Acting Like a Nobody (1)
"I'm quite looking forward to it."
"Hahaha. Thanks to Master Hwang, we even get to witness something like this. My sincere gratitude."
At the praise pouring in from both sides, Hwang Mun-yak smiled faintly.
"I should be the one thanking you for honoring my invitation. You all came all this way without hesitation, after all."
"Hahaha. There’s no way we could miss such a rare sight."
Warm courtesies flowed back and forth. But even in the middle of it, Hwang Mun-yak did not miss the fact that the onlookers were carefully sizing up the people who would be stepping into the spar.
The people gathered here had not come all this way simply for a spectacle.
Their real interest lay in the younger generation being raised by the two sects. More specifically, in the later-generation disciples of Southern Edge.
Commerce and the jianghu may have seemed far apart, but they were closely intertwined. Merchants who spent their lives traveling and fending off bandits were always sensitive to the currents of the martial world. And a powerful sect, by its very existence, was an object of investment.
In the end, power was what attracted money.
These people had come to this Hwajong Jihoe to evaluate Southern Edge’s younger disciples and gauge the future of Southern Edge itself.
"A spar between Southern Edge and Mount Hua. Though, I must say, the opponent is a little disappointing."
"Indeed. If it were a little closer, there’d at least be the Beggars’ Sect or Wudang. Can Southern Edge really show its true skill against Mount Hua?"
The others lowered their voices as they spoke.
This would be the objective assessment, then.
Hwang Mun-yak didn’t think their evaluation was wrong.
If it had been a hundred years ago, perhaps there would have been room for doubt, but the current Mount Hua was no match for Southern Edge. There was no way to compare Southern Edge, which still held one of the Nine Great Sects’ seats with unshakable strength, and Mount Hua, which had been driven so far down it was nearly on the verge of collapse after being expelled from the Nine Sects.
But...
Hwang Mun-yak’s gaze drifted toward the Mount Hua disciples gathered across from them. When he failed to spot Chung Myung, he frowned slightly.
He doesn’t seem like the kind to pick a losing fight.
Then that meant he had some kind of plan?
Hwang Mun-yak smiled.
I don’t exactly welcome others rushing in to seize what I’ve already claimed, but if I want to recover my losses, Mount Hua’s reputation needs to spread. So this time, I’ll cooperate without complaint, Little Taoist.
His heart began to swell with anticipation.
He was eager to see what would happen here today.
At the center of the training ground, Unam faced both sides, sending a signal to the Mount Hua and Southern Edge disciples standing opposite one another before speaking. It was a little awkward to suddenly have an audience, but since this was the Hwajong Jihoe they had held steadily for years, there was no real difficulty in leading things forward.
"First, the representatives of each sect’s second-generation disciples will face each other one-on-one. All ten representatives among the second-generation disciples will fight ten bouts in total."
Unam called out decisively.
"The first match!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than one person from each side rose from their seats.
Jin Geum-ryong and Baek Cheon.
Each of them was the top disciple of his respective sect’s second generation.
"Sahyung!"
"Sahyung! Please prevail!"
"You have to win!"
Listening to their juniors’ cheers, Baek Cheon drew a deep breath. His stiffly frozen face showed just how tense he was.
He turned his head to look at his junior brothers once, then headed toward the training ground. Across from him, Jin Geum-ryong was walking over with complete ease.
The two met at the center of the arena.
"Indeed."
Wi Jakae, the guild master of the Great Peng Merchant Guild—counted alongside Eunha Merchant Guild as one of Shaanxi’s Ten Great Merchant Houses—let out an admiring exclamation as he looked at Jin Geum-ryong.
"I had heard Jin Geum-ryong was the talent who would usher in Southern Edge’s golden age, and his bearing truly is remarkable."
"He looks every bit the image of a youthful hero."
Jin Geum-ryong, dressed in immaculate white martial robes and holding a wooden sword in one hand, certainly had a presence that drew the eye.
