First Move
A sense for handling true ki? A well-honed body?
'What about it?'
Without realizing, that thought suddenly sprung up.
It was the mont when the competitive spirit he had tucked away suddenly reared its head.
Isn't that, at the very least, sothing I can do? That thought ca to Jeong-un instinctively.
At the mont of realization, a previously unfathod blood vessel route for true ki materialized in his mind.
An obsession with leaving not a single unnecessary thing behind.
That obsession forged the path of the ki flow to be extrely simple yet powerful.
At that mont, Cheon Hwi suddenly widened the distance and withdrew. He wore a stifled expression Jeong-un hadn't seen before.
"That footwork of yours, what is it?"
"What do you an?"
"How do you move your body as if you already know the path of my sword every ti?"
Jeong-un, realizing the intention behind the question, nodded and replied.
"Young hero Cheon, your sword is so fast and mysterious that I found it hard to block. So, I simply trust my senses to evade you."
"... Do you really think that's a reasonable answer?"
"...?"
The conversation ended quickly. Cheon Hwi swallowed his incredulous look and raised his sword again.
Yet this ti, his aura felt different.
He didn't say anything, but Jeong-un could sense that Cheon Hwi was preparing a sword strike that could not be evaded any longer.
'Good.'
That was exactly what Jeong-un wanted. At that very mont, a new sword form occurred to him.
An inspiration that instantly solved a problem he had been considering for a long ti.
Tadak!
Cheon Hwi pushed off the ground and rushed at Jeong-un.
The heavy and intense internal energy he radiated was incomparable to before.
It didn't feel like the sword of a swordsman fad for his swift blade.
'Is this a feint?'
He let his vital ki surge openly, almost intimidatingly.
He could be setting the distance for a real strike. He had done so several tis already.
'... It doesn't matter either way.'
That was what Jeong-un thought inside. At the sa ti, he stepped forward and slightly bent his body. Jeong-un recalled the sensation in his hand placed on the sword guard, waiting for the mont Cheon Hwi would crash into him head-on.
Huuuk—
A clear trajectory erged in his mind's eye. The path Jeong-un's sword needed to take, reaching the opponent's neck before he could even swing his sword.
'Closer.'
Jeong-un waited for Cheon Hwi to co just a bit closer.
Then, when Cheon Hwi finally stepped perfectly into the path Jeong-un had envisioned.
'Now.'
The true ki condensed in his rear foot exploded. Jeong-un's front foot twisted slightly, rotating to shift my axis.
That alone was enough.
Internal energy followed the newly drawn path of true ki and burst forth like a lightning bolt.
The sword, now suffused with unfiltered internal power, ripped through the air with a horizontal slash.
Saaaak─
The sword shone with a golden radiance. All the spectators felt it.
They watched not the Light-Flowing Sword, but the sword of Annihilating One-Slash.
The golden streak that looked like it would cut the very air in half stopped for an instant.
"......!"
In the next mont, everyone lost their words at the scene before them.
Jeong-un's sword had halted right in front of Cheon Hwi's neck.
Light-Flowing Sword hadn't even managed to swing his sword more than halfway.
His mouth hung open in shock, as if he could not comprehend what had just happened. Then he lowered his gaze to the tip of the sword touching beneath his chin.
"......"
Finally, he slowly opened his mouth.
"I've lost."
Srrrng.
Jeong-un sheathed his sword. Only then did those around finally exclaim in delayed astonishnt.
"What just happened? Did I see that right? Was Annihilating One-Slash actually faster?"
"That's not just about speed..."
Many could not even finish their sentences.
But everyone watching was a martial artist. That was why they all knew what that sight ant.
"Not even 'peerless prodigy' is enough–soone unbelievable has appeared."
"The Yu household...! Where's the Yu household from? Send a letterhawk to the main sect!"
So began openly shouting about contacting the Gate of Death in their confusion.
anwhile, several people approached. Baek Il-gang wore an expression lost for words.
"Are you truly not a disciple of a famous sect?"
"I am not."
"Then how...?"
"That sounds like you're recognizing the disciples of the prestigious sects."
"......"
Various other martial artists also ca up to greet Jeong-un.
