The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 141 : An Ill-fitting Suit (4)

As soon as the Soul-Stealing Flash collided and was offset, Jang So-gil immediately prepared his next move.

For one who had achieved the Three Flowers Gathering at the Summit, the meridians of the lower, middle, and upper dantians were connected and became one. Thus, the martial artist's will became an 'idea'.

Jang So-gil's idea to cut created a sword qi. The bluish sword qi contained cold qi and a little lightning.

To block a strong qi, one had to receive it with an equally strong qi. The reason why strong qi was considered a symbol of a master was here.

But Baek Yugyeong had a hunch that he could not block that sword qi head-on.

'The difference in weapons is too great. If I try to block it, I'll be cut in two even if I wrap myself in sword qi.'

Flexibility overcomes rigidity; he had to let it flow.

His judgment from experience and his momentary wit shone. Baek Yugyeong wrapped his steel sword in strong qi and deflected Jang So-gil's sword.

With their fluttering clothes, the two spun around.

If they fought with strength, Jang So-gil would be at an advantage. His internal energy was higher, and his weapon was better. For Baek Yugyeong, he had to solve it with a fight of skill rather than a fight of strength.

There was no fight where experience mattered more than a close-quarters battle. Baek Yugyeong, who had extended his leg between the rotations, delivered a kick that had once killed a giant polar bear in one blow.

The leg, wrapped in cold qi by applying the 'Permafrost' from the forms of the Soul-Stealing Ice Art, would leave a coldness of ice even if it was blocked or dodged, creating a sense of incongruity in the body.

But Jang So-gil, also using the Permafrost, kicked back and offset it. And then he once again swung the White Azure Divine Sword wrapped in strong qi.

Baek Yugyeong once again deflected that sword. The clothes of the two were sucked in like a whirlpool in a spiral.

White lights burst out in succession. Baek Yugyeong, who had judged that it was not the time to spare his skills, used the secret techniques of the Soul-Stealing Ice Art, which he did not usually use, and continued his attack without giving him a moment to breathe.

A snowstorm blew, and a cold wave attacked. Sword qi and sword qi, fist qi and fist qi. Finger wind and finger wind were intricately intertwined.

A large hemispherical curtain spread out, centered on the place where the two were entangled and fighting.

Everything inside the curtain was frozen solid. The trees froze and burst, and the grass crumbled.

Occasionally, a sword wave or an ice art would break through the curtain and rush in. An unlucky hawk that had been circling the sky was hit by a strong qi and died.

The weak sparrows could not withstand the cold and fell in droves. Even a tiger, afraid of being caught up in the fight between the two, turned its steps deep into the mountains.

The two, after exchanging over a hundred moves in an instant, were pushed back in opposite directions.

Breaking through the curtain of cold qi, he scraped the ground with one foot and was pushed back four 'jang'.

Jang So-gil, who had put down the leg he had raised, let out a long breath. It was a particularly long, white breath.

Baek Yugyeong, on the opposite side, also let out a long breath.

It was truly a sophisticated exchange. Jang So-gil admired his own achievement.

Although Baek Yugyeong's level was not as good as Ha Hu-yeong, whom he had recently faced, he was slightly above Man Bakja, whom he had confronted before.

Man Bakja was a master whom the Jang So-gil of that time could not even touch. And now he was on equal footing with an opponent of that level.

This exchange of over a hundred moves had many meanings.

'This fellow, he's strong.'

Baek Yugyeong could judge instinctively and come up with the optimal move on the spot.

The knack of instinctively choosing the correct answer from the options in a battle. Martial artists called this beast-like sense, including all of it, 'o-seong'. It was a talent that Yang Gwan or Song Baek had, but Jang So-gil could not have.

So during a battle, he had to consider dozens, hundreds of times to decide his next move. Although the fatigue of the body might be similar to the opponent's, the fatigue that the mind felt was different.

But even though a heavy fatigue was pressing down on his shoulders, Jang So-gil couldn't help but smile.

Baek Yugyeong, looking at Jang So-gil's faint smile, gritted his teeth.

'This fellow, what kind of mirror is he?'

