Hwasan Sect’s Genius Swordsman Chapter 24

Chapter 24

‘My head might split open.’

At this rate, the wooden sword would strike Ga Se-in’s head directly. The feet of Hyung Hon-gwon, who had been observing the martial arts match, moved.

In an instant, Hyung Hon-gwon dove between the two children and lightly blocked the wooden sword.

“That’s enough.”

When Hyung Hon-gwon’s thick palm blocked the wooden sword right in front of Ga Se-in’s nose, his legs gave out and he collapsed.

“Ah…”

The waistband of the collapsed Ga Se-in’s pants was already becoming wet. The white martial arts uniform made it especially noticeable.

Glancing at this, Im Sanha imitated Mu Hwi’s laugh and said,

“Not the Greatest Young Talent of Winam, but the Greatest Young bed-wetter of Winam?”

For some reason, it seemed like something Master Mu Hwi would say right now.

Hearing this, both of Ga Se-in’s cheeks trembled.

“What? You!”

Although Ga Se-in was furious, he could only tremble and couldn’t get up from his spot.

“My, my, for a martial artist to be so weak-hearted.”

Hyung Hon-gwon clicked his tongue looking at Ga Se-in’s waistband and gestured toward Daejeong Sect.

Then, disciples from Daejeong Sect who had hurriedly come up dragged away Ga Se-in, who still couldn’t stand.

“Winner! Seonhwa Sect, Im Sanha!”

When Hyung Hon-gwon raised Im Sanha’s hand and declared this, cheers erupted from the spectators.

Especially from where the Seonhwa Sect disciples were, absolute roars broke out.

“Woahhh! Young Leader!”

“You did so well!”

Seeing the Seonhwa Sect disciples surrounding and hugging Im Sanha, thick veins popped up on the Daejeong Sect Leader’s forehead.

He didn’t even glance at Ga Se-in who had wet his pants during the martial arts match.

‘I’ll have to end this myself.’

Just as the Daejeong Sect Leader was about to grab the sword beside him, a voice transmission came.

[Ah, Sect Leader. That was quite entertaining.]

When the Daejeong Sect Leader looked up, Mu Hwi was waving with one corner of his mouth raised.

[You should give advice more broadly. If you’re going to play tricks, do it properly. Tsk.]

After sending the voice transmission, Mu Hwi deliberately raised his teacup toward the Daejeong Sect Leader.

The Daejeong Sect Leader, who had been wearing a blank expression for a moment, understood all the circumstances before and after the first martial arts match.

“Don’t tell me, that damn bastard…!”

The Daejeong Sect Leader’s hands trembled as his eyes widened. Grinding his teeth, he glared at Mu Hwi as if he wanted to kill him.

If there hadn’t been eyes watching around them, he would have rushed over and torn him apart right then.

“Second martial arts match participants, come forward!”

Before the Daejeong Sect Leader could collect himself, Hyung Hon-gwon’s voice, filled with inner force, rang out.

At this, the Daejeong Sect Leader’s head spun.

Im Muguk’s eyes, who had been waiting for the Daejeong Sect Leader, grew slightly larger.

The Daejeong Sect Leader’s face, as he climbed onto the martial arts platform, was alternating between red and blue. Moreover, that fierce expression was savage as if he might draw his sword at any moment.

The Daejeong Sect Leader’s chest burned with unending anger toward Mu Hwi like raging flames, but at the same time, his spine grew cold.

‘I must win this match. If not…’

The Daejeong Sect Leader, who had been armed with composure, suddenly felt the pressure of a cliff drawing closer behind him.

‘Now he must realize that Daejeong Sect could slip up if they’re not careful.’

Im Muguk couldn’t help but notice that chill.

It was only one victory.

If he were to lose, it would become a tie, making a reversal possible at any time.

‘Focus. Whether Seonhwa Sect can be protected ultimately depends on my hands.’

Im Muguk calmly regulated his breathing.

Meanwhile, Hyung Hon-gwon carefully asked the excited Daejeong Sect Leader.

“Hey, Daejeong Sect Leader. Are you alright?”

