Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 44: Plum Blossoms (2)

“If I copy that, will Mount Hua Sect come bash my head in?”

Chunbong’s expression turned indescribably strange as he asked that.

“Seriously...?”

“What do you mean seriously?”

“I mean, of all sword techniques, the Plum Blossom Sword... That’s not something you can copy after seeing just once...”

“True, I can’t copy it perfectly after seeing it once, but maybe I could just imitate it a bit?”

Making plum blossoms bloom wasn’t that difficult in his head.

Yet Mount Hua’s plum blossoms were respected because of the meticulous sword technique that accompanied them.

Is there really no one else in this martial world who knows how to scatter sword qi like that?

Probably not. Because just that alone would be meaningless.

Why else would it be called the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique?

If it only focused on making plum blossoms bloom, it would have been called Plum Blossom Divine Art instead, no?

The important part of the Plum Blossom Sword Technique was the sword.

But Seojun only saw potential in the plum blossoms themselves.

A fragment of possibility to bring the Primordial Divine Art closer to completion.

“What are you...”

Chunbong groaning to herself, suddenly shook her head with a big sigh.

“Well... Honestly, I’m not sure? But unless it’s practically identical, I don’t think Mount Hua Sect would take action against you? They’re Daoists after all, so they have some common sense.”

“What if it is extremely similar?”

“Hmm... Your dantian would definitely be shattered... Maybe your limbs’ tendons cut? Oh, and you’d definitely be locked in the Cave of Penance, and if the elder has a fiery temper, your head might roll right then and there.”

Wow, seriously? That’s fucking terrifying, huh?

“But that probably won’t happen. Even completely different martial arts sometimes have similarities, so they’re quite picky about judging those aspects. Well, you’d probably have to have an interview with that elder for sure though.”

“Oh...”

A one-on-one interview with a Transcendent Realm elder? That’s a bit...

Seojun shook his head.

By then, Woonjak had finished his demonstration and stepped down from the arena.

“We shall begin the matches immediately!”

It seemed another Mount Hua Sect martial artist, not Woonjak, would be the referee.

That Elder Jongin sitting up high was probably in charge of safety or something?

At the Transcendent Realm, he should be able to prevent accidents even if Peak Realm martial artists were fighting.

“The order will be determined by drawing lots. First, number 17 and number 42! Number 32 and number 102! Number 5 and...”

There were eight arenas here, and it seemed they planned to proceed quickly since they had to hold 64 matches today.

“Number 78 and number 27!”

Number 78. Seojun’s number.

He immediately sprang up from his seat and grinned.

“I’ll be back. Watch closely.”

“It’ll probably be over quickly, what’s there to watch?”

Chunbong snorted.

In her eyes, her big brother was the likely winner of this martial arts tournament.

No matter how many martial artists had gathered from all over Shaanxi, those with some status don’t come to these tournaments.

They have their pride, after all.

While there are no restrictions on participation, if a Wudang Sect elder suddenly enters, they’d become a laughingstock throughout murim.

Disciples of the Nine Sects or children of the Noble Clans almost never participate. It’s far away and there’s almost no particular benefit.

Unless it’s something like the Dragon Phoenix Tournament, not many are free enough to participate in a martial arts tournament held by Mount Hua Sect as a festival substitute.

“End it quickly and come back!”

With those thoughts, Chunbong waved her hand as Seojun strolled up onto the arena.

After the referee checked their tokens, his opponent also climbed up.

It was a woman with a moderately muscular build.

When Seojun stared at her, the woman grinned.

“Why are you eyeing me like that?”

“Uh... that’s quite a way to put it.”

Eyeing1 her? How vulgar.

When Seojun made a disgusted face, the woman blushed.

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Oh, uh yeah, of course.”

He scratched his chin and looked down at the arena to see Chunbong waving half-heartedly.

“Well, shall we start quickly then?”

I, Lee Seojun, am not a man who will go easy on a woman.

*The match began.

Hong Yuyeon glared at her opponent while holding her drawn sword.

Sexual harassment at first sight...

Though it was unavoidable to some extent as a woman in murim, she couldn’t understand the mindset of someone who would say such things in a place like this.

Huu... Haah...

She took a deep breath to calm herself and gently extended her foot, recalling her master’s teachings.

Yeon, until you reach a certain realm, women will always be at a disadvantage when fighting men.

It was an unavoidable innate difference.

Men are generally stronger than women.

Physical strength plays a larger role at lower realms, making it difficult for ordinary women to defeat men.

But now that you’ve finally reached that realm, it’s time to shed your old habits one by one.

It was time to discard the grappling techniques she had learned to offset the disadvantages of being a woman one by one.

Women are more flexible than men, so always keep your advantages in mind during battle.

Yes, Master.

Her waist bent sharply as she lunged forward. Extending her foot past her opponent, she found herself looking up from below, his exposed side clearly visible from her low vantage point.

I’ve won.

She swung her sword.

Her opponent was annoying, but a match was a match. She decided to end it by cutting him on the side.

And then,

Slash!

Her sword cut through the air.

“Huh...?”

“What are you doing?”

She saw her opponent’s face as he jumped up. He had a genuinely bewildered expression on his face like he had just seen something that made no sense at all.

Her last memory before blacking out was the bottom of his shoe hurtling towards her face.

*Bang!

Seojun jumped up to avoid the sword and stomped down on the woman’s face.

