1123——————==

Soul of the Evil God

I launched the sword attack, wrapped in the Immortal Sword, right at the rock.

Clank!

“…Hmm!”

I let out a hum. Since the sword I’m using for training isn’t the Seven Luminaries but just an ordinary iron sword, it’s totally expected that this sound came from the clash of the iron sword against the rock. To master the art of slicing through stone with a sword, one must at least reach the level of being able to unleash sword qi.

But it’s strange. Although I used the Immortal Sword to temporarily eliminate my intent, the energy, aside from that intent, continues to swirl around the sword. It’s not quite the refined power of sword qi, yet how can I not even slice the rock with this much energy?

As I furrowed my brows in suspicion, the Asura, who was watching beside me, spoke up.

“As you can see, in a state where intent is ‘eliminated,’ you become utterly powerless. It’s just a regular sword that can’t even channel intent. You can’t do anything in this state, so to properly use the Dark Night Slash, you need one more step.”

“So it’s not just about eliminating intent?”

“Exactly.”

“Are you saying I need to create intent again and amplify it afterward?”

As I voiced my speculation, the Asura scratched his head.

“Forget about intent for now. If that was the case, why would I bother eliminating it? You need to step out of that category from the start.”

“…Then?”

“You have to reverse the ‘Ring’ itself. I mentioned it was a reverse wheel from the very beginning, didn’t I?”

“……?”

“I’ll show you again. Watch closely.”

Zzzuuu-

The Asura turned his sword pitch black. Then, with a completely emotionless transparent gaze, he continued speaking.

“Originally, you need to recognize the ‘Ring.’ But you’ve eliminated intent using underhanded means with the Immortal Sword, right? So, no matter how I explain it, you probably wouldn’t understand right now, but the important thing is that. Recognizing the ‘Ring’ and reversing that cycle.”

Swoosh

The Asura held his breath for a moment. During that breath-holding, his body achieved perfect harmony, adopting a flawless posture that radiated the experience of someone who had honed martial arts for thousands of years. I couldn’t help but admire it, and in the next moment, the Asura swung his sword.

“Set.”

Swoosh

The rock was sliced, as if its surface had become glassy. It was something any expert could generally manage, but the Asura wasn’t just showcasing physical destruction for me. He calmly sheathed his sword and said, “If the opponent is the main body of an Eight Parts of the Divine-level Demon King, then a simple sword strength like that wouldn’t even scratch a mosquito bite. To put it in rough online game terms, if the sword strength has an attack power of 500, then the Demon King’s defense is at least over 1,000, with health exceeding 10,000. A universally powerful demon or apostle might even be several times stronger than that. You wouldn’t even be able to touch them bare-handed.”

“Hmm.”

“If it’s a technique using the Intent Heavenly Pillar at the Absolute Realm, it could easily bypass their defenses and reduce their substantial health, but before inflicting any mortal wounds on the Demon King, you’ll likely deplete your own intent first. The difference in ranks between a human and a Demon King is just too vast. And if you’re unlucky and the Demon King’s trait is to focus on iron wall defense or counterattacks, even at the Absolute Realm, you could end up being squashed like a bug.”

I scratched my head.

“…It’s a game. I don’t really get it since I don’t play games.”

“Oh, that makes sense. I love games. Hehe.”

The Asura chuckled.

‘Well, that’s roughly the impression.’

While numbers like 500 or 1,000 don’t seem very credible, I could instinctively grasp the general feeling from the Asura’s words. The battles I’d witnessed between those at the Absolute Realm and the Demon Kings had always felt somewhat like that. Nodding slightly, the Asura continued.

“But with the Dark Night Slash…”

Wooosh!

In that moment, an inexplicable pressure surged around the Asura, and I flinched involuntarily at the intensity. The overwhelming aura of energy and killing intent emerging from his sword bound my gaze to that sword technique.

“It can completely bypass the defenses of a Demon King or Apostle and deal damage.”

Those unexpected words made my eyes widen.

“What?! Is that really possible?”

“Yeah. Depending on the Demon King’s traits or situation, it could even inflict more severe bonus damage than a standard technique at the Absolute Realm. That’s the trick behind the Dark Night Slash.”

“……!!”

Incredible!

Having watched the Absolute Warriors engage in brutal battles against the demons up to this point, I couldn’t help but feel excited by the Asura’s words. I clenched my fists and shouted,

“If that’s the case, isn’t the Dark Night Slash the ultimate technique at the Absolute Realm! If it can inflict that much damage on a Demon King!”

The Asura shook his head firmly.

“No. Not at all.”

“Huh?”

“Baek Woong, you don’t quite understand, do you…?”

The Asura sighed, pressing his temple.

