Wudang Sacred Scriptures

Jegal Geon was stunned as he watched the fragments of flame torn from his own fire-dragon sword aura fade out one by one in midair.

Half of his fire-dragon sword aura had been broken in a single clash.

His Red Dragon Sword was a peerless treasured sword of his family, capable of releasing inner power and true qi in full.

By contrast, the Blue-Steel Sword in the Cave Hermit Taoist’s hand looked sturdy enough, but it was still an ordinary sword that could be found anywhere.

Naturally, there should have been a difference in how much inner power and true qi they could release.

That was why, even knowing the Cave Hermit Taoist was at the upper extreme of the Flower Realm, Jegal Geon had been confident he could match him and had clashed with him head-on.

Yet only his fire-dragon sword aura had been broken in half. No, not merely broken. It had been smashed apart.

Jegal Geon believed it was because of the White Astral Qi the Cave Hermit Taoist had raised.

He had clearly seen the process by which that White Astral Qi formed, so he knew it was the result of condensed sword aura.

Sword aura, the refinement of inner power and true qi, was peerless enough to cut through pig iron as though it were tofu. There was no need to deliberately shrink it.

If anything, one struggled to make sword aura larger.

In any case, Jegal Geon had suffered a loss in that first clash. There was no reason for him to insist on a frontal assault.

WHISH!

Jegal Geon used the rebound from the collision to draw his body backward, and at the same time he flicked the Red Dragon Sword left, right, up, and down with lightning speed.

SLAASH! SLAASH! SLAASH! SLAASH!

Four streams of crimson fire-dragon sword aura shot out from the left, right, above, and below, aiming for Kwak Yeon’s vital points.

Four Dragons Emerge from the Cave!

It was an exquisitely proper counterattack, using the difference in the length of their sword auras.

And because he had unleashed the sword form at the same instant as their clash, Kwak Yeon, who was still charging forward, had all but thrown himself into the maws of four red dragons.

Seeing that the short white radiance still shone brilliantly around Kwak Yeon’s Blue-Steel Sword, Jegal Geon smiled inwardly in triumph.

Your arrogance over your realm has brought this disaster on yourself.

Jegal Geon thought the Cave Hermit Taoist lacked experience in the martial world and had thrown himself into danger because his youth made him impulsive.

But that smile vanished without a trace the moment he saw Kwak Yeon’s next sword form.

BAAANG!

With an explosive boom that made the ears ring, the white radiance gathered on Kwak Yeon’s Blue-Steel Sword suddenly appeared in countless places around him as well.

Because Jegal Geon had trained in the Jegal Family’s secret extreme-speed sword art, he immediately knew the source of that explosion.

It was the sound made when the air-tearing noise of an extreme-speed sword overlapped.

That meant the Cave Hermit Taoist had unleashed an extreme-speed sword several times over.

The sword form Kwak Yeon had used was the ultra-fast sword form known as Falling Star Eight Desolations, the fourth sword form of Falling Star, said to annihilate eight directions with a single sword. Jegal Geon’s eye and judgment were entirely accurate.

CLAAANG! CLAAANG! CLAAANG! CLAAANG!

With sharp, ear-splitting cracks, the four red dragons shattered into pieces and became fragments of flame.

The sight was like meteors exploding in the midday sky.

After the first frontal clash, even the Four Dragons Emerge from the Cave sword form he had unleashed with such confidence had been smashed apart. Jegal Geon was struck by an even greater shock.

He had confirmed that the Cave Hermit Taoist was not merely high in realm, but had also mastered a supreme martial art.

The information that the Cave Hermit Taoist belonged to Samryeong Palace rather than Wudang’s martial line, and therefore had not learned proper superior martial arts, had also been wrong.

Rage surged in Jegal Geon.

How could not a single piece of information about this Cave Hermit Taoist be correct?

Those useless bastards in the Secretariat Pavilion!

As Jegal Geon fumed at the Jegal Family’s intelligence division, he realized information was not the only thing he had misunderstood about this Cave Hermit Taoist.

The Cave Hermit Taoist had not attacked recklessly from the start because he lacked experience in the martial world, nor because his youth made him impulsive.

