Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: The Sword Genius of Seomun
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The Martial Arts Tournament was proceeding steadily.
Bu Eun-seol had easily dealt with his next opponent, the Soul-Severing Sword, Hong Gi-san.
A swordsman of the demonic path, he was a master of the killing sword, yet he was no match for the Thunderous Peerless Style that Bu Eun-seol had mastered.
Before long, the quarterfinals were upon them. Those who remained were all renowned figures in the Murim.
The Spirit Serpent Divine Sword.
In the Murim, there were divine swords whose fame had been passed down through generations, and their wielders had earned renown alongside the blades.
With one of them, the Spirit Serpent Divine Sword, offered as the grand prize, even the old masters, typically indifferent to fame and fortune, had emerged.
“The next opponent… is going to be a headache.”
Heuk-pyo remarked, rubbing his forehead as he stood beside Bu Eun-seol, gazing at the tournament bracket.
“Of all people, it’s Seomun Gyeong of the Seomun family, one of the masters predicted to win.”
The Seomun family.
Home to masters of mechanisms and formations, the Seomun family, along with the Sichuan Dang family, was a place martial artists tended to avoid.
They employed bizarre and unpredictable illusionary arts and esoteric techniques that martial arts could not block. Not only that, but if you made an enemy of them, they would send their family members to relentlessly seek revenge.
But it was strange. Why would the Seomun family, famous for their mechanisms and formations, participate in a martial arts tournament?
“It’s not yet known in the Murim, but Seomun Gyeong is a sword genius. He showed such remarkable talent for swordsmanship from a young age that they even assigned him a private sword master.”
“A sword genius unknown to the Murim.”
A smile touched Bu Eun-seol’s lips as he looked at the bracket.
“This should be interesting.”
He had been growing tired of fighting masters who were already widely acclaimed.
But now, he had the chance to face an unknown master, a direct descendant of the Seomun family, no less. How could he not be pleased?
“Heh.”
Bu Eun-seol, who always maintained a stoic expression.
But before a fight, his eyes would light up, and a smile like a gentle breeze would grace his face.
An onlooker might mistake it for the look of someone about to meet their lover.
“Y-Young Master… you really do enjoy fighting, don’t you?”
“It’s not a matter of enjoyment.”
Bu Eun-seol’s eyes twinkled as the corners of his mouth lifted.
“It’s just another day in the Jianghu.”
“O-Of course.”
Heuk-pyo’s lips twitched as he forced a smile.
It seemed the one in for a headache wouldn’t be Bu Eun-seol, but Seomun Gyeong.
On the day of the duel.
As the quarterfinals began, the number of martial artists filling the spectator seats had grown even larger.
In truth, this was the real start of the Martial Arts Tournament.
“Today’s match is between Bu Eun-seol, the Young Hero Bu, and Seomun Gyeong, the Young Hero Seomun!”
At Cho Mun-cheon’s announcement, a slender figure slowly appeared on the dueling stage.
He was a gaunt young man with an extremely pale complexion, looking almost pitifully thin. His considerable height and yellow robes made him resemble a scarecrow draped in a sack.
This was Seomun Gyeong, the third son of the Seomun family’s patriarch.
—Ooh!
The martial artists in the stands gasped in admiration as they watched Seomun Gyeong’s movement technique as he ascended the stairs.
Though his feet didn’t seem to move at all, he glided up the steps slowly, like a boat cutting through water.
‘A remarkable movement technique.’
The technique Seomun Gyeong displayed was not only unique but also bizarrely unorthodox, appearing closer to the arts of the demonic path.
He came to a halt.
Stepping onto the stage, Seomun Gyeong stared intently at Bu Eun-seol.
His widely dilated pupils emanated a strange, sinister aura, and a heat haze seemed to rise from his entire body.
*Smirk.*
At the sight of Seomun Gyeong’s ghostly demeanor, Bu Eun-seol, contrary to expectation, offered a pleased smile.
Judging by his aura, Seomun Gyeong would likely use a style of swordsmanship he had never encountered before.
“Now, begin!”
At Cho Mun-cheon’s cry, Seomun Gyeong slowly began to draw the sword at his waist.
Though it was a sharp, precious sword being drawn from a steel scabbard, it made no sound, not even a soft *shing*.
The revealed blade was an unusually shaped sword, its body extremely narrow and about five feet in length.
“Swords have no eyes.”
