Chapter 56 : Blade Teeth (1)

Swish! Swish!

The martial artists moved very secretly.

There was a thatched cottage on the mountainside.

Currently, there was one man and one woman in the thatched cottage. A servant and a maid. It was hard to find other people. Because the thatched cottage was so far from the village.

The martial artists sealed off a five-li radius around the thatched cottage.

The martial artists mobilized for the blockade wore black martial arts uniforms. They wore black headbands on their heads. Their belts, shoes, hand guards… everything was black. The swords they were holding were also black.

Only in one place, on the chest, was the character for sword embroidered in red.

It was the Black Sword Unit.

The Black Sword Unit was the guard unit of the Sacred Sword Sect’s inner court. Because the One-Eyed Blood Sword, Jeon Gaseong, had carefully selected outstanding individuals and had specially trained them, their loyalty to the inner court was ingrained in their bones.

Also, they had produced the winner of the Sacred Sword Sect’s own martial arts tournament every year. So their pride was bound to be sky-high. They couldn’t help but have the pride of being first-class themselves.

“Don’t let anyone in except the people of the Lesser Abode.”

“Yes!”

The leader of the Black Sword Unit answered, gripping his sword tightly.

* * *

The scene was preserved as it was.

“Seventeen Linked Swords.”

Jeon Gaseong muttered.

When you executed the Seventeen Linked Swords, sword energy would fly wildly. It would cut down trees and grass. Because it was cut by sword energy, even if it wasn’t actually split, the mark of being hit by a blade would remain clearly.

The Seventeen Linked Swords were spread out in all directions.

Jo Chuhan had executed the Seventeen Linked Swords. He had not been able to finish it in one move, and the battle had unfolded over several exchanges.

Jo Chuhan was the fiercest person among the Ten Swords. He was a martial arts madman who had not married and had devoted himself only to martial arts training. How else would he be called ‘number one in training’?

“Ugh!”

Jeon Gaseong let out a groan and explored the surroundings.

He carefully examined the footprints, the traces of fallen grass leaves, the sword energy… and even the blade energy.

The opponent had used a blade.

There were two types of blades. There was a sharp blade that could even split a falling hair, and there was a blunt blade that charged with a fierce force as if to crush.

The opponent had used a blunt blade.

The blade was not sharp. But the blade art was as light as if he had used a sharp blade. He had easily received the Seventeen Linked Swords. It meant that the blade art was as fast and dazzling as the Seventeen Linked Swords.

Finally, his gaze turned to Jo Chuhan’s chest.

“This is crazy.”

He muttered as if he were dumbfounded.

Jo Chuhan had missed the opponent’s blade. For a moment, he had not known where he was attacking.

His chest had been struck so accurately.

To strike a strong person of Jo Chuhan’s level so accurately, you would have to tie his hands and feet. Otherwise, you could not split his chest as if you were tearing it open.

It was a phantom blade!

He had induced a temporary state of pause with a trick of the eye, a blindfold.

If it were Jo Chuhan, he would have raised his guard the moment the opponent had executed the phantom blade. And yet, he had been hit. The change in the blade was so seamless that he had been hit without being able to move.

‘Could it be?’

Jeon Gaseong thought of the Twelve Killing Phantom Blade.

Jo Chuhan’s chest was crushed. It was as if it had been swept away by a bear’s paw. It didn’t look like a wound from a blade, but as if it had been torn by something like a five-bone claw.

It was not hit by the blade, but by the front part of the blade, the tip of the blade.

If you looked at the murderer’s blade, the tip of the blade would not have been finished cleanly, so it would be very uneven. It could not be called the work of a first-class bladesmith, but a blade clumsily made by someone who did not know how to make a blade.

If he had been hit by a well-made blade, Jo Chuhan’s chest would have been cleanly scooped out as if you were scooping out soft tofu with a spoon.

Such a blade art, and a phantom blade so powerful that even Jo Chuhan had been hit by it, the Twelve Killing Phantom Blade immediately came to mind.

It was a top-level blade art that had appeared in the martial world three hundred, four hundred years ago and had disappeared. It was such an outstanding ultimate technique that there was no one who could inherit it, and since there was no intention to pass it on, it had been buried.

