Reincarnation of the Cloud Dragon - Chapter 103

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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Chapter 103.
“Yun Cheon, Master of the Black Dragon Gang. By the authority granted to me by the Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect, I formally propose a Moonlit Covenant to you.”
Nak Wol’s voice was low and gentle.
Yet the moment those words fell, the Grand Martial Arena grew quiet, as though doused with cold water.
A Moonlit Covenant.
A beautiful promise made beneath the moon.
It sounded like a romantic confession.
“What…?”
“A Moonlit Covenant?”
“Is she proposing a betrothal?”
“On the Combat Platform?”
Soft gasps erupted from various corners of the arena.
Yeon Ha Ran’s eyes widened as she clutched at Yeon So Ran’s sleeve.
“Sister, is that… is that really what it means?”
Yeon So Ran had heard of it before. Among the Ten Demon Sects, the Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect, a female-centered organization, had been granted a unique privilege by the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect. And now, Nak Wol was invoking that privilege before all eyes.
“It is a betrothal, but not merely a betrothal.”
Yet it could not be explained in such romantic terms alone.
“Then what?”
“One of the ten privileges the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect granted to the Ten Demon Sects….”
Yeon Ha Ran’s pupils trembled.
“A privilege of the Ten Demon Sects?”
“Yes. The Young Sect Master of the Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect may propose a Moonlit Covenant to any man she deems worthy of the sect’s prosperity.”
Yeon So Ran’s gaze turned toward Nak Wol upon the Combat Platform.
“If he accepts the proposal, he becomes a member of the Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect.”
“A member?”
“The Young Sect Master’s consort. It is not a personal betrothal but a covenant binding the entire sect.”
Kang Hui’s brow furrowed.
“Does that mean… he must accept if she proposes?”
Just as Yeop Cheong A was about to answer, Yalü Hee spoke first.
“No.”
Her gaze fixed upon Nak Wol.
“He only needs to prove he is stronger.”
Upon the Combat Platform.
Nak Wol remained veiled, yet her lips were unmistakably curved in a smile.
Beautiful. Captivating. And dangerous.
“Hah.”
Yalü Hee exhaled sharply.
“She is no ordinary woman.”
That brief exhalation carried both exasperation and acknowledgment.
Subtle ripples of disturbance spread even among the elders in the highest seats.
“How long has it been since the Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect brought out the Moonlit Covenant?”
“But this is the Guang Feng Yalü Family’s martial tournament….”
“And what of it? Can you stop them? It is an authority the Sect permits.”
Another elder stroked his beard.
“Do you believe the Young Sect Master acted on personal sentiment?”
“No, if the Young Sect Master made such a public request, we must regard it as the will of the entire Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect.”
“This has become quite troublesome for the Black Dragon Gang Master.”
Brief whispers drifted into Yun Cheon’s ears.
Every eye in the Grand Martial Arena fixed upon Yun Cheon at once.
Yun Cheon, Master of the Black Dragon Gang.
A man who led a small faction from the borderlands of Qinghai, yet now stood in the finals of this martial tournament.
A man who defeated Dok Go Un and Ul Ji Geuk without drawing his sword even once, shaking the Guang Feng Yalü Family’s Grand Martial Arena.
To such a man, the Young Sect Master of the Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect had issued the Moonlit Covenant.
None present could mistake its meaning.
Yun Cheon had become a figure the Ten Demon Sects would claim using whatever authority their sects permitted.
* * *
‘This is no mere marriage proposal.’
Upon the Combat Platform, I regarded Nak Wol, who still maintained her courteous posture.
“….”
My silence continued.
Nak Wol found that silence rather pleasing.
Though her words had stirred the arena into chaos, her bearing remained unshaken.
Beneath the veil, her eyes were gentle, yet within them lay not the slightest hesitation.
One who does not answer hastily.
One who does not waver easily.
And that pleased me all the more.
Breaking the prolonged silence, I finally spoke.
“You are free to ask.”
The corners of Nak Wol’s mouth rose.
Yet my next words fell upon them at once.
“But whether I accept or refuse is my freedom.”
In an instant, Nak Wol’s pupils trembled ever so faintly.
It was not alarm, but rather a tremor akin to satisfaction.
A soft laugh escaped from beneath her veil.
“Hehe… as expected. I knew you would answer thus.”
Nak Wol slowly released the hem of her robe.
Her hand slipped back into her sleeve.
Yun Cheon and Nak Wol spoke simultaneously.
“The Strong are Revered.”
“In the end, the answer must be decided by the blade.”
Nak Wol’s eyes curved like crescents.
Words were finished.
Beneath the law of the strong, all that remained was to prove each other’s martial prowess.
