Chapter 46
Severed Meridians (5)
The young swordsman and the noble heir stood facing each other.
The distance between them was awkward—too short for a swordsman, too long for a fist fighter. The opening exchange would be decided by who secured their optimal range first.
The Second Young Master shifted the direction of his feet and asked,
"Do you need me to give you the first move?"
"No."
"Then I'll go first."
Boom!
Driving off the ground with a powerful step, the Second Young Master's fist shot straight toward Namgung Jun's sharp nose.
The force packed into the punch was tremendous. The wind pressure alone lashed violently against his face.
Yet Namgung Jun showed no intention of dodging.
He merely raised his sword a moment later.
This will end more easily than I thought.
The corners of the Second Young Master's lips began to rise at what seemed like a sluggish response.
Then—
A flash of blue light suddenly surged into his left field of vision.
A sword strike twisted upward like a bolt of lightning, stabbing toward his armpit.
How?
By all logic, Namgung Jun's attack should have been slower.
Even accounting for the advantage granted by the sword's reach, it made no sense.
The sword strike accelerated continuously as it advanced, ultimately displaying an astonishing sword speed.
The Second Young Master couldn't even begin to comprehend what kind of sword technique produced such a phenomenon.
Slash!
Every hair on his body stood on end.
He violently twisted his body sideways and barely avoided the strike.
The hem of his robe was sliced apart by the narrowest margin.
Had he been even slightly slower, his entire arm might have been severed.
Spinning through the air and landing on his feet, the Second Young Master's face twisted in shock.
"You crazy bastard."
Breathing heavily, he suddenly realized something.
The one who had intended to decide the match in a single blow had not been himself.
It had been the young swordsman.
Namgung Jun glanced at the torn cloth that had fallen to the ground and casually lowered his sword.
"Not bad. You've trained your bodily instincts well."
He spoke as though evaluating a junior.
The Second Young Master found it absurd, yet at the same time his vigilance deepened.
The move Namgung Jun had just displayed had been both impressive and deadly.
Did I misjudge him?
After a brief hesitation, he shook his head.
Based on the aura he sensed, Namgung Jun was undoubtedly weaker than himself.
Most likely, the strike had been the product of extraordinary natural talent.
But the Murim was not a place where talent alone guaranteed survival.
The martial world possessed countless brilliant talents, like stars scattered across the heavens.
Most of them simply vanished into the darkness of the night sky.
Would the boy before him be any different?
A rough voice scraped from the Second Young Master's throat.
"I won't be defeated by the likes of you."
He had survived the brutal succession struggle of the Geukmu Sect.
There was no chance he intended to let this opportunity for resurgence slip away.
KWAAAH!
The Second Young Master unleashed his internal energy at full power.
Only then did the true nature of the Geukmu Sect's martial arts reveal itself.
The Geukmu Sect specialized in close-quarters combat.
People often said:
If the fists of Shaolin were powerful, dignified, and imposing, then the fists of the Geukmu Sect were fierce, swift, and savage.
Both pursued strength, yet their natures were fundamentally different.
Shaolin's fists resembled a mighty river flowing with unwavering force.
The Geukmu Sect's fists were raging storm waves crashing ashore amidst torrential rain.
Jjeojeojeojeong!
The Second Young Master demonstrated those characteristics perfectly.
His muscles swelled as punches poured forth.
Fourteen consecutive strikes hammered toward the vital points across Namgung Jun's entire body.
Yet none of them landed.
A sword stood before him like a pillar supporting the heavens, intercepting every single blow.
His sword path should be shaking by now...
The Second Young Master could not hide his admiration for the tremendous rebound force transmitted through his fists.
Most swordsmen would have struggled just to block such attacks.
At any moment, it would not have been surprising for the blade to shatter.
Yet Namgung Jun not only blocked them—he launched chilling counterattacks head-on.
His sword force and technique were genuinely threatening.
"I'll have to get rid of that sword first."
Closing the distance again, the Second Young Master repeatedly struck the blue-tinged blade with both fists and feet.
The sword trembled from the continuous impacts.
Yet Namgung Jun's stance remained unwavering.
The Second Young Master kicked upward toward the hand gripping the sword.
Namgung Jun instantly twisted his wrist and intercepted the kick with the pommel.
BOOM!
A suppressed metallic roar exploded.
