Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Heavenly Realm

Heavenly Realm

Dongbang Mugeuk and the Baekwon Twin Demons eyed me warily, poised as if ready to attack at any moment.

And for good reason—they harbored not even the tiniest thought of losing to me.

Dongbang Mugeuk's eyes sharpened.

“What did you say... you bastard...”

Wuuung.

Dongbang Mugeuk's formidable inner energy gathered in his hand, manifesting as sword aura.

The Baekwon Twin Demons had likewise drawn forth their individual sword energies, fully entering combat stance.

But that was the old story.

The moment I laid eyes on them, I grasped exactly how to handle them.

I grinned and said to Dongbang Mugeuk.

“Why so hasty? What's the reason we need to fight right now?”

“I'll give you a reason!!”

Dongbang Mugeuk bellowed and charged at me.

With a whistling screech, the space ahead spanning a dozen or so shang was instantly dyed in light.

Just as I'd seen before, the fan-shaped destructive trail massively tore up the ground, flaunting his terrifying inner strength.

‘Whoa.’

In that instant, I executed the Soul Extinguishing Step to effortlessly evade Dongbang Mugeuk's attack range.

Simultaneously, I flung the dagger from within my robes in a crossing motion, and Dongbang Mugeuk—stiffened slightly right after his attack—failed to dodge it.

He broke out in a cold sweat and barely twisted his body to avoid a direct hit, but a long bloodline slash was carved into his thigh.

Dongbang Mugeuk's inner energy was exceedingly profound thanks to consuming White Lotus Cult elixirs, but his martial arts themselves weren't particularly profound or mysterious.

I could fully read his techniques and counterattack.

The Baekwon Twin Demons didn't just watch; they simultaneously drew their swords and unleashed the Moon Moon Sword to attack me.

I had once clashed swords head-on with one of the Baekwon Twin Demons and won, but there was no denying that each of them possessed skill at the entry level of transcendent peak.

Naturally, their combined assault came with tremendous power.

Butterfly-shaped sword waves carried sword energy, shrinking my evasion space.

As belitting experts, they had discerned the speed of my Soul Extinguishing Step in a split second and launched an apt attack.

I observed the butterfly sword waves to the end before gathering inner energy in my hand, then swung the Thunder God Fist head-on to meet them.

Kwarurung!

Thunder God Fist clashed with the butterfly waves, erupting in a thunderous roar.

A massive resonance shook the air, and the Baekwon Twin Demons—unable to withstand the fist force—were hurled back three zhang like ragdolls.

They swiftly flipped in midair to soften the impact and land, but astonishment was plain on their faces.

“Urgh!”

“Such...”

Having lightly repelled their onslaught, I smirked.

“I could play around some more, but you'd pay dearly for it.”

“Ugh...”

My tone was casual, but killing intent laced my words, and as experts, they seemed to grasp my meaning.

And I'd already proven I had the skill to back it up.

Dongbang Mugeuk relaxed his shoulders slightly and spoke.

“Could you be a rejuvenated elder expert? Your martial arts seem...”

His tone had grown polite.

I inwardly sneered at Dongbang Mugeuk and replied.

“You should state your business first. Why have you come to me?”

Dongbang Mugeuk hesitated a moment before saying.

“We sensed a massive qi rippling from afar. We waited along your path ahead to investigate its source.”

“I see.”

As transcendent peak experts themselves, they could detect such potent qi.

Moreover, exhausted as I was, I hadn't bothered concealing mine, so they'd easily pinpointed my presence.

Naturally, they had come seeking the owner of that immense qi out of curiosity.

Dongbang Mugeuk said.

“Who are you? How do you know our identities?”

I stared steadily at Dongbang Mugeuk before replying.

“What would you do if you knew? ‘Those who come are not kind,’ as they say—why should I tell someone who attacks without a word?”

“Eek...”

As Dongbang Mugeuk bristled to charge again, I smiled and cut him off.

“Heh heh, just kidding.”

“Huh?”

“I was dispatched by the Cult Leader's direct Elder Council. Just on a different mission from you.”

“......!!”

Dongbang Mugeuk and the Baekwon Twin Demons exchanged shocked glances.

My single mention of the Elder Council resolved all their doubts.

My rejuvenated appearance, knowledge of Dongbang Mugeuk's identity—it all fit.

‘Not that it's true.’

Dongbang Mugeuk eyed me with bewilderment and asked.

“Wh-what mission?”

“Why should I tell you that?”

I whipped my head away and continued.

“The key point is my mission differs from yours. Don't interfere with my business—go your own way.”

“Ugh... I can't trust that.”

“Fine then.”

As I turned to leave, Dongbang Mugeuk hurriedly shouted.

