Could one learn martial arts in such a chaotic battlefield?
Fortunately, having mastered Swift Beyond Shadow, Bu Eunseol could easily evade the attacks of the Sealed Ghosts. Additionally, the Changsin Unit’s overwhelming martial prowess was dominating the Sealed Ghosts.
As a result, Bu Eunseol didn’t engage fiercely in the battle. Instead, he darted through the battlefield, closing in on the area where So Jeon was fighting.
Slash! Swish!
A blade is inherently specialized for slashing. However, So Jeon’s swordsmanship was more akin to that of a longsword, with more thrusting and spiraling motions.
‘Why does he insist on using a greatsword when he could wield a longsword to execute such techniques?’ Bu Eunseol, closely observing So Jeon’s swordsmanship, had a glint in his eyes. ‘Could it be… he’s performing longsword techniques with a greatsword?’
Mere observation wasn’t enough to comprehend it. Bu Eunseol drew his longsword and began mimicking So Jeon’s sword techniques, slashing at the surrounding enemies.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
However, So Jeon’s swordsmanship was so swift that it was nearly impossible to discern the precise movements.
‘I need sharper senses!’ Bu Eunseol channeled his internal energy to its fullest. Using the teachings he had gained from Nangyang Pavilion, he sought to expand his senses with Ban-geuk to enhance his perception of So Jeon’s techniques.
Flash!
When Bu Eunseol opened his eyes again, they gleamed like lightning. His pupils trembled rapidly, and he could faintly trace the trajectory of So Jeon’s lightning-fast sword strikes.
Clank.
Gripping his longsword again, Bu Eunseol began imitating So Jeon’s sword techniques.
‘This is…’ Only by wielding his sword and mimicking the techniques did he realize the truth. What So Jeon was using wasn’t a formalized sword technique but a sword momentum that adapted to the enemy’s attacks.
‘So, Nangyang’s practical martial arts also utilize sword momentum!’ Bu Eunseol recalled the sword theory lecture he had heard from Dan Cheonyang at the advanced class.
– “When swordsmanship reaches a certain level of mastery, it transcends forms and styles. At that point, the mere momentum of holding the sword can create exceptional techniques.”
Swish!
At that moment, So Jeon’s greatsword sliced through the air like lightning once more. Blood sprayed from the bodies of the nine Sealed Ghosts surrounding him. Astonishingly, some had their legs severed, others their necks or arms.
‘It really is sword momentum, not swordsmanship!’ So Jeon hadn’t employed a specific technique; he had simply swung his greatsword along the vulnerabilities exposed by the Sealed Ghosts. Finally grasping the essence of So Jeon’s swordsmanship, Bu Eunseol swung his longsword with all his might.
Slash!
Blood sprayed as he severed the necks of two Sealed Ghosts.
‘This isn’t it!’ Bu Eunseol bit his lip. ‘The Corps Leader took down nine Sealed Ghosts in a single strike.’ So Jeon had created nine streaks with one swing, while Bu Eunseol had only managed two.
‘Faster!’
Gritting his teeth, Bu Eunseol tried again to mimic So Jeon’s technique. However, due to his limited internal energy and imprecise execution, he still couldn’t produce more than two streaks.
‘That kid!’ So Jeon, in the midst of swinging his greatsword, paused briefly. He had noticed Bu Eunseol watching him closely from the start. And now, after observing for a while, wasn’t the boy mimicking his techniques, producing two sword shadows?
‘He replicated a double-strike with one swing just by watching?’
So Jeon’s eyes nearly popped out as he watched Bu Eunseol’s sword techniques. The swordsmanship he was using, Heavenly Tyrant Sword Momentum, could only be mastered by perfecting the Beast Way to its extreme. So Jeon had endured bone-grinding training to master it, and it took him two years to reach the level of a double-strike with one swing. Yet this boy, who had only recently learned the Beast Way, was mimicking the double-strike just by observing?
Swish!
At that moment, a long scythe hurtled toward So Jeon’s face. Distracted by Bu Eunseol and with his focus divided, he hadn’t noticed the approaching Sealed Ghost.
Clang!
Quickly blocking the scythe with his greatsword, So Jeon inwardly shouted, ‘I’ll think about this later!’ Whether Bu Eunseol was mimicking his sword momentum or dancing, So Jeon decided to ignore it entirely for now.
