Underage Martial Tournament (1)
Even after Baek Yeon vanished through the window, the murderous aura she had left behind in the room refused to fade.
Jin Sohee shot a glance back and forth between the window frame Baek Yeon had occupied and the ruined bedding, then left the room without saying a word.
After that, Jin Sohee became a ghost in every sense of the word. She practically lived in the training yard, even cutting into her meals to stay there longer.
Her blade work, which had always been calm and rational, began to warp. A savage bloodlust seeped into the wooden sword she swung.
At this rate, she’s going to kill somebody.
Of course, I didn’t mean her. I meant the poor soul who had the misfortune of facing her.
I clicked my tongue and began my own training.
There was nothing more to force upward right now. What mattered was consolidating what I had already gained.
The surge of energy I had realized while trading blows with Baek Yeon. The death qi of the Third Blood Demon and the blood qi of the current Blood Demon did not mix.
Instead, the two currents meshed like interlocking gears, and when I circulated them at the same time, they produced explosive power.
But that brought a problem.
“Death qi is easy to build up, but blood qi isn’t…”
Death qi could be gathered easily just by going somewhere like Black Valley, where it lay everywhere like dust. Blood qi, on the other hand, could only be increased through proper breathing and circulation exercises.
Because the growth rates were so different, the balance between them would eventually break—and when it did, that explosive increase would disappear too.
“For now, I need to get it stable.”
I settled into a cross-legged seated position. Making the surging blood qi my central axis, I filled the gaps with cold death qi and coaxed the two into harmony.
It wasn’t smooth at first. But every time the two forces threatened to clash, I made minute adjustments, and before long they began to flow together.
It was too heavily invested in blood qi to be called the Death Blood Demon Art, but too reliant on death qi to be called one of the Blood Demon’s techniques.
So I decided to call this power the Death Blood Divine Art.
It seemed this world liked the character for “divine” very much.
With the Death Blood Divine Art refined to this degree, I could probably take first place in the martial tournament without any trouble.
“For now, anyway.”
Yes—only for now. In the end, if I increased death qi too much, blood qi would fall behind and the balance would break.
That was a homework assignment I would have to solve someday.
.
.
.
While Jin Sohee lived in the training grounds and I continued reorganizing what I had achieved, the day of the martial tournament finally dawned.
On the day of the tournament, the main training yard of the Blood Cult was packed to the brim.
It was the first underage tournament ever held in the Blood Cult, and the younger age brackets outnumbered the adults by a huge margin, so that was only natural.
From the competitors to the spectators, the place was jammed solid—so crowded that some people were standing just to watch.
The elders of the Blood Cult sat in the honored seats opposite the ring.
I got the distinct feeling their attention kept drifting toward me. Word must have reached them that the Cult Leader had taken an interest in me.
Among the elders’ seats were the Blood Demon’s disciples, and of course Baek Yeon was there as well.
“...She’s here too.”
Jin Sohee glared at Baek Yeon. Baek Yeon answered by sticking out her tongue.
Why are women like this?
Shaking my head, I started toward my seat, only for Jin Sohee to mutter as she passed me.
“Wang Saryeong, don’t die.”
She didn’t even wait for my answer before heading toward her own group.
Her eyes blazed with a fierce edge that had grown sharply more dangerous in just a few days.
Then a massive drumbeat rolled through the center of the training yard.
Dum—! Dum—! Dum—!
Three beats shook the whole area, and the noisy stands fell silent.
In the middle of the yard, a middle-aged man in red martial robes stepped forward. A familiar face: the chief instructor.
“Young wolves of the Blood Cult, listen well!!!”
His voice, reinforced with internal energy, rang across the entire training ground.
“For the next three days, you will prove the future of our sect! A martial artist does not speak with words.
Fight! Win! Seize victory!”
The chief instructor raised his right arm high and sent a burst of crimson energy shooting into the sky.
“The rules are simple. Killing is forbidden during the matches, but all other means are permitted.
Anyone pushed off the stage, anyone who surrenders, or anyone who loses consciousness will be considered defeated.
Now, I declare the Underage Martial Tournament begun!”
Waaahhh—!
With the chief instructor’s proclamation, the cheers of nearly a thousand people pierced the sky.
The tournament would run for three days in all, and today—the first day—would be the preliminary round, where most of the contestants would be eliminated.
Each group went up to one of the many training platforms according to the names listed on the roster.
Preliminary Round, First Match of Group 4: Wang Saryeong vs. Jang Cheon
When the spectators saw the pairing, the stands broke into a murmur.
“What kind of bracket is this from the very start? They’re matching Jang Cheon with some kid like that?”
