Chapter 310. I Saw the Sword.
I looked out at the front courtyard and thought of my previous life.
Had all these so-called Sovereigns been defeated one by one in my past life? Since the Orthodox Path is strongest when it joins forces, the current murim revolves around the Murim Alliance. But if the Sovereigns fight among themselves or compete with Im Sobaek, the Orthodox Path is not so powerful after all.
If an emotional quarrel spreads into a battle of pride, the Sovereigns will not help one another either.
During the days when I was called the Mad Demon, it was a time when the Orthodox Path had been picked off one by one, and Im Sobaek was fighting desperately while leading the Murim Alliance.
Then?
Could the way this Sovereign Martial Contest ends be the crossroads between the Orthodox Path preserving its full strength and splintering into pieces?
In truth, if they were the sort of people who could so easily set aside their pride, they would never have been given the title of Sovereign in the first place.
One way or another, the strength of the Orthodox Path seems to be pride, and its weakness also seems to be pride.
But why, of all people, am I the one worrying about this?
Who am I, anyway?
A faint sigh escaped me, but since I had been granted the fortune of living my life again, I thought of it as a responsibility I had to shoulder.
In the end, after turning the Sword Demon, Ghost Demon, and Lust Demon a little more toward the brighter side, I had come to gather here at the Murim Alliance like this, so I intended to try changing those Sovereign bastards as much as I could as well.
Of course, I am not Zhuge Liang, so I have no pouch with the correct answer written inside, nor can I think of any particularly sharp scheme.
While I was lost in thought, staring out at the front courtyard...
A low voice sounded, and a swordsman in his early thirties, guided by an Alliance member, arrived at the entrance of Wolhagwan.
“Thank you for guiding me.”
The Alliance member spoke politely to the man.
“...Then please rest comfortably.”
Over a dull, dark-colored martial uniform, he wore a long robe that looked as though he had been wearing it for three or four years, and a black blade was visible at his waist. His unkempt hair was nearly a bird’s nest, and perhaps because he had tied his long hair at the back of his head, his ponytail swayed left and right whenever he walked.
As I stared at him, I remembered.
Since even the shabby clothing I had seen several times before was exactly the same, I could not forget him.
‘It’s the Blade King.’
The Blade King walked a few steps, lowered his gaze, and stared blankly at the front courtyard.
“...”
I followed the Blade King’s gaze and looked at the place where the Lust Demon and Baengni Hyeok had fought. Since ice arts had been mixed into the Lust Demon’s footwork, his footprints were clearly stamped there.
The Blade King’s gaze followed the path of the footprints, then checked the spot where Baengni Hyeok had collapsed and drooled all over himself.
Then he asked me, sitting on the stairs.
“...Looks like someone already fought. Did you see it?”
“I did.”
“Would you tell me who it was?”
“Baengni Hyeok, the second son of the Baengni Family, and Mong Rang, the second son of the Pungun Mong Family.”
The Blade King nodded.
“Did Mong Rang win?”
When I only nodded this time, the man walked over and plopped down beside me.
“So the Sword King has arrived. What about the other one?”
“The Fist King has come as well.”
“They’re gathering one after another.”
The Blade King took a leather pouch from his breast, then pulled out a large piece of jerky from it. After tearing the jerky in half, the Blade King held it out to me.
I found it bothersome to ask what it was, so I accepted the jerky and chewed it.
It tasted all right, but saying it was delicious was bothersome, so I just ate it.
As he chewed the jerky, the Blade King said to me.
“You might get diarrhea if you eat that.”
“Thank you for telling me so quickly.”
“That’s what happens when you accept and eat what someone else gives you without any suspicion.”
“As long as it isn’t poison, it’s fine.”
“That’s true.”
I asked the Blade King what I was curious about first.
“What brings you here?”
“I happened to meet an Alliance member, heard the news, and came. I had nothing to do, and it was bothersome so I didn’t want to come, but I figured I should come at least once.”
Ah, now that I looked at it, it seemed this man’s bothersomeness had infected me. It felt as though the disease had latched onto me when our eyes met at the entrance of Wolhagwan.
The Blade King raised one knee and rested his left arm on it. If left alone, he looked like he would slowly topple sideways and fall asleep.
Well, since this man was also at the Murim Alliance, sleep would come easily to him. Before long, the man’s head drooped, and he fell into a sweet sleep.
When I let out a sigh, the Blade King woke with a start and exhaled a long breath.
“Go inside and sleep.”
“I can’t do that. I came to watch the Sovereigns... I should wait.”
I looked at the Blade King and organized my thoughts a little.
In any case, the fact that I had once lost to this man was an event from my previous life, not something that had happened now.
There was no need to have my pride wounded now.
At the time, I had been fairly notorious myself, but the Blade King’s notoriety had been no small thing either.
Come to think of it, the useless pride of the Orthodox Path I had been thinking about was a flaw even I could not avoid having.
