Chapter 11

“What in the world is happening?”

“R-Right. No matter how you look at it……”

“They said the Blood Wolf of the Twin Wolf Iron Swords had already surpassed everyone of his generation, but perhaps those rumors were exaggerated as well.”

A disciple of the Taeul Sect was completely overwhelming the Iron Sword Sect’s greatest young talent.

Yet instead of praising the Taeul Sect, the crowd seemed more interested in mocking the Iron Sword Sect.

‘What utter nonsense.’

For centuries, the Taeul Sect had never appeared threatening in the slightest.

Changing Jianghu’s opinion of us would require far more than a single victory.

To buy the time needed for that change, I could not settle for merely crushing the Iron Sword Sect’s pride.

I had to destroy its reputation completely.

From now on, whenever the Iron Sword Sect so much as raised a finger against the Taeul Sect, people needed to think:

Look at those bastards. They are trying to swallow the Taeul Sect like some Black Path faction.

“Haa…… Haa……”

In that regard, everything was proceeding perfectly.

Seong Mo-hyeon had been reduced to a miserable state.

He had repeatedly been forced to use the humiliating Lazy Donkey Roll, and small wounds covered his body.

I, on the other hand, remained completely unharmed.

I did not have a single wound, nor was I even breathing heavily.

Anyone watching could see that I held an overwhelming advantage.

Even so, Seong Mo-hyeon could not bring himself to surrender.

‘I would not surrender either.’

Far too many people were watching.

Not only the members of the Iron Sword Sect, but seemingly every drunkard in Anhui had gathered around the training ground.

And to men who loved wine, what better side dish could there be than gossip about another man’s humiliation?

If Seong Mo-hyeon admitted defeat today, he would spend the rest of his life known as the man who could not even defeat a disciple of the Taeul Sect.

More importantly, he probably still did not believe he could lose.

Judging by how the duel had unfolded, I appeared to possess no sword art capable of breaking through the Mountain-Shattering Sword Art.

He should have been able to defeat me.

Yet for some reason, his internal energy kept breaking apart, preventing him from circulating it properly.

“Your foundation in internal cultivation seems rather weak.”

“Y-You bastard!”

Internal energy drawn from the dantian should flow continuously, like a stream running through a valley.

But the Blue Dragon Bracelet kept cutting off that flow.

As a result, Seong Mo-hyeon could not properly connect his techniques or draw out his full strength.

“You bastard…… What did you……”

“What are you talking about?”

“Could you possibly be……”

“You seem to have plenty of time for useless thoughts despite your lack of skill.”

Swish!

Shrrk!

My sword sliced through Seong Mo-hyeon’s hair.

Now looking like a disheveled beggar, Seong Mo-hyeon snorted furiously, barely holding back his rage.

“Does something feel strange?”

“Huu…… Huu……”

Even someone as foolish as Seong Mo-hyeon had begun to realize that something was wrong.

He abandoned his sword and attacked with a fist technique.

The moment I caught his hand, I activated the Blue Dragon Bracelet and drained away a large portion of his internal energy.

“Huuup!”

Certainty finally appeared in his eyes.

Seong Mo-hyeon recoiled as though he had seen a ghost, then shouted toward the raised platform.

“W-Witchcraft! He is using witchcraft!”

The moment those words left his mouth, the Iron Sword Sect’s warriors and the senior figures seated above sprang to their feet.

I ignored them.

Instead, I attacked Seong Mo-hyeon even more fiercely.

“Hiiik!”

A sound somewhere between a scream and a shriek escaped his mouth as he rolled across the ground.

The wounds covering his body continued to worsen. Tears, mucus, and despair were smeared across his face.

“Stop!”

At last, Seong Cheon-wol, the Sect Leader of the Iron Sword Sect, rose and roared.

His voice, filled with internal energy, thundered across the training ground.

Those with weak cultivation clutched their heads and staggered, as though their eardrums were about to burst.

“Haa…… Haa……”

Hearing his grandfather’s shout, Seong Mo-hyeon turned toward him with relief.

At that exact moment, I aimed the Minor Heaven Sword Art at his neck.

“Did you think it would end here?”

Swish!

The relief vanished from Seong Mo-hyeon’s face.

Before he could even use his footwork, he stumbled backward, desperately trying to escape the blade closing in on him.

But I was already one step ahead.

My sword swept diagonally across his back.

“Kraaagh!”

Blood sprayed through the air as a deep wound opened from his right shoulder to his left side.

Just as I prepared to carve another line across his back—

Seong Cheon-wol suddenly appeared and thrust out his palm.

Boom!

The force of the strike sent me flying two jang away.

‘Something has gone wrong.’

Seong Cheon-wol could feel it clearly.

Sometimes, a person could not explain exactly what had gone wrong, yet instinct warned them that the situation had already slipped beyond their control.

That was precisely how he felt now.

“The Taeul Sect’s swordsmanship is quite sharp.”

Jegal So-myeong’s quiet remark only deepened his unease.

The Taeul Sect’s swordsmanship was light and swift.

