Chapter 145: Their Movements
Chapter 145: Their Movements
At the Flying Dragon Thirteen Squads in Yunnan Province.
The members of the Seventh Squad had gathered again this evening and were in the middle of their usual sparring session.
Na Seo-yu, the vice squad leader of the Seventh Squad, exhaled deeply and adjusted her grip on the sword 'Yeonhong' that Hae Cheong-yeon had given her.
Before her stood a woman, arms loose and relaxed, wearing a faint smile as if beckoning her forward.
She was the opponent Na Seo-yu absolutely refused to lose to.
"Ha-at!"
Pabak!
With a battle cry, Na Seo-yu charged at her opponent.
Now a fully matured first-rate upper-level swordswoman, her movement technique was swift and her sword strike looked exceedingly sharp.
But in the end, her sword could not reach her opponent.
Because a black whip, which writhed as if alive, had already coiled around her perimeter.
Chwaaak!
"Eeek!"
Na Seo-yu spun her body, scattering sword shadows in all directions.
Shuhaaak!
But the black whip appeared to absorb her sword strikes, seemingly taking no damage at all.
Tutututuk!
It merely flinched for a moment before tightening in heavily once more.
"Kuk!"
Na Seo-yu had no choice but to throw herself backward to retreat.
First, she had to get out of the whip's range.
But that was no easy task.
The black whip, like a serpent, refused to let her go.
Saaaak!
The thin tip of the whip spun around sharply and wrapped around Na Seo-yu's leg.
"!"
Deolkeok!
Na Seo-yu's form could retreat no further in the air and came to a halt mid-flight.
In an instant, the black snake-like whips completely filled her vision.
Before she could blink, her entire body was entwined by the whip.
Chwareureureuk!
"Auk!"
Na Seo-yu was turned into a cocoon right then and there.
No matter how much strength she exerted, she could not escape.
Then, the whip, moving as if alive, gently laid her down on the ground.
"Ee-eeek!"
Ya Un-hyang walked slowly toward her as she struggled.
Wearing her characteristic languid expression, she didn't look as though she had exerted herself in the slightest.
She spoke slowly in a drowsy tone.
"You're weak."
Na Seo-yu gritted her teeth at those words.
It was an undeniable fact that she was weaker than peak-level master Ya Un-hyang, but that was the one thing she absolutely did not want to hear from this woman.
She forced down her rising anger and opened her mouth.
"Fine. I know I'm lacking compared to you, Miss Ya. So will you please untie me now?"
A faint smile curved Ya Un-hyang's lips.
Then she spoke again.
"Promise me you'll give up on Seol Pung, and I'll untie you."
It was a completely sudden statement.
Na Seo-yu's face turned bright red with embarrassment.
"Wha-what are you talking about, all of a sudden?!"
But Ya Un-hyang repeated the words without the slightest change in expression.
"Exactly what I said. I'm saying if you promise to give up on Seol Pung, I'll untie this."
Then Na Seo-yu, who rarely ever showed her anger, finally glared at Ya Un-hyang with a furious expression.
"Don't joke around. Are you trying to blackmail me with just this?"
Na Seo-yu, who had been caring for her father at the Na family estate before returning to the Flying Dragon Squad, had been deeply flustered by the sudden appearance of the woman named Ya Un-hyang.
Because this woman, who had followed Seol Pung and joined the Flying Dragon Squad, seemed far more beautiful than Na Seo-yu herself.
Furthermore, she was already a renowned peak-level master.
But what flustered her most of all was that Ya Un-hyang made absolutely no secret of her feelings for Seol Pung.
Na Seo-yu simply could not understand how someone could be so consistently honest and forthright with herself.
Honestly, she was envious.
To the point that watching her made Na Seo-yu feel shabby.
Now, that same Ya Un-hyang was telling her to give up on Seol Pung.
And that provoked a defiant spark deep within Na Seo-yu's heart.
If there were a few things she could never give up in her life, one of them was Seol Pung.
Na Seo-yu stared at Ya Un-hyang with resolute eyes and said,
"I will never give up."
Ya Un-hyang smiled faintly again.
"You always pretended not to, but now you're finally speaking honestly."
"...What?!"
