The Legend of the Northern Blade

Two men stood atop a small mountain overlooking a river.

Jo Cheon-Woo, an enormous man who resembled a granite boulder, glared intensely at the young man in front of him.

He was dressed in a tattered red-brown martial arts outfit, and a sword was strapped to his waist. He was not particularly handsome, but he had attractive sharp features and a manly appearance. Most importantly, his face reminded Jo Cheon-Woo of a certain person in his past.

“Jin…Kwan-Ho,” he whispered to himself. The man he feared and respected the most.

The resemblance was uncanny, and it wasn’t just the young man’s looks. His calming presence and his unwavering, resolute gaze made him a dead ringer for Jin Kwan-Ho.

Naturally, it was Jin Mu-Won. Upon his arrival at the scene, he had taunted Jo Cheon-Woo by flicking a finger against his sword, inspired by Geum Dan-Yeop’s Thousand Mile Sound Arts; the technique used to attract his attention during their first meeting.

After staring at Jin Mu-Won for a long time, Jo Cheon-Woo finally said, “You must be…Mu-Won.”

“Long time no see, Uncle.” Jin Mu-Won didn’t deny it.

Jo Cheon-Woo narrowed his eyes. Even though he was a man with an iron will, he could not help but be shaken by the memories of times long past.

In contrast, Jin Mu-Won stared at him unwaveringly.

It had been ten years since their last meeting, and their lingering feelings for each other were complicated at best.

“I heard that you died?”

“I’m sure you hoped that I actually died.”

“……” Jo Cheon-Woo didn’t answer. He couldn’t. Jin Mu-Won’s words were like razors. He thought that he had no regrets, but emotions he didn’t even realize were buried in the depths of his heart rose to the surface and agitated him.

Shaken by the unfamiliar emotions he hadn’t felt in a decade, he frowned and straightened his back to compose himself a little, then asked, “Why did you come out of seclusion? No one in this world welcomes your presence, so that’s as good as inviting death. You would have been much better off hiding your identity and cutting your ties with the gangho.”

Seeing Jo Cheon-Woo’s distress, Jin Mu-Won looked at him with pitying eyes. “After betraying the Northern Army, all you got was a small piece of land in Yunnan? I thought you would have become something more than this, at the very least. What on earth have you been living for all this time?”

“Shut up! What do you know about me?”

“Uncle!”

“Your father was a sinner for selling out the Central Plains, and you, the son of a sinner, are also a sinner! What right do you have to stand here before me?”

“Do you really think he betrayed the Central Plains?”

“I do. I have nothing to be ashamed of!” Jo Cheon-Woo shouted, thumping his chest.

“You know, Uncle, I once looked up to you. To my young eyes, you were a man stronger and more upright than anyone else, but it seems that was just an illusion on my part. It’s not like you don’t know what shame is; you just don’t feel it.”

“Enough!”

“Uncle, pray tell me, how many innocent people in Yuxi have shed their blood to fulfill your ambition?”

“No great deed is achieved without sacrifice. History taught us this immutable law of the world.”

“So was it worth it? If it was, then why are you here pathetically venting your rage?”

Jo Cheon-Woo grimaced. Jin Mu-Won’s presence was a trigger for everything he wanted to forget. The boy would never understand him or sympathize with the despair of not having his strength recognized!

“What do you know… What do you know?! What’s wrong with a powerful man being ambitious? The world revolves around the powerful anyway! Lor…1 Your father Jin Kwan-Ho was a coward. He had great power and might, but he foolishly chose to stay in the backwoods that is the North. Even if us Four Northern Pillars hadn’t turned our backs on him, he would have been erased by the passage of time!”

Jo Cheon-Woo’s booming voice echoed across the mountains and made the earth tremor, but to Jin Mu-Won, everything he said sounded like the flimsy excuses of a man who had fallen into despondency.

