The Return of the Sw Chapter 61 : The Sleeping Dragon. -04

Chapter 61: The Sleeping Dragon. -04

Murong Cheok shrugged his shoulders.

He himself knew that he had neglected his martial arts training for quite a long ti.

However, the talent he possessed had absolutely not disappeared anywhere.

Moreover, although he had been negligent, it was not as though he had completely abandoned martial arts, so Murong Cheok was confident.

‘I’ll revive my dulled senses through this sparring match, then properly clash with Young Master Ban.’

Murong Cheok did not think much of Seo Joun standing before him.

Judging by his solar plexus, he seed to have accumulated a fair amount of inner energy, but victory or defeat between martial artists was not decided by cultivated power alone.

Because victory and defeat were determined by various complex factors, Murong Cheok was confident.

“I am ready.”

“So am I.”

Seo Joun, who had spoken first, broke into a grin.

It was obvious at a glance that he was being looked down upon.

Yet, that was precisely why Seo Joun found it more amusing.

He was curious how that overly relaxed expression would change once urgency settled in.

‘Since it seems my elder brother wants Murong Cheok to lose, I should press hard from the start.’

Unlike the others, Seo Joun knew nothing about Murong Cheok.

Instead, he possessed intuition honed through real combat.

Although Murong Cheok had once been the young lord of a prestigious family that belonged to the Five Great Families, Seo Joun did not feel as though he would lose.

Moreover, because Ban Hojin wanted that outco, Seo Joun smiled aningfully and placed his hand on the sword hilt.

“Then let’s begin.”

“I’ll yield the first move.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You seem to be younger than .”

“Then I won’t refuse.”

Whether his instincts had dulled or he was overconfident in his own abilities, Murong Cheok offered the initiative, and Seo Joun readily accepted.

Out of courtesy, he could have declined, but he did not feel like doing so.

No, rather, he intended to move exactly as Ban Hojin desired.

“Co at .”

“I’m coming.”

Buuung!

Seo Joun’s sword rushed toward Murong Cheok, emitting a heavy tearing sound through the air.

It was filled to the brim with true energy.

However, it was not particularly fast, so Murong Cheok calmly raised his sword to block.

Kkaaang!

But at the mont of impact, Murong Cheok’s face twisted instantly.

It was nothing more than an extrely simple one-cut-two-halves strike, yet the power imbued in the blade was formidable.

Moreover, the true energy suffusing it was considerable; even though he blocked it, his arm trembled violently.

While cultivated power accumulated with ti, muscle had instead faded away, and Murong Cheok’s face grew redder and redder.

“Eek!”

Murong Cheok himself realized that although their cultivated power was similar, he was being overwheld in raw strength, yet he did not deflect Seo Joun’s sword.

No matter how much he had neglected martial arts training, evading was sothing his pride would not allow.

That, however, beca his fatal mistake.

Kkaang! Kkang!

Even though the proper approach would have been to retreat, steady his breathing, and respond with a strategy favorable to himself, Seo Joun sneered faintly at Murong Cheok’s stubborn refusal to do so.

Under normal circumstances, perhaps, but in a sparring match, Seo Joun believed there was no age or seniority.

Ban Hojin himself had demonstrated that in practice.

Since victory or defeat was all that mattered in a sparring match, Seo Joun raised his cultivated power another level and unleashed an even fiercer wave-like offensive.

Kkagagagang! Kwaang!

In strength, in cultivated power, and even in real combat sense, Seo Joun held the advantage.

If there was anything he lacked, it was basic fundantals, but even that gap was not large.

Because Murong Cheok had neglected his martial arts training so severely, there was little difference between him and Seo Joun, who had entered the path late.

Seo Joun exploited that to the fullest.

Kwaang! Kwang!

“Khk!”

Above all, the difference in inner energy was overwhelming.

Not only was the accumulated amount vast, but extre yang energy overflowed beyond the sword blade and burst forth from Seo Joun’s entire body.

Radiating extre yang energy that was so abundant it spilled over, Seo Joun pressured Murong Cheok with his whole body, and before long, superiority was decided.

