Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: The Divine Dragon Assembly Opens
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Mu-heun immediately channeled his internal energy, striking Ak Jin-sam's paralysis and mute points. His pressure point technique was as precise as a physician who had practiced acupuncture for decades, leaving Ak Jin-sam unable to move or speak, completely at his mercy.
The young martial artists in the waiting room could hardly believe what they were seeing.
‘Grabbing Ak Jin-sam by the throat with one hand?’
Ak Jin-sam wasn't just a peak-level master; he was on the cusp of the transcendent realm. No, he might have already stepped into it.
He was, without a doubt, the most outstanding talent from the Red Demon Pavilion, renowned among the younger generation of the Cult. So just how powerful was Baek Mu-heun to be able to grab such a man by the throat with one hand? Was this really the profligate fourth young master of the Heavenly Dance Family?
Or was there a good reason why the Cult Leader had declared him his disciple?
The reality before them, so completely at odds with everything they had heard and believed, threw the participants into confusion.
But that lasted only a few seconds. The martial artists quickly re-evaluated the information and finished their calculations.
[ At least transcendent. ]
That was the level the participants now believed Mu-heun to have reached.
Every martial artist in the waiting room broke into a cold sweat, all thinking the same thing.
[ So this is the Cult Leader's disciple! ]
“Kh, khak.”
Although Ak Jin-sam couldn't properly circulate his energy because his paralysis point was pressed, he was also completely immobilized by the immense and menacing internal energy flowing from Mu-heun's hand.
All he could do was grip Mu-heun's arm with both hands and struggle in vain.
His violently trembling pupils called out to Kang In and Wi Gun-seong. The two, who had been too stunned to act, snapped back to their senses at the look in Ak Jin-sam's eyes.
They overcame their fear and approached.
“St-stop! Are you trying to kill him before the match?”
“What did you say…?”
As Mu-heun unleashed his killing intent, Kang In and Wi Gun-seong flinched, unable to come any closer. A chilling fear washed over them.
However, Mu-heun soon withdrew his killing intent and spoke.
“You have a point.”
Mu-heun answered curtly, then channeled his internal energy again to release the paralysis and mute points.
“Kh, hack, hack.”
Then, imbuing his throw with menacing demonic energy, he hurled Ak Jin-sam away. Kang In and Wi Gun-seong quickly lunged to catch him.
The three of them were sent staggering back a considerable distance by the force of Mu-heun's internal energy, only stopping when they slammed into the waiting room wall.
At the unbelievable sight, not only Kang In and Wi Gun-seong but all the participants were left speechless.
Yet Mu-heun, Pa-sun, and Un-pyo remained unfazed, their expressions asking why everyone was making such a fuss over a simple greeting.
* * *
From the moment I heard there was a participants' waiting room, I knew this would happen. I had anticipated that the Red Demon Pavilion would participate in the Divine Dragon Assembly, and if the Cult Leader named me his sixth disciple, an incident like this was bound to occur.
Just as I predicted, Ak Jin-sam, the representative of the Red Demon Pavilion, approached me. I deliberately subdued him in a loud and dramatic fashion, putting on a show for everyone in the waiting room, as if to say, ‘Come at me if you dare.’
There were two reasons for this.
First.
As long as the moniker ‘profligate fourth young master of the Heavenly Dance Family’ followed me, being seen as an easy target would mean dealing with countless challenges.
The only way to handle it was to establish dominance from the outset, and the best prey for that was someone reasonably skilled and famous, but also arrogant, quick to let their guard down, and hot-tempered.
Someone like Ak Jin-sam, for instance.
The man's martial prowess was outstanding, but he was careless and had no guard up. Against a foe who had let his guard down, I used a pre-planned pressure point technique to subdue him instantly. Then, after projecting some killing intent and throwing him, it was all over.
The effect was proven by the participants' reactions.
The second reason was to observe the participants' reactions after I subdued Ak Jin-sam in the waiting room.
The younger the martial artist, the more readily their expressions, gestures, gazes, sweat, and whispers reveal their thoughts. They aren't yet old enough to be skilled at hiding their true feelings. By observing them carefully, I could gather a significant amount of information.
First, the emotions I sensed from Ak Jin-sam, Kang In, and Wi Gun-seong were anger and fear. And… bewilderment.
