CLS-Chapter 500

Chapter 500:

Confusion.

That was the identity of the emotion that struck Heavenly Flow Sword.

‘Ten Thousand Swords?’

Right now, Wei Yan-ho was claiming that he had inherited the Ten Thousand Swords. But that was…

‘No. It’s possible.’

Realistically, it was entirely possible. The Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families that had been scattered to the winds had dispersed throughout the world. They couldn’t even properly maintain their lineage. It was a full hundred years later before the descendants of the Ten Thousand Swords escaped the surveillance of the martial world.

Among the scattered descendants of the Ten Thousand Swords, it wouldn’t be strange if there was someone who had independently walked the path of the Ten Thousand Swords.

Whether direct or collateral lineage didn’t matter.

If there was someone who inherited the Ten Thousand Swords, then that person was the direct lineage. Wasn’t that the policy of the Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families?

Then did Wei Yan-ho also inherit the lineage of the Hundred Families?

But if so!

Why couldn’t he empathize?

Why didn’t he understand that terrible hell they had endured for three hundred years after Baek Mu-han’s death?

What on earth had his master taught him?

Should someone who inherited only the Ten Thousand Swords but failed to inherit the spirit of the Hundred Families be acknowledged as a descendant of the Ten Thousand Swords?

‘That cannot be.’

Heavenly Flow Sword’s eyes twisted like an evil spirit.

How could he acknowledge it, when the years they had endured were carved into their very bones?

No one in the world could dare criticize them. Those who couldn’t empathize with the pain they had been forced to endure…

How could those who knew nothing and closed their eyes and covered their ears dare criticize the Hundred Families?

Heavenly Flow Sword cried out as if vomiting blood.

“What do you know about the Hundred Families!”

But Wei Yan-ho was not shaken in the slightest.

“I don’t know. And I don’t need to know either.”

“You don’t need to know?”

Wei Yan-ho looked straight at Heavenly Flow Sword and said.

“After all, don’t all people have their own positions? I don’t know what grand story you have, but you’re not hoping that by hearing that story, I’ll change my position and say ‘Oh, I see’ and fight alongside you, are you?”

“……”

“In the end, it’s obvious we’ll just confirm each other’s positions and start cutting. What’s the point of hearing such things? You can’t tolerate me standing in your way, and I don’t like what you’re doing. In the end, people just run on parallel lines.”

Cold eyes.

Wei Yan-ho’s eyes were colder than ever.

Looking at those chilly eyes, Heavenly Flow Sword felt as if even his heart was freezing.

‘He’s not wrong.’

Laughter burst out.

Yes, he had known.

If they had thought that pleading their grievances would change anything, they wouldn’t have walked this path. They could have chosen a more moderate method. But the martial world had never once changed through moderate means.

In the end, it was the law of the jungle.

In the martial world, the cries of the weak were nothing but empty echoes. If you wanted to change the situation, you had no choice but to become strong. The strong were the truth. They had denied it for countless years, but in the end, wasn’t it a truth that had never once changed?

Yes.

Then why were words necessary? If you proved yourself stronger, that became ‘righteousness.’

“Huuuu.”

Heavenly Flow Sword took a deep breath and raised his sword.

“What a pathetic display.”

Heavenly Flow Sword calmed his excitement.

What kind of disgrace was this in the middle of battle?

‘Still far to go.’

No matter what happened, a swordsman must not get excited. Excitement dulls the sword. Yet to get excited in front of someone who might be his lifelong enemy?

It was disgrace among disgraces.

He thought he had found some peace of mind, but it had all been an illusion. Heavenly Flow Sword bowed his head slightly toward Wei Yan-ho.

It would have been easier to cut him down when he was excited. But Wei Yan-ho had waited for him to regain his composure. As a swordsman, he should express his gratitude.

“To even receive help, I’m ashamed.”

Wei Yan-ho replied in a calm voice.

“I just thought it would be easier to understand if I crushed you when you were in perfect condition.”

It was a cold statement.

But that was enough.

Heavenly Flow Sword’s gaze toward Wei Yan-ho no longer wavered.

“May I ask one thing?”

“If it’s the last word.”

Heavenly Flow Sword chuckled.

“Yes, think of it as a last word and answer me.”

“Speak.”

“Did you inherit the sword of the Hundred Families?”

Wei Yan-ho nodded as if there was nothing to think about. This was no longer something to hide. And having come this far, it wasn’t something that could be hidden either.

“You could say that.”

“Then your sword is also the sword of the Hundred Families.”

“That’s different.”

Wei Yan-ho shook his head firmly.

“Didn’t you say you inherited the sword of the Hundred Families?”

“Yes.”

“Then isn’t it the sword of the Hundred Families?”

“No, it’s not.”

Wei Yan-ho said firmly.

“Just because Shaolin’s martial arts originated in the Western Regions, can you call Shaolin martial arts Western Region martial arts?”

“…No, you couldn’t.”

“All martial arts in the world ultimately have similar origins. Just as you can’t say all martial arts in the world are the same because of that, even if I inherited the sword of the Hundred Families, you can’t call my sword the sword of the Hundred Families. My sword is mine, and also the sword of the Wei Family.”

“I see.”

Heavenly Flow Sword nodded. This made it certain.

“But your master must have been from the Hundred Families?”

“Yes.”

“What happened to him?”

It was an obvious question. He probably wasn’t asking because he didn’t know.

“He passed away, naturally.”

“That’s unfortunate. It would have been good if I could have met him once.”

From Heavenly Flow Sword’s position, it was naturally something to regret. Just looking at Wei Yan-ho, he could guess how strong his master had been.

It was regrettable that he couldn’t see with his own eyes this other person who had walked a different path of the Ten Thousand Swords that he had never seen before.

