Chapter 240

Chapter 240
Chapter 240
Chapter Title: Piercing the Sun with Sa-il

Bright Moon stood as Jeomchang’s greatest swordsman and its sect leader. More than that, he was the Holy Cult’s planted agent, scheming to seize control of Jeomchang—one of the Nine Great Sects.

The moment he stepped into the arena, he bowed to the assembled onlookers.
“I offer my apologies to all fellow Taoists for the disruption caused at this sacred Dragon-Phoenix Assembly by matters within our sect.”

It would have been entirely understandable had he unleashed his fury, yet he chose to begin with an apology instead. There was an icy, unyielding rationality to him—or perhaps it was that he simply felt nothing at all.

*Bright Moon… He truly lives up to his name.*

The “bright” part might shine, but the man’s very title meant moonlight. Without a doubt, he belonged to the Moon Faction of the Sun-Moon Holy Cult. As its name suggested, the Holy Cult was split broadly into two branches: the Sun Faction and the Moon Faction. Among them, the Moon Faction—which revered the moon—practiced demonic arts that carried a distinct trait: the deeper one delved into their cultivation, the more their emotions dulled and faded away.

“Hear me now, Neung-o, you sinner. You clung to foolish, antiquated delusions and have committed grievous wrongs. Through punishment, I shall set every last one of them aright.”

What utter nonsense this Holy Cult interloper was spouting! The duel itself made his true intent plain enough.

*He means to toy with his victim before delivering the final blow.*

More precisely, he wanted to brand it into the minds of everyone watching: that the Spectrum Sword stood supreme, far above the Sun-Shooting Sword.

“Behold me now, sinner, and receive your final lesson on the threshold of death. This is Spectrum.”

The Spectrum Sword was a blade of terrifying speed, sharp enough it could seemingly slice through rays of light themselves. Hundreds of sword shadows—no, brilliant streaks of gleaming radiance—danced and surged wildly across the space.

Against that onslaught, Neung-o was no more than a single, solitary point. He looked like nothing so much as a lone reed bending before a storm striking from every direction at once.

*This is completely one-sided. It has to be.*

I could sense it—something that went far beyond ordinary sword qi. Bright Moon had risen above his own limits through his mastery of the sword. Having scaled even greater heights, the very fabric of space bowed to his will.

He had reached the Transcendent Realm, also known as the state of Realm Mastery.

It was a state built in stages: Vital Intent Energy, where one’s qi took on life through the force of their will; Void Grasping, where a potent will could reach into the void itself, using qi as its instrument; and finally, Sword-Body Unity—the moment a practitioner became one and the same with their chosen martial path.

*When that happens, a martial artist can impose their own way upon the whole world.*

It was the stuff of legends: humanity, born of heaven and earth, rising in turn to color heaven and earth with its own essence. That was what it meant to possess Realm Mastery—to have burst past every boundary, scaled every peak, and reached the absolute summit. Bright Moon was indeed a master of the Transcendent Realm.

*Though he hardly needs to go to such lengths… Unless he means to burn this moment permanently into everyone’s memory.*

The light swirling around Bright Moon began to split and fragment. How could light split? It was not something that could be broken apart in the first place—yet there it was, shattering before our very eyes. Bright Moon’s inner vision, his deepest understanding, was warping the natural laws of the world around him.

“Watch closely, sinner, and engrave this upon your soul. This is the Spectrum Sword Realm.”

Each fractured streak of radiance targeted Neung-o’s vital points, striking from head to toe. In an instant, Neung-o was soaked in blood. Yet he remained that single, unwavering point, drawing back his bowstring as if nocking an arrow.

*If Neung-o falls, Jeomchang will choose Spectrum as its way.*

Perhaps the choice had already been made. Every disciple save Neung-o himself had taken up training in the Spectrum Sword. On the surface, it seemed the inevitable outcome. The Sun-Shooting Sword was profound and intricate, its highest reaches all but impossible to attain. The Spectrum Sword, by contrast, could be mastered even by younger disciples and offered far swifter progress. A martial art that only a select few geniuses could ever hope to perfect was doomed to fade out one day. So it might well appear that Spectrum suited Jeomchang better than Sun-Shooting ever could.

