The Taesang Gaju was dumbfounded.
How could he perform it after only seeing it a few times?
It was hard to believe.
"Is that true?"
"Yes."
"It's hard to believe, but..."
With a complicated expression, he stroked his fine beard that had grown down to his chest.
"Looking at your expression, it doesn't seem like a lie."
The Taesang Gaju's eyes gleamed.
"Then if I perform a martial art right now, could you follow it?"
Cheonhwi nodded.
"That much is nothing."
There was nothing to lose.
'It's better for me if they show it multiple times.'
The moment he thought it was actually favorable—
"Good. Then."
The Taesang Gaju immediately clenched his fist.
"Then I'll first show you our family's fist technique, the Nine Cleaving Divine Fist (Jiu Pi Shen Quan)."
Soon a sharp fist wind swept over.
A moment later.
"Hahaha."
The Taesang Gaju let out a hollow laugh.
'This can't be!'
Right now, Cheonhwi was properly reproducing the martial arts he had demonstrated.
'Amazing, truly amazing. To think there's such a genius.'
He shook his head back and forth.
Even if it was a half-baked martial art without the accompanying internal energy cultivation method, it looked perfect from the outside.
Both the hand forms and the stance.
'It's even better than most of the kids in our family.'
His evaluation of Cheonhwi rose.
The Taesang Gaju could understand why Cheonhwi had been overflowing with confidence.
"Truly remarkable eyesight and talent."
The Taesang Gaju offered praise, but.
"That's true."
Cheonhwi said confidently.
Seeing Cheonhwi's confident appearance, the Taesang Gaju involuntarily smiled.
"I intended to humble him for his arrogance, but at this rate I'll be the one embarrassed."
His atmosphere changed.
Soon he turned his head and called out to Namgung Jingyeong, who was standing far away in a daze.
"Jingyeong."
"Ye-yes?"
Perhaps startled by the sudden call, Namgung Jingyeong's voice cracked.
"Did you say you wanted to leave the well?"
At the Taesang Gaju's serious question, Namgung Jingyeong's expression also became utterly serious.
"That's right."
"But with your current skills, you're far from ready to wander the murim."
The Taesang Gaju said while looking at Cheonhwi.
"I know."
Namgung Jingyeong bit his lip.
In the past, he would have snorted at such words, but now he clearly understood.
Having encountered Cheonhwi's existence, he felt his weakness to the bone.
"That's why I'm thinking of doing closed-door training to become stronger."
"Good. To know your shortcomings."
Seeing him acknowledge his inadequacy, the Taesang Gaju's mouth corners twitched.
"I'll help you."
Namgung Jingyeong's eyes widened.
"You mean you, Grandfather?!"
"There is a sword art I've poured my heart and blood into creating since long ago. It's still incomplete, but if you learn this, you'll be able to not just wander the world, but dominate it."
At the confident words, Namgung Jingyeong gulped.
Meanwhile, Cheonhwi was looking forward to it.
'I wonder what kind of sword art he created?'
Namgung Jingyeong, harboring the same question, asked carefully on his behalf.
"What kind of sword art is it..."
"It's a sword art created by consolidating the sword arts of the Namgung Family into one."
"Our family's sword arts?"
Cheonhwi perked up his ears.
That's difficult.
He had already walked that path.
That was why he knew better than anyone how hard it was.
Around the time Cheonhwi was focusing on their conversation.
Swish—
Namgung Jingyeong glanced at him.
"If I learn that, can I win even against Young Master Cheonhwi?"
Namgung Jingyeong's expression as he asked was serious.
If roaming the world was the ultimate goal, then the immediate priority was Cheonhwi.
The Taesang Gaju laughed heartily.
"If you learn this sword art, it will be hard to find a match in the world."
"T-That much?"
Instead of answering, the Taesang Gaju nodded.
"If it's such an amazing sword art, why didn't you tell my father..."
"That bastard who abandoned righteousness cannot learn this sword art."
The Taesang Gaju wore a cold expression.
"The Evil Faction is still going strong, and who knows where those Demonic Cult bastards are operating in the shadows, but I'll absolutely never teach it to a fool drunk on petty power. As if leaving the Murim Alliance wasn't enough, he had to go and establish something like the Bitcheon Society. Tch."
After grumbling for a moment, his gaze pierced through Namgung Jingyeong.
"But if it's you, who will leave the family and roam the world, you're fully qualified to learn it."
In that moment, Namgung Jingyeong's shoulders squared with determination.
The world's greatest sword art!
And only he could learn it.
Every word the Taesang Gaju uttered was enough to make his spirits soar.
The Taesang Gaju gazed at Cheonhwi.
"Watch carefully."
With those words, he drew up his internal energy.
Crackle!
The manifestation of the Heavenly Thunder Emperor Divine Art!
