Snow Branch Blue Flame Art.

A white tree branch covered in snow. A blue flame.

Just by hearing the explanation, I couldn't guess what kind of martial art it was. What's with the tree branch? And what's with the blue flame? Does a blue flame even exist?

But the Heavenly Demon, without resolving my doubts, just said what he had to say.

[You must learn the martial arts of extreme yin and extreme yang at the same time. Can you do it?]

I answered confidently.

"Master. I am Ashuban of the Heavenly Martial Body."

Learning martial arts is also a part of fighting. A fight with myself. In other words, fighting is about momentum. I can't lose in momentum.

I glared at the Heavenly Demon with the fiercest eyes I could muster.

The Heavenly Demon looked at me for a moment, then raised one corner of his mouth.

"Are you laughing?"

Has the Heavenly Demon also gotten used to my nonsense? He lightly ignored it and continued to speak.

[The Snow Branch Blue Flame Art is a martial art where balance is important.]

"Hmm."

[You must now know how to use both Ice Art and Flame Art at the same time.]

"Hmm?"

[White cold energy in one hand. A blue flame in the other. Do you understand?]

"...Is that possible?"

Even if I don't know much about martial arts. Even if I've only learned the Night Sky Star Moon Art and the Floating Step. Aren't ice and fire opposing energies?

I understood that I could use two opposing forces because my body was a Heavenly Martial Body that included a Yin-Yang Body. But to use them at the same time? Is that possible?

The Heavenly Demon simply ended my doubts.

[It is.]

"It is."

I was immediately convinced. Of course. There's no way my master would say something that wasn't true.

The Heavenly Demon walked along the lakeside and asked.

[Are you ready?]

I got into a stance and answered forcefully.

"Yes!"

[Then, let's go.]

The Heavenly Demon picked up a piece of starlight that had fallen from the sky by the lake of internal energy, and then immediately threw it towards the night sky.

Swoosh!

"Hup!"

I immediately raised the internal energy of the lake and chased after it. The sight was reminiscent of a water dragon chasing a shooting star.

The starlight that the Heavenly Demon had thrown shot through various acupoints in a complex manner. But who am I? I am Ashuban, who has mastered the Night Sky Star Moon Art. My understanding of martial arts and acupoints is no longer at the same level as before.

The path of the acupoints that the Heavenly Demon guided was more complex than before, and the speed was twice as fast. But I followed without falling behind. Now that I have reached a certain level, I have the leisure to look around while chasing, rather than just not losing it. Because the starlight is being chased, not me.

The path was more complex than when I had learned the Night Sky Star Moon Art, but I had also become a more complex man, so there was no big problem.

The journey began at the anus, passed through the back, and rose to the top of the head. After descending along the face, it passed through the chest and abdomen, and ended by arriving at the anus again.

As soon as I finished one circulation, a chill suddenly came over me, and then I was covered in a heat as if my whole body was engulfed in flames. For a moment, I thought I was going to fall into a state of qi deviation, so I tensed up and controlled my breathing.

The cold and heat repeated several times. A single moment was divided into several moments and passed me by.

I went back and forth between the ice hell and the scorching hell, and then opened my eyes.

"Hoo..."

When I looked around, the area where I was sitting was all scorched and frozen. I thought it was just a fantasy happening in my mind, but it seems I had actually been burning and freezing and doing all sorts of crazy things.

I looked at my tattered clothes blankly, then asked the Heavenly Demon.

"Is it done?"

[Not bad. You could have fallen into a state of qi deviation, but you got through it well.]

...So it really was a crisis of qi deviation.

"Master. Doesn't qi deviation get further away the stronger you get?"

[Nonsense. No martial artist is free from qi deviation. The deeper the martial art, the more so.]

"Hmm."

[No matter how strong you become, qi deviation is ultimately a fight with yourself.]

"I see."

The thought that the Heart Demon hidden somewhere in my mind was watching me with greedy eyes was thrilling and good.

I warned the Heart Demon, who was hiding and waiting for an opportunity.

"Come anytime. This time, I'll tear you apart horizontally."

The Heavenly Demon affirmed me.

[A good resolve.]

I clenched and unclenched my hands, moving my body gently, then suddenly became curious and asked.

"Master. Is this also a new martial art that you created?"

[It is.]

Come to think of it, he had said that the Night Sky Star Moon Art was a martial art he had created out of boredom while watching the night sky because he couldn't sleep. I was curious as to how he had come to create this martial art.

When I asked, the Heavenly Demon explained its origin in a monotonous tone.

[I thought about it.]

"What did you think about?"

[Is it more painful to burn to death, or to freeze to death?]

It was an interesting topic. As expected, the number one under heaven thinks differently.

"Hmm."

I thought about it for a moment, but I couldn't easily come up with an answer. Because I hadn't experienced either. Instead, I had experienced them indirectly, so I compared them.

My sister's flames. Frost's ice.

When I thought about which was more painful... an answer didn't come easily. Because both were painful enough to kill.

In the end, I couldn't come to a conclusion on my own and asked.

"And the conclusion?"

The Heavenly Demon said calmly.

[I came to the conclusion that it would be more painful to kill using both methods.]

"...!"

It was a brilliant answer. I slapped my forehead without realizing it.

"Indeed!"

I stroked my chin and nodded with a serious face.

"That makes sense."

It was an answer worthy of the Heavenly Demon. Why should I have to choose just one? I can just choose both.

