Chapter 030
The blade fell like a guillotine, slicing through the air.
As Jang Yu channeled all his inner energy into the ultimate move of his Mountain-Breaking Blade Technique, the Great Mountain Cleaver, about to split So Seonha in half—So Seonha raised her hand.
"Crazy bitch! Master and disciple both gone mad! I'll split you in—!" Jang Yu shouted triumphantly as he swung his blade, but—
Thunk.
As if it had never possessed any power to begin with, Jang Yu's precious blade was drawn into So Seonha's hand. When his beloved weapon—which should have easily sliced through her hand and severed her arm—came to a halt, a look of profound bewilderment spread across Jang Yu's face.
"What…?"
"Is this your full strength?" she asked.
Crack.
Fractures appeared. Cracks spread like cobwebs across the blade that had never been damaged or dulled in Jang Yu's forty years roaming the martial world. Soon, they enveloped the entire weapon.
With a brittle sound, the blade crumbled into metal fragments.
Beyond them, So Seonha's gaze—cold as a frozen lake—sent chills down his spine.
"Then we're done here, right?"
Crash!
A simple punch infused with inner energy cut through the air. As Jang Yu tried to dodge So Seonha's straightforward attack, her fist left a blurry afterimage.
One fist became two.
Jang Yu hastily raised his hands to block, but So Seonha unraveled his defense with remarkable ease. Like delicately untying a rope binding herself. Jang Yu's hand, caught by So Seonha's, was naturally pushed down, and her following punch struck his chin upward.
What…?
Pain surged through him as if his jaw had shattered. His body floated backward through the air.
Jang Yu couldn't believe it.
Blood gushed from his mouth. With his jaw broken and unable to form proper words, the bandit let out a monstrous cry.
"Kuh, graah!!"
How could this be happening? Even if he had blocked hastily, how could she toy with him—a martial arts master who led the Nine Dragons Stronghold?
This made no sense.
What the hell is this?!
The curse he would have spat out if his mouth were intact circled in his mind.
Jang Yu staggered, unable to focus through the tremendous pain from his broken jaw. As he finally steadied himself, he saw So Seonha pushing off the ground.
The distance between them, which he thought had widened, closed instantly.
Seeing So Seonha's palm flying toward him, Jang Yu gathered his inner energy into his hands.
I'll turn you into a bloody pulp!!
Unable to express his rage verbally due to his broken jaw, he channeled it into a monstrous howl.
"Keugreuaaaa!"
Jang Yu's hands transformed like a wolf's, clawing at So Seonha's front. His fingernails, infused with inner energy, formed hook-like blades that whirled like a storm.
Though he had lost his blade, masters of his caliber rarely suffer significant reduction in combat ability when disarmed. A weapon is merely an extension of the body, and martial arts are an extension of the body through that weapon.
Only the effective range of his attacks was shortened.
The ultimate move of the Wolf Fang Rending Claw technique—Wolf Fang Remnant Wind—enveloped So Seonha.
Seeing this, Jang Yu's eyes gleamed.
No matter how suddenly you've grown stronger, a novice is still a novice! Do you think you can handle me?!
Just as Jang Yu was certain that So Seonha had been caught in his Wolf Fang Remnant Wind technique—
She vanished from his sight.
Simultaneously, the powerful wind of his technique lost all its momentum as if captured by a wind god's hand.
Shocked, Jang Yu tried to retreat, but So Seonha's kick struck his chest.
"Keugeoeok!"
The spiral-powered kick sent Jang Yu's body flying.
Barely managing to flip his body in midair, Jang Yu looked ahead.
Somehow, So Seonha had followed him.
Her hand was right behind him.
As energy-infused strikes crossed with metallic sounds, Jang Yu's body spun high into the air.
After rising with intense rotation, his form crashed directly into the ground, causing blood to burst from his mouth.
"Kuh, geu…"
Jang Yu glared at So Seonha with disbelieving eyes.
How could this child, who had possessed only weak inner energy moments ago, suddenly become a master capable of overwhelming him?
Was such a thing even possible?
Even those blessed with heaven-sent talent would struggle to control a sudden surge in power.
What kind of monster is she…?
Feeling strength drain from his entire body, Jang Yu gave a hollow laugh.
I can't move my body…
It must have been that final strike.
Since then, he couldn't summon any strength. Clearly, everything that had stubbornly kept him alive had been severed. His meridians, blood vessels, and even the flow of energy through his body were irregularly cut off.
