Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

“A sword is a weapon that harmonizes slashing and thrusting. In other words, all applications of the sword do not depart from these two fundamentals.”

“Ah, so that’s what you were talking about?”

“That’s right.”

“Then you should have just said it that way from the start. Why be so long-winded?”

“……I’m sorry.”

“Please be more careful next time.”

Baek Mu-han quietly gazed at the sword in his hand.

If this were a real sword with substance, he would have immediately sliced up that insolent mouth…….

“In any case, the first requirement for using a sword is to be able to thrust and slash naturally.”

“Yes!”

“Since you said you’re the son of a martial family, you should naturally be able to do this much, right?”

“Of course.”

“Show me once.”

Wei Yan-ho stood up from his seat.

Then he drew the sword from his waist.

“Watch closely!”

Wei Yan-ho’s sword displayed one thrust and one slash.

Baek Mu-han expressed his honest impression with his body.

“Whew……”

Wei Yan-ho looked at Baek Mu-han with a displeased expression.

“What’s wrong with it?”

Baek Mu-han nodded his head.

“You’re merely imitating the form.”

“Then there’s another level?”

“Even a monkey can imitate its appearance! What’s important is putting the true intent within it!”

“……A monkey?”

Baek Mu-han realized his mistake and quickly tried to appease Wei Yan-ho.

“It’s just a figure of speech! Just a figure of speech!”

“Hmm.”

Wei Yan-ho had a displeased expression but nodded his head.

“What matters most is putting true intent into the sword! Do you know why thrusting exists? It’s for speed — to pierce the space between you and your enemy as fast as possible! Even in a single thrust, you must carry the will to drive through both your opponent and yourself with utmost swiftness. If you can’t do that, then all you have is form without substance — and the sword will never evolve!”

“I see!”

“So you should try thrusting with true intent!”

“Yes!”

Wei Yan-ho raised his sword and aimed forward.

‘Pierce through the space between opponent and self most quickly and swiftly!’

He visualizes the opponent’s form.

Then he finds the shortest line between opponent and self.

Through that space, swiftly!

Swoosh!

Wei Yan-ho’s sword thrust through the air.

Baek Mu-han smiled.

“Yes, that’s how you do it.”

Wei Yan-ho thrust through the air several times as if trying not to forget this sensation.

Then he looked at Baek Mu-han.

“I understand. What’s next?”

Baek Mu-han shook his head.

“Not yet.”

“Pardon?”

“You need to thrust at least ten thousand times. Only then will the form be established. Do more.”

“Ten thousand times?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s a lot……”

“Martial arts without persistence are bound to lose their luster!”

“Hmm……”

Wei Yan-ho nodded his head.

For now, it was right to do as instructed.

“I understand.”

Wei Yan-ho began thrusting through the air again.

Baek Mu-han smiled contentedly.

Though his disciple had a terrible personality and was extremely lazy, he was pleased with his comprehension. Even now, with each thrust that followed, he was improving minutely.

Since he wasn’t a descendant of the Baek family, Baek Mu-han had worried greatly about what to do if his comprehension was lacking, but at least Wei Yan-ho’s comprehension was not inferior to the Baek family descendants he had hoped for.

‘No, is it even greater?’

Baek Mu-han became newly curious about Wei Yan-ho’s true identity.

The reason the Ten Thousand Sword Baek Family could be called a prestigious family under heaven despite not having many descendants generation after generation was because the descendants’ qualities were all extraordinary without exception.

Geniuses that might appear once every few generations in other families were routinely scorned in the Ten Thousand Sword Baek Family as having no talent for martial studies.

But Wei Yan-ho’s talent was surpassing those descendants of the Ten Thousand Sword Baek Family.

‘It’s remarkable.’

At this rate, transmitting all his knowledge in just five years might not be a dream.

Thus several hundred thrusts continued.

“……”

Wei Yan-ho’s sword stopped.

Baek Mu-han tilted his head.

“What’s wrong?”

“Do I have to do more?”

“Didn’t I say ten thousand times?”

