Chapter 350
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 350
Chapter Title: Where Shall We Do It?
"Proof?"
Dang Ja-cheong asked his son.
"Yes, proof. To convince me why Father places such faith in him, he must demonstrate his abilities to me."
A fierce aura began to rise from Dang Mu-ryeong's body.
"Does that mean what I think it does?"
"A martial artist speaks with martial arts. That's correct."
Dang Mu-ryeong's response.
Dang Ja-cheong's gaze shifted to Ha Mu-baek.
"What say you, Instructor Ha?"
He had already decided to accept Dang Ja-cheong's proposal.
But to do so meant he would inevitably have to spar with Sichuan Tang Clan's clan head, Dang Mu-ryeong.
He wasn't worried about losing, but it was still a hassle.
Thus, Ha Mu-baek confirmed one thing with Dang Ja-cheong.
"Two hundred paralysis poison pills. That's firm?"
"Indeed."
"By when will you prepare them?"
This was another crucial point.
"I'll send them to the Dragon Training Pavilion's Fierce Dragon Corps today if you like. Since you must head south with me, who should I send them to?"
Dang Ja-cheong answered as if it were no big deal.
'He called them precious...'
Something felt off.
"Father, we only have three hundred and fifty left in the clan."
Dang Mu-ryeong interjected.
"I have about fifty myself. I can use one of my five authorizations for that."
"That leaves four. Father."
Dang Ja-cheong acted as if it were of no concern despite his son's words.
Ha Mu-baek.
What on earth made this man so special?
For Ha Mu-baek, it was a highly satisfactory offer.
They'd send them to the Fierce Dragon Corps today, so he just needed to ask them to forward it to Han Seol-bing.
But first.
He had to defeat the Tang clan head before him and prove his strength.
"Where shall we do it?"
Ha Mu-baek asked Dang Mu-ryeong with a grin.
"To the training grounds."
As Dang Mu-ryeong turned to lead the way.
"Hold on."
Dang Ja-cheong stopped him.
The outcome was obvious.
Still, as clan head, he had to uphold some dignity.
Believing it was his duty as a father, Dang Ja-cheong made another suggestion.
"Let's go to the clan head's training chamber."
"Pardon?"
Dang Mu-ryeong had no choice but to ask again.
To spar in the training chamber reserved solely for the clan head?
It was spacious enough for a duel, of course.
But inviting an outsider into a space meant only for the clan head was hard to accept.
"This is for your sake. Let's go."
With that, Dang Ja-cheong took the lead.
Ha Mu-baek and Dang Ji-yeon followed, leaving Dang Mu-ryeong to tag along in a daze.
The training chamber, located underground in the clan head's residence, was built of sturdy blue stone.
Luminescent stones embedded throughout emitted light, but being underground, the dimness was inevitable.
Ha Mu-baek glanced around the chamber before looking at Dang Ja-cheong.
"Must we do it here? The training grounds would be more comfortable..."
"I'd appreciate it if you considered our situation."
Dang Ja-cheong said with a wry smile.
Ha Mu-baek nodded as if he had no choice.
He had secured the two hundred paralysis poison pills, after all.
'Sturdy, but... I should test how much it can withstand.'
Being under the clan head's residence, going all out could cause significant damage to the Tang Clan.
When Ha Mu-baek unleashed his full power.
The chamber might not hold.
At Ha Mu-baek's question of whether they had to do it here, Dang Mu-ryeong frowned.
"We should go to the training grounds even now. Father."
Dang Mu-ryeong preferred the grounds too, hence his words.
But Dang Ja-cheong feigned ignorance and proceeded with the duel.
"Fight with honor befitting your statuses and accept the result."
The observers were just two.
Dang Ja-cheong and Dang Ji-yeon.
He had blocked all the attendant warriors from following.
Thus, Dang Mu-ryeong faced Ha Mu-baek.
Unleashing his pent-up rage, he raised his aura.
Fierce winds swirled around him.
Ha Mu-baek remained unchanged.
Simply standing there calmly.
Dang Mu-ryeong glared at such a Ha Mu-baek.
Nothing.
Just like when they first met.
No trace of a master anywhere.
'Has he achieved Return to the Ordinary?'
The realm where ultimate attainment made one appear as an ordinary person.
A mark of the Transcendent Realm.
