Chapter 14
Martial Artist
"As expected, my eyes weren’t wrong. With skills like this, why have you been hiding them all this time?"
Tang Gyujin deflected all of my attacks without showing the slightest sign of being pushed back, grinning slyly.
"But there’s a problem."
"What is it?"
"You still lack experience! Far too much!"
Chwat!
In that instant, Tang Gyujin’s sword, which had been deflecting my hand strike, suddenly vanished.
A technique similar to the one I had shown. It was Shadow Step.
The difference was that his was based on the Cheongseong Sect’s Flying Flow Steps.
A fusion of the Cheongseong Sect and the Tang Family’s martial arts. I wondered if such a thing could even be possible, but Tang Gyujin made it possible.
That must be the true talent of the Blue Demon-Faced Tendon.
Without a doubt, his depth in handling martial arts seemed far greater than mine.
What could I do to bridge this gap?
As I said before, I cannot bring out sorcery. That is a secret trump card reserved only for emergencies.
Then what do I have?
A unique specialty of mine that Tang Gyujin does not.
As I quickly pondered what that could be, I tried to follow Tang Gyujin’s movements.
I did not chase the sword with my eyes.
I felt the wind.
•
•
Behind me!
Paaat–
As I spun my body to the side in a half-circle with my right foot, the sword narrowly grazed past the spot I had just been.
I quickly curled the fingers of my outstretched right hand like a tiger’s claws, aiming for Tang Gyujin’s chest.
Closing in much tighter than the distance Tang Gyujin had shortened, I narrowed the range of the sword path and instead turned the close combat into my own domain!
Explosive Tiger Twelve Strikes
Tiger Claw Rend
Mad Wind Dance
Wild Gale Turmoil
As the mad wind spiraled, gathering into the center of my palm and swelling in power, Tang Gyujin widened the distance as much as possible, spreading open his free left hand and striking against mine.
Heart-Ripping Palm. As vicious as its name, which means tearing out the heart, it clashed with the Cheongseong Sect’s palm technique.
Paaaang!
Rumble—
The violent shock and rebound force pushed me back several steps, and in that instant Tang Gyujin’s sword swept toward my lower body.
Swaeeek—
Instead of dodging, I countered with a spinning kick.
You said I lacked experience, didn’t you?
That was true.
It had only been just over two months since I formally began training in martial arts.
Even if I was well-versed in theory, actual combat was so very different from theory.
Even when I tried to apply the teachings I had learned from Dangon, entirely new aspects I had never encountered kept appearing, driving me into a corner.
But I believed in my own strength.
I might still be a novice in martial arts, but I was also someone who had once reached heights through sorcery.
The reputation I held, rivaling the Ten Great Masters of the world, had not been built on nothing.
The experiences, realizations, and insight I had accumulated over time—those were my unique specialties that Tang Gyujin did not possess.
To pour all of that into the Mad Wind Dance.
That alone was the task I absolutely had to accomplish here!
Mad Wind Dance
Demonic Wind Cleaving Kick
Like a blade being unsheathed, my shin snapped out and struck against the flat of the sword, scattering sparks in every direction.
Tadang! Tadadadang!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Offense against offense.
Impact against impact.
After countless clashes where neither side yielded an inch, the scorching wind tore violently across the ground.
Tang Gyujin, using a bizarre movement technique that mixed the Flying Flow Steps and the Shadow Step, now displayed not only the Preceding-Cut Radiance Sword but also, from time to time, hand techniques and palm techniques as well.
Heart-Ripping Palm, Three Sun Fingers, Crimson Lotus Divine Palm, Wind-Thunder Palm, or even Shattering Jade Thousand-Hand Palm—she even revealed grappling techniques like Seizing Heaven-and-Earth.
When she showed the Tang Family’s martial arts, they were sinister and sharp; when she displayed the Cheongseong Sect’s sword arts, they were upright and dignified.
It was similar to the impression I had when I first faced Tang Gyujin.
It felt as though both gods and demons stood with her.
Martial arts with completely opposite natures kept alternating without the slightest warning, to the point that it almost felt like I was fighting not one but two Tang Gyujins at once.
