Sword God Reborn

Chapter 245 : Get Stronger If You're Pissed

"Mun-cheok."

"My surname is Gyo, and my given name is Mun-cheok."

"Tsk."

"From now on, my surname is Gyo, and my given name is Mun-cheok."

"Right, Mun-cheok. A two-character name is easier to call than a single-character name, isn't it?"

"...That's right."

Even though he was calling his family's surname as he pleased, Gyo Mun-cheok couldn't refute a single word.

Even though it was the surname of the family he was proud of.

He had no choice.

His calves ached from kneeling for so long.

'It's hot.'

His left cheek was tingling.

'I have no sensation in my right shoulder.'

He wondered if his shoulder blade was broken from being thrown so hard against the tree.

"I've been thinking about it."

At the voice that flowed out, Gyo Mun-cheok woke up from his thoughts and became tense.

"Yes."

"Since you said you would help, I don't think it's polite for me to refuse."

"...Is that so?"

"Yes. Since you said you would help me lead the warriors well, I should accept it with great pleasure. But, Mun-cheok."

"Yes."

"To help, huh? You have to have the skills for that, don't you?"

Then, Cheon Mubaeck looked around.

The sight of thirty people kneeling was a very rare sight.

Moreover, all of their right cheeks were swollen and bruised to half the size of their faces.

Everyone had felt Cheon Mubaeck's terror with their own bodies.

'How do you dodge that?'

Tang Su-gun shuddered without realizing it. In fact, he was confident in dodging.

For a blood relative of the Tang Clan, the visual acuity to track movements was very important.

Because the characteristic of the Tang Clan was to use poison techniques or throw hidden weapons at the right time while dodging or deflecting the opponent's attacks.

So he was confident.

He thought Gyo Mun-cheok had been caught off guard. He was confident that he could have dodged it.

But the moment he took a breath, Cheon Mubaeck was already out of his sight.

The surrounding scenery flew by. Belatedly, a lava-like heat rushed to his cheek, and he soon lost consciousness.

'I couldn't see anything. I couldn't even feel the flow of qi.'

To be so powerlessly unable to track anything with his eyes.

The body's reaction could be slow. But shouldn't it be normal to be able to see at least a little of the trajectory of the movement?

It was the second time in Tang Su-gun's life.

'It's the first time since my father.'

The head of the Tang family was one of the ten greatest masters in the world, as publicly acknowledged by the world.

Tang Su-gun's gaze on Cheon Mubaeck trembled.

'Is he on the same level as my father?'

It wasn't just Tang Su-gun who was trembling.

Hwangbo Sung's face, looking up at Cheon Mubaeck, was also complicated.

'To think that my protective qi could be nullified like that.'

Hwangbo Sung's choice was to block.

Even though he had deeply explored external arts, it wasn't that he hadn't learned internal energy at all.

At the very least, Hwangbo Sung had thoroughly honed his protective qi.

'Like the reverse scale of a dragon, there are weaknesses that are difficult to train in between the hard external arts.'

That's how external arts are.

No matter how much you hone them, there are parts that cannot be trained with external arts.

Like the reverse scale of a dragon.

To protect such parts, the masters of external arts thoroughly focus on their protective qi.

Even if he didn't know other internal arts, Hwangbo Sung was confident in his protective qi.

The result...

'He tore it apart like a piece of paper.'

Who would see that as a simple slap?

If it were just that, yes, he could understand. If it was a blow loaded with a lot of internal energy, it could be broken. He's the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero, right?

But even though he had tensed his muscles with his external arts, when a couple of his molars were knocked out, Hwangbo Sung felt it thoroughly.

'The level is different...'

Literally, the level was different.

"Aigoo."

As Cheon Mubaeck sighed, the thirty people all flinched.

"How can not a single one of you dodge or block it?"

"...I-I am sorry."

"And you said you would help?"

"We were arrogant!"

"To dare to offer our cooperation with our lacking skills, we were arrogant!"

