Only I Am A Reader

Swish!

Leo's White Tiger swung down towards Cheon Chang's iron sword. However, there was not even the faintest sound of an impact!

'A real cheat is really different from a fake one.'

The attack containing all of that force and sharpness had been completely deflected before the two swords had met! The Absolute Spear's sword skills had long plateaued, but the same couldn't be said about his strength!

Although there were often words of wisdom that truly mastering something could be the way to beating those stronger than you, that only stood true up to a certain level. The gap between Leo and Cheon Chang's force and speed was simply too great to overcome with skill alone.

Compared to Geochin's cheat that allowed him to achieve a speed of response beyond his ability, the level of speed and force that Cheon Chang added up to the Peak stage limit was not even his everything! Unlike spear spars where he bullied Leo with skills, he was currently bullying him with overall fighting ability!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The more Leo got used to his ability as Peak Martial Artist, the more Cheon Chang went beyond that limit. He wasn't doing so because he took joy in tormenting him. Rather, he was simply trying to be a worthy opponent for Leo. knowing that still…

'Then, shall I give it a try?'

The collective advancement of Swordsmanship that Leo managed to achieve even shocked the Absolute Spear. However, that wasn't the only gain that the legendary event bonus had granted him!

Swish!

He had been privately training both in preparation for their dispatch… and for the sake of the perfect moment, Leo kept the new trump card that he obtained hidden!

Swish!

The swords danced together, reminding Leo of the battle between Yeon and Pung Miyoung. Cheon Chang's speed made it seem like he had unparalleled skill, but that was only because he was facing someone at Leo's level. However, Leo didn't plan to keep it that way, at least not in this spar!

'Now or never.'

As if it had finally found its prey, the White Tiger lunged forward, a speedy cut flew upward, opening up the path of change!

Despite being dormant for the past few weeks, the White Tiger's Transfigurations had simply been lying in wait to prepare for this moment. Growing wings to surmount the peak that the Absolute Spear presented.

Before the iron sword could circle the White Tiger and deflect its force, it uncaringly crashed into it. Cheon Chang's strength naturally didn't let him get pushed back, but he momentarily lost the initiative!

Klang!

More Internal Energy escaped from Leo's Dantian as his sword grew faster, taking another charge at the careless iron sword.

Klang!

The iron sword remained unscathed as it was enveloped in Cheon Chang's Internal Energy. However, Leo didn't change his target to the person himself. He only had confidence in making use of the temporary time lapse!

Klang!

Despite having a very high speed ceiling that allowed him to match his opponent, this exact opponent also made it hard to make very good use of it. In order to make these spars educational, Cheon Chang couldn't go too far from the start.

Klang!

Adjusting his speed and strength into a perfect match mid-battle took time, and Leo was precisely aiming for this small window! Most importantly, his speed had yet to stop increasing!

Klang! Klang! Klang!

The Extreme Speed Sword that Leo obtained from the Murim Lord's experience was incomplete… However, did it have to be? The White Tiger's Transfigurations' flexibility allowed it to integrate anything using the right sequence, be that whole martial arts or incomplete moves.

Despite using the evolved White Tiger's Transfigurations, Leo's Internal Energy was channeling according to the Extreme Speed Sword's sequence. Unlike the incomplete moves, Leo had easily picked up the Energy Channeling that was active throughout his legendary experience!

Klang! Klang! Klang!

The Internal Energy covering Cheon Chang's iron sword had a tough time holding on while being suppressed to the Peak level. The acceleration occurring within a single second had already riddled the sword with chips!

It wasn't as exaggerated as the protagonist relying on the Murim Lord's help to jump whole levels, but all that Leo required to make use of his Swordsmanship supremacy was a simple speed boost…

Klang!

The moment Leo withdrew most of his force and focused on speed using the White Tiger's Transfigurations' scaling ability, his sword passed by Cheon Chang's iron sword without making an impact. Strength was important, but absolute velocity was worth giving it up!

Swish!

