Chapter 91
Intensive Training (1)
The Heavenly Sword Hall's intensive training program in preparation for the strength evaluation officially began.
Lee Seha gathered her beloved sword, fasting pills, and the copies of the Sword Foundation Art that Namgung Jun had personally transcribed before entering three months of secluded cultivation.
She decided to trust her disciple and focus entirely on sharpening her own blade.
To ensure that, as the Heavenly Sword Hall Master, she would not be found wanting when challenging the masters of the Three Great Halls.
Naturally, Namgung Jun became the overall leader of the intensive training.
Although veterans such as Gong Junam were present, none voiced any objections and willingly followed his guidance.
After all, Namgung Jun had advanced to the rank of Third Cloud in an astonishingly short period of time, and the casual advice he often tossed out had repeatedly proven immensely helpful.
“I wonder how Namgung Jun intends to teach us.”
“Training one's subordinates is one of the most important virtues of a leader.”
“Isn't he already quite good at teaching? His advice is easy to understand and remarkably well-organized.”
Rather than worry or anxiety, many of the hall members felt anticipation.
How exactly would Namgung Jun train the Heavenly Sword Hall?
The swordsmen gathered in the training grounds looked up at him as he stood atop the platform.
“I have been appointed as the person responsible for this intensive training.”
Looking down at his fellow hall members, Namgung Jun raised a single finger.
Everyone's attention naturally focused on it.
“There will be no special techniques or secret teachings during this training.”
He continued.
“Only fundamentals. We will thoroughly reinforce our foundation. Like building an earthen fortress, we will strengthen ourselves from the ground up and raise our peak by first strengthening our base.”
In only three months, they would be competing against the other ten halls.
Some wondered how much focusing solely on fundamentals could truly improve their strength.
Yet none of the Heavenly Sword Hall swordsmen voiced such doubts.
Judging from everything Namgung Jun had shown so far, he was not someone who spoke empty words.
He clearly had a purpose.
All they needed to do was trust the path he laid before them and work hard enough not to fall behind.
Thus, they looked at him with complete trust.
Seeing the determination in their eyes, Namgung Jun nodded.
“Let's begin the intensive training.”
He produced several manuals he had prepared beforehand.
These would form the core of the training program.
“This is the first manual everyone must learn.”
Namgung Jun distributed the newly revised version of the Sword Foundation Art, refined with his most recent insights.
***
The training system he established was simple.
Training the Sword Foundation Art.
Life-and-death-level sparring matches.
And sword discussions.
These three activities were repeated endlessly like a turning wheel.
“Haaah!”
“Kuh-haaah!”
The Heavenly Sword Hall members lined up in orderly rows and shouted in unison.
The faint dawn mist seemed to flee before the force of their battle cries.
The morning air was still cold, yet nobody felt the chill.
Bodies heated by the Sword Foundation Art radiated warmth, and hot breath escaped from their mouths.
Clank.
Standing atop the platform and observing them, Namgung Jun spoke firmly.
“The sound coming from the Iron Sphere Swords is growing louder. Again.”
The Heavenly Sword Hall members were not training with wooden swords or ordinary practice blades.
Instead, they wielded bizarre swords that were thick and club-like.
Iron Sphere Sword.
It was a specialized training tool designed by Namgung Jun and forged by the craftsmen of Iron Forge Pavilion specifically for cultivating the Sword Foundation Art.
Although shaped like a sword, the blade was blunt and unusually thick.
Numerous hollow compartments were built into the blade, each filled with iron balls of varying sizes.
Whenever the sword moved, the iron balls rolled chaotically inside, causing the weapon's center of gravity to shift constantly.
Moreover, every part of the weapon was forged from black iron.
As a result, it weighed as much as a large greatsword.
Without consulting the Hall Master of Iron Tower Hall, this training tool would never have been possible.
After personally experiencing Iron Tower Hall's training methods, Namgung Jun had come to understand the importance of specialized equipment.
The same principle now applied here.
The Sword Foundation Art could certainly be practiced with wooden swords or standard training blades.
However, using specialized equipment like the Iron Sphere Sword multiplied the effectiveness of training.
That was why Namgung Jun had boldly proposed their production to Lee Seha.
The Iron Sphere Swords did put a serious dent in Heavenly Sword Hall's budget... but it should be fine.
Remembering the way Lee Seha's eyelids had twitched when she saw the estimate from Iron Forge Pavilion, Namgung Jun smiled bitterly.
Determined to repay his master with results, he refocused on the training hall.
“Senior Jin, your wrist is bending inward. Don't let the shifting balance of the Iron Sphere Sword control you. Hongmok, steady your breathing and focus on your lower body.”
Standing atop the platform, Namgung Jun continuously observed the movements of the hall members and offered instruction.
Even when the advice was directed at someone else, the swordsmen listened carefully and reflected on their own bodies.
As time passed, Namgung Jun no longer needed to repeat the same corrections.
Instead, he began teaching deeper principles hidden within the Sword Foundation Art.
As both Namgung Jun and the Heavenly Sword Hall devoted themselves wholeheartedly to mastering the art, the average level of accomplishment throughout the hall rose rapidly.
Clatter!
Clank!
The sounds of Iron Sphere Swords rang continuously as the Heavenly Sword Hall swordsmen practiced.
“Urgh!”
“Be careful not to lose control of the Iron Sphere Sword! You'll get hurt!”
Those with weaker external cultivation, particularly the First Clouds and Second Clouds, frequently lost control of their sword trajectories entirely.
Even the veteran Third Clouds struggled and sweated while attempting to master the weapon.
“This is rather difficult.”
The comment came from Gong Junam.
As a practitioner of the greatsword and one of the foremost external cultivation experts in Heavenly Sword Hall, his words carried considerable weight.
