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Two people walking down a dark street at night, simply sharing stories of their daily lives in a calm manner, is more peaceful and heartwarming than ever.
But… … suddenly I started acting crazy.
“Hup!”
Startled, I sprang up from my seat. [Why do you keep acting like a crazy person… … .]
Is this a dream? It must be a dream, right?
To think you would act so bizarrely in front of Sa-ryeon.
No, that can’t be…
“Damn it…….”
However, the vivid memory told me that yesterday’s events were by no means a dream.
And also the fact that he fainted while sparring with Baek Haegwang just moments ago.
‘Did I dream while I was unconscious?’ ‘Haa.’ This heartless human must have disappeared, leaving me behind again…
“Huh? Didn’t you go today?”
Unlike usual, Baek Haegwang was carving something with a carving knife in front of me.
I am just carving wood in an ordinary way, but I find myself strangely drawn to it.
It seems that a profound wisdom resides in every grain of the wood and every cut of the dagger.
“What… are you making?”
“I heard he wanted a doll.”
“……
If you go to the market, you can buy it with a few coins.
Baek Haegwang frowned.
“Do you think I wouldn’t know that? It just looks too crude. I’m making it because I thought I could make it.”… …
You’re cutting like that to make a wooden doll?
It doesn’t seem like using a cow-slaughtering knife to kill a chicken.
I couldn’t even imagine what the finished product would turn out to be.
As I stared blankly at his knife swings, he abruptly continued with his question.
“Did something happen while I wasn’t looking?”
“What do you mean?”
“The fellow who used to swing his sword like a beggar’s rags now swings it like a beggar, doesn’t he?”
Even if I speak Shiba, I always… … .
“It’s the same result as fainting anyway. Besides, we can’t even use the Baekwol Jecheon Samsik technique right now.”
Baek Haegwang suddenly stopped swinging his sword and looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“You lunatic, using the first move right now makes no sense in the first place. Just try learning the second and third moves like that! If you do, I’ll come running over and cut off your hand.”
It wasn’t like they were scattering murderous aura, but I got goosebumps because I felt like my wrist was really going to be cut off.
“All right.”
“Remember this: I am a man of action.”
I suppose so. That must be how he got the nickname “Sword Demon.”
I cursed under my breath, then remembered what happened yesterday and asked.
“By any chance… have you ever fought against someone who uses both Yang Qi and Yin Qi simultaneously?”
I asked because I wondered if Baek Hae-gwang, who went around engaging in endless duels, might have met someone who had mastered the Absorption Technique or dark arts.
Because you might be able to hear about what their later years were like.
After hesitating for a moment, he blurted it out as if it were no big deal.
“Hmm… there was one time.”
“Is that really true? Who was it?”
“Old man, give the order.”
“Is it an order?”
Usually, those who have mastered dark arts or sorcery tend to give themselves bizarre and ridiculous names…
“Ah, I wonder if they won’t understand if I put it that way? I’m talking about Myeongha’s seal.”
“…….”
crazy.
Isn’t Master Myeongha the former leader of the Wudang Sect?
How did you say you had a sparring match with someone who doesn’t engage in any outside activities after retirement?
I went to see him and asked him.
Are you sure you really asked for this?
Do you want to sleep all day today?
“no.”
“Well, it was an interesting duel. I also got to experience a fascinating martial art called the Yangyi Taiji Divine Art.”
What I wanted to know was the end of one who mastered the Absorption Technique, not the comfortable old age of one who mastered the Peerless Divine Technique.
“I see. Well then, I’ll be going now…….”
As I was about to get up from my seat, Baek Haegwang unleashed a sword energy, and I rolled on the floor again to dodge it.
“You want to hear the story? If you ask me to, then I guess I have no choice.”
You damned old man! When did I… … .
I was very curious from the start because it was a martial art that utilized both Yin and Yang qualities.
“Isn’t it funny? The Absorption Technique possesses internal energy of countless forms, yet it could take the user’s life at any moment. On the other hand, the Yang-ui Taiji Divine Art utilizes two different energies and possesses even greater power.”
Hmm… for some reason, it suddenly sounds worth listening to.
I solved the things I was curious about.
“Wasn’t there any kind of imbalance?”
