Chapter 201: Just For A Moment (1)
Chapter 200 – Just For A Moment (1)
Of course, since it was not a duel to the death, he had no intention of piercing Namgung Cheon’s abdomen with the spear.
He did intend to stop the attack the moment the spear tip touched the abdomen.
However, regardless of that, to snatch his spear with a bare hand?
This was impossible. No, it was unimaginable.
Who was he?
Was he not the Lightning Segmented Spear, Yue Hu!
Yet, to grab the spear shaft that flew right up to his navel?
“Argh…!”
Yue Hu, his pride wounded, exerted force in the hand holding the spear shaft, but for some reason, the spear did not budge.
It was as if it was wedged deep into a solid rock.
Because it was such an absurd sight, even the watching clan leaders were confused.
Whether Yue Hu stopped on his own accord just now, or Namgung Cheon snatched it. No, perhaps they also possessed significant martial arts in their own bodies, so they might have guessed.
The fact that Namgung Cheon snatched it.
However, they would never want to admit it.
Yue Hu quietly took a deep breath to regain his composure and asked.
“Hold on in the middle of a duel. What is the meaning of this?”
“Someone came up.”
“What? Who came up?”
Yue Hu reflexively turned his gaze and froze in surprise. Only then did the clan leaders see the old man who came up the stairs and quickly rose from their seats.
“A-Alliance Leader!”
The guest who suddenly visited the top floor of the Yellow Crane Tower was none other than Alliance Leader Mok Cheon-ak.
Everyone had poured all their attention into the duel between Namgung Cheon and Yue Hu, so they had not noticed Mok Cheon-ak coming up.
Seeing him, Namgung Geom also slowly rose from his seat and cupped his fists.
“Have you arrived, Alliance Leader?”
“We meet again, Clan Leader Namgung,” Mok Cheon-ak replied with a faint smile.
However, his eyes trembled strangely.
It was because he did not quite understand the current situation. His gaze wandered here and there.
‘What on earth is this situation?’
Was the top floor, which should only have the clan leaders gathered, not full of martial artists?
Moreover, Namgung Geom, who received the invitation, was sitting at the head seat rather than the lowest seat, and the other clan leaders were lined up on the left and right of the long table?
As far as he knew, the Seven Great Clans’ leaders were not such soft people.
Furthermore, in the back, Yue Hu was thrusting a spear, and Namgung Cheon was grasping that spear while looking this way?
Yue Hu late withdrew his spear and quickly cupped his fists.
“This Ak greets the Alliance Leader!”
“Welcome.”
Beside him, Namgung Cheon, whom he did not even want to look at, offered a greeting with a bright smile.
The Alliance Leader nodded with an awkward expression and asked.
“What on earth is this situation?”
“Well…”
Baekli Clan Leader Baekli Yeong-san, who was closest, quietly explained the general circumstances.
The Alliance Leader, having grasped the atmosphere to some extent, nodded, looked around the hall, and moved his steps.
Where he walked was the table for eight that Namgung Cheon had left empty in the first place.
Indeed, experienced as he was, he did not fall for Namgung Cheon’s trick and occupied a separate table.
He looked at Namgung Cheon and Yue Hu and smiled.
“It seems it will be a rare feast for the eyes. You may continue the duel you were performing.”
“Then, despite my lack of shame, I shall excuse myself, Alliance Leader.”
At Yue Hu’s reply, the Alliance Leader only raised his hand slightly to respond.
Yue Hu took a starting stance once again.
Hwiririk, swish-swish, chaak!
“Oh, that superficial showmanship that cannot be given up under any circumstances. Phew.”
When Namgung Cheon made a joke, wrinkles creased deeply on Yue Hu’s brow.
“It seems I underestimated Young Hyup Namgung. However, I will not let my guard down now.”
“Naturally, you must. In the Jianghu, letting your guard down is simply a shortcut to kicking the bucket.”
“…!”
To act like this even though he had given a proper warning.
