Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Self-Proclaimed Latent Dragon
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“Kyahaha!”
Yeong So-jin clutched her stomach and laughed. She wasn’t the only one. The intermediate class students who hated Wi Seong-cheon—especially those who’d been thoroughly humiliated by him at the cafeteria—openly burst into mockery. In fact, even aside from them, many students let out jeering laughs.
The title of Latent Dragon carried symbolic weight, just as Jeong Mi-ju had said.
There was no later-generation martial artist in the current martial world openly called the Latent Dragon. Yet here was Wi Seong-cheon of the Heavenly Flower Sect, derisively nicknamed the Bat, claiming the title for himself.
“Didn’t you say you hated Latent Dragon?”
Jeong Mi-ju didn’t join in the jeers. Her eyes sharp, she watched Wi Seong-cheon standing in the center of the arena, arms raised.
He looked just like a clown trying to whip up the crowd’s response.
“That’s too much.”
U Ha-yeon frowned. She swallowed the jerky she’d been gnawing on and clenched her fist. Spotting U Ha-yeon gulp deeply, Jeong Mi-ju immediately clamped a hand over her mouth.
“Mmph!”
“Don’t do anything stupid.”
U Ha-yeon wriggled free of Jeong Mi-ju’s hand. Pouting, she grumbled.
“They’re all being too harsh. Especially the first-years! If they can’t cheer him on...!”
“Junior Wi Seong-cheon jumped in knowing full well what he was getting into.”
“Annoying.”
“What is?”
“Calling him ‘junior’ all friendly-like when it’s just you, sis. I want a cute junior of my own, too.”
Jeong Mi-ju blinked in disbelief at the whining. No wonder her flashpoint seemed lower than usual—jealousy was factoring in. U Ha-yeon stuffed more jerky into her mouth to soothe her boiling frustration.
“Ah, why is time dragging like this? I can’t wait for Saturday to say hi to junior.”
“...Why wait ’til Saturday? Just go up and talk to him now.”
“That’s embarrassing. And if I butt in acting all chummy, he’d feel burdened. He’s already getting enough hate from everyone around.”
“Indeed, Lady Ha-yeon. Already showing such consideration for that arrogant junior.”
Seo Baek grumbled.
“Brother Seo Baek, you’re so petty.”
“Pardon?”
“Badmouthing a junior as arrogant just ’cause he got one over on you. I’m disappointed.”
Seo Baek’s face twisted.
‘What the hell?’
Paeng Yeon-hwa stared at Wi Seong-cheon in bewilderment. When he’d declared the title Latent Dragon, Wi Seong-cheon had locked eyes with her.
She couldn’t fathom his true intent, but it felt like... ‘Watch closely.’
‘Why poke the bear even more?’
He was already unpopular enough. By claiming the title of Latent Dragon, Wi Seong-cheon had made the students’ reactions even fiercer.
The jeers grew more blatant, and cheers for Jinbae swelled louder. Paeng Yeon-hwa couldn’t understand Wi Seong-cheon at all. She couldn’t grasp why he’d chosen the thorny path to begin with—and now he was pouring oil on it and lighting it ablaze.
“Isn’t this good?”
Wi Seong-cheon turned amid the jeers.
Jinbae held a staff as massive as his towering frame. It lacked a blade, making it spear-length, with fist-sized weights wrapped in cloth at both ends instead of edges.
“What do you mean?”
“This situation.”
Wi Seong-cheon grinned.
Wooo!
Basking in the roar of jeers like cheers, he raised both arms.
“Isn’t this what you wanted?”
“...”
“The timing’s perfect, too. Though it won’t mean much. I’m used to the boos.”
“That figures.”
Jinbae nodded.
He had indeed maneuvered for this stage. Sparring was a human affair. Humans were swayed by all sorts of influences. Jeers would... naturally shrink most people.
But not everyone. At least, not the man before him. Wi Seong-cheon was accustomed to jeers.
“See, the thing is.”
Thud!
Jinbae’s staff struck the arena floor.
“I’m not the type who draws strength from the crowd’s cheers.”
Thud!
The staff struck again. The entire arena seemed to shake.
“I’m not that impressive.”
Thud! With each strike, Jinbae’s qi swelled. His already massive presence ballooned further.
“But I’m a coward. So I want to use whatever I can.”
“That’s not being a coward.”
Wi Seong-cheon smiled as he took up the words.
“I’m the same way.”
Jinbae chuckled at that. Not a coward. It wasn’t flattery toward him.
“You mean to use me, then.”
“Exactly. But right now, I’m the inferior hand. Senior Jinu didn’t step up himself—he used you, Senior Jinbae.”
“You knew?”
“How could I not?”
“I suppose so.”
Jinbae paused briefly.
“Think it’s petty?”
“Who?”
“Shaolin.”
“No way.”
