Chapter 136. The Black Flame Dragon Who Proves Himself (6)
The initial evaluation of academy students’ abilities was conducted by the instructors, but a small number of instructors could not measure the abilities of hundreds of academy students in full.
In the end, the evaluation of academy students was first divided by whether they belonged to the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Five Great Clans, or the One Hundred Eight Peaks.
Going further, even within the One Hundred Eight Peaks, which rank did they hold?
If they belonged to one of the Five Great Clans, were they from the Collateral Line or the Direct Line?
Such things were also considered when predicting their ability.
Viewed in that light, the fact that I was currently being made to face Il-gak of Shaolin was no different from an act that ignored all the customs that had existed until now.
A disciple of Shaolin, the Mount Tai and Big Dipper of the martial world, and a disciple of the Taeul Sect, which was barely hanging on at the very edge of the One Hundred Eight Peaks.
No matter what standard one applied, they were opponents who should not be matched against each other.
“The discussion is getting quite long.”
It seemed we were not the only ones who thought this way.
Some instructors and training instructors raised objections regarding the current situation, and even the Academy Head and Deputy Academy Head came down from the platform and held an emergency meeting.
“It looks like it is over.”
“Of course there will be an adjustment to this absurd situation. Ah, I am not saying that to look down on Young Master Jin.”
“It is fine.”
Contrary to Seong Mo-ran’s hopes, Buk Won-pyeong’s deeply furrowed brow hinted that the discussion had not gone well.
Buk Won-pyeong looked around the scene for a moment, and when his eyes met mine, he sent a Sound Transmission.
-The justification is that they highly evaluated your ability because you received full marks on the written exam…… but in truth, it seems the Elder Hall’s influence is at work.
-Is it the Righteous Path Association again?
-I do not think so. The Orthodox Path Association seems to want to learn your ability as well.
-I see.
-If you want, I will stop it even by using my authority.
-It is all right. You may perhaps become my Martial Uncle, so would you not be disappointed if I showed myself relying on you already?
Buk Won-pyeong looked quite surprised, but soon nodded.
-Perhaps an opportunity like this is better. Even if you lose to Shaolin, no one will point fingers at you.
No sooner had Buk Won-pyeong’s words ended than the instructor shouted in a booming voice.
“We will proceed with the martial duel. The academy students whose names were called, come up onto the training ground!”
Il-gak stepped up onto the training ground.
He seemed to be maintaining his composure, as though he did not care about the cold gazes and sneers around him.
“This is a scheme to bring down Eldest Senior Brother by any means.”
Eun-ho ground his teeth.
“I would rather Eldest Senior Brother simply forfeit.”
“Me too…….”
“…….”
“I heard Il-gak is the strongest person after the Small Buddha of Shaolin.”
Geum-pyo said nothing, but Dong-ryong could not hide the worry on his face.
“Is that what they say?”
Even at my calm reply, anger seemed to well up in Eun-ho, and his clenched fists flushed red.
“Why must you be treated like this every single time? Do you not feel wronged, Eldest Senior Brother?”
“People want us to stay in our place. Every single attempt we make to move forward cannot help but offend them.”
“…….”
“Just because it is dirty and underhanded, should we remain in that place?”
“Eldest Senior Brother…… even if you do not move forward, you are still our Eldest Senior Brother.”
I nodded.
In my previous life, I could not protect them.
I had been too busy trying to preserve myself while watching Gye Cheol-yeong’s mood.
Even so, they had never once shown or poured out any resentment toward me.
Even when I was not their Eldest Senior Brother, they had been that way.
“I know. But if I do not move forward, will you not end up facing the wind and rain?”
Geum-pyo, who had been silently twitching his lips beside me, suddenly shouted.
“Why are you trying to carry all the burdens alone, Senior Brother?! We are not children!”
“I know.”
This was my burden alone.
My atonement for the previous life that only I knew.
“But if I protect you first, after that, will you not be able to protect even more junior brothers and disciples?”
“……!”
“……!”
“……!”
Because we had always been together since childhood, I could quickly tell the changes in their emotions.
Geum-pyo’s nostrils flared when he did not want to cry, and Eun-ho furrowed his brow deeply.
And Dong-ryong silently squeezed out tears.
“Do not worry. I will not fall in a place like this. Dong-ryong, you should stop crying too. If you cry like that, it makes this Eldest Senior Brother look terribly weak, does it not?”
“……Hic.”
I took off the Black Dragon Sword and Flying Dragon Claw and handed them to Eun-ho.
The Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers looked back and forth between the Black Dragon Sword and my face with bewildered expressions.
“Moreover, when it comes to petty tricks, is there anyone who can match this Eldest Senior Brother?”
“……?”
“……?”
“……Ah!”
Only Eun-ho seemed to understand, for he raised his eyebrows.
I smiled slightly at the quick-witted fellow, then immediately turned around and climbed onto the training ground.
With every step I took, a commotion began to arise in the venue.
