Chapter 319: The Real One (2)

"How incredible."

Baek Hyang-muk, the former leader of the Alliance and known as the Infinite Supreme Sword, couldn't help but be amazed.

He himself had tried countless times to perform sword flight, but it was practically impossible.

After all, the technique of remote sword control relied on manipulating the sword freely in mid-air using true qi.

Naturally, the weight of the sword couldn't be ignored. Controlling the sword with qi while also bearing its own weight wasn't an easy task.

It seemed like only the Sword Immortal and his disciples could pull it off.

-Paat!

But Baek Hyang-muk was still a master who had surpassed the limits of human capability.

Even without that specific skill, there were still ways to drastically increase one's speed using light body techniques.

For example, by continuously using Gungshintanyeong, he could achieve speeds comparable to sword flight—even if not entirely equal.

However, it was difficult to cut across entire mountain ranges like the Sword Immortal could, so keeping up with his descendants was still a challenge.

After running for quite a while, Baek Hyang-muk suddenly stopped midway up a mountain.

"What's this?"

Something was disturbing his qi senses.

Whoever it was didn't seem like an ordinary martial artist, but their qi was weakening—perhaps from an injury—and drifting toward the northwest.

It wasn't far.

Acting on instinct, Baek Hyang-muk changed direction and swiftly headed that way.

And then, he saw someone.

"That person…"

A masked man was fleeing using light body techniques, clutching a severed arm.

He was clearly fleeing from someone, running without even treating his injuries.

He looked suspicious. Baek Hyang-muk figured he needed to apprehend him first.

-Shoom!

With a flash like lightning, Baek Hyang-muk intercepted the masked man.

The masked man was visibly startled.

"Baek Hyang-muk?!"

"Who are you, running away with your face covered and your wounds untreated?"

"Damn it!"

Instead of answering, the masked man urgently changed direction.

But his opponent was Baek Hyang-muk, the pinnacle of orthodox martial arts.

Even in perfect condition, escaping from him was nearly impossible. Injured, there was no chance.

-Srrk!

In an instant, Baek Hyang-muk blocked his path and subdued him with a single Gold Binding Hand technique.

The masked man's only remaining arm was bent back, and he collapsed forward, smacking his chin on the ground.

"Gah!"

Just as Baek Hyang-muk reached to remove the mask—

Someone emerged from the bushes across the way.

Baek Hyang-muk's eyes widened in shock.

"You?!"

---

-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Once again, Lee Jung-gyeom failed to block a strike and was blasted back over thirty jang (roughly 100 meters).

He had tried to use a technique even more subtle than Flowing Power Through Grafting, but when I drew upon the full ten-star power in my harmonized state, he couldn't withstand it.

As expected, there was a limit to how much power one could redirect or diffuse.

There was no need to test it further with the Blood Sky Great Spiral technique.

"Grr..."

He staggered to his feet.

Impressive that he could even stand after taking that hit. He couldn't deflect the strike entirely, but he somehow dissipated the resulting shock.

His protective qi was no joke—he took that hit and survived.

His resilience was almost on par with my master, the bizarre and monstrous Ha-eak-cheon.

I approached the staggering man and spoke.

"Where's the sword?"

He must've hidden the Fearslayer Sword to conceal his identity.

Lee Jung-gyeom stared at me and gave a crooked smile.

"I don't need the sword anymore. I am the sword now."

"Ha!"

At first glance, it sounded like a lofty martial ideal.

But the meaning behind those words was crystal clear.

Lee Jung-gyeom had been completely taken over by the spirit (Baek, 魄) of the Fearslayer Sword.

Just like how the spirit of the Blood Demon Sword or Saryeon's spirit in the Saryeon Sword once tried to possess and take over my body.

"So be it."

I lunged at him.

Lee Jung-gyeom hurriedly tried to gain distance using light footwork.

But trying to compete in lightness techniques with me? Foolish.

Right now, I could even surpass my father Mujeong Pungshin's light footwork with ease.

"Kugh!"

