Chapter 446: The Overturned Heavens (7)
In terms of subjective time, it was probably...
About forty years ago? Something like that.
At that time, I was a carefree drifter, wandering the back alleys of Miok Fortress even in the middle of the night.
It was a place swarming with demonic practitioners, but it wasn’t particularly dangerous, thanks to Gu Chil.
In fact, the real danger wasn’t the demons in the back alley; it was my younger sibling, who was always scheming to take my place in the family.
Anyway, it was around that time that I met my Master.
‘Is he a passerby?’
A man sleeping somewhere in the shabby back alley, his face resting on the hilt of a sword.
The reason I found him intriguing was because of the sword he had.
‘Even though he has shabby clothes, he’s carrying a sword. That’s strange.’
In the Heavenly Demon Cult, weapons are not allowed for the weak.
A sword, even a cheap one, is still a valuable item.
Even a poorly made, inexpensive sword would cost at least half a nyang at a blacksmith.
Because of this, in dangerous back alleys like this, a person without the strength to protect themselves would quickly be stripped of their sword.
‘Could he be a swordsman with decent skill? The hilt of his sword looks much more refined compared to his clothes...’
While there were no jewels or gold plating, I could tell that the sword hilt in front of me was of fine quality.
Still, being from a prestigious family, I had the discernment to recognize this.
‘Well, it might be too meddlesome to probe any further.’
Is there anyone in this world who lives without any purpose?
I took my eyes off of him and was about to go on my way when I heard a soft murmur in my ear.
“I need medicine…”
“...!”
‘Did he lose in a duel and sustain internal injuries?’
If that’s the case, it would make sense for him to be in such a state.
But...
“I need medicine made from alcohol…”
“...”
He was insane.
Unless I looked in a mirror, I couldn’t properly gauge my own expression, but it was clear that I looked quite disgusted.
“Let’s go, Gu Chil.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
At that moment, a strong instinct told me that I should not get involved with him.
Perhaps Gu Chil sensed it too, as he nodded vigorously and stood between me and the passerby.
But just then...
“Heh heh heh, hey.”
“Here, take this.”
Gu Chil pulled out a bottle of alcohol from his cloak and handed it to the passerby.
“Uh... thank you…”
“Let’s go, Young Master.”
As the passerby stood there stunned by the unexpected gift of alcohol, Gu Chil pushed me forward and quickly tried to create some distance.
“Hey, wait a minute!”
But before I knew it, the passerby had grabbed my ankle.
“...How did he...?!”
Back then, my martial arts were still lacking, so I didn’t notice it in time.
However, Gu Chil, who was quite skilled, was shocked to realize that he had missed the passerby’s movement.
The passerby, clinging to my ankle in an almost pathetic manner, raised his head and spoke.
“Hey, young man.”
“…What is it?”
“Why don’t you let me teach you how to wield a sword?”
“How to wield a sword?”
“Right now, with your condition, it’ll be difficult for you to achieve great mastery, but for some reason, I think my sword would suit you.”
“...”
He immediately saw through the fact that I hadn’t deeply trained in martial arts.
I smiled faintly and asked in return.
“Is your sword technique capable of contending with the best in the world?”
Since I could learn the Heavenly Demon Asura Divine Art if I wished, I wasn’t particularly intrigued by any ordinary martial arts technique.
But still...
“...If it’s perfected?”
“...Perfected? Are you saying it’s an incomplete martial art?”
“It’s a half-baked technique because the true form has been lost, but... even so, it’s powerful enough.”
“Let’s go, Gu Chil.”
“Heh heh, why are you in such a hurry, Young Master?!”
My Master quickly blocked my path, desperately trying to persuade me.
“You want a tuition fee?”
“If, if it’s alcohol... even cheap liquor will do…”
“Is it really a good martial art?”
"That's what I'm saying! Just try learning it once!"
…That was the first time I met my drunkard of a master.
***
A massive shockwave exploded out.
But more astonishing than anything else was what came immediately after.
A giant scar, visible to anyone, had been carved into the corner of the Soaring Demon Peak.
Soaring Demon Peak was not just a simple peak.
It was a massive and vast region, comparable to colossal mountains constantly covered in perpetual snow, said to block the path leading to Tianzhu (India).
Leaving behind a scar that visible in such a place was something even a master who had reached the Extreme Demon Realm could not achieve.
Phewwww!
A gust of wind, mixed with dust and perpetual snow, blew through.
My master and I faced each other unharmed.
"……."
"……."
The Four Atrocities, Chaos.
I couldn’t be sure whether that last strike had been his full power or not, but one thing was certain.
"Master. I am stronger."
"……."
"So wouldn’t it be better to step aside quietly?"
Still clinging to lingering feelings, I made a suggestion to my master.
But my master instead revealed his fighting spirit by unleashing a sword form.
‘He is definitely conscious.’
Whether he could control it or not remained uncertain, but unless it was purely overwhelming authority, someone overtaken by consciousness could not possibly perform techniques this precisely.
Without a doubt, my master desired a duel with me.
As if to say, ‘Without surpassing me, you cannot overcome what comes next.’
That resolve, came through loud and clear.
"Very well, Master."
I discarded the last lingering attachment in my heart.
If that was what my master truly wanted…
Then I could only show him my growth, right before his eyes.
Srrng!
I even drew the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword and immediately unleashed the Dual Intent Sword Technique.
Vwooooom!
Two swords spun smoothly in circles around me.
I assumed a stance similar to my master's with bare hands.
