When I experienced Shei's Cheonban-gyeong, I cursed inwardly. What kind of ridiculous martial art is this?
It doesn't even require will. It entrusts the body to the instinct of self-defense and responds. The martial art is merely a means to support it. It trains reflexes to the extreme, refines the body's reactions, and unleashes them.
If my Human Law is perfect understanding of humans, then Cheonban-gyeong is perfect utilization of the human body.
It pounds the martial art into bones, nerves, and muscles, imprints attack patterns into the body, and moves faster than thought the moment it senses something. It contains all the martial (武) and karma (業) that humanity has accumulated within that body.
Before that overwhelming speed, even power is useless. No matter how sharp the blade, no matter how deadly the poison, if it doesn't touch you, it's meaningless.
Her very existence is my counter. No, not just me—no human could handle her.
"Spica's seat is the Virgo Palace."
Even while engaging two demon swordsmen, Antares glanced my way and spoke.
"The reason Spica's seat is the Virgo Palace isn't simply because she's a virgin. It's because after ascending to the star's seat, Spica never allowed a single attack to land."
Strange. It feels like useless information got mixed in.
I dispelled the shock and shakily rose to my feet. The Sword Empress's transparent eyes followed my movement without a moment's delay.
How chilling. Even her eyeballs move with Cheonban-gyeong? Shei's Cheonban-gyeong was troublesome enough, but the Sword Empress's Cheonban-gyeong was simply a wall.
There's no technique to read. No scheming or prediction. Just—if I make any move, a counter will come before either I or the Sword Empress even knows it.
Is there any existence that makes mind-reading more meaningless? What kind of training does one have to go through to become such a creature?
Even more surprising is—
The Sword Empress has no Li.
Qian (乾). Kun (坤). Kan (坎). The extremes of the Three Powers. Reading the opponent, supporting oneself, moving the body. She thoroughly carved this simple work into her flesh, and the result of tempering it to the limit is Cheonban-gyeong. Because it's an ability engraved in her flesh, it can't be replicated with mind-reading or Human Law.
Troublesome. I absolutely shouldn't leave her as an enemy.
"The Sword Saint? He became a star in that sky."
"...Wordplay."
"I'm serious. Does it look like I'm lying?"
I always speak only the truth. Even if it might not be the truth one wants.
At my expression full of conviction, the Sword Empress tilted her head.
'It doesn't seem like she's lying. But she didn't say he died.'
Tch. She's not swayed.
The Sword Empress, Spica, was similar to Shei. Rather than believing my words as-is, she judges based on intuition. Tricks and psychological warfare don't work well on this kind of person.
Truly an existence like my natural enemy.
Looking at me, the Sword Empress made her decision.
'Let's fight and find the answer. She's tough, which is annoying.'
Of course, she also seems to find me annoying since my specs have purely increased through Human Law. But that's annoyance, not helplessness.
How do I overcome this—when the question with no answer was circling in my head—
"Master...!"
In that moment, memories exploded from somewhere and flooded in like a tide. It was Shei. Without even looking back, Shei charged the moment she spotted the Sword Empress.
Right. Block Cheonban-gyeong with Cheonban-gyeong. Even if she's a former master, she's an enemy now—if it's Shei, she might be able to handle her!
The Sword Empress spotted Shei charging at her. There was no sign of tension. The Cheonban-gyeong she possesses is an absolute when it comes to 'defense.' To her, the absolute one, Shei must have looked full of openings.
Shei even threw away Cheon-aeng and Ji-jan and reached out her arm. And the Sword Empress reacted instantly. Sliding her left foot slightly, lowering her waist, crossing her arms to strike Shei's chin. All these movements happened simultaneously, in a brief moment no one could perceive.
A counter launched in the gap of perception.
However. Shei's Cheonban-gyeong also reacted.
"...!"
Shock appeared in the Sword Empress's eyes. Simultaneously, Shei's counter followed. The Sword Empress, in turn, reacted to the reflexive counter connected through Cheonban-gyeong. In a flash, dozens of exchanges occurred, and before one could blink, the exchanges reached a thousand.
That was no longer an exchange of techniques.
It was like precise machines with thousands of gears meshing and turning together. An engagement where even a single slip could easily claim a human life was occurring between Shei and the Sword Empress.
What makes this exchange different from gears is that nothing can be predicted.
In truth, nothing was predetermined. There was no scheming in Shei or the Sword Empress's minds. There was no fixed future. Even if a saint were present, they wouldn't be able to predict even a few moves ahead. The blowing wind. The ground they stand on. Everything changes according to the opponent before them.
