novelraw Chapter 184 : Chapter 184
Chapter 184 : Chapter 184
Chapter 184 - With Weak People
“Y-y-y-you agreeee?”
“Did my ears deceive me?”
“Did Lady Jeong just say she agrees?”
“I heard it that way too. It’s hard to believe, but…!!”
The spectators were all looking at each other and saying the same thing.
They had never dreamed that she would accept Cheong Pyeong’s proposal.
With worried eyes, the crowd looked down at the fighting stage.
They were not members of the Diancang Sect, but they felt they could not bear to see the flower-like Jeong-i standing next to Cheong Pyeong.
“Khahahahaha!”
Cheong Pyeong’s laughter echoed resoundingly.
He knew it would not be easy, but he had thrown it out there just in case, and he never thought things would turn out so easily.
“The saying that the brave man gets the fair lady was indeed the truth. Isn’t it?”
Cheong Pyeong said so and drew the blade of the saber he had received from his father.
Perhaps, Jeong-i might have a crush on him as well.
Otherwise, why would she agree so easily?
Shing.
Under the worried gazes of the crowd, Jeong-i drew her sword.
Then, with a lilting voice, she asked Cheong Pyeong.
“Why don’t you ask me?”
“Hmm?”
“What I want to get if I win.”
“Ah! Wahahaha!”
Cheong Pyeong laughed so hard his shoulders shook, as if he found it extremely amusing.
It was strange and interesting that she was thinking of winning against him.
“Right! The conditions must be fair, so I’ll ask! If Lady Jeong wins, what is it that you wish to obtain?”
The tip of Jeong-i’s sword pointed in one direction.
“That saber.”
“?”
“That saber looks nice. If I win, please give me your saber.”
“Hoh?”
A strange light appeared in Cheong Pyeong’s eyes.
Was she asking for it because she knew something about it?
Certainly, among his possessions, the saber in his hand was the most valuable.
It was the Taemaeng Treasure Saber, a precious sword lent to him by his father, who was renowned as the Five-Terrace Saber Tiger.
Selling just one of the jewels embedded in this precious saber would fetch enough money for three generations to live on.
“Fine! I will do so!”
Of course, he had no intention of giving it to her, but Cheong Pyeong readily nodded his head.
Cheong Pyeong had already fought against adult swordsmen in Shanxi Province, not rising stars.
For him, losing to a young female swordswoman who had entered a martial arts tournament was an unimaginable event.
“You promised.”
Jeong-i said so and took her stance.
“Very well.”
Cheong Pyeong felt even better.
It was because Jeong-i was being more serious than he had thought.
That meant,
‘I can truly make that woman mine.’
A spring breeze, the likes of which Cheong Pyeong had never experienced in his life, was blowing his way.
And that excitement was transmitted entirely to his father’s saber.
VWOOOM!
A dazzling Sword Aura shone from the blade, which looked three times wider than a normal sword.
“Wow!”
It was a Sword Aura that could momentarily relax the expressions of even the spectators who had frowned at the absurd bet.
For all they knew, it looked the widest and brightest among all the weapons that had participated in this martial arts tournament.
‘So that is the Taemaeng Treasure Saber…!’
‘As expected of the son of the Five-Terrace Saber Tiger. Blood cannot be denied…’
‘If I get hit once by that saber, I don’t think I’d even be able to find my bones…!’
On the other hand, their worries could not help but grow larger.
Cheong Pyeong’s physique, the sword he was holding, and his momentum.
There was nothing that made Jeong-i seem superior.
Just then,
Psssss…….
A blue Sword Aura bloomed from Jeong-i’s sword.
Due to the difference in the inherent size of their swords, the area of her Sword Aura was not wide.
So, except for a few, no one knew.
How monstrous her internal energy was, having mastered the Profound Heaven’s True Energy Unification Art.
“Come at me.”
Cheong Pyeong, confident of victory from the start, yielded the first move.
Then, Jeong-i replied shortly.
“I won’t refuse.”