The Butler looked flustered, his gaze alternating between the two fighters and the crowd before glancing up toward the family head.
Yalü Jin’s fingers tapped lightly against the armrest of his chair.
Tap.
At that small sound, the murmur of the crowd subsided.
“The Moonlit Covenant is an authority granted by the Sect to the Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect.”
Yalü Jin’s gaze swept across Nak Wol and Yun Cheon in turn.
“However, this is the Combat Platform of the Guang Feng Yalü Family. The answer should be given upon the platform itself.”
The Butler swallowed hard and called out.
“The, the finals will continue!”
With those words, the chaos that had blanketed the arena transformed into taut tension once more.
Nak Wol slowly straightened her posture.
The woman who had been bowing respectfully moments before had vanished.
In her place stood the Young Sect Master of the Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect.
A martial artist bearing the name of an entire sect upon her shoulders.
“May I ask one thing?”
As Nak Wol’s voice flowed low, Yun Cheon answered briefly.
“Go ahead.”
Nak Wol’s gaze turned toward the sword at Yun Cheon’s back.
The blade.
The sword Yun Cheon had not drawn even once until now.
“When do you intend to draw that sword?”
The presence of those watching wavered subtly.
When he defeated Dok Go Un.
When he defeated Ul Ji Geuk.
Yun Cheon had not drawn his sword.
Everyone in the arena now knew this fact.
Yun Cheon neither looked troubled nor smiled.
He simply regarded Nak Wol with calm composure.
“When it becomes necessary.”
“Then it won’t be necessary when facing me?”
The end of Nak Wol’s words curved gently.
“We shall see.”
“Hehe… You won’t claim afterward that you held back your sword after losing, will you?”
Nak Wol laughed softly.
“Of course not.”
“Then… I’ll prove it to you.”
Her hand disappeared completely into her sleeve.
“That I have the right to possess you.”
The moment the words left her lips, Nak Wol was the first to move.
Whoosh—
Nak Wol moved.
Her footsteps made no sound.
She had been five paces away just moments before, yet in the next instant, her silhouette had already shifted half a step to the side.
Nak Wol Step.
Subtle as the light of a setting moon, but by the time one notices, darkness has already descended.
Her form rippled like the moon’s reflection upon water.
One step. An extraordinarily light step.
Yet with that single step, the distance between them shifted.
Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect.
Truly worthy of bearing the name Flying Shadow.
“Exquisite.”
Someone from the elevated seating murmured softly.
But immediately, the person beside them replied.
“And far more than merely beautiful.”
Nak Wol’s sleeve fluttered.
In that instant, a slender silver gleam flashed from within her sleeve.
A hidden blade.
A short, thin blade it was.
Nak Wol’s hidden blade did not thrust forward with brutal intent.
Rather, it was excessively elegant.
Like moonlight descending upon rippling water, it glided toward Yun Cheon’s throat.
Clang—!
Yun Cheon’s saber intercepted the silver gleam.
The metallic ring sang out clearly.
In that brief collision, Nak Wol’s eyes glimmered faintly.
‘He blocked it.’
The corner of Nak Wol’s mouth rose.
Blocking was only to be expected.
What she truly wished to see came next.
The silver gleam curved once more.
This time, not toward his neck.
His wrist.
Precisely toward the hand gripping the saber.
Yun Cheon twisted his saber slightly.
The hidden blade’s trajectory slid along the saber’s body and dissipated into empty air.
Nak Wol did not retreat.
Following the direction the hidden blade had flowed, her body rotated.
Her sleeves billowed outward.
From within them, another glint of silver erupted.
A second hidden blade.
No.
There had never been just one from the start.
Left hand and right hand.
Two moonlit daggers concealed beneath the long sleeves converged on Yun Cheon’s openings from different angles.
“Two hidden blades?”
Yeon Ha Ran swallowed softly.
Yeon So Ran’s expression had also hardened.
“No. Those aren’t really hidden blades….”
Her words trailed off.
The blades were merely a distraction.
What was truly terrifying was Nak Wol’s sleeves themselves.
The loosely flowing robes obscured Yun Cheon’s vision, then in the next instant, they unleashed steel.
What appeared was fabric.
What made contact was blade.
The beautiful garment became a curtain of death.
Yun Cheon’s saber moved low.
Deflecting the first hidden blade.
Redirecting the second.
The moment the robes began to coil around him, I severed them with the flat of my blade.
Rip!
Torn fabric scattered into the air.
In that same instant, Nak Wol’s form dispersed as well.
‘An afterimage.’
My eyes shifted rightward.
Not too late.
In fact, faster than Nak Wol’s blade.
My saber rose lightly toward my ribs.
Clang!
The hidden blade was blocked again.
Nak Wol’s eyes narrowed.
