I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 844

Victory and defeat were decided not by whose peak was higher, but by who was more flawless.

This was all the more apparent among top experts; to achieve perfection, one had to shave away mistakes constantly.

By continually stripping away errors, what few openings remained would narrow, drawing closer to absolute perfection.

Against an opponent of equal caliber who understood this just as well, they would try by any means to pry open that opening.

Thus, a single mistake decided the outcome in a duel between masters.

To exploit that gap, one had to read several moves ahead—and sometimes take perilous gambles.

Hummmmm!

At a single flick of Ash’s hand, five swords hovered in midair, droning like living creatures.

An Aura Blade coiled around each blade, pouring out sword qi fierce enough to shred even the blazing midday sun.

Swish—

Ash, the white-haired woman, leveled her finger straight at her target.

Her mark was the Heavenly Demon, Yoo So-wol, standing proud and aloof.

Moments later, five streaks of light surged toward Yoo So-wol.

Whoosh!

Above, below, left, right, and straight down upon the crown of her head.

A flawless web of blades with every escape route sealed shut.

’Intriguing.’

Yet Yoo So-wol did not dodge.

In fact, she did not even blink.

Grasped in her hand was nothing more than a single, crude gray sword.

To the naked eye, it lacked all finesse and splendor, looking like an ordinary weapon.

’However...’

Shhhhh—

Vast internal energy drawn up from Yoo So-wol’s dantian surged through the blade.

The rough gray sword began radiating a beautiful green radiance, like the flowing streams of a galaxy.

Alongside it, an eye-searing, deep blue sword gang coalesced, blending into perfect harmony.

Though she had merely summoned her internal energy, a heavy pressure encroached upon the surroundings as if ready to cleave the very air.

’In the end, it is nothing more than a game of numbers.’

A pure martial artist who had dedicated her entire life solely to the Heavenly Demonic Art.

Tricks like these were nothing short of impurities to her.

Boom!

Her foot kicked off the ground.

The earth fractured like a spiderweb, sending debris scattering into the air.

Simultaneously, Yoo So-wol’s sword cleaved through the air, breaking into an equally graceful dance.

Clang! Screeech!

The first and second flying blades charging at the fore were deflected by Yoo So-wol’s explosive slashes.

The third blade that followed got caught in the arc of Yoo So-wol’s spin, plunging into the dirt with a screech of shearing metal.

"She really is something else,"

Ash muttered calmly as she drew up even more mana upon seeing this.

Even the deflected flying blades traced bizarre serpent-like arcs, homing in once more on Yoo So-wol’s neck, heart, and back simultaneously.

It was the true essence of Telekinetic Sword Control—a technique newly developed by Ash.

With Ash’s will imbued in every single flying blade, their trajectories were no less deadly than if she wielded them in person.

"..."

Yet Yoo So-wol’s gaze did not waver in the slightest.

If anything, the sword gang blazing from her blade flared all the more fiercely.

Only by digging deep into a single well could one attain true greatness.

"Shatter."

With that curt utterance from Yoo So-wol’s lips, her sword drew a long horizontal sweep.

Rumbleeee!

A tempest of a blue crescent slash swept across, engulfing all five flying blades converging from every direction.

With a deafening crash, the blue Aura Blades sustaining the Telekinetic Sword Control dispersed like froth swept up in a violent wave.

The slash’s aftermath did not stop there, cleaving the ground where Ash stood clean in two.

Crack!

Ash stared steadily at the sword qi bearing down on her as it split the earth.

An attack that flowed seamlessly out of a defense.

She had anticipated it, but this opponent was truly no pushover.

And that very fact stoked her competitive spirit, tugging a smile onto her lips.

Clang!

Ash brought down the sword in her hand—not one of the flying blades—in a downward stroke.

A crisp metallic ring echoed out as the blue mana shattered, scattering in beautiful fragments.

Boom!

Just as blue mana particles and thick haze billowed up, obscuring most of Ash’s sight—

Yoo So-wol seized the opening, kicking off the ground and darting forward like an arrow.

She moved so fast that the ground only cracked in her wake with a delay.

Shing!

She slashed toward where Ash stood.

Flash!

In an instant, the haze cleared to reveal Ash swinging her blade as well.

KA-BOOM!

Though only a single clash, the explosion shook the surrounding area like a falling thunderbolt.

Both swords gleamed brilliantly, as if holding a green galaxy within, and the energy imbued in them was remarkably alike.

