'If things go well, he might really faint?'
Even if it were revealed that the founder who created Mount Hua's swords was actually a barbarian, he probably wouldn't be this shocked.
Looking at Plum Blossom Sword Ghost, who seemed ready to grab the back of his neck and collapse at any moment, Wei Yan-ho shook his head.
"That's not right."
"N-not right?"
"Yes. He's not that kind of person. According to my master, his nickname while alive was Mad Sword."
"...Mad Sword, Mad Sword! Mad Sword Baek Mu-han!"
Plum Blossom Sword Ghost's face contorted.
"Mad Sword is the Sword Emperor."
"What?"
"Mad Sword is the Sword Emperor! The Sword Emperor is Mad Sword!"
Wei Yan-ho chuckled.
"What are you talking about? Mad Sword is Mad Sword, and the Sword Emperor is the Sword Emperor. You seem to be in a lot of pain, so please rest."
"No, you fool! The Sword Emperor's nickname while alive was Mad Sword!"
"...What?"
Wei Yan-ho's head tilted sideways.
"Can nicknames from life be given after death too?"
"Of course! Naturally! Such things are commonplace! Sword Emperor Baek Mu-han was called Mad Sword while alive, and was posthumously honored as the Sword Emperor. So Mad Sword is the Sword Emperor."
"Hahahaha..."
Wei Yan-ho's expression became awkward.
"So you mean... the Sword Emperor?"
"That's right."
"That Sword Emperor who's called the greatest swordsman of all time?"
"I said that's right."
A subtle light appeared in Wei Yan-ho's eyes.
'Thinking about it, there's nothing impossible about it. No, it makes sense. It has to make sense.'
Wei Yan-ho had met countless powerful figures of this era, including Gweonggeuk, in a short time. But even when meeting those strong individuals, he had never once felt that any of them were strong enough to match Baek Mu-han.
To put it coldly...
'Would they last even one second?'
If his master drew his sword and just swept it sideways, whether it was Taiji Sword Sage, Plum Blossom Sword Ghost, Gwangmuryang, or Gweonggeuk, they would all become corpses lined up in a row. Even if those four joined forces, it was questionable whether they could touch even a hair on his head...
"Wow! Thinking about it now, this is... truly unbelievable."
"What are you talking about?"
"Until now, I thought it was completely natural, but our master isn't human. Even if there were a hundred of you, old man, you couldn't win against him."
"...Is, is that so?"
"A hundred might still be insufficient?"
Don't say such things in front of the person himself, you damn fool!
Of course it would be so.
No matter how much Plum Blossom Sword Ghost competed for the title of the world's greatest swordsman of his generation, how could he dare show off before the Sword Emperor's name?
The Sword Emperor was the goal, myth, and legend of everyone who wielded a sword.
The reason the Sword Emperor could become an unshakeable legend of the martial world wasn't because he was the strongest, but because he was strong to a completely different dimension.
The fact that he shouted 'Ten Thousand Swords Are No Match' and single-handedly subdued the combined attack of his generation's Ten Great Swordsmen was a most famous anecdote.
But even so...
"O-one hundred is a bit much, isn't it? No matter what, I am Mount Hua's greatest sword."
"The number one hundred is hard to gauge exactly what kind of power that would produce, so it's subtle, but I don't think there would be much difference. You couldn't win."
Courtesy is nothing special.
Consideration is courtesy.
In that sense, this guy had no manners. He seemed to not even understand the concept of courtesy in the first place.
In front of an elder, he was saying 'Our master could beat a hundred guys like you' in a very moderate and gentle tone.
You could call it sweetly telling someone to go eat shit.
"Grrrr."
Plum Blossom Sword Ghost shook his head vigorously and opened his mouth.
"Are you certain?"
"I'm not really sure if it's certain. According to my master, he said he was Baek Mu-han and was called Mad Sword... and when he was alive, he could write characters on the heads of those bald Shaolin monks, or piss in the Taoist temples of those Taoist bastards, and no one could say anything about it."
"...That's right."
"Is it right?"
"...That's right. The fact that the Sword Emperor had a terrible personality is a truth that's been secretly passed down. They say he was the greatest of all time not only in swordsmanship but also in personality."
"This is undeniable. Ten out of ten."
"It seems so."
"Oh, and!"
Wei Yan-ho dredged up his memory again.
"Ten Thousand Swords? What was it, some Hundred Families..."
"...It would be Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families."
"Ah, I think that was it. Hehe."
Looking at Wei Yan-ho laughing innocently, Plum Blossom Sword Ghost covered his face.
'What should I do about this situation?'
Only Wei Yan-ho didn't know, only Wei Yan-ho.
Everyone in the world knew what it meant to inherit the true teachings of the world's Baek Mu-han, yet only Wei Yan-ho, who had inherited those true teachings, didn't know.
"Yes, I see. That's how it was..."
Now everything made sense.
Wei Yan-ho's absurd strength also became realistic when considering he was Baek Mu-han's disciple. Based on Baek Mu-han's numerous anecdotes.
'I thought those were all lies...'
What would future generations think if they heard that Wei Yan-ho beat a Demonic Cult bishop to death in his early twenties and beat the Dark King, who dominated his era, to near death?
That was exactly how Plum Blossom Sword Ghost felt when he first heard the Sword Emperor's anecdotes. He thought they were ridiculous exaggerations, but since the same stories were passed down so widely, he couldn't help but believe them—that kind of feeling.
Since Wei Yan-ho was the Sword Emperor's disciple, Wei Yan-ho's strength made sense, and since the Sword Emperor was Wei Yan-ho's master, those anecdotes that showed the extreme of exaggeration became accepted as reality.
"But this... is no ordinary matter."
