Chapter 74
Chapter 74
Mount Hua (5)
***
A preliminary skirmish was a luxury.
That was the first thought that came to mind.
As I grasped Mu-yeong’s qi, which he had raised to the extreme, I slowly took a deep breath.
‘Senior Brother is indeed a once-in-a-generation talent who competes for the top spot among the great disciples of Mount Hua… a rash judgment would be poison. But.’
If I had intended to probe for a long time, I wouldn’t have come this far.
Knowing that, I rushed straight towards Mu-yeong.
Paat—!
The energy that whipped like the wind, and the body that rushed like a flying tiger.
In response to my all-out strike, the method Mu-yeong chose was simple.
“Hmm…! As I said before, it’s a swift sword.”
“……!”
“Then I will respond in kind. Seong-ah.”
Chareureung—!
Mu-yeong drew his sword.
A golden energy reminiscent of lightning qi immediately let out a tearing sound as if it were pouring out.
Kwaaang—!
‘So this is why Mu-yeong is called the Thunder Dragon of Mount Hua…!’
I bit my lower lip slightly.
A counterattack immediately began.
Mu-yeong’s sword qi, which flowed like water in a continuous chain, quickly narrowed the encirclement as if to suffocate me from all sides.
Feeling that I could not just stand by and watch, I immediately unfolded my sword technique.
“This is…?!”
“Let’s do this in order.”
I could feel Mu-yeong’s flustered momentum from here.
I, who smiled faintly with amusement, unfolded the Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
A faint scent of plum blossoms began to linger at the tip of my nose.
Mu-yeong opened his mouth as if in admiration.
“So this is the sword technique that pushed the only daughter of the Mu Gyeong Clan Leader to a corner…!”
“I will do my best. Senior Brother.”
I didn’t want to lose.
As if my heart was represented, Falling Star, which was exuding a faint scent of plum blossoms, began to tremble again.
As I continued to swing my sword to show Mu-yeong the essence of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique, he smiled back and jumped into a blind spot where I could not see the sword qi flying in.
“……!”
‘This is…!’
Pajijik—
It was at that moment.
It was at the moment when I was about to turn my gaze towards Mu-yeong, who had quickly moved his body.
Mu-yeong was already lowering his body as if preparing a move he had prepared as a trump card, and had dug into a blind spot.
I, who was looking down at it from the midair, flinched and trembled my shoulders.
It was a kind of intuition, no, it was close to an instinct.
Goosebumps ran down my spine.
‘In this situation…?’
At the moment when I was flustered, Mu-yeong put his weight on the tip of his sword and stabbed towards the center of my vital point.
A flow that was reminiscent of a huge dragon, no, a huge thunder dragon.
It was something that was reminiscent of an imugi ascending from a majestically flowing waterfall.
Deudeudeuk—!
‘The power to make the earth vibrate and half-destroy the solid training ground…! It might be dangerous if I don’t dodge this.’
At the leap of the lightning qi, which was so powerful that it was chilling, I felt that the effort to maintain the offense and defense to some extent was meaningless.
The act of trying to counter the sword strike of Mu-yeong, who was launching an offensive, was an overreach.
Huuung—
Standing alone in the midair, I lightly deflected the sword qi and at the same time quickly withdrew my body.
Tatatat—
I escaped the predicament by unfolding the ingenuity of my footwork.
“Huu.”
I, who had barely escaped the extreme point where the thunder dragon exploded, took a short deep breath and raised my head towards Mu-yeong.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead once and opened my mouth to ask him.
“What was that secret move just now?”
“……”
“Looking at the fact that the emission of the lightning qi itself is skilled, it doesn’t seem to be a secret sword technique of Mount Hua…”
As I asked that, Mu-yeong, who was now floating alone in the air like me before, exclaimed as if reciting.
“Lightning Shadow Sword Style secret art, Thunder Dragon Flash.”
“……!”
“It’s a secret move made using the unique emission and properties of lightning qi… I suppose you can understand this much?”
“…That’s enough.”
I let out a small smile.
As expected, Senior Brother’s martial prowess was not ordinary.
Even though I had fully utilized the characteristics of Falling Star while sparring with Mu-yeong, the opponent’s martial prowess was so overwhelming that it seemed distant to seize victory from him.
And there was another thing I could notice from this clash.
‘Senior Brother also had the temperament of a great master. Of course, if that premise was not established, he would not have been able to act as the protagonist’s helper in the original work…’
In the original work, Senior Brother was at least described as a mature peak master.
So, naturally, I had considered Mu-yeong’s martial prowess, who was active next to the protagonist, to be similar to mine.
But it was a pleasant miscalculation.
Mu-yeong was stronger than I thought.
He was indeed worthy of being a direct disciple of the sect leader, who would have been promising as the next sect leader of Mount Hua if not for his wandering nature.
‘Having a good rival in the sect is the same as having a pleasant goal.’
I held Falling Star at an angle.
Taat—
I stared blankly at Mu-yeong, who came down from the air and set his feet on the half-shattered floor of the training ground.
