Chapter 109. Five Dragons Fight for a Pearl (5)
‘No, it’s not time yet...’
Yu Cho tore his gaze away from Woo-Moon and looked over at the Mount Heng Sect.
“What do you think about stepping forward this time, Young Hero Choo Moon-Hwi of the Mount Heng Sect?”
Choo Moon-Hwi faltered.
Woo-Gang had just shown incredible, almost unsurpassable martial skill, and yet that San Woo-Gyeol had just subdued him as if it were child’s play with terrifying martial arts and horrifying bloodlust.
No. Although he was scared on the inside, Choo Moon-Hwi was still someone who had risen to become one of Mount Heng’s strongest talents with his own strength.
“Fine. I’ll go up next.”
Choo Moon-Hwi walked onto the stage, all the while hearing cheers and encouragement from the other talents from the Mount Heng Sect.
‘I’m going to win. I can win!’
Repeating to himself over and over, almost like a mantra, Choo Moon-Hwi stepped onto the stage and began his opening demonstration.
He looked at his sword, a partner as close as a brother to him. Reflected in its tip was the grotesque smile of his opponent, who was still sneering in ridicule.
“I’m Choo Moon-Hwi of the Mount Heng Sect.”
Even though Choo Moon-Hwi introduced himself, San Woo-Gyeol didn’t respond in any way. Instead, So Myeong-Chan responded in his place.
“What’s the point of this idiot introducing himself when we already know who he is? Stop being annoying and get to it.”
‘These Evil Faction bastards are all the same...’
While cursing So Myeong-Chan internally, Choo Moon-Hwi composed himself and looked over at San Woo-Gyeol.
‘Where the hell is he looking? How can he not focus when I’m standing before him?!’
Following his gaze, Choo Moon-Hwi saw that the person San Woo-Gyeol was interested in was actually Woo-Moon. The moment he realized it, sparks seemed to fly out of his eyes.
‘You-you dare focus on that idiot bastard while I stand before you?!’
His rage seemed to overflow as his feet almost carved furrows in the ground, launching him forward. Using Mount Heng's famed movement art, A Storm Reborn, he shot toward San Woo-Gyeol.
“Bastard!”
His sword darted at San Woo-Gyeol’s abdomen, leaving afterimages in its trail. The tip of the sword was like a snake’s tongue, insidious and incredibly fast, and its erratic movement was impossible to trace!
It was an attack worthy of one of the best talents of the Mount Heng Sect!
He was clearly on a different level compared to Sa Yong-Jin, the first of the representatives of the Righteous Warrior Squadron.
However, sadly for him, San Woo-Gyeol was a terrifying force that couldn’t be matched, even with such tremendous strength.
As he stepped forward with his right foot, it was as if a boulder had fallen from the sky, and the stage collapsed entirely.
A massive rebound force traveled up San Woo-Gyeol’s right foot from the destroyed ground. He took that force into his fist and immediately punched forward.
All of a sudden, the black aura around his fist drew a great circle and scattered as a massive wave of fist aura shot out from within the circle like a cannonball. The fist aura seemed to shatter space as it shot toward Choo Moon-Hwi.
Choo Moon-Hwi’s sword aura dissolved helplessly.
Crackk—BOOM!
The sword couldn’t contain the fist aura and eventually exploded as the fist aura continued forward and barreled right into Choo Moon-Hwi’s abdomen.
“...!”
Choo Moon-Hwi couldn’t even scream. His entire being seemed to be crushed by a tremendous pain and pressure that he couldn’t even begin to fathom.
He vomited buckets of blood as fragments of his own sword peppered his body.
Everyone who had been watching Choo Moon-Hwi’s spar was stunned into silence. How much time had just passed? That spar had lasted... all of two seconds?
Choo Moon-Hwi had been pathetically defeated with just a single move.
“What are you doing?! Don’t you have to take him to be treated immediately?!”
The only one from the Righteous Warrior Squadron to come to his senses was Woo-Moon. At his shout, the talents of the Mount Heng Sect hurriedly went up the stage and came down with Choo Moon-Hwi on their backs.
Victory and defeat didn’t need to be verbalized. Anyone could see that Choo Moon-Hwi had been defeated. Moreover, he had lost consciousness, anyway.
“Kekeke...”
“San Woo-Gyeol’s” unique laughter sounded even more terrifying and grotesque than before.
“HAHAHAHA!”
As So Myeong-Chan also burst into laughter, he shouted back at the talents who had come with him.
“Yeah! What are we doing? Oh, that’s right, winning!”
So Myeong-Chan’s shout brought the talents of the Hegemon Clan back to their senses after being taken aback by San Woo-Gyeol’s overwhelming victory. They joined in with his shout, celebrating their victory with applause and cheers.
“Incredible!”
