Chapter 75

Chapter 75: The Main Tournament (2)

The moment her name was called, Yu Seola immediately headed onto the platform.

Her expression looked slightly flushed as she stepped onto the stage.

Across from her, Lee Munjeong looked calm.

No.

Rather than calm...

he looked almost expressionless.

He simply stood there with a sword in his right hand, staring at Yu Seola.

“Begin!”

The instant the referee finished shouting, Lee Munjeong moved.

Yu Seola drew her sword without hesitation toward the approaching opponent.

Clang!

The silver blade flashed.

Her sword path immediately followed.

“It's the Snowflake Sword Art!”

Someone shouted from the stands.

Yu Seola's sword drove toward Lee Munjeong.

SHWAAAAK!

The sound of the blade cutting through the air was like a freezing snowstorm blowing down from a snowy mountain.

From the very first move...

she was going all out.

The pressure was intense, as if she intended to bury her opponent beneath the wind of her sword.

But Lee Munjeong didn't stop advancing.

Instead...

he accelerated even further as he moved his sword.

CLAAANG!

Sword met sword.

Yu Seola didn't retreat.

She continued pressing forward.

SHWAAK! CLANG! CLAAANG!

Thrusts and slashes followed one after another.

The snowy wind had become a blizzard.

An endless blizzard of sword strikes.

I could clearly feel Yu Seola's determination to overwhelm him completely from the start.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Her sword tip continued shaking Lee Munjeong's center.

Under the relentless sword paths, Lee Munjeong's steps finally seemed to falter.

“Oh... he's being pushed back!”

“Lee Munjeong is retreating for the first time!”

“Whoa! She's completely overwhelming him!”

The spectator stands erupted.

To everyone watching...

Lee Munjeong appeared completely trapped on the defensive beneath Yu Seola's fierce sword pressure.

But...

...He's not tense at all.

I focused on Lee Munjeong's expression as he blocked Yu Seola's attacks.

Even under her relentless swordsmanship...

his expression hadn't changed in the slightest.

He looked exactly as he had when he first stepped onto the platform.

Blank.

And then...

“Huff... huff....”

Yu Seola's breathing was visibly becoming heavier.

She had been maintaining her sword paths without a moment's rest.

Meanwhile...

Lee Munjeong's breathing remained unnaturally calm.

...This is dangerous.

There was no doubt.

Yu Seola's offense wasn't affecting Lee Munjeong at all.

He was simply blocking her attacks while waiting for the right moment to strike back.

The cold gaze Lee Munjeong directed at Yu Seola...

looked like that of a predator waiting for its prey to tire itself out.

A short while later...

Yu Seola's endlessly flowing sword path slowed for just a moment.

The momentum she'd been forcing forward had finally reached its limit.

Lee Munjeong didn't miss that opening.

CLANG!

He swung his sword wide and struck aside the tip of Yu Seola's blade.

GRIIIIING!

With the sound of metal grinding...

Lee Munjeong's sword slid down along the flat of hers.

Yu Seola's wrist shook.

She tried to twist her sword and redirect the trajectory...

but Lee Munjeong had already stepped closer.

“Ghk!”

Just as Yu Seola tried to retreat...

Lee Munjeong's shoulder suddenly shifted.

The sword sliding down her blade abruptly rose into the air.

Lee Munjeong lifted it high...

then brought it crashing down.

Like an axe falling from overhead.

Yu Seola hurriedly raised her sword to block.

SHWAAAAK! CLAAANG!!

“Ghk!”

Yu Seola's brow furrowed as she absorbed the strike.

Her feet scraped across the ground as she was pushed backward.

Lee Munjeong didn't stop.

His sword continued crashing down toward Yu Seola.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The color drained from her face as she blocked each blow.

She gritted her teeth...

and chose offense instead of defense.

SHWAAAAAAK!

The Snowflake Sword Art bloomed again.

White sword light like falling snow accompanied her blade as it swept toward Lee Munjeong's waist.

But it didn't work.

CLANG!

His sword struck Yu Seola's blade directly.

The impact sent her sword tip shaking violently.

Then...

Lee Munjeong moved like lightning.

THUD!

“...Ghk!”

He smashed the hilt of his sword into Yu Seola's chest.

Internal energy was packed into the blow.

Her upper body bent backward violently.

Her eyes shook wide...

then she collapsed to the ground.

She had lost consciousness from the impact.

The match was decided with a single strike.

The referee was just about to declare Lee Munjeong the winner when...

SHWAAAAK!

Lee Munjeong's sword thrust toward Yu Seola's throat.

“Yu Seola!”

I shot to my feet and shouted without thinking.

The expressions of the Kunlun group watching the match hardened as well.

Screams erupted from the stands.

“Kyaaaaa!”

“S-Stop!”

Just as Lee Munjeong's sword was about to pierce Yu Seola's throat...

a gray shadow cut onto the platform.

CLANG!!

“The match is already over.”

Yu Gwangcheol blocked Lee Munjeong's sword with his own.

His voice was low.

“Withdraw your blade.”

His tone was quiet...

but his eyes were blazing.

Lee Munjeong glanced at Yu Gwangcheol's face.

Then, still expressionless, he lowered his sword.

“I was too focused on the match to realize she had lost consciousness.”

He gave a martial salute.

Then glanced toward the referee.

“The result hadn't been announced yet either.”

