Chapter 276

Quite a bit of time had passed since we left Henan and started for Shaanxi.

Several days went by, and the late-starting winter finally ended. Flowers bloomed in abundance, announcing that spring had arrived.

A year.

A year had passed since my life took a massive turn.

About a year since I met that senile old bastard and got forced into learning martial arts.

And the me right now was nothing like the me from back then.

The Martial Alliance Anhui Branch.

Compared to when I was there, everything had changed—where I stood, what level I’d reached.

In barely a year, I’d gone from some third-rate martial artist scraping by to reaching the pinnacle.

From a nobody parachuted in as a trash-tier squad member nobody even knew...

To now—

‘...Moon Knight, huh....’

Being called Moon Knight.

Treated as the most watched-up-and-coming junior in the Central Plains, and the “hero who saved Henan.”

‘How the hell did it end up like this?’

Was this supposed to feel profound, or was I just too overwhelmed to process it?

Honestly, I didn’t even have time to feel anything.

It was only a year. But for everything that happened inside that year, it was too violent, too tangled, too packed with chaos.

I hadn’t had a second to actually feel my new position or fame.

People kept saying I’d changed, but... how much had I really changed?

I still couldn’t feel it yet.

Even now.

‘Even right now.’

Even while standing alongside a presence so absurd I couldn’t even dare to look up at it.

SWISH—!!

My sword tore through the air in a blur. Even to my own eyes, it was fast as hell.

So this is the level I can swing at now.

That thought barely brushed my mind—

PFFT—!

—and my blade still didn’t come anywhere close to the person in front of me.

A sword strike that did nothing but cut empty air.

I’d repeated this dozens of times already, and every time the result was the same.

But I didn’t stop.

No. I couldn’t stop.

‘Center.’

I dug strength into the top of my foot to twist my sword back toward a target it hadn’t reached.

KUK—!

My foot planted into the ground, and my abdomen tightened along with it.

‘Waist.’

I focused on my waist. If my power slipped here, my posture would collapse.

Keeping a steady amount of force, I angled my sword—

and rotated my upper body in one smooth motion. Momentum carried the blade into a half-moon arc.

I didn’t use inner power. It wasn’t a crescent moon from the Blue Moon Sword Dance, either.

It was just a similar attacking posture—but the power behind it would be on a different level.

‘Did I catch him?’

Even to me, it wasn’t a bad movement. This should be decent.

The moment I thought that—

“I told you.”

A flat voice came from the front.

And then—

“You’re thinking too much.”

CLANG—!

The tip of my sword jolted and snapped up into the air.

“Ghk!”

A brutal recoil shattered the stance I’d barely been holding together.

My upper body emptied out in an instant.

A foot shot straight into that opening.

BOOM—!!

“Guhk!”

A heavy impact caved into my abdomen.

I choked out a sound, my body lifting backward.

CRASH—!

I hit the ground and had to roll across the dirt.

“Khk...!”

I rolled several times before I finally stopped, gagging and retching over and over.

“Ugh...”

It hurt like hell. I was rubbing my stomach with one hand when—

Step.

A sole appeared beneath my trembling gaze.

I steadied my breathing and slowly raised my head.

A small, compact old man stood there.

“Tsk.”

The old man clicked his tongue, like he didn’t like what he saw.

That old man was the Sword Emperor of Heaven-Beyond-Heaven.

“This easy thing, and you can’t do it.”

“...”

I had to make a ridiculous face at that.

Because that was outrageously unfair.

“We’re done for today.”

The Sword Emperor turned and walked off like he didn’t have a shred of regret.

And then he vanished in an instant.

Watching him go, I finally let out the breath I’d been holding.

“Hoooo... I’m gonna die.”

It was seriously miserable. My whole body was drenched in sweat.

And time-wise, it hadn’t even been half an hour.

I moved around a little and it still took this much out of me?

“Aaagh...”

I let my strength go and lay flat on the ground.

The weather wasn’t even hot, but with sweat pouring off me like this, everything felt scorching.

‘...How did it end up like this?’

Even while I kept catching my breath, I couldn’t stop wondering.

