Chapter 295: I’m Not Curious.

Kwagagagag-!

Lightning strikes down from all directions.

The lightning that sweeps across the floor.

Burns its way through, leaving a lingering trace.

Is it truly being shot from thin air?

No.

That was lightning in the shape of inner energy.

It was concentrated to such a high degree, you could see the coalesced energy with just one glance.

Even in the blink of an eye, dozens of strands of energy.

Take the form of lightning and shoot.

‘What is this…?’

Jang Seon-yeon took a step back.

Swish.

He drew his sword.

Woong-

Soon, the sword’s resonance followed.

Jang Seon-yeon’s Jang family’s unique martial art had become much stronger after he broke through the wall.

He swung his sword amidst the descending energy.

Woong-!

The sword’s resonance spread outwards, as if gathering strength.

The resonance, mixed with sword energy and taking form.

Succeeded in nullifying a few strands of lightning, but.

Kwaduduk!

“Tsk…!”

It couldn’t nullify all of it, causing the surroundings to be swept away.

He evaded the attacks by unfolding his footwork.

Immediately after slicing off another ricocheting strand of lightning.

Jang Seon-yeon harbored a question.

‘What happened?’

Even while harboring doubts.

The lightning energy relentlessly surged.

Consequently, his sword path couldn’t rest either.

‘How could she change this much?’

Something was wrong.

The movements of the woman he faced at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.

And the movements of the woman controlling lightning before him now.

Were vastly different.

The level was different.

Her swordplay was something he had considered outstanding even back then.

Even while clad in battle aura and wielding a rough, chilling sword.

Her movements flowed naturally, as if dancing.

A dance performance using a sword.

Like a dancer performing to music.

Her epithet was given as Sword Dancer.

Someone once said.

If Sword Peak Gu Huibi hadn’t existed.

That she might have taken Gu Huibi’s place as Sword Peak.

Jang Seon-yeon dismissed that as nonsense.

But.

Could he still say that after seeing her now?

‘How could she have changed so much?’

The Sword Dancer, who was at the tail end of the elite class back then.

Had now reached the point of breaking through the wall, just like Jang Seon-yeon.

He could understand that.

Their cultivation levels were similar even back then.

And he himself had also broken through the wall.

But.

Even if their cultivation levels were the same.

They couldn’t all be the same.

That was the case for Namgung Bi-ah and Jang Seon-yeon now.

‘Why…!’

For every strand of lightning he split, more poured out.

Unfolding his energy-infused footwork.

While relentlessly swinging his sword.

The Sword Dancer hadn’t moved a single step from her original spot, maintaining the same posture.

Her expression was serene.

Controlling such energy would require extreme finesse.

Only occasional small gestures.

And the movement of her eyes were visible.

As if.

She wore an arrogant look, as if saying, ‘This much is enough for you.’

‘How dare she…!’

Gritting.

She was someone who had lost to him during the martial arts tournament.

His future goals were the Sleeping Dragon, Sword Dragon, and Sword Peak.

Lastly.

‘True Dragon.’

He had thought only lowly scoundrels who ignored him and showed malice remained.

The Sword Dancer was an unexpected existence.

It was just that her earlier disregard bothered him.

He had intended to show her clearly.

‘That woman was also connected to that guy.’

Why is it that people related to that guy.

All of them provoke him?

‘I cannot tolerate this.’

Let alone being pushed this hard by someone who had lost to him once.

He couldn’t tolerate struggling this much.

Jang Seon-yeon could not accept it.

Woong-!

He raised his inner energy, making his sword’s resonance louder.

Focusing more on his footwork, he evaded the lightning.

“…”

Then, Namgung Bi-ah, who had been watching, tilted her head slightly.

Sarak.

She moved her fingertips, drawing something.

And then.

Pajijijik-!

“…!”

The tips of the lightning bolts being shot split.

Multiplying, they were fired at Jang Seon-yeon.

In that fleeting moment.

