Chapter 153

Chapter 153
**Chapter 153: Shattered Demon Sword**

It seemed I had been channeling my energy for far longer than I had realized.

I had begun as dusk fell, yet by the time I stepped out onto the training grounds, the sun was already cresting the horizon.

*Does that mean I stayed up all night watching Seol-ha and Adu?*

No matter. At the level of a master of the first rank, missing a single night’s rest would not leave one feeling drained in any case.

“Senior Brother. Just how do you intend to make me grasp Intent Manifestation in a mere seven days and seven nights?”

“Simple enough. The method has already proven its worth. It is the very same approach I used with little So.”

Jeon Gal-seol-ha had heard mention of this from him before.

“Is it not rather a heavy-handed method? Merely immersing someone in the aura of Intent Manifestation hour after hour?”

“It is. It took So a considerable stretch of time, but for you, Seol-ha, seven days ought to be more than sufficient.”

In truth, Baek Heon-so had attained mastery of Intent Manifestation in only half a year—a pace that was extraordinarily rapid by any standard.

“The difficulty lies in doing so slowly and thoroughly enough to satisfy Master. He insists you proceed without misstepping even once along the way.”

“Hmm. That does sound incredibly difficult.”

To frame it another way, it would be like sprinting at full speed while stooping to collect every single stone placed at regular intervals across the ground.

That was utter nonsense.

“Yet it is not impossible. You do bear the Peach Blossom Body, after all.”

Peach Blossom Body—a legendary physical constitution that naturally enchanted all those around one through its very Peach Blossom Aura. A heavenly burden that had cast the young Jeon Gal-seol-ha into darkness.

Her expression darkened at those words, memories of days gone by rising unbidden.

“Never mind. From this day forward, the Peach Blossom Body shall serve as your weapon alone.”

“……How can you be so certain?”

*Because that is exactly what I shall make of it.*

His thoughts turned to his past life. Unlike the gentle junior sister before him now, he recalled the Soul-Seducing Demon Queen who had once unleashed a tide of bloodshed.

Jeon Gal-seol-ha’s former self—a mighty demoness who had subjugated and slaughtered countless people through the Soul-Seducing Demon Art, a power built entirely upon her Peach Blossom Aura.

*Goodness, she bears so little resemblance to who she is now that it feels almost awkward.*

Yang-hui had been part of the great campaign to bring the Soul-Seducing Demon Queen to heel.

He had faced her directly, witnessing firsthand her martial prowess and the terrible might of her demonic arts.

That was why he spoke with such conviction.

*I can hardly say that aloud, though, can I?*

“Seol-ha, listen well—this is your senior brother speaking, the greatest martial prodigy under heaven. Place your trust in me.”

“You are so tiresomely self-assured… yet I cannot find it in me to argue.”

“You will be all the more astonished to learn this: what you shall master over these seven days goes beyond Intent Manifestation alone.” “Oh?”

There were three essential insights required to ascend to the Peak Realm: Mind-Born Kindred Qi, Intent Manifestation, and Sword Qi Manifestation.

“Let me ask you this. Swordsmen who have reached the Peak Realm can manifest sword qi outside their bodies—what then of a master of sound arts who stands at that same height?”

“Ah? You are right.”

Jeon Gal-seol-ha looked thoroughly perplexed.

Her own master, the Sound Demon, had never touched upon such matters.

It was not that he had forgotten; he had clearly chosen to keep the subject from her deliberately.

“Junior Sister. Try unleashing a Sonic Strike.”

“Very well.”

She plucked a string of her pipa, and a cloud of dust stirred on the training ground some distance away.

“Ordinary practitioners of fist or sword arts cannot project their qi outward until they have comprehended Intent Manifestation—is that not so?”

“That is correct. Until then, they can only reinforce their own bodies with qi.”

“Yet you have been employing Sonic Strikes ever since you were ranked among third-rate masters. How is that possible?”

The Sound Demon had provided her with an explanation for this very thing. Jeon Gal-seol-ha answered with steady confidence.

“Because for those of us who walk this path, sound itself is the sword.”

“Precisely.”

Just as one might strike the earth with a blade, they turned sound itself—sound waves—into a weapon. Channeling enough inner energy to lend sound physical force exacted a heavy toll, yet it appeared as though one needed only to strike the air to land a blow from afar.

“At its core, a Sonic Strike is no different from a swordsman pouring qi into their blade and sweeping it through the air.”

