Crack!
Struck by the flat of the blade, Nangong Jinjing flew back and tumbled across the training ground floor.
"W-What!"
"Second Young Master!"
Amidst the clamor, Nangong Jinjing, who had been rolling on the floor, stumbled to his feet.
'He's quite sturdy?'
Cheonhwi thought as he watched him stand right back up.
"You bastard...!"
Nangong Jinjing roared furiously.
With his forceful shout, the air vibrated, the training ground shook, and inner qi surged from his entire body in streams.
The inner qi of the Tianlei Diwang Shengong welled up, and a bluish qi began to swirl around his entire body.
"I-It's Tianlei Qi!"
"Heavenly Thunder Qi?"
"Did he learn the Tianlei Diwang Shengong?"
The eyes of the retainers, who noticed the aura Nangong Jinjing was exuding, widened.
The Tianlei Diwang Shengong was the most difficult mental cultivation method to learn even within the Nangong Clan.
"They said the Second Young Master's talent is comparable to the Eldest Young Master's."
Just as some people gasped.
"You have quite the endurance?"
Cheonhwi rested his sword on his shoulder and muttered, regardless of their fuss.
Even though he had held back a little, if it had been Jeokgeom or Seollan, they would have fainted immediately upon taking that hit.
"Your endurance is solid... Pfft!"
Cheonhwi burst into laughter upon seeing the face of Nangong Jinjing, who belatedly raised his head.
The young man who could barely be called a dashing youth was gone, and in his place stood a monster with a swollen, bruised right cheek and lips.
"Are you mocking me right now?"
Nangong Jinjing trembled with rage.
"Then how can I not laugh at that appearance?"
Cheonhwi kindly pointed at his face.
Flustered, Nangong Jinjing hastily raised his sword and looked at his reflection in the blade.
"M-My face!"
Veins bulged on his forehead.
Not only were his cheekbones and cheek swollen, but they had also caved in.
Grinding his teeth, he raised his sword.
"Tch, I admit I underestimated you for a moment."
Nangong Jinjing raised his sword high.
"But it will be different now!"
Nangong Jinjing erupted his inner qi.
At that moment, a bluish aura began to condense on the sword blade.
But that wasn't the end.
The aura, which had been fluttering like threads, soon wrapped around the blade like a cocoon, and eventually exuded a powerful energy from the sword.
"T-That is!"
"Sword Qi...!"
The faces of the Nangong Clan's retainers brightened as if flowers were blooming.
The Sword Qi he displayed was not faint, but completely distinct and clear.
However, the fact that Nangong Jinjing, who had merely been first-rate until recently, had manifested such clear Sword Qi meant...
"The Second Young Master has reached the Pinnacle Realm!"
The Nangong Clan's retainers became ecstatic.
Conversely, shadows began to fall on the faces of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen.
"Is that what they call talent?"
"To have such clear Sword Qi at such a young age..."
Some even fell into despair.
Beads of sweat formed on Hyeonjin's forehead as he watched the bluish blooming Sword Qi.
He had heard the rumors about Cangtian Jianlong until his ears rang.
The greatest martial talent among the Five Dragons and Four Phoenixes.
The two suns of the Nangong Clan, and so on.
With all sorts of embellishments attached, he had thought he was an extraordinary genius, but...
The Pinnacle Realm at that age!
Hyeonjin chewed on his upper lip, then snapped his head around and reached for his waist.
"If Cangtian Jianlong strikes down Cheonhwi..."
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen, who had been anxiously watching, flinched and gulped at Hyeonjin's words.
"Move without worrying about the aftermath."
At that moment.
Boom!
Nangong Jinjing stomped his foot.
Displaying much more vigorous movements than before, he closed the distance with Cheonhwi.
At the same time, his sword swung down from all directions.
"Take this!"
So much force was loaded into it that Cheonhwi's hair and daoist robes fluttered backward, unable to withstand the wind pressure.
"Refreshing."
Cheonhwi tapped his foot lightly as he watched the new sword technique.
Swoosh—
Cheonhwi's figure, which vanished in an instant, caught Nangong Jinjing's back.
"...!"
Nangong Jinjing's pupils shook as he lost sight of Cheonhwi's movements for a moment.
