Chapter 27
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Sparring with Qingcheng
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It felt like a bloodbath could erupt at any moment.
As if they were facing a life-or-death enemy right before their eyes. With Seo Mun-ha having laid bare his true intentions, the Qingcheng Sect's second-generation disciples fumed and reached for their sword hilts.
'Aren't we troubling the innkeeper?'
But at Un-jeong's single remark, they decided to change venues.
A true Daoist avoided letting emotions cloud their judgment. Soon, they stepped out of the inn, where a crowd had gathered—including A-so and Yang Jeong from earlier, and many more besides.
Just as the second-generation disciples had intended.
"Hmph. As a senior of the martial world, I'll yield three moves to you."
The man assumed a sword stance, offering the bare minimum courtesy. Now, of all times, he cared about the onlookers' eyes.
Seo Mun-ha shrugged and casually drew his sword.
Before him stood the Qingyun Chixia Sword.
A technique said to have been created from the sight of azure clouds and a glowing crimson sunset.
Its elegant movements flowed as naturally as the passage of time.
"First move."
Seo Mun-ha swung his sword lightly.
Unfortunately, no remarkable technique shone through.
A warrior who had lost his beloved sword to Omyeong's swift blade flew back over thirty feet.
Thud.
A heavy silence descended.
The Qingcheng sword, representing the sect, had slammed into the wall without even drawing its power once.
"Are you yielding three moves as well?"
At the dry voice, the man who had stepped up in place of his fainted comrade ground his teeth.
To avoid looking like the many bullying the few, the opponent yielded three moves once more.
But even this new man's eyes couldn't catch the exchange from before.
Not only did fresh wariness arise, but now they couldn't afford to yield three moves rashly.
The plan had gone awry. Yet awry was awry, and regardless, the sparring continued.
"Impressive. I wondered what kind of man this Ghost Flash was, the one stirring up all of Hubei."
A clear voice suddenly approached from among the spectators, seeking agreement.
"......It's been a while."
Directed at Un-jeong, whose face was etched with gloom.
"It has. We arrived a step too late."
He sighed, glancing at the Emei Sect's female heroes who had just shown up.
"Perhaps it's for the best."
The speaker was a woman known as the Emei Divine Maiden.
Leading her, the Emei Sect of today enjoyed a prosperity that didn't quite match its Buddhist ways.
"He might even rival my martial nephew. I never imagined Ghost Flash was this capable."
To her—the junior sister of Emei's sect leader, the Taiyin Shitao—there were several martial nephews, but Un-jeong knew exactly whom she meant.
'If he only rivals him, that'll be fortunate enough.'
Ghost Flash had already surpassed Emei's top swordswoman among the Seven Peaks and Nine Strongholds, with just a few unseen techniques.
'She must know it too.'
But Un-jeong lacked the courage to voice it.
"Are you just going to watch like this?"
"Ghost Flash's feats exceed imagination. His temperament is a bit mischievous, but it's hardly an excessive power for him."
"Is that Qingxu-zi's judgment?"
Un-jeong was one of Qingcheng's famed Five Swords among the first-generation disciples.
For him to believe Seo Mun-ha's earlier words meant as much. The pure sword path had proven his innocence, and there must have been tireless effort behind it.
It was hard to see it as mere effort to bully the weak and flaunt himself.
Though in truth, Seo Mun-ha hadn't poured in quite that level of effort or sincerity.
"What do you plan to do, Divine Maiden?"
The two had no way of knowing.
"We came just to jeer, after all."
"Jeer? Heh heh......"
What could be learned before or after was surprisingly little, and she—who had arrived a step late—had pondered it far longer than they had.
"What was that you just said?"
"Ah, nothing. Wuliangshou Fo."
He, who bore Yuanshi Tianzun as his honorific, urged her to calm down instead.
True to her title of Divine Maiden, she was a beauty hard to meet eye-to-eye. Un-jeong knew better than anyone present her strong, fierce personality.
