Sword God Reborn

Chapter 274 : One arm is enough

On the outside, there was nothing special.

The two walked and talked. Neither Cheon Mubaeck nor Neung-heo showed any particular signs.

If someone had been watching, it would have looked as if they had just come out for a normal stroll.

Neung-heo quietly sharpened his qi sense, but he couldn't feel anything. But he didn't show it on the outside. Since Cheon Mubaeck had a divine-like five senses that could sense even what he didn't know, he had to act as naturally as possible.

"There was greed in your sword."

Although it was a sudden statement, Neung-heo responded naturally.

"Greed? In my sword?"

Cheon Mubaeck had confirmed that Neung-heo's skills had improved.

Of course, he had also seen his limits.

"It's a sword technique specialized in stabbing, isn't it?"

"It's the Neung-heo Left Sword."

"...Yes. The Neung-heo Left Sword. Damn it. The name doesn't stick to my mouth."

"It sticks perfectly..."

"Anyway, it's a sword technique that can be mastered just by being good at stabbing. But you're being greedy."

"Greedy?"

"It means you're coveting not only stabbing, but also cutting and swinging. Why is that necessary?"

Cheon Mubaeck pointed out what he had felt during the confrontation between the Ghost Demon and Neung-heo, and when he had personally dealt with Neung-heo.

"I can't help it, can I? How can I block an opponent's swinging sword with a stab? I have to block it by laying it on its side and cutting. And if I only stab from the front, it's easy for the opponent to block. I have to cut and swing from the left and right in an unorthodox way."

Neung-heo was not a fool either. At the very least, he was a martial artist who knew how to handle a sword. Not only what he had learned from Cheon Mubaeck, but what he had realized on his own was also clear.

"Think about it. When you take an opponent's life, what do you use for the final attack? Cutting? Stabbing?"

"Well... it's stabbing."

"You stab the neck, stab the forehead, stab the heart, stab the solar plexus, and stab the lower abdomen. You cut off the enemy's breath in an instant. But what about cutting?"

"You cut the neck, cut the chest, and... uh..."

Come to think of it, it wasn't that easy. Even if his chest was cut, the opponent would not die and would move. Even if you cut his neck, if you couldn't cut it in one go, he would struggle, swinging his sword wildly while spewing a fountain of blood.

"The neck bone is harder than you think. It's not easy to cut from the side. Especially if the opponent has trained his muscles and has raised his protective qi. It's not impossible, but if you can't cut it in one go, the opponent will struggle and swing his sword."

"Well, that's right."

"The same goes for cutting the heart. Even if you cut the ribs, the muscles will bite the wide sword blade and won't let go easily. On the other hand, stabbing is different. If you pierce through the muscles between the ribs and stab the lungs and heart in one go, it's over."

Cheon Mubaeck was also knowledgeable about the structure of the human body. Since Neung-heo had also cut several people, he empathized with Cheon Mubaeck's words.

"The attack that can surely and simply cut off an enemy's breath is stabbing. Moreover, you're one-armed. To maximize the power of cutting, you have to balance the sword with both hands and put your strength into it. What's suitable for you is to quickly and simply stab one point. The fact that you're trying to use cutting and swinging in an unorthodox way is greed."

"Well, isn't it that a person has to have greed to grow?"

"Greed that doesn't consider one's own level is a poison."

"A poison..."

"A guy who hasn't even mastered stabbing, what's he talking about cutting and swinging?"

"Keung... Then how do I block the opponent's attack?"

"You have to dodge. With faster and more nimble movements."

"What if I meet an opponent faster than that?"

"Stab and counter the opponent's attack."

"Is that possible?"

"If you master it, what can't you do?"

Neung-heo closed his mouth. At first, he had naturally responded to Cheon Mubaeck's conversation to not show on the outside that he was going down a strange path.

But the conversation he had answered with a light heart had left Neung-heo with a lot to think about.

He had thought it was impossible to face an enemy's martial arts with just one stab.

So he had cut, swung, and had gradually incorporated the martial arts he had realized while fighting.

He had seen some results. Because he had been able to fight in a more unorthodox and diverse way.

But Cheon Mubaeck had said that all of those things were greed.

'Is it enough if I just master one stab?'

To be honest, Neung-heo couldn't understand.

What martial art in the world had only one stab? There was a false move between the real moves, and there was a changing move. All martial arts were like that.

But the sword technique that Neung-heo had named the Neung-heo Left Sword was terribly one-sided in stabbing. Although it was fierce and powerful, its limits were also clear.

'Damn it. How can I become an absolute master with just one stab?'

Although his heart said so...

'Still, there's nothing wrong with what that guy said. I'll just have to dig into stabbing like crazy.'