Na Seo-yu was flustered.
Come to think of it, she had never once said aloud that she was in love with Seol Pung.
She had been completely hooked by Ya Un-hyang's bait.
Seureureureuk!
The black whip that had been wrapped around Na Seo-yu unfurled as if moving on its own and wound back around Ya Un-hyang's slender waist.
But Ya Un-hyang paid it no mind and spoke in her characteristically languid tone.
"For not backing down, you pass. But that level alone isn't enough. You'll never defeat me. My heart is far stronger than my martial arts. And... Seol Pung is not the kind of man you can stand beside otherwise."
It was both a declaration of war and a piece of advice.
Na Seo-yu looked at her with a serious gaze.
Na Seo-yu also knew that Ya Un-hyang's words were true.
Seol Pung, who had just entered the forest with the Sword Saint Elder for a private sparring session, was undoubtedly a remarkable man—it was only because they were always together that she hadn't fully realized it.
Even Ya Un-hyang, who had just handled her like a child, had been no match for Seol Pung.
It was the same for Han Gyo-seong, squad leader of the First Squad and genius of the Qingcheng Sect, and for Sa Gun-il, squad leader known as the greatest genius of the current Jeomchang Sect.
'And that was when he didn't even use the Red Eye martial art, or even exert his full strength.'
The martial world was vast and filled with hidden dragons, but even so, it was doubtful whether there was a single martial artist in their twenties who had achieved anything close to that.
Seol Pung was the kind of man who might one day become the absolute being of the next generation.
And if the person standing beside that Seol Pung was lacking?
That would inevitably become a shackle holding him back.
Na Seo-yu absolutely did not want to be that person for Seol Pung.
She looked at Ya Un-hyang with determined eyes and spoke.
"Don't worry. I have no intention of staying at this level forever. Soon, I'll make you endure what I just endured."
At her spirited words, Ya Un-hyang smiled faintly and turned her head.
But that smile was not one of mockery.
Because, just as she had said, there were indeed people who had grown at a rapid pace.
Her gaze landed on the sparring match between the Swift Wind Flying Falcon Bi Sa-yeong and the Jeomchang Sword Tiger Je Won-yeong.
Not long ago, Bi Sa-yeong had been a first-rate upper-level martial artist, but he had now ascended to the peak realm.
Bi Sa-yeong, who had struggled when transitioning from second-rate to first-rate because he couldn't get a feel for it, had crossed the threshold from first-rate to peak as naturally as breathing.
And now, having reached the peak realm, Bi Sa-yeong had become an existence that was impossible to catch.
"Haaaap!"
Je Won-yeong's sword thrust at Bi Sa-yeong like a lightning strike pouring through dark clouds.
It was the ultimate technique of the Sail Sword Technique, Black Sword Rain, which Seonwoo Jin also used on occasion.
Shuaaaak!
But Bi Sa-yeong's form, which seemed certain to be struck by the sword shadows, scattered in an instant like flying flower petals in all directions.
It was the ultimate technique of the Heavenly Wind Movement Technique, Heavenly Wind Flower Petals, which Bi Sa-yeong was finally able to use after reaching the peak realm.
Sararararak!
Je Won-yeong gritted his teeth and switched his swordsmanship from the Sail Sword Technique to the Eighteen Luminous Swords.
Eighteen sharp sword qi energies began to whirl in every direction.
Pababababat!
But his sharp sword qi, which seemed as though it could even slice the wind, could not touch Bi Sa-yeong's body at all.
Bi Sa-yeong was literally whirling around him like the wind itself.
It was as though he existed everywhere and nowhere at once.
As Je Won-yeong was trying to somehow cut through his utterly elusive form, Bi Sa-yeong, who had been moving like the wind, suddenly accelerated sharply and brushed past Je Won-yeong's back.
It was the Explosive Advance Step, which he could now use as easily as breathing.
Shwit!
Chaeng!
"Keu!"
A cold sweat broke out on Je Won-yeong's back as he barely managed to block Bi Sa-yeong's blade strike.
Because when the already fast Bi Sa-yeong attacked with such sudden acceleration, even reacting was not easy.
It was as if the man himself had become a throwing weapon.
