Novel Martial Artist Lee Gwak - chapter 417
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Episode 417
Malice in the Guise of Kindness Is All the More Vicious (2)
Jinghae suddenly felt cold.
He had long since tempered his body, making it impervious to heat and cold. Besides, it was spring, so there was no reason for him to feel cold.
But the stab of Lee Gwak’s words cut so deep that his conscience itself shivered, and a cold crept in.
Jinghae bit his lip.
Lee Gwak knew everything.
He had long since discerned the intentions of the Wudang Sect and Jinghae himself. Despite that, he had willingly come here.
Is he a dragon? Only someone utterly confident in their power would venture into enemy territory alone.
In that instant, Jinghae saw Lee Gwak in an entirely new light.
Lee Gwak’s confidence was so absolute that he had walked into Wudang alone.
He was beginning to reveal himself.
Jinghae realized that Lee Gwak might be a far more formidable opponent than he had anticipated. But it was too late to turn back now.
The gazes of the crowd gathered at the Wudang Sect were fixed on them.
The fervor and madness in their eyes could no longer be ignored.
Jinghae forced himself to maintain a composed expression.
“So, what do you intend to do about the duel? I wouldn’t mind if you withdrew now.”
“I said I would do it. I’ll gladly dance on the stage you and the Wudang Sect have prepared.”
Lee Gwak stepped onto the dueling platform that had been set up.
“Waaaah! It’s Grandmaster Lee!”
“Grandmaster Lee has accepted the duel!”
The crowd, unaware of the circumstances, erupted into thunderous cheers, their excitement shaking the entire Wudang Mountain.
Cheongsong bit his lip.
‘Primordial Heavenly Lord, forgive me for having no other choice.’
He, too, knew.
He knew how shameless the act he and the Wudang Sect were about to commit was. But for the sake of the Wudang Sect’s future, he had to bear all the disgrace.
Cheongsong gave Jinghae a slight nod. In response, Jinghae stepped onto the platform with a hardened expression.
He clasped his hands in a fist salute to Lee Gwak.
“Thank you for accepting this difficult request, Grandmaster Lee! I, Jinghae, swear by heaven that I will face you honorably.”
An immense aura was already radiating from his entire body.
Lee Gwak’s eyes sank deeply.
Jinghae was still hiding behind his mask.
Even if the worst happened, he would never take that mask off.
Shing!
“Then, please show me your guidance.”
Jinghae was the first to draw his sword.
His blade pointed directly at Lee Gwak’s brow.
“It’s finally…”
“…about to begin.”
The crowd held their breath, their faces filled with anticipation.
This was a duel between the famed Lee Gwak and Wudang’s pride, Jinghae—a swordsman Wudang had spent years honing.
A once-in-a-lifetime match was about to begin.
No one dared to miss a single moment.
Hoo…
Lee Gwak let out a soft sigh.
He knew this was a fight he couldn’t avoid.
They had dragged him into it.
And it wouldn’t end until he shattered the stage they had set.
Lee Gwak grabbed Star Soul, still in its sheath.
Though he had not drawn the blade, his intention to fight was more than clear to Jinghae.
“Grandmaster Lee!”
Pat!
Jinghae moved first.
Cloud Steps,
The supreme movement technique of the Wudang Sect was unleashed.
The art of ascending on clouds as if climbing a staircase was both elusive and beautiful.
By the time the crowd registered Jinghae’s movement, he was already in front of Lee Gwak.
Swish!
His left hand, the one not holding the sword, opened wide and unfurled like a web of silk.
The disciples of the Wudang Sect widened their eyes.
The Tenfold Silk Art!”
The technique Jinghae had unleashed was Tenfold Silk Art, a secret martial art of the Wudang Sect.
The pinnacle of the Wudang Sect’s hand techniques, an unrivaled skill that no one in the sect had mastered in the past hundred years, was now being unleashed against Lee Gwak.
The Tenfold Silk Art was beautiful—and as sharp as a blade.
Kwakwakwakwa!
