There had been more than a few unexpected incidents, and just as many worries and tasks had piled up, but…
After somehow finishing matters at the Black Alliance, we were on our way back to the Tang Clan. Today, too, Seomun Hwa-rin jumped up in surprise.
She looked like a squirrel that had been caught by a person while trying to hide an acorn in a tree knot.
However, the voice that followed was far more threatening than a squirrel's. It had reached the level of a flying squirrel, no less.
"If you do that, it won't be a strong sword anymore! The Heavenly Thunder Divine Art draws its mystery from the thunder and lightning that strike down from the sky! It may be flashy, but when it comes to power, it's a martial art that makes no compromises!"
"That may be so. In fact, the Thunder Step I use and the Thunder Step you use, Senior Seomun, differ on a fundamental level. …But no matter how powerful a sword may be, it only matters if it actually hits, doesn't it?"
If I can create swift and unpredictable movements through sudden acceleration and sudden braking.
Seomun Hwa-rin uses sudden acceleration and sudden braking to their fullest, disrupting the opponent's movements to shrink their confidence and press the attack.
In other words, I find or induce an opening in the opponent and then strike.
Seomun Hwa-rin's approach is to charge straight in head-on and force an opening to appear.
This is partly because, before my regression, Seomun Hwa-rin had reworked the Thunder Step to suit my Crazy Wolf Life-Stealing Art and taught it to me.
At the same time, having spent his childhood in the Seomun Clan, he had seen the complete martial art firsthand, and later recovered his family's martial art, mastering it alone and revisiting it until he reached the Harmony Realm.
And that is also the difference between him and me, who learned whatever martial arts I could get my hands on without discrimination.
After all, I stole and learned various martial arts from all over, tore out only the mysteries I needed, rewrote them to suit my own use, and built my own martial art to reach my current level.
We agreed to restore the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art together, but in the end, I can only restore it in my own way.
Well, one might wonder—since the secret manual exists intact, why bother restoring it when you could just learn it as is?
That might hold for ordinary martial arts, but for a secret art of a prestigious family like the Seomun Clan in its heyday, the Oral Formula is deliberately written in an obscure manner to guard against the possibility of the manual leaking out.
That is why it is difficult to master the art from the manual alone—one needs someone to help interpret the Oral Formula to fully learn the martial art.
Naturally, the method of interpreting that Oral Formula is passed down by word of mouth, not in writing.
Seomun Hwa-rin, who was a daughter of the family and had only learned a few self-defense techniques in her childhood.
She reached the Harmony Realm by recovering the roots of the Seomun Clan's martial arts—martial arts she had independently developed through talent and real combat, based on the recovered secret manual.
Even so, if asked whether she fully knows the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art, she herself could not be certain.
Restoring the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art must be a matter of considerable importance to her as well.
Of course, that's one thing, and this is another.
"Think about it, Senior Seomun Hwa-rin. If you swing the sword the way you just described, it will certainly be more powerful. But the movements become so large that the opponent will read them completely and counterattack."
"Hmph! That's exactly why the Thunder Step exists! You pressure the opponent, drive them into a corner where they can't do anything, and then strike at the decisive moment!"
"It seems like a method that, by clinging to an already-created martial art, ends up shouldering inefficiency instead… but I suppose it's possible. Yet you're saying you'd unleash such a sword from the very first techniques?"
"Th-That is…"
"I don't know about anything else, but the number of martial arts I've seen and learned so far is far greater than yours, Senior Seomun Hwa-rin. The problem is that they're all low-level, though."
As for advanced martial arts, I'd never properly learned any before the regression, and in this life, I've only seen a few available in the Tang Clan and a bit of the Seomun Clan's sword method.
But if we're talking about martial arts from third-rate to first-rate level, with a bit of exaggeration, I've learned them in piles.
Even if the depth of understanding differs, since martial arts are fundamentally techniques for dealing with people, there is a certain common structure to them.
For example, although the proportions may differ, there are almost no martial arts that are purely offensive.
From what Seomun Hwa-rin had told me, and from reading the remaining records and secret manuals, the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art is aggressive, but not to such an extreme degree.
And while their power is usually low, techniques with few openings—those meant to gauge the opponent's skill or absorb an attack—are concentrated in the first half.
