Chapter 53
“I-Is that true?”
“What is?”
“Are you really saying that if I win in a one-on-one duel with you…… you’ll let Ho-yeong live and kill yourself?”
“On top of that, I will overlook the fact that the Noh Family Assassin’s Guild plotted a sinister scheme.”
“I will!”
“……”
“I will. I, Noh Jeong-ju, the leader of the Noh Family Assassin’s Guild, will accept the challenge of Jin So-cheon, the leader of the Dawn Heaven Sect. This is a formal duel between martial artists, so you’ll keep your promise, right?”
Look at this guy.
So……
In short, Noh Jeong-ju is confident and intends to catch two rabbits at once.
He intends to cover up the Noh Family Assassin’s Guild’s mission failure, save his son, and completely block any possible interference from Master Ju, but what bothered me more than anything else was his confident attitude that he would win the duel with me, so I cursed him out.
“You son of a b*tch!”
“???”
“Why don’t you think about when you lose? If you lose, you have to give up all your family’s assets and leave Shaanxi. Besides, I’m going to destroy your dantian and your family’s dantian so you can’t do anything bad anywhere else. But you’re going to accept this? As the head of the family?”
“D-Destroy the dantian? There was no such condition, was there?”
“Shut up. Conditions change.”
“T-This is unreasonable!”
I……
Seeing Noh Jeong-ju’s face turn red with bewilderment, I chuckled and spoke to Master Ju.
“Master. If I want to join the Martial Alliance, can I join?”
“Hehe. If little brother wants to, I can write a letter to the Alliance Leader. Then it’ll be taken care of the very next day, right?”
“Then let’s say that the Dawn Heaven Sect and I become part of the Martial Alliance. The Noh Family Assassin’s Guild tried to assassinate the leader of a sect belonging to the Martial Alliance, and all the circumstances remain. Then what measures will the Martial Alliance take to protect its members and affiliated sects?”
“Well…… I don’t know for sure, but…… wouldn’t it be common sense for the Noh bastards to die? Haha.”
Noh Jeong-ju flinched at Master Ju’s words and his eyes widened like saucers.
I spoke again.
“Jeong-ju. I know that your family is also a member of the Cult of the Evil Path. But will the Cult of the Evil Path go to all-out war with the Martial Alliance just to save a single assassin family? I don’t think so. At best, they’ll pretend to help, send a few weak reinforcements, and take credit, or they’ll issue a formal order to commit suicide. That’s what you evil bastards do. Especially, for assassin families like yours, it’s the principle to use and throw away. Don’t you think so?”
“……”
Noh Jeong-ju’s forehead twitched with anger.
Actually……
There was a considerable fallacy in my words.
Honestly, it’s highly unlikely that I could join the Martial Alliance just because I want to, and would the Martial Alliance, which is in the midst of a confrontation with the Demonic Cult, be crazy enough to care about the affairs of a small sect in the countryside of Chang’an?
However, the reason I came up with such a bluff was to take full advantage of Noh Jeong-ju’s shattered intelligence and Master Ju’s influence.
One of the Three Sovereigns, the grand-uncle of the Wudang Sect’s Heo Won, is threatening him, and his son is being held hostage.
Noh Jeong-ju, whose reason was paralyzed, would have no choice but to accept the offer.
“Fine. I’ll accept the offer. If I lose, I’ll give up the Noh Family Assassin’s Guild’s assets, destroy my family’s dantian, and close down the guild.”
“Don’t forget your promise to leave Shaanxi.”
“You must also keep your promise.”
“A man’s word is worth a thousand gold, you bastard.”
I smiled for now, but……
Seeing the corners of his mouth slowly rising, he must not have imagined that he would lose, and he seems to believe in his own victory without a doubt.
Jeong-ju……
Noh Jeong-ju, you idiot.
They say you can get your foot bitten by the axe you trust, so let’s see if you can still make that face after I strike your foot with lightning.
