The Terminally Ill Young Master of the Baek Clan

From the moment the invisible sword of the mind started flying around the straw house, Zhang Sanfeng smiled.

「Hoho, interesting indeed.」

Yi-gang could not reply.

Unlike the others, he could feel the Sword Emperor’s murderous intent tingling.

However, it wasn’t something like a murderous aura.

Nor was it the intangible Qi that a master could use to kill a person.

「A Heart Sword? That’s quite rare.」

A sword of the heart, referred to as a Heart Sword, a legendary state.

Actually facing the Heart Sword, Yi-gang felt chills.

“…Starting here is the right thing to do.”

Just as the Sword Emperor had countered the pursuers before, he returned after fending off Go Yo-ja and other masters.

He then truly began to emit intangible Qi.

Only then could the party empathize with the pressure Yi-gang was feeling.

“Kuhak.”

“Kuk!”

The intangible Qi emitted by the Sword Emperor made their entire body tingle.

Peng Gu-in gripped his blade tightly, and Tang Eun-seol crouched down, ready to launch a hidden weapon at any moment.

The relatively inexperienced Cheong Su and Cheong Hye were frozen in place.

Instead of slaughtering everyone immediately, the Sword Emperor stared intently at Yi-gang.

When he had established the Heart Sword just moments before, Yi-gang was the only one who had reacted.

However, Yi-gang did not draw his sword but merely faced the Sword Emperor intently. His expression became even more serene.

The intangible Qi was still ferocious enough to tear a person apart, but it was easier to endure than the previous Heart Sword.

Silence fell, but for Yi-gang, it was not silence.

He was conversing with Zhang Sanfeng at the speed of thought.

‘I heard that he was at Supreme Peak level at that time.’

If what he had heard was true, the Sword Emperor’s mind was back in the days when he was pursued in the Kunlun Mountains. And at that time, he was still considered a Supreme Peak master.

Yet, the level of martial prowess shown by the Sword Emperor now differed from other Supreme Peak masters Yi-gang had met before.

Wasn’t Yi-gang, with his quality of experience, higher than any successor?

Even Supreme Peak masters like Namgung Yu-baek, Go Yo-ja, and White Monkey Demonic Hand had not shown such an imposing presence as the Sword Emperor.

「The level is indeed that of a Supreme Peak master. He shouldn’t have reached the Absolute realm.」

‘How can that be? In my eyes…’

「What do you think is the difference between a Supreme Peak master and an Absolute master? How do you think one can advance to the Absolute realm?」

At such a moment, asking such a question, Yi-gang did not know.

Even a Supreme Peak master who drew out Sword Aura was almost a superhuman. There were very few in the vast Central Plains who could explain what came next.

Yi-gang asked back with a hint of anxiety, ‘How would I know when I have not reached the Supreme Peak level myself?’

「That’s a matter of transcending the extreme.」

This was a martial arts discourse by the legendary Absolute master, Zhang Sanfeng.

If the situation were peaceful, he would have listened with joy.

「There’s no set phrase, but I myself liked to use the term transcending the extreme.」

To transcend the extreme was called transcendence.

Considering that the realm equivalent to a Supreme Peak master in the demonic path was called Supreme Demon, it had a peculiar resonance.

「When you claim to have seen the end of the sword and surpass it, and when you think you have seen the end of the demon to break away from it. Isn’t stepping into a new realm about breaking out of the imaginative constraints that have confined humanity?」

‘…’

「Even if one emerges as a great phoenix, to fly in the sky one must break out of the egg.」

Yi-gang suddenly recalled memories of his previous life, now feeling very distant.

There was such a phrase in a famous classical literature.

For a bird to fly, it must break out of one world. And the place that bird heads towards…

「The realm beyond is closer to that of immortals than humans. Let’s leave the explanation for later.」

Zhang Sanfeng stopped his lengthy speech and summarized.

「If this junior, called the Sword Emperor, had been at the Absolute realm during those times, he would have already slain someone with the Heart Sword.」

‘That means…’

「Still, it means the young priest is in danger now.」

Even if the conversation had proceeded at the speed of thought, the silence was long.

The Sword Emperor was the first to speak, “Young fiend. If you do not draw your sword, I will strike.”

Could it be that he had not swung his sword because Yi-gang hadn’t drawn his?

