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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: First Spar (2)
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Clang!
But when Cheol Mugwang felt no pain, he cautiously opened his eyes.
Before him stood something immense.
"Are you really trying to kill an Elder's son?"
"What does it matter? If he died, it would only mean he was weak."
The one who had stepped between them was Gye Buil.
He had drawn a massive blunt weapon and blocked Jinmyeong's Heavenly Demon Finger.
"How about we stop here?"
"Are you sure? You're the one who instigated this, Senior Brother. Won't your pride be hurt if you back down now?"
At Jinmyeong's words, Gye Buil's face twisted into a frown.
If he backed down now, his pride would be wounded, just as Jinmyeong had said.
He had come to humiliate him, only to be humiliated and sent away.
"The one who'll feel ashamed is the Third Elder, I suppose."
What did that matter to him?
After all, he wasn't the one who had actually fought Jinmyeong.
As Gye Buil said this with a smirk, it was Cheol Mugwang who flinched this time.
This duel was, after all, between Cheol Mugwang, the second son of the Giant Demon, and Jinmyeong, the Heavenly Demon's youngest disciple.
"Your words are getting awfully familiar."
"I just don't think you're worth respecting."
"Khahahahaha!"
Gye Buil burst out laughing at Jinmyeong's reply.
"So the junior brother has finally grown a spine!"
Perhaps because he couldn't learn martial arts, Jinmyeong had always lacked confidence.
But Gye Buil wasn't happy that Jinmyeong had found such confidence.
"He doesn't even know his place."
Gye Buil's voice dropped low.
Those who heard it felt an inexplicable chill and shivered.
"I'll have to put you back in your place."
Jinmyeong had always cowered whenever he saw him.
He had no choice.
Gye Buil had made him that way.
The mere sight of him had made Jinmyeong bow his head.
"Hoo."
Jinmyeong, too, was trying to calm his body, which trembled from Gye Buil's killing intent.
'He's not stronger than the Vice Cult Leader, but I'm trembling more than when I faced him.'
It was impossible to guess just how much he had suffered at Gye Buil's hands.
"So, are you going to teach me some manners, Senior Brother?"
"Junior Brother, you've really changed. You've become quite amusing."
Gye Buil laughed fiercely.
Then, he immediately moved his hands.
The giant club swung at an incredible speed, looking as if it would shatter Jinmyeong's head at any moment.
Clang!
But Gye Buil's giant iron club was stopped right next to Jinmyeong's face.
"Hmm. So I wasn't mistaken."
Gye Buil looked at the swords that had blocked his attack.
One sword had blocked Cheol Mugwang's attack, but now, two swords had blocked his.
"Sword Control Arts? No. Is it just simple telekinesis?"
He said that, but he knew it wasn't true.
If it were simple telekinesis, the swords would have been knocked away, not held firm against his attack.
"Interesting. It doesn't look like Sword Control Arts, but it doesn't seem like telekinesis either. Let's see what it really is."
Gye Buil instantly retreated, creating distance between himself and Jinmyeong.
Whoooosh!
Soon, streaks of dark blue energy began to flow from his body.
"Don't glare at me like that."
Anyone else might have been crushed by that pressure.
'I should just think of it as Sword Qi or Sword Aura.'
It was easier to think of it as just shaping energy, like Sword Aura.
'If I don't, I'll feel like collapsing right now.'
He had to win this fight, no matter what.
If he didn't erase this fear of Gye Buil, things would be difficult from now on.
Swish!
Without hesitation, Jinmyeong immediately attacked Gye Buil with his Heavenly Demon Finger.
Clang!
Gye Buil raised his club and blocked the attack.
"Interesting. You've clearly gained something."
Just from blocking the attack, his hand trembled.
Despite his words, the fighting spirit emanating from Gye Buil's body grew thicker.
"Don't get all dramatic."
Jinmyeong's voice reached Gye Buil's ears.
Whoosh!
And a streak of light shot towards Gye Buil.
"Kuk!"
The Heavenly Demon Finger grazed Gye Buil's cheek.
But he couldn't even think of wiping away the blood that trickled down his cheek.
It was because of the swords moving chaotically around him.
"I should apologize for calling it simple telekinesis."
Gye Buil admitted it frankly.
It wasn't perfect Sword Control Arts, but Jinmyeong's swords were moving with startling agility.
Clang! Clang!
Gye Buil was busy fending off Jinmyeong's swords.
He would knock one away, only for another to fly at him.
He needed to counterattack quickly, but there was no opening.
'This is endless.'
Even if he deflected a sword, another one would come.
If his opponent had been a person, they wouldn't have been able to withstand his strength and their body would have been strained.
But Jinmyeong was just moving the swords from a distance, so besides the consumption of internal energy, there was no physical strain on him.
'Just how much internal energy does he have?'
What surprised Gye Buil even more was that Jinmyeong showed no signs of fatigue while continuously controlling five swords.
Even he wouldn't be able to handle that many swords like that.
'He must have had some sort of fortuitous encounter.'
He didn't know what it was.
He also couldn't tell what level Jinmyeong had reached because of it.
But being pushed back like this by the Jinmyeong he had always ignored and tormented was a blow to his pride.
'In that case, I'll just break through.'
He decided it was better to close the distance and end this fight quickly rather than keep defending.
Waiting for Jinmyeong's internal energy to run out was too humiliating.
Having made his decision, Gye Buil rushed forward.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Swords shot swiftly toward him.
"Hmph!"
Gye Buil swung his club hard at the approaching swords.
CRASH!
The incoming swords and Gye Buil's club collided.
"Ugh!"
Gye Buil, who had been charging forward, was pushed back.
He steadied his staggering body and frowned.
