Chapter 59

Despite the sudden situation, Yuseong was confident.

Confident that he would lose the martial arts match.

-You were saying you came to help, but now you’re giving up so easily?

‘Shut up! What do you expect me to do in this situation?’

If there had been even a little more time, he could have found another way.

At the very least, if it hadn’t been in a place like this, he could have somehow increased his chances of winning by using skills and artifacts.

“Haah.”

Of course, that didn’t mean he was really planning to give up.

Quest situations are inherently difficult to begin with – if he was going to feel despair in a situation like this, what would become of all the quests he had completed so far?

Until the failure message appeared, Yuseong planned to try everything he could.

‘Can I use special weapons? Plasma… It’s a weapon that can create something like a sword aura.’

-If you use such a new weapon here, even if you win the match, the martial artists who come after the weapon will turn Jincheon Martial Arts family into a wasteland.

‘What happens if I win the match but get too seriously injured to continue with the next match? Do they postpone the match until the injury heals?’

-In such cases, it’s considered a loss. A martial arts match isn’t something that can be avoided or postponed in the first place.

At Wi Jinmu’s firm answer, Yuseong snorted and said.

‘Then what’s this now? Both your drunk state and the current time suggest that the match has been postponed at least once before, right?’

-This was merely postponed to the next day because yesterday’s match went on until late at night.

‘Really nothing else? Think of something, anything!’

After hesitating for a moment, Wi Jinmu spoke in a dejected voice.

-It’s not that there’s absolutely no way. If some unidentified force suddenly attacks, or if the opponent uses cowardly means like poison or black magic…

It was about as realistic as wishing for a missile to hit the school to avoid taking a test.

However, far from getting angry, Yuseong fell into serious thought.

“Jincheon Martial Arts family’s Wi Jinmu! Yeolsan Fist family’s Haun! Come up!”

A young man slightly larger than himself, or rather, Wi Jinmu.

As Yuseong and Haun climbed onto the arena, the middle-aged man with a massive build in the center called out in a low voice.

“I, Hwangbo Seong, Chief Inspector of the Murim Alliance, will supervise this match and guarantee its results! The match will be conducted fairly, and whichever side loses between Jincheon Martial Arts family and the Five Great Sects will pay the compensation for this war’s expenses and enter seclusion as agreed! If anyone breaks this…”

Woong!

“They will pay the price for insulting the Murim Alliance and the Hwangbo family.”

After emitting a terrifying aura, Hwangbo Seong left that one sentence and descended from the arena.

“This smell… Ha! I never thought someone would drink alcohol before such an important match. I can see the level of the Jincheon Martial Arts family now.”

If it had been Wi Jinmu, he would have hung his head in shame.

However, the one standing here now was not Wi Jinmu but Yuseong, and naturally, the reaction was different.

“Yeah, I drank. Didn’t think it would matter much.”

“Hahaha! That’s right! Whether you drink or not, anyway…”

“I thought I could beat someone like you even after drinking.”

A light provocation.

However, its effect was certain.

“You must be crazy.”

“Well, they say you see what you want to see. If I look crazy to you, then that probably means you…”

Grind!

Seeing Haun grinding his teeth loud enough for him to hear, Yuseong tilted his head.

‘What’s wrong with him? Does he have anger management issues? Why does he get angry so easily?’

-Of course a martial artist would get angry when told they could be beaten even after drinking!

It seemed there was something only martial artists could understand.

As they faced each other and took their stances, Yuseong belatedly remembered he had forgotten to ask the most important question.

‘How skilled is this guy?’

-Yeolsan Fist family’s Haun received direct teachings from the previous master of the Blazing Divine Fist…

‘Compare him to you.’

-He’s two levels above me.

Just as he was about to ask exactly how much difference two levels made, Hwangbo Seong’s shout was heard.

“Begin!”

A faint sound of air being torn.

Reflexively leaping backward the moment he perceived the sound, Yuseong’s expression hardened as he saw the fist that had pierced through the space where his face had been just moments ago.

“I was planning to end it in one go, but you’re lucky. Or maybe unlucky? Since you’ll end up losing more painfully!”

Though he was openly mocking him, Yuseong couldn’t say anything.

With just that one attack, he could understand how much difference those two levels Wi Jinmu mentioned made.

A difference where it wouldn’t be strange for the match to end in a single strike.

He had only been able to dodge the attack just now because they were far apart; if they had been even slightly closer, he would have been rolling on the ground with his face crushed by now.

The moment he realized this, Yuseong activated his skill without hesitation.

Woowoong!

As his eyes faintly turned golden, Yuseong reflexively threw his body to the side.

“Oh? You dodged this too?”

Haun smiled cruelly and began throwing consecutive punches.

The Yeolsan Fist family’s Heat Wind Fist used yang energy to create heat haze that deceived the eyes.

