Chapter 143: Counter Form (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 143: Counter Form (2)
An Elder of the Namgung Clan and the successor of the Divine Sword Geum Family.
The crowd, having gathered at the sudden news of a duel, buzzed with excitement upon hearing the man’s introduction.
It was hard enough to believe that such a young-looking man was an Elder of the Namgung Clan, but what was this nonsense about him being the successor to the Divine Sword Geum Family?
However, looking at the golden dragon faintly shimmering atop his black martial robes, no one dared to doubt his words.
In fact, that divine technique was even more astonishing than his titles. To manifest and anchor such intricate patterns of qi onto thin fabric was a feat in itself.
“I am Ju Cheol-yak, General Cheonyang of the Imperial Capital.”
Furthermore, the middle-aged man standing opposite him was a Great General of the Empire.
The murmurs in the crowd grew louder.
The Shaolin Abbot stepped through the air, taking his place high above the arena.
“I am Deok-seong, the Abbot of Shaolin.”
The Abbot? The Abbot of the Shaolin Temple?
The Abbot rarely showed himself in public. Even the management of this Yongbong Gathering had been left to one of the Shaolin Elders.
So why was the Abbot here?
The spectators’ minds struggled to process the sheer weight of the situation.
“The originally scheduled duel has been postponed by a day. However, I advise the juniors present: watch this match with every ounce of your focus. You will be hard-pressed to witness a duel of this caliber anywhere else.”
At the Abbot’s words, the eyes of all the Rising Stars lit up.
Chun-bong, Namgung Su-ah, and Namgung Myeong also focused on the impending duel in utter silence.
“You may begin at your own discretion.”
Having spoken, the Abbot looked down at the arena from midair.
It seemed like a nonchalant gesture, but it made perfect sense. For martial artists of their caliber, a starting signal was meaningless.
Naturally, neither Seo-jun nor Ju Cheol-yak had any complaints.
Screee—
Both men drew their swords and watched each other closely.
Ju Cheol-yak made the first move.
Thump!
He carved a heavy step into the ground. Simultaneously, he swung down the sword he had silently raised.
The distance between them vanished in an instant. The sun-like Sword Astral Qi erupting from Ju Cheol-yak’s blade slammed down onto the arena.
K-BOOOOOM—!!!
Blistering heat exploded outward, engulfing the arena.
“Aaaah...!”
“I-I’m going to die...!”
The terrified commoners screamed. High above, the Abbot silently pressed his right hand down toward the empty air.
Wung—
A profound Buddhist aura descended, suppressing the flames surging outside the arena.
The spectators sighed in relief.
Paying them no mind, the Abbot continued to watch the duel without blinking.
Boom!
Ju Cheol-yak’s offensive continued.
His sword carried a domineering energy, relentlessly trying to overwhelm his opponent.
“A brat like you dares to run his mouth...!”
Flames bloomed along every trajectory his sword traced, while Seo-jun busily swung his own blade to counter them.
Clang!
Deflecting Ju Cheol-yak’s blade, Seo-jun leaped into the air and thrust his sword forward.
Ju Cheol-yak sneered. Is that all?
Clang! With a twist of his wrist, he swung his sword wide, knocking Seo-jun’s blade aside.
Ju Cheol-yak immediately lunged forward, delivering a massive horizontal slash.
Whoosh!
Blazing flames followed the horizontal arc. Seo-jun rapidly swung his sword once more.
Clang!
The trajectory of the deflected sword shifted slightly. But it wasn't enough.
Then, one more time.
Clang!
The entire exchange happened in a mere heartbeat.
Cl-clang! The sounds overlapped into a single ring of metal.
After being parried twice, Ju Cheol-yak’s sword finally veered wildly off course.
However, Ju Cheol-yak only smiled.
He was the one controlling the flow of the battle. Since the duel began, he hadn't lost his momentum even once.
Those watching the duel felt the same way.
“It seems it was still too early for him to face the Great General.”
