Chapter 42 - Qi Refining (2)

The duel began with the first movements of the Severing Mountain Swordsmanship and the Severing Vein Saber Method.

The moves Transcending Peaks and Mountain Force collided.

As I sliced horizontally in the middle stance, Kim Young-hoon mirrored the move and then quickly shifted to a lower stance.

However, my intent crushed the lower stance, transitioning into a form that could slash across Kim Young-hoon's face.

The fight was at the peak level from the start.

Red and blue lines crossed in the air.

The sound of swords and sabers clashing rang out in the martial arts field

Ting, ting, ting!

Dozens of attacks collided in a single exchange.

Cliff Edge, Bouldered Cliff, Dragon Vein, Flowing Ridge, Entering Mountain, Ascending Vein...

I slashed upwards, then wildly downwards, and back up again in a continuous flow.

But Cliff Edge was deflected with Mountain Spirit, while Bouldered Cliff and Dragon Vein were countered with the flowing techniques of Severing Vein Saber method.

Kim Young-hoon dodged Dragon Vein with Mountain Bird, then rapidly approached.

The moves of Entering Mountain and Ascending Vein were shaken off with Middle Mountain, unsettling the ground to shake the opponent's balance.

Severing Mountain Swordsmanship, Forty-Nine Lights Emerging Peak!

Forty-nine sword energies flew towards Kim Young-hoon.

Severing Vein Saber, Mountain Unfolding!

Kim Young-hoon's more ferocious whirlwind of attacks repelled all my sword energies.

Our swords and sabers clashed, and dozens of red and blue intents crossed in the air.

A tremendous exchange happened in that brief moment.

But still, it was at the peak level.

Our gazes met.

No words were needed.

As if by agreement, we both stepped into the realm of purple - the Three Flowers Gather at the Summit level!

What had been just an exchange of moves was now a serious prelude.

We read each other's intents, changing stances multiple times with each step.

Taking three steps and changing stances seven times, we finally settled on a single move after eight adjustments.

Kim Young-hoon feinted with the Mountain Wind and swiftly changed to Mountain Echo stance.

I shifted from ‘Mountain Echoes, Valley Responds’ to Echoing Valley, repelling the momentum of Mountain Echo with my sword.

The color of our intents grew more complex in the exchange.

Each strike was an exchange of thoughts.

[Have you been well?]

With a 'whoosh', I countered with Bouldered Cliff, feigned Entering Mountain in the lower stance, and then smoothly transitioned to 'Flowing Ridge'.

[I have been well. Have you been untroubled?]

The colors of our intents continued to exchange.

[Untroubled. However, seeing you well relieves my heart.]

Kim Young-hoon's movements became more lively.

Suddenly, he seemed to disappear from my sight, only to reappear, slashing upwards close to me.

Mountain Bird!

[Shall we start playing for real now?]

[Yes.]

The preliminary match ended.

We both, as if agreed, entered the realm of Five Energies Converging to the Origin.

Our consciousness domain overlapped.

Using the Layered Mountain, I scattered Sword Gang in all directions to block Kim Young-hoon's strike.

Immediately after, I used Mountain Tiger to concentrate the scattered Sword Gang into a single point directed at him.

[I have always wanted to ask.]

A dragon's head soared through the clouds.

With White Peak, he slashed upwards with dozens of Saber Gang, tearing apart the concentrated Gang Qi of Mountain Tiger.

[You told me you learned this martial arts from an opportunity]

Following White Peak, the Severing Vein Saber continued with Great Trunk.

His Saber Gang converged into a single powerful strike, aimed at me.

[Yet could it be that this martial art was not obtained by some opportunity, but something you created?]

Severing Mountain Swordsmanship, Mountain and Valley Transformation!

I flowed my Sword Gang into his Saber Gang, shaking it up as if causing an earthquake, dispersing his Gang Qi.

Again, a profound exchange occurred between us.

The fight in the realm of Five Energies Converging to the Origin was on a different level from the peak.

Rather than predictable trajectories of intent, each movement was like a far-off illusion, almost akin to foreseeing the future.

Kim Young-hoon's saber slashes towards my neck.

My sword pierces through Kim Young-hoon's heart.

But it was all an illusion caused by the killing intent in the realm of consciousness that we both shot at each other.

At the same time, it was also a battle of techniques in the Five Energies Converging to the Origin.

Kwang, Kwang, Kwang!

In the simple exchange of moves, Gang Qi envelops the void, sending Sword Gang and Saber Gang scattering in all directions.

