Episode 296
Not Curious.
Kwagagagak—!
Lightning bolts struck down from all directions.
The thunder sweeping across the ground
burned thickly, as if leaving traces behind.
Was it truly being fired from the empty air?
It was not.
That was internal qi shaped like lightning.
Just how highly concentrated it was—the energy clumped together was visible to the naked eye.
Even in a fleeting instant, dozens of strands of energy
took the form of lightning bolts and flew toward him.
‘What…?’
Jang Seonyeon took a step back and,
shwik,
drew his sword.
Uwoong—
Soon after, a sword cry rang out.
The Jang Family’s secret martial art had grown far stronger after Jang Seonyeon crossed the wall.
He swung his sword amidst the striking energies and,
Uwoong—!
The sword cry resonated through the surroundings as if gaining strength.
The sword cry, mixed with sword qi and taking form,
succeeded in erasing several strands of lightning, but,
Kwadeudeuk!
“Keuk…!”
Unable to erase them all, he caused them to sweep through the surroundings.
He unfolded his footwork and evaded the attack.
Right after cutting down another strand of lightning that bounced toward him,
Jang Seonyeon harbored a doubt.
‘What is going on?’
Even while harboring that doubt,
the thunder qi attacked without rest.
Accordingly, the sword he wielded could not rest either.
‘How can she have changed this much?’
Something was wrong.
The woman’s movements when they had faced each other at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering,
and the movements of the woman controlling lightning before his eyes now,
were far too different.
The level was different.
Her sword had been outstanding even then.
Wielding a crude and chilly sword wrapped in fighting spirit,
yet the flow of her movements was natural, as if dancing.
A single dance of swordplay.
Just like a dancer moving to an instrument.
Her byname had been given as Geommuhui.
Someone had even said that,
were it not for Geombong Guhuibi,
she might have taken the seat of the Sword Peak.
Jang Seonyeon had dismissed that as nonsense.
But could one still say so after seeing her current form?
‘How could she have changed this much?’
Geommuhui, who had been at the edge of the first-rate back then,
had now crossed the wall just like Jang Seonyeon.
That much was understandable.
Even then, their realms had been similar,
and he too had crossed the wall.
But even if they were in the same realm,
not everything could be the same.
Namgung Bia and Jang Seonyeon were exactly that now.
‘Why…!’
Lightning poured out as much as it was split apart.
Unfolding footwork imbued with internal qi,
while swinging his sword without rest,
Geommuhui stood without moving a single step from the spot and posture
she had first stood in.
A tranquil expression.
To control such energies, extreme delicacy should be required,
yet only small hand gestures seen occasionally,
and the movements of her eyeballs, were visible.
As if—
she wore an arrogant demeanor, as if to say this much was enough for him.
‘How dare she…!’
Bbareudeuk.
She was someone who had lost to him at the martial arts tournament.
The targets for his future were the Hidden Dragon, the Sword Dragon, and the Sword Peak.
And finally,
the True Dragon.
He had thought only riffraff who ignored him and expressed nothing but malice remained,
but Geommuhui was an unforeseen existence.
It was merely that he was bothered by her ignoring him,
and wanted to show her clearly for sure.
‘That woman, too, was connected to him.’
Why was it that people related to that guy
all got on his nerves?
‘I cannot tolerate this.’
Especially against someone who had once lost to him,
to struggle like this—
Jang Seonyeon could not tolerate it.
Uuuung—!
He raised his internal energy, making the sword cry even greater.
He focused a bit more on his footwork and evaded the lightning.
Kyu,,
Then Namgung Bia, who was watching, briefly tilted her head.
Sarak.
She moved her fingertips and drew something in the air.
Then,
Pajijijik—!
“…!”
The ends of the lightning bolt stems that had been shooting split apart,
multiplying in number as they shot toward Jang Seonyeon.
In that fleeting instant—to think she adjusted already-fired internal qi
and changed it even more delicately.
It was an absurd level of internal energy control.
The lightning divided into several branches,
and from there split again into several more branches and poured down.
Since he had already leaped, it was impossible to change direction and avoid it.
Jang Seonyeon stopped making his sword cry ring,
drew internal energy, and spread out a qi barrier.
Erasing lightning with sword qi,
he tried to endure the unavoidable attacks with the qi barrier, but,
Kwadeudeuk!
Kyu… keueuk…!
The moment the pouring lightning touched the qi barrier,
a great shock was felt and the qi barrier shook.
The internal energy contained in a single strand was quite dense.
And such strands were still pouring out endlessly,
before long striking Jang Seonyeon directly.
Kwagagagagang—!
An explosion rang out, and with the tremor, dust burst up densely.
The moment dozens of lightning bolts struck the floor,
remnants of thunder qi spread into the surroundings, creating tremors.
Amid the dust scattered in all directions,
when only silence came and went,
Uung….
A small sword cry rang out,
Huuuk!
and at the same time, the dust scattered entirely from the bursting wind pressure,
revealing the ground that had burst violently.
The scorched black floor
showed that the thunder energy poured down had not been weak at all.