Due to the constantly wavering appearance, it was very difficult to determine when the fist would move and exactly where it would fly.

Naturally, Haun thought his opponent wouldn’t last long before allowing an effective hit.

However, after ten exchanges passed and then twenty without his fists even grazing the opponent, he could sense something was strange.

“Huh?”

“Wasn’t it said that Yeolsan Fist family’s Haun was several levels above the Youngest Disciple of the Jincheon Martial Arts family? Then what’s that?”

“What are you doing! Stop playing around and finish it quickly!”

As the match dragged on contrary to expectations that it would end instantly, commotion spread among the people.

“What is this? Did Jinmu perhaps gain some enlightenment last night?”

“W-well…”

Even the people of Jincheon Martial Arts family were equally puzzled.

They knew Wi Jinmu’s abilities better than anyone else.

However, the performance Wi Jinmu was showing now had an enormous gap from what they knew.

‘I can see it!’

As internal energy was also a type of energy, it couldn’t be free from the Eye of Truth.

Seeing through the internal energy rotating fiercely along the meridians with the Eye of Truth, Yuseong was able to grasp Haun’s attacks one step ahead and enter into evasion.

‘Now!’

Not missing the moment when internal energy concentrated in the thighs and soles turned red, Yuseong immediately threw his body backward and was able to narrowly dodge Haun’s attack.

-A-amazing!

As Yuseong showed an unexpectedly good fight, even Wi Jinmu started getting excited.

However, Yuseong didn’t have the leisure to respond to Wi Jinmu’s words.

None of Haun’s attacks had landed, but none of his attacks had reached Haun either.

Neither Yuseong nor Haun had landed a single effective hit so far.

‘The difference in basic stats is too big.’

While he predicted movements through the flow of internal energy and dodged, Haun was purely seeing and avoiding his attacks with his eyes.

Even when he increased his speed with internal energy, Haun did the same, so it had no effect.

Rather, he had to use more internal energy to keep up with Haun’s speed, causing his internal energy to drop rapidly.

‘Asura Perception Way is useless in this situation too.’

Asura Perception Way was merely a technique that accelerated thought to extend perceived time.

While it might be useful in situations where you need to dodge or defend against attacks, it wasn’t very useful in a situation where you couldn’t keep up with the opponent’s speed in the first place.

Moreover, there was one more problem.

‘Something’s weird. This bastard, it feels like he’s seeing through all my movements in advance.’

His movements seemed to go beyond just responding to attacks – it was as if he knew how Yuseong would move beforehand.

-Th-that’s…

Wi Jinmu trailed off as if he had some idea what it might be.

However, before hearing that answer, Haun moved first.

“Seems like this rat only learned how to dodge! Let’s see you dodge this!”

Internal energy began gathering in Haun’s body at a level incomparable to before.

At that moment, Yuseong didn’t hesitate to charge at Haun.

It would be foolish to just let an opponent much stronger than himself prepare what was clearly a powerful technique.

-You can’t!

“Got you!”

Wi Jinmu and Haun’s shouts crossed.

Unless they were quite inexperienced, no martial artist would use a technique that required significant time in such an urgent situation, and Haun was certainly not such an inexperienced martial artist.

This was merely bait to draw out a reaction.

Thinking the bait had been taken, Haun smiled brightly as he threw his punch.

However, there was one fact Haun didn’t know.

The fact that he was currently facing a user.

‘Huh?’

Haun’s eyes widened at the sight of Wi Jinmu approaching and extending his arm half a beat faster than he had predicted.

Though it was impossible by common sense, even in that brief moment Haun moved as he had been trained and placed his hand where the Thunder Fist would fly.

And that was Haun’s last memory.

Shadow Moon Style 16. Storm Throw.

The speed accelerated by Enhancement Procedure skill and Shadow Moon Style 16, a martial art that didn’t exist in this world, created synergy to slam Haun upside down into the stone floor.

Though he reflexively turned his neck at the last moment to avoid instant death, the sound of blood splattering and bones breaking suggested he had sustained serious injuries that would require immediate treatment.

However, no one said anything about that fact.

While this might be problematic in a friendly match, this was a life-and-death battle for regional supremacy.

With several deaths already in previous matches, this level of injury wasn’t worth mentioning.

“The winner of this match is Jincheon Martial Arts family’s Wi Jinmu!”

“Woooooah!”

“Damn it, disciple! I believed in you!”

The people of Jincheon Martial Arts family burst into cheers.

It was just one victory.

However, the fact alone that a martial artist of Jincheon Martial Arts family hadn’t lost shamefully was enough to make them happy.

-Thank you! Thank you!

The same was true for Wi Jinmu.

The outcome of this match and the fate of Jincheon Martial Arts family were already decided.

Even if he forfeited, no one would say anything in this situation, but Wi Jinmu hadn’t given up because he couldn’t let Jincheon Martial Arts family’s end be marked by shame.

