CLS-Chapter 468

Chapter 468:

The sword.

The sword in Wei Yan-ho’s hand erupted with brilliant radiance.

Radiance is formless. It cannot possess shape. But the light created by Wei Yan-ho clearly had form. This wasn’t a transformation from the tangible to the intangible, but from the intangible to the tangible.

Destroying all common sense and sword theory, Wei Yan-ho unleashed streams of light one after another.

‘What the hell is this?’

Saying he had weathered countless storms would be insufficient.

The death line that Cheok Su-gwang had crossed was literally a continuous series of life-and-death moments. In the midst of all that, he had seen countless martial artists.

Those who used bizarre and unfathomable sword techniques, those who crushed people with impossible destructive power, those who emanated an aura so murderous that it made breathing impossible.

Demons who worshipped evil and didn’t care about being called a Demonic Cult.

Among all those bastards, only those who weren’t human-like wielded swords on the front lines.

Cheok Su-gwang had experienced their martial arts with his own two eyes and entire body. He thought there was nothing left that could surprise him about another person’s martial arts.

The swarms of light pouring down and filling his vision were shattering such confidence.

He wanted to be amazed.

He wanted to tremble in fear.

But there was no time for that.

Those swarms of light were targeting him directly.

He knew that describing light swarms as “writhing” didn’t fit, but he had no choice but to express it that way. The writhing swarms of light were covering his entire body.

“Hwaaaaaat!“

Cheok Su-gwang twisted his body with all his might.

Resist?

Bullshit.

The power contained in those light swarms was not something a human body of flesh and blood could withstand.

Moreover…

‘What the hell is that thing?’

They were writhing.

Some light swarms poured down at high speed, some became hazy and appeared elsewhere. And some light swarms were pouring down while magnificently expanding in size.

As if each and every light swarm was alive and moving.

That’s supposed to be swordsmanship?

He could understand it.

Though it would be impossible to figure out what process led to such a thing appearing, he could understand how Wei Yan-ho had created it. That fast light swarm contained the mystery of swiftness, and the heavy light swarm must have contained the mystery of weight.

It wasn’t just unleashing sword principles with the sword, but implementing the myriad—no, the ten-thousand variations of mysteries even in the sword energy he released.

Watching the light swarms cover his body like living creatures, a hollow laugh escaped from Cheok Su-gwang’s mouth.

Then that laughter soon burst forth as a tremendous roar.

“What the hell are you doing! You little brat!”

Tang Cheon-gun relaxed the strength in his legs.

‘That hurts.’

He had put too much strength into them. As the power drained from his rigidly tensed muscles, a subtle pain washed over him. The muscles were injured from too much tension.

But it was fortunate that it ended with just this much.

If he had realized his condition even a little later, his blood and qi would have reversed instead of just injuring his muscles.

Tang Cheon-gun turned his gaze from the front to look around. He was checking if there was anyone else in the same predicament as him. Fortunately or unfortunately, no such people were visible.

In this place where the Tang Family made up the majority, the fact that no one else felt the same shock meant that there was still no one in the Tang Family who had reached his level.

So it was both fortunate and unfortunate.

“…What exactly is happening right now?”

It seemed there was someone who understood the current situation with their head, if not their body.

Zhuge Yeom’s voice was trembling.

The Zhuge Family didn’t have much to boast about in martial arts, but that was only from Tang Cheon-gun’s perspective. If the Zhuge Family had poor understanding of martial arts, they wouldn’t dare be called one of the Five Great Families.

Even to Zhuge Yeom’s eyes, Wei Yan-ho’s martial arts were in the realm of the incomprehensible.

He wanted to sneer, but he couldn’t.

“I don’t know either.”

Tang Cheon-gun wore a bitter smile.

Even Tang Cheon-gun couldn’t understand what kind of spectacle was unfolding before his eyes.

‘It’s fortunate we fought back then.’

What would happen if Tang Cheon-gun and Wei Yan-ho fought now?

Probably no different from the current Cheok Su-gwang. He would have rolled here and there, dodging the sword swung by that young brat.

What was even more frightening was… the fact that Cheok Su-gwang’s appearance didn’t look ridiculous at all.

Rather, even Cheok Su-gwang looked impressive.

For facing such a monster.

‘That’s not human.’

He had thought he was strong. Since he had lost to him.

He had also thought he would become stronger. Since Wei Yan-ho was still young.

But…

Both Wei Yan-ho’s current strength and Wei Yan-ho’s potential were completely wrong predictions.

It felt like he had brought home a tiger cub to raise, only for it to grow into not a tiger, but a monster.

‘But who exactly is behind that kid?’

Tang Cheon-gun was confident he wouldn’t be surprised even if Wei Yan-ho was twice as strong as this. What surprised him now wasn’t Wei Yan-ho’s strength.

It was the martial principles Wei Yan-ho had unleashed with his sword.

Those principles that made him reconsider his own martial arts from the ground up just by watching.

How could such martial principles be contained in the head of such a young child? And what kind of person was the master who crammed such endless principles into Wei Yan-ho’s head?

‘Great Foundation, he said.’

He had thought that because the present was so remarkable, he might lose what he had when the future came, but the present he had been looking at was merely a vessel to be filled with water.

