Chapter 155 – The Orthodox Alliance (3)

Absolute Leaf Hand Tang Chan, who disappeared from the sparring platform, was crashed next to the guest seats about ten meters away.

He was struggling to get up while drooling from his mouth.

His chest had clothes torn like a whirlpool and hanging in tatters, and his neat hair had changed to a mess.

“Us-using wi-witchcraft.”

His stuttering words meant he absolutely couldn’t accept this situation.

Tang Chan and the Tang Clan actually couldn’t believe that Tang Pyeong had properly become a Poison Man.

They had received Tang Samin’s report, but the story that a martial artist who looked around Tang Samin’s age killed Tang Pyeong who became a Poison Man was unbelievable.

Tang Samin, whom the Tang Clan cultivated with all their strength, had barely entered the absolute level.

Among that age group in the orthodox faction, there was no one who could match Tang Samin.

Even he was only equal to Tang Pyeong.

For Tang Samin, defeating Tang Pyeong who became a Poison Man was absolutely impossible.

The Tang Clan thought that to defeat a completed Poison Man, at least a martial artist approaching super absolute level was necessary.

No matter how many absolute level martial artists gathered, they wouldn’t even be opponents for a Poison Man.

A martial artist around Tang Samin’s age killed the Poison Man?

Nonsense. Was the super absolute level that easy?

They had to somehow make the match favorable to the orthodox faction.

Tang Chan put his trembling hand inside his chest, but seeing the person standing before his eyes, he couldn’t pull that hand out.

“Stop it. If you go further, you’ll just look ugly.”

“Bu-but clearly wi-witchcraft…”

“It’s not witchcraft. Just strong.”

“Th-that can’t be.”

Tang Chan couldn’t take out the hidden weapon from his chest and eventually had to lower his hand to the ground.

“It-it doesn’t make sense.”

The old man who clicked his tongue seeing Tang Chan with a dazed expression looking at the stage tilted his head while looking at Sun-woo on stage.

“Where did such a child come from? Eastern martial arts are mysterious.”

The old man headed toward the sparring platform, leaving Tang Chan behind.

“There’s no need for the elder to step forward…”

When he headed toward the sparring platform, people around urgently tried to stop him, but he waved his hand.

“If I don’t step forward, who can? The alliance leader in closed-door training won’t come out, I can’t call back Martial Light who’s at the front lines, and I can’t call sect leaders who aren’t here.”

At the names he mentioned, the martial artists trying to stop him made frightened expressions.

They were all super absolute experts representing the alliance.

“Don’t tell me?”

“Well, I don’t know what level, but since I can’t see it either, he seems to have crossed the wall.”

With those final words, the old man lightly kicked the ground with his sole.

Float~

His body gently rose and descended onto the sparring platform as leisurely as flying through the air.

The plaza, which had been quiet, became chaotic when the old man climbed onto the sparring platform.

Suddenly people from all directions cupped their fists in respect, and from the back, bodies shot up with light-body technique as if trying to see his face.

“You must be a famous person.”

“Haha, you don’t know me?”

“I came from far away, so I don’t know many people yet.”

The old man, who had been nodding at Sun-woo’s words, looked at Sun-woo’s mouth with a curious expression.

“Fascinating. Your lip movement and voice are different. Is it a type of mind speech?”

The old man noticed a fact no one else had noticed until now. However, Sun-woo couldn’t answer his words.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to particularly want to hear Sun-woo’s answer, and while nodding that eastern martial arts were mysterious, the old man casually pushed aside his robe.

“You must be related to the organization Strategist Zhuge keeps separately. There are many people with mysterious techniques, so I can accept your martial arts skill that doesn’t match your age as one of those things.”

As expected, other people couldn’t be completely unaware of Strategist Zhuge and the summoners. They seemed to roughly think of it as a private organization helping the Orthodox Alliance.

“But didn’t the confirmation about me just end with that match? I’d like to go down now.”

Sun-woo tried to slip away. No matter how he looked at it, the old man before his eyes was very troublesome.

His skill couldn’t be assessed either—he had clearly surpassed absolute level, and seeing how he flew over as if strolling through the sky, even just standing still, the aura he gave off was at least not below his own.

‘Were super absolutes this common? Everyone I meet is either absolute or super absolute!’

His thought completely ignored that among the thousands of people around, the only people whose auras he couldn’t read were the old man before his eyes and people hidden in tents far away.

However, for Sun-woo who had met super absolute martial artists several times during murim missions, he couldn’t help but think that way.

“That won’t do. The match just now didn’t show your skill at all. Looking at your hands, you’re clearly familiar with swords, but you used fists. Though you showed remarkable transposition movement, that alone isn’t enough to know your skill.”

For Sun-woo, he had no confidence in defeating an absolute expert with killing intent without using his sword and killing them.

For him who grew on the battlefield, such matches were actually more difficult.

Sun-woo looked at Strategist Zhuge seeking help, but he rather made an apologetic expression toward Sun-woo.

“Anyway, I’ve already asked Strategist Zhuge for understanding, so we’ll have to exchange moves.”

It seemed he had already finished talking through sound transmission while coming up here.

After saying that much, the old man unclasped his hands from behind and looked below the stage.

At that moment, Sun-woo could feel the surroundings, which had been quiet, suddenly become noisy.

