Blade King (刀王), Paeng Jeou.
The Paeng Family of Hebei, a pillar of the orthodox faction—one of the Four Great Families. No, now called one of the Three Great Families—and its family head.
They say that when he was still known as a rising young talent, back when he was a dragon, he was called the Ink Dragon (墨龍).
After outgrowing the ranks of the rising generation and beginning his activities in the Alliance, he served as the commander of the Iron Dragon Unit.
He was a martial artist of the Transformation Realm, ranked among the upper tier of the Hundred Greatest Masters.
He had been highly regarded for his strength during the war against the unorthodox faction in the past.
Even now, he was called a master who had not fallen behind his prime.
However.
There was a record of him running for the position of Alliance Leader several times, only to be eliminated each time.
In other words.
‘His martial prowess isn’t bad. His standing is decent, and he has political ambitions.’
His temperament was domineering, with a strongly aggressive and warlike side.
‘He’s easy….’
He was an easy man to read.
That might not matter for a martial artist, but it meant he was lacking in ability as a family head.
‘If we’re splitting hairs, the Sword King is a little better.’
Though his standing within his family was lower, he gave off a somewhat more shrewd impression than the Blade King.
At a glance, that might sound like an insult, but it was something a family head ought to possess to a certain degree.
‘And the Blade King was lacking in that regard.’
That must have been why, regardless of his standing or abilities, he had lost the position of Alliance Leader.
All well and good.
If he were merely an ordinary man, that would be the end of it.
But.
‘Why did he enter the Martial Arts Tournament?’
That question followed.
There was nothing the Blade King could gain by coming here.
Standing? He already had enough.
Fame? Even if the Blade King achieved results in the Martial Arts Tournament, it would not increase.
There was nothing for the Blade King to gain from this tournament.
Everyone was certain of that, but no one thought deeply about it.
Why?
‘Because it’s fun.’
The Blade King had come to the Martial Arts Tournament to display his martial arts.
That alone would draw people’s attention.
And among those people—
‘There must be countless merchant groups connected to the Alliance.’
I thought.
This benefited only the Alliance.
No matter how much of a simpleton the Blade King was, could he really not know that?
Surely not.
Then there was only one answer.
‘The Blade King entered the Martial Arts Tournament to cooperate with the Alliance.’
A commission.
Or cooperation.
Or perhaps blackmail.
Whatever it was did not matter.
What mattered was that the Blade King had obeyed, and that he had to be regarded as a man of the Martial Alliance.
Whether he had acted willingly or not.
[Paeng Jeou of the Paeng Family of Hebei versus Bi Uijin of the Xian Bi Family.]
“...”
I stroked my chin as I looked at the names written on the board.
‘Hmm.’
How had things ended up like that?
I tilted my head while looking at the bracket.
‘What’s the intention?’
When the Divine Dragon and Wi Seol-ah had been matched, the intention had been obvious.
This time, I could not see it clearly. Had they simply paired them at random?
‘Who knows.’
I was skeptical of that idea.
By now, the story that the Fighting Dragon was the Defeated Venerable’s disciple had already spread.
Would they use an important card that could serve as publicity in a way like this—
‘…No.’
I suddenly came to my senses as I was thinking.
‘This would make for even better publicity.’
The Defeated Venerable’s successor being beaten to a pulp by the Blade King.
That was probably the scene they were expecting.
They likely did not believe for even a moment that the Fighting Dragon could win.
‘Though you never know.’
Given the record of the Divine Dragon and Wi Seol-ah, perhaps they had considered the possibility.
But it made no sense.
‘At most, it would mean a rising young talent defeating someone of King-level.’
There was no precedent for such a thing in history.
No one could possibly have anticipated it.
‘Because they don’t know the identity of that old man.’
I stared at the black-haired beauty with narrowed eyes.
He had kind-looking features, entirely at odds with his temper.
To the world, he was the rising young talent known as the Fighting Dragon (鬪龍), Bi Uijin.
But within that kindly-looking skin dwelled an ancient old hound, a man known by the sobriquet Defeated Venerable (敗尊).
“…My word, two successors of Venerables have gathered here.”
“The Moon-Cleaving Sword reached the Transformation Realm, didn’t he? I wonder how the Fighting Dragon will fare.”
With so many figures capable of drawing attention gathered together, every eye was focused here.
Should I put up a screen? I was pondering that for a moment when—
“So, how shall I handle it?”
The Defeated Venerable asked me.
“What are you talking about?”