Kwaaaang!

With a thunderous roar from the collision of true energies, Murong Cheok rolled disgracefully across the ground.

In the end, he had been pushed back from start to finish and suffered a complete defeat.

The impeccably clean white martial robe was soiled in an instant, but Murong Cheok had no leeway to think about that.

The defeat was so shocking that Murong Cheok stared blankly at the blue sky with a vacant expression.

“Good work.”

Unlike Murong Cheok, who could not regain his senses, Seo Joun did not particularly rejoice despite his victory.

He had shown flashes of genius here and there, but without stamina to support it, no technique could be properly displayed.

Moreover, Murong Cheok’s problems were not limited to stamina alone.

Because he fell short as a martial artist in every respect, Seo Joun clasped his fists calmly.

“Wait. Just a mont.”

As Seo Joun finished his greeting and turned away, Murong Cheok urgently called out to him.

He then scrambled to his feet.

“What is it?”

“Could we spar once more?”

“Spar?”

Seo Joun tilted his head at Murong Cheok’s words.

Not only did the term “spar” itself feel awkward, but he also wondered if there was any need to do it again.

Murong Cheok, as he was now, was not in a condition to spar.

In mindset as well as in body, it was difficult to see him as a martial artist.

“Yes. I ask you, please.”

“Would there be any aning?”

“……Please.”

Seeing Seo Joun speak as though there truly was no aning to it, not mockingly but sincerely, Murong Cheok bowed his head respectfully.

It was not as the young lord of the Murong Family, but as a single martial artist earnestly making a request.

When it involved matters of interest, one could not listen to the other party’s nonsense.

His gaze had changed, yet he still wondered what aning this could have.

“Do as he wishes. Just don’t go easy on him.”

“Yes.”

“Y-Yes?”

At Ban Hojin’s words, Murong Cheok’s eyes widened like oil lamps.

Taken literally, it ant that Seo Joun had not fought him with his full strength.

However, when Seonwu Bang silently nodded in agreent at those words, Murong Cheok clenched his fist tightly.

It was because he had never been treated with such disregard since the day he was born.

“Let’s start again.”

“……All right.”

Feeling humiliation he had never experienced before, Murong Cheok’s expression changed.

As viciousness settled over his once overly relaxed face, Seo Joun showed a faintly satisfied expression.

Only now did it seem like a martial artist’s expression and montum were finally erging.

“This ti, Murong So-hyeop, you should co first.”

“……Understood.”

Faced with a situation completely opposite from monts ago, Murong Cheok bit his lip.

However, he did not lose his composure.

Instead, he forcefully swallowed down the humiliation he was feeling.

It would not be too late to vent his anger after winning.

‘I’ll unleash everything at full intensity from the start.’

Murong Cheok’s gaze turned serious.

In his view, the primary cause of his earlier defeat was losing montum along with the initiative.

Of course, he had been completely overwheld in strength and stamina as well, but Murong Cheok did not believe those factors carried the greatest weight.

Believing the psychological impact was greater than the physical one, Murong Cheok resolved to properly unfold his martial arts.

Woooong!

Perhaps because his mindset had changed, for the first ti a sword hum rang out.

At the sa ti, from Murong Cheok’s hands unfolded the Murong Family’s supre technique, Galaxy Ten Sword Flow.

Sssaaaeek!

Clusters of light streaming from the sword began to embroider the void.

Yet it was not rely beautiful.

Within that beauty, it carried a chilling killing intent.

Ttaaang!

Though his real combat sense had dulled, his true skill itself had not vanished.

Moreover, thanks to the sparring match just monts earlier, a small portion of his combat sense had returned, making Murong Cheok’s sword forms far sharper than before.

As if to display his changed mindset, they surged sharply toward Seo Joun.

Even so, it was still not enough.

“Khk!”

With a crisp sound, Murong Cheok’s sword was knocked aside.

Even if his stamina had recovered slightly, he was still inferior in every aspect.

Seo Joun once again made him experience that fact firsthand.

