Chapter 417. To Whom Did the Martial God Give a Chance?

Cheonak glanced at the Cult Leader and spoke.

"Cult Leader, you're stirring up old memories. Step aside for a moment."

"Very well."

At Cheonak's words, the Cult Leader—who until moments ago had been fighting Eldest Brother as if driving him into a corner—surprisingly approached him and made room for us.

"Hm."

I sheathed Ilseol and threw it to the shitter. As Cheonak and I circled each other as if in confrontation, those who had switched from participants to spectators backed away even further.

Cheonak passed by Gongsomsim, who was watching with a still-bewildered expression, and asked,

"Grand Strategist, do you feel wronged?"

Gongsomsim shook his head.

"Letting your guard down is part of one's skill. I accept it."

"Correct."

I had passed Ilseol off, but maintained Jaha Singong.

The problem was that Cheonak was a man who never tired. But even so, it wasn't as if we hadn't crossed swords before, back when I was with Senior Singae. That I could face him after having grown this much was proof that I was fortunate.

Worried that my body might not be able to withstand the intensity of Jaha Singong, I declared the first strike.

"I am coming."

Cheonak nodded.

"Of course. You're the one who has to come to me."

Come to think of it, the odds of not being dragged into a ground fight when facing Cheonak were extremely low. I calculated that I would last longer if I fought with everything I had.

'This won't be easy.'

Well, after all, my opponent was Cheonak.

Accepting that it would be no easy task, I prepared for hand-to-hand combat. This was likely the type of fight Cheonak enjoyed most.

I closed the distance in an instant toward the prowling tiger, then stopped to avoid the massive fist falling like an axe. But Cheonak moved with even more footwork, so I had no choice but to block with my left arm. I blocked the kick coming from below with my right hand, and the moment I deflected his fist with my fist, the back of my head rang.

My temper was slowly starting to flare.

I truly couldn't see how this would end. In order to control the overall flow of battle, I had fought from the beginning without overexerting myself, acting as a hidden card, but against Cheonak, none of that worked in the slightest.

Without thinking of the consequences…….

I combined Jaha Singong and external arts to attack Cheonak. In that instant, the ground beneath Cheonak's feet caved in deeply as he blocked my downward hand-blade strike. Cheonak's mouth tore wide left and right, baring his sturdy teeth top and bottom as he laughed.

In that same instant, Cheonak's fist drove into my solar plexus.

When I blocked it with my left palm, my body was catapulted into the air.

Cheonak crouched his body and then shot up in the blink of an eye, thrusting his palm toward my face. I seized it with my left hand and activated Baekjeom Sipdangong. As Cheonak's sleeve was torn away, we fell to the ground with our right hands clasped as well.

It was unmistakably a ground fight.

In the past, I would have been pinned down and forced to my knees like this, but…….

I searched for a way to survive and unfolded Amhyangpyo. It was a movement not to relocate, but to shift my balance in an instant. Though we were clearly using footwork, we remained stopped in place, colliding with both internal energy and external arts simultaneously.

Had the lightning energy of Baekjeom Sipdangong been effective?

It had only burned about half of Cheonak's sleeve.

In that instant, Cheonak, whose arms were considerably longer than mine, spread both arms left and right. When a bizarre pain coursed through me, as if my body would be torn apart…….

Cheonak's head, which had been watching intently, tilted far back and then he charged forward in a truly brutish manner.

Once caught by Cheonak, the odds of escaping on one's own were nearly zero.

Just before Cheonak's head would crush mine, while still gripping both of his hands, I unfolded Seolui Godok.

"……."

Cheonak's forehead stopped right before my nose.

The problem was that I froze too. Fights unexpectedly often had moments of stillness, but because my opponent was Cheonak, there was nothing I could do about it. The moment Seolui Godok's chill clung to my entire body, I switched back to Jaha Singong.

My vision turned pure white in an instant, and just as I was slowly regaining my sight…….

The tiger before my eyes was also attempting to escape from Seolui Godok with strange body movements. Thus, the sight itself was quite awe-inspiring. His muscles appeared to be repeatedly expanding and contracting. It looked as if he was unraveling Seolui Godok by simultaneously utilizing internal energy and external arts.

The problem was that we had been holding hands from the start…….

My Jaha Singong was also helping Cheonak unravel Seolui Godok.

'Nothing is perfect.'

I exchanged glances with Cheonak at an extremely close distance. In that instant, I released the Seolui Godok state that I hadn't brought to its extreme, and suddenly pressed down on Cheonak with both hands.

An instant was all it took.

Cheonak's two knees fell halfway toward the ground, but then he seemed to be bearing a massive boulder as he held out, shattered the chill clinging to his entire body, and unleashed a wave of energy.

At the same time, Cheonak threw me into the air to surge upward.

'Ha…….'

I continued to soar to an incredible height. It was a force that felt like the desperate last stand of someone trying not to be dragged into a ground fight.