“What imbalance?”
“In any case, aren’t two different energies existing in one place? Naturally, an imbalance will occur.”
Baek Haegwang clicked his tongue and glared at me.
“Tsk tsk. This is why I say even martial arts practitioners need to learn academics.”
I am someone who has memorized not only the books in the neighborhood bookstore but also the entire library at the school.
No matter how much knowledge you possess, what good is it if you do not understand the world?
Baek Haegwang shook his head and continued sculpting.
“That is the nature of the harmony of all things. Things that appear different can harmonize, and things that seem to harmonize can sometimes become incompatible.”
It is a strange thing.
Just like the bloody battle, the Demon Lord now casually tells stories that easily destroy conventional common sense.
“The reason the Yangyi Taiji Divine Art is considered one of the Wudang’s supreme divine arts is not merely because it utilizes two forms. It is regarded as the best divine art because those two opposing energies harmonize with one another to summon even greater power.”
“How do you mean to create harmony? Do you mean to achieve harmony by breathing fire and turning it into ice?”
I asked, thinking of the crane.
however.
Why do you see it that way?
Baek Haegwang looked at me with a look of contempt.
My daughter doesn’t ask such childish questions either.
“What? Breathing fire and making ice? Is this something out of a fairy tale?”… …
No, I just told them exactly what I saw because that’s what the Demonic Cult guys did, so why are you making such a fuss at me?
“Hah, good riddance. Even those scoundrels who practice sorcery wouldn’t say such preposterous things.”
Ah, this is unfair.
A strong desire to bring Je Geum-hak before Baek Hae-gwang immediately boiled up inside me, but I held back and listened to the rest of his explanation.
“Physical traits are about following the energy of nature. The Yangyi Taiji Divine Art is about using two opposing energies to stimulate each other.”
“hmm…….”
“If you use this, you can wield the power of twenty years with only ten years of internal energy. Not stupidly breathing fire and making ice!”
Wow, you’re giving me such a hard time just for saying one thing.
I got a lot of flak, but on the other hand, I felt relieved.
Anyway, since I am also at a level where traits are manifesting, wouldn’t you say it can be considered stable, just like the Yang-ui Taegeuk Divine Art?
Then, suddenly, another question arose from his words.
“Then… could the White Path and the Demonic Path perhaps harmonize as well?”
Baek Haegwang suddenly contorts his face as if he has something important to say.
“What kind of idiot is this? Where in the world is the Demonic Way… … .”
“No, let’s assume it does. What if we assume that the Heavenly Demon of old still exists?”
“Can their energy and the energy of Baekdo harmonize with each other?”
Perhaps this is what I was most curious about.
Because traces of the Demonic Way were appearing in the Taeeul Jingyeong, which is considered one of the purest martial arts of the White Way.
What would happen if those two things were mixed?
Will it turn black, like ink seeping into white paper?
Or will it scatter and disappear as soon as possible, like ink dropped on a river?
“hmm…….”
For some reason, Baek Haegwang stopped the carving and fell into deep thought.
I waited for him to think for quite a while in silence.
I wonder how much time passed like that.
“What if.”
He put down the knife he was holding and stared intently at me.
“If such a thing really happened…….”
“If there is?”
That would likely become a disaster for the martial arts world.
What on earth is this all about?
“Didn’t you just say something about harmony a moment ago?”
“Can the nature of the universe and the distinction between good and evil be considered the same thing?”
“Ultimately, humans have no choice but to select only one of the two: good or evil. Is it not the case that one can be both good and evil at the same time? If so, when those two energies are harmonized, the power will inevitably tip to one side.……”
Baek Haegwang picked up his sword again and aimed the tip at me.
The ordinary dagger felt sharper than ever.
“Which do you think is easier, for a human to become infinitely good or infinitely evil?”
I know the answer to this question.
Even so, I couldn’t easily bring myself to speak.
“Why can’t you answer?”
The one who wielded the sword to survive eventually becomes addicted to killing and feels pain if he does not commit murder.
One who used to shed tears at the pain of others eventually smiles as they watch others suffering.
Unreasonable things that would never happen in everyday life.
However, when driven to the extreme, humans all too easily step into evil.
