Adding a Halo
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Who are you, to dare run wild in our Cheonun Sect?!"
One of the Cheonun Sect disciples at the neighboring table slammed his palm down and shot to his feet.
"If it's a fight you want, I'll take you on! The name's Jo Ja-cheong!"
But before he could even finish, Yeop Pung cut in with a smile.
"Senior Brother Jo, calm down! Come, sit. Let's talk this through..."
"Yeop Pung, you—?"
This explosive-tempered Senior Brother Jo did not know Yeop Pung's ways. As a rule, Yeop Pung rarely smiled when he was having a proper conversation with anyone — but when he spoke with a smile, it was never good news.
In that moment Yeop Pung beamed like a flower in full bloom as he looked the imposing Sa Cheonseong up and down.
"Well now... Brother Sa Cheonseong, it's been a while. You dressed up quite splendidly tonight!"
At that single remark, everyone who realized the identity of the warrior in white armor across from them went rigid with shock.
Sa Cheonseong? That Sa Cheonseong — the runner-up of the Autumn Hunt?
The sight of Yeop Pung's smiling face sat poorly with Sa Cheonseong. He had come to Gangun Peak tonight for one reason: to settle the grudge from a month ago at Taibai Peak. The mere thought of it still kept him awake at night, burning with rage. The championship that should have been his had been stolen by this brat.
And now the brat was standing there smiling?
"Yeop Pung!"
Sa Cheonseong's voice was ice.
"There's nothing to discuss. Come down and fight me. I'll show everyone who the true champion of the Hunt really is."
"That would be you, of course!"
Sa Cheonseong nearly choked on the words.
Yeop Pung smiled, lifted the wine cup from the table, and drank at an unhurried pace.
"A hollow title like champion of the Hunt? If you want it, it's yours. Why take it so seriously?"
Sa Cheonseong faltered. He had never tasted Yeop Pung's venomous tongue at Taibai Peak — but he was beginning to suspect that conversing with this smiling boy had been a serious mistake.
"Yeop Pung, don't try to win with words..."
He was furious, yet his face remained a blank mask.
"A weakling like you just got lucky once. From now on, I'll show everyone—"
"Hmm? Senior Brother Hwa, the moon is awfully round tonight. Come, come — under moonlight this fine we ought to drink at least three cups. I'll go first. Follow me."
Yeop Pung turned to Hwa Cheonpung beside him and started drinking.
"Hmm. Brother Sa Cheonseong, why'd you stop talking? It's fine, go on. Even if you ramble a bit, never get to the point, and it's all useless noise, I can still listen. Don't stop. Keep going!"
Crunch.
Everyone clearly heard Sa Cheonseong grinding his teeth.
I told you not to take Yeop Pung's bait. Why can't you remember? Are you that eager to be humiliated by him?
Yi Hwawu, standing nearby, flicked a glance at Yeop Pung, then immediately turned to Yeom Jin-ri beside him and spoke with perfect courtesy.
"Peak Master, this Young Master Sa Cheonseong is a Thousand-Man Commandant of the Heavenly Phoenix Legion. He attended tonight's banquet at Peak Master Han's invitation. He holds our Cheonun Sect's young talents in high regard and wishes to exchange pointers on this occasion. I ask for the Peak Master's permission."
Addressing the Peak Master directly like that was the smarter play.
As everyone could tell, Sa Cheonseong had not come with good intentions tonight. To put it bluntly, he had come to make a scene. What no one could understand was why Yi Hwawu was taking an outsider's side — or why Peak Master Han had brought an outsider here to compete against their own disciples in the first place.
And no one knew that at this very moment, a tremendous incident was unfolding at Wangcheon Hall. Compared to the disaster the Cheonun Sect was about to face, Sa Cheonseong's desire to settle his grudge with Yeop Pung at Gangun Peak was nothing more than an appetizer.
Yeom Jin-ri gazed steadily at Yi Hwawu, her brow faintly furrowed. She sensed a conspiracy lurking behind this affair. But no word had come from Cheonun Peak, and that silence only made her more uneasy. For now she had no choice but to send a disciple to Cheonun Peak to inquire about the situation. She nodded.
"In that case, please be seated first."
She had a place arranged for them. Sa Cheonseong and the warriors of the Fengsang Legion did not so much as twitch. They seemed utterly unconcerned with the dignity of a Cheonun Sect Peak Master.
"No need to sit."
Sa Cheonseong pressed his lips tight, still staring a hole through Yeop Pung.
Good heavens. Arrogant. Utterly insolent.
This Sa Cheonseong treated the Cheonun Sect as if it were his own territory, showing regard for no one's face, intent only on striking Yeop Pung. Anger had already risen in Yeom Jin-ri's eyes. Every young disciple of the Cheonun Sect present wore an expression of open displeasure.
Even if he was an expert of the Heavenly Phoenix Legion, he could not run wild like this in their Cheonun Sect. And how was it honorable for a Six Meridians expert of that caliber to target Yeop Pung? Did he think the Cheonun Sect had no one?
A clamor of scraping chairs and rising bodies filled the hall. The instant Hwa Cheonpung stood, Ma Ok, So So-un, and the others rose with him. The spirit and solidarity of the Cheonun disciples were on full display in that moment — their burning fighting will looked ready to consume both Sa Cheonseong and Gangun Peak itself.
