Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 355 – Extreme Blade (2)

At the same time.

Sword Valley of Spiritual Sword Sanctuary.

“Only the blade can discuss the extreme.”

At the arrogant man’s words, Gok-o’s expression hardened as his sword was cut.

Like most gathered in this place called the holy land of swords, he too had strong pride in swords.

But the quick-draw technique this person just displayed was the essence of swiftness, unlike anything he had ever seen before.

He was speechless at the single blade strike that had no unnecessary movements.

‘……Extraordinary.’

‘It wasn’t even visible.’

This was also true for most of the swordsmen gathered in front of the split Sword Way Sword Extreme tablet.

They too were shocked by this unknown person’s single blade strike.

Then someone shouted:

“You’re the one who massacred the head of the Namgoong family and their elites!”

‘!!!!!’

At that cry, everyone’s gaze turned to the owner of the voice.

The owner of the voice was none other than Jeong Myeong Sa-tae, an elder of the Hangshan Sect and an investigator dispatched by the Righteous Alliance.

The moment she saw the man’s incredible blade strike, she was certain.

‘It’s him!’

Among the blade marks left on the dead Namgoong family members, there were traces of a quick blade.

As she was also an outstanding expert, she could mentally trace some of the blade moves while examining the wounds, but

‘……Was this actually possible?’

Many of the blade marks left on the wounds were filled with strange blade moves that seemed impossible to embody with a human body.

Blade moves that surpassed the limits of muscles and joints.

It was judged that it would be impossible except for the Qi Blade Technique that handles the blade with qi.

But now someone appeared who could implement one of them.

This meant that the real culprit of the Namgoong family massacre had revealed himself.

“That guy killed…… the head of the Namgoong family?”

“Such a thing alone?”

The crowd stirred.

The guests in Sword Valley were those who had stayed here for at least a few months.

Therefore, they only knew that some incident had occurred outside Spiritual Sword Sanctuary, but didn’t know exactly what had happened.

But when they learned of it due to Jeong Myeong Sa-tae’s cry, they couldn’t help but be shocked.

The head of the Namgoong family was one of the top martial artists in the world, with the title of one of the Eight Stars.

But this person alone massacred him and the elites of the Namgoong family?

‘……He’s a monster.’

Truly, the human heart is fickle.

They had been angry because he entered Sword Valley, the holy land of swords, and cut Master Ou’s tablet.

But now that they knew what this person had done, their anger subsided and they were instantly gripped by tension and fear.

However, someone broke this silence.

“You damn bastaaaard!!!!”

-Chwak!

Along with the shout, a sword light flashed as a sharp aura tried to behead the arrogant blade user.

It was a sword strike with tremendous momentum.

However, the opponent was a monster who had single-handedly massacred the head of the Namgoong family and their elites.

-Chaeng!

He deflected the sword too easily.

-Chwareureureuru!

The one who launched the strike was instead pushed back about six steps.

It was Ji-oe.

-Jurureuk! Sseuk!

Ji-oe wiped the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.

While everyone felt overwhelmed by the opponent’s strength and didn’t know what to do, Ji-oe’s eyes were blazing with anger, as if his rage had surged.

The blade user showed interest in his appearance.

“Have you raised your fighting spirit? Not bad.”

“Not bad? Don’t say such ridiculous things. They say a hundred days for the blade, a thousand days for the spear, and ten thousand days for the sword. How dare you discuss the extreme with mere blades, not knowing the depth of swords.”

“Mere blades?”

The blade user’s thick eyebrows raised.

Seeing this, Gok-o couldn’t hide his embarrassment.

‘How can you provoke that monster-like guy who has reached the extreme of blade pride in such a way?’

-Sseuk!

Then Gok-o’s eyes caught the blade user changing his grip on the blade handle.

And the moment he changed his grip, the blade user was about to move.

The target was, of course, Ji-oe.

‘Now!’

Not missing that instant, Gok-o raised his strong energy with his broken sword and aimed for the blade user’s back.

-Woowoong! Chwak!

