Chapter ~ 01
“Are you insane?”
The speaker was the Heavenly Demon, Danmok Jin, the strongest man in the world in this era. He was addressing the man standing tall before him.
It was not a taunt.
Although the man was nowhere near Danmok Jin’s level, the realm he had attained was certainly worthy of recognition. Even if they fought without going all out, he would probably be able to withstand a hundred exchanges.
Even the Taiji Sword Immortal of the Wudang Sect or the Divine Monk of Shaolin could not have confidently claimed such a feat.
“Not only did you come knocking on the gates of my sect all alone, you even challenged me to a fight to the death? You are hardly foolish enough not to understand the difference in strength between us.”
The blood-flame patterns embroidered on his pitch-black robe moved like waves, following the flow of his energy.
A master on the level of the aforementioned Taiji Sword Immortal or Divine Monk would have been able to perceive it.
No, there was no way they could have failed to notice.
That was because there was a sight visible only to those who had gone beyond the realm of simply controlling their bodies and energy and reached the domain where they could control their will and mind.
In an instant, the heavens and earth were dyed as though the sky had been painted with the colors of sunset.
“—Magnificent.”
The man who could see it as well spoke.
“The Taiji Sword Immortal’s domain extended twenty yards, while the Divine Monk’s reached only twenty-five. I never imagined I would live to see a domain extending beyond a hundred yards.”
Even among third-rate martial artists, the length of one’s weapon could determine superiority or inferiority. Even first-rate masters capable of materializing their energy devoted themselves to extending and refining the range of their attacks.
It was said that the higher one climbed in martial arts, the less one cared about the length of the weapon in one’s hand.
But that was because, at higher levels, they competed over range through a domain rather than through the weapon itself.
A domain.
It was the ultimate realm of martial arts, one that could only be entered after crossing the threshold of the Transformation Realm.
“Hmph. Enough with your pointless flowery words.”
Danmok Jin’s red eyes slowly swept over his opponent.
Eyes that could not be concealed even beneath the deeply lowered conical hat.
A sword that looked perfectly natural in his grasp despite having appeared there at some point.
An aura that seemed capable of rising from the earth and piercing straight through the heavens.
A sword given the shell of a human being.
After appraising him in a single phrase, Danmok Jin asked,
“Sword Emperor, have you come here to die?”
“Yes. Though it would be even better if I survived.”
The Sword Emperor, Yeon Mu-hyeok, answered calmly.
“After realizing the shortcomings of my family’s martial arts, I entered the martial world and have spent sixty years there. I once sought teachings from the Taoist schools, and I also studied the scriptures of Buddhism. I finished my own investigations in my own way, yet there was one thing that strangely remained unresolved.”
“And?”
“None of the Ten Supreme Masters of the orthodox martial world or the Seven Absolutes of the Four Sovereign Alliance possessed the ability to give me an answer. That leaves only you.”
Danmok Jin’s expression twitched at those words.
He immediately realized how much turmoil Yeon Mu-hyeok’s casual statement could cause in the current state of the martial world.
“…How many have you defeated?”
After briefly recalling the events with an expressionless face, Yeon Mu-hyeok answered.
“The Thunderbolt Blade lost his left arm. The Cloud Sword suffered damage to his meridians and entered seclusion. The Green Forest King’s Mountain-Breaking Axe had his dantian shattered and all four limbs severed, so he should be dead by now. The Poison-Handed Blood Wolf was scattered across the fields as fertilizer along with his ambushing subordinates. I cut off the Ghost Guest’s head. After that, the Flying Dragon Spear came looking for me. We fought for fifty exchanges, and I took one of his eyes, but the Drunken Beggar intervened, so I couldn’t finish him.”
“And the rest?”
“Most of the Ten Supreme Masters replied that they would refuse unless it was a sword debate or a formalized spar. The Seven Absolutes, on the other hand, seemed eager to accept my challenge. But after I sent three of them to the afterlife one after another, they shut their doors and stopped responding to my calls.”
“Hah! This is truly astonishing.”
Danmok Jin had rarely admired anyone in his life, but Yeon Mu-hyeok’s mad deeds left him no choice.
