Oh Chosam muttered, still unable to accept reality.

“Why is something like this possible?”

Looking at him, who couldn’t even finish his sentence, I brought out the story I had prepared.

“Even if I look like this, I am an orthodox blood relative of the Zhuge family. I can at least distinguish an artifact.”

“No way! Even renowned professional appraisers couldn’t figure it out!”

“I have a rather peculiar constitution. Didn’t you feel it when we fought earlier?”

He must have felt it to the bone. Because the joint that had been directly hit by the last move still looked like it was in excruciating pain.

“It was the first time I saw someone fight like that. As expected, only those who are qualified can recognize it…”

Oh Chosam lifted his head, brushing off the dirt and ashes that covered his whole body.

“I’ll tell you.”

He told me the qi operation method and the oral secrets of the Spirit God Steps.

Perhaps because it was an advanced footwork, it was quite complex and had a mysterious aspect.

‘A footwork that reaches the divine realm with the art of moving while erasing one’s presence like a ghost.’

As I was thinking so and taking a step, Oh Chosam’s supplementary explanation was added from behind.

“It won’t be easy. Because it’s a footwork that is difficult even from the beginning. You have to start by feeling and harmonizing the surrounding qi and your own qi wave…”

But his words couldn’t continue to the end.

Swoosh-

Because in an instant, my figure blurred and then appeared in front of him.

“You’re right. It’s certainly not easy.”

“……”

Without caring about the stiffened Oh Chosam, I continued to say what I had felt.

“The key is to create a state of emptiness rather than emitting true qi from the Yongcheon acupoint.”

Besides the role of reducing friction or accelerating with true qi, it was to blend into the surroundings and become one, or to make the whole body light by creating an empty state.

It was in a similar context to a master standing on one foot on the tip of a branch.

“I’ve learned something good.”

Even at my words of gratitude, Oh Chosam just looked at me as if it were unfair.

* * *

“Did you hear? Oh Chosam has given up his position as a student representative this time.”

“It’s because of Zhuge Cheonwu, right? Even if it was during a duel, that ferocious hand is still the same.”

“According to the rumors, he attacked him because he held a grudge for losing his top student status and being called last.”

“Heh, if they’re not worthy of the qualification, he’ll drop them with his own hands. Is that it?”

It was an afternoon when the rumors about me were ripening as usual.

As I stealthily revealed myself from the corner of the building, the students who were talking gasped.

“Hup!”

Then, the two students who had their mouths tightly shut and were just rolling their eyes.

“Do you think that will stop your breath?”

A cold-toned reproach fell on them.

“In the first place, it’s not possible. Just as you can’t take back the words you’ve uttered by closing your mouth.”

“S-sorry…”

“We misspoke…”

I cut off the opponent’s excuse and asked.

“You were telling an interesting story. That I’m a madman who cuts down a fellow student while discussing qualifications?”

“N-no, that’s not it!”

“Please forgive us…!”

They became teary-eyed when I raised my momentum. The sight of them stepping back in fright when I even touched my scabbard was just foolish.

“Heok!”

The students who flinched at the ensuing threat. Just as I was about to approach, casting a shadow on their front.

“Stop it.”

A firm voice was heard. The right timing. My head turned to the voice full of chivalry.

“I don’t think you have the right to interfere.”

I asked, looking at Baek Hasin, who had approached right behind me before I knew it.

The characteristic of this academy is that there are many meddlers. It was worth causing a commotion on purpose.

“No matter how excessive their words and actions were, threatening them like that is too much.”

“If you insult a martial artist, you should be prepared to die as a stranger. If this were the Central Plains, you would have been taught a lesson long ago.”

“But since we’ve entered, we’re fellow students, aren’t we?”

“Fellow students…”

I said coldly with a dry laugh.

“I didn’t know that slandering a fellow student’s competitiveness from behind was camaraderie. Then I should repay it accordingly. Like this.”

I stealthily drew my sword and took a step towards him.

“According to you, drawing a sword like this would also be a proof of friendship, right?”

“…I was discussing the way to punish a wrongdoing. I had no intention of defending their rudeness or denying your feelings.”

It was a tone worthy of a protagonist. Straight and clear. So I had no choice but to react like this.

“Or why don’t you show that camaraderie? Will you at least hold a sword for your persecuted comrade?”

“…If that will ease your mind.”

“Hoo.”

