Chapter 157: Round of 16 (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 157: Round of 16 (3)
If one were to list the most dangerous places in the Central Plains, its deep mountains and remote valleys would always make the cut.
Why would mere mountains be dangerous?
Some might point to demonic beasts as the reason.
They wouldn't be wrong. Occasionally, demonic beasts that have reached a profound level of cultivation through years of seclusion in the deep woods do emerge.
However, that wasn't the decisive reason.
The biggest threat was the reclusive masters.
These eccentric experts had turned their backs on the red dust of the mortal world to shut themselves away in the mountains.
Those who were merely at the Peak Realm were just half-wits intoxicated by the romance of seclusion. The real problem lay with those at the Super Peak or Transcendent Realm, who buried themselves in the mountains under the guise of secluded training.
According to rumors circulating in the Murim, there were more Transcendent Realm masters hidden away in the mountains than there were active in the world.
This wasn't a baseless claim.
In fact, there were quite a few Transcendent Realm martial artists in the deep mountains who devoted themselves entirely to their practice.
Having cast aside the tiresome grudges and endless debts of the martial world, they walked the path of cultivation solely to reach the realm of the gods.
Since most of them placed zero value on worldly affairs, their fundamental morals and values were entirely alien, making them extremely dangerous to encounter.
Another reason was secret organizations.
These were the lunatics who didn't fit into the broad categories of the Righteous, Evil, or Demonic factions.
However, if one were to face them alone, they would find it very difficult to call them mere "lunatics."
A famous example was the Blood Cult.
They were madmen who sought to bring their god down to the mortal realm.
In the past, they had actually come close to succeeding, forcing the Righteous and Evil factions to unite and pull them out by the roots. (The Demonic Cult hadn't cared one way or the other.)
It was only natural. If their god truly descended to the mortal realm, everyone—from the Transcendent Realm to the Super Peak—would be wiped out.
The Transcendent Realm masters, who acutely felt the daunting height of the wall that was the Profound Realm, were even more adamant.
A god roaming the mortal realm without restriction was no trivial matter.
It was enough of a threat to make the Transcendent Realm masters of the Righteous and Evil factions join forces for the first time in the history of the Central Plains, so no further explanation was needed.
And there, deep within those mountains and remote valleys...
A man listened to the whispers of the birds.
"I see... So the Divine Blood still remains..."
The man soon entered a shabby building.
A single crystal ball sat in the corner. Placing his hand on this Western artifact, the man relayed the news to his like-minded comrades.
— You say a successor of the Divine Blood remains?
"Indeed. I'm told he is of the lineage of the Divine Sword Geum Family."
— What do you intend to do? If he stays in Henan, the risk is too great.
— But we cannot leave the Divine Blood be. What is the plan?
"I called you all here to discuss that very thing."
Silence fell over the crystal ball for a moment.
Then, a gruff voice flowed from the artifact.
— I shall go.
— You? Even for you, Henan is...
— This seat is not a fool. I will wait for the moment the boy leaves Henan.
"How about we decide after hearing the rest of the information first?"
The man shared the intelligence he had gathered from the birds. It detailed the successor of the Divine Blood and those around him.
— Fist King Pae Jin-gwang? That old dog is still alive?
— They said his muscles overcame aging; it seems he actually succeeded. He's no ordinary fellow.
— Enough.
A voice cut through the chatter from the crystal ball.
— The Fist King and the Vast Heaven Unit... What about the one called Jin Gi-jae-cheon?
"They say he is the successor of the Divine Sword Geum Family."
— Does he use the Yellow Cloud Divine Sword?
"From what I hear, he is a master of Qi Art."
— Qi Art?
The gruff voice let out a mocking laugh.
— Good. There's no need to worry about him then.
"Corpse-Blood Filling Heaven, do not be careless."
— Qi Art is powerless against a higher level of Qi Art. You know this as well as I do.
"Well, that is true."
Corpse-Blood Filling Heaven was a master of the Transcendent Realm. No matter how much of a name Jin Gi-jae-cheon had made for himself as a rising star, he would be completely powerless before a Transcendent Realm master.
"Do you need any assistance?"
— Nonsense. For people like that, taking a few underlings along is more than enough.
"Above all else, be careful not to leave any traces."
— Of course. You state the obvious.
Heh heh. Corpse-Blood Filling Heaven let out a chilling laugh.
— It's been a while since I've had a chance to stretch my legs.
* * *
"Why are my ears so itchy?"
Seo-jun scratched his ear. Chun-bong, who was swinging her sword beside him, scoffed.
"You have plenty of people who'd be badmouthing you."
"Do I?"
"Probably?"
"Hmm."
Seo-jun was giving Chun-bong and Namgung Su-ah a crash course in preparation for the Yongbong Gathering.
The goal was to devise countermeasures against their potential opponents in advance.
For example, if their opponent was Hye-un of Shaolin, he would let them experience that specific style of fist techniques and the unique aura of Shaolin beforehand.
"But isn't this cheating?"
At Chun-bong's question, Seo-jun wagged his finger side to side.
"No. You can call it the benefit of having a talented older brother. The other kids are probably doing something similar, right?"
The rising stars of the Sixteen Major Sects and Clans received immense benefits in these areas as well.
From birth, marrow cleansing was a given, and they consumed all sorts of spirit herbs. Not only did they learn divine arts according to a meticulously tuned curriculum, but the masters of their sects also provided direct guidance.
Their starting line was fundamentally different.
Naturally, it was no easy feat for martial artists from small to medium-sized sects to catch up to them.
If there were any rising stars among the quarterfinalists who weren't from the Sixteen Major Sects and Clans...
Yang So-hong.
He was probably the only one.