That was why Im Sobaek had told me not to be so hung up on defeat, yet the moment I saw the Blade King, I found myself chewing over my loss. Truly, I was being an idiot.
I asked the Blade King.
“Who did you come to fight?”
“Do you know me? You speak as though you do.”
“I don’t.”
The Blade King said while chewing jerky.
“Then why ask with such certainty?”
“Since you were guided here to Wolhagwan, you must be a Sovereign.”
“Then are you a Sovereign too?”
“Not quite.”
“Not quite, but you mean you have thoughts of crossing hands with the Sovereigns?”
“Depends.”
The Blade King asked while looking out at the front courtyard.
“For personal honor and the advancement of your martial arts? Or for some other reason?”
I looked at the Blade King and spoke as if whispering.
“I’m just thinking of tormenting them a bit. If all of them challenge the Alliance Leader, wouldn’t the Alliance Leader get tired? I can gain some experience too.”
“What an insolent fellow.”
“As if I could compare to you.”
The man nodded.
“The only one who’s gone around acting this recklessly lately is the Hao Sect Leader, so that was you.”
“Me. Are you here to spar?”
“I came to watch. Where else could I watch the Sovereigns’ martial contests? I should see how well they fight.”
This man had rarely interfered deeply in the affairs of murim, so for some reason I was reluctant to call him senior.
The Blade King was simply a wanderer who roamed around carrying a single blade.
But looking back, in the end, this man was also the one who killed the most Demonic Cultists. One day, he joined the war late and went around slaughtering them in droves. In other words, in this life, I am currently the one who has beaten the most Demonic Cultists to death, and in my previous life, this man had played my role to some extent.
He kept killing Demonic Cultists until……
There was even a rumor that he had crossed blades with the Cult Leader.
But he was not famous for fighting him; he became even more famous for running away in a great hurry.
The Nameless Saber King (無名刀王) was chewing on jerky beside me.
Originally, his epithet had supposedly been the Nameless Saberman (無名刀客), but seeing as he was being guided by the Murim Alliance, it seemed he had already shed the title of Nameless Saberman.
He had been a mysterious man (神祕人) of my previous life, and an eccentric (奇人) besides……
It was ambiguous to call him someone I knew, but he was not entirely a stranger either.
Questions like, Why did you run away while facing the Cult Leader? were about matters that had yet to happen in this life, so I could not ask them.
Well, he must have run because he simply could not win. There is no need to twist oneself into understanding or interpreting unlucky bastards too deeply. They are simply unlucky.
The Saber King asked me.
“Have you, by any chance, ever seen the Three Calamities?”
“I have.”
“Really? Who did you see?”
“All three.”
“How did you survive?”
“I was lucky.”
“What a strange fellow. How are they compared to Alliance Leader Im?”
“All three are above Senior Alliance Leader.”
The Saber King let out a long sigh.
“That is quite troublesome.”
The Saber King shook his head, then asked me.
“Did you not see any weaknesses?”
“Weaknesses, you say…… Senior Divine Beggar’s weakness is that he is too kind. The other two have no weaknesses.”
“Openings?”
“Cheonak tends to listen to what people say, so he has a slight opening, but the Cult Leader has none.”
“Then from the start, the ranking among the Three Calamities was Cult Leader, Cheonak, Senior Divine Beggar.”
“Since they cannot kill one another, it is a ranking with little meaning.”
The Saber King said,
“As time passes, an opening becomes a weakness, and a weakness will drag one down, so there is indeed a gap.”
That was true. However, the incident involving Senior Divine Beggar that had arisen from that opening had already been resolved by me.
The Saber King muttered,
“If I am unlucky enough to clash with Cheonak, I should try talking first.”
“What if you clash with the Cult Leader?”
“I should run.”
And just like that, one of the questions I had from my previous life was answered at once. I felt somewhat refreshed.
I asked the Saber King.
“Are there rankings among the Sovereigns as well?”
“Roughly.”
“Tell me.”
“It is only my opinion.”
“I do not mind. I told you about the Three Calamities, so that makes it fair.”
“There is nothing as meaningless as that ranking. It keeps changing, you see. In any case, if I were to estimate it roughly for the present time, the top seat is naturally Kunlun’s Sword Saint (劍聖). Second would probably be Senior Divine Halberd (神戟), but both should properly be assessed as masters of the previous generation. When they pass away, they should return their epithets to the martial world. They are just old men being shown respect. If they actually fought, who knows what would happen. Divine Halberd is so old that I am not sure he can even lift a spear. As for the Sword Saint, he has only shut himself up in Kunlun, so who knows why he is called the Sword Saint. It seems he fought a bit when he was young, though.”
Meeting a master of reckless speech again after so long felt refreshing.
“And after that?”
“After that, it becomes somewhat controversial. Perhaps this is a good opportunity to settle the rankings clearly. Then again, they are all fellows who would run if they met the Three Calamities, so I wonder what meaning such rankings have.”
“Pick one, will you.”