And so, at the Peak Realm, would it become possible to infuse tangible qi directly into sound waves?

No—that was not quite it.

“Junior Sister. What do you believe Intent Manifestation truly is?”

“Giving qi visible, tangible form?”

“Not quite. The heart of it is control—command over qi so absolute that you may shape the intangible into something real and perceptible.”

Mastery over qi—that was the essence that defined the Peak Realm.

“Since Master chose not to teach you this part, I shall say no more on the matter for now. Let us begin your training in Intent Manifestation first.”

Without giving Jeon Gal-seol-ha a moment to collect herself, Yang-hui released his aura.

It was a terrifying, killing intent.

“Kyaaah…!”

Jeon Gal-seol-ha felt a chill run the length of her spine.

Never in her life had she stood before such a terrifying wave of murderous will.

*How can he possibly project killing intent so intense…?*

Killing intent arose from the resolve to take life.

Naturally, the more fiercely one desired to kill, the denser that intent became.

It could also grow from long familiarity with violence, from having slain again and again.

It could not be the former, so it must be the latter—yet her admired senior brother could not have killed so many people.

“I warned you this would be difficult. Hold fast, Seol-ha. You are capable of this.”

“Kyaaah, ugh…!”

Jeon Gal-seol-ha had never been exposed to such pressure before.

How could she have been? She had been raised in comfort and seclusion, hidden away in the mountains.

Her first taking of life had been only yesterday, after all.

Her body trembled like a leaf; her legs threatened to give way. She felt as though she might collapse, and tears pricked her eyes.

And yet—

*I can endure this.*

Jeon Gal-seol-ha’s gaze fixed itself upon the inner vision she saw within Yang-hui: a rock, scarred yet unshakable.

Encircling it was a gentle, radiant warmth.

Had this been genuine killing intent, it would have felt like suffocating darkness, not warmth.

That was what gave her the strength to bear it.

*This is only training. Senior Brother’s true heart is not cold—it is warm.*

*She is bearing this better than I anticipated.*

Yang-hui watched her with quiet satisfaction.

At this pace, she might well grasp Intent Manifestation long before the seven days were through.

*For anyone else, it might not be so—but Seol-ha? She has every advantage. She possesses the Peach Blossom Body, has cultivated the Profound Origin Full Altar Divine Art, and is a master of sound arts besides.*

Practitioners of sound arts wielded sound waves as their weapon.

As such, they were inherently more attuned to subtle vibrations and emanations than others. They worked with waves from the very beginning, their techniques built upon the principles of resonance.

*And then there is the Profound Origin Full Altar Divine Art.*

Profound Origin—the mysterious, wellspring of all things.

Full Altar—a tree rooted deep and flourishing upon its sacred ground.

True to its name, this was an inner cultivation art that nurtured divine energy within the upper dantian. It made awakening the upper dantian possible from the very start—a divine art so rare that only a handful of masters at the Peak could lay claim to it.

*With her upper dantian opened… she will be far more sensitive to intent than most.*

That was why members of the Jeon Gal lineage attained Intent Manifestation with relative ease.

They advanced quickly, yet often overlooked finer nuances; reaching the realm itself was not the obstacle.

*Add to that the Peach Blossom Body. Seol-ha will sense and perceive every subtlety she might otherwise miss.*

Seol-ha could see these inner visions.

She had displayed abilities rivaling those of the Super Peak level as naturally as she breathed from childhood.

Though her command over them was still unrefined, and her mind fragile, those glimpses brought only haunting, painful memories.

*That is why she became the Soul-Seducing Demon Queen in her past life. And she is scarcely older than I am now.*

For context, it had taken no fewer than ten masters of the Peak Realm—Yang-hui among them—to finally subdue her former self.

In that sense, Jeon Gal-seol-ha possessed talent the world had never seen.

*Still, all things considered, my own gifts remain unmatched.*

That was not the point, however.

Here was someone gifted with an instinctive sensitivity to aura, an awakened upper dantian, and the ability to perceive the truth of things through inner visions.

How best to bring all these gifts to fruition, and quickly?

He began to vary the nature of the aura he released.

The killing intent remained, yet it shifted—like water turning to mist.

“Ugh!”

Jeon Gal-seol-ha responded instantly.

Most would never have noticed so fine a distinction.

Mist or rushing water, it was killing intent all the same.

Yet she detected the shift in quality and met it with her own will.

She could not yet stand against it, but to respond so swiftly was extraordinary.

He had expected her to need at least a full day to reach this point.

