Chapter 12: Chapter 12: A Separate Teaching, Outside the Norm

The wind blows coolly, but the sunlight beats down hotly on the earth.

I was moving my body here and there, but not a single drop of sweat formed.

Having undergone Bone Forging Rebirth and Rejuvenation, and reached the Pinnacle Attainment, my body, which had stepped beyond the boundaries of the human species, was no longer bound by physiological phenomena like perspiration.

Come to think of it. The higher my realm gets, the more I feel I'm gradually stepping away from being human.

If I contemplate the path I've walked, might I see a clue to the next realm?

Hmm.

I lowered my head to dodge a flying kick mixed with water droplets and gently closed my eyes.

I brought my finger to the water droplets splashing from the end of the attack's trajectory.

Refreshing. Sparring with Bonan in the summer heat wouldn't be so bad.

Hmm... Should I think a bit then.

Unleashing the Warrior's Mirror with one hand, I deflected the boulders Mino launched.

First, I didn't tangibly experience realms like Third-rate or Second-rate.

I just swung my sword and instinctively found the sword path, and as I swung, I manifested sword energy, the proof of First-rate.

And as I embodied that sword energy within my body, it naturally condensed and became sword aura.

That's how I crossed the wall of the Mastery realm. Nostalgic memories.

Smiling at the hazy, rising memories mixed with horror and affection, I swept away the approaching flames with a gale created by swinging one hand.

Then, while wielding sword aura, I thought, 'Couldn't I condense the sword aura to create a harder, sharper sword?' and thus challenged the Sword Force realm.

It wasn't easy at first.

Sword energy and sword aura weren't things one could control so freely.

But after decades together, the sword aura became one with me. And I could create Sword Force.

Hmm. Up to Sword Force, it was smooth. Maybe I had more talent than I thought.

I embraced the flying sharp wind with a gentle wind and released it into the void.

...Thinking about it. The purposes of sword energy, sword aura, and Sword Force are clear.

Sword energy's role is to make the sword stronger and sharper.

Sword aura's role is to blossom from the sword's tip, adding sharpness.

And Sword Force is the destination of all those purposes. Created to cut down everything that can be cut.

Then. What about the Compressed Sword Sphere?

Does it exist to cut?

No. The Compressed Sword Sphere is closer to 'scorching the earth' than cutting.

Dodging the pouring rain of lightning by using footwork, I pondered.

For what purpose does the Compressed Sword Sphere exist?

No. First of all. Where do sword energy, sword aura, and Sword Force come from?

Frowning, I stopped.

"Master has stopped! Pour it on!!!"

As I stopped, Yingda ignited flames and shouted.

Fire, wind, rock, water, and lightning surge towards me all at once.

But I embrace Nothingness.

The power of nature cannot restrain me.

I deflect.

Without deflecting a single drop.

To deflect, I do not deflect.

The Warrior's Mirror explosively released, and the wind in all directions was tattered.

"Huep?!"

"Again!!!"

"Oh, come on!!!"

"Hahahahaha!!!"

The yakshas who had rushed at me were sent flying in all directions like fallen leaves in autumn.

"Why does he fight so well even while thinking about other things like that!"

Yingda shouted as if it were unfair, pounding the ground, and Bosacius ground his teeth and spoke.

"How much longer... will the sparring continue?"

Oh. Now he's using honorifics too. A remarkable improvement.

I smiled and said.

"Isn't it obvious? The sparring will stop immediately if even a single finger touches me, and we will begin the lesson."

"...Kuh."

Bosacius stood up, gnawing his lip as if frustrated.

"Let's... do it again."

"Shall we?"

Fluttering my long black sleeves, I took a stance.

"Then...!"

"Wait, wait! Bosacius! Let's rest a bit!!!"

"Bosacius. Let's just... rest a bit..."

Bosacius was about to rush in immediately, but Yingda and Bonan grabbed hold of him.

"What...! Aren't we yakshas! We must fight endlessly...!"

"I... can't take it either, Bosacius... please stop..."

Finally, with Mino joining in, Bosacius fidgeted and looked at me.

With a single word from me, the yakshas would probably get up and fight again.

But there's no need to rush.

I want to leave as many good impressions about martial arts for them as possible.

"Enough. Everyone, rest. We have been sparring for a long time."

"Hooray!!!"

"Master is the best."

Bonan and Yingda immediately fell over, chanting my name and shouting hooray three times, while Mino was already unconscious.

Only Bosacius and Fusa sat down, loosening their bodies as if regretful.

"Technique does not arise from blindly pushing forward. Moreover."

I brightened my eyes with a blue light and examined the yakshas' bodies.

As I thought. That must be the karmic debt.

