Hwasan Sect’s Genius Swordsman Chapter 23

Chapter 23

“Hmm, quite a crowd has gathered.”

Im Muguk observed the large stands installed in the great training grounds and the endless stream of people still flowing in.

He had heard that the Daejeong Sect was promoting the martial arts competition throughout Winam to build up excitement, but he hadn’t expected them to put in this much effort.

Im Muguk looked at Im Sanha who was walking a step ahead.

‘This kid… Has changed.’

The first match would be between each sect’s Young Leaders.

He thought there would be great pressure since it was the opening match that would signal the start of the sect competition.

However, Im Sanha maintained his composed demeanor even while looking at the numerous people who had come to watch the match.

Im Muguk, who knew Im Sanha’s usual personality well noticed that something had changed in just a few days.

‘Is it thanks to Master Mu Hwi?’

Watching his son walk with confidence, Im Muguk also strengthened his resolve.

When Seonhwa Sect disciples also arrived, the Daejeong Sect Leader proceeded with the competition without further delay.

When the Daejeong Sect Leader nodded, a middle-aged man stepped onto the fighting platform. The middle-aged man made a formal bow toward the spectator seats and began speaking.

“Greetings. I am Hyung Hon-gwon, who will be overseeing and judging this sect competition.”

Hyung Hon-gwon’s voice, infused with inner energy, carried clearly across the vast training grounds to the spectator seats where people were sitting.

“Oh my, friend. Isn’t it amazing how we can hear him as if he’s right next to us despite being so far away?”

“How provincial you are. That’s what inner energy is.”

Common people who were seeing martial artists compete for the first time were amazed just by hearing Hyung Hon-gwon’s voice.

“In this sect competition, all three matches will proceed regardless of wins or losses, so please keep that in mind.”

The Daejeong Sect Leader nodded at Hyung Hon-gwon’s words. It was a rule he had created because he was confident in winning all three matches.

To inflict the humiliation of three consecutive losses on Seonhwa Sect and drive them out of Winam in disgrace.

Hyung Hon-gwon made eye contact with the Daejeong Sect Leader and Im Muguk on either side, then looked back to the center and shouted.

“Let the sect competition begin! First match participants, step forward!”

The Young Leaders from both sides stepped onto the fighting platform simultaneously. Most of the spectators were showing more interest in Ga Se-in than Im Sanha.

“Is that child the Greatest Young Talent in Winam!”

“How noble he looks in his white martial arts attire.”

“I suppose the outcome of the first match is already decided?”

Ga Se-in, who had been listening to all this, looked at Im Sanha with a raised corner of his mouth.

“Huh?”

The slight upward curve of Ga Se-in’s lips drooped. It was because he didn’t like Im Sanha’s expression.

Im Sanha was neither intimidated nor nervous. He was just calmly examining the fighting platform where he would be fighting.

That composed appearance completely contradicted Ga Se-in’s expectations. Slightly furrowing his brows, Ga Se-in spoke.

“This will be the last time we see each other, right? Since Seonhwa Sect will be leaving Winam now. Have you decided where you’re going?”

It was meant to break that calm expression, but Im Sanha just stared at Ga Se-in and smirked.

“Yes, it will be the last time.”

The dissatisfaction on Ga Se-in’s face deepened at this unexpected response.

“Young Leaders, come stand over here.”

Ga Se-in tried to say something more, but Hyung Hon-gwon had the two children take their positions and declared the start of the match.

“Begin!”

As if trying to vent his frustration, Ga Se-in planted his foot at the signal. For a child’s movement, it was quite swift, like a flying squirrel.

At this, the Daejeong Sect Leader showed a satisfied smile.

‘It was right to give him the spirit medicine.’

The Daejeong Sect Leader wanted to end this as quickly as possible.

Yet the reason he specifically set the match for this day was to buy time for the spirit medicine obtained from Sacheon to arrive at Daejeong Sect.