Jinbae smiled faintly at the reply. He pressed his palms together with one hand and bowed his head.
“Thank you.”
Jinbae struck the floor no more. Wi Seong-cheon lowered his raised arms and dropped into stance.
“Iron Breaker Staff Jinbae of Shaolin.”
Tong!
Unlike before, a light ring echoed as the staff flicked up. Gripping it with both hands, Jinbae glared at Wi Seong-cheon.
“You first.”
“Then I won’t hold back.”
The Heavenly Flower Sequential Art was already in motion. Heart as spirit. The Taiji Sword Lord’s teaching wove seamlessly into it, not floating apart. Power from the lower dantian spread through his body.
Reverse Flow accelerated the power’s circulation.
Flash!
Wi Seong-cheon charged. The distance to Jinbae vanished in an instant. In that moment, the jeers cut off. Everyone was stunned by his speed.
Jinbae was no exception. Eyes wide, he dragged a foot back. His lowered stance shifted as his staff whirled.
Clang!
Wi Seong-cheon’s swung arm collided with the staff. The arm ‘bent’. This strike wasn’t to snap the staff.
The folded forearm clamped the staff tight, and Wi Seong-cheon’s hand shot upward to seize Jinbae’s wrist.
“Ngh!”
Just before capture, Jinbae released the staff to pull away. Wi Seong-cheon grabbed the staff instead. His grip crushed down.
A plain staff would have shattered. But Jinbae’s didn’t. It was infused with power.
Buddha Light Arhat Staff, Fierce Wind Leaf Dance.
The staff swept the surroundings from one hand. Despite the close quarters, Jinbae paid it no mind.
The Buddha Light Arhat Staff was a staff art, yet it didn’t rely solely on the staff. Like all martial arts, it used the ‘body’ as a whole. Jinbae’s footwork restricted Wi Seong-cheon’s movements.
Wi Seong-cheon swiftly retreated, raising both hands.
Jinbae now gripped the staff two-handed. It spun within his grasp. The golden qi coiling around it spun with it. A golden vortex writhed in Jinbae’s hands.
Stone Rock Shatter.
The vortex shot forth. A straight thrust, but explosive in speed. Boom! Air tore raggedly, flooding Wi Seong-cheon’s vision in gold. His body twisted sideways.
Heaven Strike.
Wi Seong-cheon’s right arm, dropped to the floor, whipped upward like a lash.
Crunch!
Their qi erupted, clawing the arena floor. The wide-flung fist blocked the staff’s advance. And it didn’t end there.
Wi Seong-cheon pressed forward with his feet.
Grind!
The staff slipped in Jinbae’s hands. Startled, Jinbae leaped back to widen the gap.
‘That’s it.’
Muyeon Jun’s eyes gleamed. The trigger for first noticing Wi Seong-cheon. The ‘oddly’ demolished wooden dummy. Like it had burst from within. He’d glimpsed it, if only for an instant.
Wi Seong-cheon’s hand, upon colliding with the staff, had unleashed a spinning qi from inside.
‘Infiltrated qi right before impact... Absurd. In that split second?’
Hidden Force.
‘Too soon?’
The principle wasn’t far from Penetrating Energy. But the released qi had been accelerated internally via Reverse Flow. The Sequential Art’s Reverse Flow developed meridians and their ‘usage’.
Qi flowing through meridians couldn’t be reversed. Common knowledge. Most arts made qi flow ‘properly’. Twisting that birthed Reverse Blood arts—destructive, hard to cultivate, rife with qi deviation risks.
Wi Seong-cheon’s Reverse Flow resembled Reverse Blood arts but didn’t force reversal. From the start, the Sequential Art’s Reverse Flow wasn’t true Reverse Blood.
It didn’t reverse unconditionally; it first tempered meridians to allow it.
‘How?’
Jinbae’s face stiffened. At impact, an unpleasant resistance had arisen. The qi disruption shattered the form coiled around his staff.
That was Hidden Force.
A bare-handed technique to dismantle protective qi. Even if Jinbae’s wasn’t true qi, it didn’t matter.
Non-qi forms were easier to dismantle. But overuse wasn’t viable. Meridians throbbed.
“Strange technique.”
Jinbae muttered. He circulated the Diamond Arhat Divine Art.
Wooo!
Jinbae’s uniform sleeves swelled as if to burst.
“Ha ha!”
The Taiji Sword Lord laughed in delight. Golden qi enveloped Jinbae, rippling into form. He clapped Nam Myeong’s shoulder beside him.
“What fortune.”
Jinbae’s body cloaked in protective qi. Hwangbo Seong-u clicked his tongue at the sight.
‘Too hasty, isn’t it, senior?’
Hwangbo Seong-u could use protective qi too. But he hadn’t against Wi Seong-cheon. No chance before defeat, and qi consumed inner force rapidly.
‘Defeat after that, and there’ll be no excuses.’
“Hm.”
