Third Elder paused his training and announced the sparring bout. With an awkward expression, he spoke to us.
"I'm a bit sorry to ask this of you, but if possible, in the sparring match…"
"We'll hold back as needed."
"Just don't use poison, right?"
"Thank you. That's more than enough."
It was something I had expected to some extent. If we fought at full strength, a proper sparring match wouldn't be possible at all.
The Third Generation Disciples, who were still young and at best had a Second-Rate martial level, were a given. Most of the Second Generation Disciples teaching them were also first-rate. Among them, only a few who were quite old had reached the Peak Realm.
Of course, I know full well that victory isn't decided by the level of one's cultivation alone… but I still remember the enlightenment I gained before my regression in its entirety.
It would be strange if I were pushed back by a martial artist of a similar level to my current self.
The same goes for Tang So-wol. It took a little time, but she even managed to briefly paralyze the Slaughter Ghost that had gone berserk after consuming the Mapokdan.
And it took a little time, but she even managed to briefly paralyze even me, who was operating the Crazy Wolf Life-Stealing Art at its extreme limit.
It's not that the Zhongnan Sect's disciples are weak. They all carry an Aura befitting the name of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang.
It's just that Tang So-wol and I are too strong for our age.
Whether he read the Aura or heard the story of Gwiyeong Sin-tu, the Third Elder must have known this well when he said those words.
It's a shame we can't fight at full strength, but the purpose of this sparring match is, after all, to witness the untainted sword of Zhongnan.
In that sense, the opponent before me isn't a bad one, so I have no major complaints.
…Above all, the condition was that I'd be allowed to take whatever I learned from the Zhongnan Sect, so long as I sparred with the disciples in return.
At the very least, I should put to use the thread of enlightenment I grasped yesterday.
As I nodded to myself, the Third Elder pointed to the training ground, where the disciples had stepped aside to leave the center open.
"Then let's begin right away. What order shall we go in?"
"I'll step forward first. I know the young hero Cheon has high expectations, but…"
"It's fine. Tang So-wol, didn't you have no small expectations yourself?"
"Was it that obvious?"
"No. I just suspected that might be the case."
In the end, it looked like we would return to the Tang Clan without having gotten very far this time either.
The experiences Tang So-wol had on this journey through the martial world were dense enough that an ordinary rising talent would struggle to match them, but there was no denying that the period had been too short.
And now, with a friendly sparring match against the Zhongnan Sect disciples ahead—an activity befitting a true martial world journey—she couldn't help but be excited.
Smiling as if embarrassed, Tang So-wol meticulously checked her hidden weapons before stepping out onto the training ground.
Watching her, Third Elder nodded and asked, turning toward where the Zhongnan Sect disciples were gathered.
"Now then! Who will be the first to show us the sword of Zhongnan?"
It seemed we weren't the only ones looking forward to the friendly sparring match—among those who were glancing at each other with sparkling eyes, a woman raised her hand high and stepped forward.
"I'll go!"
She looked a little older than Tang So-wol. The Aura she gave off was about mid first-rate. The sword hilt at her waist was slightly worn, a sign that she didn't neglect her Training.
For her age, that was a fairly impressive level. She seemed to know it too, stepping forward for the sparring match with a face full of confidence and anticipation.
…That was exactly how Tang So-wol had felt when she first set out into the martial world and got kidnapped by me.
I'd been that confident once too.
Well. Unless you had a Heavenly Martial Body, that kind of confidence was bound to be broken at least once in a martial artist's life.
If it could be broken in a sparring match rather than real combat, that was a stroke of luck.
As I nodded, the two facing each other on the training ground exchanged fist-and-palm salutes.
"My name is Tang So-wol of the Tang Clan. I look forward to working with you."
"I am Jin Yuryeon, a Second Generation Disciple of the Zhongnan Sect. It is an honor to witness the martial arts of the renowned Tang Clan."
A moment later, the sparring match began at the signal of Third Elder, who had volunteered to referee.
From the very start, Tang So-wol put distance between them while Jin Yuryeon moved quickly to close the gap.