It certainly felt like a chivalrous person. To be able to step up like this for a fellow student in crisis.

He was different from the other students who would just watch as if it were someone else’s business, saying it was their own fault since they had done wrong.

He knew how to stick to his own altruism.

“Follow me.”

We headed to the training ground. The rumor spread quickly, and before long, other junior students and even instructors were peeking.

‘What a spectacle.’

Although I had created this stage on purpose.

‘It’s a good stage to make Baek Hasin a student representative.’

Currently, one spot in the friendly exchange match is vacant.

At this time, if I, who had defeated Oh Chosam, showed a close battle with Baek Hasin, how would the instructors react?

Naturally, the possibility of selecting Baek Hasin as a representative would increase.

Of course, this was on the premise that Baek Hasin would show that much martial prowess.

‘So I can’t do it half-heartedly.’

Although I would lay some groundwork, I was planning to put my all into the duel.

‘In the first place, if we just consider his original potential, he’s a guy who’s impossible to fight against like this.’

I drew the Muhak Sword and began.

“You’ll have to show your best move at every moment. Dragging it out and finishing it moderately is not to my taste.”

Although I said this, since my energy veins and the strength of my body itself were weak, I couldn’t fight for long.

Because among the debuffs that made me a weakling, there were also [Long-Term Stamina Decline] and [Durability Weakening]. The time to fight with all my might would not be long.

But perhaps because this bluff had worked, Baek Hasin gripped the hilt of his sword with a tense expression.

Along with the clear cry of the famous sword, the white blade was drawn, and it slightly brightened the vision.

A faint wave of pure white qi was felt.

White Dragon Star Heaven Sword.

The advanced martial art of the Baek family was glimpsed. If we fought with just swordsmanship like this, it would be my certain defeat.

But I couldn’t pretend to be weak.

I subtly raised my mana and gathered my mind. My breathing became clear, and I could feel the quiet flow of time.

The surrounding scenery is clearer than usual.

“I’ll yield the first move.”

An attitude that clearly treats the opponent as a subordinate. But right now, I am, for what it’s worth, the former top student. I had to show at least this much of a bluff.

However, what was unexpected was Baek Hasin’s attitude.

Rather than a displeased expression at being treated as a subordinate, he was seriously aiming for my opening.

He was already immersed in the battle. As someone who knew his potential, it was chilling.

Baek Hasin’s deep yet hawk-like eyes sank.

In an instant, Baek Hasin’s whole body disappeared.

What covered my eyes was a brilliant flash left as an afterimage. Soon, along with a sound of tearing through the air, a wave of qi echoed in the area.

The white blade was rushing in as if to swallow the Muhak Sword, which had been raised instinctively.

‘Damn it, is he at least at the first-rate level?’

My wrist to my shoulder trembled from the profound internal energy.

In the case of Oh Chosam, it was easy because I had struck his weakness and caught him off guard, but in reality, I still had many shortcomings to face a high-level expert head-on.

I pushed Baek Hasin away using the muscle strength enhanced by mana and the Grease magic I had laid out in front in advance.

As if to make it look like I had overwhelmed him.

As he was pushed back so lightly, Baek Hasin’s eyes widened as if in shock.

“Four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds?”

It’s an art of producing a thousand pounds of force with four ounces. It seemed he had judged so after seeing how easily he was pushed back compared to the force applied.

‘This guy is also a bit of a klutz.’

It seemed he had been mistaken by my firm appearance. His tense expression was a reaction as if he had seen an ultimate technique imbued with profound internal energy.

Even though it was just magic.

‘If he comes out like that, it’s good for me.’

On the contrary, I put on a disappointed expression and muttered in a low voice.

“Is this your family’s swordsmanship? It’s weak.”

In an instant, Baek Hasin flared up.

“Are you trying to insult my family?”

“You’re blaming your shortcomings on your family. Even if it’s an advanced swordsmanship, who uses it is important. I’ll show you the difference.”

With that, I ran my mouth with a subtly relaxed expression.

“I will limit the martial arts I use in this duel to just the Three Talents Swordsmanship.”

In fact, this is all I can use.

But at my declaration, the surroundings began to murmur.

Although it couldn’t be compared to the Five Great Families, the Baek family was also a considerable prestigious family. He was not an opponent who could be ignored like this.

“Of course, with my own secret technique added.”

