Chapter 107 : True Education (3)

Chapter 107: True Education (3)

The successor beggar of the Beggars’ Sect, Jang Sopyeong, was flustered.

The moment the masked man finished preparing his stance, he had rushed forward like a flash of lightning.

But as soon as he took his first step, he felt his lightning-like speed drop sharply in real time.

Ssss!

‘…The Yin energy has slowed my body’s movements!’

The vicious Yin-Cold Qi seeping out from the opponent stiffened his body and dulled his senses.

He finally understood why his master always said that fighting against someone who practiced ice arts was the most troublesome thing.

‘I need to push my qi further!’

He drew out even more of the Beggars’ Sect’s secret art, Drunken Eight Immortals Art, which was passed down only to successors.

…What?

It was futile.

The masked man’s Yin energy mocked his efforts, violently invading deeper into his meridians.

At most, the Drunken Eight Immortals Art was only able to resist faintly.

His eyes trembled slightly as he glanced to the side.

‘I’m not the only one.’

The faces of Peng Daeho and Do Yecheon, who were also charging from the front, were no different from his own.

No, even though he couldn’t look back, the six others behind them had to be experiencing the same thing.

‘…Even so, I can’t stop here!’

A fierce fighting spirit rose in Jang Sopyeong’s eyes.

Look—at the opponent who, as if sensing their struggle, was brimming with even greater arrogance ahead of them.

How could he not be enraged?

Each breath he took burned with the biting chill invading his lungs, making it hard to breathe properly. Yet he clenched his teeth, endured, and infused qi into his two palms.

Swaaah!

Kwa-gaga!

The qi erupting from his dantian surged ferociously and turned into a small storm in his twin palms.

It was his ultimate technique, Descending Dragon Eighteen Palms, which he had intended to save for the final moment.

It was the strongest martial art he possessed.

The destructive power it contained rivaled the Qi Projection of the Transformation Realm.

Whoosh!

‘Khhk!’

But because it displayed strength beyond his current realm, it also drained far too much of his inner qi and physical strength—a tremendous drawback.

Truly a double-edged sword.

Normally, it was far too dangerous to use as the first move, but right now, it was his best option.

The young successors communicated through sound transmission, waiting for the right moment to attack.

Chwa-rah!

In the first strike, six martial artists moved simultaneously, attacking from six directions.

They unleashed their full power all at once, deliberately avoiding only the vital points that could instantly kill the masked man.

Kwarururung!

A thunderous roar echoed as if lightning had struck.

Jang Sopyeong’s twin palms surged upward, his Descending Dragon Eighteen Palms flying toward the masked man’s ribs with bone-crushing force.

Shwaak!

Kwa-gaga!

From the other side, Peng Daeho’s saber came flashing like lightning.

It was Peng Daeho’s Five Tiger Severing Blade Art.

The tangled web of saber threads gleamed ominously.

From the left, Nam Mujin’s swift sword struck, while from the right, Peng So-hye thrust out a fist filled with Fist Qi.

Do Ha-yeong spun around to the rear and unleashed a dazzling flurry of Burning Blood Sword Techniques.

Pazzzzt!

Finally, Namgung Baek sealed the attack by fusing his Lightning Qi into Namgung Clan’s ultimate art, the Infinite Azure Sky Sword Art, striking forth with a thunder sword.

Kwa-gaga!

Six completely different techniques merged together in one flow, forming a single perfect strike.

They had never trained in unison before, yet their cooperation was nearly flawless.

…But the only problem was—

“Khuhp!”

—that it didn’t work at all against the masked man.

He didn’t even bother trying to block the torrential storm of attacks raining down on him.

Shwaak!

Bwoooom!

He merely spun a Great Axe, larger than half a grown man’s body, with one hand as if it weighed nothing.

Like someone conceding three seconds, there was no intent to attack at all.

It was purely for defense.

Yet, astonishingly, the path of the spinning axe perfectly aligned with the trajectories of all the successors’ attacks.

Jjeojeojeok!

Suddenly, the crescent-shaped axe blade swelled in size, exerting unimaginable force on everything within its arc.

‘W-what?!’

In that instant, the eyes of the young successors using weapons widened in shock.

Chak!

Jjeojeojeok!

Their weapons, the moment they touched the frozen axe blade, wouldn’t budge no matter how much strength they exerted.

It was as if the Great Axe had drawn them in with a magnetic pull.

Jjeojeojeok!

Frost began to creep over their weapons.

If left as it was, they would lose their weapons entirely, frozen onto the blade.

‘This is dangerous!!’

‘W-we have to pull back immediately!’

Realizing a greater crisis was imminent, the successors poured out even more qi than they had used in their attacks and hurriedly withdrew.

“Khhhk!”

But not everyone succeeded.

Only Peng So-hye and Nam Mujin failed.

Peng So-hye’s right gauntlet had been completely swallowed by the axe blade.

Because she panicked the most and her mind wavered, her wrist was instantly frozen solid.

Nam Mujin, too, could not pull back with greater strength, as the very nature of the Southern Sea Thirty-Six Swords required pouring all power into one swift strike.

