Chapter 103: The Best Rising Star (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 103: The Best Rising Star (1)
Two young men stepped onto the martial arts training grounds. As Seok Jun ascended first, every eye in the crowd gravitated toward him.
He carried a heavy aura, his gaze sharp and his posture unwavering. His movements possessed a disciplined grace that belied his youth. Among the first-generation disciples, he was a man whose reputation as the best was well-earned.
When Seok Myeong followed him up, the crowd’s attention shifted.
Though Seok Myeong was actually over thirty, his transformed appearance made him look significantly younger than Seok Jun.
How does a man like that think he can challenge a true Qingcheng swordsman?
Seok Jun inwardly furrowed his brow.
Seok Myeong’s gait was far from disciplined. He walked with an unusually slow stride and a relaxed gaze; his expression reflected a sense of casual ease rather than a fierce martial will.
Every step and every look of the other Qingcheng swordsmen were like well-honed blades. Seok Myeong was distinctly different.
He falls pathetically short.
Sshhh.
Regardless, he was still the Eldest Disciple. Hiding his inner thoughts, Seok Jun came to a stop a few paces away and offered a formal fist-and-palm salute.
“I heard you have gone through much. I also heard your skills have improved greatly.”
“They have.”
“But as the saying goes, ‘You reap what you sow.’ Beans grow where beans are planted.”
“You reap what you sow, is it…?”
Seok Myeong repeated the idiom to himself before continuing.
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“I wanted to say that if the source one pursues is different, the answer must inevitably be different as well.”
It was a veiled insult—a roundabout way of saying, “Like master, like disciple.”
Seok Myeong stared at him for a long moment before speaking.
“How truly pitiful.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I thought you might be a little different. You were the first among us to wear the Azure Sutra Robe, were you not? Moreover, your martial arts were more than enough to serve as a model for our fellow disciples. But it seems nothing has changed with the passage of time.”
“…”
“All I see is the Azure Sutra Robe you are wearing.”
“Ha. Do you really think you are in a position to say such things to me, Sahyung?”
“Listen, Seok Jun. The source of martial arts ultimately begins with the manipulation of qi.”
As Seok Jun struggled to contain his sarcasm, Seok Myeong instructed him sternly.
“The source of qi is all things in heaven and earth, and the power we use is derived from that. Neither Qingcheng, Wudang, nor Shaolin can escape that influence. Shouldn’t you strive to grasp the true essence of martial arts rather than merely boasting about them?”
“…”
“The ‘Hardness’ that Qingcheng pursues—what exactly is that Hardness, and what have you gained regarding how to transcend it? What can you actually say about it?”
“…!”
Seok Jun’s face stiffened.
Among the elders, a low murmur of "Ho..." broke out.
The younger disciples seemed to view it as a mere battle of wills, but to those who had reached a certain realm, Seok Myeong’s words carried significant weight.
This boy… he’s grown quite a bit.
Song Gwan’s expression, in particular, brightened.
When Seok Myeong first stepped forward to fight Seok Jun, Song Gwan had been horrified and wanted to stop him. In the past, it might have been different, but the current Seok Jun was a Qingcheng swordsman in both name and reality.
However, hearing Seok Myeong’s words now, that anxiety vanished like mist.
—Transcending Hardness.
In the past, such words would never have come out of Seok Myeong’s mouth. But now, he spoke with a serious demeanor, and there wasn't a single flicker of doubt in his eyes.
His very level of understanding had been elevated.
Even with Seok Jun standing before him, Seok Myeong possessed enough composure to lecture him.
This child… he really might have fought Cheol Gun to a draw.
Shriiing!
A well-honed blade was drawn from Seok Jun’s waist.
It was a sword so exquisite and well-maintained that it truly deserved to be called a sword of Qingcheng.
With a cold face, Seok Jun leveled his blade and spoke.
“It seems you have certainly read many books, Eldest Disciple. I cannot possibly defeat you with words.”
“…Is that how it sounds to you?”
Seok Myeong gave a short smile and drew his own sword.
Clang!
A clear, metallic ring echoed through the air.
Seok Jun asked again.
“Which sword style shall I face you with?”
“What is the sword technique you are most confident in?”
“That would be the Azure Center Sword Technique, of course.”
“Then use that.”
Seok Jun was about to ask a question, feeling a sense of unease, but Seok Myeong was faster.
“Ah, and which sword technique are you least confident in?”
“…The Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword.”
“Understood. Then I shall face you with the Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword.”
Grit.
In that moment, Seok Jun bit his lip hard.
Only then did he realize the true intent behind the question.
“Do you even know how to perform the Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword?”
“I haven’t seen the original manual, but there is a martial art passed down to Azure Cloud Taoist. I have mastered that.”
Seok Jun hesitated for a moment at those words.
He was under no obligation to follow the man’s lead. Even if Seok Myeong talked a big game, it wouldn't matter if he ended up using a different sword style.
But his pride was at stake.
He felt he had to strike down this overconfident man using the very sword technique he had mentioned to be satisfied.
“I won’t refuse.”
Seok Jun took a stance, holding his sword at mid-level.
The first duel between Seok Myeong and Seok Jun began in this manner.
The Azure Center Sword Technique.
As the name suggests, it was a technique that added ‘Weight.’ It was a foundational sword style passed down alongside Qingcheng’s Heaven and Earth Sword and the Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword.
