The Genius Youngest Disciple of the Wudang Sect

Chapter 57

Paat—!

As I kicked the ground with all my might, energy burst out from the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of my foot as if there had been an explosion, and at the same time, I unfolded the Flowing Cloud Footwork that was now completely familiar to my body.

As I was being shot at the men in black as if I were an arrow, I first checked their numbers.

'Fifteen men.'

Thanks to my dynamic visual acuity that had reached its limit, I was able to confirm how many of them there were even in that situation.

And my senior brothers, who were standing back to back, were bleeding from large and small wounds here and there, but fortunately, it didn't seem to be a fatal wound.

'All four of them are safe. Is that a relief?'

Although I tend to be a little harsh on them usually, to be frank, my senior brothers' skills are at a level where they wouldn't fall behind anywhere in the martial world right now.

But the fact that they were pushed back like that means that their martial arts skills are quite considerable.

Fifteen mysterious men and four senior brothers.

The moment a total of nineteen pairs of eyes looked at me all at once.

Sreung! Boong!

I immediately swung my sword at the mysterious man closest to my senior brothers.

Pakang!

The swords clashed, and sparks flew.

The man, perhaps surprised by the unexpectedly strong power of my sword, was pushed back greatly.

In that gap, I minimized the rebound of my sword and flowed like water, throwing myself towards my senior brothers.

"Senior Brothers. What is this?!"

"I don't know exactly either. We ran into them while hunting, and they attacked us."

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Everyone has small cuts, but fortunately, no one is seriously injured."

Senior Brother Uncheol quickly and concisely explained the current situation.

I looked at the mysterious man I had just clashed swords with and said, "I don't know who you are, but we are disciples of Wudang. I don't know what misunderstanding there is, but it's a big mistake to mess with an orthodox sect."

"Wudang?"

He, perhaps because his wrist was tingling from my sword, spun his wrist and then answered with wide eyes.

I thought they were bandits who were trying to rob us without knowing that we were disciples of Wudang.

"So, if you go back now..."

"As expected, we found you well."

"What did you say?"

"We also have eyes, so we can recognize that much. You're wearing such flashy Taoist robes."

"You mean you attacked us even though you knew we were disciples of Wudang?"

"Of course."

Although I can't see it properly because it's covered by a mask, his mouth is twitching, so he must be smiling.

I quickly racked my brain.

The opponent knows who we are. That means, in the end, that someone sent them to kill us.

"Who sent you?"

"What?"

"There must be a client, right? Looking at the way you hold your sword and the way you walk, it doesn't seem like you've learned proper orthodox martial arts, so you seem to be from an Unorthodox Faction. You wouldn't mess with Wudang Sect disciples just to become a public enemy of the martial world, so in the end, the only motive must be money, right?"

"This bastard...?!"

I pretended to be a little scared and looked around and said, "Although you're pretending to be fine now, your skills seem considerable, and your numbers are much greater than ours. We're going to die anyway, so wouldn't it be less unfair to know who we're dying because of?"

"Hehehe. You know you're going to die now."

"So who is it? The person who ordered you to kill us?"

For a moment, a few people flashed through my mind.

Among them, the most likely are the merchant guilds in Hubei Province.

They must have obtained the information that the Wudang Sect had decided to sponsor the Eungnam Merchant Guild, and they are trying to interfere in the middle.

"That... I can't tell you. Because there's always a 'what if'."

"Well. I thought so. I just asked just in case. You're not as stupid as I thought."

"What did you say? You're about to die!"

The man frowned at me as if he was about to jump at me at any moment.

He was gripping his sword so tightly that the tendons in his hand were about to pop out.

But that's the problem.

The fact that his hand, which is holding the sword, has strength to the point where the tendons are popping out is the problem itself.

'His internal energy seems to be quite a lot, but his basics are a mess. With that kind of grip, he won't be able to transmit his power properly.'

The reason I kept talking and dragging out the time was to grasp the skills of the mysterious men.

Fortunately, the man who seemed to be the leader matched my pace well, so I was able to secure enough time.

'The individual skills are not that outstanding. If we don't make any big mistakes, we can win.'

And there was another reason why I dragged out the time.

'My senior brothers' breathing has become much calmer. It was their first time fighting people, so they were very excited.'

When I first stood next to my senior brothers, the first thing I noticed was that everyone's breathing, except for Senior Brother Uncheol, was too loud and irregular.

I guessed that that irregular breathing was not simply because they were tired.

I don't know how long it's been since they started fighting them, but it doesn't make sense for our senior brothers' stamina to be lacking when they are so relaxed.

My pride won't allow them to get tired before the enemies, considering how much I've pushed them.

"Everyone is doing well. Take a deep breath, and don't get excited anymore. I'm here. You can only survive any fight if you're calm."

My senior brothers all nodded their heads in unison, but very slightly.

Although I've done many things well so far, if I had to pick one thing I did best, it would be that I had gained the absolute trust of my senior brothers.

That trust comes not only from my martial arts, but also from our bond, so it will exert great power in a situation like this.

"I've taken a rough look now, but there's not a single person who can properly block my senior brothers' swords."

No, actually there is one.

Although the leader lacks basics, it seems he has the potential to push through ignorantly with a lot of internal energy.

But I didn't care and continued to speak. Because I'll be taking care of that guy anyway.

"You must never hesitate at the last moment. If you've drawn your sword and come out to the martial world, you would have experienced something like this at some point. Originally, I was planning to practice by killing animals first... but it's a real battle right away. Keep in mind. Never hesitate. If you hesitate, it will be you senior brothers who die."

