Yun Hwa took one look at the laced-up shoes and knew they weren’t ordinary.From the way his opponent tied them down, he also inferred the man’s martial art would lean on speed of foot.“Whew.”Yun Hwa drew a steady breath and poured energy into his sword.Jang Woon likewise began concentrating energy into his legs.Just as Jang Woon’s legs swelled slightly from the packed energy—Yun Hwa’s foot moved.He skated in a zigzag, yanking the sword up beneath his chin.The instant he closed near Jang Woon, Yun Hwa’s body snapped forward and his sword thrust straight out.It happened in a blink.At this rate, Yun Hwa’s blade would punch into Jang Woon’s body.There didn’t even seem to be time to dodge.Whoosh—But Yun Hwa’s sword passed through Jang Woon’s afterimage.People jolted to their feet in shock.“Th-that’s Transposition!”“Good grief! A late-generation disciple using Transposition?”“How high is his realm, exactly?”The crowd wasn’t the only one surprised.Martial artists stared wide-eyed at Jang Woon’s afterimage.Yun Hwa whipped around, chasing Jang Woon’s trail.The instant he found him—Jang Woon’s strike came screaming in. Startled, Yun Hwa snapped his waist back and slipped away using the Cloud-Dragon Eight Stances.Boom!Craaaack—A savage impact split the bluestone where Yun Hwa had just stood.“Bluestone shattered that easily? What in the world is that martial art?”“Call your techniques while you fight!”“There’s decorum in the martial world! Announce your techniques!”The stands erupted.They were dying to know what the arts were, but the two fought with lips clamped shut.Hearing the shouts, Yun Hwa and Jang Woon both grinned.They’d forgotten, for a moment.At big tournaments like this, you called out the name of your techniques.That way the spectators could watch and enjoy them.You even practiced calling them during training to make it instinctive.So in real battle, you naturally ended up shouting your techniques.Truth be told, many shouted their forms to flaunt what martial art they’d learned.But Yun Hwa and Jang Woon had trained under Yeon Woo Jin.There was no time to shout technique names.You were too busy dodging and too busy attacking to care what the form was called.They just attacked as their bodies reacted.So the two had naturally forgotten to call their techniques.“Damn it, calling out forms isn’t exactly my habit.”“Same here. Still, we should.”At Yun Hwa’s words, Jang Woon nodded.Jang Woon set his stance.He thought for a moment, then moved.“Lightning Divine Steps!”In an instant he dropped as low as he could and slid to Yun Hwa’s flank, then kicked off the floor and drove his leg at Yun Hwa’s head.“Lightning Ascending Kick!”Crackle—Lightning flared along Jang Woon’s leg, hissing as it skimmed past Yun Hwa’s face.Yun Hwa flinched again.Jang Woon was floating in midair, full of openings.Yun Hwa decided Jang Woon was looking down on him.He gripped his sword and slashed toward the airborne Jang Woon.“Flying Dragon Rending Sword!”Like a dragon snatching prey, the blade cut fast toward Jang Woon’s back.Jang Woon’s body spun, and his foot slapped Yun Hwa’s sword aside.Clang!At the same time, his fierce assault resumed.“Lightning Hundred-Volley Kicks!”Kicks flew in, sealing every angle.There was nowhere to evade.He had to meet it head-on.Yun Hwa dragged up his energy in haste.He’d have to unfold a reserved form to get out of this.Vmm, vmm, vmm—Yun Hwa’s sword thrummed, a blue film layering over it.He slashed at once.“Supreme Clarity Bright Moon!”His blade traced a brilliant circle, wrapping his body.Thud-thud-thud-THUD!Jang Woon’s storm of kicks and Yun Hwa’s sword crashed, sending ripples through the air.People who’d just heard the two call their techniques—One of them shot to his feet, astonished.“Good heavens! Lightning Divine Steps and Lightning Hundred-Volley Kicks—that’s the Lightning Divine Art!”“What? That Lightning Sage, the former number one under heaven?”“If that’s true, are you saying that child is the Lightning Sage’s successor?”“The Lightning Divine Art? I never thought I’d see that fabled art with my own eyes.”The outcry spread in a wave.The veteran masters were especially shocked, springing to their feet.“The Lightning Sage’s Lightning Divine Art!”“Looks like he stumbled on a great fortuity.”“What could someone who obtained the Lightning Divine Art possibly lack, to attach himself to a mere manor?”They lamented.The Lightning Divine Art was astounding, but the masters were even more astonished by something else.“T-that—! Isn’t that Kunlun’s Supreme Clarity Sword Art?”“How is the Supreme Clarity Sword Art unfolding from Kunlun’s hand? Last I heard, that sword art should be in Martial Deity Heaven’s possession.”“Did someone hide a secret manual? Don’t tell me—did they hand a fake to Martial Deity Heaven?”The Mount Hua sect leader and the Gongdong sect leader, unaware of the inside story, pressed the Kunlun sect leader for an answer.Kunlun’s Sword King of Cloud-Dragon, Baek Ho Ja, only smiled and sipped the tea in his hand.The other sect heads were the same.The only ones surprised were those from Mount Hua, Gongdong, Zhongnan, and Shaolin.“You’re not surprised? The very Supreme Clarity Sword Art Kunlun offered up to Martial Deity Heaven is being displayed right now.”“What’s there to be surprised about? One can display it.”“Indeed.”“Let’s just watch quietly. You’re ruining my focus.”What kind of reaction was that?Just as the baffled men were wondering what on earth was going on—A roar rolled in from the arena.“Waaah!”All eyes swung back to the stage.In the gaze of thousands, Yun Hwa’s body slowly sagged.Thump.He collapsed as if fainting.A referee sprinted out, checked, then thrust his hand up high.