“What the hell was that?”

Why use that move there...? He couldn’t understand at all.

“Winner! Lee Seojun!”

After hearing his declaration, Seojun scratched his head as he looked down.

Did I stomp too hard?

She seemed like a weakling, maybe I should have gone easier on her.

Seojun pressed his lips together and stepped down from the arena.

—How could he do that to a woman’s face...

—What a vile man...!

He heard murmurs but didn’t particularly care.

Right now, he needed to recharge more than anything.

“Give me those cheeks!”

“Oh come on...!”

He rushed over and kneaded Chunbong’s cheeks through her veil, becoming at peace with the world once again.

Qi deviation?

In my opinion, if I squeeze Chunbong’s cheeks a few times, I’ll enter nirvana and cure myself.

Qi deviation? Fuck outta here!

As Seojun snickered to himself, Chunbong reached out and forcibly turned his head.

“Stop that and look over there.”

“Why!”

His gaze, forcibly redirected, fell upon one of the arenas. And there she was again—that woman.

“The Three-Headed Witch.”

“What?”

“Oh, it’s just uh, what they call her...”

The woman still had her bamboo hat pulled low, so her face wasn’t fully visible.

But what stood out above all else was a single sword.

“Oh...?”

The sword was larger than the woman herself.

It wasn’t that the woman was small. The sword was just that big.

To be precise, it was long.

The width was similar to a normal sword, but the length of the blade and handle far exceeded the norm, exuding a powerful presence in the woman’s arms.

“What the hell is that?”

“A big sword.”

“I can see that. That’s not why I’m asking.”

When he stared at her, she frowned.

“I don’t know either. It’s also my first time seeing such a deformed sword. It’s not even a demon-slaying blade, should we just call it a greatsword?”

“What? There’s something even Geum Chunbong doesn’t know?”

“What, am I some kind of walking encyclopedia?”

“You’re not?”

“Stop the bullshit.”

In the middle of their banter, the woman’s match had begun.

Her opponent was a man wielding a large axe, charging at her while saying something. Probably some nonsense about her chest?

And then the match ended.

“Oh...”

The woman thrust her long scabbard into the ground, pivoting around it to evade the axe, and while spinning she drove her palm upward, striking the man’s chin.

“Winner, So-so!”

Seojun gave a nod to the match that ended in an instant.

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“She’s a Master?”

“Yeah, she is.”

Chunbong’s eyes sharpened.

“She seems to be from a Noble Clan. Why would she come to a tournament like this?”

“Dunno. It doesn’t matter as long as we win, right?”

She could only sigh as she watched him yawn.

“You’ll get hurt badly if you let your guard down.”

“Let my guard down?”

Seojun grinned.

“I never let my guard down when fighting.”

“As if.”

—Number 125!

It was Chunbong’s number.

She stood up and checked once more that her bamboo hat wasn’t askew.

“Then, see you soon?”

“Yeah, end it quick and come back.”

“I’ll try my best.”

*Chunbong stepped up onto the arena.

She had decided not to use the Blue Cloud Divine Sword in this tournament.

While Mount Hua Sect was considered trustworthy, she still preferred to keep it hidden, just in case.

As a result, her strength was significantly limited.

Even so, she should be able to win in most cases, right?

Now, he was starting to understand.

The difference between martial artists belonging to large organizations and those who weren’t.

While exceptions existed, observing Chunbong and the Three-Headed Witch gave him a clear picture.

They were in a league of their own from the very start.

Forget inner qi or anything like that, the very foundation of their swordsmanship was fundamentally different.

It’s a shame.

This must be why countless martial artists were so desperate to join organizations like the Nine Sects One Union or the Six Noble Clans.

Without heaven-bestowed talent, it was nearly impossible for an ordinary martial artist to surpass them.

Of course, he was an exception, having been blessed with such talent.

“Let’s see...”

Just as he was about to leisurely watch Chunbong’s match—

“Huh?”

The Mount Hua Sect elder who had been quietly observing the matches suddenly widened his eyes. In a flash, he sprang to his feet and leaped towards the arena where Chunbong was.

“What the fuck is that guy doing?”

Time seemed to slow down.

The elder’s hand shot out towards Chunbong—aimed straight for her face.

What was he trying to do?

He didn’t even think about it.

Ring────────

His ears were ringing, his reasoning blurred, and his vision rapidly flickered.

His body moved before his mind could even catch up, inner qi exploding outward as he launched himself forward.

BOOM────────!!!

For a moment, the world went dark. When his vision returned, the elder’s surprised expression came into view.

Seojun’s eyes were bloodshot. His eyes, shining with brilliant golden light, took in everything made of qi.

His hand reached out, aiming for the elder’s wrist.

Just as he was about to seize and hurl the man, something inside him ruptured.

“Kugh...!”

Blood surged up his throat.

The elder’s inner arts had struck his insides.

“You son of a bitch...”

But in the end, inner arts were merely transformed qi.

Seojun’s talent grasped the elder’s technique in an instant.

And instead, he redirected that flow to accelerate his own inner qi even further.

Giant Spirit Divine Art.

His berserk inner qi became a raging tempest. Fragments of qi tore free from the chaotic maelstrom, and while scattering like petals—

“...Still not moving that hand?”

─ghostly, colorless plum blossoms came into full bloom.

1. The joke in Korean is that it can be read as pussy.