Bam!
Just then, every Qingcheng disciple hit the dirt.
"Though shameless, might I ask you to look after my sect's disciples?"
He acknowledged Seo Mun-ha's words as true.
But as one who had received his sect's grace, he couldn't ignore honor. Thus, a Daoist who had stepped into the secular world stepped forward for the sake of face.
After gaining the Emei Divine Maiden's approval.
As she and a few Emei disciples tended to the fallen warriors, her eyes widened enormously.
Rustle.
For someone in the crowd whose fame, even combined with hers and Un-jeong's, wouldn't reach their ankles was present.
"A spirited young lad. Every time I see you, you're stirring up something amusing."
"......Greetings, Great Hero Dang Dokbiwang."
"Yes. You've grown a lot. How's the sect leader?"
"Yes...... thanks to you."
"Thanks to me? Now you're even flattering an old man like me. It's I who gains years from your Shitao and Zhenren."
She, ever dignified, broke into a cold sweat. Indeed, he was the one Emei and Qingcheng resented most.
"I......"
"I'm not here to scold you, so don't worry. I've long withdrawn from clan affairs."
Contrary to her concerns, Dang Cheol-son paid her no mind.
Whether it was Qingcheng's shallow scheme or Emei's intentions, his gaze was fixed on one young man.
"You were right, young hero."
Un-jeong offered a formal clasped-hands bow to his much younger junior.
"Forgive my martial nephews' rudeness."
Seo Mun-ha returned the greeting wordlessly.
"And thank you for indulging this poor Daoist's stubbornness."
Shring.
The clear ring of a sword echoed.
Among Qingcheng's first-generation disciples, Qingxu-zi was one of the rare true Daoists. Tales of his martial prowess rivaling the Emei Divine Maiden, his gentle nature, and his righteous heart were renowned across Sichuan.
"M-Master Uncle......"
"Rest and recover. We'll address this matter back at the headquarters."
Passing by his drooping-head martial nephew without a word, he stood before Seo Mun-ha.
"I'll yield three moves."
Seo Mun-ha didn't refuse.
Scree!
A swift-charging single stroke—one that had effortlessly neutralized Qingcheng's Peak Realm disciples.
"As expected, the Seo Mun Clan's swift sword is unparalleled under heaven!"
Un-jeong parried Seo Mun-ha's sword.
That he had time to speak meant he'd uniquely blocked the first move, unlike his nephews.
The straight sword path instantly twisted into chaos.
Probing against a Mid Realm warrior was pointless; he held nothing back.
'An ancient tree......'
Seo Mun-ha felt as if facing a deeply rooted tree.
His arts were incomparable to those juniors, and though it was the same Qingyun Chixia Sword, his understanding and essence were on another level.
Clang!
A one-sided assault spanning three moves.
Limited to swordplay, he unleashed strikes fitting the favorable situation.
Though giving his all, he didn't recklessly deploy ultimate techniques.
"Omyeong's swift sword—well seen."
The two men, trading fundamentals. The moment three moves ended, the tide turned.
Like falling leaves, an unpredictable sword path dazzled the eyes and relentlessly pressed him.
'A first-generation disciple of the Nine Great Sects.'
Purely in terms of skill, he exceeded expectations. Disappointed by the juniors' manipulation, Seo Mun-ha found that, as expected, a great oak of the orthodox path was a great oak.
Swish!
It was less a lapse in attention than a blink of an eye.
In that split second of distraction, Un-jeong sliced his collar and reset his stance.
"Are you alright? You must be tired from handling my nephews—shall we end it here?"
It was a Daoist's considerate way of saving face.
"Perhaps an unnecessary concern......"
"It is unnecessary."
And an unnecessary consideration at that.
Whoosh.
Seo Mun-ha regripped his steel sword with a faint smile.
"Are you alright, Daoist?"
Not bad overall.
"Qingcheng's sword lives up to its fame, but if that's all there is, it won't escape dishonor."