He didn’t know which generation’s sect master it was… but it was the blade art of a Single-Instant Sect Master, the Twelve Killing Phantom Blade!

Jeon Gaseong had never seen the Twelve Killing Phantom Blade. He had heard about the legendary blade art while learning martial arts, and now one of them had just come to mind.

‘If this were the real Twelve Killing Phantom Blade, Jo Chuhan wouldn’t have even been able to draw his sword. But they fought fiercely. It’s not a blade art that has reached its peak yet. If so… is it really him?’

Ah Geol! The one who had cut down the Living Sword Sect disciples!

What was clear was that a Single-Instant Sect disciple who had rebelled against the Sacred Sword Sect had appeared.

He had killed Jo Chuhan without hesitation. In other words, he had thrown down a challenge to the Sacred Sword Sect.

Jeon Gaseong frowned and stared at Jo Chuhan’s chest. Intently.

* * *

The Ten Lesser Swords were all gathered.

Hearing the news that Jo Chuhan had been hit, the outer hall martial artist who had been on a trip had also come running in one step.

He had not been hit while on monthly duty. He had been ambushed and killed on his way home. He had not been assassinated, but had been killed by a blade after a martial arts contest.

The complexions of the Ten Lesser Swords could not help but turn cold.

They waited outside the defensive formation that the Black Sword Unit had set up until Jeon Gaseong came out.

When Jeon Gaseong walked over, they all looked at him with gloomy eyes.

Jeon Gaseong gestured for the second, Cho Gapyeong, to go in.

“Hmm!”

Cho Gapyeong let out a dry cough, passed the Black Sword Unit, and walked down the small path.

* * *

- Incomplete Twelve Killing Phantom Blade.

- The murderer is presumed to be Ah Geol.

- Presumed to be a Single-Instant Sect disciple. Unconfirmed.

Jeon Gaseong wrote a few words on a white piece of paper.

It was what he had judged after seeing Jo Chuhan’s body, what had suddenly come to mind, written on the paper.

They did not look at the body together. They looked at it one by one.

If you looked at the body together, you would end up talking to each other. You would unconsciously say what you were thinking. Even if it might not be true, you would blurt it out. Then someone would agree with that opinion.

Something that was not true would be considered true.

To prevent a misjudgment, they did not express any opinions at all. They did not provide even a speck of information to each other.

They only looked at the body and judged it alone.

They wrote down what they had seen and felt on paper. No matter how trivial the thought, they wrote it all down. Even if it was a judgment that others would find ridiculous, they wrote it down without hesitation.

What Jeon Gaseong had written on the secret letter was also something that others would laugh at if they saw it.

An incomplete Twelve Killing Phantom Blade? The Single-Instant Sect was famous for helping its successors create their own martial arts, but not passing on their own martial arts, so a martial art of a Single-Instant Sect Master from hundreds of years ago?

Anyone who knew even a little about the Single-Instant Sect would scoff at such a judgment.

Still, he wrote it down.

“Hmph! Even I think it’s crazy. The Twelve Killing Phantom Blade.”

Jeon Gaseong folded the paper and put it in an envelope.

“It’s done.”

“Yes.”

When Jeon Gaseong put down the envelope and stepped back, the Black Sword Unit martial artist who had been standing by carefully picked up the envelope.

“Then I will send it as it is.”

Nod! Nod!

Jeon Gaseong nodded his head.

* * *

Nine letters were placed on the desk.

They were secret letters sent by the nine of the Ten Lesser Swords, excluding Jo Chuhan.

“Tsk!”

He looked at the letters and clicked his tongue as if he were displeased.

“I’m sorry.”

The martial artist who was serving him bowed his waist.

“If Chuhan was hit, it’s not something to be sorry about. It’s just that the guy is strong. But what kind of guy is he…”

He trailed off and took out a letter and read it.

One by one… the secret letters revealed their contents.

He read the secret letters casually. He wasn’t reading while thinking, but just skimming through the contents.

“The Twelve Killing Phantom Blade…”

His eyes sparkled.

“I’m sorry, but whose opinion is it…?”

The martial artist who had been bowing his waist asked with a frown.

