Chapter 49 : Inevitable (4)

The senior brothers were quiet. They had to be quiet. Grandpa had lived for the past fifteen years, erasing his footprints. He had thoroughly erased his traces so that no one could find him.

Of course, ‘erasing traces’ was done with the Single-Instant Sect in mind.

He had blocked all possible ways for the Single-Instant Sect to find him.

If Ah Geol put his mind to it, the two senior brothers would not be able to find him until the end of the world.

The senior brothers would have found Dongbak’s body by now.

The Living Sword Sect could not find Dongbak, but they could not deceive the senior brothers’ eyes.

What did his Single-Instant Blade look like in his senior brothers’ eyes? He was sure they had sneered at his clumsy, amateurish skill, but he wondered if they had felt even a little bit of tension.

Now, he would cause a storm.

If he did not move first, the fight would not begin.

Then how… should he go to the Wind Path Valley? No. He knew where the Wind Path Valley was. So he had secretly infiltrated it with Grandpa and had searched every nook and cranny.

To put it simply, he had found nothing.

The Wind Path Valley was so vast that it was impossible to find where his senior brothers were staying.

Even if he went to the Wind Path Valley again now, it was clear that he would return empty-handed.

‘There are people who know the Wind Path Valley. The Ten Lesser Swords.’

Ah Geol took out a bundle of paper and looked at them one by one.

The bundle of paper was Grandpa’s masterpiece.

It contained all the information that Grandpa had collected while wandering the central plains for fifteen years.

Of course, Grandpa’s information gathering was focused on the Duke Heo’s residence and the three senior brothers.

Other than that, everyone was out of his interest. He did not interfere at all, whether they had done a righteous thing or a bad thing. He did not even look at them even if they were right next to him.

But when it came to the Ten Lesser Swords, he would prick up his ears.

Even if one of them had just farted, he would immediately take out his brush and ink and write it down.

Grandpa was truly relentless.

‘Yes. This.’

Ah Geol found what he was looking for in the bundle of paper.

-Black Toad Jo Chuhan

It was information about the Black Toad Jo Chuhan, who was currently the monthly officer among the Ten Lesser Swords.

He lived alone without getting married.

He did not covet women, stayed away from alcohol, and did not know how to gamble. He had no close people, and no friends.

He had only one servant and one maid in his house.

He had only trained in the sword until he was in his mid-forties. He had only trained, to the extent that he had been called ‘number one in training’ since Heo Dogi’s time in the Lesser Abode.

Even if he had no talent for martial arts, if he had trained that much, he would have become a sword demon and more.

It was a remark made about the Black Toad Jo Chuhan.

Moreover, Jo Chuhan’s talent for martial arts was also excellent. Among the Ten Lesser Swords, there was no one who was not a martial talent.

Tuk!

Ah Geol flicked the paper he had found with his finger.

* * *

On a dark night, a person was walking. No, he was walking and then suddenly stopped.

After a while, he started walking again.

There was a person on the path he was walking. He was leaning against a large tree and looking at him.

A fierce beast!

A fierce beast recognizes a fierce beast. It sees through at a glance whether the opponent is stronger or on par.

He approached and then stopped again three zhang away.

“Were you waiting for me?”

His voice was very calm.

“About one two-hour period. You must have had a lot of miscellaneous work. Seeing that you’re returning home late at night.”

“Who are you?”

“Ah Geol.”

“Ah! Ah Geol… So you’re the Ah Geol who’s been causing a stir lately. Hahaha! Daring, truly daring.”

The Eighth Brother, the Black Toad Jo Chuhan, laughed.

Ah Geol was still leaning against the tree and said, “Seori Gaheon, Seori Hyeonggae. You just have to hand over one of them. Where are they?”

“Those people are in the Wind Path Valley. You didn’t know that? If you’re both Single-Instant Blades, you should be senior and junior brothers.”

“The Wind Path Valley is too vast. And just because you’re senior and junior brothers doesn’t mean you have to get along.”

The two’s gazes clashed in the air.

“What are you trying to do?”

“I’m trying to catch you.”

“Is it possible?”

“I came because I thought it would be enough.”

“Then we’ll have to test it. Let’s talk about the rest after we’ve heard what the sword has to say.”

Sreung!

Jo Chuhan drew his sword.

Jo Chuhan’s sword was dazzlingly fast.

