“His wounds are healed?”
I could hear Chun Mu-Seong mumble in surprise from behind me.
But I wasn’t too surprised.
I had seen worse injuries than this that were healed through this recovery ability that surpassed ordinary people.
The man smiled at me.
“I don’t have much time, so let’s end this.”
Pat!
He reached for me, but the distance between us was still 8 paces. What was he doing? The moment I thought so, a dagger came towards me.
Srng.
I swung Iron Sword and slashed it away. It seemed like he was using both hands to wield a dagger and threw one of them at me.
Not missing the chance, I rushed towards him. At that moment, I spotted something black in front of me.
‘…?!’
-Wonhwi! Behind!
Without thinking, I jumped up and swung my sword around me.
Sring!
Something sharp hit the blade and bounced back.
It was a dagger.
A thin silver string was attached to the tip.
‘Silver string?’
It had to be that if my eyes weren’t wrong.
Wheik!
The dagger bounced off and was pulled back, threatening to pull Iron Sword with it. If I swung my sword, it could get caught, but still, I decided to pull it in instead.
“Hoh. So what?”
As I drew in my sword, the force pulling the dagger vanished, and it moved towards my head.
‘This…’
I turned my head to avoid it. The dagger which had missed was blocked at my chest by the blade.
Pak!
As soon as I blocked the dagger, I threw it back at him. As he adjusted the length of the silver string, the flying dagger returned to his hand.
The man frowned.
“You seem familiar with strings.”
He seemed puzzled at how I was responding, so I told him.
“Silver string is a form of art. Who did you learn it from?”
“What?”
Hearing my words, his expression crumbled.
I was suspicious of him, especially the strings he was using.
I am the one who met that man in the Six Blood Valley and inherited his vision. Before his death, he spoke about not having disciples or children.
The man licked his lips.
“How did you know of this and the tricks behind it.”
“I asked first.”
“You are such a funny guy. String arts is a martial art that I created. Did you ever fight against Han Ji-sang?”
‘Han Ji-sang!’
This man knew Han Ji-sang, the Slaughterer.
How was he related to the man? I was shocked.
“No. That cannot be. There is no way a young man like you fought against him before he died.”
‘Now is my chance.’
So I informed Chun Mu-seong.
[Run while I have his attention.]
He didn’t seem able to use any techniques, but judging from what he did, he was much more skilled at handling the strings than me. There were even hidden strings, so this space wouldn’t limit him.
If he wanted to kill Chun Mu-seong, then it would happen.
It was a situation where it would be helpful for him to run away or get far.
[If I attack him, run.]
After saying that, I ran forward, and, as expected, he immediately threw the dagger toward me. The dagger was moving at a weird angle and bending to the sides, making it difficult to guess where the attack would come from.
‘Dagger throwing illusion.’
It was a three-direction Dagger Throwing Illusion.
Srng!
I cut down the dagger that flew for my chest, and it bounced back to him. However, it then turned towards my thigh as if it had bounced off an invisible wall.
Srng!
I blocked that too, and the dagger continued to change its path and rushed in.
Chachachang!
Even though I knew the technique, it felt so bizarre for me to see it. I unleashed the third form of the Loach Shaped Sword.
The sword moved like a soft branch, obstructing the dagger’s path.
‘The silver strings must not be twisted.’
The moment they were entangled, the path of the sword changed. It was at that moment.
“Do you think you can run?”
Swish!
‘Ah!’
He threw the dagger with his left hand. I hurriedly reached to the left hand as I had predicted he would do this.
Short Sword, which had a silver string around it, flew out and struck the dagger. Hiding this trump card was a good move.
Chang!
“You?”
The man was surprised, but he wasn’t the only one.
‘This!’
Unexpectedly, the silver string was attached to his other dagger. When he slightly twisted his left hand, the dagger bounced back and moved towards Chung Mu-seong again, forcing me to change Short Sword’s direction.
