Chapter 38 – What Could It Be

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read more at Nineheavens.org

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Chapter 38 – What Could It Be

A dream.

Cheol Ryu-heun, no… the Divine Martial Sword retraced half a year in time and was there as Sagong Woon's weapon, facing the wanderer.

It was an encounter in the middle of a deserted forest path beneath a sky where cotton-like clouds drifted.

Sagong Woon had been heading to the valley for seated meditation practice, wearing plain martial attire, when he spotted the wanderer coming from the opposite direction.

The attire was unmistakably that of a wandering swordsman.

Up to that point, it had been fine.

They were supposed to just exchange light eye greetings and pass by.

But.

The wanderer suddenly stopped about three jang away.

The gray traveling cloak wrapped around his body rippled like small waves before hanging still, following its master.

Simultaneously, the surroundings changed.

The fresh scenery of a March spring day remained the same.

Only.

The vitality had disappeared.

The occasional whispers of nature had abruptly stopped.

The chirping of birds, the cries of insects, even the sound of wind rustling the leaves…

A heavy silence unfitting of the sunlit forest swallowed everything.

The atmosphere was as if the world had stopped.

Having also halted his steps, Sagong Woon fixed his gaze forward and sharpened his senses with internal energy.

An inexplicable ominous feeling.

It was a response led by instinct.

But nothing registered on his honed senses.

The sudden change in surroundings was certainly because of the wanderer, yet his own aura was nothingness itself.

It was impossible to even gauge whether he had learned internal energy cultivation or not.

It was the same for the Divine Martial Sword.

Originally possessing unfathomable divine power, it could perceive the energy within an opponent's body separately from its owner, but this time, for some reason, nothing was detected.

Strange.

It was a first.

Instinctive wariness rose like a great wave.

Both the Divine Martial Sword and Sagong Woon.

The appearance of the mysterious wanderer was difficult to confirm.

Because he had pressed down his wide-brimmed bamboo hat so low that nothing but his lower face was visible.

In the peculiar atmosphere, Sagong Woon spoke first.

"Greetings. I am Sagong Woon, Sect Master of White Peak Sword Sect."

Since the opponent hadn't made any particular movement yet, he offered courteous greetings.

A brief silence.

Then a quiet voice flowed from between the wanderer's lips.

"I've finally reached you."

Suddenly startled, Sagong Woon gripped his sword hilt tight!

It was because the wanderer finally channeled internal energy and blatantly radiated an intangible aura.

Of course, the Divine Martial Sword also felt it immediately.

At that very instant.

Thud…

The ground trembled once.

Rumble…

The air also vibrated.

A truly terrifying pressure squeezed his chest.

Unable to breathe, Sagong Woon applied force to his hand gripping the sword hilt and raised his internal energy to the maximum.

"Why are you doing this? Surely you don't want a sparring match?"

Instead of answering his question – now in changed speech – what returned was a movement filled with hostility and killing intent.

Schingg-

When the wanderer drew the sword that had been at his waist, the forest sank into an even deeper stillness.

An iron sword about four cheok long.

The sword's appearance was exceedingly ordinary.

Like the Divine Martial Sword.

However, due to the formidable intangible aura the wanderer was emitting, even that sword felt extraordinary.

The Divine Martial Sword spoke.

-If you flee with all your might right now, and if luck is with you… you might at least save your life.

But there was no way it could be heard, and even if it could, there was no chance Sagong Woon would flee.

The Divine Martial Sword knew his character all too well.

He was not the kind of person to show his back shamefully to an enemy who had thrust a sword at him out of nowhere.

The old saying goes that a gentleman guards his words and deeds even when alone in a room.

In other words, even if no one was watching, he would never do anything shameful to his heart.

That was Sagong Woon.

A gentleman who held a sword.

A chivalrous knight of the martial world who always advocated justice and eschewed injustice.

The 'White' in White Peak Sword Sect signified the value of the orthodox faction, impartial and fair, and the 'Peak' signified the unyielding spirit of protecting those values with swordsmanship like massive mountains – and he was a person who perfectly matched that meaning.

The title White Gate Sword Gentleman had not been earned for nothing.

Therefore, Sagong Woon drew the Divine Martial Sword from its scabbard without hesitation and infused it with massive true energy.

Righteous spirit and chivalrous heart visible beyond his clear gaze.