The Second Young Master's body tilted sideways in midair.
Immediately afterward, he unleashed another barrage of kicks.
His legs cracked through the air like whips.
Landing with a heavy step, he drove a punch toward Namgung Jun's flank.
The moment fist and blade collided, the Second Young Master opened his hand and twisted it around the sword.
It was a type of grappling technique.
From beginning to end, Namgung Jun merely watched him with calm, razor-sharp eyes.
"Kuagh!"
Letting out a cry that was half scream and half battle shout, the Second Young Master charged forward.
Allowing the distance to widen any further would be disastrous.
No matter what, he had to stay close and create an opening.
Within close range, fists and sword became hopelessly entangled.
Neither side yielded.
Their violent clashes sent sparks flying again and again.
Blood soon began to scatter as well.
Before long, cuts appeared one after another across the Second Young Master's arms and legs.
Meanwhile, not even a corner of Namgung Jun's clothing had been torn.
Namgung Jun never retreated to widen the distance.
Instead, he altered his grip on the sword and freely displayed his abilities even within a fist fighter's range.
He was not constrained by distance at all.
Using the sword hilt, he pressed down and knocked aside the Second Young Master's punch.
Then he bent his elbow and drew the blade inward.
From that position, irregular thrusts shot out unpredictably.
The Second Young Master hurriedly bent backward to evade them.
Had he failed to do so, another hole would have been punched through his body.
This bastard... It's as if some old master is living inside him!
At the same time, he formed a blade hand with his left hand.
His intention was obvious.
He wanted to snap the sword itself.
"Not a chance."
But Namgung Jun had no intention of allowing that.
His right foot shot out to the side.
At the same time, he shifted half a step sideways and shortened his grip on the sword.
The Second Young Master reached farther forward in an attempt to seize the blade that seemed to be retreating from him—
In that very instant...
The arm Namgung Jun had drawn back suddenly snapped forward.
At the same instant, the sword that had seemed to retreat exploded ahead.
Stab!
In an instant, the Second Young Master's palm was pierced through by the blade.
"AAARGH!"
A searing pain shot through his hand, but he did not hesitate.
Instead, he tried to use the injury as an opportunity to strike Namgung Jun.
He had no reservations about sacrificing his own body to wound his opponent.
Unfortunately for him, that approach did not work against Namgung Jun.
Before the punch could be launched, Namgung Jun's sword shot forward again, forcing the Second Young Master to hesitate.
Namgung Jun never yielded momentum.
Even within a distance favorable to a fist fighter, he handled his sword with complete mastery.
The Second Young Master was bewildered.
Could such swordsmanship simply be the result of talent?
No.
Rather than talent, it looked like the accumulated experience of an old master forged through countless years.
And yet the person standing before him was clearly a boy.
How could someone so young wield a sword like this?
The flashes of movement he displayed could not be learned through simple practice.
They belonged to the realm of experience and refinement.
I'm supposed to be the one controlling the distance.
The more punches and kicks the Second Young Master threw, the more distant victory felt.
No matter what attack he used, the boy before him never appeared endangered.
Even when confronted with rough and savage fist-and-kick techniques more commonly used by unruly rogues than righteous martial artists, Namgung Jun remained calm and counterattacked without hesitation.
"Let's see this through to the end!"
The Second Young Master realized there was no chance of victory if the duel dragged on any longer.
Without hesitation, he unleashed his ultimate technique.
Dozens of fist images bloomed from his fists, spinning violently as they engulfed Namgung Jun's flank.
Geukmu Sect. I can roughly tell what branch of martial arts they specialize in now.
Namgung Jun's eyes sank into perfect stillness.
He read the flow of the ultimate technique.
He understood it completely.
The sword he held at centerline swept fiercely across.
A strike aimed precisely into the path of the fist technique.
His blade moved again and again, scraping through and tearing apart the incoming attacks.
With every merciless slash, the power behind the Second Young Master's ultimate technique diminished.
CLANG!
The final straight punch aimed at Namgung Jun's solar plexus was knocked aside.
Using the rebound force transmitted through the sword, Namgung Jun spun his body.
His blade swung directly toward the Second Young Master's neck.
"Second Young Master!"
WHAM!
A middle-aged fist master who had been about to rush forward stopped in shock.
If the blade had struck with its edge, that sound could never have occurred.