Yet even he found the Iron Sphere Sword challenging.
By now, Gong Junam had more or less adapted to the Iron Sphere Sword.
However, combining it with the cultivation methods of the Sword Foundation Art was far from easy.
Sweat rolled down his brow and stung the corners of his eyes, yet all of his concentration remained focused on extending the Iron Sphere Sword correctly.
It's exhausting and difficult, but it's undeniably different.
No martial artist present looked down on external cultivation.
They all understood that one could never reach higher realms while neglecting the body.
Yet the Sword Foundation Art was clearly unlike any external cultivation they had experienced before.
Unlike the crude, instinctive methods they had practiced until now, the Sword Foundation Art was systematically constructed upon clear martial principles.
And that wasn't all.
Hidden within it were numerous sword paths and sword techniques.
By faithfully following its training methods, one naturally deepened one's swordsmanship while strengthening the body.
To forge and refine a body worthy not merely of a martial artist, but of a swordsman.
Recalling the first verse of the Sword Foundation Art, Gong Junam swung the Iron Sphere Sword powerfully.
On the first day, the iron balls inside the blade had rattled chaotically whenever he swung it.
Now, the sound was noticeably calmer.
Through the Iron Sphere Sword and the Sword Foundation Art, he was beginning to learn how to use both sword and body correctly.
Only three days had passed since he had started training with the Iron Sphere Sword.
Yet Gong Junam felt certain.
Simply mastering the Sword Foundation Art through the Iron Sphere Sword would significantly raise the overall strength of the Heavenly Sword Hall.
Nor was he the only one to notice the changes occurring beneath the surface.
BOOM!
Man Ye-won caught her breath after smashing a wooden training dummy apart with a powerful swing of the Iron Sphere Sword.
“Ugh.”
Having tightly bound her hair so it would not interfere with training, she gritted her teeth and raised the sword once more.
Her palms had turned bright red from the strain.
Even so, she refused to let go.
I've relied too heavily on internal energy all this time. My external cultivation—and even my fundamentals with the sword—are lacking.
She thought back to her childhood.
When she was young, she had consumed numerous precious medicinal treasures.
Her grandfather, the Head of the Council of Elders, had given her all the rare medicines he had gathered during his youth.
As a result, she possessed far greater internal energy than most of her peers.
But somewhere along the way, she had developed a habit of relying on it.
Man Ye-won glanced around at the First Clouds and Second Clouds training nearby.
Though their internal energy was inferior to hers, they were adapting much faster.
A few of them had already surpassed her in terms of progress with the Sword Foundation Art alone.
She did not dismiss this as coincidence or a passing embarrassment.
It was a warning.
A warning from the Sword Foundation Art.
And from Namgung Jun.
I've had things too easy until now.
The countless principles hidden within the manual pierced deeply into her heart.
If she failed to change now, then as her cultivation grew deeper and her years of training accumulated, she would inevitably fall behind.
The sword forms produced by different levels of external cultivation will differ as greatly as a branch differs from a mountain peak. And the flower known as sword qi that blooms at the end will be entirely shaped by the foundation upon which it grows.
Reflecting on her past through the teachings of the Sword Foundation Art, Man Ye-won swung the Iron Sphere Sword with all her strength.
Clang!
***
The sounds of metal and battle cries echoed endlessly throughout the training grounds.
Standing above them all, Namgung Jun observed every member of the Heavenly Sword Hall.
Not only with his eyes.
He listened as well.
From the sounds alone, he could judge each person's level of accomplishment.
The overall progress isn't bad.
Though everyone practiced the same Sword Foundation Art, the changes varied according to rank.
For the First Clouds and Second Clouds, who lacked both external cultivation and sword technique, the priority was reshaping their bodies into an ideal form.
The Third Clouds already possessed solid physical foundations.
For them, the focus shifted toward refining muscular control and correcting their swordsmanship accordingly.
Though the immediate goals differed depending on rank and cultivation level, one fact was undeniable.
The entire Heavenly Sword Hall was moving closer to becoming true swordsmen.
The morning training session continued until the sun reached its highest point in the sky.
After lunch, a brief rest, and some breathing exercises, the hall members immediately moved on to the next phase.
They sparred with Namgung Jun according to a schedule.
Those not currently sparring either practiced sword techniques on their own or fought matches among themselves.
Namgung Jun imposed one particular restriction during these instructional matches.
Everyone would focus exclusively on the Great Flame Sword Art.
No other sword arts were allowed.
Traditionally, Heavenly Sword Hall swordsmen learned the Lesser Flame Sword Art and the Great Flame Sword Art before moving on to other techniques suited to their individual preferences.
Most learned between two and four additional sword arts.
But during this intensive training period, Namgung Jun prohibited all of them.
The potential of the Great Flame Sword Art is far greater than Heavenly Sword Hall realizes.
From his observations, most hall members had only achieved sixty to seventy percent mastery of the art.
Even the most accomplished among them were merely at eighty to ninety percent.
Aside from Lee Seha and Namgung Jun, nobody had reached complete mastery.
Instead, most swordsmen focused on the techniques they had learned afterward.
The Great Flame Sword Art contains principles that branch into countless paths. At first glance, it appears merely versatile—a sword art without a defining specialty.
But Namgung Jun disagreed.
Because it contained insights into all branches of swordsmanship, mastering it completely could provide greater benefits than learning several different sword arts.
Especially when combined with the foundational refinement provided by the Sword Foundation Art.
The synergy would be tremendous.
Namgung Jun's gaze settled upon the man in Heavenly Sword Hall who desired more than anyone else to devote himself entirely to the sword.
“Are you ready?”
“Of course, Young Hero Namgung.”
Heo Il raised his sword and pointed it toward Namgung Jun.
It was the opening stance of the Great Flame Sword Art.