“It’s a shame to see such a talent broken like this.”
Being forced to kneel and apologize in front of everyone—for a proud Super Peak martial artist, it could be a fatal blow to their pride.
To reach the highest heights, one needed absolute confidence in oneself above all else.
Some worried that today’s experience might become an Inner Demon, breaking the young man's path forever.
Pae Jin-gwang furrowed his brows in confusion.
‘What is he doing?’
It was true that Ju Cheol-yak was highly skilled, but he wasn't good enough to push that brat this far.
In fact, it didn't even look like Seo-jun was trying to counterattack.
Normally, he was the type of madman who would thrust his blade forward even if his own heart was being pierced.
Well, then again, it was always hard to tell what that brat was thinking.
In times like this, there was a simple solution.
He just had to check the reaction of the Geum Family’s daughter—the girl the brat called Chun-bong.
He focused his vision, searching for Chun-bong’s face among the crowd, and indeed...
‘He’s definitely up to something.’
Half-worried, half-exasperated, Chun-bong was looking at Seo-jun with a very strange expression.
Just as he suspected, Chun-bong had already grasped Seo-jun’s true intentions.
‘That look...’
It was the exact expression he wore when he was thoroughly toying with an opponent.
To others, it might just look like a serious face, but Chun-bong knew better.
That bastard is definitely planning to cause a massive scene.
“Stop scurrying around like a rat!”
Ju Cheol-yak stomped his foot and lunged with his shoulder. His heavy armor made the tackle a deadly weapon in itself.
As Seo-jun retreated, Ju Cheol-yak violently twisted his waist.
His firmly planted foot acted as an axis, transferring explosive power through his waist, into his arm, and finally into his sword.
The Heaven-Sun Imperial Extreme Fire Divine Art was pushed to its absolute limit, causing Ju Cheol-yak’s entire body to blaze like a miniature sun.
Rumble—
A strike carrying absurd, world-shattering power descended upon Seo-jun.
The few martial artists capable of following the movement gasped.
“Oh no...!”
If that hit cleanly, Seo-jun's life would be forfeit.
It was then that the anomaly occurred.
Flash!
With a light, almost casual swing of Seo-jun’s sword, Ju Cheol-yak’s blade was completely deflected, soaring harmlessly into empty space.
Not only that, but the "sun" manifested by the Heaven-Sun Imperial Extreme Fire Divine Art flickered out helplessly, like a snuffed candle.
“...!”
The moment Ju Cheol-yak’s eyes widened in shock, Seo-jun smirked.
“Imperial martial arts ain't that big of a deal, either.”
Golden Sword Astral Qi blazed to life atop Seo-jun’s blade.
“Nonsense!”
Ju Cheol-yak quickly withdrew his sword and spun his body. Using his planted foot as an axis once more, he launched another fierce thrust.
A blazing sun rose at the tip of his straight thrust.
It was a strike that seemingly could not be dodged or parried.
Ju Cheol-yak had already calculated his subsequent moves as he thrust, but it was all for naught.
Pfft—
The roaring sun died out without even putting up a fight.
At the exact same moment, Seo-jun’s sword wrapped around Ju Cheol-yak’s blade and rotated.
Shing! Sparks flew as the two blades ground against each other, violently throwing Ju Cheol-yak’s arm upward.
The ultimate strike had been perfectly parried.
“That’s...!”
A Wudang Elder leaped to his feet in shock.
“A Counter Form...! A Counter Form for the Heaven-Sun Imperial Extreme Fire Divine Art!?”
It wasn't just a simple parry.
Seo-jun had seen through the core principles of the martial art and completely dismantled it from its very foundation.
What was it that every sect feared most?
The moment a sect’s martial arts were countered, their power plummeted.
Yet, paradoxically, it was something most sects never actively worried about.
Because creating a true Counter Form was practically impossible.
To create one, a martial artist first had to know the targeted martial art inside and out. Furthermore, the one executing the Counter Form had to see deep into their opponent’s mind.
