‘It’s definitely different.’

A slow but pure true qi gathers in my body. It was a cultivation method that valued the purity of the body rather than the accumulation of qi.

As Maeng Ha and Maeng Dong had instructed, I circulated the qi through my energy veins and then slowly opened my eyes.

The world beyond my eyelids looked different. Should I say the resolution was different?

I could feel that my senses, such as my eyesight and hearing, which had been lowered by [Dulled Senses], had improved compared to before.

“Is it over? It’s already evening.”

At the voice coming from the side, I looked outside through the open window and saw that the surroundings had already become dark.

‘Just how focused was I?’

As I was in a strange mood, Go Wontae, who had naturally approached, checked my pulse.

“…As expected, it’s effective. With this…”

He swallowed the rest of his words and expressed his gratitude to me.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, my long-standing research has made progress.”

Although there were many twists and turns, in the end, it was mutually beneficial.

Such variables were always welcome.

“If you have any other business next time, please let me know.”

After saying goodbye, I left the medical office. At the entrance of the deserted road leading to the dormitory, I was seized by a strange feeling and gently lifted my head. It was a night where the stars floating in the sky were shining particularly brightly.

I had finally come this far.

I savored the satisfaction, feeling the mana circle and dantian that had firmly settled in my body.

Both magic and martial arts were just at the starting line.

As I was continuing my light steps. I suddenly felt a presence under the tree planted in front.

“What is it?”

When I asked for their business without withdrawing the qi wave of my mana, the opponent came out from the shade of the tree and revealed themselves under the moonlight.

“You’re famous, I hear. I came to see if we could have a chat.”

The man with slanted eyes, Baek Ra-uk. He was waiting for me alone.

“Good.”

After a quick glance around, I slowly opened my mouth.

“I was just looking for you too.”

The sword that had been drawn before I knew it shimmered in the moonlight.

The energy of anti-magic, anyway. And I was curious about the forces behind him.

Since I had an idea, I was planning to get a confirmation this time.

“Oh, I didn’t come to fight.”

When I raised my momentum, Baek Ra-uk stepped back and muttered.

“That’s funny. Do you think I can trust a black-hearted guy like you?”

As I said that and raised my sword. A question came to my mind.

‘How do I fight based on the Six Harmonies Art?’

Come to think of it, I had only learned the oral secrets of the Six Harmonies Art, but I didn’t know the forms of the Six Harmonies Sword.

I could draw out the Three Talents Cultivation Method that the Reverse Heaven Cultivation Method had absorbed and fight, but it wasn’t immediate.

Because I hadn’t yet reached the realm of mind-body unity like the Heaven-Shattering Demon.

When my thoughts reached that point, I lowered my sword with a voice feigning mercy.

“Still, I’ll hear you out.”

Then, Baek Ra-uk looked at me blankly and then brought out his business.

“That martial prowess you showed in the duel with Baek Hasin, was it a sorcery?”

“It’s none of your business.”

When I coldly dismissed his probing tone, he added.

“I hope you won’t be too wary. Today’s business will also be helpful to you, Zhuge Cheonwu-nim.”

“What do you mean?”

“With this incident, the surrounding interest in you, Young Master, has grown immense. Since you used such a strange sorcery in a duel, rumors were bound to spread.”

A duel in a public place. Since I had done it spectacularly, it would be strange if rumors didn’t spread.

“Just get to the point.”

“Your second older brother will come to find you, Young Master.”

At those words, I fumbled with my thoughts for a moment, and my brow naturally furrowed.

If it was the second son of the Zhuge family, there was only one person. Zhuge Paegang.

He was my older brother, five years my senior, who had entered the Martial Academy early due to his talent in martial arts, and it was said that he had passed his coming-of-age two years ago.

‘I know he’s an advanced student.’

I hadn’t even thought of it since we had no interaction at all.

But to think he would come to find me. Considering the atmosphere of the Zhuge family, it wouldn’t be a good thing.

“It’s probably about the strange sorcery. Since you mentioned the family.”