Jinbae’s eyes flashed. He knew qi burned inner force fast. But he had to grasp Wi Seong-cheon’s method from that last exchange.
Rumble!
Jinbae’s staff wrapped in dense golden protective qi.
Buddha Light Star River.
Boom! Jinbae thrust the staff. Golden qi beams shot with it. The crowd gasped at the power.
“Shouldn’t we intervene?”
Nam Myeong cried out in alarm. Such force endangered even instructors. The spar hadn’t dragged on long, but this crossed the line.
“No.”
The Taiji Sword Lord replied. His smile lingered.
“Claiming Latent Dragon means overcoming that much.”
Heavenly Flower Sect arts weren’t flashy. No bursting qi displays.
He could if he wanted, but Wi Seong-cheon hadn’t learned it that way.
Piercing heavens and crumbling earth—that was natural disaster. Mastering martial arts let humans wield that force, ultimately punishing the wielder as heaven’s wrath.
Thus.
Target the human unleashing the disaster, not the disaster itself.
‘Though that won’t happen here.’
His father’s faint smile and words from childhood. Now he thought he understood.
This was the limit.
Beyond this, Reverse Flow and Heavy Light Instant Position alone wouldn’t suffice. As qi bore down, Wi Seong-cheon analyzed it. Thus, Spirit Awakening.
Wi Seong-cheon’s meridians opened wide. Instantly, dantian power flooded every corner. Reverse Flow. Flowing qi reversed, taking the ‘swiftest’ path.
Even ‘proper’ flows had ‘unnecessary’ detours. Reverse Flow excised them all.
Wi Seong-cheon plunged into the oncoming qi. The crowd cried out. Charging bare-bodied looked suicidal.
A faint glow cloaked Wi Seong-cheon. Dim compared to Jinbae’s qi, yet unswallowed even amid its vivid glare.
Wi Seong-cheon’s body moved fluidly. His arms sliced the qi like a slow dance across the sky. Jinbae’s expression shifted again.
He pulled back the staff, condensing qi to one point. Gold converged. Wi Seong-cheon was in the air. No—
‘Gone.’
Jinbae’s eyes snapped downward. A chilling instinct swung his staff. But it missed. The staff cleaved empty air. Where?
‘Weight...’
Jinbae’s pupils whipped around. Wi Seong-cheon dangled from the staff. Jinbae gritted his teeth and slammed it downward.
Boom!
A massive crack split the arena center. Wi Seong-cheon was unharmed. He steadied his breath beside the embedded staff.
Jinbae gnashed his teeth.
Diamond Whirlwind.
Spinning, Jinbae swung the staff. Golden winds whipped outward. At the eye, Wi Seong-cheon flowed with it, unresisting.
Bit by bit. Jinbae felt stimulation in his staff-gripping hand. Not just swings—something added.
‘Letting it touch.’
Moving with the staff, Wi Seong-cheon grazed it with his hand incrementally. Each time, the qi dimmed. Jinbae’s eyes churned. What sorcery?
‘Demonic art...?’
So beyond comprehension, the thought crossed his mind. Knowing it couldn’t be. Jinbae inhaled sharply and thrust. A clear shot at Wi Seong-cheon.
But.
He missed. The staff pierced an afterimage. Phantom Shift. At this range? The pierced chest image collapsed. The real body...
Close.
Arm extended with the staff. Wi Seong-cheon sidestepped slightly, seizing Jinbae’s right arm. Protective qi held.
But Wi Seong-cheon’s hand gripped from atop the qi, infiltrating Hidden Force to scatter it.
‘Defense has priorities.’
Vital spots like head and heart got thickest protection. Because they were vital.
Arms weren’t.
Arms shielded the head. Blocked the chest.
When defending.
When attacking, ‘power’ loaded into the fist.
Not the forearm.
Thus, Heavenly Flower arts snapped it first.
Same now. Jinbae’s arm, cloaked in protective qi, but defense thin. Enough to block blades, sure.
But Wi Seong-cheon’s hand outmatched any blade.
‘Dodge...’
Impossible. Already caught.
Snap.
Jinbae’s right arm twisted half a turn. Joints shattered, muscles tore. Wi Seong-cheon yanked the arm tight, seizing the shoulder.
Again, his hand pierced the qi like tofu.
“Urk...!”
Jinbae struggled to shake him off. But before resistance. Wi Seong-cheon’s hand touched his chest first.
“Reverse Flow.”
Heavy.
Jinbae barely registered the mutter.
Boom!
Power from Wi Seong-cheon’s hand jolted Jinbae’s body. Blackened dead blood trickled from clenched lips. Trembling, Jinbae raised the staff overhead with his left hand, aiming to smash down.
But swifter.
“It’s over.”
Wi Seong-cheon said in a blood-tinged voice.
The palm that had pushed Jinbae’s chest balled into a fist and struck.