Chapter 136
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: What the Hell Is This?
A brief moment to catch their breath.
Yeon Ha-min and Baek Ri-pyeong slowly calmed their excitement.
The situation just moments ago had been that precarious.
But Yeon Ha-min couldn't easily shake off her confusion.
She still couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
A few breaths passed.
"Here I come."
With that simple warning, Baek Ri-pyeong swung his sword.
Once again, countless sword stars flew in, surrounding him from all sides.
With the addition of the Heavenly Protection Technique, the storm of stars became utterly unpredictable.
Yeon Ha-min threw everything she had into countering Baek Ri-pyeong's onslaught.
Focus upon focus.
It was the best she could do right now.
Her concentration reached its peak.
And then, what appeared in her vision was Baek Ri-pyeong's sword thrusting in from the side.
Yeon Ha-min quickly twisted her body and swung her sword.
But her blade sliced through empty air,
and as she turned,
whoosh.
Baek Ri-pyeong's sword passed through the space she'd just occupied.
If she hadn't turned her body and had only swung her sword, she would have been in danger once more.
'Again!'
Yeon Ha-min's eyes trembled faintly.
She was plunged into confusion, wondering what on earth was happening.
Ha Mu-baek, watching this, widened his eyes.
Once could be a fluke.
But this was already the second time.
It didn't seem like coincidence.
The moment he decided to observe a bit longer,
a similar scene unfolded yet again.
This made three times.
No way it was coincidence.
Ha Mu-baek frowned once more.
'At her current level, this kind of awakening is actually poison...'
He could guess what was happening to Yeon Ha-min, and worry hit him first.
It was an ability he himself wouldn't have known about without his experience in the previous war.
'The Blood Cult's Third Elder, was it?'
One of the few enemies who had given him serious trouble during the last two wars.
The man had immense pride in his own abilities and loved to boast.
Once he thought he was cornering Ha Mu-baek, the Hocheon Corps Leader who plagued the Blood Cult, his mouth ran nonstop.
He was foolish enough to brag about his own power.
'Well, he was weak. Probably just venting his pent-up frustration.'
His martial prowess was low for his position. He was beyond peak level, but as a Blood Cult elder—and one of the Three Elders at that—he should have reached a considerable transcendent realm.
The Fourth Elder had, after all.
Yet he'd leaped over that gap with his unique ability to become Third Elder.
It seemed he'd suffered all sorts of humiliations within the Blood Cult because of it.
So when he momentarily pushed Ha Mu-baek back, one could imagine his feelings.
He'd spewed all that frustration and resentment at Ha Mu-baek the whole time, turning it into boasts about his ability.
'Well, he dug his own grave.'
Ha Mu-baek had been unsure how to handle him at first, but the man's bragging revealed his power, allowing Ha Mu-baek to defeat him.
'Future Sight. That's what he called it himself, I think?'
He'd said that during battle, he could just see about one to two breaths into the future.
With familiarity and peak concentration, even three breaths ahead?
But so what? What could he do even if he saw it? Once Ha Mu-baek knew the ability's nature, he smashed through it regardless.
If you see it but lack the skill to respond, you just get crushed.
Judging by Yeon Ha-min's confused movements now, she was seeing Baek Ri-pyeong's attacks about one breath ahead.
So she wasn't reacting to the immediate strike but preempting the next one and moving accordingly.
It was a sudden awakening.
One fraught with danger.
At least it was a spar and not real combat.
If she'd awakened like this in actual battle with no one to help, the sensory confusion would have led to a major blunder.
'No, she could have died.'
That's what real combat was like.
In that light, this awakening might actually be fortunate.
'But still. What the hell are these kids?'
Ha Mu-baek wore an incredulous expression.
The five disciples gathered under him.
None had been ordinary from the start, but the abilities they displayed as they grew were beyond belief.
"Hoo. Suddenly, that girl Yeon Ha-min's movements are getting weird. Has her concentration slipped? Tsk."