“You see remarkably well.”
“Only as much as is visible.”
“Then I’ll simply make it invisible.”
Nak Wol’s body flowed backward.
With merely a single step back, the distance suddenly widened.
Simultaneously, her robes unfurled dramatically.
The pale, delicate fabric bloomed in the air like a halo of moonlight.
In that instant, multiple shadows materialized upon the Combat Platform.
One.
Two.
Three.
No—there were far more than that.
Nak Wol’s silhouette overlapped beneath the moonlight.
Gasps of astonishment rippled through the spectators.
“An illusion?”
“No, it’s more than mere deception.”
“The auras are all different….”
Yun Cheon tilted his head slightly.
Sight alone would deceive me.
Even sound arrives too late.
Relying on qi perception is more perilous still.
Nak Wol’s aura was deliberately scattered.
Like sand slipping through one’s fingers the moment you tried to grasp it.
‘Then.’
Yun Cheon steadied his breathing.
He did not narrow his vision.
Instead, he expanded it.
He did not search for a single Nak Wol.
He observed the flow of the entire Grand Martial Arena.
Dust disturbed beneath her feet.
The descent of torn fabric fragments.
Faint moonlight clinging to the blade’s edge.
And.
The wind.
To the left.
Yun Cheon’s saber moved.
Clang!
A hidden blade ricocheted through the air.
In that same moment, Nak Wol’s true form was revealed.
Directly before his left shoulder.
Far too close.
Nak Wol’s wrist bent with fluid grace.
The ricocheting blade had been bait.
From her fingertips flowed something pale and gossamer as moonlight.
It resembled silk thread.
Yet in the next instant.
Shrrrrk—.
Yet the moment the stone slab at the edge of the Combat Platform split in a clean line, all could discern that this was no ordinary silk.
Shwick.
A severance so utterly silent.
White dust rose from the fissure in the split stone.
“Moonlit Shadow Cord…!”
Someone in the spectator stands murmured.
Moonlit Shadow Cord.
The secret weapon of the Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect.
Softer than a flexible blade, sharper than a whip, more concealed than silk—a cord weapon of lethal grace.
Should one’s fingertips, meridians, and breathing fall out of sync, it would sever one’s own wrist first; yet in the hands of a master, it could cut even shadows.
I watched the Moonlit Shadow Cord with keen interest.
Slender and long.
Draped softly, yet its tip remained alive with intent.
‘A cord weapon.’
Unlike swords or sabers, its trajectory was not fixed.
Once a cord weapon bent, predicting its next trajectory became nearly impossible. Moreover, combined with the Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect’s movement technique, the visible path and the actual position of the blade’s edge would diverge entirely.
A troublesome weapon to face.
The Moonlit Shadow Cord swayed without wind.
Whoosh.
Before sound could register, a chill grazed the nape of my neck.
Clang!
My saber rose diagonally to meet it.
The cord’s tip struck the blade’s body as if coiling around it, then flowed away like water.
Not a solid collision.
A collision that could not be seized.
I narrowed my eyes.
‘I feel no weight.’
The Moonlit Shadow Cord released its force the instant it touched my blade, and that dissipated force did not return to Nak Wol’s wrist.
It bent in empty air.
And immediately targeted my ankle.
Scritch-scritch-scritch!
My foot retreated half a step.
The subtlety of the Limitless Step spread quietly across the Combat Platform.
Like flowing water.
A footwork with neither beginning nor end.
The Moonlit Shadow Cord coiled around where my ankle had been, yet only my lingering presence remained there.
Nak Wol’s eyes gleamed.
“As expected. Your footwork is equally extraordinary?”
Her wrist flipped lightly.
The Moonlit Shadow Cord scraped the ground and twisted, then rose like a serpent.
This time, a direct confrontation.
Yun Cheon unleashed his blade.
Clang!
The Blade Spirit and Moon Shadow Sickle clashed.
In that instant, Nak Wol’s form blurred once more.
‘Indeed, the Young Sect Master of the Nak Wol Bi Yeong Sect….’
The Moon Shadow Sickle slipped free when pressed by the blade, yet ensnared when grasped by force.
To sever its flow, I needed not the broad edge of a blade, but the pointed tip of a sword that pierces a single point.
Yun Cheon’s left hand moved slowly behind his back.
Click—.
His hand grasped the sword hilt.
‘At last.’
Nak Wol’s breath caught, sharp and brief.
Beneath the veil, the curve of her lips became even more pronounced.
“It was worth the wait.”
Whoosh—.
The sword bound at his back was drawn.
The moment the sword was unsheathed.
The wind upon the Combat Platform transformed.

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This chapter is translated by Falnar Novels Team.
Support us by reading on our official site: https://falnarnovels.com
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