And the Daejeong Sect Leader had Ga Se-in consume that spirit medicine.

Tak tak tak!

Though Ga Se-in’s wooden sword was swung mercilessly with speed, Im Sanha received it steadily.

Ga Se-in’s wooden sword was fast and had considerable power behind it. It made Im Sanha’s wrist tremble slightly when blocking.

‘Is this all?’

But that was exactly all it was.

There was no difficulty at all in receiving the attacks.

Strangely, by watching Ga Se-in’s shoulders and foot movements, he could vaguely see where the sword would strike.

‘Compared to Master Mu Hwi’s sword, this is easy.’

For the past twenty days, mornings were spent on external training, afternoons on correcting learned martial arts.

And from evening until bedtime, it was continuous sparring.

During sparring, whenever he showed openings or exhibited bad habits that had been pointed out, Master Mu Hwi’s wooden sword would show no mercy.

Im Sanha was hit again and again.

The number of times he was hit was uncountable.

‘Come to think of it, I got hit an awful lot.’

While Master Mu Hwi would show a bright smile, he never went easy on him.

It was truly hellish days, but Im Sanha endured.

His eyes blazed with intensity as he momentarily recalled the brutal training of the past twenty days.

‘He said the waist is important when deflecting sword strikes.’

Im Sanha slightly twisted his waist to deflect with his wooden sword, then raised his toes to deploy his footwork technique.

Ga Se-in shuddered at Im Sanha’s attacks that effectively exploited openings.

In the moment Ga Se-in barely twisted his body to dodge, Mu Hwi, who had been hidden behind Ga Se-in’s body, came into view.

For an instant, Mu Hwi and Im Sanha’s eyes met.

Seeing this, Mu Hwi nodded.

-Do as you wish.

Im Sanha read Mu Hwi’s intention through his gaze.

While Ga Se-in hesitated momentarily, Im Sanha didn’t miss the opportunity to switch to offense.

Using the Nine Palaces Step to penetrate Ga Se-in’s left side, Im Sanha immediately unleashed the Plum Wind Sword technique.

Though his inner energy was still insufficient and his achievement low, preventing the characteristic sword wind from arising, the dazzling sword forms were enough to disorient the eyes.

“Kuk, someone like you.”

Seemingly angered at being pushed back by Im Sanha, Ga Se-in gritted his teeth and poured out his inner energy without restraint.

“I can see clearly.”

“What?”

Im Sanha’s eyes were accurately following Ga Se-in’s wooden sword.

During the past twenty days, Master Mu Hwi’s sword had some similarities to Ga Se-in’s Daejeong Sword technique.

So Ga Se-in’s wooden sword was too easily visible and simple to counter.

Tak!

After deflecting upward the wooden sword thrusting from the front, Im Sanha twisted his shoulder while sweeping the lower area.

The curved line drawn by the wooden sword that momentarily left his field of vision. Unable to react to the variation, Ga Se-in was struck on the side of his thigh.

“Ack!”

Ga Se-in’s short scream from the pain in his thigh echoed across the fighting platform. Ga Se-in had never been hit by anyone, let alone scolded, since birth.

So being hit this hard with a wooden sword, the unfamiliar pain made Ga Se-in’s eyelids turn red.

“Does that hurt? I was hit with much more painful strikes countless times.”

“What!”

Im Sanha saw himself reflected in Ga Se-in who was hurting from the wooden sword.

But back then, there was no mercy in Master Mu Hwi’s wooden sword. Rather, it struck even faster.

-When the opponent shows an opening, pursue it to the end. That’s how you break their rhythm and seize the advantage.

Im Sanha’s wooden sword was relentless as if wielded by Mu Hwi himself.

Tak tak tak tak!

Ga Se-in hurriedly pulled back his wooden sword against the fierce onslaught but could barely block. Thus, the advantage was gradually tilting toward Im Sanha.

Im Muguk watched the back of Im Sanha as he relentlessly pressured Ga Se-in.

‘When did his martial arts improve this much?’

The disciples were thinking the same thing as Im Muguk.

“Sanha’s martial arts have improved tremendously in such a short time.”

“Considering how Senior Disciple usually teaches us, it’s not surprising. Sanha himself also worked very hard.”

“Actually, Senior Disciple’s training was somewhat harsh for a young child to follow. Sanha is admirable.”

The spectators too were gradually shifting their gaze from Ga Se-in to Im Sanha, where they had initially been fixed.

“Wasn’t the Daejeong Sect’s son said to be Winam’s Greatest Young Talent?”

“But the Seonhwa Sect side seems to be fighting better?”

“Isn’t Seonhwa Sect a branch family of the Hwasan sect? They’re not to be underestimated.”

The spectators were watching the match unfold differently from expectations with great interest.

But the Daejeong Sect Leader was displeased with those gazes.

The Daejeong Sect Leader glared at Im Sanha who repeatedly pressed Ga Se-in.

Perhaps most of the martial artists present already knew the outcome of this match.

That is, Im Sanha’s victory.

If this continued for another twenty or so exchanges, the outcome would be clear.

‘Starting with a defeat from the beginning?’

The Daejeong Sect Leader could absolutely not accept Ga Se-in’s defeat.

[What are you doing!]

Ga Se-in flinched at his father’s sharp voice that he had never heard before.

[First, retreat five steps back. Steady your breathing and calmly deploy the Charging Mountain technique.]

At the Daejeong Sect Leader’s transmitted sound, Ga Se-in began moving as instructed without time to think otherwise.

Then composure started returning to Ga Se-in’s movements that had been frantically blocked with tangled limbs.

After five exchanges, Ga Se-in began pressuring Im Sanha. However, Im Sanha didn’t panic and calmly focused on defense.

But the techniques the Daejeong Sect Leader was producing were too great a gap for Im Sanha to handle alone.

Gradually the defense crumbled, and finally, he allowed a strike to his shoulder.

Pak!

Ga Se-in’s face, which had been grimacing at the feel of the wooden sword, brightened. But Im Sanha didn’t retreat from the pain like Ga Se-in had.

-The moment your body stiffens from pain and steps back, it’s over. No matter what happens, calmly hold your ground.

Im Sanha was putting into practice what he had learned from Mu Hwi, physically internalizing it. Watching this, Mu Hwi felt proud, but his actual gaze was cold.

‘This isn’t the development of techniques that little kid should be showing?’

Mu Hwi, who had been quietly observing, turned his gaze as soon as he sensed something strange.

Sure enough, the Daejeong Sect Leader’s lips were moving continuously, though very subtly.

He was clearly giving instructions to Ga Se-in through transmitted sound.

‘Hah, so you’re going to play it this way. Shameless enough to interfere in children’s fight?’

Hyung Hon-gwon, who was judging, either didn’t notice or pretended not to notice, making no attempt to stop it.

Mu Hwi took a sip of tea and immediately sent a transmitted sound to Im Sanha.

[Sanha. Those guys are playing dirty.]

Im Sanha exhaled roughly after barely avoiding the wooden sword that fiercely thrust at his waist.

[In the martial world, dirty tricks should be crushed with the same dirty tricks.]

Though it came through transmitted sound, there was a hint of amusement in it. At this, Im Sanha’s lips curled up slightly.

[Let’s go too.]

‘Yes, Master Mu Hwi.’

As Im Sanha answered in his heart, the transmitted sounds continued to arrive.

[Dodge to the left while deflecting the upper sword strike. Then use the Wind Flowing Flower technique through the opening in the middle.]

Im Sanha emptied his mind and focused on following the transmitted sounds. Even just following the transmitted sounds to deploy techniques was quite overwhelming.

[The shoulder. Step back while avoiding with your shoulder and use that momentum to thrust the sword lightly with one hand.]

Mu Hwi’s moves overwhelmed the Daejeong Sect Leaders, and the frequency with which Ga Se-in felt threatened by Im Sanha’s wooden sword increased again.

“You can do it, Young Leader!”

“You’re doing great!”

The Seonhwa Sect disciples who were watching with bated breath cheered him on. Im Muguk, with his arms crossed, couldn’t take his eyes off the scene.

Among them, there were no masters with the level of insight or sharp eyes to notice Mu Hwi and the Daejeong Sect Leader’s involvement in the match.

Even with transmitted sound instructions, if the one actually performing the martial arts couldn’t follow them, it would be useless, so they ultimately had to match that level.

Reading the very subtle awkwardness in the deployment of techniques.

This was something that no one present could accomplish except Mu Hwi, who had achieved mastery in his previous life.

Meanwhile, the evenly matched fight began to tilt gradually.

Of course, Im Sanha had seized the advantage.

‘How in the world is this happening!’

The Daejeong Sect Leader, continuously sending transmitted sounds, was breaking out in a cold sweat.

Im Sanha’s choices in countering his instructions were ruthlessly effective. And then the counterattacks.

No matter what move he made, Im Sanha would demonstratively break it down while pressuring Ga Se-in instead.

‘How does that young brat have such skill!’

The Daejeong Sect Leader, who had thought he would win easily, felt his head burning from trying to read the moves.

‘Rack your brain all you want, do you think you can beat me?’

Watching the thoroughly stiffened Daejeong Sect Leader, Mu Hwi leisurely drank his tea while sending transmitted sound.

[This is a feint now. Block the wooden sword extending to the side and chest, and a path will open. Penetrate with the Nine Palaces Step. That’s right.]

Now it was no different from a battle of moves between Mu Hwi and the Daejeong Sect Leader. Of course, Mu Hwi was far above the Daejeong Sect Leader.

Like a master on a peak looking down at a novice on flat ground.

Mu Hwi thoroughly crushed the Daejeong Sect Leader’s moves while driving Ga Se-in into a corner.

[Now. Charge straight in with the Nine Palaces Step and strike the wrist with the Palace Hawk Horizontal technique!]

At Mu Hwi’s transmitted sound, Im Sanha’s eyes trembled. It was because he had thought the same thing upon seeing the opening when Ga Se-in hesitated.

Mu Hwi’s combat style had begun naturally melting into Im Sanha’s unconscious mind bit by bit.

‘I think I understand a little bit.’

That smile with one corner of his mouth raised strangely resembled Mu Hwi’s.

Tak!

“Aak!”

Im Sanha’s horizontally drawn wooden sword mercilessly struck the wrist. At this, Ga Se-in screamed and dropped his wooden sword.

[Jump up and split his head!]

Before the transmitted sound could even be heard, Im Sanha was already jumping. Mu Hwi’s eyes narrowed, not missing this.

‘Did his body react automatically?’

Bending his knees to jump high above the head, Im Sanha brought down his wooden sword from above.

Swoosh!

Im Sanha, who had become able to put decent power into his wooden sword through all the training. The weightier wooden sword cleanly split the wind.

Mu Hwi nodded while watching Im Sanha’s side profile.

Mu Hwi had applied his own training methods to Im Sanha without holding back.

High-intensity training that could be called harsh for a child. Mu Hwi knew this.

But even while crying, Im Sanha never gave up and finally completed the training schedule.

Mu Hwi, who had originally planned to adjust the intensity little by little while observing the situation, was slightly surprised by Im Sanha’s perseverance.

‘The moment you endured through the training to the end, your victory was decided.’

Though the Daejeong Sect Leader had interfered midway, the gap between the two children was clear. No matter what situation had arisen, it would have ended in Im Sanha’s victory.

Im Sanha’s wooden sword struck down toward Ga Se-in’s crown.

< At that moment, your victory was decided. > End

< What will you give? >