Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 439

There was no formal greeting, nor even a word to signal the start.

Clang!

The series of movements—drawing the sword, extending it, and striking—flowed as naturally as water.

A magnificent single strike, and a subtle tremor ran through the Mad Dragon Axe that blocked it. The swift and powerful strike carried an undeniable weight, so fierce that even a skilled martial artist would find it impossible to defend against.

But Yeon Ho-jeong was no ordinary martial artist.

His skill was already beyond that of a leader of a great clan, a supreme master on the verge of the realm of the martial god, the realm of the Limitless [a state of martial arts mastery beyond human limitations].

Clang!

Jeong-an’s eyes wavered.

‘Heavy!’

Had she not deflected it even slightly, her wrist, elbow, and shoulder bones would have dislocated in succession. She had a strong premonition of that.

‘This is no joke!’

She had expected him to block her first strike without any trouble. After all, this strike was more of a greeting than a serious attack, delivered without any formalities.

But it seemed her opponent considered even that to be unnecessary. The moment he deflected her strike, he immediately swung his axe as if to smash her, and the power behind it was beyond imagination.

Hwa-un, who was watching from afar, also seemed surprised by Yeon Ho-jeong’s aggressive attack, her eyes hardening.

Whack!

Jeong-an, who had retreated with ease, charged at Yeon Ho-jeong once more.

She sensed a will in Yeon Ho-jeong’s attack. ‘Don’t play around. Show me everything you’ve got.’

And she felt an absolute confidence that even then, she wouldn’t be able to surpass him.

Jeong-an’s sword flashed like lightning.

Boom!

The straight-line sword strike suddenly displayed a dazzling movement with a powerful explosion.

Hundreds of sword shadows appeared in the air. The range of the sword strike was truly immense. A prison of swords surrounded the entire courtyard, aiming at Yeon Ho-jeong with deadly sharpness.

In just two exchanges, Jeong-an had unleashed her true ultimate technique, the Myriad Flower Still Sword Art, praised as one of the three great techniques of the Bodhi Hermitage [a renowned Buddhist martial arts sect].

Whoosh!

Yeon Ho-jeong, who had been standing tall like a giant tree, began to move at a terrifying speed.

His target was Jeong-an. The opponent’s sword circle had already surrounded him from all sides. Now was not the time to retreat, but to attempt a frontal breakthrough.

Jeong-an’s eyes gleamed.

Swish, swish, swish!

Hundreds of sword shadows concentrated forward, aiming for Yeon Ho-jeong’s axe, head, and shoulders.

Yeon Ho-jeong powerfully swung the Mad Dragon Axe.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

The sound of metal clashing against metal in rapid succession was like the sound of a giant bell shattering into pieces.

Jeong-an’s eyes wavered.

‘He blocked it.’

The Myriad Flower Still Sword Art consisted of only three stances.

However, those three stances contained everything about the sword. That was why once unleashed, they always guaranteed victory, and if one mastered the sword art, they could become a master, second to none in swordsmanship.

The stance she had just unleashed was the first of the Myriad Flower Still Sword Art, the One Sword Myriad Flower Realm.

‘How can this be? He deflected all the sword shadows of the Myriad Flower Realm with that heavy axe?!’

She knew from seeing it herself that he wielded the axe as lightly as a whip. But even so, an axe was an axe. Considering the weight she felt upon impact, it must have weighed at least seventy or eighty pounds.

And he was wielding such a weapon at a speed similar to her own.

It was unbelievable. There was such a thing as logic and common sense in the world. Heavy things could not be fast, and fast things could not be heavy. If such a thing were possible, there would be no need to classify swords as heavy swords or fast swords.

In other words, her opponent was a master who had broken through ordinary logic and reason and established his own martial path.

‘I can’t think of this as a sparring match! I have to approach this with the determination to crush him!’

Whoosh!

With a chilling sound, the Mad Dragon Axe cut through the air.

Had she not quickly soared into the air, either her sword or her torso would have been split in two. She could tell from that one move that her opponent was not holding back.

