Chapter 157: Round of 16 (3)

If you were to name the most dangerous places in the Central Plains, deep mountain valleys would surely be among them.

What makes mere mountains so dangerous, you might ask?

Some would say demonic creatures are the reason.

If so, they wouldn’t be wrong. From time to time, demonic creatures that had cultivated in the depths of mountains would arise, having reached extreme realms.

But that wasn’t the definitive reason.

The greatest threat was masters in seclusion.

Eccentric experts who had turned their backs on worldly affairs to hole up in the mountains.

The masters at Peak Realm were nothing more than mere half-wits drunk on romantic notions of seclusion, ignorant of their own limitations. The real problem lies with the Transcendent Realm and Unrestrained Realm martial artists who hole themselves up in the mountain for their closed-door cultivation.

According to rumors spreading throughout the martial world, there were more Unrestrained Realm masters secluded in the mountains than those active.

It wasn’t without reason.

Indeed, quite a few Unrestrained Realm martial artists devoted themselves to cultivation deep in the mountains.

They were martial artists who had cast aside the burdensome grudges of the martial world to walk the path of immortality, seeking to reach the realm of God.

Since most of them placed no value on worldly affairs, their very worldview differed so drastically that encounters with them often were extremely dangerous.

Another factor was secret organizations.

They were filled with half-wits who didn’t fit into the major frameworks of Orthodox, Unorthodox, or Demonic.

However, if you encountered them alone, few would dare call them that to their faces.

A famous example was the Blood Cult.

Madmen who had strived to bring their God down to the mortal realm.

In the past, they had actually come close to succeeding in this divine descent, forcing the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions to unite and uproot them completely. (The Demonic Cult couldn’t be bothered to care.)

If their God had truly descended to the mortal realm without restrictions, everyone from Unrestrained to Transcendent Realm would have been obliterated. It was only natural.

The difficulty was compounded by Unrestrained Realm martial artists who understood the towering wall that was the Profound Realm.

A God roaming the mortal realm without constraints was no ordinary matter.

It was the first time in Central Plains history that Unrestrained Realm masters from both Orthodox and Unorthodox factions had joined forces. No further explanation was needed.

And deep in the mountain valleys, far into their depths.

A man heard the whispers of birds.

“So… divine blood still lives…”

The man soon entered a shabby building.

A crystal orb sat in the corner. Placing his hand on this Western artifact, he transmitted news to his like-minded comrades.

— An inheritor of divine blood still lives?

*“*Indeed. They say it’s the bloodline of the Divine Sword Geum Clan.”

— What do you plan to do? If they remain in Henan, the danger is too great.

— Even so, we cannot leave divine blood be. What shall we do?

“That is why I called this meeting.”

A brief silence fell at his response, then a rough voice flowed out of the crystal orb.

— I’ll go.

— You? Even for you, Henan is…

— I’m not a fool. I’ll target them when they leave Henan.

*“*How about we decide after hearing the rest of the information?”

The man shared what he had learned from the birds: about the divine blood’s inheritor, and those around them.

— Fist King Pae Jingwang? That bastard’s still alive?

— They say muscles overcomes aging, and it seems he really succeeded. He’s no ordinary man either.

— Enough.

A voice emerged from the crystal orb.

— Fist King and Azure Sky Great Sea… What about this Heaven-reaching True Qi fellow?

*“*It seems they call him the Divine Sword Geum Clan’s successor.”

— Does he use the Yellow Cloud Divine Sword?

“From what I hear, he’s a qi arts master.”

— Qi arts?

The rough voice scoffed.

— Perfect. We don’t need to worry about him then.

“You mustn’t be careless, Blood Heaven.”

— Qi arts are powerless before superior qi arts. You know this.

“Well, that’s true.”

Blood Heaven was an Unrestrained Realm master. No matter how famous Heaven-reaching True Qi had become recently as a rising expert, he’d be helpless before an Unrestrained Realm master.

“Do you require assistance?”

— Nonsense. For opponents like that, I just need to bring a few underlings.

“Above all else, take care not to leave traces.”

— Of course. That goes without saying.

Heheh. Blood Heaven let out a chilling laugh.

— It’s been a while since I’ve had a good workout.

“Why are my ears so itchy?”

Seojun scratched his ear as Chunbong swinging her sword nearby, turned to mock him.

“You’ve got plenty to be cursed for.”

“Do I?”

“Probably?”

“Hmm.”

Seojun was conducting intensive Dragon Phoenix Tournament preparation lessons for Chunbong and Namgung Suah.

What this entailed was preparing countermeasures against opponent martial artists in advance.

For instance, if facing Shaolin’s Hyeun, he’d let them experience his fist techniques and Shaolin’s signature style beforehand.

“But isn’t this cheating?”

At Chunbong’s question, Seojun wagged his finger left and right.

“No no. Listen, consider this the benefits of having such a competent big brother. Other kids would probably do something similar, y’know?”

Rising stars from the Sixteen Great Sects received advantages in these areas too.

From birth, they received abundant resources and consumed all manner of spirit pills, learned divine arts according to meticulously crafted curricula, and received direct guidance from their sect’s masters.

Their starting line was completely different from the beginning.

So it was extremely difficult to catch up to them for martial artists from smaller sects.