In contrast, all I had to oppose her was the white-strike style that relied solely on the Mad Wind.
There was no such thing as rest.
If the flow broke even slightly, I never knew when Tang Gyujin’s sword might strike me down.
Whenever Tang Gyujin tried to break through or force her way in, I responded by pressing her back with overwhelming power, crushing her advance.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—
Then our all-out strikes crossed.
Puuuhng!
Srrrk—
As if by some unspoken agreement, Tang Gyujin and I pulled apart and stood at a distance.
The taste of iron filled my mouth.
“Haah— haah—”
“Huuuu—”
And then—
“Ehehehe! Heheheheh!”
Unlike me, whose gaze had settled into calm, Tang Gyujin suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
Each time she did, a shrill wail rang out along with it, creating a clamor of noise.
“The more I see, the stranger it gets! It’s so strange! Just what are you, Woon-hwi? What on earth happened to you in the past five years?”
Kyaaaa!
Her eyes gleamed wildly. Tang Gyujin was nearly being consumed by instinct.
“I’m certain this is your first time in a duel like this, right? There are way too many clumsy spots. But then, at times, the techniques you show make it feel like I’m watching some seasoned veteran!”
As expected, she was sharp.
Tang Gyujin had seen through my condition exactly.
“As if you’re hiding something—”
Even down to my trump card.
“I know full well that you, Sister, are also holding back your hand. You haven’t even brought out the Azure Cloud Crimson Sword yet, have you?”
The Azure Cloud Crimson Sword was the Cheongseong Sect’s symbolic head-secret art.
An absolute sword technique said to cover both heaven and earth with nothing but sword force.
I had heard that, although she was merely an inner-sect disciple, her talent was so extraordinary that they made an exception and granted her the Azure Cloud Crimson Sword.
“That one isn’t complete yet. There’s nothing more dangerous than swordsmanship that’s hard to control, is there?”
“Is that so?”
『Ehehe! Our Woon-hwi must have a lot of things he wants to keep hidden, huh? Even changing the subject so slyly like this.』
Well now, this doesn’t work on her?
I thought she was half consumed by instinct, but apparently not.
Could the accomplishment of the Heaven and Earth One Breath Technique really be that great?
Even while entrusting herself to instinct, her reason was still making precise judgments.
It was clear she was by no means an opponent to take lightly.
So I simply answered with a smile.
『Alright! If little brother says it’s a secret, then as an older sister I can’t go digging! Not a difficult thing at all!』
『I suppose I should say… thank you?』
『Buy me a drink! That’s enough!』
It seemed I had gained a new drinking companion, following after Dangon.
“Woon-hwi, did you know?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re smiling right now.”
Me?
I touched the corner of my lips with my hand.
It was true.
The corners of my lips had curled upward—without me even realizing it.
“Isn’t it fun?”
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
I could still feel my heart pounding furiously.
What would be the right way to answer this?
“Yes. It is fun.”
So I decided to be honest with my feelings.
In my previous life, my body had been too frail, so there were almost no chances to move so extremely like this.
Even if there had been, I would have been moving under the protection of the guards.
But now it was different.
I was standing on the ground with nothing but my own two feet, and clashing against an opponent directly with my own two arms.
My heart rampaged like a broken engine, and my blood surged like a wild horse, racing so fast it stole my breath.
My heightened senses devoured every scrap of information around me.
Tang Gyujin’s breathing, her footwork, the movement of her fingertips, the shifts of her pupils, the fluctuations and consumption of my own inner energy—everything came into view at a glance.
—I am alive.
This moment was so exhilarating that I never wanted to let it go.
My blood boiled.
The will to win filled my heart to the brim.
The ecstasy gripped my lungs so tightly it almost felt like I might drown in it.
“You’re a pervert. To enjoy fighting this much.”
“…Then doesn’t that apply to you as well, Sister?”
“Of course it does! Do you think it’s just me? Everyone here’s the same!”
Tang Gyujin chuckled and spread both arms wide.
The entire audience came into view.
Tang Yuchang staring this way in utter shock, the dazed faces of the Red Pavilion’s people, the White Pavilion’s servants steeped in disbelief, and even Dangon and his friends far away, flashing me a thumbs-up.