“I think just doing about this much should be enough.”

Baek Mu-han firmly shook his head.

“Martial arts without solid fundamentals can never develop. If you build a fortress high without laying a solid foundation, it’s bound to collapse! This is all for development!”

Wei Yan-ho nodded his head.

“I understand.”

Baek Mu-han was extremely pleased.

Though he complained a lot, wasn’t he quick to understand? His laziness didn’t seem as severe as he had worried.

“……Then I’ll finish the rest tomorrow.”

“What?”

“My arms hurt, and my legs hurt too.”

“Of course it hurts when you train!”

“I don’t like painful things.”

“……”

Baek Mu-han closed his mouth.

“And my back hurts, and I’ve sweated a lot too.”

“Ugh……”

“So I want to rest today and do it tomorrow.”

“How do you expect to get stronger training like this!”

“It’s because I haven’t done it in a while. I’ll work hard starting tomorrow. Today’s the first day.”

“You can never become strong by putting off today’s work until tomorrow!”

“You worry so much. I said I’ll really work hard starting tomorrow.”

“……”

Wei Yan-ho said this and went to lie down in a corner.

“Y-Yan-ho.”

“I’m going to sleep well, so don’t disturb me.”

“No, today’s training……”

“Geez, you talk a lot. I said I’ll really work hard starting tomorrow. Don’t you trust me?”

I don’t trust you.

As long as you’re human, I can’t trust you.

Wei Yan-ho truly had no conscience.

“Yan-ho.”

“Don’t worry. See you later then.”

As soon as Wei Yan-ho lay down on the floor, he fell fast asleep not long after.

“Ugh.”

Baek Mu-han let out a sorrowful sigh.

The next day was no different.

For a full seven days and nights, Wei Yan-ho would casually wave his sword around then lie down saying he’d do it tomorrow.

Baek Mu-han tried getting angry, coaxing and pleading, and even begging, but Wei Yan-ho was unmoved.

“Yan-ho!”

“Ah, let me sleep just a little more.”

“Get up already!”

“……I said I know, I know. I’m up. I’m up, I said……”

“Ugh!”

Baek Mu-han cursed the heavens.

Lately his curses had become so vicious that if the Supreme Emperor in heaven had heard them, he would have been so enraged he might have manifested in person.

Though if the Supreme Emperor were to manifest and learned the circumstances, he might apologize to Baek Mu-han instead.

“Please just get up!”

“Ah! Geez!”

Wei Yan-ho bolted upright.

“Don’t you ever sleep, old man? Oh right! What sleep would a dead person need! But I’m a living person! Don’t you know people need to sleep?”

“What person under heaven would sleep as much as you!”

“Have you searched? Have you searched everyone? And don’t you know everyone has different personalities?”

Baek Mu-han felt fortunate that he had no physical body.

If he had a body, by now he would have succumbed to qi deviation or collapsed from a burst blood vessel.

“Ugh……”

What glory was he trying to enjoy?

What martial arts was he trying to transmit?

Why did he leave behind his consciousness to witness this terrible sight?

Baek Mu-han felt regret about his choice. What would it matter if his martial arts weren’t transmitted? He should have just died peacefully instead of suffering like this.

“……Fine. I’m sorry. So let’s train now.”

“Let me rest a bit more! We’ll train right after i open my eyes!”

“At this rate, it won’t be five years but thirty years before your training ends.”

“Hmm……”

Wei Yan-ho seemed slightly concerned by those words and got up from his seat.

“Ah, so annoying……”

Baek Mu-han’s face twisted horribly.

Is this what someone who’s been doing nothing but thrusting for seven days and nights should say?

Originally, this should have been finished within half a day and moved on to the next stage, but this human has been dragging it out for seven whole days and nights!

“Isn’t there some way to learn more easily?”

“……I think it’s already easy enough?”

“Ugh! This is why you need to meet a capable master.”

“I’m sorry……”

“It’s fine. It’s all my fate.”

“Ugh.”

Wei Yan-ho reluctantly drew his sword and waved it around a few times.