Seomun Gyeong said in a gloomy voice after drawing his sword, and Bu Eun-seol nodded nonchalantly.
“I agree.”
As Bu Eun-seol answered calmly, Seomun Gyeong’s gaze sharpened.
“Hmph.”
With a snort, Seomun Gyeong swiftly swung the strange sword.
*Swish.*
As the odd blade cut through the air, a cold chill and a whirlwind erupted, enveloping Bu Eun-seol.
—What kind of sword art is that?
The martial artists in the crowd murmured among themselves.
He had only swung his sword lightly, yet a blade wind blew from all directions.
Every time Seomun Gyeong’s sword sliced through the air, a frigid energy poured out, and the sky seemed to darken.
‘This isn’t the swordsmanship of the righteous path.’
Bu Eun-seol’s eyes narrowed as he lightly dodged the flurry of sword strikes.
Seomun Gyeong’s sword art was not only sinister and fluid but also difficult to predict.
*Whoosh.*
Using the hyper-senses of the Beast Dao, Bu Eun-seol dodged each of the sword flowers created by the strange blade.
But each time he evaded a strike, Seomun Gyeong’s sword would tremble slightly, altering its trajectory as if it were a living creature.
“Good.”
After continuously dodging the attacks, Bu Eun-seol drew his sword like lightning and blocked the strange blade.
*Clang!*
With a loud clash of metal, Seomun Gyeong took a step back.
“Your internal energy is considerable.”
Seomun Gyeong raised an eyebrow.
From the force transmitted through his hand, he could tell that Bu Eun-seol’s level of internal energy was a notch above his own.
“Hmph.”
Letting out a low snort, Seomun Gyeong changed his sword style once again.
This time, he used a ghostly movement technique, circling his opponent and launching a series of rapid thrusts.
*Swish, swish, swish, swish.*
Each thrust was like a shower of hundreds of needles.
Instead of defending with his sword, Bu Eun-seol moved nimbly again, dodging each sharp strike.
*Zip. Pssht!*
The sword strikes unleashed by Seomun Gyeong missed by a hair’s breadth.
Watching Bu Eun-seol’s phantom-like movements, a dark light swirled in Seomun Gyeong’s eyes.
*Fwoosh!*
Once again, his sword technique changed.
The sharp, needle-like sword strikes spread out wide, then suddenly began to rain down from above like raindrops from the sky.
‘The Flower Rain Sword?’
Bu Eun-seol raised an eyebrow.
The technique Seomun Gyeong had just used was remarkably similar to the Flower Rain Sword Sect’s ultimate defense, Heaven and Earth’s Mysterious Rain, converted into an attack.
“Was one of your sword masters from the Flower Rain Sword Sect?”
Bu Eun-seol chuckled and swung his longsword into the air.
*Fshhhhh!*
Instantly, a flurry of sword strikes, nearly identical to Seomun Gyeong’s, rained down from above.
Bu Eun-seol had also executed the Flower Rain Sword’s Heaven and Earth’s Mysterious Rain.
He stopped.
Seeing Bu Eun-seol use the Flower Rain Sword, Seomun Gyeong halted his movements and spoke.
“Which sword sect are you from?”
Bu Eun-seol didn’t answer, merely staring into Seomun Gyeong’s eyes.
Seemingly offended by his attitude, a sinister light emanated from Seomun Gyeong’s pupils.
“It’s too early to be smug.”
*Ssssss.*
Along with his low voice, Seomun Gyeong’s entire body began to blur.
*Zip!*
With a sound of cutting air, a sharp sword thrust toward the space between Bu Eun-seol’s eyebrows.
Was he using an extremely fast movement technique to attack at high speed? Despite the thirty-foot distance between them, it felt as if he were attacking from right in front of him.
*Snip.*
Bu Eun-seol quickly dodged the attack, but the sharp blade still severed a few strands of his hair.
‘Fast…’
Before the thought could even finish,
*Swish, swish, swish, swish!*
In that instant, Seomun Gyeong’s sword technique changed once more.
Bu Eun-seol retreated to create distance, but Seomun Gyeong was still attacking from right in front of him, like a phantom.
‘Strange.’
A peculiar light appeared in Bu Eun-seol’s eyes.
It wasn’t just a fast movement technique. It was as if he were breaking the constraints of space with each strike, closing the distance in an instant.
‘In that case.’
Bu Eun-seol moved closer, right into the storm of sword strikes.
