The World’s Greatest Martial Arts Instructor - Chapter 439

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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 439. Not Interested

 

 

Ju U-myeong came down from the martial arts arena and was waiting for the last match of the quarterfinals between Yeon Ha-min and Ha Seol-ran.

His gaze caught sight of Dan Mok Un-rae, who had been his opponent just moments ago.

It seemed like Instructor Han Seol-bing had said something to him.

Ever since then, the guy had been in a dazed state.

“Hmm.”

Ju U-myeong crossed his arms and let out a deep breath.

He wanted to go check on Dan Mok Un-rae right away, but.

The martial duel was about to begin.

People were packed densely around the area, all focusing on the martial arts arena.

It couldn’t be helped.

Even though they wore face veils, weren’t two of the three most beautiful women in Gyoryong Hall facing each other?

In such a situation, pushing through the crowd to go to Dan Mok Un-rae would also be inconsiderate.

It seemed he would have to watch this martial duel first.

Yeon Ha-min and Ha Seol-ran.

The two were looking at each other on the martial arts arena.

Beneath her face veil, Yeon Ha-min’s lips were smiling.

Ha Seol-ran was actually feeling somewhat bewildered.

‘I made it to the quarterfinals?’

In the last Eastern Tournament, she hadn’t even made it to the round of 16.

Because she had met Namgung Ji-yu, no, Namgung Yu, and lost.

Since she didn’t participate in this Eastern Tournament, there was no chance for a rematch.

Instead, she had won with overwhelming momentum and reached the quarterfinals.

Her opponent was her closest friend, Yeon Ha-min.

The two looked at each other, each lost in their own thoughts.

“Begin!”

The judge’s shout rang out.

The two women slowly drew their swords and took their respective ready stances.

Moonlit Flower Falling Sword Dance.

Infinite Adaptable Eight Absolute Sword Technique.

The ready stances of the two sword techniques.

There was no question of who would go first.

Ha Seol-ran and Yeon Ha-min simultaneously kicked off the ground.

Clang!

Sword met sword.

Each unleashed their sword techniques with full power.

A feast of swords pouring toward their opponent.

Yeon Ha-min’s concentration reached its peak.

‘He told me not to use it carelessly, but…’

This was Ha Seol-ran, who used the same sword technique as Instructor Ha.

Though there was a difference in their levels of mastery.

The sword technique itself was absolutely not to be underestimated.

Yeon Ha-min used her future sight.

Having practiced it secretly here and there, she had now somewhat adapted to its use.

In her eyes, Ha Seol-ran’s next sword path became visible.

Tap.

Yeon Ha-min kicked off the ground and moved while looking two moves ahead.

Even when Yeon Ha-min suddenly disappeared from before her eyes, Ha Seol-ran didn’t panic.

Instead.

Her ki sense was unleashed to its utmost limit.

‘Here.’

Ha Seol-ran changed her planned sword path and hastily swung her sword.

Clang!

Yeon Ha-min’s sword was blocked.

The eyes of the two met.

Though face veils covered them, both women were wearing the same smile right now.

Thus, a fierce exchange unfolded.

An inhuman ability called future sight, and ki sense that transcended human perception.

“Wow…”

“Huh…”

Yeon Ha-min and Ha Seol-ran hadn’t thought about it, but.

As they moved fiercely, their face veils also fluttered constantly.

Thus, glimpses of both women’s beauty caught people’s eyes.

Combined with movements that were nothing short of beautiful.

Especially Yeon Ha-min’s sword technique had a beauty that could be called art.

And since it was Yeon Ha-min who was performing it.

Ha Seol-ran’s movements responding to the Moonlit Flower Falling Sword Dance were naturally drawing beautiful sword paths as well.

This was not a martial duel.

It was simply the ultimate work of art created by two beauties who had transcended human limits.

That’s what it looked like.

The two had learned martial arts at similar times.

If there was one difference, it was their innate talent.

Ha Seol-ran was also a genius with outstanding talent, but.

Yeon Ha-min had taken exactly one step further.

It was a small difference.

However.

Victory and defeat are decided by such trivial differences.

The fierce exchange that lasted for half an hour was gradually shifting in Yeon Ha-min’s favor.

Even though it was a sword technique she had learned not long ago and wasn’t familiar with.

Yeon Ha-min was performing admirably and pressuring Ha Seol-ran.

The martial duel was gradually racing toward its end.

Ha Seol-ran unleashed her ultimate ki sense and pursued Yeon Ha-min, but.

That was ultimately her limit.