Even making use of gravity, Leo jumped alongside the missed uppercut, descending with a down one! Just as it connected…

Tak…

An impact sounded out, but it came from the ground. Half of the blade had directly fallen down when Leo finally landed. Even with the Internal Energy's protection, Cheon Chang's iron sword had split in half under the terror of the Extreme Speed Sword!

"You… learned something new."

Cheon Chang passively looked at the cut in thought, he brought the iron sword closer to his face, but that only confirmed his guess. This wasn't one of the martial arts in the Heavenly Demon's Library!

There was once a time when he had believed that his Swordsmanship had been limited by the martial art that he was practicing. Under permission from his master, Cheon Chang had spent a long period of time trying out each and every sword martial art that he could find in the library.

Naturally, that attempt ended to no avail. As a result, however, the Absolute Spear was strangely familiar with a very long range of Swordsmanship styles! His Swordsmanship gained little from that, but his Spearmanship fed on that knowledge, making him into some sort of sword killer…

In any case, the one thing Cheon Chang had confirmed was that this was outside the scope of his knowledge!

"Yeah, I found something interesting during the Sword Conference so I tried to take what I could."

Explaining how he got the Energy Channeling Method was impossible, so Leo could only play the genius irregular card! Since a part of Cheon Chang and the other instructors believed him to be capable of miracles, who was he to not make use of that?

Curiosity had indeed gotten to Cheon Chang, but it wasn't related to how he managed to learn the Extreme Speed Sword. Instead, he wondered if sending Leo to the Mount Hua Sword Conference was the right decision…

Was he more interested in swords after clashing against all kinds of talents there? Or was he simply trying to catch whatever his hands reached? Was this going to increase the imbalance between the two weapons once more? Cheon Chang wasn't sure about any of his assumptions, but he quickly came to one conclusion.

"I see… We need to change methods then."

Using his deficiency to train someone who he hoped wouldn't face the same obstacle wasn't very efficient from the start. It was already more or less useless at this point. Unfortunately, asking for another instructor's help also brought the risk of only being engrossed in one path. So there was only one answer left.

"Pick up your Silver Dragon."

This was the end of the preliminary stage of training! His mirroring was no longer necessary now that Leo no longer lacked the basics in either path. Since he was supposed to be transferring his master's teachings to his junior brother, Cheon Chang knew what role he had to play from this moment on… An opponent!

It didn't matter what weapon he used, he just had to be a threat that would bring about the innovation and development hidden within Leo's battle style. The spear was the only answer for the Absolute Spear, but…

"Use them both to show me what you have got!"

As Cheon Chang raised his arm forward, an iron spear flew into his grasp. Without hesitation, lightning crackled as the dragon-like spear wriggled towards Leo's heart!

Thud!

Having noticed the killing intent in Cheon Chang's eyes, Leo grabbed his spear as fast as he could. However, even then, he could only manage to use its sturdy shaft to block the speeding spear. Not only was his opponent using the spear once more, but his self-suppression had also loosened to a certain extent!

'I guess I did get my chance…'

While he had finally managed to one up his senior brother, that seemed to have announced the end of the possibility. The battle with the gargoyle showed Leo the importance of having more experience in exchanging or wielding two weapons in practical battles, but he still felt reluctant to lose his only chance to feel superior…

Thud! Thud! Thud!

'It's a worthy exchange!'

However, Leo soon realized how much he was missing out on by treating Cheon Chang like an experienced clone! Getting to pit his sword against the Absolute Spear's spear was something that he had long needed to experience!

Thud!

Leo could only continue defending against the incoming barrage of attacks. No matter how effective using two weapons was, it wasn't an all-inclusive solution. Yet, Leo only felt enlightened despite his attempts to seize the pace falling short.

'He is a treasure trove himself.'

No longer restricted to the role of a mirror, Cheon Chang's spear flowed with all kinds of spear styles unrestricted to the Black Dragon's Transformations. Whenever Leo used the White Tiger, he would use the optimal style to cripple its movement sequence, as was the case when he used the Silver Dragon. Against someone like this…

'Things are only getting more interesting.'

While the entirety of Murim was getting busy finding out more about the unknown invader, Leo started embarking on a whole new journey of his own.