The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 34

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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34
The Woo Sword Sovereign
“Goodness gracious!”
“What is this? Is that… a bear?”
Unbelievable expressions dawned on the faces of the Village people as they looked at the bear Woo Geom-san had caught.
It was a monster that measured well over ten feet from head to toe.
Though it was skin and bones from starving throughout the winter, that only made the beast more terrifying.
The Village people knew all too well how ferocious and frightening a bear waking from hibernation could be.
In fact, when this Village was first established, people were eaten by bears every single year.
As the population grew, the bears simply stopped approaching, but the threat of a starving bear was always present.
Until now, there had been many instances of Village people being eaten by bears, but never once had they caught one. Yet today, for the very first time, a villager had hunted a bear.
Faced with this unprecedented event in the Village’s history, the people did not know how to react.
They had never expected Woo Geom-san to be this strong.
Since he was the adopted grandson and disciple of Baek Ho-yang, they naturally assumed he had learned Martial Arts, but they had never imagined he would be capable of catching such a massive bear.
It was similar to the feeling of bringing a abandoned puppy into the house, only to realize later that it was actually a wolf.
Though he acted friendly like a dog right now, a sudden terror gripped them that he might one day bite their throats with those sharp teeth.
It was just as a faint dread began to color the faces of the people looking at Woo Geom-san.
“What do you think you’re doing right now?”
The Village Chief, Baek Do-gyeong, stepped forward and scolded the Village people.
“Huh?”
“Village Chief?”
“Geom-san went through all that trouble to catch a bear, so you should be thanking him! Why are you making those kinds of faces? Has Geom-san ever harmed the Village even once? Or has he ever backed out of Village work?”
At Baek Do-gyeong’s scolding, the Village people felt themselves snap out of it.
Woo Geom-san was always polite and acted friendly toward everyone. Furthermore, he had never once bragged or shown off the fact that he was training in Martial Arts.
Woo Geom-san was neither a dog nor a wolf.
He was a human being who understood propriety and righteousness.
There was no way such a person would harm the Village people.
The Village people bowed their heads one after another and spoke.
“We’re sorry, Geom-san!”
“We had some foolish thoughts for a moment. Please forgive us.”
Woo Geom-san was actually the one flustered by the unexpected apologies from the Village people.
“Ah, no. I’m completely fine, so please don’t do this. More importantly, what should we do with this bear’s carcass?”
Because the bear was so large, it was impossible for Woo Geom-san to move it alone. That was why he had gathered the Village people.
Baek Do-gyeong spoke.
“Bear meat has too much of a gamey smell, so it’s hard to eat. Still, if anyone wants some, we’ll divide it up, and skinning the bear hide to sell should bring in a decent amount of money. A hide intact like this isn’t very common.”
“Then please take the bear hide as a communal asset for the Village.”
“We can’t do that. You’re the one who worked hard to catch it, so how could we take it?”
“I should earn my keep too. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be staying here, so please think of it as paying for it in advance.”
“You’re already doing more than enough to earn your keep. Look at how much work you do for the Village.”
“I do this because it will put my mind at ease. Please do as I ask.”
At Woo Geom-san’s words, Baek Do-gyeong could no longer decline.
“Phew! If that’s truly how you feel…”
“Thank you.”
“I’m the one who should be thankful. If we sell this for a fair price, we won’t have to worry about money until autumn.”
An intact bear hide could command whatever price they asked for.
With this, they would be able to secure plenty of necessary goods for the Village.
Under Baek Do-gyeong’s direction, the Village people loaded the large bear onto a cart and headed down to the Village.
Only after everyone had disappeared did Woo Geom-san let out a sigh of relief.
It was because he felt that the Village people had truly accepted him as a full member.
He felt as though he could finally live in peace in this Village.
***
Clang! Clang!
The sound of metal echoing relentlessly rang through the Canyon.
It was the sound of the Village youths striking chisels with hammers.
Every time an impact was delivered to the chisel pressed against the rock, a handful of stone fragments broke away.
