Chapter 649

The trajectory was perfect.

At this distance and from this direction, there was absolutely no way to dodge it by twisting the body.

It had been swung after being calculated thoroughly.

The reason he had wanted to do this all this time but had been unable to was that, when Sword Demon stabbed into the back of his hand or the fingers holding the blade, the tremendous force and pain left him with no choice but to let go of the sword.

But after spending an extremely long time, in the end, he finally succeeded in enduring it.

So he immediately took the next step.

With the intention that someday, if he did not lose the sword, he would throw a punch right away.

In boxing terms, it was like stepping on the opponent’s foot to pin them in place and then attacking.

In boxing, it was a foul.

But here, it was not a foul.

Where were there fouls in a life-or-death battle?

That was why a bursting sound rang out. ℴ

Unfortunately, however, Su-ho’s fist did not reach Sword Demon’s face.

Instead, the air burst apart, and a shallow explosive sound echoed.

Sword Demon had dodged.

But a smile hung on Su-ho’s lips.

Life returned even to his gray, dead eyes.

There was one reason.

Because in order to dodge Su-ho’s fist, Sword Demon had given up his own sword and widened the distance.

Pulling Sword Demon’s blade, which was embedded in the back of his hand, toward himself as it was, Su-ho spoke with an expression full of thrill.

“You, the one who insists on Unity of Body and Sword, abandoned your sword?”

- Yes. I abandoned it on purpose. Since I have already mastered Unity of Body and Sword, there is no reason for me to insist on not abandoning my sword and get hit by my disciple’s fist.

“That is rather pathetic.”

- Getting punched in the face by my disciple looks even more pathetic.

That was also true.

From Sword Demon’s position, it was a realm he had already mastered, so why would he deliberately get punched in the face and ruin his dignity?

He only needed to let go of the sword once.

Pulling the blade out of the back of his hand, Su-ho said,

“You should acknowledge it now.”

- I was going to acknowledge it anyway. You have finally passed the first stage. Pass.

“Finally......!”

Thud!

Passing the first stage.

Immediately after hearing the word of acceptance, Su-ho collapsed forward as if he had fainted.

How many days and nights had he spent fighting fiercely in this place?

During that time, he had not slept, eaten, or drunk.

With only the fatigue that had built up, he should already have died dozens of times over.

Watching Su-ho fall forward and sleep as if he had passed out, Sword Demon approached and smiled.

- You brat, you are still quite fast.

He has talent. Talent.

This is why I cannot give up on you.

Sword Demon plopped down beside Su-ho.

Then he took out a bottle of alcohol and began wetting his throat while humming.

It was a celebratory drink.

***

“Mm.”

A groan.

It belonged to Su-ho.

By the time he regained consciousness, tremendous fatigue covered his entire body.

“Wow.”

Turning his body over like a baby rolling over, Su-ho let out a shallow breath.

It really hurt.

The fatigue was tremendous as well.

By the time his brow automatically furrowed from all that immense pain, he sensed Sword Demon sitting beside him.

- You awake?

“I feel like I’m going to die.”

- Then heal yourself.

“You could have healed me while I was sleeping.”

- I am someone who cuts and stabs, not someone who stitches and patches.

“Forget it. I’ll just do it myself.”

It was absurd.

As if he did not have the authority to revive him here even after cutting off his neck.

Roughly raising his body, he used a recovery skill on himself.

It felt much better.

Sword Demon said,

- Congratulations on passing the first stage.

“What is the second stage?”

- Impatient, are you? Did you want to train that badly?

“I just want to finish quickly and go home.”

- Having a clear motivation is a good thing.

“So what is the second stage?”

- If the first stage was training to become one with the sword without losing your sword, then the second stage is using your body itself like a sword.

“Is there a difference?”

- There is. Becoming one and utilizing it are different. You must know how to use your body like a sword in order to create the Formless Sword as well.

“That is difficult. But no matter how much I train my body, it cannot become as hard and sharp as a sword.”

- I know. All humans are like that. But I am not telling you to make up for it by wrapping mana around yourself.

“Then?”

- Change how you think. Do you know why you cannot become a sword?

“I don’t?”

- Because you do not think like a sword and do not act like a sword.

“......?”

- In any case, even if I explain it in words, you will not realize it. If words were enough, why would training exist?

“No, still, I think it would be better if there were a slightly more concrete explanation or theory.”

- It is exactly as I explained. You must think like a sword and move like a sword to truly become one with a sword. If you simply think of making your body hard and swinging it like a sword, then that is just a steel human, not a sword, is it?

“......?”

Was that not the same thing?

It was not.

At least, Sword Demon was saying so.

In truth, if he changed his perspective a little and widened the scope of his understanding, it was not something he could not understand at all.

But that was all.

He could pretend to understand it at least a little, but only up to that point.

Su-ho asked,

“Then if I think and act while pretending to be a sword, will I be able to deflect it even if the edge of my hand clashes with your sword?”

- Can you not believe it? Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times. I will show you myself.

Sword Demon flung his sword aside and took a stance.

