CLS-Chapter 648

Chapter 648:

Stars fill the entire sky.

A meteor shower.

Witnessing such a magnificent spectacle that only nature could create right before one’s eyes was truly an amazing thing.

If only there weren’t two unfortunate points.

One was that this meteor shower wasn’t a real meteor shower, and the other was that this meteor shower was currently flying toward Wei Yan-ho.

Compared to the second problem, the first problem was nothing. Real or fake, what did it matter? The problem was that those artificial meteors were just as dangerous as real ones!

Wei Yan-ho was horrified watching the meteor shower of sword qi flying toward him at terrifying speed.

It was the moment when his belief that his opponent was human was shattered in an instant.

“No!”

Wei Yan-ho thrust his sword forward.

How?

How should he handle this? How could he possibly block that?

Looking up, all he could see was sword qi. It seemed as if the entire world was covered with sword qi. Humans can block falling rain. But they cannot block the blowing wind.

When the entire world is covered with air, how can one block the air? The meteor shower pouring down now was exactly like that.

It couldn’t be blocked by covering the top like rain.

The meteors twisted their direction as if alive, covering Wei Yan-ho’s entire body.

How?

How should he block this…

At that moment, a clear voice echoed in Wei Yan-ho’s mind.

―What? How do you block something flying from all directions? Are you an idiot?

‘Master?’

No, this was a memory.

His master’s teaching.

―What do you mean by ‘all directions’ in the first place? East, west, south, north—four directions, right? Then you just need to block four directions! What? Above your head? Then you just need to block five directions! Just five directions. If you occupy just five directions, you can block all attacks in the world. You don’t even know something this simple, tsk tsk tsk.

“…Completely useless.”

All of Master’s teachings were like that!

Master had the habit of making nonsensical things sound plausible, and making obvious things sound strange.

Wasn’t it the same now?

Saying that if you block just the five directions, you can block everything in the world.

That nonsensical statement somehow made sense again.

“Tsk.”

Wei Yan-ho’s sword trembled. And in an instant, it created five sword shadows.

The five sword shadows occupied the five directions and began emitting brilliant light.

Collision.

Light and meteors collided.

That terrifying impact covered the surroundings.

The incoming storm of qi swept everything away.

“Aaaahhhhh! Again?!”

Jang-il flew away screaming desperately.

It seemed like this had happened once before, but this impact was incomparable to the previous one.

Look.

All those who had filled the vast land were being swept away by the storm of qi and flung out.

The impact generated by Wei Yan-ho and Baek Gong-do’s collision showed no mercy to friend or foe. Not only the Righteous Martial Alliance, but even the Hundred Sword Saint was unable to withstand it and was flung away.

“Kugh!”

Cheon Ryu-geom raised his sword to cut through the shock wave aimed at him.

His arms trembled and his legs were embedded in the ground. If he didn’t resist and just let himself be flung away, he could preserve his body without injury, but he didn’t want to be flung away.

He had to see.

This battle, with his very own eyes.

‘Is this a clash between humans?’

He too was a sword master acknowledged by the world.

Although he kept a low profile and didn’t elevate his reputation, anyone who knew him would not hesitate to place him above the Three Great Sword Masters under heaven.

But even in Cheon Ryu-geom’s eyes, the scene before him was not the work of humans.

‘Family Head, when did you reach such heights.’

He knew the Family Head was strong.

Even if he attacked with full power, he wasn’t confident he could last more than ten seconds.

But Cheon Ryu-geom now realized he had completely misjudged the Family Head.

‘Ten seconds? That’s not even funny.’

If he faced the Family Head he was seeing now, he wouldn’t last even three seconds.

The Family Head had always been stronger than Cheon Ryu-geom.

Once opened, that gap could never be closed. He too was a genius, but the Family Head was also a genius. Just a few years’ difference. But the difference that would never be narrowed was no less than an eternal difference.

That’s why Cheon Ryu-geom wandered the world. If he couldn’t defeat the Family Head through martial prowess, he thought it would be right to entrust the future of Ten Thousand Swords to him and focus on family affairs himself.

But the Family Head’s current appearance was telling him a completely different reality.

The difference wasn’t maintained.

It was widening.

A gap of just a few years became a gap of decades, and then a gap of centuries.

Even if Cheon Ryu-geom devoted himself only to training from now on, could he catch up to that level? It would be impossible even with a hundred years.

Sword God.

Anyone who saw the Family Head’s sword would not hesitate to call him a Sword God. The level the Family Head had reached now was that supreme.

Enough to seriously consider whether the completion of Ten Thousand Swords might be there!

However…

‘But how is that fellow matching the Family Head?’

Light and meteors intertwined.

It was a scene that seemed to recreate the moment when the world was born.

To Cheon Ryu-geom, who was foolish compared to them, the two appeared equal. It was clear that Baek Gong-do of the Single Heaven Sword held the initiative in attack, but that didn’t mean Wei Yan-ho was being one-sidedly pushed back.

The Family Head could do that.

The Family Head had been an incomprehensible genius from the beginning, the one who inherited and completed everything that Ten Thousand Swords had built up.

No.

Looking at his current state, it wouldn’t be lacking to use the word ‘development’ rather than ‘completion.’

