Chapter 189
Chapter 189
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: Prove It
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“…Honestly, I’m surprised. Even just a few days ago, I thought your skills were extraordinary, but you’ve changed again in these past few days.”
These were the first words from the Martial Refinement Pavilion Master, with Geon-yeong standing before him.
Back when Ja-seong’s group and Geon-yeong had been facing off against Jeon Gal Cheon-sang.
Unlike the others who had scattered and fled, the Pavilion Master had remained at the Great Heaven Pavilion.
A sliver of responsibility had held him back—the refusal to leave matters at the Jeon Gal Clan in outsiders’ hands.
But in the end, he hadn’t needed to step in.
There was Dae-un and Seol, Hwa-ryeon and Geon-yeong.
And finally, Ja-seong himself.
The five of them had confronted the inscrutable monster Jeon Gal Cheon-sang without yielding an inch, and they had ultimately succeeded in bringing him down.
Amazed by that feat, the Pavilion Master focused his gaze on Geon-yeong.
-My eyes must be deceiving me. Could the young master of the Jeon family really…?
Geon-yeong possessed the sharp mind befitting a member of the Jeon Gal Clan and quick calculations to match, but his martial talent was ordinary, which kept him from being called a young lord.
Yet his movements against Jeon Gal Cheon-sang had transformed to a level worlds apart from what he’d shown before.
What astonished him most was the exquisite footwork that allowed him to hold his own even against the clan head, Su-gyeong.
-That footwork…!
Where on earth had he learned such footwork?
The answer to that question came soon enough.
Through Ja-seong, who had delivered the final blow to Jeon Gal Cheon-sang.
Watching Ja-seong dart through multiple directions in an instant and slip into Jeon Gal Cheon-sang’s guard, the Pavilion Master realized it at once.
The footwork was the same as Geon-yeong’s, even if the proficiency differed.
‘Goon Ja-seong, was it?’
The Pavilion Master recalled the cold-featured young man watching them from amid the crowd.
His youthful appearance made it hard to believe he’d achieved the feat of subduing Jeon Gal Cheon-sang in the throes of demonic frenzy.
The martial arts he’d first witnessed at the recent banquet had been impossible to trace to any sect, utterly unlike anything conventional.
Yet both Ja-seong and Geon-yeong employed the same footwork.
And that could only mean one thing.
Ja-seong had passed it on to Geon-yeong.
‘Why would he teach footwork of that caliber to the Jeon family’s young master?’
It had to be something worthy of being called a secret art, yet he’d handed it to a complete stranger who wasn’t even family?
Any ordinary martial artist would refuse even if offered a fortune in gold.
From his perspective, it was utterly incomprehensible.
And now, another enigma stood before the Pavilion Master.
Geon-yeong’s unfamiliar swordsmanship, something he’d never seen before.
‘No, calling it unfamiliar swordsmanship isn’t quite right.’
No matter how much it had changed, it couldn’t fool the eyes of the Martial Refinement Pavilion Master, a researcher of martial arts.
What Geon-yeong wielded was unmistakably the Little Star Sword Technique.
Even if the forms and the energy flow had altered greatly, its essence remained unchanged.
‘I thought he stepped forward so confidently to face me because he was overconfident in that footwork.’
His assumption had been wrong.
In a mere few days, Geon-yeong had unveiled a completely reborn Little Star Sword Technique and overwhelmed Jeon Gal Cheong, the leader of the martial force.
Of course, Jeon Gal Cheong had lost his cool under the effects of the Four Perceptions and it wasn’t a Life-Death Resolve that shattered his protective energy.
“A young kid barely past twenty shouldn’t have gone down so easily.”
“We got lucky.”
Geon-yeong answered the admiring Pavilion Master’s words with calm indifference.
But the follow-up question made his face stiffen.
“Was it that young friend Goon Ja-seong who helped refine the Little Star Sword Technique too?”
“…….”
Silence.
He hadn’t expected the man to strike at his blind spot so directly.
Watching Geon-yeong’s face harden, the Pavilion Master snorted and spoke.
“Did you think you could fool my eyes? Me, the Martial Refinement Pavilion Master?”
“…Hoo.”
Geon-yeong let out a small sigh at those words and admitted it straightforwardly.
“Yes. As you said, Pavilion Master, I received help from young hero Goon.”
Hearing Geon-yeong’s response, the Pavilion Master first thought perhaps the footwork had been exchanged for the Little Star Sword Technique.
But he soon shook his head.
Objectively speaking, the Little Star Sword Technique didn’t hold value equal to that peerless footwork.
Moreover, if it had been a trade, there’d be no reason to pass on the refined version.
Ja-seong’s actions still made no sense.
But one thing was certain.
“That means you leaked the clan’s secrets to an outsider?”
Leaking martial arts.
To a martial clan, this was a grave offense they could never overlook.
Yet Geon-yeong remained defiant.
“Thanks to that, our clan can grow stronger. Without borrowing the power of demonic arts.”
“…….”
This time, the Pavilion Master fell silent.
Truth be told, beyond the rage of losing kin in this demonic outbreak, he felt another emotion.
Guilt.
If he, if his Martial Refinement Pavilion, had achieved something, perhaps the clan head and elders wouldn’t have fallen to the demonic arts.
