Chapter 279: Chapter 279

Under a large tree, Jang Sam-tae lay stretched out.

His lazy appearance made it seem as if one were looking at his true self before he entered the Hunan Dan Family.

“Sometimes, something like this isn’t bad.”

Jang Sam-tae hummed a tune and looked up at the sky.

The clouds moved slowly, stimulating his vision.

Watching them, it felt as if sleep would gently sweep over him again. Yawning lazily, he turned his gaze away once more with a limp expression.

Meow.

A slender voice was heard.

Turning his head, he saw the white cat jump and stand in front of him.

He waved his hand dismissively, as if annoyed.

Meow!

A sharp cry was heard.

A somewhat angry cry, as if telling him to get up.

But Jang Sam-tae stubbornly remained lying in his spot.

If one listened to and followed the words of a beast, not a human, could that even be considered a person?

Jang Sam-tae was a human.

Therefore, he did not listen to the beast.

Worrying that it might scratch his face again, he put on the thick mask he had brought.

Although it was somewhat suffocating, there was nothing better than this for defending his face.

‘No matter how great the white cat is, it won’t be able to pierce this.’

The white cat stared intently at Jang Sam-tae.

It even lightly extended its claws and tapped the mask. While the white cat’s claws could easily slice a mask in two, doing so would also leave Jang Sam-tae’s face unrecognizable.

Jang Sam-tae did not seem to know that fact.

Before long, the sound of loud snoring violently echoed from his mouth.

Even when the white cat cried out, he did not have the slightest intention of waking up.

After watching the situation quietly as if sulking, the white cat carefully turned its back.

As if heading somewhere, it jumped and disappeared from the spot.

“…….”

Having slept like that for a long time, Jang Sam-tae frowned at the sound of something dropping beside him with a thud and slowly opened his eyes.

He saw something strange through the gaps of the mask.

The torso of something with a long tail lay sprawled out.

“A snake?!”

Startled, Jang Sam-tae sprang to his feet. He saw the torso of a giant snake discarded there.

It was a snake that, at a glance, looked as if it possessed considerable venom.

Was it perhaps a relief that it had no head?

“Ugh…!”

Then, the moment he turned his head again.

Jang Sam-tae ended up seeing it.

The white cat, which had separated the giant snake’s head from its body, was slowly approaching with the snake’s head in its mouth.

“It’s, it’s a seven-pace viper…”

The moment the fangs of the seven-pace viper, which had its mouth open wickedly, touched his body, the path to the underworld would open.

“You… what do you think you are doing?”

Holding the head of such a highly venomous snake, the white cat approached Jang Sam-tae without caring about the venom at all.

As if threatening that it would drive the venomous fangs into his body.

However, its expression was endlessly cute.

“D-don’t come close!”

Despite Jang Sam-tae’s cry, the white cat showed no sign of stopping.

At that, Jang Sam-tae turned around and began to run away like mad.

“Save me!”

His loud voice echoed through the mountains, but it seemed the only one listening to it was the white cat chasing behind him.

The white cat’s movements were too fast to follow with the eyes.

Once it vanished with a whoosh, it was impossible to even realize where it was before sensing its presence.

“Ugh!”

Jang Sam-tae thoroughly panicked and threw his body to the right.

It was because he felt the presence of the white cat emitting a chilling level of killing intent.

‘That bastard…!’

Jang Sam-tae thought.

The white cat was sincerely trying to kill him.

It cornered Jang Sam-tae and pressured him with swift movements, as if telling him to move quickly on his own if he wanted to live.

Jang Sam-tae had to sharpen his five senses and run around blindly, desperate not to die.

* * *

“A tournament hosted by the Prince’s Mansion, you say?”

Jin Yeon-hwa, the eldest daughter of the Guangdong Jin Family, glanced sideways at her father’s words.

Not only the rising stars of the other Eight Great Families, but also the children of minor families registered in the Heavenly Way Association were present.

Though there were barely ten of them, every single one of them was highly outstanding.

Since Tang Mun-hye was even among them, it was no different from a gathering of the rising stars who would lead the Heavenly Way Association in the future.

“Yes, it would be good for you to participate this time and make the name of the Heavenly Way Association known.”

Paeng Do-ung, the leader of the Heavenly Way Association, looked at the rising stars with a gentle smile.

Murong Hyeok-mun had vanished overnight.

Although the Martial Alliance and the Heavenly Way Association had searched so hard for him, they failed to resolve it cleanly, leaving many people pointing fingers and mocking them.

Meanwhile, the martial arts tournament held in nearby Changsha was an important opportunity to make the name of the Heavenly Way Association known to the world and expand its influence.

“However, if it is hosted by the Prince’s Mansion… they would naturally only accept those affiliated with the government. Will it be alright?”

“Do not worry. We have already obtained permission from Prince Jin’s Mansion. You will compete under the name of Prince Jin’s Mansion.”

Small gasps of admiration were heard here and there.

Was Prince Jin’s Mansion not the place that ruled Hubei?

Competing under the name of such a place meant they could build a connection with them.

Furthermore, their opponents would only be rogues trying to catch the eye of powerful figures.

It was a situation where the people in this room would have to compete among themselves for the championship.

The rising stars showed confidence even as they eyed each other.

“It doesn’t seem like there will be any problems.”