Flash!

Jeong-an’s eyes blazed.

Soaring into the air, she immediately unleashed the second stance of the Myriad Flower Still Sword Art, the Sacred Sword Mandala.

Whoosh!

Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes deepened.

The sword pressure emanating from a single point in the air was creating a geometric pattern and pouring down on him.

‘Impressive.’

Yeon Ho-jeong couldn’t help but be impressed.

‘Such a martial art exists!’

This was not just a flashy sword technique.

It was both an illusionary sword and a dispersing sword, a transforming sword and a discerning sword.

It encompassed all possible directions a sword could move. It could be an attack or a defense. The purpose of its form changed instantly according to the wielder’s will. It was a supreme sword that could be used for anything.

It was a sword art worthy of discussing the world. It was different from the Yeon family’s orthodox swordsmanship, a martial art of enlightenment that had unleashed the power of the sword through the sword path, and a sword technique that boasted absolute power.

Whirr!

In an instant, a white whirlwind began to envelop Yeon Ho-jeong’s body. He had drawn out the White Tiger Art of the Four Divine Beasts [a set of powerful martial arts techniques based on mythical creatures].

The two martial arts collided head-on.

Crash!

With a terrifying explosion, the weeds and pebbles on the ground were pulverized and scattered.

Jeong-an’s eyes widened as if they would tear.

‘Shattered?!’

The mandala of swords that had been pouring down like a rainstorm was being shattered by the fangs of a beast accompanied by a white whirlwind.

‘How can this be! He’s facing the Sacred Sword Mandala head-on…?!’

It wasn’t that Yeon Ho-jeong would die or be injured by the Sacred Sword Mandala. However, she had expected him to choose either evasion or defense to neutralize the sword stance. She was certain that attack would be his next option.

Yeon Ho-jeong was different. He neither evaded nor defended, but immediately attacked, shattering the center of the mandala.

Even though she was striking down from the air, and he was striking up from the ground!

Jeong-an’s sword moved again.

Swish, swish, swish!

The shattered mandala of sword forms reassembled, creating another pattern.

Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes flashed.

‘Different?’

No, it was the same stance. He could tell from the nature of the sword energy and the flow of inner energy.

But the form was different. Just as the patterns of the mandala were all different, the form of the mandala that Jeong-an had unleashed again was clearly different from the first.

‘If the first mandala was pressure of energy, this mandala is a practical attack.’

One stance could be transformed into dozens. It wasn’t a transformation based on the situation, but the power of the stance itself changed according to the wielder’s will.

‘Indeed.’

It was in no way inferior to the Yeon family’s swordsmanship. No, considering the diversity of this sword path and the sword power contained within the martial art itself, it could be said to be superior to the Yeon family’s swordsmanship.

‘The family’s swordsmanship is accompanied by the absolute cultivation of the swordsman. But the Bodhi’s sword is different. The sword technique itself is so outstanding that anyone who learns it is bound to become strong.’

The corners of Yeon Ho-jeong’s mouth curved upwards.

‘The Bodhi Hermitage, with its inherent strength of martial arts and the existence of the Sword Empress who has refined it to the extreme, is not a place that anyone can easily touch.’

In an instant, Yeon Ho-jeong had completely grasped the characteristics of the Bodhi’s sword.

Whoosh!

A green haze that dyed the white whirlwind settled on Yeon Ho-jeong’s legs.

Swish, swish, swish!

Dozens of sword shadows brushed past Yeon Ho-jeong’s clothes.

Normally, he should have been trapped in the prison of swords and completely incapacitated. Yeon Ho-jeong had escaped the sword form so naturally.

In that moment of surprise, Jeong-an’s face was filled with astonishment.

Whoosh!

Yeon Ho-jeong’s movements were completely different from before.

From the movements of a beast that seemed to tear apart any attack or defense, he had become a divine dragon ascending against a cascading waterfall.

It was the Azure Dragon Art. The Azure Dragon Cloud Stepping of the Azure Dragon Art had so easily broken through the attack of the Sacred Sword Mandala.