‘It’s because I was lacking that they strayed down the wrong path.’
Useless now, but he couldn’t help such thoughts.
Especially not while still failing to produce proper results.
And now Geon-yeong stood before him, saying it aloud.
That he and that young Goon Ja-seong had accomplished what he couldn’t.
An ordinary person might deny it here, consumed by ugly jealousy or inferiority.
But his heart burned too earnestly to fall into that ordinary category.
“Can you prove that?”
Rather than deny it, he decided to verify if their words held truth.
“…Of course.”
Geon-yeong gripped his sword tighter, speaking firmly.
Seeing this, the Pavilion Master closed his eyes slowly.
The fury of a father who’d lost his child still blazed within him.
But it wasn’t just a grieving father inside.
There was the martial artist of the Jeon Gal Clan who’d endured years of scorn and disdain, and the martial scholar who’d failed to advance the clan’s arts.
The warrior’s sorrow and the scholar’s guilt soothed the father’s rage, restoring his calm. The Pavilion Master opened his eyes and drew his cherished sword.
-Shing!
The moment his sword tip pointed at Geon-yeong, an explosive aura erupted.
“Urgh…!”
A stern voice reached Geon-yeong as he braced against the intense pressure he dared not underestimate.
“Then prove it. To me, to everyone.”
With that cold declaration devoid of all personal emotion, the Pavilion Master charged at Geon-yeong.
*
-Kagang!
“Urk…!”
Their first clash.
A groan escaped Geon-yeong’s lips unbidden.
Power and sharpness on a trajectory unlike any previous foe.
Geon-yeong gritted his teeth and thought.
‘As expected of the Martial Refinement Pavilion Master. He’s no less than Father.’
Until now, Geon-yeong had deliberately avoided using the Heavenly Mechanism Foreknowledge Step to defeat his opponents.
Of course, this was to minimize internal energy consumption for battles that might drag on, but there was another reason.
To show the gathered crowd the reborn Little Star Sword Technique, forged from five days of effort.
-What’s that swordsmanship of the Jeon young master?
-It’s different from the Little Star Sword Technique. Much more powerful and fierce. Where did he learn such a martial art…?
Indeed, the onlookers reacted with astonishment to Geon-yeong’s swordsmanship.
Unlike the Pavilion Master, they hadn’t grasped its essence and saw it as an entirely different technique.
Even so, he’d imprinted the new Little Star Sword Technique’s power on the seniors—it was worth the risk.
But the Pavilion Master clashing swords with him now allowed no such leisure.
‘Holding back on the Heavenly Mechanism Foreknowledge Step any longer would be reckless.’
With resolve hardened, Geon-yeong stepped into the positions of the Eight Trigrams.
“…!”
Geon-yeong’s sword shot toward his side in an instant. The Pavilion Master swung his blade wide to block the attack.
Immediately after, from his hand unfolded the first form of the Little Star Sword Technique: Heavenly Pivot Earth Pinch.
-Swaeek!
A sword falling toward the crown of Geon-yeong’s head.
It looked like a simple overhead strike, and it was exactly that.
The Jeon Gal Clan’s Little Star Sword Technique was a sword method built on fundamentals, imprinted with the imagery of the Big Dipper’s Seven Stars.
Divided into seven forms total, the first, Heavenly Pivot Earth Pinch, served as the herald of attacks to come.
“Hup!”
Geon-yeong evaded with the Heavenly Mechanism Foreknowledge Step.
In response, the Pavilion Master stepped forward in pursuit.
And seeing the Pavilion Master’s footwork, Geon-yeong’s eyes widened.
“That’s…!”
For the first time, agitation rippled across his face, which had remained composed through successive duels.
Because the footwork the Pavilion Master displayed bore an uncanny resemblance to his own Heavenly Mechanism Foreknowledge Step.
‘Could he have learned it just from watching mine these past few days?’
The two footworks looked similar enough for Geon-yeong to entertain such a thought.
But Ja-seong, observing from afar, reached a completely different conclusion.
*
“No. They look similar at a glance, but they’re entirely different footworks.”
I shook my head at Hwa-ryeon, who asked in surprise upon seeing the Pavilion Master’s footwork.
His initial stance and movements in chasing Jeon Gal Geon-yeong did resemble the Heavenly Mechanism Foreknowledge Step.
But to my eyes, the creator of the Heavenly Mechanism Foreknowledge Step, the differences were clear.
The imagery and principles embedded in the footwork were distinct.
No further explanation needed—it soon manifested in reality.
Unlike Geon-yeong’s Heavenly Mechanism Foreknowledge Step, which read and predicted the opponent’s movements through the Eye Method, the Pavilion Master’s merely chased after him, shifting through directions.
“Now that you mention it, they’re definitely different.”
As I nodded along with Hwa-ryeon and continued observing the Pavilion Master’s footwork, a strange sensation arose.
“A strange feeling? What do you mean?”
“Hmm… If I had to put it, it feels like traces of deep contemplation are layered into it…?”
In simple terms, it felt like something built up over a long time.
Not something hastily thrown together in a day or two.
At length, a hypothesis surfaced in my mind.
Could that footwork be the prototype of the Heavenly Mechanism Foreknowledge Step?