Next, as I scanned the other participants in the room, I saw that fear, confusion, and shock were the dominant emotions, but there was something else mixed in—something unusual.
I immediately focused my attention on those who showed these different emotions.
Exhilaration? Interest, joy, wariness—there were about seven people displaying such feelings.
‘They must be transcendent masters.’
After assessing their martial prowess, it seemed unlikely that Un-pyo and Pa-sun would make it to the finals.
Anyway…
‘That Cult Leader, he’s really too much… Why did he have to reveal it now and draw all this attention, instead of waiting until after the assembly?’
I walked back to the center of the waiting room and looked around at the participants.
Their tense expressions were plain to see. With an indifferent look, I spoke in a low voice.
“Don’t act rashly.”
My low voice was laced with menacing demonic energy.
And so, the Divine Dragon Assembly began.
* * *
- The Martial Arts Stage on Heaven and Earth Lake
The event was hosted by Gu Yeom, the head of the Wave Sound Family. Beside a drum as large as a house, just outside Heaven and Earth Lake, two burly men stood ready to strike it.
When Gu Yeom gave the signal with his hand, the men struck the drum with all their might.
*Boom!*
Along with the beat of the drum, Gu Yeom shouted.
“Now, let the first match begin!”
“Waaaaaaaaaah!”
A thunderous roar erupted from the audience.
The Divine Dragon Assembly had finally begun in earnest.
“The first match is Seol Ha-ryeong of the Sacred Fire Palace versus Wi Ji-seung of the Dream Crow Pavilion!”
As the Dream Crow Pavilion Lord, Bul-wi, and the Sun and Moon Divine Maiden, Mi-wol, watched the stage intently, Seol Ha-ryeong and Wi Ji-seung boarded a boat and ascended to the martial arts stage.
Gu Yeom asked the two of them.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes!”
*Boom!*
“Let the match begin!”
Wi Ji-seung of the Dream Crow Pavilion made the first move. A green storm erupted from his feet as they touched the ground. The storm swirled around his body before finally gathering on his sword, exuding a fierce aura.
Pointing the tip of his sword at Seol Ha-ryeong, Wi Ji-seung refined the storm.
“Wind Demon Eighteen Swords. Third Sword. Storm's Severance.”
A powerful storm dragon shot across the stage, rushing toward Seol Ha-ryeong.
But Seol Ha-ryeong simply held a white fan, a leisurely smile on her face. To be precise, her smile was hidden behind the fan, but her composure was so clear that everyone could feel it.
*Kwaang!*
The storm-clad sword energy struck Seol Ha-ryeong. Or so it seemed.
“…What was that!”
The audience murmured in surprise.
Seol Ha-ryeong's form blurred and then vanished completely. It was a special technique that could only be achieved by combining swift movement arts and superb footwork, something any martial artist would recognize.
It was an afterimage.
“Is… is that an afterimage displacement?”
At that moment, Wi Ji-seung felt a cold breeze on his back.
*Paaang!*
A sound like the air itself exploding rang out, and Wi Ji-seung was sent flying forward, stunned that he had exposed his back.
Seol Ha-ryeong had swung her fan, and a frigid, icy wind struck Wi Ji-seung's back.
“Keuk!”
Wi Ji-seung used a foot technique to stomp the ground and halt his momentum, then located Seol Ha-ryeong. She stood unmoving in the spot where she had appeared behind him.
But…
*Crack-crackle*
“This is…”
Wi Ji-seung tried to assess the pain in his back. It wasn't the pain of a wound torn open by a blade-like wind. The source of the pain was a chilling cold energy that stiffened his muscles and meridians, damaged his blood vessels, and impaired his entire body's functions.
That's right. Seol Ha-ryeong of the Sacred Fire Palace was a practitioner of ice arts.
Even as he was sent flying, Wi Ji-seung had twisted around to swing his sword, but Seol Ha-ryeong had blocked it with ease.
With his back half-frozen in an instant, Wi Ji-seung circulated his energy to drive out the cold, but his back and shoulder muscles twisted unnaturally.
*Twitch, twitch*
“Kuaaaargh!”
Enduring the pain, Wi Ji-seung raised his sword. A sword wind shot out from his swing, riding the air and splitting into twenty pieces as it flew toward Seol Ha-ryeong.
