Chronicles of the Lazy Sovereign Novel - Chapter 468

Chapter 468: The lazy Proves (3)

Sword.

The sword in Wei Yanho’s hands emanated a dazzling glow.

The radiance is intangible. It cannot take shape. But the light created by Wei Yanho clearly had shape. It was not a transition from the tangible to the intangible, but from the intangible to the tangible.

Destroying all common sense and sword theory, Wei Yanho unleashed beams of light one after another.

‘What the hell is this?’

To say that he had experienced all kinds of battles was an understatement.

The rays of light that Cheok Soogwang had crossed were literally a succession of moments on the edge of the abyss. In the midst of it, he had seen numerous martial artists.

Those who used grotesque sword techniques, those who crushed people with absurd destructive power, those who emanated an aura so evil that it took one’s breath away.

Even those guys who worshiped the demonic and didn’t mind being called from the Demon Cult.

Among them, those who wielded their swords on the front lines were all beings who seemed inhuman.

Cheok Soogwang had experienced the martial arts of such people with his own eyes and body. He had thought that nothing could surprise him regarding other people’s martial arts anymore.

But the tides of light falling and filling his sight were shattering that confident assertion.

He wanted to admire.

He wanted to tremble with fear.

But there was no time for that.

The target of those tides of light was himself.

He knew that the expression “serpentine” was not adequate to describe the tides of light, but he had no other way to express it. The serpentine tides of light covered his entire body.

“Uaaah!”

Cheok Soogwang twisted his body with all his might.

Counteract?

Nonsense.

The power contained in those tides of light was not something that a human of flesh and blood could withstand.

Also…

‘What the hell is that?!’

They were snaking.

Some tides of light fell at great speed, others became blurred and appeared elsewhere. And some tides of light increased their size majestically as they fell.

It was as if each of the tides of light was alive and moving.

Was that swordsmanship?

He could understand it.

Although it was impossible to discern what process had led to such a phenomenon, he could understand how Wei Yanho had created it. Those fast tides of light must contain the principles of speed, and the heavy tides of light the principles of heaviness.

It was not simply about deploying sword principles with a sword, but about infusing multiple… no, countless principles into the emanated sword energy.

As he watched the tides of light covering his body like living beings, a desperate laugh escaped Cheok Soogwang’s lips.

Then, that laugh turned into a huge scream that erupted.

“What the hell are you doing, brat?!”

Tang Cheongun relaxed the strength in his legs.

‘It hurts.’

He had applied too much force. When the tension in his stiff muscles was released, a dull pain arrived. His muscles were damaged by the excess force.

But it was a relief that it had only ended like that.

If he had been a little slower in realizing his condition, instead of damaged muscles, he would have suffered a backflow of energy and blood.

Tang Cheongun looked away from the front and scanned the surroundings. He checked if anyone else was in the same situation as him. Fortunately or unfortunately, he didn’t see anyone like that.

That there was no one who felt the same impact in this place dominated by members of the Tang Family meant, in other words, that there was still no one in the Tang Family who had reached that level.

So it was a relief and a disgrace.

“…What is going on now?”

Apparently, there was someone who, although he did not understand it physically, understood the current situation mentally.

Jegal Yeom’s voice trembled.

Although the Jegal Family had nothing to highlight in martial arts, that was only from Tang Cheongun’s perspective. If the Jegal Family’s understanding of martial arts had been inferior, they would not have dared to be called one of the Five Great Families.

Even for Jegal Yeom’s eyes, Wei Yanho’s martial arts were an incomprehensible territory.

He wanted to mock, but he couldn’t.

“I don’t know either.”

Tang Cheongun gave a bitter smile.

Not even he could understand the spectacle unfolding before his eyes.

‘It was lucky to have fought against him back then.’

What would happen if Tang Cheongun and Wei Yanho fought now?

It probably wouldn’t be very different from Cheok Soogwang’s current situation. He would roll around here and there to dodge that brat’s sword.

The most terrifying thing was… that Cheok Soogwang’s situation didn’t seem ridiculous at all.

Rather, even Cheok Soogwang seemed impressive.

For the simple fact of facing such a monster.

‘That’s not human.’

He knew that he was strong. Because he had lost against him.

He also thought that he would become stronger. Wei Yanho was still young.

But…

Both his current strength and his potential had completely surpassed all predictions.

It was as if they had raised a tiger cub, but instead of a tiger, a monster had grown.

‘But who the hell raised this monster?’

Tang Cheongun was sure that even if Wei Yanho was twice as strong, he would not be surprised. What had left him stunned was not Wei Yanho’s strength.

It was the martial principles that Wei Yanho had deployed with his sword.

Those principles that, just by observing them, made him reconsider his own martial arts from scratch.

How could a child’s mind contain such principles? And what kind of master would have been able to instill those infinite principles in a child’s mind?

