Though various circumstances were tangled together, I had high expectations for the sparring bout with the Namgung clan's father and son.
I had grown stronger than before, and above all, with my current abilities, I could see the flow of energy whenever I wished.
Being able to see not just the techniques but even the internal energy of the Namgung clan's martial arts—it would have been stranger not to look forward to it.
And there was another reason as well.
"Congratulations, Brother Namgung. You've broken through the wall."
"Heh. As expected, my younger brother can see it at a glance."
Namgung Jong nodded, a laugh he'd tried to hold back but ultimately let slip escaping him.
His martial level, which had been at the tail end of the Peak Realm when I last saw him, had now risen to the Transcendent Peak.
And not just at the threshold of that realm, either—he was already well into it, close to the middle stage, familiar with his own level.
I remembered he was seven years older than me, so he hadn't even reached thirty yet.
Before my regression, he'd ascended to the Transcendent Peak right after turning thirty and earned the alias Azure Heaven Sword Lord.
Wasn't he now about three years ahead of that pace?
I entered the empty training ground, inwardly admiring him.
"If you've reached the Transcendent Peak before thirty, I'd say you're well on your way to becoming a greater swordsman than even the Sword King himself."
"…Hearing those words from a younger brother who reached the Transcendent Peak before the age of twenty and ascended to the Harmony Realm the moment he passed it—my feelings are rather complicated."
"Now, now. It's troublesome when you use me as your comparison."
I had, after all, experienced a fortuitous encounter that defied the norms—regression itself. It was only possible because my starting line was at the very edge of the Transcendent Peak.
I'd never once thought I lacked sword talent, but in front of the Namgung Clan's people, I couldn't help but fall a little short.
Of course, thanks to that damn seal, I couldn't say any of this, so the words that came out of my mouth were already decided.
"Am I not a genius? If Brother Namgung keeps comparing himself to me and ends up suffering a Qi Deviation, I'd have no face to show the Sword King."
"When you unleashed your killing intent so brazenly at the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering, I thought you were no pushover, but it seems my younger brother grows more insufferable by the day."
"Isn't it just that my true nature is showing more and more each day? I've always been like this."
"I always count myself fortunate that my younger brother is a martial artist of the Orthodox Sects."
Namgung Jong smiled faintly. Whether it was because his realm had risen or because he had aged a few years, his bearing was calmer than the image in my memory.
Now exuding an aura befitting the alias Azure Heaven Sword Lord, Namgung Jong took his stance and drew his sword.
Shing—
Feet at shoulder width. Sword tip aligned with the center of his vision, aimed at the Middle Dantian… to anyone unfamiliar, it was a textbook stance nearly indistinguishable from the Three Talents Sword Technique.
But standing before him, I could feel it. Namgung Jong's sword was textbook precisely because it contained the extreme of the sword.
Though he merely held his stance, the afterimages of his sword forms stretched infinitely in all directions.
He had not actually swung the sword. It meant he could swing it along any trajectory at a moment's notice.
The sword itself remained still, yet his energy had already established a domain centered on Namgung Jong.
Changgung Muae Sword Art.
I beheld a sword art that sought to contain the heavens, and thus to emulate the heavens.
Even just watching it was refreshing, and I too curled my lips into a grin as I drew my sword.
"Three exchanges. Shall I yield the first move?"
"I'll accept it gratefully."
The moment Namgung Jong answered, he stamped the ground.
Tap.
A light-footed movement that had already closed the distance, cooled the sweat on my brow, and drifted away like a passing breeze.
So naturally. And so quickly, Namgung Jong's sword closed in and swung.
The domain built by his energy suddenly expanded, reaching me. And then.
Swoosh!
A sky-blue glowing sword flew toward my shoulder.
Whether to maximize the effect of his footwork, or because it was the easiest opening move, it was a sword technique imbued with the Mystery of Speed.
Energy condensed enough to birth a Sword Flame. And a hole deliberately drilled into the back of the blade to let it escape.
The naturally vented energy pushed the sword forward, accelerating it beyond the speed Namgung Jong could produce on his own.
So that's it. This was the technique.
