The God-Possessed Swordsmanship Genius - Chapter 22

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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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Divine-Spirited Swordsmanship Genius, Chapter 22

* * *

Allen was experiencing something strange.
It felt as though he were looking down at his own body from above.
A massive surge of energy flowed through the meridians of his entire body. All of it was the energy of the Star Flower.
Even as he continued his cultivation, Allen kept that energy under control.
It was like handling two separate tasks with each hand.
That he could manage something so difficult was thanks to the Spirit Eye.

‘This way. This way—’

The Spirit Eye guided his mana. Following its lead, the mana was absorbed into every corner of his meridians.
The energy that had rushed toward his pounding heart formed a loop, and before long, it began to settle.

[Mana has increased by 1.]
[Stamina has increased by 1.]
[Strength has increased by 1…….]
[…….]

Moreover, the Star Flower’s effects went far beyond simply raising his mana.
The energy absorbed into his meridians and heart was transforming Allen’s body into something entirely different.
But at this moment, Allen had no room to savor that joy.
There was still energy surging out of control. Each time the Spirit Eye caught it, Allen focused every nerve he had.

‘There you are.’

Kwaaang!

Even with the Spirit Eye’s help, controlling energy that coursed through such narrow meridians was no easy task.
It felt as though the massive energy would scatter and go unabsorbed if he loosened his focus even slightly.

‘Slowly. Don’t rush.’

Allen strove, as he had from the very beginning, not to let a single drop of energy slip away.
Sweat poured down his entire body like rain.
Not even on the battlefield, where he danced along the edge of death, had he ever concentrated this hard.
Attending to every single cell in his body was something no ordinary mental strength could sustain.
Yet perhaps because of the Spirit Eye’s aid, Allen found himself able to push beyond his limits.
Just as his reservoir of focus was slowly running dry, the moment came.

‘…It’s done!’

At the instant he crossed some critical threshold.
Allen felt that the energy inside his body no longer ran wild.
The elixir’s energy flowed steadily, like water in a calm stream. It was gradually absorbed into his meridians, reached his heart, and was absorbed once more.
He could feel his body growing stronger and his capacity expanding.
He had weathered the crisis.

Once he had finally calmed the energy, Allen sank straight into a state of deep trance.
Time flowed endlessly, and not a single drop of energy was left unabsorbed into his body.
And then, the very moment the elixir’s absorption came to an end.

Pop.

Allen snapped his eyes open and rose to his feet.
Then, as though he could no longer contain himself, he drew his sword and swung it through the empty air.

Swish!

Even without channeling Sword Qi, the blade whistled through the air.
It was far faster now, and the tip felt alive.
Unable to hold back, Allen channeled Sword Qi.
The Qi that surged out at that speed was far sharper and clearer than before.
On a whim, Allen lightly threw a punch to test it.
Pop!
A sound like air bursting rang out from the tip of his fist.
It wasn’t just his mana.
His whole body had grown stronger than before.
His realm had risen once more.

“Ha, haha…”

Laughter spilled from Allen’s lips.
Joy filled his hands until he clenched his fists tight.
Even now, he could feel his grip had grown far stronger than before.

‘Seongsin Style has reached the fourth stage.’

Star Flower was a rare elixir, but he hadn’t dared to imagine Seongsin Style would reach the fourth stage this quickly.
The potency of the Star Flower played its part, but there was another reason this kind of rapid progress was possible.

‘It’s thanks to the Spirit Eye.’

He had originally aimed to absorb half of the energy contained in the elixir. Even that had been an ambitious target.
But with the Spirit Eye’s help, Allen had been able to absorb most of the energy locked within the Star Flower.
In other words, the effect of taking the Star Flower had more than doubled.
And the result was this.

[Allen Bishuken]
[Strength: 33]
[Agility: 34]
[Stamina: 34]
[Mana: 38]
[Traits: Soul of Ten Thousand Demons, Spirit Eye – Details]

His stats had leapt dramatically compared to before.
Every stat had risen evenly, though mana had gained the most.
It was a good start. No, it was excellent.
Without the Fragment he’d obtained in the dungeon, he might have barely reached the third stage by now.

