‘Fast!’
The Killing Ghost pursuit was several times faster than Bu Eunseol had anticipated. At this rate, he would be struck down from behind, losing his life without ever having a chance to lift a hand in defense. ‘I have no choice but to fight!’ If he couldn’t shake the chase, then, come what may, he had to stand and face it.
Thump!
Bu Eunseol burst out from the wide-open red doors of the martial hall, his hand moving like a lightning strike as he drew the black sword.
Clang!
But the Killing Ghost was already standing tall and imposing before the massive doors, as if the chase had been a mere illusion.
“…”
With only the red-painted main gate separating them, Bu Eunseol and the Killing Ghost stared at each other. The standoff stretched on, steeped in a tension so thick it felt moments from exploding. A pearl of sweat trickled down Bu Eunseol’s forehead. Yet, even after half a gak had passed, the Killing Ghost, still holding its ready stance, made no move.
‘Is that it?’ A sudden realization struck Bu Eunseol, and his eyes flew wide. ‘The Killing Ghost… it cannot leave the restricted area!’
The moment he had stepped outside the martial hall, the eerie, piercing sound designating the restricted zone had vanished. It was now certain: the restricted area ended precisely at the inner boundary of the Flower Rain Sword Sect training hall.
“…”
Even as Bu Eunseol stared intently, the Killing Ghost didn’t spare him a glance. The eyes visible above the mask seemed to be fixed on some impossibly distant point.
Swoosh…
After cautiously taking a few steps back, Bu Eunseol turned and fled with all his might.
‘All I could do… was use every ounce of my strength just to get away.’
It was the first time since he had begun to learn the Way of the Beast that he had been completely unable to detect even a trace of an opponent’s attack. He couldn’t even guess what kind of weapon, if any, had been used. The Killing Ghost’s skill… it might very well surpass that of the instructors.
Whew. Thump.
Running as if possessed, Bu Eunseol finally reached the southern foot of the Hell Island. There, anchored in the water before the Tide-Watching Rock, was the black ship. Far beyond the horizon, the deep red afterglow of the setting sun bled into the sky.
“Hoo.”
He forced his sprint to a halt, his back completely drenched in sweat.
Patter.
As he stood catching his breath, a few strands of hair drifted down, landing softly on the ground. It was the rest of his hair that had been severed by the Killing Ghost’s imperceptible attack, now falling free.
“I am a frog in a well…” Bu Eunseol murmured, picking up the fallen strands. A dazed, vacant light filled his eyes. “No, perhaps I was a frog that hadn’t even managed to climb out of the well.”
The Killing Ghost’s martial skill was at a realm so high he couldn’t even begin to fathom it. And yet, the ends of his severed hair were rough, almost frayed.
“But… that person…”
The assailant who had murdered his grandfather… that person had sliced through living human arms, through blood and flesh, as cleanly and smoothly as if parting glass. It was a realm that even masters who had devoted decades to polishing their swords would find difficult to reach… a truly immeasurable realm. To get his revenge, Bu Eunseol had to surpass even that.
Ssss…
Just then, a shadow appeared, walking from the opposite direction, perfectly silhouetted against the dying sun. It was a figure with a fine, sturdy build, a large blade slung casually over one shoulder.
“Bu Eunseol.”
Surprisingly, the blade-carrying youth called out his name, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.
“I’ve been looking for you for a long time.”
Bu Eunseol stood rooted to the spot, not moving a single finger. ‘It’s similar.’ The feeling he got from this youth was unnervingly similar to the one the Killing Ghost had given off. He sensed instinctively that if he made a single rash move, that heavy-looking blade would slice his body in two.
“I am called Peng Ak. Here, I have been practicing the Blood-Stained Blade .” Peng Ak, having introduced himself impassively, fixed Bu Eunseol with a sharp, piercing gaze. “I heard you learned the Way of the Beast. Is that true?”
A trainee from the Blood-Stained Blade Clan knows my situation? But Bu Eunseol wasn’t particularly surprised. Many groups had formed on this island. If Peng Ak’s group included a “colleague” from the Flower Rain Sword Sect, it wasn’t surprising that they would know his information.
“No more words are necessary, are they?” Staring at the silently defiant Bu Eunseol, Peng Ak slowly drew the great blade from his shoulder.
Shhhk.
It was a peculiar stance.
Peng Ak raised the enormous blade high above his head, as if he were preparing to split firewood. It was the characteristic opening stance of the Blood-Stained Blade Art.
Bu Eunseol, however, remained perfectly still, his hand not even moving to his sword. He had a chilling premonition: the very instant he attempted to draw his blade, a blade strike as swift as a thunderbolt would descend upon him.
“Did you already understand the Blood-Stained Blade Stance?”
The formidable aspect of this stance was its nature as a counter-strike, executed precisely at the moment the opponent initiated movement.
