I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 56

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 56
Namgung Hyeok-in was furious to the tips of his hair.
‘This… this, of all people, to me.’
When he first saw the opponent’s sword thrusting in, he knew it was a fast sword technique.
It was a fairly excellent fast sword.
So he, too, began to counter in the most appropriate manner.
However, that was a trap.
The opponent’s fast sword went beyond merely excellent; it was a sword of extreme speed that could be called an ultimate feat in itself.
It was also a sword that sacrificed many things to achieve that.
Weaknesses were visible everywhere in Absolute Shadow’s movements.
A weakness here, a weakness there.
If he could just get one single breath.
If he could just start deploying the Boundless Firmament Sword according to his own will for a single breath, he possessed infinite methods to correct the opponent’s insolence before the weight of the heavens.
If only it weren’t a situation where the opponent’s sword would pierce his vital points before he could even start anything.
‘You tricked me.’
He shouldn’t have allowed him to get close in the first place.
He should have deployed the Firmament Moonlight from the very beginning to fill the surroundings with sword Qi and establish a sword momentum, and on top of that, he should have erected the Firmament Sword Wall so that even with a sword of extreme speed, its momentum and speed would die down as it penetrated through.
If he had done that, how many methods would he have been able to deploy in succession afterward?
He could be confident that he would have finished the match by now.
However, he got tangled up from that very first move where he threw out a probing response to see the next move while parrying the fast sword—which was just at an excellent level—with an ordinary technique.
Zhuge Jun fluttered his fan while looking at the sword, which felt more like seeing an assassin’s blade rather than the martial arts of the Golden Dragon Guard.
‘If things go really well, he might actually win this.’
If they did it one more time, could Hyeok-in win?
Hmm, it seemed likely.
To be honest, it was a sword of extreme speed whose countermeasure was visible.
If it was just that technique, no matter what, how could the world-renowned Namgung Clan lack a countermeasure?
Of course they had one.
However, he knew, didn’t he?
‘Absolute Shadow doesn’t only have that one sword of extreme speed either.’
Still, if he loses without even being able to draw that out, Namgung Hyeok-in would be too humiliated…
‘Surely it won’t come to that, right?’
Namgung Hyeok-in, who was being pushed back more and more, grit his teeth.
This wasn’t a martial duel where his life was on the line.
However, if he lost here, his reputation would die.
The Elder would tell him to go into secluded cultivation and hand over the squad leader position to the vice-squad leader.
‘I intended to keep this hidden.’
He barely managed to deflect Absolute Shadow’s sword.
Absolute Shadow’s sword thrust in once again.
At that moment, Hyeok-in thrust out his left index finger.
The finger force that shot out from there aimed for Absolute Shadow’s shoulder.
If he kept thrusting like that, his shoulder would be struck first.
Inevitably, Absolute Shadow twisted slightly to dodge, and because of that, a brief gap appeared in the sword of extreme speed for an instant.
Taking advantage of this, Namgung Hyeok-in finally escaped the situation where he was busy just deflecting and began to swing his sword flashily.
Following that, the sword Qi deployed built up walls layer upon layer.
Absolute Shadow’s sword tried to pierce through it again, but he could no longer aim for the vital points and enter as swiftly as before.
Finally, Namgung Hyeok-in’s sword began to be deployed in a manner worthy of the Boundless Firmament Sword Technique.
“Oh? Finger techniques? Did the Namgung Clan have finger techniques?”
In response to Seonwu’s question, Cheolbonggae replied.
“Surprisingly, they do. It’s called the Heavenly Thunder Finger.”
“Heh.”
Seonwu realized that Namgung did indeed have finger techniques.
“Usually, they’re too busy achieving great mastery in sword techniques, so they don’t learn it well… It seems he mastered it as a life-saving absolute stance. Well, since that friend is also past forty years of age, it’s fine for him to have at least one hidden life-saving ultimate technique.”
Seonwu nodded at Cheolbonggae’s kind explanation.
“Indeed, if you thought he would only use a sword since he’s from Namgung, and then a finger technique suddenly comes out like that, the opponent would be caught off guard too. It was immediately effective and turned the situation around.”
“That is true… It is true, but.”
Cheolbonggae guessed how bitter Hyeok-in’s heart must be.
‘He said his name was Seonyoung. Just as this friend said, the squad leader of the Namgung Clan suddenly deploying a finger technique serves as an excellent move to catch the opponent off guard.’
It was well worth being called a life-saving ultimate technique.
The problem was that he displayed it not in a life-or-death situation against a demonic practitioner, but in a martial duel with a young, nameless young master.
He saw it, Zhuge saw it, these friends saw it, and the other Namgung martial artists saw it.
By this point, after some time passes, Shaolin will know, and Mount Hua will know.
The Hebei Peng Clan will know, and the Nanhai Sword Sect will also find out.
It would no longer be a secret ace up his sleeve.
