Sword Clan Sword Art.
Originally, the Luoyang Sword Clan was not a family of the sword. Indeed, it was not even a martial family.
However, the Yeon ancestors, utilizing the financial power and influence with which they built the family, collected and studied a vast array of martial arts. Eventually, after pouring in immense time and effort to compile and synthesize every sword technique they could find, they founded a new sword art.
The Patriarch at the time named it.
Because the sword answers with a cry when one realizes its heart.
It was named Heart of the Resonating Sword.
Passed down through generations, Heart of the Resonating Sword was studied deeply and improved upon by countless warriors of the Sword Clan. Eventually, someone birthed a secret so profound it transcended the existing mysteries.
This was called the Hidden Ultimate Principle.
And now, here in this place, the Sword Finger Technique of the Grand Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Clan traced one of those Esoteric Mysteries in the empty air.
Extreme Five Chaotic Hemp.
Elder Peng of the Sword Clan achieved this sword art. He was a man born into a family of saber users who joined the Sword Clan because of his love for the sword. He finally broke through his barrier with the help and guidance of the Grand Young Master.
“……!”
Piercing through the smoke that choked the surroundings, the Grand Young Master’s sword light erupted, brushing past the neck of a Moyong Clan martial artist.
Flash—
The sword light merely flashed; it made no sound.
Yet, in the minds of all who witnessed it, the crying of a sword rang out with terrifying clarity.
“—-!”
Immediately after the sword light brushed past, the head of the Moyong martial artist, eyes still wide open, separated cleanly from his neck and flew into the air.
[An expert!]
One beat.
[Scatter!]
No, two beats late, the warning of the Moyong Clan’s Sword Corps Captain rang out.
However, it was already too late.
Chaaaaang—
A cry so clear it induced goosebumps seemed to burrow into the ears of the martial artists.
‘This is the Sword Clan’s—’
At the moment they realized what that clear sound was—
‘—Heart of the Resonating Sword?’
They, too, realized they were standing within the range of influence of the sword light that had flashed in all directions, just like the warrior who had lost his head first.
Crunch!
The one whose chest was touched by the sword light was severed in two at the torso.
The one whose head was touched was sliced in two at the skull.
The one whose leg was touched had his thigh torn asunder.
Flutter.
As Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon’s black silk coat flapped once heavily, the floor, paved neatly with white stones, was painted in crimson blood.
“Damn it…!”
The Captain ground his teeth.
[It is already too late!]
Literally.
In the blink of an eye, the lives of four elite martial artists of the Moyong Clan had been extinguished.
[Counterattack immediately!]
However, they were men who had experienced all manner of hardships, seasoned enough to belong to the Moyong Clan’s Second Sword Corps. They instantly changed the direction of their swords, which had been held ready like loaded springs for anti-cavalry tactics.
[Blast him away!]
“Hup!”
Even before the Captain’s order reached them, they had already unleashed their swords.
Moyong Clan.
Mass Formation Tactic for Anti-Personnel and Anti-Horse Combat, One-Point Volley Fire.
Ka-rang!
Swords were fired in unison, scraping roughly against their scabbards and sparking crimson fire. It was enough to create the illusion of standing alone in the line of fire of an entire army corps’ volley.
“……!”
However, the Grand Young Master’s upturned lips mocked them.
The martial artists of the Moyong Clan realized it too late.
The fact that the Sword Clan’s sword art, which had just claimed four lives…
The Sword Finger Technique of the Grand Young Master that was tracing that sword light…
And the cry of the sword that accompanied the trajectory of pure white light like a harmony…
Had not yet ended but was continuing.
CLANG—!
From the beginning, the Hidden Ultimate Principle was a sword art designed to scorch a local area and completely neutralize it in a single breath.
Until that one long breath stretched out and broke, it would not end.
CLANG—!
The swords fired from the martial artists’ scabbards were intercepted in mid-air, bouncing off and shattering into pieces.
Although they felt their swords trembling violently through their fingertips—
“……!”
They failed to notice that their own heads had already been split open.
“…Keuk!”
“…Keu-heok!”
Wrists holding the fired swords fell away, blood gushing from the severed stumps.
The chest of a warrior holding a broken sword split open, spraying a mist of blood into the air.
A warrior whose arms had both been blown away spun once in the air before crashing down past Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon.
Kwa-ja-jak!
As if that weren’t enough, the Grand Young Master’s sword lights shattered the paving stones on the floor in all directions and tore even the black smoke to shreds.
Just like that, in another instant, five or six more lost their lives.
This was truly the sword for scorched-earth tactics, Hidden Ultimate Principle.
“You bastard!”
Before more of the Moyong Clan’s martial artists could be swept into the storm of sword light, the Sword Corps Captain’s powerful stomp struck the floor.
Moyong Clan.
Suppression Technique, Hidden Ultimate Principle, Climbing Dragon Gate’s Pillar.
“St—oooo—p!”
Along with a Lion’s Roar infused with internal energy, the floor, directly hit by the Captain’s Climbing Dragon Gate’s Pillar, cracked open in all directions and overturned in an instant.
It was intended to shake the footing of Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon, who was unfolding Hidden Ultimate Principle, and cut off his sword art.
However.
“……!”
Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon trod upon the upturned, soaring paving stones one by one with light steps, as if walking on flat ground.
The Lion’s Roar was woefully insufficient to disturb the Grand Young Master’s concentration, which was like a clear mirror and still water.
Clang—!
Furthermore, even in the midst of this, Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon was still tracing the Sword Finger Technique in the air, scattering sword light.
“Hup!”
But it didn’t matter.
