Chapter 54. The Cold Glint of a Well-Polished Sword (1)

The sky was so blue that it sent a piercing chill through Woo-Moon’s eyes as he lay on a wide grass field. As the soft grass tickled his back, Woo-Moon raised his arms and blocked the sun's glare with one hand. He could feel the warm light and breeze gently pass between the fingers.

Then, he clenched his fist tightly, as if to catch the breeze.

Fist.

In the blink of an eye, he swiftly pulled his left fist back toward his chest as his right fist flew forward. He could feel a faint twinge in his elbow as his muscles tightened.

A smile appeared on Woo-Moon’s lips. He enjoyed how his body moved through the punch and his muscles shifted and swelled.

Both fists flew countless times toward an imaginary point in the air.

Once, twice... ten times... the sound of his clothes flapping and his fists splitting the air echoed endlessly.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Then, for a moment, his hands stopped in a seemingly awkward position, neither a clenched fist nor an open palm. It almost looked like he was imitating the grip of an animal.

Claw.

Unlike when he had thrown punches earlier, Woo-Moon didn’t stretch his arms out completely. This time, his hands didn’t move back and forth, but side to side and top to bottom. When he reached the perfect angle, his fingers seemed to grab at something fiercely, as if he wanted to crush an invisible object.

He clawed at the air for a bit until, suddenly, his hands stopped again. This time, his palms were fully open, facing forward.

Palm.

His palms moved quickly and with such irregularity that it was impossible to guess where they would appear next.

BANG!

The sheer force of his palms caused sonic booms, and every blow was accompanied by gusts of wind.

Immediately after, he started moving his arms in a wide circular motion, almost as if his arms were whips.

Next came the

finger

and

hook

.[1]

Woo-Moon began to display every martial form he could using his hands, one by one. However, what Woo-Moon visualized and thought about as he displayed each form wasn’t a fist technique, a claw technique, a palm technique, a finger technique, or even a hook technique.

To him, all of them seemed like the movement of a sword. In other words, every thought was a form of swordsmanship, each action the path of a sword.

Every movement of one’s body hid the movement of a sword. The same went for qi cultivation methods and even the Celestial Sect's Forbidden Divine Art. The Dao of the Sword hid within the endless cycle that formed the core of the Forbidden Divine Art.

Woo-Moon was lying on the ground as he practiced martial arts while looking at the blue sky. He let his own movements guide him up, then let his feet shuffle along the pattern of a movement technique.

A whirlwind suddenly formed around him as the trees nearby shook. Their leaves fell one by one and flew toward Woo-Moon, and as they swirled around him, dust, stones, and fallen leaves rose from the ground to join them.

The sky was clear, and the sun's fierce glare shone brightly on the ground.

A storm was brewing only around Woo-Moon; the wind shifted, and the various objects in the air, from the fallen leaves to pebbles, flew along the path of the intangible sword he embodied through the forms of the fist, claw, palm, finger, and hook.

Swoosh—

Although what touched them was a fist, the leaves and stones were all cut as if they had been cleaved through by a razor-sharp sword.

Woo-Moon was in a trance, feeling like only he and the sword existed under the heavens.

It was indeed a fantastic sight.

Someone was watching from afar—Si-Hyeon, who had come to find him after discovering that he was practicing here, within the quiet forest clearing on the outskirts of Hefei. However, Woo-Moon, in his trance, was utterly oblivious to her arrival.

He would have sensed if someone approached him with hostile intentions, but he was familiar with Si-Hyeon and didn’t worry about her. Naturally, his subconscious didn’t react as it would have if an enemy came close.

‘Incredible...’

Si-Hyeon’s mouth opened in admiration. She had little experience, as her journey with martial arts had only started a short time ago after she had her marrow and bones cleansed by the Palm Martial Emperor Baek Sang-Woon. Even so, she was able to tell that what Woo-Moon was doing right now was something amazing. .

Taking out the sword that she had purchased from a blacksmith in Hefei, Si-Hyeon began to display the Swordplay of the Carefree Goddess that she had learned from Sang-Woon.

She sensed this was a chance for her and didn’t want to miss a moment. Thus, as she was naturally talented and could multitask, Si-Hyeon continued to watch Woo-Moon’s movements as she practiced her own, comparing them to her own and correcting her mistakes.