Perhaps among the top eight candidates to advance, if there was a rising star not from the Sixteen Great Sects…

Yang Sohong.

That friend seemed to be about the only one.

Honestly, the rest didn’t seem to have much hope. They seemed satisfied just reaching the round of 16.

“Anyway,s so right now six people have confirmed spots in the top eight, right?”

Chunbong, Namgung Suah, Hwangbo Hyeji, and Hyeun.

Adding to those four, Zhuge Hui and Woonbaek who had won today’s matches.

“Out of those, who do you think will be the trickiest to face?”

At Seojun’s question, Namgung Suah and Chunbong immediately answered.

“The Zhuge Clan, I think?”

“Yeah. I also think it’d be the Zhuge Clan.”

“Exactly. Setting aside winning chances, if we’re talking pure annoyance, that Zhuge Hui guy would be the most irritating.”

The reason was simple. Unfamiliarity.

Hwangbo Hyeji, Hyeun, and Woonbaek didn’t deviate from the foundation of fists and swords. So they could just do what they’d always done.

Of course, if they knew the martial arts these opponents frequently used, facing them would be relatively easier, but even so, fundamental skill would likely determine victory or defeat.

But Zhuge Hui was different.

“From roughly watching their matches, they seem to combine techniques and formations, which is pretty annoying.”

He’d never experienced it but had used it before, so he knew.

“And if you waste all your energy breaking through that, the iron fan becomes a problem.”

While the Zhuge Clan was famous for their intelligence, earning the title Divine Strategist Zhuge, their martial arts were not to be underestimated either.

Yet one thing was certain.

If it came down to pure martial arts no other factors involved, there was zero chance of beating either Chunbong or Namgung Suah.

Then the solution was simple.

“Come at me. I’ll only use techniques and formations.”

Enter Zhuge Seojun.

Chunbong stared blankly at the spectacle before her.

A technique based on the Five Elements? Literally that.

Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth.

The Five Elements filled the vast space, swirling about.

“…What the hell is this?”

She knew he was strong, but to this extent?

“Come on, come at me. I promise it won’t hurt.”

Seojun sat cross-legged in midair, techniques unleashing with each gesture.

Chunbong assessed the situation. No matter how she looked at it, charging in there would be insane.

“…Big sis?”

At her questioning look about what to do, Namgung Suah nodded.

“Got it.”

Got what?

Before she could wonder, Namgung Suah charged forward.

She kicked off the ground while swinging her greatsword in a massive arc.

Rumble! Lightning from her greatsword shot toward Seojun. Chunbong herself rushed forward as well, preparing a combo attack.

“Such obvious attacks won’t work against a sorcerer.”

Seojun extended his index finger, pointing at the lightning. The moment his finger traced a circle, the lightning followed suit.

Crackle!

Namgung Suah’s expression hardened. A ring of lightning. The sphere formed at its center shot toward her.

Rumble!

Barely dodging, she looked at Seojun with aggrieved eyes.

“You said you’d only use the Five Elements…”

“Lightning is part of the Five Elements too. It belongs to Wood.”

Seojun chuckled as he looked at Chunbong.

“Why’s my Chunbubbie just standing there spacing out?”

“…Even if Zhuge Hui’s grandfather came, I don’t think he could do this.”

“His grandfather might be Unrestrained Realm.”

“Ah.”

Chunbong seemed convinced. Or rather, she pretended to be while suddenly charging forward.

“Hup…!”

Her form became the wind. Her feet pounded the earth, leaping high to reach Seojun when—

“Hey now, watch out for formations.”

Light burst from where her footprints had been carved.

Wood in the east, Metal in the west, Water in the north, Fire in the south.

Finally, her footprint formed Earth in the center, activating the Five Elements Formation.

“Ugh…!”

She rapidly swung her sword around as her body twisted and turned in mid-air.

Swish swish swish!

That bastard Lee Seojun tended to use the Yellow Cloud Divine Sword like qi arts, but originally the Divine Sword Geum Clan emphasized the sword’s principles themselves.

Qi or whatever, there was nothing the Geum Clan’s sword couldn’t cut.

Slash!

Just as Chunbong believed, the Five Elements Formation that was about to activate tore apart.

“Oh wow.”

Seojun was impressed.

“But what about the follow-up?”

The Five Elements Formation was something he’d prepared in advance. A wood-type technique that Seojun had deployed caught Chunbong.

“Ah, seriously…!”

Tree branches sprouted from the ground and grabbed her, launching her high into the sky.

“AAAHHHHH…!!”

Chunbong’s scream faded into the distance.

Seojun looked at Namgung Suah with a grin.

“Big sis want to try? Airplane time.”

“Hmm… Big sis is fine.”

Ahhhhh—— Ahhh—— AHHH——!!

The scream that had grown faint became loud again. Seojun reached out and caught Chunbong as she dropped neatly into his arms.

“Alright, Geum Chunbong! Next is the 108 Arhat Formation!”

“Don’t you fucking dare…!”

Thump thump thump! Chunbong escaped from his arms with a graceful somersault and delivered a flurry of kicks.

“Ow…! Why are you hitting me! You like this stuff!”

“It was fun…! Sure, I guess.”

The airplane ride was honestly fun.

But that was that, and this was this.

“You fight like such a dick!”

This bastard really fought dirty. Enough to make her want to beat him up.