"What? Why?"
"...Hundred Sword Castle claimed to be descendants of Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families."
"Hmm, I heard."
"Did you know?"
"Well, I do have ears."
"Then do you also know that Hundred Sword Castle would become your junior sect?"
"Eh, that's not right."
Wei Yan-ho picked his nose.
"If they demand recognition as a junior sect, they'd have to acknowledge seniority rankings too, and then from this moment I'd become Hundred Sword Castle's greatest elder—who would accept that?"
"...Does it work that way?"
"That's right."
"But even if they don't acknowledge seniority rankings, couldn't they demand that you return their martial arts?"
"That's not right either. Because this isn't Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families' martial arts."
"Huh? It's not?"
"No. I don't know the details, but my master said the martial learning he created is called Light Sword Style. But he said he didn't pass that Light Sword Style to me. He said I need to find my own sword or something."
"Hmmmm..."
It was a subtle problem.
Wei Yan-ho might think that way, but would they really accept it?
'The mystery is solved.'
He had heard countless rumors about the Sword Emperor, but no stories were passed down about the Sword Emperor's sword emitting light.
He didn't know how it was in that era, but in later generations, no one knew what the Sword Emperor's martial learning was like. So even when Wei Yan-ho openly emitted light, no one thought it was the Sword Emperor's martial learning.
'Even Hundred Sword Castle probably didn't know.'
Because the Sword Emperor disappeared mysteriously without passing on his martial learning.
Considering the history of Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Families, which completely declined after that, they too should be assumed not to know what Wei Yan-ho's martial learning was.
"For now, don't go around telling people that."
"Why?"
"Hundred Sword Castle is not ordinary. If you're careless, rumors might spread that you're connected to Hundred Sword Castle because of your martial learning."
"I have no relationship with them whatsoever. If anything, you could say there's some resentment."
"That may be so. But would others think the same way? In the martial world, one's identity is proven through martial learning and family lineage. No matter how much you deny it, since you've inherited the Sword Emperor's martial learning, you can't deny your connection to Hundred Sword Castle."
"It's complicated."
"Yes, it's complicated."
More than he could imagine.
Plum Blossom Sword Ghost sighed several times.
'This isn't such a simple matter.'
Even if Hundred Sword Castle hadn't shown their current movements, it would have been a complicated problem. It was serious enough that this matter could cause great chaos in the martial world.
But with Hundred Sword Castle acting like this too.
'If this matter becomes known to the world, it could cause tremendous calamity.'
A blood massacre where hundreds died occurred because of the Sword Emperor's legacy, which wasn't even certain. What would happen if a definite successor to the Sword Emperor appeared?
Probably, forces would emerge trying to suppress Wei Yan-ho and steal the Sword Emperor's martial learning before he became too strong to handle.
Especially since Wei Yan-ho had virtually no backing compared to the power of his martial learning and his personal strength... If a major sect was prepared to make sacrifices and tried to suppress Wei Yan-ho, it wouldn't be impossible.
"Make a promise with me."
"What?"
"Absolutely! Absolutely do not reveal this fact to anyone around you. To no one. You should only say such things around the time when you think you can face everyone in the world. Do you understand?"
"Yes. Well, it's not difficult. I absolutely hate troublesome things too."
"Hmm..."
At Wei Yan-ho's words, Plum Blossom Sword Ghost quietly nodded.
'Who knows what this means?'
Why does the Sword Emperor's martial learning, which disappeared three hundred years ago, reappear now?
What does this signify?
Heaven's arrangements seem careless but are precise, never bestowing unnecessary power.
The fact that Wei Yan-ho had obtained the Sword Emperor's martial learning seemed to signify the emergence of another power, weighing heavily on Plum Blossom Sword Ghost's heart.
'If the Sword Emperor's martial learning is what's needed to face them...'
The newly emerged Demonic Cult.
And...
'I'll need to discuss this with Divine Strategist.'
"Then can I go?"
"Ah... well, sure... No, wait a moment."
At that moment, Plum Blossom Sword Ghost's face began to flush.
"You, you, come to think of it... didn't you obtain that Sword Emperor's legacy? That secret manual that came out of that cave."
"I did."
"Wait! Then there would be two legacies—what you have is the Sword Emperor's legacy, and what you learned is also the Sword Emperor's legacy..."
"Oh, that?"
Wei Yan-ho glanced around his surroundings, then quietly approached Plum Blossom Sword Ghost and whispered.
"Only you should know this, old man. About that secret manual..."
"Yeah?"
"It's fake."
Wei Yan-ho grinned and gave a thumbs up.
"It seems like someone copied it from somewhere, but there's no true essence and it's filled with strange things. It looks like guys who crudely observed my master's martial arts tried to imitate it and created a secret manual. When I first got it, I found it strange because it had many similarities to what I learned."
"Haha, so that's... No, wait a minute. You sold that thing. You mean you sold it knowing it was fake?"
"Hehehe."
Wei Yan-ho slowly backed away toward the entrance.
"Well then, take good care of your health. I'll be going now."
"Come to think of it! I think I heard that the sect leader gave you three hundred gold coins to copy that..."
"Take care of yourself!"
As Wei Yan-ho hurriedly dashed outside, Plum Blossom Sword Ghost grabbed his Plum Blossom Sword and shot up through the roof.
With his entire face flushed red, Plum Blossom Sword Ghost looked at Wei Yan-ho fleeing at tremendous speed under the moonlight and shouted.
"Stop right there, you con artist!"
Plum Blossom Sword Ghost, who was supposed to rest carefully, had to lie down completely flat because he overexerted himself that day. And naturally, the money that had once entered Wei Yan-ho's belly never came back out.
"If you bought it, that's the end of it!"