Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 120 - Is It Already Early Spring

Chapter 120 – Is It Already Early Spring

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Translated by Heavenly Cat
Edited by Celestial Knight

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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After the team battle came the preliminary rounds for the Seven Sects and Three Families.

Those from the Seven Sects and Three Families were exempt from the team battle. But even among them, there was another division.

Those who received an invitation versus those who didn’t.

Those with invitations had generally proved themselves through previous records in jianghu or public demonstrations of skill.

Those who hadn’t had to fight their way up through the preliminaries.

Of course, their matches were fair one-on-one duels… better conditions than the team battle for mid-sized sect martial artists.

“What a filthy world. The young masters from the fancy houses get to skip straight to the main competition.”

At Red Beggar’s grumbling, Ju-seong chided him flatly.

“You complain too much. The Ascending Dragon Assembly itself is propaganda showing that orthodox jianghu is thriving… it’s only natural.”

Zhuge Xian, the eldest son of the Zhuge Family with whom Ju-seong had become acquainted in Jingzhou, was also an Assembly participant, but since he’d received an invitation, he hadn’t yet appeared.

“By the way, that Chun-mong kid is never around the inn these days.”

“You’re right… Do you know where he keeps going?”

“I had my boys look into it… apparently he spends a lot of time at a place called Azure Sky Tower.”

“Huh? Azure Sky Tower?”

Ju-seong’s eyes widened. Come to think of it, it was a familiar name.

His master’s friend, Sighing Branch, whom he needed to track down, was said to frequent that place.

He had to find Sighing Branch and learn Celestial Eye, the final of the Three Heavenly Powers.

“What connection does Chun-mong have to that Azure Sky Tower?”

“Probably the person who looked after him is the owner of Azure Sky Tower?”

“Hmm… I should pay a visit soon.”

Ju-seong decided to postpone visiting Azure Sky Tower until after the Assembly concluded.

There was also the matter of a participant from Guangdong who had vanished without a trace, but since he wasn’t a prominent figure, the incident faded into obscurity.

“He was from Shou’an Gate, right? The missing martial artist.”

“That’s right. Strange, isn’t it?”

“Maybe someone with a grudge against the Jiangnan Coalition quietly took care of him?”

“Could be. Honestly, they’ve been asking for it.”

Indeed, the Jiangnan Coalition made up roughly half of all team battle participants advancing to the main competition.

You might argue that splitting the Central Plains into north and south should yield about half from each, but…

“In the last Assembly, only about a quarter of main-competition participants were from Jiangnan. This time, they ganged up and look at them now…”

Ju-seong cut off his brother’s venting.

“That’s enough. Let’s focus on the matches. Today’s my first main-competition fight.”

“Oh… you must be popular. They put you in the first slot.”

The Ascending Dragon Assembly was a kind of theater.

To heighten the drama’s appeal, it was effective to grab attention from the very start with an exciting subject.

Ju-seong smirked.

“Can’t help being excessively popular.”

Traditionally, the first main-competition match went to the participant who’d generated the most buzz during the team battle.

The reasoning: many wanted the narrative of a standout from the team battle to continue seamlessly.

-Kkirirk…

The pulley-operated gate rose.

A gate carved with dragons and phoenixes… symbols of jianghu’s rising stars… released the man who was now the most famous in all of Anqing.

“Waaaah…!”

“Green-Robed Young Master! Look this way!”

“Mad Dragon! Give us another fiery match today!”

“Forget fiery… just win! I bet everything on you!”

Ju-seong stood with arms spread arrogantly, absorbing every cheer. The crowd’s expectations and interest didn’t weigh him down at all.

On the contrary, the tingling in his legs made him feel exhilarated… his joints felt loose and nimble.

Ju-seong fixed his gaze on the opponent standing across the Blue Stage.

The man was watching Ju-seong with a disapproving look.

“Mount Hua Sect, huh…”

Ju-seong tilted his head, intrigued.

His first opponent was a second-tier disciple of the Mount Hua Sect.

This revealed two intentions on the Alliance’s part. If Ju-seong won, an already popular participant would gain even more fame by defeating a Seven Sects and Three Families warrior.

And that fame would translate into the Assembly’s draw.

If Ju-seong lost? It would still showcase the power of the Seven Sects and Three Families… not bad either.

