Chapter 125 : Chapter 125
Chapter 125: Wudang’s True Appearance (1)
“We will continue the New Star Exchange Meeting, so please be quiet!”
Cheon-am Jin-in, who oversees the progress of the New Star Exchange Meeting spars, raised his voice.
Although he still has a calm spirit like a deeply cultivated Daoist, he cannot deceive my discernment trained as an informant.
Because I clearly witnessed his expression distorting when Sword Flux dwelt on Dancheon Hak’s sword.
“Wandering Swordsman Lee Chun-baek, come out.”
Called, Brother Chun-baek raised his body calmly.
“Have a safe trip.”
“What should I do?”
Brother Chun-baek asked me.
I realize the fact that playfulness which wasn’t there before dwells in his eyes.
Although I didn’t answer, Brother Chun-baek must have noticed my uncomfortable feelings long ago.
Since I know Brother Chun-baek’s heart, it would be right to agree with his playfulness.
“It would be better not to use Sword Flux.”
“Hmm?”
Brother Chun-baek expressed doubt.
Since my brother Dancheon Hak already initiated Sword Flux grandly, it would be a sufficiently reasonable doubt.
But they said originally in the Jianghu Murim, it is good to hide thirty percent of one’s martial power. If it is about Brother Chun-baek’s level, my thought is that hiding fifty percent is also okay.
In reality, such a reason wasn’t everything either.
“Conclusion in one exchange without using Sword Flux. Would it be possible?”
It would be right to see my current request as more difficult than what Brother Chun-baek achieved.
Perhaps reading the playfulness settled on my face, Brother Chun-baek smiled broadly.
If it wasn’t such an open place, Brother Chun-baek, who has a low threshold for laughter, might have burst into laughter saying ‘Puhat’.
“Heot. It won’t be easy.”
“If it is the Brother Chun-baek I know, it wouldn’t be difficult either.”
Brother Chun-baek didn’t deny my assertion.
“I will be back.”
The back of the wanderer walking confidently towards the center of the training ground surrounded by the elders of the Nine Sects was huge.
As said repeatedly, information is power.
Evaluating personally, since it is a power mightier than force or financial power which are like byproducts of martial power, it would be right to evaluate intelligence power as the most important power after martial power.
The Nine Sects, who trusted only the Beggar’s Gang and neglected intelligence power, and yet didn’t invite the Beggar’s Gang to the New Star Exchange Meeting, will come to know their mistake, albeit late.
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“I’m back.”
“You worked hard.”
“It was nothing to call hard work.”
“I agree.”
It took less than ten breaths for Brother Chun-baek, who stepped out to the center of the training ground leaving the words ‘I will be back’, to return.
It was with the heavy silence of the venue.
Since several breaths of time were taken for the brief introduction and etiquette like the fist and palm salute, in reality, it could be said that no time was used for the spar.
To describe specifically, it is less than one breath.
It means that simultaneously with Cheon-am Jin-in’s words ‘Please start’ ending, Brother Chun-baek’s blade edge was touching the opponent’s neck.
—……I lost.
The martial artist of Kongtong, whose Daoist name didn’t even remain in memory because the competition ended in an instant, admitted defeat.
Although it might be because Brother Chun-baek’s skill was so outstanding, maybe it’s also because they couldn’t devise appropriate measures due to his status as a wanderer.
Anyway…….
“Dancheon Clan’s Myeong, come out.”
My turn came.
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Although I said it is dark under the lamp, or intelligence power, speaking frankly, it is so.
The intact gaze of the Nine Sects is bound to look down on the myriad Clans.
I guess, unlike Shaolin and Emei of the Buddhist faction who took the salvation of sentient beings as the beginning of Nirvana, the great sects of the Daoist faction seek the path to becoming gods themselves, so isn’t it like that?
Their gaze looking at ascension and becoming immortals would not be directed downwards.
—This Daoist intended to become a god.
I also know such an existence.
I am speaking of my master, the Healing Sage, whom it is not insufficient to call a Grandmaster.
I am proud that I know his footprints better than anyone, so I can say I know the Dao a little.
It is because I know that the path of ascension and becoming an immortal that the Healing Sage pursued was not different from the path of the great sects of the Daoist faction.
Since one of the people the Healing Sage admired long ago was Sambong Jin-in, how could I not know that the Healing Sage also ultimately followed Sambong’s footsteps?