He raised his sword slowly, etching into his eyes the things he had never been able to see before.
Both of them had kindled Sword Flame instead of Sword Force, to match each other's level.
The blue flame and the white flame clashed, scraping against each other.
Clang-clang-clang!
Sparks flew in every direction. At a glance, it looked as though he had barely managed to parry, unable to keep up with the speed of the swift sword. But looking at the truth of it, it was entirely different.
He had poured in internal energy condensed to the utmost, short of using Intent. The heavy energy sinking within the sword traced a crude but upright trajectory, holding its ground where it belonged.
Heavy.
From the sword to his whole body, from his whole body to the ground beneath his feet.
A heavy, profound weight that seemed to combine all of that settled into the sword. The result.
BANG!
Namgung Jong's sword, which had seemed to hold its ground for a moment, failed to withstand the recoil and was knocked back violently.
"Kuh!"
His grip must have gone numb—Namgung Jong frowned, his fingertips trembling. But he wasn't the kind of man to back down from something like this.
Clenching his teeth, he spun his body from the very stance he'd been knocked into, swinging his sword around from the opposite side.
At the same time, the simple, easy-to-read flow of internal energy that had been cycling between condensation and release shifted abruptly.
Like a dark cloud filling the sky on a rainy day, internal energy began to gather around Namgung Jong's shoulders and wrists.
This was immediately reflected in his sword, and the Sword Flame that had been blazing on Namgung Jong's blade began to crumple around the sword body without any clear direction.
The condensation was weaker than before. But in exchange, what he gained was a flexible movement that could extend in any direction.
The sword that flew in, tracing a graceful crescent, tangled with mine, which still held its ground heavily.
Flow.
He intended to use that gentle movement to scatter the weight in my sword and push it far away. But.
"Good attempt."
I swung my sword to meet Namgung Jong's. The internal energy I had been pressing down heavily began to seethe.
And the moment the two swords touched again, the internal energy that had reached its critical point exploded with a loud noise.
KWAANG!
A storm-like surge of energy waves swept through, scattering the hazy energy Namgung Jong had wrapped around himself.
The sword, now cleared of its cloud, was no longer as free as before.
"Hah!"
Caught off guard by being blocked in such a manner, Namgung Jong gasped and retreated far back.
A thin trail of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. He must have sustained a light internal injury from the characteristic brutality of the Explosive Sword.
Back at his starting position for the sparring bout, Namgung Jong let out a hollow laugh.
"You said you'd give me three exchanges, but it sounds like you meant to end it within three."
"It's simply that Brother Namgung is defeating himself."
"Of course you'd say that. Brother Cheon, you've only been deflecting my sword this whole time—you haven't shown any real sword art or skill to speak of."
Namgung Jong was right. All I had done was wield a sword that was the precise counter to his, executing it just a bit more perfectly than he did his own.
It wasn't a matter of pushing through with a stronger sword art or greater force.
It was possible only because I could see the flow of Namgung Jong's internal energy with my own eyes, and because I had reached a higher realm with the sword itself.
A pure understanding of the sword, and a delicacy in both sword art and the circulation of internal energy.
Namgung Jong had been completely dismantled by these two things alone, yet he showed no sign of discouragement—on the contrary, a fire of determination began to burn in his eyes.
"So it seems petty techniques are no match for you, Brother Cheon. …Then let's see if you can see through this one as well."
With those words, Namgung Jong's sword once again assumed a middle stance. But the flow of his internal energy was completely different.
It condensed, then dispersed, spread softly, then sharpened into a keen edge.
Like fickle weather, the energy wrapped around the sword in a constant, complex, and irregular rhythm.
But it soon settled.
What arrived after all manner of natural calamities was a clear, open sky. The azure heavens.
A simple vertical slash. But a sword strike carrying the sky began to descend.
"Ah."
Until now, all he could do was watch from afar and infer the outline—that was the extent of the Namgung Clan's sword. Even that alone was admirable, but this time, it was a little different.
Changgung Muae Sword Art. This was the first time I had been able to clearly see the true intent contained within it.
Long ago, Great Master Jeonghyeon had said this about the Indestructible Vajra Body.