“The one-eyed one.”

“…”

At the words ‘the one-eyed one’, the martial artist shut his mouth.

“You wrote down the Revolving Wheel Blade?”

“I couldn’t be sure about the blade mark on his chest, so I reserved my judgment. But the mark on Jo Chuhan’s sword was definitely the Revolving Wheel Blade. So I wrote down the Revolving Wheel Blade…”

“The Revolving Wheel Blade is the martial art of the thirty-fifth Single-Instant Sect Master.”

“I know that much.”

“What about the Twelve Killing Phantom Blade?”

“It’s a martial art that’s too old…”

“It’s the ninth generation. It’s the martial art of the ninth generation Single-Instant Sect Master.”

“Ah! Yes.”

“The martial arts of the ninth and thirty-fifth generation Single-Instant Sect Masters appeared at the same time? You’re also incomplete, and the one-eyed one is also incomplete. Then you’re saying you all thought it was an incomplete Single-Instant Blade… and you were hit by such a martial art? No. It was quite profound in its own way. It just looked incomplete. Huhu! If you and the one-eyed one saw it like this, it’s not unreasonable that Chuhan was hit.”

“…”

The martial artist just listened.

It was the judgment of the number one person under heaven in the current martial world, Duke Heo Dogi. Who would dare to interfere?

“Ah Geol, this guy. He’s a Single-Instant Sect disciple.”

Duke Heo Dogi asserted.

“About the Single-Instant Sect… at that time, there were only four Single-Instant Sect disciples, including the sect master.”

“He’s a Single-Instant Sect disciple. Huhu! That old man, he had a trick up his sleeve. Haha! This is really seamless. I was completely fooled. I admit, I was hit on the back of the head. Hahaha!”

Heo Dogi laughed.

Heo Dogi was entering his old age. He seemed to have more white hair than black hair. And yet, his voice was still clear and resonant. It was full of energy. His gaze was also still cold.

“Catch him.”

Heo Dogi said, sweeping the letters to one side.

“Yes. I will move immediately.”

“Inform the one-eyed one as well. Tell him to move.”

“Are you saying we should catch him together…?”

“Chuhan was hit because he didn’t know, and you guys have analyzed this guy now, right? I don’t think you need to join hands… move separately and try to catch him. Let’s see who catches him faster. Hahaha!”

Duke Heo Dogi laughed.

In a word, he was saying to see their abilities.

The Duke sometimes tested the Ten Lesser Swords like this. He knew the disciples’ martial arts well, and it was to check their other abilities, but… it was often humiliating.

“I understand. I will inform the first senior brother.”

The wildcat, Sanmyo Shin Dopa, answered politely.

“If you only think about the sword, life becomes dry. Think of it this way. Competition is refreshing.”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“Huhu! Then it’s settled.”

“And one more thing, strange people have appeared in the martial world. As soon as they showed themselves, they are ruthlessly slaughtering the Drunken Flower Garden assassins, emitting a strong smell of blood.”

“Strange people?”

“I stand corrected. The hands and feet of the Single-Instant Sect have come forward.”

“Huhu!”

Heo Dogi laughed.

Heo Dogi had advised Seori Gaheon and Seori Hyeonggae that it would be better not to move.

They were following his advice and were being silent.

But a wolf was a wolf. Would a wolf just stay in a small fence and guard the house?

The Single-Instant Sect was constantly doing something.

The problem was that the Sacred Sword Sect was keeping a close eye on the Single-Instant Sect. In other words, should I say that they were monitoring them so that they wouldn’t do anything clumsy? Seori Gaheon and Seori Hyeonggae also knew that they were being monitored, so they acted with extreme caution, but they had already grasped everything they needed to grasp.

The people who had come out into the martial world were martial artists raised by Seori Hyeonggae.

“Finally, the lotus leaf has come out of the water. Those guys, they’ve endured a lot. But if you let the lotus leaf out of the water, the root will be revealed. Didn’t they think of that? Are they saying that the root is still in the water? Where is there such a thing as covering your eyes and meowing? Haha! Leave them alone for now. Let’s see what they do.’

Heo Dogi gestured as if to tell him to leave.

(End of Chapter)