Dealing With Deviation

Qi Deviation is a state of torture and chaos. Torture, as the mind of someone in Qi Deviation is in constant stress, caused by whatever disastrous event that dragged someone into Qi Deviation.

And chaos, as when in Qi Deviation, the qi within the body goes rampant. Every case of Qi Deviation is different, sometimes the rampant qi only affects one part of the body, sometimes it affects the entire body to the point of death.

Qi Deviation is a point of no return, and the only way to return from Qi Deviation is to conquer the memories that caused it. And to have the qi running rampant stabilized.

There was only one such way to accomplish both at once, to enter a trance and achieve a realization of martial arts. But such a method was risky, and unlikely. Entering a trance was hard enough during combat, let alone achieving a realization during combat is far less likely.

But with each time my blade clashed with Pyo Kang's sword, I began to fear there was no other choice but to force him into a trance. Every few minutes Pyo Kang would leap to the side and attack the air before letting out a scowl and returning to attack me.

I dared not to speak a word about it however, any time I tried to speak the expression on Pyo Kang's face would morph further with anger. Defend, defend, wait then defend, such was how the next hour would go by.

But this hour seemed helpful to both of us, as every time Pyo Kang would leap out to the side and attack the air his movements became faster. Pyo Kang had even been going so far as to start experimenting with how to attack the hallucination he had been seeing.

Throwing Sword Force, throwing his sword, destroying the ground, and other such tactics that were normally seen as unbecoming of those from Orthodox Sects. But the way he used them so naturally gave me a small amount of insight as to his background, as he clearly wasn't from an Orthodox clan.

At one point, he even threw his sword and continued to spar with me, using his qi as a means to protect his hands.

It seemed like I didn't need to force him into a trance, maybe he had been in one since before we started fighting.

This cycle of combat had left me exhausted, both physically and in terms of internal energy. Both of us were Supreme Realm martial artists, so his energy reserves must have been low too. But the cycle of combat didn't seem to be affecting him, he was too focused on killing the hallucination to notice his own fatigue.

But alas the final string of attacks came, the power behind each slash Pyo Kang performed had become visibly weaker, but smoother and less straining on his body. Each slash that was blocked by my blade came back an instant later to attack once again.

His movements became smoother than a river flowing through the mountains as each of his slashes began intertwining with each other at an alarming rate.

Until suddenly it was no longer simple slashes and stabs that came before me one after another, but dozens of slashes and stabs at once. All seeming to be in the form of one strike.

Unification.

The act of one's sword and essence combining into one. It didn't mean to literally combine them, but to have your essence become your sword.

Those who study the way of the sword spend years learning to achieve this state, and only a select few acquire it. If only one in a million martial artists reach the Supreme Realm, it only makes sense that one in a hundred million achieve Unification.

And yet, Unification had been achieved right before my eyes. Such a feat was great to be seen from my disciple. Pyo Kang's movements began to slow to a complete stop, and the hazy look that had belonged to his eyes for the past hour had faded.

"Huh... Where am I?" Pyo Kang asked groggily as he looked around until his eyes spotted me, "Master... Why are you here?"

"Pyo Kang, welcome back from your Qi Deviation." I said with a soft smile on my face, "Do you remember anything?"

"N-no, the last thing I remember wa-"

Growwll!

A potent growl erupted from Pyo Kang's stomach. It was natural for someone to be hungry after so much work, but Pyo Kang still seemed to be greatly embarrassed by it.

"Master, could we get some food first? I don't think I've eaten in weeks..."

"Sure, follow me back to the headquarters, we can eat and talk there."

As Pyo Kang and I traversed back to the demolished cult headquarters, I could only think about what Pyo Kang was about to say earlier.

What was the last thing he remembered? It seemed to be an unpleasant memory to him as his expression turned depressed again, maybe that was the reason he fell into Qi Deviation?

We would arrive at the headquarters within minutes, and as we arrived, Bae Suk would notice us landing and approach us.

"Master, and Pyo Kang! You've finally returned!"

"Bae Suk, you managed to survive the onslaught too! That's great, how about the others?"

"Only Jin Mal-Chin died within the executive group, but unfortunately the executive group was the only group to survive the attack."

"Oh... That's right. I'm sorry, my memory of that day is pretty fuzzy..."

"That's not a problem, we've moved on already and have resumed our training with Master. But I should let you two continue what you were doing, I still have a few more laps to complete." Bae Suk replied before taking off running toward the outskirts of the headquarters.

Before Pyo Kang and I moved to find some food, I stopped Pyo Kang and asked a simple question.

"Before we find any food, could you tell me what the last thing you remember is?"

Pyo Kang's expression drooped before responding.

"The last thing I remember was killing my mother..."