What is swift is easily broken, what is heavy is easily avoided, and what is flashy is easily scattered. But one who is simply ordinary and solid leaves no way to overcome them.
The sword Namgung Jong now swung toward me shared a thread with that principle.
The Namgung Clan's sword—born from collecting countless martial arts, melting them all down, and forging from them another sky with the blade.
But precisely because of that, he must know it all the better.
No matter how remarkable a mystery is, as long as it is a mystery, it must have a fundamental limit.
And so, a sword that holds every mystery is also a sword that holds every weakness. Just as I had precisely dismantled his previous two strikes.
However, the Namgung Clan raised questions about this very fact. And through the Changgung Muae Sword Art, they arrived at their own answer.
That an ordinary sword is, in fact, a flawless sword.
And that flawlessness is the endless path of the sword… the gateway that leads to Muae, the Unobstructed.
The Changgung Muae Sword Art is a rising martial art that ranks among the top in all the Central Plains.
But to the people of the Namgung Clan, it was merely foundational training for standing at the starting line.
Now I could finally understand why the people of the Namgung Clan were so generous with their martial arts, and why they were so pathologically obsessed with collecting new sword techniques.
In the sky they envisioned, the Changgung Muae Sword Art was only a foundation, and the Imperial Sword Art that took one step beyond it was likewise merely an incomplete martial art.
It was only natural that they had no qualms about sharing these arts, and that they were desperate to complete them.
"Heh."
I couldn't say exactly what kind of heaven the Namgung Clan's sword was trying to complete, but I could tell how vast and distant it was.
Perhaps it was something that would never be completed—not until the distant future when the martial world declined and the Namgung Clan faced extermination.
But right now, what moved my heart was this incomplete sword.
"Magnificent."
I smiled faintly and lowered my sword at a diagonal angle.
It was a limp posture that could be seen as giving up, or as simply letting the sword hang loose.
But I had no doubt that this was the finest answer I could offer Namgung Jong.
Haaah, hoooh…
A breath drawn deep and released. This is the very beginning that separates the self from the other. And thus, it is also my beginning that separates heaven and earth from all things.
As if newly born, I remained in a state of pure naturalness, focusing my mind solely on Namgung Jong's sword.
And then, just before the blade wrapped in blue flames touched my hair.
"Hup!"
I held my breath for a moment and swung my sword with all my might.
From below to above. A white bolt of lightning surged upward in reverse.
Just as I had once separated the self from the other, it was as if I sought to divide the two by cleaving heaven and earth apart. Or perhaps, to pierce through them and bind the two into one.
KWA-RUNG!
The thunderous noise only rang out after the sword had completed its full swing.
I had used no Aura, no grand Intent. And so, the only thing I could possibly cut was Namgung Jong's sword, which had been swinging until just moments ago.
Namgung Jong, gripping the broken blade, opened his mouth with a satisfied expression.
"That… sword. What's its name?"
"The Thunderclap Sword."
"Impressive… kuh-ack!"
With those final words, Namgung Jong spat blood from his mouth and collapsed backward. He must have sustained a considerable internal injury.
The broken half of the sword blade that had been sent flying upward finally fell back to the ground, embedding itself in the training ground.
Thunk!
It was a truly spectacular end.
Only then did I come to my senses. I had told myself to hold back, but I had used too much strength.
I was younger, yet a Harmony Realm absolute master had swung his sword in earnest at a martial artist who was still only at Transcendent Peak.
To exaggerate slightly, it was like an adult who had genuinely punched and kicked a child, then made excuses that it wasn't his full power.
Filled with guilt, I cautiously looked toward Namgung Dowi. His face was flushed with excitement as he tilted his head.
"Hm? You gave me such a fine lesson, so why are you looking at me like that?"
"I wonder if I was too harsh on Brother Namgung."
"Don't worry. A son is meant to be raised strong."
"Still, he's not my son."
"If Jong saw a sword like that one last time, he would have been satisfied."
"…Please don't say such ominous things."
"No one holds a grudge against you, so stop worrying."
"…Staring at the sky with a distant look in your eyes is just as bad."
Anyone watching would think someone had died.