“…”

They were no match.

That was the feeling the spectators had.

Really, they were defeated without even being able to use a single move.

The first-generation disciples of Mount Hua and Zhongnan had been defeated twice in a row.

Moreover, it could not even be seen as a completely fair confrontation.

A three-way battle.

A duel where one person faces two.

There was no exchange of attacks between them.

‘Just… as if he were on a leisurely stroll.’

The sword drew a trajectory, and the opponent fell.

There was nothing to refute there.

Did the opponent use a special move, did he mix in a flashy variation, did he use a brilliant clever move?

All those assumptions became useless.

“Overwhelming!”

Someone in the crowd muttered in a trembling voice.

It was overwhelming. He had pushed them without letting them breathe, and had finished them in one go. He had not even allowed the opponent to attack, and he had not defended. He had defeated two people at the same time, using dual-wielding swords.

That was the perspective of the general spectators.

“Did you see it?”

“I saw it.”

“Is that person’s body split in half?”

“How can he use a different sword with his left and right hands?”

The elders of Mount Hua all let out a sigh.

They could see it clearly.

The fact that the sword form unfolded with his left hand and the sword form unfolded with his right hand were completely different.

In a word, he had unfolded a different sword technique with his left hand, and he had unfolded a sword technique that was on a completely different level with his right hand.

“Is that… really possible?”

“Didn’t he show it? That it’s possible.”

“No, but.”

The elders all seemed to have lost their minds at the fact that they could not believe it even after seeing it with their own two eyes.

In the midst of that, Gukbo, with his sword, got up from his seat and walked to the duel stage.

“I will discuss the plum blossoms and come back.”

A low and firm voice.

Cheonghyeonjin saw him off with a rather firm face.

On the opposite side, Jeon-hyeon, with a flushed face, came up with big strides.

“Young Master Cheon, don’t you need a rest?”

It was a 3-round match.

Of course, since all the duels had ended before he could even drink a cup of tea, not much time had passed.

But martial arts was something where it was natural to get tired regardless of the time if you poured out your strength in an instant.

But Cheon Mubaeck had a calm expression.

“I’ll rest after it’s all over.”

“…I understand. Let’s start right away.”

Cheon Mubaeck’s gaze turned to both sides.

Gukbo held his wooden sword with a cold face, and Jeon-hyeon was glaring at Cheon Mubaeck with a very angry face.

“Aren’t you going to negotiate?”

“Negotiate?”

At the incomprehensible words, Jeon-hyeon’s eyebrows twitched.

“The guy who got beaten to a pulp earlier said he would cooperate and fight with Mount Hua. Aren’t you going to?”

Jeon-hyeon’s face, who had realized the meaning of Cheon Mubaeck’s words, flushed red.

He could not refute it.

He also instinctively realized that it would not be easy to fight alone.

The problem was that even if he realized it, it was not easy to act on it.

Moreover, even if he won by cooperating.

‘Damn it.’

Would that be a proud victory?

He might be able to get the Primordial Root Scripture.

But today’s duel would not be forgotten as Zhongnan had expected.

The storytellers would surely talk about today’s story. That the Zhongnan Wind Sword and the Plum Blossom One Sword had joined hands to face the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero.

“It’s not against the rules for two to join hands and cooperate in a three-way battle. Will you fight together? Young Taoist.”

“…Eum.”

Gukbo proposed first. Jeon-hyeon looked at Gukbo with a flinched face.

Gukbo said in a low, sunken voice.

“Until a while ago, I was confident that I could at least hold my own, even if I couldn’t defeat Young Master Cheon. But seeing him today, that’s not it either.”

“…”

“I am also constantly striving and training, but during that time, Young Master Cheon has also been constantly advancing. So, we must take the rights of the weak. The weak can sometimes be cowardly to catch the strong.”

At Gukbo’s words, Cheon Mubaeck nodded his head.

“Right. Then I should also exercise the rights of the strong.”

“…”

Jeon-hyeon clenched his teeth.

Although Cheon Mubaeck was calling himself the strong, he could not refute it.

Although he had been confident that he would teach him a lesson before he had stepped onto the duel stage.

But now that he was facing him, he knew.

‘He’s strong. Stronger than me.’

He had to admit it. Only then could he win.

