The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 67

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

67
Woo Geom-san’s Rivalry
It felt like only yesterday that spring had arrived, but before anyone knew it, the season was transitioning into the scorching heat of summer.
In the meantime, many things had happened in Yunjung Village.
Among them, the biggest event was the complete completion of the construction work to widen the road leading down to Guangu County.
Now, they no longer had to take a long detour that took as long as ten days. At most, it took only two or three days to reach Guangu County at the foot of the mountain.
The fact that they could go to Guangu County anytime they were healthy enough to buy necessary goods brought great joy to the villagers.
The second event was that the wedding date for Cha Hyeong-o, a source of constant worry for the villagers, had finally been set.
It was decided that when they went to sell the tea harvested this time, they would go to Guangu County and bring back the bride. Therefore, Cha Hyeong-o’s parents specially decided to accompany them on this trading journey.
It was something they couldn’t even dream of if the new road hadn’t been completed.
With Cha Hyeong-o’s wedding overlapping, the trading journey to sell tea this time received the attention of the entire village.
It was to the extent that young children ran around the entire village, shouting loudly, “Brother Hyeong-o is getting married!”
Even while harvesting the tea, the focus of the entire village was on the story of Cha Hyeong-o getting married.
Cha Hyeong-o, the party concerned, was embarrassed to death.
Even so, he couldn’t skip the important event of harvesting tea, so he had to fully endure the chatter of the villagers. Still, seeing that the smile didn’t leave his lips, he seemed to genuinely like it.
Finally, when all the processes of harvesting and roasting the tea were finished, Baek Do-gyeong said to everyone.
“Everyone worked hard. We’re going to sell both the Yuqian tea harvested earlier and the Xiacai tea harvested this time, so know that and take a good rest. Especially you, Hyeong-o, take good care of your body. When you bring your bride, you have to do big things, and it’ll be a disaster if you lack strength.”
“Wahahaha!”
“Of course, to do well at night, you have to manage your body starting from now.”
Cha Hyeong-o, who became the target of the villagers’ teasing once again, quickly left the place. Even though the party concerned fled, the chatter of the villagers did not stop.
As the villagers’ chatter prolonged, Woo Geom-san also quietly slipped away. It was because he knew that he would be the next target after Cha Hyeong-o.
Woo Geom-san had also entered the ranks of a bona fide old bachelor.
Now, Woo Geom-san was the only one who hadn’t married by the time he was nearly thirty.
Woo Geom-san himself didn’t have much interest in marriage, but the villagers were different.
Once Cha Hyeong-o, the last bastion, got married, everyone’s attention would shift to Woo Geom-san.
“Ugh!”
Just imagining it was terrible, so Woo Geom-san shuddered slightly.
He chuckled, not expecting to feel a chill in the middle of a summer with such hot sunshine.
The house he returned to after escaping the people was quieter than ever.
It was because all the children, who usually had to study or learn martial arts, were mobilized for the tea harvesting work.
It was one of the few days when Baek Ho-yang, who was usually badgered by the children, became free.
Only when there was a major event in the village could Baek Ho-yang escape from the hands of the children and enjoy his own time alone.
In the empty house without children, Baek Ho-yang was looking at the withered tree alone. It was the withered tree where Woo Geom-san used to practice Choyeon Simgyeol.
Woo Geom-san approached Baek Ho-yang’s side.
“What are you looking at so intently?”
“Look at that.”
Baek Ho-yang pointed with his finger to the middle of the withered tree.
A green sprout was growing on the part he pointed to.
“Oh, it’s a sprout.”
“Yes! A sprout is coming up. I thought it was completely dead, but to think it would sprout like this.”
“It seems it has been gathering energy to sprout all this time.”
“Indeed. It’s truly admirable.”
Baek Ho-yang caressed the withered tree.
Deep wrinkles had settled on his hands, just like the cracked bark of the withered tree.
Woo Geom-san thought that the tree and Baek Ho-yang resembled each other very much.
A scent similar to a long-lived tree was also coming from Baek Ho-yang.
Baek Ho-yang said with a warm smile.
“It’s been quite a while since we shared a sword conversation, hasn’t it?”
“It seems to have been about four years? Why, are you going to face me?”
“Face you? I am guiding you.”
“It won’t be as easy as before now.”
“It seems you’ve become arrogant after having some achievements in the meantime.”