Dozens of qi streams swarmed toward Lee Gwak, trying to rip him apart.
The crowd, witnessing such an incredible sight for the first time, stared in awe.
“Is that the Tenfold Silk Art?”
“Astonishing!”
It seemed as if Lee Gwak would be torn apart at any moment by the relentless onslaught. But no matter how hard they watched, Lee Gwak remained untouched.
Ting-ting-ting!
Only then did they notice the faint metallic sounds continuously ringing around Lee Gwak’s body.
The Star Soul’s sheath circled around him as if it were alive, deflecting the sharp Qi of the Tenfold Silk Art.
At first glance, it seemed like an advanced technique akin to Qi controlling blade. But Lee Gwak’s method was surprisingly simple.
Tuk! Tuk!
He lightly flicked the Star Soul with his fingers, adjusting its trajectory.
With each tap, flick, and pull of his fingers, Lee Gwak effortlessly neutralized the Tenfold Silk Art.
“How is this possible?”
“To neutralize the Tenfold Silk Art like that?”
The crowd thought the scene before them was a trick. It didn’t make sense to their common sense.
Jinghae felt the same.
He had never dreamed that the secret technique of the Wudang Sect could be neutralized so easily. He realized that this technique couldn’t even touch the hem of Lee Gwak’s robe.
His hand moved into an unusual position, his open palm curling into a Sword Finger
Jinghae pointed at Lee Gwak and a condensed, invisible qi shot towards him.
This was the secret finger technique of the Wudang sect – the Heavenly Prime Finger.
Heavenly Prime Finger could pierce through a boulder the size of a house. A human body made of mere flesh would be like tofu to it.
Thunk!
But the Heavenly Prime Finger did not even leave a scratch on Lee Gwak.
It had been blocked by Lee Gwak’s sheathed blade.
Instead, Jinghae’s fingers that had performed the technique ached as if they were about to break. They were bent to the point of almost breaking.
Jinghae realized that barehanded techniques were useless against Lee Gwak.
Lee Gwak and his blade were like one.
It was the pinnacle of Blade-Body Unity.
To suppress Lee Gwak, Jinghae would have to go all out.
“Impressive!”
Jinghae exclaimed in admiration as he swung his sword.
A crimson arc of sword-qi ripped toward Lee Gwak.
Red Feather Shadow.
It was the first move of Taiji Sword, a secret technique of the Wudang Sect.
Like a red feather casting a faint shadow, the sword qi targeted Lee Gwak’s life.
Wudang’s sword style was based on Taiji principles.
Endless and unbroken, they could unleash the force of a thousand pounds with just four ounces of strength.
And the Taiji Sword Technique was the epitome of these principles.
Shiiing!
The eerie sound of the sword cutting air echoed. Yet there was no sensation of hitting anything.
Lee Gwak had deflected the blade by the slimmest of margins.
Jinghae’s sword traced a graceful arc.
Soft Wind Fans the Flame.
Like a gentle breeze fueling a wildfire, the elegant arc of Jinghae’s blade intensified the killing intent.
Wudang techniques emphasized soft overcoming hard.
The Taiji Sword Technique expressed that ideal most vividly.
Shh shhh!
The blade curved, slicing the air sharply in its soft path. But Jinghae’s sword never touched Lee Gwak.
It wasn’t by much.
An inch.
That was the gap between Jinghae’s sword and Lee Gwak’s body—barely the width of a fingertip.
Just a little more and he could reach him. So Jinghae pushed the blade with everything he had. But the gap didn’t close.
Jinghae furrowed his brow deeply.
An inch of difference?
For ordinary people, an inch wasn’t much. It hardly mattered in everyday life. But for a martial artist like Jinghae, who had reached the peak of mastery, an inch felt as vast as the Yangtze River.
A cold light flashed in Jinghae’s eyes.
He couldn’t accept that the gap between him and Lee Gwak was so great.
Above all, he hadn’t even gone all out yet.
Shadow-Swap Flash.
Another ultimate technique of the Taiji Sword Technique was unleashed.
