Chapter 155

Martial arts begin from the feet.

The foundation of martial arts is internal energy, but the starting point is the steps.

Those who do not understand martial arts well think of the secret techniques of each school as mere sword or blade techniques, but the schools have always guarded the outflow of footwork techniques as much as internal energy techniques.

To have your steps taken away is akin to surrendering your sword rights.

Unless the opponent has achieved an indestructible body, for those with flesh that can be cut and struck, the outcome is already more than half decided from the footwork.

Thus, as Namgung Woo approached with Infinite Steps, Dokgo Pil responded with Above and Below Poison Step.

A footwork that presses down with force and a footwork that disrupts that force and steals balance.

It was a battle where Namgung Woo had already succeeded in breaking through Dokgo Bin’s defenses several times.

However, Dokgo Pil’s Above and Below Poison Step was distinctly different from Dokgo Bin’s. Unlike Dokgo Bin’s step, which merely confused the sense of direction, Dokgo Pil’s step made one unaware that their sense of direction was even off.

But Azure Tranquility Eyes etched an absolute coordinate system into Namgung Woo’s mind. Even if he lost his sense of direction, the next step he saw with those eyes did not change.

‘Then I will cut you down.’

Dokgo Pil’s gaze sank like an abyss.

The relaxed and ordinary aura he initially showed instantly transformed into a sharp blue sword.

The elder of the sword family. A sword flash worthy of that position split the moment.

‘Footwork…?’

Namgung Woo’s steps changed. It was a natural transition from Infinite Steps to Swallow Spin Step.

Dokgo Pil’s sword also changed its form. It seemed like the Lawless Heaven Sword Technique, but it was different.

Slash for the Heavens Sword Technique. If the Lawless Heaven Sword Technique is a sword technique that adapts beyond forms, the Slash for the Heavens Sword Technique is a sword technique focused solely on cutting down the opponent, using any means necessary to achieve the result.

There is no cowardice in it. A feint is a real move, and a real move is a feint. It deceives the opponent with illusions hidden in speed and ultimately severs their lifeline.

It is extremely practical, extremely violent, and extremely heretical. Victory is the absolute good, and any atrocity is justified to survive. It is a sword technique born from the logic of the battlefield.

To cut down the opponent, throwing the sword, or even dropping the sword to engage in hand-to-hand combat and kicking it up are all part of the Slash for the Heavens Sword Technique, proving why the Dokgo Family can only be a heretical sect.

But why, it does not reach.

Dokgo Pil is faster.

The speed of swinging the sword, the speed of stepping, Dokgo Pil is ahead in all.

Namgung Woo barely manages to take a step and avoid his sword.

If there were anyone who could see the exchange between the two, they would think that Dokgo Pil would ultimately win, given the overwhelming one-sided offensive.

But the emotion Dokgo Pil, who is leading this one-sided attack, feels is quite different from the usual.

‘I cannot cut him.’

No matter how much he swings, it will not reach.

He realizes through decades of accumulated tacit knowledge. That he cannot cut down the opponent before him.

Yet, he swings his sword.

It is impossible now.

He admits it.

But once he grows a step further, it will be different.

‘Now, I will make up for my past mistakes and ascend to the next level.’

Using the next level as a sacrifice, the desire to reach that place accelerates Dokgo Pil’s sword.

The gray sword aura dyes the world black as it runs rampant.

Using the world as a canvas, filling it with sword lines, Dokgo Pil saw. He saw it.

Namgung Woo with his eyes closed.

He had heard that Namgung Woo had special eyes. Dokgo Bin said he was born with divine eyes superior to his own.

So even if Namgung Woo avoids his sword, he thought it was thanks to the divine eyes Namgung Woo was born with.

But is it possible even with his eyes closed?

While Dokgo Pil was in confusion, Namgung Woo was freely swimming in freedom.

Until now, Namgung Woo had relied heavily on the abilities of Azure Tranquility Eyes.

To grasp the opponent’s presence, analyze their power, and see where to go next with those eyes.

Thanks to that, he did not need to worry. Just by looking, he could know what it was and where to go.

But is that enough? Is that sufficient?

Of course, eye techniques are important. It is foolish not to use the power at hand to reduce dependency.

But it is equally foolish to rely too much on that power and abandon the endless path of growth.

Namgung Woo closed his vision. Instead, he opened his other senses wide.

He feels the world through hearing, touch, and energy perception.

And the vision cut off from the outside is turned inward.

The newly given power, Heavenly Boundary Power.

It is the essence of growth and the fundamental element that constructs the world.

Namgung Woo, who holds Heavenly Boundary Power, is no longer a separate entity from the greater universe.

The microcosm becomes the macrocosm, and the macrocosm becomes the microcosm.

The six senses expand, and breathing returns to its origin.

The eighteen boundaries that separated self and non-self begin to collapse.

It was the precursor to Six Breaths Return to Origin, beyond Three Flames Convergence and Five Origins Unity.