He intended to stand and fight without fleeing.

The wanderer had already confirmed himself as an enemy with his aggressive stance, sword in hand.

At that moment.

Swish.

The wanderer straightened his right hand holding the iron sword out to the side.

In an instant, an enormous fighting spirit and aura seemed to merge together and blanket heaven and earth.

It was the bearing of a transcendent.

Truly the majesty of ten thousand prostrating in reverence.

As if tens of thousands of beasts were baring their fangs and roaring while an unprecedented giant stood tall in an imposing stance…

Having earlier erased nature's vitality in an instant while hiding his true power, his martial arts clearly reached a level beyond conjecture.

If divine generals of the heavenly realm existed, they would probably be like this.

Gulp.

Sagong Woon swallowed dryly.

His skin contracted to the extreme from the tension.

Goosebumps rose.

An indescribable shiver coursed through his torso.

The wanderer's utterly simple drawing stance was so devoid of openings that it could be called absolutely perfect.

His heart pounded.

A beat loud enough for the Divine Martial Sword to feel immediately.

-How regrettable. Am I going to change owners like this again?

Thus, the Divine Martial Sword sensed the death of its current owner, Sagong Woon.

The opponent was almost certainly a powerhouse who transcended the mortal world.

A supreme level that wouldn't be unreasonable even if he claimed the position of martial world ruler immediately.

Though he couldn't compare to Heavenly Demon, Sword Emperor, Evil Emperor, Martial Immortal, or Blood God, Sagong Woon's power was insufficient.

Ssssss-

The wanderer advanced.

It was swift movement that made even an instant feel long.

Clenching his teeth, Sagong Woon executed Mountain Coming – an ultimate technique from the White Peak Sword Manual – with extreme yang power.

Shwa-shwang-!

A thrust where the pressure of sword wind and the power of sword energy combined to feel like an entire grand mountain charging fiercely.

Kakang-!

Blade collided with blade.

"Guk!"

With a short groan, Sagong Woon was blown back more than twenty paces.

In a single exchange, he had suffered internal injury from the shaking of his heart meridian energy channels.

The sword energy Sagong Woon had overlaid on the blade with extreme yang power was far too insignificant compared to the wanderer's.

It was literally nothing but crumb-like sword power.

Originally, he should have died from that one strike.

But he survived.

Though he sustained internal injury, he preserved his life.

The reason was simple.

The wanderer had just concentrated most of his terrifying sword power on the Divine Martial Sword.

Otherwise, Sagong Woon would have had not just his heart meridian but his entire chest ruptured, dying instantly.

But then suddenly.

Crack…!

A fissure appeared on the Divine Martial Sword's body.

It had been a blade protected by immense divine power, invincible and undefeated.

It was something no treasured sword or famous sword had ever managed until now – not even Divine Weapons.

Did the wanderer's power surpass the prime of Heavenly Demon, Sword Emperor, Evil Emperor, Martial Immortal, and Blood God? Or was the ordinary iron sword in his hand actually an ultimate Divine Weapon?

For now, there was no way to know for certain.

The wanderer's iron sword surged in again.

Sagong Woon countered with the second ultimate technique, Mountain Spirit.

A horizontal slash like a spirit guarding the mountains swinging a sword wrapped in white mist.

Following the trajectory of the blade, white sword energy resembling sharp peaks was magnificently released.

Clang!

No sooner had the metallic sound burst out.

Gush.

Sagong Woon coughed blood and retreated a great distance.

Crack, crack-crack…!

Ugly cracks were once again etched onto the Divine Martial Sword's body.

Sagong Woon had no leisure even to correct his shaken energy channels and executed the third ultimate technique, Mountain Road.

White sword energy bent linearly as if the mountains were trembling in fury, demonstrating fierce majesty.

But.

Kakang-!

The wanderer's simple sword form overwhelmed that majesty in an instant.

If Sagong Woon's sword form was a mountain, his was a mountain range.

The class was different.

"Kkhh!"

Sagong Woon, coughing blood, slammed hard into the boulder behind him and collapsed face-first onto the ground with a thump!

Sure enough.

Crack-crack-crack…!

Even more cracks propagated across the Divine Martial Sword's body.

Its appearance was now unrecognizable as a sword.

