Chapter 80: Once More! (1)
Chapter 79 – Once More!(1)
“Yun Jong-seung! Hang in there!”
“Win! We’re rooting for you!”
“Ascend once more! Yun Jong-seung!”
Not only the cadets of the Dragon Heaven Academy, but even the commoners cheered, chanting Yun Jong-seung’s name.
At this unfamiliar sight, Yun Jong-seung’s heart fluttered, so he took a deep breath and looked around.
‘Ah…… so many of them!’
During his first duel, he had been too nervous to even look at his surroundings.
But now that the surrounding scenery came into view, he was filled with deep emotion.
Surprisingly, he did not feel nervous.
‘Right, I went through hell for the past three days!’
Yun Jong-seung clenched his fists tightly.
He was wearing black leather arm guards on his arms. It was said that the outer side was lined with meteoric iron.
Meteoric iron was not only difficult to obtain but also extremely expensive due to its incredible strength.
‘How did Namgung Cheon get his hands on something like that?’
The person who brought him these arm guards this morning was Namgung Cheon.
“Choose. Do you want to fight wearing these arm guards? Or do you want to wear those cheap ones you got?”
“Of course, if I have a choice, I’d want to wear those.”
“These are very expensive, you know?”
“H-how much are they?”
“As you know, they contain meteoric iron. They can’t be cut by ordinary weapons. They should be worth about the price of three or four pavilions.”
“Gasp!”
“Of course, since I’m only lending them to you for one day, I’ll charge a rental fee cheaper than that.”
“So, the rental fee is……?”
“One hundred taels of silver for fifteen minutes.”
“W-what?!”
“In other words, half a shichen is four hundred taels of silver, and one shichen is eight hundred taels of silver.”
“T-that’s……!”
“On top of that, if you lose, an additional two thousand taels of silver.”
“Hey! Even so, that’s too much! I’d rather just buy them for that much money.”
“Five thousand taels if you want to buy them.”
“Forget it! Take them away!”
“But if you win, it’s free.”
“……What?”
“No matter how many shichens it takes, if you win, the rental fee will be completely waived. Meaning it’s free.”
“Fr…… ee?”
“Yeah.”
“Really…… free?”
“Geez, have you only been deceived your whole life? I’m telling you, yes.”
“Ugh.”
“Well, what will you do? Do you want to use these? Or do you want to use that cheap stuff and get your wrist sliced off once?”
“Why do you have to say it like that……”
“I have to let you know the reality accurately.”
“Fuuh…… If I win, it’s free.”
“Yes, if you win, it’s free.”
“Alright, I’ll use them. I can’t start thinking about losing before I even fight!”
“Good decision.”
‘Those are the arm guards I rented like that…….’
Yun Jong-seung stared blankly at the arm guards and sighed softly.
‘Why did his smile at the end feel as if I had fallen into a trap?’
The smile Namgung Cheon wore when handing over the arm guards bothered him to no end.
Eh, no.
It was useless to get caught up in complicated thoughts now.
Focus!
Slap! Slap!
When Yun Jong-seung slapped his own cheeks hard, Baek Mu-geuk, who was standing opposite him, knit his brows slightly and tilted his head.
Yun Jong-seung chuckled inwardly.
‘It seems even that stone-like guy does some thinking.’
Since he was a guy whose expression rarely changed, even a small reaction like this felt fascinating.
After taking another deep breath, Yun Jong-seung raised his head and looked toward the VIP seats.
His father, Yun Cheom-san, was staring in this direction with wide, tense eyes.
Seeing his doting father, he felt a sudden surge of emotion for no reason.
‘Father……! I will do my best to win!’
‘Son! Don’t overdo it!’
Once the conversation of glances between father and son ended, Murong Sin asked quietly.
“Are you two ready?”
“I’m ready.”
Yun Jong-seung replied with a determined expression, and Baek Mu-geuk also nodded expressionlessly.
Yun Jong-seung clenched his fists tightly.
‘Alright, let’s do this with confidence! The miracle will continue!’
As Yun Jong-seung slowly assumed his starting stance, Murong Sin stepped back and raised his hand.
“Begin.”
“Waaah!”
Instantly, the crowd’s cheers grew louder.
However, neither Yun Jong-seung nor Baek Mu-geuk made a hasty move.
Yun Jong-seung slowly stepped to the side. Baek Mu-geuk stood in place, only moving his head to watch Yun Jong-seung.