“There’s no problem!”

The Daejeong Sect Leader’s breathing was still slightly rough as he answered. At this, Hyung Hon-gwon nodded with a disgruntled face.

“Well then, prepare yourselves.”

The Daejeong Sect Leader’s eyes blazed as he glared at Im Muguk. In contrast, Im Muguk calmly gazed at the Daejeong Sect Leader.

Even before clashing, the two Sect Leaders showed contrasting appearances.

“Begin!”

As Hyung Hon-gwon stepped back, the Sect Leaders launched themselves and swung their swords at each other’s midsections.

Clang!

The two swords that collided head-on released a sharp metallic sound. Unlike the young Leaders who used wooden swords, the Sect Leaders engaged in martial arts with real swords.

‘Indeed, he’s gotten stronger.’

The Daejeong Sect Leader’s sword, which thrust sharply through his technique, was still keen.

Additionally, it seemed true that he had taken the spirit medicine, as his flowing qi was extraordinary.

As if there was no need for probing attacks, the two Sect Leaders unleashed merciless sword strikes. They exchanged over twenty moves in an instant.

Woong!

The Daejeong Sect Leader, seemingly having no intention of dragging out the fight, began to draw up his sword energy.

As the Daejeong sword technique unfolded with the sword containing blue sword energy, its power doubled.

To this, Im Muguk calmly responded.

The red sword energy flowing along the sword scattered like flower petals. The scattered sword energy surged along the sword wind.

As sword energy appeared and the Sect Leaders moved at a speed completely different from the first martial arts match, all the common people could see were faint afterimages and occasional fragments of scattered sword energy.

“Is this a fight between martial artists?”

“I can’t really see anything, but it’s amazing nonetheless.”

Im Muguk was meeting the Daejeong sword technique, which was thrusting more roughly than usual, head-on.

When his sleeve was torn by the sharp blade energy, Im Muguk created a sword wind to deflect the Daejeong Sect Leader’s sword striking down from above.

‘Normally, this would have been quite a difficult fight.’

Im Muguk applied more strength to his hand against the rebound force flowing through the sword blade.

The Daejeong Sect Leader had become stronger than before. Nevertheless, there was no difficulty in receiving his attacks.

‘This person’s sword force has become more stable compared to before. Did he gain some enlightenment?’

The Daejeong Sect Leader’s eyebrows twitched as he continuously pressed Im Muguk. Through the previous two martial arts matches, he had grasped Im Muguk’s weaknesses.

A martial artist’s habits become harder to fix as time passes, and the Daejeong Sect Leader tries to exploit this.

The slightly exposed flank when connecting techniques.

The right thigh that shows when creating sword wind from above.

The Daejeong Sect Leader remembered these clearly and had separately trained techniques to target them.

He had intended to dive in when the weaknesses were exposed, but Im Muguk’s previously constant weaknesses had completely disappeared.

“Kughk.”

The sword wind suddenly rushed to his nose as he pushed back the sword energy.

The Daejeong Sect Leader avoided it by rotating his body diagonally.

Then he immediately launched sword energy to counterattack, but the sword energy he had sent was instantly scattered by the several overlapping strands of sword wind.

In that interval, the Seonhwa Sect Leader’s sword, having closed the distance, rose from below attempting to cut the Daejeong Sect Leader.

“Kheuk! Seonhwa Sect Leader!”

Thin drops of blood formed at the tip of the Daejeong Sect Leader’s chin.

The Daejeong Sect Leader’s composure, which had already been shaken by Mu Hwi’s voice transmission, was completely crumbling.

The Daejeong Sect Leader’s sword became increasingly rough.

‘It’s over.’

Although the martial arts match was still evenly matched, Mu Hwi, who saw ahead, confirmed the outcome of the match.

Middle-aged martial artists like Im Muguk found it difficult to create noticeable changes in a short period like Im Sanha.

Therefore, Mu Hwi focused solely on pointing out weaknesses, excluding everything else.

A martial artist’s weakness means not only vulnerable points that can be exploited but also incorrect movements and habits.

