The Legend of the Northern Blade - Chapter 175: A Swordsman Decides Fate With Their Sword (4)
Chapter 175: A Swordsman Decides Fate With Their Sword (4)
A storm was raging.
Well, nothing was actually happening, but that was how it felt to the people gathered in the training ground. An unnerving chill crept over them as if dozens of blades were slashing through the air, or as if a torrential gale were battering a high cliff.
The crowd held its breath, their eyes locked on Jin Mu-Won.
Jin Mu-Won, however, was focused on Daeryeok Sim.
The Elder’s face was flushed red with rage, his eyes glinting with a hint of madness. A terrifying qi flowed from his body, pressing down on Jin Mu-Won and the Investigation Department warriors.
The faces of the warriors who bore the brunt of his pressure turned deathly pale, but they refused to retreat an inch. Their faith and loyalty toward their Chief Inspector, Geum Ju-Sang, was absolute, almost fanatical. They glared at Daeryeok Sim, their eyes burning with defiance, and their resistance made the Elder’s anger detonate.
“How dare these bastards…! What is the Demon Repelling Squad doing? Get these insolent fools off my stage!” he bellowed.
At his command, dozens of warriors wearing golden martial arts outfits surged forward from behind the stage. They were the Demon Repelling Squad, the Elder Council’s personal armed force.
The air crackled with tension as the Investigation Department and the Demon Repelling Squad faced off.
Suddenly, a new voice cut in. The Seven Star Sage of the Mount Hua Sect, who had remained silent until that point, stood up. “Elder Daeryeok, what is this nonsense? You may be one of the Ten Great Elders, but you cannot treat the Investigation Department Director this way!”
“He undermined the authority of an elder!”
“From where I stand, you are the one who undermined the authority of the Investigation Department first. If you break the rules like this, who will trust Heaven’s Summit?”
“You dare lecture me, Seven Star Sage?”
“I am not lecturing you, merely stating a fact!”
Daeryeok Sim’s face twitched. He opened his mouth, about to explode again, when a hand grasped his shoulder firmly.
“Please compose yourself, Elder Daeryeok,” Yoo Cheong-Wol, another of the Ten Great Elders, said. He had intervened, worried that Daeryeok Sim’s outburst might lead to negative repercussions.
Recognizing his colleague’s concerns, Daeryeok Sim forced down his anger. In that moment, however, his eyes met Jin Mu-Won’s.
As he looked into those calm, emotionless eyes and took in that regal demeanor that remained undaunted despite the stares of thousands, something inside him snapped.
Meanwhile, Jin Mu-Won glanced around. He didn’t care about the jeers and derision of others. No matter how they looked at him or what they felt, he did not waver.
Ten years ago, he had watched the Northern Army fall and his father take his own life. The arduous path he had walked since then had steeled his resolve, giving him a fortitude that could not be shaken by outside pressures.
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He had faced gazes as hostile as Daeryeok Sim’s countless times before. When it came to life-or-death experiences, Daeryeok Sim was no competition.
Suddenly, a passage from the Art of Ten Thousand Shadows came to his mind.
The world is dynamic; but a strong heart should suffice.
Yes. What I need now is a steadfast heart that will not be shaken by anything.
Jin Mu-Won smiled faintly.
“!!” Seeing that smile, Yeon Cheon-Hwa felt a chilling sensation, as if an awl were being driven into his ear.
This bastard!
The image of Jin Mu-Won standing alone on stage overlapped with that of the strongest man he had ever known—the Northern Wall Jin Kwan-Ho. The only martial artist he had ever envied.
A sense of crisis washed over him.
If I leave this brat be, he will grow to be just like Lord Jin… No, he’ll surpass him.
A sense of foreboding, a vivid premonition that he would come to rue this moment unless he dealt with Jin Mu-Won immediately nagged at his conscience like a dagger pressed to his throat.
Suddenly, he made eye contact with Yoo Cheong-Wol.
[Now is the time,] Yoo Cheong-Wol said telepathically.
Yeon Cheon-Hwa stood up. His sudden movement drew everyone’s attention, but he ignored them and walked onto the duel stage.
The crowd was instantly overcome by a terrifying pressure, as if facing the gleaming edge of a sword.
Yeon Cheon-Hwa had surpassed the state of Sword Unification, reaching a realm where there was no distinction between self and blade. His gaze, his gestures, and every trivial action was a supreme sword technique. His entire body was no different from a masterfully forged weapon.
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Compelled by his formidable presence, all eyes were drawn to Yeon Cheon-Hwa.
STEP!
He pushed off the ground lightly and landed on the stage.
“Master Yeon,” Yoo Cheong-Wol greeted, smiling.
“I will take it from here.”
“Then I shall leave it in your hands.”
Unknown to anyone else, this entire exchange had been planned in advance. Daeryeok Sim would draw attention, Yoo Cheong-Wol would calm things down, and Yeon Cheon-Hwa would deliver the final blow. After all, as a former member of the Northern Army, Yeon Cheon-Hwa was the only one with the perfect justification to intervene.
Yeon Cheon-Hwa looked at Jin Mu-Won. “Did you conspire with the Silent Night?” he asked abruptly.
“No, I did not.”
“Then what about your martial arts? As far as I know, there were no martial arts worthy of you in the Northern Army. Did you obtain them by colluding with the Silent Night?” Yeon Cheon-Hwa asked sharply.
Jin Mu-Won chuckled. “What makes you so confident that the Northern Army has no martial arts manuals left?”
“That is, of course…” Yeon Cheon-Hwa frowned. He was standing in front of a massive crowd. How could he admit that he had taken every single swordsmanship manual from the Northern Army vaults?
“You have quite a sharp tongue,” he snarled, his eyes turning cold.