Honestly, the rest didn't seem to have much of a chance. It seemed they were satisfied just to have made it to the Round of 16.
"Anyway, so. There are six people confirmed for the quarterfinals now, right?"
Chun-bong, Namgung Su-ah, Hwangbo Hye-ji, and Hye-un.
In addition to those four, there were Jegal Hwi and Un-baek, who had won their matches today.
"Who do you think will be the most difficult to deal with?"
At Seo-jun's question, Namgung Su-ah and Chun-bong answered instantly.
"The Jegal Clan, right?"
"Yeah. I think it'll be the Jegal Clan too."
"Exactly. Setting aside the odds of winning, Jegal Hwi will be the most annoying to deal with just in terms of sheer difficulty."
The reason was simple: lack of familiarity.
Hwangbo Hye-ji, Hye-un, and Un-baek didn't stray from the traditional framework of fists and swords. So, the girls could just do what they had always been doing.
Of course, knowing the martial arts they frequently used would make it relatively easier to face them, but even so, fundamental skill was likely to determine the outcome.
But Jegal Hwi was different.
"Watching his matches, it seems he uses a combination of sorcery and formations, which is surprisingly tedious."
Seo-jun had never been on the receiving end, but he knew because he had used them himself.
"And if you exhaust all your strength trying to break through that, his iron fan becomes a problem."
The Jegal Clan was famous for being intelligent—so much so that they were called "Divine Machinery Jegal"—but their martial arts were not to be underestimated either.
However, one thing was certain.
If they were to fight using only martial arts without any other elements, there was zero chance Jegal Hwi could beat Chun-bong or Namgung Su-ah.
Then the solution was simple.
"Come at me. I'll only use sorcery and formations."
Jegal Seo-jun was stepping up.
* * *
Chun-bong stared blankly at the spectacle before her eyes.
Did he say it was sorcery based on the Five Elements? It was exactly as described.
Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth.
The Five Elements swirled, filling the vast space.
"...What is this?"
She knew he was strong, but was he this strong?
"Come on, come on. Get in here. I told you I won't make it hurt."
Seo-jun sat cross-legged in mid-air. Every time he flicked his hand, a spell unfolded.
Chun-bong gauged the situation. No matter how she looked at it, jumping in there was sheer madness.
"...Sister?"
What should we do? At her questioning glance, Namgung Su-ah nodded.
"I understand."
Understand what?
Before Chun-bong could even wonder, Namgung Su-ah charged forward.
As she kicked off the ground, she swung her greatsword in a wide arc.
Rumble—!
The lightning dwelling in the greatsword shot toward Seo-jun. Namgung Su-ah herself followed right behind, preparing a follow-up attack.
"Such a predictable attack won't work against a sorcerer."
Seo-jun extended his index finger. His finger pointed at the lightning. As his finger drew a circle, the lightning followed suit.
Zap, zap, zap—!
Namgung Su-ah's expression stiffened. A ring of lightning. The sphere formed at its center was fired back at Namgung Su-ah.
Rumble—!
Having narrowly dodged it, Namgung Su-ah looked at Seo-jun with aggrieved eyes.
"You said you'd only use the Five Elements..."
"Lightning is part of the Five Elements too. It belongs to Wood."
Seo-jun chuckled and looked at Chun-bong.
"Why is our Chun-bu-i just spacing out?"
"...I don't think even Jegal Hwi's grandfather could do this, let alone Jegal Hwi himself."
"His grandfather might be in the Transcendent Realm for all we know."
"Aha."
Chun-bong accepted the logic. Or rather, she pretended to, before suddenly lunging forward.
"Hah...!"
Chun-bong's form became the wind. Her feet stomped the ground, and just before she could reach Seo-jun after a high leap—
"Uh-uh, you have to watch out for formations."
A brilliant light erupted from the spots where Chun-bong's footprints were engraved.
Wood in the east, Metal in the west, Water in the north, and Fire in the south.
Finally, as Chun-bong's footprint marked Earth in the center, the Reverse Five Elements Formation activated.
"Eek...!"
Twisting her body in mid-air, Chun-bong rapidly swept her sword.
Swish—!
Lee Seo-jun had a tendency to use the Yellow Cloud Divine Sword like a Qi Art, but originally, the Divine Sword Geum Family emphasized the principles of the sword itself.
Regardless of Qi or anything else, there was nothing the Geum Family's sword could not cut.
Slash—!
Just as Chun-bong had expected, the Five Elements Formation was torn apart before it could fully activate.
"Oh."
Seo-jun was impressed.
"But then, what are you going to do about the follow-up?"
The Five Elements Formation was just a setup. The Wood-type sorcery Seo-jun unleashed snatched Chun-bong.
"Oh, for fuck's sake, seriously...!"
Tree branches rising from the ground grabbed Chun-bong and launched her high into the sky.
"Eek! Aaaaaah...!!"
Chun-bong's scream faded into the distance.
Seo-jun grinned at Namgung Su-ah.
"Do you want a turn too, Sister? Up we go!"
"Umm... I'm okay."
Aaaaaah—! Aaaaah—! Ack—!!
The scream that had grown faint became loud again. Seo-jun reached out and caught Chun-bong as she fell perfectly into his arms.
"Alright, Geum Chun-bong! Next is the 108 Arhat Formation!"
"Stop this bullshit...!"
Thwack—!
Chun-bong broke free from Seo-jun's arms and, with a graceful mid-air somersault, unleashed a flurry of kicks.
"Ouch...! Why are you hitting me! You like this kind of thing!"
"It was fun...! I mean, yeah. It was."
The "up we go" part was honestly fun.
But that was that.
"You're fighting like a total prick!"
This guy really fought dirty. Enough to make her want to punch him a few times.