Srng! Swish!
As Short Sword and the dagger collided, they clashed again, and the situation felt strange.
My right hand had to keep moving while my left had to manipulate the silver string.
Chang! Chang!
“Haha! How did you manage to do the same familiar trick? I thought you were just a disciple.”
“I was just taught.”
We’re not teacher and disciple. At that moment, the man smiled and kicked out his foot. At that movement, something shot out of his shoe and flew past.
My hands were tied, so I was not able to react.
“Kuak! “
Chun Mu-seong screamed. The man hid assassination weapons in his shoe!
‘How can this be?’
-The weapon penetrated the old man’s back. Since he’s moving his body a little, he seems to be alive…
‘Damn it!’
I knew even without hearing it, but lives were at stake here. The root of the problem was that each silver string was tied and couldn’t be moved.
The man fought differently compared to normal warriors. He then smiled and said,
“See here. If you learned from Han Ji-sang, then I am no different than your senior teacher.”
“Senior?”
What was he talking about?
Senior teacher meant that he was a teacher to my teacher.
Judging by his face and voice, he wasn’t over 30.
-Does that mean his body doesn’t age?
No.
Even warriors who crossed that boundary, they could only slow the aging but not stop it. Stopping the aging process was a story of legends.
Moreover, although he was strong, this man hadn’t yet passed that wall.
The man grinned and said.
“It would be a shame to kill you, who inherited my techniques, so how about being my disciple?”
“Don’t speak such nonsense.”
“You have a temper.”
“If you are his teacher, you must be at least 80. Do you expect me to believe you?”
Hearing this, he raised his eyebrows.
“If you follow me, you can be like this too.”
“I have plans.”
“A pity then.’
Pak!
We tugged each of our left hands where the strings were caught.
It was something to try and get him out.
“It looked like you didn’t learn properly from him. If you do it like this…”
He moved his left arm strongly, and the dagger tied around Short Sword rotated and released the silver string.
The freed dagger flew at my head in a circular movement.
Wheik!
I used innate qi to pull Short Sword back and cut down that attack. The two daggers clashed.
Chachachang!
I had practiced using the string with my left hand, but this man’s movement was entirely different.
It felt like two warriors who were working together to attack simultaneously.
-Shoulder!
Short Sword told me this, but it was too late.
Puak!
“Kuak!”
The dagger eventually pierced my left shoulder. The moment the dagger penetrated, he pulled the silver string and aimed for my neck.
It was a situation where someone would do this to entangle a sword.
‘Returning Dragon Sword.’
It was the fourth form of the Returning Dragon Sword.
My body moved rapidly, and my sword form moved to create a whirlwind.
The dagger, which was aimed at my neck, was wrapped around Iron Sword’s blade alongside its string.
“Caught it.”
As I tugged using both hands, the silver string became tightly entangled like a ball of yarn.
“Haha!”
The man immediately moved.
“Where are you going!”
I threw Short Sword at him.
He jumped into the air and clung to the ceiling. In addition to the string and the assassin’s weapon, he was also someone who claimed to be the Slaughterer’s teacher.
Pat!
He immediately tried to approach Chun Mu-seong. Hot steam was then released from my body.
Woong!
The man frowned.
“You… it cannot be!”
It was the True Blood Diamond Body, the secret technique of Hae Ack-chun. I had a lot of hidden tricks as well and was not in any way inferior to him.
“Tch!”
I hurriedly grabbed his right hand.
The string, which had been confined in the form of a net, was drawn taut.
“If you move, your body will be cut to pieces!”
“Try it.”
I pushed Iron Sword’s blade into the entwined silver string using my soaring strength and internal qi.
My body was solid and stiff.
“True Blood Diamond Body? Who are you, for you to know the martial arts of the Ghastly Monster of the Blood Sect?”
Kwakwakwang!
I ignored his question and moved forward. The man’s right arm muscles tightened as he pulled at the silver string.
