Chapter 265: The Festival Must Continue (4)
Certainly, Cho Hae-ryang was an extraordinary person. Having been selected as the next Martial Alliance Leader, his talent was beyond question.
More than that, it was now clear why Su Je-heon had sent the young Cho Hae-ryang to the New Justice Festival. Su Je-heon possessed absolute confidence.
Cho Hae-ryang certainly had the capability to turn the New Justice Festival upside down.
‘What a formidable fellow.’
Though he was only slightly older than me, he wasn’t intimidated in the slightest even before experts who were nearing their forties; rather, he was dominating them.
Myeong-yeop definitely possessed a level of skill that did not bring shame to his position as Wudang’s eldest disciple of the Myeong generation, but it was too much to face Cho Hae-ryang, who had directly inherited the Martial Alliance Leader’s mantle.
“…I am sorry, Hui-yeong.”
“It is fine. It couldn’t be helped.”
“Somehow, I only seem to show you my unsightly defeats.”
“What is unsightly about losing?”
The truly unsightly thing was refusing to acknowledge one’s defeat.
Since Myeong-yeop had sufficiently demonstrated Wudang’s swordsmanship, no one would think of him like that. His opponent was simply too strong.
“Come on, come on! Who will win? You can place bets starting from one silver tael!”
As the tournament progressed, the voices of the bookmakers also grew louder. Naturally, that match betting was hosted by the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company. In this world, no business made money as easily as gambling.
“Who should we bet on this time?”
“Didn’t you see the Iron-Bold Flying Fork earlier? He toyed with the Azure Dragon Rising Hero like that.”
“Is that so?”
One silver tael was quite a high price, but such entertainment could only be seen at the New Justice Festival.
Usually, it was rare for orthodox and unorthodox experts to exchange blows. Mostly, orthodox martial artists sparred amongst themselves, and unorthodox ones fought their own. In the first place, the territories of orthodox and unorthodox factions were divided.
However, the New Justice Association was hosting the tournament by encompassing both orthodox and unorthodox martial artists. This alone was an incredibly rare spectacle.
Because people from slightly different worlds were fighting, the spectators couldn’t easily predict the winner. Consequently, the odds were distributed quite appropriately.
“Ah, you cannot bet more than five silver taels.”
“Why? When we want to give you money.”
“Because then it becomes too speculative. We opened this for your entertainment, not to ruin your lives.”
Jo Chung-heon, who was in charge of the betting venue, smiled refreshingly. The crowd let out exclamations of admiration upon hearing his words.
“Ah. How thoughtful.”
“The New Justice Association Master is indeed an outstanding person.”
Hearing my praise, Jo Chung-heon looked at me and subtly winked.
Strictly speaking, however, that betting limit was not my idea. I had actually intended to strip several people of their purses, but Cheong-ui had stopped me, arguing that the speculative nature was too strong.
‘If Wudang is used as a gambling den, I will not be able to face the ancestors even after I die…’
His tone was closer to a desperate plea. Since I couldn’t ignore that, I had established the limit.
“Brother. Who will you bet on?”
Peng Chae-hyang asked beside me. From some point, Peng Chae-hyang had taken on the role of assisting me by my side. Although I hadn’t asked, it was awkward to send her away.
“Well…”
Next was the match between Jeon Rip-saeng and Cho Hae-ryang.
Jeon Rip-saeng and Cho Hae-ryang. I evaluated them calmly. The upper dantian had the function of three-dimensionally manifesting my imagination.
Before my eyes, a projection of Jeon Rip-saeng and Cho Hae-ryang fighting took shape. Swift moves passed, but soon, the probabilities smiled upon Cho Hae-ryang.
Although Jeon Rip-saeng’s movements were better, it seemed he would ultimately lose due to the difference in the level of their martial arts.
“I think Jeon Rip-saeng will win.”
Peng Chae-hyang expressed her opinion first. I shook my head.