Qingcheng's sword surpassed the Seo Mun Clan's by far.
"How dare a virtue-lacking poor Daoist utter 'Qingcheng'?"
This was regarding the Five Inscriptions Twelve Divine Arts.
"Qingcheng's sword is boundless; this poor Daoist merely strives not to tarnish its name."
Yet Un-jeong wasn't Qingcheng's entirety either; he hadn't shown everything.
Currently limited in capacity, Seo Mun-ha was enjoying the clash and comparison of distinct arts, detached from the individuals.
Paat!
The two clashed once more.
The back-and-forth exchange allowed no retreat, and as exchanges continued, they forgot the surroundings and their positions.
In internal energy, Un-jeong held the edge.
The Mid Realm warrior, with keen insight, unleashed precise swordsmanship in succession, marveling at Seo Mun-ha's rare full earnestness.
'What is this......'
Marvel turned to shock.
The technique's refinement and efficient qi flow were familiar from the juniors.
'I thought five-tenths power would suffice.'
But the surprise didn't end there.
'Is this the prowess of a youth not yet twenty?'
Using ten or twelve-tenths power, and with increased force, he subtly sensed the opponent wasn't going all out.
For Un-jeong, it was staggering.
The gap between Third and Fourth Realm dwarfed that between First and Third—not merely a matter of qi quantity.
Lower Realm and Mid Realm.
A single realm's difference separated peak from super-peak, and countless warriors despaired before this insurmountable wall.
Yet Seo Mun-ha's arts seemed to leap it lightly, incomparable even to the era's famed prodigies like the Nine Dragons and Seven Peaks.
'This young hero's skill is clearly Third Realm......!'
That alone heralded a hidden expert's emergence—a boon for the Seo Mun Clan, and orthodox murim at large.
"Kuh!"
He could admire and rejoice, but that should have been the end.
'Yuanshi Tianzun!'
Seo Mun-ha was too much.
Through repeated advances and retreats, Un-jeong emptied his hand.
Qingyun Chixia Sword, Seventy-Two Wave Sword, and even the advanced Shooting Lightning Absolute Light Sword.
Seo Mun-ha seemed pushed by unfamiliar ultimates, only to quickly grasp and dismantle the paths.
Forcing Un-jeong to step forward once, then back once more.
Not nonexistent, nor impossible.
'Is this young hero at the Soul Transcendence Realm?!'
Impossible, Un-jeong repeatedly denied.
"Too many stray thoughts."
"Gasp?!"
Un-jeong nearly dropped his sword but barely steadied himself.
The elusive Flying Performance Step, known to only a handful among Qingcheng disciples.
"Heh heh."
The drooping sword tip mirrored his heart, and Un-jeong laughed hollowly.
"I've never gambled in my life as a Daoist, yet I feel stripped bare."
"Nothing more left?"
"What more do you want to squeeze out? A man needs conscience."
One precedent calls another; Seo Mun-ha chuckled idly at the Daoist sinking deeper into the secular.
"Young Hero Seo Mun, are you perhaps a Return to Purity or Rejuvenation master?"
"My name writes 'Jeong' with the character for 'righteous ruler'. That's my father's given name."
"I know that!"
Un-jeong raised his voice un-Daoist-like.
"Hoo, in Shandong, they call monsters 'playboys', it seems. I thought I knew the world through my nephews, but today my eyes are truly opened."
And he raised his sword again.
"Pure Truth Dragon-Subduing Three Swords. An ultimate my master devised."
Un-jeong assumed an odd sword stance based on the Flying Performance Step.
Drawing his hidden three-tenths, he went all out, and Seo Mun-ha met it.
Mountain Shattering Heavenly Spirit Sword's Fire Chapter.
The somewhat unrefined ultimate now shone polished, unwittingly capping this spar's start and end.
"Amitabha......"
Leaving behind one Daoist lost in a daze, his identity forgotten.