In a flash, I reached him and struck his shoulder with my palm.

-BOOM!

He tried to channel the crushing force away from his shoulder.

So I kicked at his leg.

Thrown off balance, his form crumbled and he collapsed to the ground.

-THUD! CRACK!

As his knee hit the ground, a crack nearly two jang wide formed in the earth.

That showed how much power I had put behind the blow.

His hidden strength was impressive, sure—but unfortunately for him, I was overwhelmingly stronger.

"You bastard!"

He tried to stab at my abdomen with a sword gesture.

So I countered by kicking him in the dantian.

-THWACK!

"Gaaahhh!"

The blow to his dantian made him scream in agony.

I had held back, but the shock must've been serious. A bit more force and it would've been destroyed.

-Taptaptaptap!

I quickly sealed his pressure points.

Then I bent his right arm back, holding it with my left hand, and pinned his left arm down with my knee.

With his qi blocked and body immobilized, he couldn't move or draw power.

"Let go of me, bastard!"

He screamed and struggled, but it was useless.

'Time to absorb him.'

I grabbed Lee Jung-gyeom's head with my right hand.

Then I activated the power of Tianquan (Heaven's Authority), one of the Seven Stars of the Mystic Gate.

Among the Big Dipper-shaped dots on the back of my hand, the fourth one began to glow blue.

'Where is it?'

I closed my eyes and focused.

Lee Jung-gyeom's spirit should've been swallowed by the sword's Baek (魄).

I needed to find and absorb it.

Unlike before, I had directly learned the Mystic Gate Seven Stars from my master, the Sword Immortal, so I had become far more proficient with Tianquan.

'His soul should've been overtaken... but…'

Something was strange.

When I reached for his soul using Tianquan, I couldn't sense any Baek.

If it were present, it would resist—struggling against my force.

But there was no sign of that.

Even stranger, a normal soul contains a Baek filled with the person's memories and thoughts.

But there was none here.

In short, only the Hun (魂) remained.

'Could it be… completely devoured by the sword's Baek…?'

-Unhwi!

Just then, a voice echoed in my mind—it was Sodam Sword's voice.

It sounded frantic.

He's not one to call out to me like this lightly. What could be wrong?

I tried to stop the Tianquan absorption.

And then—

-BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM!

"Ugh…!"

I was suddenly snapped back to consciousness by something piercing into my body.

Startled, I looked down to find long acupuncture needles embedded in the vital points all over my body.

Not just the Seven Major Forbidden Acupuncture Points, but even my danjeon had been pierced.

"Gahk!"

Blood spurted from my mouth due to the severe internal injuries.

I had no idea what had just happened.

— Unhwi, are you alright?

Namcheon Iron Sword's voice echoed in my mind.

Come to think of it, the only reason my heart wasn't pierced was because Namcheon blocked that area.

Had the needle reached there, even my Middle Danjeon would've been damaged.

Sending him ahead as a scout to check if the former alliance leader Baek Hyang-muk was coming turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

But now, dozens of long needles were stuck in my body's pressure points, completely paralyzing me.

— Shiver…!

At that moment, a chilling, overwhelming force emanated from Lee Jeong-gyeom, who had pinned me down and suppressed my pressure points.

This was unlike any ordinary energy I knew.

I had felt something like this a few times before—

'A demonic presence...?'

The skin around Lee Jeong-gyeom's neck had turned black.

Despite having sealed his pressure points with significant internal energy, his body convulsed, and he managed to push me off.

As I toppled over, the needles embedded in my back dug even deeper.

"Urgh…!"

'Namcheon!'

In that instant, I called out to Namcheon Iron Sword. I couldn't afford to just lie there and do nothing.

— Understood!

At my call, Namcheon flew at Lee Jeong-gyeom, aiming straight for his lower back.

It was an attempt to pierce through his danjeon in one blow.

But Lee Jeong-gyeom spun around in a flash and caught Namcheon's blade between two fingers.

— Ching!

— Chrrrrrrrrk!

The blade of Namcheon trembled violently.