And in that moment, Bi Sa-yeong, once again becoming a beam of light, brushed past Je Won-yeong's rear.
Chang!
Bi Sa-yeong's afterimages, filling the surroundings and scattering like flower petals, and his blade strikes that aimed for the back like a gale in each instant.
Despite clearly being the superior martial artist, Je Won-yeong was floundering as though trapped inside a violent storm due to that dazzling movement technique.
Watching their duel, Ya Un-hyang unconsciously shook her head.
That was because even if it had been her instead of Je Won-yeong, she didn't think she'd be able to catch such a person.
Of course, Je Won-yeong, with his higher martial prowess, or herself would not be easily defeated by Bi Sa-yeong.
But the probability of getting hit by him was undoubtedly higher than the probability of catching him.
How could one defeat an airborne enemy that could never be caught?
'And that man was just a second-rate martial artist only a few months ago?'
It was an unbelievable story.
And the same was true over there for Cheon Ju-eun, who was smiling brightly and racking up consecutive wins against the male members of other squads.
"All right, fifteen straight wins!"
"It's my turn, Miss Cheon!"
"No, I was waiting first!"
Cheon Ju-eun, having recently stepped into the upper first-rate realm, was currently receiving a great deal of popularity from many of the male squad members.
She originally had cute looks, and being someone who always faced others with a smiling expression, she had now gained combat prowess on par with a squad leader.
So it would have been stranger if she weren't popular.
However, in the Seventh Squad, there was another person who was even more popular with the men than she was.
That was Bae Jong-gwan.
Bae Jong-gwan was currently surrounded by many men.
"Ooh! Amazing, Jong-gwan! With muscles as hard as steel, to be able to move so nimbly!"
"As expected of Iron Body Meteor Bae Jong-gwan! How on earth do you build such magnificent muscles?!"
"Teach me those external arts, Jong-gwan!"
"Jong-gwan!"
"Jong-gwan!"
Of course, the type of popularity was a little different.
With the Explosive Step that Seonwoo Jin had taught him and the recent intensive guidance from Seol Pung, Bae Jong-gwan had reached a state where he possessed not only his original steel-like external arts but also a swift movement technique and a splendid Moon Blade Technique.
Once it was confirmed that one could move quickly even while training in external arts, the male squad members from other squads no longer hesitated and began requesting Bae Jong-gwan to teach them external arts.
Bae Jong-gwan, who until recently had been treated like a snake oil peddler, had become a popular figure among the male squad members of the Flying Dragon Thirteen Squads.
Ya Un-hyang slowly surveyed the Seventh Squad members training around her.
There wasn't a single ordinary person among them.
They had not yet reached her own level, but at the very least, they were so transformed that it was absolutely impossible to believe that, as people said, they had been mere second-rate martial artists just a few months ago.
Ya Un-hyang looked again at Na Seo-yu, who was staring at her with a challenging expression in her eyes.
And she spoke.
"I look forward to it."
Judging by their growth, Na Seo-yu's talk of catching up to her didn't seem impossible either.
Suddenly, she felt her blood boil as a martial artist for the first time in a long while.
That was when it happened.
Someone was flying towards them with a movement technique as light as a bird.
It was Hae Cheong-yeon, the vice squad leader of the Fourth Squad.
"Seo-yu eonni!"
Unlike usual, she was calling out to Na Seo-yu with an urgent voice.
Ya Un-hyang silently observed her, the woman who had been a member of the Seventh Squad before herself.
Acknowledged for her outstanding martial prowess and made vice squad leader of the Fourth Squad, she was these days also famous as the woman of the Jeomchang Sword Tiger Je Won-yeong, the Fourth Squad leader.
This was because Je Won-yeong, the Fourth Squad leader, was consistently expressing his feelings of admiration for her.
Of course, she herself showed no particular reaction to it.
"Seo-yu eonni! Where is Father?!"
At her words, Ya Un-hyang realized she had overlooked one fact about her.
'That woman was said to be the daughter of the Heavenly Robe Sword Saint Hae Un-baek, wasn't she?'
Even Ya Un-hyang, who had never in her life felt envy towards any other woman, suddenly felt a little overwhelmed.
She truly was a woman equipped with remarkable conditions.
