Chapter 158
The Martial Alliance Leader's speech ended.
Immediately afterward, a bell rang to announce the beginning of the Greatest Martial Arts Tournament Under Heaven.
At the same time...
Someone slowly walked onto the central training ground.
An old man wearing black martial robes.
Long white hair fluttered behind him.
His dark robes were patterned with white, as though drops of paint had been scattered across black fabric.
His kindly face and pure, refined qi gave him the appearance of an immortal.
With both hands behind his back, the old man chuckled.
Then he stroked his beard and spoke.
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I am the Third Elder of the Martial Alliance, as well as the current leader of Wudang."
"You may call me True Man Cheongheo."
The moment he introduced himself...
The crowd erupted into murmurs once again.
"H-Haha! That's True Man Cheongheo!"
"First the Alliance Leader, and now we get to see True Man Cheongheo this close too...!"
Suhyeok had heard plenty about True Man Cheongheo.
Before the regression...
The Martial Alliance Leader would sometimes bring up stories from the past.
...So True Man Cheongheo died in your place?
Kuhuhu. That's right.
He was always such a soft-hearted friend.
Yet when it mattered most, he became unbelievably stubborn.
When the Martial Alliance Leader had been betrayed and pushed to the brink of death...
True Man Cheongheo had been the only one to sacrifice his life to protect him.
They had known each other since childhood.
During the great war between the orthodox and demonic factions...
They had trusted each other enough to place their lives in one another's hands.
"This tournament is the first gathering of harmony held since the orthodox and unorthodox factions..."
"Since the Martial Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Cult..."
"Reached their peace agreement."
The murmuring faded.
"The long war left scars that cannot be erased."
"It placed the corpses of fifty thousand fathers and mothers..."
"And one hundred thousand children..."
"In the arms of their families."
"That pain was shared by everyone here."
"And Wudang was no exception."
During the war...
Wudang...
No.
True Man Cheongheo himself had stood at the front beside the Martial Alliance Leader as the representative of the Nine Great Sects and One Beggar Sect.
Naturally, many Wudang disciples had followed him.
Countless martial artists from the orthodox factions had followed as well.
But...
"...I am a sinner."
His voice sank.
"I led countless disciples, junior brothers, and senior brothers to their deaths..."
"Yet shamelessly survived to stand here today."
"Haha...."
True Man Cheongheo gave a bitter smile filled with guilt.
Then he looked down at everyone gathered beneath the training ground.
"The ones who must protect and preserve this peace from now on..."
"Are not us."
"It is you."
"So show us how far you've grown."
One person began clapping.
Then another.
Soon...
Everyone present broke into applause.
Suhyeok did as well.
True Man Cheongheo looked more like a genuine Taoist than anyone Suhyeok had ever seen.
There wasn't even a trace of falsehood in his words.
He truly lived up to his title.
A man who served as an example to every Taoist pursuing the Way.
As Suhyeok applauded...
His gaze happened to land on the Martial Alliance Leader.
For some reason...
The Alliance Leader looked like he was desperately holding back laughter.
What's with him?
Then...
Suhyeok suddenly remembered a drunken conversation from the past.
Kuhahaha! That bastard? An immortal?
Even a passing dog would laugh.
Every time a pretty woman walks by, his eyes move before the rest of him does.
The Martial Alliance Leader had been completely drunk.
Cheon Sohee had been beside him, slowly sipping her drink.
She had nodded repeatedly in agreement.
I remember that fake monk.
The first time we met, he kept staring at this lady in a strange way.
We barely met a few times, but he was unpleasant every single time.
Kuhuhu. He calls himself a Taoist and gave up everything else...
But women were the one thing he could never give up.
Back then...
Suhyeok hadn't believed it.
A man renowned as True Man Cheongheo...
Unable to give up his weakness for women?
More importantly...
How had no one ever caught him?
There was a reason.
Of course no one knows.
Whatever that bastard does, everyone just goes, "True Man Cheongheo! True Man Cheongheo!" and worships the ground he walks on.
Returning to the present...
Suhyeok carefully observed the old man on the training ground.
Between his narrow eyes...
His pupils were moving rapidly.
And every single glance...
Was directed toward where the women were standing.
...So there really is a reason he and the Alliance Leader are such close friends.
Once Suhyeok finished processing that revelation...
True Man Cheongheo drew the sword at his right hip and raised it.
At the same moment...
Dozens...
Hundreds...
Of swords prepared beneath the training ground rose into the air.
Whoooom.
Countless blades formed orderly lines in the sky.
Then with a single gesture from Cheongheo...
They positioned themselves above the training ground, all with their tips pointed downward.
"Now then."
"Enough idle talk."
"Let's begin the preliminary round of the martial arts tournament."
FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!
The swords poured down like rain.
Not only onto the training ground.
They fell between the participants as well.
"U-Ugh... huh?"
"W-What...?"
"None of them hit anyone?"
"Impossible..."
"They all avoided people...?"
Most of the participants stared in shock.
Lee Yumi was no different.
"He's more impressive than he looks."
"To control this many swords so precisely..."
"He must need unbelievably fine control."
She nodded to herself.
"I guess you don't become the Wudang Sect Leader through gambling."
Bong Taesu hesitated.
Then carefully spoke.
"...Ahem."
"Miss Yumi."
"The position of Wudang Sect Leader isn't normally something one wins through gambling in the first place."
"What do you want me to do about it?"
"I was just saying it as an expression."
"Do you really think I meant he literally gambled for it?"
"No, but you just said..."
Taesu stopped.
"...Never mind."
He clearly had a lot more he wanted to say.
But after spending this much time around Lee Yumi...
He knew better.
Who knew what kind of disaster would follow if he kept arguing?
Meanwhile...
"Oh?"
Cheon Sohee looked impressed.
"That's quite a skill."
"Controlling that many swords at once..."
"In terms of qi control alone, he's one step..."
"No."
"Perhaps two steps above the Alliance Leader."
For someone who considered nearly everyone beneath her...
That was significant praise.
And she was right.
Such a feat would've been impossible without extraordinary control over qi.
He wasn't manipulating ten or twenty swords.
He was controlling hundreds at once.
He's stronger than I thought.
In terms of control, he's better than the Alliance Leader.
Overall... they're probably around the same level.
Suhyeok looked at the swords embedded in the ground.
They resembled an enormous graveyard of blades.
True Man Cheongheo glanced at his own sword planted among them and began explaining the preliminaries.
"Calling this a preliminary round may be an exaggeration."
"It's actually quite simple."
"You don't have to fight anyone."
