Reincarnated Sword Ghost

Independent ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍Sword Technique

It wasn’t as though there were no gains. He had, after all, confirmed that his sword could reach his foe.

The opponent was, unmistakably, a peerless expert of the martial world—a supreme master, someone who could pose as an absolute master wherever he went on this land, let alone within their own ranks.

Now, Jeong-un had experienced for himself that he could drive his blade into that body.

’Even the greatest master dies if struck by a blade.’

After all, they too were but humans made of flesh and blood. Wasn’t Jeong-un the same?

In the end, no matter if one could cleave a mountainside in two with a casual gesture or till the fields with a farming tool—they were all the same.

Jeong-un parted his lips.

”You said you would grant me a peaceful eternal rest.”

”.......”

”You are the one who will die in agony today. Just as I described—the final moments befitting a martial artist.”

The Blood Lord didn’t respond.

The sight of him just moments ago, rambling on and making empty offers, was now nowhere to be found.

Instead, his hardened face stared intently at Jeong-un, and suddenly, an overwhelming ki wave erupted from his massive form.

Paaaat!

It was as if the air itself grew heavy, blanketed in an immense surge of energy.

He unleashed such a brutal wave that it seemed he intended to make the entire area his own domain.

Even the wind seemed to slow in that moment.

’That’s right.’

The clear intent to go all out was palpable.

It was on a different level from that clumsy High Priest who fancied himself a great sect’s head.

This man was truly a peerless expert—a force on par with the leaders of the great sects of the martial world.

One wrong move and death was certain.

Yet, Jeong-un did not feel fear. A martial artist lives always at the edge of life and death, after all.

If anything, he was deeply moved. Compared to the first time he had faced mere bandits and thieves, it was so.

He raised his sword and readied his stance.

The familiar touch of the sword guard in his grip washed away all stray thoughts, leaving him calm and focused.

Even the tension left his breath as he exhaled, centering all his attention on himself, his sword, and the opponent before him.

Then, his foot left the ground.

Ta-at!

From the body’s poised form, cultivated power exploded forth as he pierced the air.

The sound of cleaving wind brushed his ear as he closed in on his foe and swung his sword.

He had already gathered immense power in his wrist.

Jjeoek!

The Blood Lord deflected Jeong-un’s blade—filled with true ki—with his bare hand, releasing a peculiar roar.

Though his foe had easily blocked his sword strike, Jeong-un paid it no mind.

Continuing the motion, he spun and unleashed his next attack.

Saaaak!

As his swung sword was repelled, the Blood Lord struck up from below with his palm technique.

Jeong-un blocked with his recovered sword, but the shock was tremendous.

He gritted his teeth and endured—it was a blow he’d grown used to over several exchanges.

Jjeoek! Quang!

At this point, distance had lost all meaning in their battle.

The Blood Lord’s limbs unleashed enhanced energy while Jeong-un responded with sword aura, each maneuvering freely within reach of the other.

The victor would be whoever seized the initiative over space and time.

Kwaaang!

Jeong-un was overwhelmed in density and weight of cultivated power.

But he was ahead in speed and the improvisation of his sword moves.

While the Blood Lord stepped once, Jeong-un filled the gap using Moonlight Swift Steps’ triple footwork.

Anything less could not contend with such a foe.

Then, the Blood Lord’s eyes shone with a strange light. After a series of swift sword slashes from Jeong-un, the Blood Lord raised his hand, preparing to strike down. In that split second, Jeong-un felt the overwhelming aura bursting from Blood Lord’s body suddenly narrow.

’What’s this?’

It was as if the Blood Lord’s outstretched wrist absorbed all the nearby energy, gathering the ki from the surrounding air into his hand.

The enhanced energy condensed in his palm looked startlingly thick.

For a moment, a subtle, twisted smile appeared from the Blood Lord’s lips.

Was he waiting for this?

’...... Come, then.’

Either he could withstand it, or he would die. Nothing more.

Were he to completely block it, it would only drag things out.

Such a war of attrition could only end with him being pushed back.

Worse, he had intentionally drawn the fight away from the others, so he couldn’t expect backup.

The corps leaders were probably already sweeping through the Blood Lord’s abandoned stronghold by now.

’I can twist the pattern.’

Jeong-un made his calculation in an instant—a plan to sacrifice his shoulder and cut the Blood Lord’s lower body in half.

He might lose an arm, but so what?

