Chapter v14c22

“A problem has arisen.”

The incident was inevitable. The organizers had anticipated it. The only question was who would trigger it, when, and where.

Clang! Crash! Bang!

The commotion outside was deafening.

“What’s all that noise?”

It was early morning, before breakfast. Bi Ryu-yeon, who usually enjoyed sleeping in, was feeling a little grumpy.

“There’s a fight!”

Someone shouted, running into the room. He was a Heavenly Demons Pavilion disciple, his face unfamiliar. His voice was filled with glee.

“It’s the women!”

“It’s a big one!”

Bits and pieces of information were relayed from person to person.

‘It’s finally happening!’

Bi Ryu-yeon wasn’t surprised. It was bound to happen. They couldn’t possibly coexist peacefully. The only question was which side would strike first, the men or the women.

‘I need to see this for myself!’

He thought seriously.

He needed to confirm his prediction. It wasn’t out of mere curiosity, of course. It was a sense of duty, he told himself. What a convenient excuse!

He couldn’t resist the allure of a good fight, especially a catfight.

The fight was more intense than he had expected. The women were skilled, their movements swift and fluid, worthy of their reputations as promising young martial artists.

Punches, kicks, strikes, grapples… They exchanged blows relentlessly.

But it was a one-sided fight. The woman in green was pushing the woman in blue back, her attacks relentless. The woman in blue tried to counterattack, but her efforts were futile. With every blocked attack, another wrinkle appeared on her forehead. She was clearly outmatched.

The air crackled with energy as the woman in green unleashed a barrage of palm strikes. The force behind her attacks was incredible, far beyond what one would expect from a woman.

“Tsk, tsk, she picked the wrong opponent!”

Jang Hong said, shaking his head. He had followed Bi Ryu-yeon, eager to witness the fight. He had even dragged Hyo-ryong along.

“I agree!”

Bi Ryu-yeon nodded. He knew how short-tempered the woman in green was. He had experienced it firsthand. He had brushed it off, but not everyone could.

He watched the woman in green, her movements a blur, her attacks overwhelming her opponent.

‘Ma Ha-ryeong, the Iron Orchid!’

She was the daughter of Ma Jin-ga, the Iron Fist, the leader of the Cheonmu Academy, and the leader of the Gun ung hoe, one of the two main factions within the Cheonmu Academy. The leader of the Gun ung hoe wasn’t a position that could be inherited or appointed. It had to be earned.

And Yong Cheon-myeong, the leader of the other faction, the Gu Jeong Hoe, was a prodigy, hailed as the “Treasure of Shaolin” by the abbot of the Shaolin Temple himself. He had been the focus of both admiration and envy since childhood.

To lead the Gun ung hoe meant to be his equal, to challenge him for supremacy. It was a daunting task, but she had managed to hold her own for almost three years. She was clearly a formidable opponent.

“Who’s her opponent?”

She was definitely a Heavenly Demons Pavilion disciple. She must have provoked Ma Ha-ryeong without knowing who she was. The Cheonmu Academy women, knowing Ma Ha-ryeong’s temper, wouldn’t have risked starting a fight.

“Judging by her blue robes and the emblem on her chest, she’s a disciple of the Azure Sky Sect, one of the Twelve Black Heaven Families. And if she’s skilled enough to participate in the Mount Hua Conference, she must be Mun Suk-gyeong, the Azure Sky Flying Swallow. She’s known for her sharp tongue and her fiery temper.”

Jang Hong explained in detail. Bi Ryu-yeon was surprised by his knowledge. It wasn’t just the amount of information he possessed, but also his ability to apply it instantly.

“The Azure Sky Sect may be powerful, but she picked the wrong opponent this time!”

“I agree!”

The Cheonmu Academy had sent Ma Ha-ryeong and Yong Cheon-myeong into seclusion together, to train for the Mount Hua Conference. It was a testament to their high expectations. They were confident that if a Cheonmu Academy disciple won the tournament, it would be one of them. But of course, anything could happen.

