Chapter 275
Is he insane?
Sword astral qi was raging everywhere, and he tried to drive straight through it to attack.
I thought he’d lost his mind.
At this rate, Jang Woon’s foot would get lopped off by my blade.
Even so, he didn’t stop.
If it gets cut, the Master will fix it somehow.
Faith—placed in someone.
Sa Soho took that faith and pressed the attack without hesitation.
Just as the sword qi was about to touch Jang Woon’s foot—
Jang Woon’s figure suddenly went blurry and then vanished.
“Huh?”
Whoosh—
Sa Soho’s blade carved empty air.
No time to be surprised.
He had to find where Jang Woon went.
He started to turn, searching—
“Wha—?”
Jang Woon reappeared in the exact spot he’d just vanished from.
“Wha—what—?”
And he was continuing the exact same technique he’d already unfolded.
There was no way to dodge this.
Completely defenseless.
He’d just have to take it and recover as fast as possible.
Thud-thud-thud—!
“Guhk!”
The impact was far heavier than he’d imagined.
Should’ve tried to slip aside, even a little.
He regretted it.
Crassh-rrroll—!
Smashed by Jang Woon’s Lightning Ascending Kick, he tumbled across the floor.
Sprang—
It hurt like hell, but he gritted through it and forced himself up.
“Damn it. That hurts like hell.”
The pain didn’t fade.
He clenched his teeth and stared at Jang Woon.
“What was that? He definitely wasn’t there.”
“It’s Lightning Divine Art — Phantom Shadow Split Technique. I can relocate while keeping the exact attacking posture.”
“That’s a crazy art.”
No wonder the Lightning Sage was once called the best under heaven—there was reason for it.
Roars burst from the stands.
“Hey! Did you see that? Did you see? He moved during a form!”
“And then he came right back to the exact same spot in the same form and continued the attack. Is that even possible?”
“I dunno. We saw it with our own eyes.”
Everyone was stunned by the marvel Jang Woon had displayed.
Sa Soho swallowed his pain and gripped his sword again.
Every movement made his whole body’s muscles scream.
“Huu!”
Phantom Shadow Split Technique.
A real headache.
Because the shape held until the instant of impact, he couldn’t tell if it was a phantom or not.
If you struck at the phantom, you created an opening.
...An opening?
A good idea flashed up.
Even as the thought finished, Sa Soho’s body was already moving.
Fwash—
He sprinted for Jang Woon at high speed.
Tap-tap-tap—
“Heavenly Sword Flying-Swallow Slash!”
Whirr-whirr-whirr—
Three blades of sword qi flew for Jang Woon—
like three swallows arrowing through the air.
While Jang Woon was weaving aside from the incoming sword qi—
Sa Soho had already leapt, soaring up into the air.
“Air-Rending Slash!”
The same attack as before.
Again, Jang Woon had no time to dodge.
As Jang Woon sprang up to meet him head-on, Sa Soho thought, Got you.
Air-Rending Slash was the bait.
The real strike was the follow-up he’d prepared—Air-Rending Linked Slash.
Except—
Thoom-thoom—!
Unlike before, Jang Woon kicked through every strand of Air-Rending Slash’s sword qi and came rocketing in.
“—!?”
That’s not how this goes.
He hurried to unleash Air-Rending Linked Slash, but he was late.
In a speed like thunder and lightning, Jang Woon’s foot slammed into Sa Soho’s body—
in the exact same spot as before.
Thud-thud-thud—!
“Gahk!”
Crassh-rrroll—!
He was blasted away and hit the floor, rolling.
“Kh...!”
When he tried to move, every muscle in his body yanked tight like they were about to tear.
Strength wouldn’t gather.
More than that, Sa Soho saw it:
a bluish aura sheathing Jang Woon’s foot.
Leg astral qi.
Whatever you called it, it was clearly astral qi.
He dragged his aching body up at last.
The match was, for all intents and purposes, decided.
Just suppressing his surging blood and qi chewed up his mental strength.
And yet he stood because—
He wasn’t satisfied.
He still hadn’t shown everything he had.
If he’d known it would go like this, he would’ve tried a different approach.
A thousand thoughts raced by in an instant—
and he saw Jang Woon coming toward him.
Slowly—so very slowly it seemed.
