NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 154
‘My body feels so light…’
Despite the numerous wounds and blood loss, the body that should feel heavy was incredibly light.
It was a strange occurrence, but to her, it didn’t matter.
[Mockyung-ah. Our first Patriarch of the Yunnam Dan family is said to have swung his sword and made a thousand swords bloom into flowers.]
[A thousand?]
[Though your father could only create a hundred swords… I hope you can surpass me someday.]
A conversation they had once.
Buried deep beneath her subconscious, those memories resurfaced to the surface.
‘A thousand swords…’
A tale passed down in the Yunnam Dan family as a legend.
Though the story of how the founder of Yunnam Dan, Dan Cheon-un, could swing his sword once and create a thousand flying swords seemed exaggerated, the people of Yunnam Dan firmly believed it.
Even though the family head could only create a hundred swords, everyone still believed that someone would eventually achieve that aspiration.
From parents to children, and then children who became parents passing it on to their own children, the story continued its unbroken lineage.
And now, the last successor of Yunnam Dan, Mockyung, remembered a tale she had once forgotten in this very moment.
‘The sword becomes petals, and petals become the sword.’
A passage inscribed in the techniques of Dan family swordsmanship.
Mockyung’s foot struck the ground once more.
A speed that couldn’t compare to her previous charge. Muhwan, sensing a change in her momentum, dared not underestimate her and unleashed his Sa Bong (Four Winds) Sword with full force.
“It won’t change a thing!”
“A swordsman proves himself only with the sword.”
Yellow particles swirled around Muhwan, multiplying and creating a deadly space. Entering it would surely result in being crushed to pieces before even reaching him.
‘But now I can…!’
Before touching the yellow particles, Mockyung’s sword began tracing chaotic patterns in the air.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Forty.
Fifty.
…A hundred.
…A hundred fifty.
…Two hundred!
“This is absurd!”
Two hundred swords encircled Mockyung’s intent. The two hundred blades moved fluidly as though alive, striking away each of the surrounding energy particles one by one.
The scene was shocking in its inefficiency but precisely for that reason, it was terrifying.
‘What kind of person is this…!’
Muhwan was stunned as Mockyung, with a brute-force method, attempted to break through his Sa Bong. Not only was this the first time someone tried this, but the fact that it was effective was also hard to believe.
‘How unlucky can one be…!’
Having intended to subdue her and attempt a negotiation, watching Mockyung rise and dismantle his technique was the worst crisis of his life.
‘I have to survive first!’
The yellow particles surrounding Muhwan began gathering back into his sword. As the surrounding particles disappeared naturally, Mockyung stopped, breathing heavily, and glared at him.
“I didn’t expect you to resort to a sword qi technique…”
‘With the remaining internal energy, maintaining this sword qi might allow for only three swings. But now isn’t the time to hide.’
Though it’s a saying in the martial world to conceal three-tenths of one’s strength, such wisdom offered no help in this moment.
The yellow sword qi resting in his sword began to grow larger and more defined.
Mockyung watched in astonishment as the truth of Muhwan’s capabilities was revealed.
“Sword qi…”
“This is the difference between you and me.”
Sword qi.
The essence of destruction no sword energy could withstand.
The ultimate pursuit of every martial artist manifested here, within the main hall of Sae Hyul Bang.
“How about we end things here and discuss a truce? Along with my apologies, I’ll offer compensation. You do need to rebuild Yunnam Dan, don’t you?”
‘All I need is to somehow get out of this situation!’
While defeating an opponent on purpose isn’t difficult, the affection for all that he’d built for ten years was too deep to cast aside so easily.
If he were to perish here, all he’d done would be wasted effort.
“… Blood will be repaid with blood. All I want is the price of blood.”
Mockyung’s eyes showed no waver. She was no fool to accept an enemy’s offer.
She observed the sword qi in his hand and assumed a fighting stance once more.
‘There’s no way I can directly withstand sword qi.’
A clear fact.
But somehow, Mockyung felt she could draw her own sword qi as well.
