Reincarnated Sword Ghost-Chapter 44 : Paralysis Point

Paralysis Point
It was obvious even at a glance that he was not in his right mind.
There wasn't even a need to mention his eyes, which were drowned in madness.
They were bloodshot as if soaked in blood—anyone who couldn't recognize that would be stranger still.
I could more or less guess what had happened.
'It seems that elixir in the wooden box was the problem.'
It was something placed by the one brimming with unfathomable malice.
Not only had he once possessed the greatest martial prowess under heaven, but he was also said to have an extraordinary talent in making cultivation pills.
Mixing a mind-affecting poison into an elixir meant to restore internal energy would be no feat at all for him.
In the first place, he was said to be a renowned physician before being a martial artist.
Was it his intent to make people lose their minds and swing their swords wildly within the formation?
It wasn't farfetched—there were already several more corpses scattered around.
'Even though they've lost their senses...'
Their gazes were utterly devoid of reason, but perhaps their instincts as martial artists were too deeply ingrained.
Their ki was still fairly well-contained.
If that was the case, it meant they weren't just swinging their swords at random—they could still mix in martial techniques they had learned.
After all, they must have been powerful enough to beat out all the other martial artists here and get their hands on the elixir in the wooden box.
I knew that no peak experts had entered this place.
Still, just considering their level of martial strength, it could be troublesome to deal with them.
"You should stay close to the guards."
"......"
There was no reply, so I glanced over to find him looking at me with eyes full of admiration.
Apparently, my sweeping away of the formation at once had made a strong impression.
"Seonwoo Hak."
"Y-Yes."
He finally snapped to and answered.
Jeong-un, sword in hand, took a few steps forward.
The deranged martial artists were turning their heads uncertainly, their eyes unfocused.
The sudden clearing of the mist seemed to have left them confused.
Then, they raised their swords high.
'Are they coming?'
I was bracing myself for the shockwave of their vital ki.
Then, something unexpected happened.
Clang!
"...?"
They looked at each other—and then crossed swords.
What's more, every one of them was deadly, but they showed no sign of distinguishing friend from foe.
'No... That's not it.'
Thinking about it, these were also among the martial artists who had come here to seize the Immortal Spirit Pill.
Even if they weren't in a confused state, they would have aimed their blades at each other anyway.
If anything, having lost all reason, their aggression was only more overt.
"Do you know how to use acupoint sealing?"
"You mean acupoint sealing?"
He looked at Jeong-un with puzzled eyes at the sudden question.
As Jeong-un quietly nodded, Seonwoo Hak began rambling what he knew.
"The paralysis point—so, you mean the Heavenly Pillar Acupoint—paralyzes the body if you strike it. But just pressing it without understanding the meridians deeply won't do anything..."
"Let's do just that."
"Pardon?"
"There's no need for you to help."
Judging by their appearance, they might have already killed several people.
Simply assuming and slaughtering people who had lost their minds was not something Jeong-un wanted to do.
So it was better to just restrain them so they couldn't move.
Tap!
He stepped forward lightly.
Jeong-un dashed ahead-nimbly; in truth, his mind was already filled with the white-hot pleasure of new insight.
'That's twice today.'
After the fist-and-palm art, now he gained inspiration for a footwork skill.
He couldn't put a name to either, but at least he had found a clue to their foundations.
Moonlight Swift Steps was a martial skill that governed all the movements of body-strengthening art.
It was so closely tied with One Illumination Movement Technique's control of true ki that they could nearly be considered a single technique, but the footwork he had just used was different.
Manifesting true ki and shaping the area around him as his own space—that inspiration had come from the Primordial Steps of the Peng Clan, but the application was clearly different.
If Primordial Steps was a martial art that pressured the enemy by emitting cultivated power as a prelude to attack, the technique he had just performed was closer to dispersing the energy of the surroundings.
If anything, it seemed defensive in nature.
That was Jeong-un's personal evaluation.
Of course, it was a method only possible because he possessed truly pure ki.
Smack—
As Jeong-un passed by, he struck the paralysis point on two of the crazed martial artists.
They immediately dropped their swords and collapsed—there didn't seem to be any major issues with their bodies.
'This should be enough.'
Jeong-un had no intention of dragging them somewhere.
He didn't have the means to do so anyway.
It was simply the minimum action he could take.
Thud, thud.
This was his first time neutralizing an opponent with the paralysis point.
But doing it myself, he felt at once that a certain knack was required.
It took deep knowledge of bodily meridians, and if you did it wrong, you could kill them outright.
Each acupoint was, in a sense, a vital spot through which internal energy flowed.
Especially with the Heavenly Pillar Acupoint: if struck wrong, they might never get up again.
Of course, if a martial artist exposed the back of their neck, that alone was as good as dead.
Plop.
So the last martial artist collapsed to the ground.
It didn't take very long.
Their martial instincts might have been alive, but ultimately, they had lost their senses and only swung their swords blindly.
But seeing martial artists brought down so easily did, on the contrary, make me a bit more wary.
'I need to be careful.'
No matter the situation, you need a method to protect yourself.
From direct experience in the martial world, Jeong-un knew now that not one-on-one duels but chaotic melees with many opponents were far more common.
Just blocking a sword coming straight at me wasn't enough.
