Chapter 93
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: The Duel of Black and White (3)
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As soon as the duel was settled, warriors from both sides scattered back, vastly widening the open space between them.
Everyone then widened their eyes and held their breath to watch the imminent clash, plunging the Three Kings Arena into instant silence.
It was a rare duel between masters—one representing the black and white powers of Shaanxi in name and truth.
Thus, even if one favored neither side, any Jianghu denizen who revered the martial world would yearn to witness such a spectacle.
Shh.
Wang Baek-gun lightly flicked his wrist, and his cherished sword, Black Praise, sliced through the quiet void gripped in his hand.
Once prepared, he fixed his gaze on the approaching man with eyes brimming with excitement and fervor.
Thud. Thud.
White Horse Lantern advanced slowly, each heavy step resounding deeply.
Along the way, he drew Overstepping Blade from its scabbard.
Sssring.
The blade slipped free of its camel-leather sheath, revealing its three-chi-long, silver body as thin and sheer as a cicada's wing.
White Horse Lantern then swiftly traced an X in the air before intoning in a grave, measured voice:
"I am the savage gale—no one can grasp me or confine me. I am the traceless force that sweeps all before it."
It was the invocation offered to the spirits before unleashing Stormwind.
A habit White Horse Lantern always performed when drawing Overstepping Blade, yet few knew of it. Part of the reason was his main sphere of activity in the borderlands, but more so because no enemy who had heard this invocation still drew breath.
Thud. Thud.
White Horse Lantern halted ten paces from Wang Baek-gun and asked:
"Old Wang bastard, are you prepared to die?"
Was it beginning now?
But there was no prelude.
By the time a sharp chiiing~ struck their eardrums, followed by swishing sounds, the first exchange had already concluded.
The warriors from both sides, who had been watching intently with bulging eyes, blinked in confusion before gasping in shock.
A flash—and their positions had swapped!
White Horse Lantern stood where Wang Baek-gun had been.
Wang Baek-gun occupied White Horse Lantern's former spot.
Flying Tiger's pupils trembled too. He had caught the sequence, but a segment had blurred midway.
In his eyes, Wang Baek-gun had moved first.
But nearly simultaneously, both lunged at each other. As Wang Baek-gun thrust with Black Praise, White Horse Lantern parried with Overstepping Blade.
Then Black Praise shot forward, splitting into four prongs like a duplication technique, each stabbing at White Horse Lantern from above, below, left, and right.
It was the famed Sword Division.
And in the next instant, Flying Tiger lost track of White Horse Lantern's movements.
Not just him—Wang Baek-gun's Black Praise fared the same. Thus, the swishing sounds were Black Praise stabbing futilely at the space where White Horse Lantern had vanished.
Immediately after, Wang Baek-gun dashed to where White Horse Lantern had passed, wary of being caught from behind.
'Double acceleration?'
White Horse Lantern had moved at blinding speed, then surged even faster—a notch quicker still. Even Flying Tiger, observing from afar, had lost sight of him.
This single exchange revealed the astonishing caliber of White Horse Lantern's martial prowess.
And Wang Baek-gun's response drew admiration from Flying Tiger as well.
He had unleashed Sword Division in attack but failed. One might expect dismay, yet his seamless shift to evasion flowed like water.
It left no sense of disruption—as if the entire sequence had been one fluid motion from the start.
In other words, his transitions between offense and defense were utterly free and masterful.
'Yet even among such titans, a clear hierarchy persists.'
Flying Tiger muttered heavily to himself, glancing sidelong at Jin Ga-yong's face.
Jin Ga-yong remained composed. But his eyes were submerged deep beneath the surface.
Drip.
Gashes spiderwebbed across Wang Baek-gun's back, blood soaking his robes.
The silver lining: swift evasion limited it to scratches. The misfortune: this clash had glimpsed his opponent's realm.
'I fixed my gaze solely on him, climbing to this height step by step... Does Heaven truly deny me?'
Wang Baek-gun quelled his rising bitterness, reigniting his battle spirit.
Meeting his eyes, White Horse Lantern smirked knowingly, as if understanding his plight, and said:
"I told you. This Seat is the wind—no one can grasp or confine me."
White Horse Lantern advanced once more with those signature heavy strides, adding:
"So I ask again: are you prepared to die now?"
Wang Baek-gun clamped his lips shut and matched White Horse Lantern's pace, stomping forward step by step.
Flames of resolve blazed fiercely in his eyes.
Thud. Thud.
They strode toward each other as if to collide head-on.
With just three steps remaining until they met, both surged forward without hesitation, unleashing a frenzy of slashes.
Thus began the second exchange.
Clang-clang-clang-clang—!
Their blades moved so swiftly that Black Praise and Overstepping Blade stretched like pulled taffy, afterimages fanning out and scattering repeatedly along their paths.
Sparks and blood droplets sprayed in all directions.
Then their forms vanished in a blur.
The next instant, they reappeared elsewhere, still hacking wildly at each other—as if the entire battlefield had shifted wholesale.
Clang-clang-clang-clang—!
Wang Baek-gun and White Horse Lantern teleported across the space like this three more times in their duel.
