The World’s Greatest Martial Arts Instructor - Chapter 130

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 130. The Ultimate Technique of My Sect

 

 

The central wide sparring platform.

A platform that wasn’t used even once yesterday.

But today, eight quarterfinalists were seated in the designated areas around the platform.

From the quarterfinals onward, all matches would be held exclusively here.

Cadets from Jamryong Corps, Waryong Corps, and Maengryong Corps had already gathered densely around the area.

If it were last year, only cadets from Jamryong Corps and Waryong Corps would have gathered.

This year was different.

As many as four Maengryong Corps cadets had advanced to the quarterfinals.

Half of the quarterfinals belonged to Maengryong Corps.

Jamryong Corps and Waryong Corps had barely managed to get two each.

Though it wasn’t their own achievement, the Maengryong Corps cadets unconsciously straightened their shoulders with pride at the accomplishments of those belonging to the same place as them.

That’s why they had confidently gathered to watch the Winter Tournament today.

 

“How do you think today will go?”

When Peng Do-yul asked, no one answered.

The skills shown in yesterday’s round of 16 were too extraordinary to dismiss Maengryong Corps.

They had thought it was only Ju U-myeong, but that wasn’t the case.

Even the two cadets who lost in yesterday’s round of 16 had skills that were by no means easy to handle.

Maengryong Corps leader Moyong Jin-ho remained quietly as always.

Knowing that all these achievements were created by Ha Mu-baek’s hands, he simply stayed silent.

At the corps leaders’ reactions, Peng Do-yul could only smile subtly.

 

“Are you here again today?”

The same spot as yesterday.

Ha Mu-baek was already sitting on the rooftop, looking down at the sparring platform.

Gongsun Mu-oe had come again today.

“This place has the best view.”

“I think so too.”

“What brings you here again today?”

“It’s more interesting than I thought.”

At Gongsun Mu-oe’s answer, Ha Mu-baek simply nodded.

“Who do you think will win?”

“If he had brought his shield, Baek Ri-pyeong would win. But it seems he’ll fight without it.”

 

Today’s first match was a martial duel between Baek Ri-pyeong and Namgung Ji-hu.

However, unlike the round of 16 the day before, Baek Ri-pyeong had come out with only a single sword.

Namgung Ji-hu gazed at that sight thoughtfully.

“Wouldn’t it be better to use your shield?”

At Namgung Ji-hu’s words, Baek Ri-pyeong shook his head.

“No. I feel like I need to defeat you with just my sword to be proud of myself.”

“Wasn’t winning itself justice?”

“In war and battle, yes. But this is a martial duel.”

Baek Ri-pyeong answered with a slight smile.

Namgung Ji-hu also smiled slightly.

Hadn’t they already crossed swords several times through training matches?

“Begin!”

With the judge’s shout, both drew their swords and faced each other.

The first to take the offensive was Namgung Ji-hu.

The Azure Sky Unhindered Sword technique flowed endlessly from his hands.

Baek Ri-pyeong used the Three Talents Sword Technique to block all of his opponent’s attacks.

Namgung Ji-hu focused his entire mind on his opponent.

His internal energy was already raised to maximum.

Having sparred several times, he knew how strong Baek Ri-pyeong was as an opponent.

He had already won several times, but each time there had been an unsettling feeling.

Today, he would be able to discover the identity of that feeling.

The moment Namgung Ji-hu’s sword gained more power.

Baek Ri-pyeong’s sword movement changed.

It wasn’t the simple sword path of the Three Talents Sword Technique.

“Ugh.”

Namgung Ji-hu stepped back two paces at the sudden change.

Then came his opponent’s relentless offensive.

At the countless sword shadows flying like stars adorning the night sky, Namgung Ji-hu frantically moved his sword.

“This is…”

Having barely blocked the barrage of attacks, Namgung Ji-hu looked at Baek Ri-pyeong with a bewildered expression.

It was a sword technique he had never seen before.

Not during training at the Maengryong Training Ground, nor in his martial duels shown during the Winter Tournament so far.

Baek Ri-pyeong had only used the Three Talents Sword Technique when Namgung Ji-hu was present.

“Heavenly Star Sword Technique. The ultimate technique of my sect.”

Baek Ri-pyeong calmly resolved Namgung Ji-hu’s question.

Zhongnan’s sword technique.

Heavenly Star Sword Technique.