Three of the Ten Supreme Masters had suffered severe injuries, while three of the Seven Absolutes were dead.
Six masters of the Transformation Realm, among the greatest obstacles to the demonic domination of the world, had either died or been rendered incapable of fighting.
If the Supreme Military Strategist of the Heavenly Demon Sect, the Demon Brain Byeok Ri-sang, were to learn of this, it would hardly be strange if he stood on his head and applauded with his feet.
“Sword Emperor, if you are willing to enter my sect even now, I shall appoint you as Vice Sect Leader. I will place you beneath only one man and above ten thousand.”
It was an outrageously generous offer.
The Sword Emperor, Yeon Mu-hyeok, answered,
“No.”
“Well, I suppose that figures.”
Danmok Jin responded as though he had never expected anything else.
He had already known from the moment Yeon Mu-hyeok stormed through the main gate and challenged him to a fight to the death that there was not the slightest intention of surrender in him.
A seeker of the Way who pursued nothing but becoming stronger as a martial artist—someone who seemed to belong only to a bygone age.
Danmok Jin even felt as though that primal yearning of a martial artist was spreading through him like a wildfire.
“I will accept your challenge to the death. I’ll humor you for a hundred exchanges.”
Yeon Mu-hyeok had not intended to benefit the Heavenly Demon Sect, but the sect had undeniably gained tremendously from the things he had done.
As the supreme leader of the sect, Danmok Jin had sufficient reason to repay him.
Danmok Jin lowered both arms and said,
“Attack first. If I seize the initiative, you will die in defeat without ever being able to turn to offense.”
“I’ll do that.”
Yeon Mu-hyeok accepted the proposal without hesitation and raised the sword in both hands diagonally.
At the same time, the domain centered around Yeon Mu-hyeok expanded, swallowing up nearly forty yards.
It did not encompass heaven and earth like Danmok Jin’s domain, but it possessed a sword domain filled with such sharpness that it seemed capable of cutting anything.
Its shape even transformed from a circle into something resembling a pointed blade, and it began piercing into Danmok Jin’s domain, which dominated the heavens and earth.
“Oh?”
Just as Danmok Jin, who had not misjudged the distance between opponents in a long time, was about to express his admiration—
One Origin Five Elements Sword Art
Five Forms Style
Azure Dragon Technique
Five-colored sword energy shimmered from the tip of Yeon Mu-hyeok’s sword.
Then it transformed into a brilliant blue bolt of lightning and shot forward.
It was a swift sword capable of piercing even the protective energy of a master of the Transformation Realm as easily as paper.
In a world where even the sound of thunder seemed to move sluggishly, Yeon Mu-hyeok saw his thrusting sword slash across a black-and-white world.
The only thing that remained fast and sharp in a world where everything else had slowed.
However—
“A lightning strike based on the Five Elements. Interesting.”
The thing that precisely pressed down on the tip of the sword and stopped it was Danmok Jin’s finger, which had turned pitch-black.
Striking After the Opponent, Yet Seizing the Initiative First!
For a brief moment, Yeon Mu-hyeok trembled at the difference in their strength, which he had once again experienced firsthand.
One Origin Five Elements Sword Art
Five Forms Style
Ultimate Battle Secret Art
Yellow Dragon Tremor
Yeon Mu-hyeok took two steps back to create distance and instantly accelerated thirty percent of the internal energy throughout his body.
The excessive manipulation of his internal energy twisted his eight extraordinary meridians, and the taste of blood rose into his throat, but he paid no attention.
The man standing before him was none other than the strongest man in the world.
A master of the Profound Realm who had reappeared after several centuries!
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Yes, come! Try and make that pathetic blade of yours touch me!”
A gigantic demonic figure rose behind Danmok Jin as he laughed loudly, reveling in the pleasure of a battle such as this.
A three-faced, six-armed demon god—the Asura.
It was not some mere illusion. Its entire enormous body was composed of devastating energy.
Even though it had yet to turn to offense, the pressure that descended upon Yeon Mu-hyeok was so tremendous that both of his ankles sank into the ground.
“Ggh—Aaaaaaaah!”
Yet Yeon Mu-hyeok did not stop.
