So? Did Someone Force You to Become the Heavenly Demon?

Chapter 8: Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword

“Now then, let me teach you the first stance of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword. Tell me, Il-mok, what do you think is the most important technique for a swordsman?”

“A devastating killing move that can end an opponent in a single strike?”

Master shook his head at my answer.

“For a swordsman, the most crucial technique is drawing the sword itself. In situations where your opponent launches a surprise attack or when unexpected combat arises, wouldn’t you be helplessly defeated if you cannot even draw your sword?”

“Now that you mention it, that does seem to be the case.”

In the martial arts novels and webtoons I’d read, the characters usually already wield their swords or weapons by the time a fight broke out. But if you think about it, opponents would frequently try to prevent you from drawing your sword in actual combat. After all, real enemies rarely wait patiently while you prepare your ultimate technique.

“Mastering unarmed combat techniques like fist arts, palm techniques, and grappling are basic requirements for a swordsman in case you cannot draw your sword. Moreover, depending on the distance between you and your enemies, using unarmed combat technique or grappling technique might be more effective than using your sword. But remember this, if your mastery of fist and palm techniques is greater, you’d be a failure as a swordsman.”

“Your words are truly wise, Master.”

My well-practiced corporate flattery came in handy as I offered appropriate praise. My Master smiled slightly as he finished his explanation.

“In that sense, the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword is quite a remarkable sword art. Its first form, the Soul-Departing Sword (脫魂備劍), is a movement directly linked to the act of drawing the sword.”

Having finished his explanation, Master shifted his right foot back a step, slightly bending both knees into a flexible posture, simultaneously drawing the sword at his side and aiming it forward.

“Step back once while drawing your sword to face the enemy. The key to this Soul-Departing Sword is drawing your weapon while simultaneously blocking the path of your opponent’s incoming attack.”

The stance seemed designed for both defense and offense. It allowed one to block an incoming attack while drawing the sword and then seamlessly transition into an offensive posture.

However, no matter how elaborate its true meaning was, the visual result was rather underwhelming. It was simply stepping back with the right foot, drawing the sword, and aiming at the enemy.

Since my Master was looking at me expectantly, I grasped the scabbard with my left hand and the sword handle with my right, attempting to mimic the movement.

After trying once, I realized it wasn’t as easy as it looked.

The most awkward part was the act of drawing the sword itself.

Since the length of the blade was about three feet long, it inevitably scraped against the scabbard during the drawing process. Because of this, instead of being drawn smoothly like Master’s, mine came out with a jerking motion.

Seeing me awkwardly draw the sword, Master smiled gently.

“Now do you understand why drawing the sword is most crucial? If you draw your sword like that, you’ll die before you even get to fight.”

I don’t know why he’s cursing me with a smile.

Despite his harsh words, Master provided kind instruction.

“When drawing the sword, it’s not just the hand holding the sword that’s important. Depending on the angle at which the sword is drawn, you must also adjust the angle of the scabbard with the hand holding it. Furthermore, you need to coordinate your shoulders and body with these movements.”

He didn’t just explain verbally but physically adjusted my posture with his hands.

After practicing drawing the sword several times under Master’s guidance, I gradually got the hang of it.

Swoosh!

When I finally managed to draw the sword cleanly without jerking and assumed the proper stance, Master nodded with satisfaction.

“You’ve taken your first step. Now, let’s add some variations. An enemy’s attacks won’t always come from the same direction. You must be able to defend while drawing your sword in various situations.”

Saying so, Master demonstrated several variations. Though it was the same basic act of drawing the sword, the blade’s path during each draw was different.

Sometimes he would draw the sword to block an attack aimed at his head, and sometimes he would block an attack aimed at his legs.

He then showed how to rotate the body to the right while stepping back, simultaneously blocking attacks aimed at the flank while drawing the sword.

“Now, this old man will slowly swing his sword at you, so try to block it while drawing your sword.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Master slowly extended his sword towards me.

