Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Pa-sun's Spear vs. The Flowing Water Sword
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I clasped my fist in my hand as a salute to the Commander of the Azure Dragon Unit and spoke.
“Commander, shall we go inside for a cup of tea?”
He realized it then. That Baek Mu-heun, the Fourth Young Master of the Heavenly Dance Family, had learned the Cult Leader's martial arts, and that he was not someone he could ever hope to judge.
“…Very well.”
The Commander and I were both supreme masters.
However.
The gap between his martial arts and mine was immense.
I went into the room with him, lit an oil lamp, and we talked over tea.
“I would appreciate it if the Azure Dragon Unit member I face is the weakest one you have.”
“May I ask why?”
I explained my smokescreen tactic to the Commander.
To the eyes of the observers, this entire exchange simply looked like two men drinking tea by the light of an oil lamp.
***
On the day of the duel with the Azure Dragon Unit.
I arrived at the training grounds at the crack of dawn.
In my hands were dozens of talismans. I had imbued them with several unique scents from the Myriad Fragrance Blood Jade Tree, then woven a tracking art into them. After that, I tore the talismans into tiny pieces and scattered them all over the training grounds.
To anyone watching me scatter them, it would look as if I were performing a ritual before the duel, or perhaps even dancing.
‘No one would ever guess I'm scattering finely torn talismans.’
As I danced, I observed the watchers, both near and far.
‘The paper is white and the pieces are small, making them difficult to notice. I've also incorporated the art of adhesion, so they will stick to the shoes of anyone who steps on them.’
The talismans, imbued with the art of tracking, were linked to my senses through their unique scent.
I added the potent fragrance of the Myriad Fragrance Blood Jade Tree and limited the tracking art's range to the Heavenly Dance Family's estate. If anyone who stepped on a talisman leaves the estate after the duel, I will know where they went and how far they've traveled from the moment they left the training grounds.
‘There are surely spies from other factions within the Cult here in the Heavenly Dance Family's estate.’
It's not easy to identify them by familiar faces within the family. If there are intruders using disguise techniques, they'll be impossible to spot with the naked eye, so I must use this tracking art to find them.
Those who watch today's duel and then travel far from the Heavenly Dance Family's estate.
I will single them out.
Know the enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. The key is to never neglect gathering information, both internal and external.
This Thousand-Mile Faint Fragrance tracking art will be the cornerstone of that effort, providing clues to distinguish friend from foe.
And so, the first duel began.
***
With all the members of the Heavenly Dance Family gathered, the duels between the Azure Dragon Unit and Mu-heun, Pa-sun, and Un-pyo unfolded.
In the center of the training grounds, seats of honor were arranged.
In these seats sat Baek Gun-hak, the Family Head of the Heavenly Dance Family, and the Commander of the Azure Dragon Unit. Beside them were seats for the First through Third Young Masters.
Pa-sun and Un-pyo's opponents were two of the Azure Dragon Unit's most promising young division leaders: Ho Ryang of the Flowing Water Sword, and Jin Guk of the Thunderstorm Lightning Spear.
Mu-heun's opponent, however, was not even a division leader but a mere member named Seo Bong.
Seo Bong was a recent recruit to the Azure Dragon Unit, and having only just begun his martial arts training, he was considered the weakest among them.
Seo Bong was participating on the Commander's orders, but none of the other Azure Dragon Unit members could understand why.
When the training grounds had filled with members of the Azure Dragon Unit and the Heavenly Dance Family, a warrior clad in the Azure Dragon Unit's uniform stepped onto the stage.
The warrior who appeared with a clear, resonant voice was Cheon Gi-seom, the Vice Commander of the Azure Dragon Unit.
He walked to the center of the stage and spoke.
“As you all know, we are gathered today to select the three warriors who will represent the Heavenly Dance Family at the Divine Dragon Assembly. As the Vice Commander of the Azure Dragon Unit, I will be presiding over the proceedings.”
Cheon Gi-seom clasped his fist in salute to the family members and those in the seats of honor.
“The order will be Pa-sun versus Ho Ryang, Un-pyo versus Jin Guk, and finally, the recently renowned Fourth Young Master of the Heavenly Dance Family, Baek Mu-heun, versus Seo Bong.”
