Sansui and Suiboku were traveling by riding on top of the clouds. They’d lightened their bodies and ascended into the sky, adjusted the density of the clouds until they could sit on them, and controlled their altitude and aligned themselves with the wind. In this way they moved through the air toward their destination.
Ordinary Immortals—or at least, the ones who could use the Shifting Heavens Art—often traveled like this. It let them move far faster than simply drifting with the wind.
“Heh heh heh... Sansui, I never thought the day would come when I would take you with me on a journey like this.”
“Indeed... I never imagined such a day either.”
In response to Suiboku’s obvious delight, Sansui told a small lie.
To be honest, when he had still been inexperienced, he had once expected to travel together. He’d become the disciple of the man said to be the strongest in the world, and he had wanted to see that man fight from a safe position. Looking back now, it had been an arrogant and presumptuous thought, and taken to its extreme, no different from the demands Douve used to make. It was not, by any stretch, the thinking of a mature person.
In fact, it was only now, when he himself possessed overwhelming strength, that he could finally travel with his master. It was ironic, yet somehow made sense.
I became Master’s disciple because I wanted to grow stronger, so strutting around while being protected by him would’ve been wrong.
Realizing his younger self had been mistaken, he kept the words unspoken.
At the very least, if my student said, “Lord Sansui, let’s travel together! Help me if things get dangerous!” I’d definitely hate it...
When one becomes an adult, the child they used to be becomes embarrassing. And becoming an adult is not merely growing older—becoming someone who guides others is surely part of it.
“Well now, Sansui, our goal is my homeland...but before that, there is one place we must stop. The Great Tengu’s domain.”
“The land where I met the Consecrated Maidens in Magyan, correct?”
“Yes. It is called the Hidden Realm of Cel, ruled by Lord Cel, the Great Tengu. It is an ancient place governed by the eldest of all long-lived beings. Long ago, I visited that land with Eckesachs, fought there...and had my arm torn off.”
For an Immortal, meeting someone who had lived even longer carried great weight—greater for them than for any ordinary human, certainly. Ordinary humans could grow older even if they drifted through each day without purpose, but long-lived beings, precisely because they were long-lived, could not afford to let their days pass aimlessly. If they had nothing to occupy themselves, they would not be able to endure the ages. They lived tens of times longer than ordinary people, trained constantly throughout those years, and continued to seek improvement even then. It was because they possessed such fervor that long-lived beings could maintain their existence.
“Before we return to my homeland, I want to meet face-to-face with him at least once. I want to introduce you as well.”
“Thank you very much.”
“If you ever find yourself troubled by something, you should consult Lord Great Tengu. No matter the problem, he will resolve it immediately.”
If being self-reliant defined an adult, then Sansui was close to that ideal. Yet even a fully capable adult would eventually face something they could not overcome alone. At such times, they could only rely on their predecessors—yet for Sansui, Suiboku was the only such elder. If Suiboku passed from this world, Sansui would lose that connection entirely.
To prevent that, Suiboku likely wanted to entrust his disciple’s future to someone else. The thought of that consideration made Sansui’s chest ache.
“Do not make such a face, Sansui. More importantly...”
Suiboku lightly moved his palm, and the vast cloud they rode began to shift. The upper surface of the cloud, which moments ago had been naturally uneven and wavering, flattened into a perfectly level plane.
Amazing...
Sansui couldn’t believe his own eyes as he watched Suiboku perform the Shifting Heavens Art so effortlessly. Unlike animals or crafted objects, whose forms were fixed and stable, a cloud—an aggregation of countless droplets—required attention down to each individual particle. It was an unimaginably precise form of gravity control, yet for Suiboku, it was nothing more than a preparation.
He’d leveled the ground so they could train.
“Sansui, I have taught you my ultimate technique. But I have not taught you every Art.”
To Suiboku, techniques that shook the heavens were less important than the principles of crossing blades with another. At the very least, that was what he believed. For that reason, Suiboku intended to pass on as many principles as he could until the very last moment.
“Originally, these things should be taught slowly, over time. But I cannot do that. Therefore, I would say it falls to you to devise and test things on your own—yet if I left it at that, it would be unfair to Saiga and Tahlan.”
Realizing what Suiboku was planning, Sansui took several large steps back.
“Then, in this brief time, I must teach you as many techniques as possible.”
“Please do.”
Riding upon a vast cloud carried by the wind, master and disciple faced each other and focused on their final lesson.
“The techniques I am about to show you are ones I created myself. Because they are advanced, you likely will not be able to master them, but it is best that you at least become able to activate them.”
Sansui was five hundred years old—still a youngster by Immortal standards. Moreover, he had spent most of his training on learning the difficult technique known as the State of No Doubt.
His foundations were perfect, but he was not yet at a stage where he could handle applied or advanced techniques. Even if he managed to use them in a makeshift manner, they would be limited to specific circumstances or require considerable time to activate.
Even so, Suiboku now intended to teach him.
“There is a world of difference between mastering a technique and merely using one, but there is also a world of difference between being unable to use something and being able to use it even a little. How far you can make use of a technique after activation, though...” His gaze sharpened. “That is up to you.”
Suiboku drew his wooden sword and raised it high. Then he simply swung it downward in a perfectly ordinary motion. It was clearly outside the range of where the wooden blade could possibly reach, yet he began anyway. Sansui also drew his wooden sword and stayed alert, but he could not read the intent at all.
He’s terrifying...
Sansui often fought as though he saw through his opponent’s intentions—but unlike foresight through temporal power, it wasn’t that he literally knew the future. Now his master, who had also long since attained the State of No Doubt, was using a technique Sansui had never seen before. There was no way to predict it fully—and even if he could have, it didn’t necessarily mean he’d know how to counter.
“Flash Step—Perpetual.”
A dull thunk sounded as the wooden sword struck Sansui’s head. Suiboku had appeared directly before him using Flash Step.
“So this is Perpetual?”
“Just so. Quite frightening, isn’t it?”
To an ordinary person, it would be impossible to tell how it differed from a normal Flash Step, but to someone with the eyes to see, its terror was unmistakable. Suiboku had raised his sword right before Sansui’s eyes, begun to swing, and mid-swing moved and landed the blow. If one attempted this with an ordinary Flash Step, the strike would lose power, since when it was used in the middle of a motion, one always came to a full stop at the destination. No matter how much speed one built while swinging, the strike would lose all momentum by the time it reached the target. That was why Sansui always moved with Flash Step first, then swung his sword only after arriving.
But Suiboku’s Flash Step Perpetual, which he had invented, neither stopped nor slowed. He began his preparatory motion from a distance where the opponent’s attack could not reach him, then moved right in front of the opponent at the very moment the blow reached maximum power, landing the strike immediately. Its terror became clear the moment one stood on the receiving end.
For Sansui, even if he appeared suddenly before an opponent, his strike from there would be a normal downward swing. They would still have—barely—enough time to counterattack, evade, or defend. But with Perpetual, the moment the opponent appeared in front of you, the attack had already landed. There was no time for a counterattack, no room to evade, no chance to defend.
“It may seem unavoidable, but unlike the ultimate Flash Step technique, it can be dealt with. After all, the opponent can see the moment I begin to move. Perhaps this is the proper balance.”
“You’re being modest...”