Chapter 443
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 443
Chapter Title: Who Won?
The days had grown colder, and the sun moved all the faster for it.
It was barely the start of the afternoon.
Yet the shadows stretched long, like the early evening of a summer day.
The hour just after lunch.
One might expect drowsiness to set in under the warm sunlight amid the chill.
But everyone's eyes gleamed sharply.
Their gazes were fixed on the arena stage above.
The final match of the Eastern Tournament.
Only the championship bout remained.
There stood Namgung Ji-hu and Yeon Ha-min, facing each other.
Shring... Shring...
The two slowly drew their swords.
"Begin!"
At the referee's shout, they lunged at each other without hesitation, swords clashing.
Clang!
One collision.
The pair immediately pulled back, creating distance.
Namgung Ji-hu's eyes were deep and sunken.
He had watched Yeon Ha-min's match against Baek Ri-pyeong.
'She moved as if she knew exactly where his sword was headed in advance.'
He had seen it clearly.
Yeon Ha-min had responded just a fraction faster than Baek Ri-pyeong's sword, however subtle the difference.
How many others had even noticed that tiny gap?
'I don't know how she predicts it...'
But he had to stay on guard.
During the break after the quarterfinals,
he had racked his brain over how to deal with Yeon Ha-min.
And reached a simple conclusion.
'Even if she predicts it, strike so fast and hard she can't react.'
Straightforward.
Faster.
Stronger.
Baek Ri-pyeong and Yeon Ha-min were evenly matched.
Baek Ri-pyeong had poured everything into his strikes, yet she predicted and countered just a hair ahead.
But Namgung Ji-hu was different.
Undoubtedly.
He had decided from the start to go all out.
His sword unleashed a blaze of light.
Three strands of blue sword aura flickered into being, then multiplied steadily.
Until at last,
a tangible blue energy enveloped the blade.
Sword Gang.
Namgung Ji-hu unleashed Sword Gang for the first time in the Dragon Training Pavilion.
Only Namgung Ji-yu, who already knew, remained calm.
Everyone else was stunned.
The Hidden Dragon Corps Leader shot to his feet in shock.
Even Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul's jaw dropped.
At Namgung Ji-hu's age, such an achievement.
Peak realm already.
Wasn't it beyond the point of training at the Dragon Training Pavilion?
No—entering the sword aura realm already surpassed it by miles.
To think he'd reached Sword Gang.
Yeon Ha-min flinched in surprise as well.
Sword Gang.
Her first time seeing it this close up.
The monstrous instructor had never demonstrated it openly in the training grounds.
Gulp.
Yeon Ha-min swallowed dryly.
She had recovered some energy during the lunch break,
so she refocused.
Her eyes revealed the scene ahead.
The path Namgung Ji-hu's sword would take as he kicked off the ground.
She saw it—or so she thought.
But his blade was already flying toward her.
'Fast.'
Startled, she hurriedly swung her sword.
Kang!
The Sword Gang's power shoved Yeon Ha-min back with a skid.
She hastily summoned her sword aura,
but the clear gap in realms made it futile.
Her sword staying intact was a blessing.
Namgung Ji-hu pressed forward without pause.
Soaring Sky Without Bounds Sword.
The pinnacle of Namgung Clan swordsmanship—save for the special Imperial Sword Forms—that had raised their name across the martial world now unfolded toward Yeon Ha-min.
She gritted her teeth and unleashed Dreamlike Moonlit Sword Dance.
Soaring Sky Without Bounds Sword and Dreamlike Moonlit Sword Dance filled the arena, intertwining fiercely.
Blue Sword Gang and pink sword aura flashed brilliantly.
Namgung Ji-hu's sword moved faster, stronger.
Yeon Ha-min predicted with foresight and countered,
but his strikes outpaced her responses.
Clang! Clang!
Thus, she scrambled to defend rather than exploit openings.
She knew the gaps, but blocking was all she could manage.
Namgung Ji-hu's focus reached its limit.
One slip,
and her sword would pierce it.
Their exchange raged on for half a breath's span.
Namgung Ji-hu gradually gained the upper hand.
The exact opposite of Baek Ri-pyeong's match.
Baek Ri-pyeong clenched his fist, watching.
'Me too...'
He had thought of the same counter during his own bout,
but lacked the skill.
Yeon Ha-min had handled Baek Ri-pyeong's full power.
Unlike now against Namgung Ji-hu.
'Fast. And strong.'
Once or twice, she had outsped him with foresight, striking a foreseen gap.
Yet,
his powerful blows blocked her every time.
Sword aura struggled against Sword Gang.
Namgung Ji-hu's eyes grew clearer.
A shift toward the next stage of ultimate focus.
His sword accelerated, intensified.
Perfectly blocking hers without flaw, finding no openings.
Dominating the space.
A massive wall erupted before him.
Sword Wall.
An absolute barrier Yeon Ha-min could never breach at her level now loomed in her vision.
She bit her lip hard.
Channeling all her power into her sword.
Only the solid wall filled her sight.
Meaning Namgung Ji-hu launched no attacks.
So she poured everything into her blade.
Ignoring defense entirely.
All her internal energy fueled one full-power strike of Dreamlike Moonlit Sword Dance.
A thick, deep beam of light detached from the blade, hurtling toward his Sword Wall.
Unheard of.
Sword aura amplified the blade while cloaking it—a stage before Sword Gang.
Even Sword Gang masters could project it sometimes,
but aura flying free? Unprecedented.
