Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 128

After finishing cleaning up the mess left by Maeng Guk’s group, I unpacked my things and sat down.

It was time to focus entirely on myself.

I looked up at the ceiling for a moment, organizing my thoughts on what had happened.

It had been a little over half a year since I started my journey as a warrior.

I set off in early spring, and already winter was approaching.

So much had happened in that short time.

I had overturned the largest black market in the country, acquired Jeong Jin-soo, who would be known as the Sword Demon in the future, and in Gyeongju, I had formed a bond with Valery and gotten a little closer to the secret of the Black Night.

The events of the Nine Dragon Stronghold, Mireinae Village, and the Black Otter Assembly… I had been running non-stop.

Looking back, it was a truly intense and hectic time.

I had handled major events one after another in a short period.

Thanks to that, there were no urgent matters to deal with for a while.

‘The only thing left would be the Black Night’s seal, but that’s impossible right now.’

Before coming here, I had stopped by Sungmoo Mountain to get information on the next seal.

The problem was that the content of that seal was not something I could do anything about right now.

So, the biggest event coming up would probably be the World Martial Arts Tournament.

‘Jang Han did invite me to come.’

The big tournament that Jang Han had mentioned.

It was a martial arts competition open to any young martial artist under the age of 20, as long as their identity was verified.

I remember that the first tournament had gained quite a bit of popularity and had grown in scale.

In my past life, it was held every two years, and countless young warriors made a name for themselves.

‘It would fit the purpose of my warrior journey, but… it’s not very appealing.’

If I achieved good results there, I would gain quite a bit of fame. But right now, that fame doesn’t mean much to me.

According to the warrior journey plan I had made when I was still in the family, I wouldn’t even have time to come to Tsushima Island.

There were so many people to meet and things to get that I had planned it very meticulously.

Of course.

‘Thanks to Jeong Jin-soo, I have time.’

After returning from Russia this time, I was a little surprised to hear about the progress of things.

Jeong Jin-soo had already taken care of a significant portion of the information I had given him in advance.

‘The Sword Demon is the Sword Demon.’

Thanks to that, I now had time to look back on what I had.

I needed to use this time to refine what I had gained on my warrior journey.

‘Jang Han, Behemoth, Mireinae Village….’

There were many times I was surprised, and many times I felt inadequate.

I gained and prepared a lot, but I also realized that in the end, everything depended on having a solid foundation of personal strength.

‘I might not have this kind of time in the future. I have to make the most of it.’

I had been running non-stop for a little over half a year, and while I had gained a lot, I hadn’t had time to look back on what I had.

To borrow Choi Butler’s expression, I had climbed the mountain quite quickly, but I didn’t know what path I had taken.

‘First of all, I need to review my magic power technique.’

Through this warrior journey, I had opened a door that had been blocking my way.

I had grasped the clue to the 4th Stage, which I had not been able to understand.

‘The freedom that my aunt mentioned. I think I understand a little bit what she meant when she said I could do more than I imagined. That was the beginning of the 4th Stage.’

There were two major events.

My understanding increased as the Five Fortunes expanded through the Goblin Wrestling, and my insufficient magic power was filled to a sufficient level by absorbing the elixir.

And I gained enlightenment on things I didn’t understand while teaching the Black Otter Assembly leader.

I slowly got up from my seat.

This enlightenment was not the kind that could be acquired by sitting and thinking.

Sssst!

I raised my aura, wrapped it around my body, and slowly took a stance.

‘If the 4th Stage of the new magic power technique that my aunt and I created is as I guessed….’

Perhaps the concepts of the countless magic power techniques, martial arts secrets, and profound mysteries that exist in the world will be shaken.

‘Let’s begin.’

I slowly picked up my weapon and began to move.

It was the beginning of serious training.

* * *

There is one thing that beginners of magic power techniques, or ordinary people who have not learned magic power, greatly misunderstand about the stages of warriors or the levels of magic power techniques.

That is the illusion that stages and levels are clearly divided, and that if you overcome a certain obstacle, you will suddenly be able to do things that you could not do before.

That’s a foolish thought.

This world is not a game.

It doesn’t mean that you can suddenly learn a new skill and use it freely.

The stages and levels of magic power techniques are closer to studying.

You climb up step by step, gradually filling in what you couldn’t do before.

As you do so, your overall understanding widens, and the range of what you can do expands.

Just like in mathematics, a child who only knows addition and subtraction understands multiplication and practices it, and eventually can handle it with mental arithmetic.

Therefore, words like ‘If you can do this, you are at this level!’, ‘If you can do this, you are at this stage!’ are meaningless.

However, for the sake of research and systematization of magic power techniques, they have been theoretically divided into several stages.

1st Stage, Strengthening.

The entry stage of accepting magic power and strengthening the body.

2nd Stage, Qi Control.

The developing stage of changing the nature of magic power and using it in various ways.

3rd Stage, Qi Circulation.

The stage of beginning to exhibit various superhuman abilities through magic power.

4th Stage, Qi Transformation.

Those who reach this level can begin to use aura, the purification of magic power.

5th Stage, Gang Gong [罡功 – Gāng Gōng: a high-level skill involving the manipulation of ‘gang qi,’ a potent form of internal energy].

The stage of being able to utilize Gang Qi Gong, that is, aura skills, and freely utilize aura.

This was the general perception and distinction.

Of course, after learning magic power techniques that even handle magic power circuits, these stage distinctions became meaningless to me.

As soon as I entered magic power, I accomplished things corresponding to the 2nd Stage, and even while doing things corresponding to the 2nd Stage, I could mix and use things from the 3rd Stage.

