Chapter 413: The Dark King’s Nightmare (1)

Even if summer was coming, not much was going to change for me.

It actually would’ve been weirder if something changed just because it got a little hotter.

However, I did feel the flow of time as seasons and weathers changed.

“Whew.”

While I started to take a small break after a rough training, I looked in front as I calmed my body down.

Unlike me that was taking a break, the sight in front of me was filled with heat.

It was heat that poured out from other martial artists.

Clang-! Clang Clang-!

I heard the sharp sounds of blades clashing each other.

I felt dense Qi along with the breeze of wind.

This sound was coming from Namgung Bi-ah and Water Dragon’s spar.

One may wonder why the two were suddenly having a spar, and it was because of the trend that was unintentionally started by the day the White Ripple Sword caused a big trouble.

And here I was watching, entertained by the spar.

This is a first huh.

A spar between those two.

The Water Dragon and Namgung Bi-ah.

These were two geniuses that never got to meet each other in my past life.

When Namgung Bi-ah made her first appearance in the Central Plains, the Water Dragon had already been long dead.

Because of that, I was fascinated by the fact that these two were having a spar right in front of me.

Moreover,

It’s extremely fierce.

The battle between the two were very fierce.

It felt similar to when the White Ripple Sword fought the girls, but it was a bit different this time.

Because they were at similar levels, the fight was tenser.

They were both at the end level of Peak Realm.

They still had a bit to go until they overcome the Fusion Realm wall, but they definitely weren’t weak at all.

Clang-! Their blades clashed and sent sparks into the air.

Their swords also left clear traces of their Qi.

Moreover,

They are fast.

Because they were both sword users specializing in speed, their body and decision making were very impressive.

I stared at the Water Dragon.

Even if I didn’t know much about the Water Dragon’s martial arts, I was able to know one thing.

Now that I look at it, it’s a very harsh movement.

His movements seemed and felt somewhat rough despite him being a Taoist.

Was everyone from Wudang Sect like that?

That’s probably not it.

That bastard was just special.

I was at least certain of that.

He felt unusually different if I compared him to other Taoists.

An example of that was Yung Pung.

The Plum Blossom Sword style wasn’t known for harshness to begin with, but Yung Pung was close to perfection when it came to basics.

It felt as if he was loyal to basics.

On the contrary though,

Woo Hyuk is one crazy bastard.

He moved in his own ways, using the framework of the ‘Water Wave’ that Wudang Sect sought after.

Perhaps that was why so many people gave Woo Hyuk the Water Dragon title.

Only a genius would be able to do those movements, and it would be impossible for any other person.

Not only did he not use Wudang Sect’s Sword Art, but he moved in his own ways and made his own ways of using his sword without any problems.

Ordinary martial artists lived their lives trying their best to not to leave a martial art’s frame, but the Water Dragon was the complete opposite which was why he was being called a genius.

It was also the same for his opponent, Namgung Bi-ah.

Zaap-! Lightning Qi endlessly poured out from Namgung Bi-ah’s body.

I let out a hollow laughter after seeing the absurd sight.

She improved again.

I saw more Lightning Qi compared to last time.

It meant that Namgung Bi-ah had more Qi than before.

Does she secretly consume herbs behind my back or something? Why does she improve every time I see her?

Moreover, her control of her lightning…

There were less unnecessary movements from her Lightning Qi.

Namgung Bi-ah was getting more used to controlling her lightning.

Not only that,

Her Master of Swords also feel denser.

She also improved in using Namgung Clan’s Secret Art.

Seriously, Namgung Bi-ah-

“Every day, she gets- “

“Prettier, right?”

“Yes, pret- …!?”

When I turned my head toward the voice that suddenly intruded, I saw White Ripple Sword looking at me with a cheerful smile.

“Agh!”

I shouted out in shock and backed away.

The White Ripple Sword made a hurtful expression after seeing my reaction.

“…Look at you? You react as if you saw a bug or something.”

“You can’t just appear out of nowhere like that…! I was surprised.”

“Then should I appear while yelling ‘Your escort has arrived~!’ like that? Of course I’ll be quiet as an escort.”

“You don’t have to do that to someone you are escorting you know.”

“They say fool your allies first if you want to fool your opponents.”

I let out a deep sigh after hearing the White Ripple Sword respond with a bright smile.

They don’t say that for something like this.

Why is this woman even doing this?

She occasionally popped out of nowhere like this and it scared me every time.

I looked at the White Ripple Sword with an unpleasant look.

She looked satisfied by my reaction, and it couldn’t be more annoying.

She wasn’t this bad when I first ran into her… so I don’t know how it changed like this.

Due to some time, our relationship had changed a bit as well.

To put it differently, my opinions about her had changed a lot.

First, she didn’t really care about how I treated her.

