Chapter 231. Within Ten Paces, You’ll Find A Fragrant Flower (2)
The Sword Heart was an ability awakened by a Paragon, and a Paragon alone.
And beyond that, the next stage of comprehension was the Natural Sword—a level where one could freely manipulate and use the energy of nature.
A realm where one could quite literally control the wind and rain like the legendary Daoist immortals.
The pinnacle of martial arts, a level where one could be called a sage!
“So this is what’s beyond a Paragon... Is he an immortal now? Should we call him the Undefeatable Sword Immortal instead of the Undefeatable Sword Hero?”[1]
Most of those of the Black Hand before him couldn’t even dream of reaching the Transcendent realm, let alone the Absolute realm. Yet here he stood before them, not one step above the Absolute but two!
Qi was a concept that no longer applied to this level. Those of the Black Hand who had reached at least the Peak Stage had already realized that. Whether Woo-Moon was using his qi or not, he was not an opponent they could handle.
Woo-Moon’s dream and enlightenment gradually came to an end. His crossing into the new realm was in its final stages. And by the time it truly ended, so did the lives of those before him.
In front of Woo-Moon’s sword, even Ga Hyun-Woo, who was a decent Absolute Master, lost his life without even having time to think about putting up a fight.
Woo-Moon looked at the Martial Heaven Emperor while blood dripped from every bit of his clothes.
“I did what you wanted. Are you satisfied now?”
The Martial Heaven Emperor smiled coquettishly at Woo-Moon.
In the next moment, Woo-Moon appeared in the air before the Martial Heaven Emperor and swung Lightflash.
Shing!
Space split open as a strange gnashing sound resounded.
“Hoho.”
The Martial Heaven Emperor moved, leaving behind an afterimage and easily avoiding Woo-Moon’s attack.
Then, five streams of Transcendent Finger Aura blasted out from his fingers.
Bang!
With a single swing of Lightflash, Woo-Moon deflected all five strands of aura. The collision caused Lightflash to tremble and turn red.
‘Huh?’
As Lightflash was about to crack, Woo-Moon quickly imbued more aura into it to protect it and suppress the Martial Heaven Emperor’s energy.
“Aura that explodes from within. I guess that’s your specialty, Martial Heaven Emperor.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Woo-Moon sheathed Lightflash and drew Golden Dragon.
The Martial Heaven Emperor smiled faintly.
—You are pretty relaxed for a brat who has only now reached the Zenith realm.
‘The Zenith realm! So that’s what it’s called!’[2]
The Martial Heaven Emperor thrust his palm forward, and instead of the previous Transcendent Finger Aura that he had unleashed, a blast of Transcendent Palm Aura was emitted, filling a vast area with light.
Swish!
Woo-Moon’s figure disappeared from its position, floating in the air as the light swept through where he had just been.
When he reappeared, his left arm was a bloody mess.
The Martial Heaven Emperor’s attack had been so fast and broad that he hadn’t been able to dodge it properly.
“Heup!”
Woo-Moon swung Golden Dragon fiercely, and the wind, light, and other phenomena of nature nearby changed sharply in synchronization, flying toward the Martial Heaven Emperor.
While Paragons may not be able to use the Sword Heart at will due to its high consumption, Zenith Masters could easily unleash the Natural Sword.
Woo-Moon’s attack was one that no one would dare to block, but the moment a pure white light of transcendent aura burst out from the Martial Heaven Emperor’s hand, both it and Woo-Moon’s blow disappeared like snow melting in the spring sunlight.
‘Damn, he’s really strong.’
***
Absolute Masters had incredibly fast recovery abilities.
However, it wasn’t at the level where the deepest of wounds could be instantly healed, like a Paragon’s. Thus, Ma-Ra wrapped her tattered hand with a clean bandage she had in her sleeve.
It was a wound she had received while blocking the Great Justice Palace Master’s attack.
Ma-Ra had been confident that she could threaten even Paragons if the battlefield was dark, but the situation she found herself in wasn’t good right now.
Not only was it broad daylight, where stealth techniques were relatively more easily detected, but the Great Justice Palace Master had already seen Ma-Ra’s presence with his own eyes and was wary of her.
It was impossible for her to use her assassination arts against him any longer.
‘I should move.’
Ma-Ra briefly glared at the Great Justice Palace Master, who was engaged in a fierce battle with Si-Hyeon, before heading to another battlefield.
Meanwhile, Si-Hyeon, who had been fiercely pressing the Great Justice Palace Master back by taking advantage of his carelessness, stopped right in front of him when the Great Justice Palace Master finally summoned all twenty-four of his swords under Sword Control.
