Chapter 144: Appointment Ceremony (2)
It was absurd.
Who did he think I was?
I was the Seal Master of the Tang Clan.
This wasn't some ragtag group of Tangs from a backwater village—it was the mighty Tang Clan of Sichuan.
Anyone brazen enough to point a sword at their Seal Master like this had to be out of their mind.
Just like the man standing before me now.
He was a handsome man clad in splendid white and gold martial robes. In this Murim Return world, those who had reached high realms of cultivation were mostly stunning beauties and dashing heroes, but this one was among the elite—truly top-tier.
If he hadn't been a total rock-head, I might have even admired him.
But no, he wasn't just a rock-head. He was a goddamn boulder-brained idiot.
"Draw your sword already!"
"And who might you be?"
At my question, the man twitched his eyebrows and declared,
"The Jade-Faced Sword Dragon, Mo Yong Hak."
Ah.
Mo Yong... that rang a bell.
Mo Yong Su.
The bastard I'd run into right after possessing this body in the Murim Return world.
The old hypocrite who'd embodied every cliché of the righteous faction's self-righteousness came to mind.
Now that I thought about it...
Their faces do overlap.
Of course, the man before me was far younger and more handsome, but they clearly shared close blood ties. Same surname, after all.
But why point a sword at me?
I had no prior acquaintance with Mo Yong Hak. And the incident with Mo Yong Su hadn't been exposed either.
For a moment, it felt like I was back in the Divine Cult. There, this kind of thing would be par for the course.
But this was the martial world—the heart of the righteous faction's territory, where great causes and honor mattered most.
They couldn't act like this.
I met Mo Yong Hak's gaze.
Ever since falling into this world, I'd spent so much time reading people's intentions that now, I could usually tell what someone was thinking just from their eyes.
Those eyes.
There was no fighting spirit for a spar in them.
He's cornered.
Those were the eyes of a man backed into a desperate spot.
Why?
"If you won't draw your sword—"
Mo Yong Hak released the scabbard in his left hand.
Before it even hit the ground.
"—I'll cut you down!"
In an instant, a cluster of radiant light gathered on Mo Yong Hak's blade and shot toward me.
Time Wheel Jade deployed. Time slows.
This guy's insane.
Pa Cheon activated the power of the Time Wheel Jade. Time dragged to a crawl, making Mo Yong Hak's sword move at a yawn-inducing pace.
Lately, the warriors I'd faced had been piercing through the Time Wheel Jade's effect with blistering speed, so encountering a slow one felt almost nostalgic.
Peak realm, mid-tier at least. No need to even draw the Pa Cheon Sword.
Even Pa Cheon sounded utterly relaxed.
Might as well enjoy the swordplay show since we're here. That looks like the Meteor Sword.
The Mo Yong Clan boasted two signature sword arts.
Meteor Sword and Piercing Star Sword.
Mo Yong Hak's blade, scattering star-like bursts of energy, was the Meteor Sword. The swift strike Mo Yong Su had used against me in the Soul Swap Great Law's cave ruin was the Piercing Star Sword.
Not a bad idea. The Meteor Sword is a righteous sword art the Mo Yong Clan developed after joining the righteous faction—worth studying. I'll release the Time Wheel Jade. I'll guide your steps.
A genius like Pa Cheon could easily predict trajectories when time itself had slowed.
I stepped back one pace to the right rear, just as Pa Cheon instructed.
Swoosh!
The sword, enveloped in light, grazed past where my shoulder had been a moment before.
"!?"
Mo Yong Hak's eyes widened in shock, clearly stunned that I'd dodged so effortlessly.
"Hah!"
With a shout, he twisted his wrist, reversing the blade's arc and slashing diagonally down toward me from my right rear.
Impressive. Not some profound shift, but an honest reversal—securing reliable power with minimal waste. Left one pace, then half-pace forward.
Pa Cheon gleefully began dismantling Mo Yong Hak's technique.
Half-pace back, rotate body left.
Light jump's fine. Jump, then spin back to brace for the follow-up.
Curious about his defense. After this attack, press forward three paces.
I lunged forward instead, following Pa Cheon's lead.
"Hup!"
Startled, Mo Yong Hak raised his sword vertically, flat side out, left hand bracing behind it in a defensive stance.
Linking points for offense, using surfaces for defense? Interesting. Fall back.
Mo Yong Hak stared at my movements like he'd seen a ghost.
I'd have done the same.
With the Time Wheel Jade slowing time, Pa Cheon wasn't just countering—he was dissecting the principles behind every move in that brief exchange.
One flaw: no killing intent. For someone picking a fight this boldly, that's unexpected.
Really?
Most strikes veer from vitals, aimed at suppression. So soft, like true martial world folk.
Not entirely.
When Mo Yong Su had unleashed Piercing Star Sword on me, it carried lethal intent. Martial artists and righteous folk alike could kill when pushed.
Mo Yong Hak simply hadn't intended to kill me—he was just provoking.
Grind.
