When I returned to the family, the gazes of the people around me had changed.

Servants who would murmur when they saw me, or formation masters who would flinch.

They were reactions that were clearly different from before.

‘Is it because of the news that I was attacked? Or because I came with an outsider, Cho Min-ha?’

But the upright reaction mixed in their gazes was, unlike before, staring at me, not my background.

‘It’s because of the dojo challenge.’

Having roughly grasped the situation, I asked Jo Wihye.

“When did the news spread so quickly?”

“It seems Protector Jangyeo spread the rumor.”

“He’s a really diligent old man.”

I had felt like I was being helped in a subtle way since last time. To the point where I wondered if I should do something for him later.

‘But more than that, I shouldn’t get caught about what happened at the Geummun Merchant Guild.’

If Protector Jangyeo were to find out during the formation master exam, that would also become a big problem.

‘I doubt he’ll find out, though.’

As I was thinking that, Jo Wihye suddenly said goodbye and disappeared for the certification exam procedure.

“Gaga! Then see you later!”

Tang Surin also headed to the family’s pharmacy to make the resistance poison. Since Cho Min-ha had also been assigned a servant, I had nothing to do, so I moved my feet to the training ground.

Because I hadn’t moved my body at all for the past few days for recovery, my swordsmanship had stagnated. Of course, there were some other purposes mixed in.

‘There’s nothing like this to show that I’ve changed.’

What’s needed to improve perception is ultimately action. And that too, one that is clearly different from before.

Thanks to my notoriety for being a complete mess, even a little effort would make it easy for rumors to spread, like, ‘That lazy scoundrel is at the training ground?’.

With that thought, as I entered the training ground, the martial artists of the Zhuge family who were each training saw me and gave a silent nod.

Unlike before, the gazes that were staring this way had changed strangely.

When I had said I got the top student position at the Martial Academy, it seemed they had thought of it as a surprising but hard-to-grasp story. But now that I had crushed the directors of the formation hall, they seemed to see me differently.

‘In terms of feeling, the top student position at the Martial Academy was much more difficult.’

I picked up a practice sword from one side of the training ground.

Even though it didn’t seem like it, I could feel that a lot of attention was focused this way.

Whoosh-!

As I slowly began to unfold the Six Harmonies Sword Art, some narrowed their brows, and someone let out a faint exclamation.

Although it was an unexpected swordsmanship for a blood relative of the Zhuge family to use, since the system was elegantly established, the forms were flawless.

And then, as I was warming up by unfolding all the forms of the Six Harmonies Sword Art once, I felt a presence approaching.

As I stopped my sword, a voice followed.

“My name is Jeon Udo. I have always admired the young master’s achievements. Would it be possible to have a duel?”

Looking at him, he was a young-looking guy of my age. To have entered as a martial artist of the Zhuge family around the age of fifteen, he seemed to be a rather promising talent.

‘To think he would approach me first.’

Whether he had underestimated me or had been pushed by the newcomers, I didn’t know.

As I saw the group of other martial artists looking this way from behind, I judged that it was closer to the latter and slowly nodded my head.

“Let’s do that. The duel will end when one side is unable to fight or admits defeat.”

With that, I gripped the wooden sword that was placed on one side.

Since it was about time to highlight my presence anyway. Not only in this formation certification exam, but it was also better to start showing my prominence in battles between martial artists.

Although I had the record of being the top student at the Martial Academy, in the end, wasn’t seeing believing?

Seeing it in person was much more persuasive.

Just like now.

Crack!

“Keuk!”

Udo, who was pushed back by my sword. Whether he was flustered by the heavier-than-expected offensive, his posture as he belatedly regained his balance was unstable.

“Iron String Sword Art?”

“Yes.”

One of the basic sword arts of the Zhuge family.

Although it was difficult to say that it was an advanced one like the martial arts of the other Five Great Families, its performance was excellent in itself, and it was a versatile swordsmanship with a wide range of variables that could be created when several people gathered.

‘It has a corner that resembles the subtleties of formations.’

The single blow that was manifested by each and every form being intertwined and accumulated was sharp.

I slantedly struck the horizontal cut that was coming up to my chest and then dug into him as it was.

‘Although a formation can achieve great results with little power, on the contrary, it also has a vulnerability before it is completed.’

So if you give it a gap through a sudden variable, it can be easily broken through.

Just like now.

Clang!

I struck the center of the opponent’s sword, which he had belatedly recovered, and sent the wooden sword flying.

The wooden sword that was spinning in the air. And what was left in the training ground was only the opponent who had become bare-handed and me, who was aiming the tip of the wooden sword.

“…I’ve lost.”

The guy who bit his lip as if he were resentful. His attitude of clinging to victory and defeat clearly showed his youth.

‘Looking at him, I feel like he’s just about to enter the first-rate.’

With this much talent, he was at a level where he could be sufficiently active even if he entered the Martial Academy.

And yet, he had decided to become a martial artist of the Zhuge family.

‘As expected, the world is wide.’

Even without going through the Martial Alliance, there were plenty of places to be active in the Central Plains. The same goes for the masters who could not be compared with the standard of a mere student.

But even if it was the Zhuge family, since it was rare for someone of that age to have this much achievement, there was a reaction from among the onlookers.

“To think he would defeat Udo so easily.”

“Wasn’t the young master just an ignorant child who knew nothing until a few months ago?”

“At that level, I think we can let our kids fight him.”

Looking at their clothes as they chattered, the shape of two feathers on a fan seemed to indicate that they were from the Iron String Unit.

A unit that corresponded to the lower body of the Zhuge family, which one had to be at least at the first-rate level to enter.

Since there were units from the 1st to the 4th, they were also the martial artists that could be seen the most if one was at the main house.