He had two.

As long as one remained, he could hold a sword. Better than rotting away in obscurity.

”Insolent!”

Could the Blood Lord read Jeong-un’s intentions in his eyes?

He shouted with bulging eyes, adding even more power to his downward strike.

Hwaaak!

Jeong-un pushed his sword forward, preparing to divert the Blood Lord’s attack and sacrifice his shoulder.

As he readied the next move—

Kwaaaang—!

It was like lightning struck a clear sky.

A chilling wave of energy surged between the two martial artists, threading in at a most precise moment.

Even the direction was impeccable—if either did not withdraw, both their heads would be taken.

Whoosh!

Jeong-un retrieved his extended sword, quickly taking several retreating steps back.

The Blood Lord did something different—twisting his palm technique that was aimed at Jeong-un’s head, he instead swung upward, meeting the terrifying, colorless bursting energy head-on as it crashed down.

Kwaaaang—!

A tremendous explosion of dust filled the air—it was a titanic shockwave.

Jeong-un stared through the cloud of earth. His face was even more rigid than during his own bout.

”.......”

No wonder.

There was more than one person’s ki in that storm.

As the wind slowly scattered the dust,

Saaaaa—

At last, the intruder—who had forced his way in—became visible.

A face whose age was impossible to gauge.

Sometimes it looked young, sometimes like a middle-aged man, with a strange heaviness that lingered.

Was it possible to twist the flow of time so forcibly and create this sense of strangeness?

But Jeong-un recognized who he was.

That peculiar atmosphere, combined with his now heightened ki sense from growth—he knew.

Jeong-un, too, was now a high-level expert who had set foot in the realm of transcendence.

’The cult leader.’

Blood Lord had also recognized him.

Yet, rather than shock, his face was composed as he looked at the Ming Cult leader.

”.......”

The two top leaders of the martial world’s greatest heretical cults had come face-to-face.

An indescribable tension blanketed the hall.

Of course. With an unexpected figure crashing in, an impossible standoff among three had formed.

In the martial world, such things were said to be not so rare.

Events unpredictable and strange often arise, tangled by competing aims and ambitions.

At length, Blood Lord looked at the cult leader and calmly asked,

”What brings you here?”

”I saw some fool trying to help himself to a well-ripened fruit.”

”Fruit?”

Blood Lord’s gaze turned to Jeong-un. He seemed to understand.

”I see. You, too, had your eye on it.”

”How amusing. A petty lowlife tries to take what’s mine, and you expect me not to show up?”

Blood Lord’s face hardened at those words.

”For one who claims descent from the vanished and dead to call another a lowlife—how many cultists do you even have? I am the head of a great sect numbering in the thousands.”

”Your numbers seemed a bit diminished on my way here.”

”A cultist’s numbers can be raised at any time. That’s what sets you and me apart. Regardless, step aside—I was about to come collect your head anyway.”

The cult leader’s lips curled into a smile.

”It’s comical, seeing a bandit coveting another’s possessions, then acting high and mighty. I wonder if you’ll even have a hand left to call your own—seems you were struggling a bit.”

He glanced at Jeong-un, eyes flickering.

”.......”

After regarding Jeong-un with an odd expression, he continued.

”Well, I suppose that’s only natural.”

Meanwhile, Jeong-un paid no heed to their chatter.

The words of those who had abandoned their humanity were nothing but empty noise.

He was only sweeping his eyes over the cult leader’s ki pathways again.

’It no longer feels impossible.’

Jeong-un could sense the gap between himself and the cult leader had narrowed.

No longer did he seem like an untouchable peerless expert.

If he could drive his blade into the flesh, the foe too would die.

The only thing that concerned him was the cult leader’s strange body-strengthening art that had even deflected Mu Jung’s secret skills.

’I have to use this situation.’

To Jeong-un’s eyes, the two were fundamentally alike.

Though they seemed close due to some mutual understanding, instead, they showed hostility.

Despite both being fiends of samawae, they weren’t allies. For Jeong-un, that was an opening.

He had to capitalize on this strange stand-off.

At some point, the Blood Lord began to radiate a terrifying aura once again; the very air rippled around him.

The one with the shorter temper revealed himself first—he was already prepared to take action at any moment.

Quang!

With a mighty stride, his body slanted, nearly vanishing as he surged forward. He meant to clear away the nuisance first.

His target: the cult leader.