As if teleporting, his sword suddenly appeared right before Lee Gwak’s nose.
It was a killing strike.
In a spar like this, lethal techniques were strictly forbidden.
Jinghae knew this—but his burning desire to win pushed him past the taboo.
‘That’s—!’
Cheongun’s eyes trembled as he watched the duel.
He realized that Jinghae had gone too far. However, it was already too late to stop him.
Clang!
In that instant, a metallic sound exploded.
Lee Gwak had drawn his sheath and deflected Jinghae’s blade.
Jinghae didn’t miss the opening and swung his sword like a thunderbolt.
The sword qi stretched like a whip, aiming for Lee Gwak’s neck. But again, the strike was blocked by Lee Gwak’s sheath.
Shshshsh!
Jinghae unleashed one ultimate technique after another, but none of them touched Lee Gwak’s body.
He was like a giant wall.
Without even unsheathing his blade, he neutralized every one of Jinghae’s attacks using only the sheath.
Jinghae gritted his teeth.
He felt humiliated.
This kind of duel was what a master did when teaching his subordinate.
In other words, Lee Gwak wasn’t treating Jinghae as an equal—he was handling him like someone inferior.
Lee Gwak wasn’t a saint.
He got angry when insulted too.
Wudang had mocked and humiliated him. They tried to use him to elevate their sect’s prestige.
This behavior had hurt the pride of Lee Gwak, a martial artist. And so he faced Jinghae in a way he normally wouldn’t.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Jinghae’s sword and Lee Gwak’s sheath clashed dozens of times.
While Jinghae kept unleashing the ultimate forms of the Taiji Sword Technique, Lee Gwak never once drew his blade. Nor did he use any special techniques.
With only six basic movements – slash, chop, sweep, push, thrust, and press – Lee Gwak effortlessly deflected each of Jinghae’s deadly strikes.
His master, Gwangnoya, had once told him:
“The blade is the most intuitive and efficient weapon a human can wield. Master these six motions perfectly, and no martial art will surpass you.”
Now, Lee Gwak was proving those words true with his very body.
A look of confusion flashed across Jinghae’s face.
Lee Gwak felt like an impenetrable iron wall.
No sword technique seemed capable of breaching his defense. But he didn’t despair, he still had one last trump card.
“Haaah!”
His shout echoed across the duelling arena.
At the same time, the sword slipped out of his hand and flew toward Lee Gwak.
Clang!
Lee Gwak deflected the sword with a swing of his sheath. But Jinghae’s sword, as if alive, twisted midair and shot back toward him.
He deflected it again. But the sword twisted into a strange trajectory and attacked again.
Only then did the crowd realize what technique Jinghae was using.
“Heavens! He’s using ‘Qi-Guided Sword’?!”
The crowd gasped in shock.
For any swordsman, Qi-Guided Sword—the ability to control a sword with internal energy—was the ultimate dream.
Unlike ordinary sword qi, which required direct physical movement, this technique allowed for attacks at a distance.
The sword’s movement changed in perfect sync with Jinghae’s hand gestures.
This was the Hand Guided Sword, a variation within the Qi Guided Sword. Its true power wasn’t just to attack from a distance, but to execute strikes that the human body could not perform.
Shyak!
Like a bolt of lightning, Jinghae’s sword plunged towards Lee Gwak’s head. But by the time the blade struck, Lee Gwak had already moved away.
Brrr!
The sword floated for a moment before soaring back into the air and attacking Lee Gwak.
Thud!
Realizing he could no longer defend with just his sheath, Lee Gwak finally drew his blade.
The moment his blade appeared, people felt an unidentifiable chill.
“…….”
A prickling, predatory sensation crawled over Jinghae’s skin.
He jerked his hand back, recalling his sword in panic—
But in that split second, Lee Gwak moved.
‘He’s coming.’
Jinghae gulped dryly. By the time he registered the thought, Lee Gwak was already before him.
Shiiing!
A blade’s edge, sharper than the wind itself, sliced toward Jinghae.