Daeryeok Sim and Nam Seon-Woo shuddered. The temperature around them was dropping rapidly.
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In particular, Daeryeok Sim was far more shocked than Nam Seon-Woo.
What? His martial arts were at this level? To think his qi can cause the very air to resonate!
As one of the Ten Great Elders, he held immense pride in his own skills, yet he couldn’t summon the confidence to face Yeon Cheon-Hwa head-on.
Yeon Cheon-Hwa snorted. “No matter what you say, I am certain that you have learned the Silent Night’s martial arts. If you want to prove your innocence, put down your sword and submit to an inspection by me and Heaven’s Summit.”
“What kind of inspection are you suggesting?”
“You will cripple your own martial arts.”
“……” Jin Mu-Won fell silent at Yeon Cheon-Hwa’s absurd demand.
Seeing this, Yeon Cheon-Hwa smiled faintly and addressed the crowd. “I too was once part of the Northern Army, and I respected Lord Jin more than anyone. As such, I could not help but despair when I learned he had colluded with the Silent Night.”
Yeon Cheon-Hwa’s voice possessed a strange power that captivated the audience. Everyone held their breath, hanging on his every word.
“I tried to persuade him for days on end. However, Lord Jin, your father, refused to listen. His foolish decision ultimately brought an end to the Northern Army’s hundred-year history.”
“……”
“And now, ten years later, you are repeating your father’s mistake. The blood of a traitor flows through your veins. It is not too late. You can still atone for your sin against the Central Plains by crippling your own martial arts.”
“Did my father truly collude with the Silent Night?”
“I saw it with my own two eyes.”
“Are you certain?”
Yeon Cheon-Hwa roared. “I am! Do you dare doubt my words?”
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Many in the crowd staggered and covered their ears. Even Jin Mu-Won’s face paled for an instant. Yeon Cheon-Hwa’s inner arts prowess was astounding.
Yeon Cheon-Hwa scanned the crowd. “I swear on my honor and my very life that there is not a shred of falsehood in my words. Who here dares to question me? Who dares to doubt Yeon Cheon-Hwa? If anyone does, step onto this stage right now!”
His overwhelming presence plunged the entire arena into silence, and the people watched with bated breath. Since Jin Mu-Won remained silent, the crowd assumed he must have run out of excuses.
Yeon Cheon-Hwa smiled. The situation was unfolding exactly as he had intended. Now that he had the upper hand, no excuse his opponent made would register with the people.
This was Heaven’s Summit. Here, the word of the strong was law. The truth of the weak was always buried by the roar of the strong, and here, he was the stronger.
No matter how much stronger Jin Mu-Won had gotten, it was meaningless. Martial strength wasn’t everything in this world.
However, Jin Mu-Won suddenly said, “I have known for a long time.”
“Known what?”
“That you fabricated the truth, Uncle. That you were the one who handed false evidence to Heaven’s Summit.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Uncle, how long did you think you could hide the truth?”
“You have a wicked tongue! Still, no one here will believe you. How dare you slander me, Yeon Cheon-Hwa! You’re just like your father. I…”
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“I can prove that Jin Mu-Won is telling the truth!” a voice in the crowd rang out.
All eyes turned toward the owner of the voice. It was an old man who looked like he was made of fragile bones and shabby cloth. The fact that he remained upright seemed like a miracle, reminiscent of an old, diseased tree clinging to the earth.
Yeon Cheon-Hwa’s eyes trembled violently. His heart hammered against his ribs as if it would burst from his chest.
That man… Intelligence Hall Director, Dong Ha-Pyeong? He was still alive!?
Dong Ha-Pyeong was the man he had once joined hands with, and whom he had later betrayed.
He dispatched dozens of assassins to kill him. He had even received a report confirming his death. Nevertheless, here he was, perfectly fine. He had aged considerably, but there was no mistaking him for anyone else.
Dong Ha-Pyeong began to walk toward the stage, and the crowd parted to make a path for him.
“Fufu! Long time no see, Sword Lord. Ten years, am I right?”
“Ugh!”
“It is I, Dong Ha-Pyeong. The one who fell for your temptation and…” Dong Ha-Pyeong froze mid-sentence. In a flash, Yeon Cheon-Hwa had vanished from the stage and reappeared directly in front of his eyes.
“Insolence!”
SHWIIK!
An wave of sword qi flew toward Dong Ha-Pyeong’s neck. The old man stood still. This attack was beyond his ability to sense and respond to, even if his body were in its prime.
He closed his eyes, resigned to his death.
CLANG!
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Dong Ha-Pyeong shuddered. A clear metallic ring echoed out, and an immense pressure washed over him. However, the anticipated pain never came.
He slowly opened his eyes to see a stranger in a reddish-brown outfit standing before him.
“Ah!” Tears welled up in his eyes.
Looking at the man’s back, he saw the image of the strongest man he had ever known. The great martial artist known as the Northern Wall.
“You?” Yeon Cheon-Hwa growled.
Jin Mu-Won nodded. “Uncle.”
“Are you trying to stand in my way?” Yeon Cheon-Hwa thundered.
Before Jin Mu-Won could answer, however, the man who had walked the path of the sword since childhood, who had taken every manual on swordsmanship from the Northern Army and achieved complete mastery, swung his blade.
Jin Mu-Won drew Snow Flower.
WOOOOONG!
The moment Snow Flower’s mesmerizing, dark blade was revealed, the weapons held by the Investigation Department and the Demon Repelling Squad began collectively cry out.
“Keuk!”
The martial artists took a step back, bewildered, at the sudden wail of their swords. Their blades were being influenced by Jin Mu-Won!
Amidst the roar of countless swords, the Northern Blade’s battle with the Phantom Sword began.
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