“Family members, servants, martial artists, officials… if you bear the Tang name, you’re all perverts. Why? Because ordinary people could never possibly find joy in something like this!”
In that moment, I unknowingly sank into a strange, indescribable feeling.
A heaviness?
A sense of being moved?
Exhilaration?
I didn’t know.
I couldn’t put a name to it.
But one thing was certain.
Just like the thrill gained from fighting with my own body, being gazed upon with such heated eyes by so many people gave me a stimulation no less exhilarating.
Tang Gyujin was teaching me to fully savor all of it.
“And do you know what they call people like that?”
“…What do they call them?”
Suddenly, Tang Gyujin stopped laughing and spoke in a serious tone.
“Martial Artist.”
“!”
“Call them Martial Artists.”
Tang Gyujin opened her mouth wide, her fangs fully bared.
Martial Artist, Martial Artist!
It felt as though the back of my head had been struck hard.
Yes. That was true.
The reason I wanted to duel with Tang Gyujin.
I said it was to change the perception of the clan, to catch the eye of the Hidden Lord… I attached all sorts of reasons, but in the end, the fundamental reason was only one.
The will to win.
Didn’t I feel it when I first faced her aura?
If I fought her as I am now, who would win?
In truth, that was all I wanted to confirm.
And the moment I realized this, I finally came to a new understanding.
At this very moment, I too had become a true man of the martial world, the same as them.
“A Martial Artist isn’t just someone who uses martial arts. Strictly speaking, it refers to those who are madly obsessed with the martial way.”
“So martial arts is something only possible if you go mad for it.”
“That’s right. Otherwise, how could you ever truly accomplish anything?”
“Yes. You’re absolutely right.”
I felt grateful to Tang Gyujin.
Because of her, I was able to reshape my mindset.
Until now, I had approached martial arts only as a ‘tool’—to save my master and to revive the Divine Cult. But she showed me that martial arts could truly be enjoyed, and advised me to make it part of my very life.
Was it because of that?
Click!
I felt as if something had shifted, starting from my dantian.
It wasn’t like gaining a new insight or stepping into a higher realm.
It felt more like something had become natural.
As though the things that had unknowingly been misaligned until now had finally meshed together at last.
I wanted to check what had just happened, but there was no time for that.
Tang Gyujin wasn’t giving me any such leisure.
“So since we’ve already drawn our blades, let’s see this through to the end. Let’s find out whose martial arts are greater!!”
Chchchch—
Over the Bluesteel Sword, a pure white energy surged upward as though it held starlight, swaying and dancing.
“Sword Qi!”
“They said the First Lady had already reached the pinnacle realm!?”
“To think she’s at the pinnacle at such a young age—”
They had called her the greatest talent in Sichuan.
It seemed the rumors were true.
To think she had carved her way into a realm said to hold fewer than a hundred across an entire province—at just twenty years of age.
The problem was that Sword Qi carried the trait of tearing through everything.
Even my Mad Wind.
“Isn’t that a bit unfair, Sister?”
“If you challenged me to a fight, you should’ve expected at least this much! Eheet!”
Chwat!
Tang Gyujin laughed brightly as she recklessly scattered Sword Qi.
Amid that raging torrent of force, I ignited a violet radiance.
The world was dyed in purple.
Drawing out my demonic energy to its fullest, I unleashed the Demonic Wind Cleaving Kick once more.
Shattering all the Sword Qi in its path, I instantly closed the distance to Tang Gyujin, pulled both hands to the center of my chest, and thrust them forward with all my strength—like a battering ram breaking through a castle gate.
Rumbling Wind Cannon.
Among the many techniques of the Mad Wind Art, it was the single-strike finishing move boasting the greatest destructive power.
Kwoooaang!
Jjuh-juh-jeong—
The Cheonggang Sword that had stood against my attack shattered completely along with its Sword Qi.
Amid the countless scattering fragments, Tang Gyujin and I both simultaneously unleashed our footwork—attacking and retreating.
It was the final strike.
Hwaaaak!
Chronicles of the Reincarnated Demon God
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