Since I was already soaring anyway, I relaxed my body completely and accepted it.

But what a waste.

What if I dropped Ilwolgwangcheon right here?

In truth, if I had been in the Cult Leader's position, the martial world of this era would have perished.

Because I would have killed everyone in the end.

If I recalled when I fell beneath Manjang Cliff not long ago, at that time I had consumed Cheonok and didn't die even beneath Manjang Cliff.

"……."

If that Martial God hadn't sent me back to the past…….

The one who would have destroyed the martial world would not have been the Cult Leader, but me.

Therefore, the one who had nearly been annihilated was not the Cult Leader, but me myself, who had encountered the Martial God one-on-one. It was merely that the Martial God had phrased it in a positive light.

I had nearly become the Jahamasin.

I gathered Baekjeom Sipdangong into both hands and perfectly imitated the deafening roar of Ilwolgwangcheon.

Fzzzzzzt…….

My very existence had been no different from a calamity like the Three Disasters. It meant that the one who had nearly perished in the dialogue with the Martial God was none other than myself.

'Ah…….'

I withdrew Baekjeom Sipdangong as I fell. I don't know what those on the ground thought when they heard a roar resembling Ilwolgwangcheon.

I prepared a special Light Curtain. Not Ilwolgwangcheon, but unfolding the principles of the Light Curtain with Jaha Singong.

I didn't know what would come of it either.

Its name was Jahabangyeong.

From the beginning, all those who tried to kill me died. Those who maintained a minimum of courtesy survived. I always held killing intent like a mirror, reflecting it back exactly as received. While wrapping Jaha Singong around my entire body, I barely managed to unfold a purple-hued mirror in only my right hand.

Below, Cheonak was preparing something.

I didn't know the technique's name, but it looked like Ilgwon. Already, when the roar of Ilwolgwangcheon had rung out, the other masters had all retreated far away.

They were right to do so.

Because when a calamity such as this Jaha descends upon the martial world, fleeing is the right thing to do.

Without even knowing what would happen myself, I blocked Cheonak's fist force with Jahabangyeong.

The moment of impact…….

Kwahahahahahang!

A circular pit centered on Cheonak suddenly sank into the ground. Cheonak had endured the full force of the Zaha Bangyeong, which had even repelled the fist aura. As he looked at me, I spun in midair, regained my balance, and landed nearby.

I stood there, facing Cheonak for a moment…….

The experts who had taken part in the sparring gathered around to check on us.

This tiger-like man was all the more astonishing because he had withstood the Zaha Bangyeong head-on. The Zaha Bangyeong had probably returned the force of his fist aura in full as well. Perhaps Cheonak had reduced his strength so as not to take my life. Whatever the case, Cheonak’s response had been astounding. After all, he was a man who could endure.

I spoke to Cheonak with genuine feeling.

“Senior, you are truly remarkable. This junior is impressed.”

Cheonak asked.

“What technique was that? It wasn’t simple palm force, so even I was surprised.”

“It’s called the Zaha Bangyeong. I improvised it while I was floating in the sky, so I don’t really know either.”

“Hahahaha…….”

As Cheonak burst into laughter, Moyong Baek’s voice was heard.

“Senior, I apologize, but your knees are embedded in the ground.”

“……What?”

Only then did we check Cheonak’s knees. Just as Moyong Baek had said, in the process of withstanding both the Zaha Bangyeong and the fist aura at the same time, half of his lower body had been buried.

I approached Cheonak and said.

“It would be hard to call this a Lazy Donkey Roll.”

I held out my hand to Cheonak. Cheonak grabbed my hand, shot upward, and brushed the dirt off his knees.

We also kept our mouths shut in silence, not knowing what Cheonak would do.

If I had to decide, it was not a Lazy Donkey Roll.

His knees had merely gotten dirty.

Cheonak looked at the Cult Leader and the White-Clad Scholar, then spoke in a hollow tone.

“To be honest, I never thought my knees would get dirt on them against the Sect Leader. Compared to the Chief Strategist, I suppose I have less reason to feel wronged. Let us say I was caught by the Lazy Donkey Roll. A promise is a promise.”

I refused.

“Senior, there is no need for that.”

Cheonak shook his head.

“No. Since there is a risk that we may both be seriously injured, this is a more fitting conclusion for the Mount Hua sparring. It is not a life-or-death duel, is it? Manor Lord.”

“Yes, Senior.”

“I think everyone needs to drink some water.”

“I will prepare it.”

After declaring that he had been caught by the Lazy Donkey Roll, Cheonak sat down first, planting his backside on the ground, and the people who had approached from here and there sat around him.

I also sat down and looked at the allies and enemies who had fought in the melee.

For the most part, the meaning of victory and defeat was not clear.

The only thing certain was that martial learning advanced rapidly even in the midst of fighting.

The Chief Strategist asked Cheonak.

“Don’t you feel a little wronged?”

