The Greatest Sword Sect Under Heaven

It was a memory from long ago, but I once had a master too.

When I had only just escaped slavery, the man known as Instructor Chil taught me the sword.

I think that was when I first truly resolved to become the Sword God.
In the end, when all was said and done, my dream of becoming the Sword God had begun with my desire to surpass Instructor Chil.

Instructor Chil had been a vicious bastard whose infamy was widespread even within the Cult, and in the end, he died by my hand.

For that reason, I had never once thought of Instructor Chil as my master. But looking back on it now……when it came to the sword, at least, he had been exactly that.

There was one thing Instructor Chil once told me that had always stayed with me.

‘A sword is nothing. Whether it’s made of wood or iron.’

At the time, I hadn’t fully understood what the hell he meant. Thinking about it now, though, I had a rough idea.

When two swordsmen were separated by an overwhelming gulf in skill, what swords they wielded meant nothing.

Whether one held a wooden sword, an iron sword, some cheap piece of junk, or a famed blade.

What determined the outcome of a duel was who was the better swordsman, not who held the better sword.

The same applied now. Whether the Sword Hero Gate martial artists wielded real blades while I fought with nothing but a sheath made no difference. The gap between our skill levels was simply too vast.

My current body might have been pathetic compared to the one from my previous life, but that didn’t matter.

I still possessed the memories of my previous life, the five senses I’d honed through countless beatings, and all the instincts and combat methods ingrained into my limbs. If anything could be called a blessing, this was one.

With light movements of my arm, I evaded the sword strikes of the men rushing at me, knocked their blades aside, countered just enough, then dropped each of them unconscious with a single blow.

For someone who had lived as turbulent a life as mine, predicting and evading the sword paths of such pathetic opponents was hardly difficult.

When only one of them had fallen, the men’s faces were filled with anger. By the time one became three, bewilderment had joined it. And when I effortlessly knocked down the fourth, every other emotion vanished from their faces, leaving only fear.

Curious which lucky bastard had survived until the end, I took a look……and found the messenger’s ugly mug staring back at me as he panted heavily.

‘Well now, look how this turned out.’

If things were going to turn out this way, all the better. Now I could return every bit of the insult and humiliation he’d given me earlier.

Sometimes words hurt worse than a beating with a sword sheath. For this messenger, now was about to be one of those times.

As our standoff continued, I called out to the messenger.

“……Hey.”
“…….”

The messenger didn’t answer. He seemed to be struggling to comprehend what had happened, so I kindly summarized the situation for him.

“You all came swarming in together, got your asses beaten, and fell over. So how are you going to report this? ‘We went to squeeze some money out of the easiest, most pathetic Sect Master in town, but he beat the shit out of us.’ Like that?”
“…….”
“Then the Sword Hero Gate Master will probably think, ‘Good grief, I chose the wrong messenger. These goddamned bastards……can’t even do one simple job properly? You’re driving me insane.’ And do you know what happens to all of you then?”
“……?”

I raised a hand and dragged a finger across my throat.

“……Then you’re all out of a job. After that, you’ll end up on the streets together, living worse than beggars from the Beggars’ Union. Life in the Kangho sure is hard.”

Perhaps he had imagined himself unemployed, because the messenger’s face had gone pale by the time he asked me in a troubled voice,

“Just what in the world do you want me to do?”

I picked at my ear once, flicked the earwax into the air, and answered.

“Do what? I don’t particularly want anything. None of this would’ve happened if you bastards had just behaved yourselves in the first place. Why make things so complicated?”
“…….”
“Still, don’t worry. If you end up on the streets, I’ll send the Sword Hero Gate Master to join you soon enough. Then you can curse out the superior you’ve always hated seeing and give him all the shit you want. What a happy life that’ll be, right?”
“What are you…….”

Smack!

Before the messenger could finish, I darted forward a step and swung the sheath sideways, slamming it hard into his neck.

The messenger lost consciousness from that single strike and sprawled across the ground. Now I was the only one left standing.