Jin Yeon-hwa smiled and looked at Tang Mun-hye.

A determination to defeat her this time was felt. On the contrary, however, Tang Mun-hye did not care at all and merely listened to the talk in silence.

“The problem lies with those competing under the name of Prince Yeong’s Mansion. I do not know who they are, but they say they are bringing highly skilled masters this time.”

“Even so, aren’t they just nameless small fry? Haha.”

Hwangbo Gwon burst into loud laughter.

There was no one who did not know that the relationship between Prince Yeong and Prince Jin was poor.

And also that Prince Yeong had never beaten Prince Jin in a martial arts tournament until now.

If they won this tournament, the Heavenly Way Association could use its connection with Prince Jin’s Mansion to soar to a place higher than the Martial Alliance.

Such calculations lay inside Paeng Do-ung’s mind.

Paeng Do-ung nodded readily as he looked at the rising stars who showed confidence.

“Good, then let’s proceed that way. I am warning you in advance… you must win the championship.”

Paeng Do-ung’s stern aura spread out.

Since they were kids who ran wild uncontrollably, he had to do at least this much to make them snap to attention.

Letting one’s guard down and suffering a setback was something that happened quite often in the Martial World.

“Is the Martial Alliance side not participating?”

“Well… though I do not know, I suppose someone might show up. Perhaps Prince Yeong’s side recruited the Martial Alliance… so you must do your best.”

“We understand.”

The rising stars who were present bowed their heads.

Whether people from the Nine Sects and One Gang participated or not, they firmly believed that the championship was theirs.

* * *

“Haa… haa…”

“Heok… heok…”

Gwon Mu-jin, Ma Jang-gang, and Zhuge Yeon panted heavily, dripping with sweat.

They had moved their bodies so much that it felt as if they could take a bath with the running sweat.

The clothes they wore were already soaked through.

Yet, Namgung Cheon, who stood blankly before them, was incredibly calm.

Without shedding a single drop of sweat, he lightly dodged the countless flying blades as if they were nothing, and swung his wooden sword to neutralize the offensive of the three.

The subtle principles carried in each of his movements were at a level that could not be dared imitated, and the flying wooden sword was so mysterious that one could not even tell how it was swung.

This was not a human movement.

Yet he had already been swinging the sword for several hours.

A determination to win by all means was felt in their eyes.

“You are slow.”

“Haa… haa… So-hye is not this fast.”

Zhuge Yeon glared at Namgung Cheon while catching her breath.

Namgung Cheon’s movements did not resemble So-hye’s at all.

Even so, they gripped and swung their swords because they recognized in their minds that this training would definitely be helpful in some way.

Because receiving teachings from none other than the Sword Emperor itself was a fortuitous encounter that would not happen twice in their lives.

“Hmm…”

Namgung Cheon also had realized something while watching the martial arts of the three for the past few days.

Namgung Cheon let out a long sigh.

“This old man has not been sparring based on So-hye so far.”

“Pardon?”

“What… do you mean…?”

The expressions of the two changed.

However, the remaining person, Ma Jang-gang, frowned as if he had noticed what those words meant.

Thinking that his assumption must be correct, his pride was hurt for no good reason.

“Because for you, the greatest enemy will not be So-hye, but that fellow Sam-tae.”

“…Huh!?”

“W-what kind of nonsense is that…”

Namgung Cheon smiled as he stroked his beard with one hand. Seeing Gwon Mu-jin and Zhuge Yeon, who could not comprehend it at all, he felt strongly that they still had a long way to go.

“Ma Jang-gang, do you understand what this old man is talking about?”

“…I know.”

“Indeed, since you traveled with him, you would know well. Even though he usually looks foolish, he is strong in real combat. A surprise attack using his lightness art is truly terrifying. Under such circumstances, his skills have improved even further thanks to Manor Lord Dan.”

He was talking about the journey they took together just the two of them from Tianshan to another place.

Clearly, the Jang Sam-tae when they parted at Tianshan and the Jang Sam-tae here right now were undeniably different.

Although he could not consciously display it, he had improved his skills considerably.

“Manor Lord Dan never trains martial arts. It is only real combat. That is why the opponent trickier than So-hye is none other than Sam-tae.”

Namgung Cheon chuckled.

Looking at Zhuge Yeon’s stiffening face, it seemed she too had not been on guard against Jang Sam-tae at all.

“Now, Guard Ma. Let me ask you. If you were to fight him now, could you win?”

“I can win.”

That was only natural.

Namgung Cheon also nodded in agreement. In the first place, there was a basic difference in power, and Ma Jang-gang was a person whose name was listed among the hundred great masters.

“Then, what would happen if Guard Gwon fought Sam-tae?”

“…It would be about a sixty percent chance.”

“You mean the probability of Sam-tae winning?”

“Yes.”

In an instant, Gwon Mu-jin froze on the spot with a heavily shocked expression.

In the beginning, he was a mere thief, someone who was not even his match.

Yet, he could not believe that there was a sixty percent chance he would lose.

He wanted to shout that it made no sense, but Namgung Cheon drove the point home.

“I guarantee it. Right now, Guard Ma is the only one who has a chance of defeating So-hye. And as for the remaining two… you will not be able to defeat even that fellow Sam-tae.”

The bolt-from-the-blue assertion lingered in their ears.

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