It was true that Tang So-wol's main strength was her poison art, but that did not mean her Hidden Weapon Art was lacking.
Especially lately, hadn't she been training hard in the Hidden Weapon Art to prepare for situations where she couldn't use her poison art—like when she was absorbing the purple poison-nurturing herb?
Thanks to that, their sparring match was quite spectacular, and it seemed both the participants and the spectators had much to learn from it.
Perhaps it was due to the Tang Clan's footwork, which emphasized distance control, that she seemed to step lightly yet the distance between them widened with each flickering movement.
At the same time, five or six hidden weapons burst forth, curving through the air toward the opponent.
From Jin Yuryeon's perspective, it must have felt like hidden weapons were closing in from every direction.
The bladed ones flew in swiftly, while the ones without blades bounced off each other, tracing unpredictable trajectories.
Against an ordinary opponent, that Hidden Weapon Art would have turned them into a pincushion. But the martial arts of the Zhongnan Sect were on a completely different level from such rabble.
"Hup!"
Jin Yuryeon swallowed her breath and swung her arms without pause.
At first glance, her sword strikes seemed so erratic that one might think she was just flailing wildly. But each individual strike became the foundation for the next, flowing without obstruction.
Of course, she sometimes lost her stance while deflecting the hidden weapons, and occasionally her judgment lagged or she mistimed the order of her swings, failing to knock away a few of them.
She makes up for such shortcomings with her footwork. Just as with her sword art, she can transition freely in any direction, allowing her to dodge the hidden weapons she missed.
And so, for a while, the pattern repeated: Tang So-wol pressed her opponent while widening the distance with hidden weapons, and Jin Yuryeon chased after her, either deflecting the hidden weapons or dodging them.
Surprisingly, it was Jin Yuryeon who gradually gained the upper hand in that exchange. It was because the matchup was unfavorable.
Tang So-wol was throwing hidden weapons to drive her opponent back, to lure her in, and to land a decisive blow.
But the martial arts of the Zhongnan Sect that Jin Yuryeon displayed used everything—her own sword swings, even the moments she faltered when colliding with hidden weapons—as preparation for the next move.
With no hesitation, she reveals no openings, and so she tirelessly and diligently chases Tang So-wol.
Tang So-wol's footwork is also quite excellent, so she doesn't seem likely to be caught easily… but if she makes even a slight mistake, the current balance will collapse in an instant.
On the other hand, even if Jin Yuryeon makes a mistake, she can use even that as a stepping stone for the next move.
In that sense, this prolonged war of attrition could be seen as Tang So-wol gradually being pushed back.
Perhaps because I am a swordsman, the small flaws kept catching my eye, but I could gradually glimpse the true intent behind Jin Yuryeon's martial arts.
Most martial arts aim to avoid making mistakes and focus on training to reduce them, but this one is unusual.
Even if she makes a mistake, it doesn't matter. No, in the first place, mistakes don't exist. Only what appears to be a mistake exists.
Because she can always connect it to the next technique with her own skill.
That is…
"That isn't a sword meant to kill an enemy. It's a sword meant to perfect oneself."
"Correct. What does it matter this way or that? In the end, it's not the technique that wields the sword, but the swordsman. So one must neither be frustrated nor overly elated, but simply polish oneself."
"I agree that there's no need to obsess over techniques. The conclusion that follows is a bit different, though… So what is the name of that martial art?"
"It's called the Nine Palace Divine Walk Sword Art and the Nine Palace Steps."
I've heard of both martial arts before. However, I've never actually seen them. After the Zhongnan Sect's extermination, the survivors I met were all too busy learning martial arts that would make them stronger quickly.
In that sense, martial arts like the Nine Palace Divine Walk Sword Art, which require the swordsman himself to grow stronger over a long period of time to unleash that much power, fell out of use.
So that's what it was originally like. I agree that rather than learning a powerful technique, the swordsman himself must become stronger—but the reason why one must become so strong.
The ultimate goal they pursue is far too different from my own martial philosophy.
To me, a sword has always been for killing enemies, never for self-cultivation.