“Wait! Hold on!”

My figure halted, and Dongbang Mugeuk cautiously said.

“I'll believe you're an Elder Council expert. Then, could you help with our mission, just for a bit?”

I inwardly cheered at his words.

‘It worked!’

Just moments ago, when impersonating an Elder Council member, I'd figured directly offering aid to Dongbang Mugeuk would seem suspicious.

So I'd feigned natural detachment instead.

I was certain he'd signal somehow—he wasn't the type to let a shady figure like me pass by.

With the fish biting, I replied all the more leisurely.

“Isn't your mission to find the Dragon Flower Tree seed? What could I possibly help with?”

“Hah! You even know that... It's true, then.”

Dongbang Mugeuk gasped.

He seemed to have fully dropped his suspicions now, speaking to me earnestly.

“Truth be told, negotiations with the Zhurong Clan have hit a snag. We were heading to the White Lotus Cult's Yunnan branch to procure treasures worthy of offering them.”

“......?”

I rummaged through past memories, recalling info I'd gleaned from Dongbang Mugeuk.

Miyo had once ensnared him with her enchantment arts to extract it.

[For offering the Sacred Lotus to the Southern Barbarian overlord, Black Prince Naresuan, I secured access to the Great Library... There, I encountered a suspicious clan and struck an additional deal...]

[I can speak the tongues of Southern and Yue Barbarians broadly... but lacked the skill to decipher the library's ancient scripts... That's when they appeared, offering to interpret the scripts in exchange for Sacred Lotus, and Naresuan outsourced more to them... With their aid, I deciphered the library texts... and even viewed the giants' ruins.]

[Descendants of the Flame Emperor Shennong from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors legends... the so-called clan of giant gods like Chiyou, Kuafu, Gonggong, and Hengtian... Far south of the Southern Yue, they built mysterious ruins to leave their traces...]

[With that suspicious clan—who called themselves the Zhurong Clan—I gained entry... And inside, I discovered something terrifying...]

‘I see.’

I'd overheard that conversation via Thunder Essence Scripture, so I remembered it clearly.

Pondering Dongbang Mugeuk's current situation based on that intel, I pieced it together.

‘I see. He was heading to the Yunnan branch to obtain Sacred Lotus for them.’

‘The treasure procurement’ was surely to acquire Sacred Lotus for the Zhurong Clan.

Afterward, he'd use it to get their ancient script interpretations.

I quickly grasped the full context but feigned ignorance and asked.

“Zhurong Clan? What kind of people are they?”

“Well, it's... complicated to explain, but... they're the ones who'll help interpret ancient scripts in exchange for Sacred Lotus, giving us the Dragon Flower Tree leads.”

“Sacred Lotus... They crave inner energy too, I suppose.”

“No idea. They're such bizarre folk...”

Dongbang Mugeuk glossed over it and continued.

“You're an Elder Council expert, so you could surely procure Sacred Lotus more reliably than I can. Please, help us.”

“Hmm.”

I pondered my next move.

Though Dongbang Mugeuk belonged to the White Lotus Cult, his ambiguous, outsider status likely made Yunnan reluctant to hand over Sacred Lotus easily.

Hence, he was turning to me, a supposed Elder Council elite, for an easy score.

Of course, as no real Elder Council member, I couldn't actually fulfill it.

But I couldn't let this chance slip.

‘With luck, I can meet the Zhurong Clan right away.’

The Zhurong Clan were likely tied to otherworldy races, deeply linked to the Tower of No Change en route to Huaiyao.

By pretending to aid Dongbang Mugeuk's mission and making contact, I could get the answers I sought.

Finishing my calculations inwardly, I replied innocently.

“If I help you, what will you do for me?”

“I'll aid your mission to the best of my ability. Once I secure the Sacred Lotus, my task is basically done...”

I knew Dongbang Mugeuk was lying.

His true mission was obtaining the Dragon Flower Tree seed—far from over.

After Sacred Lotus and script interpretations came studying the giants' ruins, then heading to the southern continent's end where Huaiyao lay.

His journey was only halfway done, but I knew he'd abandon it midway and return to the Cult.

Even Dongbang Mugeuk wouldn't dare go to the world's southern edge.

‘Well... if script interpretation ends it, he's not wrong.’

After thinking, I said.

“Arrange for me to meet this Zhurong Clan too. And I'll join the negotiations.”

“What...? You know the Southern Barbarian tongue?”

“Not that—now that things are thus, I must report your mission progress to the Cult Leader. So I need to observe. And you'll immediately fulfill any demands I make.”

Dongbang Mugeuk frowned, unable to find fault in my words.

“For an Elder Council member, you're awfully arrogant. What makes you say that?”

“Answer me. Will you or won't you?”