As he aimed for the opening, the blade user, who was about to launch his body towards Ji-oe, didn’t even turn his gaze, but lightly twisted his body to avoid Gok-o’s sword strike imbued with sword energy.

-Pak!

‘Ah!’

Those watching were inwardly disappointed at how easily he avoided the sword, but Gok-o was a sword master comparable to the Eight Stars, so he calmly executed a change in technique.

-Chwachwachwak!

As Gok-o’s sword trajectory bent with the change in technique, the blade user tilted his head back to avoid the first trajectory.

However, the following change in technique exquisitely aimed for the vital point in the middle of the blade user’s collarbone, who had tilted his head back.

Everyone couldn’t help but admire this exquisite move that aimed for the opponent’s weak point.

But then,

-Chwak!

‘!?’

At that moment, everyone’s eyes widened.

The reason was simple.

The swordsmen thought it was impossible to avoid that change in technique with his waist and head tilted back simultaneously.

But in that very posture, he swung his blade and cut off Gok-o’s wrist.

-Chaenggeulang!

“Kkeup!”

Gok-o, who lost his wrist, gritted his teeth and hurriedly leaped backward.

He was dumbfounded.

This was such an incredible monster that he was at a loss for words.

How strong must his waist muscles be to create such a blade trajectory at that angle in that posture?

Even if I were a high-level expert, if I had done that in that posture, my waist muscles would have ruptured.

‘How has such a monstrous guy not been known?’

His martial prowess is beyond imagination.

Perhaps he might be comparable to Master Ou Cheonmu, the master of Spiritual Sword Sanctuary and one of the Six Heavens, having reached the realm of grandmasters.

-Ossak!

But this wasn’t the end.

The blade user’s blade, who had suddenly caught up, was about to behead him.

The blade was so fast that there was no chance to avoid it.

However,

-Chaeaeng!

The guy’s blade soared upward.

It was Ji-oe who deflected it.

Thanks to his perfectly timed block, he could avoid losing his head……

-Chwak! Puseuk!

At that moment, Gok-o’s head was separated from his body.

Gok-o’s expression didn’t change at all, not even realizing he had died.

‘Gok-o!’

At Gok-o’s death, Ji-oe bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

He thought it was fortunate to have blocked the blade exquisitely, but in that instant, the guy rotated his body like lightning and aimed a roundhouse kick at Gok-o’s neck.

But due to the sharp energy generated at the tip of his foot, the neck was cut off.

‘This guy’s entire body is the blade itself.’

Blade and Self as One

It was a realm where one could say he himself was the blade.

Ji-oe understood why the guy had discussed the extreme of the blade.

This guy truly seemed to have reached the extreme of the blade.

Although they had been bickering, when Gok-o, who could be called his only match in Sword Valley, met his death so easily, Ji-oe’s fighting spirit wavered for a moment.

“I’ll send you along too.”

The guy was about to catch up to him this time.

But at that moment,

-Chachachachachachangt!

Someone intervened, allowing Ji-oe to quickly regain his senses.

It was Jeong Myeong Sa-tae of the Hangshan Sect.

“Senior Ji-oe, let’s attack together!”

At her cry, Ji-oe, who had come to his senses, leaped backward and then sent energy to his Yongcheon point, changing direction forward.

‘Eight Swords!’

His sword created a net-like web, trying to bind the blade user.

However, the blade user blocked Jeong Myeong Sa-tae’s sword moves and Ji-oe’s sword moves too easily.

-Chaechaechaechaechaeng!

Moreover, he was moving only his waist and right arm without taking a single step, but there seemed to be almost no limit to those movements.

In an instant, they exchanged about three moves, but in that brief moment, various parts of Jeong Myeong Sa-tae and Ji-oe were cut by the blade, and their wounds increased.

-Chwachwachwak!

‘It’s difficult to predict the blade’s trajectory.’

‘Damn it. What kind of muscles and bones does he have? How can he move at such angles?’

Even joint attacks were overwhelming.

At that moment, the swordsmen who had been just watching, feeling this wouldn’t do, drew their swords and stepped forward.

-Seureung! Seureung!

If the two people who could be called the strongest here were to be killed, even they might be in danger.