Even though it was just a clash of moves, in the Five Energies Converging to the Origin, the mere killing intent clothed in Gang Qi turned the fight into reality, with sword marks and saber marks wildly spreading everywhere.

The floor of the sparring ground, made of blue stone, cracked all over.

Before long, the boundary of the sparring ground was protected by a formation capable of blocking attacks from cultivators above the 14th level of Qi Refining, holding off our Gang Qi.

Yet, even that formation trembled under the collision of powerful Gang Qi.

Lightning flashes.

By now, our movements were likely completely lost to lower-level Qi Refining cultivators with weaker consciousness.

We traversed the length of the sparring ground several times.

The trajectory of Gang Qi we emitted remained in the void of the sparring chamber, not yet faded.

And then, we collided in between.

[Why do you think so?]

The lights of our swords and sabers crossed in the void, each weaving the ferocity of a dragon and a tiger.

[Don't you know? If you taught me this martial art, you should know the intent imbued in it.]

The intent within the martial art.

I know it all too well.

No, I was there when Kim Young-hoon created the Severing Vein Saber Method during the second regression of the Heavenly Demon War.

The Severing Vein Saber Method, a peerless martial art, was developed by Kim Young-hoon over several months by refining my Severing Mountain Swordsmanship of 12 strokes.

Originally created for slow learners, the Severing Mountain Swordsmanship, with its kind and ascension-inducing strokes, was stripped of its simplicity. He integrated and extracted the essence of each stroke to create a new saber method.

That was the Severing Vein Saber Method.

A martial art created by Kim Young-hoon for his own genius, and at the same time, a martial art imbued with his thoughts during its creation.

Back then, in the early regressions, he longed for his lost companions and the homeland he could never return to.

It was evident even in the names of the strokes.

Severing Vein, Returning Home!

His saber, beyond the Severing Mountain Sword's Forty-Nine Lights Emerging Peak, carried a much more profound and intricate transformation.

The strokes he created out of longing for home as a human, not a genius, rained down on me.

Kim Young-hoon's reason for asking was probably the same.

The martial art itself exuded the longing for home, the longing of a human being.

Right now, he's asking me.

If I miss home as well.

I questioned him in return.

[You're asking if I miss my home, aren't you?]

At this point in the regression, Kim Young-hoon believes that I created the Severing Vein Saber Method.

Therefore, he is asking if I long for my homeland.

[I certainly do miss it. Sometimes, I miss it so intensely that I find myself weeping with my sword in hand.]

Using ‘Nine Mountain, Eight Seas’ I deflect Kim Young-hoon's attacks dozens of times.

Then, concentrating dozens of attacks into a single point, I intensify the pressure on him.

Kwang, Kwanggwang!

Our battle has already turned the sparring ground into a complete dirt field.

Paang!

Once more, our sword and saber collide, sending shards of the shattered blue stone flying between us.

Our consciousness, having attained the Five Energies Converging to the Origin, becomes even more focused.

Not just one fragment, but numerous shards scatter around us.

The trajectories of Gang Qi. Countless astonished gazes peek through the dust clouds at us.

Every facet of the space we stand in becomes clear in my mind.

In this near-omniscient state, I lock eyes with him.

[But don't you know? The ultimate technique of the Severing Vein Saber Method. The meaning of Saber Tomb.]

Our intents communicated back and forth.

[Is that so...]

He smiled somewhat sadly and took up a stance.

Recognizing his intention, I too properly assumed a stance.

[The heart you left in this martial art initially deeply resonated with me.]

In truth, it wasn't what I had left behind, but the heart that Kim Young-hoon had left behind in previous regressions.

But listening to his intent, I unfurled the techniques simultaneously with him.

Ascending Vein, Following Ridge...

[However, as I practiced martial arts, elevated my realm, and finally practiced the Record of Surpassing Cultivation and Martial Arts. I made a vow.]

Kim Young-hoon's saber cleaves through the void.

Mountain Force, Mountain Spirit, Mountain Presence...

[I must... I must elevate my realm, surpass cultivators, transcend the ultimate in martial arts, and...]

A battle surpassing extreme speed unfolds between us.

I execute the techniques even faster.

Flowing Ridge, Bouldered Cliff, Strange Stone, Landscape Painting, Dragon Vein, Cliff Edge, Forty-Nine Lights Emerging Peak...

[Definitely, I will find a way back home!]

Mountain Wind, Mountain Unfolding, Mountain Bird, Mountain Echo, Mountain Scream, Middle Mountain...