◈ ◈ ◈
『Calling out to all martial artists of the East. On the full moon of this month, I, Jin So-cheon, the leader of the Dawn Heaven Sect, and Noh Jeong-ju, the leader of the Noh Family Assassin’s Guild, wish to settle a personal grudgeand determine right and wrong. The method will be a duel that transcends life and death, and Master Ju Yeong-cheon of the Wudang Sect will act as a mediator and notary for this duel, so no intervention from any other person besides Jin So-cheon and Noh Jeong-ju is allowed. We hope for the participation of many martial artists from Sanyang and Shaanxi, regardless of their affiliation with the righteous, evil, black, or white paths.
Duel Location: Mount Yeongpung, Jangunbong Peak.
Duel Date: The full moon of this month.
Sincerely, Jin So-cheon, the leader of the Jang’an Dawn Heaven Sect.』
I posted notices like this all over Sanyang.
My hands were short, so I paid a hefty sum to orphans who were struggling at the labor market and had them post notices at every street corner. In short, the scale of this ‘Noh Family Assassin’s Guild incident’ has become incredibly large.
Honestly, I didn’t plan this from the beginning.
If I had visited the Noh Family Assassin’s Guild alone, my approach would have been different from the start.
However, I benefited from a connection that was close to a fortuitous encounter.
Eccentric Daoist Ju Yeong-cheon.
Master Ju, whom even the One Emperor, Three Sovereigns, and Five Kings treat with respect, has an extraordinary influence.
At the very least, if Master Ju is with me, I can smash Noh Jeong-ju’s head without hesitation, and unless the leader of the Cult of the Evil Path comes in person, no one will be able to touch me.
Then it’s right to do what you do best.
I’m good at fighting, so I’m going to fight. I’m going to make the duel known to many people, raise the name of the Dawn Heaven Sect, and make the Noh Family Assassin’s Guild disappear from the martial world.
“Little brother. But, posting these notices…… isn’t that something you didn’t discuss with the Noh guy?”
“Discuss what? It’s my decision.”
“Kekeke. Little brother is so hot-blooded, you know?”
“Anyway, Master, thank you.”
“For what?”
“If it weren’t for you, Master, I wouldn’t have even imagined such a scheme.”
“What were you originally planning to do?”
“I was thinking of extorting this and that from them, and if they didn’t listen, I was going to kill one of them every day, starting with the leader and then the executives.”
“Wow……! That’s even scarier, man.”
“They tried to kill me first, so I think I have the justification, don’t I?”
“That’s right. Sending assassins to another sect is like declaring war.”
“Anyway, it’s reassuring to have you, Master.”
Whew……
I don’t usually flatter people, but……
I’m holding back my nausea and laying the groundwork in case the unpredictable Master Ju abandons me and takes off.
Fortunately,
“Hehehe. Little brother, don’t say that. I’m just a senile old man who can’t resist interesting things. And what can I do for you? You’re the one who’s fighting, and I’m just watching. Right?”
Master Ju seemed to want to see the end of my actions.
“I’ll go train.”
As soon as I finished speaking, I left the inn under the pretext of training.
◈ ◈ ◈
After leaving the inn, I immediately climbed Jangunbong Peak of Mount Yeongpung, the duel location.
I wanted to explore the fighting grounds in advance and thoroughly examine the surrounding terrain, objects, factors caused by the natural environment, external variables, and so on.
After carefully examining every nook and cranny of Jangunbong Peak for about an hour, I closed my eyes and sat cross-legged.
Then I carefully reviewed the duel with Noh Ho-yeong.
Shhhhhhhheeeeeek━.
Noh Ho-yeong’s swordsmanship was based on the typical movements of an assassin.
In other words, it was close to a one-strike, fast sword style, and his reverse grip swordsmanshipstood out, didn’t it?
Anyway, if Noh Ho-yeong’s swordsmanship was like that, it’s obvious that his father, Noh Jeong-ju, will use a similar style.
Of course, it will be faster, sharper, and more precise.