He had absolute confidence!

For the first time in his life, a chill ran down Jegal Geon’s spine. But he soon shook off the unease.

No matter how much the man might be at the upper extreme of the Flower Realm, Jegal Geon had a certain hidden measure that could take him down.

It was a trump card that could not be shown carelessly, so it had to be reserved as a final resort.

Furthermore, noted figures of the martial world were entering this courtyard one after another. That made it even more necessary to preserve it.

For a family’s secret consummate art to be exposed was no different from stripping the family bare before all under heaven.

Jegal Geon judged that the reason the Cave Hermit Taoist had raised even White Astral Qi and was charging with all his strength was that he intended to settle the fight quickly.

Because his inner power and true qi are relatively lacking. He means to decide the match through the difference in realm.

Jegal Geon changed his strategy. He would use the advantage that his sword aura was three times longer than the Cave Hermit Taoist’s White Astral Qi and maintain distance with absolute thoroughness.

At once, Jegal Geon stepped into the Jegal Family’s exclusive Eight-Formation Hidden-Shadow Divine Step, circled around to Kwak Yeon’s right, and unleashed the Hidden Dragon Ascending-to-Heaven Sword.

CHAAANG!

With a clear sword cry, a flash like lightning stretched toward Kwak Yeon’s right shoulder.

Jegal Geon’s third attack unfolded at the very instant the four red dragons were crushed by Kwak Yeon’s sword form.

His instantaneous judgment and improvisation could indeed be called the genius of a legitimate scion of the Jegal Family, the Miraculous Jegals.

But because his opponent was Kwak Yeon, Jegal Geon’s genius judgment and improvisation immediately turned useless.

As though he had expected it all along, Kwak Yeon created a wall of swords directly before the incoming flash and blocked it.

KWA-RUMBLE!

The moment Jegal Geon’s thrusting flash struck the Seongra Heaven Sword Wall and died away, Jegal Geon felt a numbing pain in the hand gripping his sword.

But he had no time to feel that pain. Kwak Yeon had somehow already closed in to within arm’s reach.

He caught up to the Eight-Formation Hidden-Shadow Divine Step, a supreme Transcendent movement art containing the principles of the Eight-Gate Formation.

Before Jegal Geon even had time to be shocked by the Cave Hermit Taoist’s unbelievable lightness art, he slashed the Red Dragon Sword down at a diagonal.

SHWAAAK!

KWAAANG!

As expected, his fire-dragon sword aura broke apart without fail, while the man’s White Astral Qi remained unharmed.

The one fortunate thing for Jegal Geon was that the blow managed to halt Kwak Yeon’s pursuit.

WHIRL!

Using that opening, Jegal Geon unfolded a sublime movement art, opened the distance between them, and counterattacked again.

In any case, time was on his side. If he could only hold out, it was obvious the man’s inner power and true qi would run dry first.

SHOOOONG!

KWAAANG!

As the fierce battle of pursuit and evasion continued for more than ten exchanges, cracks began to appear in Jegal Geon’s confidence.

Far from showing any sign that the Cave Hermit Taoist’s inner power and true qi were drying up, the distance between them was narrowing with every exchange.

And as that distance narrowed, he felt pressure as well. It was as if some enormous invisible mountain had appeared in the air and was pressing down on him.

“......!”

Jegal Geon abruptly realized what that pressure was.

It was the pressure a hunted beast felt when chased by a hunter.

Only then did Jegal Geon realize that Kwak Yeon was hunting him. The man was pursuing without overextending himself, waiting for his prey to tire.

The proof was that Kwak Yeon had only defended against his counterattacks, and not once had he countered in return.

WOOOONG!

A fire dragon awoke inside Jegal Geon’s chest.

No matter how much it was for victory’s sake, he could not endure any more humiliation. Above all, his pride would not allow it.

The gap between them had now closed as well, so the advantage of his larger sword aura was nearly gone.

I’ll reverse the momentum with this one move.

If he did, he would be able to create a foothold for a counterattack. Even in the unlikely event that failed, he could simply kill the man afterward with his hidden trump card.