I surmise that the path the current Nine Sects are walking might be heading in a somewhat different direction from the footprints left by Sambong Jin-in.
Since the Nine Sects should be right to be called the great barrier that will block the Great War of Righteousness and Evil, I must correct their deviation.
Thud.
Walking slowly, whispering sounds were heard from here and there.
The source was not the crowd but the thirty-six elders of the Nine Sects surrounding the sparring stage under the pretext of safety.
“Is that child also a child of the Dancheon Clan?”
“The Severing Dragon whom Taecheong Jin-in and Great Monk Beomgak praised with one voice must be that child.”
“Divine Dragon of Dancheon?”
“I heard he is called so.”
“Not the child of the State of Harmony from before?”
“That child was the Sword Dragon.”
“Ha, goodness.”
It must be because the honor of the First Seat of the Dragon and Phoenix and the alias Divine Dragon of Dancheon reached even the ears of the masters of the Nine Sects who are dark to information.
Thud.
I walked slowly on purpose.
I judged that a neat walk would be better than a flashy movement art.
I do not know the Dao.
But I know the Healing Sage.
Trudge.
I stood in the center of the training ground.
“I am Myeong of the Dancheon Clan.”
In other words, I can say it is true education.
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Tension hovered in the venue.
The biggest reason was that the prestige of the Nine Sects, which was on a winning streak, was broken.
Starting with Dancheon Hak who proved the fact that he entered the State of Harmony himself, it should be right to call it the tension created by Brother Chun-baek who ended the spar without revealing even a fragment of his realm.
As said earlier, although the New Star Exchange Meeting is not blindly a venue of struggle for victory, originally, the competition of martial artists is something that determines life and death, so it is difficult to accept defeat gladly.
Even if they are Daoists who pursue the Path of the Immortal.
Anyway, the spirit of the Nine Sects, which was triumphant, was broken once, and the martial artists of the Clans did not cheer.
Wait, although not making a cause for rebuke in the Great Training Ground of Wudang, which is practically the headquarters of the Nine Sects, is one thing, maybe it is because the Dancheon Clan’s stride is not that pleasing.
Since they all do not know the tribulation of the Great War of Righteousness and Evil that will strike, it is possible they are only thinking of the glory of their small forces.
“Isn’t that child of the Dancheon Clan a swordsman?”
“Since the Dancheon Clan has been a Sword Clan with deep history for generations, it should be right to see him as a swordsman.”
“Doesn’t that child have no weapon in his hand?”
Their words were right.
Since I didn’t prepare a new weapon after giving my Dancheon Sword to my brother, I was in a state without weapons.
“Tsk. For a swordsman to put down the sword, how arrogant.”
“Maybe he has expertise in fist and kick arts too.”
“Isn’t he around the Weak Crown age? It would be insufficient time to polish just the sword.”
There is no need to pay attention to the conversations of the spectators.
Instead of making excuses like ‘I am skilled in the Formless Sword so weapons are useless’, it is enough to win even without bringing a sword.
“Wudang’s Mudam, come out.”
Finally, my opponent was called.
Perhaps burning with competitive spirit from the start, the opponent’s bright eye light was impressive.
“Ho. Is that child him?”
“They say he obtained the alias of Dragon once.”
“I heard Flowing Dragon. He is worthy of a child who inherited the true transmission of Wudang.”
“They said since he embodied the sword and supreme arts of Wudang, he can handle even a master one level above capable.”
“If it is one level above?”
“I heard that because that child’s talent is exceptional, he already stepped into the Transcendent Peak during the Dragon and Phoenix days. Since two years have passed, it is this Daoist’s thought that he can handle even a master of the State of Harmony easily.”
“But since the opponent is the Divine Dragon of Dancheon, it won’t be easy.”
“We will know if we watch.”
Like me, seeming not to be swayed by the surrounding chatter, the Wudang swordsman who approached me with intact steps took a fist and palm salute.
“I am Wudang’s Mudam.”
“I am Myeong of the Dancheon Clan.”
When I introduced myself, a smile rose on Mudam’s face.
“I wanted to meet you, Brother.”
Competitive spirit befitting a pure smile was stained on the face of Mudam saying so.
Looking with my discernment, his smile lacks nothing to be expressed as neat.
Truly a chaste heart devoting to martial arts.
Worthy of the reputation, the spirit of Wudang was here.
I felt the strength that went into my shoulders thinking of true education loosening and going down.
Perhaps it is because I finally came to see the intact Wudang.