Cheonhwi's movements right now were profound and mysterious.
If he seemed to be on the left, he was suddenly on the right; if he seemed to be approaching, he was instantly far away.
'He's learned a superior footwork technique!'
The footwork Cheonhwi had just displayed was the Qixing Bu, which anyone could learn upon entering the Huashan Sect.
Cheonhwi smacked his lips as he looked at Nangong Jinjing, who was struggling to track him with his eyes.
"It's much better than the Shandian Shisan or whatever from earlier."
Nangong Jinjing clenched his teeth.
"You seem quite relaxed."
"If it's relaxation, I have it."
Cheonhwi said casually.
"By the way, what's the name of that martial art?"
"...It's the Cangqiong Wu'ai Jianfa!"
"Ah! So that was the Cangqiong Wu'ai Jianfa."
No wonder it looked familiar.
The Cangqiong Wu'ai Jianfa was a sword art the Nangong Clan took pride in, and he had seen it unleashed several times in his past life.
'But it's a bit different.'
He grew intrigued.
If the Cangqiong Wu'ai Jianfa of the past had an aloof and overflowing powerful feel, the one being displayed now was heavy and fierce.
'I need to watch carefully to see how it's changed.'
Cheonhwi flicked his sword and said.
"Then try displaying it properly this time. Not half-heartedly like before."
Twitch!
At the provocation that wasn't quite a provocation, the thread of Nangong Jinjing's rationality snapped.
Eyes rolling back, Nangong Jinjing drew up all his inner qi and raised his sword.
The raised sword embraced the clear sky while harboring a blue, intense thunder qi.
"That thunder qi..."
"...Cangtian Feilei!"
A few elders of the Nangong Clan, recognizing the sword stance Nangong Jinjing was about to unleash, stood up.
As one of the techniques of the Cangqiong Wu'ai Jianfa, it was the strongest ultimate move that destroyed everything.
It was an almost impossible feat for someone of Nangong Jinjing's age to unleash, yet...
"Was the Second Young Master's talent truly at this level!"
"How can this be..."
Seeing their reaction, Hyeonjin and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen sensed something unusual.
"Intervene!"
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen, following Hyeonjin's command, leaped onto the training ground with swords drawn.
"Hwi!"
"Cheonhwi!"
But before them, Nangong Jinjing's sword slashed down, and intense lightning struck.
Rumble!
Thunder qi flashed in Nangong Jinjing's eyes.
"I'll end this!"
Looking down at Cheonhwi with a triumphant face, he smiled in victory.
'I'll knock you out without killing you!'
Just as the image of Cheonhwi collapsing and vomiting blood vividly formed in his eyes.
"Tsk. I won't be able to tell with just this."
He froze at the voice, which was different from what he had imagined.
Cheonhwi, who should have been suppressed by the Cangtian Feilei, was looking at him with a disappointed face.
"I didn't think your skills would be this lacking."
Cheonhwi couldn't hide his disappointment.
This was too weak, even for weak.
It was embarrassing to compare it to the Cangqiong Wu'ai Jianfa he had seen in his past life.
'As expected, is it too much to properly experience a martial art with the skill level of a rising star?'
He immediately wielded his sword as if sweeping it away.
At that moment, his sword curved and clashed with the lightning striking down from the sky.
Bzzzzt!
Then, the lightning draped across the blue sky was sliced in half and vanished.
"N-No way! Cangtian Feilei!"
"Let's end this now."
Cheonhwi charged at Nangong Jinjing.
Smack!
With the sound of bursting skin, Nangong Jinjing's body floated into the air and flew back.
"Second Young Master!"
A middle-aged man sitting nearby caught Nangong Jinjing, who flew out of the training ground without even screaming.
"Heok! S-Second Young Master! Are you alright!"
Just as the middle-aged man fell into chaos looking at Nangong Jinjing, whose eyes had rolled back.
"Q-Quickly, call a doctor!"
Cheonhwi, watching the crowd swarming around Nangong Jinjing, tilted his head as he looked at Hyeonjin, who had somehow come up onto the training ground.
"Why did you come up here?"
"T-To protect you..."