“You should say it’s fortunate.”

“Fortunate?”

“If my master were still alive, the moment he heard that the Hundred Families had joined hands with the Demonic Cult, he would have pulverized every speck of dust in Hundred Sword Castle without leaving anything behind.”

Wei Yan-ho’s body trembled.

Just thinking about it was terrifying.

Thinking of Baek Mu-han foaming at the mouth and swinging his sword, he was no different from a fierce demon. At that point, he could be considered an Asura descended to this world.

If there was a difference, it would be that Asuras get beaten by Indra, but his master would probably beat up even Indra.

“Don’t worry. I’ll show you the sword you want to see from my master. And I’ll also do what my master couldn’t do.”

Heavenly Flow Sword’s face grew heavy.

He wasn’t someone who didn’t understand what Wei Yan-ho’s words meant. Right now, Wei Yan-ho was declaring that he would bring down Hundred Sword Castle with his own sword.

It was an arrogant, and utterly mad declaration.

Yet it didn’t sound arrogant at all.

Heavenly Flow Sword’s eyes sank.

He wasn’t afraid of the Righteous Martial Alliance or the Heavenly Alliance. He thought that unless it was the Demonic Cult, no force in the world could stop them.

Compared to the Righteous Martial Alliance, wasn’t Wei Yan-ho as an individual too insignificant an existence? It wouldn’t be enough even if you laughed and laughed at him.

But…

But why couldn’t he laugh?

At this moment, Heavenly Flow Sword was feeling it. That perhaps those words could become reality.

If he failed to kill Wei Yan-ho here and gave him time, Wei Yan-ho would become endlessly stronger. So much so that eventually, even if all of Hundred Sword Castle came forward, they wouldn’t be able to handle Wei Yan-ho.

‘That’s nonsense.’

There had been countless forces that had dominated the martial world. But until now, there had been only one instance where an individual had dominated the martial world.

The Sword Emperor.

Only he, the greatest sword of all time and the greatest person of all time, had placed the martial world under his name.

So was Heavenly Flow Sword now thinking that Wei Yan-ho could become as strong as Sword Emperor Baek Mu-han?

If you thought about it rationally, it was utterly impossible.

Certainly Wei Yan-ho was strong. But if Wei Yan-ho met the Family Head, even that strength would pale. The current Family Head of the Hundred Families was certainly the greatest swordsman under heaven, and could be described as someone following the Sword Emperor’s footsteps faster than anyone else.

No matter how remarkable Wei Yan-ho was, no matter how generously you estimated Wei Yan-ho to be superior to the Family Head, he couldn’t overcome the years the Family Head had accumulated.

No matter how he thought about it, no other answer emerged.

Then why was he so anxious?

Heavenly Flow Sword drew his sword.

He didn’t know why he was anxious. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t find the answer.

But if he was anxious, he just had to cut off that bud.

“It’s welcome to meet the new sword of the Hundred Families, but it’s regrettable that our positions have diverged. I’ll remember the fact that the lineage of the Hundred Families didn’t pass only to us.”

“The lineage of the Hundred Families?”

Wei Yan-ho chuckled.

“You still don’t seem to grasp the situation, but since I’ve drawn my sword, you can no longer claim the lineage of the Hundred Families. I’ll show you why from now on.”

Wei Yan-ho raised his sword and aimed it at Heavenly Flow Sword.

“Without words or answers.”

“Huu…”

Heavenly Flow Sword also silently aimed his sword at Wei Yan-ho.

The two people who had aimed their swords at each other stood in confrontation without moving.

Silence.

A silence completely different from the commotion until now descended around them.

Gulp.

Someone’s dry swallow spread out like thunder. But no one followed with their eyes the person who made that sound. They couldn’t take their eyes off that confrontation.

The moment they looked away, they couldn’t even turn their heads or blink, fearing that the match would be decided.

The long confrontation.

It was Heavenly Flow Sword who ended the confrontation that felt as long as an eon.

Heavenly Flow Sword’s sword moved.

Leisurely, and slowly. Slowly as if it would suck in everything in the world.

‘Slowly?’

There weren’t many people who felt something was off.

Slowly, very slowly moving sword.

A sword so slow that a fly might land on it.

Was such a leisurely sword the one breaking this urgent tension?

Su Gwang’s face contorted.

‘Dun Sword.’

A slow sword.

But a sword that wasn’t only slow.

Though it was moving slowly, most of those here couldn’t even feel the fact that this sword was moving slowly.

Yes.

That sword was a sword that stole time.

A sword that moved most naturally by entrusting itself to the flow of the world.

Just as it was natural for water to flow downward, and natural for flowers to wither someday after blooming, it was also too natural for that sword to move like that.

So it wasn’t strange for the sword to move.

And it wouldn’t be strange for that sword to come and slice his throat.

‘Could it be the Natural Sword?’

Wei Jeong-han bit his teeth hard.

He could realize it quickly because he was in a watching position. But Wei Yan-ho? Could Wei Yan-ho, who was the target of that Natural Sword, also realize this fact?

If Wei Jeong-han had been in that position, he wouldn’t have felt the sword approaching even until the moment his neck fell. Because it was as natural as the wind blowing and breathing.

‘But you would be different.’

Because the person standing there wasn’t Wei Jeong-han, but Wei Yan-ho.

Wei Jeong-han looked at Wei Yan-ho with unwavering eyes.

Unwavering eyes.

Unwavering faith.

As if responding to that firm faith, Wei Yan-ho slowly drew up his sword.

From bottom to top.

A sword rising leisurely, even more leisurely.

And everything that touched that sword was split.

The air, the wind, the clouds.

Even the old man in white who was swinging his sword at him couldn’t avoid Wei Yan-ho’s sword.