Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special

Chapter 51: The Finals (1) The semi-finals of the martial arts tournament began.

The four martial artists who had made it to the semi-finals were guaranteed to receive prizes.

. As such, the four of these individuals were skilled, and the audience’s expectations had risen accordingly.

When else would they get to see Peak Masters fighting right before their eyes?

They would need to be prepared to risk their lives at the very least to ever receive such a chance.

“I will now call the names! Park Daewoong! And Lee Seojun!”

Wow, they even call out your name when you reach the final four. Seojun walked up to the arena.

Once again, he didn’t get to face Namgung Suah.

Meeting in the finals, huh... Maybe there was some manipulation involved.

Wouldn’t the finals being less exciting than the semi-finals be anticlimactic?

Seojun briefly looked at Elder Jongin sitting high above, overlooking the arena, and clicked his tongue.

He wasn’t sure whether it was because he heard of that man’s dark nature, but he just knew that man wouldn’t hesitate to manipulate things.

The more I think about it the more pissed off I get. Since when is it normal to jump into the arena during a match? And what deep connection does he have with the Divine Sword Geum Clan to act so shocked anyways? “Haah...”

Seojun sighed and looked at his opponent.

Park Daewoong. As his name suggested, he looked like a bear.

He looked like he could easily become a mountain bandit chief.

You could call him an elite talent specialized in banditry.

Of course, you shouldn’t judge people by their appearance, but still. Who’s gonna stop me from judging? “Go Lee Seojun...!”

Chunbong stood on her chair, waving her hands enthusiastically.

Seojun waved back and placed his hand on the sword at his waist.

His opponent also raised what looked like a bandit’s pudao.

Is he really not a bandit? As he was thinking blankly,

“Begin!”

With the referee’s signal, Park Daewoong charged.

“Heeyah...!”

He closed the distance instantly with that strange battle cry and swung downward.

Despite this, Seojun didn’t move an inch, like he hadn’t reacted at all.

But in an instant,

──────────!!

In a flash of light, Park Daewoong’s pudao was sent flying upwards.

“Ugh...!”

Park Daewoong’s eyes went to Seojun’s hand.

There was a sword broken in half.

It had been drawn in an instant and was now flickering with a murky light.

“Oh.”

I guess even in the final four, one hit isn’t enough? Seojun immediately raised his left hand, holding his middle finger with his thumb.

Whoosh! Surprised by the sudden qi bullet, Park Daewoong quickly rolled to the ground.

“Wooooooah──────!!”

“Well done, Mad Hungry Wolf!”

Park Daewoong’s face turned bright red.

Martial artists caught rolling on the ground to dodge were often ridiculous, so feeling humiliated, his eyes became bloodshot.

“I’ll kill you!”

“Hey, you’re the one who rolled...”

Yep, this is exactly the kind of personality you’d expect in murim. He’d gotten too used to Chunbong’s softness from being around her all the time.

Seojun glanced aside, looking for Namgung Suah.

She’d shown him one of her moves, so it was only fair to return the favor, no?

Let’s see... He’d learned quite a few martial arts by now, so it was getting hard to choose.

Half-sword... Ah. Since he was already holding one, when else would he use a half-sword technique if not now?

Hadn’t he bragged to Wang Daesan about cutting people down with the Wang family’s blade techniques?

“Perfect.”

“You...!”

As Park Daewoong charged forward, bluish blade qi wrapped around his pudao, flickering like dancing flames.

Blade Flame. It was one of the minor tricks to increase the destructive power of blade qi.

Seojun calmly layered his half-sword’s edge with golden sword qi, choosing to use the inner qi of the Wang family cultivation technique rather than the Yellow Cloud Divine Art.

Better to avoid using the Yellow Cloud Divine Art in front of this many witnesses if possible.

Slash! When the blade descended, Seojun gripped his sword with both hands, pivoted at the waist, and slashed upward.

Slice──────── It drew a clean golden arc and Park Daewoong’s pudao was cleanly cut in half, becoming a half-blade, while Seojun’s half-sword stopped just off his chin.

Gulp... As Park Daewoong swallowed,

“See you later.”

Thwack! Seojun struck his head with the flat of his sword.

“How dare you yell at people.”

As he sheathed his sword, the referee shouted.

“Winner! Lee Seojun!”

— Woooooah──────!!

Cheer, you peasants. Seojun raised both hands briefly for fan service before quickly coming down from the arena.

“Cheeks! Quick, cheeks! Urgent!”

“W-What!”

“Before I fall into qi deviation, hurry!”

“Qi deviation...!? H-Here!”

Squish squish. It felt good.

Seojun sat down on the chair with a satisfied smile.

The next match was naturally Namgung Suah’s turn with it being the semifinals.

It’s a spoiler when others tell me, but a strategic analysis when I see it myself. Seojun focused closely on her as she stepped into the arena.

“Well then, let’s see what you’ve got.”

What will she show this time? *It wasn’t anything special.

Namgung Suah swung her greatsword, lightning struck, and her opponent collapsed in a single hit.

But what it implied was significant.

“No way... She’s much stronger than I thought?”

Doing that... Isn’t she practically at the pinnacle of the Peak Realm? Seojun narrowed his eyes, staring intently at her face as she stood on the arena.