Namgung Woo’s movements absorbed the martial arts he had learned.

The unyielding nature of Infinite Steps, the agility of Swallow Spin Step, the ferocity of Thunderous Step.

The stability of Thousand Miles Courtyard Steps, the swiftness of Heavenly Wind Body Technique.

They merge into one martial art.

And Namgung Woo named the newly born martial art.

“What is that?”

Dokgo Pil asked.

He also knows the martial arts of the Namgung Family.

Few would know as much as he does.

Even after hearing that Namgung Woo was a higher-level master, Dokgo Pil stepped forward without hesitation, believing that defeating him would allow him to reach a higher realm, but also because he trusted his analysis of the Namgung Family’s martial arts.

But Namgung Woo’s movements were something Dokgo Pil did not know.

Namgung Woo’s lips parted.

“Infinite Knot.”

It ties the endless world into one.

And it constantly agonizes.

Infinite Knot was the culmination of Namgung Woo’s agony over the world’s glass, and the expression of his mind accepting both worlds as his own.

“Will you keep dodging like that?”

“All day if I have to.”

“Alright. But I also learned something else.”

Dokgo Pil’s words shook Namgung Woo’s unwavering heart.

Dokgo Pil smiled confidently and said.

“You have no strength left to counterattack.”

He hit the nail on the head.

Infinite Knot is just a sprouting bud.

As time passes and Namgung Woo’s agony deepens, expanding his worldview, it may one day grow into a world-shaking supreme martial art, but for now, it is just a possibility shaped into form.

The power to attack and kill Dokgo Pil has not returned.

“What is there to fear from a peerless master who cannot attack? Watch. And let’s see if you can maintain that unwavering heart even as your cherished subordinates die.”

Though the density of life that accelerated martial arts achievement might be higher for Namgung Woo, the total amount of life experience accumulated is greater for Dokgo Pil.

He accurately pinpointed the part Namgung Woo was avoiding.

“First, let’s start with that kid.”

Dokgo Pil’s gaze was fixed on Namgung Woo, but his killing intent was directed elsewhere.

A girl fighting with all her might against the martial artists Dokgo Pil brought, maintaining a tense battle.

It was Namgung Sol, who had just reached adulthood.

‘Wasn’t Sol supposed to be untouchable?’

Like a stone thrown into a calm lake, ripples formed in Namgung Woo’s heart.

The safety promised by the Dokgo Family head. Did that protection end when Namgung Sol took the Namgung name again and joined him?

‘His killing intent is real.’

He really intends to kill.

‘Can I stop it?’

The internal energy of the middle and lower dantians has not yet returned.

All that remains is the spiritual energy of the upper dantian and the Heavenly Boundary Power that does not move according to Namgung Woo’s will. Even the spiritual energy does not match the fierce nature of Namgung Woo’s martial arts, and the Heavenly Boundary Power cannot be drawn out as it is repairing his body and sustaining his life.

Infinite Knot entrusts Namgung Woo to the flow of the world, preventing Dokgo Pil’s sword from reaching him.

But Infinite Knot lacks destructive power. If Namgung Woo ever transcends assimilation with the world and reaches the level of manipulating external energy as his own, he might be able to replicate what Pung Hyeon did, but not yet…

‘No! I’ll do it now!’

Spiritual energy will suffice.

Like when he wielded the Emperor’s Sword Form, he recognizes the world as his own and establishes his dominion.

His mind feels like it will snap any moment from the mental strength squeezed to the limit.

Heavenly Thunder Divine Energy, Heavenly Wind Divine Energy unsupported by spiritual energy alone in the Emperor’s Sword Form.

Is it too much? Blood flowed from Namgung Woo’s nose.

But Dokgo Pil is faster.

Deploying Above and Below Poison Step to its extreme, he pushes aside those between him and Namgung Sol, and in an instant, closes the distance with a divine technique.

By the time Namgung Sol feels the killing intent and turns her body.

Dokgo Pil’s sword reaches her neck.

“Huh?”

Whoosh!

Clang!!

Three sounds echoed simultaneously.

Namgung Sol’s dazed muttering, the sound of her clothes rustling as she was pulled back by the wind, and the clash of auras.

Only when her eardrums buzzed did Namgung Sol realize she had been attacked. And that she was being pulled back into someone’s arms.

‘Elder Hwang Ryong-ho? Vice Leader Song? Or Leader Deng?’

Namgung Woo is over there, and the only allies who can use aura energy are those three.

But Namgung Sol’s reflexive thoughts vanished as soon as she saw the person who pulled her back.

A stranger.

An old man who looked significantly older than the three.

White hair and beard. His face, marked by deep wrinkles as if showing the hardships of time, was further distorted by anger.

“I will no longer stand by and watch your Dokgo clan oppress the children of Namgung.”

Whether he knows the identity of the one who blocked his sword.

Dokgo Pil sneered.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit late to say that now? Namgung Baek.”

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