At my answer, the Defeated Venerable smiled faintly.
That expression was frightening. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were not.
“The simpleton from the Paeng Family.”
“…You mean the Blade King?”
“Tsk. Calling him a king is excessive for that fool.”
I let out a hollow laugh at the sharp assessment.
The head of the Paeng Family was being treated as a simpleton by the Defeated Venerable.
“His father was somewhat useful. But the son is hopeless.”
“You mean the previous Blade King.”
The previous Blade King, Paeng Taeu.
He had been the former head of the Paeng Family, who died more than a decade ago.
“That’s right. His blade was heavy, and he was a man who displayed the boldness peculiar to his bloodline.”
It was like listening to a tale from ancient times.
That was what the past sounded like when spoken of by the Defeated Venerable.
The era in which he had lived had not been peaceful like the present. It had been a time when the war against the unorthodox faction was still in full swing.
“But it’s a shame he made such a complete mess of raising his child.”
He did not look particularly regretful as he continued speaking in an even tone.
“Still, that fellow seems decent.”
I followed the Defeated Venerable’s gesture with my eyes.
The Blade King was seated there, drawing everyone’s attention. The young man beside him—
The fingertip was pointed at Paeng Ujin.
“Unlike his father, he’s a perfectly sound fellow.”
If someone like the Defeated Venerable went so far as to praise him, then he was surely an incredible genius. And naturally, Paeng Ujin was no exception.
“Hmm.”
Paeng Ujin raised his lowered head and met my eyes.
He must have sensed my gaze.
After making eye contact, he grinned and waved toward me.
“Young Master Gu!”
“...”
Good grief. He could have refrained from shouting.
I awkwardly lowered my head to return his greeting.
Meanwhile, the Blade King looked at Paeng Ujin. At that gaze, Paeng Ujin smiled sheepishly.
It seemed the Blade King had told him to shut up through voice transmission.
“Heh heh.”
Perhaps he found the sight amusing. The Defeated Venerable chuckled.
“What a damaged fellow.”
“...”
“Yes, for a martial artist to soar, he must set down at least one counterweight. If he possesses everything, he’ll be too heavy to fly.”
“That’s a load of crap. Why are you trying to make calling him crazy sound so cool—!”
Whack!
“Ghk!”
Fuck.
He had hit me right in the shin.
“You’re getting more and more insolent. I really ought to hammer some manners into you one of these days….”
“…Do you think you don’t do that normally?”
He beat me up every day, yet he was pretending there were times when he did not hit me.
“Isn’t your current state proof that it wasn’t enough?”
“I was born this way. If beating me would have changed me, I’d have changed long ago.”
“…Good for you, then.”
What could I do about the blood running through my family? If getting beaten could make me normal, I would not have lived like this in either my previous life or this one.
“Anyway. What is it you want me to do?”
“So… what?”
What on earth had he been talking about all this time?
Just as I was about to sigh at his incomprehensible way of speaking—
“That fool. Shall I send him up?”
“…!”
I had to stiffen for a moment at the Defeated Venerable’s words.
His expression had not changed.
Those black eyes, identical to mine.
Looking at him, I swallowed a quiet groan.
‘…That old fox.’
He appeared to care about nothing but seeing the limits of his martial arts.
And yet, the Defeated Venerable was quietly watching a great many things.
Even now.
“…I don’t care. Do as you please.”
“Hmm, is that so? Understood.”
After receiving my answer, he immediately yawned.
What kind of confidence was that, when he was about to fight the Blade King in a formal match?
His words meant that he could decide for himself whether to win or lose the match.
Could the Defeated Venerable defeat even the Blade King in his current state?
Of course, I had no such doubts.
This man was the Defeated Venerable.
That was enough.
‘…That’s settled.’
I turned my gaze away from the Defeated Venerable and looked at Seong Yul.
He had been fidgeting restlessly for some time, making it impossible not to notice him.
I swung my hand and smacked him on the back of the head.
Whack!
“Ghk!?”
At the sudden attack, Seong Yul widened his eyes and stared at me.
“Calm down a little, Young Master Jin. Why are you acting so distracted?”
“...”
“You’ll get yourself into serious trouble.”
“…Ah.”
It was a warning disguised as something else. Even after hearing it, Seong Yul’s condition remained unchanged.
‘Hmm.’
He was in a sorry state.
Was he like that because he had been matched against a disciple of the Kunlun Sect? Or was it simply because he had encountered them?