But was it truly the natural course?

*No. Jeomchang does not exist simply to endure. It exists to pursue the Path of Sun-Shooting.*

Neung-o’s fingers brushed the scar just below his throat, marking the Nuan Gate—a cut his own master had carved into his neck with a sword when he was still young. It was the distinguishing mark of a Jeomchang warrior who had earned the title of Sun-Shooting Sword Master. Jeomchang’s sword was not merely Sun-Shooting; Jeomchang existed for the sake of Sun-Shooting.

Whatever Bright Moon called Spectrum was nothing more than scattered, broken light—light that served only to cloud and confuse Jeomchang’s true purpose.

*Master… The day you prepared me for has come at last. I will prove the truth of the Sun-Shooting path you passed down to me.*

Neung-o had long stood at the Pinnacle Realm, yet among the three insights that marked the Transcendent, he had grasped only Vital Intent Energy. By all reasoning, he had no chance against a master of that exalted state.

And yet he could. He believed he could. And through that belief alone, he would strive to transcend.

*This is it. This is the ultimate essence of the entire Path of Sun-Shooting.*

If you would pierce the sun, you must first become the arrow. An arrow loosed from the bowstring knows no hesitation—it flies straight and true toward its mark. So too would he know no doubt, no fear, no wavering of any kind. He would simply believe. Just as an arrow flies but one way once it has been released.

*If I can hear the truth of the Way at dawn, I may meet death content when evening comes.*

“Morning hears the Way, and evening death is welcome,” Bright Moon intoned. It was meant as retribution for the wrong done to his own master, in the name of Spectrum. No trace of feeling remained within him; he had cast all emotion aside to fix his focus on a single objective. Death held no terror for him—only the triumph of Spectrum mattered. He would pare away every extraneous thought and feeling until he was no more than a single arrow, honed to razor-sharp focus.

“Come now, Neung-o, you sinner. Let us bring this to an end.”

More than a hundred blows had already been exchanged. Neung-o’s injuries were so severe it would have surprised no one had he collapsed then and there. He was battered and bloodied, scarcely recognizable as human. No one expected him to win. No one dared imagine it.

And yet—

*To fight a Transcendent master for over a hundred exchanges… That is carelessness on Bright Moon’s part.*

A loosed arrow overlooks no opening. In that moment, Yang-hwi was certain: Neung-o would strike true. The reason was plain.

*Vital Intent Energy… Brother Neung’s will is kindling life itself.*

It sounded abstract, poetic almost—but the truth of Vital Intent Energy was far simpler: like a flower blooming from empty air, it allowed one to surmount the impossible through will alone.

“Gaze well upon this! This is the way of Spectrum!”

Bright Moon’s voice boomed, loud and proud. Neung-o’s reply was barely more than a whisper, heard only by those closest by.

“Sect Leader… This is the way of Sun-Shooting.”

Ultimate extremity. Piled upon further extremity. A focus so intense it burned even beyond his own limits. One man, reduced to a single point—one arrow.

**SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Sun-Shooting Sword Technique – First Stance: Hou Yi Shoots the Sun**
**Sun-Shooting Sword Technique – Ultimate Secret Art: Hou Yi Shoots the Sun**

And then it pierced home.

— *Master’s Voice* — Neung-o, Dan Neung-o of the Dan Clan… Heed these words well. The Sun-Shooting Sword Technique is the greatest under heaven.

“Guh… ah…”

Neung-o’s blade drove straight through Bright Moon’s throat. It passed through the very Nuan Gate of one who bore the mark yet had betrayed everything it stood for.

“Gurg… h-how…?” Blood bubbled from Bright Moon’s lips as he spoke, his face twisted in utter disbelief.

Neung-o answered calmly. “You made yourself the target. And so I loosed the arrow.”

The light faded from Bright Moon’s eyes. A master of the Pinnacle Realm had defeated a master of the Transcendent. A disciple had brought down his sect leader. And Sun-Shooting had utterly vanquished Spectrum.