Thick beads of sweat poured down like rain from the faces and bodies of the youths wielding the hammers.
Among the men sweating profusely was Woo Geom-san.
Woo Geom-san stood before a fairly large boulder, swinging his hammer continuously.
Every time he swung the hammer, the chisel dug deep into the rock.
“Phew!”
Woo Geom-san let out a quiet sigh.
This was because the hand gripping the hammer had begun to ache.
Through relentless rehabilitation, he had recovered the function of his hand almost perfectly, but it was still vulnerable to strong impacts.
Even though he utilized Deflecting a thousand pounds with four ounces as Baek Ho-yang had taught him, he could not completely dissipate the shock.
For that reason, he could not swing the hammer for long periods.
On the other hand, the other youths hammered away without resting for a single moment.
Although they had not learned Martial Arts like Woo Geom-san, they possessed robust bodies built through farming, making them far better suited for this type of labor.
Their thick palms completely absorbed the shock transmitted through the hammer handle.
Because of that, they did not feel any shock or fatigue even after hammering for a long time.
Their starting point was simply different from Woo Geom-san’s.
Even so, Woo Geom-san did not feel disappointed or frustrated.
After hammering to the point of boredom, he was finally starting to get the hang of it.
A tingling sensation at his fingertips made him feel as though he knew exactly how to exert the minimum amount of force to achieve the maximum impact.
Woo Geom-san looked at the hammer handle.
Just as Baek Ho-yang had taught him, the thought occurred to him that a hammer handle was no different from the hilt of a sword.
Until now, he had only understood that teaching with his head, but failed to put it into practice; now, it came to mind with strange clarity.
Woo Geom-san gripped the hammer handle gently, as if holding a sword.
He supported the handle firmly with his middle and ring fingers, while wrapping his index finger and thumb around it softly.
Imagining himself swinging a sword, Woo Geom-san raised the hammer in sequence: shoulder, elbow, then wrist.
The moment the hammer reached its peak, he struck down rapidly in the reverse order of how he had raised it.
Crack! Thud!
An impact was delivered to the chisel, and the large boulder split apart.
“Wow!”
“As expected of Geom-san. Shattering a rock with a single hammer strike.”
The people working nearby marveled.
However, Woo Geom-san himself did not hear their voices.
He was completely immersed in the hammering.
Now that he considered it sword cultivation training, hammering no longer felt like a chore.
Clang! Clang!
Woo Geom-san swung the hammer, imagining himself executing the Cheongryugyeol.
The Cheongryugyeol was the first form of the Choyen Sword Technique.
As was the case with any martial art, the first form contained the core identity of the technique.
The Cheongryugyeol was no different.
The Cheongryugyeol does not avoid an opponent’s powerful momentum; instead, it flows along with it to pierce through their opening.
Every living being possesses momentum.
Whether human, animal, strong, or weak, momentum exists within all.
A strong being possesses powerful momentum, while a weak being’s momentum is utterly pitiful.
Those with powerful momentum swallow up the weak.
It was the exact same principle as a tiger preying on a cow or a deer.
However, just because it was a tiger did not mean it always held the upper hand.
Sometimes, it would sustain quite a large wound from the unexpected counterattack of a deer or a cow.
If one could resist without being completely swallowed by the momentum like this, they could break the opponent’s momentum and flow to inflict a fatal wound.
The Cheongryugyeol was a form that maximized this exact principle.
It was a method that utilized the opponent’s own momentum and flow to inflict a fatal blow instead.
However, in order to properly execute the Cheongryugyeol, several prerequisites were required.
First, the eyes and senses to perceive the opponent’s flow and momentum; second, a steadfast heart that does not yield to the opponent’s threat; and finally, the courage to willingly throw one’s body toward the opponent’s opening.
Unless these three components achieved harmony, the Cheongryugyeol could never display its true power.
Woo Geom-san had realized this truth through his battle with the bear. And now, through hammering, he felt the fact that even the inanimate rock possessed its own flow and grain.