“Senior Ji-oe!”

“We’ll help too!”

-Papapar!

The swordsmen aimed for the blade user’s openings, targeting his back and sides.

As the opponent was too strong to argue about the cowardice of joint attacks as righteous martial artists, no one hesitated.

But it was at that moment.

“Eight Immortals Blade Competition”

‘!?’

-Puk!

The blade user gripped his blade with both hands and struck it down towards the ground.

-Kwang!

-Chwachwachwachwachwak!

At that moment, a tyrannical blade energy rose from the ground, splitting into eight directions from where the blade was struck and soaring in all directions.

‘This is!’

‘What!’

At the explosive blade energy, Ji-oe and Jeong Myeong Sa-tae simultaneously raised their half-step strong energy and unleashed the best defensive techniques they could perform.

‘Four Swords!’

‘Remaining Wish Stops Smoothly!’

Jeong Myeong Sa-tae unleashed the fourth move of the Hangshan Sect’s Wall Origin Seven Sword Techniques, the Remaining Wish Stops Smoothly.

Her Remaining Wish Stops Smoothly, which had gained insight through the Sword Way Sword Extreme inscription, was much more solid than before.

However,

-Chaeaaaaeng!

The power of the blade energy spreading in eight directions was beyond imagination.

The explosive force was so great that her form, trying to block it, was thrown backward.

-Paang!”

“Aak!”

It was no different for Ji-oe.

He tried to fill the gaps as much as possible by rotating his sword energy, but he kept being pushed back by the strength of the blade energy.

-Chwareureureureuru!

‘Kkeuk! What kind of blade energy is this……’

Ji-oe, who kept being pushed back, was only able to deflect it upward when the momentum of the blade energy weakened somewhat.

-Chaeaaang! Chwachwachwachwa!

The deflected blade energy had enough power to tear the air several times.

It was enough to make one’s ears ring.

The dust from the aftermath of his blade energy obscured the view in front of them.

But there was a scent stimulating their noses.

Ji-oe’s expression darkened.

As he was thinking ‘surely not’,

-Swaaaaa!

As the wind cleared the dust, the corpses of the torn swordsmen were visible all around.

The scene in front of the cliff was terribly stained with their blood.

With just one ultimate move, eight swordsmen couldn’t withstand it and lost their lives in an instant.

‘……Damn it.’

The swordsmen who had entered Sword Valley were each high-level experts who had reached the pinnacle-stage of Transcendent Realm.

To think such people were swept away by just one move like this.

-Jurureuk!

Cold sweat flowed down Ji-oe’s forehead.

There was no denying it.

This guy was undoubtedly a peerless expert of the grandmaster level who had reached the realm of the Six Heavens, which could be called the pinnacle of the martial world, not just comparable to it.

The only counterpart in Spiritual Sword Sanctuary who could face this monster was Master Ou Cheonmu alone.

With this level of energy, Master Ou might have sensed it, but should we buy more time?

-Gooooo!

‘……We might all die before that.’

Ji-oe searched for someone with a darkened expression.

It was Ou Woong-seong, the second son of Master Ou.

As far as he knew, Master Ou was currently in the final process of sword-making, refining the sword heart.

He knew that when refining the sword heart, one needed to concentrate so much that no one should disturb them, so there was a possibility that he might not sense the crisis because of that.

So Ji-oe tried to signal Ou Woong-seong with his eyes to bring his father, Master Ou.

But then,

‘No.’

As he was about to signal, he saw Ou Woong-seong doing something strange.

The guy was holding something and looked dazed, and that something was emitting a brilliant light.

‘That bastard, at a time like this……’

It was then.

“So that was the strange energy I felt. Come.”

The blade user reached out his hand towards Ou Woong-seong and made a pulling gesture.

Then,

-Paak!

“Heuk!”

Ou Woong-seong, who was standing dazed holding something shining in his hand, suddenly lifted into the air and flew towards the blade user.

It was the technique of Void Object Grasping.

‘Oh no!’

Ji-oe’s expression distorted.

It was an incredible coincidence.

He was going to send the guy to call Master Ou, but what kind of variable is this?