He took an even larger step and charged forward, his body transforming into something resembling a mass of five-colored energy.
The difference in strength was obvious.
It was a reckless charge like a mantis trying to stop a cart.
Yet no martial artist would dare laugh at him.
A weak man challenging the strong.
Martial arts had always been the path by which the weak overcame the strong.
KRRRROOOOM!
The heavens and earth shook.
Every time the six arms of the Asura clashed with the five-colored lightning, the clouds were torn apart and the earth split open, sending clouds of dust into the air.
The strongest man in the world, the Heavenly Demon Danmok Jin.
The second-strongest man in the world, the Sword Emperor Yeon Mu-hyeok.
Less than fifteen minutes had passed in terms of time, yet the attacks exchanged during that brief span were so vicious that they could have annihilated several of the major orthodox sects.
CLANG!
But even this battle to the death eventually came to an end.
“…One hundred and twenty-seven exchanges. I intended to finish it precisely within a hundred, but you far exceeded my expectations.”
The Heavenly Demon, Danmok Jin, dispersed the Asura manifestation and threw off his robe, which had been reduced to rags.
It had been made from heavenly silkworm silk, yet it could not withstand even the shock waves produced by the clash between the two men.
Seeing this, Yeon Mu-hyeok gave a hollow laugh before coughing up congealed blood.
Both his legs had already disappeared, leaving him unable to stand.
There was a gaping hole near his heart, and there was no longer even a heart remaining inside it.
“Cough! Guh—Kuh! Hk… So… in the end… I couldn’t reach you…”
The sword he had thrust out as his final attack had broken under the pressure, causing the energy that should have converged at a single point to scatter.
Even if it had reached him, it would not have inflicted a fatal wound.
Still, the fact that his final move had ended in such a futile failure left him with considerable regret.
Danmok Jin gave a faint chuckle and sat down facing him.
“You regret the sword strike that failed to reach me more than the life that is about to disappear? I’ve never seen a martial fanatic like you before.”
“…How was… my sword?”
There was no time left for idle conversation.
The second-strongest martial artist in the world simply wanted the strongest man in the world to evaluate his sword.
Danmok Jin nodded as though answering that request.
“It was worthwhile. Both the sword and your internal energy. But you rushed things too much. If not for that, you might have been able to challenge the Profound Realm.”
“Rushed… what?”
“To wield the energy of the Five Elements through a single sword, you should have attempted it only after crossing the barrier into the Profound Realm. If you applied the principles of the Flying Sword or Sword Control, couldn’t you have used five swords instead?”
True to his status as a master several moves ahead of Yeon Mu-hyeok, Danmok Jin had identified areas for improvement in a martial art he had seen only once.
“There were also several problems with the balance of your Five Elements energy. Compared to your fire and earth energy, your water, wood, and metal energies were somewhat lacking. That must be why gaps appeared in your five-colored sword energy, which should have been flawless.”
“…Over… and training…”
“It seems there was an imbalance during your training, or perhaps you lacked sufficient understanding of the sword art when it came to harmonizing each attribute.”
“Is that so?”
Yeon Mu-hyeok’s eyes widened, and he smiled.
A problem that had remained unresolved for so long was suddenly unraveling through a single fight to the death and a few words of instruction.
The fact that he would die before long no longer mattered.
If one hears the Way in the morning, one may die in peace that evening.
Just as those words said, there was not a single trace of regret in Yeon Mu-hyeok’s heart.
“As you know, there are five principles that a martial artist can comprehend: the principles of Primordial Unity, Taiji, Three Powers, Four Symbols, and Five Elements.”
Standing before the dying man, Danmok Jin continued speaking.
He wanted to pass on as much of the martial knowledge he had gained as possible to a martial artist he respected, all the way to the end of his life.
“The Six Harmonies cannot be borne by the living. The Seven Stars are chosen by the stars themselves. The Eight Trigrams exist outside the body rather than within it, so their path differs from that of martial arts. The Nine Palaces must rely upon fortune, while the Ten Perfections are an illusion that can exist only as theoretical speculation.”
The words swirled chaotically through Yeon Mu-hyeok’s mind as the light gradually faded from his eyes.
