Sword God Reborn

Chapter 77 : It's Not Against the Rules, Is It?

Neung-heo staggered.

Yu Cheong-hak's attack was that powerful.

Of course, if Neung-heo had tried to block or dodge it properly, it was an attack he could have easily overcome.

But Neung-heo did not.

"Shit. You bastard. What's so good about the black-way that you act like a black-way member? Huh?"

Neung-heo poked the fallen O Gwang-ryong.

At that, a protest erupted from the Zhongnan side, but Neung-heo did not care.

He turned his gaze.

Gwak Cheon-hu and Cheon Mubaeck, who were watching from a distance.

In particular, Neung-heo, who had met Cheon Mubaeck's eyes, muttered without even realizing it.

"He said he'd kill me if I lost... he wouldn't really kill me, would he?"

Thud!

Neung-heo collapsed like that.

Because he had forcefully disregarded his defense and had attacked O Gwang-ryong, he had been hit squarely by Yu Cheong-hak's attack.

It was amazing that he had been standing until now.

"The first round is the victory of Mount Hua's Yu Cheong-hak!"

Although Yu Cheong-hak had a dazed face, he soon hardened his expression and carried Neung-heo on his back.

"I will take him to the medical hall."

It wasn't just Yu Cheong-hak. Any martial artist who had been watching the situation had clearly seen what had happened.

O Gwang-ryong had committed an act that only a black-way member would do. In fact, it was a killing move.

If it had been a real sword, his head would have been pierced. It wasn't that it was fortunate that it was a wooden sword. If Yu Cheong-hak had been hit, it would have given a serious shock to his brain. Then it was not certain whether he would recover properly.

"To think that he noticed that and disregarded his own body."

A sigh flowed out from the Mount Hua side.

"Indeed... they say the Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero is a hero, and the person who is with him is also a hero."

If Cheon Mubaeck had heard it, it was a story that would have made him burst out laughing, but the Mount Hua martial artists politely put their palms together and moved Neung-heo to the medical hall.

* * *

"...The atmosphere is not good."

Jeon-hyeon narrowed his brow.

The atmosphere of cheering for Mount Hua and Zhongnan was evenly split.

But the atmosphere had changed completely with the first match just now.

Although no one was openly staring, there was a slight hostility in the gazes that were glancing at them.

"What can we do? Gwang-ryong was too motivated."

The Three Treasures True Man, Dan-hu, said nonchalantly.

Motivation?

The faces of some of Zhongnan's disciples darkened.

To package this as motivation?

Isn't it a cowardly act?

The moment Dan-hu, who had felt the atmosphere of such disciples, was about to say a word.

Zhong Li-hong's heavy word was delivered.

"Did you feel that it was cowardly?"

"...!"

"But..."

Zhong Li-hong snorted.

"Hmph. Although it was a little clumsy, Gwang-ryong chose the sect, not his personal reputation."

He chose the sect?

What does that mean again?

Zhong Li-hong's expression, looking at the faces of such disciples, he clicked his tongue.

At least when he was young, Zhongnan could not defeat Mount Hua.

Even after seeing the damage of the righteous-demonic war, Mount Hua was Mount Hua.

Zhongnan was just the second-in-command of Shaanxi.

But the gap had narrowed over 40 years.

The person who had seen and felt that process with his own body was none other than Zhong Li-hong.

What he had felt was just one thing.

'With Mount Hua's method, you can't defeat Mount Hua.'

Zhongnan desperately needed its own method. To surpass Mount Hua with a stale method like Mount Hua's?

He could surpass it.

But it would surely take a tremendous amount of time.

The problem was Mount Hua. Would Mount Hua just stand by? As time passed, Mount Hua would surely fully recover from all the damage of the righteous-demonic war and would soar again.

Now was the chance.

The chance for Zhongnan to surpass Mount Hua.

The Primordial Root Scripture would surely be the stepping stone for that.

'Just a simple legitimacy?'

Zhong Li-hong was a terrible realist. To such a person, what need was there for a mere Taoist scripture that only proved legitimacy?

It wasn't a secret manual of an ultimate martial art.

But the Primordial Root Scripture was not just a Taoist scripture.

Since Mount Hua was a distant branch of The Complete Truth Sect, they just enshrined the Primordial Root Scripture.

'Foolishly. That.'

Zhongnan was a direct descendant of The Complete Truth Sect. A secret history that Mount Hua did not know had been passed down to the Zhongnan Sect. Naturally, among them was also a secret history about the Primordial Root Scripture. Not just the Primordial Root Scripture. There were not just one or two secret histories about the sacred objects of The Complete Truth Sect.