The sound of people whispering grew louder and louder, beginning to create an atmosphere like a marketplace.
“……Wh-What? Was that fellow not mainly a swordsman?”
“The True Inheritance of the Taeul Sword Emperor is ultimately a sword art too.”
“Then…… could it be that he thinks he does not need to use a sword against Shaolin?”
“He is insane.”
Fine cracks began to appear on Il-gak’s face, which had maintained composure like a carved Buddha statue.
“Why did you not bring your sword?”
“Was your main art not fist arts, Monk Il-gak?”
“……Did you deliberately leave your sword behind?”
Il-gak’s face had turned like that of one of the Four Heavenly Kings inside the Heavenly Kings’ Gate.
“It would not look good for the top student to use his full strength against an ordinary academy student.”
“……Such arrogance……”
-Did you think I would obediently let myself be used?
“……!”
-I am not a fool. Did you think I would not know your shallow tricks?
“Academy Student Jin So-un. Using Sound Transmission before the martial duel is prohibited.”
At the referee’s warning, I nodded and said,
“I hope this will be a good martial duel.”
At the clasped hands greeting I offered with a smile, Il-gak’s face twisted.
‘What level is my ability right now?’
Certainly, compared to my previous life, my ability in this life had developed beyond comparison.
Compared to the time when I struggled desperately to conserve inner arts that did not even amount to half a cycle, now I could use the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm about twice and still not collapse from exhaustion.
Comparing the level of someone who had been a lower-ranking warrior from a third-rate background to that of the top entrant of the Murim Academy itself was unreasonable.
However, apart from that, when discussing my level within the murim, the story became complicated.
Basically, whenever I faced people from the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Five Great Clans in this life, my responses had been based on the Shattering Forms created by Jegal Cheon-gi in the past, and because the victories used all sorts of petty tricks and memories from the past, I could not grasp what my actual ability was.
Recently, I had met a Shadow Warrior from the Alliance Leader’s Hall who did not know the Shattering Forms, but he was not someone at a level I could discuss in the first place.
In any case, when viewed from that perspective, Il-gak could be called a true opponent through whom I could properly understand my own level.
The only sect among the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Clans for which no Shattering Form had been created.
No, a sect for which there had been no need to create one in the first place.
Shaolin’s martial way, which was based on training the mind and body, did not concern itself with things like the efficiency of forms, and because there were countless variations according to each individual’s enlightenment, Shattering Forms, which found efficiency in techniques, were unnecessary.
“Begin!”
At the referee’s shout, Il-gak took a starting stance.
The Dragon King Fist, counted as one of Shaolin’s Seventy-Two Ultimate Arts.
His two fists looked as though they would shoot out at any moment like Lesser Dragons waiting for the moment of ascension.
‘He is using Dragon King Fist already. He must be quite angry.’
When I also unfolded the starting stance of the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist, the commotion in the venue grew even louder.
“Does he really intend to face him with fist arts?”
“His arrogance has gone too far.”
“Since he is going to be humiliated anyway, is he thinking of saving face in moderation?”
The one who moved first through the commotion in the venue was Il-gak.
After the Immovable Movement Art, which seemed to glide over ice, came the linked strikes of the Dragon King Fist.
PAPAPAPAPAT.
The fist strikes pouring out fiercely like flowing water possessed the sharpness of dragon fangs, making me feel as though I were being cut by a sword.
Even after unleashing as many as ten attacks in a single form, Il-gak did not seem to have any intention of withdrawing, and he poured out the Dragon King Fist in succession, disrupting my vision with fist strikes charging from the front and fist strikes rising from below.
“Is this all you had when you acted so arrogant?”
His tone was polite, but the voice he sent out clearly contained anger.
After blocking three forms, a total of twenty-five attacks, I unfolded the Taeul Eighty-Thousand Divine Steps to create a phantom moving to Il-gak’s side, then tried to retreat.
“……Hmph!”
Il-gak, who had been moving to the side, seemed to have heard the footsteps of my true body, for he quickly twisted his ankle and unfolded the Eight Trigrams Snake-Form Step. In the next moment, his form suddenly appeared before me.
The Dragon King Fist, which poured out ten fist strikes in one breath, split the space where I had been, and I barely avoided the Dragon King Fist and took his back.
However.
THUD.
Il-gak stomped the ground with a step strong enough to shatter the training ground floor, and before I knew it, he had moved behind me.
“Even riding a cloud, Sun Wukong cannot escape the Buddha’s palm.”
THUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUDTHUD.
Il-gak poured out the Dragon King Fist.
I responded with the principle of Variation in the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist.
Dozens of fist forms filling the air collided with fist strikes as sharp as dragon fangs.
KAGAGAGAGAGANG.
Perhaps he had underestimated the power of the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist, for Il-gak ignored the phantoms, took the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist with his whole body, and retreated three steps.
Il-gak stared at the forearm with which he had blocked the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist head-on.
