Reincarnated Swordmaster

Chapter Title: Celestial Realm

Jin So-cheong, with the morning sun at his back, held his spear in a steady upright stance. This posture was the state right before unleashing a thrust, from which sixteen different follow-up variations could connect. The hallmark of Thunder God Style spear arts was the ability to fluidly transition to the next technique from any stance, so only Jin So-cheong himself knew what move he would make next.

Jin So-cheong spoke.

"Baek Woong. Before I pass on what I've comprehended, allow me to explain some martial theory."

I nodded.

"Go ahead."

"Why do you think the spear is stronger than the sword?"

At Jin So-cheong's question, I let out a groan. It pierced right to the core of the essence of martial arts, a question I'd pondered for ages myself. That's why I could answer honestly, without filter, with my me-longstanding thoughts.

"Because of its reach."

"Exactly. No matter how you try to bridge the gap with sword aura or flying sword techniques, the fatal difference in distance remains. Compensating with other skills only costs you in internal energy. Thus, a spear master is inherently half a step ahead of any swordsman. You probably know that beating a spear with a sword at the same level is an uphill battle."

I sighed.

"I've felt it keenly for far too long."

When I once set aside marksmanship to train with the spear, I was captivated by its sheer convenience and power. Mastering the spear made swordsmen or even saber users no match at all. Even the reason I couldn't easily surpass Lee Gwang all this time was because he's a spear virtuoso. Just wielding it like an extension of your limbs gives one an enormous edge.

"I knew this early on, so I believed that mastering spear fundamentals would let me grow stronger faster. That's why I drilled the basics—thrust, seize, and strike—to death. I fixated on that principle and delved into it for a full month."

What is he getting at?

As I looked at him, Jin So-cheong continued.

"I studied what the past 'Jin So-cheong'—who researched Zhang Sanfeng's ultimate arts—must have thought. My thoughts led me to Coiling Void Sword and Heavenly Pivot Sword, and I inferred their connection to Sky Cleaving Strike. At first, I couldn't grasp it, but the deeper I went, the more I arrived at one conclusion."

"What conclusion?"

"The Three Steps."

Three Steps?

Three paces?

Jin So-cheong's words didn't click at first. Maintaining his stance, he said.

"Baek Woong. Come at me. You'll grasp the meaning faster by feeling it."

"Alright!"

Without hesitation, I raised my sword. Using Annihilation Step, I swiftly attacked Jin So-cheong. With my Martial Spirit Scripture, I could wield Coiling Void Sword and Heavenly Pivot Sword proficiently, along with the finer points of sword arts like Thunder God Sword Dance. The original Jin So-cheong would have been hard-pressed to block my attacks, especially with our internal energy gap.

Clang!

But my five confident supreme strikes were effortlessly deflected by Jin So-cheong's defense. A sharp metallic ring echoed, but more than that, a dull pain shot through my grip. I faltered at the unfamiliar sensation.

"What?!"

My hands hurt. That meant my internal energy had been pushed back by his counter. More precisely, the intent in his counter had pierced my defenses and protective aura! This exchange let me feel just how much higher his level had risen.

"Come at me harder."

"Haat!"

Clang-clang!

Clang!

I unleashed over thirty linked exchanges, even deploying Coiling Void Thrust, assaulting Jin So-cheong. Yet he stood like Mount Tai, steadfast, intercepting or deflecting my attacks mid-motion without a shred of waste. I tried leading with internal energy for a massive Thousand Slashes Ten Thousand Cuts, but Jin So-cheong seemed to know its vital points and repelled it effortlessly.

As I fell back, Jin So-cheong quietly said.

"Didn't you notice something off?"

"......?"

"I didn't take three steps against you."

"Huh!"

Only then did I realize. I'd unleashed every sword strike imaginable against Jin So-cheong, but he hadn't moved a single step from his spot. It was as if an invisible intangible barrier confined him to those three paces.

It sounded plausible at a glance, but it was absurd. My current skill slightly surpassed Lee Gwang from my early reincarnation days. Few in the martial world could defend like that.

Amazed, I stared at Jin So-cheong. He spoke gravely.