My thoughts cut short.
I could see Mo Yong Hak grit his teeth.
Then his hand traced a bizarre path.
Hoh... the blade tip mimics the North Star's rotation.
I gave up trying to follow Pa Cheon's genius. In this world's lore, prodigies were all like that anyway.
"Try blocking this!"
A far denser cluster of starlight gathered on Mo Yong Hak's sword, swirling in rings along the blade.
Anyone could tell it was a finishing move.
Imitating a vortex. Your call, demon.
Pa Cheon's assessment was cutting.
Clash head-on, and he'd get hurt?
Lucky, maybe light internal injuries.
Unlucky meant serious wounds.
Come to think of it, yeah.
In the Divine Cult, fights ended in one strike or you died—so all my techniques were lethally potent.
With Time Wheel Jade slowing time, if Pa Cheon went full vortex or ultra-vibration, Mo Yong Hak could end up sliced into Mo/Yong/Hak pieces. Or more.
Fun to toy with a Peak expert like this, but...
No non-lethal suppression moves.
Noted.
Then chatter a bit and pin him with Domination.
Got it.
Ending my exchange with Pa Cheon, I addressed Mo Yong Hak.
"Sheathe your sword, young hero."
"I can't."
"I am the Tang Clan's Seal Master. Attacking me like this could be seen as an assault on the Tang Clan itself."
"I don't care."
His words said one thing, but his eyes wavered.
Post-rush clarity must have hit—dizzying regret.
This wasn't the front yard; it was deep inside Tang Clan grounds.
"I don't know your reasons, but sheathe it now, and we can call it even."
"I must defeat you."
Mo Yong Hak ground his teeth and continued.
"Only then can my clan—"
That was when it happened.
Zing!
A needle-like prickle stabbed through my entire body.
Then its source crossed the threshold.
A handsome youth in blue martial robes.
Mo Yong Hak wasn't a major character in the original, so harder to spot at a glance—but this man?
Blue robes and those piercing eyes? Only one name fit a young warrior like that.
The Nangong Clan's young lord, Namgung Jin.
The problem was...
"...Brother Namgung."
"Enough, Hak. What is this disgrace against the Tang Clan's Seal Master?"
His tone was gentle. But Mo Yong Hak clenched his jaw at the words.
Figures.
I recalled the Murim Return lore.
Namgung Jin wasn't a villain. No righteous hypocrite vibes either.
Just arrogant.
The Nangong Clan was dubbed the World's Foremost Clan—the World's Foremost Clan—or World's Greatest Sword Clan, the World's Greatest Sword Clan.
They lived with unmatched pride in their name.
Even among the Five Great Clans, Ha Buk Paeng focuses on saber arts, Sichuan Tang on poisons and hidden weapons, Je Gal on formations and intellect.
So the Mo Yong Clan's pressure from Nangong was unique.
Especially since both specialized in swords.
Hence their inferiority complex.
Mo Yong Su cozying up to Maeng Wi Hak stemmed from that—to counter Nangong's Sword King, they needed a Sword Saint.
Anyway.
Hearing Namgung Jin, Mo Yong Hak's face twisted in humiliation as he slowly dispersed the energy coiling around his sword.
Domination intent suppresses foe.
The Nangong young lord's words scare him more than the Tang Seal Master's? What a mess.
It spoke to the tangled power dynamics even among the Five Great Clans.
"Hmph."
Mo Yong Hak spun on his heel, shoving Namgung Jin's shoulder as he stormed out of the annex, robes flapping.
Namgung Jin glanced at his shoulder, then straightened his attire and offered me a refined cupped-fist salute with a charming smile.
"Greetings. I am Namgung Jin of the Nangong Clan. In the martial world, they overgenerously call me the Sky-Soaring One Dragon."
His poise was so impeccable, no one could fault it—pure elegance.
Perfect reference material for impersonating Sado Hwan.
I returned the salute.
"I am Kim Dong Yun, Seal Master of the Tang Clan."
"I never imagined the Sword Dragon from the East would be such a magnanimous soul."
"You flatter me."
"Flattery? I'm merely stating facts, haha!"
His eyes smiled, but I caught him scanning me head to toe.
These Nangong bastards.
Not one betrayed their arrogance—even a hair's breadth.
Classic wuxia cliché, after all.
"Please overlook young Hak's rudeness just now. I'd be grateful."
"It's not for me to decide."
"He wasn't always so reckless. But since Elder Mo Yong Su vanished a few months back, he's been on edge—digging everywhere for the truth, or so it seems."
"It's fine. These things happen."
"Haha, as expected, so forgiving!"
There was something exhausting about Namgung Jin's faux humility. Not like being hit with a spell, but the constant need to calculate every word in conversation.
I was about to end it, claiming fatigue.
If not for his next words.
"By the way, didn't three of the Five Dragons arrive at the Tang Clan first this time?"
"Embarrassing, really."
"Which brings me to this."
Namgung Jin smiled.
"How about we hold the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly while we're all here?"