Ts-ts-ts-ts!

Not only that, Seo Joun drew his extre yang energy to its peak.

Following Ban Hojin’s instructions, he began to fight with his full strength.

Brrr!

The montum bursting from the sword was formidable enough, but the searing heat itself made Murong Cheok recoil.

Since this was an experience he had never faced before, he could not even think of a way to break through it.

However, it was not as though there was no thod at all.

He was inferior in strength, stamina, cultivated power, and real combat sense, but there was one thing he trusted—technique.

‘I’ll decide it in a short burst!’

Without stamina, no matter how exquisite the technique, it could not be fully deployed.

Knowing that truth well, Murong Cheok erased any thought of a prolonged battle.

At this very mont, when his stamina had recovered even a little, he cast his decisive gamble.

Tsaaaat!

Sword energy on the verge of becoming solid force poured out in succession, rushing toward Seo Joun like beams of light.

Along with cot-like streaks of radiance, Murong Cheok’s sword strikes shot forth with refreshing sharpness.

Kwaang!

However, the result did not differ from before.

In a clash of power against power, Seo Joun had no reason to evade, and as a result, Murong Cheok once again went rolling across the ground.

Despite abandoning hesitation and exerting every ounce of strength, the fact that he still lost made Murong Cheok collapse as he was, without even brushing away the dirt covering his face.

“Haha. Hahahaha!”

They said that when a person was too greatly shocked, laughter ca instead.

That was exactly Murong Cheok’s state.

With his confidence and pride utterly shattered, Murong Cheok lay sprawled out in a great “大” shape for a long while, laughing uproariously toward the sky, seemingly oblivious to the gazes of others.

“Isn’t he out of his mind?”

“He’s a smart kid, so he won’t lose his mind. Well, if he does, there’s nothing to be done. That would just be his limit.”

“But his talent is definitely real. His senses sharpened in such a short ti—it honestly surprised .”

“The world is vast, and there are many geniuses. There are prodigies too. But…….”

“You were about to say that blooming is different, right? I’ve heard it so much now that I can guess what cos next just from the opening.”

Seo Joun spoke as if mimicking Ban Hojin’s tone.

At that, Seonwu Bang, who had been listening beside them, let out a quiet chuckle.

“We’ll be taking our leave now, Family Head.”

“Ah, right. See you this evening.”

“Yes.”

Even though his son and sole heir had lost, Murong Gung did not show any sign of displeasure.

Rather, he was watching Murong Cheok with a peculiar gaze.

Murong Cheok was laughing as if he had lost his sanity, yet Murong Gung could sense it.

Within that skyward laughter, a vicious resolve and fierce desire to compete unlike anything before were blazing intensely.

“We’ll be going as well.”

“I’ll see you later.”

As Ban Hojin’s group left the training grounds, Peng Hwayeong and Peng Suyeong followed after them.

Since the young lord of the Murong Family had been utterly crushed, it seed improper for daughters of another family to continue watching.

Believing it best to avoid an uncomfortable situation, the two sisters paid their respects to Murong Gung, exchanged a glance with Murong Heesu, and then departed.

Returning to his room, Murong Cheok stared down at his own hands.

His once snow-white hands, smooth like jade and without a single callus, had turned red.

From sparring after so long, his palms had been scraped raw and flushed.

In several places, blisters had already begun to swell, the skin raised unevenly.

“Was I a frog in a well?”

After standing motionless like a statue for a long while, staring at his hands, Murong Cheok muttered.

At this very mont, nothing ca to mind except the phrase “frog at the bottom of a well.”

Of course, when he had first been defeated, rage had completely consud his thoughts.

But now, it was different.

“I thought that if I just set my mind to it, I could beco the best anyti…….”

Because he had been so outstanding, everything had felt trivial to Murong Cheok.

Without even exerting his full strength, everything had been easy.

Since he had effortlessly surpassed rivals whenever he began, he believed martial arts would be the sa.

That whenever he truly resolved himself, he could quickly beco the best.

“Hah!”