Her eyes showed deep regret. If she had just pushed a little harder, she could have won easily. She regretted not being able to push just a teeny bit further.
“You’re pretty good for a woman,” the Great Justice Palace Master said.
His swords, which had formed a circular shield to block Si-Hyeon’s attack, arranged in a formation, launched an attack all at once.
The swords that had been gathered spread out in all directions like the petals of a blooming flower, dividing into six groups of four and occupying all six directions around Si-Hyeon.[3]
Si-Hyeon’s eyes narrowed.
“The Plum Blossom Sword Formation... No, is it the True Martial Seven Severings Formation? It also gives off a similar feeling to the Shaolin Temple’s Arhat Formation...”
A hazy mist flowed out from the swords that tightly surrounded her. They seemed to be moving somewhat haphazardly, but a closer look revealed that their positions and movements followed clearly defined rules.
“Rejoice that you are qualified to witness this. This is the Great Justice Supreme Formation.”
A formation created by twenty-four swords under Sword Control!
This was the Great Justice Palace Master’s unique sword art, based on the most powerful formations within the Righteous Faction, including the Plum Blossom Sword Formation, the True Martial Seven Severings Formation, the Arhat Formation, and the Dog Beating Formation.[4]
It was commonly said that if seven Peak martial artists of the Wudang Sect gathered together in the True Martial Seven Severings Formation, they could face off against even a hundred other Peak martial artists. The formation’s main point was the ability to gather the power of those who made up the formation and produce a power greater than the sum of its parts.
Now that it had been replicated by the Great Justice Palace Master’s twenty-four swords under Sword Control, it was only natural that its power would be much stronger than the formation’s original reference. After all, two or more people would always have their own different thoughts and emotions, but the swords were moving according to one single will, so there would never be a discrepancy in their movement.
The twenty-four swords surrounded Si-Hyeon and slowly narrowed the “cage.”
Ping, ping, ping!
Although she tried to attack the formation by blasting it with demonic qi, the demonic qi just dissipated like darkness melting in the sunlight.
“It’s quite strong. However, the feud between the Righteous Faction and the Heavenly Demon Cult has been going on for over a thousand years. Do you really think that the Heavenly Demon Cult doesn’t have a single method of destroying the formations of the Righteous Faction?”
The Great Justice Palace Master’s formations were far more advanced than the originals, yet they were clearly inspired from the existing formations of the Righteous Faction, Si-Hyeon recalled the formation destruction methods that had been transferred to her memory and carefully examined the formation of the Great Justice Palace Master.
***
Now that her narcolepsy had been cured and Ra Mi had become an Absolute Master, her Sixth-Sense Sword was even more razor-sharp. Her body reacted before she ever saw her opponent with her eyes.
“Ugh!”
“H-how did you...!”
Even when a Transcendent expert unleashed a quickdraw technique from a blindspot she definitely couldn’t see, her sword flickered like a ghost, blocked the sword, and pierced the opponent’s heart.
Before her opponent’s sword could even move, Ra Mi’s sword moved first as if predicting the trajectory and force of the blow and cut it off at its origin.
She seemed to be reading her enemies’ minds, or maybe foreseeing the future.
Swish!
She didn’t really have techniques that could take down several people at once. However, her cruel and precise sword thrust through the air countless times in the blink of an eye, causing the blood of her enemies to spread through the air like a thin red mist.
“You fishy-smelling country whore from the South Sea. This is as far as you go.”
A man in a blue rope stepped in, stopping Ra Mi from slaughtering her enemies.
With his white face and the dark circles around his eyes, he gave off the aura of a corpse.
His name was Xiao Wu[5], the confidant of the Great Justice Palace Master.
“Do you really think you can stop me?” Ra Mi said with a provocative chuckle.
Xiao Wu laughed brightly, revealing his red gums.
“I’ll tear you to pieces alive.”
White frost formed in front of Xiao Wu’s palm. Quickly absorbing the moisture in the air, his qi condensed and chilled the collecting moisture until it created a long white sword.
One would be very mistaken to consider this sword weak just because it was made of ice.
Xiao Wu was the current master and only disciple of an ancient sect, the Glorious Snow Sect. The ice sword created by him using Absolute Ice Qi was stronger than famous swords made of fine steel.
Bang!
Ra Mi and Xiao Wu’s swords clashed once before they split apart.
Both of them could sense that their opponent was formidable just from that once fierce blow, and both took on a serious expression as they breathed deeply.
At this moment, Xiao Wu’s eyes locked onto Ra Mi’s shoulder.
Ting!
