Return of the Heavenly Sword

Chapter 30. Talent (1)

After that, for a short while.

I swung the hammer at Nam Geon's body without rest.

Was it because I had been swinging the hammer with all my might?

After just a short while, my whole body began to tremble, and the internal energy in my dantian was also completely empty.

Perhaps because my body had reached its limit, the trajectory that had been visible to my eyes had also disappeared at some point.

“Haa. How weak.”

I really didn't like my weak body.

My completely exhausted palm finally let go of the hammer.

Thud.

At the same time as the hammer fell to the ground, that fellow Nam Geon also lay down flat on the ground.

“Big brother. You suddenly got strong. I-it hurts too much.”

Nam Geon's body, as he said that, was glowing red.

It wasn't that he was covered in blood.

It felt like a piece of iron that a blacksmith had heated in a fire and hammered.

Moreover, on the surface of his reddened skin, a hazy energy that looked like a heat haze was shimmering.

It looked just like a piece of iron heated in a fire.

After catching my breath for a moment and looking down at the lying Nam Geon, I opened my mouth.

“Nam Geon. Have you ever thought about learning the sword?”

“Sword?”

Nam Geon, who was tilting his head while lying down, asked back.

“If I learn the sword, can I get stronger?”

“Yes.”

“E-even stronger than Danmok Hwan?”

“That will depend on you.”

“Umm. If I can get stronger, I'll learn the sword.”

I nodded at his answer and said.

“Then, let's go back to the inn for now.”

I couldn't teach this guy the powerful sword art right away.

It was because I myself hadn't completed it yet.

I was at a level where I could barely follow it only when I could see the trajectory with my eyes.

No, if you look closely, I would often deviate slightly from that perfect sword path.

At the very least, I could teach it to this guy only after I had completely refined the form and organized the corresponding key points.

Well, since I had the help of my eyes, it didn't seem like it would take that long.

***

After returning to the inn, I soaked my body in the bathwater the wife had prepared.

After finishing my bath, while a weary fatigue was washing over me, I said to Nam Geon, who had also finished his bath.

“From now on, I will teach you an internal energy heart art. Train this whenever you have free time every day.”

I wasn't trying to teach him a special heart art.

From the looks of it, this guy had only learned the external art called the Iron Blood Golden Skin Art, and had no internal energy at all.

“The name of the heart art I will teach you today is the Jade Cloud Divine Art.”

A heart art close to the basics of the basics.

A heart art that was easy to learn and stable because it was a basic.

I intended to teach him the Jade Cloud Divine Art.

“The clouds flowing in the blue sky are serene, so in a clear mind, the energy will flow calmly. …White clouds do not scatter rain, so hold clear energy and keep evil energy at a distance.”

After telling him the concise and simple key points and explanations of the Jade Cloud Divine Art several times.

I realized it belatedly.

That I had been severely underestimating this guy.

“Blue sky… the clouds in the blue sky are… Big brother. It's too long.”

The key points were only about twenty characters long.

Even with my explanation, it was less than a hundred phrases.

No, he couldn't even memorize the first line.

I suddenly became curious.

“How on earth did you learn the Iron Blood Golden Skin Art?”

At my question, Nam Geon smiled as if proud and said.

“Hehet. M-momma taught me. U-until I memorized the key points, m-momma hit me with a switch. A-and every time I memorized a little, m-momma gave me food.”

I couldn't understand why he was saying this as if it was something to be proud of.

I wondered if I should hit him with a switch too, but I soon gave up.

It might have worked before this guy learned the Iron Blood Golden Skin Art, but now it was obvious that only the switch would break.

If I hit him with my hand, my hand would be shattered, and if I hit him with a sword, I would just waste a precious sword.

In the end, all that was left was rote learning.

“Now, I'll teach you again.”

When it came to repetition, I prided myself on being a man who wouldn't lose to anyone.

***

The next day, early in the morning.

I woke Nam Geon up and taught him the Jade Cloud Divine Art that he hadn't finished memorizing yesterday, and ate the breakfast that the innkeeper's wife had prepared.

After finishing the hearty meal and receiving a bundle mixed with the wife's consideration and the husband's tears, we left Shaoyang.

This area was more or less sorted out, so the next destination was Dongin in Guizhou Province.

The place where the Iron Dragon Sect Leader, Byeok Cheollyong, originally operated.

The slave trader who did business with the Hegemonic Tiger Gang that Byeok Cheollyong belonged to.

The goal was to find the black market through them.

Since I couldn't waste time while moving, I said to Nam Geon.