She adjusted the already fired inner energy to change it more precisely.

It was an unbelievable control of inner energy.

The lightning, divided into several strands.

Split again into several more strands and rained down.

Since he had already moved, there was no way to turn and dodge.

Jang Seon-yeon stopped the resonance of his sword.

He drew his inner energy and deployed a defensive barrier.

Nullifying the lightning with sword energy.

He intended to withstand the unavoidable attacks with his barrier, but.

Kwaduduk!

“…Kuhh…!”

As soon as the pouring lightning touched his barrier.

A massive shock was felt, and the barrier trembled.

Because the inner energy contained in a single strand was quite dense.

Such strands were still pouring down endlessly.

And soon, they all struck Jang Seon-yeon directly.

Kwagagagag-!

A loud explosion echoed, and dust billowed up thickly with the vibrations.

The moment dozens of lightning bolts struck the ground.

The remnants of lightning energy spread around, creating vibrations.

Amidst the dust scattered in all directions.

As only a quiet silence passed.

Woong….

A faint sword resonance followed.

Hooook!

The wind pressure simultaneously released scattered all the dust.

The violently burst ground appeared.

The blackened ground.

Showed that the fallen lightning had been anything but weak.

“…Hoo….”

And at its center.

Jang Seon-yeon, having sustained minor injuries, exhaled.

‘I blocked it.’

Everything except the area around where he deployed his barrier was blackened.

But at least the area Jang Seon-yeon blocked wasn’t significantly damaged.

It was a hastily deployed barrier, but.

He managed to block it somehow.

Jang Seon-yeon’s eyes immediately lit up as he drew his inner energy.

‘If she went this far, she must have expended all her energy.’

If she had struck such fierce lightning.

He thought the Sword Dancer’s energy must be nearly depleted.

If he blocked it all.

Then it would be his time from now on.

Jang Seon-yeon firmly believed that would be the case, but.

Thump.

A light footstep sound came from somewhere.

Hoo-oo-!

He had to hold his breath at the sensation of the air growing heavy.

“…What?”

He urgently lifted his head.

And searched for the Sword Dancer’s whereabouts.

Where she should have been, the Sword Dancer was gone.

Did she flee?

He immediately extended his senses.

To pinpoint her location.

His senses, spreading out like a spiderweb in all directions.

Soon pinpointed the Sword Dancer’s location.

Behind him.

The Sword Dancer was behind his back.

“…!”

Swallowing his surprise, Jang Seon-yeon swung his sword.

No, he was about to swing it, to be precise.

Kugugugugu-!

“Kuhuk!”

The moment he tried to move, his body stiffened, constricted by the overwhelming pressure.

‘…No way…!’

He had felt this energy before.

At the martial arts tournament long ago.

It was the power he felt during his match with Namgung Bi-ah.

A secret technique and ultimate skill of the Namgung family.

‘Emperor Sword Form….’

Turning inner energy into pressure.

The power to shape pressure into a martial art.

The Emperor’s battle aura taking form and pressing down on everything.

Is an expression of their presence.

Something he hadn’t felt during the fight with the Lightning Dragon.

This was the true Emperor Sword Form.

Thump.

He involuntarily knelt on one knee.

It was because he couldn’t withstand the oppressive energy.

“Kkeu-euk….”

Cold sweat had already soaked his back.

His inner energy couldn’t move properly due to the pressure.

Compared to the Emperor Sword Form the Sword Dancer displayed last time.

The Emperor Sword Form she displayed now.

Was of a different quality.

Unlike last time, when donning inner energy merely made movements awkward.

“Hoo… hoo….”

Now, even his inner energy couldn’t move.

The problem was.

‘Even after scattering so much lightning energy… she still has this much energy left?’

At most a year, or perhaps two years.

That much time had passed.

In that span of time.

How could she have changed so much?

The Sword Dancer’s energy seemed inexhaustible.

Creating energy into forms like lightning or fire to shoot them out.