Although she had entered the path of martial arts at a late age, as she was born with great intelligence, her martial arts skills were rapidly improving.

In this way, Woo-Moon and Si-Hyeon, the two fellow disciples, practiced their swordsmanship in entirely different ways while at the same place.

Thus, Woo-Moon’s enlightenment in swordsmanship, which had begun before the sun had reached its highest point, only ended once the red haze of sundown began to show.

“

Whew...

.”

Having left this state where he’d forgotten the flow of time and the existence of space, Woo-Moon let out a long breath as all the tension left his body. He was feeling satisfied and drowsy, still immersed in the sensations he had experienced during his epiphany. He had achieved progress in the Forbidden Divine Art—his qi was now circulating more nimbly than it used to, but at the same time, it also had a weighty, majestic presence. At the same time, his mastery of the Gentle Celestial sword had also advanced to the next level.He smiled softly as he turned to Si-Hyeon, who was breathing heavily behind him.

“How long have you been here?”

A little over a month had already passed since he had brutally beaten Heon-Won during their spar. Because it was one of those “official spars” that Ju-Ryeong loved hosting so much, she could not publicly retaliate against Woo-Moon.

Although Woo-Moon had secretly hoped that Ju-Ryeong would be unable to bear her rage and attack him secretly, for some reason, it didn’t seem that she had made any special moves. Thus, within the Baek Estate, the eye of the storm, Woo-Moon had spent the past month and ten days training the guards while also cultivating on his own.

Moreover, whenever he had the time, he would also talk to Si-Hyeon. By now, they finally felt comfortable enough with each other to talk casually.

Si-Hyeon smiled, wiping the sweat off her brow with a handkerchief.

“It’s been about three or four hours. Thank you, senior brother. I was able to learn a lot because of you.”

“Oh really? I’m glad it was helpful.”

Si-Hyeon continued while looking at the setting sun.

“I came to find you because I wanted to talk to you... but somehow, I ended up losing track of time. I’ll be going back now, Uncle Mu-Jae is probably worried.”

“Ah, yes. I was planning on leaving as well, I have some things I have to handle.”

“Then let’s meet again! We couldn’t really talk today...”

“Let’s talk a lot next time and make up for the time we missed today.”

“Yes. See you next time.”

After Si-Hyeon left, Woo-Moon returned to the Baek Estate and suddenly looked down at the sword hanging on his waist.

During his cultivation today, unusually, he hadn’t drawn his sword even once.

Shing!

As always, it was nice to hear his sword's sound when it left the scabbard. However, today, the sound felt a little different.

It sounded a bit dull, almost as if... it was pouting?

“Haha. I’m sorry. I’ll definitely train with you next time.”

Clang!

A clear sound rang out when he flicked the blade with his finger as if to soothe it.

Mew!

As if asking why she had been left out, Eun-Ah ran up and followed behind Woo-Moon, playing nearby. These days, the range at which Eun-Ah was comfortable moving had increased significantly. Now, she had no trouble running around as far as seventy meters away from Woo-Moon.

At first, Woo-Moon had been lit with a fiery rage as he wanted to get his revenge as quickly as possible. However, now, he had calmed down quite a bit.

It wasn’t good to be hasty.

When Woo-Moon had heard that Hyeo-Ryeong and Ju-Ryeong were the masterminds behind the attempt on his mother’s life under the disguise of an accident, Woo-Moon had felt as though the very blood in his veins was on fire.

However, controlling his emotions, he decided to remain quiet for the next year and plan his revenge. In that time, he planned to adjust to the Baek Family, feel out the family’s loyalties, and investigate Hyeo-Ryeong and Ju-Ryeong.

‘Oh, by the way, are those brats doing okay?’

The “brats” that Woo-Moon was referring to were none other than the guards he had recruited.

When he had left in the morning, he had told them to stay in the horse stance as usual, but his practice had gone on longer than expected.

Woo-Moon, who considered the fundamentals to be more important than anything else, had so far only asked them to do the horse stance and the Breath Control Technique.