Mu Hwi had pointed out not only what the Daejeong Sect Leader had identified but also what he hadn’t seen.

Just with that, Im Muguk’s movements became stable and his sword force became sharper.

Im Muguk received teachings from Mu Hwi and erased his weaknesses one by one. Through this, he was able to raise his achievement in the Plum Wind Sword technique to one level.

This was practically a miracle.

That’s how dramatic the influence of a master’s teachings was.

Moreover, that master was a Sword Devil obsessed with swords.

This level of growth was nothing special to Mu Hwi.

‘Daejeong Sect Leader, it was quite a plausible plan, but.’

One doesn’t know until it’s shattered.

Mu Hwi, who had shattered the Daejeong Sect Leader’s martial arts plan from the start, curled up the corners of his mouth in solitary pleasure.

* * *

Seventy exchanges.

Although they had competed for quite a while, the Daejeong Sect Leader finally broke.

As if unable to believe this defeat, the Daejeong Sect Leader turned around several times to glare at Im Muguk.

Im Muguk’s chest pounded as he exhaled rough breaths.

‘I protected it.’

More than winning the martial arts match itself, the joy was greater because they had secured two victories first out of the three matches, confirming Seonhwa Sect’s victory.

“We won!”

“We don’t have to leave Winam, right?”

“Of course not!”

While the Seonhwa Sect disciples cheered joyfully, Im Muguk looked not at the disciples but at Mu Hwi behind them.

After directly competing, he knew for certain. The Daejeong Sect Leader was stronger than expected.

Mu Hwi, who had pointed out his weaknesses while continuously sparring with a sword imitating the Daejeong sword technique.

Without those teachings, he couldn’t have achieved victory so smoothly.

Mu Hwi’s teachings were more valuable than any miracle.

Im Muguk put away his sword and made a fist-palm salute toward Mu Hwi. Mu Hwi quietly nodded.

Others who didn’t know the circumstances thought Im Muguk was saluting the spectators and responded with applause and cheers.

“So does Daejeong Sect have to leave Winam?”

“That’s right. Since Seonhwa Sect has already won two martial arts matches. Even if they win the last match, it won’t matter.”

“Hmm, I think it’s fortunate. Daejeong Sect had raised their protection fees too high recently.”

While spectators were discussing the already determined outcome of the match, Hyung Hon-gwon spoke.

“Although Seonhwa Sect has already secured two victories and the sect martial arts match’s outcome has been decided, according to the pre-agreed rules, we will proceed with the final match.”

It was the moment when the rules proposed to dramatically showcase Seonhwa Sect’s downfall instead caught the Daejeong Sect Leader’s ankle.

As Mu Hwi rose from his seat, the disciples spoke with slightly worried tones.

“Senior Disciple, be careful. That person is quite famous.”

“Though Yeonho Wanderer belongs to the orthodox faction, his sword techniques are said to be as vicious as those of the evil faction. You must be careful, Senior Disciple.”

“Please return safely.”

Mu Hwi nodded lightly at his junior disciples’ words.

“You just need to watch carefully. I won’t drag this out long.”

The disciples nodded with eyes full of trust at Mu Hwi’s words.

Upon climbing onto the martial arts arena, his eyes met with Yeonho Wanderer (攆虎刀客) who had already ascended.

The strongest martial artist among those present. Even the Sect Leaders fell several steps short compared to Yeonho Wanderer.

Although Yeonho Wanderer stared at Mu Hwi with sharp eyes like a blade’s edge, Mu Hwi walked forward as if nothing was amiss.

At this, a strange light flashed in Yeonho Wanderer’s eyes.

“Indeed, a disciple of the Hwasan Sect. That look in your eyes is clearly different from others of your age at the later stage.”

“You must have been seeing only worthless opponents until now.”

“What? Hahaha!”

Yeonho Wanderer burst into hearty laughter, and just as he was about to move his hand to his waist—

“Wait!”

The Daejeong Sect Leader, who had returned to his seat, shouted with an urgent voice. All eyes turned to focus on him.

The Daejeong Sect Leader gritted his teeth as he faced those numerous gazes.