Given his father's attitude, he must have reached that level.
And Dang Mu-ryeong himself had achieved Return to the Ordinary upon entering the Transcendent Realm.
Dang Mu-ryeong.
The strongest warrior in the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Even including past masters, the strongest among all current Tang warriors.
He hadn't inherited his father's talent for poisons, but instead possessed immense talent for martial arts.
'They said his talent ranks among the top five in Tang Clan history for martial arts?'
Ha Mu-baek recalled the boasting about his son that Dang Ja-cheong had once shared on the battlefield.
Indeed.
It was well-deserved.
The presence Dang Mu-ryeong displayed now was tremendously powerful.
Beyond even Pang Mu-ryang, the former Pang Clan head.
Stronger than when he had mastered Annihilation Fist, amplifying his original arts.
'He hunkered down in Sichuan, so rumors never spread?'
Ha Mu-baek looked surprised.
During the Martial World Great War, another master of this caliber would have been a huge help.
'Come to think of it, Sichuan rarely sent aid.'
Aside from the Martial Path Reclamation Battle, the Hocheon Corps had hardly ever received support from Sichuan Castle.
Probably thanks to the man before him, Dang Mu-ryeong.
Dang Mu-ryeong glared at Ha Mu-baek with fierce eyes.
Unaware of Ha Mu-baek's inner evaluation.
He focused on the sensation in his fingertips.
His hands flicked lightly.
Blood Needles shot toward Ha Mu-baek at invisible speeds.
A hidden weapon technique at the pinnacle of speed.
As Ha Mu-baek raised his hand to deflect the Blood Needles.
Riding the airflow from that motion, the needles twisted eerily, aiming straight for his eyes.
Ha Mu-baek casually tilted his head to dodge.
In that instant.
A black whip swept toward his waist.
Even infused with yellow aura, it writhed like a dragon, moving nimbly.
Ha Mu-baek had no choice but to step back.
'Not bad.'
To force Ha Mu-baek's feet to move this quickly.
Ha Mu-baek engaged more earnestly.
He was undoubtedly strong.
Ha Mu-baek hadn't imagined such a powerhouse firmly seated in Sichuan.
Among those he'd met since arriving at the Dragon Training Pavilion.
Excluding Gwang Sa-gwe-seung and the turbid yokai tainted by the Dragon Training aura.
He was the strongest.
In terms of pure martial arts honed by the man himself.
The other two had relied on external powers.
Ha Mu-baek drew his sword.
White sword aura merged with the black whip aura.
Chaeng!
Kang!
Chaeng!
The clash of sword and whip echoed.
Surprise flickered in Dang Mu-ryeong's eyes as he wielded the whip.
Ha Mu-baek.
No matter his Return to the Ordinary and Transcendent Realm.
He had believed himself stronger.
After entering the Transcendent Realm, he had broken through one wall, only to face another.
Not all Transcendent Realms were equal.
That was his confidence.
Yet the opponent blocked his whip too easily.
Even at full power.
The lion hunts the rabbit with full effort.
That was the Tang Clan precept.
No pointless courtesies like yielding the first strike or three moves.
He had seized the initiative the moment he spotted an opening.
Yet he couldn't overwhelm the foe.
'So this is the skill Father rates so highly.'
His evaluation of Ha Mu-baek shifted slightly.
Still, he couldn't entrust his father's safety to him yet.
His right hand swung the whip while his left began moving swiftly.
Two Intents Return to One Art.
Not a Tang Clan martial art.
One he had acquired through fateful fortune.
Dang Mu-ryeong had mastered it to perfection, achieving Return to the Ordinary.
And as demonstrated now.
He could wield whip and hidden weapons simultaneously.
Perfectly.
Yellow Dragon Over a Thousand Miles Whip.
As the Tang Clan's supreme whip art enveloped Ha Mu-baek.
Blood Needles, Feather Hair Needles, Ghost King Bells, Soul-Severing Threads.
A barrage of hidden weapons flew at him in various techniques.
Ha Mu-baek's sword moved swiftly, blocking whip and projectiles.
He dodged lethal angles by shifting his body, sometimes deploying protective aura.
Their exchange was perfectly even.
"Ah..."
Dang Ji-yeon watched the duel in a daze.
Were the Tang Clan's martial arts this beautiful?
Was the harmony of whip and hidden weapons like this?
