Chapter 32
'Chae Eung-seok... he was a better master than I thought?'
To be honest, I didn't know when I first met him.
Because at that time, I couldn't do any of the tricks like figuring out the opponent's level or gauging the size of their energy.
But, seeing him now, I'm newly surprised.
The aura that guy is showing is not the aura of a simple Unorthodox Faction nobody or a Green Forest riffraff.
'I was so unlucky. The first person I met after leaving home was that guy.'
The reason I, who prided myself on having trained quite hard, was defeated so helplessly by that guy was, now that I see it, not because I was too weak, but because that guy was too strong.
'Well, since he has that much martial arts, he would have been easily accepted when he ran away from here and took refuge in the Green Forest.'
Although I spoke bravely, my hand holding the sword clenched tightly.
My instincts are constantly warning me not to take him lightly.
"Hwi-ya. What are you talking about? Step back."
The Martial Uncle blocked my way.
He also seemed to have felt that Chae Eung-seok was not an easy opponent.
"Martial Uncle. Can't I take that guy?"
"What...? You?"
"Yes. Instead, you take care of all the rest, Martial Uncle."
"What did you say?"
In the midst of this, Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang let out a laugh.
Although he had already killed twenty people, there were still eighty martial artists left.
But, the Martial Uncle didn't laugh because there were too many left.
"Are you telling me to take care of the small fry, and you'll take the boss?"
"That's not what I meant... no, that's exactly what I meant. I really want to fight that guy. Please."
The Martial Uncle looked back and forth between me and Chae Eung-seok, and then nodded his head.
"Alright. If the opponent is too strong, just hold on. I'll take care of the rest and then come to help you."
"Thank you, Martial Uncle."
Chae Eung-seok, who had been quietly listening to our conversation.
Until a moment ago, he had been looking at me as if I were a madman, but this time, he looked at both of us with those eyes and said, "You crazy things, what are you dividing, who's the small fry, and who's taking what? I won't kill either of you easily!"
He seemed to be very angry at us for completely ignoring him.
Well, although they are only third-rate warriors, he is the head of a sect with a hundred disciples.
It must be the first time he's been treated like this.
Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang said to him in a dry voice, "Seeing the skills of your subordinates, it seems you gathered them by telling the neighborhood thugs and ruffians that you would teach them your crude martial arts. For what purpose did you establish the sect?"
"I don't need to tell you."
"If you confess the reason you opened the sect truthfully and promise to disband the sect, I will go back as I came. The mission I received from the Martial Arts Alliance is the dissolution of Sura Gate, not the extermination of Sura Gate."
Chae Eung-seok scoffed at Hyeon Yang's words.
He gave a slightly triumphant smile and then said, "Martial Arts Alliance? Does that mean our forces have grown to the point where the Martial Arts Alliance is concerned about me? Hahaha! Yes. I'll cut off both of your heads and send them to the Martial Arts Alliance as a gift. Who knows? They might recognize my skills and invite me to join the Martial Arts Alliance."
"Haha. You have big dreams. The Martial Arts Alliance is not a place you can enter just because you have good skills. Hwi-ya, begin."
Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang spoke mockingly and then jumped into the middle of the Sura Gate disciples.
"Ugh!"
A scream was already heard.
I left that sound behind and looked at Chae Eung-seok.
"Alright. Shall we give it a try?"
"You brat who hasn't even dried the blood on your head! I'll kill you in three moves!"
Thump— Thump— Thump—
Chae Eung-seok stomped the ground so hard that it rumbled as he approached.
At the same time, a scene came to my mind.
'He used this technique last time too.'
The footwork that Chae Eung-seok used on me when Unhwi of the Un family first entered the martial world.
It was the very footwork that had instilled fear in me, a beginner.
It's definitely not a proper footwork.
There's no system, it's just a crude footwork that comes charging in with force, with internal energy pressed down hard.
But, that doesn't mean it has no power.
'He's not an elephant or something.'
Chae Eung-seok's method might be a better method than one might think when dealing with a novice.