The Moyong Clan’s Climbing Dragon Gate’s Pillar was a martial art that destroyed the opponent’s balance, but it was also a starter technique for Internal Energy Lightness Art utilizing the stomp.
Moyong Clan.
Eradication Technique, Hidden Ultimate Principle, Asura’s Blade.
If the opponent pours out sword strikes like a storm, one simply has to create a corresponding storm to cancel it out. The sword light starting from the Captain’s sword began to intercept the Grand Young Master’s sword light.
“Haaap…!”
Since the Grand Young Master’s sword strikes had started more than half a breath ago—
‘The odds of victory are more than sufficient…!’
At that moment.
Through the sword light shattering in the void, the Captain saw the smile still hovering on Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon’s lips deepen.
‘He’s smiling…?’
What had he forgotten?
The back of his head tickled, and goosebumps rose on his neck.
In that instant, when his concentration maximized to the point where the opponent’s Sword Finger Technique was etched into his eyes along with a sense of crisis—
“Charge!”
A single word.
With Moyong Woonjeong’s command.
Crunch!
Smash!
The Great General’s Escort slammed into the flank of the Sword Corps, who had been distracted by the Grand Young Master’s horrific storm of sword strikes.
Sufficient charging distance.
The overwhelming weight of heavy cavalry.
Added to that was the mighty Couched Lance One-Point Breakthrough, infused with the high-level internal energy of the Great General’s Escort.
“—–!”
“—!”
There were not even screams.
Would it look like this if they were hit directly by cannon fire?
Starting from the warriors responsible for the front rank of the Sword Corps, they exploded as if pulverized.
The Great General’s Escort, having crushed the front rank like that, reached the second and third ranks before anyone could even blink.
“Block them!”
Only when they reached the fourth rank were the martial artists of the Moyong Clan barely able to change direction and begin a counterattack.
“Ha!”
However, the Great General’s Escort had already discarded the charging lances that had served their purpose and drawn their cavalry sabers to engage.
In an instant, the swords of the Moyong Clan and the cavalry sabers of the Great General’s Escort crossed from all directions.
Screams ran rampant.
“…Kuek!”
“Aaaagh—!”
The victor was the Great General’s Escort.
The gently curved cavalry sabers flexibly accepted the swords of the Moyong Clan, absorbing the shock and severing the wrists and forearms of the enemies.
The cavalry sabers of the Great General’s Escort and the delicate techniques to wield them were the crystallization of skills absorbed through countless battles with the northern tribes, who practically lived on horseback.
The moment the Sword Corps’ anti-cavalry tactics failed due to Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon’s intrusion, a dark shadow had already been cast over their fate.
“Do not stop! Break through!”
“Block them! Block the breakthrough even if you have to throw your lives away!”
Moyong Woonjeong’s voice, infused with internal energy, tangled with the voice of the Sword Corps’ Vice-Captain.
And then.
CLANG!
Just how long was his one breath?
The Grand Young Master’s Sword Finger Technique was still…
Not stopping.
“Keuk…!”
A Moyong Clan martial artist who had smiled in triumph after successfully countering a cavalry saber clutched his neck and fell, while another warrior who had popped out from the rear rank to attack the warhorse of an escort soldier had his eyeballs split open lengthwise.
“Uaaaaaah—!”
A shout close to a scream burst from the throat of the Sword Corps Captain, who was intercepting Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon’s sword strikes.
‘Why…?’
While he intercepted one of Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon’s sword strikes, Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon’s Sword Finger Technique claimed two lives.
‘Why on earth?!’
While he delayed Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon’s steps by one pace, the warhorses of the Great General’s Escort broke through three more paces.
‘At this rate, the formation will collapse…!’
As befitting a Captain leading one of the Moyong Clan’s Sword Corps, he realized that this moment was the irreversible turning point of the battle.
“Kuaaa—!”
Once he finished judging that far, no further thought was needed.
“Aaaaaagh—!”
His heart, beating absurdly fast, squeezed out blood, and the accelerated blood flow rushed through his entire body along with his Primordial Essence True Energy (Jinwon Jingi).
Under the formidable pressure, all the micro-vessels in his eyes burst, and veins bulged all over his body.
This was precisely the battle stance of a Moyong Clan martial artist prepared for death.
Death is Life.
‘I see it…!’
Finally, Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon’s movements began to appear distinct one by one.
‘I can catch him…!’
The infinite martial principles contained within poured in as if to burn his brain white.
“Kuaaaaaaaaaa—!”
He forgot whether it was a sword held in his hand or if the sword was his hand.
A moment of selflessness arrived, where the short shout bursting from his mouth felt infinitely long, as if someone had stretched it out.
“Phew—.”
And within that sensation, he confirmed that Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon’s long, long single breath had finally ended.
‘Right now—!’
His sword accelerated once more, pulsing like a living creature.
But, at that moment.
“Are you throwing your life away in a fight like this?”
Was that sound heard in his ear a whisper?
Or was it a sound transmission?
Or did his Upper Danjeon, momentarily blown wide open in the moment of selflessness, read even the opponent’s mind?
“……!”
Clearly.
He believed he was perceiving the Grand Young Master’s movements, as if he had read them. However, he felt Yeon Sohyeon’s clenched fingertip, which had vanished from his vision, touch his side.
And then.
Tok.
In a state of complete breathlessness, the Grand Young Master’s fingertip extended, and for some reason, Inch Force manifested.
“……?”
The Grand Young Master’s martial arts transcended common logic.
It was something that could not be understood even with the Upper Danjeon momentarily wide open.
As he flew miserably through the air to crash into a corner, Grand Young Master Yeon Sohyeon’s voice drifted into the Captain’s ear.
“Sleep for a while. Just like that.”