It wasn’t the Heavenly Star Galaxy Sword Technique, said to be Zhongnan’s greatest ultimate technique. But wasn’t he also using the Azure Sky Unhindered Sword rather than the Emperor Sword Form?

To think he had been hiding such sword skills all this time.

“I see. So the Winter Tournament had already begun from before then.”

Baek Ri-pyeong, who had concealed his ultimate technique and sparred with him.

This was the identity of the unsettling feeling Namgung Ji-hu had even when winning their training matches.

“No. It was simply cultivation of the Heavenly Star Sword Technique.”

At Baek Ri-pyeong’s response, Namgung Ji-hu tilted his head.

How could using only the Three Talents Sword Technique constantly be cultivation of the Heavenly Star Sword Technique?

“And now is the time to confirm the results of that cultivation.”

The brief conversation ended there.

This time, Baek Ri-pyeong stepped forward and swung his sword.

Like countless stars falling from the night sky.

Baek Ri-pyeong’s sword thrust toward various vital points on Namgung Ji-hu’s body.

If his opponent was the stars of the night sky, then Namgung Ji-hu was the azure sky itself.

The Azure Sky Unhindered Sword erased each star one by one.

Clang! Clang clang! Clang!

The sound of sword clashing against sword rang out loudly.

People watched the scene in a daze.

It was beautiful.

It was a different kind of beauty from the martial duel between Namgung Ji-yu and Ha Seol-ran the day before.

The back-and-forth exchange of the Heavenly Star Sword Technique and Azure Sky Unhindered Sword technique in harmony.

It was an evenly matched confrontation where neither could easily gain the upper hand.

Both their faces were drenched with sweat.

And deep smiles appeared on their faces as they looked at each other.

It was good.

It was truly good.

Had they ever clashed like this before, giving their all and unleashing every martial art they had learned?

Both Baek Ri-pyeong and Namgung Ji-hu.

They gradually fell into a state of selfless absorption.

 

“Remarkable.”

Gongsun Mu-oe exclaimed in admiration.

It was a scene that demanded such a reaction.

“Indeed. This is beyond my expectations.”

To think they would draw each other out through martial duel and try to reach even higher realms together.

For Ha Mu-baek, who had grown stronger rolling around battlefields, this was a realm he had never considered.

Though his Master had recently broken through barriers through their duel, he had thought that was only possible because it was his Master.

“It would have been disappointing if he had used his shield.”

Gongsun Mu-oe said.

Ha Mu-baek nodded.

“He would have secured certain victory, but we wouldn’t have seen this sight. He would have only used the combination of Three Talents Sword Technique and Shield Technique.”

Ha Mu-baek readily admitted.

‘A martial duel, not war or combat.’

Ha Mu-baek chuckled softly, recalling Baek Ri-pyeong’s words from the conversation between the two that he had overheard by focusing internal energy on his ears.

The children were thinking, growing, and executing things he himself had failed to consider.

Unlike himself, who only thought of battlefields when it came to confronting opponents.

‘It seems I still haven’t completely escaped from that hell.’

Baek Ri-pyeong’s words had awakened something Ha Mu-baek hadn’t realized he was missing.

‘Well, it seems I’m gradually escaping though.’

That was right.

While serving as an instructor for the Maengryong Corps at Gyoryong Hall.

Ha Mu-baek was slowly but surely finding what he had lost on the battlefield.

Just look at today.

Hadn’t he realized that confronting opponents wasn’t just combat, but could also be martial duels?

 

Meanwhile, the exchange between the two was reaching its climax.

An exchange as if they had coordinated it beforehand.

Both were still in a state of selfless absorption.

Clang clang clang clang!

The swords clashed even more fiercely.

Catastrophe came from an unexpected place.

Clang!

Namgung Ji-hu’s sword couldn’t withstand Baek Ri-pyeong’s strike and broke.

It happened in truly an instant.

And at that moment.

Both came to their senses.

“Uh…”

“Ah…”

Sighs full of regret burst from both their mouths simultaneously.

Namgung Ji-hu looked at his broken sword.

Then he looked at Baek Ri-pyeong.

“I lost.”

A defeat acknowledged without resistance.

At such an absurd and deflating result, sighs flowed from the mouths of the spectators who had been completely absorbed in this confrontation.

“This is…”

“Ha.”

“Aah.”

Namgung Ji-hu paid no attention to the spectators’ reactions and picked up the broken sword fragment before descending from the martial arts arena.

