Chapter 68: Dragon Heaven Academy's Great Leap (2)
Chapter 67 – Dragon Heaven Academy’s Great Leap (2)
Swooosh! Pow!
“Keugh!”
Thud, thud, thud! Whack!
“Keu-eugh!”
A one-sided beating ensued.
The Grand Martial Arena, which had been filled with heat, was as silent as if it had been doused with cold water.
The excited expressions had long vanished, and everyone clicked their tongues with uncomfortable faces.
“Tsk, tsk. Like this, he is no match for him.”
“It feels like the Yue Clan cadet is toying with him one-sidedly.”
“I don’t know a single thing about martial arts, but that’s not even martial arts or anything, is it? Isn’t it practically just a street brawl?”
“It must mean that the Dragon Heaven Academy cadet’s skills are that pathetic.”
Occasional criticisms from the crowd continued.
The Righteous Chivalry Academy cadets openly sneered and poured out ridicule.
“He is lowering the standard of the tournament! Just forfeit!”
“Only now is Dragon Heaven Academy’s true skill being revealed!”
“Hahaha! Was that palm strike just now meant to make us laugh?”
The Valiant Martial Academy cadets also behaved relatively politely, but they could not erase the look of contempt in their eyes.
In particular, since a Valiant Martial Academy cadet had previously been miserably defeated by Paeng Su-hyeok, the eyes watching Yun Jong-seung, who belonged to Dragon Heaven Academy, could not be friendly.
The atmosphere among the Dragon Heaven Academy cadets was not much different.
The Dragon Heaven Academy cadets, whose spirits had been highly raised because of Paeng Su-hyeok, were anxious about Yun Jong-seung but secretly pinned their hopes on him.
However, once the duel actually began, was it not too one-sided?
Even though Yue Goeng had even yielded the first strike, Yun Jong-seung was in a situation where he could not land a single decent blow.
Of course, it was a confrontation between a spear and bare hands.
The spear was bound to have the advantage.
Even so, it would be nice if he showed a somewhat equal match, but at this rate, it was merely a sight of him being one-sidedly tormented…
“As expected, does a miracle not happen?”
“That must hurt immensely.”
“Still, he is holding out for quite a long time…”
“That’s probably because he lived as a pushover for so long, so he must have developed physical resilience.”
At someone’s words, the cadets giggled, but then quickly stiffened their expressions.
Had that pushover not participated in the tournament that they themselves could not even enter?
Thinking that it was certainly no laughing matter, several cadets cleared their throats.
At that moment, someone leaped to his feet and shouted.
“Hey! Yun Jong-seung! How long are you going to keep getting beaten up! Counterattack! We came here to cheer for you!”
Hearing that voice, Yun Jong-seung clenched his molars tightly and glared at the tip of the spear flying toward his solar plexus.
‘Dammit… as if I want to get beaten up…’
Tak! Thud!
‘And get beaten up—oof!’
As the relatively blunt spear tip stabbed straight into his dantian, a wave of nausea surged up.
He hastily struck down with a single fist, trying to block the spear, but because he was a bit late, it hit his dantian, which was about half a span below the solar plexus.
“Kuwaaaack!”
As Yun Jong-seung screamed and collapsed forward, the shaft of the spear fell mercilessly upon him.
Swoosh!
Thud! Thud! Thud…!
“Ah! Keugh! Ugh!”
Screams constantly erupted from the dueling platform.
In truth, Yue Goeng beat Yun Jong-seung like a dog.
He was angry even as he swung the spear.
Since it was an official tournament, there was no problem even if he used a live spear blade.
However, after learning that his opponent was bare-handed, he had come up with a spear shaft fitted with a practice spearhead.
It was not out of consideration for his opponent.
He intended to beat him to death for a definitive retaliation.
However, once they actually crossed hands, was he not too weak, even for a weakling?
Thinking that Hwangbo Seung had suffered against such a weak guy made anger surge within him.
“Seeing it now, you were only lucky enough to beat Brother Hwangbo, yet you were that arrogant?”
Yue Goeng let out a fierce voice and continuously swung the spear shaft.
Thud! Thud! Whack…!
The watching commoners furrowed their brows deeply.
How many times had it been like that already?
Whenever he managed to retreat and avoid the beating that fell like a rain shower, this same thing would repeat again.
With such an excessively one-sided duel unfolding, any desire to cheer had long vanished.
“Shouldn’t someone stop that?”
“He’s going to kill him at this rate.”