...What am I even doing right now?

This was the part I couldn’t wrap my head around the most.

‘...I’m getting trained by the Sword Emperor.’

The Sword Emperor of Heaven-Beyond-Heaven.

A hero of the Orthodox-Demonic War, and the man called the Greatest Sword Under Heaven—someone said to be on the same level as Yoo Cheongil.

And he was training me every single day.

Exactly half an hour.

It wasn’t long. And if you wanted to be honest, calling it “training” was generous—this was closer to one-sided beatdowns.

But still...

‘...Either way...’

Training was training.

“Ugh...”

Fatigue hit like a wave.

It had only been a few days since I started receiving training from the Sword Emperor at the request of the Moon-Thread Sword.

And like he meant every word, he really did show up every day to teach me.

...No. That’s not right. It wasn’t “teaching me swordsmanship,” exactly—

‘...He’s teaching me how to fight.’

Not sword technique.

Combat itself.

Before training started, the Sword Emperor restricted my inner power.

He told me not to use inner power to move my body, and he also sealed martial arts supported by internal arts.

When you reach the pinnacle, inner power naturally permeates the body, so “use none of it at all” was impossible—

but aside from that, he told me to use nothing.

And only then did I finally understand.

‘Yeah, I was wondering how the Sword Emperor was supposed to “teach me the sword.”’

He restricted my martial arts and inner power, then made me spar like a madman.

And during that process, if my movements had a problem, he corrected them.

Relax the top of your foot.

Don’t let your blade shake when you bring it down.

Your judgment is slow.

So what do you do next?

What do you do instead?

He pointed out every single thing, one by one.

The problem was—

‘He says it while beating the hell out of me.’

With violence packaged as “training.”

“Aaagh, my joints...”

My whole body throbbed. He’d call out a flaw, then strike that exact spot.

Joints. Bones. Everything hurt.

And on top of that—

‘...I didn’t realize it would be this exhausting without inner power.’

Maybe I’d gotten stained by using inner power without even noticing, because moving for half an hour without it had sweat pouring off me in streams.

“Ghn...”

I pushed myself upright.

“...Is this even helping?”

That was the real question.

Sure, I was receiving sparring training from the Sword Emperor himself, but...

I honestly didn’t know if this was actually good teaching.

Especially the “lesson” I’d been getting over the last two days.

‘What did he say again...?’

The criticism the Sword Emperor had been drilling into me lately.

It was—

‘That I think too much.’

That was it.

At first he’d just been correcting my movements. Then two days ago, he said this.

‘So.’

While I was sprawled out, panting, the Sword Emperor spoke.

‘You’re different from Yoo Cheongil.’

‘...Huh...?’

I could barely lift my head to look at him.

Of ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) course I’m different. Even our faces are on different levels, you old bastard.

But it didn’t seem like that was what he meant.

‘Erase your thoughts.’

‘...Pardon?’

‘That’s what you need to do from now on. You think too much.’

When you step into a fight, erase your thoughts.

I had too many useless thoughts.

“...No, but.”

If I had anything to complain about—

“...How do you not think?”

How was I supposed to not think while fighting?

It made no sense.

‘There’s a mountain of things I have to think about. How am I supposed to ignore all of it?’

The angle of my feet. The opponent’s emotions and intentions. Responses and prevention. Even if I calculate and judge all of it, it still wouldn’t be enough—

‘Erase my thoughts?’

That was a fucking joke, especially for someone like me.

Was this really advice that would help?

Or was this just him taking out his frustrations by beating me?

Right when that thought crept in—

[Listen carefully.]

Yoo Cheongil spoke while looking down at me.

[It’s something I’ve pointed out over and over, and if nothing else, that bastard is specialized in teaching people.]

“...”

Yoo Cheongil—shockingly—said it like he was defending the Sword Emperor.

Was the Sword Emperor really like that?

[He’s fundamentally different. He’s the type who clawed his way up from the bottom with nothing but the will to reach the sky. When it comes to fighting, he’s been through everything.]

“...No...”

Even so.

“Does it make sense to tell me to erase my thoughts?”