"Does being arrogant end it?"

"...Yes?"

"It is said that a man's word is worth a thousand pieces of gold, so I can't take back your offer to help."

"..."

A somehow ominous feeling circulated among the warriors.

Looking at them, Cheon Mubaeck clicked his tongue.

'Tsk. They're more pathetic than I thought.'

If someone had heard Cheon Mubaeck's thoughts, they would have been astonished.

The thirty warriors gathered here were definitely of a high level.

Not to mention the three idiots, the rest were the same. If a strike force composed of just them were to attack, there wouldn't be many sects that could withstand it.

Couldn't you feel it from the fact that Zhuge Yeogang hadn't stopped the plan to attack the Wolya Faction at the end?

In other words, that meant that Cheon Mubaeck's level had become much higher than before.

Because the level at which he had melted the power contained in the four of the five star relics into his own had reached the World-Severing Realm.

In Cheon Mubaeck's eyes, their movements were just sluggish, and their internal energy also seemed pathetic.

"To think that I was having a battle of wits and a nerve-wracking battle with these guys... Aigoo."

Cheon Mubaeck clicked his tongue.

"How can I fight the Blood Demon Valley with these guys..."

For a moment, everyone was offended, but no one stood up. Because they were already feeling fear from the presence that Cheon Mubaeck was subtly emitting.

The warriors carefully exchanged glances. Hwangbo Sung and Tang Su-gun's sharp gazes swept over Gyo Mun-cheok's back.

'That bastard had to go and act up.'

'Didn't he say he would take care of it himself, so we should just watch?'

'Aww, to think I trusted that guy.'

The meaning contained in their gazes could be felt without having to be spoken out loud.

Gyo Mun-cheok felt wronged.

'No, did I know it would turn out like this?'

But who would understand that feeling of being wronged? He had brought it upon himself.

"I can't just trample on your earnest desire to help. But with this level of skill, you'll be more of a hindrance than a help. So I will fix your skills."

The warriors made bewildered expressions.

Fixing their skills, didn't that mean he would help with their training?

'The Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero?'

With just one attack a moment ago, everyone had felt it keenly.

A tremendous difference in level, to the extent that they felt the difference in class.

A martial artist of that much difference would personally help with their training?

There was not a single person here who did not know what that meant.

Weren't they all from prestigious families and outstanding sects?

Among those with such fame and skill, there were almost no cases of wholeheartedly looking after another's martial arts.

No, it was safe to say there were none at all.

At the faint heat that appeared on the warriors' faces for a moment, Cheon Mubaeck finally nodded as if he were a little pleased.

"At least they're not completely clumsy guys."

Although they were frogs in a well and kids caught up in their desire for fame.

In any case, they were all sincere about martial arts. Well, if they weren't sincere, they wouldn't have reached this level at such a young age in the first place.

Cheon Mubaeck's voice softened somewhat.

In any case, Cheon Mubaeck was also a martial artist, and a martial artist who lived each life fiercely to reach the pinnacle of the sword.

Their reaction was not bad.

So he said willingly.

"At the very least, you have to be at a level where you won't die when you carry out the next mission."

"..."

At their expectant gazes, Cheon Mubaeck smiled and nodded.

"The standard is the same as today."

The same as today...?

At first, the warriors, who couldn't immediately grasp the meaning, soon turned pale.

If the standard was the same as today...

Cheon Mubaeck grinned.

"Just one slap. Until you can dodge or block this one hit."

"......!"

Looking at their contorted faces, as if they had chewed on shit, he continued.

"We will gather every day at the end of the yin hour (5 a.m.) and start training. And when it's over, we will take the test right away. The test is the same as today. I will only hit you once."

"..."

"Every day. I will test you every single day without fail."

Everyone felt as if the sky was falling.

"Every day..."

"One slap a day..."

"A slap..."

Amidst that faint murmur, Cheon Mubaeck said as if he were enjoying it.