As Woo-Moon approached the Song Residence within the Baek Estate, Cho Myeong quickly ran toward the training hall after catching sight of him. At sixteen, he was the youngest among those selected as guards, and he was the one tasked with spying through the gates.

“He’s coming, he’s coming!”

Although Cho Myeong whispered as quietly as he could, Woo-Moon could still clearly hear him from outside the gates. None of the boys knew just yet how sensitive the five senses of someone who could use qi were.

Woo-Moon smiled, thinking that their actions were cute. Having someone stand watch was fine, but they had failed to consider their opponent’s abilities properly.

When he entered the hall, the eight guards stood in rigid stances with serious expressions on their faces. They had all changed incredibly over the past month.

As a result of eating well, practicing the horse stance, and exercising, they had all become bigger and more muscular.

Now, none of them trembled or lost their balance due to difficulty of the horse stance. At the very least, each and every one of them seemed to have become experts in the horse stance.[2]

Woo-Moon glanced at them, pretending not to notice, but everyone intentionally avoided his gaze as if they were bothered by something.

Among the eight of them, there were only two who could confidently make eye contact with Woo-Moon—Ah Sam, the one who had particularly long arms, and Seol Jae-Hwa, the pickpocket.

‘One is foolishly honest while the other is perfectly shameless.’

Both of them had confident gazes, with sweat beading on their brows. However, Woo-Moon could tell at a glance. Barring his face, Jae-Hwa had relatively little sweat; his breathing was stable, and he didn’t stink at all.

On the other hand, Ah Sam was also standing solidly in the horse stance, but he had a stronger body odor than anyone else and was covered in sweat. At the same time, he had put even more effort into the Breath Control Technique than anyone else.

‘As expected, Ah Sam is the one who does the best.’

It had been a month and ten days since Woo-Moon had first taught them the horse stance and the simple Breath Control Technique. On top of their daily practice, he had also instructed them to breathe according to the technique wherever they were, anytime, anywhere, even when they were sleeping, eating, or even shitting.

If Woo-Moon were to be honest, Ah Sam’s talent was far from the best among the group. Maybe average, and that was being generous. Perhaps because of that, he had been the slowest to be able to sense his innate qi through the Breath Control Technique, only being able to succeed as of two days ago.

However, Woo-Moon knew it was Ah Sam who tried harder and was more focused than any of the others.

Even when the others would forget about breathing according to the technique and ended up punished by Woo-Moon, Ah Sam practiced everything diligently, without fail.

“None of you get dinner tonight other than Ah Sam.”

The expressions of the other seven children distorted. For children who had lived without things to eat or wear, nothing was worse than being forced to skip meals. That fact was still true even now, after they had joined the Baek Family and were living much better lives than before.

“Hold on! Just how important is this stupid horse stance that you always force us to do it?” Seol Jae-Hwa, the young man who had tried to pickpocket Woo-Moon’s purse, said, letting out a dissatisfied cry.

“What did you just say?”

“That bastard, Baek Heon-Won or whatever, said the same thing when he came here! Who the hell does this horse stance nowadays? If you want us to become proper guards, shouldn’t you be teaching us the qi cultivation methods and sword techniques of the Baek Family first?”

Woo-Moon chuckled.

“One month.”

“One month... huh?”

“Starting today, I will teach you all fist techniques on top of the horse stance. Then, in a month, you and Ah-Sam will compete. And he will kick your ass.”

‘What? You’re saying that this idiot Ah Sam will beat me?’

Jae-Hwa’s eyes turned to Ah Sam, who was still standing steadfast in the horse stance. The boy’s face still looked stupid, even now. Jae-Hwa thought that there was no way he would lose.

“Ha! Don’t make jokes. Although my family may be ruined, I’ve learned the fist technique passed down from my ancestors. How can you think that idiot will win? Fine, good. Let’s do it. But, if things don’t go how you think they would, what will you do?”

“That will never happen. If it does... I'll give you a hundred gold taels. I won’t care if you leave with it or stay.”

One hundred gold taels!

Jae-Hwa’s eyes sparkled.

“Good. Then, what do you want if he wins?”

1. Imagine bending your wrists 90° and imitating a praying mantis, that kind of hook. ☜

2. Note it takes years, if not decades, to have a perfect horse stance. ☜