The sword did not flow. It did flow, but its form was not visible. Only the final result was visible.

He hits the head? The sight of him hitting the head is not visible. Only the sight of him having hit the head is visible.

Shwaek! Shwaek! Shwaek! Shwaek!

A fierce blade wind tore through the darkness.

‘Fast!’

Ah Geol saw the Illuminating Heaven Sword for the first time.

He had wandered around the Blood Dance Stage with Grandpa to see the Illuminating Heaven Sword.

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you will not be defeated in a hundred battles.

They said that if you knew the enemy and knew yourself, you would not lose even if you fought a hundred times.

Even if you couldn’t win, you shouldn’t lose, right? So he had wanted to see the Ten Lesser Swords fight.

But he hadn’t been able to see it.

After the Sacred Sword Sect had changed to the Duke Heo’s residence, there was not even a person who went up to the Blood Dance Stage. Even the people who wanted to prove their martial arts by submitting a challenge to the Duke Heo’s residence had been cut off.

The Duke Heo’s residence ruled the martial world with too much power.

In the end, he had gathered what others had said and had created the Illuminating Heaven Sword in his imagination. The speed, the change in forms, and even the subtlety contained in the sword. He had imagined a martial art strong enough to face the Single-Instant Blade.

But the Illuminating Heaven Sword that Jo Chuhan was executing was much faster and stronger than he had imagined. The sword forms were simple, yet they made it impossible to defend. He could only continue to retreat.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Jo Chuhan attacked with ten swords, and Ah Geol retreated ten steps.

During that time, Ah Geol could not even draw his blade. He had tried to draw his blade several times, but it was urgent to get his body out of the way first. He had not had the time to draw his blade. The sword had pushed, and pushed again.

If it was a martial artist of Jo Chuhan’s level, he should have given him time to draw his blade. He attacked cowardly when he wasn’t even ready!

Who would say such a thing!

He could not blame Jo Chuhan.

He had drawn his sword from three zhang away. The fact that he had not even been able to draw his blade while he had closed the distance of three zhang in an instant was Ah Geol’s fault. He had to blame his own martial arts for being that immature.

‘Seventeen Linked Swords!’

He executed seventeen swords in a row with a single strand of true energy.

There was almost no gap between the swords. To the one being hit, the seventeen swords looked like one sword. So if you lost the initiative, you could not easily recover. You would be chased by the seventeen swords and be pierced.

In that instant, Ah Geol’s mind went blank.

He forgot that he was in a crisis. It was something that could not be forgotten even if he tried, but it was forgotten in an instant.

Instead, his eyes saw the sword. They saw the change in the sword.

Eyeless!

After seeing the sword, he strikes with his blade.

All of this happened in an instant. Without him even being conscious of it… his body was used unconsciously.

Pat!

The blade grazed past Jo Chuhan.

It was the Revolving Wheel Blade, the Single-Instant Blade of the thirty-fifth Single-Instant Sect Master.

The Revolving Blade of the second Single-Instant Sect Master and the Revolving Wheel Blade were different. The Revolving Blade was about the blade revolving in the air, but the Revolving Wheel Blade was about the entire blade spinning. The blade became a revolving wheel attached to a carriage wheel.

Paat!

Jo Chuhan retreated without receiving the Revolving Wheel Blade.

There was no martial artist who would clash their weapon with the Revolving Wheel Blade. The light energy contained in the Revolving Wheel Blade was so strong that it would cut any weapon into pieces.

The Revolving Wheel Blade was a blade executed with internal energy.

Paat!

The Revolving Wheel Blade shot up and then fell like a falling star.

It was the Meteor Flying Blade of the twelfth Single-Instant Sect Master.

The meteors falling from the sky were truly beautiful. The Meteor Flying Blade was also beautiful. But it would soon splash blood. By the time you thought, ‘Oh! I have to dodge!’, the blade would have already passed through your body.

Hwiiik!

Jo Chuhan retreated a full five steps.

Ah Geol’s counterattack must have been very unexpected for him. No one could escape the Seventeen Linked Swords, but Ah Geol had not only dodged it but had also attacked with a blade art he had never seen before.

“As expected of the Single-Instant Blade!”

Jo Chuhan, who had caught his breath, rushed in again.

This time, the sword’s momentum had changed.

It seemed that he was executing a sword art, but if you looked again, it had no power. It didn’t seem that he had put power into the sword. Was he really attacking?