Only then did the referee hurriedly step in.

“Winner! Lee Munjeong of the Pyeongsan Sword Hall!”

The crowd, which had fallen silent for a moment...

began murmuring again.

“For a second there, I thought someone was actually going to die.”

“Seriously. He must've gotten so absorbed in the fight that he didn't know when to stop.”

“Still, Lee Munjeong is incredible. Winning like that against Kunlun....”

Amid the crowd's relieved chatter and cheers...

Lee Munjeong stepped down from the platform.

Yu Gwangcheol lifted the unconscious Yu Seola into his arms.

Then he carried her away somewhere.

Probably toward the physicians inside the Righteous Alliance.

Myeongjeon let out a long breath.

“Haa... that was seriously close.”

He continued,

“Fighting with real swords really is dangerous.”

“You get too absorbed in the match and something terrible can happen before you realize it.”

I didn't answer him.

But inwardly...

I was certain.

That wasn't an accident.

There was clear killing intent in that sword.

Lee Munjeong must have realized Yu Seola was unconscious.

He knew the match was already over...

and still launched a killing strike.

Lee Munjeong... why did you do that?

Anger began stirring inside me before I even realized it.

Someone I'd traveled and fought alongside had nearly been seriously injured.

It wasn't easy to calm myself.

Then...

the referee's voice echoed across the arena again.

“Next match! Jinwon of the Mount Hua Sect and...”

The eyes of everyone nearby suddenly turned toward me.

The referee continued.

“Han Mujin of the Kunlun Sect!”

At last...

it was my turn.

The spectators seemed to forget the dangerous situation that had just happened.

The stands erupted again.

“Ooooh!”

“Mount Hua versus Kunlun!”

“Two Taoist sects are fighting!”

Excited murmurs came from every direction.

It was only natural.

Kunlun and Mount Hua.

A confrontation between promising young martial artists representing two major Taoist sects.

Of course people would be interested.

I rose from my seat.

Hyeongwon and Myeongjeon looked at me with tense expressions.

Yu Seola had become the first of the four of us to lose in the main tournament.

Perhaps because of that...

both of them looked more nervous than before.

Of course...

not everyone did.

“Go have some fun.”

Jin Gwangung stood with his arms crossed, speaking in his usual playful tone.

I gave him a short nod...

then stepped onto the platform.

The moment I climbed up...

I saw my opponent standing across from me.

Jinwon of Mount Hua.

Despite going through countless preliminary matches...

his Taoist robe was still as clean as when I'd first seen him.

It meant he had passed the preliminaries without even needing to dirty his clothes.

Well... I'm in about the same condition.

I quietly studied Jinwon.

A snow-white Taoist robe.

A red plum blossom embroidered over the right side of his chest.

For some reason...

I suddenly felt a strong desire to properly dirty that spotless robe today.

As I continued staring at him...

Jinwon gave me a martial salute.

“I look forward to learning much from you today.”

His voice was calm.

His expression composed.

He gave off the demeanor of a true Taoist...

as if he regarded this match as simply another form of training.

I returned the salute.

“As do I.”

In truth...

I was very curious.

Just how impressive was Mount Hua's sword?

Over the long history of the martial world...

how many swordsmen acknowledged as the greatest under heaven had Mount Hua produced?

Even the great Explosive Sword Yu Gwangcheol supposedly got completely beaten by Taoist Wonho when he was young.

Today...

I wanted to see for myself just how strong Mount Hua's sword truly was.

The referee looked between Jinwon and me.

Then raised his hand.

“Begin!”

The moment the declaration fell...

I moved first.

Let's see what you've got.

Ta-at!

I rushed straight toward Jinwon.

There was no need for a probing exchange.

From the very beginning...

I unleashed one of my strongest techniques.

“Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword, First Form...”

“Clear Current Flowing Water!”

A fierce stream of sword force shot from my hand.

The violent flow headed straight toward the center of Jinwon's body.

At the same time...

I added the power of Great Void Golden Body Tempering into the strike.

The stream became a surging wave...

then exploded forward.

A violent sword wave capable of piercing even solid rock rushed toward Jinwon.

And yet...

his expression didn't waver.

Not even before that overwhelming current.

He murmured,

“Plum Blossom Sword Art...”

“Plum Blossom Butterfly Dance.”

Jinwon raised his sword.

In that instant...

countless plum blossoms bloomed before my eyes.

Petals settled upon the waves of Clear Current Flowing Water...

then danced like butterflies.

The violent current of my sword, strong enough to pierce solid rock...

was ridden by those plum blossom petals as though they were dancing across its surface.

No matter how fierce the wave became...

the plum blossom dance moved naturally upon it.

Every time those petals rode along Clear Current Flowing Water...

my sword force weakened.

So this is Mount Hua's sword....

Beautiful.

Soft.

And powerful.

But I couldn't simply stand there admiring it.

I was here to win.

Let's take this all the way.

I poured even more strength into the technique.

I pushed Great Void Golden Body Tempering to the extreme.

Both speed and pressure rose sharply.

No matter how gracefully plum blossoms danced upon a wave...

once that wave became a waterfall...

the dance would stop.

As the force of my sword transformed into a roaring waterfall...

the plum blossom petals vanished in an instant.

The overwhelming sword force was about to swallow Jinwon whole.

Then...

“Falling Plum Blossoms!”

Jinwon's counterattack began.