“Uncle!” He looked at Jo Cheon-Woo sadly. The uncle he had once admired no longer existed; the man before him was nothing more than a pitiful soul whose reason had been eaten away by the monster called ambition.

Jo Cheon-Woo gritted his teeth and released a black aura, causing the air to tremble. “It’s true that I haven’t gotten everything I wanted. Even so, I have no regrets. No matter what you say, I will go my own way. I will defeat you and prove that my path is correct.”

Jin Mu-Won narrowed his eyes. “The Fist of Heavenly Domination…”

“By mastering the Fist of Heavenly Domination, I have become strong enough to fear nothing under the heavens. Now, with this martial art, I will send you to your grave. With that, the last ghost of the Northern Army will be eradicated, and the world will forget that it ever existed.”

Jin Mu-Won closed his eyes. Countless memories flashed through his mind, many of them fond memories of the time he had spent with Jo Cheon-Woo. It finally hit him that they could never go back to that time again, that they had come too far along different paths to do so.

When he opened his eyes, the grief within was replaced by determination. “Uncle, I will take back the legacy of the Northern Army. You will smear it no longer.”

“Hmph! And how exactly are you going to do that? There’s nothing of value left in the Northern Army Fortress. What are you going to fight me with?”

Jin Mu-Won didn’t answer. There was no need for words, as nothing he said would convince Jo Cheon-Woo. He placed a hand on Snow Flower’s hilt, and it cried hysterically in reply.

On the mountaintop dominated by Jo Cheon-Woo’s aura, Jin Mu-Won expanded his own domain. Though not as intense as Jo Cheon-Woo’s, the strength of his presence was unmistakable.

An eerie tingle ran down Jo Cheon-Woo’s spine, like he had just scratched a steel plate with his fingernails. This punk’s not normal, he thought as he further raised his killing intent.

“Interesting. Fine, show me your martial arts. Take this!”

Jo Cheon-Woo made the first move, barreling toward Jin Mu-Won at a terrifying speed like a giant, unstoppable boulder. He was using the Tyrant King’s Drum (覇王鼓), a body-slamming technique of the Fist of Heavenly Domination which involved using one’s entire body as a drum stick to beat one’s enemies.

BOOOOM!

Jin Mu-Won took a step to the side, narrowly dodging the attack, even though the hem of his sleeve was torn by the shockwave. Jo Cheon-Woo sailed past him and slammed into the ground, forming a huge crater.

KA-CHINK!

Jin Mu-Won drew Snow Flower and pointed it at Jo Cheon-Woo’s forehead, causing Jo Cheon-Woo to see an illusion of his head being pierced.

“A sword? Were there any sword techniques left in the Northern Army Fortress?” The corners of Jo Cheon-Woo’s mouth turned upwards. During the coup ten years ago, he had taken all the unarmed techniques for himself, while Yeon Cheon-Hwa had made off with the sword techniques. The Four Northern Pillars had divided the martial arts among themselves based on their respective specialties, and as a result, there were no decent martial arts left in the Northern Army Fortress… or so he had thought.

Right now, he couldn’t feel Jin Mu-Won’s qi, but somehow, he had the feeling that he would be run through if he took a single step forward.

He abandoned his arrogance for vigilance. From the way Jin Mu-Won held his sword, he could tell what kind of training the young man had undergone.

The Northern Army, the place that was once everything to my young self. Just when I thought I’d trampled it underfoot, it produces yet another monster. If I don’t kill him now, there will be no future for the Tyrant Fist Sect.

Having decided to get serious, Jo Cheon-Woo moved into the starting posture for the Formless Berserker (無影狂殺), yet another technique of the Fist of Heavenly Domination. Black qi gushed from the pores of his skin, creating a whirlwind of darkness that concentrated power on the basis of torque.

Jo Cheon-Woo stomped on the ground and charged toward Jin Mu-Won once more.

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SWOOOSH!