However, the expression of that remarkable Hae Cheong-yeon looked extremely serious right now.
Na Seo-yu, slightly flustered by Hae Cheong-yeon's uncharacteristically impatient demeanor, answered.
"If you mean the Sword Saint Elder, he's probably in the woods over there having a match with Squad Leader Seol Pung. But why...?"
"Thanks!"
Without even listening to the rest, Hae Cheong-yeon launched herself in the direction Na Seo-yu had pointed with her finger.
Truly, it was a sight completely unlike her usual self.
Na Seo-yu tilted her head and muttered.
"What's going on?"
At the same time, the Sword Saint Hae Un-baek was in the middle of laughing heartily in the utterly devastated forest.
"Uhahahaha! You are truly remarkable, my friend! This is truly the first time I've moved my limbs so freely against a young martial artist!"
There was no sword in the Sword Saint's hand as he spoke.
He had likely matched against Seol Pung using only fist and kick techniques.
At that, Seol Pung, who had been sprawled out spread-eagled in the devastated forest, laboriously raised his body and said.
"It's all thanks to the Sword Saint Elder's guidance."
"Uhahahaha! Don't say such things! I've taught many young people so far, and if it were all thanks to me, the world would already be filled with transcendent peak martial artists, uhahahaha!"
Then, suddenly scanning the surroundings, he whispered secretly.
"So, speaking of which, do you have any interest in my daughter Cheong-yeon by any chance?"
"...Excuse me?"
It was when Seol Pung looked at the Sword Saint with a bewildered expression at the sudden question.
Suddenly, Hae Cheong-yeon's voice came from afar.
"Father! Where are you?!"
At that, the Sword Saint, his face becoming noticeably flustered, laughed heartily again and spoke.
"U-uhahahahaha! It was merely a joke! My, so serious. Wasn't it amusing?! Uhahahahaha!"
Then, again in a small, rapid whisper, he said secretively,
"So it's an absolute secret from Cheong-yeon that I joked like this..."
At that moment, Hae Cheong-yeon landed beside them.
"Father!"
"Oh! My daughter has come! My daughter, still as beautiful as ever today, must have missed her father...!"
The Sword Saint, as always, tried to greet Hae Cheong-yeon playfully.
But Hae Cheong-yeon, with a stiff expression, held out a letter to him.
"This came from the Murim Alliance."
At that, the playful look gradually disappeared from the face of the Sword Saint, who had taken it with a puzzled expression and was reading it.
His eyes now flashed with a sharp, divine light.
It was a challenge letter.
A challenge letter from the One-Eyed Strange Sword Seo Il, one of the Five Oddities of the World, stating he would challenge the Sword Saint Hae Un-baek.
Moreover, it seemed that even before this challenge letter had arrived, rumors that the Ghost Sword had challenged the Sword Saint were already spreading rampantly throughout the martial world.
It was clearly Je-gal Ji-gang's doing.
Hae Cheong-yeon spoke with a stiff expression.
"The fact that the One-Eyed Strange Sword Seo Il has challenged you means he has the confidence to win."
Among the One Emperor, Two Kings, Three Sages, Four Demons, and Five Oddities, the One-Eyed Strange Sword Seo Il, who belonged to the Five Oddities, was famous as an undefeated duelist.
He wandered the world engaging in duels, and thus far had never lost even once, killing every opponent he defeated.
But now, that Seo Il had challenged the Sword Saint. And through the Murim Alliance, no less.
The Sword Saint smiled gently and asked Hae Cheong-yeon.
"Do you think this father of yours will lose to him?"
At that, Hae Cheong-yeon shook her head with a frustrated expression and answered.
"It doesn't mean he's stronger than you, Father. It means he must have created a situation where he can't help but win. Don't you see? Why he's an undefeated duelist?"
The One-Eyed Strange Sword Seo Il was an undefeated duelist.
But that wasn't because he was the strongest person in the world.
The reason he was undefeated was because he only ever challenged opponents he could beat.
Not opponents stronger than himself, nor equal ones, but only those he could surely defeat.
So, although he was called a duelist, he had never once challenged the other absolute beings of the martial world.
"And the situation where he can win is clearly related to the Murim Alliance. It's a trap. A trap set by Je-gal Ji-gang to eliminate you, Father."
