Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 137 - Pick Up Your Sword

Chapter 137 – Pick Up Your Sword

===================

Translated by Heavenly Cat
Edited by Celestial Knight

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

Blade Energy Materialization.

To put it simply, internal energy that had undergone condensation, refinement, and stabilization.

Internal energy was, if one had to compare, like fire or smoke.

Using a martial artist’s will and control, this unstable internal energy was maintained in a fixed form.

The energy wrapped around the sword before Ju-seong looked exactly like that. Ju-seong stared at the dark blue energy enveloping the sword, calm and deep like a tranquil sea.

“Hmm.”

Ju-seong let out a soft sound.

‘For a martial artist to manifest Blade Energy Materialization…’

It meant that essence, energy, and spirit had achieved harmony… that body, mind, and energy moved as intended.

Thus, Taoist sects called this Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.

Buddhist sects called it reaching the realm of Arhat.

And the common folk called it ‘super-peak,’ having surpassed peak level.

The spectator stands buzzed. Even the elder council of great sects were busy exchanging words.

They themselves were still wandering the vast realm of peak level, so their astonishment was natural.

Only the Martial Alliance Leader and his closest aides sat silently, observing.

Ju-seong narrowed his eyes and gazed at the ‘Sword Energy Materialization’ Cho Yu-gyeong had drawn forth.

‘That fellow…’

Before he could finish his judgment, Cho Yu-gyeong rushed in as if pressed for time.

Materialized Blade Energy couldn’t be launched like sword energy, but it possessed fearsome destructive power.

-BOOM!

A light diagonal swing shattered the stone floor. Blue stone fragments scattered everywhere, obscuring vision.

Ju-seong furrowed his brow and quickly retreated.

Backpedaling, he danced lightly across the arena.

No matter how great Cho Yu-gyeong’s martial arts, catching a fleeing Ju-seong in an instant was difficult.

Ankles and tendons strengthened through Samadhi Body Refinement training.

On top of that, movement techniques refined through rigorous personal training.

“How far will you flee on this cramped arena?!”

Cho Yu-gyeong chased relentlessly, eyes blazing blue like a demon risen from hell, pursuing tenaciously.

-KABOOM!

The edge of the arena burst apart from a downward stroke.

“Gah!”

Ju-seong tumbled on the floor like a stubborn donkey refusing to pull a cart.

“That Mad Dragon bastard is showing us his rolling on the ground!”

“He’s always been like that, so it’s not even worth mocking!”

While spectators jabbered, Ju-seong thought as he rolled.

‘If it was drawn from a sword, it should be Sword Energy Materialization. But…’

Ju-seong bounced his body again. Where his shin had been, dust and stone chips exploded.

He continued his thought.

‘Why don’t I sense any sharpness?’

Internal energy wielded by a martial artist embodied the weapon’s nature.

A sword’s nature was sharpness and pointedness… collectively called keen edge.

Any swordsman at first-rate level or above could imbue their internal energy with that keen edge.

This meant honing one’s will into sharpness and manifesting it as internal energy.

The sword acted as a medium between will and energy.

But look at the sword that man swung.

Look at the so-called Sword Energy wrapped around it.

Was the stone arena sliced by the sword stroke? No. It burst apart as if struck by a hammer.

Did it exude spine-chilling sharpness? Did it carry enough keen edge to make your eyes squint just from watching?

No. Ju-seong only felt threatened by the fact that his opponent had manifested Blade Energy Materialization.

What if this man had spent his whole life training with a club?

Then maybe the Blade Energy he’d just drawn would be somewhat threatening.

But Cho Yu-gyeong was a swordsman.

What use was a sword without sharpness? Hang it on an empty wall as a perch?

Ju-seong furrowed his brow. A talented man was ruining himself through impatience.

Ju-seong was already certain he’d won.

If he just kept evading, the man would exhaust himself and collapse. Then he’d keep polishing his ‘Blade Energy Materialization.’

But that was the wrong path. There might be no right answer in martial arts, but there were wrong answers.

Being blinded by momentary power and groping in a wrong direction.

For some reason, Ju-seong didn’t want to let that Cho bastard meet such a fate.

He stopped running and stood still, then spoke.

“The Taowu disciple planted a demon in your heart.”

The Sword Energy Materialization that man had shown in the last fight must have captivated Cho Yu-gyeong’s mind.

“What are you saying!”

The deluded man’s eyes blazed blue.

-Thwack! Crack!

Sword strokes pounded the floor, tore the air. Ju-seong easily dodged.

Once he discarded the notion that Blade Energy Materialization was unconditionally threatening and observed carefully, every technique was garbage.

-Boom!

Ju-seong pushed Cho Yu-gyeong back with a single clean palm strike and shouted.

“You look ridiculous swinging a club! Pick up your sword, Sleeping Dragon.”

Cho Yu-gyeong looked shaken that such a simple blow had landed and pushed him back.

Was the gap between them this large?

He was certain he hadn’t been hopelessly outclassed like this by a casual push.

Then what was the problem? Was he exhausted from forcibly drawing out Blade Energy? Or had that fool gained enlightenment and grown in a flash?

Doubts arose.

Had he been read? Had he devised counters by watching previous matches? The Nanhai Thirty-six Sword shouldn’t be that easy to read? Then was he truly a once-in-a-millennium genius?

‘…Can I not win?’

A demon grew in Cho Yu-gyeong’s heart. If it had to be named, it would be the demon of ‘Not Yet Attaining’… a demon born from failure to reach.

But what banished it in an instant was neither a lofty Taoist’s talisman nor a high monk’s chanting.

“Pick up your sword… !!!”

It was Mad Dragon Ju-seong, roaring in a voice like autumn frost.

Cho Yu-gyeong thought amid his wavering mind.