Neung-heo absolutely trusted Cheon Mubaeck's words in martial arts.

But it was not an easy task for Neung-heo to draw a picture in his head without seeing it.

Cheon Mubaeck smiled faintly, as if he had guessed.

"I'll show you. How far you can go with just one stab."

"No, you just beat me up, are you going to beat me up again?"

"A beating, what, that was a duel earlier."

"A duel or a beating."

"And I'm not showing it to you."

"What?"

"If I use the extreme of stabbing on you, your body will have hundreds of holes. What do you want me to do?"

"...?"

At that moment, Neung-heo unknowingly turned his head.

He had been so focused on his conversation with Cheon Mubaeck that he had been walking, and an old monk, with his hands clasped together as if in prayer, was looking at him from beyond the bushes.

"...Uh, he doesn't look like a Shaolin monk."

Neung-heo's face, who could almost instinctively realize the opponent's danger, hardened.

Only then did he understand.

That Cheon Mubaeck had deliberately come this way. To a place with no private houses and no people.

"Welcome. Monk."

Cheon Mubaeck greeted him first, as if it were nothing.

The old monk showed a benevolent smile like a high-ranking master of Shaolin with a high level of Buddhist power and clasped his hands together.

"You are the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero, aren't you?"

"You came looking for me, knowing, so why do you ask again?"

The old monk laughed.

"I didn't know you would arrive before me. Thanks to that, the plan I had made on the way has been ruined."

"A plan, what, were you planning to take my family hostage and set a trap?"

"Haha, you are indeed brilliant in your mind as well."

The old monk let out a faint sigh. It was a bewilderment that came from the fact that his plan had gone wrong.

"I didn't plan to face you head-on like this..."

"Were you planning to settle the match in a cowardly way, like the demonic path?"

"Rather than a cowardly way, it is a sure way."

"A man should have a one-on-one match. Isn't that right? Blood Buddha."

The Blood Buddha smiled awkwardly and clasped his hands together.

"There's no need for a place to introduce each other. I know you, and you know me."

"It's not right to greet each other warmly when we're trying to kill each other."

"Do we really have to kill each other? Young Master."

"Monk. You old demonic master. You came to kill me too, didn't you?"

"No, I came to persuade you."

"Persuade?"

"Isn't it a life and talent that is too precious to just return to nature like this? How about converting to the demonic path?"

Recruiting talent. Cheon Mubaeck shrugged his shoulders. He felt like he had done this once before.

"You must be short on people. Even the Poison Demon was trying to recruit me."

"...The Poison Demon?"

A crack appeared for a moment on the Blood Buddha's face, which had been nothing but benevolent.

Cheon Mubaeck smiled.

"That old man was also struggling before he died. He said he could do anything if I came to the demonic path."

"..."

"Ah, you didn't know? That the Poison Demon died at my hands?"

"Wasn't it the Sword Empress who killed him?"

The Blood Buddha's voice hardened. His words became extremely short and cold.

Neung-heo, who was behind him, hiccuped at the terrifyingly dramatic change.

The benevolent expression had shattered, and what was revealed was a fierce and evil god.

Cheon Mubaeck laughed as if he were amused, crossing his arms.

"Ah. You thought the Sword Empress killed him? What should I do? The Poison Demon also died at my hands. And the Ghost Demon..."

"Did he die?"

"He's a guy who came to kill me, but I'm perfectly fine like this. Isn't the answer obvious? Are you still planning to recruit me to the demonic path?"

He was the one who had completely annihilated all the forces of the Blood Demon Valley.

Not only the lower-ranking demonic people, but also the five stars, the six stars, and even the top-level executives like the Poison Demon had died miserably at Cheon Mubaeck's hands.

The demonic path had no choice but to consider him a great enemy.

However.

The Blood Buddha laughed boldly.

"I want to draw you to the demonic path even more. A man who will become the number one under heaven. If you convert to the bosom of the demonic path, you might become the new Heavenly Demon someday."

"Damn it. I wouldn't do it even if you gave it to me. If I had wanted to, I would have done it long ago."

When he was the Sword Demon, he had run out of the demonic path because he didn't want to do it, and he was tempting him with such a position?

Cheon Mubaeck shuddered and shouted.

"Blood Buddha. Blood Buddha. You're a bullshit idiot who's pretending to be a Buddha. If you want to be a Buddha, you should go and chant Buddhist scriptures. You're getting blood on your hands?"

"There is a Buddha in the demonic path, and there is a Buddhist path. The demonic path can tolerate and accept everything. Not only a mere monk like me, but also you, a descendant of the Azure Sky Sword God."

"Unfortunately, I have no intention of converting to the bosom of a heretical path. I won't see a good end if I go in there."