Jeong-i usually enjoyed using a counter-attacking style through her Sword Dance, but since her opponent yielded the first move, there was no reason to refuse.
She extended her sword in a rather straightforward direction, and Cheong Pyeong bared his teeth and swung his saber to meet it.
Whether by build or by momentum, anyone could see it was a case of an egg hitting a rock.
The crowd thought her body would be sent flying or her sword would be broken in two.
But then,
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Suddenly, Cheong Pyeong’s view shifted from forward to the sky.
It was not that he had particularly looked up.
It was a natural consequence of his body being sent flying after receiving Jeong-i’s strike.
“…………What?!”
That Cheong Pyeong managed to come to his senses was purely due to experience.
He had experienced his vision soaring like this in the past.
It was the experience of being sent flying while sparring with his father, the Five-Terrace Saber Tiger.
Whirl!
Belying his large frame, Cheong Pyeong turned his body in mid-air.
Thanks to his belatedly recovered senses, he narrowly avoided falling out of the fighting stage.
But the continuous twitching of his nose hairs showed that he had not yet escaped the shock.
Tingle, tingle.
His hand.
His hand hurt.
When was the last time he had felt pain after clashing weapons?
From a young age, he had received good spiritual medicines from his father, and as befitting a family that used sabers, he had not been negligent in training both his internal and external energy.
But what on earth was this?
The moment he clashed swords with her, a shock like being struck by a thunderbolt was transmitted.
So much so that he thought it was a miracle his grip had not been torn apart.
Unlike him, who had flown through the air, Jeong-i was still standing in the spot where she had extended her sword.
Cheong Pyeong, who was skilled at overwhelming opponents with the power of his saber, knew all too well.
This result was something that should only occur when there was a difference of at least two or three stages in internal energy.
‘Don’t tell me… that Lady Jeong over there is stronger than my father?’
Cheong Pyeong, who was looking at Jeong-i with a bewildered expression, soon gritted his teeth.
It was an unbelievable and unwilling thing to believe.
Making a mockery of him yielding the first move, Cheong Pyeong kicked off the ground and soared up.
“Ke-ap!”
The sight of his large frame leaping into the sky was literally a spectacle.
Just the weight of his body alone felt like it could crush the person below.
Although Jeong-i seemed to weigh at least three times less, she only aimed her sword diagonally and showed no intention of evading.
It was a situation of a large rock falling toward a sunflower blooming in a field.
Soon, the two Sword Auras clashed above Jeong-i’s head.
BOOM!!!
The roar that had been heard a moment ago exploded once again.
And unbelievably…….
“H-how can that be!”
Cheong Pyeong rose into the air again.
His body, which looked to be over two hundred catties, was pushed up into the sky by Jeong-i’s sword.
At that astonishing scene, everyone present let their jaws drop to the floor.
“Heo…!”
The sight of Cheong Pyeong flapping his arms in mid-air to regain his posture was both comical and pitiful.
Jeong-i held her blade sideways and then struck the falling Cheong Pyeong’s chest with the flat of her sword.
POW!
“Kwaaaack!”
With a desperate scream, Cheong Pyeong’s body flew like a giant cannonball.
It was a result that had occurred in just three exchanges.
CRASH!
The seven-chi-tall giant rolled unsightly on the ground and fell out of the fighting stage.
Even the monk who was watching this raised one hand with wide eyes.
“Th-this match is Jeong-i’s victory!”
“………….”
Normally, a huge cheer would have erupted.
But because the result before their eyes was so unrealistic, no words came out instead.
The martial artists of the Diancang Sect had each won impressive victories so far, but this was the first time they had felt such a bewildering emotion.
Sabat, sabat.
With steps that contrasted with Cheong Pyeong’s, Jeong-i approached him.
Was she going to offer some words of encouragement to the loser?
But unfortunately, Jeong-i was a swordswoman of the Diancang Sect, and all the swordswomen of the Diancang Sect never forgave those who provoked them.
“You have to keep your promise, right?”
To Cheong Pyeong, who had not yet escaped from the abyss of defeat, Jeong-i was no longer a woman or a flower.