The Iron Sword Sect’s swordsmanship was heavy and powerful.

Because of the fundamental difference between their sword paths, the Taeul Sect’s techniques were naturally at a disadvantage.

For a swordsman of the Taeul Sect to overcome someone from the Iron Sword Sect, they would normally need far greater internal energy.

“That child also seems to possess considerable real combat experience.”

At Jegal So-myeong’s next remark, the fog in Seong Cheon-wol’s mind finally cleared.

When he examined Jin So-un’s skill objectively, shock struck him like a blow to the back of the head.

The boy’s ability to adapt surpassed that of most wandering warriors.

Even the simplest technique became something entirely different in his hands.

But by the time Seong Cheon-wol understood the true problem, it was already too late.

“Kraaagh……”

His precious grandson collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from his back.

Seong Cheon-wol no longer had time to think.

“You bastard! Did you not hear me tell you to stop?”

Despite being thrown two jang away, Jin So-un showed no intention of ending the duel.

He was already walking back toward them.

“Has the duel been decided?”

“How dare you!”

“Seong Mo-hyeon never admitted defeat. Had he surrendered properly, he would not have been injured.”

Did that justify drawing so much blood during a martial duel?

“And you believe you did nothing wrong?”

“He refused to accept his defeat, then insulted my victory by accusing me of using witchcraft.”

Jin So-un’s voice remained calm.

“After that, he turned his back and tried to flee. Had today not been your sixtieth-birthday banquet, I would have cut his throat instead of his back.”

“Shut your mouth!”

Seong Cheon-wol wanted to bury the accusation of witchcraft immediately.

Words such as witchcraft and forbidden art carried far too much weight to be spoken carelessly.

Unfortunately, the one who had shouted them was his own grandson.

“This one-sided humiliation disguised as a martial duel began because your grandson deliberately insulted the Taeul Sect.”

Jin So-un looked directly into his eyes.

“Do you still believe the Iron Sword Sect is in the right?”

“You bastard!”

Seong Cheon-wol’s robes swelled as internal energy surged around him.

He tried to crush the boy with sheer pressure and force him to retreat.

But Jin So-un did not falter.

Instead, as though he had been waiting for this exact moment, his eyes lit up and he stepped forward.

“So the Iron Sword Sect cannot even accept defeat in a fair duel.”

His voice carried clearly across the training ground.

“When one of its disciples loses, the Sect Leader personally interferes and ruins the match.”

The mood among the spectators slowly began to change.

“Do you understand now? The reason the Iron Sword Sect cannot join the One Hundred Eight Peaks is not because the system is unfair.”

Jin So-un pointed his sword at Seong Cheon-wol.

“The problem lies with the Iron Sword Sect itself.”

With every word, Seong Cheon-wol found himself trapped more deeply.

He could neither attack nor retreat without further damaging the sect’s reputation.

“Witchcraft!”

Seong Mo-hyeon suddenly shouted from the ground.

“I am certain he used witchcraft, Grandfather!”

Seong Cheon-wol wanted nothing more than to sew his grandson’s mouth shut.

“……Be quiet!”

“It is true! I felt it clearly. That bastard has learned the Great Star-Absorbing Art!”

Seong Cheon-wol stared at Seong Mo-hyeon in disbelief.

An accusation made in the heat of battle might be dismissed as desperate nonsense.

But publicly accusing someone of using a forbidden art before so many witnesses was entirely different.

The accuser would be required to prove the claim.

Worse, the Grand Strategist of the Murim Alliance and members of the Namgung Clan were both present.

Fortunately, neither Jegal So-myeong nor the Namgung representatives reacted.

For once, Seong Cheon-wol felt that the vast sums he had spent maintaining those connections had not gone to waste.

“Are you certain?”

“How else could I possibly have lost?”

“You fool……”

If Seong Mo-hyeon had invented this accusation merely to excuse his defeat, Seong Cheon-wol would never forgive him.

That would remain true even if punishing him endangered the Iron Sword Sect’s succession.

“Grandfather! I am Seong Mo-hyeon, the Blood Wolf Iron Sword. Since childhood, I have never lost to anyone of my generation in either martial arts or internal energy.”

He pointed toward Jin So-un.

“Do you truly believe someone like me could lose to a disciple of the Taeul Sect?”

Seong Mo-hyeon had certainly worked hard, but he had also received every advantage imaginable since childhood.

He had undergone Marrow Cleansing and Body Reformation and consumed countless spiritual medicines.

Even from an impartial point of view, he should not have lost to Jin So-un.

“Why would I make such an accusation without reason? During the duel, the flow of my internal energy kept breaking apart, and I felt my cultivation being drained away.”

Tears streamed down Seong Mo-hyeon’s face as he spoke with desperate certainty.

“I continued fighting only because I wanted to confirm it.”

“You are certain your energy circulation was disrupted?”

“Absolutely. Near the end, the internal energy I was circulating suddenly vanished from my body.”

His testimony turned the crowd’s suspicion back toward Jin So-un.

