Upon acquiring the Taiji Sword, a phenomenon of time being stopped for three seconds happened.
It was a short time, but that was enough for Seol-Hwi.
<Incredible Airflow is being used.>
As soon as time resumed, the enemy was right in front of his eyes. It was a situation where he was so close that it would be impossible to avoid.
The length of the technique was unusual. If it were a normal swordsman, the sword would be swung once, but Myung Jong had swung three times.
He now had to face intangible swords coming at him from three different directions.
The airflow of Seol-Hwi caught the movement of the enemy and soon flowed along his hand.
“…!”
Myung Jong’s eyes widened. It was a scene that he could not believe despite seeing it right in front of him. The sword skill which should have cut the opponent down was caught in the air and was now wriggling back to him.
The returned sword energy spread around, not giving him space to dodge.
“Kuak!”
Myung Jong braced for the impact by using internal energy, but it was not enough.
Papak! Sshh!
In the end, he was hit by his own technique and fell to the ground.
Tuk, thud!
At the same time, Seol-Hwi also sat down on the ground.
“Kuak!”
There was no damage, but after a terrible scream, Myung Jong stopped moving.
Wheing!
The fight was over and the wind flowed again.
And the two men on the stage slumped to the floor.
“T-the one who won…”
The First Elder paused.
He wanted Myung Jong to get up so he would be recognized as the winner.
“Um… hmm…”
Huk.
Unfortunately, Myung Jong did not even move. Rather, the other side was doing something.
So he shut his eyes.
“None. The final round is a draw!”
Ohh
The tension tore through the crowd, and the fight between two bloodlines of the same family had ended.
Clap clap clap!
“Wow!”
“Amazing!”
“Truly amazing.”
Applause came from all around, and the physicians rushed to the stage.
“T-this. How did this…”
“Hm.”
The face of the lady of the house was pale as the people began to leave one after another.
On the other hand, Jong Ri-heon and Jong Rimi were still seated with tears of emotion flowing down their eyes.
“Well…”
Cough
Seol-Hwi opened his eyes.
“Are you awake?”
When he came to senses, Songhwa was looking down with worried expression.
Blink. Blink.
Seol-Hwi passed by, looked at Imugi, and asked,
“…Did it end well?”
At that, Songhwa nodded.
“Yes, Master. The immediate bloodline won thanks to you and Imugi-hyung. Rather now, the physicians… uh? What!”
While Songhwa was talking, he was startled as Seol-Hwi stood up casually.
“What did I say? It was all an act.”
Imugi said it like that, like it was no big deal.
At that, Seol-Hwi smiled.
“Right. Why would it be that I fell so easily… the money?”
“Ah… haha.”
Songhwa blinked.
In an instant the phrase ‘crazy for money’ passed through his mind, but he did not say it out loud.
“Well, I only had to use Ghost Shadow Footwork because the Namgung Family was there.”
Seol-Hwi did not know if such a thing had to be done, so he spoke slowly.
Ghost Shadow Footwork was used by assassins. After the fight with Myung Jong, Seol-Hwi closed his senses up and himself entirely so no one would feel his energy.
He pretended to be exhausted to fool the eyes of those who were watching him.
“Ah. Right.”
Songhwa finally burst into admiration. It felt like his master who passed out after two hits had actually planned something thoroughly.
“But what is with the atmosphere?”
Seol-Hwi asked Imugi.
“It is quiet.”
“Is that so? Not noisy?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
Seol-Hwi crossed his arms and had the feeling that things were happening differently from what he thought.
“Since the direct kids won, shouldn’t the others be kicked out?”
“It isn’t that easy.”
Imugi said,
“Even if they fought like idiots in the same family. If they are thrown out, the power of the family will still decrease. They will have to tolerate it for now. It can work at a later time, but for now, there will just be targets on other house people who are involved.”
“I see.”
“Unfortunate. Even if there were only a few excellent warriors among the family members, the foundation would have been established… Well, they will figure it out, it isn’t our business to get involved .”
Imugi thought something and asked Seol-Hwi,
“But Master, what should we do with the guys we hid in the warehouse?”
“Bring them out and do not forget to warn them about keeping their mouths shut.”
“Right. I will do it well~. Hehe.”
Seol-Hwi shook his head at how Imugi was acting.
The tone of Imugi constantly got weirder as the stay continued in Kangho, but oddly enough, he did not know why that kind of thing did not look unusual.
“Rather, where is the one called Myung Jong.”
Seol-Hwi left them and moved.
“After brief healing he returned back to his guest room. Maybe he is preparing to leave…”
The physicians said that Myung Jong had left the bed.
Well, he was pretty skilled.
And Seol-Hwi was not surprised either. It was because when he was operating the airflow, he managed to avoid the critical hit. And he knew how strong the blow was, so he was sure that the man would not be wounded that heavily.
“Are you here?”
So, Seol-Hwi arrived at the guest room.
“…”
There was silence around, and in the room where a presence was there, after a while, the door opened slightly.
“Come in.”
Drrr
As soon as Seol-Hwi was given consent, he entered.
Myung Jong was sitting on a chair, and judging from his face, he did not like Seol-Hwi coming here.
“Congratulations on winning. Here to insult me now?”
This person surely hated having his pride wounded.