-Pat!

Ji-oe launched his body and unleashed a sword technique along with drawing his sword towards the blade user.

‘I shouldn’t hold back.’

The sword he was unleashing was his own Sword Way Sword Extreme, the Fourteen Swords, which he had devised to break the Sword Way Sword Extreme inscription.

Although it was an incomplete sword, its principle was aimed at the sword extreme, so it could be called the most profound sword technique.

-Chwachwachwachwachwachwa!

The blade user’s eyes glinted with interest at Ji-oe’s sword technique.

The blade user then released the Void Object Grasping and turned his body to receive Ji-oe’s sword technique.

-Chaechaechaechaechaeng!

The clash of sword and blade was so intense that blue sparks flew in all directions.

But it was around when he was about to unleash the sixth sword technique.

-Sseuk!

‘What?’

The blade entered through a gap that even Ji-oe himself, who had devised the sword technique, hadn’t anticipated at all.

-Chaeaaang!

That single blade strike instantly broke through the Fourteen Swords, not even allowing the first half to be properly unleashed.

-Chwareureureuru!

As the sword technique was broken, Ji-oe’s form, which took the full brunt of the aftermath, was pushed back about five steps.

-Kung!

Having suffered severe internal injuries, Ji-oe immediately knelt on one knee.

“Kkeuweok!”

Ji-oe spat blood on the ground.

‘This can’t be.’

Ji-oe was shocked when even his ultimate move, created to face Master Ou, was broken through so easily.

Is this person truly a monster?

To break through a technique he’s seeing for the first time as if knowing its weakness, before even the first half could be unleashed.

It was utterly despairing.

Then the blade user approached him, muttering incomprehensible words.

“I see. I thought the sword technique seemed familiar, so it’s the origin of that guy’s?”

“What?”

What nonsense is he spouting?

As Ji-oe was wondering, the blade user raised the corner of his mouth and said:

“So it’s the Sword Sect?”

‘!?’

Ji-oe’s eyes shook at those words.

This was because his sect was a hidden single-heir martial arts family, almost unknown to the outside world.

But the name of his sect came out of the mouth of this person he was seeing for the first time.

“You…… Who exactly?”

“I’m lucky. Should I call this killing two birds with one stone?”

“What are you……”

Before he could finish his question.

-Seureuk!

The approaching blade user’s form blurred and disappeared.

Along with it, as if blowing wind with his mouth, a very faint breeze was felt, and in an instant, a chilling sharp aura was felt at his neck.

-Ossak!

‘I…… I……”

He realized something was aiming for his neck, but it was already too late.

It wasn’t something that could be blocked just because he knew about it.

-Seuseuseuseu!

He felt the cold blade digging into his neck.

Is this how I die?

Does death approach so emptily like this?

Like a fleeting dream, many things flashed through his mind in an instant as Ji-oe closed his eyes.

It was at that moment.

-Chaeaaaaang!

An intense metallic sound rang in his ears.

Along with it, he heard a short groan and the sound of something being pushed back.

“Keup.”

-Chwareureureureureuru!

What’s going on?

Ji-oe, who had accepted his death in that instant, opened his eyes in surprise.

And before his eyes was an astonishing sight.

He saw that monstrous blade user, who hadn’t moved a single step even when numerous swordsmen including himself had launched a joint attack, being pushed back nearly ten steps.

-Pareureureuru!

Moreover, the blade user was gripping his blade handle with both hands for the first time, and the blade that had looked solid was trembling madly.

‘Did Master Ou come…… Huh?’

Ji-oe’s eyes widened.

He naturally thought Master Ou had arrived.

But standing in front of him was someone with a face he had never seen before.

It was a person with an incredibly beautiful face, a youth, no, he didn’t even look of age yet.

‘Who on earth is this?’

As he was filled with questions, the blade user slowly lowered his trembling blade and revealed his face.

The blade user’s face, which had been so relaxed as to be almost expressionless until now, was suddenly filled with tension and excitement.

The blade user opened his mouth with a highly elated expression.

“Cheonma (Heavenly Demon)!”