-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Learning the Sword (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
'It's huge.'
Seeing the Mad Demon's training ground, Jinmyeong was genuinely impressed by its size, which was incomparable to the one in his own garden.
"So, what is it you wanted to know?"
"I fought with Fourth Senior Brother."
"Yes. I heard you won."
Jinmyeong immediately pictured Yang Jeon's face.
He must have reported here right after the duel ended.
"Yes. It frustrates me that I can't defeat them more overwhelmingly."
"Hmm. And?"
Jinmyeong nodded and drew the sword he had brought with him.
Seeing Jinmyeong preparing to wield the sword with his hands rather than using his sword control arts, the Vice Cult Leader's eyes gleamed.
"Would you mind taking a look for a moment?"
"Fine."
Jinmyeong immediately stood his ground and moved his hands.
"Northern Gale Saber Arts?"
Although he was using a sword, Jinmyeong was performing the Northern Gale Saber Arts practiced by the Mad Wind Brigade members.
"Where did you learn that?"
"It was in my head."
The Mad Demon, who was about to get angry at Jinmyeong for performing the technique, soon nodded in understanding.
When Jinmyeong was young, he had followed his father and watched the Mad Wind Brigade train.
He must have etched the Northern Gale Saber Arts into his mind back then.
"You can roughly imitate it."
"Yes."
Jinmyeong sheathed his sword and began to perform his footwork again.
"Hmm."
It was different from the standard footwork of the Northern Gale Saber Arts.
In fact, it was an incredibly simple set of steps.
"That footwork doesn't suit the Northern Gale Saber Arts."
"I know. But it's one of the few footwork techniques I can perform right now."
The Mad Demon nodded at Jinmyeong's words.
"Then I will begin."
Jinmyeong immediately moved his feet and executed the Northern Gale Saber Arts.
But he didn't get far before he stumbled and fell.
"What are you doing all of a sudden?"
The Mad Demon's face hardened at Jinmyeong's sudden display.
It looked as if Jinmyeong was toying with his martial art.
"It's always like this. I fall whenever I try to perform swordsmanship while using footwork."
"Hmm."
"That's why I came to you, Vice Cult Leader, out of frustration, not knowing what to do."
Jinmyeong got up and brushed the dirt from his clothes.
"Try it again."
"Yes."
At the Mad Demon's command, Jinmyeong moved in the same way again, and once more, he fell gracelessly.
"How strange."
"Pardon?"
"It's as if something is interfering."
The Mad Demon recalled the moment Jinmyeong fell.
"When you performed the footwork alone, your steps looked absolutely perfect."
For him to fall like this just by adding the Northern Gale Saber Arts to those perfect steps was undeniably strange.
"It was as if something tripped you."
The Mad Demon could see Jinmyeong's left foot moving unnaturally.
That left foot had kicked his own right foot, causing him to fall.
"It wasn't a natural trip."
"Is such a thing possible?"
"Hmm. This isn't ordinary."
It seemed the Mad Demon didn't think Jinmyeong had a so-called Heaven-Forsaken Body.
"Perhaps when you were young, someone…"
The Mad Demon trailed off and shook his head.
There was no point in asking Jinmyeong, who had lost his memories.
'There's no way that man didn't know about this.'
The Mad Demon thought of the Cult Leader, the Heavenly Demon.
It was impossible for the Heavenly Demon not to have known something he himself had discovered.
'Don't tell me that man really just tossed his disciples some manuals and paid them no mind?'
The Heavenly Demon he knew was more than capable of such a thing.
That must be why Jinmyeong gradually gave up on martial arts, and why those who didn't know the full story chattered about him having a Heaven-Forsaken Body, a body abandoned by the heavens.
"Can you swing your sword while performing footwork?"
"That, I can do."
He could manage basic thrusts and slashes.
He would fall if he tried to execute even slightly complex sword techniques, but basic swordsmanship was possible.
"Hmm. Wait a moment."
The Mad Demon left Jinmyeong for a moment and went somewhere.
"Look at this."
Returning shortly after, the Mad Demon handed something to Jinmyeong.
"Asura Sword Forms?"
Realizing that what the Mad Demon had given him was a manual, Jinmyeong wore a bewildered expression.
Jinmyeong stared at the manual titled Asura Sword Forms that the Vice Cult Leader had handed him.
"Learn it."
He just handed over a manual and told him to learn it.
Jinmyeong quietly looked at the manual.
'For such a name, it doesn't seem like a very impressive sword art.'
In fact, it was mostly composed of basic sword movements.
Jinmyeong had no idea why he was given something so fundamental.
After all, he already had such basic sword techniques in his head.
"Have you heard of the Battle Sword?"
"Are you referring to a sword style created through combat?"
"It's a sword style that is refined and honed through real battle."
Though it was nicely phrased as a sword style refined through real battle and a formless sword, in reality, it was just a style of swinging a sword randomly.
"Since you can at least swing a sword while using footwork, the Battle Sword should suit you."
Even if it was just a simple, haphazard sword style, very few had ever mastered the Battle Sword.
And those who did master it always became one of the top ten masters in the martial world.
As a sword art tempered by countless real battles, the Battle Sword could respond to any attack from an opponent.
Its only drawback was that not many could master it.
"Whether you learn it or not is up to you. You may go now."
He had come seeking help, only to be tossed a manual with a fancy name.
"Then I will take my leave."