Although his mind had been honed while fighting the demon martial artists, he might still retain the mindset of an orthodox martial artist.

Yi-gang first tried to persuade, “Sir Jang Gyeong.”

Instead of the nickname Sword Emperor, he used a title likely used during that time.

“You might be mistaken, but we are not mere fiends.”

“Then who might you be?”

“We are successors of the Murim Alliance. I am a disciple of the Azure Forest.”

“Do not lie. All the successors around here have perished. I buried them with my own hands…”

However, the expression of the Sword Emperor did not change at all.

“Draw your sword.”

The Sword Emperor’s sword slightly trembled.

Chiik—

A long cut appeared on Yi-gang’s nose. It was a fierce strike through the air.

Blood streamed down, and Yi-gang raised his hand.

“Stop.”

He was calming his comrades behind him.

If Yi-gang hadn’t stopped them, Tang Eun-seol would surely have scattered all kinds of hidden weapons and poison.

The Sword Emperor’s swing was meant as a warning.

“I will prove it if you don’t believe me.”

Yi-gang did not mention that this was not the Kunlun Mountains, and that the Sword Emperor was suffering from dementia.

If saying so would restore his sanity, dementia wouldn’t be such a tragedy.

“Prove?”

“That I am a disciple of the Azure Forest.”

That the Sword Emperor had not swung his sword was a stroke of great luck for Yi-gang.

Inside the straw house, besides Yi-gang, there was another who was not oppressed by the Sword Emperor’s intangible Qi.

Dam Hyun, outside the Sword Emperor’s line of sight, sent a telepathic message.

-If we can’t snap him out of it, we’ll all die. It’s certain.

Zhang Sanfeng could handle it if he possessed his body, but there was a risk that the backlash might kill Yi-gang.

Even if Yi-gang didn’t answer, Dam Hyun kept talking.

-There’s only one method we can use right now. We have to make that old man realize he’s mistaken about him being a young man.

The words were bold, but the content was plausible.

The problem was, how to make him realize.

-Remind him that he’s an Absolute master. Feed him an attack that would have been unstoppable in his prime.

Zhang Sanfeng, curious about the conversation between Dam Hyun and himself, watched the mouth movements and understood the words.

「That’s quite a clever solution. The senior brother of the young priest is very astute indeed!」

With Zhang Sanfeng saying so, the method itself must be right.

The problem was ‘how.’

How could Yi-gang, who hadn’t even reached the level of a Supreme Peak master, deliver an attack that could only be stopped by an Absolute realm master?

There wasn’t much time to ponder. Yi-gang immediately took action.

“As a disciple of the Azure Forest, I will show you the Taoist sorcery.”

“Sorcery? Are you trying to use evil magic?”

“If you are a Taoist from the Wudang Sect, surely you know the difference between sorcery and evil magic.”

The Sword Emperor’s eyes narrowed.

“Even if the Wudang Sect disregards the use of sorcery, as a Taoist sect, they still possess fundamental abilities.”

Yi-gang’s posture, with his finger pointed to the sky, was utterly defenseless.

Because he was an orthodox martial artist, the Sword Emperor could not immediately strike Yi-gang.

-Yes, that’s it. That would be fine.

There was a hint of laughter in Dam Hyun’s telepathic message.

He had realized what Yi-gang was attempting to do.

That method met the conditions Dam Hyun had set.

Yi-gang murmured softly, “I call forth the mighty thunder of the heavens…”

The sky was covered with dark clouds, and raindrops started to fall.

It was a perfect environment to call forth lightning.

Here, unlike in the Kunlun Mountains, the Nine-Tails couldn’t exert power, but there was a small helper instead.

“…?”

The Sword Emperor’s eyes widened.

Not only because he felt an aura from Yi-gang that didn’t seem to belong to a demonic practitioner, but from within Yi-gang’s clothes, a white baby fox poked its head out.

Its mysterious blue eyes met the Sword Emperor’s gaze.

At that moment, Dam Hyun took action.

Cheong Su and Cheong Hye, who had been holding their breath inside the straw house, screamed upon receiving the signal.

“Great Senior Elder!”

“Calm down! It’s me! Cheong Hye!”

They were disciples who had long cared for the Sword Emperor.

The familiar title ‘Great Senior Elder’ momentarily shook the Sword Emperor’s heart.

