Invincible with Twin Swords

Chapter 27 : Not Now, of Course!

A large, old building stood in the center, surrounded by small thatched houses.

The sign on the building clearly read 'Forest of Swords'.

"The elder is waiting for you."

Before I knew it, a woman was standing in front of me.

I don't know if it's right to call her a woman, as she had a small build like a young girl.

She had a short sword on her waist, and unlike her young appearance, the energy she exuded was unusual.

She is the woman who guided us here, deceiving my and Parip hyungnim's eyes.

She is a considerable master.

Only Na Yeryeong and I were guided to the large central building with the sign 'Forest of Swords'.

Parip hyungnim and Deoksam couldn't enter and were surrounded by the children of the Forest of Swords outside.

Except for the large central building, this place was perhaps like a small village of slash-and-burn farmers.

Smoke from cooking was rising from every house, and young children were running around here and there. The children, surprised by the visitors after a long time, all hid somewhere and then appeared one by one, following us.

Deoksam was especially popular.

Children like animals!

Despite Deoksam's scary impression and Parip hyungnim's sharp energy, they didn't leave the surroundings and were chattering as if it were nothing.

There were also children who were playing, touching Deoksam's large axe.

It was clear that they usually spent time with martial artists.

Parip hyungnim couldn't take his eyes off the small girls.

Regret was gathered in his two eyes.

He probably will be like that in the future too.

Because memories come unexpectedly.

In the room we were guided to, an old woman was sitting.

She is probably the Soul-Taking Divine Woman, Gam Nanhyang.

She had a very small build and her face was full of wrinkles, but only her two eyes under her thick, dark eyebrows were overflowing with vitality.

Behind her, a middle-aged martial artist was standing with his arms crossed, and his momentum was enormous.

He was a master who would immediately take one of the top ten master positions if he came out to the Central Plains.

He had not been hiding his energy since the moment I entered.

Gam Nanhyang had not taken her eyes off me since the moment I entered.

She didn't even glance at her granddaughter, whom she was seeing after a long time.

She smiled slightly and said warmly.

"Welcome. I have been waiting for a very long time."

Is it right to say you've been waiting for a long time when we're meeting for the first time today?

As I was hesitating, not knowing how to answer, the Soul-Taking Divine Woman called me with a gentle voice.

"The one destined for the Sword's Extreme, Transcending the Boundary!"

What, what did you say?

You're saying I'm the one who will transcend the end of the sword?

* * *

I was curious why the Soul-Taking Divine Woman called me by a strange name, but I had something else to ask.

"Do you know what my purpose is?"

"To be precise, it would be what purpose you have returned with."

She knows, everything!

"Will you help me? It will be a simple matter if you just tell me who and where the person I am looking for is."

I did not mention 'Heavenly Demon'. For some reason, I felt that I should not say that name.

The Soul-Taking Divine Woman had foreseen everything.

She is the one who had foreseen the situation where I would meet Na Yeryeong and say I would change fate with a bloody face several years ago.

If she has even seen the Demonic Cult's revelation, I can finish my plan to kill the Heavenly Demon and change the future.

"..."

The Soul-Taking Divine Woman just looked into my eyes without saying anything.

"How about we talk about that separately later?"

It's not just me and the Soul-Taking Divine Woman here right now.

I can understand her being cautious.

"My child! It's been a long time since I've seen you. Have you been well?"

She asked gently, looking at Na Yeryeong for the first time since she entered this room.

"Haha. You know how I've been. You look even younger, grandmother."

It's too heartwarming for a conversation between a grandmother who abandoned her family and left home when she was young and her abandoned granddaughter.

"As you planned, I have brought this person here, so my role is over, right?"

What's this now?

I don't feel good about it, as if I've been moving according to a plan between these two women.

"Let's talk about what you have to do separately later. For now, I have a lot to talk about with Great Hero Jin."

At that moment, the middle-aged martial artist who was standing behind stepped forward.

"I still cannot accept the fact that you are the one destined for the Sword's Extreme, Transcending the Boundary!"

No, what are you accepting or not accepting from someone you're meeting for the first time today?