The Mad Demon had already turned his body as if there was nothing more to say, so Jinmyeong couldn't ask any more questions.
"Sorcery."
"Pardon?"
As Jinmyeong was about to leave, the Mad Demon's voice reached his ears again.
"Look into it, just in case."
And with that, the Mad Demon left the training ground.
Left alone, Jinmyeong stared blankly in the direction the Mad Demon had disappeared.
"Sorcery…"
It was often used by the Unorthodox Factions and called demonic arts, but it was also said to be used by sages and called sage arts.
In any case, it referred to a strange power, different from ordinary martial arts.
'So it's basically the martial arts version of magic.'
Of course, it couldn't summon meteors like in stories, but it was the closest concept to magic he could think of.
'I guess I have no choice but to look into it.'
Though he wasn't sure if there was anyone within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult who could use sorcery.
In any case, it seemed the Mad Demon, like him, did not believe his condition was a simple matter of constitution.
'Then why was I suddenly able to perform footwork?'
Whether he was under a spell or it was a congenital condition, he couldn't understand the reason he could suddenly perform footwork.
'Is it because the Divine Arts of Heavenly Flame are that remarkable? Or the opening of my Ren and Du meridians?'
It was likely one of the two, but he couldn't know the exact reason.
'Could it really be something like sorcery?'
If so, could another sorcerer undo it?
And who on earth would have cast such a spell on him?
'This is complicated.'
He was a character who didn't even appear in the novel, yet he couldn't understand why he had such a complicated situation.
'I should head back for now.'
There was nothing more to be gained by staying here.
As soon as he returned to his residence, Jinmyeong immediately began reading the Asura Sword Forms manual.
'This handwriting looks familiar.'
Reading the manual, Jinmyeong tilted his head.
'The Heavenly Demon?'
Jinmyeong thought the author of this manual might be the first-generation Heavenly Demon.
The handwriting he was looking at now was just too familiar.
And most of the characters he had seen were from manuals written by the first Heavenly Demon.
'But for it to be written by the first Heavenly Demon, it lacks the usual boasting at the beginning.'
If it were the first Heavenly Demon, he would have boasted about who he was and what kind of martial art this was at the very beginning of the manual.
In fact, such boasts were written in the manuals for the Heaven-Embroidering Sword Control Arts, the Divine Arts of Heavenly Flame, and even the Heavenly Demon's Records.
'He even wrote boasts in the manual for his failed sword art.'
*Although it is a failed work, it is still a decent martial art.*
*However, I am discarding it because it does not produce the power I desire.*
Writings with such content were there, but the Asura Sword Forms manual contained no such text.
'Could it be that the Heavenly Demon didn't create it, but just transcribed what someone else made?'
If the Heavenly Demon had compiled this manual, that could be a possibility.
'Or maybe the Heavenly Demon didn't create it at all.'
There could be someone with similar handwriting.
After all, the first Heavenly Demon wasn't the only master in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
'That's not important, though.'
Jinmyeong continued to read the manual.
'How should I put this? It's peculiar.'
The Asura Sword Forms, famous enough for even Yang Jeon to know of it.
'A name given because one kills enemies on the battlefield like an Asura.'
Who on earth had fought like an Asura with this martial art?
'Still, it doesn't seem as bad as its common reputation suggests.'
The biggest problem with this sword art was that its internal energy circulation was different from that of ordinary martial arts.
'Usually, the flow of internal energy in swordsmanship has to be similar.'
Take the Quick Sword, for example.
The most basic move of the Quick Sword is the thrust.
But there were countless sword arts that were Quick Swords, and not all of their thrusts were the same technique.
'There are differences depending on the footwork, but ultimately, the power changes according to the movement of internal energy.'
A very subtle difference is what makes a superior sword art.
And the Asura Sword Forms manual explained in detail how to move one's internal energy for each and every sword movement.
'Is there something to this peculiar movement of internal energy?'
Jinmyeong thought there must be some reason for it.
'No one would go to the trouble of creating a manual just to mess with someone.'
There had to be something more.
Something that neither Jinmyeong nor others knew.
'Hmm. But this is somehow…'
The more Jinmyeong read the manual, the more something felt off.
'I shouldn't burn this manual for now.'
Jinmyeong felt that he shouldn't burn the Asura Sword Forms manual.
It was a different feeling from when he had burned all the other manuals until now.
'It's not an incredibly amazing sword art.'
In conclusion, it was just a collection of basic sword techniques.
Jinmyeong couldn't shake that thought.
And yet, he also felt that it wasn't a sword art so lacking that Yang Jeon would shake his head at the mere mention of its name.
'This is really strange.'
He couldn't understand why he was having these thoughts.
'In any case, the important thing is to continuously practice these basic sword techniques until they become second nature.'
That was the most important point emphasized in this manual—that in a critical situation on the battlefield, the body must move on its own.
It only said to block, dodge, and attack well.
Just attack according to the situation.
'Well, yeah, if you can dodge well, block well, and attack well, you'll win every time.'
Isn't the reason one learns a sword art because that's not so easy to do?
It was so full of obvious statements that it was almost absurd.
'I should read a little more.'
Strange.
Jinmyeong usually had the talent to grasp the essence of a martial art with just one reading.
But this martial art was different; it felt like he understood it all, yet at the same time, not completely.
And it was on his fifth reading of the manual that the look in Jinmyeong's eyes changed.