A sword came flying that she could pursue but could not block.

Clang!

A loud sound rang out and Ha Seol-ran’s sword was knocked away.

In that brief moment of opportunity.

Yeon Ha-min’s sword stopped in front of Ha Seol-ran’s dantian.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Silence descended.

Even though this was the scene that marked the end of the martial duel.

People only kept their mouths tightly shut and opened their eyes wide.

They had been lost in the beauty of the fantasy, but now the moment had come when it was all over.

People who pressed their lips tightly shut because they didn’t want to believe it.

“I have lost.”

A single phrase that shattered their denial flowed from Ha Seol-ran’s lips.

Acknowledgment of defeat.

“The winner is Yeon Ha-min!”

The judge’s declaration followed.

After sheathing their swords, the two performed cupped fist salutes toward each other.

Clap.

Clap clap.

Clap clap clap clap. Clap clap clap clap.

There were no cheers.

Instead, countless applause followed someone’s lead.

The sound of applause completely covered the area around the martial arts arena.

Because it had been an excellent martial duel that anyone could acknowledge.

Because it had been a moving contest.

The spectators expressed their feelings through applause rather than cheers.

Vice Director Yeon Baek-jin’s face was filled with pride as he watched the result.

Though it was sword technique she had started learning late, she had already reached such a level.

He knew that Ha Mu-baek had personally guided her sword technique.

Should he say it was indeed Ha Mu-baek?

Or should he say Yeon Ha-min was excellent?

The semifinals and finals.

Darkness fell with only three martial duels remaining.

The second day of the Eastern Tournament had ended.

The remaining three duels were postponed to tomorrow.

 

Dan Mok Un-rae mechanically clapped along with the sound of people’s applause.

Ha Seol-ran and Yeon Ha-min.

Though he had watched the excellent martial duel between the two, it didn’t register in his eyes.

Only the killing intent he had unleashed.

His mind was completely absorbed in that alone.

Tap.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Ju U-myeong, who had somehow squeezed through the gaps between people and approached Dan Mok Un-rae’s side, grabbed his shoulder and asked.

Dan Mok Un-rae’s gaze turned as he suddenly came to his senses.

“U-myeong…”

His voice came out slightly trembling.

“Is it perhaps because of this?”

Ju U-myeong pointed to the wound remaining on his cheek.

The bleeding had stopped.

Dan Mok Un-rae’s eyes shook roughly as he looked at that wound.

Ju U-myeong chuckled, knowing his guess was correct.

“A true warrior should have at least this much scarring. Why are you worrying about it so much?”

“I… I…”

Dan Mok Un-rae’s lips trembled.

He continued with difficulty.

“…I used killing, killing intent against you.”

At Dan Mok Un-rae’s words, Ju U-myeong’s eyes widened.

Not because of the wound, but because he had used killing intent.

He hadn’t thought of this.

‘Then Instructor Han grabbing Un-rae by the collar was because of that?’

Ju U-myeong replayed the final moment of the martial duel.

He had certainly felt a desperate energy that could be called killing intent.

That’s why he had responded with full power too.

He briefly imagined.

What if his movement had been a little slower?

He would have suffered a deeper wound, but he wouldn’t have died.

He was confident of that.

“I used it too. Killing intent.”

Ju U-myeong’s calm answer.

Dan Mok Un-rae was startled by that response.

“Un-rae. What do you think a sword is? What do you think sword technique is?”

Ju U-myeong asked, holding up his practice sword.

It was a sword without a sharpened edge.

It was a measure to avoid the worst situation even if an accident occurred.

But it was also a meaningless measure for those who used sword qi and sword threads.

“…”

Dan Mok Un-rae couldn’t answer.

In fact, he had never pondered that aspect.

Because martial arts was a path to become stronger for Dan Mok Un-rae.

Because he was pursuing only strength in sword technique too.

“The day I first held a sword. These were my Master’s words to me. A sword is a tool for killing people. Every movement performed with a sword is killing technique.”

At Ju U-myeong’s words, Dan Mok Un-rae’s eyes became more confused than ever.

“The term ‘life-giving sword’ is nothing but vain falsehood. In the end, only death remains at the tip of a sword.”

Ju U-myeong calmly told Dan Mok Un-rae the teaching he had first heard from his Master Muyeon Jin-in during his ignorant childhood days.

“Even so, this era’s world is a place where situations may arise where one must kill someone to protect something precious. That’s why one must become strong, he said. Though we cannot know what lies at the end of the sword’s path, we must not forget that a sword is a killing weapon meant to take someone’s life.”