It might be possible at a low level. If one saw through the mere Form of a basic martial art, countering it wasn't impossible.
But as the level of mastery increased, martial arts became far more than just simple sword swings. Even if one knew the Form, the only real options were to block or dodge.
That was the norm.
Martial arts changed depending on the user, as did the Mental Imagery imbued within the techniques.
A Counter Form wasn't something that could just be whipped up after clashing blades a few times.
“What kind of sorcery is this...!”
Ju Cheol-yak also felt it instinctively. His previous strike had been flawlessly countered.
Gritting his teeth, he unleashed the Heaven-Sun Imperial Extreme Fire Divine Art at its full ten-tenths power.
A sword carrying a massive, roaring inferno swung down from above.
“It’s a 'sorcery' that someone like you couldn't use even if I taught you.”
Seo-jun responded calmly.
He swung his sword upward, a radiant golden dragon coiling around the blade.
The internal energy flowing through Ju Cheol-yak’s body, the trajectory of his swinging sword, his Mental Imagery, and the core functions of the Heaven-Sun Imperial Extreme Fire Divine Art—
Seo-jun had already seen through it all.
Ju Yang-il and Ju Cheol-yak had simply shown their martial arts too many times.
They never should have done that—at least, not in front of Seo-jun.
Yellow Dragon Breaking the Heavens.
The golden dragon opened its maw wide and crunched down on the blazing sun, swallowing it whole.
Once again, Ju Cheol-yak’s arm was violently knocked upward, leaving a look of utter bewilderment on his face.
Slap!
A sharp, stinging pain erupted across his cheek.
Ju Cheol-yak stared at Seo-jun with trembling eyes.
“You... you arrogant brat...!”
A slap? He couldn't be insulted like this—not him, not Ju Cheol-yak.
His rage shattered all limits.
He forcibly corrected his broken posture and immediately followed up with another attack.
Ju Cheol-yak’s sword swung with a momentum more ferocious than ever before.
‘This is it...!’
He felt it in his bones. This was the finest strike he had ever delivered in his entire life.
He would take the boy’s head with this single blow.
The sword, swinging in a flawless arc, lunged straight for Seo-jun’s neck.
And a mocking sneer played on Seo-jun’s lips.
“I told you, it won't work.”
His left hand, empty of a weapon, reached out. It fearlessly intercepted the sword's path and snatched the blade right out of the air.
Thud.
The lethal blade was caught firmly in Seo-jun’s bare hand. Ju Cheol-yak stared blankly.
Seo-jun’s lips curled upward.
“Dumbass.”
Slap!
Struck across the cheek again, Ju Cheol-yak staggered.
Slap!
And another one.
Reeling from the humiliation, Ju Cheol-yak immediately regained his stance.
“Aaaaaah...!”
His eyes rolled back as the flames of the Heaven-Sun Imperial Extreme Fire Divine Art erupted wildly from his entire body.
He didn't even care about the resulting internal injuries.
He was going to kill this bastard.
Driven by that single-minded thought, he completely overtaxed his Dantian.
“I’ll kill you!”
The immense heat that had been leaking outward suddenly converged perfectly back into Ju Cheol-yak’s body.
His eyes glowed a furious red.
His sword, dyed crimson and shining with blinding intensity, fell with the crushing majesty of a ruler.
“...No progress at all.”
Seo-jun clicked his tongue.
“This isn't even fun anymore.”
The image of a golden dragon shimmered over Seo-jun’s body. Coiling its massive, serpentine form around him, the dragon opened its maw and—
Crack!
It bit down, instantly shattering Ju Cheol-yak’s sword into pieces.
“H-how...?”
Instead of answering, Seo-jun grabbed Ju Cheol-yak by the hair.
“Pathetic bastard.”
Slam!
Ju Cheol-yak’s body trembled violently as he was smashed face-first into the arena floor.
Stepping heavily onto the back of his head, Seo-jun applied pressure and offered a chilling smile.
“Goodbye.”