Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: Dragon-Phoenix Tournament (8)
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It would end in an instant.
That was what both women had resolved.
Yet the match did not conclude so easily.
Of course it wouldn't.
The gap in their levels wasn't extreme—one hovered at the cusp of first-rate, the other had just stepped into the entry of Pinnacle Realm.
Beyond that, it was a duel between two martial artists who knew each other all too well.
Thung-!
Hye-un's thrusting sword was deflected by Dang Hwa-seo's fist.
She had struck the flat of the blade.
What followed was Dang Hwa-seo's claw technique.
Hye-un pulled her body back sharply, dodging the hand flying toward her throat.
Both women thought the same thing.
'As expected…'
Tricky.
Dang Hwa-seo's martial arts were terrifyingly precise.
It was a skill she had honed for survival, having suffered her entire life to control her poisonous qi.
Dang Hwa-seo, who had constantly refined her own body to ensure not even a handful of poisonous qi flowed astray, wielded her internal energy with equal meticulousness.
Of course, that didn't mean Hye-un was at a disadvantage.
She too was a prodigy bearing the name of Phoenix.
Even with the unseemly rumors that always trailed her, her talent was the reason she represented Emei.
Her swordsmanship struck swiftly like a storm yet scattered like a mirage.
To Dang Hwa-seo, it was nothing short of a disaster.
Tung-!
The sword deflected once more.
And poisonous qi spreading above the arena.
Hye-un ground her teeth.
'Damn irritating.'
There was a wall between Pinnacle and first-rate.
An absolute barrier for ordinary martial artists.
But this too was ultimately martial arts, ultimately a matter of the body.
Since a martial artist's duel wasn't decided solely by realm, compatibility had to be considered.
Fighting Dang Hwa-seo was fundamentally different from facing a swordmaster.
The venomous gaze aside, that woman's true weapon wasn't her claw technique but poison.
The invisible hand that sent tingles through her body with every breath.
'Paralysis poison, and Body Dissolving Poison.'
Her movements grew sluggish.
And her internal energy scattered faster as time passed.
A prolonged battle meant certain defeat.
Yet forcing a quick finish was impossible against such solid defense.
"Tricky, aren't you."
"Your temper's just like a nun's."
"What crude speech."
"What's crude is that body of yours."
Blood vessels bulged in Dang Hwa-seo's eyes.
There was anger and irritation, to be sure.
But it was more a side effect of her fully unleashing her poisonous qi.
"Draw it. Your sword qi."
"Are you admitting defeat?"
"What's the joy in beating someone not at full strength? It just gives the loser excuses."
Hye-un let out a laugh.
"If that's what you want."
Shaaa-.
A white glow settled over Hye-un's sword.
A faint light not yet fully formed.
Her sword qi.
'A provocation.'
Hye-un knew.
It was a ploy to drain her internal energy even faster.
But that was no reason not to rise to it.
Internal energy that would scatter anyway if held back.
Pushing for a quicker end was the right call for her too.
"Here I come."
Dang Hwa-seo tensed further.
'Can't let the sword touch now.'
Sword qi, even faint, was sword qi.
If she arrogantly struck the flat again, the qi wave would damage her internal energy.
Then there was only one breakthrough.
'Get closer.'
A faint dark green aura rose around Dang Hwa-seo.
A mimicry of Pinnacle Realm aura, since she hadn't reached it.
Agonizing pain tore through her body as the poison spread, but it was a familiar agony she ignored.
With that, she unleashed her technique.
Ssss-.
Black Heaven Poison Web Technique.
The Sichuan Tang Clan's secret art of 4-star rank emanated from her body.
Dang Hwa-seo's form blurred.
Sruk-.
Serpent Shadow Step.
She shot forward glidingly, using the footwork she had practiced until her soles blistered back in the Tang Clan.
She swept her hand from below upward.
A motion exposing clear openings, yet Hye-un chose retreat over thrusting.
She had sensed the vicious poison in the faint aura emanating from Dang Hwa-seo's entire body.
"Tch, sharp eyes as always."
"Thanks for the praise."
Hye-un swung her sword.
The poisonous qi swarming around her was swept away by the sword wind.
Inhaling deeply the momentarily clear air, Hye-un shot forward again.
The duel reached its climax.
*
It was in the past.
When Hye-un, just 14, had earned the right to attend the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.
Back then, she had admired her greatly.
To the point where it was right to call the feeling aspiration.
-Nice to meet you. You're Poison Phoenix, right?
-Who are you?
-Ah! I'm Hye-un of Emei. I've wanted to meet you so much...
-Ah... Emei Sect. Nice to meet you. But I don't have time for greetings right now. Can we talk later?
-Ah, yes!
A woman who had participated in the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament a year ahead.
A heroine who at 14 earned the moniker Poison Phoenix.
Dang Hwa-seo back then shone so brightly in young Hye-un's eyes.
-What do you think? Isn't she amazing?
-I feel ignored...
-So what? She's like that now, but it'll change when I reach the main rounds. Or even if not this time, if I keep growing? Actually, isn't it good? Watching that expression change will be entertaining.
Even being brushed off in greeting felt joyful.
Dang Hwa-seo spent the tournament days alone, but even that solitude turned to allure in her aloofness.
14-year-old Hye-un aspired to everything about her.
If she showed no interest, prove it with martial prowess.
She alone was the prodigy who could stand on the same level.
She was certain.
-I'm confident. Poison Phoenix will have to acknowledge me for sure.
Hye-un proved it.
At the next year's Dragon-Phoenix Tournament, at 15.
-White Phoenix, I see you've earned that moniker.