Gong Son Mu-wae let out a pitying sigh and even clicked his tongue.
He seemed to find Yeon Ha-min's current plight truly heartbreaking.
"Her concentration is probably at its peak."
Otherwise, Future Sight wouldn't have manifested.
"But she's moving like that?"
Gong Son Mu-wae responded to Ha Mu-baek's words with disbelief.
"If she properly recognizes and adapts to her current state, it'll change. If not, she'll lose like this."
Ha Mu-baek said calmly.
"I-Instructor, can't you tell her?"
Dan Mok Un-hye asked with a desperate look. She clearly pitied Yeon Ha-min struggling like that.
"I would in real combat. But this is a tournament spar. That would be cheating."
Ha Mu-baek replied firmly.
Dan Mok Un-hye turned her gaze back to Yeon Ha-min with a sullen expression.
Was it because her fists were clenched tight?
Her fingers dug into her palms.
'W-What the hell is this?'
Yeon Ha-min was truly flustered. Her senses kept betraying her.
What could she trust and move on now?
She couldn't believe what her eyes were showing her.
But she couldn't close her eyes either.
She wasn't some legendary master who could fell foes blind by sensing their presence alone.
Baek Ri-pyeong's face grew increasingly rigid as he pressed the assault on such a Yeon Ha-min.
This had happened four times already now, so he'd caught on.
'Four times just now. All responses to the move after next.'
Even that first close call had been the same. He'd planned to strike the front, then immediately the rear if blocked.
'How?'
It was unbelievable.
Baek Ri-pyeong had rarely used the Heavenly Nature Sword Art before, and this was his first time combining it with Heavenly Protection.
It wasn't something she could anticipate and counter in advance.
Did she memorize the entire sword path in this short spar?
Yeon Ha-min was a genius who could memorize sword forms. But he'd pushed his sword deployment to its limit, altering the pace of changes.
Yet she preempted it perfectly, like before?
Impossible.
Unless it was that monster of an instructor.
'Something's happening to Ha-min.'
Baek Ri-pyeong concluded.
And so,
he decided to end it before she adapted.
The longer this went, the more disadvantaged he might become.
Thud!
Baek Ri-pyeong powerfully kicked off the sparring platform floor.
His figure vanished in an instant.
Heavenly Protection followed by Heavenly Divine Technique. He dashed at tremendous speed, utilizing the entire platform.
Innumerable sword stars trailed behind his barely trackable movements.
'Ah, ahh.'
Yeon Ha-min sank deeper into confusion.
Then,
a sword approached before her eyes again.
And the sword behind it.
This time, she saw two swords.
How to evade two?
By the book, dodge the closer one first. But after four prior experiences?
Yeon Ha-min dodged the distant one first, then deflected the nearer.
Clang!
It was correct.
A resounding clash of blades echoed as Baek Ri-pyeong's figure vanished once more.
'Tch.'
Yeon Ha-min had changed again. In a way disadvantageous to him.
Baek Ri-pyeong drew up his inner energy fully.
Fast sword.
Changing sword.
Now with added power.
Stronger sword.
Baek Ri-pyeong battered Yeon Ha-min like a storm.
The storm of stars filled the platform.
Amid it, Yeon Ha-min was gradually adapting to what her eyes showed.
'M-Maybe this is...'
Just as she began to grasp what she was seeing,
her eyes' focus blurred. She was entering a trance-like state.
Baek Ri-pyeong noticed it too.
'What.'
It was something he'd experienced himself in his spar with Namgung Ji-hu.
Now Yeon Ha-min was going through it.
Baek Ri-pyeong's attacks intensified.
She was a comrade who'd shared joys and hardships, but in a spar, he wanted to win.
Baek Ri-pyeong's inner energy operation shifted.
Until now, he'd habitually used the Three Talents Heart Method.
It paired well with any technique.
Training the United Advance Formation in the Fierce Dragon Corps and fighting alongside comrades had ingrained it as habit.
