Chapter 22: Strange Internal Energy (1)

After defeating the white-robed man, I could only guess why their sword techniques appeared so clearly to me.

‘Maybe I obtained the Eye-Opening Technique because of that old man I met before returning to the past.’

That was the only explanation I could come up with. Otherwise, I thought it might’ve just been a delusion.

But seeing as I could still perceive the changes in the forms now, it didn’t seem to be a delusion after all. If that was the case, maybe I wouldn’t end up being humiliated by rolling on the ground during this duel.

It gave me a bit of hope.

Instead of retreating, I stepped forward to confront Jeok Gwang’s feint technique. Feints were never intended to be proper attacks; their purpose was to mislead the opponent and seize the initiative.

By stepping in first and striking the center of Jeok Gwang’s sword, I was able to divert half of the internal energy contained in his sword move.

Clack-clack-clack!

Our wooden swords rang with a clear, crisp sound.

It was because both swords were imbued with inner power.

Since my internal energy was still no match for Jeok Gwang’s, I took a loss and had to step back two paces.

Jeok Gwang’s face flushed as he realized I’d managed to deflect his technique despite my weaker energy.

‘Hmph, his form is quite solid.’

To neutralize one of his moves meant I had a high level of understanding of sword techniques. Still, it was something one could only pull off once or twice. He figured I wouldn’t be able to properly block his sword strikes if they carried full force.

With a glint of murderous intent in his eyes, Jeok Gwang charged toward me.

Whooosh!

His swinging wooden sword let out a chilling sound, tearing through the air. The blade curved like a circle and came crashing down toward my head.

The Great Strength Azure Cloud Sword focused on attacks that utilized circular sword energy.

As one’s level increased, the range of the circle expanded, and any opponent within that circle would be destroyed by the sword energy. It was a terrifying sword art.

Right now, Jeok Gwang wasn’t skilled enough to draw more than a circle about the width of his arms.

At that moment, I suddenly had the thought that I was trapped within the energy of that circle.

It was strange.

‘It’s like someone is whispering to me.’

I wasn’t consciously aware of it, yet a persistent thought echoed in my mind—telling me to move toward the center of the circle.

This was my first time seeing the Great Strength Azure Cloud Sword.

I’d heard its name countless times, but I had never seen it in action until now.

So why did Jeok Gwang’s martial art feel so familiar? And why did it seem like stepping into the center of the circle would be safe?

As the sword energy of the circle intensified, I decided to trust my instinct. I stepped forward without hesitation—just two steps.

But oddly enough, the oppressive force that had been crushing my entire body vanished like a lie.

Slash slash slash slash!

Where I had been standing just moments before, the ground was now covered in fine, crisscrossed lines as though shredded.

Had I not stepped into the center, I would’ve ended up covered in wounds.

It was fortunate that it was just a wooden sword—had it been a real blade, I surely would have been seriously injured.

Jeok Gwang flinched in surprise.

It was too precise to be a coincidence—I had walked right into the heart of the sword formation.

‘How does he know the secret of my clan’s sword art? No—it’s not just knowing it, he broke it down!’

Jeok Gwang couldn’t help but be stunned. Only the martial artists of his main family knew the weakness of the Great Strength Azure Cloud Sword.

Just as the eye of a typhoon is the calmest, the center of the Great Strength Azure Cloud Sword’s circle was its origin point of power, and no sword energy formed there.

But that was just theory. In practice, finding the center of the circle was nearly impossible. Since one couldn’t tell where the circle began, locating the center was extremely difficult.

And yet I had found it effortlessly.

Still, Jeok Gwang couldn’t bring himself to believe that I had deliberately dismantled his technique. The martial arts of his clan weren’t so shallow that someone who had shut himself away like a sickly man could break through them so easily.

After some deliberation, Jeok Gwang concluded it had to be a fluke.

‘You may have avoided it by chance this time, but next time, there won’t be any luck involved.’

The murderous aura in Jeok Gwang’s eyes grew thicker.

Even though my life was hanging by a thread, I felt strangely at ease.

‘Maybe because I’ve lived a past life, I’m not so obsessed with the fear of death anymore.’

It was because I had grown bold through countless brushes with death in my previous life.

For a martial artist, the most important thing was not to panic or feel fear when facing an opponent. Without that, one couldn’t bring out their true abilities.

“Try taking this one, too.”

Jeok Gwang gritted his teeth and launched himself at me again.

This time, he drew two circles in the air with his sword.

By drawing two overlapping circles, the Great Strength Azure Cloud Sword’s weakness was eliminated. There was no way to tell where the center lay now.

‘I won’t be able to dodge this. If there’s a way… it’s just one option…’

As the two circles formed, I dropped flat onto the ground.

Fwoooosh!

The trajectory of the two strikes grazed the space where I had just been standing. Had I been hit, something would’ve definitely broken.

Jeok Gwang stepped back.

Having missed three times already, he was starting to fume with silent rage.

“Hahaha, what kind of martial artist flattens himself against the ground like that? Isn’t that a humiliation worse than death?”

Jeok Gwang sneered at my crude tactic.

“To avoid the renowned sword art of Songcheong Sect, this was the only option I had. I ask for your understanding.”

I replied casually, discreetly clenching my fist.

It was to keep the blood trailing down my wrist from dripping.