Seeing the gazes of the two change, Cheon Mubaeck calmed his breathing.

‘I’ll have to do it properly.’

The rights of the strong.

That is.

“I will do my best with all my strength.”

It is not to underestimate the opponent.

* * *

Paat!

The first attack was from Jeon-hyeon.

As if a red flame were burning in Jeon-hyeon’s eyes, he kicked off the ground in an instant and rushed in.

A smile appeared on Cheon Mubaeck’s lips.

‘It’s good.’

A speed that was on a different level from before.

It was a tremendous speed that would have been hard to grasp if it had not been for Cheon Mubaeck.

‘So it wasn’t just an empty reputation.’

The Zhongnan Wind Sword, Jeon-hyeon.

The reason why he had surpassed his age, had ignored his rank, had surpassed the first-generation disciples, and had even reached the position of an elder was now revealed.

That was why Cheon Mubaeck was pleased.

‘Finally.’

He could confirm the power of the Heaven-Concealing Sword Technique.

And, how much that power would work in the current martial world.

If they were the top successors in the Central Plains, they were a sufficiently excellent opponent.

Woooong!

Jeon-hyeon’s wooden sword, as if it were burning, a haze rose up.

‘To put yang qi into wood (木)?’

A yang qi like a blazing fire rises along the wooden sword.

But the wooden sword does not turn into mere ash. It contains the internal energy within the wood.

The contained heat slowly burns.

The heat follows the long sword body and sticks quickly and fiercely.

It is not proud, not slow, and not heavy.

A vast amount of internal energy is contained and contained again.

The yang qi, which should have burned and exploded at any moment, is contained, and on the contrary, it constantly explodes and is contained within it.

‘It’s an innate yang qi.’

A heat as if he were wrapped in a flame.

Why Zhongnan was using an unreasonable move, as if it were not Zhongnan. Why it was pursuing more strength, ignoring the public reputation.

Cheon Mubaeck understood.

This was the nature of Zhongnan, and its martial art.

It was not a wave of internal energy that constantly continued like Wudang. It was not a fragrant plum blossom like Mount Hua.

Just once, twice, three times.

A powerful explosion that bursts and bursts again.

But it does not explode. It contains the explosiveness within the sword, and now, it explodes in just one chance.

‘The Great Sun Fire Sword.’

It wasn’t just Jeon-hyeon.

‘Is it a plum blossom…’

Cheon Mubaeck’s eyes turned to the opposite side.

On the opposite side, Gukbo’s sword was digging in sharply.

Sword shadows were engraved in the air one by one, and the shadows soon turned into flowers.

One by one, they bloomed, and the fragrance of plum blossoms vibrated.

The Plum Blossom Sword Technique that dug in fiercely among the fluttering petals.

‘The Thirteen Forms of the Clear Wind.’

From the left, the bursting flame wrapped around Cheon Mubaeck, and from the right, the beautiful plum blossoms fluttered and poured down on Cheon Mubaeck’s head.

Heat and beauty.

The blade contained within it dug into Cheon Mubaeck’s body.

“Cheon Mubaeck!”

Gwak Cheon-hu, without even realizing it, jumped up from his seat.

Because it was Gwak Cheon-hu, he could see what kind of situation it was now.

‘It’s dangerous!’

It was extremely dangerous.

Jeon-hyeon’s yang qi was truly explosive, and the beautiful plum blossoms were hiding a sword in their petals.

‘If I were in that position?’

Absolutely, absolutely not.

No, he would not survive.

The duel now had far surpassed a duel using a simple wooden sword.

At their level, the distinction between a wooden sword and a real sword was meaningless.

The momentum that was emitted through the sword.

Because with just that, they could break rocks and turn the ground upside down.

‘If it’s Cheon Mubaeck?’

Gwak Cheon-hu’s eyes shook greatly.

Can he block it?

No, can he survive?

He had considered Cheon Mubaeck to be the best among those he had met and fought with so far.

He knew well that he was terribly strong, and that he had far surpassed the level of a successor.

But even he did not think that he could withstand such a strong attack.

Gwak Cheon-hu, without even realizing it, bit his teeth.

‘The Central Plains is wide. Truly.’

Although he had gotten the title of the Fighting Ghost in Chongqing, which had no large sects.

Gwak Cheon-hu truly realized that the Central Plains was wide and that there were many masters.