Normally, Jinmyeong's swords should have been sent flying after clashing with his giant club.
But instead, it was his club that had been repelled.
'Just how much power is in that attack?'
Gye Buil couldn't help but be shocked by the force of Jinmyeong's attack, which was strong enough to push him back.
'Is this its limit?'
But to Jinmyeong, it felt perfectly natural.
It was only to be expected.
Even if not at full power, he had broken through the Mad Demon's Mad Wind Saber Arts.
There was no way Gye Buil, who was far weaker, could overcome his power.
'But it feels like I'm lacking a decisive blow.'
Jinmyeong felt this was a shame.
In the end, Gye Buil was back in his original spot, blocking Jinmyeong's swords.
'It's not enough.'
Jinmyeong's Heaven-Embroidering Sword Control Arts were certainly strong.
Even though incomplete, it was a martial art acknowledged by the Mad Demon.
But Jinmyeong felt this alone was not enough.
'Even someone at his level can keep blocking and dodging.'
Of course, as a disciple of the Heavenly Demon, Gye Buil was strong.
But if you asked if he was as strong as the protagonist of the novel, the answer was no.
'This means it won't work on the protagonist at all.'
If he couldn't even get past Gye Buil when he was determined to defend, there was no way he could beat the protagonist.
'I don't even know if it would work on the other disciples before him.'
Jinmyeong recalled what the Mad Demon had said.
'"You can't block it, but it will be hard to win." I think I understand why he said that now.'
Even Gye Buil, said to be the strongest among the Heavenly Demon's disciples, struggled to block his attacks.
The other disciples would find it even more difficult.
But Gye Buil was now demonstrating that blocking wasn't the only option.
'Someone at the level of the Heavenly Demon's disciples wouldn't even need to block.'
It was harder than blocking, but for the Heavenly Demon's disciples, and masters of their caliber, it would be possible to deflect the attacks.
'So I need something else.'
Jinmyeong stared silently at Gye Buil.
He was still preoccupied with blocking Jinmyeong's swords.
'He has so many openings.'
Every time he swung his club, openings appeared.
He kept aiming for those openings, but Gye Buil was defending well against them.
'It's about time I ended this.'
Jinmyeong pointed his index finger at Gye Buil.
Swish!
The Heavenly Demon Finger shot towards Gye Buil.
"Hup!"
Startled by the sudden attack, Gye Buil twisted his body.
BAM!
An opening appeared as he hastily twisted, and one of Jinmyeong's swords moved without missing the chance.
Gye Buil tried to swing his club to deflect the sword, but with his posture broken, he couldn't block it properly.
Thud!
"Keuk!"
His eyes widened at the sharp pain that flared in his abdomen.
"Uweck!"
He coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.
"You still blocked it well."
At Jinmyeong's words, Gye Buil clutched his abdomen and glared at him.
He wanted to get up and rush at Jinmyeong, but five swords were floating around him, all aimed at his vitals.
One wrong move and he would be impaled.
"Jinmyeong…"
"Your body seems pretty tough."
Jinmyeong grinned.
The grin made Gye Buil's stomach churn.
"Normally, your stomach would have been pierced…"
"You…"
"If you keep cutting yourself off, I won't know what you're trying to say."
Gye Buil was so angry he felt like he was going to lose his mind.
"How dare someone like you…"
He was too furious to think straight.
At that moment, he wasn't even aware of what he was saying.
It wasn't just because he had lost to Jinmyeong.
"How dare someone like you go easy on me?"
He had definitely been hit in the stomach by Jinmyeong's Heavenly Demon Finger.
But he had only coughed up blood; his stomach wasn't pierced.
"You knew?"
"…"
Jinmyeong grinned.
As he said, he hadn't attacked with the full power of the Heavenly Demon Finger.
"Still, if I hadn't held back, your stomach would have been pierced, Senior Brother."
"That would have been impossible."
Of course, Jinmyeong was confident he could have pierced Gye Buil's protective aura.
And Gye Buil, in turn, was confident he could have blocked Jinmyeong's attack.
"The match seems to be over. You can go now."
"…You're not going to kill me?"
"Am I allowed to?"
He still didn't know.
Gye Buil was a character who hadn't appeared in the novel.
Therefore, he needed time to figure him out.
'Considering he didn't appear in the novel, he probably died, but…'
He didn't know if Mok Jagyeong, the new cult leader, killed him, or if he died during some other mission.
'If I can use him, I should.'
He might become an enemy later.
Conversely, it also meant he could draw him in and use him.
"You will regret this."
"I don't think I will."
"Hmph. Don't think this method will work again."
As Jinmyeong withdrew his swords, Gye Buil growled.
He also put away his club and looked at his underlings, who were staring at him blankly.
"We're leaving."
They were already shocked that Gye Buil had lost, but they were even more bewildered that he was leaving so meekly.
'Not now.'
He had underestimated Jinmyeong too much.
And Jinmyeong's martial arts were on a completely different plane from ordinary ones.
'I need to find out more about him.'
Where he got such a martial art was no longer important.
Nor was how he had become able to learn martial arts.
Right now, he had to quickly figure out the weaknesses of the art Jinmyeong had displayed.
"You will definitely regret this day."
Gye Buil said this and left with his men.
"Young Master!"
At that moment, Yang Jeon, who had been watching from afar without daring to breathe, quickly approached.
"How on earth did you do that?"
"I just fought Gye Buil and won, that's all."
"That's impossible! How could you, Young Master…"
Yang Jeon babbled on, still unable to comprehend, but Jinmyeong, perhaps from exhausting his energy, suddenly collapsed to the ground.
"Let's talk after I rest a bit."
At those words, Yang Jeon's lips moved as if to say more, but he soon pressed them shut and simply nodded.