Perhaps conscious of the commoners’ reactions, the proctor Murong Sin took a step forward and asked.
“Yun Jong-seung, unless you admit defeat, the duel will not end. Do you admit defeat?”
“K-kuh! Argh! Ah…! No! I have not lost yet! Keugh!”
Yun Jong-seung barely replied while spitting blood from the corner of his mouth.
This was already the third time.
Murong Sin shook his head and stepped back.
Meanwhile, Yun Cheom-san, who was watching this whole process, felt as if his insides were burning up.
‘My son…!’
At first, he was angry at his son for being one-sidedly beaten. Next, he wanted his son to hold out a little longer.
But now, he wanted his son to give up.
‘That is enough… this father can no longer watch!’
He clenched his fists tightly and bit his molars hard.
A mocking voice was heard from behind him.
“Tsk, tsk. How unfortunate. Whichever side it was, I hoped it would be a duel that helps in the achievement of martial arts.”
Yun Cheom-san did not even look back.
Because he knew it was Yue Hyeon’s voice.
He was undoubtedly sneering to his heart’s content.
‘Dammit…! Give up now! Doing more will only bring disgrace! This is hopeless!’
* * *
“Like this, there is no hope.”
The Gold King shook his head and muttered.
However, Namgung Geom, who sat beside him, did not say a word, maintaining a serious expression throughout.
He merely quietly observed Yun Jong-seung, who was being miserably beaten.
The Gold King shook his head with a bitter smile inwardly.
‘According to So-hong, Namgung Cheon helped that child achieve martial arts too… but it seems there was a limit. Indeed, since the gap is too large, the limit must have been clear.’
However, this world was cold.
It did not accommodate such circumstances one by one.
The result was just the result.
It meant that Namgung Cheon was not a massive hidden dragon to the extent of Jin So-hong’s expectations.
For some reason, his daughter must have been wearing rose-colored glasses when it came to Namgung Cheon.
‘Well, that boy did look handsome… is Hong-ie already at that age?’
His daughter’s behavior was cute, yet bitter.
Ordinarily, a merchant should not judge profit and loss by being swayed by emotions, but…
Namgung Geom let out a gruff voice.
“Whether there is hope or not is something we will have to wait and see, is it not?”
“Although I, Jin, do not have a deep eye for martial arts, isn’t the gap too wide? By any chance, is Patriarch Namgung teasing me?”
At that, Namgung Geom smiled coldly.
“Heh. What would I gain by teasing you? Let us just wait and see.”
“Is there perhaps something that my foolish self failed to see? If so, I pray for a lesson. I would consider it an honor.”
“There is no need to call it a lesson. It is just that… that boy is taking the hits well.”
“I can see that too. It is rare to see someone take hits so well in a tournament…”
“That is not what I mean. I mean he is truly taking the hits well.”
“…?”
“I mean he knows how to be hit.”
“Ah…!”
Only then did the Gold King nod, as if he finally understood the meaning.
Knowing how to be hit.
In short, did it not mean that, beyond having good physical resilience, he knew how to minimize the damage?
Even if they received the same blow, one person’s bones might be damaged, another might only get a scratch, and yet another might actually benefit from improved blood circulation.
“Come to think of it…”
The Gold King’s eyes gleamed as he looked back at Yun Jong-seung.
Indeed, although Yun Jong-seung had been beaten continuously since the duel began, he was holding out for so long that the spectators clicked their tongues in amazement.
Moreover, if one looked closely…
‘He is twisting his body in the direction of the strikes to minimize the damage!’
Furthermore, he was avoiding all his vital points.
He was neutralizing critical blows by twisting his body by a hair’s breadth.
That was a movement almost akin to instinct.
It was likely a movement that only someone who had been beaten a truly vast number of times could perform.
It was something that could not be learned through theory or martial arts practice.
Namgung Geom murmured in a low voice.
“If that boy has a move left… there is no telling what the outcome of this duel will be.”
“Indeed…!”
The Gold King muttered with a surprised expression.
In reality, the one who grew anxious as time passed was Yue Goeng.
Yue Goeng’s mood had been changing throughout the duel.
At first, he was angry, then it was amusing, and now he was annoyed.
Thud! Thud! Thud…!
‘Why…! Why won’t you surrender! Why!’
In fact, the issue was not about extracting a surrender.
It would be fine even if the opponent just lost consciousness and fainted.
Yet, no matter how much he hit him, he did not faint.
What on earth was wrong with this guy?
There was no telling just how good his physical resilience was.