‘I wonder if the other Fragments hold this kind of power too?’

The reason he’d first set out to obtain a Fragment was to learn why the demons had crossed over into the continent.
But after acquiring the Fragment, and gaining the stats and the Spirit Eye, Allen’s thinking had begun to shift.

‘Maybe those bastards went after the Fragments because of the power dwelling within them.’

If that were so, he had all the more reason to seek out the Fragments.
Every bit of strength he gained from these Fragments would be strength they lost.
As these changes piled up, he would be able to pierce their hearts.

Clench.

Having set his new goal, Allen clenched his fist once more.
At the same moment, the Baekryeon Step manual lying on the floor caught his eye.
There was still plenty of time before the appointment ceremony for the Bigeom Corps squad leader.

“Let’s try it.”

His enthusiasm boiled over, and he couldn’t keep still.
Allen opened the secret manual and immediately began practicing the Stepping Method.
Night fell, and the morning came again, yet Allen showed no sign of stopping.

* * *

Early morning, at the Second Training Ground of the Bigeom Corps.
Mary, deputy leader of Squad Two, swung a wooden sword with iron weights strapped to her arms and legs.

Thwack, thud-thud-thud!

The wooden sword struck a solid iron dummy. Even with the heavy blows, the sword did not break.
Though weighed down by iron plates on her arms and legs, Mary did not rest.
She believed that relentless training was the foundation of every swordsman.
Just as she carried on with her drills, someone called out.

“Deputy Leader!”

A man who had just entered the training ground came rushing toward her.
One-eyed, with a fierce, menacing look about him.
It was Bikra, another member of Squad Two.

“Deputy Leader! Did you hear about it?”

At Bikra’s words, Mary lowered her wooden sword.
The flow of her training cut off, irritation spread across her face.

“Hey, didn’t I tell you not to talk to me during training?”
“Sorry. It’s just too important.”
“Well, what is it?”
“Our new squad leader. Do you know who’s coming?”
“Who on earth has you so worked up?”
“It’s Second Young Master.”

The irritation on Mary’s face twisted into something subtle.
She doubted her own ears.

“Who did you say?”
“Second Young Master, I said! The one cursed with the Curse of the Bima, who came back not long ago after failing the bandit extermination mission!”

Everyone in the Main Estate knew that Second Young Master had returned from a failed mission.
A direct descendant of Bishuken failing a bandit extermination? It was bound to become gossip.
Because of that incident, Second Young Master’s standing, already marked as useless, had sunk to the bottom.

“I know that. But is it really true? Are you certain?”
“Everyone knows it except the Deputy Leader.”
“Not a trainee swordsman? Not the Biung Corps? The Bigeom Corps? And he’s our leader?”
“Yes! I’m telling you, it’s certain!”
“This is driving me crazy, honestly.”

The Second Young Master from the rumors looked like he’d struggle even to become a trainee swordsman in the Biung Corps, the lowest of the low, let alone the Bigeom Corps.
Yet now he was to be squad leader of the Bigeom Corps. I could understand why Bikra was so agitated.

“Does this even make sense? Even if we’re the worst-performing squad in the Bigeom Corps, do they really have to send someone like that to us just because they have no one else?”

Bikra was so worked up that his complaints showed no sign of ending.

“Besides, what kind of person was our former team leader? Wasn’t he the hope of our Second Squad? And now his successor is Allen? How is that supposed to make any sense?!”

At Bikra’s words, Mary thought back to their former team leader.
For Bigeom Corps’ Second Squad, whose results had been sliding, he had been like a single ray of hope.
His skill was outstanding, and his character was admirable too. With him leading them, it had felt as though the Second Squad might sprout wings at any moment.
But before long, he had transferred to Hongyeom Castle.
Because of that, the squad had been without a team leader for some time, and now Allen had stepped into that very seat.

“If it’s going to be like this, wouldn’t it be better to just promote the deputy leader to team leader…”
“That’s enough, Bikra.”
“But, Deputy Leader!”
“If what you say is true, then it’s the family’s decision. Either way, from now on he’s our superior.”