Yoo Cheongil snorted with a laugh.

[He’s not telling you to erase them.]

“...Then what?”

[He’s telling you to move your body first—before you start thinking.]

“So you’re saying...”

How the hell was I supposed to do that? I was about to let it out like a sigh—

[If you’re carrying too much in your head, you die before you ever express it. That’s real combat.]

“...”

At Yoo Cheongil’s serious tone, I had to shut my mouth.

He sounded completely firm.

[Your method isn’t bad. It even fits you well... but you still need to learn some of this.]

“...Yes.”

It was criticism coming from two people who carried the title Greatest Sword Under Heaven.

If I argued back, all I’d be doing was spitting in my own face.

‘This isn’t easy.’

In my past life, thinking myself to death still wouldn’t have been enough.

And here they were telling me that instead of thinking, I needed to move first.

“Ah... this is exhausting.”

It really was a brutal assignment.

I wrestled with it until my head hurt, then groaned as I got up.

And I looked up at the moon hanging in the sky.

“Shit.”

I wasted too much time drowning in thoughts.

I had to move.

‘It’s my turn first today, isn’t it?’

The night watch we took every day.

Today, I’d be the first shift.

I hurried back toward the campsite.

I’d been a bit far away for training.

‘How much farther...?’

Heading to Mount Hua.

We left Henan, and a lot of time had already passed since then.

Distance-wise, we still had a long way to go.

‘...Does that mean I have to do this the whole way there?’

I shuddered.

Even once a day was hell. Doing this every day until we arrived?

It sent a chill up my spine.

“Goddamn it... so there isn’t some kind of way to—”

I was about to ask Yoo Cheongil if there was anything—

[Shut your mouth. There are eyes.]

“...”

My body reacted to the warning and my mouth snapped shut.

Eyes?

‘...Where?’

I glanced at Yoo Cheongil. He was pointing at something.

The forest. A forest so dark I couldn’t see anything in it.

I couldn’t sense any presence at all.

‘...What is this?’

What the hell was going on?

I kept walking toward the campsite, forcing myself to stay as natural as possible.

[Don’t panic. That bastard Sword Emperor already has his eyes on it.]

“...”

That at least made me breathe easier.

Right.

‘It would be weird if something actually went wrong with this group.’

We were traveling with Heaven-Beyond-Heaven.

What danger could possibly exist here?

I kept moving—

‘Huh?’

—and a strange scent drifted past me.

It felt like flower fragrance. Fresh, soft, almost gentle.

‘...Because it’s spring?’

Winter had ended. Spring had arrived.

So maybe it was just the smell of flowers—

But even so...

‘Something’s off.’

It felt different.

It wasn’t just flowers.

[Hm.]

Yoo Cheongil let out a quiet laugh.

[Seriously. That bastard has a hell of an eye for people.]

What was he talking about?

I was still confused when Yoo Cheongil added—

[How does he always pick out brats like that to raise? It’s impressive every time I see it.]

What the hell was he talking about?

I still didn’t get it.

And then I reached the campsite.

“...Huh?”

There were strange presences gathered where everyone was.

I narrowed my eyes.

There were people.

No—there were a lot of them.

“Ah, Young Master Bang.”

Cheon Eujin spotted me as I approached.

At that, the others’ gazes all snapped toward me.

They were wearing martial uniforms made of bright white cloth, embroidered with flowers.

And seeing them, I realized.

‘Ah.’

That flower scent I’d been smelling—

It was coming from them.

How did people reek of such thick flower fragrance?

While I was still thinking that—

“Are you the one responsible for this group?”

The person at the front stepped forward and spoke to me.

A rugged man with a solid build and a square face—someone who looked unmistakably masculine.

“Excuse me. I am the second-generation disciple of Mount Hua Sect. My name is Yeo Hyeok.”

“...”

Second-generation disciple Yeo Hyeok.

I knew that name.

‘...That guy.’

Before Yuyeon showed up and stole everyone’s attention—

‘Before that.’

The former youngest-ever Plum Blossom Sword Unit member.

A man who made a name for himself as Mount Hua Sect’s once-in-a-generation genius.