‘Even Noh Ho-yeong had deep internal energy enough to emit sword energy. Noh Jeong-ju’s internal energy must be tremendous.’
When martial artists of similar levels fight……
The one with deeper internal energy has the advantage.
I’ve also recently opened the ‘Thunder’ attribute and improved my internal energy, but Noh Jeong-ju is old, so he must have accumulated at least two Jiazi’s worth of internal energy.
‘Smartly…… Smartly……’
The key to this fight will be the compatibilitybetween Noh Jeong-ju’s martial arts and mine.
Objectively, I’m currently inferior to Noh Jeong-ju in almost every aspect except for ‘speed.’
Then the only way for me to win is to clearly analyze the characteristics of his martial arts and mine and utilize the advantages and disadvantages of compatibility.
“Hooooooooo!”
Even while lost in thought, I continued to breathe in and out using the ‘Nature Meridian’ technique and observed my body.
If I’m lucky enough to get something like the ‘Wind’ attribute……
I could beat Noh Jeong-ju to death, even if he were Noh Jeong-ju’s grandfather.
However, such fortuitous encounters don’t come easily, and in the end, it’s best to build martial arts through effort rather than relying on luck.
So, I just cleared my mind and focused on the imaginary duel with Noh Jeong-ju, stabbing, slashing, and cutting him down.
‘Yeah, when did I ever care about compatibility and stuff……’
Let’s just fight.
If I just fight according to my instincts, well……
Wouldn’t I win somehow?
I…… I really have to win this.
◈ ◈ ◈
Seven days passed.
Meanwhile, I focused on training and sent a letter to Chang’an, briefly mentioning that I would be late.
My disciples wouldn’t worry, but So-yun might, so I took that measure.
And finally, the day of the duel arrived.
Master Ju and I stepped towards the promised location.
I was nervous when I was training, but now that the day of the fight has come, I feel like I want to kick Noh Jeong-ju’s groin with my Iron Leg right away. I guess I’m a crazy bastard too.
“You arrived first, Jeong-ju.”
When I climbed Jangunbong Peak……
Quite a few spectators had gathered besides the people from the Noh Family Assassin’s Guild.
There seemed to be some righteous sects among them, and there seemed to be quite a few evil factions as well. Probably many of them were sent by the Cult of the Evil Path.
“Nice to meet you all. I am Jin So-cheon, the leader of the Dawn Heaven Sect.”
I greeted all the spectators with a slight bow.
Anyway, since I posted the notices and gathered the spectators, they’re my guests in a way.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Bang Il-tae, the leader of the Iljeong Sect.”
“I’ve heard of the Jang’an Dawn Heaven Sect. I heard you’ve been making a name for yourself throughout Shaanxi recently. That’s impressive. I’m Jang Hui-gwon, the leader of the Sanyang Jang Family.”
“I’m Yi Dong-ha, the 17th branch leader of the Yangtze River Waterway Company. Although I’m a member of the Cult of the Evil Path like the Noh Family Assassin’s Guild, I have no intention of interfering in a personal grudge. I look forward to a good duel, Sect Leader.”
The spectators also greeted me in return.
It seems that since Master Ju is acting as a witness and we’re having a formal duel, they’re being polite regardless of whether they belong to the righteous or evil factions.
“Jin So-cheon. What were you thinking, spreading our duel all over Sanyang?”
At that moment.
Noh Jeong-ju glared at me with venomous eyes.
I smirked and replied.
“Today is a monumental day where the leader of a sect and the leader of another sect are having a duel with their sects at stake. Has there ever been such a fair and clean duel in the martial world recently? It’s an honor for an assassin like you to have a duel with the leader of a martial arts sect like me in front of all these guests, so don’t be upset.”
“What?”
Then,
Perhaps because my words were absurd and ridiculous, the spectators burst into laughter.
So at this moment.
Everyone was laughing except for Jeong-ju, who had a gloomy expression.
“Let’s go, Jeong-ju.”