The reason why Zhong Li-hong had decided to take the Primordial Root Scripture was because he knew that secret history, and because he knew that it had a value greater than that of a secret manual of an ultimate martial art.

Then what was the problem?

"We must take the Primordial Root Scripture and establish our legitimacy."

At the heavy words, a disciple who had been biting his lip popped out.

A first-generation disciple who dared to oppose a great elder.

Although it was a sight that was hard to see, the disciple stammered and said.

"Even if we win and take the Primordial Root Scripture, what's the use? Many people are watching. The Shaanxi martial world is watching. Is what we are doing really the orthodox martial world?"

"You brat!"

Although Jeon-hyeon's eyes shot up, Zhong Li-hong waved his hand.

In an instant, the momentum fluctuated and split them apart.

The power to silence the crowd in one go.

Jeon-hyeon, without even realizing it, swallowed his saliva and looked up at Zhong Li-hong.

Zhong Li-hong's lips twisted. A look of ridicule appeared in his eyes.

"Reputation? Justification? What's the use of that kind of thing?"

"...!"

"Are you afraid of the reputation and gaze of the mere Shaanxi martial world?"

Everyone was silent.

In Zhong Li-hong's eyes, a fierceness that seemed like madness was reflected.

"We must become a Zhongnan that is famous in the Central Plains. As Shaolin did in the past, as Mount Hua did, as Wudang did. Not just the mere Shaanxi martial world!"

"...!"

A momentum that was hard to describe flowed out from Zhong Li-hong.

He looked down at the first-generation disciple who had opposed him.

The first-generation disciple's face turned pale.

Just a gaze.

Before he had climbed Mount Zhongnan in his childhood, the gaze of a beast he had encountered, was it like that?

It was a gaze so intense that it was hard to breathe.

"Reputation? Gaze? That kind of thing is not needed. If we obtain the Primordial Root Scripture and prove our legitimacy both internally and externally, we will become the rightful inheritors of everything that The Complete Truth Sect has left behind."

"Ah..."

"It's enough if we become strong. In the martial world, justification is created by strength, and the world is made by strength. If we stand tall, representing the Shaanxi martial world, the current reputation and gaze? They will all disappear."

That's right.

Isn't that the martial world?

Even the praised Mount Hua had made quite a big mistake in its long history. It had also framed a fellow orthodox sect member.

But is there anyone who knows Mount Hua now who remembers that past?

There is not.

There is no completely perfect orthodox sect.

Zhong Li-hong knew well that the current reputation would not even be remembered in the future.

Because that was the martial world.

So Zhong Li-hong said proudly.

"It's good to use any means. We will obtain the Primordial Root Scripture."

There was no more opposition.

It was the word of Zhong Li-hong, who was a strong candidate for the next sect leader.

Who would go against it?

At least not within Zhongnan.

But.

If you look outside, there is always a madman.

* * *

"That madman."

Gwak Cheon-hu's gaze was fixed on Cheon Mubaeck, who had suddenly narrowed his brow.

His gaze was filled with the emotion of 'it's too much'.

There was no way Cheon Mubaeck had not felt that gaze.

"What."

"That person Neung-heo fought hard. I thought he was just a gangster, but he has the disposition of a hero. But to call him a madman just because he lost is a bit..."

Cheon Mubaeck blinked his eyes and looked at Gwak Cheon-hu, and then he soon let out a sigh.

"Do I look like a guy who would harass Neung-heo that much?"

"Huh? Am I wrong? You said you'd kill him if he couldn't win before..."

"No matter how much, would I curse at a guy who fought so well?"

Gwak Cheon-hu looked at him with a suspicious gaze. Cheon Mubaeck, for a moment, was lost in thought as to whether he had treated Neung-heo that harshly.

And the answer was.

"Shit. Looking at what that bastard does to me, the fact that I've kept him alive means that there is a Buddha in me."

"..."

Although Gwak Cheon-hu's gaze changed to that of looking at an even crazier guy, Cheon Mubaeck did not care.

"Then who were you cursing at?"

"Those guys from Zhongnan."

"They're madmen, right? To use such a cowardly trick in a duel?"

"That's not all. Those bastards. They're so proud."

"Eum?"

"What? They'll be forgotten if they win and become strong?"

At Cheon Mubaeck's words, Gwak Cheon-hu turned his gaze.

He narrowed his eyes and measured, as if he were calculating something.

And then he looked at Cheon Mubaeck with a gaze as if he were seeing a ghost.

"You heard the voices of the guys at that distance?"

"Can't you hear them?"

"No..."

"Phew. The guys I'm with are all like this."