…How should I even describe this?

Despite me being her junior, she didn’t really care even if I was rude towards her, as long as I didn’t say anything too harsh.

To put it positively she was a very magnanimous person, and to put it differently she was a bit dull-witted.

After learning that, I was able to treat her a bit differently.

Even if it wasn’t that,

I looked at the White Ripple Sword’s shoulder.

I put a Shackle on her after we both agreed.

I didn’t think I would actually put that on her.

The White Ripple Sword told me to put it on her if I wasn’t able to trust her, but I didn’t think she was serious.

She should know better than anyone of how dangerous it was to have a Shackle on her as a Fusion Realm martial artist, but she accepted like it was no problem for her.

I couldn’t understand why she accepted such a deal even though she had no idea what I could do to her.

Though of course, she thankfully didn’t cause any more trouble after, but because of that there was a slight change in my life.

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“The spar between those two. Who do you think will win?”

And that was the fact that I talked to the White Ripple Sword more than before.

It was because she became my escort, but it also became rowdier around me because of that. Because of the White Ripple Sword and her personality, she often asked me weird questions as well.

Just like now.

Who do I think will win?

I frowned a little after hearing her question.

It was a hard question.

The Water Dragon and Namgung Bi-ah was strangely close in level.

They were both at perfected Peak Realm level where they would soon face the wall of Fusion Realm.

Both of them were way too talented for their ages, as they were barely over the age of twenty.

…I’m an exception.

Because I regressed through time, I was an exception. Not that I was a genius in the first place anyway.

On average, martial artists reached Peak Realm at the age of thirty once they trained consistently and hard enough.

It took ten years plus after that to reach a perfected form of Peak Realm on top of that.

Judging by that, it was understandable why the Young Prodigies of the current generation were known as the Meteor Generation.

With that said, those two in front of me-

They are already well above the level of a Young Prodigy.

And I have to choose who would win between those two?

…

They were both so similar in levels.

However, my sight was unusually on Namgung Bi-ah more than the other.

Zap-!

Along with a harsh sound, her sword flux mixed with lightning left a trace in the air.

Like I said earlier, her Lightning Qi couldn’t even be compared to what I saw in the past,

Hmm.

But her Lightning Qi failed to dig into Woo Hyuk’s surroundings.

It failed to break through Wudang’s wave-like Qi.

He does well to deflect it.

Flow was the basics and the will of Wudang’s martial art.

Woo Hyuk’s swordplay may have been rough, but he still kept to the Wudang Sect’s flow.

He deflected his opponent’s attacks smoothly like the flow of water and struck back.

Woo Hyuk’s swung his sword, returning Namgung Bi-ah’s sword flux and they repeatedly struck back and forth.

Namgung Bi-ah’s precise control of her Qi was extremely shocking, but Woo Hyuk returning all of her attacks was just as surprising.

Just watching the two made me speechless.

These damned geniuses.

As expected, there wasn’t one thing I found fond of from these geniuses.

I clicked my tongue and went back to watching their spar.

The White Ripple Sword asked me who I believed was going to win.

I told her I didn’t know the answer, but I instinctively knew.

My gaze went to Namgung Bi-ah just like earlier.

She continued to fight without a change in her expression, but I felt like I knew.

The fight between the two.

“The Sword Dancer will lose.”

I believed that Namgung Bi-ah was going to lose.

The White Ripple Sword opened her eyes widely as if she found my firm response fascinating.

“That’s unexpected huh? You are more certain than I thought…”

“Isn’t that why you asked me that question since you thought the same way?”

When I responded to her with an unpleasant look on my face, the White Ripple Sword smiled back in response.

“I thought you would give a different answer since you love defending your own people.”

“There’s a time and place for that.”

“But you aren’t denying that she belongs to you huh.”

“…”

I turned my face away after hearing her playful response.

The spar between the two continued, but my frown didn’t have any intention of going away.

What’s the matter with her?

There didn’t seem to be a problem on the outside, but I knew and the White Ripple Sword probably knew as well.

There was something wrong with Namgung Bi-ah.

Her destructive force and precise control had no flaws, but there was a problem in the spar as a whole.

I was slightly able to feel inner demons from Namgung Bi-ah’s movements.

How did she manage to get inner demons when all she loved in her life was swinging her sword?

I was rather confused about that.

I thought about the Demonic Sword in my past life.

Her goal was to see the peak of her sword, and she didn’t struggle with any inner demons in that path of hers.

Yet, the current Namgung Bi-ah was struggling with inner demons which I found confusing.

The White Ripple Sword looked into my eyes as I wondered in my mind.

After noticing the change in my eyes, she awkwardly spoke.

“Are you going to say something to her?”

“I have no plan to.”

She probably knew this as well.