In reality, Jang Woon was moving fast to finish it.
Papapat—
Jang Woon unleashed too many kicks to count into Sa Soho’s body as he passed straight through.
Jang Woon halted—
and Sa Soho’s figure slowly collapsed.
Clang—
Sa Soho’s sword hit the floor.
The bout was over.
The referee checked Sa Soho, then shouted at the top of his lungs:
“Shincheon Manor’s Jang Woon — win!”
“Wooooaaaah!”
“Insane! He won again!”
“Shincheon Manor is the best!”
“This tournament—who can even say now?”
“He didn’t just win, he overwhelmed him. It wasn’t even close.”
“Yeah! It’s the Lightning Divine Art! Ridiculous!”
The crowd went wild for Jang Woon’s martial art.
Bukcheon Gate’s defeat.
Leaders on the heretical side offered words of comfort to Bukcheon Gate Master Sa Se Hwang.
But Sa Se Hwang smiled and said,
“Haha, it’s fine. Losing can happen.”
True enough.
You can lose.
But wasn’t the gap in skill a bit too big?
With the Lightning Divine Art, Jang Woon had, in an instant, become a serious favorite to win it all.
Sa Se Hwang kept chuckling, saying it was fine.
It truly was fine.
He had expected this.
As expected, the children raised personally by our lord are different.
If anything, he was impressed.
I’ll train him all the harder and make him a son our lord will acknowledge.
More than his son’s loss, Sa Se Hwang worried that his lord, Yeon Woo Jin, might be disappointed.
****
The third match ended with Shaolin’s Il Gwang taking the win, and the fourth match began.
“Mount Hua’s An Ho!”
“Hwa Jin Hong of the Blazing Fire Shrine!”
The two faced off.
Hwa Jin Hong looked at An Ho and said,
“Every time I’ve seen you, you were smiling. Not today?”
“I’ve decided never again to take an opponent lightly.”
“And that starts with me of all people? You could at least underestimate me a little.”
An Ho gave a slight smile at that.
“I can’t do that. It wouldn’t be proper.”
“Damn. You were already a hard matchup—now you’ve made it harder.”
“Will you concede?”
“No. Are you crazy?”
“Then, if you please.”
“Likewise.”
As they ended their exchange and took their stances, the referee shouted:
“Begin!”
At the start signal, Hwa Jin Hong charged like a storm.
His attack came so fast there was no room to unfold a form; An Ho slipped aside again and again.
Papapapat—
“You dodge well! Let’s see you dodge this! Nine-Palace Rending Palm!”
As energies flew to seal all nine directions, An Ho drew his sword and unfolded the Twenty-Four Forms Plum-Blossom Sword Art.
“Nine Plum-Blossom Changes!”
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tang—
His blade flowed like a swimmer and split into nine, cutting down every strand of Hwa Jin Hong’s incoming force.
At the instant he deflected the last force—
the briefest opening appeared, and Hwa Jin Hong slipped into it.
“Flame Life-Stripping!”
A vicious blow stabbed for An Ho’s exposed flank—
Smack—!
An Ho rapped Hwa Jin Hong’s arm aside with the sword’s hilt.
Kwah-boom—!
The force skewed off and blasted into the floor.
As Hwa Jin Hong’s posture wavered, An Ho’s sword began to change.
“Plum-Blossom Flurry.”
Whirr—
Seeing the blade curve in like a snake hunting prey, Hwa Jin Hong—
“Kh—! Flame Suppressing Astral Qi!”
He dragged up qi in a flash, fortifying his body along the sword’s path, and hurried his feet to pull his torso away as much as possible—
Tang—!
Metallic resonance rang where An Ho’s blade struck his reinforced skin.
A close thing.
His relief lasted only a breath.
An Ho’s sword changed again.
So it wasn’t over?
He’d thought the form had ended—but it hadn’t.
Papapat—
An Ho’s blade swept past Hwa Jin Hong’s body in a blink.
Shriip— shriiip— shriip—
Where the sword skimmed by, cuts traced his skin and his clothes split away—
and at once those lines began to bloom red.
Hwa Jin Hong grinned when he saw it.
“As expected, you’re strong.”
“Thank you.”
Fwoosh—
Before An Ho’s words finished, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the clothes across Hwa Jin Hong’s upper body went up in flames and crumbled to ash.
