Chapter 26 : Master’s Gate (1)

“Who is this? Isn’t it the master of the Fifth Hall?”

The old man smiled smoothly.

The Ghost Slaughter Sword was not surprised.

There was no one in Dongseung who did not know of the Fifth Hall. Who did not know of the Ten Swords of the Living Sword Sect?

“And you, are you called Ah Sam? Looking at your skill in catching our kids, the name Ah Sam probably isn’t your real name either. What kind of person are you? What are you plotting under the nose of the Living Sword Sect?”

Thud!

The Ghost Slaughter Sword took a step forward.

The old man raised his hand and stopped the Ghost Slaughter Sword.

It was not a sign of giving up the fight. The old man took out a gourd from his waist and gulped down the liquor.

‘Drinking before a fight…?’

The Ghost Slaughter Sword clenched his teeth.

Was he such an incompetent martial artist that he was confident enough to drink and fight? Was he a trivial person?

Shame, disgrace, insult… he felt extremely bad.

A Living Sword Sect disciple would never do such a thing. No matter who they fought, they would cleanse their body and mind to the purest state just before the fight. Because they had to do their best.

Drinking before a fight? It was proof that he had given up on his life. But he had no intention of fighting gently with mercy in his hands. The more such a person was, the more he had to be taught a lesson, so much so that his teeth would chatter.

Swoosh!

The Ghost Slaughter Sword raised his sword.

“Good grief, I told you to wait a little. What a temper. Even if we fight, we should at least wet our throats while we fight, shouldn’t we?”

“Huhuhu!”

A murderous glint blazed in the Ghost Slaughter Sword’s eyes.

He thought of the dead disciples. He recalled the faces of his subordinates who had died at this person’s hands. Then his anger burned even more fiercely. There was no hesitation in executing his sword.

The old man, without caring about the Ghost Slaughter Sword’s feelings, said calmly, “But… are you going to keep these dogs like this? Shouldn’t you tie them up? They’re getting on my nerves.”

The old man smiled smoothly again.

Growl! Grrr!

The fighting dogs, aiming for their prey, circled around, growling as if they would rush in at any moment.

The fighting dogs were not on a leash. So they could attack at any time. In fact, if the Ghost Slaughter Sword had not stepped forward, a few of the fighting dogs would have already rushed in.

But the fighting dogs also recognized their master.

From the moment the Ghost Slaughter Sword stepped forward, they suppressed their attacking instincts and only growled lowly.

“Are you afraid of these things?”

“I’m not afraid, but they are annoying.”

“Huhu, if it’s just annoying, then endure it.”

“Surely a martial artist of the Ghost Slaughter Sword’s level isn’t thinking of getting help from these things, is he?”

“It would be good to find out whether you are fated to die by my sword, or to be torn apart by these things.”

“That won’t do, he’s still a person. A person should entrust their life to a person’s sword, not be torn apart by mere beasts. That thought itself is not something a Living Sword Sect disciple should have. Honestly, using fighting dogs, that’s not something the Living Sword Sect should do, is it? It’s not normal.”

“Think as you please.”

“That’s right? Kikik! I think you should have become a bandit or a pirate instead of wearing the clothes of the Living Sword Sect. Then you would have become a butcher of people without any hesitation by now. Isn’t that better?”

“I’ve heard that a lot too.”

The Ghost Slaughter Sword strode towards the old man.

The old man stuck the gourd he was holding into his side. And he tapped it with his hand as if to say wait a moment.

“Good grief, it would have been perfect if I had just had a couple more sips.”

The old man smacked his lips as if in regret.

Shwaeeek!

The Ghost Slaughter Sword began his attack.

A fierce sound of cutting through the air came from the sword. The glint of the sword cut through the air.

The Ghost Slaughter Sword had trained in the Twelve Linked Swords, which almost all disciples of the Living Sword Sect did not choose.

The Twelve Linked Swords were very difficult to train.

You had to train twelve different sword arts, and then you had to link these individual sword arts into one. Only then would an ultimate sword form that could be used in real combat be born.

The individual sword arts were not for real combat.

If you used the scattered sword arts in real combat, you were likely to be defeated.

Only when the twelve sword arts were linked into one did they become for real combat.

Because you had to train all twelve sword arts, it took a very long time. The hardship was also severe. The process of linking the twelve sword arts into one was also not easy. Most failed.

