Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Heavenly Secrets Foresight
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The two warriors charged at each other simultaneously.
The first to strike was Geun-yeong.
"Hah!"
With a short shout, Geun-yeong's sword thrust toward Jegal Soon's upper body.
Jegal Soon's eyes turned icy cold at the sight.
It was because the momentum and movement from the sword felt no different from yesterday.
'...So it was all pointless delusion after all.'
Even as he dismissed it as mere fantasy, Jegal Soon felt an inexplicable pang of regret. He swept his sword upward from below, deflecting Geun-yeong's blade.
-Clang!
"Urk!"
Geun-yeong's sword bounced back with a groan.
The recoil left his chest wide open.
A golden opportunity as the opponent exposed a gap.
Jegal Soon seized it without hesitation, launching a counterattack.
As if repaying the previous strike in kind, he twisted his sword wrist, aiming for Geun-yeong's chest.
At the same time, a listless thought flitted through Jegal Soon's mind.
'It'll end with his Protective Barrier gradually whittled away. Just like yesterday.'
There was no other path after all.
He was convinced of it.
But reality unfolded a bit differently from his expectations.
Shockingly, just as Jegal Soon thrust his sword forward, Geun-yeong's figure vanished from sight.
"What...?"
He had been right there a moment ago?
Where on earth...?
As his eyes darted around searching for the vanished Geun-yeong, the sound of slicing air struck his right ear.
At the same moment, a impact hit his side.
-Thud!
"Kuh...?"
Turning his head belatedly, he saw Geun-yeong now standing to his right.
And his sword piercing into his own flank.
Thanks to the ever-active Protective Barrier, it only tore a hole in his uniform, but the fact remained that he had allowed Geun-yeong's attack.
'How...?'
A gaze of shock beyond astonishment turned toward Geun-yeong.
"Haaap!"
Geun-yeong paid it no mind and pressed the attack.
A diagonal slash following the thrust slammed into Jegal Soon's shoulder.
"Urk...!"
Feeling his Protective Barrier shatter significantly, he swung his sword belatedly.
But seeing Geun-yeong already retreating, he let out a short, hollow laugh.
"...Indeed, something has changed."
It was as if Geun-yeong could read every one of his attacks.
Of course, since they both practiced the same Lesser Star Swordsmanship, it wasn't strange that they knew each other's forms well.
However, knowing them and reading and responding to them were entirely different matters.
With such a vast gap in their achievements and experience, for him to read movements this well was undoubtedly bizarre.
Unknowingly, Jegal Soon glanced toward Ja-seong, who was watching from outside the sparring platform.
"What sort of trickery is this?"
Just one day, a mere twelve hours.
It was hard to believe Geun-yeong had achieved such progress in that short time.
It was only natural to harbor such doubts.
Receiving Jegal Soon's suspicious gaze, Ja-seong gave a sly smile and nodded toward the platform.
"No reason I should tell you, is there? Besides, is it okay to get so distracted during a match?"
-Scree!
As if answering Ja-seong's words, the sound of slicing air rang out again.
This time, Geun-yeong's sword swept upward from below, surging toward Jegal Soon.
-Clang!
But this time, it was blocked.
Instead of chipping away at the Protective Barrier, it clashed with Jegal Soon's sword, sparking bright embers.
Beyond them, the old swordsman's icy face came into view.
"Impressive, but this alone won't beat me. Do you think I've been going all out until now?"
"...!"
Geun-yeong's eyes widened at the suddenly strengthened force.
Judging that he could no longer be underestimated, Jegal Soon began exerting his full power.
The vast inner energy accumulated over long years coursed through his body, granting him a mighty strength unfitting his age.
-Clang!
"Urk!?"
Pushed back helplessly by the intensified power, Geun-yeong staggered.
Jegal Soon immediately pursued.
Fierce sword strikes tore through the air with overwhelming momentum.
Geun-yeong couldn't even dream of blocking them and retreated repeatedly.
Realizing he was being pushed toward the edge of the sparring platform, Geun-yeong gritted his teeth and refocused his mind.
'I need to break out of this offensive pressure.'
If he got swept up in the opponent's momentum like this, defeat was as good as sealed.
Geun-yeong unleashed the eye technique Ja-seong had taught him, focusing his gaze on the incoming sword.