The wounded areas glowed red-hot—and then sealed over.
“With you, even at full power, I won’t kill you.”
Hwa Jin Hong’s body wavered—and an immense heat erupted.
It burned so hot that even the distant stands could feel it.
“Whoa! What is that?”
“A staggering surge of pure yang!”
“True to the name Blazing Fire Shrine—that’s scorching!”
The crowd cheered the new spectacle.
“I’ll try not to disappoint.”
As An Ho answered, tightening his grip on the sword, Hwa Jin Hong smiled.
Then his smiling face hardened. He kicked off, skimming across the ground toward An Ho.
“I’ll melt your sword! Flame Heaven-Annihilation!”
The great heat sheathing Hwa Jin Hong’s body blasted straight for An Ho.
An Ho lifted his sword into the One stance—then thrust it forth.
“Plum Endures Snow and Cold!”
The searing heat split at the tip of An Ho’s sword and parted to either side.
“Plum Fragrance Becomes a Flow!”
Unfolding another form while he was still in the midst of a form—
“What?”
—two forms executed at once.
While Hwa Jin Hong reeled at that, An Ho’s blade had already skimmed across his body.
Thud-thud—
“Kh!”
Flump—
Hwa Jin Hong grimaced in pain and looked up at An Ho.
“Monster... Is it really possible to unfold another form during a form?”
“It’s something gained through dogged effort. And for being the one to draw it out first—you’re impressive.”
Heh—
“Well, that doesn’t sound bad.”
Hwa Jin Hong looked at An Ho.
“As expected, you’re strong. I... lose.”
“It was a good match.”
An Ho offered his hand.
Hwa Jin Hong took it and stood.
In this moment, there was no boundary between orthodox and heretical.
The spectators were moved by what they saw.
This was true harmony, they thought—and the true meaning for which the Divine Dragon Tournament was held.
“Mount Hua’s An Ho — win!”
At the referee’s cry, a tidal roar and thunderous applause exploded from the stands.
The leaders of the heretical martial world watched with discomfort.
“Damn it. Losing is bad enough—now we’re getting pitied by the orthodox.”
“Blazing Fire Shrine Lord, are you just going to watch this?”
At that, the Blazing Fire Shrine Lord, Hwa Sogwang, chuckled.
“I must have raised one fine son, don’t you think? Look at him accept defeat. I think that’s even cooler than winning.”
If the very man who should be angriest was pleased, what more was there to say?
People felt something was off, tilted their heads, and sat back down.
Watching them, Hwa Sogwang laughed to himself.
Idiots. Soon the world will be one—what meaning will ‘orthodox’ and ‘heretical’ have then? Heh heh heh.
It was agony for Hwa Sogwang that he had to keep this to himself—for now.
****
“Shincheon Manor’s Seon Woo Baek!”
“One Origin Gate’s Wi Cheol Ho!”
A clash between two who’d blown a fresh wind through this Divine Dragon Tournament without belonging to any famed great sect.
Seon Woo Baek stepped out first and cupped his fist.
His opponent, Wi Cheol Ho, didn’t return the greeting.
But Seon Woo Baek didn’t take offense.
It could be a kind of provocation.
To get worked up over something so small—that would be second-rate.
His old self would’ve blown his top no matter what.
“Begin!”
With no more words between them, the start was called at once.
Seon Woo Baek watched his opponent carefully.
Until now, Wi Cheol Ho had never initiated—so he observed with caution.
Was it a defense-specialized art? Probably not.
Hah... Since when did I fuss over this stuff? Just crash in and see.
What’s the point of watching a hundred days?
You won’t know just by looking.
Direct experience is best.
He took a deep breath and spread his inner power through his whole body.
Just as the clear sensation wrapped him head to toe—
Wi Cheol Ho charged.
For the first time.
He took the initiative.
He closed fast and launched a savage assault.
Papapapat—
Seon Woo Baek blocked swiftly and began to read his opponent’s motion.
What? No openings.
This opponent was by no means weak.
He’d just made it look like his wins so far were flukes.
He’s the strongest I’ve fought yet.
That was the impression after a few exchanges.
Every one of Wi Cheol Ho’s blows was weighty.
To the eye, his movements looked slack, almost weak—but when you actually blocked them, they were anything but.