Chapter 46

Could one learn martial arts in such a chaotic battlefield?

The only saving grace was that having learned Shadowless Supreme Speed, he could easily dodge the attacks of the Golden Power Ghosts. Also, the martial power of the Trailblazer Squad was overwhelming the Golden Power Ghosts.

Therefore, Bu Eunseol did not participate fiercely in the battle but weaved through the battlefield, approaching the vicinity where So Jeon was fighting.

Slash! Whirrr!

Originally, the saber is a weapon specialized for cutting. But So Jeon’s saber art had more stabbing and winding movements, like sword arts.

If he’s going to use moves like that, he could just use a greatsword. Why insist on a great saber? Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed as he closely observed So Jeon’s saber art. Don’t tell me he’s executing sword arts with a great saber?

He couldn’t understand just by looking with his eyes. Bu Eunseol drew the longsword he was holding and began to mimic So Jeon’s saber art, which was cutting down enemies in all directions.

Swish-swish-swish!

But So Jeon’s saber art was so rapid that he couldn’t grasp the precise posture.

I need sharper senses!

Bu Eunseol drew up his internal energy with all his might.

He intended to use the method obtained from Unrestrained Wilderness Solitary Rotational Technique to expand the senses of the Way of the Beast once again using Polarity Reversal True Energy.

Flash!

Opening his eyes again, Bu Eunseol’s gaze flashed like lightning. Simultaneously, his pupils shook rapidly, and he could faintly grasp the path of So Jeon’s saber moves spreading like light rays.

Click.

Gripping the longsword again, Bu Eunseol began to mimic the saber moves So Jeon poured out.

This is… Only after mimicking the saber moves with a sword in hand could he realize. What So Jeon was using was not a formalized saber art, but a Saber Stance that changed according to the enemy’s attacks.

So there is a technique using Saber Stance in the Practical Combat Martial Arts of Wolf Fang Pavilion too!

Bu Eunseol recalled Dan Cheon-yang’s interpretation of sword theory he had heard in the Upper Hall of the Flower Rain Sword Sect.

—When sword arts reach a certain level, one is not bound by form and formula. At that time, one can create excellent sword moves with just the stance of holding the sword.

Whish!

At that moment, So Jeon’s great saber cut through the air like lightning again. Then, fountains of blood burst from the bodies of nine Golden Power Ghosts surrounding him. The strange thing was that some lost legs, some necks, and some arms.

As expected, it wasn’t a saber art but a Saber Stance!

So Jeon hadn’t unfolded any specific saber art but had simply drawn his great saber along the gaps revealed by the Golden Power Ghosts.

Finally grasping the essence of So Jeon’s saber art, Bu Eunseol swung his longsword with all his might.

Flash!

A streak of blood spread, severing the necks of two Golden Power Ghosts.

This isn’t it!

Bu Eunseol bit his lip.

The Captain cut down nine Golden Power Ghosts in succession with one move. So Jeon created nine lines with a single saber stroke.

Bu Eunseol only managed two.

A little faster!

Bu Eunseol gritted his teeth again and mimicked So Jeon’s saber art.

But because his internal power was lacking and his technique wasn’t precise, he still couldn’t create more than two lines.

That bastard!

So Jeon, swinging his great saber, paused his movement. In fact, he had known since earlier that Bu Eunseol was watching him. But after watching for a while, wasn’t the boy suddenly creating two sword shadows, mimicking him?

He created One Saber Two Strikes after seeing it once?

Watching the sword moves Bu Eunseol poured out, So Jeon’s eyes nearly popped out. The saber art he used was Heavenly Hegemon Saber Extreme Stance, which could only be unfolded by mastering the Way of the Beast to the extreme point. So Jeon himself had trained bone-breakingly to learn Heavenly Hegemon Saber Extreme Stance, and it took him two years just to enter the realm of One Saber Two Strikes.

Yet a rascal who had just learned the Way of the Beast was mimicking One Saber Two Strikes just by seeing it with his eyes?

Whish!

At that moment, a long sickle poured toward So Jeon’s face. Because his gaze was fixed on Bu Eunseol and his mental focus was divided, he hadn’t noticed the approaching Golden Power Ghost.

Clang!

Quickly blocking the sickle with his great saber, he shouted internally, ‘Thinking comes later!’

Whether Bu Eunseol mimicked his saber stance or danced, he decided not to pay any attention for now.

“Now to the Vice-Captain…”

Bu Eunseol, who had been chasing So Jeon like a shadow for a while, set his next target as Je Woon.