“If you’re curious, why don’t you come and fight instead of just talking behind my back?”

I gestured with my chin towards them, with the wooden sword on my shoulder. Whether they hadn’t expected to be caught talking behind my back, they looked flustered.

Some of them awkwardly turned their heads, avoiding responsibility. Although I thought it served them right, since it wasn’t the reaction I wanted, I added a remark.

“If you’re scared, then don’t.”

Then, the gaze of those who were looking this way changed.

‘Still, they are the family’s direct unit, is that it?’

Whether the provocation had worked, a big guy from among them stepped forward.

“I am Hee-jong, a member of the 3rd Iron String Unit. It seems our newcomer has troubled you with his lacking skills, so I would like to make up for it.”

While he was full of fighting spirit and was emitting a fighting spirit, his words were slick.

‘Still, he’ll spread the rumor properly.’

The Iron String Unit, it was a sufficient stepping stone to proclaim that Zhuge Cheonwu had changed.

“But isn’t it a bit of a shame to just fight?”

“Yes?”

“If it’s to make up for a junior’s mistake, then it’s too much of a good thing for you.”

“…Then what would you have me do?”

“It’s too much to ask for something excessive. If I win, come and cheer for me with your comrades at the formation certification exam that will be held in a few days.”

Since it would be better to have more people anyway.

In fact, it was not a big deal of a proposal. A request that didn’t matter much even if he just granted it. That’s why the answer came back quickly.

“Let’s do that.”

“Then it’s settled.”

I raised my sword in a vertical stance and aimed it at the opponent.

“Do we need more words?”

An atmosphere that had become tense in an instant. The moment the opponent also faced me and extended his sword, this side kicked off the ground.

‘Victory goes to the one who strikes first!’

As I struck down with the sword with the momentum that had been accelerated in an instant, the opponent, who blocked it by raising his sword without a sign of being flustered.

His appearance, with one foot back and his sword tilted as if to explore, was quite impressive.

This side’s fast sword, which moved as if bending and aimed for the side.

Clang!

In an instant, the swords clashed several times, and then, with a strong collision, a repulsive force erupted, and they each took a step back.

‘That guy. Is he at the same level of mastery as me, a first-rate?’

I narrowed my brow slightly, gathering my sword. To think an opponent of a similar level to myself would appear already.

If it went on like this, it was a situation where they would have to exchange at least dozens of blows.

‘This won’t do.’

Although it was good to grow while fighting against a worthy opponent, right now, inflating the rumor was the priority. It was better to defeat the opponent as shortly and spectacularly as possible.

So that I could get something more when the family head returned later.

If it was the Zhuge family, which was clear about its merits and demerits even to its children, I might be able to reach the treasure vault by having my achievements recognized.

‘To do that, I can’t be broken here.’

In the end, I raised my sword and drew up the mana of the circle. A low-frequency wave that echoed with the resonance of the circle.

I could feel the opponent, who had felt the anomaly, flinch.

‘Is there anything cowardly in a fight?’

As expected, for me, it’s only magic.

* * *

On the other hand, Hee-jong, a member of the Iron String Unit, felt a strange sensation that was hard to describe at the opponent’s suddenly changed prayer.

“What is this?”

A subtle change that was difficult to notice unless it was this moment of direct confrontation.

It was a sense of incongruity that one might even think was a delusion.

But the sight that unfolded in front of his eyes was stark.

“Sword qi?”

A single stream of blue energy blooming at the tip of Zhuge Cheonwu’s sword. Although it was hard to believe, that was sword qi.

Sword qi during a duel, it was a shocking sight to the point where he couldn’t even think of the same thought.

How did that youngest young master, who was called a failure, draw out the sword qi, the symbol of the peak?

Only an unresolvable question filled his mind.

In fact, he, who had reached the mastery of the first-rate, could also imitate it to some extent if he operated his internal energy unreasonably. But he could not achieve such a stable materialization of energy.

And that too, so sharply that the energy flowed along the blade.

But Hee-jong’s question did not last long. Because that blue sword strike soon poured down on him.

Crash!

“Keuk!”

The internal energy that he had forcibly drawn up to counter the sword qi scattered in one blow with the collision and was shaken up inside.

As he was pushed back, he lifted his two eyes, which had their capillaries burst, and saw the shattered wooden sword above his palm.

“…Is it really sword qi?”

The surprise was not only Hee-jong’s, and the surroundings, which had been quiet for a moment, became quiet, and then an explosive reaction followed.

“Sword qi!”

“I can’t believe it! I thought he was at most a first-rate!”

“Was that youngest young master a peak master?”

In an instant, the area began to get noisy. But Zhuge Cheonwu, who was at the center of the commotion, just stood still with the posture of having struck his sword.

His appearance, of not sheathing his sword as if to rebuke this side, felt rather chilling.

At the pressure that seemed to be emitted by an overwhelming strong person, Hee-jong swallowed dryly.

‘That posture of not having fully extended. He held back. Am I not enough for him?’

He let out a hollow laugh. And then he obediently bowed his head and admitted his defeat.

“I’ve lost.”

A silence fell on the area, and the match was decided with Zhuge Cheonwu sheathing his sword.

Hee-jong, who had finished his greeting with full courtesy, returned to his seat. Even the other unit members, who had been full of spirit until before the duel, could not say a word to him.

Because everyone had seen with their own two eyes what kind of battle had taken place.

They could only throw a single remark. A question that only the person concerned would know.

“How was it?”

“How was it?”

Hee-jong looked at his torn palm and replayed the duel just now. He still couldn’t understand the mysterious blow of the last moment.

But he could be sure of one thing.

“The youngest young master was a monster.”

Hee-jong muttered, trembling faintly at the tremendous shock that was still ringing in his bones.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep