Hwasan Sect’s Genius Swordsman Chapter 7

Chapter 7

As if he had been waiting, Mu Hwi’s lips curled upward. As if he was welcoming this situation.

At that deep smile, Muryun hesitated for a moment.

He had stepped up to put Mu Hwi in a difficult position, but seeing such a reaction made him wonder if he had fallen into a trap instead.

‘That idiot Senior Disciple? No way.’

Muryun tried to shake off his anxiety as he climbed onto the platform.

‘Hmm… Is it just my imagination?’

After climbing onto the platform and seeing Mu Hwi up close, he felt larger than usual, and the fellow disciples below the platform didn’t register in his eyes at all.

Facing Mu Hwi’s changed presence, he recalled what Musan and Muho had said earlier.

But Muryun deliberately denied this. Even if it was true, there was no reason for him to feel intimidated. That’s how much difference there was between them.

“Are you thinking of having a martial arts match?”

“No, there’s a simpler and more definitive method than a match.”

Mu Hwi tapped the wooden sword in front of his feet.

“I will block your sword while not moving a single step from this spot. Of course, using the Six Harmonies Sword.”

“Senior Disciple, did I hear that wrong?”

Muryun asked back in disbelief.

“If the wooden sword touches my body or if I move from this spot, it’s your victory. Then I’ll also withdraw my words about training with the Six Harmonies Sword.”

“Haha…”

Muryun let out a hollow laugh. The veins on the back of his clenched fist were bulging.

The condition his Senior Disciple had set was impossible even if Senior Disciple Mujin himself were to step up.

Muryun lowered his voice so that the fellow disciples below the platform couldn’t hear, speaking almost in a whisper.

“I don’t know how you won, but aren’t you too drunk on confidence after defeating Musan, Senior Disciple?”

As far as Mu Hwi knew, the fellow disciples didn’t yet know about last night’s events. The fact that Muryun knew about it…

“Ah, so you were the one who sent the disciples? You’re doing a proper job as Mujin’s hands and feet.”

“Not hands and feet, I just helped Senior Disciple Mujin.”

“That’s the same thing. You have pride but won’t admit it? A man shouldn’t be like that.”

At Mu Hwi’s mockery, Muryun sighed and reached for his wooden sword.

“Don’t blame me if you’re humiliated in front of the disciples.”

Muryun tore apart any intention of maintaining Mu Hwi’s dignity. He intended to crush Mu Hwi with full force, showing no mercy.

‘You dare set such conditions against me?’

This generation of disciples with the character ‘Mu’ (武) had many talented individuals, and there were high expectations from them within the Hwasan Sect.

Among them, there were disciples with exceptional martial talents, and within the Hwasan Sect, they were often collectively called the Three Flowers (三花).

Mujin, Mu-cheol, and Mu-hwa.

These three disciples were the Three Flowers.

And Muryun was confident that except for these Three Flowers, he was among the top disciples of the second generation.

‘I’ll make sure you never step up again.’

Muryun’s face hardened grimly as he gripped the wooden sword.

Seeing this, Mu Hwi smirked and slowly took his stance.

He spread his legs shoulder-width apart and lowered his body slightly. The wooden sword held lightly in both hands took a middle stance, which was the basic form of the Six Harmonies Sword.

Seeing this, Muryun laughed mockingly.

“Since it would be unfair to use other sword techniques, I’ll also attack using only the Six Harmonies Sword.”

“As you wish.”

Immediately, Muryun also took his stance.

Muryun’s body flinched as he was about to step forward to close the distance.

‘I can’t see any openings.’

Mu Hwi in the basic stance of the Six Harmonies Sword.

He was merely extending the wooden sword forward, but there were no gaps to penetrate.

The overwhelming feeling of facing a flawless wall.

His plan to penetrate and toy with him upon finding an opening was derailed from the start.

“What are you doing, planning to stand there blankly until my feet go numb?”

“Kuk.”

Gritting his teeth, Muryun stepped with the forward-turning step, moving in an arc to circle around. Though provoked into moving, he didn’t rush in recklessly.

He planned to attack from the side rather than head-on.

Left rear position.

A difficult direction to block for a right-handed swordsman. Muryun swung upward in an arc with his wooden sword lowered to the tip as if sweeping the ground.

As the wooden sword rose from below, splitting the air, one could tell considerable force was behind it. To this, Mu Hwi calmly twisted his wrist.

The slowly tilting wooden sword seemed more like it was being placed against Muryun’s rising wooden sword rather than being swung.

That leisurely movement appeared to Muryun as though Mu Hwi couldn’t respond in time.

‘As expected, with such weak force behind it.’

Convinced he could send Mu Hwi flying with a single move, Muryun finally relaxed his expression slightly.

Tak!

With a crisp impact sound, Muryun’s wooden sword was blocked. Not only Mu Hwi’s entire body but even the wooden sword that blocked the strike showed not the slightest tremor.

At this, Muryun’s lips parted slightly.

“Huh?”

Although he clearly felt through his hands that the strike had landed properly, the Senior Disciple before him maintained his firm stance, which was puzzling.

As Muryun stared intently at the two wooden swords in contact, Mu Hwi wrinkled his eyes and flicked his wrist lightly to push away Muryun’s wooden sword.

“Why do you have so many distracting thoughts while swinging your sword?”

Brought back to his senses by the instruction, Muryun scrunched his face again and charged forward. This time, he pressured Mu Hwi by unleashing continuous sword techniques.

As Muryun stepped with the forward-turning step, he showed fairly swift movements while circling around Mu Hwi.

His intention was to confuse Mu Hwi’s vision, but Mu Hwi was accurately reading Muryun’s movements using not only his sight but other senses as well.

Tadarak Tak

Muryun thrust his sword from various directions in surprise attacks. The attempts were good, but all sword strikes were being lightly blocked by Mu Hwi’s Six Harmonies Sword.

“Your footwork is unnecessarily light, making your sword light as well. Are you aware of this?”

Even sword strikes from behind, Mu Hwi blocked them by twisting his waist and inserting his wooden sword backward as if he had eyes on his back.

‘Damn it, why can’t I break through mere Six Harmonies Sword?’

It seemed they had exchanged over thirty moves already, but Mu Hwi was holding his position like an immovable fortress.

“Huuk!”

Muryun took a long breath.

He had already raised his inner energy to its peak.

His feet became even lighter, and his wooden sword, imbued with inner energy, became fiercer.

Meanwhile, Mu Hwi remained as calm as he was at the start.

He merely moved his wooden sword to block wherever Muryun’s sword was striking. He was so composed that he kept talking while blocking the attacks.

“The sword is wielded not with just both arms but with the entire body. If you can channel the entire body’s strength into one sword, conversely, you can also disperse the incoming force from the sword throughout your entire body.”

That muttering carried beyond the platform to the watching fellow disciples.

The reason Mu Hwi kept speaking wasn’t just because he was composed, but largely because he intended to teach the watching disciples.

To Mu Hwi, Muryun was merely a moving textbook to easily demonstrate his teachings.

Taak

“Haap!”

Even though the wooden sword struck with inner energy creating a reddish aura, Mu Hwi still maintained his unchanged stance.

The impact flowing to his body was all dispersed through his two legs that were firmly supporting his body.

As evidence, the platform floor where Mu Hwi stood was gradually developing cracks.

“Of course, this is only possible with a well-built foundation. But you, disciple…”

“Kuhuk! Please be quiet!”

Already frustrated and embarrassed at being unable to break through the Six Harmonies Sword, with Mu Hwi’s mockery added on top, Muryun’s face burned hot.

Kwak

Muryun’s wooden sword drew an arc and changed its movement. The sword strikes came thrusting even faster than before.

He had brought out his specialty, the Wind-Playing Sword.

In his anxiety, Muryun had completely forgotten his earlier words about only using the Six Harmonies Sword.

‘If it’s the Wind-Playing Sword!’

The Wind-Playing Sword was a swift sword technique. As Muryun unleashed the Wind-Playing Sword at full power, more and more disciples began losing track of the wooden sword’s movements.

“As expected of Senior Muryun.”

“He seems to have gotten even faster than before.”

“But Senior Disciple still shows no openings.”

“When did Senior Disciple become this skilled?”

The second-generation disciples were now focusing more on Mu Hwi than Muryun.

Given the martial arts, they knew their Senior Disciple to possess, he should have fallen long ago, so they were curious to see how long he could endure.

Tadak

Just as the two wooden swords seemed to collide, Muryun’s wooden sword was already withdrawn and shooting back toward Mu Hwi.

In contrast, Mu Hwi’s Six Harmonies Sword remained unchanged from the beginning, still maintaining its solid defense.

‘Well, he does have skills worth showing off.’

While other fellow disciples were straining their eyes to follow Muryun’s wooden sword, Mu Hwi was trying to hold back a yawn.

It was a decent swift sword technique for his age, but Mu Hwi had faced countless faster sword techniques than this.

Ssaek

Mu Hwi’s pupils accurately reflected the wooden sword thrusting toward his waist, thigh, and chest.

It was the Three Leaf Piercing Wind, the strongest technique of the Wind-Playing Sword that Muryun could currently perform. Though a sharp force was felt, Mu Hwi merely drew his wooden sword in a slightly diagonal line.

When Muryun’s confidently executed Three Leaf Piercing Wind overlapped with the diagonal line, it lost its force and was deflected.

After easily breaking the Three Leaf Piercing Wind, Mu Hwi looked at the stopped Muryun. Having even his technique that he had saved as his trump card blocked, he couldn’t think of his next move.

“Disciple Muryun. This seems meaningless now.”

At Mu Hwi’s words, Muryun gritted his teeth and turned his head to look at the fellow disciples below the platform. The fellow disciples were talking among themselves, admiring Mu Hwi’s Six Harmonies Sword.

“Does this mean Senior Disciple has won?”

“Yes. Not only did he not waver, but even his foot position didn’t change.”

“To defend like that against Senior Muryun. I’m seeing Senior Disciple in a new light.”

Most of the fellow disciples’ gazes were directed at the Senior Disciple. They were looking at the Senior Disciple who had easily blocked his Wind-Playing Sword with different eyes.

Surprise, interest, reverence.

Though the emotions varied, all gazes were favorable.

Instead of pulling down the Senior Disciple, he had ended up elevating him further. The wooden sword in Muryun’s grip trembled finely. His grip on the wooden sword gradually loosened.

‘The situation has changed because of me.’

While everyone’s eyes were on the Senior Disciple, Muryun realized that only one pair of eyes was looking at him.

‘Senior Disciple Mujin.’

Mujin was slowly shaking his head.

‘Stop now.’

Seeing Mujin’s gaze urging him to give up, Muryun instead changed his mind. He absolutely couldn’t end it like this.

He had to salvage this somehow. He didn’t care if someone cursed him for being persistent.

“If Senior Disciple can break through my sword, I will acknowledge you.”

Muryun took his stance before Mu Hwi’s answer could be heard. It was the basic stance of the Six Harmonies Sword, not the Wind-Playing Sword.

Understanding Muryun’s intention, Mu Hwi showed his molars in a cold smile.

“Don’t you think it’s laughable for a disciple to talk about acknowledging or not acknowledging me, their Senior Disciple?”

Releasing his basic stance, Mu Hwi rested the wooden sword on his shoulder and stepped forward one step.

“Given your conduct up until now, Senior Disciple bears some responsibility as well.”

“Wow, it’s really hard to get acknowledgment from a disciple, isn’t it?”

Mu Hwi tilted his head from side to side.

Even without counterattacking and only blocking, it was frustrating and my body was getting restless.

“You brought this upon yourself.”

“Come.”

Muryun wasn’t simply being stubborn. While his elder martial brother might be superior in sword technique, he believed he had the advantage in pure strength and speed.

He had felt it clearly during their dozens of exchanges just now.

Muryun thought he had some chance of winning if it was just about defending steadily like Mu Hwi had been doing.

Muryun had finished his calculations and made his final move.

‘Hm?’

But as soon as Muryun saw Mu Hwi’s first step, he realized his reading had been completely wrong.

Crack

When the internal energy of the modified Nine Skies Mind Method technique poured like a waterfall through the Yongquan point, cracks appeared on the ground. With the explosion of internal energy and ankle elasticity combined, Mu Hwi’s form stretched out smoothly in one step of the Fragrant Step Technique.

“Huk.”

Muryun gasped at the speed that far surpassed his own Fragrant Step Technique, which he had trained while learning the swift sword technique Three Leaf Piercing Wind.

Muryun barely reacted, twisting his wooden sword toward his left waist, and Mu Hwi’s wooden sword was being swung in front of it.

Unlike the amazing movement Senior Disciple had just shown, there was nothing particularly special about the wooden sword.

‘I should be able to block this easily.’

Crack

As if mocking that thought, Muryun’s wooden sword, filled with internal energy, was breaking. Muryun’s eyes widened in shock at this.

‘How?’

After shattering the wooden sword in one go, Mu Hwi extended his wrist and struck Muryun’s waist.

“Keok!”

As Muryun’s body bent like a bow from the pain in his waist, Mu Hwi’s whisper reached his ears.

“Wherever you go, there are always bastards like you who won’t listen when asked nicely.”

The wooden sword that had struck Muryun’s right waist was already striking down on his left shoulder.

“Keuuk.”

Though it seemed to be swung casually, it was showing speed that easily surpassed the swift sword technique Muryun had just demonstrated.

Unable to properly react to this, Muryun struggled roughly to regain his disrupted stance.

But under Mu Hwi’s wooden sword striking all over his body, the dazed Muryun unconsciously cursed.

“Damn it…”

“What? Damn it?”

Mu Hwi struck upward on Muryun’s thigh as he staggered, preventing him from falling sideways. Thus, Mu Hwi’s beating showed no signs of stopping.

“You rotten disciple. I’ll fix those bad habits of yours.”

“Wait… Eok!”

Seeing him swing the wooden sword with such enthusiasm, none of the disciples thought to stop Mu Hwi.

Babababak

Baak

Watching this, Mu-hwa blinked blankly.

“Wow… I didn’t know Senior Disciple had such an intense side.”

As if keeping rhythm with Mu Hwi beating Muryun, the plum blossoms around them were dropping their petals one by one.

With each red and white petal that fell, blue bruises were blooming on Muryun’s body.

“This is how you perform the Six Harmonies Sword. Are you listening? My disciple.”

Baak

<This is how you perform the Six Harmonies Sword.> End

<The One Who Leads the Second-generation Disciples of the Hwasan Sect.>