...Was the Heavenly Demon truly a genius? My respect for the Heavenly Demon grew by leaps and bounds.

"I respect you, Master."

[Cut it out and just use the martial art you've learned.]

"Yes, sir."

I circulated my internal energy through the path it had just run. At that, my body became as cold as ice and as hot as fire. It was a strange state that was hard to explain with words.

[Find a balance between the two. Above all, the balance between the two is important.]

I grabbed the balance of my body, which was as fickle as my mind. At that, I felt the internal energy, which had been making a fuss like a boiling pot, calm down a little.

[Always maintain that state. So that one side does not become too dominant.]

"...Always?"

[Always.]

Only after learning the Snow Branch Blue Flame Art did I realize that the Night Sky Star Moon Art was a simpler martial art than I thought. Because compared to the Snow Branch Blue Flame Art, which required constant attention to the principle of balance, it was an incredibly simple martial art.

To use an analogy, with the Night Sky Star Moon Art, you just have to be careful of the darkness and run through the night. But with the Snow Branch Blue Flame Art, you have to run with plates full of water in both hands. Of course, while being careful not to spill the water.

Of course, even this is an infinitely simplified analogy. In reality, it is dozens of times more difficult.

"Huuuup...!"

As I tried to maintain the state of yin and yang in balance, I felt like steam was rising from my head.

Whether that was the case or not, the Heavenly Demon explained in a casual tone.

[Furthermore, you must combine the two energies in your sword.]

"...Combine?"

[A blue flame that coils around a white, snow-covered tree branch like a snake. That is the final form of the Snow Branch Blue Flame Art.]

So he meant that I had to wrap a white, frozen sword with a blue flame. It was already difficult to maintain the current state, so when was I supposed to dye the sword white like a snow-covered tree branch and wrap it with a blue flame like a snake?

It was simple in words, but I had a hunch that it was not an ordinary task. Just thinking about it made my head throb.

But...

'On the contrary, it's good.'

The more difficult it is, the more valuable the fruit you obtain. There is no such sense of accomplishment in doing easy things. Think about it. Who feels a sense of accomplishment in blinking their eyes and breathing?

Only when you conquer the summit of a high, snowy mountain, or cross the great sea with your bare body, or defeat a magical beast the size of a house. Only when it is a hardship so difficult that others would shake their heads and give up, does a sense of accomplishment that is overwhelming bloom.

You have to do difficult things to get a corresponding sense of accomplishment. Then what we truly want must be difficult things. Isn't that right?

I grinned.

"...Alright."

The Heavenly Demon said, as if slapping me on the head.

[What's so good about it when you're trembling? Stop talking nonsense and just try using the Ice Art.]

I carefully moved the cold energy in my body. It was not an ordinary task to move the ki while balancing the two energies of extreme yin and extreme yang.

Anyway, I sent out the cold energy I had gathered while trembling, through my palm.

Sss—

A white cold energy bloomed on my palm like a fog.

"Oh."

I picked up a fallen tree branch and tried to inject the cold energy into it. A white frost bloomed on the tree branch...

Snap!

It broke in half with just a little force.

[This time, the Flame Art.]

After withdrawing the Ice Art, I gathered the hot energy in my body and sent it out through my other hand. A small flame, like a candle, appeared on my trembling fingertips. Strangely, it was a blue flame.

"Ooh."

I picked up a dry tree branch and tried to transfer the blue flame to it. The tree branch was soon engulfed in a blue flame and burned up.

[Now try using them at the same time.]

In my left hand, the cold energy as cold as the moon. In my right hand, the flame as blazing as the sun.

"Haaap!"

Snap—

For a moment, I felt something in my head snap, and then a wave of dizziness rushed in and swallowed my mind. My head went white. It was as if my thoughts had been extinguished like a candle for a moment.

The balance was immediately broken, and the Snow Branch Blue Flame Art was released. My head fell forward due to the sudden strike of my brain.

Thump!

"Ugh."

I collapsed while sitting. My vision was all white, and my head was spinning.

As I was collecting my thoughts with my head on the ground, the sound of the Heavenly Demon clicking his tongue echoed faintly.

[Tsk, tsk, tsk... you pathetic fool.]

I babbled, not fully conscious.

"Master. Are you there? It's so white here. Has winter already come?"

I felt the Heavenly Demon's pathetic gaze. I don't know why I can feel these things so well without even seeing them.

[For now, just train to be able to use either the Ice Art or the Flame Art properly. We have a long way to go.]

"A long way? My friend is Fluffy."

[Oh dear...]

At that moment, another voice was heard from above.

"Ashuban."

With my head on the ground, I slightly turned my head and looked up... Shushruta, who had woken up at some point, was lying on a tree branch, watching me.

For a moment, I felt like I had fallen on a busy street.

I narrowed my eyes and asked.

"...When did you start watching?"

Shushruta answered in a nonchalant tone.

"From when you were repeatedly engulfed in flames and then became as cold as ice."

"Aha."

"Is this another kind of black magic?"

"A martial art that is as hot as fire and as cold as ice, that burns brightly like a blue sun and then cools down coldly like a white moon. In short, a martial art that goes back and forth, fickle."

Shushruta nodded.

"It's just like you."

I decided to take that as a compliment.

"Don't mention it."

Shushruta, who had been looking at me silently for a moment, said.

"Ashuban."

"What, you brat."

"Steam is coming from your head. Puffs of it."

"...Be quiet."

The path of a martial artist was long and arduous.

(End of Chapter)