Ra Mi felt a chill run down her spine, and she suddenly shivered. She immediately flickered out of existence using Illusive Shift and dodged without even bothering to check what was coming for her.
Rrrip!
A bolt of frigid yi qi passed through where her shoulder had been, and the empty space itself froze and dropped to the ground.
It was midsummer, and sunlight should have been warming the land. Yet the ground around where the block of frozen space had fallen quickly froze and turned into a winter landscape.
“To think you can attack the void and use frost arts. How shocking.”
“You bitch, so you’ve learned sensory arts. Fucking annoying.”
Xiao Wu’s techniques were darkness arts that could attack space directly. However, Ra Mi had learned sensory arts that directly countered darkness arts, making the two of them a good match—or a very poor one.
However, as she had only recently entered the Absolute realm, while Xiao Wu had been there for a considerable length of time, Ra Mi was at a disadvantage in terms of experience.
“Xiao Wu, step back. I’ll handle her,” a giant man said as he appeared on the battlefield.
A man more than twice the average height and armed with thick muscles approached Ra Mi, making the entire ground shake.
He was none other than Da Wu[6], another confidant of the Great Justice Palace Master.
Ra Mi’s face darkened. Even Xiao Wu alone was strong enough that she wasn’t confident facing him. To see Da Wu appear on top of him, she naturally grew wary.
‘No, let’s not be weak-hearted. I must not lose before we even battle.’
As she braced herself, she saw a girl in a flower gown appear behind Da Wu.
‘Good, Ma-Ra!’
Ma-Ra’s ambush was clean. She perfectly positioned herself behind Da Wu and aimed for his heart, her sword digging into his flesh without hesitation.
Thud!
Ma-Ra’s sword suddenly stopped.
Taken by surprise, Da Wu let out a scream and swung his arms backward. Despite his large and tough appearance, Da Wu turned out to be surprisingly flexible; he punched straight behind him, right where Ma-Ra was, and could actually throw a good punch even from that awkward position.
The sword she had plunged into Da Wu’s back didn’t come out easily; Ma-Ra kicked Da Wu in the back hard, pulling out her sword and flying backward to avoid his punch.
“What a cowardly attack!” Da Wu roared and lunged at Ma-Ra like a wild boar.
Ma-Ra pursed her lips tightly and disappeared.
Da Wu, who wasn’t as fast as he was flexible, lost sight of her and looked around quickly, shouting, “Where are you?! Come out, you cowardly bitch!”
Sss!
Ma-Ra appeared in the air above Da Wu’s head.
This time, her sword swung fiercely from above, trying to split the giant’s head apart.
Clang!
However, this time, Ma-Ra’s attack was easily blocked. Her sword bounced off Da Wu’s head without causing any damage.
“AAARGH!”
Da Wu swung his fist above his head, and Ma-Ra disappeared again.
In the midst of the shadows, Ma-Ra considered the situation.
‘Physical cultivator. His technique maximizes the power of his body by imbuing his flesh with qi. It’s stronger and more efficient than defensive qi on the surface of his skin. His flesh and bones themselves are saturated with qi. This isn’t a good opponent for me.’
Ma-Ra was an assassin who used ambushes and sharp attacks to exploit an opponent’s openings. She wasn’t the kind of fighter who used direct and brutal attacks to break down and cut through an opponent even when they blocked.
For this reason, it wasn’t easy for her to hurt Da Wu at the moment.
She had been able to inflict some damage with the first attack, as Da Wu had been off guard. Now, however, Da Wu was fully prepared and fortified himself with his qi, causing her a headache.
‘I should have gathered all of my strength in the first attack and finished him off in one go.’
However, it was forbidden for an assassin to ponder on their regrets. Instead of wasting time with that, she had to focus on the battle and analyze the information she had obtained so far to figure out a way to defeat her opponent.
1. In a previous chapter, I wrote a reference on the title of this book technically being wrong. While it’s called the Undefeatable Swordsman, the title actually translates to the Undefeatable Sword Immortal. However, for a variety of reasons, we chose to go with swordsman—at least for me, the goal of the story is Woo-Moon finding himself and rising to his true potential to be a hero, not a literal immortal, but I digress. Anyway, this is a reference to the title. ☜
2. There is actually a reference to this in a previous chapter, but it’s made by Woo-Moon and there is no information whatsoever as to how he knows this, given that he didn’t even know what a Paragon was until a while after becoming one himself. With that in mind, we removed that reference and added this thought here so that there’s a logical way this level is introduced. ☜
3. Front, back, left, right, above, below. ☜
4. The latter is a famous art of the Beggar Gang. ☜
5. His name means “little martial.” ☜
6. His name is “big martial.” ☜
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