Crimson energies, like iron chains, binding the yakshas, were deeply embedded in their brains, chests, and... inside their solar plexus.

"Master, do you know it's kind of scary every time you use those eyes...? Should I say it's like an illuminated beast..."

Yingda, who was lying face down taking light breaths, spoke, and Bonan and Mino nodded with difficulty.

I laughed, imbuing it with absurdity.

"You all keep calling me an illuminated beast, but despite appearances, I am an ordinary human."

At my words, all the yakshas abruptly raised their bodies and looked at me.

"Are you serious?"

"That's nonsense."

"I think that's a bit off, though..."

"Ridiculous talk."

"Hmm... Is that Master's word?"

...Now I'm not even treated as human.

Holding my forehead, I spoke.

"Alright, alright. By the way. Rest time is over. Get up now, you disciples."

"Huh? Already?!"

Yingda exclaimed in shock and began to slink backward.

"No. Today's sparring ends here. But today, I vowed to devote myself to your training with all my strength. So, everyone, sit in the proper lotus position."

"...?"

The yakshas expressed doubt with their expressions but still sat in a circle around me in the proper lotus position.

"Everyone, close your eyes and listen."

At my words, all the yakshas closed their eyes simultaneously.

"To be honest. I want to teach you techniques right away. But it seems this procedure must come first."

I gathered my inner energy.

And. I release it.

As psychokinetic power gathered, salt granules began to spread diffusely in all directions.

I began to emit blue granules from my entire body.

"I know your condition. Karmic debt. That is what binds you."

Then Fusa's eyes flew open and his mouth gaped.

"Master, how do you...!"

"Close your eyes, Fusa."

"......."

Fusa closed his eyes again. I continued my explanation.

"The karmic debt is probably tightening around you even now. So from now on, I will build your resistance to the karmic debt."

I took a deep breath.

"Everyone, calm your minds. Recall the times your fists pierced through demons. Remember the moment that cold blood soaked your fists and dripped down. And face the karmic debt that crawled from the corpses of those demons."

This time, Bonan opened her eyes.

"Master. But that's..."

"That you will be seized by the karmic debt and lose your reason?"

"...Yes."

"Right. That would be so. However."

Frowning, I spoke.

"How long will you turn away from it? Now, while it is not yet strong enough, is the opportunity. Calm down. Settle. And pour it out to me. I will receive it."

Bonan stared at me blankly.

"...Master."

"Speak, disciple."

"...Why are you going this far?"

Unknowingly, Yingda, Mino, and Bosacius had also opened their eyes.

Really. Disobedient disciples.

"We have only been master and disciple for less than a week. If we run wild. Even you, as our master, will be in danger."

"To be precise, about 4 days. By the way, are you worried about me, Bonan?"

I chuckled and spoke.

"That's what a master originally is. For the sake of disciples, one must do anything. A master is originally the one who leads. So close your eyes quietly. I will draw it out. From that dark place."

"......."

Bonan looked at me as if it were absurd, then closed her eyes again.

All the yakshas' minds began to gradually calm.

Their spirits separate, settle, and face past memories.

It must be horrifying.

It must be painful.

So I will lessen that pain a little.

I recalled the four days I had spent with them.

Bonan seems brusque but was the first to sincerely call me master.

Despite her young age, she became the strongest among the yakshas.

I shifted my gaze slightly.

Yingda. The yaksha with the strongest affinity among them, but her inner self is actually very tender.

To appear strong, she wraps herself in fire, but that only makes her burn away more.

And Mino.

The most serious fellow among the yakshas, but one with a quirky side. Being particularly concerned about clothing is one such aspect.

And Fusa.

The disciple closest to a martial artist, so I feel affection for him. Sparring with him gives me the feeling of returning to the cave era.

And... Bosacius.

The youngest. The least experienced.

But the yaksha who suits the title of yaksha more than anyone.

He's a splendid fellow.

I chuckled and felt the karmic debt emanating from the disciples gradually thickening.

...I should prepare too.

I drew my Noctilucous Jade sword.

And an energy resembling starlight, like salt granules, began to emanate.

I owe Havria in many ways.

And then.

"...Kyaaaaaaa!!!"

"As expected, you're first, Yingda."

I pointed my sword.

Flames rise on an incomparable scale to before.

That fire was even burning her.

"Are you in pain."

"Kyaaaaaaaaa!!!"

It was a shout.

But it also resembled a scream.

Fire blossoms.

And Yingda rushed at me.

Looking at me with hollow pupils containing only despair and anger.

I swung my sword.

Yingda's fire and my sword mixed, and flames scattered in all directions.

"Kyaaaaaaa!!!"

"Endure a little."

I passed the sword to my right hand and clenched my left fist.

