Chapter 30 – Jin Okrangryong Sword (03)
“Nyaaang~”
I lifted Seora, who was gently brushing her soft fur against my shoes, onto my shoulder.
“Goodness, really. At first, you were just following along well, but these days, aren’t you getting a bit too clingy?”
“Nyaa!”
The fluffy and pure white Seora, now more accustomed to my presence, naturally wrapped her tail around my shoulders like a scarf.
“Goodness… this way, even a sophisticated cat becomes a troublemaker.”
As I gently stroked her soft fur, I accepted the cold energy flowing from Seora’s body.
In the midst of such contemplation, I had realized, as we freely moved between peaks separated by about twenty layers (60m) each, that Seora was no ordinary cat.
Initially, I thought she was a cat that I fed, but later, when a sudden crisis struck me and it was difficult for me to advance my internal energy cultivation, Seora suggested the best opportunity. She proposed going to the nearby peak together, claiming it had the most suitable energy for me. When I was thrown to the neighboring peak by the crisis, there was Seora.
According to what was said, Seora’s true identity was a Millennium Snow Leopard.
Literally, Seora was a Snow Leopard that lived for a thousand years.
No matter how much her fur resembled that of a Persian cat, I reluctantly accepted the fact that, in the world of the novel, calling a cat a leopard was more convenient, especially since the expensive luxury owner Dukyeopcheong in this world was considered cheap.
Although Cheongshimgong advised me to devour Seora immediately, my Qingxin Yurigong had become distorted due to digesting the snow lotus, making it possible to absorb the cold energy emanating from Seora’s living body and make it mine. Thanks to this, I persuaded Cheongshimgong to share his internal energy with me while Seora remained alive, allowing me to accumulate my internal energy through the method of Simbo.
Just like continuously eating golden eggs without questioning the goose’s stomach, as long as Seora was alive, the cold legacy accumulated, and by absorbing it in my way, I created an infinite and permanent foundation.
Thanks to continuous training with Seora, I was able to achieve almost the tenth level of internal energy in just three months (probably not the tenth level like the master or siblings). With this, I realized that when the sticky fog in the atmosphere condensed, it was called Gongcheongseokyu, which meant fog filled with internal energy. Now, aware of this, I could intensify my internal energy cultivation.
“Is this also a coincidence? Or is it inevitable?”
Separated from Cheongshimgong and facing death, if receiving the help of a Millennium Snow Leopard to obtain Gongcheongseokyu was the fate of Yeoncheongha, then even now, separated from Cheongshimgong, losing an arm, and as a martial artist approaching death, I had gone almost to the point of death, encountered a Millennium Snow Leopard, and although it wasn’t Gongcheongseokyu, obtained a similar opportunity to enhance my internal energy.
Of course, in the novel, it wasn’t a cat-like cub of a Millennium Snow Leopard with sticky internal energy, but rather a person-sized Millennium Snow Leopard and a sip of Gongcheongseokyu. Nevertheless,
“Hoo…”
Of course, unlike the situation back then where an instantaneous rebirth was needed before death, in a situation where I needed to slowly accumulate internal energy over time, the current method of gradually building up my internal energy was more stable and less alien, just like refining the foundation of basic construction work without hastily pushing in a large lump.
No matter how it happened, after absorbing the mist of this place, Seora had been practicing cultivation for three months, and her inner strength had increased to the point where she could no longer absorb the surrounding mist.
Just like how two solutions with similar concentrations no longer mix after reaching a certain pressure.
“Is this… possible?”
Temporarily placing Seora, who was perched on her neck, inside the room, she walked towards the courtyard used for cultivation.
A year had passed since she came up with the idea for the Jin Yongryang Sword.
During the first six months, she had created the Yongryang Sword along with Chugum, and after that, Chugum had started to focus on teaching me martial arts. With a good textbook in front of me and my active demonstration, he taught me and my will to learn was at its peak, which allowed me to achieve a 5-star level. The Okrangcheon Sword, which had achieved seven stars at the time, was now reaching eight stars.
During that time, Chugum completed the Okrangcheon Sword by creating the final Jeolcho. He surpassed his original level of composition and reached ten stars. Twelve stars were theoretically the maximum, and it would take time to reach eleven stars.
No, it took time.
Ultimately, Chugum was still ahead of me. It was impossible for me to defeat Chugum, who had been training with the Okrangcheon Sword for decades. At least, I was training with the goal of reaching the level of the former Chugum, who was recognized as a high-ranking member of the Heukwoldang.
“If I can only complete the composition of the Okrangcheon Sword…”
Rather than learning superficially, I understood the content that Chugum had created by directly talking to him. As far as I was concerned, the understanding in my head was almost equal to Chugum’s.
It’s just that my body couldn’t keep up.
Starting from the first Jeolcho, the Okcheon Cold Sword, to the final Okrangryong Sword, I reproduced the cycle of using all the swords.