“...Fine. As you demand.”

With Dongbang Mugeuk's agreement, I drew two pairs of black-and-white lotuses from my throat guard and showed them.

The sudden appearance of the black-and-white lotuses astonished them.

“Gasp!”

“Here. These should suffice for negotiations.”

“Th-this... is Sacred Lotus? The one I know is just plain white.”

“Newly refined and cultivated by our Cult. Far more potent than the originals. Still top secret.”

“......!!”

“Come on, let's go.”

Dongbang Mugeuk's eyes widened in awe.

“Truly... remarkable. As expected of the Elder Council...”

He had no choice but to believe.

The white lotus visually matched Sacred Lotus perfectly—merely adding a black one left no room for doubt without price knowledge.

“Oh, right—what should I call you?”

Feeling mischievous, I said.

“Just call me Yeo Dongbin.”

“...Understood.”

Tadadak

After a brief rest, I followed Dongbang Mugeuk's group southward for quite some time.

True to coming from the Southern Barbarians, they pressed far beyond the Central Plains border downward.

Amid the mad dash, Dongbang Mugeuk shared minor details.

“Our destination is the palace of Black Prince Naresuan, the Southern Barbarian overlord. He's a formidable expert with no small forces under him—tread carefully, very carefully.”

I glanced sidelong at Dongbang Mugeuk.

‘This guy giving a caution?’

Dongbang Mugeuk was infamous in the Central Plains for his arrogance and thuggery.

He'd rampaged using his supreme arts, even brazenly attempting theft and provocation against one of the Five Great Families, the Sichuan Tang Clan.

Trash of a personality, but utterly confident in his skills.

For such a man to warn of caution?

Leaping over a great tree in one stride, I said.

“Aren't the Southern Barbarians barbarian lands? This Naresuan practices martial arts too?”

“Seems so. Feels like fist arts, but at an extraordinary level. He can probably use Intent Severing Strike.”

“......!!”

I was inwardly shocked.

Users of Intent Severing Strike were rare even across the vast Central Plains.

For a king to reach such a realm was exceptionally unusual.

Per Dongbang Mugeuk's assessment, Naresuan's skill matched or exceeded his own.

‘Southern Barbarian martial arts exist, then.’

As I mulled it over, Dongbang Mugeuk said.

“I thought it'd take a year to get the Sacred Lotus, but you've saved us. My thanks.”

“Well... you'll help with my business ahead too.”

“Grk.”

Amid such chatter, about two days passed, and we entered the true Southern Barbarian jungles.

Pushing through dense foliage revealed a massive city, its architecture utterly alien to anything I'd seen.

“This is Ayutthaya.”

“Ayutthaya?”

“The capital of the Ayutthaya Empire.”

An odd name, but fitting for the Southern Barbarians.

Following Dongbang Mugeuk inside, I found the roads surprisingly well-maintained, the people's attire bearing a certain dignity.

Irrigation canals ran through, with amenities everywhere—clearly a populous metropolis.

And I flinched upon seeing guns in the hands of soldiers stationed about.

“Guns?”

As I reacted in surprise, Dongbang Mugeuk glanced over and said.

“You know of guns, then. This place has many musketeers.”

“Hmm. But this is...”

I let out a groan.

It reminded me of my past talk with the North Sea Ice Palace Lord.

[This is what they call a gun, using gunpowder for ignition via matchlock. Likely what spread to Wa as well.]

[As you might guess, reloading is tricky, but if massed ranks fire in sequence, it'll unleash tremendous power. No laughing matter.]

[Moreover, Anan's gun tech has advanced further, deploying wheel-lock guns in practice. More complex structurally, but no matchlock means easier carry—even cavalry can use them.]

The North Sea Ice Palace Lord had said gun types varied.

Matchlocks (ignited via fuse were common, heavy, long, large-bore, lit by flint or oil.

Such guns had proliferated to the Great Ming Empire and Wa.

A step up was the wheel-lock mechanism: friction from a wheel device against iron pyrite sparked the powder, safer sans fuse.

But fragile and intricate, used by elite guards in advanced realms like the Arasa Empire.

Yet the guns these guards carried looked different.

Not matchlocks, but unlike wheel-locks too—more refined.

Odd, too, the long rods separately holstered at their waists.

As I eyed the guns curiously, Dongbang Mugeuk said.

“I hear Naresuan trades often with the western foreign states. That's probably their latest model.”

“Know any name for it?”

“Not sure, but I hear it skips flint—pull the trigger and it fires right away.”

“Hmm.”

I cocked my head.

Unique, but was this the pinnacle of current gun tech?

And so, following Dongbang Mugeuk, I reached the audience with Black Prince Naresuan.

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