WOOOOONG!

Jegal Geon drew his inner power and true qi into the Red Dragon Sword all at once. The moment Kwak Yeon stepped within three or four paces of even his shadow, Jegal Geon drew a circle with the Red Dragon Sword and spun his entire body.

Returning Dragon Cyclone Lightning Sword!

The surroundings seemed to darken as though the light had been cut off, and then thunder and lightning seemed to crash down.

RUMBLE!

SHWAAAANG!

The air driven outward by the spinning force of the fire-dragon sword aura became a dragon cyclone and swept over Kwak Yeon.

Kwak Yeon met the fierce whirlwind with a refreshed feeling.

A hunted beast baring its fangs at the hunter was proof that its patience had run out. At last, the time had come to cut off its breath.

From the beginning, Kwak Yeon had not thought he could kill Jegal Geon easily.

The Fire Dragon of the Jegal Family, Jegal Geon, was at least at the middle level of the Flower Realm, and he had properly mastered the superior martial arts of a prestigious martial family.

Even the slightest mistake could inflict a fatal wound.

If his only target were Jegal Geon, he might have accepted the risk. But he would soon have to face the Jegal Family itself, so he had no choice but to be cautious.

That was why he had not rushed, and had instead driven Jegal Geon back step by step.

With the feeling that he was pulling out the red dragon’s teeth and cutting off its claws one by one, he had neutralized each of Jegal Geon’s counterattacks.

That was why he had condensed his sword aura and formed White Astral Qi.

To crush the sword aura of a master at the middle level of the Flower Realm, the sword aura raised by his current inner power and true qi alone seemed insufficient.

After all, one’s inner power and true qi did not increase simply because one’s realm had risen.

Thanks to the necklace Jang Noya had left him, Kwak Yeon had gained origin true qi to serve as a vessel, and he had steadily accumulated inner power and true qi through the Honwonmusang Technique. But it had not increased by a vast amount as it had when he circulated qi in the cabin.

The method Kwak Yeon had devised to solve that shortage of inner power and true qi was White Astral Qi.

It was thanks to receiving the Wisdom Sword of Taiji from Uncheon Zhenren that he had realized the principle of the Formless Sword: operating sword aura outside the body without any connecting link at all.

“Yeon-a, I heard that if you master the Nine-Palace Palm Technique to completion, you can even create a sphere of wind.”

After hearing those words from Seokjangsan, Kwak Yeon had once imagined creating an astral ring. Now he had realized that the Formless Sword and the astral ring touched on the same principle.

To make an astral ring, he first had to condense sword aura, so he had attempted it several times.

He had succeeded in condensing sword aura on the Blue-Steel Sword and creating White Astral Qi, but in the end he had not managed to separate it outward.

The moment he pushed the White Astral Qi outside the Blue-Steel Sword, it scattered to pieces and vanished.

Without any connecting link, there was no way to bind the sword aura in place.

The Formless Sword was a supreme sword art, so of course it could not be achieved merely by understanding the principle.

In any case, thanks to that, he had now used the White Astral Qi he had attained in actual combat.

Because he had strengthened his sword aura with White Astral Qi, his attack range had shrunk and he had to engage at close quarters. But with the timeless sword art of Falling Star Nine Swords, he did not need to fear that danger.

Furthermore, he had no hesitation over killing Jegal Geon, so he could unleash killing techniques without restraint and keep pressing him without pause.

FLAP!

When the tail of the dragon cyclone shook his robe and passed away, a crimson wall of sword aura appeared before Kwak Yeon’s eyes.

BAAAANG!

The violently spinning wall of sword aura came rushing toward Kwak Yeon.

The beast’s final struggle against the hunter.

His original plan had been to cut down Jegal Geon once the man was weakened and had no martial art left with which to resist. But if Jegal Geon had given up on fleeing and was urging death onward, what else could Kwak Yeon do?

He could only cut off his head.

Kwak Yeon poured all his inner power and true qi into the Blue-Steel Sword.

SRRRRING!

The White Astral Qi trembled, scattering a brilliant halo of light.