Flustered, Hyeonjin stuttered.
"Excuse me? Me?"
Cheonhwi furrowed his brows.
What? Protect me?
"You've done something unnecessary."
Hyeonjin clamped his mouth shut.
"Ah, more importantly."
Cheonhwi snapped his head around.
And staring intently at Nangong In, who was sitting in the seats, he twisted his lips.
"Is this enough?"
Nangong In glared at him in silence.
Cheonhwi looked down at him with half-closed eyes, as if asking what he was going to do about it.
What are you going to do after looking?
Mockery filled his eyes.
He had already uttered his words.
He had told him to take responsibility himself.
And through the spar, he had displayed his strength and sufficiently taken responsibility.
'Yet you want to overturn that?'
He had explained the weight of words with his own mouth, yet he wouldn't acknowledge it?
It was an act of spitting on his own face.
Especially if the Patriarch of the Nangong Clan did so, it would be hard for him to even show his face.
'You must bear the weight of the words you spoke.'
Cheonhwi twisted the corners of his mouth even more as he recalled the words Nangong In had said to him.
"If it's not enough, should I do more?"
* * *
Upon arriving at the annex, the group, their tension eased without needing to be told, dropped their shoulders and let out a sigh.
"Phew. I thought my heart was going to drop."
"You're right, Senior Brother. My heart is still pounding."
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen looked at each other and swept a hand over their racing hearts.
"But it's an astonishing thing. I didn't know Cheonhwi possessed this level of martial prowess."
At someone's low remark, the eyes of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen sharpened like a wildcat's and turned to Cheonhwi, who was coming from behind.
"Junior Brother!"
"When did you learn such martial arts?"
"If you had that level of skill, you should have told us."
Words poured out like a rapid-fire gun.
Cheonhwi, who had been letting the stinging barrage of words wash over him, furrowed his brow.
"Everyone, restrain yourselves."
Hyeonjin immediately spoke strictly.
"Cheonhwi hates this sort of thing, doesn't he?"
Only then, seeing Cheonhwi's expression, did the Plum Blossom Swordsmen awkwardly scratch the backs of their heads.
"Hahaha. But it really is amazing."
Having calmed their excitement with words, Hyeonjin looked at Cheonhwi and beamed.
"I heard you were receiving direct instruction from Senior Brother Hyeondo, but I had no idea your skills would be at this level."
That was incorrect information, but Cheonhwi, who couldn't be bothered to correct it, stayed silent.
And that action invited a misunderstanding.
'To think he was secretly raising Cheonhwi for the future of our sect.'
He was already developing a newfound respect for Hyeondo when he defeated the Baigui Castle Lord and earned the epithet Huashan Divine Sword.
But since he had raised Cheonhwi into such a formidable master, that respect continued to grow beyond words.
'To think the senior brother who only knew martial arts and had a hot temper would change...'
Hyeonjin, who vividly remembered Hyeondo's past appearance, felt anew with deep emotion.
"Hahaha. It is a great blessing for our sect!"
"Indeed it is!"
"It's all thanks to the great care of the Heavenly Venerable who watches over our sect."
The Plum Blossom Swordsmen, who shared the same thoughts as Hyeonjin, nodded in agreement.
After they made a fuss out of excitement for a while.
"More importantly, let's organize our luggage first."
Hyeonjin, who had been laughing for a long time, wiped away the smile lingering on his lips along with his words.
"It seems we'll have to stay at the Nangong Clan longer than I originally thought."
"Excuse me?"
"How long?"
"They say it takes at least four days to examine the corpses."
"Four days?"
"And that's the minimum..."
Deep sighs flowed from all around.
No matter that they were guests, this was the hostile territory of the Nangong Clan.
On top of that, the uncomfortable incident of the spar between Cheonhwi and Cangtian Jianlong had occurred.
The Nangong Clan would never view their visit favorably.
"Sigh."
"It can't be helped."
But what could they do?
It was already a decided matter.
When the Plum Blossom Swordsmen moved their slumped bodies and began to pack their luggage.
Swipe—
There was someone quietly slipping away.
It was none other than Cheonhwi.
'If not now, when else would I get to look around the Nangong Clan?'