Yong Cheon-myeong, Ma Ha-ryeong’s training partner, was watching the fight with a pained expression, his hand on his forehead. He was clearly frustrated. They were supposed to be working together to win the tournament, but she was already causing trouble. But Ma Ha-ryeong, like a wild horse, showed no signs of stopping.

“Die!”

She shouted, unleashing another powerful palm strike. Mun Suk-gyeong staggered back, barely managing to keep her balance. She was injured, her breathing ragged. Her arm was covered in bruises, trembling from the repeated impacts.

“That’s gotta hurt!”

Bi Ryu-yeon commented.

He knew the secret behind her palm strikes. Weight equaled power. And Ma Ha-ryeong was a master of using her weight to her advantage.

‘Well, with her size…’

He couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her opponent.

The air was filled with the sound of leather striking flesh.

Ma Ha-ryeong’s palm strikes, powered by her mastery of the Heavenly Axis Shifting Technique, were devastating. And with her hidden mass, they were even more formidable.

“Die!!!”

She roared, her voice more like a beast’s than a woman’s.

They say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Her eyes were filled with a murderous rage, as cold and sharp as ice.

“But why are they fighting?”

It was a scene that could easily erupt into a bloodbath. There had to be a deep-seated grudge between them, Bi Ryu-yeon thought.

“Did someone kill her family?”

One of the spectators asked curiously. But Ma Ha-ryeong’s family was too powerful to be killed so easily. If something had happened to them, it would be a major incident, affecting the entire martial world.

“What’s going on? I can’t sleep until I know!”

Jang Hong whined, scratching his head like a child.

“If you want to know what happened, ask the women. The men wouldn’t know.”

Bi Ryu-yeon said. He was right.

“Who should we ask?”

Hyo-ryong asked. He was curious too. Curiosity was a fundamental human desire.

“There’s someone perfect right over there!”

Bi Ryu-yeon pointed to a section of the audience.

“Where? Where?”

Hyo-ryong followed his finger. And then,

His eyes met Yi Jin-seol’s.

“What happened?”

Hyo-ryong approached Yi Jin-seol, who was watching the fight with a grim expression, and asked cautiously.

Her face hardened even further. Her expression was enough to convey the gravity of the situation.

“It’s because of the mirrors,” she said quietly.

Her voice was as serious as if she were announcing the destruction of a sect.

Hyo-ryong was dumbfounded.

The cause of the fight was trivial. But to the women, it was a matter of life and death. It was a matter of survival.

Women of this age were all concerned about their appearance. They spent hours applying makeup and styling their hair. Some, due to inexperience or misguided notions, ended up looking more like monsters than beauties, but makeup was an important part of a woman’s life. It was a way to enhance their beauty, to express themselves.

And to apply makeup, they needed two things: cosmetics and a mirror. They could carry their cosmetics with them, but not a mirror. Mirrors were large and heavy, and most of them were made of metal. There were glass mirrors, but they were expensive and fragile, not something you would bring to a martial arts tournament.

And that’s where the problem arose. The female participants were furious with the organizers for their lack of foresight. There were almost forty female participants, both white path and black path, but there were only three mirrors.

Three mirrors.

It was a recipe for disaster.

It would have been better if there were only two mirrors. One for the white path, one for the black path. A clean division. But with three mirrors, things got complicated. There was one extra mirror.

What should they do with it? First come, first served? The atmosphere was too tense for that. And frankly, no one wanted to share. Someone had to claim ownership. The question was, who would make the first move?

It was Mun Suk-gyeong, the Azure Sky Flying Swallow, who ignited the conflict. She had targeted Ma Ha-ryeong, who had been using the third mirror for the longest time.

“Hmph, a fat pig trying to doll herself up! It’s like putting a pearl necklace on a pig!”

She had crossed a line. It was a grave insult, an invitation to a duel. And she had chosen the wrong opponent.