No one present had seen or heard of it.
Not even Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul.
'Hah. Can sword aura be launched off the blade?'
His eyes widened at the novel sight.
Namgung Ji-hu ignored the incoming aura, sword still in motion.
Kwarung!
A massive explosion erupted.
His Sword Wall trembled briefly,
then held firm.
Yeon Ha-min's face twisted.
Her eyes caught his sword's movement.
Even with her focus holding sans internal energy, foresight persisted.
It showed
the giant sword wall crashing down on her.
'C-can't dodge...'
That was her ability's vision.
Even at full strength, evasion was doubtful.
Now, drained utterly, against this colossal force.
Yet,
Yeon Ha-min didn't yield.
She retreated with all her might.
The space-dominating Sword Wall descended on her.
Namgung Ji-hu's clear eyes held no focus.
Enlightenment trance.
"No!"
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul bolted up.
How could he not?
The Sword Gang-formed Sword Wall threatened to engulf Yeon Ha-min and the entire stage.
Impossible for her to evade.
Taking it head-on...
He saw the end and leaped up in horror, but he was powerless.
Too far from the stage.
Even sprinting full tilt, too late.
"No!"
Dan Mok Un-roe shot up from the stands too.
He had unleashed a killing blow on a comrade once.
Namgung Ji-hu repeated that mistake now.
The difference? Focus.
Dan Mok Un-roe hadn't reached full trance.
"Ha-min!!!"
Ha Seol-ran cried out desperately.
Her senses screamed the strike's devastating power.
"Namgung Ji-hu! Snap out of it!!!"
Namgung Ji-yu was shocked too.
She saw the outcome of that monstrous blow and roared at him.
But it fell short.
His sword plummeted toward Yeon Ha-min.
In that moment of collective shock.
Shwoong!
A air-rending whoosh pierced the air.
Kwaaaaang!
A sword speared through Namgung Ji-hu's Sword Wall, embedding in the stage floor and shattering the arena itself.
"Urk."
Namgung Ji-hu groaned, snapping back to reality from the impact.
Yeon Ha-min barely kept her balance amid the crumbling stage.
The referee leaped away.
Rumble...
The wrecked stage collapsed, kicking up thick dust.
"Phew..."
"Hoo."
Relieved sighs rippled through the crowd.
Whose sword it was, unknown.
Without it, catastrophe beyond the stage's ruin would have struck.
"We need eligibility limits for participants next year."
Pang Do-yul muttered wearily.
"Pardon? What do you mean...?"
Ki Yu-chan, who had watched beside him, asked.
"Ban anyone beyond a certain realm. This is bad for the heart."
The Hidden Dragon and Wa Dragon Corps Leaders nodded unconsciously at his drained words.
"Hm. Not too late."
An old man watched: Wi Ji-gun.
He overlooked the grand training grounds from the academy roof.
Ha Mu-baek's usual spot.
With him absent today, Wi Ji-gun filled in.
He had returned to the pavilion around lunchtime.
Sensing something, he watched from here.
Fortunate.
He averted a potential tragedy.
No one noticed Wi Ji-gun.
Standing openly on the roof.
Disguised as an elder, he used concealment arts.
Save one.
Ha Seol-ran glanced his way.
Even veiled, her senses felt him.
'Thank you, Master.'
She thought sincerely.
A razor-close call.
Dust settled, revealing the scene.
Exhausted Yeon Ha-min.
Namgung Ji-hu staring complexly at his hands.
And the referee, perplexed on judgment.
An outside force had abruptly halted the match.
The stage in ruins, no less.
"I lost."
Then,
Yeon Ha-min conceded gracefully and turned away.
"The winner is..."
No dilemma now with one forfeit; the referee began declaring.
"I lost."
Namgung Ji-hu spoke in a tangled voice and turned too.
In the sudden turn,
the referee's arm froze mid-air.
He couldn't continue.
"Hoo."
Ha Mu-baek let out a long sigh.
The road to Luoyang was far.
Aligning his mismatched realm and body slowed him.
Every step demanded focus.
Thus, he adapted bit by bit, inching forward.
Sticking to remote paths.
Once walking normalized,
he jogged slowly.
Then faster.
Full sprint after.
Next,
lightness skill with scant internal energy.
Half a day of this
left him utterly spent.
Easier to immerse solely in swordplay in the Infinite Void space.
"Hoo."
Resting in a darkened forest, Ha Mu-baek sighed deeply.
His body dripped sweat.
"Good."
Yet a smile tugged his lips.
How long since such training?
Arduous and grueling,
hence rewarding.
Progress felt immediate.
His movements now far freer than at start.
Daily life no issue.
'Will she wait long?'
Gazing Luoyang-ward, he thought of Han Seol-bing.
If Master hadn't informed her,
her temperament meant full-speed to Luoyang.
At his pace, she'd arrive first.
"Hah. Hah. Hah."
Han Seol-bing ran, breathing ragged.
Maximum lightness skill.
The elder said he left Dongting Lake straight for Luoyang.
Factoring his trip to Wuchang, she had to hurry.
Thus, full-throttle lightness skill, running and running.
Darkness had fallen.
She paused briefly.
To rest a moment.
Her gaze turned toward Wuchang.
"Who won?"
The elder's sudden message made her miss the finals, rushing off.
She wondered the outcome.
Namgung Ji-hu's realm felt higher,
but Yeon Ha-min's eerie predictive ability...
Han Seol-bing couldn't predict it.