For a mont, Jeong-un wondered if winning just one duel could really be this significant.
While thinking this, Cheon Hwi, who had finished sheathing his sword and adjusting his clothes, approached.
He still had a bewildered look, but seed a little more composed.
"It's as if you grew in skill in a single mont as our blades clashed. Am I right?"
"I had a small realization after witnessing your refined swordsmanship. Thank you."
When Jeong-un responded with a martial salute, Cheon Hwi let out a deep laugh.
It seed he had wondered if that was the case. He spoke again, now with admiration.
"... Young hero, you seem like soone from another world. You wouldn't happen to be an old master reborn in youth, would you?"
Jeong-un smiled awkwardly at the jesting complint.
'An old master reborn'?
Now that was excessive.
"It's been a long ti since I enjoyed myself so much. I have many things to reflect on when I return. Well then."
Cheon Hwi bowed and turned to leave, but then hesitated, turned back, and addressed Jeong-un.
"... That last sword strike."
He paused, looking a bit embarrassed, and then asked, hesitatingly.
"May I ask its na? Truth is, even standing right in front of you, I couldn't see it."
He frankly admitted that he had been unable to see his opponent's technique—a thing perhaps even harder than admitting defeat, at least for one who bet his life on the sword.
Jeong-un, inwardly admiring his humility, put to words the inspiration that had co to him.
"... Traceless Flash(閃電無痕)."
It was the first move of an unnad, unique sword art he had created.
* * *
For a while, Jeong-un spent his ti in a private training room.
While he ant to refine the martial arts techniques he had invented himself, another reason was that staying in the public training hall no longer felt comfortable.
Requests for duels ca at all hours, as a matter of course.
Sotis martial artists he had never seen before approached him in a friendly way, which was rather tough for soone like him who was not used to such attention.
On the other hand, so sent disapproving glares—chiefly the two-striped warriors within the hall.
Rumors mixed my supposed defiance toward a two-striped warrior during a mission and my undeniable show of strength, spawning yet more rumors.
Before Jeong-un knew it, I had beco sothing of an arrogant martial artist without realizing it.
'Let things be as they may.'
I paid it little mind. I never cared for fa in the first place.
If I had, I would have devoted myself to accumulating rit like everyone else. I had even refused offers to let claim full credit for group achievents.
For Jeong-un, just achieving clear progress in martial arts so soon after entering the hall was satisfying enough.
'It's only now that I've finally laid the basic foundation.'
One Illumination Movent Technique grew more refined the more he trained it.
Even by his own reckoning, it was a highly satisfactory cultivation thod.
Although most of the external ki Jeong-un absorbed continued to be filtered away, slowing accumulation to a crawl, he actually liked that.
The power of pure, slowly accumulating internal energy—he had already experienced it several tis.
Moonlight Swift Steps also showed room for further developnt.
Since Jeong-un had created it in actual battle, it felt as if the technique fit his body perfectly.
Thus, it was clear where more improvent was possible—sothing Jeong-un realized even more through today's duel with Cheon Hwi.
'I can expand my ki sense even further.'
Training body-strengthening art was like closely examining every single movent of the body.
Extre focus extended his ki sense.
This realization was significant.
It was thanks to this that Jeong-un had been able to dodge Cheon Hwi's fastest sword with my senses rather than my eyes.
'But my swordsmanship has a long way to go.'
At last, Jeong-un had completed one move. Traceless Flash was clearly a form inspired by Cheon Hwi's sword.
An extrely simple route for the ki flow, made solely for swinging the sword as fast as possible.
From there, Jeong-un took it a step further.
Perfectly refined ki, the subtleties of Moonlight Swift Steps, and the ki flow path designed for speed—all woven together.
'Two moves remain.'
Unconsciously, Jeong-un had divided his sword art into three moves.
That was surely the influence of the Three Talent Sword Technique, which Jeong-un had never stopped training since beginning his studies.
No one would see it as that technique anymore.
Instead, so even saw it as a refined, exceptional sword art and asked for its na.
Each ti, Jeong-un had no answer and danced around the question.
'A na...'