“…”

Dan Mok Un-rae couldn’t say anything.

“In the end, every sword technique I unleashed toward you was also killing intent. The fact that you wounded my cheek is merely proof that you gave your all. The fact that I ended with only a small wound is also proof that I gave my all. And it’s proof that I was stronger than you.”

Having said that much, Ju U-myeong patted Dan Mok Un-rae’s shoulder once more and turned around.

He had done everything he could.

Now the next step was a problem Dan Mok Un-rae had to overcome himself.

After all the quarterfinals had ended.

Han Seol-bing, who had calmed her anger and was coming to find Dan Mok Un-rae again.

“Whew.”

Seeing the two of them, she let out a deep sigh.

“He’s better than me. Who’s the instructor here, really…”

After muttering self-deprecatingly like that, she turned around.

It was because Ju U-myeong had given much better advice than Han Seol-bing herself.

‘I still have a long way to go too.’

Han Seol-bing blamed herself as she walked away.

The final moment of the martial duel.

The moment when the desperate struggle for victory turned into killing intent.

The reason she had become angry was.

Because her experiences from the Hocheon Corps days still remained deeply in her body.

Killing intent toward a comrade.

That was a taboo that could never be allowed under any circumstances.

They were comrades who entrusted their lives to each other and stood back to back on the brutal battlefield.

They’re comrades who entrust their lives to each other and fight back-to-back on brutal battlefields.

To direct killing intent at such a comrade.

It was an absolute taboo among taboos.

‘How long has it been since the war ended…’

Even though several years had passed, the taboo from that time naturally surfaced and his body reacted instinctively.

 

***

 

Just how much time had passed?

Ha Mu-baek gazed at the sword marks while endlessly recalling sword forms.

Thousands, tens of thousands of times.

No, he had even forgotten to count now.

After repeating it so many times over and over again.

Ha Mu-baek drew his sword.

And lightly struck downward.

“Tsk.”

He grimaced and clicked his tongue.

It was a completely different sword.

It was a sword form that couldn’t even match the toenail of that one strike Wuji had shown.

‘What is lacking?’

Ha Mu-baek fell into thought again, comparing the One Sword he had briefly tried to imitate with Wuji’s One Sword.

It was a One Sword with such a vast difference that he couldn’t even dare to compare them.

The problem was.

He couldn’t understand why such a vast difference occurred.

“Huu…”

Ha Mu-baek let out a deep sigh.

“When you can’t find an answer no matter how much you think, sometimes emptying your mind is also a method.”

Recalling the method he had used when overcoming walls in the past.

Ha Mu-baek straightened his posture.

He lightly gripped the sword hilt with both hands.

And struck downward with the sword raised above his head.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

.

.

.

.

One hundred times.

.

.

One thousand times.

Ha Mu-baek began repeating the downward strike from the Three Talents Sword Technique he had taught the cadets.

Continuously.

Without rest.

Since the flow of time was extremely fast here anyway, no matter how much time he spent in this place, it wouldn’t amount to much in reality’s time.

He decided to start from the basics and work his way up step by step.

To check if there was anything he had missed while growing stronger at such a rapid pace.

Examining each thing one by one.

At an ox’s pace.

Like someone first entering martial arts.

Like that.

He fell deeply into the sword technique.

 

“It won’t be easy.”

Wuji muttered while watching that scene from afar.

“Do you think it’s possible?”

Radiance, who was beside him, asked with a dubious expression.

“Wouldn’t you know better than me? That child also possessed Radiance.”

A question asking if he hadn’t been watching Ha Mu-baek while within the power of Radiance as an abyss.

“Not interested.”

It was a dry response.

“Hehe. When I created the Mugeuk Yeoui Divine Arts, I clearly drew the limits that humans could reach. But that child surpassed those limits. So I should have expectations.”

Wuji looked at Ha Mu-baek, who was busily swinging his sword, with warm eyes.

“Hmph. A human is just a human. That One Sword is a strike using Supreme Power. A human using power that transcends the existence called human? You must know that means possessing power equivalent to the abyss.”

Contrary to saying he wasn’t interested, Radiance was showing great interest.

“What good is it if the abyss possesses Supreme Power when it can’t even be used without a human body? It’s power no different from a specter.”

“But it’s a realm that pure humans can never reach.”

“We’ll have to watch and see if that’s truly the case. That child also has his innate physique.”

“We’ll have to wait and see if that’s truly the case. That child does have natural physical gifts, after all.”

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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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