Because even if you dodge or block his saber, you'll suffer considerable damage just by being hit by that body.
'But, it's a method that only works among novices.'
Now I have no choice but to admit it.
When I first met Chae Eung-seok in my past life, I was truly a novice.
So I took that ignorant saber and body head-on with my sword.
Of course, I, who couldn't overcome that force, was thrown back and rolled on the ground, and at that time, I couldn't come to my senses and was fumbling, and that guy's fist was planted in my face.
It was a situation where I wasn't properly trained, and it was the first time in my life I had fought with a person, so if I got hit in the face with a first punch, the result after that is a matter of course.
That day, I was beaten so much that it was a miracle I didn't die, and I was robbed of everything I had.
The experience I gained after surviving that day, going back home, finishing my bone-crushing training, and then being active in the martial world for quite a long time tells me to jump up.
'Dodging is the wise way. And not to the back or side, but up.'
But, I have no intention of using the wise way right now.
Woooong—
The clear energy that started from my dantian flowed through my qi and blood and throughout my body.
The internal energy that spread through all my meridians gave me strength, and I decided on the most efficient way to use that strength.
Since it felt almost the same as when I was dealing with Gwak Yongbu during the day, I prepared the same sword art.
Nine Palaces Sword Art.
I heard that the Huashan Sect also has a sword art with the same name.
It's probably because they are sects that have their roots in the same Taoism.
In Taoism, the Nine Palaces refers to dividing the Three Talents into three again, or including the center in the eight directions of the eight trigrams.
I heard that the Huashan Sect's Nine Palaces Sword Art is a sword art that teaches techniques to use the Plum Blossom Sword Art.
But, Wudang's Nine Palaces Sword Art is quite different from that.
A sword art that allows a human to temporarily draw out the power of the heavens with the energy that is fully charged in the nine palaces of a human.
'One White, Two Black, Three Jade, Four Green.'
The Nine Palaces is, to put it simply, a house.
And, the Nine Stars that make it up are my energy that fills that house.
'Five Yellow, Six White, Seven Red, Eight White, Nine Purple.'
The moment the nine palaces are filled with energy.
It feels as if another eye is opening in my forehead, and a spring of internal energy begins to well up and overflow from my head.
Swaaaa—
No one else could have heard it, but I definitely felt it.
A sound like something was crashing like waves in my head.
I intuitively felt that I not only understood the principles of Taiji, but also that I had brought down the energy of my upper dantian and contained it in my weapon.
"What are you doing with your eyes closed in the middle of this! Die, brat!"
While I was raising the energy of the Nine Palaces Sword Art to its limit, Chae Eung-seok had come right in front of me.
I could even feel a tingling sensation on my skin from the ignorantly raised internal energy.
He swung his saber, which was as tall as me, horizontally with the speed he was running at.
Bwoooang!
His saber tore through the air and flew at me.
The power seemed to be able to split a large, thick tree in half.
But, I, who had already raised the energy of the Nine Palaces Sword Art to its limit, held my sword tightly and swung it towards his saber.
Jjeoeong—!
Although a sword and a saber had collided, a sound like a gong ringing echoed.
The sound was so loud that it echoed throughout the entire mountain ridge where Sura Gate was located, and the mountain birds that were sleeping at night were startled and flew away with a flutter.
Kwadang—
And, Chae Eung-seok was thrown back with the same speed he had rushed at me and was shamefully slammed into the ground.
"......"
A momentary silence fell.
The disciples of Sura Gate and Martial Uncle Hyeon Yang, who was dealing with them, forgot that they were fighting each other, stared at me blankly, and then, as if they had suddenly come to their senses, shouted.
"No, what is this...!"
"How can the sect leader's attack?!"
"S-Sect Leader!"
I ignored them, who were making a fuss and didn't even think of approaching me, and looked at Chae Eung-seok.
He had an expression as if he couldn't understand what had happened.
He seemed to feel a sense of wonder that his best attack had been blocked by a young martial artist like me.
"Get up. It would be too boring if the fight ended with just one fall, wouldn't it?"