He recalled the sensation of swinging his hand horizontally, capturing the essence of Traceless Flash.
Jeong-un had swung the sword countless tis, but never before had his body and sword felt so perfectly as one.
The true ki burst from the tip of his toes, rushed through his body, and surged into the sword.
Even in that fleeting instant, one step with the subtlety of Moonlight Swift Steps was there.
It was a sword strike that stole the breath of a rising star fad for his swift sword.
It was so fast that even Jeong-un, the wielder, could barely track it.
'I lack internal energy.'
Unconsciously, Jeong-un bit his lip. Paradoxically, the more he achieved, the more he beca aware of his shortcomings.
Traceless Flash was a move with heavy recoil.
The true ki that burst from his foot poured into the sword, draining almost all the true ki in his body.
It enabled a rapid strike powered by trendous acceleration, but it was by no ans a move that could be used repeatedly.
Despite having a well-conditioned body thanks to his cultivation thods, his whole body still ached for a while afterward.
'Maybe I need an elixir or a cultivation pill.'
Jeong-un recalled the cultivation pill made from ten-year-old Polygonum multiflorum that he had taken at the Yu household.
Even then, most of its energy had been filtered away by One Illumination Movent Technique, but it was potent enough that Jeong-un felt a significant boost.
But now, even that much of an increase in internal energy wouldn't do much for him.
Although still ager by others' standards, my dantian held more internal energy than ever before.
'I'll need much rarer elixirs now, I suppose.'
But cultivation pills were not easy to co by.
In the major sects, they were said to manufacture precious pills specifically for promising disciples—as with the Purple Grass Pill of Mount Hua or the Great Rejuvination Pill of Shaolin.
Needless to say, outsiders would never even see such things, much less be offered them.
'Will there be an opportunity?'
You couldn't simply obtain rare items like those elixirs.
Even in great sects, only those showing great promise among their disciples received them.
Furthermore, the Heavenly Martial Hall was not an organization like a martial arts sect or a family.
Even with its considerable number of people, it was divided only loosely into four groups.
Even among the warriors, there was little sense of belonging. Naturally, no one would provide pills to the warriors either.
'Internal energy...'
The road is still long. With every swing of the sword Jeong-un keenly felt that, despite having finally completed a move worthy of a na.
'It's not very useful. I can't use it more than once or twice.'
In the martial world, you can't expect a fair one-on-one duel. It's full of people who would stab you in the back or side without hesitation.
If you use a technique that drains most of your dantian's internal energy at once, it's practically suicide.
'Maybe I should improve my cultivation thods further.'
With the creation, Jeong-un had also accomplished a full circulation of internal energy.
He was satisfied with its effect. Compared to anyone, his body was now well-honed.
The only thing he regretted was ti.
'If only I had started training sooner...'
If he had, his internal energy would be on another level by now. Once again, Jeong-un regretted all the days spent holed up in his room.
Then, Jeong-un sensed an unfamiliar presence approaching, directly headed for his private training room.
'Who is it?'
Jeong-un lowered his sword and looked up. Soon, a man peeked his head in, quietly pushing aside the curtain.
"Young hero Yu, are you in?"
He flinched as his eyes t Jeong-un's, perhaps because Jaseong had looked up as if he had been waiting for the man.
"You knew I was coming?"
"Didn't you walk here so I could?"
"Heh."
Baek Il-gang, now hardly surprised by anything, let out a small laugh. He glanced at my sword and comnted,
"You're always training, aren't you?"
"I don't have anything else to do."
"Any new insight?"
Jeong-un silently shook his head.
He still hadn't sheathed his sword, giving off an air that said, "Don't bother if you don't have a reason."
But Baek Il-gang rely laughed and shrugged.
"Unfortunately, you'll have to call it a day."
"What's the matter?"
"A mission."
'A mission?'
It hadn't been long since my last one. I'd heard that brand-new warriors usually weren't given missions frequently.
Jeong-un blinked in surprise, and Baek Il-gang nodded.
"Looks like most of our 'stripe' is moving. Anyway, the corps leader called for the two of us."
"Most of our stripe, you say?"
Jeong-un looked questioningly at Baek Il-gang.
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