“I think Cho Hae-ryang will win.”
“Really? Their movements are different, though.”
“Even if Jeon Rip-saeng dominates initially with his movements, because the level of their martial arts is different, I believe Cho Hae-ryang will win.”
“Then are you betting on Cho Hae-ryang?”
The betting venue was, quite coldly, operated in full view of the tournament participants.
I glanced at Jeon Rip-saeng and Cho Hae-ryang once each, then shook my head.
“No. I must bet on Jeon Rip-saeng.”
“Really?”
“Since he said he wishes to enter under me, I must support him.”
Aside from loyalty as a martial artist, even from a merchant’s perspective, securing the favor of an expert like Jeon Rip-saeng for a single silver tael was a highly worthwhile deal.
“Stop the gambling and begin.”
Cheong-yu spoke in an uncomfortable tone. Indeed, Cheong-yu found the gambling occurring on Wudang Mountain highly disagreeable.
However, since gambling fundamentally stimulated the base pleasure inherent in humans, the betting venue was the most popular spot among the people.
Even though Jo Chung-heon had declared the closing of bets, there were still many people exchanging silver to place bets. While saying it wasn’t allowed, Jo Chung-heon accepted them all.
In any case, we weren’t doing this for free. Ten percent was the commission for the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company. The more we took here, the larger the seed money for the Radiant Crystal Merchant Company would grow, which was a natural action for a Grand Foreman.
“I said stop that!”
When Cheong-yu flared up, Jo Chung-heon looked at me and closed the betting table.
“Jeon Rip-saeng.”
“Cho Hae-ryang.”
The two exchanged martial salutes. The sight of orthodox and unorthodox experts showing respect and saluting each other was entertaining in itself.
“Begin.”
With Cheong-yu’s declaration, the two martial artists pushed off the ground.
I naturally cheered for Jeon Rip-saeng. He was the one who had shown a friendly gaze toward me, Cho Hae-ryang was hostile to me, and I had bet money on him, so I had no reason not to cheer for him.
“Hmm.”
I focused my eyes to observe their fight as closely as possible.
Jeon Rip-saeng’s free-spirited movements and Cho Hae-ryang’s perfectly fitting precision could be said to be polar opposites.
Aside from my cheering, my analysis of the match was proceeding at a rapid pace. If Jeon Rip-saeng had slashed horizontally instead of striking vertically earlier, what result would have emerged? Hundreds of scenarios and situations unfolded simultaneously in my head.
Although it was an absurd exploitation of my brain, the talent of Awakening indeed proved its worth as a Grade 3 talent.
The experience gained from actual combat is different from the experience gained by observing another’s martial arts from a third-person perspective.
It was as if I was obtaining years of experience compressed into a single moment.
Because though it was a single match, hundreds of matches were unfolding in my mind. Already, several of them had concluded.
Even for the same martial artists, the patterns of the match varied depending on how they deployed their martial arts.
In truth, their current match did not match even one of the hundreds of scenarios I had imagined.
Regardless, I didn’t need to predict it perfectly. I wasn’t running the matches in my brain to make predictions. Rather, it was better for them to deviate from my predictions, as that allowed me to broaden my horizons. My experience was still shallow, and I was striving to compensate for it.
“Both of them are incredible.”
Peng Chae-hyang marveled. Even to a fellow martial artist, Jeon Rip-saeng and Cho Hae-ryang were displaying peak competence.
Jeon Rip-saeng represented raw, ungrounded movements—the rough unorthodox martial arts itself. Cho Hae-ryang represented orthodox martial arts itself, trained through immense systems and elixirs.
Still, the match eventually flowed toward Cho Hae-ryang securing victory, just as I had expected.
Everyone believed Cho Hae-ryang would secure a comfortable victory, and I was no exception. However, despite the clear tilt in balance, the match did not conclude easily.
“Ah!”
“Oh!”
