Ultimate Martial Venerable - Chapter 47

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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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Episode 47. Do Not Underestimate Ilwon Academy
The first blade to cut across the Open Ground belonged to Cho Haeng.
Dozens of sword lights flashed out at once. Ja Haeng did not retreat but raised his Purple Curved Saber across his chest.

“Purple Radiance Body Protection

!”

Purple rings blooming from the blade sank into the strong energy wrapping his body. The Body Protection Qi, now shifting to blue-purple, hardened like thick armor plate.
Cho Haeng’s sword descended again and again upon it.
Clang, clang, clang!
Only the sound of metal striking metal rang out. The final thrust lodged barely an inch into his chest before halting.
Ja Haeng’s lips curved upward.

“Is that all?”

The Purple Curved Saber swept sideways.
From the blade erupted both the cry of a hawk and the roar of a beast at once. As the sound rippled outward like visible waves, Cho Haeng’s body stiffened for a moment.

“Sound Wave Technique.”

Mu Wi stroked his belly and narrowed his eyes.
Yuk Beom examined the curved saber in Ja Haeng’s hand before examining the man himself. That sound wave was not born from his own strong energy. It was closer to drawing out power inscribed upon the blade.
Even as the sound wave shook through his mind, Cho Haeng’s sword remained unwavering. With each half-step backward, his blade’s point traced across the chest, wrist, and knee in turn. Though it appeared he was being driven back, his retreat held a steady line, and every movement had already mapped the direction Ja Haeng would follow.
Before Yuk Beom’s eyes appeared even the interplay of heaven and earth

between them. Ja Haeng pushed the surrounding energy roughly away with each swift movement. Cho Haeng, by contrast, rode the current of that pressure upon his blade and flowed it into his next defense. One forced a path through with strength; the other claimed the opened space for himself.
Missing not a single opening, Ja Haeng drove in.
His feet struck the ground in seven directions in rapid succession. His body trembled like starlight, scattering afterimages. Purple sword light engulfed Cho Haeng from all sides.
Cheers erupted from the Emblem Tomb Academy side.

“Ja Haeng is forcing the advantage from the start!”
“This one can’t even swing a sword properly.”

Nang Gum wore a satisfied smile. Mong Un had warned him not to underestimate Ilwon Academy before he came, but it seemed to be excessive caution.
Han Pung, meanwhile, grew increasingly anxious.

“Senior, is Third Brother really all right? We can barely see him.”
“Han Pung, you have little faith in Cho Haeng.”

Mu Wi’s voice was unhurried.

“If you watch a little longer, Ja Haeng’s side will collapse first.”

Yuk Beom nodded in agreement.

“Cho Haeng hasn’t taken a proper hit yet.”

Han Pung turned around.

“You can see inside all that?”
“Yes. Ja Haeng has swung hundreds of times, but every one has missed. Cho Haeng’s sword has landed four times.”

The surroundings fell suddenly quiet.
Il Cheong and Do Gwang and the three senior brothers all turned to look at Yuk Beom at once.

“Why are you all looking at me like that?”
“Youngest.”

Han Pung waved his fingers in front of his eyes.

“You counted all that speed?”
“Not so fast I couldn’t see it.”
“Would you take your eyes off it for a moment? I’d like to have a look at what’s inside.”

Yuk Beom stepped back a pace.
Mu Wi’s gaze was not playful.

I could only watch those movements with ease once I reached the second stage of the Ilwon Dao Jue,” Yuk Beom said. “Have you also entered the gate, junior disciple?”

Before answering, Yuk Beom moved the power within his body.
The transparent Fusion Strong Energy flowing through his meridians rose toward the Yin-Yang Array in his mind.

The force that circled once transformed into clear Divine Soul Force.

And it surged forth more than ten times the amount that went in.
This time, when he shifted to white Gangjing, nearly twenty times the power poured out. Passing through the Five Elements Formation in his dantian produced similarly refined Original Qi—amplified about twenty times over.

When both arrays moved together, they merged back into transparent Fusion Strong Energy.
Yuk Beom fell silent for a moment.
As he drew Divine Soul Force up through his eyes, the world slowed further still. Across his left eye, threads of black and white energy danced faintly; his right vision overlaid the radiance of the Five Elements. He saw not the blade’s gleam or its afterimage, but the force beneath the movement itself—from the instant Ja Haeng’s shoulder stiffened, he read which angle the cut would come from; from the moment Gangjing gathered in the ankle, he knew which constellation would be crossed. The knowledge came naturally.
Now he understood why it had been so difficult to judge whether Ja Haeng was at the fifth or sixth level of the Inner Strength Realm. Looking only at the sheer volume of power accumulated in the body, that assessment held—but the force he could actually unleash was on an entirely different plane.
It was enough to stand against an ordinary External Force Realm cultivator face to face.