*Intent Manifestation is well within her grasp, just as I knew it would be.*

Rapid progress, yet not a single detail lost along the way.

Rather than making her search for each insight, he would place them directly within her reach.

No need to bend and search—she had only to extend her hand, and each truth would be placed there, one after another.

He continued to refine and alter the intent woven into his aura, guiding her understanding as one might lay a clear path before a traveler.

Some truths could not be put into words, yet they could be shown through inner vision.

As living shapes of will, these images allowed understanding to pass directly, unclouded by language.

*Now I must turn to Mind-Born Kindred Qi and Sword Qi Manifestation.*

Aligning one’s will and the flow of qi as one.

And gaining the mastery required to give qi tangible, visible form.

*I shall need to think carefully on how best to proceed.*

Three days had passed since they began.

“Ah! Senior Brother!”

Yang-hui stared, momentarily stunned.

Jeon Gal-seol-ha had begun to infuse her own qi with intent, pushing back against the oppressive aura he projected.

“No… I knew it would be quick, but this quick?”

It seemed almost too easy, too swift to be believed.

Could the world truly grant such grace?

She gave a bright, unsteady laugh. “I do possess talent that comes once in a generation, you know.”

“Is genius-level insight also part of the Peach Blossom Body?”

“I am simply that capable.”

In any case—at this rate, they could afford to press forward with greater boldness.

Mind-Born Kindred Qi and Sword Qi Manifestation.

In truth, once she mastered Sword Qi Manifestation, Mind-Born Kindred Qi would follow naturally.

The control required to shape qi into visible form arose from strength of will; and a will sufficiently strong would naturally draw qi into harmony with it.

“Let us take a more direct path from here, Junior Sister.”

“How?”

“By drawing upon the power of a divine weapon.”

“Such as the White Cloud Sword of the Baek Clan, or one from the Crouching Dragon Pavilion?”

“Precisely. And we have such a weapon here as well.”

Yang-hui stepped away briefly and returned carrying a single sword.

“Senior Brother.”

“Yes?”

“That is a divine weapon?”

“It is. Weapons that hold strange, mysterious power are counted as divine.”

“That looks more like a demonic sword.”

“It is certainly most unusual.”

The blade Yang-hui had brought forth was the Blood Demon Sword, recovered from the hoard of the Sword King.

It was a cursed relic of the Blood God Cult, a thing of darkness that sought to dominate and drive its bearer to madness.

Naturally, it could exert no such hold over Yang-hui, upheld as he was by righteous energy.

It was like a bully who preyed upon the defenseless—terrifying to those weaker than itself, yet powerless before the strong.

“How can you carry something like this? If word spreads, you will be branded an enemy of the entire martial world!”

“It will be fine, truly.”

“No—this could bring ruin upon the entire clan! Possessing a demonic artifact is a crime that cannot be overlooked!”

“We never intended to keep it.”

He meant to shatter it so that it might never fall into the hands of the Blood Cult again—and in the meantime, turn it to purpose.

The difficulty was that even Baek Cheol-jo, the foremost master smith of the Baek Clan, had found no way to break the Blood Demon Sword.

“Regardless—since it is here, we shall make use of it. I shall channel the sword’s power to stir your upper dantian and rouse the full potential of your Peach Blossom Body.”

“Is that not how one falls prey to qi deviation?”

“……Perhaps a little?”

“Senior Brotherrr!”

“I assure you, it is safe. My righteous energy will keep it in check. If you remain uneasy, we shall test it only lightly at first.”

The true power of the Blood Demon Sword lay in domination of the spirit.

Which meant it held a sword spirit, endowed with will and purpose of its own.

A consciousness of extraordinary potency, housed within a blade.

This would serve as the next insight laid before Jeon Gal-seol-ha.

“Call forth your Peach Blossom Aura through the Profound Origin Full Altar Divine Art and observe the inner vision of the Blood Demon Sword. If it shows any sign of danger, I shall sever the connection at once.”

“I understand. I can trust you, can I not?”

“Blessings come to those who believe.”

Jeon Gal-seol-ha cautiously summoned her Peach Blossom Aura and reached out to touch the inner presence of the Blood Demon Sword.

It was at that moment that everything changed.

[Star-Conferred Fate Transfer]

The Blood Demon Sword shattered into fragments.

“Huh?”

“Ah?”

Yang-hui’s expression grew grave.

The voice that had spoken was one he knew well—the very same sound that had rung in his ears the moment he returned to this past.