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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: To the Central Plains (1)
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* * *
*Fwoosh!*
White flames danced each time the sword sliced through the air.
Jinmyeong swung his sword relentlessly, without rest.
'The internal energy consumption is still too high.'
With every swing, sword energy surged.
The Asura Sword Forms seemed to be a martial art designed to naturally emit sword energy.
'It must have been inconvenient for others, consuming so much internal energy.'
Strangely, the internal energy consumed by the sword energy released when performing the Asura Sword Forms was greater than usual.
So, others would have tried to reduce its consumption.
'And if they reduced the energy consumption, its power would have naturally diminished.'
Because if they didn't, they wouldn't have been able to perform it more than a few times.
'If you cut the energy consumption in half, its power doesn't just halve—it drops to a third.'
It was only natural that people didn't learn such a martial art.
There were plenty of other martial arts that consumed less energy and were just as powerful.
There was simply no need to learn the Asura Sword Forms.
'Hmm. But there's something about this…'
After swinging his sword for a long while, Jinmyeong opened the manual again.
'Is this… really a sword art?'
This question kept nagging at him.
In fact, the more he practiced the forms, the stronger the doubt became.
'The energy consumption is one thing, but the movements are also too strange.'
When Jinmyeong mentioned movements, he meant not only the motions of the sword art but also the flow of internal energy.
'It's fundamental, but some of the movements I see are…'
Looking at the movements first, they were basic, yet sometimes involved strange postures.
'It's almost like a dance performed during a ritual…'
Jinmyeong strongly felt this.
Despite its name, it didn't feel like a practical combat sword art.
'I think it has something to do with this sword energy.'
When creating sword energy from internal energy, one usually makes it sharp.
To cut the opponent more easily.
To cleave through the opponent's sword as well.
But the sword energy of the Asura Sword Forms was different.
'Hmm.'
Jinmyeong opened the manual again.
He quietly studied the movements illustrated in the manual.
'What if this isn't sword energy?'
The sword in the illustration was wreathed in something.
Jinmyeong had simply assumed it was sword energy.
'I thought that moving internal energy would naturally release sword energy…'
If this wasn't sword energy, then what in the world was it?
Jinmyeong felt he knew what it was.
*Fwoosh!*
Soon, the sword in his hand was engulfed in white flames.
'What if this is also a martial art of the Fire-Worshipping Cult?'
The Fire-Worshipping Cult is a religion that reveres fire.
If so, perhaps what was shown in the illustration wasn't sword energy, but these flames.
'I wish there was some text…'
He wanted confirmation that the first Heavenly Demon had left this martial art behind.
After all, everything he was thinking now was just his own speculation.
'In any case, this is no ordinary martial art.'
Jinmyeong felt that this art hadn't originated in the Central Plains, nor in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
'The possibility that it's truly a martial art of the Fire-Worshipping Cult is high.'
He wondered if that was why he felt no burden in learning this art.
'Or perhaps the first Heavenly Demon created it by referencing the arts of the Fire-Worshipping Cult.'
The internal energy cultivation method he had learned.
Just like the Divine Arts of Heavenly Flame.
'If the first Heavenly Demon really did create this art, why did he make it?'
This art, which was completely useless unless one had learned the Divine Arts of Heavenly Flame or the internal cultivation method of the Fire-Worshipping Cult.
'Did he want to make it a basic sword art?'
Could he have intended for it to be the basic martial art of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?
'His intention isn't what's important.'
He didn't know if the first Heavenly Demon had truly created this art, but Jinmyeong didn't think it was necessary to find out.
'What's important is that it doesn't seem to be a weak sword art, as others have judged it.'
It would be a problem for someone who hadn't learned the arts of the Fire-Worshipping Cult, but hadn't Jinmyeong learned the Divine Arts of Heavenly Flame?
'Was I just lucky?'
He couldn't know how incredible the Asura Sword Forms truly were.
But it was certainly related to the first Heavenly Demon, or the Fire-Worshipping Cult.
Just like the other martial arts he had learned so far.
'I think I can train even harder now.'
Of course, he had been training hard before, but a part of him couldn't help but feel disappointed that he couldn't learn a stronger sword art.
But now that he knew the Asura Sword Forms wasn't just a martial art with a grand name, he planned to see it through to the end.
'Of course, I don't know if this is actually true.'
No one had told him so, nor were there any writings from the creator of the Asura Sword Forms.
He was only guessing because the handwriting in the manual was similar to that of the first Heavenly Demon.
In the end, if Jinmyeong's thoughts were correct, it could be something incredible, but it could also all be a baseless delusion.
'I can only hope it's an incredible martial art.'
Learning another martial art is impossible.
His body rejects it.
Having organized his thoughts, Jinmyeong picked up his sword and began to swing it like a madman again.
* * *
How long had it been since he received the Asura Sword Forms from the Mad Demon and began to learn it?
'Has it been about ten days?'
It felt like a lot of time had passed, but that wasn't the case at all.
In fact, not even a month had gone by.
Nevertheless, Jinmyeong couldn't shake the feeling that he had been practicing the Asura Sword Forms for a very long time.
'Is it because the movements are too simple?'
It wasn't a martial art with many movements.
Rather, it was all just slashing in various directions and thrusting.
He repeated those few movements for over twenty hours every day.
"Young Master."
And today, as Jinmyeong was engrossed in swinging his sword, Yang Jeon approached him.
"Are you at it again? Don't you ever get tired of it?"
Yang Jeon clicked his tongue as he watched Jinmyeong practice only basic sword techniques every day.
He probably couldn't have done the same.
That's how tedious Jinmyeong's training was.
"It's something I have to keep doing."