Such thoughts arose.
She even felt the urge to learn the Two Intents Return to One Art that her father recommended.
Dang Ji-yeon knew.
That this spectacle was possible by splitting the mind with that art.
And.
Ha Mu-baek also surmised the opponent was using a variant of the Two Intents Art.
'Two Intents Art. Not something the Tang Clan has... Must have been a fateful encounter.'
The Two Intents Art Dang Mu-ryeong displayed was at an exceedingly high realm.
Perfected, no doubt.
But martial arts have no end.
Ha Mu-baek saw what came next.
The Two Intents Art.
Ha Mu-baek had once had the chance to learn it but declined.
He merely memorized it.
Judging it better to perfect one thing over splitting focus.
However.
For the Tang Clan, with their whip, hidden weapons, and poisons—three specialties—the Two Intents Art held great value.
Whether knowing Ha Mu-baek was immune to all poisons or not, he refrained from using them.
Ha Mu-baek's sword movements began to change.
Until now, it had merely countered Dang Mu-ryeong's offense.
Now, it was time for Ha Mu-baek to attack.
'This should suffice for saving face.'
His sword grew faster and heavier.
Absurd, as heavier should mean slower.
Yet Ha Mu-baek demonstrated it.
Thus.
Heaven Cleaver.
The first form of the Infinite Leisure Eight Severings Sword Wave unfolded.
Dang Mu-ryeong gritted his teeth.
Yellow Dragon Ascends to Heaven, Wind and Cloud Harmony.
He unleashed the ultimate supreme form of Yellow Dragon Over a Thousand Miles Whip.
Kuwaaaang!
A massive explosion rocked the chamber, walls trembling violently.
Pusssuk.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
'Need to control my power.'
He could go harder, but it might devastate the chamber.
Ha Mu-baek, with ample leeway, surveyed the surroundings.
But Dang Mu-ryeong, at full throttle, differed.
Focused solely on felling the enemy before him.
Yellow Dragon Ascends to Heaven, Wind and Cloud Harmony once more.
Like a yellow dragon soaring, stirring winds and clouds to rain.
The writhing whip sought to devour Ha Mu-baek.
As Ha Mu-baek prepared Heaven Cleaver again to block and counter.
Dang Mu-ryeong's left hand blurred illusionally.
Full Sky Flower Rain.
Flower petals filling the heavens.
Like rain from an ascending dragon.
The exquisite harmony of whip and hidden weapons.
Except.
The flowers were deadly projectiles.
A shower of hidden weapons engulfed Ha Mu-baek.
Indeed.
Worthy of the Tang Clan's strongest, supreme, ultimate hidden technique.
Ha Mu-baek altered his sword path against the Tang Clan's pinnacle whip and projectile combo.
He considered Heaven Cleaver again.
But judged it insufficient for dominance.
This form.
River Severer.
Seogeok.
The soaring yellow dragon was cleanly bisected.
Ha Mu-baek strode forward.
Heaven Cleaver.
Followed by the next form of Infinite Leisure Eight Severings Sword Wave.
The storm of projectiles vanished in that single stroke.
Movements halted.
Ha Mu-baek's.
Dang Mu-ryeong's.
Ha Mu-baek's sword tip pointed at Dang Mu-ryeong's brow.
Dang Mu-ryeong gripped his severed whip, arm dangling limply.
During River Severer.
Unable to withstand the mighty sword force, his shoulder dislocated.
He glared at Ha Mu-baek, teeth clenched.
Ha Mu-baek met those eyes calmly.
Soon.
Dang Mu-ryeong closed his eyes in resignation.
"I lose."
Surprisingly lighthearted tone.
At his admission, Ha Mu-baek sheathed his sword.
Dang Mu-ryeong gripped his shoulder with his left hand, popping the dislocated joint back.
Not even a twitch of his brow.
Dang Ji-yeon stared blankly.
The sword that cleaved Yellow Dragon Ascends to Heaven, Wind and Cloud Harmony and quelled Full Sky Flower Rain was awe-inspiring.
But more than that.
She couldn't forget the spectacle of those two arts.
She didn't feel defeat stemmed from lacking arts.
Ha Mu-baek was simply stronger than her father.
"Heh heh. Impressive as always. You. Well, that settles it, right?"
Dang Ja-cheong chuckled heartily at his son.