"Hone your skills quickly and dodge or block it."

Get stronger if you're pissed.

* * *

To summarize Cheon Mubaeck's deeds, it was a solo journey through the martial world.

Of course, he had Neung-heo or Zhuge Seol-ah by his side, but he did not belong to any one organization or group.

This was not limited to just this life.

Even if you expanded the scope to his past lives, there were almost no cases where he led a sect or moved as part of a sect.

There was the case of the Heavenly Shattering Sword Demon, but that...

"I didn't lead them. They followed me."

Thus, it was almost unheard of for Cheon Mubaeck to become the head of a sect or to stand in a position of leading an organization.

So, leading the Demon Repelling Squad now was certainly unusual.

"The demonic cult bastards are just too extreme."

Although Cheon Mubaeck said it nonchalantly, in fact, the lesson from his previous life was great.

In his past life, as the Azure Sky Sword God, he had reached the highest realm of Cheon Mubaeck's life.

And yet, the fight with the demonic cult was burdensome.

In the process, numerous people had died. The fact that Shaolin had sealed its gates and Wudang had almost disappeared was the first time since their founding.

There was a lesson Cheon Mubaeck had learned while fighting those demonic path bastards.

"If you fight alone, you win alone, but not everyone wins."

That's how the Orthodox Path was 40 years ago.

Yes, if only the martial artists had died, Cheon Mubaeck would have had a bitter taste in his mouth, but he would have endured it.

Because the martial world was a life of standing on a blade.

But in the midst of the Righteous-Demonic War, the common people who had nothing to do with the martial world had died.

Those who held plows, not swords.

It was an irresistible force.

As the Orthodox Path collapsed, the shield and sword that protected them disappeared.

'If the Orthodox Path is strong, if they have the strength to fight back against the power of the demonic path bastards.'

Then the tragedy of the Righteous-Demonic War would not have spread outside the martial world.

So he had created the Righteous Alliance.

To gather the power of the Orthodox Path early on.

It was the result of Cheon Mubaeck's busy movements.

Therefore, Cheon Mubaeck believed that the Righteous Alliance had to stand firm and become the focal point of the Orthodox Path.

But if a conflict arose from within.

And if they couldn't resolve it, it was obvious that the young martial artists would die miserably in the war.

Then the demonic path would become even more rampant.

A regrettable event like in his last life might happen.

"If this is the level of the rising stars of the Orthodox Path, it will be difficult to overcome the Demonic Path."

The level of the Demonic Path that Cheon Mubaeck had seen, just by looking at the level of the Blood Demon Valley, which was only two sects, had become even stronger than 40 years ago.

And what about the remaining sects outside the borders?

"At the very least, they shouldn't die in front of my eyes."

Their aptitude was also excellent. A considerable amount of fierce effort must have been accompanied. Their mindset towards martial arts was also clear.

The only thing that bothered him was their ambition to become the successors of their families, but if that ambition could be properly controlled, they could develop even more.

"They're not my disciples, though."

They were not his disciples.

At the very least, it wasn't that they were completely to his liking, but his goal was to make them escape the level where he would click his tongue.

"A disciple..."

Suddenly, the Sword Saint came to mind.

Although he had raised disciples in many of his lives, it was only a handful, but the existence of the Sword Saint alone was a part that proved that Cheon Mubaeck's teachings were excellent.

-Master...

-What.

-Do you dislike your unworthy disciple?

-Why do you think so?

-...It's so painful that I'd rather die.

-The path of the sword is a continuation of hardship and suffering.

-Isn't it the path of violence, not the path of the sword?

Cheon Mubaeck chuckled as he recalled the past Sword Saint, who was covered in bruises.

"If you beat them to death, their skills will improve on their own."

A smile appeared on Cheon Mubaeck's face.

At that time, the three idiots, who had woken up at the crack of dawn for training, trembled at the sudden chill that came over them.

"...Has winter come? What's with this chill..."

(End of Chapter)