He was skilled at seeing and copying the opponent's means while fighting.

Martial arts was a field of self-expression where one used one's own body as an instrument. Even if they had learned the same martial art, habits and quirks would differ depending on the person.

But Jang So-gil had no ingrained habits at all, and just moved for the optimal answer. If he thought that the movement of the sample named Baek Yugyeong in front of him was the correct answer, he would follow it without hesitation.

The result was excessively good.

When they had exchanged about ten moves, Baek Yugyeong was clearly superior. Jang So-gil was in a desperate situation, busy just protecting his own neck.

But by the time they had passed fifty moves, Baek Yugyeong was only slightly superior, and from the time they began to pass a hundred moves, they were on equal footing.

"You, your way of fighting is really unpleasant."

Jang So-gil's specialty of dissecting his opponent and making it his own experience was being displayed without reservation. Baek Yugyeong, at that unpleasant feeling that the master of the Four Black Alliance, the Dark Cloud Guest, had once felt, clicked his tongue.

Although he had not even considered a draw in a close-quarters battle, that was the result now.

A perfect draw where neither side had even a scratch.

Jang So-gil, who had taken out a comb in front of the frowning Baek Yugyeong, swept up his hair.

"Thanks for the compliment. There's nothing better to hear than an enemy's complaint."

"Damn it... it's annoying. Cut it out."

"I don't want to. I'm going to keep following you."

Jang So-gil grinned. There was no reason he had to listen to the words to cut it out.

He was a body that had just achieved the Three Flowers Gathering at the Summit. Since he had risen to this realm in one go from the entry level of a peak master, he lacked experience. He didn't even know how to fight to fight like a transcendent master.

But Baek Yugyeong had appeared before his eyes.

A transcendent master who had achieved the Three Flowers Gathering at the Summit like himself. Looking at that martial prowess that did not match his age, he was undoubtedly the Young Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace.

Now that the Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace was dead, it was only natural that Baek Yugyeong, the legitimate successor of the Soul-Stealing Ice Art, was the best person in the world at using the ice art.

Each and every one of his actions was worth imitating. If he followed him, he would at least be in the middle.

So, during the battle, improved the actions he had imitated in his own way and returned them as the best answer. Then that generous tree named Baek Yugyeong would return a better answer in response to the answer that Jang So-gil had returned.

The chain of forms that continued endlessly, tail to tail. Its end was explosive growth.

The experience of over a hundred moves gained in a brief exchange was making Jang So-gil grow at an enormous speed. The ill-fitting suit of a transcendent master, which he had suddenly obtained, was gradually becoming plausible.

One end that could be achieved with the Soul-Stealing Ice Art. By seeing that end and following it, he himself became that realm.

He saw with his eyes, understood with his head, and practiced with his body.

Since he had the eyes to see, the head to imagine, and the body to execute, it was truly a pleasure, a peak of amusement.

Fatigue was quickly forgotten in the fun and excitement. Jang So-gil, with a face that was shining from sweat and invigorated from the circulating blood, smiled. He looked genuinely happy.

But on the contrary, Baek Yugyeong was struggling with a sense of doubt.

'This, isn't this just doing a good thing for that fellow...?'

A fight between a martial artist and a martial artist made each other grow. So many martial artists looked for a worthy opponent and enjoyed a life-and-death battle.

But this was not it. This was exploitation.

Only that fellow was growing, and Baek Yugyeong was not growing at all.

Because there was nothing to learn from that fellow, only his own resources were being depleted one-sidedly.

'If I had to say, the sword art is really attractive enough to want to learn...'

It was different from the Soul-Stealing Ice Art, where both sides knew the incantations and the forms.

The Sun-Shooting Sword Art was the sword art of the sect leader of the Diancang Sect. It was a sword art that currently only Jang So-gil was learning.

It would be good if he could grasp the opponent's sword and steal and learn it while fighting, but that was impossible for anyone in the current martial world. So there was nothing to gain.

Baek Yugyeong's fighting spirit was gradually fading. Then Jang So-gil sneered.

"Why? Isn't this a fight you started? You started a fight as you pleased, and now you don't feel like it?"