Pick up my sword? My sword? I’m already holding it, aren’t I?

He looked at his sword and saw it trapped by dull, stifling Blade Energy.

Not a trace of sharpness or pointedness anywhere.

‘Ah.’

This isn’t a sword.

In the first place, could it even make sense for someone at his level to maintain Sword Energy this long?

Then this was a fake, a wrong path, and the demon itself.

The blue blaze in his eyes faded. Not extinguished. Merely hidden deep within, as befitting the sword ghost of the South Sea.

The gaudy, ostentatious Sword Energy also faded. The silver blade revealed its elegant form.

“I don’t understand why you’re showing such goodwill.”

Cho Yu-gyeong spoke, gripping his hilt firmly with both hands.

“But as you wished, here stands a swordsman.”

Ju-seong let his arms hang loose and smirked.

“Why show goodwill?”

And his figure seemed to blur for a moment…

“Because it’s obvious I’ll win… letting you know, you moron!”

A massive palm force filled his vision.

“Ah, damn!”

He’d briefly felt pride as a martial artist facing another, and he was the fool for it?

Cho Yu-gyeong bit back his exasperation and simply swung his sword. As he’d always done. As he’d kept doing.

-Slash!

One relaxed, natural stroke cut the palm force in two. Cho Yu-gyeong’s eyes went wide. That monster’s palm force cut this easily?

Had overcoming the demon raised his realm?

“As if, you idiot!”

The palm force was mostly an inflated illusion. An illusory palm… hence literally ‘Phantom Palm.’

‘This is going great.’

Looking up, Cho Yu-gyeong saw Ju-seong’s form descending against the bright full moon above.

“Myriad Heavens Palm!”

Why shout out a technique name he didn’t have to? Was he saying he’d won?

Cho Yu-gyeong ground his teeth, thinking.

‘Even if I lose, I’ll get in one hit first.’

Feet shoulder-width apart. Twist the waist for rotation. Relax the wrist, barely gripping the sword.

Not swinging… throwing the blade in an upward slash.

A crescent of dark blue sword energy shot out. A perfect strike.

But…

“Ah… It’s big.”

Cho Yu-gyeong murmured in resignation. Was this like the Buddha’s palm that once schooled a certain disrespectful monkey?

But he had no regrets about the strike he’d made.

Swing and forget. Remember only the sharpened heart, not delusion.

Such was a swordsman.

-Slash!

The Buddha’s palm got scratched.

-KABOOOOM!!

Then a tremendous palm force covered the entire arena. An energy wave spread in a circle, carrying dust to the spectator stands.

A palm-shaped imprint was lightly pressed into the arena.

As the dust settled, the spectators examined the two figures on the stage.

One was brushing off his clothes as if nothing happened, while the other, half-unconscious and trembling, flopped down.

About ten breaths passed.

“…Ju-seong from Sichuan, wins.”

The moment the judge spoke, a thunderous cheer filled the arena.

“WOOOOAAAAAH… !!”

“AAAAAHHH!!”

The best match. Truly the best match. Had there been such a spectacle in this Ascending Dragon Assembly? However much Ju-seong had pranced about, he needed a worthy opponent to make it exciting.

This match wasn’t just fodder for gossip.

Today’s Mad Dragon wasn’t the arena’s mischief-maker but a proper hero in his own right.

“You’re the best, Mad Dragon!”

“You finally pulled it off! Today you looked pretty cool!”

“Young Master Cho fought magnificently too!”

“What titans they are!”

The cheers faded.

Cho Yu-gyeong, having regained consciousness, and Ju-seong, who’d been standing there, stared at each other blankly.

Should they exchange salutes? Who should go first… would the first one feel like they lost?

I won, so should I go first?

I lost, so wouldn’t it be rude not to go first?

While they dithered, a massive figure leaped lightly onto the arena.

Ju-seong looked up at the Martial Alliance Leader with a slightly sullen face and thought.

‘Why do I keep seeing him? He’s got a light behind.’

Not a literal expression but metaphorical. The man’s actual rear end was probably heavy as hell given his size.

The Martial Alliance Leader, unaware of Ju-seong’s irreverent thoughts, spoke in his consistently blunt tone.

“Impressive match, Ju-seong. And you too, Young Master Cho.”

“Th-thank you!”

Cho Yu-gyeong hastily bowed his head.

The Martial Alliance Leader quietly raised one hand.

“Raise your head and look.”

And around his hand, a faint energy shaped like a saber began to form.

It gradually became dense and distinct, then began to glitter brilliantly as if embedded with the Milky Way and constellations of the night sky.

This was why ‘gang’ used the character for star. The glitter’s nature was still unknown, but without such brilliance, it was fake.

Cho Yu-gyeong answered in a trembling voice.

“…Just witnessing this is immense learning. I am deeply humbled.”

Meanwhile, Ju-seong watched the scene nonchalantly, then tactfully offered a salute.

“I am humbled.”

In truth, he’d once witnessed the elderly Sword Saint of Kunlun draw out Blade Energy as thin as thread and manipulate it, so he wasn’t greatly moved.

“Mm.”

The Martial Alliance Leader nodded quietly and dispelled the Saber Energy before speaking.

“You’ve already learned the lesson, so there’s little chance of this, but… this must not become your goal. Never let go of the sword in your heart.”

Before manifesting Sword Energy, study the sword. That was what Cho Yu-gyeong had realized today.

“Yes, I will engrave it in my heart.”

The Martial Alliance Leader turned to look at Ju-seong. Ju-seong also raised his head slightly to meet his gaze.

“…Your character is, surprisingly.”

“Yes?”

“Decent.”

Ju-seong bowed and offered a crisp salute.

“When it comes to character, no one beats me, Martial Alliance Leader.”