Since he showed so little reaction, it felt as if he was dealing with someone who was somewhat lacking.
Yun Jong-seung swallowed dryly.
‘You have no idea how hard I trained for today. I don’t know how you got lucky and beat Tang Wu-gi, but that luck won’t work on me!’
Paat!
Instantly, Yun Jong-seung kicked off the ground and flew forward.
The earth-shaking cheers were now as quiet as a dead mouse. Yun Jong-seung felt himself flying through the air in slow motion.
‘He moved too!’
Baek Mu-geuk took a step.
He was rushing to clash, swinging his blade.
‘I mustn’t look at that guy’s eyes!’
Yun Jong-seung stared only at his opponent’s chin from the very beginning until now.
Even without looking at his eyes, the guy’s movements were clearly visible.
During the past three days, the thing he paid the most attention to was not looking at Namgung Cheon’s eyes during their spars.
For some unknown reason, the moment he looked into Namgung Cheon’s eyes, his resolve shook, and he kept getting hit.
After constantly suffering like that, in the final spar this morning, he was able to fight without looking at his eyes at all.
Swish!
The blade flew toward Yun Jong-seung’s flank, making a sharp sound.
A very honest attack.
‘It’s the same!’
Yun Jong-seung’s eyes widened.
How could they be so identical?
Not only the flow of the blade but even the emitting qi was identical to Namgung Cheon’s. At this rate, did it not seem as if Namgung Cheon had circulated his qi in the exact same way as this guy?
If it was this similar……
‘Then I’m grateful!’
Pabat!
Yun Jong-seung extended his right foot, stepped forward, and quickly spun his body.
Swish!
Indeed, it was a movement he had performed dozens, if not hundreds of times, while exchanging blows with Namgung Cheon.
Because similar situations occurred so often, Baek Mu-geuk’s current figure almost overlapped with Namgung Cheon’s.
Clang!
Spinning like a top, Yun Jong-seung swung his fist and deflected the incoming blade.
A heavy impact traveled up his forearm, but it seemed most of the force was absorbed by the arm guards.
‘A-amazing. These are really good arm guards, aren’t they?’
If they performed this excellently, the claim that they were worth the price of three or four pavilions was likely not an exaggeration.
Baek Mu-geuk did not look particularly surprised even though his strike was blocked.
Instead, he swung his saber diagonally, his face still expressionless.
Swish!
‘As expected, it’s the same!’
Yun Jong-seung twisted his lips upward, lightly kicked the ground with his toe, and backed away.
Clang!
The blade struck the floor, sending fragments flying.
Shooo!
As Yun Jong-seung slid to a halt, a cheer rose from the spectator stands.
“Waaah!”
“Cool! Yun Jong-seung! Amazing!”
“This clash matches so perfectly, it almost feels like they planned this fight! Haha!”
Hearing the spectators’ voices, Yun Jong-seung curled one corner of his mouth.
He felt the same way.
It felt like performing a prearranged sequence.
‘Namgung Cheon, you are truly a monster of a guy!’
If he had not undergone the hellish training with Namgung Cheon for three days, he would have been lying injured on the floor by now.
Step, step.
Baek Mu-geuk approached with indifferent steps.
Yun Jong-seung still only looked at the guy’s chin, but he could almost feel that characteristic expressionlessness.
Tadat!
Baek Mu-geuk kicked off the ground and flew forward swiftly for once, while Yun Jong-seung crossed his arms and assumed a horse stance as he shouted.
“Come at me!”
Clang!
Baek Mu-geuk’s saber fell like lightning once again.
As expected, it was an orthodox method.
Neither variations nor feints were visible.
‘Isn’t this easier than eating cold porridge?’
Clang! Clack! Clang clang!
Baek Mu-geuk’s blade continuously clashed against the arm guards and bounced off.
Yun Jong-seung responded calmly until the end.
Too familiar of a feeling.
Baek Mu-geuk’s saber strikes began to get faster and faster.
Clang clang clang! Clang clang clang! Clatter!
Yun Jong-seung moved just as quickly in response.
‘I’m not scared!’
This was not said to comfort himself.
He was actually not afraid.
Because……
‘Namgung Cheon was much scarier than you!’
It was the truth.
Because Namgung Cheon had been radiating a somewhat chilling energy.
‘Honestly, every time we exchanged blows, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.’
It felt as though he was fighting in the middle of a battlefield strewn with corpses.
