Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Daring Footsteps
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Then Mun Won-bi spoke up.
"Young Master Zhongli. I get what you're saying now. But doesn't that change anything?"
Wang Cheong-rin scowled and added,
"Exactly..."
Han Ibi replied,
"Even if they got some pointers from the Joyang Sect... it doesn't seem like much. As if the Demonic Cult would be crazy enough to plant actual trees here. They probably just switched to wooden projectiles to reduce the risk for trainees. Tsk tsk tsk. And yet they strut around like they're hot stuff..."
Then Han Ibi suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Hey, you up there!"
Wang Cheong-rin plugged her ears with both hands and snapped irritably,
"Agh, shut it! What the hell are you doing?"
But Han Ibi ignored her and yelled again.
"I know someone's watching us. Must be tough lurking in the dark and damp. Thanks for your hard work!"
He cackled to himself after that.
Mun Won-bi and the others could only watch him like he was some lunatic.
Wang Cheong-rin said,
"Y-you... how the hell did you even get in here?"
At that moment, Baek Mi-hu changed the subject.
"Okay, no time to waste. Let's focus. I went ahead earlier and made some progress. I stepped randomly on the blue stone slabs, but analyzing the pressure points on the floor, it seems based on the Sixty-Four Hexagrams of the I Ching."
Han Ibi grinned and said,
"As expected, Lady Baek's knowledge is unparalleled."
In truth, Han Ibi had been cracking up partly because of the Murim Alliance folks scrambling to clean up every time someone passed, but also because he'd spotted the key to cracking this trial in her movements.
Baek Mi-hu continued,
"If any of our team members were versed in the Divination Society, Joyang Sect, or Confucian studies, we could've broken through easily."
Mun Won-bi asked with hopeful eyes,
"What about Emei Sect?"
Baek Mi-hu shook her head gravely.
"Unfortunately, while our Emei Sect draws from both Daoist and Buddhist roots, we're not familiar with this kind of study. I can only recognize the patterns at best."
Mun Won-bi turned to Han Ibi with a disappointed look.
"What about you, Young Master Zhongli?"
Then Wang Cheong-rin burst out laughing.
"Why even ask? You can tell just by watching him. Besides, Qingcheng Sect can't even fend for itself these days—it's the laughingstock of the Nine Great Sects..."
"Cheong-rin!"
Baek Mi-hu shot her a sharp glare, cutting her off.
Only then did Wang Cheong-rin realize her blunder and clamp her mouth shut with both hands.
Disrespecting someone's sect was the ultimate taboo in the jianghu.
But Han Ibi shrugged it off casually.
"I'm used to the insults by now, but leave my sect out of it. Qingcheng has its pride, you know."
Baek Mi-hu said,
"I'm sorry, Young Master Zhongli. Let me apologize on her behalf."
Han Ibi made a playful fist-and-palm salute.
"No need. I'm not gonna sweat every word from some clueless thunderbolt of a girl who doesn't know the ways of the world..."
Wang Cheong-rin yelled,
"What was that?! If you're so great, why don't you give it a try?"
Han Ibi dropped his smile and turned to Baek Mi-hu seriously.
"Are the Eight Trigrams and Sixty-Four Hexagrams that different?"
Baek Mi-hu pondered the question briefly before answering.
"My studies are limited, so I can't say for sure, but... I've read that the Taiji splits into yin and yang, yin and yang form the Eight Trigrams, and the Eight Trigrams expand into the Sixty-Four—so in essence, they're all one and the same."
"Hmm... so you're saying it's all the same at its core, just drawn out longer."
"Yes, exactly..."
Before she could finish, Han Ibi pulled up his status window.
With Eagle's Eye Technique and Eight Trigrams Step Chart active, he watched the window's movements closely.
'Nice. This should work...'
Han Ibi cheered inwardly and eyed the Eight Trigrams Step window, where the next step was lit up.
It felt just like a sparring match.
'Gotta give it a shot. Our team's got no one useful except maybe Baek Mi-hu. If I don't step up, we're sunk. But first, I need to put that rude girl in her place.'
Han Ibi pretended to think it over, then turned to Wang Cheong-rin.
"Of course, even in our Qingcheng Sect, we learn the basics of Taiji principles. I mean, the I Ching? Not like I'm a five-year-old kid or anything. You wouldn't happen to not know the basics like 'Qian, Kun, Gen, Li,' would you, Lady Wang?"
Wang Cheong-rin's breathing grew ragged, her face flushing red.
She was pissed.
Han Ibi let out a stereotypical orthodox wuxia cackle—kekekeke—before saying,
"Looks like you really don't know. Lady Baek, maybe teach her the basics later."
Finally, Wang Cheong-rin exploded.
"What did you say? You rootless—"
But Han Ibi brushed off her tirade and swiftly drew his Hanjo Sword from his robes.
He stepped out of the safe zone immediately.