“Haha! You’ll be surprised if you face me.”
“Good! Let’s see how surprised I can be.”
Baek Ho-yang burst into a hearty laugh and stretched out his hand. Then, two wooden swords, which had been made to teach the children sword techniques, flew over and were caught in his hand.
“Take it.”
Baek Ho-yang threw one of them to Woo Geom-san.
Woo Geom-san gripped the wooden sword a couple of times, savoring its texture.
The wooden sword made to fit the physique of young children was very small and light, making it unsuitable for an adult to use. However, neither Baek Ho-yang nor Woo Geom-san cared about the weapons.
If it was good, they used it as it was; if it was lacking, they knew how to utilize it within its limitations.
Above all, a sword conversation did not require a good weapon.
Sword conversation.
A conversation shared through the sword.
It is similar to yet different from a martial duel where weapons clash directly.
It is also different from a sword discourse duel done with words.
A sword conversation does not compete with sword forms but competes with sword intent.
Baek Ho-yang lightly tapped his palm with the wooden sword and said.
“Unfold it first.”
“Very well.”
Woo Geom-san nodded and made the first move.
Deploying Flowing Void Steps to approach Baek Ho-yang, he lightly launched the Cheongryugyeol, the first form of the Choyen Sword Technique.
He didn’t move his external Qi, and naturally, he didn’t contain his internal Qi either.
A sword form without internal Qi couldn’t possibly unleash proper power. Still, he didn’t care.
It was because they were not fighting a life-and-death battle right now.
Literally, they were having a chat through the sword.
Thud!
A smile spread like ink across Baek Ho-yang’s face as he lightly deflected Woo Geom-san’s wooden sword.
It was because he grasped the realm Woo Geom-san had reached in that brief moment when sword met sword.
Woo Geom-san didn’t simply swing the sword; he contained all the realizations he had accumulated and mastered until now.
In Woo Geom-san’s Cheongryugyeol, Baek Ho-yang saw a massive river.
It seemed to flow slowly, but inside, it contained a surging, violently raging, and swirling torrent.
That was the mental imagery of the Cheongryugyeol realized by Woo Geom-san.
With just that, he realized with what kind of heart Woo Geom-san was learning and trying to develop the Choyen Sword Technique.
Now it was Baek Ho-yang’s turn to show his sword intent.
Swish!
Just like Woo Geom-san, he also unfolded the Cheongryugyeol.
Woo Geom-san’s eyes widened.
It was because Baek Ho-yang’s Cheongryugyeol was different from his own.
Houyi Peak was always shrouded in clouds.
When one reached the summit, an endless sea of clouds could be seen.
Baek Ho-yang’s sword was just like that.
A cloud made of swords stretched out endlessly like an ocean.
That was Baek Ho-yang’s mental imagery.
Even though it was a completely different mental imagery from his own, Woo Geom-san was not flustered.
It was because he knew that Baek Ho-yang and he were different.
Naturally, their sword intent and mental imagery had no choice but to be different.
Even if they learned the same martial arts and learned the same sword forms, it wasn’t the exact same martial arts.
This time, Woo Geom-san unfolded the second form, Heosilgyeol.
His Heosilgyeol was a method of hiding the real one among countless illusions.
Baek Ho-yang’s Heosilgyeol was different.
He gave only two choices: the real sword and the fake sword.
It didn’t matter which side Woo Geom-san chose.
The moment he chose the real sword, countless choices of fake swords were given like a tree extending its branches, and all of them became real swords to attack.
Woo Geom-san was considerably surprised by the Heosilgyeol, which he had never even imagined.
It was because it had completely changed from when they last shared a sword conversation four years ago.
It was clear that he had taken another leap forward in the meantime.
Martial arts were similar to human growth.
When first learning, childhood was the weakest time.
Once the foundation is built to some extent and one knows how to walk, growth begins from then on. And once the foundation is perfectly solidified, explosive growth begins from that moment.
Entering the period of explosive growth, it changes noticeably every day. However, just as humans cannot grow infinitely, martial arts were also bound to hit a plateau someday.
That was the case for Woo Geom-san now.
He had entered the stage where growth ends and maturation begins.
Upon entering this period, it is difficult to expect the same explosive growth as before. Instead, one looks back at the parts missed while growing rapidly, complements them, and refines them in detail.
Depending on how these periods are spent, the completeness of martial arts and the achievements of one’s later years change.