‘He must have spent quite a bit of time to master a finger technique of that level.’
If it were him, he would have put on a thick skin and just saved it.
Who cares about losing a mere martial duel?
Later on, when he meets a demonic practitioner, whether that technique is known or not could mean the difference between life and death.
Of course, socially, his reputation would be dead.
‘Tsk tsk, he did that because his face is thin.’
If he were thick-skinned enough to be called an iron face like himself, a thing like that would be nothing.
* * *
At any rate, Namgung Hyeok-in, who caught the opponent off guard with the sudden finger technique, barely grabbed the flow.
The sword Qi that was piling up layers upon layers.
As he occupied the space, Hyeok-in abandoned the thought of quickly cooking this insolent fellow.
If he lost the initiative twice by doing that, he would fall into the same situation as before.
He was fast, terribly fast.
Once he surrendered the initiative to that speed, from then on, even if he possessed a thousand or ten thousand variations, he would be fully occupied with blocking.
Like now, he builds a wall with a formation of sword Qi and pushes that wall little by little, driving the guy toward the edge.
Since the space of the dueling platform was limited, it was entirely possible.
Seonwu tilted his head.
‘Uh, I get what Namgung Hyeok-in is thinking, but if this were a real battle instead of being on top of a dueling platform where there’s no room to retreat, wouldn’t Absolute Shadow just step back?’
It seems like a method that wouldn’t be useful in a real battle?
Of course, it would serve as a defense, but…
Or maybe if people using the same method surrounded Absolute Shadow from front and back and tightened the noose?
Even a victory has its proper appearance, but no matter how I think about it, that gives off the feeling of ‘let’s just win this duel for now’…”
‘Well, whatever. A winning fool is better than a losing fool.’
He understood.
Even he would win first.
Therefore, Seonwu decided not to mock this.
Rather, he interpreted it positively, thinking that Namgung Hyeok-in acknowledged his subordinate that much.
‘But it’s not good if it goes on like this. Absolute Shadow, you’re going to win for me, right?’
As a lord, couldn’t he expect his subordinate to bring home a victory?
* * *
While creating the sword wall, Namgung Hyeok-in expected that he could now win without any variables.
He suffered a setback from the young guy’s extreme speed and entirely offensive sword, but there were no more variables.
The opponent wouldn’t be able to pierce this.
As proof of that, Absolute Shadow was being pushed more and more toward the corner of the dueling platform.
The talkativeness of the Namgung martial artists also revived.
“Khehe, that kind of entirely offensive and extremely fast sword that resembles the Unorthodox Faction ultimately can’t hold a candle before the sword technique of our main family.”
“Indeed, although he might gain a temporary advantage by catching us off guard, a deeply rooted tree does not fall to the wind.”
“Even if he shows off his power after seeing the branches shake for a moment, it won’t last long.”
Listening to them open their mouths, Absolute Shadow merely twitched his eyes slightly.
‘Namgung Hyeok-in is also certain of his superiority.’
It was just right.
A method like this, where one builds a sword wall and pushes inward, consumes a lot of inner energy.
If he couldn’t respond and got pushed off the dueling platform, what would the consumption of inner energy matter, but…
‘I didn’t think I would break Namgung’s sword with just One Flash from the beginning either.’
Setting aside the fact that he was arrogant and sacrilegious, if he were that incompetent, he would have been more disappointed.
Even if he defeated such a person and offered the victory, his lord wouldn’t be particularly moved.
It had to be at least this much.
Since he had consumed a fair amount of the opponent’s inner energy, it was now his time.
Shadowless Soul-Slaying Sword.
Second Form.
Absolute Shadow.
His sword slashed out.
A slash, not a thrust.
An extreme speed that cuts even shadows.
However, it wasn’t merely fast.
If One Flash was extreme speed, Absolute Shadow added strength on top of that.
The fast and fierce sword Qi tore through Namgung Hyeok-in’s layered sword wall as if ripping silk.
From top to bottom.
Slashing down vertically, it caused the sword wall to split left and right.
A single sword cleanly cleaved through multiple layers of the sword wall, opening a path.
Absolute Shadow immediately dashed out through the gap that opened up like that.
Behind him, the remaining sword wall pushed past.
If anyone had been standing there, they would have suffered a major injury, but what did it matter?
Absolute Shadow had already escaped, and even if it surrounded the empty air, it was a waste of inner energy.
“You bastard!”
Namgung hurriedly blocked Absolute Shadow as he dashed out.
Unable to dare ignore that sword which was fast and even fierce, Namgung Hyeok-in also deployed the ultimate techniques of the Boundless Firmament Sword Technique one after another, exchanging offenses and defenses.
Absolute Shadow’s sword, carrying strength within its extreme speed, clung to him, determined to cut Hyeok-in down.
Namgung Hyeok-in parried it while skillfully mixing various methods.
