Single-Instant Blade

Chapter 75 : One Step Up (5)

“Hook! Hoo-ook!”

Ah Geol let out a rough breath.

His shoulders heaved every time he breathed. The sweat that had sprung from his forehead flowed down his cheeks.

As expected, his internal injuries had not healed.

It had only been a month since he had been hit by Seori Hyeonggae’s blade. In fact, it was a miracle that his flesh had healed in that period. It could be said that his recovery was fast just by moving his body, but he had even fought.

Swoosh!

He raised the half-iron blade again.

He had only defeated half of the Mourning Guests.

The Single-Instant Blade was a blade art that had to be executed with all one’s might. Although there were thirty-six blade arts from the first to the thirty-sixth generation, there was not a single blade art that was not executed with all one’s might.

Because of that, his body had been strained.

Unlike when he practiced in the empty air, when he faced a person, the consumption of internal energy was much more severe than he had thought.

Shwaaaek!

A swastika snatch flew.

Ah Geol executed the Ten Thousand Wrists Blade of the fifteenth Single-Instant Sect Master. He used his wrist to deflect the half-iron blade.

Taang!

The swastika snatch and the half-iron blade clashed.

Ah Geol’s upper body swayed greatly.

It wasn’t that he had swayed because his internal energy was weak. The one who used the swastika snatch had consistently strong internal energy.

Ah Geol did not just block the swastika snatch, but he quickly executed a movement technique and approached the Mourning Guest.

The Mourning Guest, who had been holding two short spears, immediately struck both his shoulders.

Swoosh! Pyut!

Ah Geol cut horizontally with the half-iron blade. It seemed that he had simply turned his body, but the half-iron blade also turned accordingly. His body and the blade became one and rotated.

It was the Blade Spirit Transmission of the seventeenth Single-Instant Sect Master.

The basis of the Blade Spirit Transmission was the unity of the blade and the body, the union of the blade and the body. The blade and the body had to be tied together as one. When the blade was the body, and the body was the blade, the soul of the blade would come out.

“Kuk!”

The Mourning Guest let out a fierce groan and retreated.

The force that the Blade Spirit Transmission exerted on the abdomen was immense. A strong impact was applied, as if a bull were ramming.

Although the Mourning Guest did not even blink at most pain, this pain must have been hard to bear.

“Hook!”

After executing the Blade Spirit Transmission, Ah Geol trembled severely.

He was experiencing exhaustion. His true energy was hitting the bottom. Although he, like Mongseol, could naturally continue his true energy circulation, it was not working well now. His meridians were being cut strand by strand.

“Hold on a little longer!”

Mongseol let out a roar.

After seeing Ah Geol struggling, she began to execute her sword forms violently.

The sword forms that had been busy blocking turned into killing forms.

Her sword was not a tyrannical sword. It was a fast sword. It dug into the Mourning Guest’s openings at a very fast speed. Although the Mourning Guest’s skin was as hard as steel, she attacked the places that were not hard.

The sword dug into his eyes.

The sword entered his mouth and stabbed his uvula.

Mongseol executed her sword forms accurately, and they all became powerful killing forms and oppressed the Mourning Guest.

“Kaaak!”

Another Mourning Guest fell, screaming.

* * *

“Haak! Haak!”

“Hook!”

Ah Geol and Mongseol leaned against a tree and took a big breath.

They had defeated all the Mourning Guests.

They had started in the middle of the night, around midnight, and had fought until the day broke.

Their true energy had long since run out. There was no way their physical strength was left either. They had endured only with their mental strength.

Mongseol had only been able to defeat them one by one after exchanging dozens of sword moves.

It was not easy to strike the opponent’s openings. The Mourning Guests’ openings were all difficult to strike. Moreover, they had overwhelmingly more practical experience. They were also skilled in improvisation.

It was a miracle that they had defeated all the Mourning Guests.

“The Mourning Guests… huff! There are a hundred of them… huff! Why did only these guys come?”

