The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 258

The atmosphere during the martial arts tournament is usually very bright and lively.

It's a place where everyone can show off what they've been working on, and more importantly, it's one of the few group events in the Wudang Sect, which has almost none.

So, during the martial arts tournament, the food that comes out of the dining hall is much more delicious and nutritious than usual.

Of course, that doesn't mean meat comes out or anything, but you could say you can tell they've put in the effort.

'But the atmosphere is a little strange today.'

The atmosphere, which should normally be bustling, is somehow heavy today.

Should I say everyone is nervous?

There are no people enjoying the festive atmosphere, nor are there people trying to create a festive atmosphere.

I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but everyone is just calmly checking their martial arts.

I, who had also finished my meal simply, went to the tournament venue in advance and slowly warmed up.

The senior brothers I will be facing today are a total of eleven.

It would be safe to say that they are the eleven strongest among our senior brothers.

'I never expected all the senior brothers from our room to be included.'

Among those eleven, all four senior brothers from our room were included.

To be honest, I thought Senior Brother Un Cheol or Senior Brother Un Jeong could lift that rock, but it was a little surprising that Senior Brother Un Sik and Senior Brother Un Mi could also lift it.

They said they had trained incredibly hard while I was away, and they had become that strong at some point.

"Everyone, slowly gather over here. The tournament will begin soon."

As I was slowly warming up, I heard an elder calling us.

As if drawn by his words, all the senior brothers of our generation gathered in the middle of the training ground.

As is usual for a martial arts tournament, numerous chairs are laid out around the duel stage.

On one side, the elders, and on the other, the grand-elders are already seated and looking this way.

There are far more people observing the tournament than usual.

Usually, the grand-elders and elders are mostly people who are already actively engaged in martial world activities, so they are rarely in the Wudang Sect.

So, unless there is a reason to come to Wudang, they usually don't attend such a martial arts tournament, but I heard that for various reasons, they had adjusted their schedules to attend this tournament today.

'It's probably because of me.'

The rumor that I had won in a duel with my master had already spread among the elders and grand-elders.

If it weren't for this martial arts tournament, some elders would have already asked me to have a light match, but fortunately, my master had warned everyone not to disturb me so that I could concentrate on the tournament, so thankfully, no one bothered me.

"Since everyone is gathered, shall we begin?"

As I was having various thoughts on the duel stage for a moment, the Sect Leader went up to the platform and spoke.

Perhaps because his voice was imbued with a profound internal energy, even though he seemed to be speaking lightly, his voice was clearly imprinted in my ears.

Usually, the Sect Leader doesn't even bother with the martial arts tournament, and one of the grand-elders presides over it, but since the rules of this tournament are peculiar and the scale is much larger, it seems the Sect Leader is presiding over it himself.

"As you all know, the rules of this martial arts tournament are very different from usual. So we don't know how many duels will be held, nor how long it will take. Therefore, I will not make a long speech."

As the Sect Leader said, the number of duels to be held in this tournament is enormous compared to usual.

So, starting from today, the duels will continue until the sun sets.

Those who couldn't finish today will fight tomorrow, and if there is still not enough time, it is a method of continuing the duels for several days and nights until the last person fights.

"However, I will briefly mention the two most important things and then start the martial arts tournament right away. First, this tournament is a place to select the Five Swords of Wudang, who can be said to be the face of our Wudang Sect. Therefore, put your heart into each and every duel."

"Yes, I understand!"

As if by agreement, the sound that burst out in one voice resounded all around.

It was a scene where you could tell at a glance how much spirit the senior brothers had.

"And second. As I said before, although this martial arts tournament is an incredibly important tournament, there should be no major injuries because of it. As it is a duel with real swords, think of safety as just as important. Understand?"

"Yes, I understand!"

This time too, a resounding answer erupted.

The Sect Leader, as if he were pleased with our answers, smiled broadly.

"Then... let this martial arts tournament begin."

And with the declaration of the start of the tournament, he returned to his seat and sat down.

As if taking his place, the one who came up to the duel stage was Grand-elder Ok-gil.

The grand-elder told us to first return to our seats.

My senior brothers and I returned to our seats in an orderly manner, and Grand-elder Ok-gil called out the first people to duel.

"The first duel is Un Mi of Room Eight and Un-su of Room Four. Come up!"

Senior Brother Un Mi, who was sitting right to my left, immediately stood up from his seat as soon as he was called.

He didn't seem to have expected to be the first, and his face was very tense.

"Senior Brother. Don't be nervous, you can win just by showing your usual skills. Good luck."

"Uh-huh. Thank you."

Although he answered immediately, his nervousness was still palpable.

But I didn't have to worry about him for long.

Senior Brother Un Mi, while going to the duel stage, took a deep breath and shook off some of his tension, and then stood proudly on the duel stage.

'It's starting now.'

It was the official start of this martial arts tournament.

About half a day had passed since the tournament began.

During that time, nearly twenty duels had already been held, and the senior brothers from our room had also all dueled once and returned.

The senior brothers all won their duels, and not just won, but they all overwhelmed their opponents and returned.

In particular, the development of Senior Brother Un Sik or Senior Brother Un Mi is dazzling.

I never imagined they would become this strong, but now they have reached a level where they probably won't die from being stabbed absurdly even if they go outside the Wudang Sect.

'Well. That's why they lifted that rock.'

