The World’s Strongest Is from a Third-Rate Martial Clan [Novel] Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Generally, mobilizing subordinates to face a single master in the first-rate realm requires three or four martial artists in the second-rate realm.
Even then, they can only buy time and endure. If one wishes to finish it decisively, five in the second-rate realm are necessary.

‘Yet she commanded Seolha and me to fight that bastard together.’

How are we supposed to win this?
It is enough to make the confident smile I flashed when the Sound Empress asked if I could do it feel completely foolish.

“You two brats. Submit quietly. That will solve everything.”

Ignoring the Black Death Sword, he asked the Sound Empress.

“Master. What happens if we happen to lose?”
“I never go back on my word. I suppose I will have to let him go.”

The Sound Empress continued in a nonchalant tone.

“In other words, it means I will have to sit back and watch this Black Path wretch remain an eyesore… and out of disappointment, I might feel the urge to keep the Young Hero by my side and instruct him for a very, very long time.”

It was an answer that erased any thought of fighting moderately and fueled a resolve to win at all costs.

[Junior Sister. I will take the vanguard. Keep widening the distance and suppress him with sound waves. Your role is to shake up that bastard’s spacing so I can secure an advantage. If you understand, nod your head instead of answering aloud.]

Incapable of telepathic transmission, Jegal Seolha nodded as instructed.
Victory belongs to the one who strikes first. The moment he drew his sword, he stepped onto the Ascending Heaven Footwork.
Infusing his step with speed and illusion, Baek Yanghwi kicked off the ground and prepared his sword stance with all his might.

The Sixth Stance of the Heaven-Covering 108 Swords.
Wind-Riding Eagle’s Return.

Just as a falcon encountering an updraft soars in an instant, he stomped the ground to generate the force to replace the wind.
The Harmonious Heaven Qi that descended to his Yongcheon acupoint surged upward, amplifying as it passed through his meridians in its unique manner.

‘I will finish this in a single strike if possible!’

“Drop dead!”

He poured in all the internal energy he could draw at once through his underdeveloped acupoints—sixty percent of his cultivation.
Bearing fierce true qi, the blade aimed for various vital points across the Black Death Sword’s body.
Startled by the sophistication of a sword technique unbefitting a child, the Black Death Sword frantically swung his blade.

Clang! Cla-cla-clang!

Four clashes in a fleeting moment.
Baek Yanghwi grimaced.

“Damn it to hell!”

He had anticipated it, yet not a single attack broke through.
Even with his full power, he was in the second-rate realm. It was insufficient against a first-rate master.
Since his preemptive strike was blocked, it was the Black Death Sword’s turn.

“You are quite skilled for a brat!”

Clang!

Blocking the Black Death Sword’s thrust, Baek Yanghwi was thrown far backward.
Even after landing, his clothes fluttered fiercely for a while, as if he were standing against a headwind.
He had released the remaining force behind him instead of absorbing it.

‘He did not learn his martial arts half-heartedly.’

Though he walked the evil path, the Black Death Sword had mastered a proper martial art and solidified his fundamentals.

“Little brat, reaching the second-rate realm at your age means you must have a good head on your shoulders. You can never defeat this senior. So let us take the easy way out.”

The entire time he spoke, the Black Death Sword’s eyes were fixed on the Sound Empress standing in the back, not on Baek Yanghwi or Jegal Seolha.
He did not even view the two children as opponents.

‘Wow, this is a first.’

In his past life, he was already a peak master the moment he stepped into the martial world.
Meaning, he had never been looked down upon for his martial prowess anywhere he went.
His pride was slightly wounded.

“Are you not ashamed to call yourself a senior while begging a child to go easy on you?”
“…You truly are an arrogant little bastard.”
“I am facing an old man who cannot act his age; I suppose I can afford to be a little arrogant.”

Alongside the provocation, he calculated a path to seize victory.

‘There is a way. He cannot use killing moves.’

It meant his opponent had to aim strictly for suppression.
However, Baek Yanghwi could secure an advantage through the flexibility of his techniques on the offensive.

[Junior Sister, restrict his movements with sound waves.]

He launched his body the moment he sent the telepathic message.

Vwoom!

The sword exhaling the Phoenix Cry. Leaping high, he swung wide to dominate the high ground.