“I’m Ju-seong, from Sichuan.”

Ju-seong climbed onto the Blue Stage first and cupped his fist in salute, but his opponent gave no response.

“Hey. Daydreaming?”

The moment Ju-seong spoke…

-Ssreureung…

The Mount Hua disciple drew his sword, aimed it at Ju-seong, and said icily.

“You can hear my name after you beat me. As one who walks the path of martial arts, I cannot abide frivolous people like you.”

In other words, as a lofty member of Mount Hua, he refused to associate with someone who put on a clown show.

So much so that he wouldn’t even share his name or alias.

‘What an attitude.’

But whether the Mount Hua man liked it or not, the announcer mercilessly introduced them both.

“Ladies and gentlemen! From Mount Hua Sect of Shaanxi Province, second-tier disciple Yeon Ji-san! And from Sichuan Province, sect unknown… Ju-seong! This is the first match of the main competition, so please give generous applause!”

“Ugh…”

Yeon Ji-san twisted his face in dismay.

Ju-seong snickered and laced his fingers together, adjusting his gauntlets.

Mount Hua was a Taoist sect, yet its character was starkly different from Wudang’s.

It was also distinct from the worldly Qingcheng Sect.

Aggressive, arrogant, and shallow in Taoist learning. They didn’t grant Taoist names to disciples and let them keep using their birth names… that alone said a lot.

Mount Hua Sect’s original name was Mount Hua Sword Sect.

Mount Hua… one of the five sacred mountains of the Central Plains… had hosted many Taoist temples since ancient times, collectively called Mount Hua Sect.

Among them, the ‘Sword Sect’ lineage who cultivated the Tao through swordsmanship became famous in jianghu and expanded until they dominated all of Mount Hua.

With shallow Taoist learning and rough temperaments among its members, their public reputation wasn’t great.

What made Mount Hua’s name ring through jianghu was one thing and one thing only.

The sword.

From Mount Hua’s steep peaks flew the greatest swordsmen in jianghu.

A sect whose reputation rested on swords alone… no wonder this fellow looked down on everyone else because he could swing a blade.

-Deng, deng, deeeeeng…!

The gong had barely finished ringing before Yeon Ji-san charged without giving Ju-seong a moment to react.

‘Good… not old-fashioned!’

Ju-seong thought as he deflected the first strike.

No shouting technique names, no deciding who would attack first… none of those archaic customs.

Mount Hua’s sword was always taught assuming real combat.

-Chwit!

A sword tip thrust out with no warning grazed Ju-seong’s cheek.

“Whoa.”

The man didn’t look like he had much jianghu experience, yet his blade already smelled of blood.

-Uuuwoong…

The sword hummed, and Yeon Ji-san’s blade was enveloped in sword energy.

The blade’s wake left behind dozens, hundreds of sword shadows that dazzled Ju-seong’s vision.

Mount Hua’s swordsmanship was famous for phantom sword and swift sword, after all. Ju-seong had faced both principles before.

But what unfolded from a Mount Hua swordsman’s hands was on another level.

‘Let’s try to distinguish real from illusion.’

Sword shadows flooded Ju-seong’s vision.

‘Forget it.’

He simply couldn’t tell them apart. Were there even any fakes among them?

Phantom sword worked by leaving residual sword energy in the air to confuse the opponent.

But the problem was… once you reached the peak level, you could actually launch sword energy.

So there was no way to know if these were dangerous sword strikes flying at him or mere illusions.

A split-second decision made… Ju-seong deployed White Phoenix Nine-Heavens Movement and swiftly retreated.

-Titiitik!

With a sound like sparks flying, faint sword marks traced the path Ju-seong retreated along.

“Oh, one step slower and…”

Ju-seong muttered amusedly. That was no trivial swordsmanship.

Predicting his retreat and pre-placing sword energy in his escape path… that technique.

Then Yeon Ji-san spun fiercely and slashed at him.

Ju-seong deployed his movement technique, circling behind the Mount Hua man and trying to attack his sword hand with Control-Grasp.

“Where do you think!”

Yeon Ji-san immediately tried to throw Ju-seong with some bizarre grappling he’d never seen.

‘What the hell… a swordsman using that?!’

Startled, Ju-seong flopped like a fish caught in a net and barely broke free.

