Chapter 103: True Five-Step Sword Art
One sentence from the young Taoist of Kunlun.
His declaration that he would complete the Five-Step Sword Art right here and now sent a ripple through everyone gathered at the training ground.
After a brief silence...
the restrained atmosphere burst all at once.
“Finish it right now?”
“There's a limit to how ridiculous a claim can be. Even our Hall Masters spent half a year on it....”
“Is that Han Mujin fellow mocking Mount Hua?”
Displeasure spread among the Mount Hua Taoists.
Some frowned.
Others clicked their tongues as they looked over the members of Kunlun.
Every gaze around the training ground gathered on Han Mujin.
Those looks were filled with ridicule toward an immature young martial artist.
The expressions of the Mount Hua members who appeared to be Hall Masters were especially stiff.
Anger.
Cold hostility.
They had taken Han Mujin's words as an insult to Mount Hua.
Cheongbaek, head of the Martial Training Institute, inwardly scoffed as he stared at the one responsible for the commotion.
An immature brat.
He had gained a little fame at the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament by sheer luck...
and now the whole world probably looked easy to him.
Cheongbaek had seen countless arrogant faces like that throughout his life.
Fools who trusted in some small talent, acted arrogantly, and eventually dug their own graves.
The martial world was full of people like that.
They were called geniuses at first...
only to drown in the swamp of their own arrogance and fall into ruin.
Cheongbaek was certain that the young man standing before him was no different.
Han Mujin.
You truly are arrogant.
He had already judged the young Taoist known as Kunlun's Young Hero to be one more fool of that kind.
Drunk on empty fame and completely unaware of his own limits.
Complete the martial art right now?
That idiot probably didn't even understand the weight of what he'd just said.
Improving and completing a martial art was a task of tremendous difficulty.
To refine even a single line of a sword path...
one needed hundreds of demonstrations and thousands of considerations.
The brat doesn't even understand what martial scholarship truly is....
Cheongbaek shifted his gaze toward the scroll in the Sect Leader's hand.
It was called the Five-Step Sword Art...
but the arrangement of the forms and even the breathing method had already changed so much that it had become an entirely different martial art.
This was the True Five-Step Sword Art.
No one knew better than Cheongbaek just how many sleepless nights the Martial Training Institute and Mount Hua's Hall Masters had endured to create it.
Someone who only trusts in talent could never understand how difficult martial research is.
Cheongbaek inwardly sneered at Han Mujin.
Sect Leader Wonmyeong turned toward him.
“Head Cheongbaek.”
“As the head of the Martial Training Institute, tell us your judgment.”
He gestured toward Han Mujin.
“Do you believe what Taoist Han Mujin just claimed is possible?”
Cheongbaek answered without the slightest hesitation.
“Absolutely impossible.”
Everyone's attention immediately shifted toward him.
Cheongbaek calmly continued beneath their gazes.
“The original Five-Step Sword Art is indeed an elementary sword art simple enough for even a child to learn.”
Then he looked toward the scroll.
“However, the True Five-Step Sword Art currently held by the Sect Leader...”
“is an entirely new sword art painstakingly refined through the combined efforts of our Martial Training Institute and Mount Hua's Hall Masters.”
Countless nights spent at the Martial Training Institute flashed through Cheongbaek's mind.
The faces of the Hall Masters arguing fiercely until dawn in pursuit of a better martial art.
The frustration each time they reached the final form...
only for the path to break apart again.
“The Hall Masters of Mount Hua spent months working together just to reach this point.”
His voice hardened.
“And even then...”
“the final form remains incomplete.”
Cheongbaek glanced at Han Mujin.
His expression made it clear that his evaluation of the young martial artist was already complete.
“Yet he claims he can glance over it briefly and complete the remaining portion of the True Five-Step Sword Art.”
He shook his head.
“I believe such a thing is absolutely impossible.”
Sect Leader Wonmyeong shifted his gaze toward Han Mujin.
“Taoist Mujin.”
His solemn voice echoed through the training ground.
“What will you do?”
He stared directly at him.
“Can you bear the weight of the words you just spoke?”
The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy.
Even among the Kunlun group...
unease began to spread.
The young Taoists standing beside Han Mujin spoke with anxious expressions.
“Martial Uncle... perhaps you should take back what you just said....”
“Mujin, I think it would be better to step back for now.”
Despite his companions trying to persuade him...
Han Mujin said nothing.
As his silence stretched on...
the murmuring among the Mount Hua members grew louder.
“See? He can't do it after all.”
“He shouldn't have said something he couldn't handle.”
“Kunlun has been doing well lately, but I suppose this is all it amounts to.”
Cheongbaek mocked him inwardly.
As expected.
Nothing but a loudmouthed amateur.
Then...
“Sect Leader, don't worry.”
Kunlun's First Elder, Jin Gwangung, stepped forward.
He held his head high.
“When Kunlun says something...”
“we follow through.”
His voice was filled with absolute confidence.
Cheongbaek clicked his tongue inwardly.
Even his master is insane.
Instead of stopping his disciple....
And then—
“May I take a closer look at the Five-Step Sword Art?”
Han Mujin finally spoke in a confident voice.
Sect Leader Wonmyeong immediately nodded.
“Of course.”
Han Mujin accepted the scroll and began reading it carefully.
Every gaze in the training ground focused on him.
The expressions around him varied.
Some seemed to be thinking,
What difference will reading it make?
Others showed the faintest trace of expectation.
Could he actually...?
Cheongbaek scoffed.
Hmph.
And what exactly do you think you'll accomplish by looking at it?
After some time...
Sect Leader Wonmyeong asked carefully,
“Well?”
“Do you think you can do it?”
"..."
Even at the Sect Leader's question...
