Chapter 074.
“Is this the true Plum Blossom Sword Technique?”
Deep within his inner world, William had permitted the Sword Demon to use his body, but their vision was shared, allowing him to observe the sword technique far more clearly.
It was a new world.
It was not his first time seeing the Twenty-Four Stances Plum Blossom Sword Technique—he felt apologetic to Wang Lei and the Huashan Awakeners who had used it before him—but this was on a different level.
Dozens of blossoming plum blossoms, and even the fragrance of plum blossoms vibrating throughout the hall.
*A fragrance that only those who have reached the realm can manifest.*
Honestly, he had thought those were just words.
Are there not such legends?
Like splitting Mount Tai with a single slash.
He had thought manifesting the plum blossom fragrance was exactly the same as that.
But that realm—that pinnacle he had dismissed as mere legend—was unfolding before his eyes.
Of course, due to the body’s limitations, he could not manifest the plum blossom fragrance and petals vibrating in all directions throughout heaven and earth, but even that was enough.
*The sword path is completely different.*
Because he possessed the talent of the Sword King, he could tell with certainty.
The sword technique the Sword Demon was unfolding now was on a different trajectory from what he had seen from Wang Lei previously.
And that was an opportunity beyond compare for him.
He meticulously observed those movements and copied the sword forms.
Swish, swish.
Deep within his inner world, he was realizing the sword path drawn in his mind and unraveling the domain of enlightenment that had come to him for the first time.
*
「Uwoooooah!」
The decapitated giant let out a bizarre shriek.
「Hah! I can’t do this anymore, I quit!」
The exhausted wife declared a strike.
Though she said that, it was because she didn’t have the strength to lift a single finger.
She couldn’t reattach the neck right now.
Therefore, the giant had to lead the fight alone without his wife’s help.
“You’re coming?”
Nameless the Sword Demon gazed steadily at the giant stomping closer.
The sight of a giant over 3 meters tall thundering forward was inevitably threatening, yet a strange composure could be felt from him.
“Since this is a rare opportunity, watch closely.”
The time he could remain in the present world through the ability of possession was fleeting.
But even that short time was enough.
Beasts leave their skins, people leave their names, and swordsmen leave their swords.
『Twenty-Four Stances Plum Blossom Sword Technique (二十四手梅花劍法)
Third Stance
Plum Blossom Spits Flame (梅花吐艶 : The plum blossom spits out flame)』
Movements like dancing.
It was closer to a sword dance than a sword technique.
Ziiiiing—
Where he traced his path, dozens of plum blossoms bloomed, creating a red energy resembling heat haze.
Slash!
Without exception, that energy severed one of the giant’s eight heads.
「Kwaaaaaack!」
His personality changed once more after losing a head.
Rampage.
Having lost his reason, the giant became truly a single beast, and his weapon became a greatsword.
He swung that blade, which was closer to a club than a sword.
『Twenty-Four Stances Plum Blossom Sword Technique (二十四手梅花劍法)
Fourth Stance
Plum Blossom Opens to Guide (梅開利導 : The plum blossom blooms and leads sharply)』
A single massive plum blossom bloomed before him.
Boom!
It protected Nameless from the giant’s greatsword.
And then.
Sssss—
The plum blossoms scattered by the impact.
As those petals flew in all directions.
Pop!
They blew off the head of the giant possessed by the Rampage personality.
And so Nameless’s onslaught for the sake of his junior continued.
What he unfolded was the Twenty-Four Stances Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
He manifested the twenty-third stance of sword forms, which originally could only be manifested by the Awakeners of Huashan who had honed their traits for a long time, or those who had risen to the position of Plum Blossom Swordmaster.
「Ugh.」
Before they knew it, the giant had shrunk to about 1 meter.
No, a brat too small to be called a giant anymore turned his body, vomiting the terror he had held in.
Fleeing.
Swish!
His speed was so swift that in the blink of an eye, he was moving to a distant place with the wife on his back.
If they let him go like this, they would not only fail to obtain the ancient fragment immediately, but he would revive with nine heads once again.
“….”
Nameless stared blankly at that sight.
And then.
Pop!
He finally moved his hand.
This time was different.
Up until moments ago, his hand had created plum blossom branches, and there he had made plum blossoms bloom.
But though sword light flashed, nothing changed.
However.
“Hup!”
Yale saw it.
Swoooosh—
On both sides of the cave, the countless plum blossom trees that decorated the place.
Truthfully, they had been an illusion.
An illusion as real as reality, created by the tremendous fragrance of plum blossoms manifested together with the sword forms.
『Twenty-Four Stances Plum Blossom Sword Technique (二十四手梅花劍法)
Twenty-Fourth Stance
Plum Blossom Fragrance Spreads Ten Thousand Li (梅花萬里香 : The plum blossom’s fragrance travels ten thousand li)』
There was nowhere the plum blossom trees, nowhere the plum blossom fragrance did not reach.
It was the same for the fleeing giant and his wife far away.
「….」
The movements of the giant who had been fleeing frantically stopped.
Shhk.
His flesh split apart.
Shhk, shhk shhk!
His flesh split into hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of strands.
Pop!
They became plum blossom petals and scattered into the air.
「Aack! Husband!」
The giant’s wife who had only been shouting abuse the entire time screamed in terror.
“My role ends here.”
Nameless, who had unfolded all twenty-four stances, let his sword drop downward.
He could have maintained possession a little longer originally, but having unfolded the pinnacle art of Plum Blossom Fragrance Spreads Ten Thousand Li, he had accelerated that time.
“Did you see well?”
A question directed inward.
But there was no answer.
“With your talent, there would be no need to ask either way.”
Having grasped the talent of the Sword King, Nameless smiled.
“I only hope that this lessens the sin I committed against Huashan even a little.”