“If your accusation proves false……”

“I, Seong Mo-hyeon, disciple of the Iron Sword Sect, will willingly accept whatever punishment is appropriate.”

“Very well.”

Seong Cheon-wol chose to trust his grandson.

If the accusation proved true, he might be able to destroy the Taeul Sect by tomorrow.

Once the sect disappeared, the Iron Sword Sect could establish an affiliated martial hall in its territory, claim its position among the One Hundred Eight Peaks, and expand its influence throughout Hefei.

He turned toward Jin So-un.

“You heard him. I must examine your body.”

After considering the seriousness of the matter, the old man made the worst possible decision.

Some part of him must have desperately hoped that I had truly learned a forbidden art.

But I had no intention of allowing him to act so shamelessly.

“By what authority?”

“As a warrior who seeks peace in Jianghu, it is only natural that I investigate such a serious accusation.”

“Are you truly this desperate to corner the Taeul Sect?”

Seong Cheon-wol had made a mistake.

Anyone with even the slightest common sense would never use the Great Star-Absorbing Art before such a large crowd.

Doing so would be no different from asking everyone present to tear him apart.

“The Iron Sword Sect’s reputation extends beyond Hefei and throughout Anhui.”

I stared directly at him.

“Yet because you failed to enter the One Hundred Eight Peaks, you now intend to frame a small sect like the Taeul Sect as practitioners of forbidden arts?”

“Are you accusing my grandson of lying?”

“His reckless accusation has already stained both my name and the Taeul Sect’s honor. If we are proven innocent, how will you take responsibility?”

“……”

“Though our position may be modest, the Taeul Sect still holds one of the One Hundred Eight Peaks. Should I take this accusation as a challenge against the Murim Alliance itself?”

Since the Grand Strategist was present, I might as well drag the Murim Alliance into the matter.

“Silence! The longer you make excuses, the more suspicious you appear. Once I examine you and uncover the truth, I will summon the Murim Alliance’s Execution Pavilion and hold both you and the Taeul Sect responsible.”

The Iron Sword Sect Leader tried to distance himself from the consequences, but I seized the hem of his robe and refused to let him escape.

“I, Jin So-un, stake both my honor and the honor of the Taeul Sect upon this!”

My voice rang across the training ground.

“I will resist the Iron Sword Sect’s unreasonable tyranny to the very end!”

Instead of circulating my internal energy, I drew upon my innate true qi.

Heat surged into my face, and my robes swelled around me as though they might burst.

“This mad bastard……”

Seong Cheon-wol cursed beneath his breath, horrified by my willingness to risk mutual destruction.

I infused my voice with internal energy and shouted across the training ground.

“Hall Master! If I am crippled or killed here, do not allow anyone to touch my body until the Murim Alliance’s Execution Pavilion arrives!”

“Jin So-un!”

Father called out desperately.

“Father! This unfilial son may lose the body you gave him because he could not endure this humiliation.”

I continued without hesitation.

“But I am doing this for the Taeul Sect, which I cherish as much as my own life. Please forgive me!”

The moment I declared my resolve, an immense pressure descended upon the training ground.

Seong Cheon-wol and Seong Mo-hyeon stiffened beneath its weight.

I stepped toward Seong Cheon-wol without the slightest fear.

He unconsciously retreated three steps.

“Hmph! Do you think I will allow a disciple who has not even entered Swift Blossom Hall to throw away his life so recklessly?”

Kang Chae-seok stepped onto the training ground.

Hong Sa-ryeon and Father followed him.

“No father in this world would send his child to die before him.”

Jin Tae-san drew his sword.

“If blood must be spilled today, I will leave my bones here before my son does.”

The members of the Taeul Sect stood ready to face Seong Cheon-wol, even if it meant dying together.

“H-How dare you……”

Seong Cheon-wol trembled with fury.

Yet there was nothing he could do.

He possessed enough strength to sweep us aside, but if he did, the Iron Sword Sect could forget about entering the One Hundred Eight Peaks for the next hundred years.

With nowhere else to turn, Seong Cheon-wol looked desperately toward Jegal So-myeong.

The spectators followed his gaze.

Everyone understood that the Grand Strategist was the only person capable of resolving the situation.

“Enough.”

Jegal So-myeong rose from his seat.

His voice was not loud, yet it reached every corner of the training ground.

“Everyone, lower your swords.”

At his command, Seong Cheon-wol and Seong Mo-hyeon lowered their weapons.

The members of the Taeul Sect also sheathed their swords one by one.

“……?”

Jegal So-myeong looked at me in confusion.

“Why have you not sheathed your sword?”

I kept my gaze fixed on Seong Cheon-wol before slowly turning toward the Grand Strategist.

“Because I cannot trust the Grand Strategist of the Murim Alliance, who stood by and watched until the situation reached this point.”

I tightened my grip around my sword.

“I will not sheath it.”

“……!”

Everyone froze.

Those standing on the training ground, the spectators surrounding it, and even the guests watching from the distant halls stared at me in complete shock.