Chapter 97

097. Proof (3)

As I reached the third of the seven gates, the level of difficulty suddenly increased.

At the first gate, I fought a priest who couldn't even manifest Fist Qi.

At the second gate, I dueled a priest who could barely use Sword Qi as a mere ability.

Although it might take time, the second gate didn't feel particularly difficult to me.

However, the high-ranking priest at the third gate, Resilian, was already on a different level from the others.

"......"

Sword Flame.

To me, who only knew how to use Sword Qi, it was a technique no different from poison.

This technique was higher than Sword Qi and was developed with a focus on thoroughly destroying weaker Sword Qi.

While Sword Flame itself doesn't significantly increase physical power, it feels as though the very magic that forms Sword Qi is shattered.

I don't fully understand why this happens, but it was clear that Resilian was a tough opponent.

At that moment,

"Sword Flame... It seems you understand this realm quite well."

Resilian, having apparently heard my mutterings, smiled heartily and said this.

"I once had a harsh experience with it."

I replied, then tightened my grip on the Blood Heaven Demon Sword even more.

It was to ensure I could react to Resilian's attack at any moment, now that he had reached the Sword Flame Realm.

"That must have been a good experience. Thanks to it, you can now handle invisible laws."

Invisible laws?

I frowned and opened my mouth at his lofty words.

"I don't understand what you mean by invisible laws."

Resilian nodded, as if realizing he had misunderstood something.

"......I was mistaken. It seems you can't use Sword Flame yet."

Just as I was about to ask him what invisible laws were,

"Martial arts are the proof of life and the only path to reach the gods."

Resilian slowly raised his sword, imbued with Sword Flame, and said,

"You must realize how great the path you are walking is."

He warned me with a resounding voice and a gleam in his eyes.

"And if you don't, you will die at the third gate without accomplishing anything."

At the same time, Resilian swung his Sword Flame like lightning and charged at me.

「Skill 'Blessing of the Wind' activated.」

「All speed increased by 70%.」

「Current skill stacking progress – 7/7」

I immediately used all the acceleration abilities I could and ran in the same direction.

「Skill 'Instant Acceleration' activated.」

The trial of the third gate was about to begin.

***

Clang!

Sword Qi and Sword Flame clashed, and the Sword Qi was destroyed by the white flames of the sword.

I inwardly thought that Sword Flame was truly an unfair ability.

I don't understand how it can so easily destroy Sword Qi without increasing physical power.

The only reason I could hold out for a moment and exchange blows was because it was an incomplete Sword Flame.

If Resilian could use a complete Sword Flame, I wouldn't have been able to fight at all.

Clang!

After one exchange, we entered a lull.

With the Blessing of the Wind, I had accelerated to a level that even Resilian, who could handle Sword Flame, couldn't keep up with.

In short, it was a situation where it was difficult to reach a decisive conclusion.

While I was quickly thinking and gathering my mana,

"To create a sword that can cut through all things by handling the invisible."

Resilian suddenly offered to help me.

"Through this, a mythical blade called Aura, which possesses absolute physical power, is born."

Before I could ask a question, Resilian suddenly swung his sword.

I instinctively used the skill of Lightning Sword Qi to release a piercing strike.

And...

Boom!

"Beautiful Aura. It's been a long time since I've seen a lightning Aura, and it's a feast for the eyes."

Resilian maintained his stance after releasing the piercing strike and looked at me.

"......"

He was a stronger opponent than I imagined.

I was struggling to release Sword Qi using the skill of Lightning Sword Qi.

Resilian, on the other hand, casually sent Sword Qi over a distance as if it were the most basic of basics.

'Our perceptions of the world must be different.'

Even the words he casually threw out during the battle had a profound impact on me.

Like a stone dropped into a calm pond, causing large ripples.

Every time I heard his lofty explanations, my mana stirred and became dynamic.

And it was a positive change, not a negative one.

With this strong sense of doubt, I couldn't help but ask Resilian,

"Why do you casually throw out such enlightening words?"

The third gate is a test of the body, and failure means death.

Yet, Resilian offered good advice as if he wanted me to grow.

When I asked him about this, he smiled and replied,

"It's because I want to see you prove yourself."

"......?"

"In the path of martial arts, what's important is to prove and exchange each other's martial arts purely."

"What do you mean...?"

"I want to see the martial arts you prove. That's all."

"Even if you die, you won't leave anything behind... Can you do that?"

"Isn't it obvious? That is the path of martial arts and the essence of proof."

Resilian's eyes seemed to be filled with flames, looking at me with a burning gaze.

"Prove your body, prove your beliefs, and prove your spirit."

I don't like it.

"But in the end, it is the proof of martial arts."

My sword wavered.

"You can't properly prove your martial arts yet."

It would be better if he treated me with malice.

"So, prove everything about yourself in this place."

Now I understand why I felt guilty for killing Jane at the second gate.

She didn't approach me with malice but only to provide this trial.

Resilian was the same.

He was guiding my growth and hoping I would properly prove my martial arts.

「Administrator 'Iron-Blooded Overlord' senses the slight trembling of the contractor's sword.」

「Administrator 'White Crane Sword Immortal' feels sympathy and empathy for your trembling sword.」

「Administrator 'Seeker of the Holy' senses your spirit gradually crumbling.」

「Administrator 'Hero of the Fallen World' says you haven't yet developed the mindset of a warrior.」

As the administrators said, I was gradually crumbling.