Baek Ra-uk answered. I could figure that much out myself. The point I was really pondering was somewhere else.

“Why are you telling me this?”

I had vaguely expected that he had a connection with Zhuge Paegang since he had attacked me with Do Sogi last time.

Because that would be the only reason to go out of his way to instigate Do Sogi, who had a grudge against me.

Considering this, there was no reason for Baek Ra-uk to warn me.

On the contrary, it was an act of betraying the advanced student Zhuge Paegang, who was his collaborator.

At my question, the opponent raised the corner of his mouth in a smile. It was a very artificial smile.

“It would be difficult to say it’s just a favor… Actually, there is someone who is interested in you, Young Master, so I came to arrange a meeting.”

“Who is it?”

That person was undoubtedly the one behind Baek Ra-uk.

“I can only arrange for you to meet in person. If you wish, anytime…”

“That’s enough.”

Although it was a light remark, the meaning it contained was terrifying.

The meaning of being able to meet anytime within the academy meant that it was either an internal person or a master who could break through the strict security and invade, one of the two.

‘And perhaps the ones behind this guy are…’

So I tried to catch him off guard.

“Does your family know?”

“What are you talking about?”

I lifted the bell-shaped sword ornament I had taken from Do Sogi to the guy who was expressing his doubt and declared.

“That you are in contact with the demonic.”

In an instant, Baek Ra-uk’s narrow eyes wavered. It was a subtle difference, but I was able to catch it because I was concentrating my mana on my eyesight.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’ve investigated this item separately. But the reaction of this artifact is strange no matter how I look at it. There aren’t many energies that can distort sorcery and formations entirely.”

Baek Ra-uk tilted his head slightly. It was a very calm act.

“I see. But what does that have to do with me?”

A subtly aggressive question. He was also at most in his late teens. Even if he tried to deny it, it would show.

‘It’s convenient that he’s denying it outright.’

I immediately threatened him with a confident tone.

“But Do Sogi said he received this from you.”

“……”

Baek Ra-uk, who was silent for a moment as if he was at a loss for words.

That alone was enough to be certain.

‘Sometimes, silence alone can be the basis for judgment.’

Do Sogi had already testified that he had obtained everything, including the drugs, from the black market.

Originally, there should be no grounds to suspect a relationship with Baek Ra-uk. This side had just been bluffing based on the original content.

However, because I had asked so confidently, he had momentarily thought that he might have been caught.

That slight suspicion had created a silence, and as a result, it had given me confidence in my judgment.

“You don’t have to answer. But don’t show it too much and go about quietly. If you don’t want you and your family to suffer.”

After saying that, I passed by Baek Ra-uk. The guy who was stiff, standing on the spot, as if the shock was great. I added one last thing to such an opponent.

“And from now on, don’t touch Baek Hasin carelessly without permission.”

If possible, I was planning to induce only the trials that would help Baek Hasin’s growth.

No answer came back. Only the low sound of footsteps receded in the academy, where the moonlight was scattered.

* * *

The next day arrived. After the basic training, when it was time for practice, I, like the others, drew the Muhak Sword.

‘From now on, I will use the sword of Huashan.’

Since I had learned the cultivation method of the Six Harmonies Art, the second growth stage of the Heaven-Shattering Demon, I had to learn the forms of the Six Harmonies Sword, which were displayed based on it.

The problem was that I was in a position where I couldn’t enter the secret manual library where the martial arts books were.

‘In the end, do I have to go to that guy?’

As my situation became difficult, one person came to my mind.

Baek Cheong. Of course, there was also the option of going to an instructor who had researched and mastered the Six Harmonies Sword, but it was much better to find the future Plum Blossom Sword Saint and a direct disciple for something like this.

‘He told me to come and find him last time.’

Thinking so, I moved my feet towards the handsome young man who was tying his long hair, standing like a picture on one side of the training ground, and a reaction came back immediately.

“What is it?”