There's no time for thoughts to arise. Nerves burn, and the air between them heats up. The consecutive exchanges change color as if about to explode at any moment.
Even Antares couldn't take his eyes off the fight that drew in one's gaze and muttered.
"That's... Cheonban-gyeong?!"
He recognized it the moment he saw it. That the martial art Shei was displaying was the Sword Empress's secret technique, Cheonban-gyeong.
"A disciple? I've never heard of such a thing."
Doubt rose in the Sword Empress's eyes. She couldn't not know, as it was her own martial art. Shei's martial art was Cheonban-gyeong.
'Other than me, another Cheonban-gyeong user?'
However, Cheonban-gyeong was a martial art the Sword Empress had created by pounding all her family's profound insights into her body to reach the heavens. A martial art she devised, diverging from her family's path.
And Shei, who was seeing it for the first time today, was using it.
'....'
The Sword Empress took a step forward. Against Cheonban-gyeong, she threw herself into the opponent's offensive. The density of attacks increased, and the Sword Empress faltered. But only for a moment. The Sword Empress raised her momentum.
Cheonban-gyeong, certain death brings life.
Fundamentally, Cheonban-gyeong is a defensive martial art. Its essence is sensing anything approaching and responding. Shei used to compensate for her slightly lacking offensive power with Cheon-aeng and Ji-jan.
But the Sword Empress has no need for that.
Having already reached the state of Unity of Heaven and Earth, there's no need to distinguish between defense and attack.
The Sword Empress approached quickly. Cheonban-gyeong perceived even that approach as an attack and responded. In an even briefer moment, she swept away Shei's arm as if wrapping it and continued her close combat.
Shei's Cheonban-gyeong also reacted, but couldn't match the strength of its source.
Thud thud thud thud. A downpour of strikes gradually engulfed Shei. She was losing the territory battle. Shei sweated and gritted her teeth. But ultimately, the issue of pure skill caught up.
Cheonban-gyeong missed one of the Sword Empress's attacks.
That decided the victor.
"Ah...!"
A sigh of regret escaped. Not the regret of defeat, but the regret of not being able to show all her skill to her master. Into the center of Shei's chest, where resistance was impossible, the Sword Empress's fist quickly extended.
However. The fist didn't connect and stopped a layer above.
Cold silence. The Sword Empress, having secured victory, didn't extend her fist further and stood still. She looked at Shei as if interrogating her. And a slight ripple stirred in her water-like mind.
Despite being defeated, Shei's expression was filled only with relief and joy. While the Sword Empress stood still, unable to understand the situation, Shei spoke.
"You may not remember, Master, but I am your disciple. You personally engraved the karma of Cheonban-gyeong into me."
"...!"
"Your unworthy disciple greets you."
Shei bowed before the Sword Empress with utmost respect. Who knew Shei could bow? Anyway, thanks to that, the Sword Empress, who seemed like she wouldn't shed a drop of blood even if pricked with a needle, fell into confusion.
It's different from what I expected. But at least she blocked the Sword Empress. Phew.
Antares, who had been watching the scene having even forgotten the fight, said:
"Hey, Virgo. You're not believing those words, are you? You still haven't taken a single disciple into your Mugung."
"...."
"Did you take in and raise a disciple without even knowing? Don't be ridiculous. There's no way the empire wouldn't know about such a major event."
"She's my disciple."
"What?"
The Sword Empress turned around. As if protecting Shei from Antares, she stood in front of her and declared clearly.
"This child is definitely my disciple."
"Do you not know what a disciple means? Have you taught her before?"
"No."
"How is she your disciple if you've never taught her?"
"She's my disciple. Because that's Cheonban-gyeong."
Shei's martial art is Cheonban-gyeong. That belongs to the Sword Empress. Which means Shei has no choice but to be the Sword Empress's disciple. Even if the two were meeting for the first time.
The causality is twisted beyond belief, but the Sword Empress declared it firmly without a sliver of doubt. So the frustrated one was Antares.
"On this unfamiliar land, someone you've never seen before uses Cheonban-gyeong. Then what you should do is grab her and interrogate her. Interrogate her about how she extracted the empire's greatest asset. Not take her as a disciple!"
"She is my disciple."
"You..."
Antares tried to go toward Shei but stopped. The Sword Empress was standing in front of Shei now. Without passing through her, he couldn't reach Shei.
Feeling the Sword Empress's will from that position, Antares made an expression of disbelief.
"Wait. You, don't tell me. No way?"
"...."
"Hey, hey, hey!"
The Sword Empress stood as if protecting Shei from Antares.