Lee Song-Baek frowned.
Regret? Did he just say regret?
'What a fearless child.'
Usually, Lee Song-Baek wasn't the sort of man to judge someone based on their age or status. But this young kid from Mount Hua seemed too self-indulgent.
'No matter how good he is.'
He isn't even old enough to understand just how significant the difference between his sect and the other sects is, yet he is out here speaking such things.
How could he hold his head high and say such shameless statements knowing that his sect was at the bottom?
'Let's stay strong.'
Lee Song-Baek sighed and continued.
"You're saying you agree to spar?"
"Yes."
A blunt but calm answer.
Lee Song-Baek opened his mouth and asked.
"What is your Taoist name?"
"Don't have one. I am Chung Myung."
"Chung Myung, Chung Myung it is."
He already knew it, but he still asked for his name.
"Look here, disciple Chung Myung. I'll give you a piece of advice. You may think that nothing is wrong with what you're doing, but the world's affairs aren't determined solely by one person. I suggest you return to Mount Hu—"
"Aren't we going to fight?"
Lee Song-Baek flinched.
Chung Myung yawned as if he was bored and then said.
"It seems like the Southern Edge sect fight with their mouths. Why did you say you wanted to fight, only to waste my time talking?"
"…"
Lee Song-Baek smiled.
'My discipline is lacking.'
Feeling the desire to destroy that wretched bastard soar.
"There's no need to rush. We will start now."
As Lee Song-Baek grabbed the sword, Go Hwi gently grabbed his sleeve.
"Sahyung. You intend to do this yourself?"
Lee Song-Baek looked back at him.
"You don't have to do it, Sahyung. I'll do it."
"No."
"Sahyung."
Lee Song-Baek answered with firm eyes.
"There is a minimum courtesy we must show to the opponent. I am the most mature of us here, so fighting against me won't be too shameful for that child."
In the end, Go Hwi sighed and stepped back.
'Anyway, Sahyung is too much.'
He was in a position to become a great disciple of the sect.
"The Southern Edge Sect's Lee Song-Baek wants to spar with Mount Hua's Chung Myung."
"Ah, wait a minute."
"… what now?"
Chung Myung titled his head as he looked at Go Hwi and said,
"Lend me your sword."
"…"
Go Hwi's eyes widened.
'Borrow my sword? How could a disciple from a once prestigious sect be like this?'
When entering a sect that teaches swordsmanship, the first thing one learns is to never let another person lay hands on their sword!
"Are you saying that disciples of your sect don't even carry their own swords?"
"Well, I am sorry for not expecting a fight."
"Mount Hua is…"
"Don't bother if you don't want to."
Chung Myung turned around.
"I'll check and see if there is anything, like a stick, worth using instead of a sword…."
Lee Song-Baek frowned.
"Lend him your sword."
"Sahyung!"
"Do you want people to say that disciples of the Southern Edge sect fought a disciple of Mount Hua when he didn't even have a proper sword?"
"…"
Go Hwi sighed deeply at Lee Song-Baek's words. Soon after, he took off the sword tied to his waist before throwing it to Chung Myung.
"Thanks."
Chung Myung took the sword, held it in one hand, and looked at Lee Song-Baek.
"Let's get started, shall we?"
"… won't you unsheathe it?"
"I am not planning on killing you or anything. It'll stay like this. You can unsheathe yours if you want too though."
Lee Song-Baek closed his eyes.
'Shit! Shit!'
The more he talked to this kid, the more it felt like all his years' worth of mental training was disappearing.
Lee Song-Baek closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and raised his sword.
Initially, he planned to just scare him off, but now he thought it wouldn't be enough. Aside from his personal feelings…
'Judging from the way he talks and the way he acts, he won't understand until he's been broken apart.'
Lee Song-Baek, who judged Chung Myung's character through the short conversation, was ready.
"Don't let your guard down."
"Yeah, yeah."
Chung Myung lifted the sheathed sword.
Seeing that, Lee Song-Baek frowned.
"You had better do it right. My hands are strong and fast. It will be too late to regret after you've been struck."
"Excuse me."
"Hm?"
Chung Myung sighed deeply and said,
"Hurry up, will you? What are we still standing around for? Come at me."
"… you!"
Anger deeply covered Lee Song-Baek's face.
"I'll change that attitude of yours!"
In the end, he threw away all the manners a Taoist had to have and flew towards Chung Myung.
Phat!
The clear and simple sword of the Southern Edge Sect.
Among the Ten Sects, each sect was famous for their swordsmanship or their Taoism with distinct characteristics of their own. The Wudang Sect's sword is known to be soft, Mount Hua is splendid, and the sword of the Southern Edge Sect was serious.
A heavy sword, excluding all changes and tricks, very much like the past, struck towards Chung Myung's neck.
Chung Myung slightly raised his sword and blocked the attack.
Kang!
The blade and sheathed blade collided, producing a sharp metallic sound.
"Tah!"
Lee Song-Baek swung his sword again, this time aiming for Chung Myung's flank.
Fast and strong. Even if there was time for a counterattack, no one would have the courage to counterattack due to the sword's immense force, which desired to split his waist in half.
Kang!
And again, Chung Myung lowered his sword to block the attack.
He hesitated.
Chun Myung, who couldn't handle the weight of the heavy sword, took a step back.
Lee Song-Baek noticed this slight hesitation and swung his sword to drive Chung Myung further into a corner.