The old man seemed to have created a wall with internal energy to block surrounding noise and their words.

At the advanced use of internal energy he’d only heard about, Sun-woo couldn’t predict the old man’s skill even more.

However, the more it was so, the more Sun-woo’s internal energy wriggled.

The martial artist’s instinct wanting to fight strong enemies. No, more than that, the War Wheel Divine Art created by generations of battle maniacs began surging up from inside his body when a strong opponent appeared.

“Fellow Taoists, through the match just now, we learned well the ability of the new hero. However, because it ended too quickly, I climbed here because there’s disappointment. Through a match with me, please confirm the hero’s skill more!”

Though he spoke toward outside the platform with a voice that wasn’t loud, the old man’s words filled the entire plaza.

He made it echo throughout the entire plaza by infusing his voice with internal energy.

Waaaah!

At his words, cheers arose that could blow the roof off. People shouted joyfully like people greeting a festival.

“People came with high expectations. Still, shouldn’t we give them something to see?”

At his words, resistance suddenly rose in Sun-woo’s chest. Whether because of the old man’s skilled conduct from living long, or because of that confidence, he could feel his thought of ending it as roughly as possible gradually changing.

Sun-woo cupped his fists toward him with a stiff expression.

“I’m Min Sun-woo.”

“I heard. Black Wind—it’s a good epithet. I’m an old body still serving as Martial Elder at the alliance, Sword Master (劍主) Jo Ja-geon.”

Sword Master Jo Ja-geon.

Indeed, it was a name worth enough to boast about.

As the senior martial brother of the current Wudang sect leader, he was someone who didn’t want to fight with the current sect leader, so he entrusted Wudang to him and came to the Orthodox Alliance, serving as Martial Elder for over 20 years—one of the alliance leader’s two wings and watchers, the Martial Elder and Civil Elder.

He had created countless military achievements and stories since his youth, and even after becoming Martial Elder in his old age, no one dared to pull him down from Martial Elder.

Moreover, he was someone who always entered the orthodox faction’s top 10 experts that talkative worldly people created.

Only then could Sun-woo know who he was, but although a strange light briefly flashed in Sun-woo’s eyes, his expression didn’t change.

“Good. Even after realizing who I am, there’s no change. You were definitely properly taught.”

At Sun-woo’s unwavering appearance, Sword Master made a satisfied smile.

He released one hand that had been clasped behind and stretched it toward the tent where he had been.

Swoosh!

When he stretched his hand, a sword shot up quickly from inside the tent and was sucked into his hand.

It was truly absolute level mastery of attracting objects.

At the sword being sucked in, cheers arose again from the spectator seats, and Sun-woo was about to get even irritated at that sight.

“Where’s your sword? If you need one, you can use this sword.”

At Sword Master’s words offering the sword with a benevolent face, Sun-woo shook his head.

“I also have a sword.”

Flash!

Bright light burst from Sun-woo’s hand, and a sword was held in his hand.

It was his beloved sword, the War Wheel Divine Sword.

Sun-woo, irritated by Jo Ja-geon’s performance, summoned his sword while adding an effect with magic.

Naturally, admiring exclamations echoed loudly from the audience, and Sword Master’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Interesting magic technique. Looking at it now, you seem able to use magic techniques too. If you want, you can use magic techniques together. Don’t worry about me and use them freely.”

“Will it be okay? I’ve been trying not to use them if possible because they might be misunderstood as witchcraft.”

“Haha, anyway, our sect and Taoist priests from other Taoist sects also use one or two magic techniques, so it doesn’t matter. Just, as you know, once entering super absolute, magic techniques hardly work, so it would be good to focus on martial arts.”

While raising his sword, Sun-woo became grateful to this murim world for the first time.

The martial artists here always prioritized skill.

Of course, elders were respected here too, but it was also a world where you could beat them up happily under the pretext of a match!

“Come!”

Jo Ja-geon flicked his sword, thinking Sun-woo was ready.

Just then, Sun-woo’s body shot toward Jo Ja-geon after confirming contact from Seolmyo that the work was done.

Clang! Clang!

Tremendous collision sounds and light burst from the sparring platform.

The two people’s figures disappeared the moment Sun-woo moved, and the sparring platform was filled only with shining lines and flashing light.

“Tsk. I didn’t expect Martial Elder to step forward. That Martial Elder stepped forward means he at least crossed the wall. A super absolute at that age. Won’t the orthodox faction’s number one, no, the murim’s greatest expert emerge before long?”

Strategist Zhuge muttered while looking at the platform where lightning raged.

Though the situation went differently from his plan, looking at the results, it seemed it would end better than expected.

Everything was because of Sun-woo’s strength.

“I finished the confirmation.”

“Here’s another person who reserved the greatest female expert.”

Strategist Zhuge muttered while watching Nanseol entering the tent.

Nanseol tilted her head with a puzzled expression, and Seolmyo sitting on her shoulder shook off the sharply raised fur and calmed its tension.

While Sun-woo matched on the sparring platform, Nanseol took Seolmyo around looking for brainwashed people. Thanks to that, Seolmyo, whose temper flared up greatly, finally calmed down after coming here.

“Well then, shall we also start working?”

Strategist Zhuge stood up and went outside the tent.

When he unfolded his fan after leaving the tent, martial artists began moving from various places.