“Now to the Vice Leader…” After shadowing So Jeon like a phantom, Bu Eunseol’s next target was Je Woon.
‘Is he going to mimic my techniques now?’ Je Woon, too, had been closely observing Bu Eunseol as he darted through the battlefield, mimicking So Jeon. When Bu Eunseol quietly approached him, Je Woon gave a sly smile.
‘Heh, does he think he can replicate my Dragon Roar Swordsmanship and dagger techniques just by watching?’ Glancing at Bu Eunseol, who was attempting to mimic his movements, the corner of Je Woon’s mouth twitched upward.
The Corps Leader’s sword momentum is based on the Beast Way, so it might be possible to imitate it somehow. But my swordsmanship and dagger techniques can’t be replicated without practical teachings.
As if to prove his point, Je Woon brandished his sword techniques with his right hand while unleashing a flurry of Willow Leaf daggers with his left, their radiance fanning out like a folding fan.
‘Watch all you want. Let’s see if you can steal my martial arts with your eyes.’
Je Woon’s amused expression suddenly froze. Bu Eunseol wasn’t mimicking his throwing knife techniques or his Dragon Roar Swordsmanship. Instead, the boy was wildly swinging a longsword in one hand and a short scythe he had picked up somewhere in the other, like a madman.
‘That kid!’ Je Woon felt as if he’d been struck in the back of the head. What Bu Eunseol was mimicking was his ultimate secret technique, the Dual Mind Dual Use Technique, which allowed him to perform two different martial arts simultaneously with each hand.
‘He figured out my greatest secret technique just by watching?’
Je Woon, capable of throwing daggers with one hand while wielding Dragon Roar Swordsmanship with the other, possessed the ultimate technique of performing distinct martial arts with each hand. Watching Bu Eunseol clumsily swing his sword and scythe, Je Woon felt a chill run down his spine. Though the boy’s execution was rough, Je Woon had a premonition that one day Bu Eunseol might surpass him in mastering the Dual Mind Dual Use Technique.
Swish!
At that moment, a sharp spear tip aimed for Je Woon’s forehead. Distracted by Bu Eunseol, he, like So Jeon, had allowed a Sealed Ghost to approach unnoticed.
‘Now’s not the time for distractions!’ Even if the Sealed Ghosts were relatively easy opponents, their strength and movements were on par with martial arts masters. A moment’s lapse in such a situation could cost him his life.
“This isn’t a technique you can master in a single breath.”
After attempting to mimic Je Woon’s Dual Mind Dual Use Technique for a while, Bu Eunseol stopped.
‘If I hadn’t read that secret manual in Majeon, I wouldn’t have been able to build the foundation for practical martial arts so quickly.’
Using the teachings from Nangyang Single Turn, Bu Eunseol had been able to analyze the techniques of the two masters. Moreover, he had indirectly learned the practical applications embedded in their movements.
“But this isn’t something I can learn in a short time.” Continuing to mimic advanced martial arts in this chaotic battlefield would likely lead to a state of trance, making him vulnerable to a surprise attack.
“Now, let’s uncover the secret of that swordsmanship.” Taking a deep breath, Bu Eunseol moved toward Han Dan, a squad member wielding his sword techniques.
Slash! Slash!
Each time Han Dan executed his swordsmanship, flashes of sword light erupted, and Sealed Ghosts fell in droves. His techniques weren’t intricate, but the sheer power in each strike could split the heavens and shake the earth.
‘The terrifying aspect of that swordsmanship is its power.’ Even the iron-like bodies of the Sealed Ghosts were killed with a glancing blow or obliterated into pieces with a direct hit. ‘But I can’t figure it out. How can such simple sword techniques produce such power?’
In truth, Han Dan’s swordsmanship was an application of the Heavy Sword technique, considered one of the ultimate sword arts in the martial world, alongside the Illusion Sword. However, merely studying the sword forms with his eyes made it difficult to grasp the profound principles of the Heavy Sword.
‘No choice.’ He didn’t know when he’d get another chance to undertake a mission with the Changsin Unit. The battle would soon end, and Han Dan’s swordsmanship would cease. ‘I’ll do what I can.’
Sheathing his sword, Bu Eunseol began examining the corpses of the Sealed Ghosts Han Dan had defeated. He wasn’t just looking—he tore their clothes and touched the crushed muscles and severed wounds.