I swept my gaze over the fallen men.

“…….”

Truthfully, I wanted to kill every last one of them……but I couldn’t do that. Not yet. Otherwise, this life would be no different from my last.

In my previous life, I’d been condemned far too often for being a Bishop, and even though everyone shared the Demonic Path as a common enemy, I had belonged to the Demonic Path myself and ended up making far too many enemies.

In this life, I figured I should try making enemies in moderation, so I restrained myself from killing them. Somehow, I managed to suppress the Sword Demon within me.

Sparing these damned bastards instead of killing them was my first step toward that goal.

As I sighed and forced down the killing intent rising within me, So Geum-ho slowly approached and looked around.

“What in the world……?”

Apparently, he was still having a hard time processing what had happened. I spoke to the half-dazed So Geum-ho.

“Salt. Get a hold of yourself.”
“…….”
“I said, snap out of it.”
“Yes.”

I looked at So Geum-ho, who had finally recovered some of his wits, and said,

“Your Sect Master is this strong. You didn’t know?”
“I did not.”
“I’ve spent all this time putting up with them, and now these bastards think I’m an easy target. As Sect Master of the Sword Name Gate, I cannot tolerate this. Don’t you agree?”
“…….”
“Well? Don’t you?”
“I agree.”

I slung the Demon Wail Sword over my shoulder again and gave Geum-ho my first order that actually sounded like one.

“Tie all the unconscious ones up somewhere, a storeroom or something. Call me when they wake up. Looks like I’ll have to interrogate them myself.”
“Yes. What will you be doing, Sect Master?”
“I’ll rest in my room for a while. Call me if anything happens.”
“Understood.”

With the situation more or less settled, I was about to turn away when Geum-ho’s worried voice came from behind me.

“Sect Master.”
“What?”
“Will we really be all right? Openly provoking the Sword Hero Gate like this.”
“…….”

I’d expected as much, but it seemed his fear still outweighed his trust in me.

There wasn’t any clever solution for something like this. He simply had to believe.

Blind faith, after all, begins with memorization and self-hypnosis……so I looked at Geum-ho and spoke in complete seriousness.

“Geum-ho, repeat after me.”
“Yes.”
“The Sword Name Gate is the greatest sword sect under heaven.”
“…….”
“I said repeat after me. Can’t you hear me?”

Only then did So Geum-ho sigh and repeat the same words.

“……The Sword Name Gate is the greatest sword sect under heaven.”
“Correct.”

Satisfied with his answer, I turned around and began walking down the long corridor again. It might take quite some time before So Geum-ho gained any confidence.

Just as it would take me a long time to truly become the greatest under heaven.

But that didn’t matter. No one knew the future anyway, and no one could predict even an inch ahead in life.

After returning to my room alone, I sat on the edge of the bed, composed myself, and settled into a cross-legged meditation posture.

“Phew…….”

Before anything else, I needed to carefully examine the condition of this body.

First of all, my external cultivation was a complete mess. I had managed to win the fight just now because of the overwhelming difference in skill. Neve rmind the lack of any proper foundation in external martial arts, even my basic muscular strength was abysmally low.

Probably because this body had spent so long bedridden from illness, its muscle density was lower than even an ordinary person’s.

This wouldn’t do. Many martial artists misunderstood this, but the foundation of every fight wasn’t internal cultivation. It was external cultivation.

Internal energy was exactly what the name implied, power lying dormant within. But the medium that ultimately drew out and used that power was the body itself.

That was why external cultivation mattered. Even if someone obtained a divine art, without training their body first, their own flesh would break before anything else.

‘Looks like I’ll have to train my external cultivation like hell for a while.’

On the other hand, external cultivation was also the kind of training that only bore fruit after long, consistent effort.

External cultivation wasn’t something that could be rushed. The answer was simply to train it for a long time and keep at it.

There was nothing I could do about it immediately, so I set that aside for now……and moved on to examining my internal energy.

I slowly exhaled, then inhaled, keeping my breathing even.