'I should be able to solve this with martial arts as well.'
There is a state called body-protecting enhanced ki—a technique that forms a protective layer of true ki around your body.
It belongs to the realm of transcendence, requiring complete mastery over internal energy.
Most peak experts surely have their own defensive ki techniques.
'It can't be as simple as just wrapping myself in ki.'
If it were that easy, Jeong-un could do that already.
But while it could block simple impacts, it wouldn't hold up against a true attack with internal energy.
To manifest true ki thinly and keep it dense and strong—it takes more than just pure internal energy.
Conversely, it meant you would need that much power in your strikes to penetrate a peak expert's defensive ki.
In the end, the sheer strength of your cultivated power determined everything.
'Fascinating.'
Jeong-un truly realized how much farther he had to go. The world of martial arts was limitless.
Even if he thought himself talented, he was still just at the level of the rising stars—and only barely so, at that.
It wasn't disappointment that he felt, but rather renewed ambition.
"... You are remarkable."
Looking back, Seonwoo Hak was watching him with a look of awe.
"What do you mean?"
"You're about the same age as I am, aren't you? And yet, you possess such powerful martial strength..."
"..."
It was honestly an embarrassing question.
Jeong-un had just been reminded of how much he still lacked.
"Are all warriors of the Heavenly Martial Hall like you?"
"Well..."
Jeong-un couldn't answer, though for a different reason. Jo Gwang's face flashed through his mind.
Judging by age, Jo Gwang might not be lacking in martial skill either.
Simply being accepted into the Heavenly Martial Hall was enough to be considered stronger than most martial artists.
"Anyway, let's go."
Jeong-un spoke calmly from among the fallen martial artists.
He planned to leave them here as they were.
In time, the effects of the acupoint sealing would wear off, and then perhaps they'd regain their senses.
By then, he'd have reached the end of this place and found the exit.
Afterward, he'd leave their fate to the warriors of the Heavenly Martial Hall.
"Oh, I never did ask—you, where are you from?"
As we proceeded through another corridor, Seonwoo Hak asked.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Well, I'm just curious. Someone of your caliber must have made a name for himself at home. Perhaps I've heard of you."
"I was born and raised in Hanzhong, Shaanxi. In fact, in a small village."
"Hmm..."
He closed his mouth quickly. Apparently, nothing came to mind.
He probably didn't even know of the Yu household or the Five Star Gate, let alone my name.
"It's remarkable that I've never heard a name as distinguished as yours. Are you perhaps the inheritor of a secret lineage?"
"..."
His question was half correct, half off the mark, so Jeong-un couldn't answer.
If you considered the martial arts he'd learned, then 'sole inheritor' was accurate—but not 'secret lineage'.
And the term 'martial lineage' was just ridiculous.
As far as Jeong-un was concerned, his martial arts weren't something that could be passed on to someone else.
He wouldn't even dare name them—they were that unpolished.
"I still have a long road ahead."
He let the embarrassing compliments pass through one ear.
Such exaggeration was typical among martial artists of the martial world.
'A master? Ridiculous.'
If that were true, he wouldn't even be here.
The moment the ground started to shake, he'd have escaped in an instant.
The fact that Jeong-un was still here was proof enough that he hadn't reached that level.
So he made his way to the end of another passage.
And then—
"No way..."
Emerging from the passageway, Jeong-un found another chamber—not as wide as before.
But at the far end stood a massive door.
It wasn't a metaphor.
It was a mystery how anyone had gotten such a huge iron door underground.
It looked big enough to compare to a small castle gate at first glance.
"There's no one here."
Jeong-un swept his senses across the area and spoke.
He sensed no signs of life at all.
Aside from the corridor we'd come from, there were a few more passages connecting to this place—but the same was true for all of them.
"There don't seem to be any special mechanisms. No traps like the formation before, either."
Seonwoo Hak, already at the door with a cautious look, said this.
He touched the door with his fingertips, extremely careful.
"You actually made it here..."
Then, as if making a decision, he turned toward Jeong-un.
"Young hero Yu."
"Yes?"
"It's only right, but—the Immortal Spirit Pill is yours."
"...?"
Jeong-un furrowed his brow for a moment.
As he looked at Seonwoo Hak in confusion, the other nodded slightly and went on.
"I couldn't have made it this far on my own. My martial strength isn't worth talking about, and even Mook Cheol here wouldn't have been able to exert himself fully while guarding me. Frankly, compared to you, our strength just can't compete..."
"..."
"If you hadn't been here, who knows what would have happened... Just getting to see this final door is enough for me. Now, I have something to tell my family, too. Oh! If you ever have time, please visit us. You're my benefactor—my father will surely do everything to welcome you sincerely."
"..."
"Coming here, it's been like opening my eyes anew. How someone my age could acquire such powerful martial strength—and that pure, upright aura you emanate..."
He kept on talking like that, while Jeong-un simply listened in silence.
Eventually, perhaps realizing he'd talked too much, he fell silent and looked at Jeong-un.
"... Why aren't you saying anything?"
"I have something I want to ask."
"Yes? Please, ask anything."
Jeong-un looked at Seonwoo Hak, then glanced at the huge door behind him.
Then, he asked,
"How did you know this was the final place?"
Seonwoo Hak's lips tightened.