“Well, youngest? Your answer?”

Han Pung’s prodding brought him back to himself.

“I seem to have entered it.”

Il Cheong half-rose from his chair.

“What do you mean by ‘seem to’?”
“If I can use it, haven’t I entered it?”

Do Gwang’s beard trembled visibly.

“Not even a month has passed?”

‘The Sageun taught me directly.’

He swallowed that. He still hadn’t decided how much he could speak of the Ilwon Space and the lingering consciousness of the former Mu Jon Gyeong.

While Yuk Beom touched his nose uncertainly, Nang Gum interpreted the stiffness of the Ilwon Academy people in an entirely different way.
He thought they had already grown afraid because the first exchange had turned against them.
Jang Wol Ham let out a laugh as well.

“Just as expected from the lowest-ranked branch. Ja Haeng alone should be more than enough.”

The moment those words ended, a purple light tore open.
Cho Haeng’s blade point pierced Ja Haeng’s right elbow.

“One.”

Ja Haeng retreated, leaving three afterimages in his wake, but the sword pursued without hesitation, following one of them unerringly.
A red line appeared across his wrist.

“Two.”
“How is this…”

The sword light grazed his knee and shoulder before he could even register his shock—both at the joints where Body Protection Qi ran thinnest.
Cho Haeng continued to yield ground, reading Ja Haeng’s footwork with each step back. Every time the same pattern repeated, he eliminated one possibility, calculating even the ebb and flow of Purple Radiance Body Protection.
The tide had completely turned.
Each time the brilliant purple saber flashed, Cho Haeng’s blade struck the weakest point first. The Gangjing was solid, but the joints he’d targeted with such precision could not hold.
Ja Haeng, drenched in blood, clenched his teeth and raised his curved saber.

“Purple Qi Comes from the East

!”

The purple energy was on the verge of detonating.
Cho Haeng’s sword point cut across the back of his hand, flicking the blade into the empty air. The kick that followed drove deep into his chest.
Ja Haeng’s body tumbled across the ground.
Cho Haeng caught the falling curved saber and threw it down in front of him.

“You lack the strength to challenge Ilwon Academy.”

Unable to overcome his rage, Ja Haeng coughed blood and lost consciousness.
The smiles faded from the faces of the Pyomyo Academy disciples.
Han Pung’s gaze shifted between the fallen Ja Haeng and Cho Haeng, then he clicked his tongue.

“The third senior brother turns everyone he fights into his debtors. Every blow landed, calculated and collected in full later.”

Cho Haeng wiped the blood from his blade and returned.

“Better than you mindlessly taking hits.”
“I’m not taking hits—I’m lowering the opponent’s guard.”
“Prove that directly, then. In a moment.”

Han Pung’s smile died. His face suddenly recalled that the next opponent would be himself.
Nang Gum fed Ja Haeng a Healing Pill, then immediately pointed to the next challenger.

“Jo Ryeong. You’re up.”

The woman who had first called Ilwon Academy a pigsty stepped forward.

“Who will I be fighting?”

Cho Cheon and Mu Wi, Il Cheong and Do Gwang all fixed their gaze on one person. Even Yuk Beom and Kkamangi looked in the same direction.
Han Pung, at the center of their collective stare, pointed to his own chest.

“Why is everyone looking at me?”

Mu Wi pushed him forward with his thick hand.

“Isn’t the fourth brother the most skilled at facing women?”
“There’s no such skill!”

Cho Cheon pushed him from the opposite shoulder.

“A man can’t say he can’t do it.”

In the end, Han Pung was shoved forward and slowly drew the Jade Water Long Sky Sword.

“What was your name again? Never mind. Surrender now. I don’t usually fight women.”

A Long Sword slipped from Jo Ryeong’s sleeve.

“A shameless wretch who sprays filth lectures me about principles? Kneel first, and I’ll let you keep your life.”
“Neither of us seems willing to give ground.”

Han Pung picked at his ear and sighed.
Jo Ryeong’s body radiated the aura of Inner Strength Realm, seventh level. When her long, straight legs kicked off the ground, dozens of afterimages scattered in a jagged pattern.

“I can’t breathe with the stench of that garbage heap Ilwon Academy in my nostrils. Let’s end this quickly.”

Han Pung’s hand stilled.

“You can curse me all you like.”

A blue light flowed along the Jade Water Long Sky Sword.

“But if you insult Ilwon Academy, even a woman gets hit.”

