Sword God Reborn

Chapter 278 : Only the sword existed

Yoo Baek-gi aimed his sword.

The tip of the sword glittered in the sunlight. Naturally, Yoo Baek-gi's sword was the sword of the Azure Sky Sword God.

Numerous connoisseurs had described the Azure Sky Sword God's sword with various words.

The number one under heaven, the sword of breaking the heavens, a sword as heavy as a mountain and as high as the sky...

But Cheon Mubaeck had summed up his own sword in just one word.

"A sword for killing... isn't this a duel?"

A sword that contained only the killing intent for killing.

Although many people thought that a profound Dao was contained in the sword, Cheon Mubaeck had snorted.

Because his only way of the sword was that a sword just had to cut well and stab well.

Yoo Baek-gi's eyes widened as if he were surprised.

"Do you see my sword like that? Or have you heard rumors of what my master's sword was like?"

"You're exuding such a strong killing intent, and you've put your will into the sword, so isn't it naturally for killing?"

"Indeed, it is as the rumors say. Your eye for swords is amazing."

Yoo Baek-gi expressed his admiration briefly and slowly raised his sword.

In an instant, the surrounding airflow completely changed. It became heavier than a thousand catties, and an intense pressure that made it difficult to even breathe pressed down from all sides.

"If you have inherited my master's will, you would know well. The moment you hold and swing a sword, even if it is a duel, you must reach the purest essence of the sword."

It was a strange feeling. Because it was an advice he had given every time he had watched Yoo Baek-gi's sword.

To think he would receive that advice back.

"Still, are you planning to kill your junior?"

"The sword must always reach its most fundamental source. My master, and I, do not doubt that the source of the sword lies in killing."

It felt strange to hear it from the opponent's point of view.

'I think I had said that and had almost made him die.'

He had always valued real combat. Even when he had a duel, he had done it like a real combat. He had swung his sword with killing intent.

In fact, it was not just eccentric, but violent, but as a result, Yoo Baek-gi had displayed all his potential to the fullest and had grown greatly.

Because he had to swing his sword to not die.

Cheon Mubaeck carefully observed Yoo Baek-gi's calm face.

'Is that fellow perhaps not having any emotions?'

To the extent that Cheon Mubaeck had suddenly thought so, what was gathered at the tip of the sword was a terrible killing intent.

"Are you perhaps afraid? Young Master."

"Aren't you the Sword Venerable, whom all the people of the martial world call the number one under heaven? If you hold a killing intent, who in the world can you not kill?"

"My master always said. You must face the opponent at the tip of your sword with the attitude that you will definitely kill them."

Well... it's not like I'm tying myself up. It's all what I had said, so I have nothing to say.

Cheon Mubaeck narrowed his brow and scratched his chin.

"If you have inherited my master's will, you will survive even after receiving my sword. But if you are just impersonating and deceiving the martial world, you will not be able to withstand my sword and will die. It is a simple logic."

Cheon Mubaeck clicked his tongue. His guts were slowly starting to twist.

To be honest, if he recalled the past, the master-disciple relationship between the two had been quite eventful.

'Rather than a fond master and disciple... um, they just had a love-hate relationship, right?'

Cheon Mubaeck had taught Yoo Baek-gi with a beating in the guise of a duel without caring, and Yoo Baek-gi had also swung his sword with all his might. When Yoo Baek-gi was young, he had not just respected him. Cheon Mubaeck knew well that his eyes were full of rebellion and that his young hot blood contained the emotion of 'I will definitely give you one hit'.

It was just that as time passed, the memory had been corrected and it felt like a fond master-disciple relationship.

Wasn't it a master-disciple relationship that looked like enemies to others?

Cheon Mubaeck let out a hollow laugh without realizing it. Yoo Baek-gi tilted his head.

"You haven't gone mad from the killing intent, have you? Young Master."

"No. Grand-master. No, you are still doubting that I am from the same sect, aren't you, Grand-master?"

"That's right. I can't believe it with just a few words. The martial world is a place where you have to doubt everyone."

"That's right. Then, for this moment, I will also not think of you as being from the same sect, Grand-master."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that I will not have a duel as a member of the same sect, but will truly receive teachings from a great senior of the martial world."

"Ho..."