Truths realized at the boundary between life and death always seemed to draw closer.
“If purity is the most important thing in Primordial Unity, then balance must be the most important thing in the Five Elements. The Five Elements become fundamentally fragile when they are not in harmony. Your Five Elements energy only established its framework after entering the realm where sword energy takes form. The imbalance caused at the realms before that became the wall blocking your path to the next realm.”
“……”
“I do not know whether you will live as a martial artist in your next life, but I hope my words have reached you. Do not wander the Nine Heavens. Go peacefully, Sword Emperor.”
At some point, Yeon Mu-hyeok had stopped breathing.
Danmok Jin stood over his corpse, feeling an emotion he could not quite identify, before turning away.
It had been a good fight.
His blood had boiled, and his fighting spirit had surged.
The possibility of defeat at the hands of the Sword Emperor had been less than three percent.
But when he looked at it from another perspective, that meant there had been a full three percent chance.
For Danmok Jin, who had never doubted that he was invincible, it was a delightful miscalculation.
“I wonder whether the rest of the Ten Supreme Masters and the Seven Absolutes will be able to satisfy me.”
He had thought they would amount to nothing more than dull, meaningless slaughter.
But perhaps there would be something worth enjoying after all.
The Heavenly Demon, having awakened to his fighting spirit, descended the mountain.
Not long afterward, the Heavenly Demon Sect declared war on the Central Plains.
The absence of six masters of the Transformation Realm was so significant that it brought the sect’s century-long grand strategy forward by ten years.
History would later remember it as the Great Heavenly Demon War.
And so, the Sword Emperor Yeon Mu-hyeok gradually faded from everyone’s memories.
It was a medical room.
A handsome-looking boy who appeared to be around fourteen years old lay on a bed with a white bandage wrapped around his head.
A man who had been silently looking down at him asked,
“What is the condition of Trainee Number 381?”
Perhaps frightened by the man’s low voice, the physician answered while his shoulders trembled slightly.
He could not understand it himself, either.
“As I said earlier, it is only a minor external injury.”
“Then why hasn’t he opened his eyes? It’s already been three days. Even if he is from a collateral branch, he still has Cardenas blood. There is no way a mere bruise like this could have caused brain damage.”
“I-I don’t know either…”
Apparently becoming even more displeased by the physician’s vague answer, the man frowned deeply as he pressed a hand to his forehead.
The accident had occurred during basic swordsmanship training.
The children had been standing in rows, practicing their basic movements, when the child standing behind accidentally struck the back of the child in front of him.
Though it had been swung with a child’s strength, a wooden sword was still a blunt weapon. If it struck a vital point, it could inflict damage comparable to a real sword.
They had rushed over and examined the child’s injuries, but fortunately, aside from losing consciousness from a concussion, there was no injury likely to leave lasting aftereffects.
Then why wouldn’t he wake up?
“He hasn’t even undergone the Selection Ceremony yet. If he doesn’t regain consciousness like this… both you and I will be held responsible.”
“B-But!”
The physician looked wronged and miserable, but Cardenas blood was that valuable.
The sword that protected the Arcadia Empire!
The talent of the bloodline that had produced the world’s strongest swordsmen for generations manifested without exception even among the countless collateral branches of the family.
That was precisely why hundreds, even thousands, of children were gathered in one place and trained from a young age.
At least half of them possessed the talent to become elite knights, and every generation produced three or four candidates capable of becoming Sword Masters.
“I suppose I’ll have to report this to the commander. You come with me as well.”
The man who had ultimately decided to take responsibility for the accident—the ordinary knight who had been in charge of the training at the time—let out a long sigh.
The physician, looking utterly miserable, followed him out of the room.
Some time later.
“……”
The boy lying on the bed suddenly opened his eyes.
Carefully raising his upper body, he felt his chest several times as though checking that it was really there.
Then he stared at even his own palms with eyes filled with disbelief.
He slowly looked around the room.
His expression was that of someone who had suddenly been kidnapped and had no idea where he was.
“…What happened?”
The boy—or rather, the Sword Emperor Yeon Mu-hyeok, who had awakened within that body—blinked his eyes in confusion.