“Isn’t Jang Cheon one of the favorites to win next year’s adult ceremony?”
“And his opponent is what, ten? Wang Saryeong? I’ve never even heard the name. What rotten luck.”
Everyone was already expecting a clean victory for Jang Cheon.
Once I stepped onto the platform, Jang Cheon looked down at me.
He really is different.
Even among my peers, Lee Cheolgang’s large frame—or even Jang Ho’s, which was the biggest of the lot—looked almost childlike next to Jang Cheon.
Jang Ho, who was built so solidly he might as well have been an adult already, had broad shoulders alone enough to make him look like a title contender.
“Kid, maybe you’re a genius for your age, but you’re no match for me.
Even more so when you think about the four-year gap between us at this age. That’s the difference between an adult and a child.
Just surrender. I don’t want to hurt you.”
The difference in our builds was obvious. My height barely reached Jang Cheon’s waist.
As I stared at him silently, Jang Ho let out a sigh.
“Well, if you’d quit when someone told you to, you wouldn’t be called a genius in the Blood Cult, would you?”
The referee raised a flag from outside the ring.
“Begin!”
At the signal, Jang Cheon’s form blurred.
Whoosh!
It was footwork that didn’t suit his size at all. Fast and discreet—proof, if I needed any, that four years at this age made a huge difference.
“I’ll send you off as painlessly as possible.”
In an instant he appeared on my right, his fist wrapped in red blood qi as he swung.
With a cracking sound like the air itself was being torn apart, the punch came flying in. Everyone probably thought the match would end with this one blow.
I didn’t dodge. Instead, I stepped in and lightly thrust out my right hand to meet his fist head-on.
Kwaaaang!
With an enormous crash, Jang Cheon was shoved backward five or six steps.
After our fists met, he stared in shock. I had sent him backward with a punch thrown by a kid who was only ten years old.
“That’s incredible strength.”
Jang Cheon shook out his trembling hand and clenched his fist again.
His eyes had turned vicious.
“Fine. If you entered this tournament, then you’re no child—you’re a proper martial artist. I underestimated you.
From now on, I’ll acknowledge you as a martial artist and fight you seriously.”
Jang Cheon drove out a punch, and swirling crimson inner force took the shape of a wolf.
“Take this! Blood Wolf Fist.”
The wolf-shaped fist force roared and charged at me. The floor of the platform cracked under the pressure, and dust burst up in a whirlwind.
The stands erupted into a mix of gasps and screams, all of them already picturing my gruesome end.
“It’s weaker than Jin Sohee’s.”
I activated the Death Blood Divine Art. Blood qi and death qi locked together, driving the power higher.
I simply swept my hand lightly and swatted the wolf aside.
Thud.
A clean sound. The wolf that had been racing toward me as if it meant to swallow me whole vanished without a trace.
Death qi takes precedence over all other energies. A mere wolf like that couldn’t even preserve its shape before death qi.
Jang Cheon was left dazed by the sight of his secret technique being shattered so utterly.
“That’s impossible... my secret technique, by a ten-year-old—!”
I didn’t stop. I closed the distance at once.
Jang Cheon, flustered, hurriedly threw another punch, but that kind of sloppy swing wasn’t worth defending against.
I planted my small palm right into the broad center of his chest.
Kwaang!
Jang Cheon’s body flew off the platform like a cannonball and smashed into a stone wall far away.
The wall split apart with a spiderweb of sharp cracks, and dust rose into the air.
Silence.
The training yard, which had been full of nearly a thousand voices, fell still in an instant, as though someone had poured cold water over it.
The tournament favorite had lost in just two exchanges to a ten-year-old.
And he had been completely outclassed in both skill and strength.
The elders watching the match each wore a different expression. Some were stunned, some looked curious, and others seemed angry.
“Next.”
My low voice shattered the silence and carried across the yard.
It was only the first preliminary match, but everyone in the sect was now focused on me.
So this was what they meant by tournament favorite. If this was the level of the favorites, I didn’t have much reason to worry about winning.
“Broooother!!!”
A voice came from where Jang Cheon had collapsed. It was the massive boy, Jang Ho.
Jang Ho rushed over to check on Jang Cheon.
Ah. So he was the younger brother...
No wonder he was so big—they were brothers.
Ah, then...
Earlier, when Jang Ho had picked a fight, I had stamped my hand, wrapped in death qi, onto his chest and left a mark.
Without meaning to, I’d left the exact same mark on his older brother too.
One of the elders, who had seemed irritated from above, came down to inspect Jang Cheon.
“To do this to my disciple...”
So he had been his disciple. Somehow, the more this martial tournament went on, the more enemies I seemed to accumulate.