Unstoppable Momentum (3)
Honestly speaking, Hyeon Yucheon had no interest whatsoever in being the strongest late-stage talent among the unorthodox sects.
He was aiming for the title of the world's greatest from the start, so what happened in the puddles where the weaklings played was of no concern.
But there were things that provoked him even more.
"Blood Dragon Ghost Sword Gu Jin-ak advanced, so he'll face off against the Demon Sword Sect heir."
"Who do you think will win?"
"Pfft! Obviously Young Hero Gu Jin-ak's victory!"
"Right. No matter how much the Mugeom Sword Young Master inherited from Elder Cheon, how much could he have learned in that short time?"
That was the crowd's assessment.
Gu Jin-ak had just won his match and advanced to the semifinals, setting up a clash with Hyeon Yucheon. Yet the people overwhelmingly favored Gu Jin-ak to win.
Frankly, Hyeon Yucheon didn't even find it amusing.
'People don't know me, so all I can do is prove it.'
Fortunately, showing and proving was one of Hyeon Yucheon's specialties.
If people didn't believe in his abilities because they didn't know them, he had no choice but to demonstrate.
Hyeon Yucheon waited in the wings, sharpening his blade in his mind.
"The semifinalists have been confirmed: Dark Heaven Fist Peak Seon Ye-jin! Blood Dragon Ghost Sword Gu Jin-ak! Mugeom Sword Young Master Hyeon Yucheon! Mysterious Yi Flying Wolf Tak Jo-hong!"
At Bong Il-wol's announcement, the audience nodded as if it was all as expected.
Aside from Hyeon Yucheon far exceeding expectations by easily crushing Quicksword Hall's Ok Jang-cheon, there had been no upsets or surprises.
"The finals are obvious."
"Dark Heaven Fist Peak versus Blood Dragon Ghost Sword, right?"
Even the predicted champion was usually Gu Jin-ak's name on everyone's lips.
Hyeon Yucheon quietly watched them, waiting only for time to pass.
And finally!
"Semifinal match one! Blood Dragon Room's Blood Dragon Ghost Sword Gu Jin-ak and Demon Sword Sect's Mugeom Sword Young Master Hyeon Yucheon, please come up to the arena!"
As the semifinals began without delay, Hyeon Yucheon smiled faintly and ascended to the arena.
"Gu Jin-ak! Win this!"
"I bet my entire fortune on you!"
"You have to win!"
Gu Jin-ak's popularity was overwhelming.
There wasn't a single person cheering for Hyeon Yucheon or believing he'd win.
No, only Cheonu, one of the Black Wolf Three Swords, gnashed his teeth as if to say, "Just watch."
'You idiots. You still don't know the sect leader's true power.'
Cheonu alone knew how the future would unfold.
So he simply crossed his arms comfortably, looking forward to the fools' expressions.
"The great hero told me something."
Just before the match began, Gu Jin-ak's once-calm eyes gradually filled with madness, and he suddenly spoke.
"……?"
Hyeon Yucheon showed curiosity at this rare sight.
What did he want to say?
"He said I remind him of the Demon Sword Old Fiend, Elder Cheon. And at the same time... that the future of unorthodox Murim lies with me."
Hyeon Yucheon found Gu Jin-ak's provocation amusing.
"Frogs in a well believe that well is the entire world."
There was one thing Gu Jin-ak didn't know.
That he could never beat Hyeon Yucheon—not just in martial arts, but in verbal sparring either.
"Match begin!"
The match started amid their tense exchange of words.
'I wonder who will win?'
Even Bong Il-wol, the judge, watched their standoff with interest.
-Blood River...
As the match began and they glared at each other, Gu Jin-ak was the one to attempt the first strike.
Or rather, he tried to.
Paat!
The formless sword qi Hyeon Yucheon unleashed lightly grazed his cheek.
Juruk!
Blood soon trickled from Gu Jin-ak's cheek.
"I don't know about anything else, but mentioning my master was hasty. You've got me a bit heated now."
Hyeon Yucheon said with blazing eyes.
Frankly, he'd planned to go easy and match his level.
He worried that crushing him completely might hurt Gu Jin-ak's pride and make him clam up.
But now, things had changed.
"You'd better be careful."
Hyeon Yucheon warned him.
It was a fitting warning.
The first strike.
-One Flash One Kill!
The technique favored by Demon Sword Old Fiend Cheon Baeksang roared to life.
Having inherited everything from his master, Hyeon Yucheon often used One Flash One Kill as well.
He believed no technique better showcased the nature of the Formless Flash Quick Sword.
Splat!
Hyeon Yucheon's signature invisible ultimate quick sword flew stealthily.
It was undoubtedly a murderous sword that could kill in an instant.
Unlike in the past when he held back, Hyeon Yucheon unleashed it at full power this time.
What did that mean?
Kkaang!
Even Blood Dragon Ghost Sword Gu Jin-ak, said to be the strongest late-stage talent in unorthodox Murim, couldn't react at all.
He pitifully raised his sword in defense.
Or more accurately, he was lucky to have his sword up when the invisible formless sword qi struck it.
And the follow-up second strike.
-Flash Fire Burst!
This technique, embodying the essence of a blindingly fast sword igniting flames, infused extreme quick swordplay with power fierce enough to blaze.
In other words, while One Flash One Kill swiftly took the throat with lightness and speed, this focused on shattering the opponent.
Ssaeaeng!
The sword force emerged with a different sound entirely.
The sword force of Flash Fire Burst was enough to smash anything in its path.
Kwaaang!
And sure enough?
