“You aren’t listening. Are you in a trance? Haha. You’re really something else, aren’t you? I like you, kid.” “Hey, my name is Rao Fan. You probably can’t hear me, but it doesn’t matter. You saved my life earlier in the audience chamber. As the OJP Sect’s leader, I can’t leave this debt unpaid. Keep going forward. Don’t look back. I’ll take the enemies on your left.” He picked up a sword. “Remember, this is premium service. No one who stood by my side ever died.” It rained and rained. “Go, Rising Star. I have your back.” I stared at the Viper. What should I say to him? The Viper had one eye and wore an eyepatch to cover the other empty socket. Making eye contact with someone who had only one eye was a rare occurrence. I, too, had become used to interacting mainly with two-eyed people throughout my life, whether I intended to or not. My pupils, my gaze, and even the flow of my thoughts were used to interacting with people who had two eyes. Meeting someone with just one eye felt different. When I looked at them, the range of my vision was halved, losing its usual breadth and forcing me to focus on a narrow path. With my vision constricted, my thoughts multiplied. I was getting distracted. Even though I looked the OJP Sect Master in the eye, I couldn’t help but recall old memories. Though the Viper doesn’t remember these moments. When we battled the monsters summoned by the Demon King of Autumn Rain, with my sword in my hand, I dashed across the battlefield, completely engrossed in a trance. At the time, the Viper had my back, allowing me to maintain my trance for as long as possible. It was a considerate gesture that I had appreciated. I had died countless times at the hands of the Demon King of Autumn Rain. The Viper’s help was just a one-time occurrence among my hundreds of deaths. My deaths buried these memories deep and concealed them, so the Viper would never remember what he had done for me. It was simply not possible for him to remember. I unleashed my aura the moment I grabbed the hilt of my sword. A vibrant red hue took over my veins. As my aura raced violently within me, swirling around my heart, my thoughts sharpened. Time slowed down. I paused for a moment as the sword emerged from its scabbard. You said you were jealous of me. “Why! Why? The children I take care of— It was just before! Nothing has changed! Death King, why? Why can’t my children be like yours?” Even though you don’t remember the moment I died. “Why are you the only one making others happy?” “You made sure the Heavenly Demon would have the best final moments she could ask for! Even though the pain of dying was eating her away, she could genuinely smile at the gift you gave her!” Every time I became stronger, you were there next to me. “Why? Why couldn’t the alliance leader do that?” “Is it my fault? Was that my fault, too?” Just as I’ve become jealous of you, you’ve also become a part of me. A sharp, metal sound echoed around me. The sword, where the holy goddess rested, was now completely drawn from its scabbard. How can I tell that to you? You aren’t insignificant to me. How can I tell you that you matter to me and that I still recall the days you’ve forgotten? Will I be able to do that? The Viper grinned. “Oh, okay. That’s it. Now we’re talking.” “You know, I truly grasped Gramps Namgung Woon’s teachings during my seclusion training. Although Gramps taught me some things from time to time, it never sank in consistently, but enlightenment struck me over and over again during my seclusion training. I suppose everyone needs time for themselves.” You want me to talk to you, Viper? “Thanks for suggesting seclusion training, you punk.” “Hey, why aren’t you saying anything?” Maybe no words are needed. “Are you tense because you noticed my transcendent level? Disappointing. I’m so glad to see you after decades that I barely said anything to the others. Even in battle, exchanging a few words is customary.” It would be easy to beat him with words. It probably wouldn’t be too hard to defeat him with a sword either. “Huh? Don’t you think the same?” Despite decades of seclusion, his level was glaringly evident to me. His posture revealed a lot, and I grasped some information from the color of his aura. Using words to insult someone’s progress was simple, and it was equally easy to show with a sword that the insult was true. “Um? Hey, Death King.” It had always been easy to hurt and conquer. The challenge had always been winning one’s heart. “Are you really not going to say anything?” I remembered Teacher’s instructions. She had given me only a couple of lessons—how to put my heart into the wounds I inflicted, how to layer a voice over the sound of a sword. The words humans spoke were merely noise, but when those words carried meaning and aimed at something specific, it could wound the heart we couldn’t see. The sword I swung was also just a physical object, but if that object had purpose and intent, it could sever the mind that was usually impossible to slash. What Teacher sought to cut with one single sword was the path of pain.[1]. I aimed to cut down the Viper’s stubbornness, obsession, contempt, and deviancy. [2] The Viper nodded. “I see. No words are needed.” “Then I misspoke. I shouldn’t have invited you to attack. It’s customary for the challenger to attack first.” My single sword stroke was merely a stroke of matter, but I used it to let my aura flow in my veins and swirl around my heart as it reached my sword. My life and the warmth I drew from it lay within my heart. I was going to hand over my beating heart. You will understand when I hand it over. You’re a swordsman who has incarcerated yourself in this world and endured it for decades. The Viper grinned.