Since the commonly used classification method was meaningless, my aunt called it a new name, ‘Stage.’

And through this event, I gained enlightenment on magic power techniques and saw beyond the wall of that 3rd Stage.

‘The 3rd Stage was the stage of handling aura skills.’

I recalled the stories my aunt had told me sometime.

-I’ll say it again, these stage distinctions are meaningless. If you complete the 3rd Stage, you’ll be able to do things beyond your imagination.

-Don’t be bound by the framework of aura skills. Handling magic power circuits is no different from using two hands when others are only using one.

-Why do you only learn aura skills without the movements corresponding to aura skills? You’ll naturally know when your level increases. So don’t try to know anything rashly and build from the basics.

I think I know why my aunt said that now.

‘Actually, I was doubtful at first.’

My fighting style is a bit different from the common sense of the world.

In any martial art or martial sect, the techniques so-called secret arts or profound mysteries do not distinguish aura skills and movements as separate things.

Just as bolts and nuts must be engaged to be fixed, magic power and movement must be one to be called a secret art or a profound mystery.

The family’s profound mystery, Meteor Shower, which my sixth sister unfolded, and Jang Han’s Heavenly Slaughter Sword were examples of this.

In other words, aura skills are included in secret arts or profound mysteries, and they are not completely different things.

But what about me?

I grant lightning to Cheokma, I grant gale to Sakpung….

I use aura skills only as aura skills, and techniques only as techniques.

‘At first, I thought my aunt was just a scholar and created something independent purely with magic power techniques.’

I had some doubts.

But it wasn’t.

The 4th Stage gave answers to my doubts and questions.

‘The magic power technique that my aunt and I created… melts into any movement, any situation, any action.’

I slowly took a stance.

If the movement unfolded with the body is a bolt, and the aura skill is a nut.

The aura skill that my aunt and I created had the versatility to freely engage with any bolt depending on the situation.

Koo-oong!

I unfolded the countless techniques absorbed by the Black Qi one by one, and grafted aura skills onto those techniques.

It permeates.

Yes, the expression ‘permeates’ was more accurate than ‘engages.’

Like water dissolving in water, aura skills permeate into any stance, unfolding naturally as if this aura skill should have been applied to this technique from the beginning.

Absolute Steel Sword Style 28 Moves, Shadowless Slash.

A swordsmanship of an unknown warrior that was permeated into the used weapon I obtained through my nanny.

Kwaaaang!

A tremendous explosion was added to the swordsmanship that should have been wielded without sound or sign.

Magic power techniques that can be applied to all secret arts mean this.

‘I can learn all the secret arts in the world.’

There are countless secret arts and profound mysteries in the Sungmoo Yi family, but there is no one who has mastered them all.

That’s not because they can’t, but because they don’t.

There are secret arts or profound mysteries that suit them, and there are techniques that suit magic power techniques, so they choose and focus.

But what about me?

‘The advantage of the magic power technique that my aunt and I created was the freedom and versatility of operation through the magic power circuit. So I can dismantle the formulas and add operating methods as I please.’

In other words, I can learn any technique.

Of course, I have to reinterpret the formulas and re-establish the operating methods.

‘After passing the test in Mireinae Village, the analysis and reassembly of formulas have also become faster. There’s nothing to worry about.’

I can learn any magic power operation, any secret art.

It’s difficult to obtain secret arts in the first place, but don’t I have a hidden power?

That is, Black Qi.

‘The 4th Stage is not the end of it. This is more like an enlightenment. It’s something I was able to do from the beginning, but I learned more about it. But from now on, I have to do something I haven’t done before.’

I slowly gripped Mujin.

Without moving violently, I poured all my mental power into the operation of the aura with my eyes closed.

‘Not releasing, but gathering.’

Instantly, all the aura that was fluttering like threads on the outside began to gather into the body.

Concentrate, concentrate more.

Deu-deu-deu-.

Mujin, which I was gripping, began to tremble.

Tung!

At that moment, aura began to flow out as if a hole had been drilled in the dam.

I took a breath and stopped.

‘I need to concentrate more. I can do it. I have to control all the energy that flows out.’

I gritted my teeth and concentrated a little more.

There is still energy flowing out.

But it was less than half of what it was when I unfolded aura skills normally.

“Heup!”

In an instant, I drew my sword.

Because I was so focused on controlling the aura, it was an ordinary upward slash that didn’t contain any special force.

And.

Swish!

Quietly, a very silent noise flowed out.

There was no burst of light or ear-splitting noise.

Only a line of thread was drawn in the air.

Koo-oong-.

And one beat later, that line of thread began to wriggle.

The line of thread twisted and swelled as if it could no longer handle the power it contained.

The next moment.

Kwaaaang!

A shockwave that overturned the ground swept through.

“Keok!”

Even I, who wielded the sword, was swept away by the storm and crashed into the wall.

“Cough!”

After the aftershock that remained in Maeng Guk’s nest disappeared, I coughed up dust and frowned.

‘I failed.’

If this explosive phenomenon occurs, it’s a failure.

The 4th Stage is the concentration of aura.

Not releasing it to the outside, but putting it inside.

Compressing and compressing again.

It’s impossible unless you succeed in controlling every strand of aura that flows out.

I sat down on the floor as the dust settled.

‘…Did my control decrease as my magic power increased? The conversion rate of aura is not 100%.’

The power that doesn’t flow out has tremendous efficiency and power.

‘1 year. I will achieve the 4th Stage here within that time.’

I got up from my seat again and began to operate my magic power.

Ssak!

The sword was drawn again in the air.