What he had wanted was to pass down the Twenty-Four Stances Plum Blossom Sword Technique to one possessing the talent of the sword.
Through that, he could repent even a little for the sins he committed in the past.
Yes. That was enough.
“Senior Brother….”
Having conveyed that longing word, Nameless’s existence, his energy.
Sssssss.
Seeped back into the body.
“Keok!”
The moment possession ended, William’s existence, which had been hiding within, seized the body again.
“Kuuungh—”
A groan immediately burst out.
It couldn’t be helped, because Nameless’s sword technique was not something that could be unfolded with William’s current physical state.
Since he had drawn beyond his limits, his whole body ached as though he might collapse at any moment.
He glanced back.
“Hah, hah—”
Relying on Yale’s help would be difficult.
She had collapsed on the spot after the giant’s death, having exhausted all her strength and stamina.
There was no other choice.
Crunch!
He took recovery pills including the Gongjindan and various other supplements to aid his body’s recovery.
*It’s not over yet.*
He had already escaped the illusion of the sword technique that Nameless the Sword Demon had unfolded.
What was important now was not an illusion that might or might not be caught, but handling the matter immediately at hand.
Step.
He struggled forward, barely supporting his barely controllable body.
「Aack! Don’t come, don’t come!」
The wife who had been bursting with complaints at the giant’s death.
She drew the sword at her waist and threatened William.
However.
Thwack!
「Kyak!」
With no abilities other than bluffing, he could disarm her with a simple gesture.
「P-please spare me. I was just being used. That idiot giant threatened me, so I…」
The appearance of her being full of confidence just moments ago was gone.
She knelt and rubbed her hands and feet together earnestly.
But it was no use putting on a pitiful act now.
“Sorry. That won’t be possible.”
「Eek!」
The wife, realizing he would show no mercy, pulled out a hidden dagger and rushed at him.
It was a surprise attack that could have been dangerous if he had let his guard down.
Swish!
But William, who had already been prepared for her, slit her throat.
「Keuk….」
A dying scream.
Thud, roll—
The head separated from the body rolled across the ground.
A gaze filled with resentment and grudge.
But that gaze disappeared quickly.
Sssss.
The illusion created by the ancient fragment, which had not truly existed, was vanishing.
Where all those illusions disappeared, what remained was.
“Found it!”
The ancient fragment, the purpose for which William and Yale had come here.
『Mutual』
Mutual.
It was the moment they finally obtained what Yoon Chan had spoken of.
*
After the third omen, the party who had been separated for several days finally gathered in one place.
“You all completed your missions, I take it?”
At my question that got straight to the point.
Thud, thud, thud.
Without a word, they placed what they had prepared on the table.
What they placed were ancient fragments.
『Mutual』
『Opposing』
William and Yale obtained Mutual, and Jeong Do-hwan obtained Opposing.
*With this, one is complete.*
If I combined these two fragments with the two I possessed, it meant the wall I had targeted was completed.
But that wasn’t all.
I stared at the table again and looked at the remaining ancient fragments.
『One』
『Road』
『Essence』
『Advance』
Hero obtained One and Road, Chairman Kang obtained Road, and Liu Yen obtained Essence and Advance.
*Liu Yen is definitely strong right now.*
Though I had told her not to overdo it, while others obtained one, Liu Yen had produced results by obtaining two ancient fragments.
Could it be said that raising her with the Formless Extreme Poison was worth it?
*Well, there truly was no way to block the Poison Demon early on.*
Since one only begins to acquire proper poison resistance in the mid-to-late game, there were few who could currently stand against Liu Yen.
Moreover, excluding me, she was the only one who had obtained trait evolution twice, so it was natural in a way that she was pulling ahead alone.
*Still, it’s not like there were no results at all.*
Hero, who had overcome his fear by defeating Min-seok.
And hearing about it, it seemed William had also obtained a fortuitous encounter and properly learned the Twenty-Four Stances Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
If he properly learned that sword technique possessing power, technique, and even splendid variations, there would be no one who could be William’s match for the time being.
Moreover, their growth was not yet over.
I took out the two ancient fragments I had kept safely in my bag.
And I separated two of the fragments on the table—Mutual and Opposing.
If I combined the fragments I had with these two.
『Renewed Regard』
One wall was completed.
This thing with the meaning of rubbing one’s eyes and looking again was a wall that explosively accelerated growth speed.
And another.
I combined the four fragments the other companions had brought.
『Dedicated Advancement』
A wall that showed tremendous growth effects limited to a single matter.
“Hero, and William.”
And they would go to Hero and William.
“How do we… use this?”
Hero asked about the method of use.
“Just hold it in your hand and think about absorbing it.”
“Absorb?”
“Yes. Like you’re sucking it in?”
I roughly explained the method of obtaining walls, and both held the completed fragments and absorbed them.
Well, it wasn’t a grand phenomenon.
The completed ancient fragment simply emitted a faint light and disappeared after a short while.
But the change it would bring was by no means simple.
*Renewed Regard, which will rapidly accelerate the results of Late Bloomer.*
If Hero’s only weakness was that it took quite a long time until it was completed.
But due to the wall called Renewed Regard, that time could be moved up significantly.
What about William?
To that fellow possessing the innate talent called the Sword King, granting him Dedicated Advancement—a wall that allowed one to focus on a single path—made him a prodigy of the sword.
*He was one of the final survivors even before regression due to that outstanding skill and growth, but what about this time?*
At that time, he had not obtained walls.
But this time, to not repeat the same mistake, to compensate for their weaknesses, I had gifted them the best walls.
Of course, that wasn’t the end.
The competition that would begin now.
*I stake everything on it.*
An opportunity that would never come again.
I was in the midst of making complete preparations so as not to miss that opportunity.