"Kuh, geueuuk…"
So Seonha turned her gaze away from Jang Yu, but her hand didn't stop.
With a slicing sound, inner energy mercilessly cut through the dying Jang Yu's neck, continuing through the stronghold building behind him and causing it to collapse.
Seeing this, the bandits cried out in shock.
"Stronghold Leader!!"
"She's insane!"
"Catch that little brat!!"
"But what about Bang Soran?!"
"Forget her! Avenging our leader comes first!"
The bandits charged with terrifying momentum, but—
So Seonha's eyes, having already steeled her resolve, burned like blue flames.
Whoosh.
The sword lying beside Bang Soran flew through the air as if responding to a call, spinning as it went.
"Be-behind!! Sword behind!!"
"What?!"
"Damn, why is it fly—!"
Before he could finish saying "flying"—
Five bandits' heads disappeared from their shoulders, causing fountains of blood to erupt.
As the heads severed by Bang Soran's beloved sword belatedly hit the ground with a chilling sound, the sword landed naturally in So Seonha's hand.
"Seonha…?"
As Bang Soran looked up at So Seonha with dazed eyes, her disciple's voice reached her ears.
"I'll finish this quickly, Master."
No sooner had those words ended than blood sprayed.
The bandits' cries of alarm rose belatedly.
"Huk!"
"Damn, why is that little girl so fast?!"
"Gather! Damn it, form a formation—! Kwaak!"
The throat of the bandit trying to give orders was torn out as if mauled by a tiger.
Bang Soran recognized what it was.
The most ferocious sword technique she had mastered.
The Tiger Bite Sword Technique.
"The Jade Brilliance Divine Steps with the Tiger Bite Sword's Tiger Bite Kill…"
All techniques she had lectured So Seonha about—their names, how they unfold, how to execute them.
Now So Seonha was performing them all perfectly.
Like a whirlwind of flower petals, like white cherry blossoms blooming, sword energy soared into the sky above the Nine Dragons Stronghold.
"Thousand Blade Dancing Sleet…"
Like sleet pouring down, the sword energy beautifully and cruelly tore apart the bandits' lives.
Bang Soran's signature technique, the Thousand Heroes Sword Formula, was painting the sky.
...
Bang Soran, still sitting on the ground, watched So Seonha running toward her.
"Seonha…"
"Master!"
"Amazing. You've finally found your catalyst."
Bang Soran stroked So Seonha's head with a faint smile.
Though her hand was bloodstained, So Seonha didn't avoid her master's touch.
Bang Soran said:
"The Epiphyllum Rainbow Divine Art. It resembles the cultivation method from the Little Immortal's Chivalrous Journey…"
In the story, the protagonist So Yuhyeon named his accidentally learned cultivation method the Epiphyllum Rainbow Divine Art.
A method created through a moment of enlightenment.
Named after the rainbow that pierces through a hazy sky—the enlightenment that saved her in a moment of crisis.
So Seonha nodded at her master's words.
"Yes…"
"Is it difficult for you?"
At those words, Seonha looked down at her hands.
Though she had wiped them clean, they had been covered in blood just moments ago. The smell of blood still clung to them.
"I… I killed people…"
First kill.
This act, essentially considered a rite of passage for martial artists, always brings tremendous shock to beginners.
It's a harsh reminder of the cruel world of martial arts.
Whether from personal conflict or self-defense, the shock of taking someone's life is indescribably great.
Bang Soran understood this.
She had gone through the same process herself.
Bang Soran took her disciple's hand.
"You saved me, Seonha."
"I… did?"
"Yes. Without you, I would have…"
As if suddenly realizing her master's condition again, So Seonha cried out in alarm.
"We need to stop the bleeding right away! Wound medicine, where's the wound medicine…?!"
"Hehe…"
As she watched her disciple urgently searching the dead bandits' bodies for medicine and clothes, Bang Soran closed her eyes.
Intense fatigue washed over her.
"Master! You mustn't lose consciousness!!"
After hastily finding medicine and stopping the bleeding, So Seonha hoisted Bang Soran onto her back.
She needed to find the main road.
Following it would lead them to Xixia County.
As So Seonha changed her unconscious master's clothes and used her lightness technique to find the main road, the sun shone brightly above her head.
As if blessing the steps of the future Lady of Wishes, Little Immortal, who would one day shake the martial world.
---
📚 Author's Note:
Big thanks to Ilaube for the 2 shiny Power Stones!
🐧