The completion of the sword, built up sublimely through the flow of time, was there.

What prevented him from fully enjoying that moving moment was that on the other side, there was someone who had built up a level comparable to that completion.

‘What exactly is that fellow?’

It inspired awe beyond mere doubt.

The Family Head had everything. Everything he had built up until now was created by the Family Head’s own ability. He had no intention of denying that. But if the Family Head hadn’t been a descendant of Ten Thousand Swords, and hadn’t been Ten Thousand Swords’ successor, he would never have reached that level.

Then what about Wei Yan-ho?

What exactly had Wei Yan-ho inherited?

Even if he had inherited something greater than Ten Thousand Swords, what would he have had to do to reach such a level at that young age?

Incomprehensible.

It was incomprehensible.

Both the Family Head and Wei Yan-ho were clearly beings that couldn’t be understood as ordinary humans.

Therefore.

‘Win, Family Head!’

Cheon Ryu-geom raised his sword.

They had lived only to see this moment. To prove once again that Ten Thousand Swords was the best under heaven, and to inform those who had committed sins that Ten Thousand Swords had returned to the world.

Compared to that noble purpose, revenge was too trivial a matter.

So he must win.

So!

“Family Head!”

Cheon Ryu-geom shouted with a resounding voice.

“…How.”

Divine Strategist was also trembling all over.

With his martial prowess, he couldn’t understand what was happening before his eyes.

But one thing was certain.

‘This is a feast of sword principles I’ve never seen even once.’

He had seen countless martial artists.

But only one person remained in his mind as the strongest and greatest.

‘Great Demon Emperor.’

He was strong.

Incomparably strong.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the war with the Demon Cult was a war to stop that one person.

Even though Divine Strategist could use Fist Supreme, Sword Immortal, and even Sword Sovereign at full power, most of his intelligence was used to ensure their movements didn’t overlap with the Great Demon Emperor.

Because if they clashed head-on, they would die.

While somehow dealing with the Great Demon Emperor through numbers and leg-pulling, he used Fist Supreme and others to strike at the Demon Cult where he wasn’t present. This was the basis of the anti-Demon Cult war that Divine Strategist had deployed.

It had to be that way.

The Great Demon Emperor wasn’t someone who could be stopped. He had even felt that that one person was stronger than the entire Demon Cult. Of course, that couldn’t be true.

But…

‘Is it beyond that?’

He rubbed his eyes and opened them several times. Those around him were desperately supporting him as he was about to be blown away, but he couldn’t pay attention to that. Just watching the battle before his eyes and thinking about it was already overwhelming.

Perhaps he was now seeing martial artists who surpassed the Great Demon Emperor.

He thought it was impossible, but his eyes didn’t lie.

What unfolded before his eyes was only the truth.

“Yeon, Yeon-ho.”

Divine Strategist came to his senses.

Beside him, Wei Jeong-han was looking at Wei Yan-ho with an indescribably complex expression.

He looked ready to jump in at any moment.

Divine Strategist reached out and grabbed Wei Jeong-han’s sleeve. If Wei Jeong-han jumped in there with his level of skill, he would be reduced to powder without being able to do anything.

Of course, Wei Jeong-han knew that fact too.

Knowing it was nonsensical, knowing it was meaningless, jumping in anyway—that’s what a parent does.

“It’s alright.”

Someone grabbed Wei Jeong-han’s shoulder.

Wei Jeong-han turned his head.

Peng Dao-ji and Musan were holding him back.

“But…”

“He won’t lose.”

“Patron, Young Hero Wei will win.”

There was certainty in Peng Dao-ji and Musan’s voices.

Wei Jeong-han looked at them with bewildered eyes.

Certainty?

How could they have certainty after seeing that scene? There was no one in the current martial world who could accurately understand what was happening there.

Then who could discuss victory or defeat?

“Hah, there’s no way that fellow would lose.”

Jang-il, who had been blown away by the impact, had returned at some point.

“There’s nothing to worry about. There’s no way that fellow would lose.”

“Why?”

“He already lost once, didn’t he?”

“What do you mean…”

“Would that fellow lose twice?”

“…”

It was a statement with no beginning or end.

He felt like pointing his finger and asking what kind of logic that was.

But…

That statement with no logic was convincing to Wei Jeong-han.

He could imagine Wei Yan-ho losing. But he couldn’t picture that fellow losing twice. This was a belief that transcended logic.

“So let’s believe. That bastard will definitely win.”

Jang-il’s voice, which declared with certainty, trembled slightly.

Belief and anxiety.

Those two emotions were mixed together.

“This kid…”

Wei Jeong-han quietly watched Wei Yan-ho surrounded by light and muttered.

“If you just come back alive, I won’t scold you even if you don’t get out of bed for a month.”

“…You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep, Great Hero.”

“I suppose so?”

It was at that moment.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaang!

Light and meteors flickered. The most brilliant light filled the world. Those watching that scene couldn’t handle the light pouring into their eyes, so they all closed them.

Sound disappeared.

Sight disappeared.

All they could feel was the madly rushing wind and qi.

Those who endured the storm that seemed to tear their flesh barely opened their eyes.

And then they saw.

The two people facing each other.