-An undeserved title.
"No need for false modesty."
"Was it obvious?"
She was thrilled.
Finally on the same level as Dang Hwa-seo.
Having etched her name in her mind.
Perhaps that's why she had provoked her.
-I hear people saying I'll surpass you, Poison Phoenix.
"I said drop the modesty, not get arrogant."
"Not confident?"
"You're clueless about your place, nun."
"We'll see on the arena."
"Conveniently, we're up next. I can help temper that Buddhist heart a bit."
That year, Hye-un lost to Dang Hwa-seo.
A one-sided match ending in three exchanges.
Yet she was still glad.
In that year's duels, only she and Namgung Jincheon lasted beyond three against her.
16-year-old Dang Hwa-seo remained an object of aspiration.
-Poison Phoenix! Next time, I'll train to beat you...
"No need."
"Pardon?"
-...Just know that. Ah, enjoy the wine in moderation. Doesn't seem like a good hobby. Sharing a table now is fine, but cross the line and it's hard to come back.
-Ugh...!
That's why.
Because she had aspired so deeply.
Hye-un came to hate Dang Hwa-seo.
-...Elope, you say?
-Yes, the Tang Clan denies it, but it's certain. Why else would Poison Phoenix, whom they were so eager to show off, seclude herself for half a year?
After their last meeting at the 15-year-old Dragon-Phoenix Tournament, Dang Hwa-seo's traces vanished.
She had reached the group finals and earned White Phoenix, finally recognized as a rival in the jianghu—yet it all came to nothing.
That day, Hye-un felt the world crumble.
The ever-aloof woman, the unbreakable idol, had fallen.
Like a child losing a treasure clutched in hand, Hye-un wandered.
Her conclusion took that form.
-...She was just that kind of woman.
Unrequited feelings turned aspiration to rage, as they often do.
She gathered the burned-out embers of admiration and kindled flames from them.
-Foolish.
And grew.
-Sword Qi Wounds Men! Amazing! How already...
-Don't fuss. Still a long way."
-Pardon?
-Time isn't just on my side. Poison Phoenix might be even higher up.
-Come on, it's been five years. Sure, the jianghu still pits juniors against Poison Phoenix in arguments, but a woman on the run competing with senior brother...?
-Junior sister.
-Yes, ma'am!
-There's no proof she ran. Tang Clan, Nine Great Sects, Great Clans—none say it's true.
Perhaps it was stubbornness.
Hye-un just wanted to convey her name to Dang Hwa-seo, who vanished before she could prove herself.
Naturally, so deep an aspiration that even shattered shards yearned to be pieced together.
The wait was long.
The twisted admiration darkened into resentment.
Then the banquet arrived.
Hye-un faced her with emotions she couldn't name.
-Is that outfit alright?
A woman laughing with some pretty boy courtesan beside her.
Showing an unseemly side she should never reveal, yet there she was.
An unimaginable disappointment.
The moment her warped aspiration should end, the fitting end.
Yet Hye-un felt not disappointment, but something else.
-What's wrong, little sister?
-Nothing. Just an ugly face in sight.
Absurd.
Despite the resentment, just knowing Dang Hwa-seo remembered her revived the glow of youth.
She unwittingly smiled.
'I won in martial arts.'
Even pleased at such a thought.
Everything after was an extension.
Actions born of wondering how to make Poison Phoenix serious.
-Six years passed, yet you haven't changed much.
Even belittling her martial level.
-The patron behind you seems new. May I get an introduction?
Deliberately showing interest in Mok Ri-won to provoke her.
-Poison Phoenix probably doesn't like me. With your competitive nature, standing on the same level as me might annoy you.
Even sowing discord through Mok Ri-won.
'Well, not entirely without ulterior motives.'
That ulterior motive had cooled completely anyway, and crucially, Dang Hwa-seo had gotten serious.
Mission accomplished.
Hye-un just wanted to show.
How much she had grown in the five years without her.
And confirm.
If the heroine Dang Hwa-seo still stood strong.
Paaak-!
So when the fist buried into her solar plexus.
Hye-un could smile despite the breath-crushing pain.
*
A strike seizing the momentary gap.
Dang Hwa-seo smiled pleasantly at the feel of her fist.
Clang-.
The sword fell to the ground with a clear ring, Hye-un coughed 'cough', and the announcer's verdict followed.
[Poison Phoenix! Victory!]
"Waaaaaaaaah!!"
Only then did Dang Hwa-seo realize her win and withdraw her fist.
Kneeling and hacking, Hye-un still smiled and said.
"Using Body Dissolving Poison is cheating, right?"
"Cheating? You should've expected it."
"Wow, shameless."
"Words I don't want to hear from a nun."
Dang Hwa-seo narrowed her eyes, looking down.
'Really...'
Years later, still no manners.
Speech unbecoming a nun, and that lustful nature even less so.
'Gave her advice before leaving, too.'
Couldn't fathom why she chased skirts so openly.
Truth be told, that was a fair reason to dislike Hye-un.
Yet even Dang Hwa-seo acknowledged one thing.
"Your martial arts have become usable. Still no match for me, though."
Hye-un's head lifted.
Her eyes widened briefly, then she burst out laughing.
"If I'd prepared for Body Dissolving Poison, I'd have won?"
With that, flop.
Hye-un collapsed face-down.
Despite defeat, a refreshing smile lit her face.
"Ah, frustrating."
Feigned grievance that wasn't funny.
Hye-un muttered it while savoring her joy.
A short duel, but its fruit was sweet.
Hye-un's long-tainted, twisted aspiration was neatly restored by a single fist to the solar plexus.