Requires an unimaginable amount of energy.

Even for an apex master who had opened their lower dan tian and expanded their capacity.

It wouldn’t be easy to maintain it for long.

Unless the Sword Dancer’s inner energy was truly endless.

This must be a difference in how meticulously she controlled her energy.

This ultimately.

Directly relates to the difference in skill level between her and himself.

‘This is absurd…!’

She hadn’t even drawn her sword yet.

He couldn’t even defeat that woman clinging to him, let alone the True Dragon?

It’s impossible.

“Hoo….”

“Huk….”

As he tried to force movement, veins bulged at the base of his neck.

It meant the constricting pressure was that immense, but.

Jang Seon-yeon tried to get up somehow.

He couldn’t just collapse like this.

Just then.

To the struggling Jang Seon-yeon.

A pale fingertip dug in.

Tuk-!

“…!”

She snatched the sash Jang Seon-yeon was wearing.

Then, the pressure constricting his entire body vanished in an instant.

“Hoo…!”

With the disappearance of the Emperor Sword Form’s presence, which had made it hard to even breathe.

Jang Seon-yeon could finally catch his breath.

Of course, that was only for a moment.

Jang Seon-yeon had to observe the Sword Dancer.

Because he didn’t know what she’d do next.

But.

Looking up behind him, the Sword Dancer was merely gazing at Jang Seon-yeon with the same expression.

“…Sword Dancer….”

Jang Seon-yeon called out to the Sword Dancer, Namgung Bi-ah.

Namgung Bi-ah glanced at Jang Seon-yeon, and that was it.

As if her business was concluded, she started walking away.

As if the match had been decided.

“…Where are you going…!”

Jang Seon-yeon shouted, unable to hold back.

Namgung Bi-ah stopped walking and looked back at Jang Seon-yeon.

“Not yet…. We haven’t crossed swords yet.”

Jang Seon-yeon knew inwardly.

That the woman was far stronger than he expected.

And that his chances of winning were slim if they crossed swords now.

But, his pride wouldn’t allow it.

Jang Seon-yeon had always been the victor.

Even now.

Until the very last moment.

“I haven’t shown my true strength yet…”

“I don’t care.”

Namgung Bi-ah’s words, cutting off Jang Seon-yeon’s outburst.

Stopped him cold.

Without a trace of emotion.

Her voice was chillingly cold.

“Whatever strength you possess, I have no interest in your sword.”

The reason he drew his sword was merely out of courtesy for the match.

Namgung Bi-ah wasn’t curious about the exhausted man before her.

“Your swordplay is boring.”

The stench emanating from him.

Or the gaze she didn’t want to look at for long.

His swordplay was simply not interesting.

Not even a little.

“I remember now. Who you are.”

The moment he drew his sword.

Namgung Bi-ah could recall who he was.

She didn’t remember his name.

But she remembered the match they had.

“But I’ll forget again now.”

That was all.

“Your swordplay, which has worsened since then, doesn’t interest me.”

“…What did you say?”

At Namgung Bi-ah’s words.

Jang Seon-yeon’s eyes widened.

Worsened?

Impossible.

He had broken through the wall to reach the peak.

His martial arts had grown to a level incomparable to back then.

What kind of nonsensical words were those?

“Are you insulting me…?”

That’s how it sounded to Jang Seon-yeon.

His pride was hurt, and it felt insulting.

It was even more so hearing this from someone he hadn’t even considered a target.

To him, no less.

To Jang Seon-yeon’s question.

Namgung Bi-ah offered no further answer and walked away.

As if the victory she just achieved by obtaining the sash held no particular excitement.

Watching Namgung Bi-ah grow distant.

Jang Seon-yeon pondered.

‘Should I… draw upon my divine artifact?’

The divine artifact dormant within his body.

He had been warned not to use it carelessly until it assimilated with his body.

So, unless using a very small amount, he avoided using it if possible.

But.