This was the second time their swords had clashed and broken.

In the last Hatuje, it was Baek Ri-pyeong’s sword that had broken. No, it had been shattered to pieces. Baek Ri-pyeong had even been injured by those sword fragments.

Namgung Ji-hu still remembered that time vividly.

That’s why he acknowledged his defeat without a single complaint when his sword broke, and descended gracefully.

“Ah…”

Rather, it was Baek Ri-pyeong who felt regret.

Because he felt like he had caught a glimpse of something during that martial duel.

 

“Tsk. How disappointing. To have the outcome decided by the superiority of weapons.”

“That too is part of victory and defeat.”

At Ha Mu-baek’s words, Gongsun Mu-oe nodded as if in agreement.

“Still, disappointing is disappointing. If he’s a son of the Namgung Family, he should be using an extraordinary sword. How could he be inferior in weapon quality?”

Gongsun Mu-oe muttered in bewilderment, feeling disappointed.

Ha Mu-baek just smiled broadly.

Keeping to himself the fact that he had personally forged that sword.

 

The heat that Baek Ri-pyeong and Namgung Ji-hu had stirred up filled the area around the martial arts arena.

Even though their duel had ended anticlimactically, that heat didn’t cool down.

It couldn’t.

Because the next martial duel was also anticipated.

This upcoming duel was probably what the spectators gathered here today were most looking forward to.

Namgung Ji-yu.

And Yeon Ha-min.

A martial duel between the two most beautiful women in Gyoryong Hall.

That alone sent expectations soaring through the sky.

Some even called it the Battle of Two Flowers.

There were even those who grouped Namgung Ji-yu, Yeon Ha-min, and Ha Seol-ran together, calling them the Three Flowers of Gyoryong.

Even though they couldn’t see their faces properly due to the face veils.

They were already calling them that based on just the glimpses of their faces that had been revealed.

“Waaaaaaah!!”

“Waaaaaaah!”

As Namgung Ji-yu and Yeon Ha-min stepped onto the martial arts arena, cheers erupted from all directions.

The two looked at each other.

Yeon Ha-min had also climbed onto the martial arts arena carrying only a single sword.

She recalled what had happened last night.

 

“You won’t use your shield?”

Yeon Ha-min, who had suggested using Shield Technique in the quarterfinals.

Baek Ri-pyeong, who had actually used Shield Technique in his duels so far, rejected that suggestion.

“I used Shield Technique because my opponent also used Shield Technique, so I found the most suitable response. What we’re having is a martial duel. Unless my opponent uses a shield, I want to compete purely with my sword technique.”

“Why?”

Yeon Ha-min asked with a face that showed she couldn’t understand.

She had suggested the option with the highest probability of victory.

“It’s a martial duel. It’s okay to lose.”

Baek Ri-pyeong said this with a smile.

At those words, the other three people except Yeon Ha-min were convinced.

Dan Mok Un-rae also said he wouldn’t use his shield.

He wanted to test his abilities with just his sword.

Yeon Ha-min, who had been contemplating through the night, eventually made up her mind and left Yeonryong Lodge this morning.

 

‘But he told me to win?’

Suddenly, Dang Jin-san’s joke from this morning came to mind.

A smile naturally formed on her face.

Even though it was a smile beneath her face veil, the atmosphere she radiated became bright and cheerful.

The spectators watching her could only gape and stare in admiration.

Soon she collected herself and gazed at her opponent across from her, Namgung Ji-yu.

Namgung Ji-yu also gazed at Yeon Ha-min.

She recalled the result of the martial duel from moments ago.

Her younger sibling had lost in a one-on-one martial duel.

Unlike the previous Hatuje, he had lost in a fair and square match.

In less than a year’s time, for a cadet of Maengryong Corps to change this much.

It was surprising.

Probably Yeon Ha-min standing before her would be the same.

How strong had Dang Jin-san, whom she met yesterday, become as well.

Once again, she would have to pour out everything she had.

On one hand, she was also looking forward to it.

Just like Baek Ri-pyeong and her younger sibling had done moments ago, whether Yeon Ha-min could also match her.

She had felt envious watching the martial duel between Namgung Ji-hu and Baek Ri-pyeong.

Hoping that would be possible, she slowly drew her sword.

Of course, the one who would be victorious would be Namgung Ji-yu herself.

“Begin!”

The judge’s shout was heard.

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