But now,
his desperate obsession with victory overrode the habit.
Inner energy churned violently in his dantian.
Heavenly Heart Method.
The inner art that matched Zhongnan's Heavenly Nature and Thoughtless Sword Arts created a majestic flow, altering the power in his blade.
Clang!
Clang-clang!
Clang! Clang!
Sword aura even flickered along his blade.
Baek Ri-pyeong had grown stronger once more.
A radiant storm of stars assailed from all directions.
In her trance, Yeon Ha-min blocked them all.
She could see where and how they'd come, so she poured everything into defense.
How long did she hold out?
At some point,
clang!
She blocked another falling star.
Clunk.
A sword hit the sparring platform floor.
Yeon Ha-min stared blankly at her empty hand.
Her hand trembled.
Strength drained from her grip; she could no longer hold the hilt.
That was her current state.
But Baek Ri-pyeong didn't stop. His stance allowed no carelessness.
The next star flew straight to her heart and halted.
"I-I lost..."
Only then did Yeon Ha-min come to her senses and speak.
And then,
thud.
She collapsed on the spot.
Ha Mu-baek leaped onto the platform in that instant.
"Eh? I-Instructor?"
Yeon Ha-min looked up at him with listless eyes.
"Rest first."
Ha Mu-baek quickly pressed her sleep acupoint.
Before she could fully slump, he scooped her up.
Han Seol-bing was rushing toward the platform just then; he handed Yeon Ha-min over.
"Take her and let her sleep."
"Corps Leader, that just now... was it what you mentioned before...?"
"Let her sleep first. She's completely exhausted."
Han Seol-bing had heard Ha Mu-baek's tales of battling the Blood Cult's Three Elders.
That's why she'd raced to the platform upon seeing Yeon Ha-min, suspecting as much.
"Yes."
At Ha Mu-baek's solemn words, Han Seol-bing replied briefly and carried her to the Graceful Dragon Dormitory.
It all happened in a flash.
Everyone was dumbfounded for a moment, then,
"Wooooaaahhh!!"
"Awesome!!!"
"Incredible!!!!"
A massive roar erupted.
Baek Ri-pyeong's fantastical display, plus Yeon Ha-min blocking it all.
The spectators hadn't even noticed her veil fluttering wildly, revealing her stunning features nonstop.
The spar had been that spectacular.
Ha Mu-baek picked up Yeon Ha-min's fallen sword.
"Instructor. What was that with Ha-min just now...?"
Baek Ri-pyeong started to ask, but Ha Mu-baek shook his head.
"Think about your next match. It's the finals now."
He leaped back to the roof.
Baek Ri-pyeong trudged off the platform, utterly drained despite his victory.
He didn't look like a winner.
"Hoo."
A deep sigh escaped him.
He turned to gaze at the platform again.
'That was close. If Ha-min had held out a bit longer, I might have lost...'
Unconsciously, his left hand brushed his empty dantian.
"Incredible, right, Jin-san?"
Nak Woo-jin gaped and turned to the side.
Dang Jin-san nodded lightly.
"Yeah."
Eliminated in the round of 16, they were watching from the stands with the other spectators today.
He'd encouraged his group-mates to win this morning.
But seeing this now, it frustrated him.
It was just too cool.
Dang Jin-san wanted to show such a figure on that platform himself.
Watching comrades grow stronger, stepping into new realms with each match,
made him feel he had to do the same.
His clenched fist trembled with power.
'Maybe I should switch sides again.'
Baek Ri-pyeong's sword art had visibly improved after Fierce Dragon Corps training, returning to his sect.
Dang Jin-san suddenly wondered if the same could happen to him.
Their talents differed, but their effort in training hadn't.
Dang Jin-san often seemed sly, but he was always serious during practice.
'Gotta take a side today.'
The moment Dang Jin-san resolved himself,
Ju Woo-myeong and Dan Mok Un-roe were ascending to the platform.