It was known that after the founding patriarch, Taoist Jahun, created various sword techniques representing Qingcheng, later generations developed this art so that students could learn Qingcheng’s martial arts more easily.
Therefore, it was no exaggeration to say that the Azure Center Sword Technique contained more of Qingcheng’s essence than any other style.
The forms were simple enough to follow easily, yet their effectiveness grew the more one practiced, making it a preferred technique for all disciples of the Qingcheng Sect.
The Azure Center Sword Technique consisted of three major connections.
Weight came first, followed by Speed, and then Softness.
In this context, Weight did not mean being heavy, but rather the center of gravity. Speed referred to precision rather than mere quickness, and Softness referred to capturing the exact timing rather than literal softness.
It was a sword technique that dealt with enemies by utilizing the flow of the forms—the inherent power of the sword itself.
His posture is indeed flawless.
Seok Myeong watched Seok Jun and marveled.
Seok Jun’s Qi Gathering Stance for the Azure Center Sword Technique was sharp.
The position of the sword drawn toward his chest, his bent knees, and his tucked-in lower body were all perfectly balanced.
Thud.
Now, Seok Myeong began to take his stance.
The Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword that Seok Jun had mentioned.
What Seok Myeong had learned was a martial art modified by Azure Cloud Taoist to suit the movements of a Qingcheng practitioner, but its nature was not significantly different from the original Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword.
However, it presented a completely different appearance from the Azure Center Sword Technique.
Unlike the simple Azure Center style, the Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword had no simple postures, whether in its forms or its starting stances.
It was a collection of profound mysteries—as if one thought it was a cloud, but rain was falling; and as one went deeper, the wind blew, and lightning struck.
There were as many as twelve different starting stances depending on the opponent, and while there were thirty-two known forms, countless variations could be generated based on the opponent’s attack.
Because of this, it was extremely rare to find anyone in Qingcheng who could truly claim to have mastered the Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword.
Scrape.
Seok Myeong lowered his sword until it touched the ground. Seok Jun’s expression stiffened at the action.
It was a stance he had never seen before. He thought he had a decent eye for it, considering he understood the theory of the Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword to some extent.
And yet, Seok Myeong’s posture was entirely foreign.
“Huh. Was there such a starting stance?”
Song Mun, unable to contain his curiosity, asked Song Hak.
Since Song Mun researched heart methods and formations, the Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword was not his specialty. That was why he asked Song Hak, who was highly skilled in martial arts.
“It’s my first time seeing it as well.”
“What? If even you haven’t seen it, does that mean the boy learned it incorrectly?”
“That, I do not know. Azure Cloud Taoist’s Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword and the one I learned are different, are they not?”
“Ah…”
Song Mun nodded at Song Hak’s irritable reply.
Come to think of it, the lineage of Azure Cloud Taoist was a very idiosyncratic group within Qingcheng.
Most sects focus on researching their own martial arts, spending their entire lives refining each and every movement. Like Song Hak, for instance.
“The likes of Azure Cloud Taoist… Hmph!”
Therefore, Azure Cloud Taoist, who argued that they should become stronger by accepting the strengths of other sects, was fundamentally incompatible with them.
A person’s capacity has limits; if one spends time researching the forms and heart methods of other sects, it naturally becomes difficult to realize the deep ultimate truths of one’s own sect. Unless one is a superhuman.
At that moment, someone responded to his words.
“The Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword is not bound by any starting stance or framework. Moving as the heart dictates—that is the true Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword.”
When Song Mun and Song Hak turned around, Song Jeong was smiling.
At the Sect Leader’s explanation, their gazes softened considerably. When it came to the Azure Cloud Red Mist Sword, there was no one in Qingcheng more enlightened than him.
“Even so, Seok Myeong’s starting stance is a first for me as well. Even in Azure Cloud Taoist’s version, the primary sequence involves aiming for the lower body, taking a mid-level stance, or thrusting the sword forward to respond to the opponent.”
Song Jeong was watching Seok Myeong with curious eyes.
He had seen Azure Cloud Taoist’s version and even the original in the storehouse, but such a posture was nowhere to be found.
He racked his brain several times to see if the boy had taken an incorrect stance, but in the end, he had to give up.
“You attack first.”
At Seok Myeong’s words, Seok Jun did not refuse this time either.
He intended to do as requested. He wanted to end this duel in a single stroke.
“Then, here I come.”
Did his words signal the start of the duel?
Everyone watched with bated breath.
Just how much had he changed?
He had faced Cheol Gun, the best of the Five Dragons—just how great was his skill?
Amidst such expectations, the atmosphere of the training ground began to heat up.
Well, except for one person.
Only Song Hak was smiling, imagining Seok Myeong rolling miserably on the ground.
Tap.
It was the moment the sound of a single footstep was heard.
Seok Jun’s form, which had been maintaining a mid-level sword position, wavered like a fluttering leaf.
The wavering lasted only a moment, but the result was stark.
Something began to surge like a bolt of light in front of Seok Myeong.
Flash!
In the blink of an eye, the positions of the two men had swapped.
Seok Jun stood where Seok Myeong had been, frozen with his sword thrust forward, while Seok Myeong stood about two paces back, watching Seok Jun with his sword lowered.
He dodged it.
That was the collective thought of everyone watching.
It was a sudden, lightning-fast surprise attack, yet Seok Myeong had evaded Seok Jun’s strike.
Perhaps because of that, Seok Jun—who had been certain Seok Myeong would fall—had a distorted expression.
His pride was visibly stung.