Book 24 Chapter 20

Seven Deadly Sins

-奧義 vs. 奧義!

Perhaps it was the first time he was able to unravel all of the herbivores of the Blood Flow Diagram of the Heavenly Blood Sword Method. One hot summer day, for the first time, he was able to conjure up the entirety of the Blood Flow Channel's herbivory without depleting his internal reserves and pluck it from the tips of two blades.

"Not bad."

That's a lot of praise coming from the mouth of a master.

"I finally did it!

His priest, though a child prodigy who had heard the sounds of genius from an early age, was still young and struggling with the last of his post-ten-second transplants. It was a small victory, but he couldn't afford to lose to a priest who was too young to be his apprentice. Even if the prodigy priest was the grandson of a man he revered, a man who was like the heavens to him, a man who was a god in his own right and was revered as a god horse throughout the entire Jianghu Forest.

For the first time that day, he was allowed to enter the God Demon Hall, and what he saw inside was the heavens beyond the heavens. Master had already left the Twelve Paths and was searching for a new one. The countless sword manuals and texts stacked in the Divine Demon Hall, the inked lines on the huge sheets of paper taped to the walls everywhere, were the trajectory of the Dao. Just looking at them made him gasp as he felt his sword tighten on him from all sides, and he wondered. So he asked.

"Why does the invincible Master need these things? Hasn't he already attained the Taoist path without having to learn any more?"

He couldn't figure it out.

"I've never heard it said that learning never ends. That goes for doors as well as nothingness. Why do I go to all this trouble, hassle, and headache? Because I am conscious of the inadequacy of my own twelve lessons. Do you still think that twelve are enough for you? If so, work harder, until they are no longer enough to fill your bowl."

It was as if his words had become a giant hammer, hitting his soul.

"So what is the thirteenth degree?"

"If you feel that the twelve days are not enough, you will know it naturally. The last one will be a first meal, but not a first meal. You must first watch me unfold the Twelve, and whatever you gain from it will be yours."

And he saw, and he knew.

That day, I realized how different the same first meal could be, depending on the depth of the caster. I was painfully aware that I had been learning twelve knives the watermelon-lick method. And I knew that there was a sky outside the sky. That there is no end to learning.

One more superfood beyond the twelve!

Now he could vaguely understand his master's words. It was the kind of herb that, just by obtaining it, one would already be free of the twelve herbs. It was a tangible form of cultivation. It was clear what the heavenly master wanted to say to his disciple, who had finally been able to expand his cultivation uninterruptedly, as if he were the greatest master in the world.

天外天!

It was a solemn reminder that there is a heaven outside the sky and that learning never ends. I vowed with tears that I would never forget that lesson.

But what cheap tears, what vain vows!

That oath was shredded and blown away as if it had never existed in the first place, at the wave of a hand.

He had been running ever since, but now he didn't want to run anymore. He was sick of it.

* * *

"I'm not running away anymore!"

With a paroxysmal yell, Qi Shanghui swung his left sword and threw it. The sword flew with a ferocious momentum, intent on decapitating Yan Bi. The unexpected surprise caused Yan Bi to lean back in surprise.

Pah-bah-bah-bah!

The flying knife barely grazed Yunbi's chest. If he had been a second too late, his neck would have been separated from his body.

"No way!"

Yun Fei had witnessed this type of initiation once before. If memory serves, the herb that had just been cast from the hand of the Seven Deadly Sins was definitely the same herb he had seen on the Shaman Mountain.

"Lineal cross!"

It wasn't just the name that Yeonbi knew. It knew that a sword that misses will spin and come back.

"No way."

He waited for the right moment, spun, and dodged the returning blade. Startled, Qi Shanghui cried out.

"How do you know this herb?"

"We have a connection, though it's not a pleasant one."

The Yeonbi spoke up. The scarred face frowned.

"Don't think you can stop this herbivore just because you know it!"

The bloodline of Galhyo Feng ended here. But the Seven Deadly Sins did not end there. Before he could receive another, he threw another blade. This time, it was even more powerful than the last. The blade spun like a windmill, spewing blood in all directions. The outstretched leap gave the attack a much larger area of effect, and Yunfei had to struggle to dodge. This cycle of attacks was repeated three or four times. But Yunbi managed to dodge them all. No other attacks were as threatening as the first and second surprise, so he relaxed a bit.