However, because this martial art focuses on oneself rather than on others, even if it originated from a similar idea, the result turned out completely different.
My sword pierces through the opponent's gap, breaks their stance, creates an opening, and then stubbornly clings on until it finally severs their breath. If I had to put it into words, it's like a starving jackal.
The Nine Palace Divine Walk Sword Art that Jin Yuryeon, a direct disciple of the Zhongnan Sect, unleashes doesn't care in the slightest about how the opponent will react.
It is a sword that begins with oneself and ends with oneself.
That is why it does not waver under external pressure, and silently walks its own path.
Just like right now, as she deflects the hidden weapons Tang So-wol scatters without stopping, closing the distance between them.
No matter how strong a martial artist is, they don't always hold the initiative. A martial art that requires bending the opponent to your will becomes infinitely vulnerable in such moments.
I don't know exactly how to go about it, but keeping this in mind should prove quite useful in applying it to my own martial art.
How many times did I have to consciously observe not the trajectory of the sword itself, but the intent behind each swing before I understood?
This won't do. Tang So-wol had thrown the dice to overturn the tide of the battle.
She abandoned the pattern of keeping her distance and holding him off with hidden weapons. Instead, she charged straight ahead, swinging her sleeves with her hands hidden even deeper within them.
Flutter.
A large motion. The gaudy robes of her martial attire embroidered the air. Tang So-wol traced an elegant curve that looked at first glance like a dance, but from those ample sleeves, a torrent of vicious hidden weapons poured out like a waterfall.
There was no aiming, no calculation. She seemed focused solely on the act of firing itself. In truth, most of them flew off in completely wrong directions.
But that worked in her favor. Jin Yuryeon, who had been deflecting each hidden weapon or twisting her body to dodge while focusing on the pursuit, suddenly found a flood of hidden weapons she could neither block nor evade pouring down before her eyes.
A closer look would have revealed that most were meaningless, merely sprayed out, but startled by the sudden change, she chose to try to deflect them as she had been doing, and braced herself.
"Oh my…"
Just as Third Elder, who had been holding his head from the side, let out a sigh that was more than a sigh, Jin Yuryeon's sword began to move.
Unaware that among the hidden weapons filling her vision, a Cow Hair Needle was secretly aiming for her vital point.
Since they were sparring with minimal use of internal energy, her life wasn't in danger, but she could still sustain a fairly serious injury.
But isn't that why a martial artist several ranks higher was watching over them as a judge?
Having already drawn his sword, Third Elder stepped between the two and swung his blade in a wide arc.
Whoosh!
The straightforward sword strike, filled with internal energy, created a powerful sword wind.
The hidden weapons, which had been shooting forward as if struck down by an invisible palm, quietly embedded themselves into the ground instead of being knocked far away.
Third Elder declared toward the two, who flinched at the overwhelmingly superior martial level.
"That's enough. The winner is Tang So-wol of the Tang Clan. If you think about it now, you should understand why."
"…Yes."
Jin Yuryeon nodded sullenly, seeing the Cow Hair Needle she hadn't noticed glinting on the ground.
Then she sheathed her sword and offered a polite fist-and-palm salute.
"It was a good sparring match. Thanks to it, I was able to experience firsthand how excellent the Tang Clan's Hidden Weapon Art is."
"Ah! I feel the same way. The Zhongnan Sect's sword truly lives up to its reputation."
After displaying their martial arts and clashing fiercely, they finish with smiles and mutual respect. Isn't that the very picture of an ideal sparring match?
In the end, even Tang So-wol, let alone me and the Vice-Captain of the Poison Blood Squad, had to squat down and gather up the hidden weapons used in the sparring match one by one… but at any rate, it was true that the atmosphere had warmed up appropriately and turned amicable.
That was why this came as a complete surprise.
"I am Jin Baek, a Third Generation Disciple of the Zhongnan Sect! I look forward to your guidance, young hero!"
"…"
I had expected an opponent of similar martial level, but instead someone of similar age appeared before me—and to think it would be a face I recognized.