"I suppressed you with my intent over three steps. No matter what you try, you can't breach that interval, so no attack lands. This is the principle of the Three Steps that fundamentally underpin Sky Cleaving Strike and Reverse Scale Slash."

I bristled at his words.

"Nonsense! What's so special about three steps?"

"Try again."

"Fine!"

Boom-boom-boom!

This time, I unleashed all my internal energy, pushing palm strikes and Annihilation Step to their limits as I attacked Jin So-cheong. I figured no one, not even him, could withstand such ferocious barrages.

But before fifty exchanges, I staggered back.

My grip was torn.

I felt my muscles damaged by the rebound force in his techniques.

And despite unleashing such brutal supreme strikes, I couldn't force Jin So-cheong even three steps!

"......"

Unable to comprehend, I clutched my torn hands and stood there. It felt like I'd been bewitched by a phantom. Every technique I used was hailed as transcendent ultimate art, refined to the peak—yet here I was, toyed with!

Jin So-cheong said calmly, eyes steady.

"Sky Cleaving Strike pierces Wind God Style's secrets, and Reverse Scale Slash rends the heavens. The driving force isn't unleashing devastating world-shattering arts from the spear tip—it's solidifying the domain under one's martial purview to achieve invincibility within three steps."

Only then did I understand.

Jin So-cheong had already far surpassed me! In that month, barely eating or sleeping, training like a madman, he'd transcended ordinary realms. Jealousy gave way to awe as I asked in a trembling voice.

"I don't get it... What's the meaning behind three steps?"

"Baek Woong. Watch closely. And feel it."

Swoosh.

Jin So-cheong's first motion was the thrust.

"The first step is Heaven: chart the world's directions, forging the path I will tread."

The next was seize.

"The second step is Earth: grasp the foe's space, blocking their path."

Whoosh!

"The final step is Man. With attack and defense unbound, the rest is freedom."

The last motion was, as expected, the strike. Staring at that final stab, I froze in a daze.

'No way...'

I voiced my guess.

"Jin So-cheong. Don't tell me Sky Cleaving Strike and Reverse Scale Slash derive from thrust-seize-strike?"

"Precisely."

"Th-that..."

I couldn't believe it.

What are thrust-seize-strike?

The three core basics of spear arts—techniques you drill until your hands blister, over and over. Sure, masters elevate them to ultimate techniques, but fundamentally, they're simplistic motions. That these simple moves birthed the Three Steps principle, spawning the flashy Sky Cleaving Strike and Reverse Scale Slash—it defied belief.

Jin So-cheong explained.

"Your past reincarnation's Jin So-cheong and Lee Gwang, studying Zhang Sanfeng's ultimate arts, likely focused on how they freely manipulated [space]. Delving into Coiling Void Sword and Heavenly Pivot Sword, they probably felt simply distorting space per the manuals lacked appeal."

"Lacked appeal?"

"Yes. No matter how supreme Coiling Void Sword is, grafting it wholesale onto sword or spear arts has limits. The completion of forms and techniques suffers greatly."

"So that's what happened..."

No wonder, during that Thunder God Style training camp, Jin So-cheong and Lee Gwang weren't just blindly following the manuals—they were researching. As spear masters, they couldn't swallow sword arts whole. As I internalized Jin So-cheong's explanation, he continued.

"And they found the clue in Seven Stars Elusive Shadow."

"Seven Stars Elusive Shadow..."

"Its finesse lies in the Bucket Turn Star Shift technique."

Flash-flash-flash!

In an instant, Jin So-cheong deployed Seven Stars Elusive Shadow, flipping his form and creating hazy afterimages. Suddenly, he vanished from my sight, reappearing elsewhere. In that moment, he'd utterly dismantled my vision and senses.

"Gasp."

"When stars rise, the Big Dipper inverts its position. This finesse complements space refraction and Sky contraction principles, linking the stars. By researching and integrating Bucket Turn Star Shift's subtlety, they secured the world's most perfect three-step space."

Swoosh!

"Using Heaven-Earth-Man's Three Steps lets the user execute thrust-seize-strike without interference. The simplest forms yield the greatest power. Merging principles from three intent techniques makes one invincible within three steps."

