Invincible with Twin Swords

Chapter 28 : Would You Like to Have a Duel with Me?

I arrived at the training ground.

Deoksam, who had said that a martial artist should never skip training, didn't even swing his axe once and went straight back.

He followed Dam Sook, saying that the night road was dark and dangerous for a woman to go back alone.

What's so dark? The moon is so bright.

And that woman is a local.

I stood alone in the training ground, which was brightly lit by the moon, and calmed my energy.

It was a quiet open space between the trees rather than a training ground.

It was a little far from the village, so it seemed okay even if there was a loud noise.

The surrounding trees were already full of various sword marks.

After returning to the past, I had never neglected my training for a single day.

Thanks to that, my martial arts had risen to a considerable level.

With a little more training, I would probably reach the level of my ronin days when I was called the One-Armed Tyrant Saber.

But right now, the priority is to properly handle the power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent.

The Black-Scaled Blood Serpent had more enormous power than I expected. But if I can't handle it properly, that power is just potential.

I drew my Ink Blood Saber and, raising the energy from my dantian, I concentrated it in my right arm. The seal on my right arm wriggled, and the sleeping Black-Scaled Blood Serpent woke up.

The blade of the Ink Blood Saber hummed and let out a saber cry.

I swung the saber.

- KABOOM!

A huge force extended through the Ink Blood Saber.

The thick tree standing opposite me was blown away down to its base.

I shook my head.

No. The power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent is not like this.

I realized it in the short exchange with the Demonic Cult guys who had ambushed the carriage last time.

The Black-Scaled Blood Serpent multiplies the power of the raised internal energy by several times, but the important thing is not the strength.

I was so fascinated by the enormous power that burst out that I almost failed to realize the essence.

The important thing is to become one.

Only when my internal energy and the power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent get along as if they were originally one can I finally draw out the true power.

I raised my internal energy again and concentrated it in my right arm.

I concentrated all my mind on my internal energy and the power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent.

Sweat flowed down my forehead.

Not yet!

I held on to the power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent, which was about to burst out through the Ink Blood Saber, with my internal energy.

I continued to control it with strength, blocking the path it was trying to extend.

Like water and oil mixed in a jar with no opening, it continued to circulate without mixing.

I continued to mix the two powers.

The two powers, which had been entangled and churning as if they would explode, gradually calmed down.

The two powers began to mix little by little.

The vibration of the Ink Blood Saber, which had been trembling, unable to control the overflowing power, subsided.

The saber cry stopped.

Now my internal energy and the power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent were getting along as if they were originally one.

The Ink Blood Saber was passing the energy as if it were a part of my right arm.

I swung the saber horizontally towards a larger tree than before.

Lightly!

The Ink Blood Saber cut through the tree, but there was no sound.

There was no trace.

The tree was standing in its place as it was at first.

Phew!

I turned around and wiped the sweat from my forehead with my sleeve.

I was satisfied.

Now I understood the power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent.

It was not about exploding it, but about controlling it.

- Clap, clap, clap!

At the sound of applause, I turned around and saw the middle-aged master who had been by the Soul-Taking Divine Woman's side earlier.

He was leaning against a tree nonchalantly, but a heavy momentum was seeping out.

"Amazing! I apologize for saying you were not qualified during the day."

"Well, I didn't really take it to heart."

"Of course, the fact that you are qualified doesn't mean you will reach the end of the sword."

"If it were that easy, someone would have already pulled out the Cold Wood Divine Sword over there. The Soul-Taking Divine Woman said I was the one destined for the Sword's Extreme, Transcending the Boundary, but I also think that's not the case."

And I added.

"For now!"

His eyes changed.

"By the way, were you a saber master? Not a swordsman?"

"I use both. The sword with my left hand."

"Oh ho! A left-handed sword and a right-handed saber is not common, is it? No, it's not that it's not common, but I've actually never seen it."

"It's not yet at a level where it can be called a left-handed sword and a right-handed saber. I'm training hard."

It's true.

I am consistently training the Sword Emperor's Heaven and Earth Hundred Severing Sword Manual with my left hand. It's possible if it's just holding a sword in my left hand and a saber in my right hand and fighting.

But unfolding different swordsmanship and saber art is close to impossible.

It would be stronger to just fight with one hand.

"Haha! You had a great goal. But if it were that easy, wouldn't everyone dream of a left-handed sword and a right-handed saber?"

"If it doesn't work, I'll have to steal and learn Wudang's Two Forms Divine Art."

If I can learn the Two Forms Divine Art, a true left-handed sword and a right-handed saber will be possible.

The Two Forms Divine Art is a martial art created based on the Taoist idea of the two forms.

The two forms came from the idea of the Taiji. The principle of the Two Forms Divine Art was that since yin and yang originally came from one place, the Taiji, these yin and yang could be contained in one body again.

It is said that if one masters it, one can simultaneously perform two martial arts of different properties.

If I can climb over the Wudang Sect's wall and steal and learn it, I will do so.

"Even if you learn it, it is a martial art that cannot be mastered."

"Still, isn't learning the Two Forms Divine Art the closest way to completing the left-handed sword and the right-handed saber?"

The Two Forms Divine Art, along with the Taiji Divine Art and the Great Heaven Sun Yang Art, were called the three great divine arts that were the most difficult to learn in Wudang.