I said, lifting the talisman I had hidden in my bosom with one hand. From now on, there’s no turning back.

‘I’ll reveal my skills in earnest.’

As I created mana, the talisman burned along with the flames.

At the same time, a fierce flame formed on my sword.

Although it was just burned with flame magic, the reaction of those around was intense.

“Fire arts!? No, it’s a talisman!”

“How strange. I thought he was only outstanding in formations, but isn’t that at the level of sorcery?”

“Isn’t it rather a heretical art? To borrow the power of an artifact so privately.”

Those who had witnessed magic for the first time had a look of astonishment.

But Baek Hasin, who had to face it, had a calm face.

He was also surprised, but he had quickly regained his composure after realizing that this was a duel.

However, he just gave a not-so-short impression.

“A strange technique of the Zhuge family, a martial artist speaks with his sword. With just the Three Talents Swordsmanship…”

“You’re bound.”

“What?”

Baek Hasin asked back at the out-of-the-blue declaration.

“Whether it’s form or style, the root of martial arts is the same, but it means that a mere beginner is already bound by a framework.”

As soon as the words were finished, I swung the sword engulfed in flames. The crimson flames that had risen with mana rushed towards Baek Hasin like a wave.

Fwoosh-!

The White Dragon Star Heaven Sword he had swung pierced through the fireball along with a white flash.

“With a cheap trick like this…”

Baek Hasin’s words trailed off.

Because I, who had aimed for the moment his vision was obscured, was already swinging my sword.

The second form of the Three Talents Swordsmanship, Sweeping a Thousand Armies. A normal horizontal cut aimed for Baek Hasin’s neck.

“Keuk!”

Baek Hasin, who had flexibly and swiftly blocked the offensive with his sublime martial art, let out a groan at the twisting true qi.

To think it was a blow clad in sword qi that followed right after the flames.

‘But from now on, it’s my turn.’

Although he hadn’t expected Zhuge Cheonwu to use sword qi, that was all.

The moment their swords met, he had sensed the crude sword strike characteristic of the Three Talents Swordsmanship. As long as they were this close, he could deal with it with the subtleties of an advanced martial art.

He had thought so. Until his eyes met the opponent’s in front of him.

“Your vision is narrow.”

A small mumble. But the phenomenon that happened after that was by no means trivial.

Fwoosh-

Along with a chilling sensation, flames rushed in from behind.

Baek Hasin immediately created a shockwave to push Zhuge Cheonwu away and then, with one leg as an axis, he turned half a circle and cut through the flames.

“What?”

Baek Hasin’s eyes widened at the unbelievable sight.

The flames did not scatter. As if they were alive.

On the contrary, they were still riding a long vortex in the air, undulating like a whip, and were about to attack him.

‘I have to dodge!’

In the unexpected situation, Baek Hasin was about to create a distance, when a voice came from behind.

“Where are you looking?”

A flash that fell straight down. It was the first form of the Three Talents Swordsmanship, the vertical cut.

A very honest sword path. A sword no different from a neighborhood play troupe. However, the difference in this case was that it was clad in sword qi.

Kiiing!

The sword cried out, and Baek Hasin stepped back, controlling his churning internal energy. For him, who couldn’t use sword qi yet, the offensive of sword qi was like a poison.

Contrary to the confidence he had shown at the beginning, Baek Hasin was now feeling a sense of defeat.

This was not a normal duel.

‘It’s like fighting with several people.’

If you dodge the sword, fire flies, and if you cut the fire, another flame and sword fly, so he didn’t know what to do.

There were more than one or two things to pay attention to.

‘I’ve been swept away before I knew it.’

It was just the Three Talents Swordsmanship. But before he knew it, he was the one who was being pushed back.

Of course, he was also using sword qi and flames, but each of them was not decisive.

Even if it was clad in sword qi, it was unstable, so if he counterattacked accurately with the subtleties of an advanced martial art, he could sufficiently deal with it.

Creating flames was also not a big threat in itself. At most, it was at a level that would be considered a heretical art or a cheap trick.

But Zhuge Cheonwu was using each and every one of those elements in the right place at the right time to dominate the battle.

‘A monster.’

Perhaps his real talent was not sorcery or swordsmanship, but the ability to create the stage itself.

‘He said not to be bound.’

I feel like I knew what his words meant. Baek Hasin’s gaze, looking at the opponent, became serious.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep