In One Piece
Yi Yeok arrived at Eagle Sorrow Gorge, where the wager was to be settled.
The gorge lay at the heart of the border shared by the Nokhyeon, Yangcheon, and Sungwol Sects. True to its name, cliffs rose so savage that even an eagle might fall into a brood over them, and the rock spires crowning those sheer faces looked for all the world like eagles perched upon the peaks.
Yi Yeok and Bang Cheon came gliding down out of the sky on the Blood Spirit Sword, and the people below turned to watch as a matter of course. The moment the sword dispersed, Bang Cheon—his face gone corpse-white—staggered off to one side at a run.
Yi Yeok paid him no mind. He looked around with open curiosity, and cultivators had indeed gathered in force, every last one of them young, somewhere between sixteen and twenty-six.
"I don't believe we've met."
A tall youth with a folding fan in hand had addressed him.
"Heard a whole crowd was throwing itself off a cliff. Came to see what the fuss was about."
"Ju Jin, disciple of the Sungwol Sect. May I ask your name?"
Just then a voice trembled out of the crowd, thick with fear.
"Junior Brother Yi...?"
Yi Yeok turned and burst out laughing.
"Mok Geom-in, Dong Pil—you seniors are here too?"
Mok Geom-in managed an awkward smile and nodded.
"So you've come, Junior Brother Yi."
Ju Jin looked puzzled.
"Brother Mok, who is this?"
A household does not parade its shame, and nothing of what had happened inside the Nokhyeon Sect had leaked beyond its walls. Mok Geom-in forced a smile.
"Junior Brother Yi is the number one of our outer sect."
Yi Yeok wanted to bellow that he was the best in the inner sect too, but for the moment he kept his mouth shut.
The faces of those listening settled into calm. An outer disciple. No one worth minding.
"Enjoy yourself."
Ju Jin nodded, said as much, and drifted off as if the matter held no interest for him at all. Yi Yeok didn't care. He only grinned.
Mok Geom-in and Dong Pil had no choice but to approach.
"Your skill has improved again, Junior Brother Yi."
Dong Pil said it through a strained smile. Yi Yeok grinned back.
"Well, I was exceptional to begin with."
Their guts twisted, but outwardly they wore fawning smiles.
"So how does this wager work? Bang Cheon didn't have the details straight."
"The cliff is about five hundred zhang. They've driven bamboo poles in every hundred zhang, and you use those to govern your fall. Blood Spirit is forbidden—lightness skill only. The entry fee is five thousand taels of silver, or one spirit stone. More than eighty are signed up for today alone."
At Dong Pil's explanation, Yi Yeok's eyes lit.
"First place takes seven-tenths of the pot, second two-tenths, third one-tenth."
"Interesting. Plenty of spice."
"It is. The death rate's fairly high, too."
"At least two or three out of every ten end up badly hurt or dead. Of today's field, twenty will probably die."
Mok Geom-in cut in, his voice heavy. Yi Yeok didn't mind. If anything, a gleam had come into his eyes. He clapped Dong Pil on the shoulder and laughed.
"You seniors are rolling in it. When it came time to pay tribute, you acted like every coin was your last."
"The money stream's been cut. We've no choice but to work harder."
Dong Pil answered, sour about it. Yi Yeok only grinned.
"Anyone here ever taken first?"
"Eldest Senior Brother took first once. Among us, Senior Brother Mok managed third, the one time."
"You mean Ju Uk?"
Yi Yeok said it as if the news surprised him.
"If I don't place in the top three this time, I'm done."
Mok Geom-in sighed as he said it. Dong Pil picked up the thread.
"It won't be easy. Ju Jin's been grinding hard for this one."
Yi Yeok's eyes roved as he asked.
"How do they rank you?"
"As I said, bamboo every hundred zhang. The less you use them, the higher your score. Snap one, and you lose points."
Yi Yeok nodded. Dong Pil added:
"Last time a newcomer went down without touching a single pole. Turned out he'd fainted on the way. Nearly died."
Yi Yeok only cackled, as if the story delighted him.
Mok Geom-in said:
"If you want in, register over there. You'll have to sign a life-and-death waiver. Die, and it's on you. Neither your sect nor your family may seek revenge."
Yi Yeok walked the way Mok Geom-in pointed. Three men sat at a single table. To the left, silver was heaped into a small mountain; to the right, dozens of spirit stones were stacked. Yi Yeok's eyes flashed again. He wanted to snatch the lot and run.
The youth behind the table didn't so much as lift his head.
"Name?"
"Yi Yeok."
"Sex?"
"You blind?"
Only then did the youth raise his head and look at him.
"Insult a notary and you can be thrown out."
Yi Yeok planted a foot on the table.
"I'll drop my trousers and show you myself."
Mok Geom-in and Dong Pil rushed in to stop him.
"Junior Brother Yi, he's only joking, isn't he?"
Mok Geom-in said it quickly.
"Yi Yeok of the Nokhyeon Sect. Male."
"Silver, or a spirit stone?"
Yi Yeok glared at the youth, then set down a single spirit stone.
No one nearby spared him a second thought. They had seen plenty of confident men end up dead and crumpled at the foot of the cliff not long after.
"Registration closes with this. We begin in the order of entry."
At the notary's signal—once he had Yi Yeok's waiver in hand—the contestants lined up along the cliff's edge.
A youth leapt without hesitation. Mountain wind shook his body, and Yi Yeok watched closely. Even using the bamboo poles was no simple thing. The wind blasting up from below was so fierce that a body was tossed at random and driven away from the cliff face. With roughly a hundred zhang still to go, the youth drew on his Blood Spirit, flew a short stretch, and landed. Disqualified.
The second contestant followed at once.
Dong Pil lowered his voice.
"Lightness skill lightens the body, so you can borrow the wind. Trust the wind alone, though, and a gale will swallow you easily enough. That's when you answer it with the Thousand-Jin Drop. The match is decided by how freely you can switch between the two."
Yi Yeok nodded, the feel of it coming to him. This was no simple fall. It demanded perfect control, and perfect balance.
The next challenger looked skilled enough, but in trying to bleed off speed on the second pole he snapped it. The challenge paused while the pole was replaced, and silence held above the cliff.
Only with the fifteenth challenger did someone finally reach the bottom safely. He skipped the first pole, then used the rest well and landed unharmed.
Soon Dong Pil and Mok Geom-in took their turns. Dong Pil couldn't govern his speed and, at the last instant, saved his life only by calling on his Blood Spirit. Mok Geom-in did better. Weaving lightness skill and the Thousand-Jin Drop, he reached the foot of the cliff on only a couple of poles—though no one could say with confidence that it would place him in the top three.
"As expected. Not easy."
Dong Pil sighed, the regret plain on his face. Yi Yeok grinned.
"Don't worry. I'll win. I'll treat you seniors to a proper feast."
Then Ju Jin approached.
"Brother Yi of the Nokhyeon Sect—why don't the two of us go together? This looks like your first time. I might even be of some help."
"You sure? Maybe I'm the one helping you."
Ju Jin smiled.
"Then nothing could be better."
As Yi Yeok stepped forward, Ju Jin added:
"A high-speed fall can damage the eardrums. Breathe in deep. It'll protect them."
"Thanks for the advice. That's one favor already."
"Then let's begin."
Ju Jin leapt without a shred of hesitation. His body dropped straight down, steady as a lump of iron.
Yi Yeok flung himself after him and shouted.