It was then.

Cheon Mubaeck moved.

Between the flame and the beautiful plum blossoms, Cheon Mubaeck’s two arms drew a trajectory as if they were dancing.

The air current changes within the trajectory. As if into a vortex…

‘It’s being sucked in.’

Gwak Cheon-hu’s body trembled.

Cheon Mubaeck was swept up in a strange feeling at the different attacks that were pouring down from both sides.

That plum blossom and yang qi had originally been a pretty reliable attack that had protected his side in his past life.

The plum blossoms had stood against the Demonic Sect, and the yang qi of Zhongnan, although it was late, had eventually been directed at the Demonic Sect.

But that attack was now pouring down on him.

Cheon Mubaeck suddenly recalled the demonic sect members who had had a dumbfounded expression in such an attack.

‘They couldn’t block it.’

But, Cheon Mubaeck would be different.

How would he block it?

To be honest, there was only one option to block it.

The Ghost Cry Radiant Cliff.

That tremendous protective qi had the power to nullify that tremendous attack.

But Cheon Mubaeck did not.

‘Lü Dongbin. Watch carefully if I use what you left behind well.’

Cheon Mubaeck’s two arms crossed as if they were dancing and then stretched out to both sides again.

‘I won’t dodge.’

That did not mean that he would block it.

‘I’ll accept it.’

The Heaven-Concealing Sword Technique was not destructive, and it was not heavy, so it was not a hegemon’s sword or a heavy sword.

But it was not fleeting, and it was not extremely fast, so it was not a fast sword either.

Then how could the Heaven-Concealing Sword Technique be described?

‘It’s just a sword.’

No expression suited it.

Paradoxically, that was why it had to be called simply a sword.

The internal energy of the upper dantian and the external qi of the surroundings freely mingled.

“…?”

Cheon Mubaeck saw it.

The scene where a look of bewilderment appeared on the faces of Jeon-hyeon and Gukbo.

And that bewilderment gradually spread like a ripple.

Cheon Mubaeck smiled.

He did not dodge or block their energy.

He accepted it completely.

‘In this body.’

The Heaven-Concealing Sword Technique unfolds from both hands. They do not block or counterattack the energy.

They become a path.

They become a passage that accepts the external qi of the surroundings, the yang qi of the opponent, and the plum blossoms.

The upper dantian becomes a vessel.

His spirit becomes a single vessel.

There is qi in all things in the world. Whether it is a rock, a tree, or a mere weed.

Each holds qi in its own vessel.

Cheon Mubae-ck had now become a vessel.

The upper dantian slowly opened, and the Heaven-Shaking Soul Art was cultivated to its extreme, and numerous melodies flowed out from his mind as if an instrument were being played.

Through that vessel, he contains that energy.

He contains the yang qi of the Great Sun Fire Sword.

And he also contains the plum blossoms of the Thirteen Swords of the Clear Wind.

“…!”

All that energy is sucked in.

Without a single bit left.

And…

The yang qi of the Great Sun Fire Sword, which had been sucked in with his left hand, flows out with his right hand.

The plum blossoms, which had been accepted with his right hand, stretch out with his left hand and bloom into a splendid flower.

The flame, unable to just burn, became lava and flowed, and the one plum blossom that had bloomed soon filled the duel stage.

The spectators all lost their minds.

The flame of Jeon-hyeon had become lava and had covered Gukbo,

And the plum blossom of Gukbo had bloomed splendidly and had covered Jeon-hyeon.

The Heaven-Concealing Sword Technique.

The Heaven-Concealing Sword Technique of Lü Dongbin had been made in his own way by Cheon Mubaeck.

This was Cheon Mubaeck’s Heaven-Concealing Sword Technique.

* * *

Everyone was silent.

They looked at the duel stage, which was a mess, broken and destroyed.

But still, barely, staggering, Jeon-hyeon and Gukbo, who were barely on both sides of the duel stage.

The two of them trembled and barely raised their heads.

Their trembling gazes were directed at the center of the duel stage.

At Cheon Mubaeck, who was withdrawing his sword, tilting his head from left to right.

In the midst of the terrible silence,

Cheon Mubaeck’s voice spread like a ripple.

“I yielded the first attack, so is it my turn now?”

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep