Episode 157

Seol-Hwi wasn’t too shocked when Ma Taryong vanished.

Because he could notice the afterimages.

And this wasn’t like an illusion, just a little haze in the air.

Seol-Hwi saw this and thought of what he had practiced with the trainer, Seo Saeng.

“What are you looking at?”

It was when Seol-Hwi was sitting in the quiet forest behind the mountain. Seo Saeng, who Seol-Hwi didn’t notice, appeared.

“I was watching the leaves fall.”

“Leaves?”

He thought it was absurd.

He also had noticed Seol-Hwi sitting in the woods and staring at the leaves each time he stopped by. He had been doing this for an entire month already.

In the meantime, he thought Seol-Hwi was thinking about something, but instead he spoke of leaves.

“To be precise, I am figuring out where the leaves are falling.”

“Uh, why do that?”

“At first, I was curious but then it turned into a habit. Watching the leaves flow in the wind unexpectedly turned into a training technique.”

“Training… it is quite unique.”

Seo Saeng nodded his head.

Counting and concentrating is one type of mediation.

And it may not seem much at first, but it still helps a lot in practice, especially the more skilled one is.

For a warrior, experience is important.

However, the experience gained in practice and the experience gained through actual combat is not everything.

One has to process what they experienced themselves, and one of the best things about meditation is the realizations from truly understanding their experiences.

Mind, energy, body.

The movement of the body to be as intended has to be directed by the brain by using energy.

Only when all these things become one can they rise in realm.

This is because when one rises to a higher level, their body has to know how far the current self has come.

“Come to think of it, there are the teachings of the orthodox sides. Perception, mind, and wisdom which bring forth liberation.”

Seo Saeng proceeded with the explanation.

This is because in the Demonic Sect, it deals with demonic attributes like chaos and evil, while the other side is more scholarly.

“Perfection means to empty the mind and continue to chant the Buddha’s teachings to turn ideas into thoughts. And all thoughts being stable in mind says that there are no unneeded thoughts in the mind.”

“A kind of study for scholars.”

“Right. Go after the purity of mind and hold silence. From that point of view, the training isn’t bad. If you think about where the leaves will fall each day at some point you will know where the sword will move to.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

Seol-Hwi nodded his head.

But it occurred to him that Seo Saeng might not be a member of the main sect.

Although he didn’t know much about the teachings of Buddha, this old man seemed quite well versed to him.

“So… how many did you get right?”

Seol-Hwi answered,

“All in all, it doesn’t fit my expectations.”

“Haha. It cannot be helped. Although not much, this is a forest. The wind will constantly blow the leaves and it will not be easy to find the trajectory the leaves move at. So looking at it and judging…”

“With eyes.”

“Uh?”

Seol-Hwi hesitated for a moment at the trainer who looked surprised and said,

“Actually, while I was looking at the leaves, I started seeing the minute air movement in front of me, a faint afterimage.

“Air, afterimage…”

Seo Saeng mumbled and Seol-Hwi nodded.

“Yes, but it comes and goes. Sometimes I can clearly feel the movement and sometimes it was like an illusion, but if I look closely, it would vanish. But more often I feel almost nothing.”

“Ah…”

The expression Seo Saeng had changed.

He looked at Seol-Hwi as he said,

“Captain, did you ever master the Unified Elimination technique?”

“I did.”

“And you speak about the air movement and afterimages.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

He groaned a little with an expression which couldn’t be understood.

“If you have time tomorrow, go and have a spar with Ma Taryong.”

“Sorry?”

Seol-Hwi looked a bit taken aback.

With the exception of a few special tricks, he knew he couldn’t beat Ma Taryong, and he knew that Seo Saeng knew that too.

But he still proposed a spar.

“Just try it once. If it is him, I think it will help.”

Seo Saeng nodded his head looking at Seol-Hwi’s worried expression.

“I am sure you will get something important in return.”

And it was as he said.

Wheik!

Seol-Hwi noticed the air which was moving out before him, and his opponent being too quick for him to respond.

Fortunately, he followed the air’s movement and could feel the opponent coming to attack, and eventually it turned to the right prediction.

“Hah!”

And Ma Taryong appeared right then.

At that moment, the sword soared high and came down.

Kang!

At the same time as the two swords collided, the force of it was transmitted into the fingertips.

“Ugh…”

In shock at what martial arts was using so much strength, Seol-Hwi felt the sensation of the sword’s movement he almost missed.

But this was just the beginning.

Kakang!

Seol-Hwi’s expression was distorted upon receiving the raging sword attack.

The opponent’s attack which came more than 20 times in one breath wasn’t at a level which could be seen with the naked eye.

Slow. Slow.

In the end, Seol-Hwi decided to take a step back and defend, and the instant the sword of his opponent stopped…

In order to launch a counterattack, he moved laterally with the intention to deceive his opponent.

Jing!

“…”

He was speechless.

The place where the opponent was a while back was now dug deep.

It was a technique to kill.

“As I thought, you are good.”

Swish!

Ma Taryong moved his head left and right, and spoke with a happy expression.

“Now that we have warmed up enough, let’s start.”

“Ha…”

At those words, Seol-Hwi felt his body go weak.

He realized that once Ma Taryong takes the offensive he cannot be stopped.

“There.”

Seo Ryeong was the first to find where Seol-Hwi and Ma Taryong were fighting.