For one who was as skilled as Myung Jong, he would surely hate such situations, and he lost, along with not being able to do major damage to Seol-Hwi.
“I am here to talk. If I had the intention of humiliating you, I would have done that right on the stage.”
“…”
The man did not answer.
He knew the technique he used was difficult to execute, but the skill of throwing his technique back to him was obviously also not easy, and it was not something he heard of before either.
Still, the tone of his voice did not change.
“Then why are you here?”
“As I said, I want to talk, I came because I had something to ask.”
Drrrk
Seol-Hwi calmly sat down in the chair across from him, and in response Myung Jong shouted,
“Even if you ask, I will not answer. Just leave.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I can give you what you want.”
“What I want?”
“How about this…”
Clack
Seol-Hwi placed five gold coins on the table.
“…”
At that Myung Jong looked confused.
Did this man not participate in the spar for the sake of money? Even if his pride was hurt, he would have nothing to show without that being in the picture.
There has to be a story behind this.
And seeing that, Seol-Hwi narrowed his eyes.
The skills of Myung Jong were surely above a first rate Wudang disciple, and he did not learn his various skills in some rushed manner, but rather it had been meticulous and thorough.
Yet, such a person shaved his head off and tried to hide his identity and sparred for money?
His mouth itched wanting to ask, but Seol-Hwi tried to be polite.
“First, I will inform you. After fighting with you I realized my understanding of the Taiji Sword was shallow and my eyes were shortsighted. This is an apology for what I said.”
“Uh…”
Myung Jong seemed to have complicated feelings about this.
He thought for a moment and then cleared his throat as he took the coins.
“I accept your apology. It was me who was being rough on you, so I apologize. But—”
Myung Jong bowed his head and then said,
“…What are you curious about, the warrior who can push back my attacks?”
Perhaps because he took the money, he was a lot better now. After seeing that, Seol-Hwi said,
“I want to ask about the Taiji Sword. To be honest I know that the technique you used was that. However, the Taiji Sword you use, it is like it inhibits your body… Do you know the reason behind it? Because I cannot do that.”
This was Seol-Hwi’s concern.
In a short time, looking at the technique and how it was used, he realized the techniques meant nothing.
It was common for martial arts to be a clash of attacking and then retreating, over and over until the end, but the Taiji Sword felt different. It was a sword technique which continued to flow. And with such a technique, one would show strong attack movements, but not this man.
This was why he felt curious and came to ask.
“What you are saying… I don’t know where you learned it from but your Taiji is missing the spirit of Wudang.”
Myung Jong smiled.
“Spirit of Wudang?”
“Suppress instead of kill, defend instead of attack. Normally the sword of Taiji is one with harmony as its essence is a technique to endure but was forced to attack so no strength is held in it.”
“Ha…”
In a way the secret of the technique was easily given out by Myung Jong
“Taiji means the harmony of yin and yang. And an agreement of all things, like if you cut a flowing river with your sword. Would you notice a difference? Even if you hit it hard, it is your own clothes which get wet.”
“Um. But…”
“Well, you might be unable to believe it. However, even though you defeated me, it wasn’t because of Taiji lacking but because of my lack of skills. There is a saying that steel is important but so is the one who uses it.”
“Hmm…”
Seol-Hwi pondered over the words of Myung Jong a couple times before asking,
“Then, do you know anything about the Taiji Wisdom Sword?”
“Why are you asking about that?”
The eyes of Myung Jong changed. But Seol-Hwi did not back down.
Taiji martial arts were known to enhance one’s skills. It was because he did not know enough and was wondering that maybe a secret to it was lying within.
“I know you will not say anything even if I ask you to teach me. I just…”
Seol-Hwi paused there for a while before saying,
“There is a story about the rise of the Taiji Sword. If there is a chance to learn martial arts, then to dig into it…”
“Sir. That is the wrong way.”
“…!”
Seol-Hwi’s eyes shook.
His words were so firm that Seol-Hwi was on the wrong path.
“The core of the Taiji is within the Taiji Sword. Also, it is within the top three methods, which is known to have great basics.”
“What? But isn’t this known to be the swordsmanship of the Wudang…”
“No. The best swordsmanship is the Taiji Sword. Of course, it is true that our Taiji Wisdom Sword is known to be superior. Taiji can use an almost infinite source of power to respond to the opponent’s hostility. However, take note. The Taiji exists within the sword of Taiji.”
“After all, you have to learn the basics at the right place?”
“Yes.”
Seol-Hwi seemed to realize it then—what was being emphasized.
The true body which inculcated it was what martial arts was.
Everything revolved around basics.
Turning it from internal energy to Taiji was when it was possible to handle the basics.
This isn’t a quick road… but a path that would be of great help in future.
Seol-Hwi who thought so got up.
“Thank you. Today you have given me something new to learn.”
“What is so great about it?”
Seol-Hwi left the room. Myung Jong just stared at the door after he left and chuckled.
“I must be insane too, to convey the truth of martial arts…”
Seol-Hwi did not know why, but Myung Jong had passed the information to him.
The core of the Wudang Sect’s teachings and the truth of the sword.
“But it is strange… it was like a ferocious yet flowing feeling. The reason why such a person stays in such a place is…”
The one who mumbled this, Myung Jong, was actually an elder.
In other words, Myung Jong, who fought Seol-Hwi, was an elder of Wudang.