Only then did the Geukmu Sect warriors realize that Namgung Jun had struck with the flat of the sword rather than the edge.
That did not mean the blow lacked power.
The Second Young Master was half-collapsed, clutching his neck.
Namgung Jun looked down at him calmly.
"Be grateful this was a martial duel."
"Hah!"
The Second Young Master stared at him incredulously before muttering in resignation.
"I thought obtaining the Crimson Pattern Flower Ginseng would give me a foundation for my comeback. Looks like everything fell apart."
"You still gained something."
"Gained something? What exactly did I gain?"
"You're still alive."
Namgung Jun sheathed his sword as he spoke in an even tone.
The Second Young Master found himself speechless.
A crushing defeat.
Cold silence settled over the ferry dock.
The Geukmu Sect warriors looked ready to charge the moment an order was given.
"Second Young Master."
At the call of the middle-aged fist master, the Second Young Master shook his head.
"Enough. If this continues, we'll all die."
"..."
"Open the way. I have no desire to become fish food."
The Second Young Master had realized the truth.
Even if they somehow managed to occupy Cheukun Cloud Wanderer, another monster remained.
There had never been any chance of victory to begin with.
"Wise decision."
The voice did not belong to Namgung Jun's group.
Nor to any of the Second Young Master's subordinates.
The gloomy reply came from elsewhere.
From the shadows beneath the roof of a pavilion.
A figure emerged naturally from the darkness, as though he were part of the shadows themselves.
The eyes of the Geukmu Sect warriors and the Tang siblings widened.
The man was walking while hanging upside down beneath the roof's shadow like a bat.
"Hall Master of the Shadow Hall!"
"The Shadow Hall's Reverse Shadow Walk!"
The Shadow Hall Master remained hanging upside down from the edge of the roof while observing the warriors below.
Murderous intent dripped from his bloodshot eyes.
"Shadow Hall."
With the Shadow Hall Master's call, assassins hidden upside down in the shadows throughout the ferry dock revealed themselves.
"Damn it!"
"When did they surround us?"
The Geukmu Sect warriors panicked.
Only around a dozen assassins had appeared, but there was no way of knowing how many more remained hidden.
Shing!
The assassins drew twin blades from their waists.
The weapons were too short to be called swords, yet too long to be daggers.
In the hands of the Shadow Hall assassins, however, those oddly sized blades became deadly weapons capable of disrupting any sense of distance.
"Heavenly Sword. I thought it was something urgent."
"You were already traveling because of a mission anyway, weren't you?"
"Should I kill them?"
Still hanging upside down, the Shadow Hall Master folded his arms and asked.
"Let them go. That's not why Shadow Hall was called here in the first place."
"Why?"
"Jun challenged the Second Young Master to a martial duel and won in overwhelming fashion. It was actually pretty impressive."
"A martial duel."
The Shadow Hall Master's bloodshot eyes shifted toward Namgung Jun.
Namgung Jun cupped his fists in greeting.
The Shadow Hall Master replied only by slowly blinking.
Then he turned his gaze toward the Second Young Master.
"Leave. If you're still within range of my senses after ten breaths, I will hunt you down."
The situation had already been difficult with only Lee Seha and Namgung Jun.
Now another supreme master had arrived.
Any possibility of victory had vanished.
"We withdraw immediately."
As the Second Young Master issued orders to his men, Namgung Jun's voice reached him from behind.
"I trust you'll honor the terms of the duel."
The words carried multiple meanings.
Do not touch the Tang siblings again.
And if he did, there would be consequences.
Hearing the cold determination behind those words, the Second Young Master shook his head.
"No matter how unorthodox we may be, the honor attached to our names and titles still matters. I will keep my promise."
"I'll hold you to it."
As he turned to leave, the Second Young Master suddenly glanced back.
"Do you realize what you've done? You made an enemy of my sect just to save two insignificant Tang siblings from Sichuan. It'll only hinder your future travels through the martial world. Do you not regret it?"
"If I cared that much about outside pressure, I never would have stood against the Sun-Moon Demonic Cult in the first place."
The firm answer made the Second Young Master shake his head.
"A complete defeat. Azure Star Sword... Azure Star Sword..."
His muttering faded into the sound of the flowing water.
Soon afterward, the boat carrying Namgung Jun's group drifted peacefully away, carried along by the quickening current.