All streams converge into the sea. Though the paths they had walked were different, their culmination led to the same point.

Hummm—

As they locked blades and took each other’s measure, Ash lightly snapped her fingers.Read the latest chapters at novelping(.)com.

The flying blades that had been thrown aside by Yoo So-wol’s slash floated up into the air, igniting with fierce Aura Blades.

Swoooosh!

The flying blades surged furiously toward Yoo So-wol’s flanks and rear.

Yet in controlling the flying blades, Ash had exposed a faint gap of her own.

Seizing on it, Yoo So-wol summoned her internal energy and shoved with immense force.

Clang!

Pushing Ash back hard, Yoo So-wol parried all the flying blades ambushing her from behind.

Though the flying blades scattered to pieces just like before, Ash did not let the moment slip and stepped in herself.

Clang! Screeech! Clang!

With every step of Ash’s sword dance, five blades rained down from every direction—above, below, left, right—ignoring all blind spots.

Yet Yoo So-wol did not back down, weaving her sword in defense.

Her blade carved wild arcs, deflecting every flying sword with lightning speed.

It was an opening skirmish worthy of the phrase "a clash between dragon and tiger," neither gaining the upper hand.

"Had you fought like this from the start, my lord would have struggled considerably."

"To him, I was probably nothing more than a gnat."

As if proving the point, neither let their tongue rest even as they moved at breakneck speed.

As though all this was still far from enough.

Boom! Ka-boom!

The longer the two masters clashed, the louder nature screamed around them.

A flying blade deflected off Yoo So-wol’s sword ricocheted toward a towering rock cliff.

The entire cliff burst like tofu as though struck by a high-yield bomb, sending boulders tumbling down in an avalanche.

"How delightful."

Yoo So-wol gouged into the earth, rocketing directly toward Ash herself.

From the heavy thrust she drove forward, massive blue sword qi erupted like a gale.

"I’m not having fun at all, though? Just what kind of person are you?"

Ash hurriedly crossed her arms, and the scattered flying blades snapped back before her eyes to form a massive shield.

Even Yoo So-wol could not help but admire her superb control.

KABOOOM!

Crimson sword gang and a blue sword formation collided head-on, tearing terrible shockwaves across the terrain.

Where the shockwave tore through, only devastation remained.

Though it was a rocky wasteland almost devoid of trees, the sheer ruin was starkly carved into the land.

A massive chasm had been gouged out behind Ash.

And if that were not enough, half of a distant mountain ridge had been sheared clean away.

Rumbleeee—

Even as tens of tons of rock poured down like torrential rain, their battle did not cease.

Their respective power, skill, and every ounce of experience gathered until now.

They brought all of it to bear, driving forward without pause—

Shift—

And ever so slightly, so faint it was barely perceptible, a fissure began to widen.

The one developing that flaw was none other than the Heavenly Demon, Yoo So-wol.

As the fight dragged on, she felt her martial arts growing disordered.

She knew the reason all too well herself.

’My adaptability is not good, even by generous standards.’

She had fought countless formidable foes since birth.

Yet if asked whether she had ever faced a true hardship in that journey, the answer was no.

She had crushed most opponents through overwhelming might, even during her first steps into the martial world.

Now that she stood at the absolute pinnacle, she had hardly fought any battle that could be called a desperate struggle.

’What is more, this woman fought a life-and-death battle against my lord.’

On top of that, Ash was extraordinarily inventive, capable of creating various techniques entirely on her own.

She must have reviewed her duel with Grylls countless times and excised her weaknesses as much as possible.

’However...’

Yoo So-wol had attained great accomplishment at a youthful age, reaching the Profound Realm.

With talent that could truly be called heaven-sent, she had risen to the throne of Heavenly Demon with ease.

The longer this fierce duel went on, the more insight it provided her.

Clang!

She would apply that enlightenment immediately and turn it around to carve out an opening.

"Hm?"

When all the flying blades scattered from a single strike, Ash widened one eye.

Though she had pressed with full intent to overwhelm, Yoo So-wol had found a way through nonetheless.

She had known from the start that her opponent was extraordinary, but crossing blades proved she was far beyond expectation.

Screeech!

Now it was Yoo So-wol’s turn.

Ear-splitting metallic screams poured down like rain.

A tempestuous barrage of consecutive strikes that did not grant so much as a single breath.

"Watch yourself."

"How thoughtful of you,"

Ash quipped with half-mocking sarcasm, setting her flying blades in motion.

