Chapter 33: Fools and the Knowing Deceive One Another (4)

Now only the last match remained.

Cheonju versus Soyak.

The two of them were under the same tent.

And Cheonju already knew he couldn’t win.

“...Should I just forfeit?”

It was a joke he didn’t even mean.

Forfeit now?

From the start, even his competitive spirit as a martial artist wouldn’t allow that.

“I want to cross swords with Senior Brother Cheonju too.”

“When you say it like that, it’s scary......”

From his side, it sounded like nothing but, “I want to beat you down and break you.”

And after seeing that Black Plum Blossom full bloom earlier, it felt even more like that.

When he’d watched her crush every last red plum blossom Cheonhwa had poured out, he’d felt outright shock.

“Somehow, I’m not even nervous.”

“Is that so?”

“It’s all because of you, Soyak. How am I supposed to be nervous in a fight I’m obviously going to lose? Isn’t that right?”

Soyak gave a little shrug of her small shoulders.

Then she quietly held out her hand.

“Still, please give me one move.”

“Yeah. I’ll try.”

****

Namgung Hyeong was smiling.

He didn’t know how it had turned out this way, but since it had, things were going even better.

The Sect Leader had lost both of the direct-line Third Generation disciples he’d been relying on.

That meant he would need Namgung Hyeong more than anyone.

Soon, the doors of Red-Tile Pavilion opened and the Sect Leader came back up to the great pavilion.

Watching quietly, Namgung Hyeong shrugged.

“I heard you lost the two disciples you cherished. Is that truly so?”

“It is. I placed the wrong grandchildren under me—who is there to blame?”

Tsk.

Jeongyang clicked his tongue and dropped heavily into his seat.

Namgung Hyeong lowered his voice.

“Don’t worry. That won’t last long either.”

“...The Sword Sovereign’s eldest grandson. I suppose so. No matter how deep that girl’s talent runs.”

Could she break even Sovereign Sword Form?

And that too when it was wielded by the eldest grandson the Sword Sovereign himself had called a prodigy.

Even Sky-Vault Unfettered Sword was a peerless divine art that matched Ninefold Heaven Plum Sword.

But Sovereign Sword Form could be mastered only by a tiny handful, even among Namgung blood.

And Namgung Seon was the foremost among them.

A martial talent said to be the greatest under heaven, born with a Heaven-Forged Body.

He had already perfected Sky-Vault Unfettered Sword and entered Sovereign Sword Form—

A successor recognized by the Sword Sovereign in name and fact.

“But still. Since when did you teach Ninefold Heaven Plum Sword?”

“Is that something you need to worry about?”

“Ahem......”

He did worry.

Those black plum blossoms too.

He had seen it clearly.

Even though it was the same Ninefold Heaven Plum Sword, she had completely pulverized Cheonhwa’s red plums.

It was certain.

That wasn’t done by sheer quantity of inner power or brute sword strength alone.

There was some kind of compatibility in Cheon Soyak’s inner power and method itself—something even he, as Sect Leader, didn’t know.

If she had cultivated the same Primordial Clear-Heart Method, it could never have happened like that.

“More importantly, can you really win?”

“...Are you doubting Namgung’s young clan lord right now?”

“No, you know I don’t mean it that way. It’s just that that girl’s realm has now surged to the very end of Apex.”

He wasn’t wrong.

What she had shown at the end was Sword Light, but it had reached its extreme.

Though trapped within the sword body, it was essentially no different from Sword Qi.

Then what about Namgung Seon?

He was still an expert in the middle of Apex.

If you compared realms alone, there was no way he could win.

But Namgung Hyeong knew in his bones what kind of martial art Sovereign Sword Form was.

Because he had tried to learn it and failed.

Even if you perfected Sky-Vault Unfettered Sword and reached full maturity...

You couldn’t even properly imitate the first move of Sovereign Sword Form.

So it couldn’t be crushed by a mere difference in realms.

‘His sword will not break.’

Then wouldn’t the higher martial art, in the end, be victorious?

Even if she forged Sword Light close to Sword Qi through Ninefold Heaven Plum Sword,

The blade young Clan Lord Namgung Seon carried was a treasured sword that more than bridged that gap.

A masterwork hammered from Black Iron mixed with that precious Meteoric Iron.

His opponent was only fourteen.

She had shown only a single move of Ninefold Heaven Plum Sword.

She had clearly learned it in a rush.

Of course, reaching that realm after only a month of initiation was astonishing...

But still, it was early.

Namgung Seon had trained Sovereign Sword Form a full two years.

“Don’t worry.”

“Even though that girl is standing on the threshold of Transcendent Apex?”