"Me, asshole."

Mr. Nosabu, who was watching, spoke up.

Thump!

At that moment, he leaped forward with all his might. Then he slammed down with all his might on the sword that was returning with a pool of blood. Udo was also covered in blood.

Blood Flow Twelve Swords (轟天血影刀法).

Mortal coil (必殺奧義).

The Great Heavenly Blood Stream Royal Cross (轟天血流覇王十字刃).

Blood Cross (血十字).

Quack!

The horizontally flying left-handers collided with the vertically striking right-handers, creating a giant red cross, and a powerful gust of wind whipped around them. Most of that power struck the Yeonbi with a vengeance.

Faced with the true power of the bloodsuckers, Yun'vi quickly rallied and countered. She dodged the deadliest of the crosses, but not the winds that followed. Unable to avoid it, he could only endure it. It was so powerful that it dug up three sheets of earth around him, and it took a great deal of jin just to block it. But this excessive use of jin was more deadly poison to Yan Bi than anything else.

His whole body shook, and the blood in his veins seemed to tangle. It was a sign of a coinage horse. The sound of a crack in the dike that held back the huge earthquake seemed to echo in my ears like a bang, bang, bang.

'Uh, this is really dangerous…….'

I could feel the blood rushing to my throat.

'Wow, I've never felt like this before. It's slippery and…… slimy and…….'

There was a world of difference between my exhilaration and a world of difference.

"You're lucky, you dodged a bullet."

No amount of Yeonbi could have saved me from taking that attack head-on. I felt like I had seen some of the true colors of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Certainly the interest was strong.

The body is heavy. It felt like a ten-thousand-meter rock weighing down on the top of my head. Was there ever a time when my body didn't follow my mind?

I think this is probably the first time.

"You were overconfident.

I never expected my body to betray my mind so easily. I always thought my body followed the commands of my mind……. There was a slight time lag in the body's reflection of the mind. On the battlefield, where life and death intersect in a split second, it can be the difference between life and death, and he had just traveled to that point and back. He had to admit it now.

You're in for a treat!

Yunbi fought to keep the blood in her mouth from spurting out. But he couldn't stop a thin stream of blood from trickling down the corner of his mouth. The control he had over his rampage was almost at its limit.

"Apparently, your physical condition is not normal either. You had an unstable tremor to begin with, and now it seems to have become more extreme. Am I mistaken?"

"No, I've seen it, and I'm surprised the blood vessels in your body aren't bursting right now, um…… to put it in a nutshell, it feels like lava is bubbling inside you?"

"Power you can't handle is not only useless, it's harmful."

Apparently, he had some idea of the cause. But whether they knew it or not, Yeonbi didn't matter.

"It's harmful enough, so far."

"But don't fall down yet. I'm about to show you the thirteenth degree, and it's probably the last thing you'll ever see."

There was a deep confidence in his words. It was the kind of confidence that only comes from someone who has spent a long time sharpening his blade. He was going to put everything he had into his next move. Yunbi didn't say no.

"Please make it a beautiful sight, though not as beautiful as the countless sights I will see in my life."

"The sissy has a lot of balls!"

It's not true, but I didn't feel the need to argue.

"Well, that was a mistake."

But for some reason, the Yeonbi made me feel very bad.

"Well, which one of us made the mistake?"

"I'm torn on this one."

"Is this about surrendering or not surrendering?"

"No, that's not true, you can take it off or you can't take it off, that's the question."

"Burr, you're naked. No amount of beautification will help you!"

Blushing slightly, Chil-sang exclaimed fiercely.

"What a dick. You're a pervert after all."

"This body is not a pervert!"

Ignoring the road rash, he rolled up his sleeves and stared at the golden phoenix ring on his wrist. There were originally two bracelets, but now there was only one left. Because the phoenix ring was so prominent, it had been temporarily carved with a thin layer of gold plating on top of it. Therefore, the weight of the hundred rods remained unchanged.

But he was troubled. It was because of something his teacher had said.

"Oh, and I'm warning you, don't ever unwrap the remaining Muklongrang!"