"Here I come."
Once again, my master and I dashed toward each other.
Left sword: Heaven-Slaying Strong Qi, Underworld King Severing
Right sword: Ten Heavenly Record Qi, Heaven-Piercing Annihilation
"……!!"
Two techniques burst forth from the blades with unstoppable force and shot straight toward my master.
Rather than countering, my master shifted his stance and executed a defensive technique.
The moment I saw the familiar spiral energy form on his sword, I instantly recognized what technique he was using.
‘Heaven and Earth Ultimate Progression!’
The Heaven and Earth Ultimate Progression, even among the Ten Heavenly Record Swords, specialized in counterattacks.
A variation of the technique different from mine, uniquely my master’s, unfolded and gently absorbed the strikes of Underworld King Severing and Heaven-Piercing Annihilation!
‘As expected of Master!’
It was truly the profound essence of Transcendental Harmonization beyond extremity.
Even Dao Zun would not have dared to absorb that strike just now.
But this was no time for admiration.
He was coming right away.
Eight Branch Sword
Water Extreme Flash
The strike that my master returned after absorbing the two ultimate techniques I had unleashed came back like karmic retribution.
But this situation was partially within my intentions.
Bright Net Sword Ten Swords
Ascension
The reason I intentionally didn’t merge them using Resonance Qi and instead unleashed them as separate ultimate techniques.
It was to weaken, even if slightly, the power of the counterattack technique my master would unleash.
My master’s Sugeukseom collided directly with Bright Net Sword Ascension.
The result, naturally…
Kwakwakwa!
The strike of Ascension pierced through Sugeukseom and surged straight toward Master’s heart.
“……!!”
Perhaps he hadn’t expected it to be nullified so easily—my master’s body momentarily flinched.
‘If you have no hidden trump card, this ends here, Master.’
Bright Net Sword Ten Swords was not an ordinary sword art or technique.
Each sword of the Ten was a high-dimensional strike infused with the enlightenment of the Supreme Demon Realm.
A single strike was on par with Senior Brother’s complete Heart’s Path Transcending Resentment or Lady Ma’s Blood Divine Power.
Just as the sword of Bright Net Sword Ascension was about to pierce Master’s heart—
Pah!
A small wing on my master’s back suddenly spread out gigantically.
And the previously blank white face split open, revealing a mouth beginning to form.
“Kuh, ah, ah, ah!”
The wings protruding from his back bent inward and began to wrap around the area near his heart.
‘Is it the authority of Chaos?’
Something strange and sacred could be felt from the wings.
That energy resembled the power of ‘her’ that once nestled near my own heart.
And before long—
“Uu, ah, ah, ah!!”
Kagagagak!
With a sound like metal grinding, my master’s body was flung far back.
Soon after—
Ku-ang!
With a thunderous roar, Master was slammed straight into a smooth cliff like a sheer precipice.
‘It was blocked.’
I immediately sensed that Bright Net Sword Ten Swords had failed to finish him.
The unknown power emanating from the white wings had clearly nullified a technique that twisted the very laws.
‘That isn’t my master’s skill. Is it the authority of Chaos?’
I was confident—the strike just now held such transcendence that it could have annihilated someone like Gunggi whom I had faced before.
Even the Seal of the Heavenly Demon of Cheon Taejong might not have withstood it.
I let out a small sigh inside and clenched my fists.
‘If possible, I had wanted to end this without pain…’
My master would not return.
No—more accurately, he had no intention of returning.
I didn’t know why, but the moment I sensed his battle spirit, I instinctively understood that truth.
As I was contemplating why my master had made that choice—
“My… disciple…”
“…Master?!”
From deep within, a voice that was nearly a soliloquy flowed out.
I cautiously approached Master, ready for a possible ambush.
“It… really… burned… didn’t it…”
“Master, is that you?”
“Yes… you brat.”
Though his features were nonexistent save for the mouth, the voice that came from it was undoubtedly that of my master.
“Why… did you do it?”
A question heavy with layered meaning.
My master calmly answered.
“My battle with your lover was not of my own will.”
The battle with Yura wasn’t of his own volition?
Then that meant—
“Was this fight with me your will, Master?”
“To some extent.”
“Why?”
“Because it couldn’t be avoided.”
“……”
Just as I had posed a question filled with implications, my master answered with layered meaning.
As he stepped out from the cliff, Master asked me,
“Do you remember what happened at Yoo Family's Sacred Mountain?”
“Of course.”
“When you entered isolated training, I met the Founder and received one arrangement from him.”
An arrangement?
“From the moment I joined the Heaven-Defying Society, I became bound to the Grand Heavenly Lord. Even if it wasn’t now, eventually, I would have stood in your way.”
“……”
“What the Founder gave me was a power capable of twisting something absolute—if only for a moment.”
Master caught his breath and raised his sword again.
“I shall now pass that on to you.”
Jjeojeok! Jjeojeojeok!
With time, Master’s split mouth was slowly closing.
‘Is the injury healing and he’s returning to the Four Atrocities, Chaos?’
The glow from the wings on Master’s back was intensifying.
As the authority of Chaos revived, the weakened mental constraints were once again growing stronger.
“To gain this… you must… do just one thing…”
This transmission wasn’t some martial art you could acquire through a mere close-range bout.
It could only be passed on by prying open a sliver within the boundary of life and death and twisting through the restriction of the Grand Heavenly Lord.
A faint smile crept to Master’s lips.
“With your full strength… kill me.”