Almost no one in the Living Sword Sect trained in the Twelve Linked Swords.

The Ghost Slaughter Sword had properly trained in the Twelve Linked Swords. And he had risen to the Ten Swords at once.

Before he had trained in the Twelve Linked Swords, he had been just a third rate martial artist, but after training in the sword, he had become the master of the Fifth Hall at once.

That sword exploded.

From the first sword to the twelfth sword, the sword forms burst out in succession. Like gunpowder exploding, they burst out at once.

When the Twelve Linked Swords were executed, the opponent’s body would begin to be caught from the fifth or sixth sword. The tip of the sword would touch the flesh. Blood would pour out, and bones would be cut.

After all twelve of the Twelve Linked Swords were executed, the person would disappear and only a lump of flesh and blood would remain.

That was why the Twelve Linked Swords were also called the Blood Death Demon Sword.

Shwek shwek! Tak tak tak!

The twelve swords burst out in succession as if exploding.

Swoooosh!

The old man slid back.

The footwork the old man performed was similar to the Oiled Step Footwork, which was said to be trained on smooth oil.

He slid without bending his knees.

‘Ugh! I was wrong!’

The Ghost Slaughter Sword’s eyes widened.

He had thought that he had learned a trick or two somewhere… but seeing his footwork, he had no choice but to change his mind.

It was said that it took a year to stand on oil, ten years to move, and thirty years to exchange blows. That was how difficult the Oiled Step Footwork was to train. In terms of training difficulty, it was much harder than the Twelve Linked Swords.

The old man had not learned some trivial trick. It was by no means a martial art that he had learned by peeking over someone’s shoulder.

It was a martial art that had been trained in the orthodox way.

He was a very strong master. He could get caught up in it if he was not careful.

“You! Who are you!”

The Ghost Slaughter Sword let out a thunderous roar in the middle of unleashing the Twelve Linked Swords.

“Ah Sam. You’re asking even though you know.”

The old man said teasingly.

Parang! Pararang! Parararang!

The sword arts began to pile up. The first sword, the second sword, the third sword, the fourth sword… the fifth linked sword was executed.

“Are you from the Red Wolf Squad!”

Following the sixth sword, the seventh sword was executed.

Jwaaaak!

The Ghost Slaughter Sword’s sword suddenly multiplied into seven. He was holding one sword, but there were seven sword tips.

The swords, spread out like a fan, pressed down on the old man.

It was impossible to distinguish which was a feint and which was a real move.

“The Red Wolf Squad? It’s a mistake to say that just by looking at my sword.”

“Then what is it! Tell me before you die!”

“Tsk! You’ve interpreted the Twelve Linked Swords in such a way and still hold the position of one of the Ten Swords? Aren’t you ashamed? You’re too focused on form.”

The old man said with a smirk.

The Ghost Slaughter Sword’s brow furrowed deeply.

He had interpreted the Twelve Linked Swords in such a way? What had he executed wrongly? No one had ever said such a thing. Even the Sect Master had not spared any praise, saying it was an outstanding sword art.

‘Crazy bastard!’

The Twelve Linked Swords were by no means a sword art focused on form. No, on the contrary, it was a very practical sword art.

The reason why each of the twelve swords in the linked swords did not produce results in real combat was because of its practicality. Because the sword forms were executed so blatantly, they were easily avoided. Even if one was clumsy and could not avoid them, they could at least grasp what kind of sword form was being executed.

Only when the twelve swords were linked into a linked sword did their practicality become hidden.

When the sword forms were executed quickly, the blatant attack forms became somewhat hidden.

It was by no means a sword art focused on form. Rather, it was a sword art that had extremely excluded all forms.

If he had seen this as a sword art focused on form, he had seen it wrongly.

The Ghost Slaughter Sword executed the eighth sword following the seventh sword.

The old man’s body had not yet been caught by the sword tip, but he calmly executed it.

The seventh sword, the sword tips spread out like a fan, aimed for the old man’s seven major acupoints and dug in.

Head!

It aimed for the center of the eyebrows, the Yintang acupoint.

Neck!

It struck the center of the two collarbones, the Tiantu acupoint.

It also dug into the Qimen acupoint under the heart. The Daju acupoint under the navel was also chosen. It also aimed for the Shousanli acupoint under the elbow. Block the Chongmen acupoint where the hip joint is. The sword tip also aimed for the Yinlingquan acupoint under the knee.