"Why?"

"Die."

He remembered the warning his master had given him after he'd unwrapped the Great Dragon Ring and stimulated his Qi. It wasn't wise to unleash another dragon when he was still on a power rampage; his body was already overwhelmed by one dragon.

'But…….'

He could lose if he stayed like this. If his overwhelming strength and thirteen degrees collided, he could only hope for the best, and he couldn't afford to be a mangled mess afterward.

"Okay, let's wrap this up."

The stance that Qi Shuanghui took was ominous. With a skill level of Yan Ziyun's, he could sense the power of his opponent's upcoming attack just by looking at their flag ceremony. It was a kind of instinct. Right now, Qi Shanghui's entire being seemed to be steeped in silence. Out of greater stillness comes greater movement. He had to gauge the power of that silent stillness. If I detected it after it had already unfolded, it would be too late. Doing what everyone else was doing was a recipe for defeat, for accomplishing nothing. New landscapes don't show themselves to anyone. Only those who walk one step ahead of others can see the landscape differently.

"Do you want to untie it?

And now? Another Mongolian dragon?

At any other time, I would have unwrapped the Muklong Ring without hesitation, but now I was a little reluctant. Fortunately, Na Yerin was currently resting in the waiting room. If she unwrapped it discreetly, no one would realize her identity.

But he doubted he could handle it now. It was a risky endeavor, and even if he could use the power safely, there was no guarantee that he would be safe afterward. It was a gamble with your life.

The most important things in gambling are timing and luck.

Yunbi surrendered to the flow of time and waited for the right moment. The time to give his all.

Follow your heart and move your body.

For others, it might have been something to aspire to, but for her, it was as natural as breathing. Until she saw her master again.

By now I was laughing my ass off. It seemed like he couldn't stand it without having a good, hard laugh at someone. That someone was herself.

You say you've unleashed a power, but it wasn't anyone else's power, it was always there, deep inside you. It wasn't given to her by anyone, so how could she not control it?

It makes sense, of course. The body likes to do whatever it wants, regardless of your mind, thoughts, and plans, if you let go of it for a moment. That's why we need to constantly practice self-discipline and discipline to cultivate self-control and achieve self-presence. In the olden days, this kind of discipline was called "civility".

At first glance, it seems daunting, but the concept is simple: remind yourself every day of who you are and what you want to be, and work toward it. In short, it's rigorous self-care. It's easy to say, but very hard to do. Just remember that the moment you lose sight of yourself, you become nothing. Even if you remember, it's never worse than if you forget. An unbridled body is only driven by endless desires and instincts, and a disembodied mind loses its light and decays.

'You can't even handle your own body, yet you try to beat others…….'

Truly, in this state, there was nothing I could do to retort to my master's unkind sneers, and that was not good. Something had to be done.

"How?

That was the problem.

"If you want to be complacent, be complacent. If you want to be comfortable in a warm cradle, that's the way to lose in life. If you want to fail, there's no better way to do it."

My teacher's words popped into my head in a flash.

"You'd think that if you stopped self-polishing and stood still, you'd maintain the status quo, right? But you're wrong. The moment you stop climbing a mountain, that's the moment you start falling. That's when you start falling behind. When you stop climbing, that's when you fall. What happens when you stand still while everyone else is climbing? If you stand still, the gap will continue to widen. A man who is willing to climb never stops. So there are only two paths. Either you go up or you go down, and it's your choice. But don't forget this. There is no middle."

On a spiral path, there are only two choices. Either you go up or you go down. There is no room for complacency. Staying put will only leave you behind.

"We can't come this far and crash again!

I don't know where the summit is, but I'll get there, and I'm sure it's after I cross the Master's Peak. I cannot see it now, hidden by the Master's shadow, but one day I shall tread upon it! It will be a great joy to look down from there upon the kiln of the Master's head, so I cannot lose heart here.

"We must win!

Even if it means gambling with your life.

Yun Fei placed his hand on the end of Chen Yunlin's umbrella pole.

Tsk!

It was plucked from the umbrella stand with a clear clatter, its body shining with a dark inky glow like the night sky, hair-thin silver carved in colorful ripples across its sharp body.

It was a sword that felt like an elegant work of art.