Cho Cheon smiled faintly.

“Now he’s properly angry.”

Mu Wi nodded in agreement.

“If he uses the Heaven Seizing Sword Method,

she’ll have to dodge a bit.”

Il Cheong’s eyes sharpened at once.

“Han Pung. If you deploy that here, you’re expelled on the spot.”

Han Pung’s face twisted.

“Then why teach it to me if I can’t use it?”
“Because you’re the type who doesn’t know when or where. That’s why it’s forbidden.”

While he was grumbling, Jo Ryeong arrived before his eyes.
She twisted her Long Sword once, and starlight-like sword radiance poured down.
Han Pung, who blocked the first thrust, let out a cry.

“My clothes!”

His left sleeve was torn open in a long gash.

“That was my last decent outer robe!”
“Grieving over trash clothes.”
“The clothes didn’t do anything wrong!”
“One Sword Flourishing Stars!”

Han Pung retreated in succession, flowing her attacks away with the Jade Water Long Sky Sword. His sleeve tore further, his wrist wavering. On the surface he seemed to be swearing and stumbling about in confusion, but his feet never stepped twice in the same place. He was spreading Jo Ryeong’s afterimages wide while carving a straight path between himself and the sword’s return.
At last the blue long sword flew spinning into the void.
Cheers erupted from Pyomyo Academy.

“Jo Ryeong has won!”
“Without any tricks, she’s no match at all!”

Yuk Beom’s eyes narrowed instead.
Han Pung hadn’t just dropped his sword.
He’d released it deliberately.

“What game is the fourth brother playing?”

Mu Wi sighed as though familiar with such matters.

“He’s deceiving someone again.”

Han Pung, now weaponless, continued retreating on bare hands while Jo Ryeong pursued faster, certain of victory. Their afterimages and sword-light blazed beautifully, yet none touched cloth or skin. While she believed herself driving him back, her Gangjing drained away at terrible speed.
With his left hand, Han Pung wove a Sword Seal.
Behind him, a clear, bright ring of steel sang out.
Ting!
The Jade Water Long Sky Sword that had flown into the void returned, embedding itself in the earth between them.
Jo Ryeong’s afterimages froze in unison.
A thin line of blood appeared at her throat.
One inch deeper, and her life would have ended.
Han Pung stood beside his sword and spoke coldly.

“It’s over. Leave.”

Then his expression shifted back to its usual lightness.

“You should thank your luck that I gave way an inch. It’s true—I’ve never been good at fighting women.”

Jo Ryeong’s face contorted.

“A cowardly sneak attack! I would never lose to someone like you!”

Before Nang Gum could block, her sword-light erupted again—a killing stroke after the match had ended.
The instant Yuk Beom moved to stand, an enormous back blocked the space before Han Pung.
Jo Ryeong’s blade and body collided directly with Mu Wi’s belly.
Golden light flashed.
Thump!
Jo Ryeong rebounded at even greater speed than she’d struck. Nang Gum caught her hastily, but the transmitted force made his chest heave; he staggered back several steps.
Jo Ryeong had already lost consciousness, and her long sword lay shattered into pieces.
Mu Wi patted his belly and smiled warmly.

“You all saw, didn’t you? I never moved. She crashed into me of her own accord and fell by herself.”

Han Pung poked his head out from behind his senior brother.

“I should put on some weight myself. When a blade pierces me, it’s only the flesh that suffers damage, isn’t it?”

Mu Wi’s smile vanished.

“Disciples would do better to restrain their tongues first.”

Il Cheong turned to Nang Gum.

“If you can’t accept winning and losing, what business do you have entering a Ranking Tournament? I’ll need to have a separate talk with Mong Un about this.”

​
Nang Gum’s face flushed crimson, then drained to pale.
He had lost two matches in a row.
This was a best-of-five tournament—first to win three matches took the round. One more loss, and Pyomyo Academy would have come seeking practice against the lowest-ranking branch academy only to suffer utter defeat.
​
“Im Je.”
​
The man beside Jang Wol Ham stepped forward.
Cho Cheon grinned and moved to meet him.
​
“We fought a year ago, so this time I—”
“I won’t be fighting you.”
​
Im Je’s gaze had been fixed on Yuk Beom from the start.
​
“The opponent I want is Yuk Beom.”
​
A cold smile curved Jang Wol Ham’s lips.
​
“Yuk Beom. Do you dare step forward?”
​
Yuk Beom rose slowly from his seat.
​
“I’ve been waiting for those words.”
​
He lifted the Weaponless Heavy Sword, and the ground rang out low beneath its weight.
​
​
​
“Let’s see what you’ve got.”

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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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