Chapter 227: Black Snake (5)

Words : 1736 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

Chapter 227: Black Snake (5) Surururu The moment I realized my opponent had achieved Three Flowers Gather at the Summit, I promptly reigned in my intent. Simultaneously, interest sparked in Grand Elder Hong's eyes. The displeasure that had been present just moments ago washed away, no longer visible.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n)) "Hmm You." Grand Elder Hong looks at me with a momentarily interested gaze, suddenly taking a step forward. Simultaneously, her arm rushes towards me. In my mind, I envision her hand piercing through my heart. However, in that vision, I split her body in half and kill her. Flinch! Grand Elder Hong is taken aback, but a smile appears on her lips. "So it is. Were you originally not just any ordinary person but a martial artist?" "One could say that." "Good. What was your primary weapon?" "A sword." "A sword! Hahaha!" She does not hide her exhilarated intent. "Perfect conditions to become a sword cultivator!" Whoo She opens her mouth and several orbs of light shoot out from her Golden Core, encircling her. A total of 16 golden swords! "I, too, am a sword cultivator! Do you have any expertise in flying sword techniques?" 'So that's it.' I immediately understand what kind of entity she is. Just like the previous encounter with Byeok Mun-seong, she is a sword cultivator who specializes in controlling flying swords. "I'll lend you a magic artifact so we can have a match. Instead of Jin Hwi, I'll take on the role of your master." However, I just smirk. 'My master?' With a sword? In front of me? Her? I glance towards a small table inside my quarters. I quickly swing my hand, cutting off one of the table's legs and holding it in my hand. "If we're just sparring with sword techniques, this should suffice." "Hahaha, you madman. Well, don't blame me when you get a thrashing." Crackle, fizz! Her flying sword dharma treasures draw upon lightning energy, emitting a golden glow. Wham! Her flying swords surge towards me swiftly. Holding the leg of the table, I spin around, smoothly deflecting the flying swords and then shoot towards her. However, I sense presences from behind, in front, above and below. At the same time, 'images' form in my mind. A sword, silently concealing its presence, spring from the right diagonal below to stab at my throat. Mid-stride, I twist my body, bending at the waist. Just as I do so, a flying sword that came from my blind spot whizzes past where my head had been. Taking advantage of the moment I twist my body, flying swords from all directions lunge at me. Whirling But I plant one foot on the ground, using it as a pivot as I swing the sword (the table leg) continuously without pause. Whoom Infusing Qi into the table leg, I repel all of the flying sword dharma treasures. Continuing the momentum of that rotational force, I rapidly surge towards Hong Su-ryeong's blind spot. Then, I swing the sword in an upward slicing motion, and Hong Su-ryeong, with a face full of exhilaration, grabs her golden sword and swings back at me. Zing! Crack! Shockwaves resonate in all directions, and the table leg creaks as if about to break. "What are you, really? You're the best, not just any martial artist from Three Flowers Gather at the Summit! Are you the Five Energies Converging to the Origin that comes once every few hundred years? The excitement of fighting with you surpasses any cultivator I've killed!" Kugugugu! Under her Heavenly Being stage pressure, my body slowly sinks into the ground. 'The ground of my cave residence can't withstand it.' Although my body completely disperses her power, making me practically unscathed, it seems the surrounding terrain and objects can't say the same. 'If I used even a little of the power of my physical body from demon beast methods, Ultimate Pinnacle, or the Formless Sword, I would guarantee victory...' I observe her, gauging her level. Though we were merely crossing swords, several 'images' formed in my mind. Scenes where she pressed me time and again, only for her head to end up pierced by the leg of my table. Even though I was being pushed back in the current situation, the future we saw as our intents mingled always ended with her defeated, miserably impaled on the table leg, without exception. "Hah...!" With a laugh that seems to tear her mouth, Hong Su-ryeong begins to infuse her dharma treasure with power, intending to split my body in half. And as I exchange intents with her, I realize something and am startled. Wait, she's not at Three Flowers Gather at the Summit!?' This is... After about ten thousand 'pictures' cycle through my mind, confirming her defeat, Out of those ten thousand times, just once! A single picture emerges where she and I end up destroying each other. If we compare our martial knowledge, it's an impossible scenario. "Talent?" "Yes. The overall talent for cultivation methods or for martial arts. Do you also believe those can change?" "Ah, talent. I have indeed conducted research on that as well." She nods and continues. "And after my own research, I've come to the conclusion that the concept of 'talent' does not exist in this world." 