“No, that’s not entirely accurate.” Peng Ak observed Bu Eunseol’s unwavering posture, took a deep breath, and nodded slowly. “You perceived the trajectory of my blade in advance, thanks to your extraordinary senses, those beast-like senses of yours, and the Way of the Beast.”
In that moment, a strange thought flickered through Bu Eunseol’s mind. What group does this person belong to? Is he part of the same group as the masked man I met earlier? How does he know not only my appearance but also the specific abilities of the Way of the Beast in such detail?
As this train of thought began to spiral, Peng Ak suddenly started to speak, his words strange and unexpected. “As I thought, you… you are clearly destined to become one of the Ten Demonic Successors.”
Ssssk.
Peng Ak’s stance shifted abruptly. The form that had threatened the Heaven Rending Single Strike dissolved, reforming into a bizarre, net-like posture.
“The bud of a Demonic Seed must be cut down early!”
‘Demonic Seed?’ The phrase sparked a sudden, lightning-bolt of a memory in Bu Eunseol’s mind.
“Hmph, do you really think everyone gathered here actually wants to become one of the Ten Demonic Successors?”
Those were the words of Seo Jin-ha, the trainee from the Advanced Hall who had displayed such astonishing swordsmanship, rivaling his own. That single comment had led Bu Eunseol to deduce that this island held not only prodigies of the Demonic Path, but also spies infiltrated from the Orthodox Faction.
‘This man, Peng Ak… is he also…’
Clang!
In the instant his focus had wavered, Peng Ak’s swift blade had descended. A bright blue blade hung suspended, stopped mere inches from Bu Eunseol’s forehead. His body had reacted before his mind, instinctively blocking the technique. If he hadn’t possessed the Way of the Beast, that single strike would have cost him his life.
‘Cast aside idle thoughts!’ Crying out inwardly, Bu Eunseol gripped his black sword with both hands. Just now, Peng Ak had used a blade art other than the Blood-Stained Blade Art. It was proof that he had mastered a technique far more powerful than the one he had merely been learning here.
“Bu Eunseol, you die here!”
Clang!
Again, the black sword and the blade clashed. The instant they met, a powerful force surged through the blade and into Bu Eunseol’s wrist.
“Kkht.”
It felt as if a sharp, long needle had pierced his wrist and was stabbing every corner of his body. The blade art Peng Ak wielded not only had a powerful suction-like pull, but with every impact of their weapons, a potent force invaded his body.
Crrrack.
With each clash, Bu Eunseol felt a jarring shock that rattled not just his wrist, but the very bones throughout his entire body. ‘The Hebei Peng Clan…?’ Suddenly, Bu Eunseol recalled a moment from years ago, when he was assisting his grandfather with the funerary rites.
“My, my. This one was killed by a master from the Hebei Peng Clan.” His grandfather, Bu Jan-yang, had shaken his head as he examined the corpse laid out on the embalming table.
“How can you tell?”
“There’s not a single external wound, yet his bones are riddled with hairline cracks. This is the unmistakable sign of being struck by the Five Tiger Pack’s Gate-Severing Blades.” Clicking his tongue, Bu Jan-yang had sighed. “The masters of the Hebei Peng Clan rarely show themselves in the Gangho… This person must have committed a truly grievous sin.” Dipping a clean cloth into a basin of warm water, Bu Jan-yang had muttered in a low voice. “When fighting a master of the Five Tiger Pack’s Gate-Severing Blades, you must reverse-exploit the pouring Absorbing Character Technique to counterattack. This one… he met it head-on, and his body ended up in this state.”
The memory ended, and Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed with understanding. At the time, his grandfather’s words had been incomprehensible. But thanks to the sword studies he’d learned in the Advanced Hall, he now understood their meaning.
‘Reverse-exploit the Absorbing Character Technique… to counterattack.’
Swoosh!
At that moment, Peng Ak’s great blade cleaved downwards again, aiming to split Bu Eunseol’s shoulder.
“Haat!”
In that same instant, Bu Eunseol focused all his strength and plunged his black sword into the ground. The Five Tiger Pack’s Gate-Severing Blades. The unique blade art of the Peng Clan, which dominated the Hebei region, it was renowned for possessing a might heavier than Mount Tai. But beyond that, each technique had the effect of drawing the opponent’s weapon towards it. This was because it used the very moment of impact to discharge its overwhelming power.
‘What?’ Peng Ak, who had been striking at Bu Eunseol’s shoulder with a high-speed technique, stared wide-eyed. He had expected Bu Eunseol to raise his sword to defend his shoulder, but instead, the boy had stabbed his sword into the earth!
Whirl.
The black sword, caught in the Absorbing Character Technique, was pulled in an awkward direction. Peng Ak’s blade, which had been descending vertically, was pulled slightly off-course.