“Damn it!”
He pulled his left hand back, and the dagger stuck in my shoulder was pulled out.
Pat!
He moved that hand towards the fallen Chun Mu-seong.
I then waved my hand a couple of times. The book was pulled back alongside the dagger as well as the sound of flesh that was cut.
The man who got what he wanted was smiling.
“I want to fight with you more, but I don’t have time for it.”
Pat!
He ran to the side and used the silver string to block me. It seemed like he wanted to escape using the third-floor window.
If this was the case, things could be how he wanted them.
‘Well then.’
Bang!
I stomped on the ground.
‘Chasing till the End Sword.’
I unfolded the 6th form. As the sword rotated, the silver string wrapped around it much faster, and the taut string pulled at my palm, ripping it, but I didn’t care.
“Huh!”
As the strings became entwined, the man’s body which had been moving to the side, ended up being pulled back.
“You!”
Pat!
He threw a dagger with his left hand.
Sring!
I slashed it down with Small Sword. The moment he got closer to me, I pushed the sword.
“Damn it!”
He kicked using his front foot, thinking he could get away, and moved the assassin’s weapon toward my stomach.
Pak!
It was a sharp needle-like assassin’s weapon, but it didn’t penetrate my stomach because I was using Hae Ack-chun’s technique. I could handle the small pinch from it and stabbed my sword toward his neck.
Even if he could recover from wounds, losing his head would mean death.
“Huh!”
He threw himself to the back to avoid getting hit by the sword coming for his neck and pushed his right arm forward.
Pang!
The silver string wrapped around my sword continued to become taut and stopped right in front of his nose.
He smiled slyly.
“How sad.”
He pushed his left hand out, and I could see the silver string being used.
-Now!
I tilted my head at Short Sword’s warning. His eyes widened as I dodged the dagger without even looking at it.
Bang!
I stepped back and…
‘Chasing Till the End Sword!’
Iron Sword rotated to the opposite side this time, and the string wrapped around it began to unravel.
“W-what?”
Surprised, he hurriedly tried to stab the dagger into my face. I tilted my head to the side and avoided the dagger as it passed by my face.
I grabbed the man’s wrist with my left hand and stretched out my sword.
“Kuak!”
I pulled his hand down, and thanks to that, the sword aimed for his head penetrated slightly through his collarbone.
Papak!
“Kuaaak!”
As my sword rotated and pierced through that area of flesh, the man screamed in pain. I raised the sword vertically above my head as he was in that state.
Chak!
“Kuak!”
In an instant, my sword dropped from the top of my head, and his face was split in half with a red blow.
“Huk… huk…”
He had a stubborn desire to live. Even though his head was split in half, he was still breathing. His eyes were on my left, where his dagger had passed by.
“You… you… who are you?”
It seemed like he noticed how the bruise was already healing, and his eyes shook in agitation and fear at how fast it was happening.
I then said to him,
“Cut it and die.”
I cut down into his throat.
Chak!
Once his head was cut open, it fell off and tumbled to the ground. The torso, which was also split, fell down as well.
The man didn’t move anymore. My breathing turned rough as the blood began to flow.
“Haa… Haa…”
He was much more difficult to deal with compared to other warriors.
I bent down and retrieved the book from his corpse. It had a hole in it because of the dagger.
Seeing that he went through all this, this had to be a real treasure.
At that moment.
Ba-dump!
My heart began to pound loudly.
A hot feeling began to move through me.
-What is it?
‘The innate qi is moving on its own.’
This wasn’t what I intended… At that moment.
Wheik!
The book in my hand was burning with blue flames. I was shocked as I didn’t initiate this and tried to let go.
But the surroundings turned dark, and when I blinked, everything seemed foggy.
“What is this…”
I don’t know why, but I saw something in the fog.
It was an old man wearing a pure white robe and holding a sword stained with white light as he looked at me.