On the day the White Ripple Sword had a spar against Namgung Bi-ah, Tang Soyeol, and Wi Seol-Ah, that mysterious change occurred in Namgung Bi-ah.

Did she realize something after that spar?

Was that why she was currently struggling with her inner demons?

Even if that was the case,

…

There wasn’t anything I could do for her.

I also had no reason to blame the White Ripple Sword.

Also, instead…

I feel glad about it for some reason.

I felt worried, but I also felt relieved about the fact that Namgung Bi-ah was struggling with inner demons.

She lived an inhuman life to see the peak of her sword in my past life.

Was I feeling glad because she looked more human struggling with her inner demons, and the fact that she was living a different life compared to the one she lived in my past life?

Though of course, the person struggling with inner demons herself isn’t probably having the best time right now.

Namgung Bi-ah may have lots of thoughts filling her mind, but it gave me relief on the other hand.

Moreover, I believed in her.

I believed she was going to overcome her inner demons without much trouble.

After staring at me for a bit, the White Ripple Sword poked her lips out as if she wasn’t satisfied by my look.

“I don’t like your expression.”

“All of a sudden?”

“You look as if you are proud. It almost reminds me of… “

“Huh…?”

“Never mind. It’s nothing.”

Why cut off there?

As I exchanged words with the White Ripple Sword a few more times,

Clang-!

The spar between the two came to an end along with a sharp sound.

As I expected…

Woo Hyuk’s sword was pointing down towards Namgung Bi-ah’s neck.

It was her defeat.

Namgung Bi-ah looked at Woo Hyuk with a shocked expression.

I turned around after seeing the sight.

Then, the White Ripple Sword called out to me.

“Hmm? Where are you going?”

“I watched everything, so I’m going to go wash.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to her?”

“There’s no need for that. It’s better for me to leave her alone for now.”

I was probably able to help her solve her problem, but that’s not what I wanted.

I wanted Namgung Bi-ah to overcome her own challenges and I believed in her.

The Namgung Bi-ah I watched in this life made me certain of that.

No, she could’ve probably done the same in my past life.

The Demonic Sword was probably capable as well.

It’s just I didn’t know back then.

Right as I was about to head over to a valley, I heard the White Ripple Sword whisper something from behind.

“…You shouldn’t be similar to him even in this regard.”

“Did you say something? I’m similar to who?”

“It’s nothing. Oh, if you are going to wash, do you want sis to wash you- “

“No need.”

I responded to the White Ripple Sword with disgust and quickly left the sight.

That woman must be crazy for real.

I shook my head and disappeared off into the valleys.

The White Ripple Sword whispered to herself with a bitter smile as she watched Gu Yangcheon slowly disappear.

“He’s similar… way too similar.”

Her voice was filled with longing.

I left the nonsensical White Ripple Sword and headed towards a valley to wash my body drenched in sweat.

I noticed that my clothes were drenched in sweat when I took them off.

I reached a point where I wouldn’t sweat during an ordinary training ever since my Destructive Flame Arts reached the 7th rank, but I was sweating every day.

That went to show just how hard my current training was.

I thought about the old man who was responsible for giving me such a training and frowned.

This crazy old man.

The Dishonored Venerable was definitely insane.

I didn’t realize that when I went into a cave for the first part of my Heaven Destruction Art training, but I was able to once I got to the second part.

I sparred against the Dishonored Venerable every day.

I thought I would get some rest during the day since I trained with the Dark King at night,

-Until you learn the One Fist, we will spar every day.

I didn’t get any breaks.

There was another problem on top of that.

I have to fight him while using Heaven Destruction Art?

It left me speechless.

The pain alone was enough to make me faint, but he was telling me to use it during a spar which basically meant that I was getting beaten up on top of the pain.

And here I am doing that exact thing just because he told me to.

I stretched my sore body and smiled bitterly.

As I expected, it hurt unbelievably.

This crazy martial art.

Was it because a crazy person invented this art?

The martial art itself was stupidly insane.

Just using it alone made me feel an immense amount of pain.

Getting hit in the process only multiplied the pain.

The Dishonored Venerable said that it was because my body hasn’t fully become one with the Heaven Destruction Art.

Judging by that answer, I was able to understand why he told me not to use it during a real battle without his permission.

If I got hurt while using this thing,

My heart might stop just from the pain alone.

I really had a second thought when I got hit by the Dishonored Venerable while using this art.

Thanks to that, I had to use all my focus into enduring the pain.

And at night… I have to play with the Dark King?

Haha. How absurd.

Just tell me to die instead.

If a spar against the Dishonored Venerable was pain, a spar against the Dark King was a nightmare.

Yes. A nightmare. Actually.

In the past month, the number of times I’ve died in the Dark King’s training have increased as time went by.