Blindly hammering away would not break a rock.
Of course, if one struck down with an immense force that the rock could not withstand, it would naturally break, but that was incredibly inefficient.
The key was to grasp the grain of the rock and deliver the maximum blow with the minimum amount of force.
This was perfectly in line with the principles of the Cheongryugyeol.
Clang! Clang!
Woo Geom-san hammered without a moment’s rest.
Every time his hammer struck the head of the chisel, the rock was sheared away in massive chunks.
“Heheh!”
“Thanks to Geom-san, the work has become much easier.”
The youths smiled as they watched Woo Geom-san, who was completely absorbed in his work.
Though the work had become easier thanks to Woo Geom-san, they couldn’t just leave all the labor to him.
This was a road they themselves would use.
Leaving the task of clearing the path entirely to Woo Geom-san would wound their pride.
If they wanted to boast to their younger siblings or children after the road was opened, they had to work hard.
Though snow was still piled up here and there, the Canyon felt hot from the heat radiating from Woo Geom-san and the youths.
The work that began in the morning continued well into the afternoon.
Several people left their spots to attend to farming, while those who finished their morning chores joined in.
Though the people swapped out several times like that, Woo Geom-san remained in his spot throughout it all.
Some people even remarked that Woo Geom-san resembled an old tree or a boulder.
While it might look like grueling labor in the eyes of some, to Woo Geom-san, this too was a part of his cultivation training.
Since he viewed it as cultivation training, it wasn’t difficult at all; rather, it was enjoyable.
“Phew!”
It was just before the sun dipped over the western mountains when Woo Geom-san finally let go of the chisel and hammer.
When he came to his senses and looked around, there was no one left.
Everyone had returned to tend to their own affairs.
“Good grief! I need to allocate my time better.”
Only then did Woo Geom-san realize his mistake.
He had many things to do besides breaking rocks.
He had to channel water into the paddy fields for farming soon, and he also had to tend to the Tea Plantation. Furthermore, he needed to receive instruction from Baek Ho-yang.
No matter how enjoyable it was to split rocks as a form of cultivation training, he could not neglect his other duties.
He needed to allocate a proper amount of time to care for other matters as well.
Woo Geom-san tossed the broken stone fragments he had shattered so far down into the Manjangdanae.
Rumble!
The sound of the stones crashing against the Canyon walls as they fell sounded almost like the roar of a beast.
“Surely it won’t hit any beast down in the Canyon, right?”
Hoping no such thing would happen, Woo Geom-san cleared the stones away thoroughly.
Only by clearing the stones after the work was finished could they prevent other people from slipping, falling, or plummeting.
The other people had also cleared their respective workspaces cleanly before leaving.
“There is still a long way to go.”
Despite working so hard, the path cleared today was only about twenty feet. Even then, half of it had been done by Woo Geom-san.
To connect it to the naturally formed Plank Road in the Canyon, they would have to carve away hundreds of yards of the Rocky Mountain.
There was no telling when it would be completed, but Woo Geom-san did not feel disappointed or frustrated.
What he couldn’t finish today, he could carry on with tomorrow; if he worked steadily without tiring for a year or two, he would eventually complete the Plank Road.
Just then, a butterfly fluttered over and began to circle around Woo Geom-san.
“You’re an impatient little one. To wake up so early when there’s still a chill in the air.”
When Woo Geom-san extended his hand, the butterfly flew over as if it had been waiting and perched on his finger.
As a strong wind blew through the Canyon, the butterfly shook precariously, looking as though it would be blown away at any moment.
Watching the butterfly like that brought a strange surge of inspiration.
Standing on the wind-swept cliff, I stand alone between heaven and earth.
Reaching out, I feel I could touch the sky, yet this fluttering butterfly represents heaven in my stead.
As the poem ended, the butterfly fluttered its wings and left his hand as if it had been waiting.
Feeling the arrival of spring, Woo Geom-san moved his feet forward.
After that, the seasons changed several more times, and Woo Geom-san’s time flowed rapidly.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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