Chapter 136 :

Chapter 136. The Black Flame Dragon Proves Himself (6)

The instructors handled the initial evaluation of the academy students' abilities.

But with only a small number of instructors, it was impossible to personally measure the strength of hundreds of academy students.

In the end, assessments were first divided according to whether someone belonged to the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families or to the Hundred and Eight Peaks.

Going even further, they considered what rank their sect held within the Hundred and Eight Peaks.

And if someone belonged to one of the Five Great Families, they even considered whether that person came from the direct line or a collateral branch when estimating their strength.

Seen from that perspective, pairing me against Ilgak of Shaolin was practically an act that ignored every established custom.

A disciple of Shaolin, one of the greatest pillars of the murim world, against a disciple of the Taeul Sect, which barely clung to the bottom edge of the Hundred and Eight Peaks.

No matter what standard one used, we were opponents who should never have been matched.

"This discussion is taking quite a while."

Apparently we were not the only ones thinking that.

Some instructors and training officers had raised objections to the current situation, and even the Academy Director and Deputy Academy Director had come down from the platform for an emergency meeting.

"Looks like they're finished."

"Of course they'll make some adjustment to this ridiculous situation. Ah, I'm not saying that because I'm looking down on you, Young Master Jin."

"It's fine."

Contrary to Seong Moran's hopes, the deep furrow between Buk Wonpyeong's brows suggested the discussion had not gone well.

Buk Wonpyeong briefly looked around the arena.

When our eyes met, he sent me a voice transmission.

-Officially, they're saying they rated your ability highly because you received a perfect score on the written examination... but in truth, it seems the Elder Hall exerted influence.

-The Righteous Path Association again?

-I don't think so. It seems the White Path Association also wants to see what you're capable of.

-I see.

-If you want, I'll stop this even if I have to use my authority.

-It's fine. You might become my martial uncle someday. Wouldn't you be disappointed if I started relying on you already?

Buk Wonpyeong looked rather surprised before eventually nodding.

-Perhaps an opportunity like this is actually better. Even if you lose to Shaolin, no one will point fingers at you.

The moment Buk Wonpyeong finished speaking, an instructor shouted in a booming voice.

"The spar will proceed! The academy students who were called, come onto the training ground!"

Ilgak stepped onto the training ground.

He appeared perfectly calm, as though the cold gazes and mockery surrounding him did not matter in the slightest.

"This is clearly a scheme to humiliate Eldest Senior Brother somehow."

Eunho ground his teeth.

"I'd rather Eldest Senior Brother simply forfeit."

"Me too."

"I heard Ilgak is the strongest person in Shaolin after Little Buddha."

Geumpyo remained silent, but Dongryong could not hide his worried expression.

"Is that so?"

Even at my indifferent answer, Eunho's anger only seemed to rise, his clenched fist turning red.

"Why do we always have to be treated like this? Eldest Senior Brother, don't you feel wronged?"

"People want us to remain where we are."

"Every attempt we make to move forward is bound to irritate them."

"..."

"Just because they play dirty and unfairly, does that mean we should remain standing in the same place?"

"Eldest Senior Brother... even if you don't move forward, you're still our Eldest Senior Brother."

I nodded.

In my previous life, I had been unable to protect them.

Back then, I had barely been able to protect myself while constantly watching Gye Cheolyeong's mood.

And yet not once had these guys shown resentment toward me or poured their anger onto me.

Even when I had not truly acted as their Eldest Senior Brother, they had still treated me that way.

"I know."

"But if I don't move forward first, won't all of you eventually be the ones forced to stand against the wind and rain?"

Geumpyo, who had been silently twitching his lips beside us, suddenly shouted.

"Why are you trying to carry every burden by yourself, Senior Brother?! We're not children!"

"I know."

This was my burden alone.

My own atonement for the previous life that only I remembered.

"But if I protect all of you first, then afterward, won't you be able to protect even more junior brothers and disciples?"

"...!"

"...!"

"...!"

Because we had been together since childhood, I could immediately notice every change in their emotions.

Whenever Geumpyo did not want to cry, his nostrils flared.

Eunho furrowed his brow deeply.

And Dongryong simply shed tears without saying anything.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to fall in a place like this."

"And Dongryong, stop crying already. If you cry like that, you'll make your Eldest Senior Brother look incredibly weak."

"...Hic."

I removed the Blood Dragon Sword and Flying Dragon Claw and handed them to Eunho.

The Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers stared back and forth between the Blood Dragon Sword and my face in confusion.

"Besides, when it comes to tricks, is there anyone who can keep up with your Eldest Senior Brother?"

"...?"

"...?"

"...Ah!"

Only Eunho seemed to realize what I meant, his eyebrows shooting upward.

I gave the sharp kid a slight smile, turned around, and immediately stepped onto the training ground.

With every step I took, the commotion in the arena grew louder.