“Tsk, tsk, women!”

Some of the men, who had heard the story, shook their heads in disgust. They thought it was ridiculous for the women to fight over such a trivial matter.

They thought women were petty and shallow. But they hadn’t anticipated what would happen the next day.

The next day!

As expected, a fight broke out in the Sun Palace. The cause was simple. Someone had crossed the boundary line that had been drawn down the middle of the room. The reason was profound.

“You bastard! You dared to cross the red line! Do you want to die?!”

“Are you challenging me?”

“Of course! You violated our territory! This is a matter of honor for the entire black path!”

The room erupted in chaos, as sword energy and blade energy clashed. It was a far larger conflict than the one in the Moon Palace. Four people were injured and had to be taken to the infirmary.

“Tsk, tsk, men! They’re like children!”

The women, watching from afar, shook their heads in disgust. For once, there was no distinction between white path and black path. They seemed to have forgotten their own fight from the previous day.

**Central Conference Room, Heavenly Law Hall, Red Plum Valley, Heavenly Martial Peak**

Ten Law Enforcers, clad in their black and white robes, sat around a circular rosewood table. They were the Heavenly Law Ten, the highest-ranking officials of the Mount Hua Conference. All matters related to the conference required their approval.

And there was one more person at the table. It was Hyuk Jung, the old man who had asked them to call him Elder Hyuk. He was sitting at the head of the table, the seat of honor. The other ten Law Enforcers were seated to his left, in order of seniority. They were all old, their hair and beards as white as snow. But their eyes were bright and youthful, making it difficult to guess their ages.

They had not all been Law Enforcers from the beginning, but they had all been involved in the management and operation of the Mount Hua Conference since its inception. In other words, they were all over a hundred years old. They were living witnesses to the history of the Mount Hua Conference.

It was amazing that they were still so healthy and vigorous, despite their advanced age. Time seemed to have no power over them. But they were also shrouded in secrecy. No one knew their true identities or their origins. It was a measure to ensure the fairness of the tournament.

“The side effects are too severe.”

Go Hak-rim, the eighth Law Enforcer, stood up and spoke in a grave tone. He was in charge of managing the participants. The other Law Enforcers turned to look at him.

“It’s only been three days since they moved into their lodgings, and there have already been five fights among the men and three among the women. And one of those fights almost turned deadly. Our plan may have been too much of a shock for them. It’s not too late to separate them.”

“But we anticipated this, didn’t we? It’s too early to give up.”

The ninth Law Enforcer replied. He was in charge of managing the Cheonmu Academy disciples.

“It’s natural for them to clash at first. They’ve been at odds for a hundred years, even if they’ve been pretending to be friendly. It’s not a conflict that can be resolved in a few days.”

They addressed each other formally, as a sign of respect. Only one person at the table could address them informally.

“But the frequency of the conflicts is alarming. There were two more fights this morning. As the one responsible for the safety of the valley, I must express my concern. And I’m sure the Second Law Enforcer, who’s in charge of discipline, shares my concern.”

The fourth Law Enforcer said. He was in charge of security.

“Indeed. If the conflicts continue, it will undermine the discipline of the valley. So far, there have only been minor injuries, but it’s only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt.”

The second Law Enforcer, who was like the chief disciplinarian of a sect, said.

“But we need to give it more time, don’t we? It will take a while for them to adjust. And we’ll need to intervene frequently.”

The tenth Law Enforcer said. He was in charge of managing the Heavenly Demons Pavilion disciples.

“It can’t be helped. It’s a tangled mess, a hundred years in the making. We have to untangle it one knot at a time. It’s a difficult task, but we have to do it.”

Hyuk Jung, who was sitting at the head of the table, sighed.

It was a difficult task indeed. The participants were young and hot-blooded, difficult to control.

“I hope they’ll figure it out soon.”

“I agree. It’s in their best interest to do so.”

He nodded.

“The sooner they realize that the test has already begun, the better!”