That makes sense, because the foundation of all martial arts begins with protecting one's own body.
After all, killing your opponent only to die yourself, or throwing away an arm in the process, fits neither the way of the Orthodox Sects, who pursue righteousness and the Dao, nor the way of the Unorthodox Sects, who chase wealth and glory.
If I had to say it, assassins who brainwash people, bind them in various ways, and use them as expendable tools might do such a thing, but the Seomun Clan at its peak was hardly an assassin family.
"So I believe we need to interpret this differently here. The phrase 'Heavenly Thunder Falling Sword, Striking Thunder Descends' does not mean to strike the sword down with the force of lightning from the heavens, carving into the opponent a shock like the sound of thunder. Rather, it means to swing the sword as fast as lightning, reminding the opponent that thunder is everywhere, thereby placing psychological pressure on them…"
"…Wouldn't it work if I moved like this?"
Seomun Hwa-rin, her cheeks puffed out like a blowfish, waved her hand through the air. At a glance, it looked like a meaningless flourish, but she had only slowed it down to make it easier to see.
Looking closely, one could see countless insights and the mysteries derived from them contained within. But.
"Senior Seomun Hwa-rin."
"Hm?"
Seomun Hwa-rin tilted her head and looked my way. Whether she was conscious of it or not, the way her expression suddenly turned docile was cute beyond her years, but still, I had to say what I had to say.
"A sword has no joints."
"Don't you use your wrist and elbow to twist and turn the sword this way and that?"
"That's an application of Hwanui Myori. If you swing it that way, you'll lose not only power but speed as well. Are you trying to turn the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art into a sword dance rather than a martial art?"
"…"
Seomun Hwa-rin trembled, her expression asking how I could say something so harsh.
Still, I had plenty to say on my end as well.
"Do you know something? The sword and the body are fundamentally different things. That's precisely why so many people fail to attain the enlightenment of Sword-Mind Unity, no matter how high their realm."
"Isn't there such a thing as the essence of martial arts? Why do you keep trying to discard one of the two?"
"Shouldn't you look at the martial art as a whole, not just the technique? Unlike Fist and Leg Art, which moves the body itself, it's not easy to execute a technique that combines offense and defense with a sword. Even when it's called offense-defense unity, there are many cases where it ends up being neither one nor the other."
"B-But…"
I shook my head at Seomun Hwa-rin, who was mumbling his lips with a look of utter injustice, my tone firm.
"Hoo. It seems I can't get through to someone who doesn't use a sword. You go along so much better than me until the middle, but why do you always do this at the end?"
"…"
For a moment, Seomun Hwa-rin's expression turned fierce. To put it plainly, it felt like the blue squirrel from earlier dropping pinecones on someone's head because a person had entered its territory.
Just as the beast-like Seomun Hwa-rin was about to growl and snap something back at me—
Thump.
Something struck the Qi Barrier that I and Seomun Hwa-rin had spread out.
There was only one reason to knock so directly on a barrier we had erected to keep our conversation from leaking out.
There must be something they want from us outside.
Only after confirming that Seomun Hwa-rin had tucked away the secret manual of the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art did I release the Qi Barrier. A low voice came through at the same time.
"Mind if I come in for a moment?"
"Sword King? What brings you here? Please, come in."
When I opened the door, Namgung Dowi entered with his usual impassive expression. However, seeming not to intend a long conversation, he remained standing instead of taking a seat.
"It's nothing major, but I thought I should let you know in advance that I and Jong-i will be moving separately starting tomorrow."
"What? So suddenly?"
"I apologize for that. My thoughts ran a bit long, so I ended up telling you this late."
"It's not as if we're leaving this very moment—tomorrow is fine, I suppose. But has something happened?"
"If there's a matter, it arose long ago. I intend to head straight for the Murim Alliance. There's something I need to discuss with the Alliance Leader."
"Ah."
Originally, the father and son of the Namgung Clan had planned to accompany me until the day I returned to the Tang Clan, sparring with me every day.
But even though there was still a considerable distance to the Tang Clan—meaning there were still several opportunities for sparring left—he was giving that up to head for the Murim Alliance and discuss countermeasures.
Knowing that this was the words of a man who ranked among the top three in martial arts obsession among everyone I knew, I began to see things a bit differently.