I could not tell.
‘At least they don’t seem very interested in him.’
The disciples of the Kunlun Sect themselves were paying no attention to Seong Yul.
It was strange.
They knew each other, did they not?
‘When I looked into it, there wasn’t anything of note.’
I had occasionally obtained information from Kunlun, but there had been no mention of Seong Yul in it.
No, there had not even been any mention of the Heavenly Slaughter Star.
‘I’m sure the Azure Sea One Sword had been keeping him with him.’
Why was there no mention of Seong Yul?
It was strange.
‘Even considering that Kunlun is in an urgent situation, it’s still strange.’
Following the death of the Azure Sea One Sword, a new sect leader had ascended.
Several incidents had occurred since then as well, and the sect was still focused on stabilizing itself.
‘That must be why so few of them came.’
When the Alliance announced that it was holding a Martial Arts Tournament, Kunlun had indicated that it would attend.
But given the sect’s circumstances, fewer than ten disciples of the Kunlun Sect appeared to have come at most.
In other words, this was also evidence that Kunlun’s situation was not particularly good.
‘Is something going on?’
Trouble was breaking out everywhere.
The Emei Sect was the same, and if something was happening in Kunlun as well, then the whole situation was truly a mess.
‘The Nine Sects and One Alliance are all full of problems.’
Their conditions were all poor in one way or another. And these were no ordinary places, but the Nine Sects and One Alliance.
‘This much from merely being shaken a little?’
These sects, which had supposedly put down roots over centuries, were in that state.
The only ones that seemed relatively intact were Mount Hua and perhaps a few others.
‘And yet the Martial Alliance is holding a festival in the middle of all this.’
There was no mess greater than this.
They were covering everything in splendor, concealing the rot within.
It was a situation anyone could understand with only a little digging.
Their handling of matters was truly appalling.
‘Ugh.’
There was not much I could say to him.
I merely massaged Seong Yul’s shoulder half-heartedly.
“Ah, just in case.”
“…Yes?”
“Be careful.”
At the warning, Seong Yul’s eyes sank slightly.
“…Yes. I’ll try not to reveal my identity.”
“What are you talking about?”
I corrected him when he started spouting nonsense.
“Be careful with your strength, idiot.”
“Pardon?”
“Think properly before you swing it. You can’t do what you did when you sparred with me, you hear?”
“…?”
“Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes… I understand.”
He clearly had not understood at all.
Would this be all right?
“...”
I considered explaining it in greater detail, then decided to keep my mouth shut.
Well… he would figure it out himself.
Thinking that, I decided to let it go for now.
******************
I left the waiting room and headed elsewhere.
It was the spectators’ seats, prepared so that we could watch the sparring platform.
I had been here last time as well, but the location was slightly different.
The Alliance had arranged this place so that those who had reached the main tournament could watch separately.
I raised my head.
A canopy had been hung overhead.
The facilities were far more lavish than those in the ordinary spectators’ seats.
‘They’re treating us specially in the most blatant way possible.’
Perhaps it was meant to signify that we had worked hard to make it to the main tournament.
At a glance, that might have been the case, but in reality, things were quite different.
‘Making it to the main tournament meant, in other words, that we had potential.’
We might be descendants of renowned families.
We might be martial artists sponsored by merchant groups.
Or we might possess outstanding talent despite having no affiliation.
The Martial Alliance had identified this in advance and prepared accordingly.
‘People like being treated specially.’
Just as it had been since ancient times, there was nothing different about this treatment.
The great merchant groups that sponsored the Alliance.
The heads of renowned families and the leaders of sects.
They would all be watching the main tournament from the various buildings.
And they would be watching this special treatment as well.
In a way, it seemed like perfect conduct, but—
‘It’s sickening.’
The sight was so blatant that it made my stomach churn.
I found a seat at random and sat down.
Unlike last time, there was plenty of room.
They handed out scrolls bearing the tournament brackets again, but I did not accept one.
There was no need. Everyone who needed to memorize them had already done so.
I sat in my place as time passed.
“…Then. We shall now begin the third round of the main tournament….”
Before I knew it, the referee had climbed onto the sparring platform and begun the opening ceremony with a wager at stake.
As soon as he finished speaking, martial artists began to appear.
The difference from last time was that this time, they would be using only a single sparring platform.
‘Does that mean I should concentrate, since the level will be higher from the third bout onward?’
There could be any number of meanings to it, but thinking that far was tiring.
I simply rested my chin on my hand and focused my gaze.