Was he not a truly unlikable human being?
Yue Hu stared at Namgung Cheon with settled eyes and slowly moved his steps to the side.
Nevertheless, Namgung Cheon did not budge, keeping his sword hanging loose just like before.
Furthermore, was Namgung Cheon’s gaze not directed at a completely different direction instead of Yue Hu?
It was the long table where the clan leaders sat.
A strange atmosphere was currently being created there.
Because the Alliance Leader had sat at a separate place upon appearing.
First of all, Jo Geom-myeong spoke in a low voice.
“Let us move seats. Is there any reason to stay here?”
“Indeed. Since the Alliance Leader sat separately, let us move over there.”
“We should have done that from the start too.”
As such muttered conversations broke out, did the clan leaders not rise from their seats one by one?
If this happened, only the Namgung Clan members would remain at the long table, and the Seven Great Clans would unite tightly around the Alliance Leader again.
The atmosphere would be reversed in an instant.
Meanwhile, as Namgung Cheon was distracted, Yue Hu felt anger surge within him.
‘There is a limit to ignoring a person right in front of you. How dare he!’
Tat!
In an instant, Yue Hu thrust the Three-Section Spear rapidly and flew like a beam of light.
An attack executed with his absolute best, with no room for carelessness, carrying the feeling of fighting a duel to the death.
Only then did Namgung Cheon glance back and quickly execute footwork.
Pat!
The straightly extended Three-Section Spear grazed past his collar by a hair’s breadth.
‘Impressive!’
Namgung Cheon’s expression became serious.
Certainly, it seemed the reputation of the Lightning Segmented Spear was not entirely hollow.
Swish! Swishhh!
The Three-Section Spear that lost its target swung sideways just like that. A movement almost close to a right angle!
‘Oho, indeed!’
Breaking inertia and swinging at a right angle like this was close to impossible unless supported by a significant amount of physical strength and internal energy.
Ttang!
Chwaaaaak!
Namgung Cheon, who blocked the spear with the Emerald Silk Sword in the blink of an eye, slid back due to the pressure.
Because of that, the clan leaders who rose to move seats stopped awkwardly.
Namgung Cheon looked back at the clan leaders and grinned.
“Oops, excuse me.”
The clan leaders let out dry coughs and averted their gazes.
And indeed, was the act of completely moving seats right in front of Namgung Geom not a behavior that showed pettiness, no matter how one looked at it?
Meanwhile, Yue Hu did not halt his attacks and immediately threw his body forward to penetrate toward Namgung Cheon.
Swishhh!
Jjeong!
Once again, a metallic clash erupted as Yue Hu’s spear was blocked. However, at that moment, the Three-Section Spear folded, instantly narrowing the distance.
Clack, clack, clack!
Yue Hu, who closed the distance in an instant, swung the Three-Section Spear like a club.
Swishhh!
Ttukang!
The moment the Three-Section Spear, blocked by the Emerald Silk Sword, folded again to strike Namgung Cheon’s face,
Seuseut!
‘Huh? Disappeared?’
Did Namgung Cheon’s figure not vanish from before his eyes like a lie?
Soon after, Yue Hu, feeling something suddenly approach, flinched and retreated.
However, when he actually regained his senses, Namgung Cheon was the one who had taken a step back.
It was a situation as if possessed by a ghost.
Soon, Namgung Cheon swung the Emerald Silk Sword from bottom to top.
Swishhh!
“Tsk!”
Yue Hu’s Three-Section Spear fell like a whip.
Ttaang!
“Keuh!”
A shock that felt as if it would tear his palm apart was transmitted. Subsequently, Yue Hu, who lost his balance, took a step back and gripped his hand tightly.
However, the first segment of the Three-Section Spear folded with a clack.
This was the disadvantage of the Three-Section Spear.
If internal energy was profound and one managed the Three-Section Spear well, it became an excellent weapon, but adjusting internal energy at every moment to maintain length was more tricky than expected.