“You have good strength but weak stamina, so let's build up your stamina first. Try to keep up.”

After saying that, I started running using my movement technique.

Then, the heavy footsteps of “thud, thud” were heard from behind.

Remembering the fight with that guy yesterday, I turned my head slightly and shouted.

“Watch my movements and try to imitate them.”

Indeed.

Whether it was because his head was bad but his talent for using his body was excellent, after a little while, the heavy footsteps became a little lighter.

When I sneaked a glance to check, his posture had become much neater.

After continuing stamina training and movement technique training with Nam Geon for about fifteen minutes.

“Heok. Heok.”

A loud breathing sound befitting his huge build echoed in my ears.

“B-big brother. I-it's hard.”

“If you get tired from just this much, you won't be able to beat Danmok Hwan even if you die and come back to life.”

As soon as my answer was finished, the sound of teeth gritting was heard from behind.

He has the will.

With that thought, I moved my legs again.

After another fifteen minutes, I stopped walking.

And as soon as I stopped, a “thud” sound was heard from behind.

“Heeok. Heeeok.”

Nam Geon's face, who was lying down and gasping for breath, had turned pale.

If we ran any more from here, I wondered if that white face would turn black or yellow.

“Hmm.”

I had felt it since yesterday, but his stamina was definitely weak compared to his strength.

It seemed that the Steel Sinew Sect Leader, Cha Hui, had only taught him the Iron Blood Golden Skin Art and had not properly trained him.

Perhaps she had tasted this guy's amazing brain while teaching him the key points of the Iron Blood Golden Skin Art and had given up.

Or, she might have been afraid that Nam Geon would become too strong too quickly and become uncontrollable.

Well, since Cha Hui was already dead, the truth was unknowable.

“Get up. If you give up, you can't move.”

As I approached him and said that, Nam Geon wriggled his body and managed to get up again.

Not bad.

At least his will seemed to be certain.

If there was will, stamina was the easiest thing to build.

It would naturally build up if I pushed him to the point where he was out of breath, just like now.

“We will move on foot, so take deep breaths in and out through your nose and follow me.”

“O-okay, big brother.”

I turned my back and drew my sword.

“Sssseup. Hooooo.”

If your body is big, are your nostrils big too? A loud deep breathing sound is heard.

It seemed like it would be distracting, so I turned my attention away and focused my mind.

As if being sucked into a world of mental imagery, I swam through the memories in my head.

I recalled the key points written in the book of the Flying Swallow Sword Art, the book I had read yesterday.

Furthermore, I replayed the trajectories of the sword art that the Steel Sinew Sect Leader and the Danmok Clan's young master had performed.

I weaved those memories together and formed a single sword path in my head.

Following that sword path, I swung my sword in the empty air.

The Flying Swallow Sword Art.

The sword art I had broken.

It sounded useless when I put it like that, but this was a problem that only arose when only the Flying Swallow Sword Art was used.

The biggest feature of the Flying Swallow Sword Art was its bizarrely and sharply twisting sword path.

The sword art itself was a feint, and a feint shines when it is mixed with a real attack.

Just as it is said to mix one part of a lie with nine parts of truth when deceiving others.

In fact, the young master of the Danmok Clan would perform other sword arts of the clan and then surprisingly perform the Flying Swallow Sword Art in between.

Thanks to that, I couldn't even react properly and my arm was broken.

On the other hand, Cha Hui only performed the Flying Swallow Sword Art day and night.

It could have been because she hadn't laid the foundation, or she might have just been crazed and only performed the sword art she was most confident in.

After performing the Flying Swallow Sword Art in the empty air several times.

As the Flying Swallow Sword Art was gradually getting used to my body, such a thought naturally came to mind.

Then, what is the best way to perform the Flying Swallow Sword Art?

Was it because my mind was slowly being awakened as I focused on my training?

At some point, a virtual enemy appeared in the empty air, and a single sword path heading towards that enemy was drawn.

It wasn't the sword path of the Flying Swallow Sword Art.

It was a sword path that utilized the essence of a fast sword.

Following the sword path, I performed a series of concise thrusts.

By the time the virtual enemy had blocked and dodged that fast sword and had gradually gotten used to the concise fast sword art.

I surprisingly tried performing the Flying Swallow Sword Art.

The bastard swung his sword in response to the sword path my sword was originally heading for.

Slash.

The sword, whose path was surprisingly twisted, cleanly cut off the bastard's neck.

“Hmm. The synergy with a fast sword is good.”