Jo Chuhan’s sword form was the Flying Bird Covering the Nest. It was the fastest sword form among the Illuminating Heaven Sword, so you had to dodge it immediately. But since there was no power in the sword, it seemed that it would be fine to receive it with a blade.

‘Power behind the curtain!’

Ah Geol grasped the power contained in the Illuminating Heaven Sword.

In the words of the Sacred Sword Sect, it was called Hidden Killing in the Stream. It contained a killing sword in trivial water that no one would be wary of. It was a sword so bland that you would wonder if you needed to dodge it, but it was actually a killing move.

He had mixed the Ten Illuminating Explanations with the Illuminating Heaven Sword.

Shuut!

Ah Geol raised his blade and met the Illuminating Heaven Sword.

The blade and the sword clash.

A heavy blade and a sword so light that it seemed it would fly away with just a gust of wind collide. In that instant,

Shwaek! Pat!

Two strands of a very short, almost inaudible sound of something cutting through the air rang out.

Jo Chuhan’s sword form had changed. The killing move contained in the light sword had exploded.

The sword dropped by about an inch and rushed towards Ah Geol’s heart.

Ah Geol’s blade also changed.

The moment it was about to clash with the sword, Ah Geol’s upper body was slanted to the side. He had seen Jo Chuhan’s changing sword, and had responded with a movement technique. His blade had also increased to five. And all five blades rushed, aiming for Jo Chuhan’s body.

It was the Phantom Blade of the ninth Single-Instant Sect Master.

The Phantom Blade was composed of twelve forms, and what Ah Geol had used was the sixth form.

Ah Geol was using a different blade art every second.

A change greater than a sword art changing to a whip art, and a whip art changing to a spear art was occurring.

What was clear was that none of them were not a killing technique.

It was a ruthless blade art that the Eighth Brother had never experienced before. The shadow of the blade filled the world. Even if you looked in all directions, there was only the shadow of the blade. The world was not visible, only the blade was visible.

Peok!

The sound of flesh being torn rang out. Just once.

“I got you.”

“…I admit it. Cough!”

Jo Chuhan let out a rough cough.

Every time he coughed, red blood gushed out like a spring.

The five changed blades had crushed Jo Chuhan’s chest. It was as if a bear had rushed in and had bitten him.

A chunk of flesh had been torn off, so his ribs were visible, and his heart was also visible.

“Since I got you, I’ll say it. Seori Gaheon, Seori Hyeonggae, you have to give me one of them. Where can I see them?”

“What are you going to do with them? Revenge? Cough! Or… to become the number one person under heaven… cough! Is it the fate of the Single-Instant Sect to defeat the super strong?”

“I don’t have much time. Stop with the useless talk.”

Jo Chuhan looked at Ah Geol with a smirk.

“With your current martial arts, you’ll die if you go. Seori Gaheon can finish me in one move. There’s no time to execute something like the Seventeen Linked Swords. Compared to that, you… cough! Anyway, a promise is a promise…”

Jo Chuhan told him Seori Gaheon’s residence.

The place he had told him was not Seori Gaheon’s residence. It was the place where the Sacred Sword Sect met their senior and junior brothers.

“Haha! I was really curious about who you were.”

“Were you?”

“When the Living Sword Sect disciples’ bodies were sent, I searched the secret pavilion thoroughly to see if there was anything about you. Nothing came up. How could you live like a shadow?”

“There are people who live like that. People who live so that the world can’t see them.”

“I’m curious. What your end will be. But your blade, it’s a Single-Instant Blade, right?”

“That’s right.”

“It seemed right, but it was so different from what I had seen that I was confused. Is it really a Single-Instant Blade? Cough! By the way… that woman named Mongseol, who is she? You know each other well, right?”

“…”

Ah Geol did not speak. But his eyebrows twitched without him realizing it. Even though he had not spoken with his mouth, he had spoken with his body.

“The Drunken Flower Garden… they’re really stubborn. Even though so many people have died, they’re all keeping silent about the Dongseung incident. Still… cough! There are people who can’t do that. Cough! Mongseol has been revealed. She’s using the Blood Sword so much, how can they not know… it’s impossible…”

Tuk!

Jo Chuhan’s head dropped to the side.

‘Mongseol!’

Ah Geol’s brow furrowed severely.

As expected, he shouldn’t have dragged her into the fight. Grandpa, he had started something useless.