‘Leaving the ground against a master is a foolish act, but!’

Clang! Clang!

Jegal Seolha’s sound waves restricted the Black Death Sword’s movements.
In that window, Baek Yanghwi condensed nine stances, centered around the Fourth Stance of the Heaven-Covering 108 Swords, into a single strike.

‘White Feather Crushing the Nail!’

Cla-cla-cla-clang!

Generally, a sword strike executed from high to low boasts the greatest destructive power among all stances.
While the Black Death Sword stood startled by the unexpected might, Baek Yanghwi spun his body and unleashed a second strike.

The Fifth Stance of the Heaven-Covering 108 Swords.
Scattering Falcon Feathers.

It was a stance that launched attacks in all directions, or in other words, the stance that crammed the most strikes into a single exchange.
Add Jegal Seolha’s support to this.

[Junior Sister, sound waves!]

Clang!

A sonic wave, faster than any sword strike and laden with qi, struck the Black Death Sword’s lower body.
Simultaneously, Baek Yanghwi rained multiple sword stances upon his opponent’s upper, middle, and lower sections.

Slash!

“Ugh!”

Having succeeded in leaving a shallow cut on the Black Death Sword’s forearm, Baek Yanghwi curled the corners of his lips.

“Senior, how does it feel to draw blood by the hands of a mere child?”
“…Brat. Even this senior has a line he will not cross.”
“And what if I cross it? Will you kill me? You cannot kill me anyway. All talk, as always.”
“…”

The Black Death Sword fell silent. His gaze grew visibly sharper.

Clang!

Closing the distance in a flash, the Black Death Sword thrust his blade.
Baek Yanghwi managed to block it because his qi senses were heightened to their limit.
Yet he felt a stinging numbness in his wrist.

‘He holds the advantage in both physical strength and internal energy. The only reason this is even a fight is…’

Jegal Seolha’s support. And the depth of the martial arts he had mastered.
The sword art the Black Death Sword had learned was proper, but it stopped at the level of a first-rate martial art.
It could not compare to the Heaven-Covering 108 Swords, which harbored the potential to reach the ultra-peak realm.

‘Even so, weighing the odds, I am at a massive disadvantage.’

How could he seize the momentum?
What did the Sound Empress want him to realize in this situation?
He changed tactics.
Instead of launching offensives, he continuously widened the distance and focused solely on blocking the sword stances.

[Junior Sister, sound waves!]

Clang!

Thanks to Jegal Seolha’s support, he maintained the balance and endured for several dozen exchanges.

“This will not do.”

The Black Death Sword glared at Jegal Seolha with annoyance.
It seemed he intended to change the priority of his targets for suppression.

‘I cannot let you do that.’

No matter how low his martial realm was, as long as the Black Death Sword’s attacks were not directed at him, exploiting the bastard’s openings was not difficult.

Clang!

Blocking Baek Yanghwi’s sword aimed at the back of his head, the Black Death Sword ground his teeth.

“You two brats. You leave me no choice.”

In that instant, a vicious aura erupted from the Black Death Sword’s entire body.
A wave of qi possessing the effect of paralyzing the body just by touching it.

‘Damn. He has comprehended the art of projecting his will through qi.’

Projecting one’s will through qi to harm others.
One of the three enlightenments required to reach the peak realm.
If its intensity is strong enough, the momentum alone can inflict a shock upon the mind and soul.

“Exalted Senior, I beg for your understanding. I tried my utmost to prevent your disciples from suffering a mental wound.”

Having spoken, the Black Death Sword walked toward Baek Yanghwi.
Baek Yanghwi desperately circulated his true qi and held his sword upright.

“Do not resist and stay still. The shock to your mind and soul will only increase.”
“Ugh, screw you, you Black Path bastard.”
“You insist on asking for a beating.”

Ever since his regression, he had found himself experiencing all sorts of things he had never encountered before.
To think he would experience being pushed onto the defensive and scrambling to block attacks against some mere first-rate punk.
However.
Because of that, there were advantages he could claim.

Clang!

‘Bitter training is the very thing that makes me stronger.’

Such is human nature.
Climbing a low hill versus scaling a rugged mountain.
Which path allows one to grow faster?
The latter, naturally.

Clang!