“I’ll go first.” [Shiny answers your call.] [The Goddess of Protection pays attention.] Idol, Sympathy, Prayer. [The Guardian Goddess tells you:] Sacrifice, Salvation. By the time I called Prayer, Hwia read my mind and revealed herself, shining brightly in the jungle. As her overwhelmingly bright light spread, it felt as if a sequence of photographs unfolded one by one. The light radiated in all directions. As the sword’s glow intensified, the shadow it cast on the ground became darker, as if it was enveloped and compressed by light from every side. [Salvation obeys your command.] In the end, the sword in my hand and its shadow on the ground matched perfectly. [Sacrifice obeys your command.] Neither of them were genuine, but that didn’t mean they were fake, either. [Prayer obeys your command.] The shadow of the sword, which stopped shrinking despite the bright light, abruptly shifted as if it had a life of its own. [Sympathy obeys your command.] Just as the Viper got ready to strike, he paused in his movements, his one eye wide. In an instant, the sword’s shadow shifted and multiplied. One. Two. Three. Four times. There were now four sword shadows dispersed in four different directions: east, west, south, and north. These directions weren’t random. The shadows tightly encircled me as if protecting me, spinning slowly like the hands of a clock. I stood at the center of it all, pointing Idol at the Viper. [The Goddess of Protection has appeared.] I could hear his breath followed by the curling of his lips, as well as the Guardian blinking behind me. The Sword Star, the Black Witch, and the Paladin were focused watching the standoff. Estelle’s gaze was shifty. I could hear all of it very clearly in my ears. Four swords emerged from their shadows. “Hey, are you serious?” The swords that emerged from the shadows retained their darkness even after departing from the ground. Their shade was dark. Instead of sharp outlines, their surface restlessly writhed. They seemed alive, throbbing and growling like immature beasts. They were alive. “Isn’t this cheating?!” Just like how my aura ran free with my body as a vessel, the Goddess of Protection manifested in her multiple selves using my aura. “Even if you use just one sword, I can barely guarantee my victory, but now you’re swinging five of them?!” When aura was simply referred to as sword energy, what was happening right now was a reinforced version of it. As I turned my head, the four swords mirrored my movements. When I aimed my sword, the four swords moved harmoniously. My salvation, my sacrifice, my prayer, my sympathy. The hells I had been gathering since I grabbed the sword resonated flawlessly with Idol I had in my hand. “Alright! Fine!” the Viper yelled. This was the level I was at, and this was the view I could see at the moment. Yet I still couldn’t fade the shadow like Teacher. I would not be able to sever the tail of winter, but I could at least cut away a hem of his heart. The Viper swung his sword. “If you plan to defeat me without saying a word, then I'll do anything to pry a single word out of your mouth!” I had seen such a sword trajectory before. When was it? Ah, it reminded me of the way Murim Alliance Leader Namgung Woon had battled Teacher in the snowfield. Yes. As his flesh rotted and his bones melted, the Murim Alliance Leader had controlled all of his muscles with his qi. Using his joints as if they were puppets, he had unleashed his skills. My past self wouldn’t have recognized this movement. Back then, no matter how impressive the martial arts demonstrated by the finest masters were, my ignorant eyes were incapable of perceiving the depth of those techniques. Even if I witnessed them, I couldn’t comprehend them. I had mistakenly thought that the 989th martial dance of Teacher and Namgung Woon was a ridiculous show. The martial arts that the Viper displayed now were on that same level. My ignorance used to make me unable to comprehend this sort of technique, so it had stayed as incomprehensible in my mind. As if it were ■■■■. No, it never registered in my head in the first place. It used to be just a smokescreen, a shell, an illusion. Now I knew that the Viper’s movements carried the name of Sky-Shattering Yellow Ax. I deflected his sword swing with Sympathy. Silence. The Viper’s sword and the shadow I had manifested met, yet I couldn't hear the clash; he wasn't able to sever my shadow. The Viper continued to swing his sword. Divine Harmony Dragon. ■■■■ ■■ was as ■■ as ■■ a ■’s ■■, ■■ ■ should ■■■ ■■■■ before ■■, ■■ should be ■■■ ■■ ■■ ■■, and ■■ of ■■ should be ■■ ■■. The fierce momentum was as lethal as a snake’s fangs and as shrewd as a dragon’s form. Therefore, I had to suffocate and cut him down before he could open his mouth to show his teeth. I also had to close the distance between us and confront him before he resumed his schemes so I could strike him effectively. “My name is Rao Fan.” Rao Fan, I remember you. I deflected the sword he swung. Using Sword Telekinesis, I swung my sword. 1. The raw is 고집멸도, the Four Noble Truths. It’s four types of truth in Buddhism. ☜ 2. The author is saying this based on the Four Noble Truths. 고(집: stubbornness), 집(착: obsession), 멸(시: contempt), 도(착: deviance). But it doesn’t have to do with the actual Four Noble Truths. ☜