Is he mimicking my moves this time? Je Woon had also been closely watching Bu Eunseol, who was roaming the battlefield and mimicking So Jeon. But when Bu Eunseol quietly approached his vicinity, he wore a bright smile.

Huhu. Does he think he can mimic my Dragon Roar Sword Art and Flying Dagger Art just by looking?

Glancing at Bu Eunseol mimicking his movements, the corners of Je Woon’s mouth rose faintly.

Since the Captain’s Saber Extreme Stance is based on the Way of the Beast, he might be able to mimic it somehow. But my sword art and flying dagger art cannot even be mimicked without the practical method.

As if to show off, he unfolded sword arts with his right hand and poured out light like the ribs of a fan with his left hand, executing the Willow Leaf Flying Dagger Art.

Watch all day. See if you can steal my martial arts with your eyes.

Je Woon’s eyes, which had been smiling, suddenly widened. Looking now, Bu Eunseol was neither mimicking his flying dagger art nor the Dragon Roar Sword Art.

Wasn’t Bu Eunseol swinging a longsword in one hand and a short sickle picked up from somewhere in the other, waving them around like a madman?

That rascal?

Watching that sight, Je Woon felt his head ring as if hit from behind. What Bu Eunseol was doing—wasn’t he mimicking the Divided Mind Dual-Application Technique, which could be called his true unique secret technique?

He saw through my supreme secret art just by looking with his eyes?

Je Woon, who could throw flying daggers with one hand and use the Dragon Roar Sword Art with the other. The secret technique of conversion he possessed was precisely the Divided Mind Dual-Application Technique, which allowed one to unfold different martial arts with each hand.

What a scary bastard!

Watching Bu Eunseol clumsily swinging the sword and sickle, Je Woon got goosebumps. Though clumsy now, he had a premonition that someday, the boy would use Divided Mind Dual-Application Technique more perfectly than himself.

Whish!

At that moment, a sharp spear tip dug toward Je Woon’s forehead. Distracted by Bu Eunseol, he had allowed the approach of a Golden Power Ghost, just like So Jeon.

This isn’t the time to be distracted!

Even if Golden Power Ghosts were easy opponents, their brute strength and movements were at the level of martial masters. If he got distracted in this situation, he could lose his life to an unexpected blow.

“As expected, it is not a martial art that can be learned in a breath.”

Bu Eunseol, who had been mimicking Je Woon’s Divided Mind Dual-Application Technique for a long time, soon stopped his movements.

If I hadn’t read that manual in the Demonic Palace, I wouldn’t have been able to build the foundation of Practical Combat Martial Arts so quickly.

Using the method written in Unrestrained Wilderness Solitary Rotational Technique, Bu Eunseol could observe the techniques of the two masters. Not only that, but he could indirectly learn the practical methods contained in the movements.

“But this isn’t something I can learn in a short time.”

If he continued to mimic supreme martial arts in this chaotic battlefield, there was a high probability of falling into a trance and being ambushed.

“Now let’s figure out the secret of that sword art.”

Taking a deep breath, Bu Eunseol went to the side of Han Dan, the member unfolding sword arts this time.

Flash! Flash!

Every time Han Dan unfolded sword arts, sword light flashed and Golden Power Ghosts fell in heaps. The sword art was not profound, but the power contained in a single strike of the sword split the sky and shook the earth.

The scary thing about that sword art is exactly its power.

The sword Han Dan unfolded was at a level where even Golden Power Ghosts with bodies as hard as iron died if grazed, and their bodies exploded in all directions if hit properly.

But I just don’t understand. How a simple sword move exerts such power.

In fact, the sword art Han Dan used was an application of the Heavy Sword technique, evaluated as the supreme sword art in the Murim along with the Illusion Sword. However, simply studying the sword moves with eyes was difficult to grasp the profound principles of the Heavy Sword.

Can’t be helped.

He didn’t know when he would perform a mission with the Trailblazer Squad again. The battle would end soon, and the sword art Han Dan was unfolding would also stop.

I have no choice but to do what I can.

Sheathing his sword, Bu Eunseol began to examine the corpses of the Golden Power Ghosts Han Dan had dealt with.

Not just looking, but tearing clothes and touching the burst muscles or cut wounds.

……?

Han Dan, unfolding sword moves, made an absurd expression. Why is this kid touching dying Golden Power Ghosts in a hellish battlefield where blood ran rampant? Although he was executing Shadowless Supreme Speed timely, it was a situation where his head could fall if he got distracted even slightly.