Sometimes softly.
Sometimes strongly.
Fast then slow.
Flashy then plain.
Heavy then light.
Truly, countless methods were deployed masterfully, but Absolute Shadow didn’t care in the slightest.
It was enough to move quickly with strong force and cut the opponent’s neck.
In the meantime, getting hurt himself by the opponent’s counterattack?
It wasn’t his concern.
Even if he had to give up his arm to take the neck, it would be enough.
I will become a cripple, and you shall die.
Since Absolute Shadow poured out attacks while disregarding defense with precisely that kind of momentum, Namgung Hyeok-in had absolutely no leeway either.
Rather, it was his side whose usable methods were restricted.
‘This… this crazy bastard!’
This is a martial duel, yet what is this viciousness?
Cheolbonggae also opened his mouth at that development.
“Huh? Your junior disciple is truly… brave, isn’t he?”
Unable to bring himself to call it vicious, he expressed it that way.
Seonwu smiled brightly.
“Isn’t that precisely besieging Wei to rescue Zhao?”
“Besieging Wei to rescue Zhao? Ha, threatening the mainland of Wei to save Zhao, is it something like that? Your words are correct.”
When the invading army of Wei pressed hard against Zhao, the country that participated as reinforcements headed toward the mainland of Wei instead of going to Zhao.
At this, the invading army had no choice but to return in a hurry.
Right now, Absolute Shadow’s body was Zhao, and Hyeok-in’s neck, which his sword aimed for, was Wei.
Clearly, Absolute Shadow’s sword was entirely offensive, and he still had many flaws.
If Namgung Hyeok-in set his mind to it, he could cut off his left arm, and he could also deeply slash his thigh.
There was a gap to slash his stomach, and a gap to pierce his chest as well.
He couldn’t possibly do so in a duel between the Orthodox Factions, but the groin was also within range.
However, instead of that, Absolute Shadow’s fast sword would take away Hyeok-in’s neck.
If that happened, it was obvious who would be at a loss.
Namgung Hyeok-in was dumbfounded.
‘This crazy bastard!’
It was truly a sword technique as if there were no tomorrow and it was enough to just win today.
Even if one wins like this, if disabilities remain here and there, it’s a sword technique that wouldn’t be able to fight a few more times.
The problem was that he couldn’t become the first sacrificial victim of that victory, though.
It was fast and strong.
To be precise, it was too fast and strong.
He might find a way to resolve it somehow by using softness to overcome hardness and striking second but arriving first, but since it was this fast, trying that half-heartedly would likely cost him his neck.
Now that it had actually come to this, there was nothing suitable to use among the many methods of infinite variations he possessed.
No matter which method he used, he could inflict a major injury on Absolute Shadow.
As the price for that, he had to give up his own neck too.
Therefore, the methods he could actually use became extremely restricted, leaving him with no choice but to be busy defending.
It returned to the beginning again.
No, it was worse.
As a result of excitedly using the sword wall recklessly, his inner energy consumption was much greater than Absolute Shadow’s.
“Uh, uh…”
The Namgung martial artists, who had been chattering excitedly, shut their mouths, and their expressions hardened again.
Watching that, Seonwu laughed.
‘Wow, even though I can tell the situation just by looking at it because I know martial arts…’
If someone didn’t know well, they could just measure the sound of the Namgung Clan martial artists chattering and use that as an indicator of the match.
Seonwu whispered to Jun via sound transmission.
[My guard fights well, doesn’t he?]
[Yeah, though he feels more like an assassin than a guard… He does fight well.]
[The admiral did say that Absolute Shadow is a hunting dog rather than a watchdog.]
[Yeah, and that’s a mad dog that doesn’t look after its own body. It’s a rabid dog.]
[Uh-huh, calling my guard a rabid dog.]
[I know it sounds like a misunderstanding, but right now, it’s meant as a compliment.]
[And rather than a rabid dog, that should be called a slaughter dog instead.]
[…True.]
It was actually different from being crazy.
Disregarding his own life, he went for the opponent’s life.
No.
To be precise, it wasn’t that either.
Jun revised his evaluation.
‘Rather, he is protecting himself by aiming for the opponent’s life.’
Seizing the initiative of the offense.
What if the opponent says he will take an arm in exchange for giving up his neck?
He pushes forward with the attitude of giving it up if necessary.
While it’s a loss for a master to do that against a novice, if it’s against the squad leader of Namgung, it wasn’t an impossible exchange.
Since they thought that way, even Namgung Hyeok-in couldn’t dare not protect his own neck first.
“The best defense is offense, is that it?”
Although the expressions of the listening Namgung Clan turned more rotten, Jun blurted out his honest impression.
Only Seonwu smiled happily and said to Cheolbonggae.
“I told you my junior disciple fights well. Right?”
“Haha… Honestly, it’s beyond expectations. I admit it. I underestimated the two young heroes a bit.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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