A chilling aura emanated from the sword as it flew towards me. Even though its speed was slow, the sight sent shivers down my spine.

Clang!

Perhaps because of its slow speed, I managed to draw my sword and block it.

And as I sheathed my sword again, Master thrust his sword at a different angle.

Swoosh!

Clang!

It was a strange sensation.

Despite never having practiced other stances, I naturally drew and blocked with my sword.

Swoosh!

Clang!

Perhaps because I understood the usefulness of twisting my shoulders and torso while utilizing the hand holding the scabbard, whenever I thought, ‘I should move like this,’ my body moved naturally according to that thought and blocked the strike.

“Hahaha. Indeed, this old man’s eyes weren’t wrong after all.”

Master laughed, seemingly pleased with my aptitude.

“Now then, let’s raise the difficulty.”

Shhhwing!

He abruptly increased the speed of his sword strike.

‘Fuck!’

Even though I almost screamed involuntarily, my body moved on its own.

Swoosh!

Clang!

Swoosh!

Clang!

After successfully blocking a couple of times, my startled heart calmed down. Then, noticing that my eyes had become composed, my Master increased the speed once more.

‘Whew.’

However, this time, I wasn’t as surprised as before.

Swoosh!

Clang!

This continued dozens of times, blocking sword strikes coming from various angles as the speed gradually increased.

Shhhweeeeng!

Swoosh!

Clang!

“Hahaha. It seems you’ve sufficiently mastered the basics of Soul-Departing Sword.”

Master smiled with satisfaction and stepped back.

“Whew.”

Simultaneously, as the tension released, I sighed without realizing it.

Drip.

The sound of sweat dripping from my head onto the floor penetrates my ears.

At some point, sweat had been pouring down like a waterfall. I hadn’t noticed it at all while I was in a state of extreme focus.

I stared at my sword-wielding hand with half-dazed eyes.

‘Is this really my body?’

The attacks Master unleashed before sheathing his sword were truly at a speed difficult to follow with my eyes.

To be precise, it was a speed that the eyes of Seo Ji-hoon, my past body, wouldn’t have been able to follow.

But these young eyes clearly saw Master’s sword trajectory. Of course, considering the uncanny movements he displayed at the inn, he must have been going easy on me, but it was certainly an incredible speed.

Nevertheless, these eyes had accurately perceived that trajectory, and the moment I thought I had to block it, my body moved naturally without the slightest hesitation.

‘What is this cheat-like talent?’

If I had been born in the modern era, it was talent enough to aim for an Olympic gold medal in fencing.

Though here, I was just a disciple of a cult leader.

***

How much time passed as I repeatedly practiced the Soul-Departing Sword?

Master’s voice pierced my sweat-drenched ears.

“Hmm. Come to think of it, it’s already this late. We don’t have much time left, so let me teach you the internal energy cultivation method for the remaining time.”

Master approached me, instructed me to sit cross-legged, and adjusted my posture.

“While the martial arts practiced by the hypocrites of the Central Plains are divided into internal energy cultivation, sword techniques, footwork, and so on, and take a long time to master, the martial arts of our Divine Cult are mostly integrated into one. It’s thanks to the predecessors who paved the way beforehand, so that we may become stronger in a short period and punish the wicked. Hahaha.”

Master spoke with pride, but I grasped the true meaning after filtering it through my own logic.

The orthodox sects’ martial arts have no side effects since their techniques utilize proper internal energy, so they can learn various techniques. However, Demonic Arts are dangerous even if you only learn one, so they integrate similar ones together.

Sword techniques, internal energy cultivation, footwork, movement techniques, and unarmed combat or grappling to support swordsmanship.

If I were to learn at least five or six different Demonic Arts in the same way as the orthodox sects, it would mean acquiring five or six different mental illnesses.

‘…Perhaps the Demonic Cult of the past was truly like that.’

I could say that the grace of the predecessors Master spoke of was truly great. If it weren’t for them, I would have had to choose from five or six mental illnesses.