Slither!

At that moment, a Golden Power Ghost quietly approached Bu Eunseol’s back. But Bu Eunseol didn’t even turn his head. Focused on examining the corpse, he seemed not to have even sensed the approach.

Clack.

Just as the Golden Power Ghost raising a large sickle was about to deliver a decisive blow…

Boom!

With an explosion, one arm of the Golden Power Ghost ambushing Bu Eunseol blew apart weakly. Bu Eunseol had swung his sword without even turning back. It was very similar to the power of the sword move Han Dan had extended.

So it was this principle.

Boom!

As he swung the sword again, the body of the Golden Power Ghost split in two with an explosion.

Click.

Sheathing the sword again, Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed. He didn’t inject True Energy into the sword, but exploded True Energy at the tip of the sword when colliding with the enemy! The wounds of the Golden Power Ghosts hit by Han Dan’s strike were pressed down as if struck by a heavy hammer, not a sword. A sword art that increases power by pressing down everything touching the sword tip with True Energy.

That was the core technique of the Heavy Sword.

“It’s over.”

In the meantime, So Jeon, swinging his great saber, muttered calmly. Finally, he had cut down all the Golden Power Ghosts that hadn’t seemed to decrease no matter how many he killed.

“Uaaaaah!”

At that moment, a thunderous roar echoed.

As the masters of the Trailblazer Squad cut down all the Golden Power Ghosts, a hulking man roared and ran out from a pavilion.

It was the Wind Thunder Valley Lord, Do Pae.

“Wolf Fang Pavilion, you wild dogs! To dare ambush my Valley!”

Having researched the Golden Power Release Art for a long time, he possessed strength on a different dimension from ordinary Golden Power Ghosts.

“I will tear you all to shreds and kill you!”

Do Pae poured out ferocious palm strikes at the exhausted Trailblazer Squad members.

“It’s Poison Palm!”

As a fishy smell spread in all directions, Je Woon shouted loudly. It was the Soul-Deadening Poison Palm, the signature skill of the Wind Thunder Valley.

“Crawling out only now.”

Gripping his great saber, So Jeon unfolded fast movement arts and rushed toward Do Pae.

“Move!”

Do Pae, firing Soul-Deadening Poison Palms, pushed out both palms with all his might upon seeing So Jeon rushing in.

“Haaap!”

As Do Pae fired the Soul-Deadening Poison Palm at the twelfth level of mastery, the surroundings of the rushing So Jeon were covered in black poison mist.

“Hmph!”

As the poison mist wrapped around him, So Jeon raised the great saber he was holding to the sky, then swung it down toward the ground with all his might.

Flash!

Nine strands of saber qi shot from the great saber spread in all directions, then fell into the center of the black mist.

Kaboom!

In that instant, the earth shook, and dust and wind spread in all directions.

Whishhh!

As the black mist cleared, Do Pae’s hulking body standing tall was visible in the center.

Tremble.

Do Pae, shaking his body lightly…

Splat!

With the sound of a watermelon bursting, his head disappeared without a trace.

This time, it wasn’t a saber stance, but he had created powerful Saber Qi and unfolded the supreme technique of Thunderbolt Nine Flashes.

Thud.

As Do Pae’s headless corpse fell to the floor, a silence like death flowed through the Wind Thunder Valley.

Finally, the Trailblazer Squad had exterminated another sect.

Click.

So Jeon, slinging the great saber back on his back, looked around at the members. Although there were no fatalities, about half of the members had suffered major injuries due to the bloody battle with the endlessly pouring Golden Power Ghosts.

That bastard…

But only Bu Eunseol, who had roamed the battlefield with Shadowless Supreme Speed and mimicked martial arts, stood tall without a single hair hurt. He even looked deep in thought, staring into the void, as if he had gained some great enlightenment.

No need for a test.

Bu Eunseol was showing such rapid progress that one couldn’t think of him as a disciple who had just entered Wolf Fang Pavilion.

If a test was needed, it would be a few years later, not now.

Because he was curious how Bu Eunseol would unfold his Heavenly Hegemon Saber Extreme Stance.

“Captain.”

Seeing So Jeon looking at Bu Eunseol as if entranced, Je Woon quietly approached and asked, ”Do you have something to say?”

Only then regaining his senses, So Jeon snorted low and shook his head.

“We return. To Wolf Fang Pavilion.”