The wind from the tornado around his body hit Jin Mu-Won first, causing the hem of his robe to flap wildly in the wind, but this time, instead of evading, he raised Snow Flower to receive the blow.

Just as Jo Cheon-Woo’s attack was about to reach him…

SCREEECH!

Snow Flower sliced through the air with a grisly sound. Instantly, the devastating wind was torn apart and scattered as if it had never existed.

“Ugh!” Jo Cheon-Woo groaned as he bent over backward hastily.

The next moment, Snow Flower brushed past his chest and the tip of his nose, narrowly missing him. He immediately bent his knees and attempted to leap backwards like a spring, but Jin Mu-Won would not let him retreat so easily.

STOMP!

Jin Mu-Won kicked off the ground, ready to thrust Snow Flower into Jo Cheon-Woo’s throat. Desperate, Jo Cheon-Woo was forced to release his qi and use it as a shield.

BOOM!

Jo Cheon-Woo’s powerful qi knocked Snow Flower aside, but like a heron circling over a lake, Jin Mu-Won changed his attack trajectory and aimed at Jo Cheon-Woo with even more precision.

“Keuk!” Sensing the danger, Jo Cheon-Woo used a foot technique to increase the distance between them. He needed to catch his breath before launching a counterattack.

Unfortunately, Jin Mu-Won preempted his movements, re-positioned himself, and swung Snow Flower with all his might.

Finally realizing that agility was not his strong suit, Jo Cheon-Woo concentrated his energy in both arms, coating them with a layer of Fist Qi.

The two men’s attacks connected.

RUMBLE!

An explosion erupted as sword and fist clashed, destroying the mountaintop as if it had been swallowed by an earthquake. Rocks shattered and ancient trees turned to splinters.

The violent impact rattled Jin Mu-Won’s and Jo Cheon-Woo’s bones and organs, the flying wood chips and stone fragments cut their skin and stained their clothes red with fresh blood, but neither of them yielded.

Jo Cheon-Woo’s expression hardened. Even after unleashing one Fist of Heavenly Domination technique after another, he still hadn’t subdued Jin Mu-Won. On the contrary, he’d come close to being killed many times by Jin Mu-Won’s bizarre swordplay that defied all martial arts logic.

Did the Northern Army have such a weird sword technique? It seems that fool Yeon Cheon-Hwa took the shell, but left the kernel behind. Too bad for him! Hahaha! He mentally mocked Yeon Cheon-Hwa for thinking that he had taken away all of the Northern Army’s sword techniques, even though it was hardly the time for him to be distracted.

Seizing the brief opening formed by Jo Cheon-Woo’s moment of inattention, Jin Mu-Won sliced through his side, leaving a deep cut.

Blood poured out of the new wound like a waterfall, and Jo Cheon-Woo hastily sealed his acupuncture points to staunch the bleeding. I have to settle this before he can unleash his sword techniques!

A sense of urgency flooded his brain, triggering his survival instincts. The longer he delayed, the greater his disadvantage. He had to use his most powerful technique, the Heaven Destroying Rain (天破罡雨), which, as its name suggested, was akin to a torrential downpour of heaven-destroying punches.

ROOAAAAR!!!

A terrifying power materialized in his fists and surged towards Jin Mu-Won, pouring down on the young man like rain and leaving him no room to dodge.

In response, Jin Mu-Won unleashed the second form of the Shadow Blade of Destruction, the Northern Heavenly Wall, and a huge qi sword appeared in front of him to defend against Jo Cheon-Woo’s final blow.

That wasn’t the end of his counter, though. The moment the Heaven Destroying Rain struck the sword wall, Jin Mu-Won smoothly transitioned into his next technique.

Dividing the Heavenly Seas (斷天海).

RRRRIIIIIP!

The spine-chilling sound of something being torn reverberated through the air.

1. “Lor…” : Jo Cheon-Woo nearly said “Lord Jin”. Old habits die hard rofl.