Chapter 130 :

Chapter 130. The Black Flame Dragon Takes Away Their Chance (5)

In truth, there had been no need to fast that severely.

It would have been enough to appear slightly haggard without pushing myself too far, but I had overdone it for the sake of a dramatic performance, and things had ended up like this.

"What are you doing? Aren't you getting up?"

Jegal Somyeong already looked ready to leave.

"No, seriously, why do I have to spar?"

"Didn't I just tell you? Inside your dantian..."

"Exactly. Why are you acting so shameless after examining someone else's dantian?"

At my words, Jegal Somyeong stroked his chin and fell into thought.

It seemed even he had never considered why he had done such a thing.

After a moment, he apparently reached a conclusion with that brilliant mind of his.

"Because I can?"

"Haah..."

Morally speaking, it was obviously something he should not have done.

But the world did not always follow common sense, and it would also be absurd for a mere disciple of the Taeul Sect to punish the Chief Strategist of the Martial Alliance and grand elder of the Jegal Family.

'He's really throwing his weight around for no reason.'

'Still, isn't acting that shamelessly a little ugly?'

Jegal Somyeong looked at my face and spoke.

"Judging by your expression, you don't seem particularly convinced."

"Did you really expect that to convince me?"

"It usually works on most people."

"..."

Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined I would end up having such an absurd argument with Jegal Somyeong, the man known as the Greatest Brain Under Heaven.

Could this perhaps be a demonic practitioner wearing Jegal Somyeong's skin?

"Do you still think there's nothing you can gain from me? I am the Chief Strategist of the Martial Alliance. You are merely a student of the Martial Academy."

"Tens of thousands of people within the Martial Alliance wait for the chance to have even a single conversation with me, and thousands would sell mansions fit for royalty and scatter bribes around just to demonstrate their martial arts once in front of me."

"I'm offering you both opportunities right now, and you're refusing?"

Those were things only bastards obsessed with advancement cared about.

I already knew the Martial Alliance would eventually be devastated and forced to relocate to the Northern Sea.

Why would I go out of my way to impress the Chief Strategist?

"Yes."

"Hoho."

At my firm refusal, Jegal Somyeong looked genuinely surprised and once again grabbed his chin in thought.

As far as I was concerned, I desperately wished he would simply leave.

He said my essence, energy, and spirit were fine, but I had practically gone several days without food.

All I wanted was to eat something delicious and sleep until I was satisfied.

Unfortunately, contrary to my wishes, Jegal Somyeong was... persistent.

"Then how about this? You requested a martial arts instructor from the Ghost Bow Sect, didn't you?"

Since Moyong Jaehwa had decided to abandon the sword and take up the bow, I had created a special lesson for her.

Even if she eventually had to walk that path alone, I thought she at least needed someone to teach her the fundamentals.

"I suppose I'll cancel that."

"..."

"Ah, and your second planned event. The special guest instructor who was supposed to teach the White Tiger Sword Formation... I'll cancel that too."

"What are you talking about...? The White Tiger Sword Formation is already an official sword formation of the Martial Alliance."

Anyone assigned to the Martial Alliance would eventually learn it anyway, but I intended to spread the Martial Alliance's White Tiger Sword Formation early so I could teach the version I knew.

Jegal Somyeong nodded.

"That may be true, but spending the budget to make academy students learn such a useless sword formation seems wasteful to me."

"..."

"And your third planned event. The one where you planned to invite art practitioners from the Maosan Sect and Hengshan Sect..."

That event was something I had prepared in case we ended up facing the Corpse-Mountain Blood Cult.

Even if that did not happen, it would still be an important event capable of saving thousands of warriors when we later fought demonic practitioners.

The lives of the Martial Academy students alone were not the issue.

Most academy students would eventually become officers within the Alliance.

If they could not respond properly to sorcery, then it would be the low-ranking warriors beneath them who died in large numbers.

I had prepared the event to prevent even greater casualties.

"I submitted the budget according to proper procedure and followed every regulation. Cancelling an already approved budget because of personal feelings is unjust."

"I know."

"What?"

"I said I know. And yet I am someone who can do that unjust thing, while you are someone who must obey it."

Jegal Somyeong pointed at himself with one finger and then pointed at me.

At that moment, I sincerely wished Jegal Somyeong were a demonic practitioner.

Then I could break that damned finger without the Taeul Sect being annihilated or my junior brothers ending up imprisoned in the Golden Prison.

"Haah... Fine. I'll do it."

"Good. Let's go."

"But I have a condition too."

"A condition?"

"Yes."

"Didn't I just tell you that you're not in a position to set conditions?"