The crowd gasped in surprise several times. Because sword paths that seemed capable of taking Jeon Rip-saeng’s neck kept emerging from Cho Hae-ryang.
This match did not actually forbid killing. And by the nature of tournaments, even if one accidentally killed the opponent, no one could object.
Despite this, the reason Cho Hae-ryang couldn’t secure the win was largely due to Jeon Rip-saeng’s experience.
Jeon Rip-saeng was clashing with a posture of mutual destruction. As if giving up his life to take Cho Hae-ryang’s wrist.
If Cho Hae-ryang pushed his sword forward, he could take Jeon Rip-saeng’s neck, but since doing so would require sacrificing his own wrist, he had no choice but to pull back repeatedly at critical moments.
If his wrist was lost, Cho Hae-ryang’s life as a martial artist would surely suffer a massive setback. Jeon Rip-saeng was using Cho Hae-ryang’s bright future as a hostage to threaten him.
“He truly possesses an iron heart.”
Peng Chae-hyang marveled.
That was a strategy visible to anyone with a decent level of martial arts.
In truth, it was an absurd move. To say ‘I will take your wrist even if my life is lost.’
Not only was there no strategy less efficient than this, but there were also few who possessed the courage to place their own neck on the death line while knowing in their hearts that the opponent would never sacrifice their wrist.
“Damn it…”
Cho Hae-ryang’s quiet muttering was heard.
Against such a relentless charge by Jeon Rip-saeng, he couldn’t help but feel anxious. In any match he had fought, he would have never faced someone who put their neck on the line like this.
“…?”
In that instant, I felt a sudden sense of discordance. Right now, the one observing this match most closely was likely myself. Since there wouldn’t be many who possessed the function of the upper dantian.
A sudden, massive force gathered in Cho Hae-ryang’s eyes. The power residing in the eyes was the power of internal energy.
Exuding a certain level of internal energy, and then suddenly displaying a force that far surpassed it—that meant he had been concealing his martial arts.
‘He was concealing his martial arts?’
Even while concealing it, his achievements were far superior to those of his peers. If so, how strong was he originally?
Without a second thought, I drew my sword, Myeong-ah, and threw it toward the arena. The rapidly flying Myeong-ah struck Cho Hae-ryang’s blade as it lunged toward Jeon Rip-saeng’s neck.
With the sword path distorted, Cho Hae-ryang’s blade slashed Jeon Rip-saeng’s shoulder. Although it was deep, fortunately, the arm was not severed.
“Tch.”
Cho Hae-ryang wore a look of regret.
If he had shown that force earlier, the match would have ended sooner. Why did he conceal it? To catch the opponent off guard? Or was it an order from Su Je-heon?
Numerous thoughts swirled, but nothing was certain. However, that force was indeed aberrantly strong.
To the point that the reaction of people who found my age and martial career incomprehensible made sense.
The discordance lay in the level of swordsmanship Cho Hae-ryang deployed and the difference in his internal energy. And I had seen this discordance several times before.
‘A mysterious grand art.’
A grand art that exponentially boosted one’s internal energy. The members of the Heavenly Will Sect had used it. While the Heavenly Will Sect consisted of mere local ruffians, Cho Hae-ryang was a top rising star. If it was being applied to such a person, it meant that grand art was gradually being refined.
“Take him to the Hall of Medicine quickly.”
“Yes, yes!”
I instructed Peng Chae-hyang to send Jeon Rip-saeng to the Hall of Medicine. Even if his arm wasn’t severed, leaving that wound neglected could damage his nerves.
“Association Master, it might not end with just a shoulder for you.”
At that moment, Cho Hae-ryang spoke in a cold voice.
The crowd stared at Cho Hae-ryang in shock. This was the New Justice Association. He had threatened the New Justice Association Master inside the association’s grounds.
Cho Hae-ryang stood arrogantly on the arena, glaring down at me. I twisted my lips and smiled.
Coincidentally, Cho Hae-ryang’s next opponent was me.