Mongseol asked, panting.

Ah Geol could not answer. He didn’t even have the energy to answer. If he had time to talk, he would recover his true energy.

As Mongseol had said, the Mourning Guests who had entered the coffin always maintained a hundred.

The fact that only forty-seven of them had come meant that they had not used all of them, but had only used half.

The Water Dragon Gang had also come in a number slightly less than half.

This was not a coincidence. It seemed that there was a limit to the number of people the Third Lord could mobilize.

When he had faced the Water Dragon Gang, his true energy had been overflowing, so it would have been fine even if all of them had come. But when he had faced the Mourning Guests, his true energy had been considerably consumed. He had also only used a very strong tyrannical blade. If all the Mourning Guests had come, the story would have been very different.

“Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!”

Ah Geol let out a series of rough breaths.

Mongseol reached out and stroked Ah Geol’s back, saying, “I’ll stand guard. Circulate your energy.”

Ah Geol did not listen to this either. He just let out a rough breath with his eyes wide open.

“Hook! Hook! Hoo-ook!”

* * *

Although he had not told Mongseol, he had stuck a needle in his Yutang point.

The Yutang point was the eighteenth point of the Ren meridian.

It was located slightly above the center of the third rib, the center of the two nipples.

The Yutang point was the middle dantian.

It served as a communication path between the lower dantian and the upper dantian, and it was a place where the essence of the internal organs’ meridians gathered.

The house where the essence gathered, the Yutang point.

First, he calmed down his boiling internal organs. True energy did not become stronger just by gathering it strongly. It became stronger when you looked at it quietly with a calm mind.

It was the complete opposite of common sense.

When the internal organs calmed down, he connected the true energy of the upper palace and the lower dantian. He revived only a part of the Ren meridian.

It was a measure to quickly recover his true energy.

It would take a long time to recover all the body’s meridians. On the other hand, it only took a little concentration to recover a part. Although it was difficult to concentrate all five senses, it was very easy if you gathered your nerves at your fingertips and only felt the sense of touch.

He raised his true energy with that principle.

When a part of the Ren meridian had revived, he then connected it to the Small Heavenly Circulation.

He revived his true energy little by little and continued to the Great Heavenly Circulation.

He had learned this energy circulation method while training in the Short Blade Striking of the thirteenth Single-Instant Sect Master.

The Short Blade Striking was a strange blade art.

If you trained in the blade art, which consisted of a total of twenty-one forms, sequentially from beginning to end, it became a forward energy circulation. If you reversed it and swung from the twenty-first form to the first, it became a reverse art. The true energy was reversed.

It wasn’t that Ah Geol had deliberately moved his true energy. As he had trained in the blade art, his true energy had circulated on its own.

The blade art itself was energy circulation.

Also, the forward circulation of true energy and the reverse circulation of true energy were executed in one blade art. If you did a forward circulation of true energy, it became a righteous art, and if you did a reverse circulation of true energy, it became a demonic art. The righteous and the demonic were mixed in one blade art.

The third effect that the Short Blade Striking gave was the healing method that Ah Geol was currently performing.

From one point to a small line, the small line to a large line, and the large line to the meridians of the entire body.

What if he had used the Short Blade Striking when he had fought the Mourning Guests? It went without saying. His true energy would not have been exhausted. Although he had used a blade, that was energy circulation, and his true energy would have been immediately recovered.

And yet, at that time, he had not thought of the Short Blade Striking.

The Short Blade Striking was not originally his internal energy method. So there was a side that he had neglected.

Above all, although he knew the thirty-six Single-Instant Blades, he was not proficient in all the blade arts. He just used them in a superficial way. Although that alone was impressive.

If he had been proficient in all the blade arts, when his internal energy had been exhausted, the Short Blade Striking would have immediately come to mind.

Since it was a blade art he did not usually use, he had forgotten it.