I closed my eyes and continued to focus until, within a pitch-black space where nothing else could be seen, I slowly began examining my dantian.

Apparently, Dokgo Mu-jin had at least practiced some martial arts. His dantian was pitifully small, but traces remained of the few times he had circulated his qi and accumulated internal energy.

But there was something strange. The acupoints through which internal energy should have circulated smoothly were completely clogged by something.

‘Heavenly Yin Severed Meridians……?’

Simply put, Heavenly Yin Severed Meridians was a rare constitution in which continuously accumulating turbid qi obstructed the body’s acupoints.

Calling it a rare constitution made it sound harmless. For a martial artist, it was practically a cursed body.

At first, it began with relatively mild symptoms such as chills, headaches, and body aches.

But as more and more turbid qi accumulated, the symptoms only worsened until eventually every acupoint became blocked. Nine times out of ten, the victim died young.

‘So that’s why this damned body was so weak.’

The most terrifying thing about Heavenly Yin Severed Meridians was that no matter what desperate bullshit you tried, a complete cure was nearly impossible.

One wrong move with the acupoints could cause an even greater disaster, and ordinary medicinal herbs had almost no chance of removing years’ worth of accumulated turbid qi…….

For someone born with Heavenly Yin Severed Meridians into a poor household like Dokgo Mu-jin’s, it was pretty much a death sentence.

But I was different. The Sword Demon of my previous life and Dokgo Mu-jin might have been equally painfully poor, but at least I knew a method of my own that could treat this goddamned body to some extent.

It was a somewhat insane method……but I possessed the Demon Wail Sword, a wraith-like ghost sword capable of devouring even the turbid qi accumulated inside my body.

“…….”

I slowly cracked my eyes open and stared at the Demon Wail Sword.

Using a demonic sword like the Demon Wail Sword to extract turbid qi from one’s body was, naturally, a completely insane idea.

If things went wrong, it might devour not only the turbid qi but my true qi as well. Worse, I might end up imprisoned inside it as a soul all over again.

Even in my previous life, when I had reached a level close to the pinnacle, the Demon Wail Sword had run rampant in my hands. Why would things be any different now?

‘……Can I do this?’

Perhaps it was impossible from the very beginning.

But when I thought about it, I had challenged countless impossibilities throughout my life. That was simply how I had lived.

Since when had I ever feared what came afterward? Not even death had been able to stand in the way of my will.

I was a man who had been born with great ambition. There was no way a single sword could stop me.

‘Fuck it. Whatever happens, happens.’

Saaaaaaaaah…….

The moment I drew the Demon Wail Sword, an ominous air swept through the room. Black energy poured from its blade like mist and spread across the surroundings.

My vision blurred completely. Then my ears went numb, and soon the wails of ghosts and all manner of screams came crashing into my eardrums.

Even in that state, I desperately tried to keep my wits about me.

It was anything but easy. If I simply let things happen, the Demon Wail Sword would devour me in no time, so this time I started cursing myself out in my head.

‘Dokgo Mu-jin, you bastard. Hold on. You’re going to die again before you even get to see the Cult Leader’s ugly face?’

Then I turned my abuse on the Demon Wail Sword, which was going berserk with all its might.

‘You knock it off too, you crazy bastard. Before I snap you in half.’

Had my heartfelt threat actually worked? The black energy radiating from the Demon Wail Sword gradually began to recede, while the demonic energy that had erupted like a raging torrent thinned into strands like spiderwebs wrapped around the blade.

Even the ghostly wails that had been ringing loudly enough to make my mind go hazy suddenly faded away.

I had no idea why, but I wasn’t about to let such a perfect opportunity slip by.

Feeling that I might never be able to control the Demon Wail Sword again if I missed this chance, I drove it straight through the back of my hand without hesitation, restraint, or fear.

“……!”

So much for my threat working……the instant the Demon Wail Sword pierced my hand, dark-red blood spurted out and stained the bed. As though responding to it, spirits slowly emerged from the blade and began sucking up every last drop of blood.