Yoo Baek-gi, who had understood the meaning of his words, let out a short admiration.

"It means you will treat me not as a member of the same sect, but just as another martial artist."

"My heart is weak. How can I swing my sword with a killing intent at my senior from the same sect, my grand-master? But I can't hold back either."

Yoo Baek-gi let out a laugh without realizing it.

'This audacious friend.'

Since he couldn't swing his sword to kill his grand-master, didn't it mean that he would not think of him as his grand-master at all?

He had no choice but to be amazed at his guts. If he was not his grand-master, it was a look that asserted that he could also hold a killing intent and kill him, so his spirit was enough to make one exclaim in admiration.

When had he seen such an audacious rising star?

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Yoo Baek-gi's mind.

'Perhaps my master had a descendant in his youth?'

Yoo Baek-gi also knew well that it was absolutely not possible.

After he had come out into the martial world, Yoo Baek-gi had protected the Azure Sky Sword God's side his whole life.

The fact that his only family was himself, who had been a truly eccentric and murderous master-disciple relationship.

But the reason he had thought of this was simple.

'His nature seems very similar.'

Just because he had inherited the sword, his nature became similar?

That was not the case just by looking at Yoo Baek-gi. Although Yoo Baek-gi also had some eccentric parts, resembling his master, that was only when he swung his sword, and usually, he was extremely rigid.

But the Cheon Mubaeck in front of him was different.

Somehow...

'The atmosphere is like that, and above all, his eyes...'

Although he seemed to be showing respect to the opponent, his eyes, which contained his spirit, were full of leisure.

"But don't worry too much. Because I know how to respect the elderly."

"Hahaha... you are audacious, Young Master."

"In fact, my personality is also a little very angular. When the opponent aims his sword and holds a killing intent, I can't just smile and receive it."

"That's why my master had so many enemies."

"..."

"You wouldn't know, Young Master. Because the martial artists praise him like a myth, and now he is deified as the only hero who saved the Righteous-Demonic War. But at that time, there were not many people who liked my master."

"Keum."

Cheon Mubaeck cleared his throat. Yoo Baek-gi, without caring, looked at a distant place as if he were recalling a distant memory.

"There really weren't many people who liked him. When the juniors were gathered and eating, if my master appeared, clearing his throat, everyone would get up from their seats, saying they were full..."

"Heum... heum."

"Come to think of it now, he was a truly eccentric person. If you asked for a duel, saying you wanted to ask for teachings, I didn't know if it was a duel or a beating. Gwak Yong, that friend was also hit countless times, so he would have a seizure and foam at the mouth just by my master raising his hand to scratch his head, so how could it be otherwise?"

"..."

"Even those who had only shown a light of respect in front of him had talked quite a bit of bad things behind his back."

Yoo Baek-gi burst into laughter as he saw Cheon Mubaeck's strangely contorted expression.

If he were really from the same sect, it was as if he had insulted the Azure Sky Sword God, whom he must have held in infinite respect.

It would not be strange for him to make such an expression.

"He was a rather human person. The eccentric aspects that sometimes popped out were hard for me to handle. Although I didn't show it to my master, it was really hard to serve him."

"...Did you hate the Sword God?"

"I respected him. And there were times when I hated him. How much was I hit while learning the sword from him? I thought it would be better to fight the Heavenly Demon."

"..."

"He was infinitely respectable, and he looked infinitely great, and sometimes he was a little hateful, and I was resentful that he had left such a big burden on his disciple and had gone like that..."

Yoo Baek-gi, who had been looking at a distant mountain for a while, chuckled and said.

"Still, one emotion is certain."

"What is it?"

"Blue comes from indigo, but is bluer than indigo."

"..."

"That was the purpose of my way of the sword, and what I had wanted to show my master."

"Did you achieve it?"

"It's a pity. Since he had returned to heaven before that, I can't confirm it. If he were alive, I would have shown him the achievements I have made so far."

Yoo Baek-gi's pupils, who said so, were indifferent.

Cheon Mubaeck looked at those eyes for a while.

And he raised his sword.

"I will do my best."

"You should."

"You should also do your best, Grand-master."

"Of course I will."

"No, I mean it."

"..."

Yoo Baek-gi flinched. Cheon Mubaeck said calmly.