I could feel the martial artists around me watching me,
but I ignored them as well.
‘Indeed.’
Would today’s martial arts competition pass without incident?
That was my only concern.
*****************
Swish.
A young man slowly wound a bandage around his hand.
“Hyaaah!”
Boom!
Harsh sounds continued to ring out from outside, and vibrations erupted strongly enough to shake the entire area.
But the young man wore an expression that showed he did not care in the slightest.
Having finally finished tying the bandage, he examined his hand from this angle and that.
“Hmm.”
Then he nodded, looking satisfied.
The young man’s name was Bi Uijin.
He was the second son of the Seoan Bi clan and the man known as the Fighting Dragon.
“Not bad. It’s been a while since I’ve wrapped one, but it’s still neat.”
After giving the bandage a few final taps, he shook out his hands several times and gently rolled his shoulders.
He was loosening up his body.
He absolutely had to limber up his muscles.
Otherwise—
‘I might not be able to control my strength.’
He needed to show an appropriate level of ability, but this useless body of his had trouble even controlling its own strength properly.
If he made the slightest mistake, his skin might tear under the strain of his own power.
‘Tsk. What a mess.’
All he could do was lament his condition. Worse still, he could not tell anyone about it.
After all, he was the one who had chosen to end up like this.
And so, while Bi Uijin loosened his body and waited for the right moment—
“You seem rather nervous.”
Someone spoke to Bi Uijin.
When he shifted his gaze, he saw a hulking man a full head taller than himself.
Bi Uijin knew him as well.
The Blade King, Paeng Jeou.
He was the head of the Paeng clan and Bi Uijin’s opponent in the martial arts competition.
With a friendly smile, he spoke to Bi Uijin.
“Do not worry. Nothing serious will happen.”
“…”
Bi Uijin looked at the Blade King with a strange expression.
After a brief silence passed, he immediately clasped his hands and bowed in greeting before it grew too late.
“The blood descendant of the Bi clan greets Clan Head Paeng.”
“Yes, is Clan Head Bi doing well?”
“Yes.”
“It has been several years since I last saw him. Clan Head Bi must have grown even stronger by now.”
There was a faint trace of condescension in his words.
Bi Uijin could subtly sense that the Blade King regarded Clan Head Bi as being a level below himself.
‘Hmm.’
Bi Uijin’s brow twitched ever so slightly as he listened.
“I heard that you are Elder Bi’s disciple…”
“Yes.”
“How strange. Elder Bi once said that he would never take on a disciple.”
He had indeed said something like that long ago.
‘Back then, I thought I had no need for one.’
It had been during a time when he was especially arrogant. He believed that no one but himself could learn the martial arts he had created.
That was what he had thought back then.
Embarrassingly enough.
“Times have changed, so it is only natural that Elder Bi could change as well.”
“…That is true.”
For some inexplicable reason, Bi Uijin felt ashamed and gave a slight cough.
“It has been a long time since I last saw Elder Bi. Is he in good health?”
“He is very healthy.”
Extremely healthy, in fact.
Healthy enough to have even grown younger. Damn it all.
“Haha, I see. I remember Elder Bi looking favorably upon me. It is a fond memory.”
“…”
At those words, Bi Uijin forcibly stopped his head from moving.
When had Elder Bi ever looked favorably upon him? He had no memory of it.
‘Was it when that Taeu fellow brought him over?’
It had been around the time the previous clan head brought him in, calling him his son.
There had been a little boy who burst into tears upon seeing him.
Had he been five years old then?
He had cried so hard that he had even soiled his pants.
“He even told me that I was gifted in martial arts and should continue working hard…”
That had never happened.
If anything, he had advised the previous clan head, saying, “That boy seems to have somewhat less talent than you. You should make him put in more effort.”
They said a child was at least cute when he was stupid. That boy did not even have that going for him.
“In any case, you seemed so tense that I came to help you relax. I also heard that you are the disciple of an elder with whom I am acquainted.”
“…Yes. Thank you for your consideration.”
Having suddenly become acquainted with the Blade King, Bi Uijin gave a faint chuckle.
Pat, pat.
A large hand thumped him on the back.
“Then I shall see you later.”
After the Blade King finished speaking and left,
“…”
Bi Uijin was left alone to think.
‘What should I do?’
He had intended to adjust his strength and keep things moderate.
‘Hmmm.’
He felt sorry for his pathetic disciple,
but it seemed he would not be able to merely hold back.