Now he executed the Short Blade Striking. He did true energy healing. He recovered his true energy in the fastest way.

Thud! Thud!

At that moment, a person walked over.

Mongseol immediately raised her sword and stood up.

She knew who was walking over. She had followed him for a long time, and had finally made a bet. And she had succeeded.

The Third Lord, Shin Dopa!

“You… who are you?”

Shin Dopa asked with a deeply frowned face.

“Who are you to use the Blood Sword?”

Mongseol was startled by the Third Lord’s words.

She had never thought that the Third Lord would recognize the Blood Sword.

If so, it meant that he also knew that this martial art was the martial art of the former Sacred Sword Sect Master’s wife, Hyeonjeong. Well… if it were the Ten Lesser Swords, they would have seen Hyeonjeong from the closest position, so it didn’t make sense that they didn’t know the Blood Sword.

“The person called the Third Lord is a cheap person who uses assassination by borrowing a blade. These people, you called them, right?”

Mongseol pointed to the fallen Mourning Guests.

“Answer my question first, what is your relationship with Hyeonjeong?”

“Hyeonjeong? I don’t know such a person.”

“Is that so? Huhu…!”

The Third Lord laughed. No, it seemed that he was laughing, but he had suddenly come close and had extended his hand.

‘Straight Stab!’

The Mud Pill One Sword told her to extend her sword straight. It did not say a form, but demanded an immediate reaction.

Shwoook!

Mongseol immediately extended her sword. But,

Taang!

The Third Lord deflected her sword with his finger.

Mongseol’s reaction was very fast. She was confident that she could have attacked the Third Lord.

But it was blocked. Above all, she had not seen the Third Lord’s finger flicking motion. An enemy had attacked her right in front of her nose, but she had not seen anything, as if she were blind.

‘No way!’

Mongseol was dumbfounded by the very fast movement.

“Originally, I was thinking of killing you, but since I’ve seen the Blood Sword, I can’t do that. You’re more valuable than this guy.”

Swish! Puk!

The Third Lord extended his finger.

It was the Sacred Sword Sect’s unique finger art, the Piercing Heaven Finger.

It was said that if you were struck by the Piercing Heaven Finger, your body would be pierced with holes as if you had been stabbed by an awl.

Mongseol was startled and retreated. But she could not completely get away from the Piercing Heaven Finger.

The finger still followed. It stuck to her at a much faster speed than she had retreated. Although she had taken a step back, the finger was already touching her flesh. At that moment,

Shryung!

Suddenly, the sound of the air being torn burst out.

“Ugh!”

The Third Lord, who had been calm until now, was startled and retreated.

Ah Geol was standing up. It seemed that he had recovered his true energy, as his breath was stable. His face also had color, his eyes were calm, and the hand holding the blade was also quiet.

‘How…?’

The Third Lord was more curious about how he had recovered so quickly in that short time than the fact that Ah Geol had stood up.

“Ah! You’re up!”

Mongseol realized belatedly that Ah Geol had stood up. So she forgot that the Third Lord was in front of her and was pleased.

“Your eyes.”

Ah Geol said something she couldn’t understand.

“My eyes?”

“Your eyes change and your sword is used. Then anyone can grasp it. That’s the reason why the Third Lord easily broke your sword. It’s a phenomenon that occurs because the time to unite the sword and the body is late.”

“Ah!”

Mongseol immediately realized the situation that had just happened.

Ah Geol had known this state of hers from the beginning. But it was no use telling her. The process of uniting the sword and the body had to be acquired only through training. It was not enlightenment, but acquisition.

Although it was a flaw that would be resolved with time, it could not be fixed right now.

That was why he had not said it. But when she had been so easily defeated by the Third Lord, he had finally told her the reason. So that she would not be too shocked. That it was a trivial flaw.

Ah Geol looked at the Third Lord and said, “I knew you were hiding. If you fight me, you will die. But if you still want to fight, I don’t mind.”

(End of Chapter)