“As expected of someone from the Dominating Fist San Family, ho, ho, ho! Weaklings like the Mount Heng Sect could never compare!”
Yu Cho gritted his teeth.
Even he was flustered to the point of feeling hopeless by San Woo-Gyeol’s incredible martial skills. Still, there were still four spots left in the spar for the Righteous Warrior Squadron.
‘San Woo-Gyeol... I’ve never heard of him before. He has to be a secret weapon of the Hegemon Clan. Still, you bastards are going to regret sending him this early on. He’s eventually going to be defeated after having to fight battles back to back. Then, I’m going to defeat him and sweep the rest away. Including you, So Myeong-Chan.’
Yu Cho assumed that San Woo-Gyeol had consumed a great amount of his qi reserves when he attacked Choo Moon-Hwi just now. It was a natural assumption, given how incredible of a technique he had used.
He envisioned himself appearing at the end, ending the spar with his own two hands and becoming a hero before the others. Thus, Yu Cho turned to the Wudang Sect.
“Will Daoist Cheong Oh of the Wudang Sect please come forward?”
The talents were quite impressed by Yu Cho’s nomination. They all concluded that the Wudang Sect’s martial arts were the perfect counter for an opponent who overwhelmed a battle with such extreme force. After all, wasn’t it the Wudang Sect that had made the concept of softness overcoming force famous through their Taiji Fist and Taiji Sword?
Cheong Oh nodded with a calm expression.
“Before the Pure Ones, I will follow the arrangement of the captain,” he replied.
"Thank you."
Cheong Oh handed the fly-whisk he held to a disciple and walked toward the sparring stage.
Baek Yo and Baek Ryeong turned to Woo-Moon.
“Uncle, who do you think would win?”
“No matter how monstrous this bastard is, he only focuses on overwhelming power. So the Wudang Sect’s Taiji Sword should be able to subdue him, right?”
Woo-Moon shook his head.
“Do you really think someone that I called a monster would really only amount to that much? There’s no need to keep asking me about each representative. There’s not a single person in the Righteous Warrior Squadron who can beat that bastard.”
“Um, so... in other words, you have to be the one to go forward, right?”
“Yeah.”
Of course, the only ones to hear this conversation were the talents of the Three Great Sword Families. They were standing around Woo-Moon like a wall, and rightfully so—there would have been some issues if any of the other talents had heard Woo-Moon’s reply.
Cheong Oh didn’t approach San Woo-Gyeol, only getting as close as necessary to be able to attack his opponent. He readied himself and swung his sword, starting with the first stance of the Taiji Sword.
It seemed as though Yu Cho’s planning was effective. Or, at the very least, the Taiji Sword’s attributes seemed to be working, as unlike Choo Moon-Hwi, Cheong Oh was able to continue exchanging blows for over fifty seconds.
But while most people watching thought it was a close fight, Woo-Moon, So Myeong-Chan, and Cheong Oh’s opponent, San Woo-Gyeol, didn’t think so whatsoever.
Even Cheong Oh himself had realized it, feeling a sense of shame.
‘This is unbelievable. Are you kidding me? Even though I’m fighting with all my might!’
The moment Cheong Oh’s emotions flared, his Taiji Sword, which had been flowing as fluid as water, faltered.
San Woo-Gyeol noticed the opening and stretched out a hand. He was no longer having fun
“Ugh!!”
Cheong Oh’s thigh was hit by San Woo-Gyeol’s fist, and his femur instantly broke. He almost kneeled in an odd position under the strength of the blow. Suddenly, San Woo-Gyeol drove his fist down like a hammer, striking him hard.
“Bleeugh!!”
Blood shot out like an arrow and rained over the stage with a loud splattering sound. Cheong Oh’s body lay motionless like a crumpled sheet of paper.
This time, too, there was no need for a judgment to be made. Cheong Oh had already lost consciousness.
Just like Choo Moon-Hwi, he was seriously injured and would have to recuperate for at least a month.
"Senior Brother!”
The talents of the Wudang Sect rushed out and put Cheong Oh on their backs. Looking down at them arrogantly, San Woo-Gyeol sneered.
“Keke...”
San Woo-Gyeol nonchalantly shifted his gaze to Woo-Moon. Without any hesitation, he started to exude terrifying bloodlust.
It was such a greedy and almost lustful gaze that it ruined Woo-Moon’s mood.
‘Crazy bastard. Is he some kind of weird pervert?’
As Woo-Moon muttered to himself, one of the novice Daoists of the Wudang Sect who had gone up to the stage to save Cheong Oh drew his sword and rushed San Woo-Gyeol.
“You wicked Evil Faction demon!”
The novice was actually Cheong Oh’s younger brother, Cheong Yu. He had entered the Wudang Sect together with his older brother.
