Chapter 39. Azure Spirit Pill (2)

I wasn't surprised to see the sword qi.

Because I had met pinnacle masters a few times in my past life.

I had a vague idea from the moment he drew his sword.

He was a master who surpassed my level in my past life, but I had no intention of despairing.

In the first place, I had experience killing pinnacle masters a few times in my past life.

By repeatedly hiding and tracking from a distance, harassing them with hidden weapons or traps, and using poison.

In a way that did not shy away from any means or methods.

This was also the biggest reason why I was called the Gray Ghost in my past life.

After I killed a master of a much higher realm than me a few times by any means necessary, the so-called righteous faction bastards started pointing their fingers at me, calling me cowardly.

They were nothing but psychopaths.

If they had killed the trashy evil sect masters with their so-called great skills, I wouldn't have had to fight in such a way.

In any case, I, in my past life, had experience killing pinnacle masters a few times.

The only problem was that I had never killed one in a direct confrontation.

I muttered to myself as I pushed off the ground, using the momentum from rolling to spring up.

“This is even better.”

Yes. This was not a crisis, but an opportunity.

It would be enough to gain some enlightenment while fighting a pinnacle master.

The Captain, who had swung his sword, stood in his place and looked at me.

“Hmm. You're a brat, so your body is quite nimble.”

He said, tilting his head as if this was a bit unexpected.

Just then, a metallic sound rang out from the side.

Clang!

“Wh-what?”

“He's a practitioner of external arts!”

It seemed to be the sound of those guys striking Nam Geon’s torso with their weapons.

Soon after, the sound of the strong wind when Nam Geon swung his sword and the surprised voices of the slave trader bastards were heard.

Whoooooooosh!!

“Heek.”

I didn't have the leisure to turn my head to check, but it seemed the other two were not pinnacle masters.

As long as he was careful about weak points like the eyes or mouth, Nam Geon wouldn't be defeated by them.

I turned my attention away from that side and focused on the Captain.

Yes. This was not a situation to be concerned about other things.

“What are you all doing!”

On the contrary, the Captain was shouting at his subordinates in frustration.

Pat!

I took that opportunity to rush at him in a surprise attack.

The Captain, who had turned his head, snorted and thrust his sword.

“A brat has only learned bad things!”

A silver trajectory reflected in the moonlight flew towards my head at a tremendous speed.

Slice.

Although I narrowly dodged it, a faint stream of blood flowed from a graze on my cheekbone.

Even though I had seen the trajectory in advance and moved, it was not easy to completely avoid it.

Subsequently, I swung my sword at him, but he, who had quickly retrieved his sword, blocked mine.

Clang!

A fierce metallic sound rang out, and the muscles and bones in my arm and shoulder throbbed.

But the bigger problem was my sword.

It had only clashed once, but it was noticeably chipped.

To the extent that I thought it might break or be cut off if it clashed a few more times.

The sword the blacksmith in Huaihua had gifted me. It was quite sturdy, and I had been using it well.

This was why the sword qi of a pinnacle master was frightening.

Whoooosh.

The Captain's sword let out a sword cry, and the whitish energy on the blade's surface continuously gnawed at my sword.

If this continued, my sword could be split in two, so I had no choice but to retrieve my sword and hastily leap back.

Slice!

A gruesome sound was heard as the clothes on my chest were cut away.

A burning pain was felt on the skin where the sword qi had grazed past.

Yes.

This was what I wanted.

A fight that straddled the line between life and death.

A life-and-death battle that had been of no help in my past life, that had only made me a cripple.

But, it was different in this life.

The Captain was swinging his sword at me again.

Even before his sword properly flew in, a trajectory that showed the path his sword would take was embroidered in the air.

And another trajectory that would pierce his neck, avoiding that trajectory, intersected.

Yes. Now I have these eyes. Eyes that will guide me to a more perfect path of the sword.

Pat!

I willingly threw my body, following the guidance of my eyes.

Slice.

The sword qi that I couldn't completely dodge grazed my forearm, causing intense pain.

Slice!

My sword cut through his clothes.

“How dare you!”

For the first time, the Captain's expression crumpled.