That was also the reason Hae Cheong-yeon had delivered this news personally.
Because if it had reached her father through any other channel, the Sword Saint would naturally have accepted this challenge.
But even though she had informed him it was a trap, the Sword Saint merely smiled gently.
"Cheong-yeon."
At his gentle voice, Hae Cheong-yeon shouted out.
"No, Father! Absolutely not!"
But the Sword Saint paid no mind and continued softly.
"You know well, do you not, that for a martial artist, there are things more important than life. This father of yours does not fear death, but I fear retreating because of the fear of death. And... if I were to avoid this challenge, you, of all people, surely know what would happen, do you not?"
At that, Hae Cheong-yeon could not answer either and bit her lip.
The reason Je-gal Ji-gang could not touch the Sword Saint now was not simply because the Sword Saint was an absolute being of the martial world.
To be precise, it was because he was the most respected martial artist by all martial artists.
It was no exaggeration to say that to the martial artists of this era, the existence of the Sword Saint was synonymous with the word hyeopgaek, a chivalrous hero.
The ideal martial artist itself, who never compromises with injustice and never yields to any threat. That was the perception martial artists held about the Sword Saint.
But what if the Sword Saint avoided the Ghost Sword's challenge?
The Sword Saint's prestigious reputation would crumble in an instant.
No, Je-gal Ji-gang would surely make it so.
And Hae Cheong-yeon knew well what that meant.
'The reason Je-gal Ji-gang couldn't touch Father would disappear. No longer the idol of martial artists, the Sword Saint, stripped of his influence in the martial world, would be nothing more than a strong martial artist. One who could be dealt with however they pleased. Then, the first thing they would try to target would be our clan.'
Hae Un-baek's clan, the Henan Hae Clan, was located in Heochang, Henan Province.
And that place was right next to Zhengzhou, Henan Province, where the Murim Alliance was located.
Up until now, as the clan of the Sword Saint, the idol of all martial artists, they had feared the backlash of the martial artists and dared not touch them, but if Je-gal Ji-gang could only collapse the stature of her father the Sword Saint, the Henan Hae Clan would become exceedingly good hostages.
So, from Je-gal Ji-gang's perspective, he undoubtedly thought it didn't much matter whether her father the Sword Saint accepted the challenge or avoided it.
Because, from the standpoint of Je-gal Ji-gang, who led the massive organization of the Murim Alliance, dealing with a single highly skilled martial artist would be far easier than fighting the shadow of a martial artist respected by all.
'Perhaps he's even hoping he'll avoid it...'
While Hae Cheong-yeon was thinking such thoughts and unable to reach a decision, the Sword Saint suddenly slowly stroked her head and spoke.
"Don't worry, Cheong-yeon. When you act like that, it feels as if I've already lost. Your father is not so weak. If I were frail enough to die falling into that Je-gal clan scoundrel's trap, or be killed by some mere sword freak, I wouldn't have survived until now. So, will you not trust your father this once? Because whatever trap it is, I will smash it to pieces and return to your side."
The Sword Saint tried to reassure his daughter with a tone filled with unwavering confidence.
Hae Cheong-yeon looked at her father with anxious eyes.
The Sword Saint's words were certainly true.
Because the reason he had become the idol of all martial artists was that he had overcome every unwinnable battle and danger.
But even knowing that, her anxious heart did not easily disappear.
Because Je-gal Ji-gang, knowing that fact, would surely be the same.
Hae Cheong-yeon spoke.
"Then, for now, please send a reply on the condition that the One-Eyed Strange Sword come here. So that they cannot summon you to a place where they've laid a trap beforehand."
At her words, the Sword Saint readily nodded.
"Very well, that would be good. I shall do so."
At the Sword Saint's attitude of accepting without hesitation, Hae Cheong-yeon felt a little sense of relief.
If they could summon him here so a trap couldn't be laid, and then duel, even thinking about it coldly, there was no way her father would lose to someone like Seo Il.
But it was strange.
Even though rationally that was correct, and even though her father, one of the absolute beings of this martial world, was undoubtedly stronger than anyone else in the world, her ominous premonition somehow did not vanish.