‘Even if it’s truly possible, it would only be once.’
Three versus one.
Still overwhelmingly unfavorable odds.
But does it matter?
From her childhood, she had vowed to sacrifice her life for revenge, if need be.
“Seems like you’re determined to drink the poison.”
“Let’s see who drinks it: me, or you.”
Mockyung spoke meaningfully and charged with a final burst.
The final round.
The victor stands; the loser falls amidst a pool of blood.
A sword seemingly covering Muhwan’s entire field of vision rushed toward him.
Who is attacking, and who is defending?
Such tactical considerations are meaningless to him now.
“Can you truly counter sword qi with tricks like these?”
Muhwan’s response was straightforward.
He simply swung his sword horizontally.
That single move erased the hundred swords as if they never existed.
Had Mockyung not quickly retreated, her head would have joined the scattered swords.
Despite sensing the gap in power, Mockyung continued to charge at Muhwan without hesitation.
‘Only two times left…!’
‘Judging by his expression, he can’t maintain the sword qi much longer.’
To dance perilously on the brink of life and death is her task.
Mockyung charged again, more aggressive than before. Muhwan, who was somewhat distracted by William pressing from behind, was a step slower in his reaction.
“Damn!”
In his growing frustration, Muhwan’s sword carved a yellow streak in the air, halting Mockyung’s charge. But her relentless drive was now proving advantageous.
She rolled on the ground.
Naryeta Gon (Lazy Donkey Roll).
A technique considered shameful for a martial artist.
Yet if a brief humiliation could complete her revenge, she would willingly roll on the ground.
Mockyung tumbled and then swung her sword upwards from the ground.
Not a hundred swords, but a single one.
But if this impoverished-looking slash were to catch the light of the stars, it might become the most extraordinary slash in the world.
“This is impossible…!”
A blue starlight enveloped her sword.
Though still imperfect and translucent, it was a mark of the supreme realm achievable only by top-notch martial artists.
Sword Qi.
Mockyung’s sword qi collided with Muhwan’s, producing a deafening boom.
“Mockyung!”
From afar, William caught Mockyung as she flew back and assessed her condition.
‘…She seems to have sustained serious internal injuries.’
The wounds were such that they could endanger her life if not properly attended to, so William carefully lifted her in his arms.
“Brother! What about Mockyung…?”
“Her condition isn’t good. We must take her to a doctor quickly.”
But he had something else to do.
“Hyeryeong, please take care of her for a moment. Performing an emergency pressure point treatment would be helpful.”
“Yes? What about you, Brother?”
“I need to get some information from that guy while I have the chance.”
A question that might not be asked later.
Leaving Mockyung with Hyeryeong, he approached Muhwan lying on the ground.
“…Damn…!”
“You should’ve lived a bit more kindly in life.”
“My grand design… is almost… fulfilled…”
“That sword technique, where is it from? It looks like something those desert dwellers would use.”
“…Ha… Another colored-eyed person… I see…”
“Hmm… That’s noted. And what about your ties with the Evil Sect members? Care to spill any secrets before you go?”
“Hah… Already broken… More precisely, betrayed…”
‘Broken, you say?’
William’s eyebrows knitted at the unexpected response.
A truth or a lie—there was no way to tell.
“The Evil Sect… communication stopped… at some point…”
“Stopped, you say?”
“The rest… figure it out… yourself…”
The light faded from Muhwan’s eyes.
A pitiful end for a man who had built Sae Hyul Bang and sought to become a prominent ruler of the wicked sects.
William, closing the open eyes of the dead man, stood up and looked at Yeon-hong, who had been watching from a corner.
“Hey, buddy.”
“Is… that me?”
Unexpected insults reddened his face, but the young man lacked the audacity to retort to a supreme martial artist and obediently asked back.
“Take me to this guy’s office.”
“But… why the office…?”
“Just do it already. Unless you’d rather lie beside this corpse.”
“No! Please follow me!”
“Hye-ryeong, go ahead to the doctor.”
“Yes!”
William followed Yeon-hong to Jin Muhan’s office.