Could there be another duel this boring in the world?
He was growing tired.
He wished the guy would just fall and surrender now, but this crazy bastard held out to the end while only getting beaten, which was driving him crazy.
“Just surrender already!”
Yue Goeng shouted loudly and unleashed a secret technique of the Yue Family Spear Art.
Swoooosh!
The spear spun and thrust toward Yun Jong-seung’s chest.
Thwack!
“Keugh!”
Yun Jong-seung was sent flying, flipping his body.
Crash, tumble!
After falling for a long moment, Yun Jong-seung was pushed to the very edge of the dueling platform before stopping precariously.
“Tch!”
As Yue Goeng clicked his tongue, Yun Jong-seung staggered back onto his feet.
A sound close to a sigh was heard from the spectator stands.
“Ughhh.”
“Oh my god, he stood up again.”
Someone was even heard saying, “He should just stop now.”
However, for Yun Jong-seung, it was only the beginning.
‘Perfect…! He started getting anxious! The fight begins now!’
As Yun Jong-seung’s eyes flashed, Yue Goeng’s anger flared up.
‘Why does a pushover like that… to the very end…!’
In an instant, Yue Goeng kicked off the ground and rushed forward.
“You bastard!”
His figure flew like an arrow, thrusting the spear straight ahead.
However, due to his hasty attack, a vulnerability was exposed.
Having been beaten for a long time, Yun Jong-seung understood the opponent’s spear techniques quite well. Consequently, at this moment, the loose parts of the spear techniques were immediately visible.
In that split second, the conversation he had shared with Namgung Cheon came to mind.
“First, get beaten up.”
“What…?”
“If you get beaten to near death, you’ll see a gap in his defense. Of course, you’ll have to hold out well. Over the course of getting beaten all this time, you must have instinctively learned how to take hits properly. In your own way.”
“H-how did you know that?”
“Because I saw you getting beaten up in class too.”
“Ah…”
“You probably just tried to get hit in a way that hurt less, but that brought about a quite effective massage effect. In fact, didn’t you feel it too? The urge to counterattack at some point while getting beaten…”
“Isn’t that the case for everyone?”
“No. Usually, they are too busy being beaten and shivering in fear. But when you feel the urge to counterattack, your body knows and reacts. Telling you that you can land a blow right now.”
“Ah…”
“However, they usually get scared and cannot make a move. You were probably the same. Well, if you had actually made a move, you would have been beaten even harder. Since your fists would end up like cotton even if an opportunity came.”
“Then what should I do?”
“What do you mean, you have to hit him.”
“You said I’d get beaten up more.”
“You don’t have cotton fists anymore, do you?”
“Ah…! Red Lotus Palm!”
“Moreover, if you took the hits well like usual, your body’s senses would have risen more vividly than ever before. In short, you will be able to exert a far stronger and more ferocious power than usual because you can clearly feel the flow of your internal energy.”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Yun Jong-seung realized that his body’s senses had certainly become sharper than usual.
‘It’s just as Namgung Cheon said! My whole body is tingling, and I feel my blood circulating rapidly. My meridians are opened wide like main roads. At this rate, I can circulate my internal energy much more smoothly than usual!’
In an instant, a stream of internal energy arose from Yun Jong-seung’s dantian and surged fiercely along the Hand-Taiyang Small Intestine Meridian.
It was definitely a much faster and more ferocious energy than usual.
Could it be said that the beating he had suffered until now felt like medicine?
He could vividly feel the internal energy flowing along the meridians.
Finally, when Yue Goeng’s spear reached within close range,
Pabat!
Yun Jong-seung’s figure shot forward like a flash of light, and his five fingers exploded against Yue Goeng’s chest.
Swooosh, boom!
A sound like an explosion rang out, and the front of Yue Goeng’s robe completely burst open.
Swoooosh, crash!
Yue Goeng, who was sent flying to the opposite side of the dueling platform, rolled outside, and at the same time, his eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.
“Huff, huff, huff…!”
Yun Jong-seung, whose eyes were swollen shut to the point where he could barely peer out of one, gasped for breath and looked at his outstretched hand.
“I-I did it…”
The entire Grand Martial Arena fell silent.
It had already been quiet, but now, with a bit of exaggeration, one could even hear a needle drop.
Only after a long while did Murong Sin declare in a dazed voice.
“Dragon Heaven Academy, Yun Jong-seung… victory!”
At that moment, a roar of cheers resounded, as if to tear the Grand Martial Arena apart.
“Whaaaaaaaa!”