I, who was thinking about the gap between me and my opponent for a moment, immediately sent a merciless strike towards Mu-yeong, who had just set his feet on the floor.
“You’re attacking in this situation…!”
“I told you I would do my best, Senior Brother…!”
A close battle began to continue.
Mu-yeong’s lightning qi and the purple sword qi I unfolded clashed.
Seeing the purple sword qi that began to be emitted from Falling Star, the sect leader’s pupils widened vertically for a moment.
But without even a moment to pay attention to such details, I, who was sending sword qi as if to strike Mu-yeong’s body, unfolded a sword dance while enjoying the excitement.
And then I used my footwork to dig into Mu-yeong’s blind spot in one breath.
Tatatat—!
The lightning qi that unfolded from the tip of Mu-yeong’s sword, which was interlocked with my body that was digging in.
At that touch-and-go moment, what Mu-yeong began to unfold to check my movement was,
“……!”
“Let’s see you block it again…!”
The secret art of the Lightning Shadow Sword Style, Thunder Dragon Flash.
At that fleeting moment of witnessing the lightning qi like a flash of light at the tip of the sword, Mu-yeong’s eyes, which were convinced that I would soon be knocked out, and the flowing light in them.
I, who was looking up at all of that with a coolly settled gaze, held Falling Star in a reverse grip.
“……?!”
Mu-yeong’s eyebrows, who was unfolding the Thunder Dragon Flash, frowned for a moment.
Normally, holding a sword in a reverse grip in a close battle with a martial artist was something that could not even be imagined.
But now, I was confident.
‘In a situation that is no different from a last stand… if I entrust all my senses to my instincts…!’
The moment will come when a foothold to respond in a crisis presents itself.
I, who felt an intuition, swung the right hand that was holding Falling Star, which was operating the Plum Blossom Sword Technique, in a reverse grip and struck the half-dug floor of the training ground.
Huduruk—!
At that, as the dust rose, the purple sword qi that was hidden by the dust began to launch an offensive.
I recalled the moves of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique that I had created one by one and had unfolded against strong enemies.
‘Falling Sword Snow Flower, Plum Blossom Line Division, Plum Blossom Butterfly Dance, and… even Blood Rain.’
The best method I could unfold now was to whittle down Mu-yeong’s secret move, the Thunder Dragon Flash.
To block the lightning qi, which had some of the properties of fire among the five elements, it was not possible to block the Thunder Dragon Flash just by scattering earth and sand.
In the first place, the reason I had raised the dust was a part of the preliminary skirmish that I had been avoiding until the end.
“What is this…?!”
‘If it’s not a protective qi of the level to counter the Thunder Dragon Flash head-on, it’s impossible to understand the essence of the Lightning Shadow Sword Style.’
As Mu-yeong’s lamentation continued, I continued to perceive the situation with a coolly settled mind.
Falling Sword Snow Flower blocks the Thunder Dragon Flash, Plum Blossom Line Division splits the Thunder Dragon Flash, Plum Blossom Butterfly Dance stabs the Thunder Dragon Flash, and Blood Rain finally dismantles the essence of the Thunder Dragon Flash.
The purple sword qi is emitted as a string and binds the Thunder Dragon Flash.
I, who was staring at that exquisite scene without blinking an eye, thought.
‘I see, the secret art of the Lightning Shadow Sword Style, the Thunder Dragon Flash, could not be described in one sentence as a secret move made using the emission and properties of lightning qi. In the first place, the Thunder Dragon Flash was not Mu-yeong’s hidden trump card…’
It was just one of the three moves that made up the Lightning Shadow Sword Style.
Noticing that fact, I couldn’t help but be thrilled.
Indeed, Mu-yeong’s intelligence was not to be underestimated.
Perhaps… he could be compared to the protagonist of the original work.
That thought suddenly came to mind.
‘If not for the name of the protagonist of the original work, and the countless fortuitous encounters and elixirs that were poured out… perhaps the main character of this murim novel would not have been Han Cheon-woo, but Mu-yeong.’
Paat—
The Thunder Dragon Flash, which was scattering a formidable lightning qi, quickly began to scatter.
Mu-yeong’s body, which was unfolding the Lightning Shadow Sword Style, was immediately slammed into the floor.
Kuuung—!
Mu-yeong, who had fallen to the floor, groaned and shook his head, then asked me.
“How on earth did you do that just now?”
“…Haha. Just as I did, how about you try to grasp the essence of my sword technique, Senior Brother?”
“Hmm… I don’t have the confidence for that.”
‘It’s absurd for him to say that when he has already partially understood the principle of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique…’
Anyway, I took a deep breath once and then said to Mu-yeong as if to provoke him.
“How about one more time?”
“……!”
“My skills are still immature, so I couldn’t fully understand the Thunder Dragon Flash. I would like to see more of Senior Brother’s Lightning Shadow Sword Style.”
“…You crazy bastard.”
Mu-yeong muttered as if he was fed up.
But even he seemed to be enjoying this situation, as he twisted the corners of his mouth slightly and made a smile with a faint hint of madness.