Cheon Sojin
"You... where the hell have you been until now?! You bastard!"
"Guyang Jihee."
Jihee strode toward me with a vicious glare in her eyes.
Still, she was supposed to be my former fiancée. Wasn't that a little too harsh?
Her gaze was full of contempt.
The reason she'd come all the way here was obvious enough.
If she wanted to get kicked in the teeth that badly, then I'd prepare something nice and big for her.
"What is it?"
"Wh-what did you say? What do you mean, what is it? You seriously don't know?! You worthless piece of trash!"
With every word I said, she practically bounced in place.
"Why?"
"You really don't know? Ha... the fact that I was once engaged to an idiot like you is a massive stain on my life."
That just made me want to toy with her even more.
I held back my laughter and shrugged.
"I don't really get it. So why'd you come?"
"Because of the ridiculous rumors you spread, I'm in an awkward position. Come clear this up right now. Right now!! Follow me."
Her attitude was absurdly haughty.
"......"
After delivering that one-sided declaration, she turned on her heel and led the way.
Did she still not understand the situation?
She was doing a terrible job of living up to the name of a famed family like Guyang.
Creaaak—
I opened the door and stepped back into my room.
"This works out."
Starting tomorrow, I'd just pick off the others one by one and challenge them to sparring matches.
From their perspective, winning would only be the expected outcome, while losing would be a complete disaster.
Who in their right mind would refuse a sparring challenge from a useless young master?
I closed my eyes and began a short meditation.
I scattered the impure energy in my body and refined the yin and yang qi even further.
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump.
"Jin Sojin!! Come out here this instant!!! What is this, some kind of joke?"
Before I knew it, three blossoms had taken root in my dantian.
At this rate, I'll be able to use Pungsinbo soon.
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump.
"Jin Sojin!! I know you're in there, so hurry up and get out here!! We don't have time!"
Having blasted through all my meridians with elixirs, my growth was absurdly fast.
Thump-thump.
Thump-thump.
"You... if you're going to come out like this, then I have my own ways...! You'll regret this...! I'll make you regret it!!"
It sounded like a line I'd heard somewhere before, but I didn't care.
Kwaaaang—
With a thunderous crash, the door was smashed apart, and Guyang Jihee glared up at me with murderous eyes.
"I said I'd make you regret it, didn't I?"
With a smug curl to her lips, Jihee walked toward me full of confidence.
That was breaking and entering.
Her hand shone as brightly as the sun.
Guyang Palm Force.
It was one of the Guyang Clan's signature martial arts, condensing the yang energy of the entire body before releasing it in an instant.
"......"
Just from the way the door had been cleanly shattered, I could tell how much force she'd used.
But that didn't mean I had just stood there helplessly when Tang Soyeong came before.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Can't you see? I told you I'd make you regret it, didn't I? This is your last chance. Come with me nicely, or I'll drag you there by force after leaving you a cripple. Choose."
She folded her arms and looked down at me with all the arrogance in the world.
I could tell she was looking down on me, and I could tell she was confident in her skills, but...
I couldn't help letting out a dry laugh.
"Go ahead."
"Are you tired or something lately? I think I heard you wrong. What did you say?"
"You didn't hear wrong. If you're so confident, then go ahead and try."
"...Jin Sojin, you... I was still giving you a chance because you're my former fiancé... Looks like I need to break one of your bones before you come to your senses. In that case, I have no choice—"
Before Jihee could finish speaking, she launched a surprise punch.
The fist packed with the internal force of a Peak expert shot toward me at blinding speed.
She had clearly mastered Guyang Fist properly; the yang energy in it was unmistakable.
That was dirty. So this was how a righteous sect member was allowed to fight?
I tilted my waist and leaned my upper body back, and her murderous fist sliced past the bridge of my nose.
"Tch!"
"......"
She clicked her tongue and kept up the assault without slowing down, but...
Did you really think that would hit?
Once I'd already seen a move once, there was no way I'd get hit by it again.
Jihee attacked with every part of her body—hands, feet, knees, everything.
Whoosh—
Her leg brushed past my hair.
"You dodge so damn well!"
"......"
Her overwhelming inner power, her martial attainments, the cramped room—everything was in her favor, and yet I slipped away from every attack by the width of a sheet of paper, or sometimes just let them slide by.
Counterattacking would have been a stretch, but blocking was child's play.
"H-heh, heeck... H-how is this...?"
Even Jihee, who had been throwing out technique after technique, seemed to realize something was off and clamped her mouth shut.
"Satisfied now?"
"You... what? There's no way... this makes no sense."
Sun and Moon Yin-Yang Divine Art was a martial art that began with the balance and harmony of yin and yang.
It was also one of the finest techniques in the history of the martial world.
Even if another art was also based on yang, it wasn't difficult to deflect it if the principles behind it were different.
"Is this all you've got?"
"......Ugh."
Guyang Jihee was a sly woman.
If she wasn't certain, she'd never rush in.
She might look calm on the outside, but inside she was probably full of unease.
But I couldn't end this here. It was about time.
"What? Scared now? Why'd you suddenly go quiet? Keep going."
"......"
She stared back at me with uncertain eyes.