‘What kind of fucked-up…….’

Agony beyond anything I had imagined tore through my entire body, and after devouring all the blood around me, the spirits entered my body as though their hunger still hadn’t been satisfied.

The real fight was only beginning.

The ideal outcome would have been for the souls invading my meridians to devour only the turbid qi and then leave without a second thought. Naturally, that was far too much to hope for.

The spirits spread throughout my body in an instant, first devouring the impure turbid qi blocking my acupoints. Then they advanced aggressively, as though intending to tear into the internal energy and true qi stored within my dantian.

Just as I’d expected, they had cleared away all the turbid qi clogging my body. Now it was time to drive these damned souls back out. Needless to say, that was not an easy task.

In any case, to survive, I focused all my awareness on my dantian and did every insane thing I could think of to stop the spirits attacking from all directions.

I’d once thought I was the greatest under heaven when it came to raising absolute hell. Apparently, I was wrong about that too. Compared to the Demon Wail Sword, my madness was nowhere near enough.

What would happen to me at this rate? Was I really going to die again before I’d even gotten another look at the Cult Leader’s face?

As I desperately held on with nothing but the thought that it was still too early for me to die……

‘What the hell is this?’

Had a miracle finally come for me too? All those spirits were suddenly being sucked away somewhere.

Were the bastards going on some sort of group vacation? Apparently not.

I cautiously opened my eyes and saw the spirits that had entered my acupoints through the back of my hand being forced back into the blade of the Demon Wail Sword.

“…….”

There was nothing particularly surprising about it. The Demon Wail Sword was, after all, a sword made to bind spirits, and I was a man who had once stood near the pinnacle of the sword.

That was why my title had been Sword Demon. It might have sounded a little overconfident, but what mattered was that I had genuinely succeeded in controlling the Demon Wail Sword, even if only for a moment.

Perhaps it would have been impossible if these grotesque spirits had been bound inside some weapon other than a sword.

I delivered my sentence to the foolish spirits that were still struggling desperately.

“……This body isn’t yours to covet yet. I won’t give it to you, so go back.”

Saaaaaaaaah……!

At my words, even the last handful of spirits resisting with all their strength disappeared back into the Demon Wail Sword.

The instant I confirmed that the spirits had vanished, I immediately slid the Demon Wail Sword back into its sheath as though sealing them away.

As soon as the spirits disappeared and the Demon Wail Sword was hidden within its sheath, the surroundings finally became completely clear.

The suffocatingly dense demonic energy and pitch-black aura vanished entirely, along with the ghostly wails that had screamed loudly enough to make my ears bleed.

Once those insane ghosts were gone, my room returned to the same quiet state as before.

A sigh escaped me before I knew it.

“Phew…….”

This was the first time in my life that merely drawing a sword once had completely exhausted my mental strength.

But regardless of how drained I felt mentally, my body was in excellent condition.

My body felt noticeably lighter, almost as though I had undergone a complete cleansing of the body and marrow. My hair had gained a healthy sheen, and even my eyes felt brighter and clearer.

Even the deathly pale, scrawny body began regaining vitality once the turbid qi disappeared. Lean muscle emerged across my frame, and my physique grew sturdier.

‘This should be enough for a proper foundation.’

Honestly, I hadn’t expected to succeed either, so actually pulling it off left me feeling strangely satisfied.

Perhaps because I’d expended so much mental strength in such a short time, the bed was drenched in my sweat and my entire body was soaked through.

Yet I didn’t feel uncomfortable in the slightest. If anything, I felt incredibly refreshed, as though I had just been born anew.

I leaned against the window and stuck my head outside, letting the air cool the cold sweat covering my body.

As the gentle breeze brushed across my forehead……for the first time, it truly began to sink in that I had been given a new life.

Where would this life take me now? Could I meet a fate different from the one I’d known before?

I didn’t know the answer to any of it, but strangely enough, I didn’t feel bad at all.