“Enough! Jang Woon wins!”Kunlun’s late-generation talent Yun Hwa had lost.Mount Hua’s sect leader snapped a look at Kunlun’s.He’d expected outrage, but the man wore a surprisingly even face.“You lost—how are you so calm?”“One can lose. No need to cling to each thing. More importantly, that young man fought superbly. To my eye, even the Lightning Sage wasn’t at that level at his age.”“My thoughts exactly. Heh heh. If he grows just like this, we may see a martial artist stronger than the Lightning Sage.”None of them mourned the defeat of their allied orthodox sect. They praised the victor, Jang Woon, and were glad.Kunlun’s sect leader glanced at the Gongdong sect leader.“Gongdong is up next.”“Gongdong’s opponent is the Golden Flower Gate.”“Never heard of them.”“Not worth your attention. The man’s scraped by on luck to get this far. He won’t match our Gongdong Sect. Watch closely. It’ll be over in an instant—boring as can be.”The others agreed.The one from the Golden Flower Gate, named Shin Ho Won, had squeaked through each match by the skin of his teeth.Call it luck?He’d had a favorable bracket.He’d faced late-generation disciples from middling sects and ridden good fortune forward.So everyone figured this one would end in a blink, no flavor at all. ****Gongdong Sect’s first disciple, Ho Soja.He curved one corner of his mouth as he looked at Shin Ho Won of the Golden Flower Gate.He thought he was lucky.He hadn’t drawn one of the Nine Schools and One Gang, one of the Five Great Clans, or one of the Twelve Halls of the heretical world.Staring at Shin Ho Won, Ho Soja pondered what dazzling display he’d show the crowd.The victory was his anyway.He would win with the flashiest form he could and raise his name as high as possible.In fact, he’d overwhelmed every opponent so far with showy technique.Should I put him down with the Luminous Lightning-Flash Sword this time? No. That one’s too fast—blockheads won’t even see how he got suppressed.Try another way?Ho Soja changed his mind at once.No—that’s exactly it. In this moment, suppressing him so no one even knows how it happened might look like the true mark of a powerhouse.His smile deepened.Good. After I strike with the Luminous Lightning-Flash Sword, don’t even check—just flow right into the victory pose. Which pose would look best?His win was already a foregone conclusion.Shing—As he was choosing a finishing pose, the referee’s voice rang out.“Begin!”Ho Soja started to settle into his stance.At that very moment—Something flashed and came flying in.“—!”Startled, he snapped his body back and dodged.Whoosh—He could clearly see the arc of the blade skimming right past his nose.He got mad.A sneak attack? How dare he.Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a sneak attack.The strike had come the instant the referee called begin.He’d been the one off guard, but that didn’t matter.What mattered to him was that the picture he’d imagined had just blown apart.Everything ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ he’d prepared evaporated like mist.Shaaang—His sword slid free of the scabbard and shot forward in a fast thrust the same instant.He was fuming, but his face stayed composed.He had been surprised, yes, but he wouldn’t let this spoil the painstaking image he’d built.He had to accept it as if he weren’t surprised at all.Inside, though, his temper was boiling over.He’d meant to put the kid down gently—but since his perfect plan had been ruined, he changed tack: torment him to the utmost, then suppress him.He’d nick him to the brink of collapse over and over, then at the end “slip” and slice the wrist tendons.So he’d never hold a sword again.Swish—Slash—Shin Ho Won barely slipped the lightning thrust that tore the air.He didn’t get clear completely; his arm was cut.It wasn’t deep, but blood ran and soaked his sleeve.He had no leisure to check the wound.Ho Soja’s attacks came on without end.Clang!Ching!Shlak!Metal clashed here and there, and cloth tore as Shin Ho Won’s clothes were sliced.His limbs were nicked all over, blood mottling his outfit.To anyone watching, it looked like Ho Soja was toying with a weaker man.A spectator finally couldn’t take it and bellowed from the stands.“Is bullying someone weaker the conduct of an orthodox sect? Finish it already!”“He’s right! Stop tormenting him and end it!”Boos started flying.Even so, Ho Soja kept “toying,” leaving only shallow cuts on Shin Ho Won.The jeers grew louder.Ho Soja was choking.No—that wasn’t it.He had meant to torment him, but not now.D—damn it! How is he dodging this well!Ho Soja wasn’t playing with him.Shin Ho Won’s evasions were too good, and that was why this scene had unfolded.Every dodge was by a hair’s breadth.As if the man were trying to paint Ho Soja as the villain.End it with the Luminous Lightning-Flash Sword.At this rate, everything he’d built would crumble.“Luminous Lightning-Flash Sword!”Papap—Ho Soja’s figure whipped past Shin Ho Won in a blink, lowering his blade and settling into a finishing pose.The booing stands went quiet.Was it over?Just as everyone leaned in—Shin Ho Won groaned and dropped to one knee.Since no one expected him to win, they assumed he’d lost.They were about to applaud how long he’d held out when—Thud.The unexpected one fell.Ho Soja.He’d struck his finishing pose—then foamed at the mouth and collapsed on the spot.The referee sprinted over and checked him.There was the mark of a single strike sunk into the solar plexus.Confirming the match couldn’t continue, the referee hauled Shin Ho Won to his feet and raised his arm.“Shin Ho Won wins!”Scrape—At the referee’s shout, the Gongdong sect leader shot to his feet, face flushing a furious red.

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