‘If I leave Winam like this and lose my foundation, not only the Daejeong Sect but I too am finished. They won’t leave me be.’

Unable to afford to be picky as he might even lose his life, the Daejeong Sect Leader was in no position to be choosy.

Hyung Hon-gwon, who was about to start the martial arts match, asked.

“What is it, Daejeong Sect Leader?”

After hesitating, the Daejeong Sect Leader made a respectful gesture toward Im Muguk and said.

“I will acknowledge Daejeong Sect’s defeat. However, I have a request.”

At this, Mu Hwi’s head tilted slightly.

“Ahem… Sect Leader.”

Even Yeonho Wanderer cleared his throat awkwardly and glanced sideways at the Daejeong Sect Leader, seemingly embarrassed.

But the Daejeong Sect Leader ignored Yeonho Wanderer’s gaze and continued speaking.

“Couldn’t the Seonhwa Sect Leader show consideration for our sect’s circumstances? As we’re both orthodox sects, shouldn’t we pursue mutual growth? Of course, since we lost the martial arts match, we’ll hand over all the rights our sect holds.”

The Daejeong Sect Leader emphasized the two words ‘orthodox’ and ‘mutual growth’.

The fact that he brought this up in such a setting suggested he was trying to pressure the Seonhwa Sect by riding on the commoners’ sympathetic public opinion.

However, perhaps due to what the Daejeong Sect had done in the past, the commoners showed little reaction to the Sect Leader’s appeal.

Im Muguk remained equally unmoved.

“Haha, Daejeong Sect Leader. For someone who speaks so much of mutual growth, you were quite eager to drive our sect out of Winam, weren’t you?”

The Daejeong Sect Leader, as if having mastered the Iron Face Divine Technique (鐵面神功), continued to appeal and negotiate with the Seonhwa Sect and Winam commoners with a thick-skinned expression.

‘Having decided to abandon face and pride to somehow remain in Winam? Still, for a leader of a sect to be so unseemly.’

Mu Hwi, who had been watching the argument between the Daejeong Sect Leader and Im Muguk for a while, sent a sound transmission. If the argument dragged on, there was no telling how things might go wrong if someone picked at their words.

[Would you entrust this to me?]

Im Muguk nodded without hesitation at Mu Hwi’s sound transmission. He already had complete trust in Mu Hwi.

“Daejeong Sect Leader, is this all you have to say, even interrupting the martial arts match between Senior Yeonho Wanderer and myself? It’s enough to make a junior disciple’s face burn with shame.”

Mu Hwi’s voice spread out clearly and calmly.

At this, even Yeonho Wanderer, who had been glaring at the Daejeong Sect Leader with unpleasant eyes, turned to look at Mu Hwi.

“How about this? If the Daejeong Sect wins in this final match, they can remain in Winam. That would give meaning to this last match.”

Yeonho Wanderer nodded, and the Daejeong Sect Leader’s face noticeably brightened.

“Good.”

At this, the corner of Mu Hwi’s mouth twitched.

“We’ve given you the chance you wanted, but what will you give to the Seonhwa Sect, Sect Leader?”

After hesitating briefly, the Daejeong Sect Leader opened his mouth.

“The rights I just mentioned…”

Mu Hwi cut off his words sharply.

“Having won the sect’s martial arts match, Winam’s rights are already Seonhwa Sect’s. You should propose something that the Seonhwa Sect cannot gain from this match to make sense.”

The Daejeong Sect Leader’s face, which had momentarily held a smile, turned pale.

‘That damn Taoist…!’

He had wondered why his request wasn’t being accepted so readily.

It was enough to make one doubt whether this was really just a young Taoist who had been holed up in the mountains practicing martial arts.

Mu Hwi curled up the corners of his mouth and let out a deep smile.

“I’ll ask one last time, what will you give?”

The silent grand martial arts arena was waiting for the Daejeong Sect Leader’s answer.

In that silence, Mu Hwi’s bright eyes were quietly pressuring the Daejeong Sect Leader.

< What will you give? > End

< Do you understand, Sect Leader? >