"Soul-Taking Divine Woman! Is that person really the one? His energy is unusual, but he doesn't seem to be at that level yet."

"It was a dream that was repeated several times. There may be things I don't know because my ability is insufficient, but there is nothing I know wrong."

"Even so, this is definitely wrong. That brat, a place I haven't even reached!"

No, these people. At least tell the person concerned what the Sword's Extreme, Transcending the Boundary is before you argue.

And even if I have a baby face, to call a person a brat in front of them!

"It wasn't even the Sword Emperor! But that person?"

The Sword Emperor's name popped out of nowhere. No, can someone explain?

Fortunately, the Soul-Taking Divine Woman explained in detail.

The Forest of Swords is a place that gives enlightenment.

No one knows how it exists, but this place guides a martial artist who holds a sword to take one step further.

Of course, if they have the ability to accept it.

"The Sword Emperor also gained enlightenment here. He was already called the Sword Emperor in the Central Plains at that time."

In the Valley of Abandoned Bugs, the Sword Emperor had said that he had gained enlightenment in his later years and completed the Heaven and Earth Hundred Severing Sword Manual.

For a martial artist who has reached the extreme to take another step forward is more difficult than for a third-rate martial artist to reach the pinnacle.

"We expected that the place where he took another step would be the end of the sword."

This time, the middle-aged martial artist stepped forward and said.

"Such a great martial artist gained new enlightenment and moved forward, but that place was not the end of the sword."

"How can you know if you have transcended the end of the sword?"

How can you know when no one has seen where the end is?

"The Cold Wood Divine Sword judges!"

A person who has taken one step further and reached the end of the sword is called a Sword's Extreme, Transcending the Boundary person.

When one reaches that state, one can handle the divine object of the Forest of Swords, the Cold Wood Divine Sword.

I have grown a lot since I returned to the past, but compared to the Sword Emperor, I am not there yet.

It makes no sense for me now to ascend to a state that even the Sword Emperor could not reach.

Of course, I will ascend to a higher place than him, but that moment is not now.

"Not now, of course!"

The Soul-Taking Divine Woman said with a smile, as if she had seen my expression.

"But you are the one! So don't doubt it."

The middle-aged martial artist still had a displeased expression.

"If not now, then when?"

"I don't know when that time is either. You will know when the time comes."

A martial artist dreams of the Forest of Swords.

The reason is to see the end of the sword.

I still believe that the end of the sword is something you achieve yourself.

It is not the attitude of a martial artist to expect to gain enlightenment just by passing through a gateway.

Only those who have silently swung a sword tens of thousands of times can see that end.

But if it is what the Soul-Taking Divine Woman has planned, it must be true.

Then it means that there is a destined use for me.

I will challenge the gateway when the time comes.

Though it may not be today.

"Today, I have something to talk about with my granddaughter first. Let's talk about what you're curious about tomorrow."

She will help me. For now, I just have to move according to her plan. There will be no need to rush.

Na Yeryeong followed her grandmother in, and only I came out.

When I came out, Deoksam was playing with the children.

He was running around with a bright smile, with two on each shoulder.

Parip hyungnim was sitting in the shade of a tree, watching the scene with a smile.

I approached him and sat down quietly by his side.

What we have to protect in the future is this kind of daily life.

There is good and evil in the world.

You can't eliminate all evil.

Good and evil coexist like light and shadow.

But we must prevent this world from being covered only by darkness.

Deoksam put the children on his long axe handle and spun them around, and only after the tired children fell off one by one did he come to our side.

"Did you get some information? Where is the Heavenly Demon? Can we go catch him now?"

It must be nice for him to live so comfortably because he's simple.

* * *

The quarters I was guided to were small but clean. The simple meal was also good.

I was tired from the long journey, but I had more urgent business.

"Is there a place to train?"

I asked the petite woman who had guided us.

"You can call me Dam Sook. I will guide you to the training ground."

I followed her.

She had a small build and a petite frame, but the energy she exuded and her forward steps were not. Such a stable footwork is seen in those who have systematically learned the martial arts of a prestigious righteous sect from a young age.