"......!!"

I vaguely grasped Jin So-cheong's words. His Three Steps principle harnessed the essences of Coiling Void Sword, Heavenly Pivot Sword, and Seven Stars Elusive Shadow—hence invincible. But I still didn't fully get it.

"Fine, invincible within three steps. But what about Sky Cleaving Strike and Reverse Scale Slash?"

"I'll recreate Sky Cleaving Strike now."

Swooo.

Zing.

Jin So-cheong seemed to lightly sweep his spear horizontally. His motion folded like space itself, his form overlaying as if severing time, exuding immense pressure as it surged forward.

Lightning shattered space, overwhelming thundering sky resounding. From Heavenly Thunder Ultimate Spear's forms, Heavenly Thunder Wolf Demon flowed into a single annihilation strike. Simultaneously, Jin So-cheong scattered Thunder Shadows like a dance.

Boom-boom-boom!!

Kaboom!

With storm-like charge, as Jin So-cheong took his final step, its might matched a thunder god's stride wielding overwhelming violence. It perfectly matched the Sky Cleaving Strike from memory that routed Wind God Style's guardian lion, Dragon Wing Heaven. I shuddered in shock.

"I-it's real!"

Jin So-cheong had restored Sky Cleaving Strike!

In just one month?!

As I cried out in astonishment, Jin So-cheong continued.

"Think carefully. Even just now, I moved centered on Heaven-Earth-Man's Three Steps. Heavenly Thunder Wolf Demon wasn't strictly necessary either—you could swap in any thrust-seize-strike motion instead. Right?"

"Now that you mention it..."

"Once you secure [space] with intent's Three Steps, any technique's power amplifies. When you attacked earlier, I only defended, but switching to offense within the three steps' influence yields this might."

Jin So-cheong chuckled.

"See why Sky Cleaving Strike and Reverse Scale Slash got such grandiose names? In truth, they were just swinging whatever powerful-looking move came to mind within three steps. Hardly worth calling proper forms or supreme strikes."

"......"

Come to think of it, Lee Gwang had brushed off questions about the forms' names. The flashy titles fooled everyone, but they were mere derivatives of the Three Steps technique.

"So you can use Reverse Scale Slash too."

"Reverse Scale Slash was just executing strike at extreme speed. Master probably pierced and detonated Wind Bullet cores one by one while operating Three Steps. The speed made it look like slicing the sky."

"Hmm..."

"Once all Wind Bullets burst, shredding even Dragon Wing Heaven's protective aura was a bonus."

Unbelievable.

Sky Cleaving Strike and Reverse Scale Slash weren't distinct techniques—they were footwork arts!

Decades of lingering doubts finally unraveled. Any ordinary martial artist would rejoice, but pure joy eluded me.

No matter the inherited memories, Jin So-cheong had inferred the past context from near-nothing, comprehended the arts' subtleties on his own, deconstructed and recreated them to restore the ultimate technique. "Genius" fell short; he was a monster.

Jin So-cheong said.

"To master Sky Cleaving Strike and Reverse Scale Slash, you first need deep attainment in Seven Stars Elusive Shadow. Shall I teach it now?"

"Ha!"

Snapping to, I hurriedly shook my head.

"No. You've kept your word. So let's go rescue those women kidnapped by the Nangong family, as you wish."

"Thanks..."

Thud.

"Huh?! Pull yourself together!!"

Out of nowhere, Jin So-cheong smiled and collapsed forward. Panicking, I checked his pulse and pupils, realizing extreme fatigue and starvation had damaged his vitality. I was stunned.

'He took Black White Lotus and Millennium Snow Ginseng for immense internal energy—yet he trained so harshly it depleted?'

He must have squeezed every ounce from himself, day and night.

"......"

This wasn't for jealousy of talent. Jin So-cheong had staked his manhood on this, exhausting himself to honor his word. With mixed feelings, I channeled energy into him and pulled out another Black White Lotus.

"Guess I'll have to make lotus porridge at least."

Once Jin So-cheong wakes, I'll do my utmost to fulfill his wish.

No matter what it takes, we'll rescue those women from the Nangong family.

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