Mun Won-bi cried out,
"Young Master Zhongli! Be careful!"
Surprisingly, nothing happened.
It was the Upper Xun step. With his level-up, the Eight Trigrams Step had expanded to all sixteen directions of upper and lower trigrams.
Han Ibi cleared his throat with an ahem and clasped his hands behind his back.
Wang Cheong-rin and the others exchanged bewildered glances.
Then, deliberately slowly, Han Ibi stepped on Lower Kun, Upper Zhen, and Lower Li.
The group watched tensely with every step.
Yet the mechanisms stayed silent.
Mun Won-bi exclaimed in admiration,
"Young Master Zhongli! Incredible! So you really knew..."
Han Ibi added Upper Dui and Lower Kan steps while thinking,
'Time to show these kids the majesty of Pump-It-Up genius.'
He cranked up his speed to max, circling the mechanism's entrance with flair.
Same floor tiles, but different directions made it look dizzying.
The others couldn't tell he was looping the same spot.
Gaining momentum, Han Ibi showboated with flashy footwork.
Not content, he soon spun his Hanjo Sword mid-step, mimicking a sword dance.
Under the eerie glow of the luminescent stones, Han Ibi's figure shone like an unnamed dancer alone under the spotlight—nothing more, nothing less.
Even Baek Mi-hu had to admit it.
"Young Master Zhongli. Truly impressive."
Seeing Wang Cheong-rin's gaping mouth, Han Ibi smirked inwardly.
'Good. Now, let's push further.'
But then...
'Huh?' What's going on...'
Three more steps were fine.
But past the midpoint of the pressure-triggered mechanism, the next step didn't light up.
Sweat beaded on Han Ibi's back.
Indeed.
The Sixty-Four Hexagrams stemmed from the Eight Trigrams, but they weren't exactly the same.
Thus...
'Ugh. They ramp up the complexity as you go deeper.'
Han Ibi panicked.
But after all that showing off, backing down now would be too embarrassing.
'Of course it'd be like this...'
He hallucinated Wang Cheong-rin's mocking voice echoing in his head.
'No no no. Can't have that. Damn it!'
Decision time.
Han Ibi steeled himself for one more step.
Ah! A man's pride, more precious than life!
Shiiik! Shwk shwk!
Suddenly, wooden darts shot from both walls.
The onlookers gasped.
Even Wang Cheong-rin muttered in surprise,
"He seemed fine... what happened?"
Han Ibi was just as startled.
But he crouched, sprang up high.
Mimicking Baek Mi-hu's defensive technique from before.
He swung the Hanjo Sword in a circle to shield himself.
The darts barely glanced off, one tearing a hole in his sleeve.
But...
No one can hover in midair forever.
Han Ibi had to land.
Thud.
Darts flew from all sides again.
'Damn it...'
Cursing inwardly, he repeated the strategy.
But he couldn't keep this up forever!
Then an idea flashed through his mind.
'Tracking Eye Technique!'
Not its usual purpose, but no time to care.
Activating the Eagle's Eye tracking mode, he analyzed the darts bursting out with each step.
Meant for chasing fugitives, but it helped predict dart paths too.
He could somewhat foresee their trajectories.
Two steps in.
Twelve trajectories filled his vision.
'About five or six darts per tile. Five aim high, three low. The rest are feints.'
Ignoring the feints, he leaped, dodged the low shots, and batted the rest away with the sword blade.
A far cry from his earlier desperate dodges—pure style.
Baek Mi-hu praised,
"What superb defense!"
Han Ibi landed and stepped again.
Shiiik shwk—
More darts.
Blocking them, he thought,
'Damn. This isn't some Hong Kong bullet-fest—why don't these things run out?'
Another tracking activation, jump, smack.
Land.
Darts.
Track.
Jump and smack.
Land.
Not hard, but this was an infinite loop.
Baek Mi-hu sensed trouble and shouted,
"Young Master Zhongli! Don't push it—come back!"
Han Ibi glanced her way.
Wang Cheong-rin stood beside her, smirking 'Told you so.'
Irritated, Han Ibi whipped his head away.
His eyes caught the glossy side wall.
Something clicked.
He yelled to Baek Mi-hu,
"Lady Baek! Sorry, but lend me one of your bird-claw gauntlets. Just for a sec—the left one!"
She found it odd but tossed it over.
Still batting darts, Han Ibi caught it and strapped it to his left arm.
'A bit tight since it's a woman's, but it'll do.'
Wang Cheong-rin shouted,
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Putting on the bird-claw gauntlet."
Thinking,
'Fail, and it'll suck worse. Gotta nail it first try!'
Using Zhongli Swift Leopard Step, he kicked off the floor toward the left wall.
And...
Clang!
A loud echo.
Baek Mi-hu and the others looked—Han Ibi was stuck to the smooth wall.
Hooked by the gauntlet's claws!
(To be continued)