It's you who's strange for hearing that, you madman.

Gwak Cheon-hu shut his mouth. Dozens of feet, what dozens of feet. He had heard everything that Zhongnan, which was the farthest away in a completely diagonal direction, was saying?

And would they have been talking loudly?

They would have been whispering.

Gwak Cheon-hu watched the situation with a slightly suspicious face.

But the following situation was even more absurd than he had thought.

Mount Hua had formally demanded an apology for O Gwang-ryong's actions.

But Zhongnan's reaction was...

"We have not broken any rules. Did we use a real sword?"

"...!"

At that shameless reaction, the crowd let out a sigh.

But not everyone had cursed at Zhongnan.

Not all orthodox sect members were stale. They understood Zhongnan's pride.

Although it was called a duel, wasn't it a fight where they were competing for an important item from the beginning?

On the contrary, there was also a public opinion that the actions of the Mount Hua Sect, which was acting as if it were a friendly duel, were not good.

"Keu. It's amazing."

Cheon Mubaeck smirked.

"Well, if they say so, then it's not a problem if I just follow the rules."

Gwak Cheon-hu's eyebrows twitched as he saw Cheon Mubaeck muttering and getting up from his seat.

"Hey. It's my turn."

"No. Cheon-hu. You rest."

"What...?"

Originally, it was Gwak Cheon-hu's turn to go out.

But Cheon Mubaeck was going out now?

No way.

The Cheon Mubaeck that Gwak Cheon-hu had seen was surprisingly meticulous.

Although it seemed like he was acting as he pleased, there was a plan within it.

But Cheon Mubaeck was going to break the plan he had set up and go out.

'He's not the type of person to do this.'

He looked at Cheon Mubaeck's eyes.

'...He's flipped?'

His eyes were literally flipped.

"These bastards. They beat up a guy that only I can beat?"

"..."

"Let's see if today is forgotten."

Gwak Cheon-hu was silent.

* * *

Cheon Mubaeck stepped onto the duel stage.

A wide duel stage.

One of the conditions for defeat was to leave this duel stage.

But that was not an easy thing. Because the circular duel stage was quite wide.

'Then what else is there?'

If you are in a state where you can no longer fight, you are defeated.

But you must not die.

So it would be a wooden sword, not a real sword.

Well, Cheon Mubae-ck understood.

Since there was something at stake, it was natural that someone would die if they used a real sword.

Then Mount Hua and Zhongnan would have a grudge that they had to repay with blood.

In the end, it was absolutely impossible to kill the opponent.

Isn't it a duel?

'That guy Neung-heo, he held out well.'

His body must have been quite shaken. Although he wouldn't die, he would need quite a bit of recuperation.

He was really in a state just before death.

Cheon Mubaeck's eyes indifferently turned to those who were climbing the duel stage.

The Zhongnan Sect and the Mount Hua Sect.

Among them, Cheon Mubaeck's gaze turned to Zhongnan.

'If you're strong, the current reputation will also be forgotten...'

Cheon Mubaeck repeated the words that Zhong Li-hong had said.

To be honest,

'It's not a wrong statement.'

No matter how large a prestigious orthodox sect was, there were times when it was arrogant, and there were also times when it made mistakes.

Although it was fatal to its reputation at the time, as time passed, wasn't it praised as an orthodox sect again?

The reason why it could be so?

Right, strength.

Because it is the Central Plains. Because this is the martial world.

On the contrary, that's why.

"It won't be forgotten."

"...What?"

At Cheon Mubaeck's sudden voice, the expression of the Zhongnan Sect martial artist crumpled.

"You guys will absolutely not become stronger than me."

At least,

As long as he was in this martial world.

Kwadeuk!

Cheon Mubaeck's body shook once.

"...!"

The Zhongnan Sect martial artist, who had been showing off his momentum, was hit in the stomach and fainted.

Just once.

A sharp point that stabbed the dantian.

A precise attack that was poured towards the dantian, to the point where any martial artist who had learned internal energy would have closed their eyes tightly.

'The rule was not to kill, but to make them on the verge of death is not against the rules, is it?'

A bright smile appeared on Cheon Mubaeck's lips.

Among the numerous histories of the martial world, there are countless histories that have disappeared.

But there are definitely histories that are never forgotten.

The number one master of the time.

The deeds of that master do not disappear even after dozens, hundreds of years.

This place. Today's duel between Mount Hua, Zhongnan, and Cheon Mubaeck.

"Because I was here."

It would be constantly talked about and remembered.

Cheon Mubaeck said calmly.

"Today will not be forgotten. Absolutely.”

(End of Chapter)