Even just once.

Even if just once, he wanted to achieve victory to mark Jincheon Martial Arts family’s end gloriously.

Now Wi Jinmu could be fully satisfied.

“Next.”

“Waning Moon Sword Gate’s Seo Dohyeong!”

As soon as Hwangbo Seong’s shout fell, a swordsman with a cold expression climbed onto the arena.

“Impressive. I never thought you’d defeat Haun. However, before me, the Moonlight Sword Master Seo Dohyeong…”

“How convenient that you’re planting your own death flag.”

“Death… What? What does that mean?”

Though he didn’t know what it meant, he could tell it wasn’t anything good since it contained the word ‘death’.

“Too bothersome to explain, so just come at me. I’ll end this in one go.”

Seo Dohyeong silently drew his sword without saying anything.

The faintly trembling sword and killing intent that pierced the whole body.

Facing an aura no less than Haun whom he had just defeated, Yuseong quietly took his stance.

“Begin!”

Pit!

A sword flying toward the solar plexus at a speed fast even in time slowed by Asura Perception Way.

‘I could dodge if I wanted to. But…’

Yuseong smiled strangely and instead of completely avoiding the attack, slightly turned his body.

Puk!

The sound of metal piercing flesh.

However, despite landing the hit, Seo Dohyeong could only wear a dumbfounded expression.

‘Why?’

An attack that could have been fully dodged.

Yet despite that, he deliberately allowed the attack to hit his side.

In that moment of freezing from the unexpected situation, an eerie voice reached Seo Dohyeong’s ears.

“Got you.”

Using Pain Nullification to ignore the pain from the sword wound, Yuseong grabbed Seo Dohyeong’s wrist and began unleashing Shadow Moon Style 16 techniques in succession.

Starting with Mist Strike to break the legs, then Rock Piercing to shatter the ribs, and Thunder Pierce to crush the fingers.

And after all the processes were complete, only something that was once Seo Dohyeong remained rolling on the ground.

“Next.”

“…”

“…”

A deep silence fell over the venue.

The saying about sacrificing one’s flesh to break the enemy’s bones was common enough for everyone to know, but those who actually practiced it in reality were extremely rare.

-A-are you alright?

‘I’m desperately holding back extreme pain right now, so could you please be quiet?’

Though a burning pain rose from his side as if fire had been applied, Yuseong maintained his straight posture and poker face.

He instinctively knew that showing any weakness here would be disastrous.

“Jincheon Martial Arts family’s Wi Jinmu. You may come down briefly to tend to your injuries.”

While the match couldn’t be stopped or postponed, wrapping bandages or applying medicine to wounds was fully permitted.

However, despite Hwangbo Seong’s consideration, Yuseong shook his head.

“I appreciate the consideration, but I can endure sufficiently. Please continue with the next match.”

“Are you really alright?”

“It’s merely a slight scratch on the cloth.”

Seeing Yuseong’s dignified appearance, Hwangbo Seong, who had maintained an expressionless face throughout, nodded with an admiring look.

“You have quite the fighting spirit, unlike young ones these days. Good, Green Clothes Martial House’s Sa Taeryeong! Come up!”

As a middle-aged man wearing green martial clothes climbed onto the arena, sighs broke out among the people.

While the young martial artist’s spirit was impressive, if the previous two were renowned later-stage experts, Sa Taeryeong was a martial artist making his name in real-time.

-…You’ve done enough. No one would say anything if you forfeit now.

Even Wi Jinmu suggested forfeiting.

However, after looking over Sa Taeryeong, Yuseong instead smiled brightly.

Narrow eyes and a villainous impression, with thin goatee whiskers combining to give off a strongly unlikeable feeling.

This was exactly the opponent Yuseong had been waiting for.

With his condition rapidly deteriorating from internal energy consumption and blood loss, Yuseong decided he needed to end the match quickly and wiggled his finger at Sa Taeryeong with an openly mocking smile.

“Come at me.”

“Such an arrogant bastard!”

Afterimages of palms began covering the surroundings instantly.

Though he could fully dodge the attack having already grasped it with Eye of Truth, Yuseong deliberately turned his body slightly to expose the area with the sword wound from earlier.

And the moment Sa Taeryeong’s attack grazed him, he began rolling on the ground and screaming without hesitation.

“Kraaaaaaah!”

The reaction was so extreme that not only the surrounding people but even Sa Taeryeong who had launched the attack was bewildered, and before anyone could figure out what was happening, a scream-like shout burst from Yuseong’s mouth.

“B-black magic! How dare you use black magic!”

“What? Black magic! What nonsense are you talking abou… Huh?”

At that moment, Sa Taeryeong froze completely.

The area where his attack had just grazed.

There, an unidentifiable vine tendril was squirming as if alive, tearing at the wound.