Gu Jin-ak's sword, which had luckily blocked One Flash One Kill by sheer accident, shattered.
In clashes between experts and inferiors, the inferior's weapon breaking was a common sight—especially when the skill gap was extreme.
Ooooo!
The crowd couldn't help but be shocked as sword force erupted from Hyeon Yucheon's blade.
Emitting sword force meant one thing.
"Super Peak expert!"
"Unbelievable!"
"Super Peak at such a young age!"
"That means he's on par with the top ten unorthodox masters soon!"
At the same time, they were stunned that Blood Dragon Ghost Sword, the strongest unorthodox late-stage talent, couldn't keep up and lost his sword.
Nine out of ten—no, everyone—had predicted Gu Jin-ak's victory, yet this looked like Hyeon Yucheon toying with him.
"Urhaap!"
But Gu Jin-ak was no ordinary madman.
Even after losing his sword—another heart for a swordsman—he didn't panic.
Instead, he unleashed the pinnacle technique of Blood Dragon Flying Sixteen Fists, the pride of the Blood Dragon Room.
-Blood Dragon Flying Fist!
It was already well-known that before taking up the sword, Gu Jin-ak was a prodigy in fist arts who shocked the world.
Paaat!
His ferocious fist qi surged from his punch straight for Hyeon Yucheon's head.
'If I fall back any more, it's defeat!'
Gu Jin-ak was like a man teetering on a cliff's edge on tiptoes—no time to hold back.
Sword or fist, he needed to break Hyeon Yucheon's momentum somehow.
His fist advanced smoothly, cloaked in blood-red qi—until!
-Heavenly Dominion Step!
Hyeon Yucheon didn't yield to his impressive improvisation.
Instead, with fluid, supple footwork like a snake slithering over a wall...
Paat!
Gu Jin-ak's fist sliced empty air futilely.
The truth was, Gu Jin-ak had never been Hyeon Yucheon's match from the start.
Meanwhile, Hyeon Yucheon casually tapped his solar plexus.
Kwang!
It wasn't light at all—his inner power was practically a lethal weapon—so Gu Jin-ak's waist bent double as he slid backward.
"Kuh! Keheok!"
And that wasn't all.
His mouth filled with blood; he spat it up, the sky spinning around him.
"Now, is this enough for you to talk about my senior brother?"
As the pitifully slumped Gu Jin-ak looked up, Hyeon Yucheon gazed down and asked.
Hyeon Yucheon had lost all interest in him now.
Even the strongest unorthodox late-stage talent couldn't threaten him.
"Grr... Not... yet!"
Gu Jin-ak shouted, and at the same time...
Chaeng!
He drew a short sword hidden in his outer thigh for emergencies.
Though shorter, it was better than fists.
'I haven't even shown proper swordsmanship.'
Gu Jin-ak wasn't fully spent yet.
Losing was one thing, but losing without unleashing true swordplay was a swordsman's shame and an unbearable humiliation for any Murim warrior.
"Haaaaap!"
Gu Jin-ak reverted to his signature mad eyes and launched a frenzy.
With all his might.
More than if facing his parents' killer!
-Mad Dragon Blood Heaven Subjugation!
Blood poured from his mouth due to internal injuries, his hair disheveled, but he didn't care.
Nay, that appearance only amplified his mad aura, sending shivers through the onlookers.
"Good form."
Even Hyeon Yucheon praised Gu Jin-ak for refusing to yield until the end.
Of course, it was merely an expert urging an inferior to strive harder.
Swik!
Hyeon Yucheon adjusted his stance as well.
Respect was due to an opponent giving their all.
'Gu Jin-ak, you'll grow stronger from this defeat.'
Like pronouncing a death sentence, Hyeon Yucheon aimed both hands at him.
Invisible to the weak, but experts knew: his hands blazed with potent qi, heralding a devastating technique.
-Formless Advancing Sword!
Hyeon Yucheon countered Gu Jin-ak's full-power strike in kind.
Gu Jin-ak thrust desperately, vomiting blood, but he couldn't even properly see Hyeon Yucheon's sword.
"Huh?"
By the time he sensed it, it was too late.
Hyeon Yucheon's formless finger sword had already grazed his left shoulder.
He could have pierced the left chest—heart—but spared him even that.
'Ah... I...'
Only now did Gu Jin-ak realize.
As Hyeon Yucheon said, he was just a frog in a well, unworthy even of comparison to the Demon Sword Old Fiend.
The true successor to the Demon Sword Old Fiend was not him, but the man before him: Mugeom Sword Young Master Hyeon Yucheon.
Plop!
Gu Jin-ak knelt—not from exhaustion, but awe and admiration he couldn't suppress.
This one-sided defeat was a first, excluding the Blood Dragon Room Lord and Brilliant Light Demon Sword Ga Jinuk.
Losing to a peer expert was unprecedented.
"I... yield!"
Hyeon Yucheon nodded as if it were natural.
"Well fought."
Like a senior encouraging a junior, he added:
[I trust you understand the importance of your promise.]
Reminding him of their prior agreement.
To reveal everything he knew about the senior brother.
[After the Black Heaven Assembly ends, I will tell you everything you're curious about.]
Gu Jin-ak nodded, sending back a sound transmission.
With his injuries and internal damage, treatment came first.
And with so many eyes watching, even via transmission, it was best to wait until the Black Heaven Assembly concluded.
"D-Demon Sword Sect's... Mugeom Sword Young Master Hyeon Yucheon's victory!"
Bong Il-wol, frozen silent, finally shouted after Hyeon Yucheon glanced his way.
It was an undisputed, perfect win.