“With the Sovereign Sword Form I know, that’s not a problem.”

****

Namgung Seon was standing in front of Eunsong’s tent.

He had to ask.

How it had happened.

Even when they’d eaten lunch together, it hadn’t been like this.

He’d thought they were nearly equals.

He’d been glad that someone his age could draw Sword Light.

He’d cheered at the appearance of a rival who could trade blows with him for years to come.

But not now.

That one move just before.

Ninefold Heaven Plum Sword’s First Form, Spring-Blooming Blossoms.

For the first time in his life, he couldn’t even think of a way to break it.

Even if he mobilized Sovereign Sword Form in full.

Even if he assumed he would pour out every rough, unrefined secret move he hadn’t yet matured into...

He couldn’t win.

He simply couldn’t picture himself breaking that one move.

Just then, someone opened the tent flap and stepped out.

It was Eunsong.

“You must be Namgung’s young clan lord. A pleasure. I’m Eunsong of Mount Hua.”

“...Please speak casually. My seniority is far below yours.”

“And how could I do that to someone who will one day bear your clan?”

Laughing, Eunsong sat down on the simple chair set outside the tent.

“Please sit as well, Young Clan Lord.”

“...Yes.”

“So—what brings you here? I heard what happened with my cute two disciples, but I don’t think that’s why.”

“That is......”

He didn’t really have a reason.

He had come without thinking, as if possessed.

He wanted to ask.

How she was pulling ahead so fast.

How she had reached it before him, who was born with a Heaven-Forged Body...

But he couldn’t ask that.

If there was some secret art behind it, asking would be prying into Mount Hua’s or Soyak’s personal secrets.

And if it was nothing but the talent of that small girl—nothing else—then...

‘...No. That can’t be.’

Heaven-Forged Body wasn’t some nonsense peddled in markets.

No matter what martial art you learned, you internalized it with roots sunk deep.

The deeper you learned a single path of martial arts, the more you grew at a staggering pace.

He knew his own body better than anyone.

So why was it like this?

How could that girl, born with nothing...?

As he was thinking that, the tent flap opened again.

“Master, Head Senior Cheonjeong is—oh. You are.......”

It was Soyak.

In an instant, that small, slender body straightened its back.

A clear wariness.

“Ah, well. It’s nothing special. I came because I was worried about Cheonjeong, that’s all.”

Namgung Seon brazenly played it off with a grin.

Eunsong knew, but let it pass.

Because in his eyes, the boy before him wasn’t merely a wicked spirit.

If he turned his gaze toward the high pavilion over there—

Two wicked spirits were sitting there.

Jeongyang and Namgung Hyeong.

They had no room for improvement.

But this boy who had come to the tent seemed to still have a chance.

Because there was still a line of warm, pure white light left in him.

That was what Eunsong’s “eyes” truly were.

The discernment to see the character and talent most humans possessed.

Elder Jeonggang had called it the “jade-and-stone eye.”

‘...He said it was an abnormal opening of the upper core, didn’t he.’

No matter what he grasped and struggled with, he would not cross the wall of the Transformation Realm.

It was the inescapable karmic burden of those born as ghostly geniuses.

“Cheonjeong is resting inside. If you’re worried, go in and see him.”

“I’ll shamelessly impose, then. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. I’ll take a walk for a bit, so you two can talk comfortably as peers.”

Eunsong got up and brushed himself off.

As he did, he stroked Soyak’s head once and sent her a voice transmission.

—Don’t worry. Nothing will happen. I’ll be back before the match starts.

Soyak quietly nodded her small head.

While every soul in the world appeared to him in black and white...

This child was red.

Endlessly, endlessly red.

And at the very center of that redness, a pure white will still remained.

‘A child who carries both the fate of the Heavenly Killing Star and a good, gentle core...’

Eunsong, for no reason at all, ruffled Soyak’s hair a few more times.

Watching her hurriedly try to smooth the mess back down, he waved and stepped away.

It was he who had resolved to raise a blood calamity to topple heaven.

To pity her now would be disrespectful to the child whose hand he had taken.

Even so.

He couldn’t help what rose in him.

“...Yeora. She looks exactly like you did as a child.”

His lover he could never meet again.

The one who had lost her life to the Martial Alliance’s hand...

Even in her last moment, she had begged him to live on instead of seeking revenge.

But what could he do?

Revenge had become his life.

Without it, he simply could no longer keep living.

Eunsong slowly turned his steps toward his lodge.

When inner power lingered lightly at his toes, his body became weightless.

He meant to skim through the clouds and look down from a high peak, to untangle these complicated thoughts.