Her posture would probably be perfect if she held the sword on her waist in her hand.

Dam Sook said she was born and raised here. Not all the people of the Forest of Swords are martial artists, but she was a considerable master.

"Why don't the people who stay here go outside?"

Quite a lot of people were living here. There were martial artists, but most were ordinary people. There were also children.

"Most of the people of the Forest of Swords were born here. They don't know the outside world. Of course, there are exceptions like the Soul-Taking Divine Woman."

There were a few martial artists who had come to the Forest of Swords to see the end of the sword. They eventually couldn't see the end and settled here, and the current residents of the Forest of Swords are their descendants.

"Since they don't know the outside, they have no desire to go out."

Perhaps it would be good to live a normal life like this here. The Central Plains is a place where swords and sabers are rampant and blood is shed here and there.

"But I want to go out."

Dam Sook's two eyes, who revealed her escape plan without being asked, were sparkling with curiosity.

"Would you like to see the Cold Wood Divine Sword once?"

Is it okay to just show the divine sword that the Forest of Swords protects to anyone? Of course, I am the person the Soul-Taking Divine Woman has chosen as the Sword's Extreme, Transcending the Boundary person.

The Cold Wood Divine Sword was placed in a corner of the village.

In fact, it wasn't placed.

It was stuck in the ground like a tree, and the entire area around it was covered in white ice.

The sword blade was shining like a crystal, and the energy from the sword had taken the form of roots and was gripping the ground.

"This is... the Cold Wood Divine Sword!"

I approached and then stopped. This sword is the divine object of the Forest of Swords.

"You can touch it. Though it will be a bit cold."

I stroked the sword blade with my fingertips. I felt an ice-like coldness.

"Is it a wooden sword?"

The Cold Wood Divine Sword that the Forest of Swords protects was a wooden sword.

The wooden sword blade was emitting a white light like ice.

"It is a wooden sword. I don't know if it was carved from a frozen tree, or if it froze after the sword was made."

I have seen various divine weapons of the Central Plains, but there was no wooden sword.

Well, there's also the Ink Blood Saber made from the scales of a crazy snake bastard, so a wooden sword is ordinary.

"What kind of power does this sword have?"

"No one knows that. Because no one has been able to pull it out."

As I was captivated by the energy of the Cold Wood Divine Sword, I suddenly felt a strong energy from behind me.

I was so engrossed in the Cold Wood Divine Sword that I didn't look around.

Damn it!

I must have been too careless since I entered the Forest of Swords.

I didn't notice such a strong energy approaching so close.

I put my hand on the Ink Blood Saber and quickly turned around.

Deoksam was looking at the Cold Wood Divine Sword over my shoulder from behind me.

Ah, you scared me!

Why are you so stealthy today when you have a body like a bear?

"Didn't you say you were very tired from playing with the kids today? You said you were going to bed early, so why did you follow me?"

"Hmm, hmm. Have you seen me, the Mad Wind Blood Axe, Han Deoksam, neglect my training? A martial artist must be strict with himself."

Why is he talking like that?

"That sword! I'll try to pull it out!"

Deoksam rolled up his sleeves and approached the Cold Wood Divine Sword.

"Is-is it okay to just touch that?"

"It doesn't matter. Everyone who has come here has tried it once."

Dam Sook said with a slight smile.

The veins on Deoksam's forearm, which was gripping the sword hilt, were writhing with the thickness of a little finger. His face turned red as he raised all his internal energy.

Deoksam is someone who cannot be matched in terms of pure strength.

Perhaps?

The Cold Wood Divine Sword did not move at all.

Deoksam, who was struggling with both hands on the sword, sweating profusely, finally gave up and said.

"This sword cannot be pulled out by anyone."

Just because you can't do it doesn't mean no one can.

The Soul-Taking Divine Woman said I would pull it out.

Huh? But this guy?

Deoksam had already changed into a clean martial arts uniform.

His hair and beard were also neatly trimmed.

A slight blush was also visible on his face.

I looked back and forth between Deoksam's and Dam Sook's faces.

Look at this guy.

(End of Chapter)