Clash!

“You can go a little bit easy on me, this is just a spar.”

Despite having taught quite a large number of people and interacted with even more, Iyeolhan had never imagined that such words would leave his mouth one day…

It was only a half-hearted statement that didn’t have much meaning to it, but the not so Gentle Han wasn’t speaking out of nowhere.

‘This is borderline crazy.’

Although he clearly remembered the thoughts he had when his opponent was just a trainee that he could have personally taught, Iyeolhan felt different about it now that one of his premonitions had come true. Leo was truly a different kind of Martial Art- no! A different kind of monster!

He was still a little too green to say that he had caught up to Iyeolhan’s level of strength just by rising to the same stage. However, as unbelievable as it was, and even if the difference was barely observable, Leo had definitely surpassed him when it came to Swordsmanship!

His learning journey had started under the guidance of someone known as the Absolute Spear, but Leo still managed to push his own sword this far. The little help that Iyeolhan provided wasn’t enough to explain this level of excellence.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

‘It could happen within months… or even days.’

Rather than their power level, what Martial Artists truly struggled to achieve was mastering their skills. While advancing was supposed to be synonymous with martial arts mastery, there was no limit that a potent Elixir or Miracle Medicine couldn’t break.

On the other hand, aside from the extremely rare items and phenomena that could elevate comprehension and mastery, Martial Artists could only rely on themselves, which often led to that part lagging behind…

In Leo’s case, the only part that he lacked was the extensive experience, the very basic result of hard work, and also the cheapest resource that anyone could seek. In a way, he was simply too fast for his own good!

Thankfully, that was precisely what this last push training of his sought to complete!

Although one-on-ones with Cheon Chang were what Leo spent most of his time on, Iyeolhan occasionally took the time to advise him directly as the main head of the training project.

Yet, even when he only caught glimpses of that process in this manner, Gentle Han could clearly see how quickly Leo was catching up to him week after week.

“No way, it was Instructor Han who strongly emphasized that I should always go all out no matter the situation!”

Clang!

‘And there is an even bigger monster than him standing on top.’

The Blade Spirit refused to speak much about the training sessions she had with her former student, but everyone could tell that was as abnormal as ‘abnormal’ can get.

‘If only trouble wasn’t looming so soon.’

It wasn’t like he didn’t respect the past Heavenly Demon, but rather than losing out due to the war with the monsters, Iyeolhan believed that the Heavenly Strength Society was coming out on top just by raising these two ridiculous entities into their current state!

The only thing that stopped them from celebrating an even greater flourishing was the rebel wreaking havoc all over Murim…

“Sure, sure, you can rub these words in my face all you want, but let’s take a break first. I’m not just training you alone… Did you take a look at the latest report?”

“Oh? There is finally some more news?”

“Glug… Glug… Glug… Haa. There, take a look.”

After taking the chance to gulp down a whole container of water, Iyeolhan swiftly threw a paper bundle in Leo’s direction.

[After a month of silence that ended with Mount Hua’s submission, the Murim League launched a sudden attack on the Southern Edge Sect, taking down…]

‘Interesting.’

The report was short and concise, but it contained as much information as the novel had given. Leo hadn’t been particularly paying attention to the news since he was already far more stressed than he needed to be. Besides, he already had a relative image of how things would come about.

[…The Sword King was single-handedly beheaded as a result of a heated battle against the Murim League’s Head.]

‘It’s not going to be an easy battle.’

Just as one would expect from a protagonist, Geochin wasn’t basking in glory while pushing his army around to achieve his dream.

Instead, while Leo was training to the best of his ability to face him, he was quenching himself through battles with masters of the Great Sects while still being a Transcendent!

This level of fearlessness could only be exhibited by those who knew they would never die or those who didn’t care if they died. In Geochin’s case, both situations seemed to fit him regardless of whether he was aware of it or not.

‘Another one would have probably fallen by now.’

Another reason why Leo paid little attention to the periodic report was the latency attached to them. The pattern in the report suggested that Geochin wouldn’t move too quickly now that he was dealing with the big sharks.

In reality, however, the continuation of his little scheme was none other than fast-striking lightning bolts. Leo reckoned that Geochin had already stomped one if not two more prey by now.

If anything, the arrival of this report meant that they were running out of time!

‘At least, the warnings should have been delivered by now.’

Fortunately, Geochin suffered from the same distance barrier that brought inconvenience to Leo and Yeon’s side plan. Otherwise, the psychotic protagonist might be already knocking on the Society’s door before the blood on his sword managed to dry.

The main plan was still to directly confront the wave that was coming, but receiving support or even minimally deterring some of those who would give Geochin their support was necessary for their shoulders’ sake…

“Let’s go again, Instructor. We can’t afford to take a break after receiving such bad news!”

“Bad news?”

Clash!

With one more question added to his perplexity, Iyeolhan could only draw his sword back to receive the young monster’s hearty effort with open arms.