The remaining two segments of the Three-Section Spear unfortunately struck the table where the Alliance Leader sat.
Kwaaaaang!
With a loud sound, the table where the Alliance Leader sat shattered to pieces. Even as fragments splattered before his eyes, the Alliance Leader did not bat an eye.
Instead, he only watched the duel of the two men silently.
‘Damn it, the Alliance Leader is watching…!’
Yue Hu grew impatient. No, he became worried.
He thought that the more they clashed hands, the more he might not be able to defeat Namgung Cheon.
‘No, I must dismiss such thoughts first!’
A fight where he prepared to lose from the start.
It was not like him.
Jianghu Divine Dragon?
What use was all that?
Was there only one or two people who had received the moniker of the Jianghu Divine Dragon until now?
A rumor that he was a Jianghu Divine Dragon also circulated briefly when he won the Joint Conference.
There was even a joking saying that the Jianghu Divine Dragon originally rose and then sank.
Right, there was no need to be intimidated.
His Jianghu experience and natural temperament also did not fall behind at all.
As long as he did not get dragged along by the atmosphere…!
Clack, clack…! Chwaak!
Yue Hu, who quickly retrieved the Three-Section Spear, rapidly regained balance and prepared for the subsequent attack.
However, instead of attacking further, Namgung Cheon smiled embarrassedly toward the Alliance Leader.
“Oops, excuse me again.”
“Do it without paying mind.”
When the Alliance Leader replied in a flat tone, Namgung Cheon nodded and looked back at Yue Hu.
“Then, continue.”
Namgung Cheon extended one hand forward and gestured.
A signal that he yielded the first strike.
‘That guy is cheeky to the very end!’
Yue Hu glared at Namgung Cheon, suppressing his boiling insides.
Meanwhile, the clan leaders who rose to move to the seats where the Alliance Leader sat stopped in awkward postures and crept back to their seats.
What a pathetic sight.
And just then, dishes to fill the empty table were coming up the stairs in succession.
“Excuse us, sirs.”
The servers hesitated briefly at the duel between Namgung Cheon and Yue Hu, but soon began to carry dishes without showing it.
Since it was a common occurrence in gatherings where martial artists assembled, they did not seem to pay much mind.
Yue Hu, collecting his briefly distracted mind, spoke in a settled voice.
“Young Hyup Namgung, certainly the reputation of the Jianghu Divine Dragon is not hollow. However, the real thing begins now.”
“Yeess, yeess, I am sure you are.”
‘That fellow to the very end…!’
Yue Hu, grinding his molars, took a starting stance.
Namgung Cheon widened his eyes and spoke.
“Huh? You are not doing that this time?”
“That?”
“You know, swinging it all around and striking a cool pose.”
‘You…!’
Yue Hu, who was about to flare up again, quickly took a deep breath and maintained concentration.
This must also be the opponent’s provocation tactics to disturb his resolve. He must not fall for such a simple and childish provocation.
Yue Hu’s eyes, having regained complete composure, cooled down coldly.
By this point, Namgung Cheon also slowly took a stance, as if he would no longer be careless.
At that moment, Yue Hu could realize.
‘This is… Namgung Cheon!’
He was different.
Standing in a relaxed posture versus concentrating properly now was a world of difference.
Was it not as if he became a grim reaper, pressing down on him with just his gaze?
How could he harbor such energy at that young age?
Tight.
Yue Hu gripped the spear shaft with force.
Although he was a trickier opponent than expected, there was no need to be nervous.
‘At least in terms of Jianghu experience, I am a step ahead!’
The moment Yue Hu, having resolved his mind, kicked the floor and shot forward!
“Hold on a second.”
No, why again! What is it!
Why does he keep saying hold on! Why!
Yue Hu, whose irritation shot up, stopped abruptly this time and shouted testily.
“What is it again? Seriously!”
However, was Namgung Cheon not speaking toward a completely different place, not even sparing Yue Hu a glance?
“Hey, you! Come over here. Let me see you.”