"B-Brat! You're in high spirits just because you managed to knock me down once by luck!"
As if he had fallen for my provocation, he glared at me and shot up.
Since he had rolled on the ground, dust fell from his body, which was covered in dirt.
'Damn. He's ridiculously strong.'
To be honest, it's not that I didn't suffer any damage.
Because my wrist is throbbing as if I can feel a vibration right now.
Although it's not a big injury, since small impacts can accumulate and create a big effect, I tried to shake off the pain by concentrating my internal energy on my wrist.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, Martial Uncle. I'm fine."
"If you think it's too much, let's switch."
"I'm really fine. If it gets really tough, I'll tell you first."
"Alright."
As expected, it's not easy to deceive the Martial Uncle, even if I can deceive others.
His gaze is already on my wrist.
I deliberately ignored that gaze, rotated my sword to loosen my wrist, and then looked at Chae Eung-seok.
"Alright. Come at me again. If you have a move that's stronger than the one you just used."
"You arrogant thing. From the looks of it, you're just a newcomer to the martial world, but I'll teach you how scary the martial world is."
"Yes. You'll have to show me quickly. Before all your subordinates die."
"Ugh!"
As soon as my words ended, a disciple of Sura Gate collapsed, clutching his chest from which blood was gushing.
The Martial Uncle, who had quietly moved as soon as our conversation ended, had cut the chest of a nearby Sura Gate disciple with his sword.
Then, with the scream of the Sura Gate disciple as a starting point, the stopped time began to flow again.
Kwoong!
Chae Eung-seok and I, who had been glaring at each other and just facing off, were the same.
He and I simultaneously stomped the ground and rushed forward.
Chae Eung-seok's saber came out with a different feeling from before.
If before, he had put in so much ignorant energy that it felt like he was going to split anything in half, now I can feel skill and technique.
He must have thought that I was not a novice from our clash a moment ago.
Shaak— Cha-cha-chaeng!
And I exchanged a few blows with Chae Eung-seok and looked for an opportunity to attack each other.
'But, Chae Eung-seok's martial arts...?'
When I met Chae Eung-seok before, I was so busy getting beaten up that I didn't even think about it, but today, I vaguely feel something.
The way Chae Eung-seok swings his saber, and the way he raises his energy, seems to be very similar to that of orthodox martial arts, not the Unorthodox Faction.
Paat—
After exchanging a few blows without rest, Chae Eung-seok and I created some distance.
"Hoo—"
Since I had only taken one breath while swinging my sword, I caught my breath and glared at Chae Eung-seok.
He has an anxious expression as time passes.
It's probably because his subordinates were decreasing one by one due to the Martial Uncle who was rampaging even at this moment.
'Hmm... where have I seen it.'
Chae Eung-seok seems to want to settle the score with me as soon as possible, but my mind is now filled with other thoughts.
The saber art that Chae Eung-seok had been using from a while ago.
I've definitely seen it somewhere, but it's strangely different from what I know, so I couldn't pinpoint it exactly.
"What are you doing, not coming in quickly!"
Perhaps because he was very frustrated with me for constantly dragging out the time, he ended up shouting at me.
But, I'm not someone who would bat an eye just because he shouted.
As I was about to lightly ignore his shouting...
Cheok—
"You son of a bitch. I'll kill you in one move!"
He raised his saber in a starting posture that was clearly different from before.
That starting posture, where he firmly holds the handle of the saber with both hands and brings it close to his right shoulder.
As soon as I saw that starting posture, I finally realized where I had seen Chae Eung-seok's martial arts.
"Hebei Peng family!"
"What did you say...?!"
"Your martial arts, I was wondering where I had seen them, but they were the martial arts of the Hebei Peng family."
At my words, Chae Eung-seok was so surprised that his eyes were about to pop out.
"You. You were a runaway from the Hebei Peng family, weren't you?"
I said with a grin.
But, Chae Eung-seok, with rabbit eyes, couldn't answer my words at all.
(End of Chapter)