Book 24 Chapter 13

Sword to Sword

-unfamiliarity and familiarity

The sight of the spirit with his sword drawn was all too familiar. A martial artist speaks more with his sword than with his mouth, and all martial arts, especially swordplay, are not learned overnight.

A swordsman's blade bears the accumulated years of his life. It wasn't for nothing that a swordsman's blade was hardened by time, but the spirit that drew it looked so different, even though it should be familiar. It was so unfamiliar, like the posture of someone she had never met before. But Na Yerin was not inclined to attribute her speculation to anything. The spirit's posture with the sword drawn was very familiar, but not unnatural; her horsemanship lacked the naturalness that years of practice could bring.

"That's something to check out too!

If even that pose was overlaid, there was only one thing for her to do, and that was to rip it off by force.

The spirit was the opposite of Na Yerin.

While Na Yerin was puzzled by the unfamiliarity of the spirit's stance, the spirit was puzzled by an unknown familiarity. The sight of Na Yerin with her sword drawn was very familiar. It wasn't just her eyes, it was her entire body. It was as if she knew the habits of the person in front of her.

"Why do I feel this way? It's my first time fighting this person, it's my first time crossing swords, why?

The spirit shook his head vigorously, as if to clear his mind.

-The first one is on the left shoulder.

It was a fleeting thought.

As soon as Na Yerin took the first step, the spirit's body had already reflexively pulled its left shoulder back. In the next moment, a cold, chilling blade stabbed into the place where the spirit's left shoulder had been. There was no sound, no movement, just an unmistakably clean slash.

"……!!"

The spirit was surprised by his behavior.

"How?!"

Surprised, Na Yerin ducked as if she'd known it was coming. She ducked, as if she'd known this second was coming.

"No, I'm not surprised, I can see right through that flimsy shit!"

But he didn't seem as confident as he sounded.

"Lie!

The spirit's words were a lie, and she knew it, as well as Na Yerin, herself.

As a test, Na Yerin made another trio of herbs in quick succession. It was a combination she had often used in her duel with the Poisonous Spirit. As if anticipating its trajectory, the spirit dodged Na Yerin's sword without effort. Na Yerin was pleased, though her own attacks had failed in succession.

"They were right about Yeonbi!

"You must be a Dingo lion after all!"

There was an undeniable joy in Na Yerin's voice.

"What are you talking about, how many times have I told you that's not possible?"

"No. The fact that you were able to dodge my sword so easily is proof of that. Somehow you knew where my sword was going to pierce, didn't you?"

"Well, how do you do that?"

Clearly acting instinctively on some sort of premonition, the spirit was able to avoid all of Na Yerin's sword herbs.

"Of course, because the herbage I just used was a favorite of mine in my duel with the Dingo lion."

There were three main phases of the sword's development.

There were three stages: the Xiao'an Sword, which began with the "Wings of a Small Bird," which a student would learn when he or she first picked up a sword; the Bihong Sword, which was a more elegant and cooler sword that could be learned once the Xiao'an Sword had reached a certain level of mastery; and the Han Shangjing Spirit Sword, which only a select few talented students were allowed to learn, and which was the crowning achievement of the sword.

Smaller movements are swift and frequent. The movements are large, fluid, and graceful. The sword makes large movements in a single stroke and is therefore more powerful. Each of these three styles has its own characteristics.

For younger girls, the Xiao'an sword is a good place to start. This is because if they start with a stronger sword than their growing bodies can handle, they may break down first. A girl's body is more delicate than a boy's, which is why the sword art is divided into three stages so that the body can gradually adapt to the sword and progress to the higher stages. Therefore, it is the Xiao'an sword that the youngest students of the sword art learn for the longest period of time. Na Yerin, Duke Goryeong, and even Sword Hu began their sword training with the Xiao'an Sword. It was the foundation and basis of the sword arts. It was Dokko Ling who taught the young Na Yerin, who had been wounded in the past, to use the Xiao'an Sword intensively.

She hadn't forgotten the warmth of the old man's hand as he held hers and taught her each step of the way.

'Please remember, big sister, please remember! Please remember these sword plants, these plants that we shared time with, when our memories were young, when we were both young. The sound of the sword, the direction, I'm sure you remember, and even if you can't remember it in your head, your body can never forget it, because you're the one who loved the sword so much, the one who respected you so much.'