“To use the Dark Night Slash against a Demon King at the Absolute Realm isn’t that powerful. Even when compared to each of the Seven Great Techniques or Eight Immortals Divine Art, it might barely match up. Against the Thunder Sword of the Absolute Realm’s Dokgo Seong, you’d likely lose.”

“What? Why exactly…?”

“This is a technique that delves into the properties of Chaos and Primordial Void. In the realm of martial arts, it’s absolutely unreasonable to even discuss it as the strongest. It might even feel a bit underwhelming…”

“…….”

“Well, in due time, when you can properly use the Dark Night Slash, you will understand what I mean. To put it plainly, this is a technique that has interpreted martial arts in a completely different way.”

I retorted curtly to the Asura’s words.

“It feels like you’re just shoving everything off to later. Can’t you just teach me right now?”

“Even if I taught you now, you wouldn’t get it.”

“No, it’s not that…”

The Asura shrugged.

“So what should I say? If not, it would just sound like I’m criticizing your talent as being useless. I thought I was being somewhat kind.”

“…….”

“Sometimes, think from the perspective of a teacher trying to teach you. I’m trying to nurture you, so trust me a little.”

For some reason, I couldn’t respond…

“The Dark Night Slash is not the strongest technique nor the ultimate technique. It is merely a tool that can be used in special situations. Don’t forget that and don’t rely only on the Dark Night Slash.”

“Ah, got it.”

“I’ll explain the key points so you can understand better. As long as intent exists, the ‘Ring’ cannot be reversed.”

I felt like I was beginning to grasp what the Asura explained.

“Ah. So I need to eliminate intent first?”

“Exactly. You understand.”

“But why does it have that property?”

“I don’t know~ I just stumbled upon an interesting phenomenon when I happened to reverse the ring while training.”

“…….”

“If I knew that, I’d probably be able to cut down gods by now.”

The Asura mumbled with a smirk.

“When you reverse the ring, a ‘cord’ appears that returns everything in Chaos back to the realm of nothingness. The Dark Night Slash is a technique that focuses on that one moment to deliver a single strike to the opponent. Do you understand better now?”

“Can that ‘cord’ be created even in a state where I’m wrapped in the Immortal Sword like me?”

“I wouldn’t know since I’ve never used the Immortal Sword like you, but why not try it?”

“…….”

Seems like even the Asura has his unknown territories.

‘This might actually be nicer.’

It’d be fun to learn some things on my own rather than just from my teacher. With a mix of anticipation and curiosity, I wrapped the Immortal Sword around my sword again and turned it black, eliminating my intent. I closed my eyes and concentrated to recognize the ‘Ring.’

‘Ring… does that even exist…?’

Oh.

I faintly sensed something.

For a moment, in the far reaches of my mental world, I glimpsed a circular shape. I assumed that circle was the wheel (輪) and focused on trying to turn the ring backward.

Vvvvmm!!

It moved, albeit ever so slightly. I witnessed the scene of the energy from the Immortal Sword being sucked into the wheel as it revolved backward. After a while, when the wheel had been spinning in reverse long enough for all the energy from the Immortal Sword to be absorbed, suddenly, the wheel lit up!

Clang

In the next moment, I realized my focus had broken, and I was back in the real world, finding the rock before me now split vertically down the middle.

The Asura, watching from the side, clapped his hands.

“Well done. You just used the Dark Night Slash for the first time.”

“…Is this really the Dark Night Slash?”

“Yep.”

“It doesn’t feel like much…”

Feeling somewhat disappointed, I mumbled and then realized something.

“And… I didn’t feel anything like the ‘cord’ you mentioned. I only sensed the power of the Immortal Sword being pulled into the ‘Ring’.”

“Hmmm. That seems to be the case.”

“Really? Do you know something?”

“It’s a continuation of what I said before. You forcibly recognized the ‘Ring’ using the Law of Cause and Effect from the Immortal Sword, then reversed it. Therefore, you can use the Dark Night Slash even without recognizing the cord.”

“Oh….”

The Asura seemed to grumble a bit.

“Man, the Immortal Sword is something else. I spent decades struggling to move the ‘Ring’ and here’s you pulling that off with a trick.”

Is that so?

While I was intrigued, the Asura delivered a shocking statement.

“Well then, let’s end the training for the Dark Night Slash here. You’ve put in enough effort, so you can head down the mountain now.”

“……!?”

“Go find Sagong Lin and check out the Celestial Realm. I need to get back to my work…”

I panicked and shouted at the Asura.

“Wait a second!”

“What’s up?”

“Isn’t this just the beginning of the proper training?! Why end it here!”

