Chapter 76

Chapter 76: The Result of the Match

Countless plum blossoms fell before my eyes.

It felt as though dozens of swords were descending from the sky at the same time.

Sword lights completely covered my vision.

I can't just block this.

If I kept defending like this...

I would eventually be swallowed up by the endless rain of plum-blossom swords.

Then...

there was only one answer.

Break through.

I needed to pierce through those countless sword paths with an overwhelming sword force that could erase them all.

I steadied my breathing...

then unleashed my next move.

Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword, Second Form.

Mirror Flower Straight Flash.

A straight sword path that pierced through everything shot from my hand.

A flash of light swept away the plum blossoms in front of me, opening a path.

And just as that line of light was about to swallow Jinwon...

his sword moved again.

“Falling Plum Flash.”

The scattered plum blossoms that had been blown away by Mirror Flower Straight Flash suddenly began overlapping in one place.

One layer.

Then another.

The sword paths Jinwon created continued stacking endlessly.

Plum blossoms layered upon plum blossoms.

Just like the name Falling Plum Flash implied...

the force gathered within them seemed powerful enough to make even light itself fall.

Mirror Flower Straight Flash, which pierced through everything...

collided with Falling Plum Flash, which covered everything.

BOOOOM!

The impact forced both Jinwon and me backward at the same time.

Our feet scraped across the platform.

I looked at him and grinned.

I hadn't expected him to block Mirror Flower Straight Flash like that.

This is fun.

It was the first time I had ever felt this kind of enjoyment while exchanging swords with someone.

Jinwon's face was flushed as well.

He seemed to be feeling exactly the same thing.

“Amazing.”

Jinwon looked genuinely impressed.

“I didn't expect you to possess swordsmanship this powerful.”

I immediately replied,

“And now I understand why Mount Hua's sword is so feared.”

We both smiled at each other.

But that smile couldn't last forever.

This was the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament.

A winner had to be decided.

One of us would win.

The other would lose.

I stopped smiling and spoke.

“Instead of dragging this out...”

I tightened my grip.

“how about we finish it in one exchange with our best moves?”

Jinwon answered immediately.

“Sounds good.”

Then he erased the smile from his face.

His voice became serious.

“But you should be careful.”

“The sword I use when I'm serious can be quite dangerous.”

I answered without hesitation.

“That's exactly what I was going to tell you.”

Jinwon's eyes flashed.

For the first time...

I saw genuine fighting spirit in those usually calm eyes.

So you want to settle this too.

I steadied my breathing and took my stance.

Across from me...

Jinwon gripped his sword with both hands.

A pressure far greater than anything he'd shown so far began pouring from his entire body.

His sword tip moved.

“Plum Blossoms in Full Bloom.”

Whoooooosh.

Wind swept across the platform.

Within that wind...

red flowers began to bloom.

One.

Two.

Then more than I could count.

Plum blossoms filled the air.

They looked like flower petals drifting through the wind...

but they weren't flowers.

They were razor-sharp sword paths covering the entire space.

Every blossom carried a cutting force.

The moment those countless plum-blossom sword paths surrounded me...

goosebumps rose across my entire body.

...The whole space has been swallowed by plum blossoms.

The ground beneath my feet.

The air I breathed.

Every direction I looked.

Plum blossoms were everywhere.

There was nowhere to escape.

And in that instant...

I understood.

I'm trapped.

No matter where I tried to move...

another plum blossom immediately bloomed there.

If I tried to break through with my sword...

another blossom appeared at the end of that path.

Clear Current Flowing Water couldn't scatter them.

Mirror Flower Straight Flash couldn't pierce through them.

It was perfect.

A sword curtain without even the smallest opening.

The barrier created by Plum Blossoms in Full Bloom was overwhelming.

“That's... Plum Blossoms in Full Bloom?”

“So this is Mount Hua's sword...!”

Voices of amazement rose from the stands.

I quietly watched the countless plum blossoms closing in from all directions.

Then tightened my grip around my sword.

I could feel sweat forming in my palm.

But it wasn't from fear.

Nor nervousness.

It was excitement.

There's nowhere to run.

And I couldn't pierce through that fully bloomed world with a single sword path.

Then there was only one answer.

Sweep it all away.

I drew up the remaining power in my dantian.

As I circulated the Kunlun Blue Soul Scripture and Great Void Golden Body Tempering together...

the energy inside my body began raging as though it might explode.

I poured all of it into my sword.

I steadied my breathing...

and stared straight ahead.

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

I swung with everything I had at the wall of plum blossoms that had already closed in before my eyes.

“Snowstorm Spiral Shatter!”

BOOOOM!

The instant I swung...

an icy storm exploded from the tip of my sword.

It felt as though a blizzard from the snowy mountains had descended directly onto the platform.

WHOOOOOOOSH!

The violent sword wind swept up everything around it.

Within the vortex...

the plum-blossom petals were torn apart.

The curtain of Plum Blossoms in Full Bloom shook.

Jinwon's eyes widened.

But he immediately poured in more strength.

New plum blossoms tried to bloom in the spaces where the petals had been shredded.

But the wind of Snowstorm Spiral Shatter was faster.

“HAAAAAA!”

I roared and swung my sword again.

Spiral.

Shatter.

Wind it up...

and crush it apart.

The sword storm grew even stronger.

Every plum blossom that tried to bloom was shredded the instant it appeared.

The sword paths that had surrounded me from every direction...

were mercilessly swept away by the storm.

"...!"

Jinwon staggered back several steps.

I could see the shock in his eyes.

Now.

I compressed the center of the storm.

The rotation of my sword force became tighter.

Then I thrust all of that gathered power straight ahead.