It tried to pierce him, but couldn't move any further.

"Amazing. Even with your danjeon sealed by Blood-Sealing Needles, you're still using Sword Telekinesis? Is this the mystery of the Seven Star Profound Gate, passed down by the Sword Immortals?"

"What did you say?"

I couldn't hide my shock.

How the hell does he know about the Seven Star Profound Gate?

Just then, I heard something plunge into the ground.

— Thud! Kukukukuku…!

— Unhwiiiiii!

Namcheon's panicked voice rang out.

Whatever hit the ground must've been him.

Then, the face of Lee Jeong-gyeom appeared above my head, as I lay immobile on the ground.

'!?'

His face was entirely blackened, even the whites of his eyes had turned pitch-black.

A dreadful, evil energy radiated from him—so dense it was nauseating.

Though only his appearance had changed, his power seemed to have doubled.

"Who the hell are you really…?"

— Crack, crack!

He twisted his neck with cracking sounds as if loosening up his body, then looked down at me and spoke.

"I let you drop your guard, but it wasn't pleasant to take a beating on purpose."

"On purpose?"

I asked, frowning, and he grinned.

"The mysteries of the Seven Star Profound Gate allow one to communicate with swords and even absorb the thought contained within them, don't they?"

I was speechless for a moment.

What the hell is this guy?

How does he even know that?

"I was sure you'd try to absorb the Baek (魄) from the Fearslayer Sword. You followed the script so well, it was almost boring."

"You… you're not Lee Jeong-gyeom, are you?"

At my words, he smirked mockingly.

"At least you're not completely stupid."

Whether possessed or not, there's no way Lee Jeong-gyeom would know about this, let alone set such a trap.

And another thing became clear.

He had no connection to the Golden Emperor either.

"Then who are you?"

Instead of answering, he pressed his foot firmly down on my abdomen.

— Crack!

"Gghh…!"

The needle in my danjeon dug in deeper, and the pain was excruciating.

He spoke with a voice dripping with murderous intent.

"I've been waiting for this day."

Why?

Why does he hate me this much?

I couldn't guess the reason, but if he knew about the Seven Star Profound Gate, perhaps he knew about Dohwa-seon as well.

"You never imagined this day would come. Did you wonder why I don't carry a sword? Why I came armed with needles instead?"

…He knows I can communicate with swords.

That's why he set up this kind of trap.

He must be related to Dohwa-seon, just as I suspected.

I asked him, "Are you from Dohwa-seon?"

At this, his face twisted in disgust.

"To compare me to those fools who abandoned their duty and now dream of ascending to immortality? Don't be ridiculous."

What?

He even knows about Dohwa-seon?

Then who the hell is he?

If he's not one of the Golden Emperor's men and not from Dohwa-seon, then who?

"…Reveal yourself."

He sneered.

"You're not worthy to know."

With that, he aimed a sword-finger strike toward my heart.

He was targeting my Middle Danjeon.

But just at that moment—something sharp flew toward him.

— Slash!

He turned and struck it down mid-air.

The scattered remnants of crimson sword energy glimmered.

I couldn't move, so I couldn't see anything but the sky—but even that was enough to know.

It was former Alliance Leader Baek Hyang-muk.

— Unhwi. There's someone else.

Someone else?

— I don't know what's going on either.

What do you mean?

— There's another Lee Jeong-gyeom.

At Sodom Sword's words, I used my Jade Form energy to share its vision.

What it saw, projected into my mind like a vivid illusion—

There stood Baek Hyang-muk, and next to him—Lee Jeong-gyeom.

Lee Jeong-gyeom was staring wide-eyed at a man who looked just like him.

The darkened skin and pitch-black eyes aside—it was unmistakably the same face.

"Who… who are you?"

The other Lee Jeong-gyeom—the one on top of me—grinned ominously and replied:

"This works out well. I was planning to clean everything up anyway."

"Clean… everything up?"

Baek Hyang-muk scowled and raised his sword filled with sword aura.

"You've been impersonating my disciple this whole time?!"