Facing that fierce momentum, Yi Hwawu remained expressionless. Sa Cheonseong coldly curled the corner of his mouth.
"Yeop Pung, still hiding behind others like a rat, are you? Fine. I'll beat these gilded frauds first, then deal with you!"
Sa Cheonseong walked toward the scroll floating in the air. He clasped both hands before his chest, lifted his chin high toward the entire assembly, and snorted.
"Well then. Who's first?"
Hwa Cheonpung was about to step forward without a second's hesitation — but Yeop Pung moved in front of him first, smiling.
"Senior Brother Hwa, since he's coming at us like that, let me take him first. If I can't win, then you can step in."
"Yeop Pung!"
Hwa Cheonpung looked at Sa Cheonseong, his face hardening.
"You probably—"
"It's fine, Senior Brother. We're just painting pictures. No one will get hurt."
Yeop Pung nodded lightly and walked toward Sa Cheonseong.
Everyone watched him take his place before the aerial scroll for the second time. But this time, his opponent was the terrifying enemy who had snapped his arm in a single blow. The atmosphere grew heavy in an instant. Every Cheonun Sect disciple held their breath. Even Un Cheoncheon quietly fixed her gaze on Yeop Pung.
In everyone's estimation, Yeop Pung had almost no chance of winning. As they had seen in his match with Hwa Cheonpung just now, his skill was at best the peak of the Five Meridians. Even using the Falling Star Sword Technique, he could only barely reach the Six Meridians realm. Sa Cheonseong, by contrast, was an absolute expert at the completion of Six Meridians. How could Yeop Pung possibly defeat him?
Even so, Yeop Pung still wore a leisurely smile. He looked at Sa Cheonseong with the expression of a cat watching a mouse.
Did this brat have some kind of plan?
Across from him, Sa Cheonseong felt a twist of unease looking at that smiling face. He wanted to punch this brat flying right this instant.
"Yeop Pung, come and die!"
With one long cry, Sa Cheonseong summoned a surge of powerful ice Profound Qi.
White Profound Qi poured into the scroll. Thin ice crystals formed across the aerial painting — the first time anyone had used their own Profound Qi to alter the scroll's original state. With a single phoenix cry, a massive ice phoenix took magnificent shape within the painting, dragging long tail feathers, radiating extreme cold as it circled and soared through the painted sky.
Its oppressive presence far surpassed the soaring eagle So So-un had created earlier. Sa Cheonseong's outstanding skill stood fully revealed.
Truly powerful.
When that ice phoenix appeared, every young Cheonun disciple present went pale. Even Hwa Cheonpung knew, with grim certainty, that he could not block this cold. Below the Spirit Realm, this man would have no rival.
How was Yeop Pung supposed to face an enemy like that? Yeop Pung... Yeop Pung was...
Wait. What was Yeop Pung looking at right now?
Everyone discovered, staring blankly, that Yeop Pung had no intention of making a move at all.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
Yeop Pung propped his chin in his hand and gazed at the phoenix in the painting for a long while. Then he suddenly looked up and spoke to Sa Cheonseong across the scroll.
"Brother Sa Cheonseong, your phoenix isn't very pretty!"
Sa Cheonseong nearly froze himself solid with his own ice energy.
"What did you say?"
He thought his ears must be wrong. Who in the world could say something like that at a moment like this?
"I said, the phoenix you drew isn't great..."
Yeop Pung went on, earnestly appraising the painting.
"Look. The ratio of the tail to the body is off. And there's no halo. How can a divine bird like a phoenix not have a halo? Hold on..."
Yeop Pung clapped his palm and summoned a bloom of golden energy.
A ring of golden radiance formed inside the painting and drifted, unhurried, over the head of the phoenix hovering blankly in midair.
Sa Cheonseong's entire body locked up.
What the hell was this? Who asked you to critique my painting? Adding a halo now? Why don't you throw in an extra handful of rice while you're at it!
Boom!
Sa Cheonseong's ice energy exploded. He nearly lunged across to strangle Yeop Pung, roaring in fury.
"Yeop Pung, have you no pride as a martial artist?! Do you not even know what a fight is?!"
"Huh?"
Yeop Pung spread his hands with an even more innocent expression.
"A fight? You said we'd fight by our rules, didn't you? Our senior already said tonight's contest is about who paints the more magnificent Profound Qi picture. Your little operation here isn't great... Wait, don't move — I'll draw you a phoenix!"
What's he stalling for, going this far?
Sa Cheonseong had no intention of waiting for Yeop Pung to paint a phoenix. He felt it had been a mistake to play along with this farce. From the start, he had come to beat Yeop Pung into the ground.
"Get lost!"
Never in his life had Sa Cheonseong been so angry at someone that he lost all reason. He no longer cared about Profound Qi paintings. He punched straight across the painting at Yeop Pung's face, his fist carrying a blast of frigid ice energy.
"A sudden attack is against the rules!"
Yeop Pung cried out in surprise — but as if he had anticipated it all along, lightning flashed beneath his feet as he retreated backward.
"Junior Sister So! Lend me your sword!"
With a light shout, gold light exploded from Yeop Pung's hand. The Falling Star Sword Technique shone once more.