The cult leader wasn’t using a weapon either.

Once one could wield enhanced energy as a true master, the body itself was as deadly as any blade—a being strong enough to shatter a cliff with a single burst of force.

At last, the two hands, brimming with immense cultivated power, met.

A massive shockwave erupted.

Jjeojeojeong!

The two great demonic humans of the martial world had clashed. Resounding booms echoed in succession.

Unlike when fighting Jeong-un, the cult leader did not yield an inch, meeting every one of the Blood Lord’s fist-and-palm arts as if obliged to do so.

Then, Jeong-un stepped forward as well.

Whoosh!

Without hesitation, he flung himself into the massive vortex of energy whirling between the two.

But it felt different from before.

Though he believed he had forged his spirit thoroughly, a strange emotion drove his internal energy to circulate wildly.

It was intent that moves true ki.

The reason ordinary folk cannot become martial artists is their inability to rouse intent.

Without talent, no amount of effort will develop a dantian.

Now, a tremendous intent surged within Jeong-un.

Rage.

’Fruit, they say.’

Those inhuman fiends had called him a fruit.

Of course he was furious.

Had they not treated him as little more than a precious elixir?

Regardless of their standing, it was an insult to his pride as a warrior.

He had to cut them down.

’How?’

Traceless Flash.

Jeok Cheong Subdues the Dragon.

Immortal Points The Way.

Repeatedly slashing, striking, and thrusting had built three signature sword moves.

For Jeong-un as he was now, they were independent martial arts—secret skills for decisive moments.

But they hadn’t worked.

Could technique truly be called a secret if it failed against an adversary?

Why had he unconsciously decided they were secrets in the first place?

In the end, all of it was merely cutting and stabbing.

Hadn’t he believed that from the outset, since he refused to learn the house’s sword arts?

’When did I forget?’

Unknowingly, he’d forced his own martial arts into a fixed mold.

Without realizing, he’d ended up bound to form and movement—his words and actions at odds, how pathetic.

Rage-fueled intent became tinged with a swordsman’s regret.

As countless trace-patterns from previous sword strikes flashed through his mind, they converged into one, reaffirming his belief that it all came down to cutting and stabbing.

Thus the mysteries of the three sword moves tangled and fused together.

Enlightenment struck, plunging him into an entranced state.

Hwaaak—!

Suddenly, from Jeong-un’s advancing form, a blinding white light burst forth at breathtaking speed.

”......?”

The Blood Lord and the cult leader snapped their heads sharply, looking to where Jeong-un was charging from, despite being locked in fierce combat.

The overwhelming ki wave that erupted right beside them was impossible to ignore.

They had sensed him dashing closer, but this immense energy was something else.

In the current standoff, it was a massive threat.

Whoosh.

The Blood Lord instinctively retreated, putting distance between himself and Jeong-un.

Now was not the time to focus solely on the cult leader.

The aura radiating from the young challenger racing his way was not ordinary.

He had to prepare for it.

So, he stretched out his left hand, forming a shield with true ki.

It was Blood Lord’s ultimate defense, prioritizing his own safety above all.

The ki coalesced, forming a tangible barrier.

That’s when it happened.

Saaaak!

As both were pulling back, the cult leader’s hand suddenly darted out like a snake, aiming for the Blood Lord’s throat—a surprise attack in the midst of chaos.

’This madman.’

How could he know where Jeong-un’s sword would come from, yet attack the Blood Lord instead?

Their eyes met briefly, the cult leader’s chilling smile clever and mocking.

It was infuriating, but for now, fending him off mattered more.

Instinctively, the Blood Lord’s mind wavered as he tried to widen the ki shield protecting his left side.

Saaaak!

Suddenly, his vision filled with golden light.

’When did he—!’

A sword, shrouded in golden radiance, was now swinging right in front of him.

This was not simply a sword strike empowered by enhanced energy.

The surging bursting energy enveloping the sword had formed a new, elongated blade—a perfect materialization of true ki.

Jjeojeojeok!

The blade shredded through the Blood Lord’s shield, slicing it apart.

It didn’t stop there; passing through unimpeded, it arched toward the Blood Lord’s neck.

’This mad...’

The Blood Lord’s eyes widened.

Slash!

The golden blade severed the Blood Lord’s throat as it swept by.

Jeong-un immediately turned his head to face the remaining foe, his eyes blazing with a bright yellow flame.

”You, come here too.”