"Damn it. There's not a single thing I like about this fellow. Yes, I don't feel like it."

He had never thought that a fight would be established like this in the first place. And for good reason, even if he believed the words of the people of the world, the martial arts level of the inspector of the Martial Alliance who had the White Azure Divine Sword was at the level of a peak master.

Since rumors were originally half lies. Even if he assumed the most, he had only thought that he would be a peak master as the rumors said, but when he actually fought, what was this? He was not a peak master, but a transcendent master.

A transcendent master with more than one sixty-year cycle of internal energy even had a divine artifact. His meager experience was more than made up for by his overwhelming observation skills and understanding.

If it went on like this, a future where he would be completely broke, let alone victory, was all that was drawn.

'This isn't it...'

He had thought that he could kill that fellow, take the White Azure Divine Sword, kill the fellow next to him, and then run away to the North Sea.

The reason his hand had gone out immediately was because he was used to that kind of action. Although it could be said to be rash, in fact, Baek Yugyeong had rarely failed to solve things with violence until now.

The Central Plains was too wide, and the government did not care about trivial disputes. Until he had met Master Zhongli, Baek Yugyeong had never been in any particular trouble while acting like that.

But as the heat that had risen to his head at the sight of the divine artifact subsided, he felt that this matter was a rather rash action even for himself.

The favor of the Martial Alliance Leader for the inspector was special. Even if he had cleanly dealt with the fellow and left, he would have chased him by any means. Since Master Zhongli knew his whereabouts, there was no way he wouldn't be caught.

What would happen if the enraged Thunder and Lightning Sword Emperor arrived in the North Sea? At that time, nothing but ice would be left in the North Sea Ice Palace.

There was no benefit in fighting that fellow any more.

The moment the burning fighting spirit cooled down. Instead, the feeling of being annoyed, the feeling of not wanting to do anything more that would benefit the hateful fellow, rose up and filled that place.

'Let's bounce.'

Baek Yugyeong stealthily pulled back his foot.

And Jang So-gil stepped forward that much.

"Where do you think you're running off to?"

"..."

"Do you think I'll let you go?"

A hungry beast does not back down in front of delicious prey. Jang So-gil's feelings were like that now.

He had no intention of backing down in front of the lump of meat called Baek Yugyeong. If he ran away, he would follow him as he ran away and start a fight.

Baek Yugyeong, who had felt that aura and had become troubled, let out a long sigh.

"Let's end it here."

"I don't want to."

"If you let me go, I'll give you all the information I've gathered."

"What information?"

"The information on the Maoshan Sect. Didn't you come to investigate too?"

The only reason the inspector of the Martial Alliance would come to a rural corner like this was the Maoshan Sect.

Perhaps Master Zhongli had also told him to hand over the information on the Maoshan Sect to the inspector.

Baek Yugyeong's guess was right. Jang So-gil's purpose was clearly the Maoshan Sect.

But he had seen the person wrongly.

Jang So-gil spat with a 'twet'.

"I need it, but I don't need it."

"Ek..."

"I can get that kind of information too. Why? Because I'm competent. You got that information, so there's no way I can't get it."

That sight of him saying that with his eyes raised arrogantly. Baek Yugyeong, for a moment, sincerely thought he was unlucky.

But it was true. The most competent investigator and inspector in the current martial world was Jang So-gil.

Jang So-gil, with a spooky smile on his lips, took a big step forward.

"What I can't get is not information, but you. A master of the same level as me who has learned the Soul-Stealing Ice Art to the extreme, there's no one else in the world but you, right? It's something only you can do, right?"

Merchants say. You have to be able to squeeze properly at the moment you have to squeeze to be a true merchant.

And Jang So-gil had a knack for reading the opponent's difficult situation like a ghost.

"Hey, pick up your sword. Let's fight."

Baek Yugyeong, who was often treated as a fighting dog because he would go looking for a fight as if he were crazy about it. Such a Baek Yugyeong, for the first time in his life, thought that he did not want to fight.

But there was no way to avoid the fight.

It was a long time after that that he was released after being squeezed until his resources were all revealed.

(End of Chapter)