However, I couldn't be satisfied with just cutting a bit of his clothes.

Again, a trajectory was embroidered following the Captain's sword.

I willingly threw myself into the gap of that trajectory, like a moth flying towards a flame.

Slice!

As the wounds accumulated, my mind became heightened.

“More! More! More!”

The string of tension, pulled taut to its limit, led me to a new world.

To a world where time flowed slowly.

In the slowed world, I blindly followed the trajectory.

I wanted to follow that perfect path of the sword that could only be seen at this moment.

Now, all that could be seen were each other's trajectories.

And, each other's swords and bodies that followed those trajectories.

Suddenly, I felt like cursing.

My body, my sword, that followed the trajectory, was so pathetic.

I hadn't known it in the original world.

That my sword was shaking so much.

The tip of the sword, moving slowly, shook relentlessly. It seemed to follow the trajectory, but it was often subtly off.

My breath, which had risen to the tip of my chin.

Slice.

The intense pain that soared every time my skin was sliced.

The scream of my muscles, squeezed to their limit.

All of those things heightened my concentration.

And conversely, they were shaking my sword.

“No! It’s an excuse!”

A true master's sword would not shake for such a reason.

A minute error, visible only in a world that had slowed down to an extreme.

These things accumulate and accumulate, becoming a huge wall that separates the real from the fake.

While I was taking out my frustration on my pathetic sword path.

“What kind of nonsense has this crazy bastard been spouting since a while ago!”

The Captain cursed and swung his sword.

A laugh escaped me without me realizing it.

A chance to correct my pathetic sword.

It wasn't just because of that thought.

His sword was also shaking.

Was it because of the concentration squeezed to its limit?

I could see that his trajectory, drawn in the air, was shaking very subtly.

“You. You were a half-wit.”

The countless duels I had fought in my past life.

Not all masters were psychopaths like the Poison Immortal or cowardly hypocrites like the Danmok Clan, so there were some who had kindly agreed to a duel.

Among them, an old swordsman, after a duel, had said this.

- I am but a half-wit. Just a half-wit who has entered the pinnacle through the power of internal energy accumulated over a long period.

At first, I thought he was just being humble, but the old swordsman added.

- The pinnacle is merely a realm one can reach with enough internal energy. The real thing is different. Those who have completely understood the sword and can handle it perfectly according to their will. Those for whom handling a sword is no different from handling a part of their own body.

Only then could I understand what the old swordsman was trying to say.

- Are you referring to Sword Unification?

- Hahaha. That's right. Even if one reaches the pinnacle, if they have not achieved Sword Unification, they are but a half-wit.

After listening to the old swordsman's kind explanation, far from gaining enlightenment, I was filled with rage.

While someone was struggling to even reach the pinnacle and becoming a cripple, a man who had reached the pinnacle was talking about there being an even higher level.

I felt like he was mocking me.

I think my capacity back then was smaller than a soy sauce dish.

But, now I seemed to understand.

Because I had clearly seen with my own eyes that the trajectory of the man called a pinnacle master was shaking subtly, just like mine.

Just then, the Captain furrowed his brow.

“Half-wit?”

It seemed he didn't know.

I had no intention of kindly explaining.

“You don’t need to know. Half-wit!”

My capacity was that of a soy sauce dish.

The man sighed.

“Haa. I was the fool for trying to talk to a madman.”

“To compare a trash like a slave trader to a fool is an insult to fools.”

“…….”

The man with a furrowed brow rushed in with a surprise attack.

“Let's see if you can still wag your tongue after your arms and legs are cut off.”

His sword flew towards my head at a tremendous speed.

I hastily threw myself to dodge, but a faint spray of blood flew out.

So it was. Even if he was a half-wit, he was a pinnacle master.

A pinnacle master was a being who had opened their Ren and Du meridians.

It also meant that they could operate a much vaster amount of internal energy much faster.

Naturally, they could move much faster and stronger than those who had not reached the pinnacle.

Moreover, their control over qi became so free that they could even perform the skill of sword qi.

It meant that he was much faster and stronger than me, and if our swords clashed, my sword could be cut off if I wasn't careful.

“Hahaha.”