“Ah, I wish my body would move on its own.”

“How can your body move on its own?”

“You know, that kind of thing where it moves on its own just by thinking, without having to force it.”

“To reach such a realm requires constant effort.”

“I suppose so.”

Suddenly remembering something, Wei Yan-ho tilted his head.

“But then how did you do it back then?”

“Back then?”

“You dropped that rock.”

Baek Mu-han smiled bitterly.

“That was just activating a device I had prepared beforehand.”

“How?”

“It’s simple. I just had to pull the string of a mechanism I had prepared.”

“But you said you can’t do it with your body.”

“Right.”

“Then how did you pull it?”

“That has nothing to do with the body. Just distant object manipulation……”

Suddenly, Baek Mu-han’s face changed strangely.

His face kept changing strangely moment by moment, then finally settled into one expression.

It was a broad smile.

“Keke! That’s right! That’s it! There was such a method! Why didn’t I think of it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I was trapped by the fixed idea that I had no body. Or maybe maintaining consciousness for three hundred years has left many imperfect parts? Anyway, thank you. Thanks to you, I’ve learned something very good.”

“……What are you muttering about by yourself?”

Even at Wei Yan-ho’s rude words, Baek Mu-han didn’t get upset or angry.

Instead, he smiled as if very pleased.

“Don’t worry. You’ll find out soon.”

“Old man, what are you doing by yourself again……”

Bang!

At that moment, a loud explosion erupted right next to Wei Yan-ho’s face.

Wei Yan-ho broke into a cold sweat and slowly turned to look. A stone that had flown from somewhere was embedded deep in the stone wall.

“……”

“Thank you! Thanks to you, I figured it out! I may not have a body, but I can move stones anytime!”

“Th-that……”

“And if I can move stones, I can also do this!”

A stone on the floor slowly rose into the air.

Wei Yan-ho looked at the stone with eyes full of foreboding.

Somehow he felt he could tell where that stone would fly.

“W-wait a moment!”

“No! First get hit, then we’ll start!”

Whoosh!

The stone flew toward Wei Yan-ho carrying all the resentment and anger Baek Mu-han had felt.

Smack!

Wei Yan-ho, struck squarely on the forehead, collapsed to the floor without even making a sound.

“Ugh……”

Wei Yan-ho’s mouth opened wide.

“Owowowowowow!”

It hurt so much.

It hurt so incredibly much he couldn’t understand how it could hurt this much.

“Why are you hitting people!”

Baek Mu-han smiled.

“Hehehe, does it hurt?”

“Of course it hurts!”

“I see.”

A broad smile spread across Baek Mu-han’s lips.

“Then you need to get hit more!”

“Eek!”

Stones flew from all directions to beat Wei Yan-ho.

Thud! Thud thud!

“Ahhh! Ahh! Ahhhhh! Why are you doing this! Ahh! Old man! Ahhhhh!”

Baek Mu-han frowned.

Throwing stones was good, but continuously casting distant object manipulation was quite burdensome.

Moreover, concentrating on creating a physical form made it seem twice as difficult.

“Hmm, there’s a good method.”

A stone flying through the air went toward Baek Mu-han’s fist area. Soon a stone formed within transparent Baek Mu-han’s fist.

“What exactly are you doing right now!”

Bang!

Baek Mu-han’s fist delivered a powerful flick to Wei Yan-ho’s head, making a sound like a gong being struck.

His vision went black and sparks flew. It was truly a stone fist.

“Ugh……”

Wei Yan-ho slowly fell backward.

“Kahahaha! There was such a method! Prepare yourself, you damn brat!”

“Ahhhhhh! Save me!”

“Shut up!”

“Old man! No, Master!”

“You said you wouldn’t be my disciple!”

“I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”

“No! It’s fine! I refuse!”

“Ahh! Don’t hit the same place twice!”

“Then I’ll hit the places I haven’t hit yet”

That day, the dust raised by Wei Yan-ho’s beating covered the cave in a hazy cloud.