The moment Sagong Woon barely managed to plant one knee and try to rise, the wanderer suddenly appeared before him and slashed down with the iron sword in his right hand.

The Divine Martial Sword sensed its own futile end.

It couldn't help it.

The energy contained in the iron sword falling vertically was too immense to describe.

It was transcendent sword power.

As if all the energy between heaven and earth had gathered in one body.

CRASH- KRAKABOOOM!

The Divine Martial Sword that Sagong Woon, squeezing out his maximum internal energy, had struck upward above his head was thus ruthlessly shattered into pieces and scattered in all directions.

Patter, patter-patter, patter…

Fragments falling onto the dirt ground like countless raindrops.

The tremendous shock tore the Divine Martial Sword's consciousness to shreds.

He felt like a small beast trampled under the great foot of some god that had descended to earth.

"Haah… haah…"

Sagong Woon sat down weakly, dropped his head, and let out barely audible breaths.

But.

Scrape!

With a blood-chilling sound, that breathing stopped.

Thud-

The Divine Martial Sword, its consciousness fading in and out, perceived Sagong Woon's head being severed.

"They called it an unprecedented Divine Martial Sword, but it's nothing much."

It was the wanderer's muttering, sounding like an illusion.

The Divine Martial Sword finally understood with certainty.

The wanderer's purpose from the start was not to take Sagong Woon's life, but to destroy itself – the pinnacle of Divine Weapons.

Step, step, step…

The wanderer's footsteps growing distant into the distance.

-So this… is what death is.

Soon, darkness arrived.

What could it be?

It was clearly a dream, but it felt like being trapped in that reality again.

Then.

-So you finally became a sword. You wanted it so desperately…

In the thick darkness, an unknown voice passed by.

* * *

Flash.

Opening his eyes, Cheol Ryu-heun lay on the bed and gazed at the ceiling for a moment before turning his head to the side.

Sunlight slanting through the gap in the window.

Morning had dawned before he knew it.

Right, that had been nothing but a dream.

But the quiet voice he heard at the last moment left quite a deep impression.

'What was that?'

It was something he'd never heard before.

A very strange voice whose gender and age were impossible to guess… Being a dream, it was even hazier.

At least it wasn't a memory from that time.

Could it be a remnant from somewhere deep in memories accumulated over the long years?

'It doesn't seem like someone who was connected to me…'

For some reason, the impression kept lingering, making him trace his memories and think.

Suddenly, with footsteps, someone cast a shadow beyond the door.

"Have you awakened?"

It was Chief Supervisor Hyeop Mu-geuk.

Cheol Ryu-heun pushed off the blankets, rose, and replied while gathering his clothes.

"Come in."

At that, Hyeop Mu-geuk slid the lattice door open left and right and stepped inside.

"You rose a bit late today."

"Ah, I was deeply dreaming an unfortunate dream."

The moment Cheol Ryu-heun replied indifferently, Hyeop Mu-geuk's gaze turned toward the table beside the bed.

More precisely, he had seen the booklet placed on top.

"As you can see, I completed it all."

"Ah…!"

"You can read through it briefly."

"But…"

"The executives will need to learn these formulas as a requirement anyway."

"Pardon?"

"If you don't want to, then don't."

No sooner had Cheol Ryu-heun finished speaking than Hyeop Mu-geuk eagerly picked up the booklet and flipped through the pages.

One page, then another.

Hyeop Mu-geuk soon exclaimed with an excited expression.

"My goodness…! Even just the one technique at the front of the book is entirely worthy of being called ultra-first-rate sword study! Truly amazing! How did you manage this in just one night…"

"Alright, go prepare for roll call. Starting today, there's a lot to handle again. We need to lay the foundation for the Mountain Martial Association revival, secure large quantities of rare minerals, do some illegal infiltration of government offices, and prepare to crush those cracking watermelon seeds behind our backs."

As Cheol Ryu-heun said that, he muttered inwardly.

'I also need to recruit a reliable information-gathering organization. To find traces of that wanderer bastard.'

Meanwhile, Hyeop Mu-geuk wore a bright smile and answered vigorously.

"Yes, Sect Master!"

Though there were some things mixed in that he was hearing for the first time and didn't quite understand… He had already set aside such doubts.

Trust, only that mattered.

Hyeop Mu-geuk's eyes let out a silent cry.

Our Sect Master Cheol, just do whatever you want!