'Talent doesn't exist?' I find the notion intriguing, having never considered such a perspective. "Why do you say that talent does not exist?" As someone who has observed the Extraordinary Pattern Law Talent of Buk Hyang-hwa and the Mad Lord, and Kim Young-hoon's martial prowess, I find it hard to agree with her statement. And then, I am inevitably startled by the name she mentions next. "Do you, by any chance, know of Cheongmun Ryeong from Byeokra?" "Excuse me?" Why would that name suddenly come up here? I nod in response. "Yes, I've heard of him. I have a bit of a connection with the Cheongmun Clan." "Then, you must also know Cheongmun Ryeong's nickname." "...Excuse me?" I am confused at the mention of Cheongmun Ryeong's nickname. 'What, did Cheongmun Ryeong have a nickname?' I cautiously say. "I only know he's called one of the three great masters of the Qi Building stage." "Uh? What's that now?" "Excuse me?" But to my surprise, Hong Su-ryeong seems bewildered, as if she's hearing such a thing for the first time. However, she soon nods in acknowledgment. "Ah, I see. I've heard that those below the Core Formation stage refer to him in that manner. A Qi Building cultivator displaying the power of a Core Formation cultivator. However, from the late stages of Core Formation to the Heavenly Being stage, among higher-level cultivators, Cheongmun Ryeong had a different nickname." 'Ah, it's a nickname circulated among higher-level cultivators. No wonder I didn't know about it.' I met Cheongmun Ryeong after all the Nascent Soul stages were already captured. "Among such cultivators, Cheongmun Ryeong was called 'the Yellow Snake', meaning 'the Wise One without Talent'." "Yellow Snake... you say?" "Yes. Since ancient times, 'snakes' have symbolized 'wisdom'. It's known that from the phrase 'the heavens are black and the earth is yellow' (). Among high-level cultivators, he was called 'the Yellow Snake' because it was said his talent fell to the earth." 'The Yellow Snake...' I ponder her words. 'Then conversely, would a genius be called a black snake?' I ask her about my question. "Do you mean to ask about the Black Snake?" She explains with her arms crossed. "I don't know much about the Black Snake. After all, the idea that snakes symbolize 'wisdom' comes from a legend secretly passed among the snake demons of the Head Realm... Ah, but from what I've heard, black snakes are considered more of an auspicious omen () among snakes rather than signifying a genius." 'Black snakes signify an auspicious omen...' Like the last time when buying the demon beast methods. Among snakes, 'black snakes' seems to be considered a good omen or an auspicious being. 'The heavens are black and the earth is yellow... If snakes symbolize wisdom, then black snakes symbolize wisdom of the heavens.' The heavens represent Fate (). Perhaps among the Serpent Race, those who reached the plane of fate and became True Immortals might be the black snakes. "Anyway, the reason I brought up Cheongmun Ryeong was..." Crackle! She brings out 16 golden flying sword dharma treasures again. Eight swords form points in all directions, and another eight swords form points around the exterior. "Inner Trigram (), Outer Trigram ()." Suddenly, the Eight Trigrams seal is imprinted on the swords, and the inner and outer swords begin to rotate in opposite directions. Wo-woong! The flying swords exchange the power of the Eight Trigrams with each other, creating countless transformations. The total number of transformations is 66. As my eyes accurately follow the flow of changes, Hong Su-ryeong asks in surprise. "Wow, you caught all the changes in one go? How many changes did you see?" "I..." "Don't think about hiding it. I've tested this on a few people. Just by looking at your eyes, I can tell how many transformations you saw." I was about to lessen the number but decided to tell her exactly what I saw. 'Even if I hide my intent, she would know I can do so. Such a lie won't work on her anyway...' "...66. The Inner Trigram and Outer Trigram combines to create 64 transformations, and adding the flow of Yin and Yang above and below makes 66." "Indeed... No one except Cheongmun Ryeong has been able to discern all the transformations at once... you..." Her gaze sharpens. "Is it really true that you reached Qi Refining 6th Star in one go through an innate understanding?" I sigh inwardly. "This has nothing to do with talent or cultivation but more with how much effort one has put into the basic techniques under the approach of Understanding before Breakthrough." On the first day I met Hong Su-ryeong. "Are you really in your twenties? You're not an old monster who scattered his cultivation to infiltrate the sect, are you?" She quickly approaches the secret of my 'talent.' *** Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried Link to donations in the discord!

Chapter 227: Black Snake (5)

Comments (0)