Should he use it now?

‘If I use it, I can show that woman.’

‘I am not someone to be ignored by the likes of you.’

The one who should look down from above.

Is me.

‘…’

He agonized.

He bit his lip, drawing blood.

His bloodshot eyes were filled with pressure.

His trembling shoulders, trying to endure, even caused pain.

But soon.

Jang Seon-yeon endured.

Watching Namgung Bi-ah walk away, he could only breathe raggedly.

‘I must endure.’

He couldn’t ruin things in a place like this.

The humiliation and anger.

He could settle them later.

Jang Seon-yeon forced a smile onto his face.

If he smiled now.

He thought he could smile naturally when he met people later.

‘…Sword Dancer….’

She was a figure he disliked almost as much as the True Dragon.

No, perhaps even more than the True Dragon.

‘I need to find him faster.’

The descendant of Zhuge, informed by Taeju.

Zhuge Jinseon.

It was said he was here.

Was he in Squad 1 like himself, or Squad 2?

He had received his description.

He didn’t think Zhuge Jinseon might have failed the entrance exam.

If he lived hiding his identity.

He must possess considerable strength.

Calming his breathing and suppressing his emotions, Jang Seon-yeon got up.

‘Wait.’

The humiliation, anger, and insult of now.

He remembered it all, and when he eventually made them kneel.

He would repay it all at once.

Wiping away the flowing blood.

Jang Seon-yeon dragged his exhausted body.

Because he needed to obtain two more sashes before it was too late.

---

Namgung Bi-ah took the sash from Jang Seon-yeon.

And immediately after Jang Seon-yeon also moved away.

Someone had been watching them from afar.

“…”

The person, after confirming Jang Seon-yeon departed in a different direction.

Finally closed their eyes, which had been open until then.

They also sheathed the sword they held in their hand.

‘-Why didn’t you intervene?’

A voice echoed in their mind.

Hearing the voice, Wi Seol-ah opened her closed eyes.

And then quietly whispered.

“If I had intervened there, Unni would have gotten angry.”

If she were to interfere in the match.

Namgung Bi-ah would have gotten angry.

That’s why Wi Seol-ah couldn’t intervene at that moment.

And, just as she had trusted.

Namgung Bi-ah won without difficulty.

It was as if she didn’t even consider it a crisis.

‘…Strong.’

As expected, Namgung Bi-ah was strong.

She was strong before, and she is strong now.

Not just her martial arts, but her unwavering faith doesn’t falter.

Faith in her heart.

And faith in herself.

Of course, at the final moment.

If Jang Seon-yeon had drawn his energy to attack Namgung Bi-ah.

She would have intervened then.

No matter how angry Namgung Bi-ah might have been.

Wi Seol-ah, who had been quietly watching the sunlight from the shade.

‘Unni… do you hate Bi-ah Unni?’

She asked the question she was curious about.

Whenever she thought about Namgung Bi-ah, as always.

An unknown vibration occurred within her.

‘-.-…’

Wi Seol-ah knew that this was the agitation of another being within her.

Wi Seol-ah knew.

Was it hatred?

Or some other emotion, Wi Seol-ah couldn’t tell.

‘-Hate her? …I don’t hate her.’

That’s unexpected.

Wi Seol-ah had thought she would hate Namgung Bi-ah.

‘Then what emotion is it?’

‘-Apology.’

At the voice she heard, Wi Seol-ah’s eyes widened.

Because it was an unexpected answer.

The dreams about what she experienced.

She often had them.

But she couldn’t know everything.

Whether it was something that would happen in her future, or something else.

Wi Seol-ah didn’t know that either.

She only knew it was her story.

But apology?

‘…You feel sorry towards Bi-ah Unni?’

‘-.-…’

Why could that be?

Wi Seol-ah was curious.

But she didn’t answer.

She merely recalled.

Not Namgung Bi-ah as she was now.

But the day she faced the Sword Empress.

That day.