Geum Chun-bong vs. Jegal Hwi
The day had finally come for Chun-bong to reap the fruits of her endurance and patience through her brother’s so-called “training,” which felt more like mockery under the guise of practice.
Clutching her small but resolute determination in her heart, Chun-bong strode confidently toward the dueling arena.
“You enjoyed it too, didn’t you?”
“When did I ever?”
Feigning innocence, Chun-bong completely denied it.
In truth, she had enjoyed herself. It had been a long time since she had truly played hard, and it had been fun. But if she showed it too openly, her brother’s ego would skyrocket, and she couldn’t stand the thought of his nose reaching the heavens.
Geum Chun-bong of the Divine Sword Golden Family…! Sitting in the waiting room, Chun-bong calmed herself as the announcer called her name. She stepped onto the arena.
The crowd erupted into cheers. Chun-bong coyly raised one hand, and the applause grew louder.
Jegal Hwi of the Jegal Family…! Her opponent entered from the opposite side. A delicate-looking man with the air of a scholar rather than a warrior. But that was typical for the Jegal Family.
Chun-bong greeted him with a polite fist salute.
“Please, go easy on me.”
“I look forward to learning from you.”
Jegal Hwi unfolded his iron fan, partially obscuring his face.
At that moment, memories of past training sessions came flooding into Chun-bong’s mind—memories of Lee Seo-jun, her shameless brother.
Facing his relentless use of sorcery had taught her the true meaning of frustration. It left her with an ingrained resentment toward anyone who used spells.
Now, seeing Jegal Hwi, that same irritation bubbled to the surface.
“I ought to just—”
As Chun-bong imagined herself smacking Jegal Hwi’s head repeatedly, the referee’s voice rang out.
Begin! Chun-bong dashed forward immediately.
One thing was clear: sorcerers couldn’t be given time. Allowing them to cast spells would inevitably lead to a rage-inducing situation.
As expected, even her immediate charge wasn’t fast enough to stop Jegal Hwi from activating his magic.
Yihap Yugyeok ( Separation Creates Barriers ).
A strange pressure weighed down on Chun-bong as she charged. She smirked. This much was nothing she couldn’t break through with sheer willpower.
“Haaaap!”
Boom! Chun-bong unleashed her internal energy, propelling herself forward. Her sword sliced through the air.
Swish!
But it missed. Her blade cut through nothing but empty space. Chun-bong’s eyes widened in shock as Jegal Hwi, who had completed his formation, smiled faintly.
Using his specially crafted iron fan, he had deployed a small-scale formation on the spot. Despite its makeshift nature, its power was anything but trivial.
“Let’s see you find your way out.”
“What did you just say, punk?”
The smugness in his tone irritated her further. All sorcerers are twisted in the head, she thought.
Gugung Seongse Jin ( Nine Palaces Formation ).
Jegal Hwi’s full formation unfolded.
The Nine Palaces Formation was based on the principles of the nine palaces ( gugung ). If one placed themselves in the center, the remaining positions became the eight trigrams ( palgwae ), which correspond to the eight gates ( palmun ): Rest Gate ( Hyumun ), Life Gate ( Saengmun ), Injury Gate ( Sangmun ), Block Gate ( Dumun ), Scenery Gate ( Gyeongmun ), Death Gate ( Samun ), Surprise Gate ( Gyeongmun ), and Open Gate ( Gaemun ).
By embedding spells corresponding to the five elements ( ohaeng ) into the gates, Jegal Hwi completed a formation that could overwhelm and destroy anyone trapped within it.
Even the Life Gate’s location was under Jegal Hwi’s control, making escape nearly impossible. Once trapped inside, victory was assured.
Jegal Hwi’s eyes gleamed as he watched Chun-bong.
There was no greater joy than watching someone dance to his tune inside a formation he had crafted. He was certain that Chun-bong would be no different.
“Such a completed formation… as expected of the Jegal Family,” exclaimed Master Heo Do-jin from the audience.
Seo-jun, observing from the sidelines, nodded.
“It’s well-crafted.”
“Aren’t you worried?” Heo Do-jin asked.
“No, not really.”
Seo-jun wasn’t concerned, but he found the formation laughable. It was a reflection of Jegal Hwi’s overly convoluted nature.
Simply put, it was dirty fighting.
But Chun-bong had spent the past few days enduring the antics of Lee Seo-jun—the master of dirty fighting.
The results of that “training” were now apparent.
“Damn it…”
The world within the formation was shrouded in thick, gray fog. Chun-bong instantly realized she was trapped inside Jegal Hwi’s formation.
Her eyes rolled back. In Western terms, PTSD. The suffocating frustration boiled over, and Chun-bong gripped her sword tightly.
What she had learned from Seo-jun wasn’t some grand strategy.
It was simple.
When dealing with sorcery or formations—find the source and destroy it.
Without hesitation, Chun-bong charged toward Jegal Hwi.
“Tsk.”
Jegal Hwi’s lips curled. She was heading straight for the Death Gate.
The Death Gate, one of the nine palaces, corresponded to the trigram for Lake ( Dui ), representing the element of Metal.
Swish—Clang!
Blades of energy shot toward Chun-bong from all directions. She took a sharp breath.