Mu-heun was pleased with the lineup.
His subordinates had to display their skills first, so that everyone would be all the more disappointed by his own pathetic performance.
‘The Azure Dragon Commander did well. Now, I must act like a cunning fox.’
Just then, Cheon Gi-seom shouted.
“First, Pa-sun and Ho Ryang, step forward.”
With nearly all the retainers of the Heavenly Dance Family filling the training grounds, one of the former servants, Jang Bong... no, Pa-sun, strode confidently onto the dueling stage.
“Isn't that Jang Bong over there? The chatty servant who was supposedly kicked out of another family?”
“That's him. He was working with me just a few months ago... I can hardly recognize him now. What kind of fortunate encounter did he have to change so much?”
“He even changed his name. To Pa-sun. He seems to have changed a lot since the Fourth Young Master took him in.”
“Is he trying to raise him as a bodyguard? His physique has certainly improved.”
“Look closely. It's not just his body that's improved. His gait is different, his posture has changed.”
The servants of the Heavenly Dance Family who knew him whispered amongst themselves. Just then, from the opposite side, the Azure Dragon Unit's promising division leader, Ho Ryang of the Flowing Water Sword, stepped onto the stage.
“No matter how much he's changed, he's still... no match for Division Leader Ho Ryang, right?”
“Of course not! Man, there's an absolute gap in the time they've spent training.”
“He can't win, no matter what. Why did he even come out?”
“How should I know? He probably learned a few moves somewhere and got overconfident.”
“He's going to get a rude awakening this time.”
“Serves him right.”
The murmurs were completely different from when Pa-sun had walked out alone. But Pa-sun paid them no mind. He simply trusted his master and would forge his own path.
The training grounds buzzed with spectators as the duel between the promising division leader of the Azure Dragon Unit and Pa-sun, a former servant of the Heavenly Dance Family, filled the stage.
“Let the duel begin!”
Cheon Gi-seom shouted,
BOOM!
The sound of a large drum signaled the start of the duel.
Pa-sun and Ho Ryang faced each other, raising their energy to its peak. Ho Ryang, sensing Pa-sun's energy, spoke.
“I heard you knew nothing of martial arts before going to Blade Leaf Valley... The energy I feel from you now is like that of a warrior who has trained diligently for a long time. It's truly unbelievable.”
“You flatter me. I will do my best, and I hope this will be a duel without regrets.”
“…Let's do that.”
Ho Ryang was the youngest division leader in the Azure Dragon Unit and a man of exceptional talent. If you were to ask anyone who knew him what his greatest strength was, they would all say the same thing.
That he uses his full strength even when catching a rabbit.
KWANG!
Without a clear first move, the two charged at each other.
CLANG!
It was the first clash between the two warriors.
“...!”
But then, something no one had expected happened.
The promising division leader of the Azure Dragon Unit,
Ho Ryang of the Flowing Water Sword, was pushed back.
The two men's internal energy was similar.
Their external skills were as well.
No matter how much Pa-sun had pushed his body to its limits with good medicine and Mu-heun's help, Ho Ryang had never been negligent in his own training. Their skills were nearly evenly matched.
But there was a crucial difference: their mindset. It was the difference between a tiger hunting a rabbit with all its might, and a rabbit fleeing a tiger with all its might.
It was obvious who was more desperate.
Ho Ryang approached the duel as a good opportunity before the Divine Dragon Assembly, while Pa-sun fought with the desperation of one who could not bring shame upon Mu-heun, the man who had saved him.
As a result, Pa-sun had gathered every ounce of his strength and internal energy for that first clash, forcing Ho Ryang back.
Pa-sun did not miss the opening created by Ho Ryang's surprise. Maintaining the direction of his initial thrust, he charged at Ho Ryang like a sharp awl.
Ho Ryang, too, met Pa-sun's spear with a sword style like flowing water, but the tip of Pa-sun's spear pressed him like a spiraling awl.
Before long, the spearhead grazed Ho Ryang's cheek, leaving a thin cut from which red blood trickled down.
Witnessing this, the members of the Azure Dragon Unit were utterly shocked.
“I-Is what I'm seeing real...?”