She was just a grim reaper who was overwhelmingly stronger than him.
That grim reaper was demanding from him in a clear voice.
The spoils of war that the loser had to provide.
“Give me the saber.”
“…………!”
Cheong Pyeong’s face contorted.
He felt a pain several times greater than the pain in his chest.
A scenario he had never once considered.
The scenario of giving away the saber gifted by his father had become a reality.
But since they had made a bet on the match and promised in front of numerous people, it was impossible to go back on it.
Cheong Pyeong had no choice but to hold out his saber.
“Here… it is.”
Jeong-i took the saber with her slender hand and tucked it under her arm.
Then she approached Cheong Pyeong and whispered in a gentle voice.
“I don’t date weak people.”
***
Some called it autumn wind and falling leaves, while others described it as the force of splitting bamboo.
But though the expressions were different, they were all words that described the rising stars of the Diancang Sect.
“You damn bastards!”
A swordsman thrust a quick sword, uttering words as fearsome as his face.
Yu Seon, the top prospect of the Zhongnan Sect who was facing him, was utterly baffled.
He found it difficult to understand the anger of the swordsman before him.
‘What kind of crazy bastard is this…!!’
Was he winning right now?
Absolutely not.
Had he provoked his opponent before the match?
That was not it either.
But then.
Why on earth was that hideous fellow so furious?
“Do you think I came here to see the extreme point, or to play house?!”
The swordsman, who was exceptionally ferocious.
Uma uttered such incomprehensible words and fiercely extended his sword.
Clang clang clang clang!
“Keuk…!”
Not only his swordsmanship but his internal energy was also extraordinary.
The Thirty-Six Swords Under Heaven that he had mastered was not enough to block the power of that mad dog.
But despite the one-sided situation, Uma’s anger burned even brighter, like a person trapped in a wildfire.
KANG!
In the end, Yu Seon lost his sword to Uma’s sharp strike.
It was an utterly one-sided defeat, where he had done nothing but defend the entire time.
“This match is the victory of Uma of the Diancang Sect!”
“Hmph, hmph.”
Even after hearing the declaration of victory, Uma spat on the ground once before leaving the fighting stage.
“Senior Brother. Congratulations.”
“Oh, right.”
Even to Solbo’s congratulations, Uma’s reaction was utterly indifferent.
Some might have perceived his attitude as rude and arrogant.
But Solbo knew.
The reason Uma had participated in this martial arts tournament was more for ‘what he wanted to see’ than for the results.
“Did you fail to find that Death-or-Life Extreme Point or whatever it is this time as well?”
“Death-or-Life Extreme Point? Are you trying to get someone killed?”
Uma glared at Solbo once before turning his gaze in one direction.
“They said he was the strongest guy in Zhongnan, but I couldn’t see even a hint of the extreme point.”
What Uma wanted to confirm.
It was the Life-or-Death Extreme Point.
He had expected it would not be easy, as the extreme point was something that could only be seen in a life-or-death battle.
But to think he had not seen it even once on his way to this point.
Had he become stronger, or were the rising stars of the other sects just morons?
Having won one-sided victories continuously, Uma was unable to be objective about himself.
Solbo gave an awkward smile to Uma, who was scowling fiercely.
“Relax your expression, Senior Brother. You still kept your promise, didn’t you?”
“Hmph. Who knows. Maybe that guy will be the one to be eliminated here.”
Ahead of the martial arts tournament, Biyoung and the rising stars of the Diancang Sect had made a promise.
All of them would advance to the Round of 16.
And in that final match stood Biyoung.
“You know he’s not the type to do that, Senior Brother.”
At Solbo’s words, Uma gave a bitter smile.
“That’s true.”
Uma and Solbo.
Jeong-i and Eung Gajin.
They had all kept their promise to Biyoung, and Biyoung had also lived up to expectations.
“This match is the victory of Biyoung of the Diancang Sect!”
“Phew!”
All five of them.
The Diancang Sect had accomplished the remarkable feat of placing all five of their names in the Round of 16 of the martial arts tournament.