The seventh sword made it impossible to know where to block. If you were to defend, you would have to block the entire body. Since that was not possible, you had to retreat, and while retreating, it made you pull back completely.

To say it again, there were no feints among the seven swords. The sword tips aimed for seven places, and they were all real moves.

To train this seventh sword, you had to first master the training of striking seven places at once. You could only execute it if the change in the sword form was so fast that it was invisible to the eye.

The eighth sword momentarily blinded the opponent. It pushed the whole world into darkness.

The opponent would feel the hallucination of the whole world turning black.

It was a phantom sword. It was a trick of the eye.

If a real move began to look like a phantom sword, who could block it? It was impossible not to be hit. The whole world was black, there was nothing to see and nothing to feel, so how could one block the sword?

But he could not execute the eighth sword to the end. The linked swords were being executed, but the old man did not retreat and rather approached. The eighth sword would be executed when the opponent retreated, but a single thread of line broke through the fan.

‘Ugh!’

The hair on the Ghost Slaughter Sword’s head stood on end.

Tang tang tang! Tang tang tang tang!

The thread of line and the seven swords clashed.

The seven swords continuously struck the sword body to prevent the thread of line from approaching. They knocked it down, and they swung it up. They also tried to move it to the side. When that didn’t work, they even tried to break the sword body.

The swords clashed fiercely, sending out red sparks.

But… the old man’s sword still broke through. All seven swords were thrown back.

A whopping seven sword lines had struck a single thread of line, but the thread of line was still stubbornly alive and coming in.

A steel sword!

It was a monstrous sword that could not be shaken off by any weight, by any true energy.

‘I have to avoid it!’

Just as the opponents who had faced the seven swords had unconditionally jumped up, the Ghost Slaughter Sword also unconditionally retreated.

There was no other way but to avoid it.

The Ghost Slaughter Sword felt a sense of crisis and executed the life saving footwork, the Four Legged Step.

The Four Legged Step freed the body. It allowed one to move in any direction within one step.

In a sword fight of an instant, in a moment where life and death were decided instantly, the meaning of the space of one step was very great.

If you could move freely one step at the moment the swords crossed, it was as good as having the whole world.

You would attack while flying freely in the sky. The opponent would be nailed to the ground and unable to move. There was a huge difference in the sword forms extended by someone who could not move and someone who could fly freely.

It was the effect of one step.

The Living Sword Sect disciples kept the Four Legged Step extremely secret. It was to the extent that only the Living Sword Sect Master and the Ten Swords knew it.

Swoooosh!

The Ghost Slaughter Sword retreated.

But the sword followed. He had executed the Four Legged Step, but it followed to the end. It was as if the old man also knew the Four Legged Step, as if he were executing it together.

“Chaat!”

The Ghost Slaughter Sword threw off the eighth sword with all his might.

Chwarararak!

The sword form was executed brilliantly. The sword drew hundreds, thousands of phantoms. It pushed the world into darkness. And at the same time, he was still executing the Four Legged Step. At that moment,

Shwek!

The Ghost Slaughter Sword heard an extremely short sound of cutting through the air.

The moment he heard that sound, a cold wind rose from his back. He felt a danger to his life.

Fortunately, the old man’s sword grazed his chest.

The sword passed by. He could feel it passing in front of his chest. The Tiger Claw Ripping Sword flowed by.

A sense of relief that he had avoided the old man’s sword washed over him. In that instant,

Puk!

The sword that had seemed to be passing by suddenly twisted its direction and stabbed his chest without mercy.

“Gak! Kuaaak!”

The Ghost Slaughter Sword let out a rough groan.

He looked at the old man’s sword that had pierced his chest with disbelieving eyes, with a look of disbelief.

The old man said, “It’s called the Single-Instant Blade. Ah, of course, I just imitated that one a little. If that one were to execute this, you wouldn’t even be able to move. But even with just this much imitation, I think I can make quite a big noise in this martial world, don’t you think?”

The old man took out the gourd he had stuck in his waist and gulped down the liquor.

‘No… way… In the world… such… a sword…’

The Ghost Slaughter Sword looked at his chest and his head dropped.

At the last moment, he had seen a powerful sword form that was three or four times faster than him, and that could not be pushed back by any force. Unbelievably.

(End of Chapter)