"Whoa."
Go Hwi, who was watching the match, smiled leisurely.
"Sahyung seems quite angry. He doesn't seem to want to end this."
"Huh?"
"That kid just kept saying whatever he wanted and ended up pissing off Sahyung. Tsk tsk. You really need to judge who you can and can't afford to offend."
"Is Sahyung scolding that child now?"
"Yes. He can finish this match whenever he wants to, but can't you see that he's trying to hold back? I'm sure that kid must feel like shit right now just trying to survive Sahyung's onslaught."
As said, Chung Myung was constantly moving back and forth.
Looking at the sight unfolding in front of them, Wei Han-Su titled his head.
"Doesn't it seem like he's blocking a little too well, though?"
"That's the great thing about Sahyung. What would people say if Sahyung took down a child in an instant?"
"Ah…"
"He quickly grasped the child's limitations and pushed him with enough strength and speed to just barely continue blocking. He doesn't even need to hit him to teach him a lesson."
Go Hwi looked proud while saying that.
"Honestly, he doesn't need to go to such lengths to educate that kid. That kid should be thankful for this lesson. You too, stop doubting Sahyung."
"Yes!"
Go Hwi clicked his tongue.
'It's hard to believe that someone as gentle as Sahyung has gotten so angry. Well, anyone would get angry at that child's attitude. I just hope Sahyung doesn't get too excited.'
However, despite the thoughtful appreciation of the crowd, Lee Song-Baek, who was attacking, was giving it his all to beat Chung Myung.
Kang!
'Blocked again?'
It was strange.
It shouldn't have been blocked.
Contrary to what Go Hwi was saying about controlling his speed and strength, Lee Song-Baek was constantly accelerating.
'So why am I being blocked?'
Chung Myung's sword wasn't fast. It wasn't slow, but also not fast enough to make the opponent wary.
However, even with that, he could block Lee Song-Baek's sword.
That slow sword seemed to pre-emptively arrive and patiently await where Lee Song-Baek would strike.
'I haven't even thought about where I'm going to strike, but he's already there. What the hell is going on?'
Could he read sword movement?
No, he wasn't at that level.
There was no way a young disciple of Mount Hua could read swords, and even if he could, it would be impossible to do it in action.
To block his sword with that slow sword, it was as if he could read minds… no, even before Lee Song-Baek decided on a path, that kid was moving his sword.
How could such a thing be possible? Was he a ghost?
"Ahhh!"
Lee Song-Baek groaned as he swung his sword.
No matter how much he looked at the child, he judged that he couldn't be any older than fifteen years old. Considering his age, he should be around his younger brother's age. However, such a child blocked Lee Song-Baek's sword without any difficulty.
His sword was one of the most renowned within the Southern Edge Sect!
'Impossible!'
Lee Song-Baek's sword began to shine with qi.
Clearly, the spar began with only a little strength, but now he had unknowingly induced internal qi as his strength rapidly rose.
Swosh!
A strong gale gushed out from the sword.
Kang!
Lee Song-Baek's sword, which was lightly surrounded by internal qi, couldn't push away Chung Myung's sword.
Wall.
It seemed like a wall.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get through it. It felt like a wall made of hard steel.
"Eik!"
Lee Song-Baek swung his sword as hard as he could.
"Hyat!"
Seeing the wind fluttering around Lee Song-Baek's sword, Go Hwi screamed.
"Sahyung! Don't overdo it!"
Go Hwi's shrill voice echoed clearly in Lee Song-Baek's ears.
'Ah! What did I do!
Lee Song-Baek quickly called back his qi. The heavy internal energy dispersed from the blade as the momentum lowered, and what he swung was a barren sword that was merely a bit faster than normal.
However
Kwaang!
There was an explosion from out of the blue as Chung Myung's body shot back like an arrow in flight.
"Huh?"
He was stuck to the wall.
Slide!
Thud!
There were cracks spread like spiderwebs along the wall that Chung Myung struck. His body slowly slid down before settling on the floor.
"…"
Lee Song-Baek was in shock.
"Sahyung!"
Go Hwi ran to him in panic.
"What did you do?"
"Ah-No, I…"
Obviously, he recalled his qi from the final strike.
Even with all his might, he couldn't cause a scratch on Chung Myung. It made no sense for the child to be pushed back so much without the sword even striking him.
It was then.
"Ughhhh."
Chung Myung, who collapsed on the floor, convulsed, and suddenly began to spurt blood from his mouth like a fountain.
"Heeeiiikkkkk!"
"Uhhhhhh!"
Everyone was frightened and ran to Chung Myung. Only one person, Lee Song-Baek, stood rooted in place as the color drained from his face.
"Puaaah!"
Blood soared like a fountain rushing out.
Wow… who would imagine that blood could spurt out of a person's mouth like that.
Anyone with eyes would believe that Lee Song-Baek was at fault for this.
"Sahyung!"
"…"
Lee Song-Baek couldn't understand what was happening.
"Cough! Cough!"
Chung Myung's mouth was dripping with blood. He clearly appeared to be injured severely. It wouldn't be too strange even if he flopped over and drew his last breath.
Just when Lee Song-Baek managed to regain his senses and was about to run to Chung Myung.
"What the hell is going on here!?"
Everyone's eyes turned to the voice.
Lee Song-Baek had no choice but to tightly close his eyes with a grim expression.
With a face full of anger that he had never seen before, Hwang Jongi was glaring at him.