He simply couldn't hold back his anger when he saw his older brother lying on the ground broken and bleeding.
However, any of the talents could see that Cheong Yu was too young to even .
“Keke!”
With a very short laugh, San Woo-Gyeol lightly swung his hand. Even though Cheong Yu held his sword as tightly as he could, his sword was soaring into the sky.
“Ugh!”
The webbing between his finger and his thumb was torn apart and blood spurted out. Then, suddenly, his vision went dark. He felt his feet leave the ground, and at the same time, a terrible pain wracked his head!
“Aaaahhh!”
San Woo-Gyeol held Cheong Yu’s head in his massive hand. He gradually tightened his grip, emitting a fierce bloodlust.
Blood began to flow from Cheong Yu’s head.
The moment Cheong Yu’s head started to bleed, Woo-Moon grabbed San Woo-Gyeol’s muscular forearm. Nobody knew when he had gotten on the stage
“Why don’t we leave this at that? It’s a little unbecoming of someone as strong as you. He’s still a child, after all, and he isn’t anywhere near the level of being a threat to you, right?”
Thud.
Only then did Cheong Yu fall to the ground, freed from San Woo-Gyeol’s grasp.
San Woo-Gyeol looked at Woo-Moon and let out a grotesque laugh. He started to breathe heavily, bloodlust almost leaking from his pores. He was trying his hardest to resist attacking Woo-Moon at this very moment.
“You really rub me the wrong way. Seriously. To the point that I want to beat you to death,” Woo-Moon said.
“Kekeke...”
San Woo-Gyeol just responded with his signature laugh.
“Cheong Yu! Are you okay?”
The other Wudang Sect disciples hurriedly brought Cheong Yu down from the stage.
“What the hell is this? Is that brat your next representative?” So Myeong-Chan shouted.
Yu Cho shook his head.
“No, he’s not. Someone else is.”
At that moment, Woo-Moon turned from fighting an invisible battle of the wills with San Woo-Gyeol to stare at Yu Cho.
Rustle!
At the same time, goosebumps audibly rose all over Yu Cho’s body. Woo-Moon’s terrifying pressure wasn’t lacking in any way as compared to that monster San Woo-Gyeol’s.
‘Damn it... this bastard really is a freak!’
However, it was for that very reason that he refused to let Woo-Moon step up as the next representative. His pride would never allow that.
‘Do you think that I’m here to make you a hero? Now? When that bastard is about to run out of strength as long as we send out just one more person? No, that will definitely happen. Didn’t that bastard take longer to defeat Cheong Oh than Choo Moon-Hwi?’
Yu Cho still seemed to think that he would be able to defeat San Woo-Gyeol as long as he was weakened just a little further.
Woo-Moon almost seemed to growl as he spoke.
“I want to be the next representative. Do you have any complaints?”
Yu Cho bit his lip hard.
As the scent of blood spread through his mouth, the pain brought relief from the pressure he felt. Looking Woo-Moon straight in the eyes, he responded, “I’m the captain here. You’re not the next representative, so come down.”
Woo-Moon gritted his teeth.
“You’ll regret it.”
“As if! Now hurry up and come down.”
Although he wanted to flip everything over and cause a scene, Woo-Moon knew that he shouldn’t lose his temper here. He knew that if he wasn’t careful, he would not only be causing a significant problem for the Baek Family, but the situation could end up becoming an excuse for a faction war to break out.
Thus, Woo-Moon glared at San Woo-Gyeol one more time before walking down the stage.
“How do you all feel about the Xiahou Family’s Xiahou Jinxian rising to the stage next?”
Baekri Hye-Min, who had been watching the situation closely with a cold glint in her eyes, raised a hand and objected. “What are your intentions, Righteous Warrior Squadron Captain?”
Yu Cho looked over at her.
“Whatever could you mean, Young Lady Baekri? What do you mean by ‘intentions’?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. Our momentum is gradually falling. Well, to put it simply, we’re being suppressed. In this state, even if we were to spar against an opponent of the same level, we would be defeated. In a winner-takes-all competition, momentum is more important than anything else. We need a win to turn the momentum in our favor. It’ll all be over if we lose any more matches.”
All of the talents listening nodded at Baek Hye-Min's logical words.
A dark gloom indeed covered the Righteous Warrior Squadron. Their expressions all had a tinge of defeat.
Baekri Hye-Min continued.
“In my opinion, the strongest talents we have left are you, captain, and Young Hero Song. Thus, to shift the momentum, you or Young Hero Song must step forward. However, you just refused Young Hero Song when he personally stepped forward. So, I thought that you were planning on stepping forward in person. But that doesn’t seem to be the case, either. You instead chose to send Young Hero Xiahou. Why?”
However, the rather stupid and proud Xiahou Jinxian was the one to get angry instead.