Among the people who have fought against the senior brothers so far, there is no one who has earned the right to duel with me, so of course, our senior brothers' martial arts must be considered more outstanding.

And I still haven't had a single duel.

I seemed to roughly know the reason.

'Although I will duel with eleven people, they are not going to make me fight eleven times in a row. Since I am human, if I fight continuously, my stamina will inevitably drop, and then the person who fights later will have an advantage.'

To be honest, I wanted to say that I have that much stamina, but today, I decided to quietly follow the rules of the Wudang Sect.

It seems they have designated the duel order one by one to have a fair martial arts tournament for everyone as much as possible, and although I don't know who did it, it must have taken a tremendous amount of effort.

"The winner of this duel is Un-gok of Room Six! The next duelists are Un Jo of Room Ten and Un Jihak of Room Eight."

At that time, at the voice coming from the duel stage, my gaze went there without me realizing it.

Senior Brother Un Jo and Senior Brother Un Jihak.

Both of them are senior brothers who have succeeded in lifting the rock and are awaiting a duel with me.

There have been times when one side was a senior brother who had lifted the rock, but since this is the first time that people who will fight me are facing each other, I was even more interested.

'Senior Brother Un Jo. Senior Brother Un Jihak... they have both become stronger on a different level from the time of the Taoist-Buddhist Great War.'

If before they felt like baby tigers who hadn't properly learned how to show their claws, now they feel like tigers that have grown to some extent.

I, focusing my internal energy on my eyes and ears, began to look at the duel stage.

Then, it began to look and sound as if the duel were unfolding right in front of my eyes.

"Un Jo. You've become much stronger."

"I think the same can be said for you, Senior Brother Jihak. Ah! You haven't gotten stronger, but you're just not hiding the strength you were hiding and are now revealing it?"

"Huhu. How long are you going to keep talking about that? Now I don't even have the strength to hide it even if I wanted to. Because there's a child who I feel I can never catch up to unless I follow with all my might."

"Are you talking about Unhwi? I feel a similar but slightly different emotion. That I can never catch up even if I follow with all my might."

At Senior Brother Un Jo's honest words, Senior Brother Un Jihak smiled broadly.

"Well. No matter how hard I run, Unhwi will run ahead at an even faster speed."

"Well. That's true, but I don't feel bad or jealous. You have to be a comparable opponent to even have such thoughts... isn't he a completely different existence from the beginning?"

"I didn't think you would say such weak words, Un Jo."

"It's not weak words, I just stated the facts."

"Yes. I understand well what your honest feelings are. But now, isn't it time to focus on our duel?"

Un Jo, who had noticed that Un Jihak was now wanting to have a conversation of swords instead of idle chat, also smiled brightly and said, "Alright, Senior Brother."

"Huh?"

"One of the spots in the Five Swords of Wudang is mine. I won't go easy on you in this duel either."

"Yes. Please do."

The moment their conversation ended, Grand-elder Ok-gil announced the start of the duel.

The two of them drew their swords and faced each other.

From my distant view, their skills were evenly matched.

It's a situation where it's hard to pinpoint who is better.

A situation where it's hard to judge by their internal energy or the achievement of their martial arts.

In times like this, what determines victory or defeat is sense.

So, this battle between the two is a good opportunity to see who has a better combat sense.

'To the tomb of the Meteor King... I should take someone with good sense rather than just a strong person.'

That place was said to be full of all sorts of formations and traps.

If one's martial arts were ridiculously outstanding, one could just remove all the traps with force and go, but since it's clear that they don't have that much power yet, a person with the sense and improvisation to get through the traps is needed.

This martial arts tournament is also a place to select the Five Swords of Wudang of the Wudang Sect, but personally, it is also a place to select the personnel to take to the tomb of the Meteor King.

At the sharp metallic sound, my mind snapped back, and I began to focus on the duel stage again.

The person who is pouring out the offensive is Senior Brother Un Jo.

Since my senior brother originally had an aggressive disposition, he continuously swung his sword and pressed Senior Brother Un Jihak.

The martial arts he performs are also very diverse.

He elegantly mixes the forms of the Seven Star Sword Art, the Nine Palaces Sword Art, and the Flowing Cloud Sword Art, and chooses and performs the best form that can be performed immediately in that situation.

A situation that truly fits the description of a sensory battle.

In contrast, Senior Brother Un Jihak seems to be reminiscent of a sturdy mountain.

Because he is silently receiving Senior Brother Un Jo's sword based on the Taeguk Sword Art.

At a glance, it seems that Senior Brother Un Jo is much more advantageous.

Because he has been continuing the offensive since the duel began.

'But in a situation like this, it's actually the attacker who gets more anxious.'

Literally, Senior Brother Un Jihak, although he retreated a little, did not allow a single attack and his posture did not collapse.

'Was Senior Brother Un Jihak's dueling style originally like that?'

Thinking about it, it seems that Senior Brother Un Jihak did not originally fight like that.

It seems he used a fighting style that subdued the opponent by performing martial arts first with a more aggressive feeling...

'Ah... no way?'

A thought flashed through my mind.

Instead of sticking to his own fighting style, could it be that he was doing his best to match Senior Brother Un Jo's style?

If that is true... it means that the one with the more innate combat sense between the two is Senior Brother Un Jihak.

I began to look at Senior Brother Un Jihak a little more carefully.

(End of Chapter)