I need to drill it into my body until I can use it in a real fight.
With that thought in mind, Jinmyeong continued this tedious training.
'Besides, there's nothing else to do.'
To be honest, this reason was probably the clearest.
If this place had as much entertainment as the modern world, Jinmyeong might not have trained his martial arts like this.
He definitely would have taken it easier.
'But there's really nothing to enjoy.'
There are no computers, no TVs, and no smartphones.
There was alcohol, but Jinmyeong wasn't one to enjoy drinking.
In the end, the only thing Jinmyeong could do was train his martial arts.
"Hoo. I could never do that."
"Really? Is that why you aren't practicing the martial art I taught you?"
"No, that's…"
Yang Jeon looked flustered.
"If you don't want to learn it, you don't have to."
"That's not it, but I have a lot of work to do, you know."
It wasn't that Yang Jeon had no interest in martial arts.
On the contrary, he was also in the process of learning them.
He just wasn't very skilled.
Jinmyeong had taught him a martial art.
The very sword art that the first Heavenly Demon had created and then discarded, deeming it not powerful enough.
"The Lightning Flash Sword Art is a pretty outstanding fast sword technique."
"I know. Like I said before, it's because I have a lot of work."
Just because the first Heavenly Demon discarded it didn't mean it was a weak sword art.
Rather, his standards were just too high.
The Lightning Flash Sword Art was also an incredible martial art, the kind that would cause an uproar if its manual were tossed into the martial world.
"I'm not someone who can just train in martial arts all day like some people."
And Yang Jeon, who was learning it, was keenly aware of this fact.
He simply couldn't practice because he was genuinely busy.
Recently, as rumors spread through the Cult that the Mad Demon was sponsoring Jinmyeong, his workload had increased.
Even though the cause of it all was just leisurely training.
"More importantly, this arrived."
"Hm."
Jinmyeong took the letter Yang Jeon handed him.
"It's from the Hall of Demonic Edicts."
The Hall of Demonic Edicts, located in the Heavenly Demon's Fortress, was responsible for relaying the Heavenly Demon's commands.
When a mission was issued, their role was to find a suitable person and deliver the orders.
No one could refuse a mission that came through the Hall of Demonic Edicts.
"Is this my mission?"
"Yes."
Jinmyeong began to read the letter.
'Departure in five days.'
There was still time.
He had already heard he had to go to the Central Plains and had been preparing, so there would be no problem leaving at any time.
'The objective is…'
Jinmyeong continued reading the letter.
'To retrieve a lost treasure?'
The mission was simple.
A treasure stolen from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult long ago had resurfaced in the world.
'It's funny that it suddenly appeared in this situation, but the most absurd thing is, who on earth could have stolen a treasure from this place?'
This was the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, of all places.
He wondered if it was even possible to steal a treasure while avoiding the eyes of a supreme master like the Heavenly Demon.
'Hmm. Maintain secrecy?'
At the end of the letter, there was a clause about maintaining secrecy.
'Then I can't ask Yang Jeon about it.'
He became curious about how the treasure was stolen and what it was.
But the Heavenly Demon didn't seem inclined to kindly resolve Jinmyeong's questions.
Besides the instruction to retrieve the previously lost treasure, it only stated the departure date.
'But they're not even giving me a destination?'
There was no destination.
In other words, Jinmyeong wouldn't be moving alone.
'This wasn't in the novel.'
That was only natural.
The novel began after the protagonist had already entered the martial world.
To be precise, it started with him knocking on the doors of the Righteous Alliance.
And right now, the protagonist was in the middle of his training with his master.
'So, I have to start without knowing anything.'
Even if it wasn't related to the protagonist, it might have been mentioned in the novel as a past event.
But he couldn't remember such details.
'It probably means it's not that important.'
In other words, this matter wasn't very important.
'I'll just go and come back without any fuss.'
Yang Jeon approached Jinmyeong, who had organized his thoughts.
"What's the mission?"
"I don't think I'm supposed to say. Are you sure you can handle it?"
"No! Then please don't tell me!"
When Jinmyeong asked with a smirk, Yang Jeon hastily shook his head.
He felt that if he heard the story, his head might just get lopped off without a sound.
"Anyway, I'm leaving in five days."
"I see. Am I going too?"
"I think I'm going alone. If I could bring someone along, there'd be no need for secrecy."
At Jinmyeong's words, Yang Jeon nodded and then grinned.
"Then I'll be free for a while."
"Don't be ridiculous. Are you looking for the person I asked you to find?"
"I am looking, but does such a person really exist?"
The people Jinmyeong had asked Yang Jeon to find were the ones the Mad Demon had mentioned to him.
People who could use sorcery or mystical arts.
"That's why I'm telling you to look."
But things like sorcery weren't common.
In fact, it had been a long time since practitioners of such arts had shown themselves, so Yang Jeon didn't easily believe in it.
'True. If I hadn't heard about it from the Vice Cult Leader, I wouldn't have known either.'
Of course, he had seen something peculiar in the cave where he'd had his fortuitous encounter.
But until he heard it from the Vice Cult Leader, he had been uncertain.
"I'll do my best, but please don't get your hopes up."
"I know."
The Mad Demon had also said that he hadn't seen any sorcerers recently.
'I'm not expecting much, but it would be great if he finds someone.'
He would be overjoyed if, upon his return from the mission, Yang Jeon had found the person he was looking for.
"Anyway, keep looking."
"Yes, I'll do that."
Jinmyeong ignored the sighing Yang Jeon and began to swing his sword again.
He planned to continue training the Asura Sword Forms until his departure.
And Yang Jeon shook his head, watching Jinmyeong swing his sword again as soon as their conversation ended, never seeming to tire of it.