As the name Okrangcheon Sword suggests, most of the moves in the cycle start with thrusting.
Whether it was the Simcheoldan that cuts the surroundings while drawing a large circle or the Jangrohwangeom that stabs the ground and rotates the sword, it was no different from “thrusting”.
As the final Okrangryong Sword was completed, Chugum and I moved on to the 11th cycle, the Okrangcheon Geok. Originally, the 11th cycle ended with a quick thrust, which was no different from Jeolcho, but now, I would stab the opponent’s abdomen with the Okrangcheon Geok and rotate the sword to crush their stomach.
…It was an idea I came up with for fun after watching old gangster movies, but it was officially adopted and modified because it made the movements leading to the 12th cycle more comfortable. For six months, the transformed martial arts that Chugum and I created were similar to the Okrangcheon Sword that I first learned, yet completely different.
From the simple swinging of a club-like Paegum to the ruthless sword that precisely stabs and completely destroys the opponent’s body.
From the first Jeolcho, Okcheon Cold Sword, to the second cycle, Jiokbul Sword, and finally, Jangrohwangeom and Okrangcheon Geok after the Okrangryong Sword.
Hooong!
In the past, even the strike that used to hit the ground with a thud, now delivered to the ground, was transformed into the posture of the Dragon Strike, aligning with the Dragon Sword. Gripping the sword with both hands, I swung it around, striking forcefully while using my left hand as support to prevent the sword from flying away.
*Thud!*
The ground, already heavily cracked, didn’t concern me. Lost in a trance, I repeated from my basic stance to the Dragon Sword, this time using only my right hand.
“I infuse everything into the sword.”
My body is just a shell. This sword is my everything.
In the state of unity with the sword, still thinking that I am the sword, I continue to strike.
*Whoosh!*
As I release the sword from my hand, my body is propelled backward by the recoil, soaring into the air. The blade sticks into the rock, leaving only the hilt visible.
“Did I fail?”
*Roar!*
But at that moment, the energy stored in the sword erupts like an explosion. Creating a uniform shockwave in all directions, it pulverizes the terrain around the point where the sword is stuck, completely collapsing the upper part of the already precarious peak.
“Kiiing!!”
Seola screams, rushing towards me from the collapsing house, stepping on debris. However, I am too focused on the sword to spare any attention to Seola.
“I did it!”
Finally, I have brought down this peak with a single strike.
*Crash!*
The space that could accommodate a foot shatters entirely, and the house where I lived is demolished, with only a few utensils and wooden pillars bouncing in all directions.
Luckily, there are no residents near this peak, so there’s no one to complain about the noise caused by the collapsing building next door. I lightly land on the ground, confirming the sword standing erect, with only the tip embedded slightly.
“This should save about 95%… Is it a success?”
If it went as I thought, the entire depth with the sword embedded in it would be destroyed and fly away. The fact that the tip of the sword was embedded meant that this power was not exerted at the end.
Of course, even with just this much, it seemed to be enough power for what I had in mind.
“How is it? Are you satisfied?”
Kurung!
I asked while looking at the tree tomb standing precariously in the collapsing peak.
Six months ago, it was the tomb of Chugum, who entrusted everything to me and took his last breath after obtaining Seora.
No matter how much of a master he was, he couldn’t solve the problem that arose inside his body.
Since I wasn’t a doctor, I didn’t know what disease it was, but it was clear that it was an incurable disease that couldn’t even be solved by attaching the arm with only scars left before it was cut off.
‘At that time, struggling to escape the pain of the disease, I learned the Hwagyung blood moon martial arts when the Heukwoldang approached… and with that, I endured the disease, and later became such a madman.’
The reason why Yeon Cheong-ha, who was not even a peak master at that time, survived was because Chugum’s body was completely devastated by the disease, so his true skills did not come out, and Okrangcheon’s sword technique was incomplete.
But now, in this changed content, he did not become a madman and received help from Unoh and forcibly suppressed his own disease, and passed on Okrangcheon’s sword to me.
Thanks to that, his unfinished martial arts disappeared and was passed on to me, completing the new Twelve-Second Form, Okrang Dragon Sword, and he himself reached the realm of the Ten Stars, which made me satisfied.
When I asked if he should reach the realm of Eleven Stars, he just left as if I could do it instead, throwing me a group project like when he conceived Okrang Dragon Sword before and leaving as if he were asleep.
Jjeo-eok!
As the peak collapsed, the tombstone began to tilt.
Already, his body had been burned and scattered under the peak, and the tombstone remained formally, but I paid my respects to the man who taught me the sword technique by surrounding the tombstone for the last time.
“Take care. Okmyeoncheon Sword.”
Kurung!
The sound of the peak collapsing echoed like thunder.
Feeling as if it was seeing me off, I put the frightened Seora around my neck and stepped on the collapsing peak, jumping down to the summer while feeling fear.
It has been two years since I was kidnapped by Okmyeoncheongeom in Sachon.