‘Great Self (大己).’

He had thought that the present was so impressive that in the future he might lose what he had, but the present that he saw was just a container that was filled with water.

And now that water was filling up.

Tang Cheongun clenched his fists tightly to overcome the frustration that enveloped him.

Before an overwhelming power, everything else seemed insignificant.

“Grrr!”

Cheok Soogwang gripped the hilt of his sword tightly. The steel hilt seemed about to break under his grip.

Poison and murderous aura emanated from Cheok Soogwang’s eyes.

He knew it.

His opponent was strong.

And his opponent’s power was on a level that he could not match. An overwhelming sense of helplessness, like he had never experienced before, dominated him.

But Cheok Soogwang gritted his teeth.

Not run away?

That was not it.

There are times when you have to run away. Cheok Soogwang was not like those fools who prided themselves on not running away when they should. As long as he lived, opportunities would come. There was no greater stupidity than risking one’s life to protect the pride of the moment.

But now was not the case.

He could feel it.

There was something beyond those tides of light. Something he had longed to reach so much.

Even if the attempt led him to death, there were times when a swordsman had to risk his life.

Cheok Soogwang, instead, took a step forward.

That single step.

Although it was just a insignificant step, in his entire life he had not taken one so difficult. All the will to risk everything of him was contained in that step.

He gathered every drop of energy from his body and channeled it into his sword. The sword cried out as it reached the limit. But Cheok Soogwang paid no attention to whether it was damaged or not.

He was here.

The moment he had to overcome.

That exasperating “barrier” that clearly existed but that he could never see or define with precision, was now before his eyes. The mere fact of seeing that barrier so clearly made him want to dance with joy.

So how could he back down?

“Aaaahhhh!”

Cheok Soogwang’s sword traced a perfect line.

Cheok Soogwang was sure.

At that moment, his sword was perfect like never before in his life. The perfection he had only dreamed of. That fleeting perfection that did not arrive even in a thousand or ten thousand blows, now resided in his sword.

A feeling of fullness as if he had the whole world.

And the confidence that he could destroy everything in the world.

Feeling the pride that surged from the tip of his feet, Cheok Soogwang brandished his sword.

But he soon understood.

His sword could cut everything.

At this moment, his sword was omnipotent. No one in the world could block it.

But light is not cut by simply cutting it.

His sword perfectly divided the tides of light in half. But the divided tides of light recomposed as if nothing and fell on his entire body.

Observing that scene stunned, Cheok Soogwang muttered:

‘Continuity.’

He understood it.

What he had been missing.

No matter how much he reflected or meditated, no matter how much he trained, his martial arts remained stagnant. The reason. The enormous barrier that he could not cross even by selling his soul was now collapsing.

But, unfortunately…

‘Is it a little late?’

The cascade of light that filled his vision and fell on him.

It was not something that flesh and blood could resist.

If he overcame this moment, he could enter a new realm. The fact of having overcome the barrier that he feared not being able to cross in his entire life was an incomparable joy, but he only had an instant left to enjoy it.

Even so, it was okay.

In his last moment, he had crossed the barrier and had glimpsed a realm that he never believed he could feel. He had experienced something that he could be proud of even before the King of the Underworld.

So it was okay.

Cheok Soogwang opened his eyes wide. As if he did not want to miss a single instant until the last moment.

And then…

Clink!

With a sharp sound like that of a ceramic breaking when falling to the ground, the tides of light that covered him suddenly disappeared.

As if everything seen so far had been just an illusion.

But it was not an illusion.

A subtle pain ran through his entire body. A piercing pain, as if he had been cut with a sharp sword.

‘What?’

Cheok Soogwang lowered his head in silence.

In the center of the training ground, now silent as if the entire fight had been false, Wei Yanho was standing, leaning on one leg.

“……”

Without saying anything, Wei Yanho raised what he had in his hand towards Cheok Soogwang, who was staring at him.

Sword.

A sword without a blade, only the hilt remained in his hand.

“It couldn’t hold on.”

“……”

“It was not my intention to spare you. Simply, the sword could not resist. It would have been different if I had my sword.”

Wei Yanho grimaced.

As if he regretted it, he brandished the bladeless hilt a couple of times before turning his head to look at Jegal Munin.

“Do you want me to return it to you?”

“Throw it away.”

“I’m sorry for what happened.”

Wei Yanho threw the hilt to the ground and looked at Cheok Soogwang.

“Are you satisfied? Or do we change swords and do a second round?”

“…It’s enough.”

More than enough.

To understand what kind of person that young swordsman named Wei Yanho was.

“So now… hmm.”

Wei Yanho shrugged and said:

“How about we go inside and talk? I have some things to ask you.”

“…As you wish.”

Cheok Soogwang, who had returned from what seemed like certain death, still with a stunned expression, could only nod his head.