The Blood Buddha, who seemed to think that he could no longer be persuaded, sighed.

"It's a pity. To think I have to kill a great person like you."

"What, are you a miser? Everything is a pity. Isn't your own life a pity?"

"A body that has already devoted itself to the demonic path, if I had cherished my life, I would not have set foot in the martial world in the first place."

"Bullshit. Where in this world is there a bastard who is transcendent to life?"

"..."

"If I kill you, the Blood Demon Valley is over. The Ghost Demon is dead, and the Blood Buddha is also dead. The rest of the rabble? They're nothing. The plan for the foreign demonic path to invade and for the Blood Demon Valley to shake the Central Plains from within will also be over. You idiot. You old and crazy monk. You haven't done anything. You've blown it all."

"..."

"There will be no demonic path world, at least not while I'm alive and well."

"Then I'll just have to close those eyes."

"Even after I close my two eyes."

"...?"

"I'll open them again. I closed them forty years ago, but I've opened them again now."

As the incomprehensible words continued, the Blood Buddha no longer listened and unleashed his palm strike.

"Oh? It's really a Shaolin martial art?"

Cheon Mubaeck let out a hollow sound and raised his energy.

A pure white halo engulfed his entire body like a wildfire.

Kagagagagak!

An overwhelming shockwave that required one to urgently protect their eardrums with internal energy shook the surroundings.

Both were not a little surprised.

"That's the Gwigok Gwang-ae! The unique martial art of the Azure Sky Sword God... Indeed!"

"Well, you've gotten damn strong. You monk bastard."

The Blood Buddha, whose decisive strike had been blocked by the Gwigok Gwang-ae, was also surprised, and Cheon Mubaeck, who had received a considerable shock, was also surprised.

"Monk. When on earth did you learn Shaolin martial arts? I don't think you could even use something like this during the Righteous-Demonic War?"

The Blood Buddha made a strange expression. As if to ask how he knew that.

The moment he was about to open his mouth, Cheon Mubaeck shouted.

"Yes, I see. You thieving bastard! You vile bastard! You stole it when Shaolin was collapsing! Damn it, you filthy bastard. You steal martial arts?"

The Blood Buddha's face, which had seemed as if it would never waver, like a Buddha, continued to contort.

Neung-heo, who was watching, was purely impressed.

'So that's what it means to attack a person's character with words.'

He was still far from it. Yes, he was still far from it. Not only in martial arts, but also in that verbal abuse.

The Blood Buddha couldn't hold it in and rushed at Cheon Mubaeck violently.

"Persuasion is really not going to work. If I bring you to the demonic path, even the Heavenly Demon won't be able to hold it in and will beat you up!"

"Well, you monk bastard. You talk too much for someone who can't even bring me. You've been hit a lot by the Heavenly Demon, haven't you? I think he would have beaten you up, telling you to shut up because you talk too much."

The Blood Buddha unleashed his pair of palms.

Kagagagak!

Although Cheon Mubaeck had dodged a couple of times, the Blood Buddha's attacks were cunning, so he couldn't dodge them all. A simultaneous attack that aimed for the direction he would dodge. Cheon Mubaeck inwardly clicked his tongue at the skill of perfectly understanding the space and grasping the line of movement in a short moment.

But since Cheon Mubaeck had the steel wall defense of the Gwigok Gwang-ae, the Blood Buddha did not see much success.

Cheon Mubaeck suddenly called Neung-heo.

"Neung-heo!"

"What! If you're telling me to fight, I can't! I can't catch that!"

"A guy who has beaten the Ghost Demon, why are you so scared!"

"He beat the Ghost Demon? You're saying that middle-aged man killed him, not you?"

The Blood Buddha's head, who had been madly attacking Cheon Mubaeck, snapped around.

Neung-heo waved his hands in a flustered manner.

"No, what! How can I kill the Ghost Demon! A guy who is perfectly alive!"

"How dare you mock this one!"

"What are you talking about, this monk is misunderstanding on his own and getting angry on his own, he's playing well on his own. Are you an outcast?"

"......!"

Cheon Mubaeck shouted so and said to Neung-heo.

"Neung-heo. Look carefully. The left-hand sword technique... no, yes, the direction the Neung-heo Left Sword should go."

"What's with the strange talk in the middle of a fight?"

The moment Neung-heo asked back, dumbfounded, Cheon Mubaeck suddenly held his sword with his left hand and put his right hand behind his back.

"......!"

The Blood Buddha's face, who had been rushing in, hardened.

A posture where he was not using one hand, as anyone could see.

Cheon Mubaeck smiled.

"One arm is enough for you. You monk."

(End of Chapter)