It was absurd. Given the training flow, wouldn’t it make sense to do some more hellish training here?! The Asura stroked his chin thoughtfully and said,

“But the more you train, the harder it will be for you to use the Dark Night Slash. Training right now would only be in vain.”

“Huh?!”

“You really don’t get it, do you? The fact that you can use the Dark Night Slash through the backdoor with the Immortal Sword basically means that when the power of the sword is all used up, you won’t be able to use the Dark Night Slash anymore. That doesn’t mean you can properly use it with just a few days of training, and with Miho’s condition being an urgent one…”

“…….”

“Forcing yourself to train under these circumstances, reducing the number of times you can use the Dark Night Slash, is just foolish.”

That made a lot of sense.

‘Well, at least being able to use the Dark Night Slash, even in a roundabout way, is an achievement…’

This will be a huge help.

After a short moment of thought, I asked, “So after I get back from the Celestial Realm, will you train me properly?”

The Asura nodded readily.

“Sure. Just be sure to come back alive.”

“Got it!”

“Oh, and keep practicing your circles, but save the Immortal Sword energy. Don’t forget that the uses for the Dark Night Slash in the Celestial Realm are limited.”

Pa-at

I exited the Asura’s secret base and headed towards the training ground where Zhu Xian and others were. I wanted to meet everyone I could before going to the Celestial Realm.

‘Should I just make a quick stop?’

This time, whether it was Cheon Woo-jin’s doing or not, they seemed unaware that I had been away. I approached Zhu Xian and said,

“Just a quick question…”

“Yeah?”

“I was worried you got hurt during the fight with Miho. You look fine on the outside, but do you have any internal injuries?”

In fact, Zhu Xian had flown dozens of miles when he got caught up in the battle with Miho and the Monster King, so he must have sustained some injuries. Zhu Xian, practicing spear techniques, flashed a wry smile and replied,

“Thanks to Your Majesty’s treatment, I’ve fully recovered. However, the artificial treasure, the Divine Dragon Seal, is completely destroyed and in the middle of repairs.”

“Can it be fixed?”

“Well, they said they’d upgrade it to be more powerful, so I’m holding onto hope.”

Then Zhu Xian suddenly mentioned something unexpected.

“If it’s okay with you, could you meet Liu Ha once?”

“Liu Ha? Why?”

“That guy came to the training hall one day and asked me to pass on a message to you. He says he has something he really wants to tell you directly…”

“Hmm, where is Liu Ha?”

“At the Shaolin Temple’s Great Hero Hall…”

Tydaht

I moved to the location Zhu Xian had indicated. After exiting the training area, I finally arrived at the Great Hero Hall of the Shaolin Temple, filled with towering pillars in the middle of the vast hall. It was strange; despite this expansive hall, I felt no presence of anyone.

And then it happened.

“Oh ho ho ho~ The Great Emperor has arrived~.”

With Liu Ha’s lively voice, he emerged from the shadows across the way, sporting glasses. I crossed my arms and said,

“Liu Ha. What’s the deal with dragging me all the way to the heart of Shaolin Temple? Did you come to bother me while I’m training, claiming you have something important to say…”

Liu Ha wore a sly smile.

“Ohoho~ You’re skipping out, aren’t you?”

“…….”

I felt the hairs on my neck stand up a bit. His words carried an edge.

‘W-wait, did this guy catch on to the subterfuge from Cheon Woo-jin?’

Swoosh

Then, as Liu Ha opened his mouth, words started appearing before my eyes in translucent letters, even though I couldn’t hear any sound.

[Quantum pruning makes the branching visible to me as an Immortal, but it doesn’t work on Immortals like you.]

“……!!”

[I figured it out when I visited the training hall last time~]

Wait, did this guy know I’d been secretly training under the Asura?

If that was the case, did Liu Ha report to the Heavenly Demon Sagong Lin already?!

As I tried to keep my expression steady, Liu Ha seemed to read my thoughts again and displayed another message.

[Don’t worry, I haven’t said anything to Your Majesty or the Commander~]

“You…”

[Just in case I’m being bugged or monitored, I’m using Rayfield VR technology to communicate this~ I’ll apply remote VR features, so think your words and I’ll display them as text~]

In that moment, I realized that I could write down what I was thinking on the status screen. Liu Ha’s method was a clever workaround to avoid eavesdropping, even if someone who could read Secret Transmission were present. Even a being that could read the Six Harmonies Assembly would have no way of knowing our intentions through this method.

[Liu Ha, what do you want? Why didn’t you report my absence to Sagong Lin?]

[Well…]

Liu Ha answered casually.

[Since ancient times, the true loyalty of the Immortals in the Great Bear Empire lies not with the Heavenly Demon, but with the true Emperor~]