“…Huu….”
And from the center of it,
Jang Seonyeon, who had suffered shallow cuts, exhaled.
‘I blocked it.’
Except for the surroundings where he had spread the qi barrier, everything else was scorched black, but at least the surroundings he had defended were not greatly damaged.
It had been a qi barrier spread in haste,
but he had somehow managed to block it.
Jang Seonyeon immediately brightened his eyes and raised his internal energy.
‘If she went this far, she must have poured out all her energy.’
If she had struck down such violent lightning,
he thought Geommuhui’s energy must have almost run out as well.
If he had blocked it all,
from now on, it would be his time.
Jang Seonyeon certainly thought so, but.
….
．.
..
Teobeok.
And the sound of light footsteps heard from somewhere,
Huuu—!
He had to stop breathing at the sensation of the air pressing down heavily.
“…What?”
He raised his head hurriedly,
searching for Geommuhui’s whereabouts,
but in the place she should have been, Geommuhui had disappeared.
Did she flee?
He immediately spread his qi sense
to ascertain her location.
The qi sense that spread in all directions like a spider web
located Geommuhui’s position before long.
Behind him.
Geommuhui was behind him.
“…!”
Swallowing his surprise, Jang Seonyeon swung his sword.
No, to be precise, he tried to swing it.
Kugugugugu—!
“Keoheok!”
The moment he tried to execute the movement,
his body stiffened rigidly from the air pressure squeezing his entire body.
‘…Could it be…!’
It was an energy he had felt before.
At the previous martial arts tournament,
it was a power he had felt during the match with Namgung Bia.
The martial art called the secret technique,
the absolute technique of the Namgung Clan.
Sovereign Sword Form….
Internal qi into air pressure.
The power to transform air pressure into the form of a martial art.
The sovereign’s fighting spirit taking form and pressing down in all directions
was an expression of the presence they held.
It was the true Sovereign Sword Form,
which he had not felt in the fight with the Thunder Dragon.
Kung.
He involuntarily knelt on one knee.
He couldn’t endure the pressing energy.
“Kkeueueuk….”
Cold sweat had already soaked his back,
and his internal energy refused to move properly under the pressure.
The Sovereign Sword Form of Geommuhui that he had faced last time
and the Sovereign Sword Form she was unfolding now were
different in quality.
Unlike before, where wrapping internal energy around his body merely made
movements uncomfortable,
“Heoeo… heoeo….”
now he could not even move his internal energy.
The problem was,
‘Even after scattering so much thunder energy, she has this much internal qi left?’
At most a year, or two at longest.
Only that amount of time had passed.
In such a short time,
how could she have changed this much?
Geommuhui’s energy did not seem to diminish at all.
Firing energy made into form like thunder qi or fire qi
required more energy than one could imagine.
No matter how much a peak martial artist who broke through the middle dantian
and expanded their vessel, it shouldn’t be easy to maintain for long.
Unless Geommuhui’s internal qi was limitless,
this would be the difference in how delicately she controlled her internal energy.
In the end,
this led directly to the difference in level between her and him.
‘Absurd…!’
She hadn’t even drawn her sword yet.
To think he couldn’t even defeat a girl clinging to that guy’s side,
let alone the True Dragon?
It was impossible.
“Huu… huuk….”
When he tried to force himself to move, veins bulged at the base of his neck.
It meant the pressure squeezing his body was that great,
but Jang Seonyeon tried to somehow rise.
Because he couldn’t just collapse like this.
Then,
to Jang Seonyeon, who was struggling desperately,
pale fingertips dug in and,
Tuk—!
“…!”
snatched away the belt Jang Seonyeon possessed.
Then the pressure squeezing his entire body vanished in an instant.
“Heoeo…!”
With the presence of the Sovereign Sword Form, which had made it hard to even breathe, gone,
Jang Seonyeon was finally able to catch his breath.
Of course, it was only for a moment.
Jang Seonyeon had to watch Geommuhui,
because he didn’t know how she would strike.
But Geommuhui, whom he looked up at from behind,
was merely looking down at him with the same expression as before.
“…Geommuhui….”
Jang Seonyeon called out to Geommuhui, to Namgung Bia,
but Namgung Bia merely glanced at him
and moved her steps as if her business was finished.
As if the match had been decided.
“…Where do you think you’re going…!”
Jang Seonyeon shouted, unable to hold back.
Then Namgung Bia stopped her steps and turned to Jang Seonyeon.
“Not yet… We have yet to cross swords.”
Jang Seonyeon knew in his heart.
That she was far stronger than he had anticipated.
That even if they crossed swords like this, his chances of winning were slim.
But the pride bound within him would not allow it.
Jang Seonyeon always had to be the victor.
Now as well.
Even until the very last moment.
“I still haven’t shown my true strength….”
“I’m not curious.”
At Namgung Bia’s words, cutting into Jang Seonyeon’s cry,
his words were choked off.
Devoid of any emotion whatsoever,
it was a cold, frigid voice.
“Whatever strength… you may possess, I am not curious about your sword in the least.”