There were many Orthodox Sects that had become corrupted like the Hwangbo Clan, but the reason the Orthodox Sects could remain Orthodox was surely thanks to people like Namgung Dowi.
"I too was enjoying the sparring bouts with the Sword King, so it's a shame… but there's no helping it. If another opportunity arises, I'll be sure to ask for your favor."
"Did I say I was disappointed? If so, how about we set up our next sparring bout right now?"
"…"
I take back what I just thought.
Namgung Dowi's eyes gleamed as he shot back the question the moment my words ended. A man of considerable real age, and one whose appearance clearly marked him as middle-aged, kept leaning his face in closer and closer—it was nothing short of overwhelming.
After I'd slowly widened the distance between us and hemmed and hawed for a good while, Namgung Dowi finally left after completing a proper round of pleasantries.
As I closed the door again and let out a deep sigh, Seomun Hwa-rin, who for some reason looked far more pleased than before, giggled and patted the seat beside her.
"Come now, sit down. Tomorrow… no, it will be from the day after tomorrow, won't it. Our time to study the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art together will grow longer, but that doesn't mean we can neglect today, does it?"
"…Then, about the Technique we were just discussing—"
"Ah, if that's what you mean, my thoughts are clear. Even for the first half, I believe the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art must not compromise on power."
"It's a bit rich coming from someone who focuses all their Intent on power, but… if Senior Seomun Hwa-rin's will is that firm, there is one good method."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Let's have a light sparring bout."
"?"
Seomun Hwa-rin blinked. She tilted her head slightly, glanced once at the firmly shut door, then looked back up at me.
"Are you suggesting we move?"
"Don't speak of it like it's some contagious disease. I don't mean a real fight—I'll swing my sword the way I think is right, and Senior Seomun Hwa-rin swings yours your way, and we'll see which one is correct."
"Isn't this too advantageous for you?"
"Of course, I won't be using my true skill. This is only to examine the completeness of the techniques, so I'll match Senior Seomun Hwa-rin's sword skill."
"Still, a little…"
Seomun Hwa-rin kept backing away. I watched her for a moment, then nodded.
"Hmm. Are you perhaps afraid of losing to me?"
"…This lady shall set the laws of the martial world straight today!"
Seomun Hwa-rin huffed and rolled up her sleeves. Of course, it meant nothing in the end—we'd be using wooden swords anyway.
The sparring bout that followed ended in my victory.
After that, I parted ways with Namgung Dowi, and even after arriving at the Tang Clan, there were often differences of opinion between Seomun Hwa-rin and me over how to interpret the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art.
How many times did we settle it with sparring bouts, I wonder.
Sometimes I won, sometimes Seomun Hwa-rin won, and in the midst of the Heavenly Thunder Art being forged into a ruthless (?) martial art where only the victor's claim mattered—
The time had come, so I went to see Tang Jincheon.
"I'd like to take a trip around the Central Plains and subdue some Green Forest bandits."
"…So suddenly? More importantly, do you even know where their strongholds are before you move? It's not that others are too weak to catch the Green Forest bandits, son-in-law. That's why the pact with the Black Alliance was to share information on the Green Forest and let whichever side was closer take them down."
"I have a few places in mind. If I come back empty-handed, I'll return right away, so you needn't worry about that."
"Heh."
Tang Jincheon let out a long sigh before asking in a cautious voice.
"By any chance, do you also hold a grudge against the Green Forest, like the Lord of the Black Alliance?"
"When I was young, I had a silver coin I'd just gotten my hands on stolen from me, and I nearly died in the process."
"Oh dear. So that's why…"
"I cut them all down in return, so it's fine. I wouldn't call it a grudge."
"…?"
Facing the flustered Tang Jincheon, I deliberately puffed out my chest with confidence.
"Still, the Green Forest makes for a fine real-combat opponent, doesn't it? And as it happens, I'm not the only one around me who needs real combat experience."
"…"
Tang Jincheon no longer even bothered to look at me like I was a madman.
He just nodded wearily.
"…Do as you please, son-in-law. Just don't forget to keep in touch on a regular basis."
"You won't be disappointed, father-in-law."
Tang Jincheon patted my shoulder with a face that showed he didn't believe a word I said.
I wonder how I ended up being treated like this.