“What… what just happened?”

“Sect Leader! Speak to us, Sect Leader!”

“How can this be…?”

Chaos erupted across the arena. Jeomchang’s disciples were thrown into total pandemonium. Bright Moon’s inner circle stood frozen in shock, while those of lower rank could not bring themselves to accept what they had just witnessed.

*Hah… Brother Neung actually pulled it off.*

Many of Jeomchang’s disciples—those outside the highest leadership—had chosen Spectrum simply because it promised faster strength. They had judged it superior to Sun-Shooting and made their choice accordingly, never knowing they had been drawn into the Holy Cult’s web. Now they stood stunned and shaken to the core. The very art they had deemed better had been pierced through and overthrown by Sun-Shooting. A Sun-Shooting wielded by a man of the Pinnacle Realm had shattered the Spectrum of a Transcendent.

*So this is what it means… The true heart of the Path of Sun-Shooting.*

Sun-Shooting: to pierce the sun. To find that single, perfect point capable of striking through even the mightiest, most impenetrable foe. That was the true essence of the way he walked.

*But what will become of Brother Neung now? He has struck down Jeomchang’s leader before thousands of witnesses. They will never let this pass unpunished.*

Neung-o’s expression remained serene. He seemed to have already accepted whatever fate awaited him, not a flicker of regret to be seen.

But—

*Brother Neung, do not you dare give up now that your work is done. I will not let you.*

“Hah!”

I shouted a ki cry on purpose as I launched myself forward, using my lightness skill to carry my voice to every ear and draw every gaze toward me.

“The Heaven-Covering Sword Dragon of the Baek Clan has something to say to all fellow Taoists!”

I saw faces twisting in confusion—*Who is this to interfere now?*—and I met their gaze with a grin.

“Jeomchang’s Sect Leader Bright Moon was a planted agent of the Sun-Moon Holy Cult, sent to infiltrate our ranks! Neung-o acted as he did to purge this evil from our sect—a truly heroic choice!”

The crowd fell silent, stunned for an entirely new reason.

“Sun-Moon Holy Cult? I’ve never heard of such a place.”

“It must be one of the forbidden demonic sects! Has Jeomchang been in their grasp all this time?”

“Now that you mention it… he kept shouting ‘Spectrum’ instead of ‘Sun-Shooting.’ Could the entire sword style be of demonic origin?”

“Inconceivable! He showed no trace of foul aura!”

“And what of this young master Baek? How does he know so much about something none of us have ever heard?”

Voices rose in a jumble, thick with doubt and confusion. It was only natural—no one would easily believe such an accusation leveled against a leader of one of the Nine Great Sects.

*Most do not seem inclined to believe me. And why should they?*

💬 Voice Transmissions — Little Brother Hwi! Do you actually have proof? We prepared nothing of the sort, as far as I know! — Big Brother If this goes wrong, they will say we are framing Jeomchang! — Bro What is your plan? You cannot just step forward without preparation. Give the word—we will follow. — Oppa? You thought this through, didn’t you? This feels terribly dangerous…

Proof? I had none. Plan? There was none.

How could there be? And yet…

*Who needs proof? If there is none to be found… then I will make it.*

How? Through reputation alone. Just as Abbot Beop-gak had once staked his good name to lay bare the crimes of Namgung Cheon-hu.

— Sword Hermit Elder, I call upon the favor you granted when you entrusted Won-u to my care — I sent in voice transmission as I rested a hand gently on Won-u’s shoulder. Then I turned to face the crowd and spoke in a ringing voice.

“Every word I have spoken is the absolute truth—not a single lie! Bright Moon was indeed a spy of the Sun-Moon Holy Cult, and Neung-o is a righteous hero who risked his life to restore Jeomchang’s true path!”

I glanced toward the Wudang delegation and let my smile broaden. “And I stake the names of Wudang and the Taiji Sword Hermit Elder upon it! This is beyond all dispute!”

A third wave of shock and chaos broke over the assembly.

“Is that not so, Sword Hermit Elder?”

The rest is in your hands, old master.