After having a short thought, how long had I been training the Flying Swallow Sword Art again?

The moment my whole body was drenched in sweat and the internal energy in my dantian was empty, the trajectory that had been embroidering the empty air disappeared.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue lightly in disappointment and sheathed my sword.

Was it because my concentration was broken?

Only then did I hear a strange sound from behind.

Whoosh!

When I turned my head, Nam Geon was swinging a wooden stick in the empty air.

“Heh.”

I could recognize it at once.

It was the Flying Swallow Sword Art.

Just by watching me train, he had begun to imitate the form of the Flying Swallow Sword Art.

He was an amazing fellow in many ways.

His talent for using his body and his talent for using his head were inversely proportional.

He was roughly imitating the form just by stealing a few glances, but I wondered if that guy could memorize the key points of the Flying Swallow Sword Art.

“Well, if he keeps at it, he'll learn it someday.”

I had no intention of belittling another's efforts, especially since I had been on the receiving end of it.

Although I intended to teach Nam Geon the powerful sword art, it didn't seem to be a problem if he learned the Flying Swallow Sword Art as well.

Just as I had performed the Flying Swallow Sword Art as a feint while performing a fast sword, if he were to perform the Flying Swallow Sword Art as a trump card while performing a powerful sword art, it would be quite threatening.

After watching him swing the stick for a moment, I said.

“It would be better to have an opponent than to swing at the empty air. Let's have a duel instead.”

“Duel?”

“Yes. From now on, try swinging your stick at me. Or, it doesn't matter if you just swing your fists like yesterday. Try to hit me.”

The fellow seemed to be thinking about something, then nodded his head.

“O-okay.”

Unlike his words, as the fellow stood still, I willingly closed in on him and swung my sword.

The fellow raised his stick to block my attack, and I slightly twisted my sword path and struck his side.

Clang!

After that, I engaged with the fellow and struck his torso with my sword several times.

After taking a step back, I asked the fellow.

“What are you trying to do?”

“W-what's wrong, big brother?”

“Are you not going to fight properly?”

The fellow was somehow cautious, even though he wouldn't get hurt even if he was hit by my sword.

When I glared at him fiercely, Nam Geon looked around and answered cautiously.

“I-if I hit you hard, b-big brother will die. Y-yesterday, I accidentally k-killed a person.”

It seemed that killing the heretic bastards of the Steel Sinew Sect and the Five Sword Sect yesterday was his first time killing.

Moreover, from that guy's perspective, he hadn't killed with murderous intent.

He had just killed them due to a failure to control his strength.

It seemed that memory had been deeply engraved in his mind.

“Those bastards deserved to die.”

“B-but still.”

Looking at the troubled fellow, such a thought suddenly came to mind.

All parents are great.

How did they raise their children, soothing and coaxing them?

It was to the point where I wanted to kill all the heretic trash human traffickers who kidnapped the children that such great parents had raised with so much care.

“Hoo.”

I tried my best to calm the anger that was suddenly flaring up again and said to the fellow.

“It's fine if you don't get hit. You couldn't hit me yesterday, could you?”

“B-but if big brother gets hit by mistake, you'll die.”

“Nam Geon. Didn't you ask me to teach you how to fight? Why are you trying to learn how to fight from someone so weak that they would die from your punch?”

“Huh??”

“I am stronger than you. I won't get hit by your fist. Understood?”

“Aah!”

The fellow said with a touched face.

“Big brother. You are smart. That's right. Big brother, you are stronger than me. You won't get hit.”

Then, as if he had realized something, the fellow asked.

“Big brother. You are smart. So, let's learn the Iron Blood Golden Skin Art too. If you learn the Iron Blood Golden Skin Art, you become sturdy. You won't die.”

I shook my head at his suggestion without any particular thought.

“I won't learn it.”

I had already decided on that when I read about the Iron Blood Golden Skin Art yesterday.

“Why? Is big brother afraid of pain?”

I snorted at his question.

Pain was not an important issue.

“If I don't die, the tension disappears. I like to fight with my life on the line.”

It was because I thought that learning the Iron Blood Golden Skin Art would interfere with my eyes opening.

I needed that tension, that I could die at any moment from the shabby sword strike of a third-rate heretic bastard if I was careless.

To make up for my lack of talent and to become stronger more quickly.

At my answer, for some reason, Nam Geon tilted his head.

I wondered if the content was too difficult for a child to understand.

Soon, Nam Geon opened his mouth.

“Big brother. You are smart, but your head is strange.”