"But if we’re speaking of bearing alone, isn’t that fellow across from him also quite impressive?"
"Looking at them now, they even seem somewhat alike. Black and white. Quite the picture."
Baek Cheon, clad in black martial robes, stood proudly opposite Jin Geum-ryong.
"It certainly heightens one’s expectations, but can a Mount Hua disciple really stand against Jin Geum-ryong?"
"Who knows? Mount Hua did stagger terribly, that much is true, but the Mount Hua of today may be different. A rotten fish can still be edible, after all. If we think back to Mount Hua in its prime, there may even be an upset."
They said as much, but no one truly believed Baek Cheon could defeat Jin Geum-ryong.
The Mount Hua of now was not the Mount Hua of old. Wasn’t that proven by the fact that those gathered here had long since severed ties with Mount Hua? If they truly believed Mount Hua might rise again, they never would have cut the thread so completely.
What they were looking forward to here was only how powerfully Southern Edge would display itself.
Listening to the conversation from nearby, Sama Seung’s expression hardened slightly. He knew it was just politeness, but even so, hearing words like that made his mood foul.
Show them, Geum-ryong.
Show them that Mount Hua was no longer even fit to be spoken of in the same breath as Southern Edge.
Hyun Jong, too, pressed his lips together and looked at Baek Cheon.
Show everything you have.
So that there would be no regrets.
With everyone’s expectations and anxieties focused on them, Jin Geum-ryong and Baek Cheon simply stared at each other in silence.
The first to speak was Jin Geum-ryong.
"So you did come out after all, without running away."
Baek Cheon answered with a resolute expression.
"I am Mount Hua’s Great Disciple. Why would I run from the likes of Southern Edge?"
"Your mouth is still alive, I see."
Jin Geum-ryong slowly raised his sword and pointed it at Baek Cheon.
"A dog is born knowing how to bark."
"Want to see how well that dog bites?"
"That was my mistake. You’re not even fit to be called a dog."
"You—"
"Come at me, then. Just as I said yesterday, I’ll teach you personally. How insignificant you really are."
Baek Cheon did not bother answering. Instead, he cast a quick glance toward where Hyun Jong was seated.
The Sect Leader is watching.
This was not the time for personal grudges or petty emotions.
I am Mount Hua’s second-generation disciple, Baek Cheon.
With resolute eyes, Baek Cheon glared at Jin Geum-ryong. Then he, too, lifted his wooden sword and pointed it at him.
Everyone watched the two of them tensely.
One was Mount Hua’s representative. The other was Southern Edge’s. These were the two who should, in principle, have met at the very end, yet according to the tradition of the Hwajong Jihoe, they were confronting each other first.
In a sense, this match alone could decide nearly the entire outcome of the Hwajong Jihoe. How could anyone not be invested?
Just as someone was about to speak, Baek Cheon moved.
Whoosh!
The sound of his foot striking the ground rang out sharply.
Charging forward at a terrifying speed, Baek Cheon thrust his sword straight toward Jin Geum-ryong’s throat with a blade that showed no visible change.
Swish.
Jin Geum-ryong did not meet the incoming blade head-on, but slipped to the side and let it pass by.
Slash!
Baek Cheon’s sword immediately chased after him. His wrist gave a slight tremor, and in the next instant the sword tip split into dozens.
The Mount Hua-style, dazzling and ever-changing feints filled the training ground.
"Ohh."
"Amazing!"
"The Mount Hua boy seems to be quite skilled."
The onlookers had no choice but to marvel at the brilliant technique.
Though it was being executed with wooden swords rather than real blades, the sharpness of the swordwork was no less impressive than if it were. Even the famed Jin Geum-ryong seemed to have no proper answer to this ornate barrage, retreating step by step under the assault.
The second- and third-generation disciples of Mount Hua watching from the side clenched their fists with excitement.