I hadn’t completely avoided the double circles—a sword wave had grazed my shoulder.

‘That bastard… he really meant to kill me.’

Even though it was a wooden sword that couldn’t break easily, Jeok Gwang had poured his full energy into the strike.

“Try dodging this too.”

Jeok Gwang, now truly furious, muttered and charged at me again.

Shwick! Shwick! Shwick!

The wooden sword slicing through the air no longer felt like just wood. If hit, it wouldn’t merely break—it looked like it could slice clean through with the force it carried.

At that moment—

Just as I was barely blocking Jeok Gwang’s attacks, I suddenly began to exude a strange energy.

*

I had the strangest experience.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar force surged throughout my entire body.

Jeok Gwang’s sword stabbed into my chest and penetrated about an inch. In response, a defensive energy arose from my body on its own, deflecting the sword.

‘What is this strange power…?’

I found it odd, but I didn’t have the presence of mind to think too deeply as I struggled to avoid Jeok Gwang’s attacks.

Thanks to the energy spreading through my limbs, I was able to execute the Bamboo Forest Flying Dragon Steps without any hindrance.

My body moved dazzlingly, evading all of Jeok Gwang’s strikes.

Jeok Gwang was shaken.

Such movements couldn’t be produced unless one possessed energy superior to his own. He had assumed my energy was pathetic, but seeing that proved him wrong—and it rattled him. His shock made him falter, and he pulled back mid-attack.

That gave me time to think.

‘Where did this energy even come from?’

No matter how I searched my memory, I had never cultivated internal energy anywhere but in my dantian. I couldn’t understand how such a massive reserve had built up inside me.

‘There’s only one explanation. It must be the internal energy of that old man I met before returning to the past. Otherwise, there’s no way to explain this strange event—especially with how eerie this energy feels.’

I didn’t resist the energy. I let it spread freely through my body. Once I stopped trying to suppress it, the energy rushed up to my upper dantian.

“Ugh!”

A dizzy spell overcame me, followed by a tingling sensation like ants crawling all over my body.

Then a wave of comfort washed over me.

As I had suspected, this energy was the internal energy of the Demonic Master, equivalent to three years of cultivation.

Rather than being stored in my dantian, this energy had been lying dormant within my skin. When Jeok Gwang’s sword pierced my body, the Demonic Master’s soul sensed danger and instinctively drew out the slumbering energy.

It was an incredibly mysterious occurrence.

Sensing the threat in the sword energy, the Demonic Master’s soul had raised defensive energy on its own.

If Jeok Gwang hadn’t attacked with a sword imbued with internal energy, the Demonic Master’s power might not have awakened so soon.

When I channeled the energy into my wooden sword, it began to tremble lightly.

‘This is more than I can handle.’

Worried that my meridians might be damaged by the turbulent energy writhing inside me, I held back—and the energy instinctively receded into my skin.

Only about six months’ worth of inner power remained within my body.

‘I never imagined I’d have this kind of power hidden in me.’

Once again, I became curious about the true identity of the old man I met before my regression.

I believed he had transferred all his energy to me right before I died—and that might have triggered my regression to the past.

I became so absorbed in thought, I forgot I was in the middle of a duel.

Jeok Gwang, noticing the sudden shift in my aura, quickly resumed his assault. He had tried to figure out what caused the change, but he had no clue.

Still, he couldn’t afford to miss the opportunity to win. He would think about it later—after victory.

Seeing Jeok Gwang’s sword closing in, I rushed forward to meet it.

Clack-clack! Clack-clack-clack!

I deflected all of Jeok Gwang’s sword strikes. Then, as he inhaled, I switched from defense to offense.

From my sword emerged the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword, a secret art of the Heavenly Central Sect.

When internal power and technique were evenly matched, the deciding factor in a fight came down to experience and age. Moreover, I now unintentionally possessed the Eye-Opening Technique thanks to the Demonic Master.

Because of that, I was slowly able to detect weaknesses in Jeok Gwang’s sword techniques.

‘I thought I’d be lucky just not to get humiliated too badly.’

Now that I had power, I had room to breathe. I no longer felt the need to hold back.

In my past life, I had always made sure to take revenge against anyone who tried to harm me.

I had long understood that the master of a merchant union had to be even more ruthless than a martial clan leader.

And when it came to ruthlessness, my former self was second to none.

“Huh? That’s the Young Sect Leader of the Heavenly Central Sect?”

“That’s surprising.”

“If you ask me, it’s not that Jeok Sohyeop is weak—it’s that Young Master Yong is just that strong.”

As the tide turned and I dominated the duel, the spectators erupted in astonishment.

Thinking I had sufficiently demonstrated my ability, I decided it was time to end the match.

Whoosh!

I thrust my wooden sword at Jeok Gwang’s center.

Jeok Gwang instinctively tried to block.

But the form I used was “Severing the Tail, Parting the Sea,” a finishing move of the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword.

Whirrrrrrrrrr!

It was a technique where the thrusting sword shook rapidly in all directions, cutting through as it vibrated—a move originally meant for a real blade.

‘Ah, the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword really is a demonic martial art.’

Fueled by the mysterious inner energy coursing through my body, the amplitude and force of the technique were even greater.

“Ah!”

As his wooden sword was shaved away like wood by a plane, Jeok Gwang quickly pulled back his weapon.

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