And at the moment their blades met, he twisted his wrist on the hilt, successfully deflecting the strike.
-Screech!
A high-pitched metallic scrape that clawed at the eardrums.
Dodging it, he stepped into the northwest Qian position, slashing at Jegal Soon's flank as he passed.
"Hmm...!"
Jegal Soon groaned as his hard-won offensive crumbled and he suffered a counter. He glanced downward briefly.
At the end of his gaze, between the torn uniform at his side, firm muscles for an elder were revealed.
Protected by the Barrier, his body remained unscathed.
But how long could that last?
He had already allowed countless attacks, each one significantly eroding the Protective Barrier.
In contrast, his own sword hadn't touched Geun-yeong even once.
For the first time, the word 'defeat' surfaced in Jegal Soon's mind.
"...No. Not yet."
He couldn't hand over the ledger for something like this.
He couldn't throw away the years behind him for something like this.
'I can't let something like this deny my entire life!'
Intense light flashed in Jegal Soon's eyes.
With it, a sharp aura erupted from his entire body.
"...!"
Sensing it, Geun-yeong flinched and hardened his expression.
He instinctively knew the old swordsman, who had suppressed and hidden himself for so long, was now unleashing his full power.
Geun-yeong abandoned any thought of clashing head-on.
'From now on, I have to avoid direct collisions.'
Fortunately, he was confident in evasion.
After all, what he'd learned last night while getting beaten like a dog in midsummer was precisely how to dodge well.
"Huu...."
With a deep breath to shake off the tension, Geun-yeong heightened all his senses while facing Jegal Soon.
Just as he sharpened his five senses to guard against the opponent's movements,
-Boom!
Jegal Soon stomped hard and charged.
The rush, bolstered by inner energy surging through his meridians, was incomparably faster than before.
But,
'Not as fast as Young Master Goon.'
Jegal Soon's sword swept widely sideways.
Predicting it via the eye technique, Geun-yeong shifted to the southeast Xun position among the Nine Palaces, evading beyond the strike's range.
Jegal Soon's sword, tracing a wide arc, futilely sliced empty air.
Seeing it, Geun-yeong's eyes gleamed.
'Now!'
Targeting the brief gap right after the sword passed, he returned to the central Wu position and struck down at Jegal Soon's shoulder.
Or rather, he tried to.
"What!?"
In that instant, Jegal Soon's sword abruptly changed trajectory and flew back.
He had anticipated that Geun-yeong, having dodged, would exploit the opening, and struck at his blind spot.
Jegal Soon's attack countered the eye technique's prediction with the foresight of experience.
Geun-yeong desperately raised his sword to defend, but with his stance crumbling and no power behind it, proper defense was impossible.
-Kaboom!
"Kwahk!?"
Unable to withstand the strike, Geun-yeong was sent tumbling backward.
The sword he dropped flew through the air and embedded itself before Ja-seong outside the platform.
"Ugh...."
"...In the end, it's my victory."
Jegal Soon declared victory while watching Geun-yeong rise with a groan.
A swordsman who had lost his sword—it wasn't entirely wrong.
But Geun-yeong refused to accept it.
"...No, not yet. I'm still standing firm."
"You really intend to go all the way?"
"If I were going to give up like this, I wouldn't have started."
At Geun-yeong's stubborn refusal to admit defeat, Jegal Soon's gaze turned to Ja-seong outside the platform.
"Does the young hero share the First Young Master's view?"
"Well, we should respect his own will, shouldn't we?"
Staring impassively at Geun-yeong's sword planted before him, Ja-seong answered flatly.
Judging by his demeanor, he had no intention of intervening and breaking the agreement midway.
Looking back at Geun-yeong, a cold glint rose in his eyes.
"Then today, I'll crush that will once and for all. For the Jegal Clan."
Jegal Soon approached the unarmed Geun-yeong, readjusting his grip on his sword.
Watching him, Geun-yeong swallowed hard and suddenly recalled the conversation he'd had with Ja-seong last night.
-So, how does Chief Steward Jegal plan to win?
-Hahk...! Hahk...! Y-Yes? What?
Panting as he dodged Ja-seong's attacks, Geun-yeong reflexively questioned the sudden query that flew at him.
-W-What, gulp. What do you, huuk. mean by that?
Ja-seong handed a bowl of water to the barely coherent Geun-yeong and continued.