The murmuring of the crowd steadily increased until the atmosphere resembled a marketplace.

"W-what? Wasn't that guy's main weapon a sword?"

"The Taeul Sword Emperor's true teachings are sword arts too."

"Then... does he seriously think he doesn't even need a sword against Shaolin?"

"He's insane."

A faint crack began to appear in Ilgak's composure, which until then had resembled a carved Buddha statue.

"Why did you come without your sword?"

"Isn't your main specialty fist arts as well, Monk Ilgak?"

"...Did you deliberately leave your sword behind?"

Ilgak's face now resembled one of the Four Heavenly Kings inside a temple gate.

"It wouldn't look very good for the top-ranked student to go all out against an ordinary academy student, would it?"

"...Such arrogance..."

-You really thought I would obediently walk into your trap?

"...!"

-I'm not an idiot. Did you seriously think I wouldn't notice your shallow scheme?

"Academy student Jin Sowoon. Voice transmission before a spar is prohibited."

At the referee's warning, I nodded and spoke aloud.

"I hope this will be a good spar."

I smiled and offered a clasped-hands salute.

Ilgak's face twisted.

'Just what level am I at right now?'

Compared with my previous life, my strength in this life had unquestionably advanced beyond comparison.

Back then, I had struggled desperately to conserve less than half a sixty-year cycle of internal energy.

Now I could unleash the Mad Heaven Divine Palm about twice without even collapsing from exhaustion afterward.

Comparing a low-ranking warrior at the third-rate level with the top-ranked entrant of the Martial Academy was absurd in itself.

But setting that aside, measuring my actual level within the murim world was much more complicated.

Basically, whenever I faced members of the Nine Great Sects or Five Great Families in this life, I had relied on breaking forms Jegal Cheongi created in the past.

I had also used all sorts of tricks and memories from my previous life.

Because of that, I had never been able to properly determine my own true ability.

Recently I had fought a shadow warrior from the Alliance Leader's Hall whose martial arts I had no breaking forms for, but he was never someone whose level I could reasonably compare myself against in the first place.

In that sense, Ilgak was a genuine opponent capable of properly measuring my current level.

Shaolin was the only sect among the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families for which no breaking forms had ever been created.

No.

It was a sect for which there had never been any need to create them.

Shaolin martial arts were founded upon cultivation of both mind and body.

They did not concern themselves with the efficiency of individual techniques, and the countless changes created through each practitioner's personal enlightenment made breaking forms based on finding technical efficiencies largely meaningless.

"Begin!"

At the referee's shout, Ilgak assumed an opening stance.

Dragon King Fist.

One of Shaolin's Seventy-Two Supreme Arts.

His two fists looked like imugi waiting for the moment to ascend, ready to burst forward at any instant.

'He's already starting with the Dragon King Fist. He must be really angry.'

When I also assumed the opening stance of the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist, the commotion in the stands grew even louder.

"He's seriously going to fight him with fist arts?"

"That's arrogance beyond reason."

"Maybe he knows he's going to embarrass himself anyway, so he's just trying to save face somehow?"

Ilgak was the first to move through the noise of the arena.

He used the Immovable Body Technique as though sliding across ice, followed immediately by a chain of strikes from the Dragon King Fist.

Papapapapat!

The fierce punches flowed like rushing water.

Each carried a sharpness like a dragon's fang, giving me the sensation that I was being cut by a blade.

Even after unleashing ten attacks within a single technique, Ilgak showed no intention of retreating.

He immediately continued with the Dragon King Fist, using a frontal barrage and upward-rising strikes to disrupt my field of vision.

"Was this all you had to justify such arrogance?"

His words were polite, but his voice clearly carried anger.

After blocking three techniques, twenty-five attacks in total, I used the Taeul Eight Myriad Divine Steps to create an afterimage moving toward Ilgak's flank while attempting to retreat backward with my real body.

"...Hmph!"

Ilgak, who had begun moving sideways, seemed to hear the footsteps of my real body.

He immediately twisted his ankle and used Eight Trigrams Serpent Form Steps.

His figure suddenly appeared directly in front of me.

The Dragon King Fist, capable of unleashing ten strikes in a single technique, tore through the space where I had been.

I narrowly evaded it and managed to get behind him.

But—

Ilgak stomped down with such force that the training-ground floor cracked beneath his foot.

In the next instant, he was already behind me.

"Even Sun Wukong riding on a cloud could not escape the Buddha's palm."

Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!

Ilgak unleashed the Dragon King Fist.

I responded using the transformation principle of the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist.

Dozens of fist shadows filling the air collided with razor-sharp punches resembling dragon fangs.

KABOOM!

Apparently Ilgak had underestimated the power of the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist.

Ignoring the illusionary strikes, he allowed the real force of the technique to slam into his body and was pushed back three steps.

