Ch.46Chapter 46 – Life and Death Duel (1)

# “Dragon and Phoenix Tournament Finals! The last two contenders have been decided!”

Cheon Cheon-mu raised his voice until his throat nearly burst. As he spoke, the tournament’s atmosphere heated up visibly.

“They are the Seongyeong School and the Ice Dragon Fate Sect!”

The Seongyeong School, whose name meant “past realm” in Korean, was established by Bing-seol-hwa who was being controlled by an Outer God.

The Ice Dragon Fate Sect, named using the title “Ice Dragon” that was given to create happiness for the final bosses of the original work.

The names of these two sects with completely opposite meanings seemed to indicate where their opposing paths were headed.

“The first person to take the stage is a martial artist said to possess a diamond fist! Kim Hyul!”

“Wooooah!”

With Cheon Cheon-mu’s introduction, a black-haired boy with his upper body bare walked forward with heavy steps.

“And facing him is the famous disciple of the Ice Dragon! The swordswoman! Bi-wol!”

Simultaneously, a girl with equally black hair stepped forward with large strides, glaring at her opponent with displeasure.

“Who will claim the first victory? I think this will be a breathtaking contest of strength! After all, the opponent is Kim Hyul, who has broken even swords and iron hammers!”

A place where numerous advanced martial artists gathered to test their strength and skills against each other.

The spectators who had glimpsed what the ultimate martial arts looked like raised their voices, discussing who would ultimately win.

“The Seongyeong School will win. He showed that even the Tang Clan of Sichuan’s hidden weapons couldn’t penetrate him, as if he had mastered the Diamond Invulnerability technique.”

“No way! It has to be the Ice Dragon Fate Sect! Haven’t you seen how they’ve defeated all advanced martial artists so far using only the simple Three Talents Swordsmanship?”

Since many martial artists in the orthodox-demonic war had received help from Bing-yeon, most of the spectators in the audience clearly favored one side.

“Moreover, she’s the disciple of Bing-yeon! Someone who has been kept hidden until now and then revealed can’t possibly be ordinary!”

Bing-yeon had naturally poor health and avoided showing himself in the martial world because he believed that if he attracted attention and rose to a high position, there would be fewer people he could save.

“If she didn’t have skill, she wouldn’t have made it to the finals.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying!”

The martial artists, unaware of this fact, were highly praising Bi-wol for various reasons. Two people were listening to these compliments more attentively than anyone else.

“Infinite Sword Emperor, what do you think?”

“Well, his opponent defeated that Poison Dragon’s son.”

The heads of the Namgung Family, Namgung Do-hun, and the Tang Clan of Sichuan, Dang Mun-hyeok, were stroking their beards while assessing the match. These two knew better than anyone about the strength of Bi-wol and Kim Hyul. They had witnessed their trump cards being countered as if their moves had been read.

“I thought the paralytic poison would work for sure.”

“Ha! It’s the fault of those fools who thought their opponent would take the Tang Clan’s hidden weapons and poisons without any preparation.”

Dang Mun-hyeok frowned, showing his displeasure. Using gaseous poison against someone with Diamond Invulnerability had been a tactical error.

Kim Hyul had pretended to stagger as if poisoned, held his breath, and struck, causing all their prepared tactics to collapse.

“If it were me, I would have mixed it with water and thrown it! Even a little entering the mouth or nose would have been successful!”

“If it were you, you wouldn’t have been fooled by the act either.”

“Hmph! Poisons affect people differently depending on their constitution. I’ve said countless times that there are even humans who can eat poisonous herbs used for execution poison as if they were medicinal herbs and not die!”

Grumbling and expressing his dissatisfaction, Dang Mun-hyeok was actually showing his disappointment about his disciples’ elimination.

His stomping and anger management revealed his dishonest side.

“So, what do you think of that young lady Bi-wol?”

Dang Mun-hyeok, not wanting to be embarrassed alone, asked for the opinion of Namgung Do-hun, who also had an advanced disciple eliminated from the main tournament.

The Three Talents Swordsmanship, considered a third-rate martial art.

A simple martial art with only horizontal cuts, vertical cuts, and thrusts had defeated the Namgung Family, known as the greatest swordsmen in the world.

“Hmm? It’s impressive that she’s grasped the principles of the Three Talents Swordsmanship at such a young age, but it still doesn’t seem to fit her body well.”

Namgung Do-hun had found a flaw in Bi-wol’s swordsmanship. If the intent and focus of the sword were properly aligned, it could cut through steel as if it were paper.

“Why do you think so? Her movements perfectly express heaven, humanity, and earth.”

“In martial arts, there’s something more important than form. That’s intent.”

“That’s true! But with sword skills like that, she would be amazing using any martial art.”