‘…What?’ Han Dan, in the midst of performing his sword techniques, looked baffled. In a hellish battlefield drenched in blood, Bu Eunseol was examining the fallen Sealed Ghosts? Even though he was skillfully using Swift Beyond Shadow, a moment’s distraction could cost him his head.
Shhh!
At that moment, a Sealed Ghost silently approached Bu Eunseol from behind. But Bu Eunseol didn’t even turn his head, seemingly too focused on the corpses to notice.
Clank.
As the Sealed Ghost raised a large scythe for a critical strike,
Boom!
With an explosion, the Sealed Ghost’s arm was blasted apart. Bu Eunseol had swung his sword without looking back, its power strikingly similar to Han Dan’s techniques.
‘So that’s the principle!’
Boom!
Swinging his sword again, Bu Eunseol cleaved another Sealed Ghost’s body in two with an explosive force.
Clank.
Sheathing his sword, Bu Eunseol’s eyes sparkled. ‘He didn’t infuse his true energy into the sword itself. Instead, he unleashed it explosively at the sword’s tip upon impact with the enemy!’
The wounds on the Sealed Ghosts struck by Han Dan’s attacks weren’t cut by a sword but crushed as if by a heavy hammer. The Heavy Sword technique amplified power by channeling true energy to crush everything the sword’s tip touched. That was its core principle.
“It’s over.” Meanwhile, So Jeon, swinging his greatsword, muttered calmly. He had finally cut down the seemingly endless horde of Sealed Ghosts.
“Raaagh!” A thunderous roar echoed. As the Changsin Unit masters felled all the Sealed Ghosts, a massive man charged out from a pavilion, roaring. It was Do Pae, the Sect Leader of Storm Valley.
“Nangyang, you mongrels! How dare you raid our valley!” Having researched the Forbidden Liberation Art for years, Do Pae possessed power far beyond that of ordinary Sealed Ghosts.
“I’ll tear you all to shreds!” Do Pae unleashed a ferocious palm technique toward the exhausted Changsin Unit members.
“Poison Palm!” As a foul stench spread, Je Woon shouted. It was the Soul-Destroying Poison Palm, a signature technique of Storm Valley.
“Finally crawling out, are you?” Gripping his greatsword, So Jeon dashed toward Do Pae with swift movement.
“Out of my way!” Seeing So Jeon charge, Do Pae, who had been unleashing the Soul-Destroying Poison Palm, thrust both palms forward with full force.
“Haa!” As Do Pae unleashed the full power of his twelve-layered Soul-Destroying Poison Palm, a black poisonous mist enveloped So Jeon.
“Hmph!” As the mist surrounded him, So Jeon raised his greatsword skyward and then slashed downward with force.
Flash!
Nine streaks of sword energy shot out from the greatsword, spreading in all directions before converging on the center of the black mist.
Boom!
The ground shook as dust and wind scattered outward.
Whoosh!
As the black mist cleared, Do Pae’s massive figure stood tall at its center, trembling lightly.
Splatter!
With a sound like a watermelon bursting, Do Pae’s head vanished without a trace. This time, So Jeon hadn’t used sword momentum but had unleashed powerful sword energy with the Nine Thunder Flashes, an ultimate technique.
Thud.
As Do Pae’s headless body collapsed, a deathly silence fell over Storm Valley. The Changsin Unit had obliterated yet another sect.
Clank.
Sheathing his greatsword, So Jeon surveyed the squad members. While none had life-threatening injuries, half the squad had sustained significant wounds from the relentless battle with the Sealed Ghosts.
‘That kid…’
Yet Bu Eunseol, who had darted through the battlefield with Swift Beyond Shadow while mimicking techniques, stood unscathed, not a hair out of place. He even seemed lost in deep thought, as if he had gained some profound insight.
‘No need for a test.’ Bu Eunseol’s progress was so rapid that it was hard to believe he was a new disciple of Nangyang. If a test was necessary, it wouldn’t be now but years later, when So Jeon could see how Bu Eunseol would wield his Heavenly Tyrant Sword Momentum.
“Corps Leader.” Je Woon quietly approached So Jeon, who was staring at Bu Eunseol as if entranced, and asked, “Do you have something to say?”
Snapping out of it, So Jeon let out a low grunt and shook his head.
“We’re heading back. To Nangyang.”