Ilgak looked down at the forearm he had used to block the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist head-on.

Seeing the skin reddened from the impact, he furrowed his brow in disbelief.

"It's heavier than you expected, isn't it?"

"..."

The positions of Ilgak's fists shifted from being held at his sides to one high and one low.

Tiger Fighting Fist.

Another of the Seventy-Two Supreme Arts.

Bang!

Using Eight Trigrams Serpent Form Steps, Ilgak shot forward like an arrow.

In an instant, he was before me, swinging both fists like a tiger.

Papapak!

I used the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist to block the Tiger Fighting Fist.

But with every impact, my bones tingled painfully.

'At this rate, my bones won't hold.'

Ilgak had cultivated the external art Thousand-Jin Armor, so he had no hesitation about colliding head-on.

I did not possess that advantage.

Besides, there was no reason for me to engage him in a contest of brute force against brute force in the first place.

I redirected one of his fists and simultaneously twisted my body sideways, executing Lotus Flower.

Crack.

"...!"

No matter how thoroughly he had cultivated Thousand-Jin Armor, the joints connecting his bones were still human.

Unless he wanted his arm broken, he had no choice but to move his body along with the arm I had seized.

Ilgak's body floated into the air and flipped halfway over.

At the same time, I used all my strength to slam him into the training ground.

Crash!

After taking the floor with his entire body, Ilgak bounced upright like an inflated pig bladder.

He stared at me with rabbit-wide eyes, seemingly unaware that dirt now covered his face.

"...Grafting Technique?"

Ilgak looked completely unable to believe it.

Then again, techniques like the Grafting Technique and Four Taels Deflects a Thousand Jin were originally looked down upon even by Wudang and Shaolin.

So how astonishing must the Flowing Cloud Divine Art have seemed, when it redirected force far more effectively than either of them?

"Did the Taeul Sect possess martial arts like that as well?"

"It's not as though this is a place where we're restricted to showing only certain martial arts."

"That... is true."

Ilgak regained control of his expression.

Different energies gathered into his two hands.

Dragon King Fist in his right hand.

Bamboo Leaf Hand in his left.

He was probably wary of the Lotus Flower principle from the Flowing Cloud Divine Art.

I mirrored him.

Lotus Flower gathered in my left hand, while the energy of the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist gathered in my right.

Gulp.

Someone in the audience audibly swallowed.

Ilgak slid toward me.

This time, I did not evade.

I used the Taeul Eight Myriad Divine Steps and moved forward as well.

The Dragon King Fist came first.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom-boom!

I redirected each punch one by one using Lotus Flower.

Then, just as I tried to use his own force to subdue him—

the Bamboo Leaf Hand prepared in his left hand stabbed toward me with vicious sharpness.

Papapapapak!

I desperately moved my feet to avoid the dangerously sharp Bamboo Leaf Hand.

Everywhere his hand passed, deep gouges appeared in the floor.

Crash! Crash! Crack!

Although it was merely a human hand striking marble, dust flew into the air and fragments of stone shattered away.

Then, as he withdrew the Bamboo Leaf Hand and tried to pull his body backward—

I used the Taeul Eight Myriad Divine Steps to seize his flank and unleashed the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist in full.

Countless fist shadows and strikes filled the air and swallowed his figure.

I had already sealed all four directions.

There was nowhere for him to escape.

Since I knew he could endure it with Thousand-Jin Armor, I poured in as much internal energy as I could.

No matter how hard a rock was, it would break beneath an even harder hammer.

KABOOM!

Ilgak initially countered the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist with the Dragon King Fist and Tiger Fighting Fist.

But apparently realizing his limit, he eventually withdrew both fists.

It seemed he intended to take the blows with his body and then exploit an opening afterward.

If he could take the full force of my one hundred eighty years of internal energy and still remain standing, then I might as well be the one to forfeit.

Just as Ilgak was about to be swallowed by dozens of fist shadows and strikes—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Golden light flashed.

A massive explosion erupted.

The unexpected shock sent my body flying into the air.

Only after spinning several times was I able to disperse the force and land back on the ground.

I raised my head with a terrible suspicion.

"Isn't that the Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist?"

"No way... He's barely twenty years old, isn't he? Already?"

"Why not? They say Ilgak has talent comparable to Ilmyeong!"

I knew he had even learned the Bodhidharma Tendon-Changing Scripture.

'They say there's no one in the world you can trust.'

But publicly, Shaolin claimed that no one began learning the Tendon-Changing Scripture until after the age of thirty...

Surely monks wouldn't lie, would they?

As the dust cleared, a golden radiance surrounded Ilgak's fist.

With a single punch, he had blocked every one of the dozens of strikes from the Myriad Transformations Invincible Fist.

There was no doubt about it.

That was the Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist.

I could not hide my disappointment.

'They say there's no one in the world you can trust.'