I died nine times on the first night, but now I’m easily dying more than twenty times.

It almost felt as if the Dark King was telling me that I would never reach his level no matter how hard I try.

Because of that, I was extremely mentally tired.

It really seemed like there was no answer to his training.

What am I supposed to gain from such a training?

The Dishonored Venerable seemed like he wanted me to gain something from this training, but I had no idea what it was.

What am I suppose to gain from dying dozens of times?

I wasn’t able to know no matter how many times I thought about it.

This is difficult.

I felt like being mentally tired also got me exhausted physically.

I did my best to put these thoughts aside and arrived at the valley in the end.

When I arrived, it seemed like someone had already come here to wash as I saw someone approaching my way.

My eyes widened when I saw who it was.

“Hmm?”

“Ah- “

It was Wi Seol-Ah.

It seemed like she had just finished washing as her hair was drenched.

“Young Master Gu…!”

Wi Seol-Ah smiled brightly when she found me.

Her smile shined brighter than the usual.

I was reminded of when Wi Seol-Ah with wet hair greeted me with a smile back when she was my servant.

With that thought, I walked towards her and started to wipe her hair with a towel.

“Hmm? Y-Young Master? Eek!”

“You should! Leave! After! You finish! Drying.”

There were other guys around that was sure to stare at her if she were to go out like this.

How come she didn’t change in this regard?

After screaming for a little, Wi Seol-Ah slightly leaned over towards me as if she was satisfied by my rough hands.

How absurd.

“You like this?”

“Yes… I do.”

“…Oh, is that so.”

I asked her trying to tease her, but because she responded that way, I had nothing to say.

As I dried her hair with a towel, I realized one thing.

…I could’ve just used my heat to dry her.

What the hell was I doing when I could’ve dried her faster using my heat?

As soon as I realized, I took back the towel and poured my heat.

Then, Wi Seol-Ah made a disappointed expression for some reason.

“You should dry yourself properly. What are you doing?”

“I was going to start now…”

“That’s a lie, right?”

“…”

Wi Seol-Ah nodded slightly after hesitating to answer.

It seemed like she was still bad at lying.

Was it because of my scolding? She had a sad expression, so I smirked and asked her.

“Do you want a yakgwa?”

“Ah…!”

Wi Seol-Ah’s eyes sparkled as soon as she heard yakgwa, but she instantly turned her head away right after.

“I-I’m not a kid… anymore.”

“What about your reaction just now?”

“I didn’t react at all.”

It seemed like she still loved sweet things.

But I couldn’t understand why she pretended as if she didn’t though.

I smiled to myself after seeing Wi Seol-Ah like that.

It was nice to have a little bit of a break from all my previous thoughts.

Wi Seol-Ah stared at me and made a strange expression for an instant.

Swish-

She then carefully touched my eyelid.

Her touch felt cold because she had just come out of water.

“What’s wrong? Was something there?”

“No… it’s not that… but Young Master Gu. Are you feeling alright?”

“Hmm? Why do you ask?”

“…You look exhausted.”

Wi Seol-Ah had a pitiful expression when she asked the question.

I was a little shocked when I heard her.

Exhausted? I look that way?

Is it noticeable?

Every time I ran into a person, they asked me the same question.

It seemed like there was something strange about my expression.

I realized that and forced a smile on my face.

“I’m fine.”

“…”

Though of course, Wi Seol-Ah didn’t believe me.

But what can I do? I just have to endure it.

I had to endure the pain. It was that simple.

“I’ve just had some nightmares recently. That’s all.”

“Nightmares?”

“Yes.”

A very nasty nightmare I have every night.

Even if it was me, dying that many times was a little too much.

I was exhausted.

That was all I was able to feel right now.

I then spoke to Wi Seol-Ah who was brushing my cheek worryingly.

“You… No. Wi Seol-… “

“Huh?”

I shut my mouth as I was about to say her name.

Why was it so hard to call her by her name?

“It’s not a fancy question… What would you do if you had nightmares every night?”

I ended up asking her a stupid question in the end.

It wasn’t related to a nightmare at all in reality.

Why did I ask her such a question?

I simply changed the subject because I was hesitant on calling her by her name.

Without knowing my inner thoughts, Wi Seol-Ah tilted her head after hearing my question.

Her hair waved every time her head moved which I found bothersome.

“Nightmare…?”

“Don’t worry about it too much, it was just a stupid- “

“Wouldn’t you try to wake up from it…? Since a nightmare is a scary dream.”

I smiled lightly after hearing Wi Seol-Ah.

She technically wasn’t wrong.

If I knew it was a nightmare, I would try to-

Huh?

After hearing Wi Seol-Ah, something sparked in my mind.

I have to wake up from a nightmare.

For some reason, those words hit me.