Compared to that, Baek Mu-geuk’s saber was easy to defend against.
‘At this rate, it feels like taking an exam when you already know all the questions in advance!’
Having finished his thoughts, Yun Jong-seung quickly threw a punch toward an opening.
Swish!
Thud!
Pabababat, shooo!
Baek Mu-geuk was pushed back and barely came to a halt.
Touching the area near his chest, Baek Mu-geuk’s expression shook for an instant.
‘Hehehe! How do you like the punch of this pushover!’
Ah, right, I wasn’t supposed to look at his eyes.
Snapped back to his senses, Yun Jong-seung quickly shifted his gaze back to Baek Mu-geuk’s chin.
Meanwhile, the spectators gasped in admiration repeatedly.
“Ohhh! Baek Mu-geuk is being pushed back!”
“As expected of Yun Jong-seung! You are continuing the miracle!”
“Wasn’t Baek Mu-geuk originally a guy who made it to the round of sixteen through luck?”
“True. Yun Jong-seung, who fought his way up properly, has no choice but to be stronger.”
People chatted, pretending to know everything.
Yun Cheom-san, who was watching from the VIP seats, also brightened up.
“My son! Perhaps you really……! Perhaps……!”
At that moment, Baek Mu-geuk kicked off the ground and flew forward again.
Clang! Swish! Clang!
An orthodox attack following an orthodox attack!
And yet another orthodox attack!
‘As expected, these are all methods I’ve experienced! But……’
Clang!
Along with a clear metallic sound, Yun Jong-seung stumbled and backed away.
The strength became incomparably stronger than before. It felt as if his entire body was tingling.
“Tsk!”
While Yun Jong-seung clicked his tongue, Baek Mu-geuk rushed in again without giving him any breathing room.
Swish, clang! Clang! Clang!
The diagonal descent of the blade struck horizontally again, then immediately soared diagonally upward.
It felt as if a fierce torrent of water was crashing down refreshingly.
However, since the attack was so straightforward, it was not difficult to block.
‘Tsk, it’s a brute-like strength…… but as long as I can withstand this, it’s worth a shot!’
Clang! Clack! Clang!
Sparks began to fly and burst along with the metallic clangs.
Yun Jong-seung grit his teeth at the sensation that vibrated all the way to his skull.
Even so, compared to when he fought Yue Goeng, wasn’t this at a much more manageable level?
Could it be said that experiencing hell had definitely increased the intensity he could withstand?
On the other hand, the onlookers had sweat pooling in their palms.
“He seems to be getting pushed back bit by bit, though?”
“Yun Jong-seung shouldn’t keep getting pushed back like this……”
“Come on, man, it was the same in the round of sixteen. Yun Jong-seung won back then too, so he must have a trick up his sleeve.”
“Is that so?”
Meanwhile, Yun Jong-seung kept staring only at Baek Mu-geuk’s chin while blocking the cascade of incoming blades.
Then, when he finally thought the time had come, he struck upward strongly with his left arm against the fiercely falling blade.
Swish! Clang!
Instantly, the blade that had been charging furiously bounced into the air, and without missing the opening, Yun Jong-seung put strength into his pivot foot and quickly thrust out his right hand.
‘Take this!’
The internal energy rising from his dantian quickly stretched out along the Hand-Taiyang Small Intestine Meridian and concentrated in his five fingers.
Finally, when Yun Jong-seung’s palm dug into Baek Mu-geuk’s flank!
Boom!
The Red Lotus Palm exploded.
‘It connected!’
Yun Jong-seung’s mouth widened into a broad grin.
Look, was the sound itself not different?
Sure enough, Baek Mu-geuk was blown away just like that. The robe on his flank completely burst open, clearly revealing a red lotus-shaped mark.
Tumble!
Rolling roughly on the floor, Baek Mu-geuk was pushed to the edge of the arena and ended up falling below.
“I-I won!”
As Yun Jong-seung clenched his fist……
What was going on? Why was the atmosphere like this?
Were the spectators not staring at the edge of the arena with their mouths wide open?
Only then did the sword embedded in the ground enter Yun Jong-seung’s field of vision.
“W-what?”
As Yun Jong-seung was about to run over, Baek Mu-geuk suddenly soared up back onto the arena.
He cracked his neck with his usual expressionless face and let out a sigh.
A moment later.
Pabat!
Baek Mu-geuk rushed toward Yun Jong-seung with ghost-like, sharply slit eyes.