“You bastard!” His attack having missed, Peng Ak spun, redirecting his great blade in a wide sweep towards Bu Eunseol’s waist.
Swish.
But Bu Eunseol, paying no heed, simply moved his sword in another seemingly random direction. As his techniques missed time and again, Peng Ak snorted in derision. “Using such petty tricks!” Though he called them petty, Bu Eunseol’s actions were incredibly audacious. How many in the Murim possessed the sheer audacity to ignore an enemy’s incoming blade, choosing instead to make a completely unrelated movement?
‘This isn’t enough.’
He had used the Absorbing Character Technique to nullify the attacks, but that was all. This strategy wouldn’t defeat Peng Ak; on the contrary, it was rapidly draining his own stamina. Swish! The great blade fell from above like a meteor, but this time, Bu Eunseol spread his hands wide, as if to welcome an honored guest. As he’d anticipated, the power of the Absorbing Character Technique was even stronger this time, pulling Bu Eunseol’s black sword forcefully towards Peng Ak’s body.
“Let me teach you how to execute the subtle principle of ‘Strike Later, Control the Person’ in swordsmanship.”
As the black sword moved against his will, the voice of Dan Cheon-yang, interpreting the principles in the Advanced Hall, suddenly echoed in his mind.
“‘Fast’ is relative. In short, I do not need to be overwhelmingly fast. I only need to be half a ‘pun (time)’ faster than my enemy.”
‘I’ll use the Absorbing Character Technique to launch my sword art even faster than his tyrannical blade!’
Flash!
A glint of enlightenment flashed in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Fwoosh!
At that moment, Peng Ak’s great blade tore through the air, slashing towards Bu Eunseol’s torso. But Bu Eunseol, ignoring it completely, thrust his own sword forward, aiming straight for Peng Ak’s Adam’s apple!
Swoosh.
Bu Eunseol’s movement looked leisurely, but his black sword, pulled by the Absorbing Character Technique, crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, arriving at Peng Ak’s throat.
“What?!” Greatly shocked, Peng Ak aborted his blade art and leaped backward. ‘How can that slow sword art be faster than my blade art?’ Gritting his teeth, he once again executed his blade art.
Rumble… With a low sound like distant thunder, dozens of blade-shadows split off, enveloping Bu Eunseol.
Swish!
But again, Bu Eunseol thrust his sword with deceptive slowness, and again it pierced through the blade-shadows, driving towards Peng Ak’s throat.
“Kkht!”
Leaning back, Peng Ak barely managed to avoid the black sword that was aiming for his Heavenly Prominence Point. How could Bu Eunseol’s sword art, which he executed so slowly, be faster than his own, which tore through the air?
“Haat!”
Mustering his entire body’s physical strength, Peng Ak executed his blade art once more. He unleashed the powerful Absorbing Character Technique, intending to force Bu Eunseol’s black sword to clash with his great blade.
“What?!”
But the black sword, which had seemed on a collision course with the great blade, suddenly changed direction, diverting to strike at his throat again.
‘Don’t tell me this ghostly bastard is using the power of the Absorbing Character Technique to launch his own fast sword?’
The Five Tiger Pack’s Gate-Severing Blades was a technique designed to destroy the enemy’s insides by clashing weapons. To use this secret art, one had to unleash the powerful Absorbing Character Technique with every technique. And Bu Eunseol was using that pulling force to rapidly launch his own sword, then, at the last moment, slightly changing the vector of force to attack him.
‘That’s impossible!’
The Absorbing Character Technique of the Five Tiger Pack’s Gate-Severing Blades could pull a boulder from three jang away. To skillfully exploit such a powerful force was a feat that even masters of swordsmanship couldn’t easily perform.
Slice! Slice!
Again, Bu Eunseol executed his slow, leisurely sword art. The movement was unhurried, the sword form simple, yet it was, unfailingly, just a fraction faster than Peng Ak’s own blade art that ripped through the air.
“Good!” Peng Ak roared, twisting his grip on the great blade. Then, wielding the massive blade as if it were as light as a chopstick, he began to execute his techniques with blinding speed. Trrr! A sound like an angry beast snorting ripped through the air. A gale of wind erupted as sharp blade techniques poured down like a sudden rain shower.
Fwaaaaa!
As the blade forms unfolded, an intense suction force enveloped Bu Eunseol’s black sword.
Shudder…
The black sword in his grip trembled like a small boat on a stormy sea, but Bu Eunseol’s eyes showed not a hint of wavering.
‘The stronger his Absorbing Character Technique becomes, the faster my sword will be.’
The Five Tiger Pack’s Gate-Severing Blades wasn’t so much a profound and mysterious blade art as it was a blade art that relied on pouring overwhelming internal strength into the opponent to injure them.
If the weapons never made contact, it couldn’t unleash its true power.