“It looks like Division Leader Ho Ryang is being pushed back?”
“Is he going to lose at this rate?”
Just then, Division Leader Jin Guk, who was watching from the side, reprimanded them.
“Quiet down and watch. This is just the beginning. Isn't your division leader's Flowing Water Sword a style that strikes second?”
“Ah... yes!”
But Jin Guk was just as surprised. Pa-sun's destructive spear arts had far surpassed his expectations.
The flow of the duel soon became a one-sided assault by Pa-sun and a one-sided defense by Ho Ryang.
Pa-sun's swift spear strikes, true to the name of his Wave-Breaking Demonic Arts, were truly destructive.
The spearhead bent as it flew with fierce power, and everything it struck shattered with a deafening roar.
KANG! KWANG!
However, Ho Ryang had now resolved to face not a rabbit, but a tiger. Though the sharp spear strikes rushed him endlessly, they had only grazed his cheek that one time; after that, they failed to connect.
His elegant sword, like flowing water, would meet the incoming spear just a hand's breadth from the tip, deflecting its path and redirecting every attack.
In a way, it was to be expected.
It wasn't just because Ho Ryang's sword was like flowing water and Pa-sun's spear was based on swift attacks.
It was the difference in experience.
Ho Ryang and Pa-sun's internal energy was similar.
No, in fact, Pa-sun had slightly more.
With Mu-heun's help, Pa-sun had expelled his impurities and opened his meridians, allowing him to train under the most ideal conditions for a warrior.
On top of that, he had mastered the efficient internal energy cultivation method Mu-heun had created for him, building his martial foundation at an incredible speed.
On such a foundation, he had consumed elixirs that most people wouldn't see in their entire lives, and even had Mu-heun's direct assistance...
His abnormal growth would have been enough to surpass anyone of a similar age.
Therefore, what he lacked was, indeed, experience.
The sparring he had done only with Mu-heun and Un-pyo had actually become a poison.
Sparring with Un-pyo, who crushed opponents with his tyrannical saber techniques, was completely different from facing Ho Ryang, who elegantly deflected attacks and subdued opponents with counter-strikes.
Furthermore, his training sessions with the vastly superior Mu-heun were far from a real battle.
That was why Pa-sun was growing deeply flustered.
‘I clearly had the momentum at the start, didn't I? What is this strange flow?’
When he thought he saw an opening at the right shoulder and thrust, the attack would immediately be redirected, and his spear tip would end up pointing somewhere else entirely.
Once his spear was sent astray, continuing the combination was difficult, and he couldn't shake the feeling that his momentum was being constantly broken.
Pa-sun quickly reset his stance, redistributed his internal energy, and attacked again. But Ho Ryang, as if waiting, deflected the attack once more.
*Pant, pant.*
‘Ho Ryang's expression is still calm. At this rate, I'll be the first to tire and lose. What on earth do I have to do to win?’
While Pa-sun was growing impatient, Mu-heun had other thoughts.
‘It's definitely an overwhelming difference in experience. However, Ho Ryang is just as flustered.’
That was right.
Ho Ryang, too, was flustered.
He knew Pa-sun had achieved a remarkable level of skill despite having learned martial arts for only a short time.
‘But to this extent?’
This was absurd. Not only did his internal energy surpass his own, but even when he deliberately broke Pa-sun's combinations, the man would instantly correct his posture and attack again.
In other words, it was difficult just to deflect his attacks.
‘What in the world is this? This destructive spear art. Does this even make sense?’
*Pant, pant.*
A fierce exchange where the next moment was impossible to predict.
It was a life-or-death struggle between one trying to thrust with a spear and one trying to deflect with a sword.
However, the one expending more stamina was not the deflector, but the thruster.
His surprise was brief; Ho Ryang was now calmly guiding the duel.
‘Pa-sun's spear strikes always carry powerful internal energy, but there must be a limit. I'll focus my energy only on the point of contact with his spear, using minimal internal energy. That will conserve my own, and if I bide my time, a chance to turn the tables will surely come.’
Ho Ryang maintained a defensive posture at all times, preserving his stamina.
Mu-heun watched the duel unfold and thought.
‘If this continues, he will lose.’