And that wasn’t all.

The White Tiger was specialized in attack, the Vermilion Bird in extreme killing, and the Black Tortoise in defense.

On the other hand, unlike the other three divine techniques that were specialized in only one area, the Azure Dragon dealt with both evasion and counterattack. The miraculous movements of the Azure Dragon Cloud Stepping had perfectly evaded the attack of the Sacred Sword Mandala, but it didn’t stop at mere evasion.

Counterattack.

Yeon Ho-jeong’s Mad Dragon Axe unleashed the Azure Dragon Art, the Dragon Group Three Forms.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

“Ugh!”

Jeong-an involuntarily groaned at the sharp, rapid attacks that exploded right in front of her.

‘I can’t match him!’

She had no idea how he had closed the distance so quickly.

Boom!

Jeong-an quickly descended to the ground. The air was the optimal position to unleash the Sacred Sword Mandala, but against an opponent who had not only evaded the mandala but also launched a counterattack, it was a disadvantageous position.

‘Then.’

Finally, it had come to this.

No matter what kind of result was expected, she had only intended to unleash the first two stances of the Myriad Flower Still Sword Art. She had no intention of using the final third stance at all.

But now that the match had progressed this far, there was no other choice. At her current level, she could not pressure her opponent with either the One Sword Myriad Flower Realm or the Sacred Sword Mandala.

Whoosh!

Jeong-an’s stance noticeably lowered.

She pulled her sword back and brought her index and middle fingers of her left hand together, extending them forward. She was about to unleash the final third stance of the Myriad Flower Still Sword Art.

‘Even you will never be able to withstand this third stance…!’

That was when it happened.

Flash!

Jeong-an’s eyes shook wildly.

Before she could even unleash the third stance, her opponent had already reached her.

‘What is this?!’

It was an unbelievable speed.

How could a person move so fast?

He had arrived before she could even perceive his ‘movement’. Even though he had moved at such a speed, she could not feel any change in the flow of the air.

A movement that had surpassed the limits of speed, a fiery red aura was blazing from her opponent’s body.

This was the moment that Jeong-an was most surprised in this sparring match.

Yeon Ho-jeong’s fist was swung like lightning.

Jeong-an involuntarily closed her eyes tightly. She could not attack, defend, or evade.

Boom! Thud!

With a tremendous explosion, a deep furrow was created in the ground behind Jeong-an.

Whirr! Thud!

The bamboo hat that Jeong-an was wearing was torn and flew away, falling limply to the ground. Her tightly bound hair also came loose and flowed down.

Jeong-an slowly opened her eyes.

A solid fist was stopped half an inch in front of her sharp nose.

“Hmm.”

Yeon Ho-jeong, who had withdrawn his fist, placed the Mad Dragon Axe on his shoulder.

“That was an impressive martial art. It’s just that your cultivation is still lacking. I can see why the Bodhi’s sword art is called a legend and a myth.”

It was a statement that somewhat alleviated the feeling of defeat. It was not that you were defeated, but that the martial art you had refined was an extremely outstanding technique. So, continue to improve.

Jeong-an, who had been silently looking at Yeon Ho-jeong, sheathed her sword and bowed her head.

“I have learned much. It was truly an amazing martial art.”

Yeon Ho-jeong couldn’t help but smile.

Jeong-an did not speak empty words. She was not very familiar with the ways of the world. He could tell just by looking at her posture and listening to her voice.

But rather, he liked her honest appearance. He liked the way she was still untainted, yet had a clear sense of her own principles.

“If I’m careless, I’ll be caught up to in no time. I need to pull myself together too.”

Moreover, the young woman before him was not the Sword Empress that Yeon Ho-jeong had seen in the past. Although they were of similar age.

Yeon Ho-jeong looked at Hwa-un.

Hwa-un’s face was stiff, as if she was displeased with the unexpected result.

“You’ve waited long enough. This is the end of the appetizer. Let’s go inside.”