“Whew…”
Her sword vanished into a blur of light.
Clang, clang, clang!
She deflected the blades with incredible speed. But the blades were endless, and it was clear that Chun-bong would tire before Jegal Hwi.
Her eyes sparkled.
“Found you, punk…!”
Her sharp intuition located Jegal Hwi within the formation.
What Chun-bong had learned from Seo-jun was simple.
Find it? Destroy it.
“No…!”
Jegal Hwi’s face twisted as Chun-bong closed in. She swung her sword.
Slash!
The Nine Palaces Formation shattered under her blade.
“What…?!”
Jegal Hwi’s eyes widened in disbelief. Destroying a formation itself? It was impossible.
Chun-bong had once thought so, too. But after training under her brother’s ridiculous methods, she had learned otherwise.
If it worked, that was all that mattered.
A wicked grin spread across Chun-bong’s face.
“Prepare your head, punk!”
Chun-bong charged. Jegal Hwi hastily swung his iron fan.
Clang!
Chun-bong’s sword drew a circle in the air. Flowing Clouds of the Azure Sky, a technique of the Azure Cloud Divine Sword, sent Jegal Hwi’s fan flying.
“Huh…?”
Jegal Hwi froze, unable to comprehend the unexpected.
Chun-bong’s eyes sparkled mischievously.
“Take this, Lee Seo-jun!”
Her dainty fist blurred into motion.
Bam, bam, bam, bam!
A tower of welts rose on Jegal Hwi’s head.
“Ugh…”
Jegal Hwi collapsed, his eyes rolling back. Chun-bong added one final hit.
Thud!
Satisfied, she grinned as the welt tower reached thirty-three levels.
“Phew…!”
Cheeky sorcerers like him deserved no mercy.
All wicked sorcerers must be eradicated from this world.
- The winner…! Geum Chun-bong of the Divine Sword Golden Family…!
Chun-bong raised both hands triumphantly, basking in the cheers of the crowd.
Seo-jun watched her with satisfaction, though he couldn’t suppress a slight shiver.
‘She must’ve been holding a lot in…’
Those ferocious head-smacks… Seo-jun could only offer a silent prayer for Jegal Hwi, who had fallen victim to Chun-bong’s stress relief.
“Huh… Incredible! To think she could slice through the formation itself!”
Beside Seo-jun, Master Heo Do-jin exclaimed in astonishment, practically a reaction vending machine.
Seo-jun nodded proudly with a satisfied smile.
“Such a shabby formation wouldn’t stand a chance against our Chun-bong.”
“Did you teach her?”
“Well, more like… she figured it out on her own? She even sliced through the formation’s core.”
After enduring countless sparring matches with Seo-jun’s formations and sorcery, Chun-bong had developed a knack for identifying their vulnerabilities. It was a combination of her keen observation skills and swordsmanship mastery.
Of course, after that, Seo-jun started hiding the core better, making it irrelevant… but still.
“Haha… This generation of late-stage disciples is truly remarkable. At this rate, we elders will have no place left in the martial world.”
“Our Chun-bong is kind; she’ll take good care of you in your old age.”
“That’s not what I meant… but fine, if you say so.”
Heo Do-jin suddenly tilted his head in curiosity.
“By the way, what does Chun-bong mean?”
“Ah…”
“Now that I think of it, during her duel with the third prince, she said something similar—‘The Chun-bong among bongs.’”
Heo Do-jin seemed lost in thought before nodding decisively.
“Did you come up with her title? Chun-bong ( Spring Phoenix )? It’s quite fitting. I’ll support it during the title discussions.”
Seo-jun froze. Her title is going to be Chun-bong? Everyone in the martial world calling her Chun-bong?
No. Absolutely not. The name Chun-bong was something only Seo-jun could call her.
“Eh, no, not Chun-bong! There are better options, like Sword Phoenix or Sparrow Phoenix !”
“Sparrow? That doesn’t seem like a grand title…”
“Why not? Sparrows are cute.”
“Titles shouldn’t be cute.”
“That’s such a narrow-minded view. You’re stuck in the past!”
“Stuck in the past? What does that even mean?”
“Ah, this isn’t going to work.”
That day, Heo Do-jin left having learned a slew of new modern phrases.
The Quarterfinals Conclude.
Now, only the semifinals and finals remained.
Between the quarterfinals and semifinals, a full week was allotted for participants to recover from their injuries.
During that week, Seo-jun planned to explore the regions of Shaanxi ( Shaanxi ), Gansu ( Gansu ), and Ningxia ( Ningxia ).
Catching a demon ( ma-in ) and obtaining a solid demonic cultivation technique sounded like an excellent idea.
After all, if he were truly the seed of the Ten Thousand Demon Sovereign, learning demonic techniques might come more naturally than orthodox ones.
Besides, the demonic arts weren’t inherently bad. With a proper cultivation method, he could potentially reach Extreme Demon ( Geukma ) in no time.
Even if that wasn’t the case, Seo-jun had long considered mixing orthodox and demonic techniques. This was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“And so, I’m giving each of you some homework.”
Standing before Chun-bong, Namgung Su-a, Namgung Myung, and Hwangbo Hyeji, Seo-jun addressed the four late-stage disciples and assigned each of them their tasks.