Chapter 8: Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword

“Alright, let’s begin with the first form of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword. Il-mok, what do you think is the most important move for any swordsman?”

“A devastating killing move that can end an opponent in a single strike?"

Master shook his head at my answer.

“For a swordsman, nothing is more important than drawing the sword itself. If you get ambushed or a fight breaks out of nowhere, what happens if you can’t even get your sword out? You die a pointless death.”

"Now that you mention it, that does seem to be the case."

In the martial arts novels and webtoons I'd read, the characters are usually already wielding their swords or weapons by the time a fight breaks out. But if you think about it, in real combat, opponents would frequently try to prevent you from drawing your sword. After all, real enemies rarely wait patiently while you prepare your ultimate technique.

“Mastering unarmed combat techniques like fist arts, palm techniques, and grappling are basic requirements for a swordsman in case you cannot draw your sword. Moreover, depending on the distance between you and your enemies, using unarmed combat techniques or grappling might be more effective than using your sword. But remember this, if your mastery of fist and palm techniques is greater, you’d be a failure as a swordsman."

"Your words are truly wise, Master."

Using my well-honed skills of flattery developed through years of corporate life, I provided an appropriate amount of boot-licking. My Master smiled slightly as he finished his explanation.

“And that’s what makes the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword so brilliant. Its first form, the Soul-Departing Sword (脫魂備劍), is a movement directly linked to the act of drawing the sword.”

Having finished his explanation, Master shifted his right foot back a step, slightly bending both knees into a flexible posture, and simultaneously drawing the sword at his side and aiming it forward.

"Step back once while drawing your sword to face the enemy. The key to this Soul-Departing Sword is drawing your weapon while simultaneously blocking the path of your opponent's incoming attack."

It seemed to be a stance designed to block the enemy's attack while drawing the sword, and immediately after drawing, assume a flexible posture aimed at the enemy while transitioning to offense.

But no matter how fancy the theory was, what it actually looked like was... pretty basic.

He was just stepping back and pulling out his sword. That was it.

Since Master was looking at me expectantly, I grasped the scabbard with my left hand and the sword handle with my right, attempting to mimic the movement.

After trying once, I realized it wasn't as easy as it looked.

The most awkward part was the act of drawing the sword itself.

Since the length of the blade was about three feet, it inevitably scraped against the scabbard during the drawing process. Because of this, instead of being drawn smoothly like Master's, mine came out with a jerking motion.

Seeing me awkwardly draw the sword, Master smiled gently.

“Now do you see why the draw is so important? If you pull your sword out like that, you’ll be dead before the fight even starts.”

I don't know why he's cursing me with a smile.

Despite his harsh words, Master provided kind instruction.

“When drawing the sword, it’s not just the hand holding the sword that's important. Depending on the angle at which the sword is drawn, you must also adjust the angle of the scabbard with the hand holding it. Furthermore, you need to coordinate your shoulders and body with these movements."

He didn't just explain verbally, but physically adjusted my posture with his hands.

After practicing drawing the sword several times under Master's guidance, I gradually got the hang of it.

Swoosh!

When I finally managed to draw the sword cleanly without jerking and assumed the proper stance, Master nodded with satisfaction.

"You've taken your first step. Now, let's add some variations. An enemy's attacks won't always come from the same direction. You must be able to defend while drawing your sword in various situations."

Saying so, Master demonstrated several variations. Though it was the same basic act of drawing the sword, the path of the blade during each draw was different.

Sometimes he would draw the sword to block an attack aimed at his head, and sometimes he would block an attack aimed at his legs.

Then he did one where he spun to the right while stepping back, drawing the sword to block an attack to his side.

“Now, this old man will slowly swing his sword at you, so try to block it while drawing your sword.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Master slowly extended his sword towards me.

A chilling aura emanated from the sword as it flew towards me. Even though its speed was slow, it was a sight that sent shivers down my spine.

Clang!

Perhaps because of its slow speed, I managed to draw my sword and block it.

And as I sheathed my sword again, Master thrust his sword at a different angle.

Swoosh!

Clang!

It was a strange sensation.

I hadn't practiced blocking from these angles at all, but I was somehow doing it naturally.

Swoosh!

Clang!

Maybe it was because I'd grasped the core concept, whenever I thought, 'I should move like this,' my body moved naturally according to that thought and blocked the strike.

"Hahaha. Indeed, this old man's eyes weren’t wrong after all."

Master laughed, seemingly pleased with my aptitude.

"Now then, let's raise the difficulty."

Shhhwing!

He abruptly increased the speed of his sword strike.

'Fuck!’

Even though I almost screamed involuntarily, my body moved on its own.

Swoosh!

Clang!

Swoosh!

Clang!

After successfully blocking a couple of times, my startled heart calmed down. Then, noticing that my eyes had become composed, Master increased the speed once more.

'Whew.'

However, this time I wasn't as surprised as before.

Swoosh!

Clang!

We did that over and over again for dozens of reps with him getting a little faster each time and attacking from all different angles.

Shhhweeeeng!

Swoosh!

Clang!

“Hahaha! I’d say that’s enough. You’ve got the basics of the Soul-Departing Sword down perfectly.”

Master smiled with satisfaction and stepped back.

“Whew.”

As soon as he stepped back, all the tension drained out of me, and I couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

Drip.

The sound of sweat dropping from my head onto the floor penetrates my ears.

At some point, sweat had been pouring down like a waterfall. I hadn’t noticed it at all while I was in a state of extreme focus.

I stared at my sword-wielding hand with half-dazed eyes.

'Is this really my body?'

The attacks Master unleashed before sheathing his sword were truly at a speed difficult to follow with my eyes.

To be precise, it was a speed that the eyes of Seo Ji-hoon wouldn't have been able to follow.