The Xiao'an Sword she was wielding now was so powerful that one might wonder if it was really a basic Xiao'an Sword. However, her sword carried with it a memory that she could never forget, a memory that she would never trade for anything.

It was Yunbi who advised her to deliberately attack the same way she would in a normal appointment, and then watch for a reaction. If the opponent was a real poisonous spirit, there would be a reaction. As Yanbi said, the spirit's body had remembered something. But Yanbi also said something else.

"But I wouldn't admit it to myself, and I'd probably be even more in denial."

The spirit was puzzled to find something so familiar and familiar in Na Yerin's sword herbs. How could it be possible to find comfort in a swordplay that was supposed to be hateful? And yet, it was at a loss to explain this terribly familiar sensation, this flow of swords that came as naturally to it as breathing.

But the spirit shook its head again vigorously.

'No! Don't overthink it. This is a trap, a way to trick me, so don't fall for it!

The spirit denied his feelings.

"No way, I don't believe in tricks like that!"

"You have to believe it, because it's true."

"Hmm, a fact without any evidence is not a fact!"

No amount of trickery seemed to work on the spirit now. The spirit was stubborn and unyielding. Why was it still wandering around in a circle of deception? Na Yerin was so frustrated that she became angry. Taking advantage of the moment when her mind was shaken by her anger, she unfurled her sword herb.

It was a strange blade. No sword came from the direction of the sound. At first, Na Yerin tried to determine the trajectory by the sound, but then she realized it was a lost cause. The hem of her dress had been sliced off in several places. If it weren't for her natural sensitivity, blood would have already seeped into the cuts.

"What is the name of this method?"

Na Yerin asked, her nerves on edge.

"This is the Vision of the Reverie Mountain Chief, the Reverie Command Sword Technique, a sword technique that will never be surpassed by your Sword of the Angle."

At the word "you," Na Yerin's heart sank.

"You, don't say such sad things! The Sword of the Angle is not only my sword, but also my sister's."

"That can't be right. I hate black people, because it was you black people who took away my one eye."

"No, sis, that's a misunderstanding, you're wrong, you're being deceived, by them!"

Na Yerin exclaimed, pointing her finger at the dreamscape.

"Shut up, I won't forgive you if you insult the hut anymore!"

The spirit shouted in anger and stretched out three seconds in a row. Na Yerin continued to back away.

Seeing that he was half a breath behind his usual response, Yeonbi frowned. This was not good. She needed to get back to being herself, to her own breathing, and fast.

Na Yerin kept trying to compare the solitary spirit she had known to the one she was now, and the differences were slowing her down. The woman she knew and the woman she was now were different in every way.

"You can't beat the present by trying to keep up with the shadows of the past. You need to be in the moment, right now!

Na Yerin decided to forget about the old poisonous spirit for a moment, and focused her attention on the one in front of her.

At that moment, a flood of information began to flow through Na Yerin's eyes. The way the spirit held the sword, the trajectory of the sword, the tiny movements of its muscles, the movement of its chest, its breathing, the shape of its footsteps on the ground, the slightest shift in its center of gravity, and so on. As I took in all of this information, I formed a picture of the spirit, which was also a precise analysis of the spirit itself. Na Yerin was going to win, no matter what it took. There was no way she was going to back down.

The 'Reverie Command Sword Technique' that Young-ryung was performing now was a sword technique that changed the distinction between false and real, and its main feature was the disparity between the sound and the trajectory of the sword. It was a bizarre sword method, but it had many flaws. Above all, it tended to rely on remnants. The sound trick was most likely due to a special device built into the sword. It was a technique that could make short-term gains with its attributes, but could never rise above a certain level. The analysis is complete.

"Okay. If you want me to prove it to you, I'll do it, just so you can prove it to yourself."

Na Yerin infused her sword with even more True Qi as the white sword flashed, and a cold frosty mist began to emanate from her pet sword, Bing Lu.

Na Yerin has officially opened the sword.

"Here we go."

The phoenix with the white icy feathers began to dance. Its white blade danced. It was a beautiful dance, but its power was terrifying enough to send chills down the spine.