*Slash!*
The moment Seomun Gyeong’s sharp blade drew a red line on Bu Eun-seol’s cheek,
‘It’s not a movement technique, but footwork.’
Bu Eun-seol’s eyes were fixed on Seomun Gyeong’s feet.
Amazingly, while executing his sword techniques, he was constantly and repeatedly shifting the position of his feet.
*Swish, swish!*
Seizing the opening, Seomun Gyeong unleashed sword shadows to the left and right, aiming for Bu Eun-seol’s flanks.
*Shhhk!*
Just as the sharp blades were about to dig into his sides, Bu Eun-seol’s body blurred, and he evaded the strikes as if passing right through them.
Extreme Speed Formless Shadow.
In a single breath, the legendary movement technique that allowed one to change position dozens of times while standing in place was finally unleashed.
*Rip.*
However, as Seomun Gyeong changed his technique again, the hem of Bu Eun-seol’s robe near his side was slightly torn.
It was the first time he had failed to completely evade a sword strike since mastering the Extreme Speed Formless Shadow.
“It wasn’t footwork or a movement technique.”
But Bu Eun-seol smiled. This one exchange had allowed him to instantly discern not only the true nature of Seomun Gyeong’s bizarre swordsmanship but also his level of skill.
“It was a formation.”
At that, Seomun Gyeong, who had rested his strange sword on his shoulder, let the corner of his mouth curve up slightly.
“You have a sharp eye.”
He lowered his sword for a moment, a confident expression on his face.
“By properly utilizing the flow of the Nine Palaces and the Eight Trigrams, one can create changes that transcend space.”
Amazingly, while using his sword, Seomun Gyeong was simultaneously employing footwork based on the Seomun family’s art of mechanisms and formations.
“Changes that transcend space…”
Bu Eun-seol shook his head with a disappointed expression.
“The limits of a family that does not specialize in the sword, I suppose.”
“What did you say?”
“You’ve wrapped your sword in useless tricks.”
“Hehehe.”
Seomun Gyeong looked down at Bu Eun-seol’s torn robe and sneered.
“Forced on the defensive, and now you resort to feigning composure with words?”
“Defensive?”
Bu Eun-seol scoffed.
“I haven’t even attacked yet.”
At that, the cold smile vanished from Seomun Gyeong’s face.
Thinking back, Bu Eun-seol had only defended himself. He hadn’t attacked even once.
It was as if he had wanted to observe the sword art in detail.
“You wanted a good look at my sword art?”
A chilling, violet light erupted from Seomun Gyeong’s eyes as he glared at Bu Eun-seol.
“I’ll give you a show.”
Holding his sword horizontally near his cheek, he spoke in a low voice.
“And a tour of hell as a bonus!”
*Shhhk!*
In that instant, Seomun Gyeong’s strange sword was suddenly thrusting at Bu Eun-seol’s neck.
The distance between them was thirty-five feet. Seomun Gyeong had closed the space in an instant using footwork based on the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation.
*Clang!*
But the strange sword could advance no further, blocked by a longsword.
Bu Eun-seol had raised his sword to block Seomun Gyeong’s move perfectly.
“An attack like this won’t even get me to the gates of hell.”
“Don’t get cocky just because you blocked one move!”
Seomun Gyeong moved his feet in a dizzying pattern and unleashed his sword art.
The sharp, strange sword emerged unexpectedly from different points in space, but Bu Eun-seol defended leisurely, as if he had predicted every path it would take.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
Seomun Gyeong unleashed a continuous torrent of phantom-like sword techniques, but Bu Eun-seol simply stood his ground, raising his sword to block them.
—Hahahaha!
Laughter suddenly erupted from the once-solemn crowd.
Seomun Gyeong was swinging his sword with all his might, while Bu Eun-seol blocked his attacks with an air of boredom.
The scene looked like a ridiculous piece of opera.
“You bastard!”
Seomun Gyeong’s erratically moving sword suddenly appeared above Bu Eun-seol’s head.
But Bu Eun-seol, as if he had already anticipated it, didn’t even look up as he raised his longsword to block the attack.
“Is this all?”
Bu Eun-seol wore a deeply disappointed expression.
“They called you a hidden sword genius… Turns out you’re a genius who should have stayed hidden.”
“You cur!”
Enraged, Seomun Gyeong slammed his sword to the ground.
“Where did you learn my family’s Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation?!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play dumb!”