Mid-twenties...? Early twenties? It was hard to tell.

To begin with, advancing to higher realms brought with it an anti-aging effect, making it nearly impossible to guess someone’s age by appearance alone.

“Hey. She’s coming this way.”

Chunbong tapped Seojun’s arm.

When he looked up, Namgung Suah was indeed approaching them.

She stopped in front of Seojun, smiled brightly, and bent down to meet his eyes.

“How about it? Still confident?”

“Uh... yeah.”

Seojun scratched his cheek as he subtly moved his chair back to create some distance.

“By the way.”

“Yes?”

“How old are you?”

“Oh my.”

Namgung Suah covered her mouth with her hand and smiled softly.

“Have you finally become interested?”

“Hmm...”

How should I answer this? He glanced at Chunbong for help, but she was too busy glaring at her.

As his eyes darted all over the place, unable to answer, Namgung Suah spoke first.

“I’m twenty-seven.”

“Oh, you’re pretty old.”

“Pardon...?”

The corner of her eyes started twitching.

Thinking about it, that’s probably quite rude to say. Seojun quickly stood up, tucking Chunbong under his arm.

“Whoops, I mean, I apologize for my rudeness.”

Whoosh! Seojun bowed deeply and quickly ran away.

“Phew.”

The moment Seojun let out a sigh of relief, Chunbong poked her little head out from where she was tucked snugly at his side.

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

“Are you afraid of women, or do you just not like them?”

“I like women though?”

“Bullshit. Never mind.”

Hmph. She snorted and patted his waist.

When he put her down as instructed, she started waddling ahead with determined little steps.

Her hair swayed softly with each cute stride, drawing his eye.

Doesn’t she ever cut her hair? It seemed to have grown almost twice as long compared to when they first met.

“Hey.”

“Hm?”

While blankly watching her swaying hair, Chunbong, walking ahead, asked without turning around.

“You’ll win tomorrow, won’t you?”

“I’ll win.”

Hearing his answer come out without even a hint of hesitation, she abruptly stopped moving and turned around.

“Pfft... What’s with that response?”

“A win’s a win, what else can I say?”

“Can’t argue with that.”

Hehe. Chunbong laughed.

And seeing that made him feel good.

*There’s a saying in murim to always keep three-tenths of your strength hidden.

It means to always show only seventy percent of your true power.

Why? Because martial artists inevitably get tangled up in grudges, and showing your full power is practically begging for some bastard to size you up and come stick a knife in you.

But what if you hide three-tenths of your skill?

Then you might be the one stabbing a knife in their gut instead.

Of course, all this becomes meaningless if your opponent’s stronger than even your hidden abilities. Still, at the very least, it increases your chances of catching them off guard and creating an opening for victory.

And if you still lose after all that?

Well, that’s just a skill issue. “Is it today?”

But Seojun had no intention of hiding his strength at all.

Hide three-tenths? Wouldn’t it be better to just cut off your dick? Instead of hiding three-tenths of your skill, you should increase your skill by three-tenths after that moment passes. Is that difficult? Well thinking about it, it might be a bit difficult. But either way, Seojun was confident.

“Ah, I swore I would never draw it again...”

The me of tomorrow is stronger than the me of today. So of course the me a week from now will be strong as fuck. You could say I’m constantly evolving. So for the match today, I will go all out and crush Namgung Suah. Because that’s what a martial arts match is about. Seojun nodded and drew the half-sword from his waist.

“Cry, Hell S... Half-Sword.”

“Hey! Lee Seojun! Stop messing around and let’s go! We’ll be late at this rate!”

“Okay, coming.”

It’s finally the finals. *“On this day, two juniors who will illuminate the future of the martial world stand before us. On behalf of Mount Hua Sect, I declare this match...”

Elder Jongin came forward and began a speech, as befitting the finals.

Seojun quickly tuned him out and listened to the whispers of the people around him.

“When they say Elder Jongin, do they mean Great Expert Jongin the Ten Thousand Demon Slayer?”

“Is there another Jongin besides that Jongin?”

“Huh... that’s unexpected. He looks so benevolent, yet they say he beheaded so many demonic practitioners.”

“Tsk. You’re not from Huayin, are you? The Daoists of Mount Hua don’t just sit around cultivating the Dao.”

Seems like they don’t just cultivate the Dao, but their swords too. As the speech dragged on, Seojun passed the time by fiddling with Chunbong’s cheeks. Finally, Jongin finished his long-winded talk and declared the start of the match.

“Then we shall now begin! Namgung Suah! And Lee Seojun! Will the two juniors please step forward!”

Hey, even though she’s been exposed, she was using the alias So-so, but you just called out her real name.

Man, this old man really rubs me the wrong way. “Tch.”

Seojun clicked his tongue and stood up, but then Chunbong tugged on his sleeve.

He looked at her questioningly before she took both his hands and pressed them firmly against her cheeks.

“You have to win. You need to avenge me, okay?”

This is...! Seojun was shocked.

His dopamine levels were skyrocketing.

The rare Geum Chunbong acting all cute!

He started feeling so elated that if they did a doping test right now, it would definitely come back positive.

“If I lose today, I swear I’ll become Geum Chunbong’s little brother.”

There’s no way in hell I’m losing this.