Berserk Pill.
It was the na of an item that had appeared during the Righteous-Demonic War before his regression.
The Berserk Pill was an absurd item that allowed a first-rate master to possess the martial prowess of a peak master just by eating it, and if a peak master ate it, they could possess the martial prowess of a transcendent master.
Why did such a rare item, which Jang Baekseo, who had fought on the front lines of the Righteous-Demonic War before his regression, had only encountered a handful of tis, appear in Myeonggwang's hands now?
'…No, in the first place, from the mont the Raging Blood Art appeared, I should have expected this kind of situation.'
He had foolishly judged the opponent's limits on his own and had rushed in rashly without fully confirming the opponent's moves.
And the result was his now shattered right arm.
"Tsk!"
He held the sword in his mouth, stopped the pain by pressing the acupoints on his right arm with his left hand, and then put his right arm inside his clothes to fix it and prevent it from shaking, preventing the injury from getting worse.
"Kehahahahaha!! Sword force!! Yes, this was sword force!!"
Myeonggwang, who had inflicted a serious injury on Jang Baekseo, was looking at the sword force dwelling in his sword as if he were possessed, without any interest in such things.
But soon, when Jang Baekseo, who he had thought would have been completely neutralized by the exchange of blows just now, stood up with a surprisingly intact appearance, with only one arm broken, he glared at Jang Baekseo with eerie eyes.
"…You're a really amazing brat… I'm not being sarcastic, I'm being sincere."
"Yeah, I know I'm amazing too."
Although Jang Baekseo returned the words with a sarcastic remark, the situation was not that easy.
The Berserk Pill was an item with terrifying side effects, as much as its absurd function.
First of all, when the function of the Berserk Pill ended, it would inflict a great blow to the blood vessels and ridians of the whole body, as well as the dantian.
Not only would one suffer a blow that would lead to at least an internal injury, and at worst, qi deviation, but one would also suffer a considerable loss of internal energy.
But even if one endured all those flaws, the Berserk Pill was an amazing item.
Myeonggwang had originally been on the border between the peak and the transcendent realm.
In addition, since he was using the Berserk Pill and the Raging Blood Art together, he was exhibiting a strength comparable to that of a veteran transcendent master.
"I acknowledge that greatness and will kill you in one go."
"…!"
The speed of Myeonggwang, who had dug in using his footwork with the enormous internal energy amplified by the Berserk Pill, was on a different level from before.
But no matter how fast he was, Jang Baekseo, who had reached a much higher realm as a martial artist than Myeonggwang, could easily dodge the attack.
But.
Kwaang!
"Keuk!?"
Myeonggwang, who had already figured that out while fighting with Jang Baekseo, cornered Jang Baekseo in a completely different way.
Instead of attacking directly, he had ignored Jang Baekseo, who was dodging his attack, and had struck the ground with his sword force.
The ground, which had been struck by the sword force, exploded as if dozens of thunderbolt bombs had been detonated at once, and the stone fragnts that scattered in all directions due to the explosion beca hidden weapons containing a strong force and struck Jang Baekseo's body.
"No matter how much you can grasp my movents and dodge my attacks, you are by no ans faster than . Then there are plenty of ways to kill you."
"Ha! You talk well!"
Sword force was not just a technique that was stronger than sword qi.
If sword qi was the materialization of energy as a form rather than a phenonon, sword force went one step further and diffused and amplified the materialized energy.
The move that Myeonggwang had used was one that used this diffusion. The stones that had flown at Jang Baekseo's body due to the sword force were not just stones, but were no different from hidden weapons containing the energy diffused from the sword force.
Myeonggwang, who was convinced that his attack was working properly, unlike before, launched a fierce offensive.
Although Jang Baekseo dodged all of those attacks, he could not dodge all the stones or pieces of wood containing energy that flew at him, scattering with the explosion that followed.
By the ti they had exchanged a few blows, the tide of the battle had completely turned to Myeonggwang.
Jang Baekseo's whole body was already full of wounds. His body was full of blue bruises from being hit repeatedly by the stone fragnts containing energy, and in so places, his bones were cracked. In addition, a few pieces of wood were stuck in his body, causing bleeding.
'This can't go on…'
Jang Baekseo admitted that the current situation was a truly desperate one.
But despite that, the point where he had a chance of winning was that Myeonggwang's sword force was not a real sword force.
The function of the Berserk Pill was only to explode the potential of the body and raise the internal energy.
And just because the internal energy increased explosively, it did not an that the technique, understanding, and enlightennt of martial arts would suddenly appear.
What Myeonggwang was swinging now was, strictly speaking, not sword force but sword qi.
It was just a sword qi that had been strengthened with a foolish amount of internal energy to resemble sword force.
But it was only similar, not the sa.
As proof of that, if Myeonggwang's sword force had been real, the outco would have been decided at the point where Jang Baekseo had been convinced of victory and had rushed in rashly.
And that's why Jang Baekseo still had a chance of winning.
No matter how strong Myeonggwang's sword force was, as long as it was not a real sword force, there had to be a decisive difference in its nature from sword force.
Jang Baekseo decided to bet on that part.
'I have no choice but to try!'