Around her, the five flying blades began spinning at such blinding speed that their shapes blurred out of sight.

An absolute defensive formation that looked like a blue vortex of blades, or perhaps a single flawless sphere.

Against that iron rampart, Yoo So-wol’s sword dance scattered like madness.

Swish— Boom! Clang!

A strike smashing down like lightning from above.You are reading on novelping . com, the official source.

A vicious horizontal sweep digging in immediately after to sever her waist.

Followed by dozens of thrusts pelting down like a sudden downpour.

The force and velocity infused into swordsmanship of such purity and depth were nothing short of astonishing.

’She took the momentum.’

Above all else, what proved terrifying was Yoo So-wol’s momentum.

Her feet skimmed the ground, advancing toward Ash without a pause.

With every blade she parried, Yoo So-wol used the recoil to chain into an even faster, heavier trajectory.

’She’s fast and heavy. Even without telekinetic swords, it feels like dozens of strikes are crashing in at once.’

The fact that an expert of Ash’s stature was frantically on the defensive proved it.

Though she could control the flying blades smoothly after countless hours of practice, weathering Yoo So-wol’s strikes was tricky.

It was as if Yoo So-wol found her easier to handle precisely because of the flying blades, pressing her attack with relentless fury.

’Still...’

Even under the ceaseless onslaught of fast, heavy blows, Ash did not panic.

Fast? Faster than Grylls?

Heavy? Heavier than Grylls?

Strong? Stronger than Grylls?

Having already stood before a mountain, mounting a response was not impossible.

’Now.’

Boom!

As Yoo So-wol’s attack descended, Ash thrust with the sword in her hand, not the flying blades.

A deafening explosion erupted, whipping up a violent gale between them.

Strands of different-colored hair fluttered in the wind, creating a scene like a painting.

"..."

"..."

The two watched each other for a long while.

Whatever they were thinking, the one thing they shared was a smile.

It was the pleasure of meeting a worthy rival, and they understood each other all too well without a single word.

"Exhausted already?"

"Hardly. Didn’t you want to chat for a moment?"

"I had a matter to reflect upon."

"The reason I could parry every single one of your attacks? It’s simple."

Hummm—

Ash readjusted her flying blades as they soared around her.

"Once you spar with him, you’ll think the exact same thing. You’ll realize just how trivial my attacks really are."

"You ask the obvious. My lord is the man who will become my husband."

"Husband? Isn’t that an honorific term? And here you called yourself the heavens?"

"Fret not about that. The child born between my lord and me will become the new heavens."

"Ha. The nerve of this woman."

Ash let out a dry laugh.

One of them was trying to take things one step at a time, while the other was already looking into the distant future.

What made it even funnier was that the one saying it was a prude who couldn’t even bring herself to hold a man’s hand.

"That line. I’ll make sure to pass it along to him."

"You make it sound as if I require your permission."

"Isn’t that obvious? I was the one who took his first kiss, after all."

"...What?"

A twitch stirred beneath Yoo So-wol’s eye.

It felt like she had just heard something she was never meant to hear.

"Oh dear. You didn’t know? Well, I suppose you wouldn’t, considering we did it in secret."

"..."

"You should focus on making progress step by step like me. If you look too far ahead..."

Crack!

Perhaps she could stomach the provocation no longer.

Before Ash could even finish speaking, Yoo So-wol unleashed a lightning thrust.

Though one of the flying blades hovering around Ash intercepted it, the thrust had been aimed dead at Ash’s heart.

"You’re surprisingly weak to taunts, aren’t you?"

"It seems best to tear out that tongue before we speak further. A skilled physician is waiting on standby, so you have no cause to fear."

"Oh, how terrifying."

From then on, the duel grew even more ferocious than before.

Ash, as if to blanket all things with the vastness of the ocean.

Yoo So-wol, as if to swallow everything whole with the depth of the abyss.

Would the ocean cover the abyss first, or would the abyss swallow the ocean whole?

"I’ll be taking all of his firsts. Out of generosity, you can have second place. Got it?"

"Shut up."

Only time would tell.

Ah. Of course...

"Phew... I’m beat. Teaching is real work."

"Good work today, Grylls-ssi. I prepared pork belly for you today—your favorite."

"Oh? When did you make this? Wait, before that, looks like you’re finally getting the hang of butchering meat."

"Living here, you have to get used to it!"

Someone was already basking in sun-drenched warmth.