Faster than me? I just need to move first.

Stronger than me? My sword might break? I just need to not clash.

There was only one path for me to take.

His sword path, which had not reached perfection. A single sword strike aimed at that gap would be enough.

Whether he was fast, or strong, it was all the same; one wrong stab and you're dead.

“How refreshing.”

As my goal became clear, my mind became even clearer.

With a clear mind, I closed in on him.

Again, a trajectory was drawn from his sword, and subsequently, his sword flew in.

Towards a different path from the trajectory that had been drawn in the air.

No matter how much of a half-wit he was, it didn't make sense for it to be skewed so pathetically.

It seemed that as the battle dragged on, he was trying to settle it with a feint.

Of course, thanks to these eyes, there was no way I would be deceived by a feint.

Swwwish.

Ignoring his feint, I dodged only the trajectory visible in the air and thrust my sword.

Slice!

Finally, a faint amount of blood seeped from his side.

“How dare you, you crazy bastard!!”

The Captain shouted with a startled expression and took a step back.

“Did you think I would fall for a mutual destruction ploy!”

He thought I had rushed in with the intention of dying together.

I realized an interesting fact.

“Are you afraid of dying?”

Perhaps his pride was hurt by my question, as his face turned red.

“You crazy ba……”

At the moment he was about to shout something, I rushed in with a surprise attack.

The trajectory visible to my eyes had changed.

The path of the sword he was about to swing. The end of another trajectory that pierced through that sword path was aimed at his heart.

To aim for his heart while being pierced in the abdomen. It was a trajectory for mutual destruction.

As I threw my body along that trajectory, his trajectory sharply twisted.

“Keuk.”

He abruptly twisted his sword in mid-swing. Soon after, a faint wound appeared on his forearm.

It was a pity. If I had swung perfectly, it would have pierced his heart, not his forearm.

I continuously swung my sword at the man who had hastily retreated.

Following the trajectory that aimed for mutual destruction.

“It's no big deal to die.”

It was advice from an experienced person.

Death comes eventually anyway.

In the end, what matters is how you live.

Yes.

If I were to live the same way as in my previous life, a second life would be meaningless.

This man is a slave trader.

A being less than trash, who sees people not as people but as objects.

If I were to be scared to death against such a person, there would be no reason to live again.

Slice!

A faint wound appeared on his body.

Ironically, a situation unfolded where a pinnacle master was being chased by me.

Slice!

As wounds accumulated on his body, additional wounds were also appearing on mine.

Perhaps because he didn't want to die, he swung his sword defensively.

Instead of aiming for my vital points with large movements, his sword path was mainly composed of light strikes that just grazed my forearm or leg.

Again, as he swung his sword aiming for my leg, I appropriately ignored it and thrust my sword towards his solar plexus.

Subsequently, the trajectory visible to my eyes changed.

The trajectory that had been aiming for my leg sharply twisted and flew not towards my leg, but towards my sword.

In a sluggish world, I twisted my sword with an even more sluggish speed.

However, was enlightenment still far away?

Clang!!

My sword, which had not completely changed its path, clashed with his sword.

Clang!!

And finally, my sword, which had reached its limit, was split in two by his sword qi.

The Captain, with his bloodshot eyes, shouts with a face full of joy.

“D-i-e---!!!”

A sluggish voice. As if not satisfied with splitting my sword in two, the sword, clad in sword qi, flew straight towards my side.

A moment of life and death.

In the concentration that had been squeezed to its limit, I discovered a possibility.

Swish!!

With a snail-like movement, I sharply twisted my upper body to the side.

The corner of the Captain's mouth curls up crookedly.

As if mocking my attempt to dodge his sword at the last moment.

Just as he sneered.

Slice.

A gruesome cutting sound echoed as his sword qi touched my side.

Crack!!

At the same time, a sword blade was driven into the nape of his neck.

A question fills his eyes.

Instead of continuing to cut my side, his gaze shifts to the side.

Reflected in his eyes was my left hand, covered in a large amount of blood.

In that hand was a sword blade, only half of which remained.

It was the half-sized sword blade that had been sent flying when it was split in two just a moment ago.

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