Now that water was being poured in.

Tang Cheon-gun clenched his fists to overcome the sense of futility that wrapped around his body.

It felt like everything became shabby in the face of overwhelming martial power.

“Keuuk!“

Cheok Su-gwang gripped the sword’s handle. The handle of the sword made of cold iron seemed about to break from how tightly it was squeezed.

Venom and killing intent poured endlessly from Cheok Su-gwang’s eyes.

He knew.

The opponent was strong.

And the opponent’s power was not at a level he could dare to face. An overwhelming sense of powerlessness that he had never felt before dominated him.

But Cheok Su-gwang gritted his teeth.

Not running away?

It wasn’t that.

When you have to run, you have to run. Cheok Su-gwang was different from those idiots who took pride in not fleeing when they should flee. If you survive, opportunities always come. There’s nothing more foolish than throwing away your life to protect momentary pride.

But not now.

He could sense it.

Beyond this swarm of light, there was something. Something he had wanted to grasp so desperately.

Even if that attempt led to death, there are times when a swordsman must stake his life.

Cheok Su-gwang instead took one step forward.

That one step.

Though it was nothing more than a single step, in looking back at all of Cheok Su-gwang’s life, there had never been such a difficult step to take. The will to stake everything he had was fully contained in that one step.

He drew up all the energy in his entire body without leaving a handful behind and pushed it into his sword. The sword screamed its extreme limits. But Cheok Su-gwang didn’t care at all whether the sword was damaged or not.

It was here.

The moment he had to overcome.

The detestable thing called a ‘wall’ that clearly existed but could never be seen or clearly identified was now before his eyes. Just the fact that he could see that wall so clearly made him want to dance with joy.

Then how could he retreat?

“Uaaaaaaaa!“

Cheok Su-gwang’s sword drew a picture-perfect arc.

Cheok Su-gwang was certain.

Now his sword was more perfect than it had ever been in looking back at his entire life. The perfection he had only drawn in dreams. That moment of perfection that wouldn’t come even after swinging a thousand or ten thousand times had settled on his sword.

A sense of fulfillment as if he owned the entire world.

And confidence that he could destroy everything in the world.

Feeling the pride rising from his toes, Cheok Su-gwang swung his sword.

But soon Cheok Su-gwang could tell.

His sword could cut through everything.

At this moment, his sword was omnipotent. No matter who in the world came, they wouldn’t be able to stop his sword.

But light couldn’t be cut just because you cut it.

His sword precisely cut the incoming light swarms in half. But the light swarms cut in half merged back together on the spot as if to say ‘so what?’ and poured toward Cheok Su-gwang’s entire body.

Watching that scene in a daze, Cheok Su-gwang muttered.

‘Continuity.’

He understood.

What he had been lacking.

No matter how much he agonized and contemplated, no matter how much he trained upon training, the reason his martial arts had no choice but to stagnate. The massive wall he couldn’t cross even if he sold his soul was now crumbling.

But unfortunately…

‘Am I a bit late?’

A waterfall of light poured toward him, filling his vision.

It wasn’t something flesh and blood could endure.

If he overcame this moment, he would be able to step into a new realm. The fact that he had overcome the wall that had instilled the fear that he might never be able to cross it in his lifetime was joy beyond measure, but the time remaining for him to enjoy that joy was only an instant.

But it was okay.

At the final moment, he had crossed the wall and captured in his two eyes a realm he hadn’t dared believe he could experience. He had experienced something worth bragging about even before the King of Hell.

So it was okay.

Cheok Su-gwang opened his eyes wide. As if he wouldn’t miss even a single moment until the very last instant.

And at that moment.

Chae-ae-ae-aeng!

Along with a sharp noise like pottery falling to the floor and breaking, the light swarms that had been covering him suddenly disappeared as if extinguished.

As if everything he had seen until now was merely an illusion.

But it wasn’t an illusion.

Subtle pain washed over his entire body. Sharp pain, as if cut by a sharp blade.

‘What?’

Cheok Su-gwang quietly lowered his head.

In the center of the training ground that had become quiet as if all the fighting until now had been a lie, Wei Yan-ho stood with one leg bent.

“…”

Wei Yan-ho raised what he held in his hand to show the silently staring Cheok Su-gwang.

A sword.

A sword without a blade, a sword with only the handle remaining was in his hand.

“It couldn’t endure.”

“…”

“I wasn’t particularly trying to spare you. The sword just couldn’t endure it. If I had my sword, the situation would have been a bit different.”

Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue.

Wei Yan-ho swung the sword with only the handle remaining a couple times as if regretful, then turned his head to look at the Zhuge Family member.

“Should I return even this?”

“Just throw it away.”

“Sorry about that.”

Wei Yan-ho threw the sword handle in his hand to the ground and said to Cheok Su-gwang.

“Are you satisfied? Or shall we have a second round with a different sword?”

“…That’s sufficient.”

It was more than sufficient.

To know what kind of person the young swordsman named Wei Yan-ho was.

“Then now… hmm.”

Wei Yan-ho shrugged his shoulders and said.

“Shall we go inside and have a talk? I have a few things to ask.”

“…By all means.”

Cheok Su-gwang, who had returned from certain death, could only nod his head with a face still drained of spirit.