Perhaps because they were so devoted to the sword, they’d paradoxically developed superb grappling to prevent their swords from being taken.

Laughter and laments burst from the crowd at Ju-seong’s awkward flailing.

Those lamenting had surely bet money on Ju-seong.

‘So gamble responsibly on matches.’

Though it looked like Ju-seong was struggling, the reality was different.

Yeon Ji-san gritted his teeth.

‘This bastard… he hasn’t used a single big technique, and he’s minimizing his internal energy use.’

Conserving stamina for later matches? Or hiding his techniques from rival spectators?

Neither.

“Ooh, almost lost a big toe! Easy there, Young Master Yeon!”

He was simply using the bare minimum of techniques and internal energy… just to make Yeon Ji-san angry.

He wasn’t using any of the Three Yang Fist’s latter-half techniques, and he wasn’t expending internal energy recklessly.

“I’ve never seen such a vulgar person! Stand still!”

“Hahaha! Handsome young master! Try and catch me!”

Ju-seong darted around the Blue Stage, cackling shamelessly. By now, no one could keep up with him in changing direction while running.

How many rounds of ’round and round’ had he done in the gorge near Lake Dongting with Forget-Sorrow Arrow?

“You damn… !”

Yeon Ji-san, face flushing red, deployed Mount Hua’s movement technique, Hidden Fragrance Drift, trying to catch up.

-Jijijik!

But running curves along the circular Blue Stage was harder than it looked.

Hidden Fragrance Drift was originally designed for straight, explosive bursts.

“Hahaha! Is your footwork lacking against Seven Sects!”

“I’ve never seen such a shameless bastard sprinting away on the Blue Stage in my fifty years!”

“Mad Dragon, you punk! Rip it off!”

Boos rained on Ju-seong, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Everyone except Yeon Ji-san, running for his life on the Blue Stage.

‘This won’t work.’

Yeon Ji-san stopped in place.

He decided to cut straight across the arena and strike the annoying pest directly.

Yeon Ji-san poured internal energy into his sword until it hummed loudly, then kicked off the ground.

Chasing after Ju-seong, he swung with momentum…

And from his sword bloomed…

“Holy crap… is it already early spring?”

Plum blossoms!

Mount Hua’s sword blossomed plum blossoms, they said… and indeed, the sword shadows cascading magnificently resembled plum petals.

This was sword energy that shattered and fluttered like plum blossoms.

Typically, sword energy had to maintain its shape in flight to preserve its sharpness.

But Mount Hua’s sword energy… each of those tiny petals was a deadly weapon.

A finishing move of completion unbelievable for his age. A glimpse of Mount Hua’s arcane essence.

But…

“Plum blossoms landing on cotton fluff.”

Ju-seong’s palms moved like a dream.

Likewise, dozens of palm shadows bloomed and dyed the Blue Stage red.

Red Lotus Palm.

Most of the Three Yang Fist’s first and middle ten techniques had dissolved into Ju-seong’s martial being, losing their distinct forms.

But one… Red Lotus Palm… retained its shape. It was so polished it could stand alone as its own martial art.

Yeon Ji-san’s blossoms were white plum flowers; the cotton Ju-seong scattered was blood-red.

Cotton-like palms scattered wildly, catching every cascading plum petal.

-Taak!

Ju-seong parted the shimmering haze at the collision point with a knife-hand strike and surged forward.

Yeon Ji-san was momentarily stiff from unleashing a major finisher.

“Oh no, what to do!”

With one last teasing remark, Ju-seong’s punch exploded.

-Kwaaang!

The proud Mount Hua warrior was shoved toward the edge of the Blue Stage.

“Keuuuk!”

Yeon Ji-san clenched his jaw and tried to regain his balance, but…

Ju-seong had matched his recoil speed and was already right in front of him.

He grinned.

“Want me to save you?”

“…”

Yeon Ji-san gave up trying to steady himself. He closed his eyes and dropped limply off the stage.

Refusing any further humiliation.

The match was decided, and cheers poured in.

Looking around the spectator stands, the orthodox elders looked uncomfortable… but the crowd was enjoying themselves.

“That’s all that matters.”

Ju-seong waved both hands cheerfully… until he was dragged off to clear the stage for the next match.