Psychokinetic power resembling Shaolin's dharma power gathers.

I thrust!

Thud!

"Kyak?!"

She took a fist straight to the head, but the impact shouldn't be great.

After all, it was a fist extended only to deliver psychokinetic power.

Shaolin's dharma power, due to its purity, cultivates a person's spirit.

Yingda's spirit, clinging to the karmic debt, gradually rose.

"Ah... ah...?"

"Speak, Yingda. What makes you suffer so."

Yingda grabbed her own head and squeezed with force as if to burst it.

"Speak."

"It's... me."

"Why?"

"I'm... gradually... afraid... that I, who handles fire and so easily extinguishes life like this..."

I quietly looked at Yingda.

"I'm afraid... of getting used to this... that this destructive fire will become me...!"

Fire burns everything.

Before it, wood becomes ash.

Flowers become a handful of memory.

"...Kyaaaaaaaa!!!"

Yingda screams.

And in my mind, black lightning began to surge.

"You fear the fire."

I drew my sword.

"Do you hesitate to become the fire that burns flowers."

And. I swing.

Inner energy began to gather here and there at the tip of my sword, like Yingda's fire.

I looked at Yingda.

It blossoms.

The fire.

I looked at my sword.

It blossoms.

A flower.

"Right. Fire burns everything."

Yingda rushed at me.

In my mind, black lightning surges madly.

Upon the foundation solidly built by the completion of the Three Realms Sword Technique, countless sword techniques and realizations surge to fill me.

But. It's faint.

"Fire is a cycle, Yingda. Fire burns everything to ash. But within that ash, flowers bloom."

I began to dance the sword dance.

"Open your eyes wide and see, Yingda. This is the first teaching I give you."

It blossoms.

The fire.

The flower.

A flower of fire.

"If you fear fire, become an ember. Become an ember, create ash, save life, and make it bloom. How can fire hold only negative meaning?"

I aimed a seed, ignited with psychokinetic power, at Yingda.

This seed will one day blossom into a plum flower.

Make it bloom, Yingda.

I thrust!

The shot seed pierced the karmic debt and was implanted in Yingda.

"...Haak!"

Yingda awoke, her eyes half-open.

The karmic debt didn't completely disappear.

But the seed was planted.

Now, erasing the karmic debt and blooming the flower is entirely up to Yingda.

I threw Yingda to a safe place and turned my gaze back to where the other yakshas were.

"This time it's you, Bonan."

"Kraaaaaaaa!!!"

Bonan, enveloped in the water pressure of a raging torrent, surges at me.

I swung my sword at her, deflecting the water in all directions, and faced Bonan.

And. I thrust a fist containing psychokinetic power.

"Kraaaaaaaa!!!"

"Now. Speak, Bonan. What makes you hurt so."

The blue light in Bonan's eyes returned a little.

"This... sin... this karma... hurts... me..."

......

"The blood that flowed into me... the flesh... hurts me..."

...She resembles water.

Water flows.

And as it flows, it embraces all things.

The blood someone shed.

The guilt someone shed.

The tears someone shed.

It embraces and flows with all.

You embrace, Bonan.

Your sin. Your karma. Your tears. Your pain.

You want to embrace and flow with all.

"A yaksha's... soul... has no... place... to return..."

...Meaning there is no rest granted to a yaksha who takes life as their karma.

"Kuh... kyaaaaaaaaa!!!"

Will disappears from Bonan's eyes.

And Bonan rushed at me again.

I leaped back and looked at her eyes.

What I will give you...

Black lightning surges.

But. This time too, it's faint.

This must be it.

You wish to flow.

Alright. Then flow.

But. This time, instead of embracing, wash it away.

I aimed my sword.

And. From the sword's tip, an energy resembling water began to well up.

Gentle. Flowing gracefully.

An endless, unbroken river.

The river flows.

Flowing like that, it becomes the sea.

Leaving the sea, it becomes rain and mixes back into the earth, becoming a river again.

Water is also, in the end, a cycle.

Now. Flow.

I swung my sword.

Cutting away the karmic debt.

It flows in.

An astonishingly clear water.

This water will one day cycle and become the Supreme Ultimate.

"...Huek...!"

Bonan awoke.

I picked Bonan up and threw her to a safe place.

Who will it be this time.

"Kuh... uuuuh...!"

Mino. The yaksha resembling rock.

I swung my sword, spraying psychokinetic power in all directions.

"Now. Speak, Mino. What binds you so."

"...My... brethren..."

I looked at Mino, slightly surprised.

"The worry... of losing... my brethren... binds me..."

...

Rock is not destroyed.

It just. Gradually wears away.

By other rocks.

"Uu... uwaaaaaaaa!!!"