-No matter how well you dodge, you can't win a match without bringing your opponent down. I'm asking if you have a strategy for that.
While Ja-seong spoke, Geun-yeong downed the bowl, caught his breath, hesitated, then answered.
-...I-I have thought of something, sort of, but it's a bit...
-What is it? Tell me anything.
Urged by Ja-seong, Geun-yeong glanced at him cautiously before asking tentatively.
-...Young Master Goon, could you perhaps teach me Sword Qi Manifestation?
-Oh ho?
At Geun-yeong's abrupt mention of Sword Qi Manifestation, Ja-seong immediately realized he'd grasped the compatibility between sword qi and the Protective Barrier.
-Did you notice it when suppressing the Elder Council Leader?
-Yes. He clearly had his Protective Barrier up, yet his legs were severed in one go.
-Ah, true enough.
Ja-seong nodded, recalling the situation.
But his response wasn't positive.
-Sorry, but it's impossible.
-...I figured as much.
-Don't misunderstand. It's not that I don't want to teach you—it's that I can't.
-Pardon?
Ja-seong promptly explained why Sword Qi transmission was impossible.
-Sword qi is about controlling qi emitted outside the body and wrapping it around the blade. It requires far more precise true energy manipulation than mere emission. Even as a True Energy Adept, there's nothing I can do about that.
-I see.
In simple terms, manifesting sword qi had to be achieved purely through one's own capabilities, no shortcuts.
Naturally, accomplishing it in just one day was impossible even if the world turned upside down.
Geun-yeong accepted the situation.
But soon, distress settled on his face.
-Then the only way is to dodge Chief Steward's attacks while steadily chipping away at his Protective Barrier.
Jegal Soon was a veteran of the martial world with over fifty years of training.
He undoubtedly possessed immense inner energy.
And that vast inner energy led to a formidable Protective Barrier.
'Can I really whittle away all of that Barrier and claim victory?'
Geun-yeong groaned anew at the bleak reality.
Watching him, Ja-seong chuckled.
-Not a method I'd recommend. It'd take forever too.
-But without sword qi, there's no other way...
-Who said there's no other way?
-...Pardon?
Ja-seong shrugged at Geun-yeong's startled expression.
-There's a much simpler method. Want to try it?
Awakened from his reverie by Ja-seong's words that nothing ventured, nothing gained.
By now, Jegal Soon had closed in right before him.
Looking up at the sword raised high as if ready to strike any moment, Geun-yeong instinctively knew this was the moment to gamble.
He had lost his sword, and the opponent was convinced of victory.
A situation where anyone in the world couldn't help but let their guard down.
Because it was such clear peril, the chance for reversal had arrived.
"Truly regrettable, First Young Master."
With a quiet murmur, the sword fell like a guillotine blade.
Staring straight at it, Geun-yeong unleashed Heavenly Secrets Foresight with all his power.
East, Zhen position, followed by northeast, Gen position.
Finally, north, Kan position.
Hitting the three positions in succession, he circled behind Jegal Soon in an instant.
A speed utterly different from before.
Yet no matter how fast, Jegal Soon's body was protected by the Protective Barrier.
What exactly did he plan to do?
The answer lay in Geun-yeong's fingers.
Index and middle.
His left hand, with two fingers extended, targeted the Tianzhu acupoints at the base of Jegal Soon's neck—the junction between neck and head.
And at the tips of index and middle fingers, in the Shangyang and Zhongchong acupoints, Geun-yeong's true energy gathered.
Flicking Finger Strike.
This was the trump card Ja-seong had proposed against Jegal Soon.
Not as materialized as sword qi, yet a condensed mass of true energy capable of piercing the Protective Barrier shot forth.
As Ja-seong predicted, the two energy masses penetrated the Barrier and burrowed into the Tianzhu points,
"Kahk-!?"
Jegal Soon, whose pressure points were struck, collapsed as his entire body went numb.
"Wh-What is this...?"
Jegal Soon panicked at his own limp, immobile form.
A sharp blade was pointed at his throat.
At the end of the gaze following the blade stood Geun-yeong, composed.
The sword he'd dropped when paralyzed had been retrieved by Geun-yeong.
"...My victory, Chief Steward."
A subdued declaration.
At those words, which denied his life's work, Jegal Soon closed his eyes.