Although the area was huge, it wasn’t difficult to find the place due to the sounds of swords clashing.

The others flocked over and found a decent position to watch the fight unfold.

“It seems to have started.”

Imugi moved with Yong Jin and spoke, looking excited to watch the spar.

Yong Jin glanced at him and said,

“Who do you think will win?”

“Obviously… the captain.”

“But Ma Taryong is known to be the second strongest in the Seven Messengers. If he fights with all his strength, then the captain cannot win.”

“It isn’t like that. If he fights properly, he will easily win… uh? He isn’t using his equipment.”

The subordinates noticed it.

Just as they use the weapons to enhance their skills, Seol-Hwi too had his own.

“Somehow, it seems like he wants to fight without doing that?”

As Seo Ryeong spoke observing the fight, Yorim grinned.

“That makes this more fun.”

“I agree.”

Jeok Song too watched it silently.

Ma Taryong raised his qi to its highest point.

Usually one does that depending on the situation, but this felt more effective now that he was done guessing the state of the opponent.

Just now–

He was worried that the opponent would fall with the attack, but when he managed to return with an attack, he knew the fight would be normal.

Seol-Hwi was able to block it better than he thought, so he decided to increase the intensity a little more.

What is he doing?

While Ma Taryong was preparing for the next move, Seol-Hwi didn’t do much.

He expected Seol-Hwi to use either flame or ice martial arts, but he didn’t show signs of doing such a thing.

Was he preparing something else? Or did he have confidence to fight him only using basic skills?

If he does somehow think that, he will lose.

Ma Taryong’s three main martial arts.

Among them, the one he favored the most was the Nine Heavens Demon Sword.

It was a technique which could be called as one of the representative martial arts of the sect and had absolute power.

In addition, this man was too well versed with the technique.

“Huh.”

By relaxing the muscles and then contracting it to give the most optimal movement, he made it several times faster.

If the speed and power shown to Seol-Hwi in the start was one, then now it was around five.

“Here I come.”

“Yes.”

As soon as he said that, Ma Taryong moved.

Swish!

This!

The moment the sword moved near his waist, Ma Taryong felt he made a mistake.

There was a feeling in his hand.

Seol-Hwi wouldn’t stop the attack but decided to cut it.

Puak!

Unexpectedly, the only thing which was cut on the side of Ma Taryong was the clothes near his waist. And Seol-Hwi stood still after that.

“Hmm…”

Ma Taryong moved back.

He quickly spread the sword again.

Pack!

In an instant, six techniques were unleashed toward Seol-Hwi and he stopped it.

Tuk

“Huh…”

Ma Taryong recalled his sword and looked at Seol-Hwi standing still.

“You…. Did you see it and avoid it?”

“No.”

“But you…”

At that Seol-Hwi said,

“I was lucky. I saw the sword for some weird reason and thanks to that I moved to avoid it.”

“You saw it?”

Ma Taryong frowned as Seol-Hwi nodded.

“Yes, the first…”

“Surely, you are saying you could see it despite not touching Peak Demon?”

“Yes.”

“But how…”

“Honestly even I am not sure. How do I explain…”

Seol-Hwi scratched his head as he looked at Ma Taryong bewildered.

“It just happened.”

Ma Taryong’s expression went stiff.

The attack he did right now wasn’t something to be simply avoided.

It was because even his breathing gets so quiet that the opponent should not be able to hear anything.

But he saw it move?

Predicting the path of his sword and avoiding it?

The Nine Heavens Demon Sword was not that easy to avoid.

In particular when it came to speed, there was no other technique that could rival it.

“Fine. I will put my everything into it.”

Ma Taryong took a few steps back.

Right now he was burning in heat, though one wouldn’t know if it was due to anger or to win.

Now he is… going all out.

It was a strange feeling.

Reading the movements in the air and knowing where Ma Taryong would come from.

He didn’t know what it was as it wasn’t something he had ever experienced.

Why is this happening, ah…

Thud!

In an instant, there was a shock like feeling at the top of his head and an energy flowing within his body.

Dududu!

Regardless of his will over the body, it felt like energy was being cultivated.

“Uh…”

Seol-Hwi was about to say something but then stopped.

He realized it.

The signal to ascend.

The problem… Why now?

“Here I come.”

When he noticed Ma Taryong move, Seol-Hwi felt cold sweat drip down his face.

This is bad.

Ma Taryong was surely trying his best now.

He only avoided the last attack due to luck and now the man was definitely overestimating Seol-Hwi.

Actually, Seol-Hwi himself surrendered to losing so he truly was avoiding it with luck.

But the other party didn’t know that.

I need to tell…

He was trying to convey it, but it didn’t go well.

The tickling sensations within the meridian of the whole body, and now his blood vessels looked completely open.

If he forced himself to speak, his chance to move to the next level would be thrown away, so he stayed silent.

Ching!

The energy in the sword of Ma Taryong–

It seemed like he was putting his all into it.

What do I do!

Seol-Hwi didn’t move.

He was feeling how the energy was flowing through.

“Ha!”

And Ma Taryong moved while Seol-Hwi continued being silent.

This is bad!

This was a time when he could die.

Something appeared in front of him.

At first, he thought it was about the Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts.

But this technique came from another martial art entirely.

Furthermore–

This is the activation…?

This was unexpected.

The characteristic table showed the condition which Seol-Hwi could actually do right then and there.