The reason she had drawn her sword was merely out of courtesy for the match.
Namgung Bia was not curious about the exhausted man before her.
“It bores me, your sword.”
The foul stench wafting from him,
a gaze she did not wish to look upon for long—
even setting those aside,
his sword held no interest.
Not in the slightest.
“I remember. Who you are.”
The moment she drew her sword,
Namgung Bia was able to remember who he was.
She couldn’t recall his name,
but she remembered the match they had fought.
“But I will forget it again now.”
That was all.
“A sword that has grown worse than back then does not interest me.”
“…What?”
At Namgung Bia’s words,
Jang Seonyeon’s eyes widened.
Worse?
Impossible.
He had crossed the wall and reached the peak,
and his martial arts had grown incomparable to that time.
What kind of nonsense was that?
“Are you insulting me…?”
To Jang Seonyeon, it could only sound like that.
It wounded his pride and was insulting.
It was all the more so hearing such words from someone he had never set as a target.
That she dared say such to him.
To Jang Seonyeon’s question,
Namgung Bia departed without answering further,
as if acquiring the belt and the victory just now held no thrill whatsoever.
Watching Namgung Bia grow farther away,
Jang Seonyeon pondered.
‘Should I… draw upon the divine artifact?’
The divine artifact slumbering within his body.
He had been warned not to use it recklessly before harmonizing it with his physical body,
so unless he used a very small amount, he had refrained from using it as much as possible.
But should he use it now?
‘If I use it, I can show that woman.
That I am not someone to be ignored by the likes of her.
The one who should look down from above
is me.’
‘…’
He deliberated repeatedly.
He bit his lip, and blood trickled.
His bloodshot eyes were full of pressure,
and his shoulders trembled painfully from the effort of enduring.
Before long,
Jang Seonyeon endured.
He merely took rough breaths as he watched Namgung Bia walk away.
‘I must endure.’
He couldn’t ruin things in a place like this.
The humiliation, the rage—
he could vent them later.
Jang Seonyeon forced a smile onto his expression.
He had to smile from now on,
so that when he went to others later, he could put on a natural smile.
‘…Geommuhui.’
She was someone he disliked as much as the True Dragon.
No, should he say he disliked her even more than the True Dragon?
‘I must find him more quickly.’
The descendant of Jegal notified from Taeju—
Jegal Jinseon.
It was said that he was here.
Would he be in the same first group, or the eighth group?
He had obtained a description of his appearance.
He didn’t think there was any chance he had failed the entrance exam.
If he had lived hiding his true identity,
he must possess strength commensurate with that.
Calming his breathing and repressing his emotions, Jang Seonyeon raised his body.
‘Wait.’
The humiliation of now, the anger, the sense of insult—
he would remember them all, and when he made them kneel someday,
he would pay them back all at once.
Wiping away the flowing blood,
Jang Seonyeon led his weary body.
Because he had to acquire two more belts before it was too late.
Namgung Bia took the belt from Jang Seonyeon and left,
and right after Jang Seonyeon also moved his steps and departed,
there was someone watching from afar.
Kyu,,
The figure who confirmed Jang Seonyeon leaving in a different direction
only then closed her open eyes,
and the sword held in her hand was sheathed again.
—Why didn’t you intervene?
A voice heard in her head.
Hearing the voice, Wi Seola opened her closed eyes
and quietly whispered.
“If I had intervened there, Sister would have been angry.”
If she had butted into the match,
Namgung Bia would have been angry.
So Wi Seola could not intervene at that moment.
And, as much as she had believed,
Namgung Bia won without difficulty.
As if it hadn’t even been a fight.
‘…Strong.’
Namgung Bia was strong, as expected.
She had been so in the past, and it was the same now.
Her martial arts, of course, and her firm beliefs did not waver.
Her faith in her heart,
as well as her belief in herself.
Of course, at the last moment,
if Jang Seonyeon had drawn energy to ambush Namgung Bia,
she would have intervened then.
No matter how angry Namgung Bia would have been.
Wi Seola, who had been watching the sunlight quietly under the shade,
‘Sister… do you hate Sister Bia?’
asked what she had been curious about.
Because whenever she thought of Namgung Bia, as always,
an unknowable vibration occurred within her.
That this was the agitation of the other existence inside her,
Wi Seola knew.
Whether it was hatred,
or another emotion, Wi Seola did not know.
—It’s not possible that I would hate her… I don’t hate her.
It was unexpected.
Wi Seola had thought that she hated Namgung Bia.
‘Then what emotion is it?’
—Regret.
Wi Seola’s eyes widened greatly at the voice.
Because it was an unexpected answer.
She often had dreams about what that girl had gone through,
but she couldn’t know everything.
Whether it was something in her future, or something else,
Wi Seola couldn’t know that either.
She only knew that it was her story.
But regret.
‘…You feel regret toward Sister Bia?’
…
Why on earth?
Wi Seola was curious,
but she did not answer.
She merely recalled.
Not the current Namgung Bia,
but the day she faced the Demonic Sword Empress.