Because I have witnessed that process so vividly, I.
I couldn’t answer with certainty that it would absolutely not be the case.
Baek Haegwang lowers his dagger and lets out a shallow laugh.
Did I ask too difficult a question? Or is it just that there is absolutely nothing in your head…?
“then.”
I looked at him with a serious expression and said.
No matter how much Senior Demon Sword tries to pretend to be a White Daoist, he will inevitably reveal his true intentions in the end…
puck!
“This bastard keeps calling me ‘Demon Lord’ all the time! Fine! Today, I’ll make that arrogant memory of yours fade away!”#Demon Lord Baek Haegwang said he would make my memory fade, but in the end, my memory won.
“See? My memory isn’t that easy to forget.”
Wipe your nosebleed first before you speak.
Huh? When did I get a nosebleed?
Have I been working too hard lately?
“By the way, don’t you have anything to do?”
I don’t think that is something a doll carver should be saying, given how little there is to do.
Baek Haegwang looked at the doll in his hand for a moment, then immediately kicked the sand on the ground toward me.
That person is so childish.
So what’s the point of asking someone with nothing to do?
“Could you take a look at this?”
I handed over Jeon Gwang-do’s martial arts manual.
Baek Haegwang peeked his head out and glanced at the martial arts book.
What are you doing?
“Can’t you see I’m busy? You open it up.”
Wow, at this level, isn’t his mental age even younger than his own daughter’s…
If you don’t like it, just leave.
I carefully unfolded Oil-sik’s martial arts book page by page and showed it to him.
Baek Haegwang looked at a few of the pages like that and let out a snicker.
“Who created this martial art? Did you make it?”
“why?”
“If you made this, I was planning to give it a good laugh. It was fun for the first time in a while.”
“Are you seeing things correctly? A nameless bodyguard has become a renowned warrior in a castle thanks to this.”
Well, I suppose that was the case.
Baek Haegwang let out a chuckle, wondering what was so funny.
“Because it is a martial art that puts not only my life at risk, but the lives of those with me at risk as well.”
yes?”
That tendency was definitely visible in the examinations they conducted…
But that doesn’t make sense to say that kind of thing is visible even in swordsmanship.
Baek Haegwang shook his wrist and pointed to the front page.
“Look over there, that Thunderclap Pursuit technique. What do you think that means?”
“Doesn’t that mean to chase them fast and kill them to the very end?”
“Tsk, that’s the name of the technique, but what is it actually like?”
As I remained silent, speechless, Baek Haegwang suddenly stood up from his seat.
Then, swinging a dagger, he began to unleash Oil-sik’s martial arts.
“The sight was truly magnificent. ‘Wow, the Sword Demon is definitely different. It is a completely different martial art…’ Sharp and refined techniques, to the point where one wondered if it was really the same martial art Oh Il-sik had used.”
It seemed as though he was displaying a complete realization despite lacking inner strength.
Now, here unfolds the Thunderclap Pursuit following the Thunderclap Cliff.
He lightly brought the dagger down and then extended his sword.
Did you see it?
What is it?
What’s with that sudden look?
How did this blockhead become the top student at the academy?
As I have said repeatedly… … .”
“Watch closely, you rascal. You have only reached halfway to chase and stab the enemy to the very end. And in which direction is your remaining hand pointing?”
He repeatedly bent and straightened his left hand, which was spread wide to the side.
I gaped at the sight.
It is a movement that would not look awkward at all in a one-on-one duel situation.
But if it were a situation where a large-scale battle was taking place… … ‘Crazy… …’ I didn’t even want to imagine what that bending and straightening motion meant.
“Surely not… is that really it?”
Then why would I have included this technique?
“So… you’re saying you use a comrade next to you as a sacrifice to stab the opponent?”
“Otherwise, why is this movement necessary?”
My mind went blank for a moment, and I was speechless.
Baek Haegwang, having settled back down, picked up the doll and began to cut it nonchalantly.
“If the guy who actually created this martial art is who it is, I don’t want to fight him, no matter what his skill level is.”
“If it were you, a guy with thoughts like this…….”
Eventually, his eyes grow cold.
“Can you consider him a human being?”
Baek Haegwang’s last words rang clearly in my ears.