His tone was as firm as though he were explaining that water flowed downhill.

Even so, simply letting him keep pushing me around did not suit my personality.

"Don't you want to see my true ability?"

"..."

"As you said, I'm terrible at acting, but I am rather good at deception. If I fight halfheartedly and lose on purpose, will you really be satisfied?"

"What do you want?"

"The Intelligence Department has the Demon-Subduing Divine Wood, doesn't it?"

"...Hm?"

"Give it to me."

"Do you even know what that thing is?"

"...You don't have any use for it anyway, do you?"

The Demon-Subduing Divine Wood was timber that had once been a pillar of a sacred temple.

When a temple was completely burned down by thunder and lightning, the last piece of wood that remained would contain all of the temple's spiritual energy.

It was not something that could deliberately be created in the first place.

But since no one currently knew its proper use, it was not considered particularly valuable.

"At most, you'll probably use it to make a signboard or something, won't you?"

The Demon-Subduing Divine Wood was exceptionally effective as a protective talisman for the mind and spirit.

The wood itself was not particularly large, and after removing the burned portions, there would not be much left.

But if I asked the Daoists of the Hengshan Sect to perform a demon-suppressing ritual and turn it into protective talismans, it would certainly prove extremely effective in future battles against demonic practitioners.

"What are you planning to use it for?"

"...There's something I want to make personally."

Jegal Somyeong pretended to think for a moment.

But I could tell it was obvious acting.

Despite its grand name, the Demon-Subduing Divine Wood was currently not considered especially valuable.

Just as I expected, Jegal Somyeong nodded after a moment.

"Fine. But if you lose to your opponent, I won't give it to you."

I was confident against anyone around my age, so I answered immediately.

"Understood."

"Let's go."

"Wait a moment..."

"...What now?"

"Can we at least eat first? I'm a little dizzy right now."

"Why are you making that face? You look like someone who's been treated unfairly again."

I had assumed he would bring out one of the academy students.

Even if it was not some random nobody, I thought it might be a disciple of the Nine Great Sects, or perhaps Ilgak, who seemed to hold a grudge against me over the Soul-Destroying Formation incident.

But...

"How is this not unfair?"

When I arrived at the training ground attached to the dormitory, I could only frown at the man in his mid-thirties standing there.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about the aura he emitted.

But looking at it another way, that meant he was a warrior of such a high level that he could completely restrain his own aura.

"Do you know who that man is?"

"No."

That was the real problem.

His face, movements, everything about him was completely unfamiliar.

If I had to choose someone whose movements felt vaguely similar, perhaps the Murim Alliance Leader came closest.

But this man was far too young, and his build and habits were completely different.

"Still, just from the calluses on his palms and his flawless aura, I can tell he's someone I can't reasonably fight."

"Someone as clever as you should be able to find a way to win."

At Jegal Somyeong's words, I replied with frustration boiling inside me.

"Exactly how am I supposed to use my brain to make a rabbit defeat a tiger?"

Jegal Somyeong simply nodded without much reaction.

See?

My instincts were terrifyingly accurate.

"Fine. If you can even manage a draw, I'll give you the Demon-Subduing Divine Wood."

"I just told you. At least bring someone I can actually fight."

"Hurry up and begin. If you keep grumbling, I'll tell him to give you a proper beating."

Jegal Somyeong waved his hand dismissively after saying that.

With no other choice, I drew the Blood Dragon Sword, stepped forward, and clasped my hands.

"I ask for a lesson."

"..."

The man merely nodded without answering.

He seemed extremely taciturn.

When I assumed the opening stance of the Small Heaven Sword Art, he also stepped one foot backward and lowered his sword loosely toward the ground.

I had never seen that opening stance before.

Since he was here under the Chief Strategist's orders, he had to belong to the Martial Alliance.

Even so, the fact that he was using a martial art I had never seen was surprising.

"Come."

At the man's words, I cleared away my distracting thoughts, closed the shortest distance between us, and unleashed the Small Heaven Sword Art.

Whoosh.

The Small Heaven Sword Art, powered by seven-star internal energy, shot forward like a single streak of light with the principle of extreme speed.

The man raised the sword he had been holding low and knocked aside the Small Heaven Sword Art in the same motion.

I recovered the Blood Dragon Sword and fired the Small Heaven Sword Art again.

Whoosh.

Philtrum.

Solar plexus.

Groin.

I poured out attacks that seemed to target all three places a person could not help reacting to instinctively.

But the man merely took two steps backward and neutralized the Small Heaven Sword Art in a single breath.

"Sharp."

"Is that so? Then I'll keep going. There's something I need to get from the Chief Strategist."