The elapsed time was barely a few blinks, yet each had swung over a hundred times in that span.
Both sides pressed purely aggressive, furious assaults.
At the climax, White Horse Lantern pulled back sharply, sweeping Overstepping Blade horizontally. A sleek silver crescent of sword qi followed its arc.
Whoom~
Wang Baek-gun gritted his teeth and slashed downward vertically with his sword held overhead. Black Praise's dark blade was now engulfed in white radiance.
Claaang~!
The shockwave rattled the Three Kings Arena's interior, the explosive roar mercilessly battering the eardrums of the onlookers holding their breath.
Thus ended the second exchange.
The result...
"Hoh~ You blocked it? Impressive. And I acknowledge it: the 'Tiger Fang' possesses the qualifications to challenge White Horse Lantern. But..."
Wang Baek-gun had poured all his power into Black Praise, cloaked in sword qi, successfully cleaving the crescent qi White Horse Lantern unleashed!
White Horse Lantern's admiration and acknowledgment were for this feat. His following words pointed to the consequences.
"...Given your condition, you've become a tiger without fangs. What now?"
White Horse Lantern's robes hung in tatters from Black Praise's clawing path, stained with blood in places. The close-quarters frenzy had taken its toll—even he couldn't emerge unscathed amid the whirling sword qi.
Yet White Horse Lantern's eyes didn't flicker; his expression remained utterly relaxed as he pointed it out.
In contrast, Wang Baek-gun's face darkened.
His entire body was bathed in blood, and more critically, a third of Black Praise's blade in his grip had been sheared away.
Not fully fangless like some quip, but undeniably chipped and broken.
The price of imperfectly blocking White Horse Lantern's signature ultimate, Wind-Moon Slash.
Murmur murmur.
The stark contrast between White Horse Lantern and Wang Baek-gun was plain for all to see, eliciting cheers from one side and despair from the other as the arena erupted.
"Damn it, we're screwed, aren't we?"
"What bullshit is that? Don't jinx it. As the saying goes, it's not over till it's over—and Protector Wang is still standing on his own two feet after weathering the onslaught. That's what matters."
Flying Tiger sharply rebuked Ye Dok-du's tactless whisper, laced with irritation.
Yet a twinge of self-loathing crept in. Deep down, he fully agreed with Ye Dok-du.
'Damn it all. What now?'
Flying Tiger subtly slipped his left hand into his bosom but froze upon sensing someone's gaze.
It was Jin Ga-yong. With a stern expression, he gave a subtle headshake only Flying Tiger would notice.
Don't.
'This is maddening.'
It truly was infuriating.
Every matter has its moment—post-outcome was too late, so if trouble was to be stirred, now was prime. But with the squad leader so grave, he couldn't brazenly proceed, and the vibe suggested immediate interference if he tried. Utter frustration.
But soon, something even more maddening unfolded for Flying Tiger. Wang Baek-gun's voice transmission reached his ear.
Short, but profound.
-I leave the aftermath to you.
Huh? What the hell is this old man saying?
And with the squad leader right here, why entrust it to me of all people?
The resolve blazing from Wang Baek-gun's eyes now surged on the verge of overflowing, and White Horse Lantern clicked his tongue at his unyielding spirit.
"Tsk tsk. Still can't accept death?"
For the first time since the duel began, Wang Baek-gun spoke.
"White Horse Lantern!"
"What?"
"Fifteen years ago, you and the Yellow Worm Corps killed my brother and nephew. My brother was Wang Sam-bo, Guard Captain of the Boyuk Merchant Company's escort detail. My nephew was Wang Bo-geon."
"Mm, was it? Regrettable. But what to do? So many have died by my blade over the years—can't recall, and doubt I will."
"I understand. So understand this in turn: my obsession, honed solely to topple you over those long years."
"Hmph. So?"
"Thanks to it, I achieved modest gains. And recently, through that accomplishment... heh, a stroke of fate? I mastered quite the 'secret technique' worth watching."
"Get to the point."
"Now, I'll unleash that secret technique I gained. So I ask: do you dare receive it?"
It was a fight to the death anyway.
But pulling out a secret technique now?
If he had one, just use it—why this drawn-out prattle?
White Horse Lantern scoffed incredulously, then narrowed his eyes and tossed a probe:
"And if not?"
"This foolish old Wang Baek-gun will cleanly admit defeat to White Horse Lantern, withdraw with all who came, forsake vengeance henceforth, and vow to live quietly like a dead rat."
What nonsense is this?
After all that posturing, he's just begging to live?
White Horse Lantern glared with contempt and said coldly:
"Heh heh heh. But here's the rub: this White Horse Lantern fears nothing, and I'm suddenly dying to see your so-called secret technique."
Wang Baek-gun nodded, as if he'd expected as much.
Nod nod.
In that instant, White Horse Lantern lunged. Wang Baek-gun withdrew his right foot half a pace into stance.
Revealing his secret technique?
His left hand extended palm-first, fingers splayed—wrist blackened to the fingertips. The broken Black Praise pulled back blazed like a pillar of fire in pure white light.
In this posture, Wang Baek-gun met White Horse Lantern, and with the third exchange, victory was decided.