At that expression, I let one corner of my mouth lift.
"That's it? I'm starting to yawn."
"...Hngh, if you get hit properly just once... you'll—!"
And who exactly was supposed to let that happen?
The force of each individual strike was certainly impressive, but she didn't understand the meaning behind the martial art at all.
Enlightenment was something profound.
...And now it was time.
I slowly walked toward the entrance.
"Really? Then go ahead and hit me. I won't dodge."
"What?"
"I said I won't dodge. Go on, hit me."
Then I raised my yin and yang qi, preparing to take the impact head-on.
"You're serious?"
"You worry too much. What would change from getting hit by a cotton-fist like yours?"
Crack—
Thinking she was being looked down on, her eyes blazed even hotter.
And, well, that wasn't entirely wrong.
"F-fine... then die—"
Thwack!
Before she could finish, Jihee drove her fist forward again.
She hadn't even intended to dodge, and yet she still tried to trick me like that.
For a righteous sect member, she was pretty damn low.
Her Guyang Fist slammed squarely into my abdomen.
Thoooom—!
And with a deafening blast, I was knocked clean out of the room.
"Huh?"
I heard her flustered voice,
and then I fell straight through to the first floor.
"Fuck! Wh-what the hell!"
"Someone fell from upstairs!!"
"What the hell is going on? Get the master, now!"
"Isn't that Jin Sojin?"
"T-the instructor! Someone's fallen from the upper floor!!"
"Huh? Isn't that Guyang Jihee?"
As the screams and commotion below grew louder, her unease only deepened with them.
"W-what do I do?"
Beating someone into submission with violence wasn't the whole game.
I hoped she'd enjoy the thing I'd prepared for her.
*
*
"So now I'm ranked 1,200th?"
"......"
No answer came.
No, that wasn't quite right. It was more accurate to say he couldn't answer.
The guy sprawled on the floor was foaming at the mouth and unconscious.
When I turned my head, I saw a crowd of people watching the sparring match.
It wasn't an official duel, so stealing a rank wasn't possible, but my evaluation had definitely gone up.
"I-is this for real? The useless young master?"
"I-is that punk really ranked 3,000th? He's gotten insanely strong!"
"He just got lucky."
"Hey, hey... the ones at the bottom usually grow fast."
"Then what are you? You're still in the 2,000s."
"...I'm not him, am I."
"And he's handsome too...."
"Quit saying pointless crap. Women really can't keep their heads when they see a pretty face, huh?"
"What did you say? You done talking?"
Voices filled with surprise, shock, and envy drifted from all around.
The sparring matches that happened every day, over and over, were honestly pretty entertaining to watch.
By now, the talk about me had already shifted to my former fiancée.
"Didn't Guyang Jihee almost beat him to death a few days ago? And he's already back on his feet. Isn't that ridiculously tough?"
"Ugh... the way she beat him senseless just to shut him up gave me chills."
"He always looked expressionless, so I thought he was just cold... turns out he was just a crazy bastard with no emotions."
"I think Jin Sojin's the impressive one. After all that, he still just forgave Guyang Jihee."
"Is that what love is? I honestly don't get it...."
"Isn't he just a pushover?"
As I descended into the training yard, the spectators naturally parted to let me through.
The stares from all directions were sharp enough to sting.
I headed straight for the martial hall.
Today was the sixth day.
That spar just now had been my final one, and I'd already completed the ten victories I'd promised Master Raeji.
More than half the people seemed to have left for the Central Plains, so there were only about half as many as there had been in the first week.
It was about time for me to leave too.
Knock, knock.
Knock, knock.
"Come in."
"Pardon me."
As soon as Master Raeji granted permission, I opened the door and stepped inside.
"Master, how do you do?"
"Ah, Sojin. You came."
Master Raeji was slowly savoring his tea.
"Master, I've returned after completing the ten sparring victories we agreed on."
"Well done. Sit down."
"You're not as surprised as I expected."
"No, I really was surprised. I had misjudged you. Through this matter, I've gained a great insight. Trusting and waiting is the most important thing of all."
"Congratulations, Master."
I was curious what exactly he'd had to endure to reach such an insight, but I didn't bother asking.
"Right. As promised, I'll grant you permission to head to the Central Plains, but do you still intend to use the name Jin Sojin?"
"No."
In the martial world, where people clung even to empty fame, his question wasn't strange.
It would be odd to keep using the Jin surname after being cast out of the Jin Family anyway.
"Then have you thought of a new name? If not, how about Rae Sojin?"
I shook my head left and right.
That name was awful.
Yeah, Cheon Sojin is better. It's familiar.
Honestly, I couldn't think of anything else.
Or should I just use my own name?
"I'll use Cheon Sojin."
And the weapon that could be called the symbol of Cheon Sojin:
The peerless divine sword inherited from the ruins of the immortals, Cheonsword.
I planned to obtain it once I reached the Tenth Blossom.
"Cheon Sojin... does that name mean something?"
Originally, it had meant becoming the sky that could embrace everyone, but I was different.
I was... yes.
Slowly, I wrote the name on the paper.
I would stand above the sky.
"Cheon Sojin."
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