Like a Chinese master, Sword Demon placed one hand behind his back and held out only one open hand.

At his gesture, Su-ho also stood up and raised his sword.

What was he trying to show?

He thought about using Vacuum Style, but decided to simply try cutting him instead.

A brief silence.

No gunshot was heard, but they moved at the same time, with neither one clearly moving first.

Like master, like disciple.

How long had they crossed swords for training? How could they not know each other?

Su-ho entered first with a thrust.

At that moment, Sword Demon’s open hand-blade came toward Su-ho’s sword like a spear, overlapping against it.

Kakakak!

“......!”

Su-ho’s eyes widened.

He had definitely heard it.

The sound of metal grinding—kagak.

At the same time, he also felt mana.

But that mana was not mana meant for a skill or a specific spell.

How should he put it? It was as if it had been overlaid like skin.

After a single exchange of blades, Su-ho retreated a good distance away.

Sword Demon’s eyes curved.

- Done already?

“Mana manifested. Did you do that deliberately?”

- I did not do it. My mana manifested on its own.

“What do you mean by that?”

- When we use a sword, we instinctively move according to how it will be most fatal and powerful, and when we receive a sword, how it will be most stable and minimize damage, do we not?

“That is true?”

- Once you or I reach a certain realm, the body reacts on its own. The same is true when facing an opponent while holding a sword, not with bare hands. When clashing against something stronger than the sword I hold, mana naturally wraps around the sword in order to protect it. No matter how excellent a sword is, it is not harder than the mana of a mana user who has reached the realm of a master.

Sword Demon lowered his hand.

- I am telling you to apply that to the body in exactly the same way. That is what I mean when I say to use your whole body like a sword and think like a sword. If you move while thinking that what you hold in your hand is not the sword, but that your body itself is the sword, then it becomes a sword and becomes a spear.

“......Ah!”

Su-ho’s eyes widened, and his mouth opened slightly.

Seeing his disciple’s realization, the corners of Sword Demon’s mouth rose in satisfaction.

- It will be very difficult. Most swordsmen, if they reach a state where they have no sword without having reached the realm of Unity of Body and Sword, become completely useless. So they handle the sword better than anyone, but paradoxically speaking, because they think of the sword as a tool, they cannot immerse themselves into the sword itself, and they find this realm difficult.

“I have a question.”

- Ask.

“Then martial artists who always handle their bodies like weapons would grasp the subtle principle of Unity of Body and Sword faster than anyone, if we look only from the perspective of the realm of Unity of Body and Sword?”

- That is a good point. And it is also correct. Because what was given to them is only their two fists.

After hearing Sword Demon’s answer, Su-ho thought for a moment.

Then, soon, he raised the corner of his mouth and said,

“In the first stage, you drove me into a corner to make sure I would not let the sword leave my hand, correct?”

- Correct?

“Then in the second stage, you are probably planning to drive me into a corner again so that I can move as a sword, right?”

- Because that way is faster.

“If that is the case, could I perhaps change the training method a little in order to break through the second stage?”

- How?

“I want to change teachers.”

- What do you mean?

“I know that as someone teaching me swordsmanship, Sword Demon-nim wants to make me grow in the most efficient way through extreme real combat. But for this stage alone, I want to choose a different method instead of that one.”

- Why?

“To begin with, I was not born as a sword. If I am driven into an extreme situation, I think I will move my arms and legs not to think and act as a sword, but as a human, in order to live and resist. In that case, I think it would be better to receive teaching from a martial artist who uses his body like spears and blades from the beginning.”

- Hmm.

Sword Demon thought for a moment.

Of course he had to think about it.

He considered everything other than swordsmanship to be heretical tricks and miscellaneous skills, but that did not mean he was a narrow-minded person.

Because he, too, had lived doing anything and everything to win with the sword, which was why he was called Sword Demon, not Sword Immortal or Sword God.

- Do you have a teacher in mind?

“There is one teacher who comes to mind.”

- Good. Go.

Unexpectedly, Sword Demon coolly gave him permission.

It was because he understood Su-ho’s sincerity.

When he flicked his finger, a Subspace Gate leading out of the Sword Demon Realm appeared.

“I will be back.”

- If you return without realizing it, you had better be prepared then.

“Yes. I will definitely realize it and come back. I am afraid of the consequences.”

After bowing politely, Su-ho stepped through the gate.

When he returned home, Jack, who was still eating, asked,

- You came back early?

Looking at the time, not much had passed this time either.

That fact was both fortunate and somehow unfair.

Do you know how much I suffered inside the Sword Demon Realm!

But what was the point of lamenting?

What mattered was progress.

He had to quickly break through the second stage, achieve the realm of Unity of Body and Sword, and go on to properly learn Formless Sword.

In that sense, Su-ho summoned the teacher he had in mind.

“You’re watching, aren’t you? Come out.”

At that moment.

The being who had heard Su-ho’s call from far away raised the corner of his mouth and appeared before Su-ho, prying open space.

- It has been a long time.

The one who revealed himself before Su-ho.

It was none other than “Shiva.”