Using the force of recovering the Small Heaven Sword Art, I spun my body once and unleashed the Great Heaven Sword Technique.

More than ten illusion swords appeared around the Blood Dragon Sword and sealed off all eight directions around the man.

Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!

The man retreated another five steps while swinging his sword exactly five times.

That was precisely the number of true swords hidden among the illusion swords.

Tremble.

The Blood Dragon Sword, forged from Vajra Indestructible Iron and nearly impossible to damage, was trembling violently.

That meant the sword in the man's hand was also a treasured sword in no way inferior to the Blood Dragon Sword.

"You have a fine sword."

"More than I deserve. But yours doesn't seem any worse, Great Hero."

"Indeed... more than I deserve."

A smile appeared at the corner of the man's lips.

"I gave you three techniques. I can fight properly now, can't I?"

So that was why he had shown almost no reaction until now.

Apparently he had decided on his own to give me three techniques.

"If you truly cherish your junior, shouldn't you give me around ten techniques?"

The man glanced briefly at Jegal Somyeong before shaking his head.

"To think you made a wager over a spar with me. That is truly unforgivable."

"The Chief Strategist really has a loose mouth. How does someone like that handle important affa—!"

Clang!

Before I could finish speaking, the man's figure vanished with a burst.

He appeared directly in front of me in the next instant and swung his sword.

I desperately raised the Small Heaven Sword Art to ten-star mastery to defend myself while simultaneously trying to determine the origins of his sword art.

If the Chief Strategist had summoned him, then he had to be one of the experts from the Nine Great Sects or Five Great Families.

Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!

The man's sword was extremely fast.

It was not quite as fast as when I pushed the Small Heaven Sword Art to its absolute limit, but it was certainly fast enough to be called a swift sword art.

Yet for a swift sword art, its sword paths were not pared down to an extreme degree either.

It looked like an awkward sword art that belonged to neither one category nor the other.

Even so, every single technique aimed directly at a vital point, and blood was already flowing from several places across my body.

His sword came for my neck again.

Even if I blocked it with my sword, another linked technique would obviously follow.

So I stepped backward using the Taeul Eight Myriad Divine Steps.

As I retreated five steps while leaving behind an afterimage, his sword cleanly severed the illusion's neck and right arm.

"An unusual footwork."

"It's a secret footwork of my sect that we recovered after five hundred years."

"Is that so?"

The man did not seem particularly surprised and moved again.

Contrary to his relaxed tone, his body was now even faster than before.

When I swung the Blood Dragon Sword toward his incoming blade, tremendous recoil struck me.

Overpowered by his physical strength, I was pushed back three full steps.

He, meanwhile, remained standing perfectly in place and simply looked at me.

'I really can't figure him out.'

We had already exchanged more than ten moves, and I had been trying to trace the origin of his sword art the entire time.

But I could not identify its roots at all.

Nor did he quite seem to have reached the realm where one discarded fixed techniques entirely.

I had seen several demonic practitioners who had reached such a level, but those people possessed an overwhelming presence.

The man before me, however, had nothing overwhelming about him.

If anything, his presence felt strangely faint.

'His presence is faint?'

If he was fast but did not use a true swift sword art, then that meant his movements were simply extremely efficient.

And despite moving with lightning-like speed, his footsteps were quiet, almost light.

That meant his ordinary footwork itself must be extremely light.

Swish-swish-swish!

His sharp sword now split into seven and stabbed toward my death points.

I still could not identify the origin of his sword art.

But I could now see enough clues to make a guess.

'I think I understand.'

The Twin Heaven Sword Art scattered from my hand.

Dozens of sword shadows bloomed chaotically before me and immediately shot toward the man's sword.

Even though he responded with only seven sword strikes, he showed no fear whatsoever.

Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!

Seven sounds of metal striking metal rang out almost simultaneously, and I was forced backward another five steps.

"I heard the Bloodflame Dragon doesn't know how to retreat."

He lowered his sword again as he spoke.

"That's an exaggerated rumor. I actually like retreating from time to time. Of course, I always make sure to damage my opponent while doing it."

"What?"

Flutter.

Before the man even noticed, the knot of his clothing was sliced apart and his martial uniform split open.

"..."

He looked genuinely surprised this time.

He immediately bent his knees as though preparing to launch himself forward.

Considering he had never shown such a posture before, he clearly intended to become serious.

I quickly raised one hand.

"May I ask you one question first?"

"Can it not wait until after the spar?"

"It's related to the spar."

"...What is it?"

When he stopped for a moment, I asked,

"Do you belong to the Alliance Leader's Hall?"

"..."

His body did not move, and his expression remained unchanged.

But his eyes shook violently.