Jo Gul shouted, unable to contain himself.
"That’s Sahyung Baek Cheon for you! His Subdue-the-Tiger Blue Sun Sword is exactly the kind of technique that deserves to be called exceptional!"
The Mount Hua disciples were all too excited to hide their feelings.
They knew.
They knew how much blood and bone Baek Cheon had poured into his training. After the humiliation of the previous Hwajong Jihoe, Baek Cheon had devoted himself to practice, forgetting even to eat and sleep.
He had been the one to request seclusion. Of all the people in Mount Hua who could have lived most comfortably and brightly, he was the one who shut himself away, cut off from human contact, and resolved to look only to his sword.
How could they not cheer for someone like that?
He pressed the attack.
Baek Cheon’s sword shadows drove Jin Geum-ryong back with dazzling, cutting brilliance. Each and every one of those afterimages carried a razor edge. Real strikes and feints intertwined until it was impossible to tell which was true and which was false.
Seeing that, Hyun Jong clenched his fist tightly.
When did that child reach such a level!
At that standard, he would not be all that far below the Un generation. He had known the boy had talent, but to think he had reached that level!
The eyes of every Mount Hua disciple watching Baek Cheon’s performance were filled with hope.
Maybe...
Maybe this time would be different.
Yoon Jong was just as unable to hide his excitement.
"Chung Myung! Sahyung is driving him back!"
"Yeah."
"Maybe he really can win!"
"No way."
"Huh?"
Yoon Jong turned to look at Chung Myung. Leaning back against his chair, Chung Myung spoke with complete indifference.
"What’s the point of winning if he can’t even land a hit? He hasn’t even brushed the guy once."
"But he’s got the upper hand—"
"Does Sahyung look like someone who’s got the upper hand to you?"
"...Huh?"
Yoon Jong turned back to look at Baek Cheon. Then his expression hardened immediately.
Baek Cheon’s face was twisted tight with strain.
Why!
Baek Cheon swung his sword with all his strength.
His feet stamped a fierce stance into the ground. Qi, gathered through the firmly rooted lower body, surged up and poured into his fingertips. Then he infused the sword with that energy and swung with everything he had.
Lightly, and again lightly.
As if a butterfly were fluttering in, light but sharp!
But that light, sharp sword still never touched Jin Geum-ryong’s body.
Why can’t I even graze him? Why!
It was overwhelming.
The opponent standing before him felt impossibly distant, like a sheer cliff soaring into the sky.
A cliff he could not even dream of climbing, let alone crossing.
Already soaked through with sweat, Baek Cheon had no time even to wipe away the sweat stinging his eyes as he roared.
"Aaaaaaah!"
A desperate strike!
At the same time, Baek Cheon’s sword, having occupied twelve directions, flew at Jin Geum-ryong.
And then it happened.
Clang!
For the first time, Jin Geum-ryong swung his sword and knocked Baek Cheon’s blade aside.
When the sword stopped, the sea of sword shadows that had filled the training ground vanished as well. Only then could Baek Cheon see Jin Geum-ryong’s face clearly.
Unlike Baek Cheon, who was drenched in sweat, Jin Geum-ryong had not even broken a sweat, and his breathing remained perfectly steady as he looked at him with a thin, cruel smile.
"You’ve had enough fun, haven’t you?"
"...You."
"You foolish fool. No matter how much Mount Hua’s martial arts you learn, do you really think you can even touch a single strand of my hair?"
Jin Geum-ryong’s sword flashed like a beam of light as it stabbed toward Baek Cheon.
Thud!
Struck through the shoulder blade, Baek Cheon was sent sprawling across the ground without even managing a scream.
"Nggh..."
He groaned and forced his body up.
As he lifted his head, he saw Jin Geum-ryong approaching with a leisurely smile.
"That body of yours should be enough to understand now. Just how foolish you are."
Jin Geum-ryong’s sword lashed out at Baek Cheon without mercy.