The Saber King looked at me.
“We would have to fight to know. How would I know?”
From the lodging, the Military Sword King replied in an displeased tone.
“……Shall we decide that ranking now?”
The Saber King snorted, then said,
“Sword King, do not eavesdrop like a rat.”
I subtly rebuked the Saber King.
“What kind of way is that to speak to your seniors? How rude.”
The Saber King said,
“What seniors are there between fellow Sovereigns? In any case, if you want to decide the ranking, come down. You should take responsibility for the words you spat out.”
This man does not retreat. And yet, I cannot understand why someone so valiant chose to retreat the moment he saw the Cult Leader.
I went out of my way to point that out.
“You say you will run from the Cult Leader, yet you have quite the courage and spirit.”
The Saber King grabbed my shoulder.
“Sect Leader, I cannot simply let myself be killed so easily.”
“That is true.”
“Is throwing one’s life away in a fight with no chance of victory what you call skill and the pride of a martial artist? If I attain the martial power to face the Cult Leader, I will go find him on my own. The match should be settled then. Not now. He trained more than twenty years longer than I have. I must be given time as well for it to be a fair fight. Do you think the Cult Leader trained all alone? He must have trained while receiving the support of the cultists, concentrating money, supplies, and spirit medicines on a single person. The environment was different from the start. You wicked bastard.”
The Saber King suddenly drew the saber from his waist and asked me.
“Do you want to have a look?”
“Let us see it.”
When I took hold of the Saber King’s blade, he spoke like someone making a barter.
“Let me see your wooden sword too. It seems like a real sword, but oddly, it is pretending to be a wooden one. That would mean an assassin used it. Let me see it. Take it out. Do not just look at my blade like a sly bastard.”
I had no choice but to hand over the wooden sword. Something about it felt unpleasant, but I could not tell why.
The Saber King’s weapon was a straight saber (直刀).
The handle was so very old that I could not estimate when the blade had been made.
“What is its saber name (刀名)?”
“It has none. Its name is that it has no name, so it is the Nameless Saber (無名刀).”
“Why does it have no name?”
“Why give some useless name to a blade that kills people? In any case, what is this one called?”
Why was the flow of this conversation so utterly chaotic?
“Wooden Sword (木劍).”
“The sword’s name is Wooden Sword? What a beggar-like name.”
“As if Nameless Saber is any different from Wooden Sword.”
The Saber King touched the blade of the wooden sword, then infused inner power into his finger and struck the sword body (劍身). With a thung— sound, the wooden sword bent so far it seemed it might break, then trembled violently.
“Ah!”
This madman?
Now I saw that he had been testing the hardness of the wooden sword. It appeared he was testing whether, when he ended up fighting me, he could cut it with his Nameless Saber or perhaps break it with a martial art like the Flicking Finger Art.
This was why it had felt unpleasant.
Because I could not lose, I too deliberately struck the Nameless Saber with a Flicking Finger Art infused with inner power.
Thooong! With that sound, the Nameless Saber shook as if it were about to snap.
The Saber King spoke with a startled expression.
“……Hey, it’s going to break. Give it back.”
We recovered each other’s weapons.
The Saber King stroked his beloved weapon and said to me,
“It’s got quite the foul temper.”
“Yours is no pushover either.”
“Looks like I’ll have to teach you a lesson. Want to have a round? To loosen up a bit.”
“Let’s not draw them.”
“Of course. I can’t very well kill you.”
I rose at the same time as the Saber King and walked into the front yard. I slowly opened my mouth.
“Ah, but then again……”
I cut myself off mid-sentence and, gripping the wooden sword, struck at the Saber King’s torso on my right. The Saber King sprang back and seized his straight saber.
Though I had displayed a considerable degree of underhandedness, the Saber King’s expression remained calm.
“……You’re asking for a beating.”
In truth, I had not intended to clash with one of the Kings this soon. I had planned to watch the sparring matches for a good while, then pick a fight with one or two of them, but that thought changed now. In any case, the Kings were men who had learned martial arts before me and whose fame reached near the very peak of the martial world.
If so…….
It was to my benefit to cross hands with every last one of them whenever the chance came. After all, I was someone who had long since grown used to quickly learning other people’s techniques.
If I could make even a single one of the Kings’ methods my own?
That was precisely the meaning of the sparring matches Im Sobaek had spoken of.
If it meant I could grow stronger, I resolved to accept, countless times if need be, the defeats I would inevitably suffer while confined within the form of a sparring match.
In truth, this was a state of mind my past self had not possessed.
Back then, I had only tried to win at all costs, no matter what it took, but the result I obtained that way had not been the greatest under heaven.
I drew the wooden sword in and held it upright, then emptied my mind.
I even forgot all concern and thought regarding victory or defeat, as though wiping them clean from a blank page.
I sealed away all twenty-three thousand four hundred sixty tricks I could unleash, then faced the Saber King.
Only then did I see the sword standing straight before my eyes.