"The angle of your sword is bent inward. Even if you said you would do your best and had put your killing intent into the sword, it means you did not hold your sword with the intention of truly killing me."

The corner of Yoo Baek-gi's eye trembled.

'How...?'

It was not a common thing for the expression of Yoo Baek-gi, an old hand in the martial world who had been through all sorts of things, to change so colorfully.

But he had no choice.

Cheon Mubaeck had noticed that the posture he was holding his sword in was different from usual.

'How does he know my sword's posture?'

It was their first meeting. Even if his reputation was shaking the martial world, he could not know how he held his sword and took his posture just by hearing about it. Unless he had seen it directly.

'Even if he is a descendant of my master and has learned the same sword as me, he wouldn't know.'

No matter how much they had learned the same martial arts, the martial arts of the martial artists of the same sect were each different.

Because as they learned and used the martial arts, their habits and experiences would melt into them.

The moment Cheon Mubaeck had said so, Yoo Baek-gi had felt his body stiffen with tension for a moment.

Because it was as if he had looked into his own heart.

Yoo Baek-gi looked at Cheon Mubaeck with an incomprehensible eye, and then he slightly lowered his sword.

"..."

An intense killing intent that could not be approached filled the surroundings.

Yoo Baek-gi's hardened face opened his mouth.

"I will do my best. With the sword my master has taught me."

Cheon Mubaeck smiled.

The achievements he had made so far.

'I will do my best to watch you once.'

Cheon Mubaeck was also sincere.

* * *

It was almost a custom for a senior to give a few moves to a junior in a duel.

Even if it wasn't a few moves, it was common to yield the first attack.

Moreover, considering the seniority between Cheon Mubaeck and Yoo Baek-gi, it was normal for Cheon Mubaeck to receive a handicap of at least five exchanges.

But unfortunately, there was no such custom for Yoo Baek-gi.

Yoo Baek-gi's offensive began violently.

The speed was so swift that if Cheon Mubaeck's reaction had been even a little late, his wrist would have already been cut.

His mind instantly became cold.

Cheon Mubaeck's head was spinning fiercely.

'It's an offensive that forces defense.'

A fierce series of attacks that did not even give a chance to attack, and only forced defense.

As the swords clashed, a dull impact accumulated on his elbow and shoulder.

A fierce energy that would have ruptured his muscles if he had received more of the offensive dug into various parts of his body.

Cheon Mubaeck, who had received all nine attacks in a short moment, saw a gap in an instant. There was no hesitation. Even if it was a gap that had been deliberately created, Cheon Mubaeck was a man who did not fear traps.

He had blocked nine attacks and had poured out four attacks.

Cheon Mubaeck's brow narrowed. It was a situation that clearly showed the difference in their skills.

In fact, if he had put his mind to it, he could have poured out more attacks.

But it seemed that the body and the qi meridians that Cheon Mubaeck had polished, and the internal energy that had spread to them, would not be able to withstand it.

He felt a feeling of his muscles tearing and his bones twisting in all his senses.

Even if he tried to protect his body with the demon-subduing qi, the divine energy, and the extreme yin qi, Yoo Baek-gi's martial power relentlessly dug in and threatened him.

In the end, the number of times Cheon Mubaeck could withstand and pour out attacks was just four.

Although he had tried to stab one more time, forcing himself a little, a sword flashed, cutting through the gap.

A sword qi, an inch long, that suddenly shot out from the tip of the sword.

Cheon Mubaeck instinctively put his palm strike into his left hand and received it.

As the attacks, which both had put a considerable amount of martial power into, clashed head-on, the two slightly retreated from each other.

"..."

Even when he had faced the Poison Demon, when he had caught the King of Assassins, and in the situation where he had taken the Ghost Demon as a hostage.

And even in the situation where he had to kill the Blood Buddha, Cheon Mubaeck had only held his sword with his right hand.

It was not because the sword was light.

'Because that was enough.'

Now, Cheon Mubaeck had pulled his sword and was holding it with both hands.

The numerous martial arts and experiences that were going through his mind.

He had erased them all. He had forgotten them all. It had become a blank sheet.

And he only stared at the sword line in front of him.

At this moment, only the sword existed in Cheon Mubaeck's senses.

(End of Chapter)