SHWAAAAAAAAK!

The sword force that swept away everything in sight rushed toward Jinwon.

He immediately raised his sword to block.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Under the repeated impacts...

his sword tip trembled slightly.

I didn't miss the opening.

I twisted my sword path once more.

Shhk.

The raging sword wind began to fade.

At the same time...

the remaining afterimages of plum blossoms scattered across the platform disappeared.

"...!"

"...?!"

Gasps came from the stands.

“Haa.”

I steadied my breathing and lowered my sword.

Then quietly looked ahead.

Jinwon was staring blankly at his own chest.

The red plum-blossom embroidery over the right side of his robe...

had been cut cleanly in half.

“Haa....”

Jinwon released a long breath.

Then looked at me with a hollow smile.

“...Truly amazing.”

He shook his head.

“I never imagined even Plum Blossoms in Full Bloom would be broken.”

I gave him a faint smile.

“It was only by a hair.”

A brief silence passed between us.

Then Jinwon lowered his head.

“...I learned a great deal.”

His voice trembled slightly.

It was the voice of someone accepting defeat.

But there was no anger in it.

Only respect.

Respect from one swordsman to another.

The referee finally shouted in excitement.

“Winner! Taoist Han Mujin of the Kunlun Sect!”

The crowd exploded.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

“He won! Kunlun defeated Mount Hua!”

Cheers thundered toward me.

“Amazing! Kunlun's Young Hero!”

“Snowstorm Spiral Shatter... was that sword art left behind by True Immortal Cheongun?!”

“At this level, isn't he clearly the strongest of the younger generation?!”

The roar was loud enough to make my ears ring.

I looked around.

The Kunlun group was watching me from below the platform.

Jin Gwangung nodded in approval.

Hyeongwon was giving me a rare look of pure jealousy.

Myeongjeon simply stared in amazement.

As I stepped down from the platform...

I quietly thought to myself.

Only two steps left until victory.

After my match with Jinwon...

Hyeongwon and Myeongjeon's match began almost immediately.

Their fight ended quickly.

Myeongjeon used Kunlun Cloud Step with everything he had...

but he couldn't break through the wall created by Hyeongwon's spear.

Every time Myeongjeon tried to attack...

Hyeongwon's spear arrived first.

The perfect barrier of spear techniques eventually trapped Myeongjeon's movement.

After a brief exchange...

Myeongjeon finally surrendered.

It was an overwhelming victory for Hyeongwon.

And with that...

the day's matches came to an end.

Only four people remained in the Dragon-Phoenix Awakening Tournament.

The semifinal bracket had already been decided.

Me against Lee Munjeong.

Hyeongwon against Nameless.

Preparing for the semifinals the next day...

I returned to the lodging with the others.

When we entered...

familiar figures were waiting inside.

Yu Gwangcheol.

Yu Seola.

And Tang Soyeon.

Yu Seola looked perfectly fine at first glance.

Her complexion wasn't even that bad.

I immediately approached and asked about her condition.

“Seola, are you feeling all right?”

Yu Seola nodded casually.

“I'm fine.”

“It wasn't anything serious.”

Hyeongwon spoke with concern.

“Still, I'm glad it wasn't worse.”

“That opponent was stronger than expected.”

Yu Seola immediately bristled.

“Stronger?”

Her eyes flashed.

“I only lost because I let my guard down for a moment!”

She spoke through clenched teeth.

“If I ever get the chance to fight him again...”

Her hand tightened around the hilt at her waist.

“I'll tear him apart.”

She got beaten like that earlier... and she's already thinking about revenge.

I clicked my tongue inwardly.

No wonder they call her Mad Flower.

Still...

seeing that Yu Seola was fine let me breathe easier.

Then Yu Gwangcheol looked at me.

“I heard you defeated Jinwon of Mount Hua.”

Before I could even answer...

he continued.

“Well done.”

His face brightened.

“Very well done.”

Then he spoke with enormous satisfaction.

“You crushed the noses of those fake-smiling Mount Hua bastards in my place.”

He looked as though a forty-year-old weight had finally lifted from his chest.

I slowly shook my head inwardly.

He's still holding onto that loss from forty years ago....

Then I quietly made a vow.

I will never become like that.

Absolutely not.

That is definitely not the path of a Taoist.

Then Jin Gwangung looked back and forth between Hyeongwon and me.

“Now either one of you only needs to win twice more.”

He scratched his chin.

“Then Kunlun takes the whole tournament.”

But then he frowned.

“Still...”

His eyes narrowed.

“Every bastard you're facing tomorrow is someone I've never seen before.”

He clicked his tongue.

“One strange bastard hiding his face...”

“and some martial artist from a Pyeongsan Sword Hall I've never heard of in my life.”

Jin Gwangung tilted his head.

“Lee Munjeong, especially.”

“If he's made it all the way to the semifinals, you'd think his school would have some reputation.”

He looked toward Yu Gwangcheol.

“Gwangcheol.”

“Do you know anything about this Pyeongsan Sword Hall?”

Yu Gwangcheol furrowed his brow.

“I've never heard of it either.”

“Hmm....”

Then...

Tang Soyeon, who had been quietly listening the entire time, finally spoke.

“Actually...”

Everyone turned toward her.

“I looked into Lee Munjeong a little.”

Jin Gwangung's eyes sharpened.

“You did?”

He immediately leaned forward.

“Then tell us.”

“What exactly is this Pyeongsan Sword Hall?”

He paused.

“Or rather...”

“what kind of person is Lee Munjeong?”

Tang Soyeon took a short breath.

Then answered carefully.

“That's the problem.”

Her expression became serious.

“Something about him is... very strange.”