Dang Mun-hyeok crossed his arms and responded indifferently. Relying on technique makes one forget the original sharpness and weight.

What is easily built up is easily forgotten. That’s why the advancement in martial arts should come from constant practice.

It was obvious she had learned hastily for the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament. Though her movements were close to textbook perfect, as if Bing-yeon had been correcting her posture regularly.

“A sword without freedom is bound to break.”

“Weak in application, you mean.”

That was becoming an obstacle in facing Kim Hyul with his Diamond Invulnerability.

Bi-wol needed to figure out how to overcome a body so hard that no blade could penetrate it.

“So you’re saying that martial artist Kim Hyul will win? That would make me feel a bit better!”

Hearing this, Dang Mun-hyeok exhaled deeply, showing relief. If the person who defeated his family became the ultimate winner, he could console himself that he lost to the eventual champion.

“Well, normally I would say that, but…”

The Infinite Sword Emperor, Namgung Do-hun, scratched his chin and carefully chose his words. Normally, one would think there’s no way to break Diamond Invulnerability.

However,

“…being Bing-yeon’s disciple, won’t she show an astonishing achievement?”

If one completely abandoned that framework of thinking, Bi-wol wasn’t entirely without a chance.

Namgung Do-hun, who had dedicated his life to the sword, focused his sharp gaze on the arena with that thought.

***

Upon climbing onto the arena, Bi-wol’s first thought upon seeing Kim Hyul before her was this:

‘He’s clearly a strong opponent.’

Like prey standing before a predator, the trembling in her hands wouldn’t stop. She realized from the difference in inner energy that she couldn’t defeat him.

Her exceptional sensitivity to energy had become the shackle holding her back.

‘Don’t tremble, I need to win here to support Master.’

Bi-wol shook her head vigorously to shake off her fear. She needed to win here to obtain the inner pill said to contain yang energy accumulated over ten thousand years.

Even with Azazel Blackheart or Verdandi Astraia present, once the advantage was lost, the chances of losing were high. The opposing sect had someone who could see through everything like her master Bing-yeon.

As soon as she heard the ominous name of the Seongyeong School, she gritted her teeth.

‘If I lose, my sisters will have to win both remaining matches.’

Her master Bing-yeon had told her that currently, Bi-wol had the lowest chance of winning. Even if she had mastered the Three Talents Swordsmanship, there was currently no way to break Diamond Invulnerability.

But there were too many watching eyes to use demonic energy and deploy the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. If she showed suspicious energy, there would certainly be people who would question her origins.

‘…Normally I could accept losing, but I don’t want to.’

Recently, even Azazel Blackheart was scheming to claim her master. She didn’t know what was happening between them, but it seemed they had grown closer again while she was away.

Her master Bing-yeon was specialized in unconsciously charming women. His handsome face and kind attitude were enough to melt even the coldest hearts.

“Are you Bi-wol? Finally, we meet.”

Kim Hyul spoke to Bi-wol as she was lost in thought. How strong would the disciple of Bing-yeon be, who was rumored to be so powerful that everyone in the martial world knew of him?

Fighting spirit, excitement, thrill.

He felt his blood boiling throughout his body.

“…Do you know me? You speak as if we’ve met before.”

“This is the first time I’m seeing you in person, but the guy who calls himself my master has been making a fuss about having to kill you.”

Kim Hyul was casually telling Bi-wol about the Outer God’s scheme. After seeing her in person, he was even more convinced that she shouldn’t be killed.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I hope you don’t end up like me.”

Unlike him, that child wasn’t hungry for blood. She had never killed anyone, nor had she ever hated someone enough to want them dead.

Trapped by the Outer God Shub-Niggurath’s deception, with the lives of his family and friends held hostage under the pretext of salvation.

Even if he killed Bi-wol, it was doubtful that the capricious Outer God would keep its original promise.

“Come at me with everything you’ve got. That way, I can believe later that my judgment wasn’t wrong.”

The best Kim Hyul could do now was to gauge how skilled Bing-yeon’s disciples were, and if they seemed capable of defeating the Outer God, to join their side.

It was a planned betrayal first conceived by Sieg-hardt.

One of the reasons was that he no longer wanted to move with Kang Si-woo, a trash of a man who frequently changed women.

‘It would be better to join this side and fight the Outer God.’

Kim Hyul swallowed his anxiety, hoping that Bi-wol would defeat him. If she couldn’t even overcome Diamond Invulnerability, they couldn’t repel the Outer God that even he couldn’t defeat.

“Then, the final match of the Dragon and Phoenix Tournament begins now!”

As Cheon Cheon-mu announced the start of the match, Kim Hyul threw a straight punch toward Bi-wol.