"Ha, how ridiculous."
"What?"
Myeonggwang was puzzled when Jang Baekseo suddenly said sothing strange while gasping for breath.
Unlike at the beginning, the tide of victory was now clearly leaning towards Myeonggwang.
Considering his current situation, it was right for him to leave a brat like Jang Baekseo and run away.
But Myeonggwang did not do that.
The first reason was that he knew the existence of the Hundred Rivers Association, which he should never have known, and the second reason was…
'If I let that brat live, he will be dangerous!'
He was a genius among geniuses who had used sword qi at the young age of fourteen, not even of age yet.
A year? Or two years?
The more ti he was given, the more he would probably beco stronger exponentially, and soon, he would surpass him in the realm of martial arts. If that happened, it was obvious that he would beco a fatal threat to the association.
That's why he had decided to kill Jang Baekseo here, even if it ant reducing his chances of getting out of Qingcheng alive.
Since he had decided, further conversation was unnecessary.
Yet, as if drawn by sothing, Myeonggwang asked Jang Baekseo.
"What's so ridiculous?"
"No, it's funny, because"
After saying that much, Jang Baekseo pointed to the sword in Myeonggwang's hand with his still intact left hand.
"That's not sword force, is it?"
"!?"
As if he had been hit in a vital spot, Myeonggwang's body trembled greatly.
"You just foolishly poured in the internal energy you gained from the drug. That's not sword force."
"…What do you know…"
"Yeah, I don't know much, but you do, don't you?"
"…"
"There's no way Grandmaster Gwangha wouldn't have shown his sword force to you, his favorite disciples, even once."
As if Jang Baekseo's words were a direct hit, Myeonggwang could not say anything and just glared at Jang Baekseo as if he were going to kill him.
"You know it well yourself, don't you? That's not sword force. It's nothing more or less than a foolish sword qi created by forcibly pouring in internal energy."
Although Myeonggwang could not even offer a proper refutation or logic to Jang Baekseo's words, he added one more word as a final resistance.
"What does a young brat like you know…!"
"Then why didn't you throw it?"
"!?"
The part where sword force and sword qi had a decisive difference.
The reason why the martial arts that used sword force were classified separately and called sword force arts.
It was because of a certain characteristic of sword force that was completely different from sword qi.
Sword qi could be extended, but it could not be thrown.
In other words, a person with excellent skills in handling sword qi could extend the length of the sword qi from the sword or swing it like a whip by extending its length, but they could not separate it from the sword and throw it.
To be precise, it was not that they could not throw it, but that they did not throw it.
To put it simply, it was not efficient.
If you were to throw a sword qi containing a hundred units of power, three-tenths of its power would disappear when the sword qi left the sword and flew about one zhang, five-tenths would disappear when it passed two zhang, and if it passed three zhang, the sword qi would completely scatter and disappear.
Internal energy, or what was called internal energy or qi, could not exist in this world independently. Even the qi that filled all things in the universe was, in the end, contained in a dium such as natural objects, and even wind and air.
Of course, sword qi itself was a materialization of energy itself as a form, transcending such laws of nature, but it was maintained only as long as it was connected to the user.
The mont the connection with the user was broken, the form would soon collapse, and the energy would be instantly absorbed by all things in the universe.
This was the limit of sword qi.
But sword force was different.
If sword qi had sublimated the power of energy as a form rather than a phenonon, sword force went beyond a simple form and made it exist as a single entity.
In this world of desire made of matter, sword force was the only thing that was created by defying the laws of this world. In a way, it was a purification of power that was beyond the laws of this world.
"People often say that you need enlightennt to reach sword force, don't they?"
Enlightennt.
It was a good word. The word 'enlightennt' was a word that lumped together all the ten thousand things, such as the technique, understanding, knack, mindset, and other things, to reach a certain point in martial arts.
And people also attached the word 'enlightennt' to sword force.
But no one properly explained what that enlightennt was in words.
"But I know well what that enlightennt is."
To reach sword force, two kinds of enlightennt were needed.
The first enlightennt was the enlightennt of 'flow'.
"Well, this is simple. Flow. As the na suggests, you have to be able to create a flow of qi in the sword qi that has ford a shape outside the body."
Those who first created sword qi were obsessed with sublimating a phenonon into a form, so they would just materialize the energy and make it stay still.
But as they received training, contemplation, and the teachings of their master, they would co to realize that it was not necessary to do so.
Just as the internal energy in the body could not exert great power by just staying in the dantian, but could exert its true power only when it circulated rapidly through the blood vessels and ridians of the four limbs and created a flow.
Sword qi could also exert a stronger power not just by materializing the energy as if it were covering the sword, but by making the sword qi that had ford a shape have a flow, just as the internal energy flowed through the blood vessels and created a flow.
That was the enlightennt of flow, one of the two enlightennts to reach sword force.
Of course, it was not as easy as it sounded.
Unlike the human blood vessels, whose paths were already determined, of course, there were no blood vessels, ridians, or even channels in a sword.
The flow that made up the sword qi had to be determined and created by the user himself, and the increase in power due to that would depend on his own discretion.
"And you are in this state right now!"
(End of Chapter)
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