But these young eyes clearly saw Master's sword trajectory. Of course, considering the uncanny movements he displayed at the inn, he must have been going easy on me, but it was certainly an incredible speed.

Nevertheless, these eyes had accurately perceived that trajectory, and the moment I thought I had to block it, my body moved naturally without the slightest hesitation.

'What is this cheat-like talent?'

If this kid had been born back in my time, he could've probably won a gold medal in Olympic fencing.

Though here, I was just a disciple of a cult leader.

***

How much time passed as I repeatedly practiced the Soul-Departing Sword?

Master's voice pierced my sweat-drenched ears.

“Hmm. Look at the time. We don’t have much time left, so let me teach you the internal energy circulation method for the remaining time."

Master approached me, instructed me to sit cross-legged, and adjusted my posture.

“While the martial arts practiced by the hypocrites of the Central Plains are divided into internal energy cultivation, sword arts, footwork, and so on, and take a long time to master, the martial arts of our Divine Cult are mostly integrated into one. It's thanks to the predecessors who paved the way beforehand, so that we may become stronger in a short period and punish the wicked. Hahaha.”

Master spoke with pride, but after filtering it through my own logic, I grasped the true meaning.

The orthodox sects' martial arts have no side effects and utilize the proper internal energy, so they can use various different techniques, but Demonic Arts are dangerous even if you only learn one, so they integrated similar ones together.

Sword techniques, internal energy circulation, footwork, movement techniques, and unarmed combat or grappling to support swordsmanship.

If I were to learn at least five or six different Demonic Arts in the same way as the orthodox sects, it would mean acquiring five or six different mental illnesses.

'...You know, maybe the old-school Demonic Cult is actually that crazy.'

I could say that the grace of the predecessors Master spoke of was truly great. If it weren't for them, I would have had to choose from five or six mental illnesses.

As that realization dawned on me, I breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

“Now, I will show you the meridians through which internal energy flows according to the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword's cultivation method."

He started poking me in various spots with his finger as he explained.

"First, you should memorize the meridians and acupoints I am teaching you now. You can learn the rest of the human body's meridians and acupoints from Hayeon later."

As soon as Master finished speaking, Jin Hayeon bowed her head.

And after finishing his explanation, Master suddenly placed his palm on my back.

"Concentrate. Usually, it's important to circulate internal energy yourself to become familiar with it. However, since you started late, this old man will give you a little boost.”

As soon as he finished speaking, something began to enter me through Master's hand touching my back.

It was truly an extraordinary sensation—one I had never experienced before in my life.

That energy which had entered my body settled down in the center of my body and stopped moving.

"This is your dantian. Now, try to inhale deeply through your nose. Imagine pulling the air into the deepest parts of your lungs."

Master spoke casually even while channeling internal energy into my dantian.

I did as he said and took a deep breath, and Master’s energy that was sitting in my dantian started to move.

It drifted toward the air I’d just breathed in, extracted something, and returned to the dantian together.

Then, starting from the dantian, it began circulating through my body together.

“This is the Qihai Acupoint.”

Each time my Master's internal energy and the energy I had inhaled reached specific points, Master would name them.

Feeling the Qi directly touching me like this allowed me to grasp the exact location much more accurately than when he pointed it out with his finger.

I’m not sure how long I sat there, totally focused on his voice and the flow of energy.

After repeating deep breaths dozens of times and successfully memorizing the flow of Qi and all the acupuncture points...

Master's energy, which had been residing in my dantian, returned to his hand, and he withdrew the hand he had placed on my back.

But now that I was used to 'Qi' and having successfully memorized the pathway of the cultivation method, I could actually manage to circulate it by myself.

“Inhale.”

“Exhale.”

I sat there for a bit, circulating the energy all on my own.

When a bean-sized amount of energy finally settled in my dantian, I calmly exhaled and opened my eyes.

I peeked to the side and saw that the hourglass they were using as a timer had completely run out.

Master offered congratulations with a delighted smile.

“Hahaha. Congratulations on officially starting your journey with the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“Hahaha. Now that you’ve achieved the Tainted stage, you must diligently cultivate until you reach Transcendence.”

“I will do so.”

It was a matter of course. I had no intention of living as a madman for the rest of my life.

Master stroked his beard while watching my determined expression with satisfaction, then uttered something strange.

“And on that note, your resolve in choosing the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword is truly admirable.”

“???”

“The Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword is a martial art that gradually breaks down the opponent by responding to their movements in any situation. Therefore, it is a martial art that demands perfection to be able to cope with any situation. You could even say the side effect was born from the art’s philosophy.”

“Does this mean enlightenment comes faster than with other martial arts?"

“As I said before, you have to strive for perfection, so even with the help of the side effect, the level of achievement is not particularly faster than other Demonic Arts.”

Up to this point, it was just slightly disappointing. It meant that even with the 'help' of the side effect, progress wouldn't be explosively fast.

But I had already accepted that to some extent the moment I started learning the Demonic Art, so it didn't matter.

At least, until what came next.

"However, no matter how perfectly one prepares, relying on a fixed method eventually leads to limitations. For the practitioner of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword to go beyond the Extremity and reach Transcendence, a change beyond perfection is necessary. The problem is, the side effect makes it incredibly hard to break free from the very perfection you’ve built for yourself.”

“…….”

So basically, he's saying it's incredibly difficult for this art to achieve Transcendence?

"Yet, you chose this difficult path, which makes this old man truly proud as your Master."

“…….”

Looking at Master and Jin Hayeon, who were gazing at me with satisfaction, I thought to myself,

'You should have told me that BEFORE teaching me, you fucking lunatics!!'

It was a scream I couldn't bring myself to utter.