“Even if I do, there is nothing to be done. It was a rule we all agreed to. A knee touching the ground and a knee being driven into the ground are the same. What do you think, Cult Leader?”

The Cult Leader nodded.

“Do as you wish. Leaving victory and defeat aside, it would be acceptable to place the Sect Leader among the Four Calamities.”

It was, in its own way, a historic moment in which the Cult Leader acknowledged me as one of the Four Calamities, but because I was not used to recognition or praise, I felt somewhat bitter inside.

“I was lucky.”

The Cult Leader said.

“Luck is also skill.”

True. In truth, I also thought luck was skill, but hearing it from the Cult Leader’s mouth made me feel strange.

Eldest Brother said.

“In truth, I wanted to fight a little more tenaciously as well, but if Cheonak acknowledges the Lazy Donkey Roll to this extent, then I too suffered the Lazy Donkey Roll two or three times while facing the Cult Leader on the Demonic Sword Soul Battlefield. For the remaining fight, it would be right for the four of you—the White-Clad, Mongrang, the Sect Leader, and the Blood Cult Leader—to face the Cult Leader.”

I asked.

“All of a sudden?”

Eldest Brother nodded.

“I neither knelt nor rolled, but since I fought while crashing this way and that into the walls I had made, I was not greatly different from a lazy donkey. Do that.”

“Hmm.”

I could not fully agree with Eldest Brother’s thinking, but since following Eldest Brother’s wishes was also the duty of a younger brother, I shut my snout for a moment. Perhaps Eldest Brother disliked the composition of a group beating up the Cult Leader, so I did not argue.

Because once Eldest Brother decided, that was that.

We received several kettles that the Manor Lord had brought whole and shared the water. There are times when water tastes better than alcohol, and this was one of them.

The water melted in my mouth.

While water was being drunk here and there, Gongson Sim and Cheonak quietly rose, then walked side by side and left the sparring grounds.

Gongson Sim muttered.

“Still, you feel wronged, don’t you?”

“Be quiet.”

“I am older than you.”

“That is why I am treating you with respect. Old man.”

I looked at the Cult Leader.

‘Should I ask for a one-on-one?’

Since Cheonak had withdrawn, it did not sit well with me for four people to face one man. But even if we fought in turns, I wondered whether the Cult Leader could withstand it.

Because as I saw it, the remaining bastards were cunning by nature, and it looked as though they had conserved a great deal of internal energy.

I asked the Cult Leader.

“What do you think we should do?”

The Cult Leader said.

“It was no easy task for you alone to make Cheonak withdraw. In any case, he acknowledged the Lazy Donkey Roll.”

“Is that so?”

“From the start, the three of you intended to face one of the Three Calamities…….”

“…….”

The Cult Leader said.

“If I face the White-Clad, the Shitter, and the Blood Demon at the same time and win, then it would be right for me to fight the Sect Leader, who drove Cheonak out by himself, one-on-one.”

I was more than a little surprised inwardly.

‘Wow.’

Because the Cult Leader’s sense of reason was truly outstanding. In other words, he was not a man who had become one of the Three Calamities solely because of his environment or his inhuman way of thinking. From the beginning, he had been a person of outstanding innate acuity.

The White-Clad Scholar asked the Cult Leader.

“If we proceed that way, it will be quite disadvantageous for you, Cult Leader.”

The Cult Leader answered with his arms crossed.

“I know. Also, I know that the three of you in particular have been conserving your strength until now……. It is a situation where three bastards of similar disposition remain. In the sense that you are good at petty scheming.”

I interpreted the Cult Leader’s words in vulgar terms and recited them in his stead.

“Cunning, in other words. That is true. If one were to name the three most cunning people under heaven, they would be the Shitter, the White-Clad, and the Blood-Shitter. Here, the greatest difficulty of the Mount Hua sparring emerges. Just which of these cunning humans will step forward first?”

Why, of all things, was the difficult problem something like this?

Each of them was sly and self-serving in their own way, so none would even think of stepping forward first.

As expected, Shitter, Blood-Shitter, and White Robe sized one another up.

“…….”

But the hesitation did not last long. The eldest settled it.

“Mongrang.”

“Yes, Master.”

“It is only proper that you, the youngest, challenge first.”

“Yes, then I shall step forward first.”

Shitter accepted immediately without a word of complaint. The Lust Demon spoke to the Cult Leader in a polite tone.

“Cult Leader? Then allow me to be the first to learn a move from you. Please let me know once you have rested sufficiently.”

The Cult Leader stared at the Lust Demon for a moment, then spoke.

“Mongrang.”

“Yes, Cult Leader.”

“I had heard that your manners and personality were as wretched as the Sect Leader’s. Have you changed as a person? Or did I mishear the report?”

Everyone looked toward the Lust Demon.

The Lust Demon gave a dry cough and answered while staring at the ground.

“……After hearing that you had returned safely from Ilyanghyeon, I resolved to mind my manners. That is all.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes.”

The Cult Leader nodded slightly.