As that realization dawned on me, I breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

“From now on, I will teach you the meridians through which internal energy flows according to the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword’s cultivation method.”

Master continued his explanation, pointing at various parts of my body with his index finger.

“First, you should memorize the meridians and acupoints I am teaching you now. You can learn the rest of the human body’s meridians and acupoints from Hayeon later.”

As soon as Master finished speaking, Jin Hayeon bowed her head.

And after finishing his explanation, Master suddenly placed his palm on my back.

“Concentrate. Usually, it’s important to circulate inner energy yourself to become familiar with it. However, since you started learning martial arts late, this shall assist you directly with the energy circulation and breathing.”

As soon as he finished speaking, something seeped into my body through Master’s hand.

It was truly an extraordinary sensation—one I had never experienced before in my life.

That energy that had entered my body settled down in the center of my body and stopped moving.

“This is your dantian. Now, try to inhale deeply through your nose. Imagine pulling the air into the deepest parts of your lungs.”

Master spoke without any difficulty even while channeling inner energy into my dantian.

Following his instructions, I took a deep breath through my nose, and the energy in my dantian began to move.

The energy approached the air I inhaled, extracted something, and returned to the dantian together.

Then, starting from the dantian, it circulated through my body together.

“This is the Qihai acupoint.”

Each time my Master’s internal energy and the energy I had inhaled reached specific meridian points, Master would name them.

Feeling the Qi directly touching me like this allowed me to grasp the exact location much more accurately than when he pointed it out with his finger.

How much time passed as I concentrated on Master’s explanation and the movement of Qi?

I repeated the breathing exercise dozens of times and successfully memorized the flow of Qi and all the acupuncture points.

Master’s energy, which had been residing in my dantian, returned to his hand, and he withdrew the hand he had placed on my back.

But now, having become somewhat accustomed to ‘Qi’ and having successfully memorized the pathway of the cultivation method, I was able to circulate the energy on my own to some extent.

“Inhale.”

“Exhale.”

Thus, for a while, I practiced the inner energy cultivation method alone.

When a bean-sized amount of energy finally settled in my dantian, I calmly exhaled and opened my eyes.

Glancing to the side, I saw that the sand inside the hourglass had already run out.

To me, who had opened my eyes, Master offered congratulations with a delighted smile.

“Hahaha. Congratulations on learning the initial stage of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword.”

“Thank you, Master.”

“Hahaha. Now that you’ve entered the demonic path, you must diligently cultivate until you reach Transcendence.”

“I will do so.”

It was a matter of course. I had no intention of living as a madman for the rest of my life.

Master stroked his beard while watching my determined expression with satisfaction, then uttered something strange.

“Your decision in choosing the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword is truly admirable.”

“???”

“The Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword is a martial art that gradually breaks down the opponent by responding to their movements in any situation. Therefore, it is a martial art that demands perfection to be able to cope with any situation. In a way, one could say that such side effects arose due to the nature of the martial art itself.”

“Does this mean enlightenment comes faster than with other martial arts?”

“As I said before, you have to strive for perfection, so even with the help of the side effects, the level of achievement is not particularly faster than other Demonic Arts.”

It was just slightly disappointing up to this point. It meant that even with the ‘help’ of the side effects, progress wouldn’t be explosively fast.

But I had already accepted that to some extent the moment I started learning the Demonic Arts, so it didn’t matter.

At least until what came next,

“However, no matter how perfectly one prepares, relying on a fixed method eventually leads to limitations. For the practitioner of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword to go beyond the Extremity stage and reach Transcendence, a change beyond perfection is necessary. It is truly difficult to break free from the perfection one has created due to the side effects of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword.”

“…….”

So basically, he’s saying it’s tough for this art to reach Transcendence?

“Yet, you chose this difficult path, which makes this old man truly proud as your Master.”

“…….”

Looking at Master and Jin Hayeon, who were gazing at me with satisfaction, I thought to myself,

‘You should have told me that BEFORE teaching me, you fucking lunatics!!’

It was a scream I couldn’t bring myself to utter.