He should have abandoned his sword and withdrawn earlier, but he stubbornly forced out more strength. As a result, Nam Mujin’s hand was also stuck fast to his blade.

The two of them could hardly stay conscious.

The freezing cold traveled through their weapons and was invading their bodies.

At that moment—

Tuduk!

Whooosh!

Still spinning in its arc, the Great Axe suddenly descended and flung outward.

“Kyaa!”

“Huuk!”

Thud-thud-thud!

With it, Peng So-hye and Nam Mujin, who had been stuck to the frozen blade, were sent flying outside the field, groaning pitifully.

“So-hye!”

“Mujin!”

The two tumbled across the ground, their clothes now caked in dust.

Unable to withstand the impact, they lay unconscious.

The frozen blade that had bound them melted rapidly the moment the masked man withdrew his energy.

Ssshh.

Only a chilling silence lingered in the air.

An unexpected outcome had unfolded.

The remaining young successors froze like statues, unable to even think of continuing their assault.

Watching them, the masked man shook his head and said,

“Arrogant fools. Do you think you’re in any position to hold back your killing techniques against me?”

Even with his face covered, they could clearly sense the sneer hidden beneath the mask.

Anger surged across their faces.

They wanted to retort—who used killing techniques in a duel? But before they could, his voice boomed again.

“One move has passed.”

Their minds snapped awake in unison.

So the first move that the masked man had conceded passed meaninglessly.

Jjeojeojeok!

At that moment, a new icy axe blade formed on his weapon.

That final lively voice belonged to Surin.

Relief brightened the faces of the young successors.

In truth, Surin’s martial skills were the lowest among them, merely at the peak master level.

But she possessed a strength apart from martial arts.

A power that perhaps now could have the greatest effect.

It was none other than the sorcery proudly passed down by the Shrine Maiden Sect.

Sssshhh!

Her wide sleeves, like wings, were dyed a blazing crimson.

Law power surged from her upper dantian, and a burning heat radiated across her whole body.

The biting chill that had been suffocating everyone now lessened, allowing them a breath of relief in the warmth.

“Urgent as the law commands! True Transformation of the Fire Flow!”

Surin pressed her palms together, forming a hand seal and completing her sorcery.

Fwoooosh!

Kwa-ga!

Her sleeves fluttered, and a towering pillar of fire, like a wall set sideways, roared straight at the masked man.

At the same time, the other successors moved swiftly, adding their own strength.

Shweaeeek!

Kwarurung!

Blade winds, sword qi, and hidden weapons—all of it.

This time, every long-range technique capable of bombardment embroidered the air in chaos.

It looked like a meteor shower raining down from the night sky.

Since he could not counterattack for three moves, they thought even the masked man would find it hard to evade.

Kwoooom!

Kwarururung!

But suddenly, the masked man lifted his right foot and stomped down.

With a deafening rupture, the training ground floor cracked into dozens of jagged lines, breaking apart like a parched field.

Kwadududud!

Kwa-gaga!

The ground heaved and quaked like an earthquake, and layer upon layer of stone walls rose in front of him.

Every offensive technique unleashed by the successors crashed uselessly against those walls.

Fssssh!

The fiery pillar, especially, fizzled weakly against the cold-clad barriers.

No—worse.

Puff!

Kwaang!

Unable to withstand the sudden clash of temperatures, the stone walls shattered into pieces, sending rubble flying back at the successors.

The others, shocked pale, pushed their footwork to the limit, barely dodging the oncoming boulders.

Whooosh!

Thud!

“Khhk!”

In the end, Surin took a direct hit to the abdomen from a stone the size of a head. With a groan, she dropped one knee to the ground.

Pabat!

Seeing this, Tang Serin rushed forward at once.

She stepped in front of Surin and shielded her.

‘Damn it.’

Surin’s face had gone deathly pale, and she could not rise again.

The blow had landed on a vulnerable spot.

Her law power seemed disrupted—she could no longer continue fighting.

That made her the third to fall already.

And all this without the enemy even truly counterattacking.

‘But we still have one last card to play!’

The remaining successors held that thought when—

Sssshhh!

Chwaaat!

Through the blind spot created by the flying rubble, a lone swordsman shot forth like a streak of light.

Srrrng!

Wooooong!

The Sword Dragon of Mount Hua, Do Yecheon’s blade, gleamed with an auspicious radiance.

The reason he had refrained from joining during the second strike—

“—Please grant me time between the second and third strikes. I will prepare my greatest power.”

He had asked beforehand, seeking time to unleash his ultimate art, the pinnacle of Transformation Realm.

Fwaaat!

Chwaaaa!

From his sword burst forth a chillingly sharp Sword Flux.

And in the next instant, the sword of Mount Hua, refined and perfected under Sewoon’s teachings, unfolded.

Chwarara!

Chwaaaaah!

Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art

Sixteenth Form

Plum Blossoms Scattered

Countless blue plum blossoms, carrying the azure of the sky in their petals, bloomed endlessly in midair in a dazzling display.