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Wudang’s third-generation disciple Mudam.
I know him.
As my peer, the one who led the Azure Dragon Squad, the elite strike squad of the Murim Alliance, at the mere age of thirty was him.
In the days of the Great War of Righteousness and Evil, the Wudang talent who crossed the threshold of the State of Harmony before reaching thirty became the Azure Dragon Squad Captain and struggled more fiercely than anyone at the forefront of the battlefield.
Although they say it was thanks to the dedication and sacrifice of the Azure Dragon Squad members, the one who finally took the head of the Great Force Divine Demon, who was traversing the Realm of Demonic Transcendence, was exactly that Mudam.
The rumor that he can handle even a master one level above capable by fully embodying the supreme arts of Wudang would not be a complete lie.
However, I didn’t know the Flowing Dragon.
The reason is that Azure Dragon Squad Captain Mudam did not take the alias of Dragon in Myeong-gae’s timeline.
I guess it might be a change created by my existence.
Anyway…….
King of Wanderers Lee Chun-baek.
Mad Tiger Blade Peng Jin-hu.
Azure Dragon Squad Captain Mudam.
All of them can be called martial artists with resonant prestige whom Myeong-gae only watched from afar.
It means they are heroes of the Great War of Righteousness and Evil who have a different weight class from a mere Secret Pavilion member.
But the important fact right now is that Mudam is not the Azure Dragon Squad Captain and I am not Myeong-gae.
“Do you have no sword?”
Mudam asked with a gaze of wonder.
“I do not use one.”
There is no need to explain in detail.
“I see.”
As if realizing something, Mudam nodded greatly.
I just don’t use it because I don’t need it, but I have no way to know what he realized.
“I am ashamed, but may I request the first attack?”
“Let’s do that.”
Mudam spoke politely, and I accepted.
I realize the fact that Mudam is not looking down on me.
Rather, it would be right to see that he intends to deal with me sincerely.
Wudang martial arts do not master offense, yet cannot be easily invaded.
It is because the essence of Wudang is contained in that aphorism.
It means Wudang’s martial arts are not aggressive, but one cannot dare to invade.
Mudam is trying to show me the essence of Wudang martial arts right now.
Didn’t they say all swords under heaven head to Wudang?
The reason all swordsmen head to Wudang was there.
It can be said that it became so because one can prove the capability of one’s sword art just by invading Wudang’s sword art.
Slide—
Mudam took a starting stance.
“Are you not taking out your sword?”
“Since Brother is not using a sword, I intend to try not using a sword either.”
Mudam added quickly.
“Do not misunderstand. Wudang’s fist and palm methods are also the best in the Jianghu. I am confident that I did not neglect the training of fist and kick arts either.”
Because his words were not false, the starting stance of the Wuji Profound Art Fist taken by Mudam was enough to be evaluated as flawless.
Since it is a fist method representing Wudang comparable to the Supreme Ultimate Wisdom Sword, it will not be insufficient.
I nodded.
“I will go.”
Tat!
I am a martial artist who achieved Five Qis Courting the Origin and traverses the State of Harmony.
I didn’t bring a weapon because there is no difficulty in using the extremities of the body like a sword without specifically utilizing the Formless Sword, but since the opponent unfolds fist and kick arts out of goodwill, it would be right for me to follow suit.
Thud—
The true energy circulating the Dragon Spring Point is amplified through the earth-stomping and transmitted to the fist.
Swaaek—!
The fist power that reached the end cut the wind lightly.
Mudam’s arm unfolding the fist and kick art drew an arc and wrapped around my fist power.
Intact Supreme Ultimate.
Although it would be called a typical supreme technique of Softness Overcoming Hardness, I realize the fact that it is not yet ripe.
Because I could capture a gap that was a bit lacking to be called continuous and incessant.
‘Ah.’
A small realization came.
—It is not yet ripe.
The reason why Emperor Breaker Yeom Gi-ha said that to me sometime ago would also be such a twist.
Traversing a high realm does not simply mean possessing strong power.
Mudam’s expression full of determination is captured in my eyes.
Tung—!
“Ugh!”
Mudam, unable to handle my fist power, bounced away with a short scream.
Since my fist power forcibly cut off the continuity loaded on the Supreme Ultimate Fist, in reality, it would be no problem to view it as bouncing away by his own power.
“You worked hard.”
Saying so, I turned my body.
“…….”
“…….”
The venue was dyed with silence.