Explosions occur between our sword and saber, blinding to the eye.

In a battle that feels like it could numb the senses, I felt his will.

'How fantastical...'

His saber technique continuously unfolds.

Dragon Mound (龍陵), White Peak (白頭), Great Trunk (大干), Surpassing Mountains (越山), Returning Home (還向)...

Our battle continues, and finally, the essence of Severing Mountain Swordsmanship and Severing Vein Saber Method emerges.

Severing Mountain Swordsmanship (斷岳劍法)

The Twenty-Second Move (第二十二招)

"Severing Mountain (斷岳)!"

Kim Young-hoon's intent flows out, and the name of the technique drifts into the void.

Severing Vein Saber Method (斷脈刀法)

The Fifteenth Move (第十五招)

"Saber Tomb (刀墓)!"

The ultimate of a martial art for geniuses and a martial art for slow learners collide, bursting forth brilliance.

With the spirit of 'transcending mountains,' crossing one mountain after another.

Like a dragon crossing over peaks, towards our homeland with the White Peak and Great Trunk.

No matter which mountain I surpass, I long so much to return home.

But since that is impossible, in this life, I shall make the ground under this saber my tomb.

It seems as if I can hear Kim Young-hoon's will flowing through the Severing Vein Saber Method, beyond the ethereal gleam of light.

When Gang Qi collides, shockwaves arise, and the formation covering the sparring ground shatters.

Simultaneously, several Qi Building cultivators rise up and hastily overlay a new barrier.

Originally, the essence of Severing Mountain Swordsmanship, Severing Mountain (斷岳), and Severing Vein Saber Method, Saber Tomb (刀墓), are equivalent martial arts.

Therefore, if they were to collide, it would either result in mutual destruction or a draw.

But I saw something different.

Kim Young-hoon was unfolding the Record of Surpassing Cultivation and Martial Arts

It was the history of a new martial arts discipline created by a genius, passed down through generations, slowly unfolding in his hands.

As if he was explaining it to me, unraveling it before my eyes.

'Ahh, I see.'

This is the [Next Step] above the Five Energies Converging to the Origin.

He showed me his vow, based on his deep longing for home, to raise his realm and someday return there.

How fantastical. However,

The reason we came to this world is probably related to the Ascension Gate, and if we ever want to return, we must enter the Ascension Gate.

But the Ascension Gate opens only once every thousand years. Since it has opened this time, it won't be reachable in a mortal's short lifespan.

My goal was to become a cultivator, extend my lifespan, and become strong enough to challenge the Ascension Gate. He intended to do the same, but with his pure talent and will.

The Kim Young-hoon who spoke 'To bury my bones under the saber,'

He has surpassed him!

Beyond the stroke of Saber Tomb in the Severing Vein Saber Method, he unveils the Record of Surpassing Cultivation and Martial Arts.

And from there, unfolds Gang Qi Compression Sphere!

Watching the detailed intricacies of the Record of Surpassing Cultivation and Martial Arts he was performing, I understood how to surpass the Five Energies Converging to the Origin.

[... From now on, I will continuously pioneer the realm of martial arts. Someday, with the help of the Jin Clan, I'll try to reach the Ascension Gate. The cultivators of the Jin Clan said that the place where we were is the path leading to the Ascension Gate.

If I could only get there...]

How fantastical, yet again.

But I couldn't dare trample on his hope with the cruel truth.

The Ascension Gate has already closed, and we would have to wait a thousand years.

How could I say such a thing?

Instead of telling him this cruel truth, I asked something else.

[Why are you telling me this?]

[... I hope you, too, have hope.]

]

Is that so?

I closely observed the Gang Qi Compression Sphere he released, and just as my sword was torn to shreds along with my Sword Gang, I was propelled backwards by a tremendous recoil.

Kwaaaang!

I was violently flung back, slamming into the formation, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

‘... What is the name of this realm?’

I stopped our conversation through intent and asked him with a smirk.

After all, in the history of martial arts, he was the first to reach this realm.

It was right that he name it.

He had already reached this realm much faster.

Perhaps, in this lifetime, he might evolve the Record of Surpassing Cultivation and Martial Arts even further!

Kim Young-hoon answered calmly.

‘Ultimate Pinnacle (Reaching the Peak to Create the Ultimate).’

‘'Ha, hahaha... Such a fitting name for you.'’

Thus, pondering the enlightenment of martial arts, I fainted

Cuz I mean "He has reached the Deungbojogeuk realm!" Just doesn't sound right.