I was almost out of breath at the end because I was speaking so fast, but I barely finished my words.

Since I had put a lot of my internal energy into my voice and spoken directly into my senior brothers' minds so that the enemies couldn't hear, it must have been clearly engraved in their heads.

"What are you chattering about so much! What are you all doing! Didn't we go easy on them until now because we had to find where one of them was? Now that all five of them are gathered as we heard, why aren't you killing them quickly!"

"Yes! Captain!"

At the leader's shout, the mysterious men began to move in perfect unison.

The enemies, perhaps having practiced their coordination, each found their own positions and then took a stance as if they were about to rush at us at any moment.

"You must never use the Soft Cloud Sword Art now. If you deflect the opponent's attack once, you'll be caught in a blind spot. Counterattack honestly with the Seven Star Sword. So that the opponent can retreat."

Although it was a short statement, my senior brothers all had expressions of understanding.

It seems the hard training I usually put them through is paying off.

"Charge!"

Paat!

At the leader's shout, the fifteen mysterious men rushed at us all at once.

I jumped forward at a slightly faster speed than they were coming and rushed towards the leader.

'First, the head.'

There's a rule in fighting.

If you break the head first, it's as good as winning half the battle.

And looking at them now, it seems to be a system where one person is commanding the other fourteen without any middle management.

Then the confusion that comes when the leader is eliminated will be even greater.

Kwoong!

As I stomped my foot hard, a heavy echo and a hot energy erupted from my Yongquan acupoint.

When I stepped on the footwork, adding a generous amount of the pure internal energy I had gathered so far to the Seven Star Footwork I had learned from Wudang, I was thrown forward at a speed I couldn't even handle myself.

Since I couldn't even control myself, it was a matter of course that the opponent couldn't see me.

Kwaang!!

I body-slammed the leader with the same speed I had used to step on the footwork.

"Keuk, keol-leok!"

The leader flew back, hit his back against a tree, and coughed up some blood.

It seemed he had suffered an internal injury from hitting his back squarely.

'Still a long way to go.'

But to be honest, I'm not happy with this situation.

My original intention was to go to the exact distance and cut off the leader's head at once, but I made a mistake because I couldn't control my speed.

"Captain!"

Sa-sak, sa-sa-sak!

In an instant, a few masked men blocked his front.

This time too, in order not to give the enemies time to think, I rolled my feet again and rushed at the three of them.

The enemies couldn't grasp my movements accurately and swung their swords randomly.

If I had rushed at them with the same speed as before, I would have been cut by those blind slashes, but I don't make the same mistake twice.

Tak, hwi-ri-rik!

At the very distance where their swinging swords would just about reach, I kicked the ground again and jumped up, spinning.

Because I had suddenly soared up with the same speed I was running at, they must have lost me from their sight.

Spinning in the air and continuing to move forward, I reached the tree where the leader was just barely getting up, and then I thrust my sword.

Pook!

"Keok...!"

The man looked at me with eyes that said he couldn't understand what had just happened, and then collapsed to the ground.

He had died from a single sword strike.

"Huh...?"

"Captain...?"

For a moment, silence fell on the battlefield. All eyes are on me.

Both enemies and allies have expressions that say they can't understand how the situation is flowing.

I deliberately ignored the enemies and shouted at my senior brothers with a frown.

"Aren't you going to get a grip?!"

"......!"

Seo-geok—! Chwa-ak!!

The one who reacted first to my words was, as expected, Senior Brother Uncheol.

My senior brother, barely holding onto his sanity that had momentarily left him, swung his sword down from top to bottom at the closest man and cut him down.

A clean Nine Palaces Sword. Whoever taught him, his basics are very solid.

"Eu, eu-ah-ak!"

And then, as I had thought, chaos unfolded.

The mysterious men, who had lost their leader, were flustered and couldn't fight properly.

Although a few of them drew their swords and fought back, they were no match for my senior brothers who had come to their senses.

As a few more shed hot blood and fell to the ground, the enemies began to flee in all directions.

As the enemies began to scatter in all directions, my senior brothers were hesitating, unable to decide whether to chase them or not.

I first followed the closest one among those who were fleeing and struck the back of his neck hard with my scabbard.

The opponent, of course, rolled his eyes back and fainted in one blow.

"Senior Brothers, don't chase. Stop."

At my words, my senior brothers finally stopped moving.

None of them were not covered in blood.

There's a knack to stabbing and cutting people.

Through countless battles, you learn how to make the opponent's blood spatter less, and how to kill people more efficiently.

'Although I don't know if that can be called a good thing.'

In terms of being able to survive in the martial world, it can be seen as good.

My senior brothers are now quietly resting, just breathing heavily.

The fact that a martial artist who has trained quite a bit is breathing so heavily means that there is a problem with their mental state, not their body.

Their eyes are all bloodshot.

They can't come to their senses from their first fight, first blood, and first kill.

"Everyone, let go of your swords. It's over now."

Fortunately, none of our senior brothers were hurt.

By now, my senior brothers must have realized once again.

What effect the usual deadly training has in a real battle.

"Everyone fought on their own and protected their own lives. I think you now know why I pushed you senior brothers so hard usually. This is the martial world, and this is just the first fight."

Thud—

Senior Brother Uncheol, who seemed to have the strongest will among them, suddenly knelt on one knee and his body collapsed.

He had finally realized what he had just done.

"Don't think too deeply. Because you just survived."

At my words, Senior Brother Uncheol's expression became a little more relaxed, as if he had been comforted.

I thought it was a good thing that I had swallowed the words 'you survived because you killed someone' before the words 'you survived'.

(End of Chapter)