Fortunately, since Woo Geom-san had made fierce efforts under a good master named Baek Ho-yang, the level of completeness was very high.
From four years ago, he began to create his own Choyen Sword Technique without Baek Ho-yang’s help.
Baek Ho-yang went through this process a very long time ago.
However, it was nearly impossible for a martial artist who had already stood at the top of a hundred-foot pole like Baek Ho-yang to make another step forward.
Since he had already climbed a high mountain, there was no higher place to climb. However, Baek Ho-yang broke such conventional wisdom of people and took another step forward.
A feeling of respect naturally emerged on Woo Geom-san’s face.
To him, Baek Ho-yang was a lamp and a guide in life.
While practicing martial arts, there were moments when one naturally became lonely.
Every time, Baek Ho-yang was in his sight.
Baek Ho-yang always became a lamp so that Woo Geom-san would not lose his way.
Since it was a path he himself had already passed, he knew where Woo Geom-san would wander.
Woo Geom-san thought that the reason they stopped the sword conversation four years ago was because Baek Ho-yang had nothing more to show him.
But he realized acutely how arrogant that thought was.
It wasn’t because there was nothing to show Woo Geom-san, but because he had to pioneer a new realm again and refine his insights. And now, showing the realm he had pioneered to Woo Geom-san, he was showing the path he should walk in the future.
Although his physical body was weakening because he could not defy the flow of time, Baek Ho-yang’s noble spirit was pioneering the way ahead even at the top of a hundred-foot pole.
Before being Woo Geom-san’s grandfather, Baek Ho-yang was a great master.
The great master was passing on the insights he realized in his later years to Woo Geom-san through a sword conversation.
Woo Geom-san unfolded the third form of the Choyen Sword Technique, the Flowing Cloud Form.
It was soft like flowing clouds, but inside, it contained a fierce flow like the Cheongryugyeol.
It was his mental imagery realized while swinging the sword hundreds of thousands of times at the summit of Houyi Peak.
Baek Ho-yang’s Flowing Cloud Form was different from Woo Geom-san’s.
Endless cumulus clouds bloomed.
Even if the clouds were erased and erased again, new clouds emerged to pressure Woo Geom-san.
Clack! Clack!
On the surface, it seemed like they were just lightly clashing wooden swords, but the depth of the sword intent and mental imagery contained inside transcended the imagination of ordinary people.
Woo Geom-san unfolded the Heart-Shattering Resolution and Huifengjue in succession.
In response, Baek Ho-yang also showed his own Heart-Shattering Resolution and Huifengjue to Woo Geom-san.
Before anyone knew it, Baek Ho-yang’s entire body was drenched in sweat.
It was a contrasting appearance to the calm Woo Geom-san.
It was a phenomenon that occurred because the aged body could not follow the supreme realization.
Normally, there was no reason for Baek Ho-yang to overexert himself like this.
But Baek Ho-yang knew.
He knew that his physical condition was not that good.
While he could still move his body by his own will, he wanted to pass on the insights he realized in his later years to Woo Geom-san.
He wished for Woo Geom-san to forge ahead courageously based on the insights he left behind, even when he was no longer in this world.
Woo Geom-san unfolded Banryugyeol.
The smile playing on Baek Ho-yang’s lips grew even deeper.
Seeing the Banryugyeol, he was convinced.
He was convinced that Woo Geom-san was walking a proper path of the sword.
The grandson, who used to be just a child, had already grown into a proper martial artist and was completing his own domain.
No martial artist could touch or suggest a direction to Woo Geom-san’s domain.
Only one person under heaven.
Only Baek Ho-yang, who mastered the martial arts of the same Quanzhen Sect, could suggest a direction to him.
So Baek Ho-yang showed his Banryugyeol to Woo Geom-san.
Subsequently, he unfolded even Chimgonggyeol and Heogonggyeol without sparing anything.
Clack! Clack!
His sword lightly collided with Woo Geom-san’s sword.
In that brief moment, Baek Ho-yang’s mental imagery traveled along the sword and connected to Woo Geom-san.
Master and disciple.
It was a great conversation of the sword shared between grandfather and grandson.
The end of it was Jayeongyeol, the final form of the Choyen Sword Technique.
Baek Ho-yang showed that unknown realm to Woo Geom-san, and Woo Geom-san captured that sight into his eyes and heart.

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