anyone.
From it all, his one-in-a-hundred martial genius.
'Is this why humility matters?'
First time feeling stymied.
Never imagined frustration in learning.
"Frustrated? I could teach you. But I think you'll advance farther realizing it yourself. So, new order."
Turning, the Melody Demon gazed toward some spot at the mountain base far off.
"A fiend from the unorthodox has set up near Hyop-ha County by Gok-yeol Mountain. I planned to clear it soon—it annoys me—but handle your master's nuisance instead."
In short: do what you're best at.
Fight.
'Perfect timing.'
Already irritated by the frustration—time to vent properly.
This was the joy of a righteous warrior's life.
Smash evil scum, vent rage, earn hero's praise.
"Easing my master's burdens is a disciple's duty. I'll handle it effortlessly."
As he grinned with combative confidence...
"Will you?"
The Melody Demon smiled sweetly. Unease surged inexplicably.
Whiiiiiir—
His view flipped in an instant.
Baek Yang-hui now stood in a village clearing.
"Wait a moment."
The Melody Demon's form flickered away and back.
Simultaneously, a warrior appeared mid-air in the clearing's center, crashing to the ground.
"A fiend called Black Venom Sword. Too much for you alone, so face him with Seol-ha."
"Urk, what the hell...?"
Black Venom Sword scrambled up, drawing his blade.
His face twisted in panic and shock.
Mid-extortion at a tavern, a gale hit, and suddenly—new place.
"What the—brats... Damn it!"
'Oho, sharp one.'
Baek Yang-hui and Je-gal Seol-ha aside, even the Melody Demon looked like a fifteen-year-old girl.
Yet Black Venom Sword bolted for escape.
True to the adage: beware women, elders, and children in the martial world.
'Not that she'd let him.'
Ting!
"Gaaah!"
Struck full-body by a sound wave, Black Venom Sword collapsed in place.
"Predecessor! Why do this to me?!"
The Melody Demon offered no kind explanation to the fiend.
"Subdue my disciples. If you want to leave this clearing alive."
Black Venom Sword eyed Baek Yang-hui and Je-gal Seol-ha.
A boy and girl, not even ten.
"Keep your word."
Fierce aura erupted from Black Venom Sword.
Baek Yang-hui realized: her order wasn't easy.
'This bastard's first-rate realm?'
Two second- and third-raters to take a first-rater?
He'd sensed it since Pure Tone Five Passes.
The Melody Demon's teaching was brutally intense.