I was fully prepared to kill someone with malice, but...

As a warrior, I wasn't at all prepared to purely compete in martial arts.

The moment I realized this, I felt confusion and my hands trembled.

"Everyone has a moment of death."

At that moment,

"Especially in a confrontation between warriors, that moment of death is closer."

Resilian looked at me straight in the eye and continued slowly.

"Someone fails to prove their martial arts, and someone succeeds."

He spoke as if it were a truth of the world, with a calm and composed face.

"Proof is struggle and survival. Hesitation is a luxury."

With those words, I was able to grasp my crumbling spirit.

This fight wasn't just a friendly match but a struggle and a desperate fight for survival.

When did I, a weakling, start hesitating and distinguishing right from wrong in a fight?

"......"

I admitted it.

Just now, I was about to pay the price for climbing the tower with a half-hearted resolve.

But the moment I realized this, I immediately discarded my half-hearted mindset.

"Don't trivialize the proof of a warrior as mere killing."

Winning in a fight is natural and is part of building one's life.

I had no right to distinguish it by the flow of right and wrong.

Even if it was the path I was advancing on.

As I started thinking this way, the sword that had been trembling suddenly stopped.

Resilian looked at me with satisfaction and laughed heartily.

"Yes... That's it. Slowly build your beliefs."

My heart, which had been shaken, had turned to steel.

「Administrator 'Hero of the Fallen World' laughs heartily, sensing your spirit growing.」

「Administrator 'White Crane Sword Immortal' chuckles, sensing you have entered the path of martial arts.」

「Administrator 'Iron-Blooded Overlord' feels confident about your new direction and looks forward to it.」

「Administrator 'Priest of the Seven Gods' watches with joy at the birth of new beliefs.」

Is this the belief that those who walk the path of martial arts possess?

"Now, the time for proof is approaching, adventurer."

I'm not sure, but one thing is clear.

I must master the technique of Sword Flame through my fight with Resilian.

I took a deep breath, circulated mana throughout my body, and held my sword.

And—

"Prove your life through the martial arts you possess."

I then stepped forward with a steel-like momentum.

***

My senses were hazy, as if submerged in water.

—How can you fully handle Sword Qi when you don't even know real martial arts?

Nangong Hyuk's words suddenly flashed through my mind.

Why did Nangong Hyuk say that abilities, skills, or traits couldn't match martial arts?

Martial arts are just abilities, no different from skills.

Circulating mana throughout the body, imbuing the sword with energy, and forming a systematic structure—

Yet, Nangong Hyuk despised skills, calling them false abilities.

—False Sword Qi can never match true Sword Qi.

He even said that Sword Qi used as an ability was inferior to Sword Qi learned through true enlightenment.

If his words have some truth, they aren't entirely meaningless.

There must be something in martial arts that makes Nangong Hyuk despise skills.

—To create a sword that can cut through all things by handling the invisible.

Resilian told me that the invisible forms Sword Qi.

Could the invisible refer to mana?

But if it were just about possessing and using mana normally, neither Nangong Hyuk nor Resilian would have said such things to me.

—Through this, a mythical blade called Aura, which possesses absolute physical power, is born.

Resilian called the Sword Qi used in the Sword-Body Union an absolute physical power.

Isn't Sword Qi just about using the sword like an extension of the body and enhancing the body with mana?

Why did Resilian talk to me as if I needed to understand the essence of Sword Qi?

As I pondered this, a hypothesis formed in my mind.

—That must have been a good experience. Thanks to it, you can handle invisible laws.

The words about handling invisible laws, which he said upon our first meeting, came to mind.

What if the Sword Qi I use isn't just a simple enhancement of a blade...

But a formation of a rule that generates absolute physical power?

If the invisible laws are called mana, how does Sword Flame form?

I forcibly made my mana recognize the sword as an extension of my body and achieved the Sword-Body Union.

The conclusion was clear.

'It was willpower.'

Mana changes its form according to the owner's will.

Instead of focusing all willpower on the Sword-Body Union, it is poured into other aspects to form Sword Qi.

But if all willpower is poured into other aspects, the Sword-Body Union cannot be maintained.

'That's why I thought Sword Flame didn't feel stronger in physical power than Sword Qi.'

It doesn't increase physical power but focuses on generating a property that destroys Sword Qi through willpower.

At that moment, I understood why Resilian said martial arts were the only path to the gods.

By transmitting willpower to mana, it bends the laws of the real world and influences them.

What else could you call reaching the end of this but becoming a god?

Whoosh!

「...Achievement 'Path of the Warrior' unlocked.」

「...Ability 'Sword Qi Wounding' evolved to 'Sword Flame Realm'.」

The euphoria of becoming a god-like being enveloped my body for a moment.

The moment I gained enlightenment through the sword, enveloped in flames, my hazy senses instantly cleared.

I swung my sword as Resilian, enveloped in an incomplete Sword Flame, charged at me.

And—

Crack!

In that instant, Resilian's incomplete Sword Flame was consumed by me, destroying even the blade.

Swish!

Resilian, struck by my sword, was pushed back a great distance.

I was still trying to understand the situation, but...

After a moment, I fully grasped my new realm.

Sword Flame Realm.

I had finally stepped into the supreme realm I had so longed for.