Seizing that moment, Yi-gang was able to complete the Heavenly Thunder Command.

“…Heaven-Shattering Thunder.”

A secret technique completed in conjunction with Cheongho.

It was difficult to use in actual combat but was certainly a skill seldom seen anywhere.

Lightning flashed from the dark clouds in the sky.

「Good!」

No matter what method Yi-gang used, he could not threaten the Sword Emperor.

At the level of a Supreme Peak martial artist, all of Yi-gang’s attacks could be blocked.

But lightning was different.

Lightning was faster than any sword.

The speed of lightning was clearly three times slower than the speed of light.

However, it would overwhelmingly outpace human perception.

Flash.

By the time the eyes were dazzled, one would already be shocked by the lightning.

That’s how it should have been.

The Taoist Jang Gyeong, a Supreme Peak master, did not react to the lightning.

But the Taiji Sword Emperor of the Absolute realm did react.

「Oh, you truly have set foot in the Absolute realm.」

The Sword Emperor’s sword transcended reality in an instant.

A sword that could never be faster than lightning, cut through it.

Chijik—

It seemed not so much that the sword had sped up like lightning, but that the lightning had slowed down in front of the Sword Emperor’s sword.

Even if the lightning had become a tenth as powerful as it was in the Kunlun Mountains, it dispersed too easily.

It was not only the lightning that slowed down.

Even the falling raindrops slowed down.

As if time itself had slowed down.

Step by step, the Sword Emperor approached through the raindrops.

His steps were slow. Everyone, including Yi-gang, couldn’t move a finger.

The consciousness was vividly alive; he saw the Sword Emperor about to swing his sword, but he couldn’t respond.

Only Zhang Sanfeng was unharmed.

「The moment of Spirit Echoes was extremely prolonged. That was his transcendental ultimate technique.」

Despite the Sword Emperor’s sword flying towards Yi-gang’s neck, Zhang Sanfeng laughed heartily.

「Indeed, the path of martial arts is boundless.」

It’s not that he would be pleased if Yi-gang died.

But because the Sword Emperor’s sword, slowly moving, stopped right in front of Yi-gang’s neck.

The endlessly stretched flow of time returned to normal. The raindrops that had been suspended finally fell at their proper speed.

“Who are you?”

The Sword Emperor, holding his sword and stopped, asked softly.

No longer was there a trace of madness in his eyes.

“I am Baek Yi-gang.”

“…This place.”

Only then did the Sword Emperor realize that this place was outside the straw house.

The intangible Qi that had been oppressing everything was quickly retracted.

Cheong Su and Cheong Hye quickly ran out of the straw house.

“Great Senior Elder, please calm down!”

“Cheong Su… isn’t it. Why the wall.”

It seemed that the Sword Emperor had completely lost his memory of the recent events.

But soon, he realized that he had caused a disturbance.

He muttered bitterly, “I must have had another episode.”

Yi-gang respectfully performed a martial arts salute.

“I greet you, Sword Emperor.”

Then, Peng Gu-in and Tang Eun-seol also greeted the Sword Emperor.

Although it was not a pleasant first meeting, they all saw the Sword Emperor’s imposing presence. His overwhelming martial prowess didn’t seem to belong to an ordinary human.

He would surely be a great help against the invasion of the Demon Cult.

Soon, Go Yo-ja, Golden Needle Phantom, and Neung Ji-pyeong returned.

Although they were flustered, they were relieved to see the Sword Emperor had regained his senses.

“We came to help with your treatment, Sword Emperor.”

“Yes… my apologies.”

The Sword Emperor bowed in apology.

Everyone awkwardly bowed in response.

“Let’s go inside. The wall has a hole in it now.”

As he entered the straw house bitterly, Golden Needle Phantom and Go Yo-ja quickly followed.

Yi-gang looked back intently.

His heart was still racing.

Dam Hyun placed his hand on Yi-gang’s shoulder.

“Don’t you really desire it?”

“…What do you mean?”

Dam Hyun muttered as if he truly coveted it.

“What’s inside the head of an Absolute master.”

“…”

“I should try speaking of the craniotomy once more.”

As if resolved, Dam Hyun followed Golden Needle Phantom into the straw house.

Yi-gang hesitated, then followed him.

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