‘Projecting one’s will through qi? A shock to the mind and soul?’
He was used to this kind of crap.
To reach the ultra-peak realm in the first place, one’s intent had to be strong enough to affect reality itself.

‘Though my current body is still young and I have yet to fully embody my previous insights…’

That did not mean there was no way.

Clang!

“To keep moving while taking my momentum with your entire body. You are a brat with incredible venom.”
“That is because, ugh, your momentum is far too weak.”

Looking at the Black Death Sword’s dumbfounded expression, he unleashed the Phoenix Cry once again.
Yes, bitter training indeed makes a person stronger.
He found a method.
He realized it.

Vwoom!

Clang!

Striking away the sword, the Black Death Sword’s complexion shifted drastically.
It was because the nature of the sword stance was distinctly different from before.
Watching that sight, Baek Yanghwi curled his lips into a grin.

“Thanks. I figured it out because of you.”

The Sound Empress had said this.
He could unleash countless sounds with nothing but his sword.

‘I was confined in a mold because of the Phoenix Cry.’

He was able to realize this fact while clashing swords with the Black Death Sword.
The metallic clang of swords colliding was also a sound.
It was in that instant.

[Young Hero. Keep this in mind. Sound is also a vibration.]
[A sound is a wave, meaning the Young Hero can create waves with his sword.]

Baek Yanghwi’s body trembled as if struck by lightning.
Though he could not yet embody and manifest it through his martial realm, the enlightenment of an ultra-peak master still lingering in his mind seized upon this new line of thought.

‘The sound of a sword clash changes depending on the strength and the point of impact.’

It was a truth his body learned through the fight with the Black Death Sword.
That was why the Sound Empress said he could weave countless sounds with just his sword.

‘The Heaven-Covering 108 Swords unleashes different cries depending on the realm.’

Sword cries. The cry expelled by a sword is also a vibration.

‘In that case. If I manifest the clash of swords through qi… and use it to emit different sword cries.’

The unification of sword and sound.
The merging of sword arts and sound arts.

Vwoom!

Qi was laden into the Phoenix Cry, which had merely been a phenomenon and a stage of the Heaven-Covering 108 Swords.
Different pitches and spacing.
The sound, the vibration.
It echoed alongside the qi, dismantling the Black Death Sword’s momentum.
Baek Yanghwi wielded his sword as if possessed.

“What is this!”

While infusing true qi into his sword to block Baek Yanghwi’s blade, the Black Death Sword suddenly realized a certain fact.

‘Damn it! The flow of my true qi!’

Vwoom!

Baek Yanghwi’s sword did not wait for the Black Death Sword.

Claaang!

The clash of swords.
The Black Death Sword felt the vibration transmitted through his blade shaking his internals.
In other words, he felt as though his internal organs were being violently shaken.
A new change he had not felt until now.

Vwoom!

The sword cries. It spits out vibrations in all directions.
The sword cry evolved beyond a simple phenomenon into a means of attack.

“How is it? I am thinking of naming it Resonant Vibration.”

Resonant Vibration. A cry that shakes all directions.
Distinct sword strikes and waves of qi.
The various sword cries born from their collisions.
Overlapping time and time again, they wove kaleidoscopic sounds.
It was an enlightenment drawn from the Sound Empress’s clue and elevated into a singular martial art.

“Now, I am coming at you properly.”

A New Ultimate Technique of the Heaven-Covering 108 Swords.
Phoenix Cry Vibration.

Vwooooooom!

The sword strike containing the profound principles of the Phoenix Cry Vibration aimed at the Black Death Sword’s entire body.
The Black Death Sword raised his blade and blocked the assault, but he could not prevent the vibration of the sword cries from penetrating his internal organs every single time.

“Ugh!”

Striking a boulder with a sword produces a sharp vibration that numbs even the grip.
Every time they exchanged sword strikes, that exact kind of shock accumulated in his internal organs.

“Ugh, cough!”

Unable to endure it any longer, the Black Death Sword vomited a mouthful of stagnant blood.
In that opening, Baek Yanghwi’s sword reached the Black Death Sword’s throat.

“Senior. How does it feel to be defeated by a greenhorn brat?”

Baek Yanghwi curled his lips into a grin.
It was the moment he subdued a first-rate master with the martial prowess of the second-rate realm.