At least for the other two, there were those who had mastered them to the twelve-star extreme in the history of Wudang.

Only the Two Forms Divine Art had not allowed anyone to achieve mastery.

"Well, the fact that only the Two Forms Divine Art has not been mastered in the long history of Wudang might mean that it is an incomplete martial art."

Who would dare to call Wudang's Two Forms Divine Art incomplete?

But if it couldn't be completed in that long time, my thought was that the beginning was wrong.

He was surprised by these arrogant words.

But beyond his surprise, he was making a face as if he greatly agreed.

"What's the reason for thinking so?"

"It's not that it's incomplete, but that the Two Forms Divine Art doesn't seem to suit Wudang."

"Hoho! The two forms originally came from the Taiji, so if the Two Forms Divine Art doesn't suit Wudang, who on earth can learn it? Wudang is not a place that can be taken lightly."

Why are you suddenly getting angry?

Is he the representative of Wudang or something?

"Isn't the true energy that leads Wudang's fighting style the extreme pure yang art? The fighting style follows the principle of yin and yang, but the true energy only follows the principle of pure yang, so how can one master the Two Forms Divine Art? Probably even after a hundred years, no one from Wudang will have mastered the Two Forms Divine Art."

This is not actually my thought.

How much would I know about Wudang's fighting style or true energy?

It's a story I heard from a former ronin comrade who was from Wudang.

According to him, there was a fierce debate within Wudang regarding the Two Forms Divine Art.

There were those who insisted that it should be approached with a new perspective.

I think that claim was right.

But Wudang eventually refused to accept it.

Change is so difficult in a sect with a long history.

"Are you saying you can do it?"

He, who had been leaning against a tree, corrected his posture and stood up straight.

"Not now."

"Now?"

"As you may have felt, a strong yang energy is flowing in my right arm. And if I can take the Cold Wood Divine Sword as the Soul-Taking Divine Woman said..."

"You will have a strong yin energy in your left arm."

The problem is whether I can make the two get along.

Probably even if I get the yin energy through the Cold Wood Divine Sword now, it will be impossible to use both powers.

As always, the important thing is not to get the power.

It's to use the obtained power properly.

"Since I will have both yin and yang in one body, there is a possibility, isn't there?"

He neither affirmed nor denied it.

"You... would you like to have a duel with me?"

A duel with a master is not an opportunity that comes easily.

The person in front of me is a person who has reached a much higher state than I am now.

There will be much to gain.

"Let's begin!"

I put down my Ink Blood Saber and drew my sword with my left hand.

He also drew his sword and stood in front of me.

That sword?

- Pwaat!

He struck out with his sword first.

The sword that extended in a straight line without any change was truly sharp.

The achievement of a swordsman can be judged by the single sword he swings.

It's not important that it's fast, strong, and contains flashy changes.

A class was contained on that straight line that was extended without any technique.

I quickly blocked and continued the offensive.

My sword is extremely efficient. It has changed practically through my long ronin days.

My concise sword strikes raged at him.

There is no swordsmanship without an opening.

There is no swordsman who does not show a small gap in the relentless exchange.

But his sword, which was blocking my storm-like sword, was like the sea.

Even if I put dozens of changes in a single sword, his sword was receiving my sword as if it had been there from the beginning.

In an instant, dozens of exchanges were exchanged, and I retreated for a moment.

I caught my breath.

The purpose of this duel is to gain.

I have awakened the power of the Black-Scaled Blood Serpent sleeping in my right arm and have reached the state of becoming one with that power.

But this is not my pure power.

The state of an upright martial artist is something I have to achieve on my own.

I took a middle stance and raised my energy.

My heart, which had been beating vigorously, slowed down as if it had stopped.

Heaven and Earth Hundred Severing Sword Manual.

My sword moved like a small stream of water.

Flexibly. Without rushing.

The force became stronger and stronger, like a river flowing to the sea and being embraced.

His eyes changed.

He slowly swung his sword. Drawing a circle.

It was a very slow sword.

In an instant, all the surrounding energy gathered into the circle he was drawing.

The moment he and I clashed would be the last of this duel.

I charged.

With a power that was overflowing, as if it would destroy itself beyond its intensity.

He also knew that this was the last.

His slowly rotating sword became even slower.

No, I couldn't tell if it was slow or if it just looked slow.

It was like a calm lake that contained many things.

My intense wave rushed over the lake he had created.

I raised all the internal energy of my dantian.

The power to fill and the power to contain!

It was a fight between the one who wanted to overflow and the one who wanted to accept.

The two energies clashed.

Two energies that were similar yet different!

We stood with our swords crossed.

Facing each other at a close distance where even our breaths could be heard.

His face was contorted.

But he was smiling.

I was also smiling, looking at him.

- KABOOM!

With a single explosion, we were both thrown back.

I rolled several times, raising dust, and only then could I kneel down, leaning on my sword.

The bitter taste of blood flowed into my mouth.

He was also leaning against a tree, panting heavily.

"I have learned well!"

I put down my sword on the floor and bowed, cupping my fists.

He was looking at me without any answer.

"It was a good duel. Much better than I expected!"

He had his eyes closed.

And after a moment, he slowly opened his eyes.

His two eyes were darkly sunken.

"I am..."

A moment of silence flowed.

"I am Jin Myeong. Jin Myeong of Wudang!"

(End of Chapter)