When he saw the reddened skin, he furrowed his brow as if he could not believe it.
“It is quite a bit heavier than expected, is it not?”
“…….”
The position of Il-gak’s two fists changed from both sides to above and below.
It was another of the Seventy-Two Ultimate Arts, the Tiger Fighting Fist.
PAK.
Il-gak’s form, stepping with the Eight Trigrams Snake-Form Step, shot forward like an arrow, and before I knew it, he was swinging both fists like a tiger before my eyes.
PAPAPAK.
I unfolded the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist and tried to block the Tiger Fighting Fist, but each strike made my bones ring numbingly.
‘At this rate, my bones will not hold out.’
Because Il-gak had learned the Thousand-Jin Armor, an external art, he had no hesitation in clashing with his body, but I was not the same.
Moreover, to begin with, there was no need to engage in a contest of strong against strong.
I redirected one of his fists, turned my body to the side at the same time, and performed Lotus.
CREAK.
“……!”
No matter how much he had learned the Thousand-Jin Armor, the joints connecting his bones were still human.
If he did not want his bones to break, he had no choice but to put his body’s weight into the arm I had grabbed.
Il-gak’s body floated into the air and flipped halfway over.
At the same time, I struck him down onto the training ground with all my strength.
CRACK.
Il-gak, who had taken the floor with his whole body, bounced upright like a pig’s bladder full of air.
He stood with rabbit-like eyes, unaware that dirt had smeared his face.
“……Transplanting Flower and Grafting Tree?”
Il-gak looked as if he could not believe it.
Then again, martial arts like Transplanting Flower and Grafting Tree or Four Taels Deflecting a Thousand Jin were originally looked down upon even in Wudang or Shaolin.
So how astonishing must the Flowing Cloud Divine Art, which returned force properly to a degree incomparable with Shaolin, have seemed?
“Did the Taeul Sect also have such a martial art?”
“To begin with, this is not a place where only limited martial arts are shown, is it?”
“That…… is true.”
Il-gak regained control of his expression, and different energies dwelled in both his hands.
In his right hand was the Dragon King Fist, and in his left hand was the Bamboo Leaf Hand.
It was probably because he had become mindful of Lotus from the Flowing Cloud Divine Art.
Just like him, I also loaded Lotus into my left hand and the energy of the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist into my right hand.
Gulp.
Along with the sound of someone swallowing, Il-gak approached as if gliding.
This time, I also did not avoid him and unfolded the Taeul Eighty-Thousand Divine Steps.
The Dragon King Fist poured out first.
THUDTHUD, THUDTHUD, THUDTHUD, THUDTHUDTHUD.
The moment I passed each of his fist strikes aside with Lotus and then tried to suppress him by using his own power.
The Bamboo Leaf Hand prepared in his left hand stabbed in sharply.
PAPAPAPAPAK.
As I desperately moved my feet to avoid the Bamboo Leaf Hand flying in with dizzying sharpness, the ground where his hand passed was gouged hollow again and again.
CRACK, CRACK, CRAAACK!
Although it was clearly a human hand colliding with marble, dust flew up and marble fragments broke away.
Then, the moment he withdrew the Bamboo Leaf Hand and tried to pull his body back.
I took his side with the Taeul Eighty-Thousand Divine Steps and poured out the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist in full.
Countless fist shadows and fist strikes embroidering the air swallowed his form.
Since I had already suppressed all four quarters, there was nowhere for him to escape.
Because he could endure with the Thousand-Jin Armor, I poured in every bit of inner arts I had.
No matter how hard a rock was, it was bound to break under stronger hammer blows.
KAGAGAGAGAGAK!
Il-gak, who had been facing the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist with the Dragon King Fist and Tiger Fighting Fist, soon seemed to feel his limit and withdrew both fists.
He probably intended to take it with his body and then aim for an opening, but if he could take my inner arts amounting to three cycles and still endure, then it would be better for me to forfeit first.
Just as Il-gak was about to be swallowed by dozens of fist shadows and fist strikes.
BANG, BANG, BANG!
Golden light flashed and produced an enormous explosion.
My body floated up from the unexpected impact sound, and only after spinning several times was I able to resolve the shock and land on the ground.
I raised my head with a sense of disbelief.
“Is that not the Diamond Demon-Subduing Fist?”
“No way…… He is only barely past twenty, is he not? Already?”
“Why not?! They said Il-gak has talent no less than Il-myeong!”
I knew he had even learned the Dharma Tendon-Changing Classic.
“…….”
However, outwardly, it was known that one only entered the Dharma Tendon-Changing Classic after passing thirty……
Surely monks would not lie?
As the dust cleared, a golden halo of light dwelled around Il-gak’s fist.
He had blocked dozens of Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist strikes with a single punch.
That was definitely the Diamond Demon-Subduing Fist.
I could not hide my disappointment.
‘They say there is not a single bastard in the world you can trust.’