Unlike Bikra, who was seething, Mary struggled to hold on to her composure.
If she got worked up along with him, there was no telling what might happen.
Yet despite her attempts to calm him, Bikra’s anger remained unchanged.

“I won’t accept it.”
“Bikra!”
“A fool who can’t even wield mana is made team leader? How is that possibly reasonable? He couldn’t even catch a band of bandits, so his swordsmanship must be pathetic too. Isn’t he only getting special treatment because he’s the Lord’s son?”

On this point, she could not deny him.
Someone who had failed even the bandit suppression, yet succeeded in a new mission, had most likely been given an assignment of far lower standing than that.
And a man that incompetent had become the leader of Bigeom Corps?
For men who held immense pride in Bigeom Corps, it was a thing they could hardly bring themselves to accept.
Still.

‘Even the Eldest Young Master began as an ordinary member of Bigeom Corps. He earned recognition, rose through the ranks as team leader, and became the commander. And yet they call that Allen’s special treatment?’

An inconsistent decision.
This point lingered in Mary’s mind as a question.
Could Allen have been the Lord’s sore spot? Was that why they had handed him the team leader post?
That possibility was not entirely out of the question, but if it were really so, his standing would not be this wretched either.
The Lord would have looked after him somehow, surely.

‘Could it be that our Second Squad is being cast aside?’

Since our results lagged behind the other squads, the possibility was not nonexistent. Still, she prayed it wasn’t that.
Shaking her head at her tangled thoughts, Mary spoke.

“It was the family’s decision, so there must be a reason for it. And even if there were none, there’s no way for us to go against the family’s decision.”
“…Yes, Deputy Leader, you’re right. We can’t defy the family’s decision.”

Heh-heh, Bikra laughed with meaning.
It was the laugh of a man with something scheming behind it.

“What are you planning?”
“Heh-heh-heh. Just sit back and watch, Deputy Leader. I’ve already settled things with the others.”

Grinding his teeth with a grating sound, Bikra spoke.

“Men like us with no backing—how else are we supposed to bring down a superior who has no ability? The only way is to shame him until he steps down himself.”

* * *

Allen practiced the Baekryeon Step, staying up through the entire day.
He memorized the oral formulas written in the manual and began to tread the steps, and found himself feeling a new kind of delight.

‘Within a single step, contain a hundred steps.’

That was the core of the Baekryeon Step.
Of course, Allen still couldn’t cover a hundred paces in a single step, not truly.
He had only reached the first half of the technique, and his mastery was still shallow.
Still, he could close the distance by two or three paces’ worth with each step. On top of that, he had to weave in swordplay, which made it no small task.
As Allen drilled the footwork of the Baekryeon Step alongside his swordsmanship, he lost all track of time.

“This is fun.”

Learning something new had always delighted him. He forgot about sleep and forgot about food.
In the end, Allen emerged from the training ground after a full day and night spent practicing the Baekryeon Step.
Waiting for Allen was Pedrok.

“Young master! Did you stay up all night?”

Allen had barely returned to the Annex before he shut himself inside the training ground.
He had even pleaded with everyone not to come in, so Pedrok had no choice but to simply wait for him.
Yet as the night wore on and Allen didn’t come out, Pedrok had been growing worried.

“Mm. I had something I needed to work on.”
“Goodness, if you keep skipping meals, your health will suffer… Hm? Your face looks so fresh, young master?”
“Does it?”
“Hah. Being young really does have its perks. As for me, my eyes start drooping the moment night falls these days.”

Pedrok scratched his head, puzzled.
Youth was one thing, but how could his skin look better when he hadn’t eaten or slept all night?
Of course, it was all thanks to the effects of the Star Flower.

“Ah, anyway! How did the errand you went on turn out?”
“It went well.”
“Then what about the reward?”
“It should be brought down to the Annex from the household soon.”

At Allen’s words, Pedrok’s eyes went wide. He then broke into a broad grin and rejoiced like a child.
But it was still too early to celebrate.
The real gift he had for Pedrok was something else entirely, for the man had been worn down by their dire financial straits.

“Here, take this.”

Allen thrust out the Subspace Pouch toward him.
At the sight of the shabby pouch, Pedrok’s face twisted with bewilderment.

“What is this?”

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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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