For a moment, the Taesang Gaju's sword shook.
No, it was an illusion that the sword was shaking due to the intense aura he was emitting.
In an instant, his surroundings became endlessly dark, as if dark clouds had gathered.
At the same time, thunder crashed between the darkness.
Rumble—
A feast of intense thunder energy unfolded.
'Oh ho, quite strong, isn't it?'
Cheonhwi's mouth stretched wide horizontally.
His whole body's hair stood on end from the momentum.
At this level, on par with Baeksasin?
No, comparing the two was impossible.
The aura both emitted was so intense that it was hard to tell who was better.
Watching, Cheonhwi moved his lips.
"What's the name of the martial art?"
The Taesang Gaju looked at Cheonhwi with surprised eyes—not only was he not pressured by his aura, but he was even asking the name of the martial art—and said:
"I haven't decided on a name yet."
"And the technique name?"
"That either."
With those words, his well-groomed white hair and white beard stood up sharply, and his two pupils began to take on a yellow glow.
"It's because it's a single-strike sword form, you see."
"That's nice."
Cheonhwi's eyes curved like half-moons.
That moment.
Crackle!
The Taesang Gaju's sword struck down like lightning, piercing through the darkness swirling around.
Just as it was about to reach Cheonhwi.
Clack.
The Taesang Gaju stopped his sword.
"……."
"……."
A strange silence flowed between them.
The massive lightning that had struck down was already gone, and the sky and earth were back to normal.
However, the aftermath of that single sword technique lingered heavily in the surroundings.
"A-Amazing sword art. With this sword art, it wouldn't lose even compared to the Changgung Muae Sword Art."
Namgung Jingyeong, who had been detached from their conversation until now, exclaimed.
"But it's still incomplete."
"This is incomplete? Then if this sword art is completed..."
"It will surpass the Changgung Muae Sword Art created by the Patriarch."
The Taesang Gaju said with a powerful voice.
He was that confident.
To create this sword art, how many Namgung Family sword arts had he properly learned and investigated one by one?
That period alone exceeded thirty years.
And that wasn't all.
Creating a sword art was not easy, and he had experienced failure many times.
A few times it went wrong and he even suffered internal injuries.
But he never gave up in the end.
And finally, he produced results.
'It's still incomplete, but...'
There wasn't much left now.
"Once completed, this sword art will be called not just the best under heaven, but the greatest sword art of all time."
Listening to the proud words, Namgung Jingyeong's Adam's apple bobbed greatly.
"Then can I learn this sword art...?"
Seeing Namgung Jingyeong unable to hide his joy, the Taesang Gaju's chest naturally swelled with pride.
"Didn't I say I'd teach you?"
Feeling gratified by Namgung Jingyeong's reaction, the Taesang Gaju asked Cheonhwi, who had already sheathed his sword.
"How did it look to you?"
Recalling the sword art that had just been performed, Cheonhwi shared his impressions.
"It's an incredibly outstanding sword art. If completed, it would be among the top of the sword arts I know."
It wasn't empty praise.
If completed, it would compete for the highest position among the sword arts he knew.
However.
"That's why it's a shame."
The prerequisite for that was the martial art being completed.
On top of that.
"It would have been a better sword art if you had just focused on one thing..."
They say too much is as bad as too little.
If he had given up one of the two, it could have been a peerless sword art, but unable to give up either, it became mediocre.
The Taesang Gaju frowned.
"Focus on just one thing—what do you mean?"
"You were aiming for unity of offense and defense, right?"
The Taesang Gaju flinched.
"How did you know that right away..."
"You can tell just by looking. With a Defeating Sword of this level, you shouldn't have been able to suddenly withdraw the sword form mid-way. But since you withdrew it right away, it seems you designed it to switch to a defensive form at any time."
"That's right."
"That's why it's ambiguous. It would have been a much better sword art if you had just fully focused on either offense or defense."
"Haha. For all your excellence, you still don't understand martial arts well."
The Taesang Gaju smiled with wrinkled features.
He had been showing such amazing feats for his age that they kept forgetting, but Cheonhwi was a child with little experience.
"If you focus only on offense, openings will appear, and if you focus only on defense, you won't be able to demonstrate such power."
"Isn't that why it's incomplete?"
"Haha. It will be completed soon."
"It seems like it's been that way for years."
At the words that hit the mark, the Taesang Gaju flinched.
Just as he said, it had been stagnant for years.
"Rather than awkwardly trying to pursue both, it would have been much better to just focus on one."
The Taesang Gaju furrowed his brow.
"...If it were you, what would you do?"
"If it were me, I'd probably abandon defense and pour everything into offense."
"Even if pouring all your strength into offense creates openings?"
"What does that matter?"
Cheonhwi said as if it were obvious.
"You said it's a single-strike sword art. Isn't it made to decide victory with one strike?"