Wind Demon Eighteen Swords, Fourth Sword. Wind Demon's Twenty Slashes. The sword winds, boasting a vicious cutting power, rushed at Seol Ha-ryeong.
It was an omnidirectional attack, on a completely different level from before, launched with the possibility of her dodging in mind.
*Swiiish!*
It looked as if it would slice Seol Ha-ryeong to pieces at any moment.
But Seol Ha-ryeong once again employed a special footwork, freezing the floor and gliding across it with fluid grace. To the audience, she looked like a celestial maiden from a snow mountain, skating across the ice.
As Seol Ha-ryeong elegantly deflected the sword winds, not one of the twenty blades of wind could even graze her.
“H-how can this be…”
“Let’s end this.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
Wi Ji-seung endured the pain of frostbite on his back and pushed his internal energy to its absolute limit.
“Twenty-Eight Path Wind Demon Sword!”
A storm erupted from Wi Ji-seung's sword, and the storm-wreathed blade fiercely cut through the air, forming sword paths.
The storm's paths multiplied from one to two, two to four, until they became too numerous to count. It was then that Seol Ha-ryeong made her move.
“Myriad Ice Snow Flowers.”
Seol Ha-ryeong pointed her completely folded fan at Wi Ji-seung. The air seemed to stiffen as a frigid cold energy washed over his sword winds.
And then, something truly astonishing happened.
Snowflakes began to bud around Wi Ji-seung, right where his storm paths were raging. The cold energy absorbed the moisture in the air, condensing it to form a net of flowers that soon enveloped him.
Then, Seol Ha-ryeong snapped open her folded fan and said.
“Bloom.”
*Fwoosh!*
As Seol Ha-ryeong's fan opened, the Myriad Ice Snow Flowers bloomed in full, the snowflakes blanketing Wi Ji-seung and freezing him solid. The fierce storm lost its power, weakened, and dissipated into the wind.
“H-how…”
The storm was silenced by the snowflakes.
The snowflakes blooming from Wi Ji-seung's toes crept up his feet, legs, waist, torso, and neck. Soon, the frosty flowers froze even his eyes, nose, and mouth…
“N-no—”
…Wi Ji-seung could not finish his sentence.
Wi Ji-seung, frozen solid.
Seol Ha-ryeong brought the fully opened fan to her face.
Then, with another snap, she closed it.
*Crack!*
The ice shattered, and Wi Ji-seung collapsed. Seol Ha-ryeong, still covering her mouth with the fan, spoke.
“Hoho, you worked hard.”
The physicians on standby rushed over at Gu Yeom's nod, and the fallen Wi Ji-seung was carried away on a stretcher.
Seol Ha-ryeong smiled with composure as if nothing had happened. Seeing the outcome, Gu Yeom announced.
“The winner is Seol Ha-ryeong of the Sacred Fire Palace!”
“Waaaaaaaaaah!”
*Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!*
A tremendous roar poured from the audience.
“You can tell she’s incredibly strong just by looking.”
“I’m a layman when it comes to martial arts. Is that considered strong?”
“This fellow! You’re asking the obvious!”
“Haha, I know she’s strong, but I don’t have a sense of *how* strong.”
The spectator who didn't understand scratched his head, while the one who liked to show off his knowledge shrugged his shoulders.
“Those who learn martial arts from a young age within our Cult, especially those from good families, usually become first-rate warriors by the time they come of age.”
“What about them?”
“At that level, she’s easily surpassed the peak realm. Reaching the peak by thirty means you've trained diligently and have innate talent.”
Other spectators nearby gathered to eavesdrop.
“So, are there people even stronger than them?”
“Yes, the rare geniuses reach the peak in their twenties and the transcendent realm by their thirties. They say there are an unusual number of peak masters in this tournament, and at least seven at the transcendent level.”
“Huh… I see. I’ve learned something new.”
“Hehe, right?”
Mu-heun also watched Seol Ha-ryeong's match with great interest.
Seol Ha-ryeong, who had won the first match with overwhelming skill, returned to the waiting room. Her jade-white skin, white hair, and blue eyes were quite distinctive.
However…
Seol Ha-ryeong looked toward Mu-heun and smiled.
Was it just my imagination?
This feeling…
Ah, that exhilaration from before? What is she up to…?