Mino screamed and hurled rocks at me.

Do you wish to protect your brethren.

As firmly as rock.

Do you wish to support them.

Alright. Then I will help you.

I drew my sword back.

And. Lightning surges.

...Faint.

Energy senses, like threads, stretch out in all directions.

A net-like energy sense was completed.

And I, within that net, at this moment, now.

Have become the Sovereign of this space.

Every movement is felt.

You said you want to protect your brethren.

And thus you wished to resemble Rex Lapis.

I extended my sword.

The net condenses to form a single sphere.

Then. Become a Sovereign.

So you can protect your brethren.

Imitate the form of the Sovereign's sword.

The net binds the karmic debt.

"...Hhk!"

As soon as Mino regained his senses

"Aaaaaaaaaaa!!!"

Bosacius charged in.

I threw Mino aside and swung my sword, deflecting all of Bosacius's attacks.

Scattering psychokinetic power, I asked.

"Bosacius. Speak. What pulls you down."

Bosacius did not open his mouth.

Alright. You need time, is that it?

I emitted even denser psychokinetic power and asked again.

"Answer me, Bosacius! I will draw it out!"

"...I... swallowed...!"

Bosacius swung his fists here and there and shouted as if gnashing his teeth.

"I trampled and chewed up others' ideals and spat them out! I swallowed the dreams of the defeated! All that remains for me is slaughtering technique and karmic debt!"

"..."

"All that remains for me is slaughter. So I am even more afraid! Even after swallowing all this. Must I swallow more! Must I even swallow my brethren's share! That is what I fear!"

...Bosacius's other name. Golden-Winged.

Golden-Winged is the name of a bird from a legend.

The name of a bird that swallowed poison and swallowed until finally, though burned by the poison, it soared.

I looked at Bosacius's fist.

Stained, with blood.

...You swallowed.

What I can do.

Is to help you not swallow such things again.

So you, instead of a fist, pick up a spear.

Take the spear. And the poison approaching you.

Block (攔), push it outward.

Seize (拿), pull inward, press down, and subdue.

Thrust (扎), stab back and counterattack.

This is the realization I can give you.

Swallow no more poison. Golden-Winged, Bosacius.

That is the duty of me, who has become a master.

A sword engraved with the faint subtleties of Block, Seize, Thrust is engraved upon the karmic debt.

"...Keuk!"

Even Bosacius awoke.

I picked Bosacius up and threw him among the other yakshas.

Now. Only you remain.

"Fusa."

I looked at Fusa, who was fiercely clenching his four fists.

"...What are you afraid of."

I gripped my sword.

"Come in."

"Kyaaaaaaaaaak!!!"

Deflecting the four perfectly coordinated fists, I asked.

"Fusa. What so unsettles you."

"...I'm afraid...! Of my brethren's death...!"

Death?

"Why."

"Because if we die... everything... ends...! My brethren too...! I too! All connections are severed!"

...Yakshas, who take life as their karma.

Always continue a fight that crosses the boundaries of life and death.

How could they not fear death?

Rather, they must fear it more.

For they are always with death.

Lightning surges.

From the tips of Fusa's four hands.

In my head.

"I fear that this moment! This instant! Might disappear!"

"......"

I looked at the descending lightning.

An instant.

A moment.

That is lightning.

Fusa is afraid.

What if an instant is merely a single moment?

What if this instant never comes again?

That is what he fears.

"An instant is a fearful thing. But. That instant is not always pain. Fusa."

I threw my sword.

Lightning surges.

This time.

Clearly.

"Recall."

I take a stance.

"Did that instant give you only pain?"

"...No."

Fusa smiled faintly.

"Because it was an instant. I was happy. With my brethren."

...Right.

That's why an instant is powerful. And clear.

Lightning surges.

"Fusa. What is the meaning of your name?"

"...'Fleeting' life of an 'instant'. I will sacrifice anything."

I grinned.

"Engrave it clearly. And with this 'instant'. Protect your brethren, Fusa."

I spread both palms wide and stretched them towards Fusa's karmic debt.

And. In a moment that is merely an instant.

I emit energy. And withdraw it!

Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms.

Overbearing Dragon Has Regrets!

The instant is thrust forth.

And. Strikes the karmic debt.

An attack that is merely an instant pushes the karmic debt away.

It didn't completely disappear.

But if Fusa can mimic this instant again.

The karmic debt will completely disappear.

"...Huek!"

Fusa awoke.

Unlike the other yakshas, Fusa, who regained his senses immediately, sat right down and looked up at me.

"Did you engrave it firmly?"

"...Just who... are you, Master...?"

Who am I?

"Simply. I am."

Pondering, I opened my mouth.

"One who delves into martial arts. Your master."