Before I knew it, Baek Cheong was looking this way. The smiling mouth was strangely affectionate, but it was a guy who gave an unsettling feeling.

Even if I had deliberately made a presence, he had recognized this side accurately. It was a considerable qi sense.

Although I was slightly surprised, I didn’t show it and answered quickly.

“I was wondering if I could learn the forms of the Six Harmonies Sword.”

“Huh? Ahaha! Right, that’s right. I thought you had come to have a duel like with Baek Hasin.”

‘Does everyone see me as a duel maniac?’

Even if you just look at the cases of Oh Chosam and Baek Hasin, whom I had fought before, it was enough to get such a misunderstanding, but I felt a sense of injustice inwardly.

Because this side was the one who wanted to live more peacefully than anyone else.

Although it was radical, it was unavoidable because it was a situation where I would wither and die if I didn’t grow due to the [Terminally Ill] debuff.

‘I can’t just complain like this.’

“So can I get some help?”

“Of course. You said the forms of the Six Harmonies Sword, right?”

Baek Cheong smiled brightly and gripped his sword. A graceful step, and soon the blade slowly rose along his shoulder and wrist.

“The sword of Huashan is usually said to be the subtlety of speed combined with splendor, but all that skill eventually starts from the six harmonies.”

Based on a firmly standing posture, the sword aimed at the end of the blue sky is brought down.

A simple yet heavy one harmony.

“It dominates the front.”

A horizontal sword strike that follows.

“It protects the side and the back.”

The sword, which flashes like an afterimage in the midday sun, soars from bottom to top.

“It connects the top and bottom and forms a pattern.”

It’s the combination of the basic sword forms of cutting, stabbing, and blocking in six directions. That’s why it’s the Six Harmonies.

“It’s a sword that is faithful to the basics. Of course, that’s why it’s also a profound martial art the more you delve into it.”

Baek Cheong’s explanation continued.

I learned the principles of the Six Harmonies Sword step by step, engraving each and every form in my eyes.

‘It’s similar, yet different.’

The concept of direction and the sword form of offense and defense were added, so its profundity was different.

If the Three Talents Swordsmanship had discussed a flat world where I faced the world with myself at the center.

The Six Harmonies Sword discussed a three-dimensional space that included the world, including myself, and others.

‘As expected of the basic art of the great sect Huashan.’

There was a subtlety in each and every movement of swinging the sword.

Perhaps thanks to the talent of the [Limitless Martial Body], every time I saw a form, it felt like I could grasp how to operate the cultivation method.

“This is the form of the Six Harmonies Sword.”

Baek Cheong, who had finally stopped the tip of his sword, turned to this side.

“Thank you.”

When I expressed my gratitude politely, Baek Cheong raised his eyebrows as if surprised and smiled.

“It’s nothing. But can I see your sword? And we can compare our forms on the side.”

The gaze that was subtly looking this way was sharp. As expected, he had an ulterior motive.

‘Since he’s a martial arts maniac. It can’t be helped.’

I drew my sword without a word. The forms of the Six Harmonies Sword that he had taught me earlier came to my mind one by one.

The movement of the body and the path of the sword converged into a single line. In the place where the graceful trajectory had passed, not even a sword wind arose.

A clean form, as if I had practiced for years.

‘It’s not enough.’

What was plausible was just the appearance. Its profundity was lacking.

I let out a deep breath, leaving behind the admiration of the surrounding students who were gathering their gazes.

The senses are aligned.

The center of the grip that was holding the hilt of the Muhak Sword changed subtly.

In an instant, I readjusted the pressure of each and every finger and swung the sword as if it were exploding.

The tip of the sword flashed, and it manifested the operation and subtleties of the cultivation method.

The blade, which had soared as if flying, created a subtle sword wind belatedly.

It was not that the sharpness was lacking, nor that the power was overflowing.

The end of a very natural sword path. It was a harmony.

“Is this how you do it?”

I asked him, brushing up my sweat-soaked bangs.

Before I knew it, Baek Cheong’s gaze, looking this way, had changed.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep