CHAPTER 136: CHUNBONG (SPRING PHOENIX)

0% As the duel began, Ju Yangil summoned his inner power.

Heavenly Sun Emperor Supreme Fire Divine Art.

Displaying the imperial martial art at its peak, energy wrapped around him as his arrogant gaze looked down upon the Geum Clan heir.

With brilliant radiance like the blazing sun descending to earth, the pressure bearing down on Chunbong’s shoulders was immense.

Chunbong snorted and deployed the Blue Cloud Divine Art.

WOONG-!

Around her body, energy like platinum-white clouds bloomed, deflecting the pressure.

“So you truly are the Geum Clan heir.”

“Shut up, Wang.”

“Does the Geum Clan heir mistake the noble surname of the imperial family?”

“Noble my ass. You’re still milking just one Sword God.”

“That sounds as if the Geum Clan has something beyond the ascended Sword God.”

“How perceptive. Soon enough.”

As Chunbong smirked, Ju Yangil clicked his tongue and spoke.

“Enough. Forfeit and step down. I’m disinclined to raise my hand against lowborn trash.”

“Lowborn...?”

“What authority remains in the Geum Clan, which now exists in name only?”

Flinch—Chunbong’s eyebrows trembled.

Those watching the duel also frowned.

While it wasn’t uncommon to verbally disturb an opponent’s composure before a duel, Ju Yangil’s words seemed excessive.

But this wasn’t something to immediately intervene over.

Martial artists ultimately speak through skill.

If the Geum Clan heir won the duel, she would refute those words directly.

Suppressing the murderous intent that had momentarily surged, Chunbong glared at Ju Yangil as if to kill him.

“...How about you just draw your sword?”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Ju Yangil sneered at Chunbong.

Then suddenly, he shivered from an eerie sensation.

Killing intent?

He looked up at the sky but saw nothing. Was it an illusion? Clicking his tongue, Ju Yangil looked down at Chunbong.

“Not necessary, you say?”

Chunbong stepped boldly toward him.

“Then get hit first, then draw it.”

Platinum-white energy wrapped around Chunbong’s fist. Pushing her front foot forward, she threw a punch.

Ju Yangil swung his hand to deflect it.

CRASH-!

With a booming sound, Ju Yangil’s figure was pushed back two steps. He raised his eyebrows.

“What...”

The Geum Clan’s martial arts were excellent... yes, he acknowledged that.

But she was clearly younger, and after the Geum Clan’s collapse, she couldn’t have received proper support.

Setting other factors aside, the depth of inner power alone should have created a difference in potency.

Yet it was Ju Yangil himself who had been pushed back.

“Interesting.”

Thrusting his body forward again, he extended both hands.

Chunbong snorted.

“Whatever.”

She deployed her Chunbong Divine Art to its fullest.

Chunbong crouched to avoid his double palms, then drove her fist into Ju Yangil’s abdomen.

Even at that moment, Ju Yangil’s gaze was slightly misaligned.

He was seeing an illusion created by the impression of Chunbong’s martial arts that had been etched into his subconscious from their earlier exchange.

Ju Yangil realized only in the split second before the fist connected.

He widened his eyes and twisted his body, but Chunbong, smirking, adjusted the trajectory of her fist and struck his abdomen.

THWACK────────!!

With a satisfying impact, Ju Yangil’s body flew backward.

“Kugh...!”

Tumbling across the ground, he raised his head while clutching his abdomen.

His eyes were bloodshot.

Seeing emotion finally emerge clearly, Chunbong smirked.

“Arrogant bastard. Still not drawing your sword?”

This Chunbong Divine Art is truly an absurd martial technique, isn’t it?

To think such an amazing martial art bears the name Chunbong...

It was absolutely thrilling.

“Cough...! How dare you...”

SHING- Staggering to his feet, Ju Yangil drew his sword. Facing him, Chunbong also drew her sword.

The imperial family and the Geum Clan.

The two families had never gotten along for generations.

They had many similarities, and above all, they shared the symbol of the yellow dragon.

It was said that in the past, when people from the two families met, they would draw their swords before anything else.

Chunbong had received thorough early education in the Geum Clan of the Divine Sword. She instinctively disliked seeing imperial family members.

The same was probably true for him.

Chunbong wanted to see that smug face crumple immediately.

So she took action right away.

With a light step, Chunbong advanced quickly. As the Blue Cloud Divine Art activated, platinum-white sword energy wrapped around her blade.

Ju Yangil ignored his throbbing abdomen and raised his sword with both hands.

The Heavenly Sun Emperor Supreme Fire Divine Art imbued his sword with the heat of the sun.

As Gold Hui approached, he sharpened his qi sense, reflecting on his earlier mistake.

With his qi sense and vision aligned, and in the briefest instant being certain it was not an illusion, Ju Yangil slashed downward.

SWOOSH-!

What he didn’t know was that the founder of the Chunbong Divine Art had an unparalleled talent for manipulating qi, making any attempt to discern the Chunbong Divine Art through qi sense inherently foolish.

WHOOSH────────!!

Flames traced the sword’s trajectory.

But a sword swung without proper sight is worse than not swinging at all.

The sword aimed at a spot slightly misaligned from Chunbong’s position, missing embarrassingly easily. Chunbong tilted her body to dodge, then immediately thrust her sword forward.

Azure Dragon Emerges.

A massive azure dragon opened its jaws toward Ju Yangil.

Belatedly realizing his mistake, Ju Yangil gritted his teeth.

Forcibly twisting his downward strike, he instantaneously changed techniques.

Severing Yang.

A sword thrusting upward as if to split the sun in the sky.

Seeing this, Chunbong grinned wickedly.

“Idiot.”

Did he forget that he was weaker in sword power too?

If he really wanted to win, he should have rolled on the ground to dodge.

CRASH────────!!!

Ju Yangil was sent flying.

With the recoil from forcibly twisting his technique added, blood gushed from his mouth.

He tried repeatedly to stand using his sword as support, but ultimately could only look up at Chunbong while lying face down.

Standing before the squirming Ju Yangil, Chunbong placed her sword at his neck and looked at the referee.

With eyes somehow seeming overwhelmed, the referee watching her shouted loudly:

“The winner... Geum Hui of the Geum Clan of the Divine Sword!”

WOAAAAAAAH────────!!!

Thunderous cheers erupted, as if they might lift Henan off the ground.

Chunbong’s body trembled at those cheers.

She stood in the center of the arena and looked at the audience.

A scene she had once given up on entirely. Yet she had finally made it here.

Thanks to Lee Seojun. Her big brother. With his help.

At last, she could proudly reveal herself.

Though the main tournament of the Dragon Phoenix Tournament had just begun, didn’t they say that beginning is half the battle?

If she could advance to the quarter-finals and earn the title of Phoenix, she would truly have successfully taken the first step in reviving the Geum Clan.

“Ungh...!”

Unable to contain her swelling emotions, Chunbong made a formal bow to everyone.

“The prestige of the Geum Clan of the Divine Sword shall be eternal...!”

Thump! Thump! Her pounding heart made her head burn white-hot.

The corners of her lips rose.

Catching her breath, she shouted:

“...Chunbong of the Geum Clan stands here!”

WOAAAAAAAH──────────!!!

At her passionate cry, the crowd once again erupted in thunderous applause.

Some felt confused, but the crowd’s atmosphere didn’t allow for rational thinking.

Only the members of the Sixteen Great Sects, who watched without mingling with the crowd, felt puzzled.

“Chunbong? Why Chunbong of the Geum Clan?”

“I wonder... I distinctly remember the name being Hui.”

As the cheers subsided and Chunbong became a bit more composed, she realized her mistake.

The crowd had heard the name “Chunbong,” and as the cheers died down, small murmurs reached her ears.

Chunbong’s ear tips turned bright red. But she stood proudly.

She felt no shame in the name Chunbong.

While it wasn’t a name she wanted to be called by others besides her big brother, it wasn’t a name she needed to hide either.

“Hmph... Chunbong. What a lowly name.”

A voice from behind her.

Turning around, she saw Ju Yangil, who had somehow risen to his feet, staring at her.

Chunbong frowned.

“What’s wrong with Chunbong?”

“Isn’t it an absurdly laughable name?”

“The loser talks too much.”

“...I was merely deceived by sorcery.”

“Sorcery is...”

Chunbong hesitated.

Come to think of it, it did seem somewhat like sorcery.

Most of the techniques Lee Seojun used tended to have sorcery-like qualities.

But whining about sorcery after being thoroughly beaten was just unsightly.

“I don’t really want to talk to someone who dropped out as soon as the Dragon Phoenix Tournament began.”

“...Insolent wench.”

RUMBLE───────!!

At the sudden thunder, Ju Yangil briefly looked up at the sky, then clicked his tongue and turned away.

“Well, fine. Next time...”

CRASH────────!!!

An eardrum-shattering explosion.

Through the rising dust, the elders widened their eyes.

“An attack!? In Henan? What madman would...!”

“What happened to Ju Yangil and Geum Hui!”

The elders rushed urgently toward the arena.

The dust cleared at their gesture, and countless people swallowed hard at what was revealed.

“Guh, ack...”

Ju Yangil with his head stomped on.

Standing above him, a man emanated an enormous aura, looking down on everyone.

Not the dignity of a ruler, but an arrogant aura like someone looking down at an insect beneath their feet.

He spoke.

“Spring Phoenix. Your lively sword work is like the spring breeze, so this title suits you well. Among the dragons and phoenixes of this generation, you seem the best—truly the phoenix of phoenixes, Chunbong.”

The imperial guards who had drawn their swords emanated killing intent.

“Step away from the prince immediately!”

The fierce aura they released caused more cracks in the already damaged arena floor.

It was such a fierce aura that ordinary martial artists would have their legs give out in disgrace, but the man scanned his surroundings with a casual expression as if it were a gentle breeze.

The commoners, who stayed put despite their confusion, trusting the martial artists present; the imperial guards surrounding the area; the elders with cold eyes; the Namgung Clan members with strange expressions.

The man looked at them briefly, then turned his gaze to his feet.

Ju Yangil was glaring at him with murderous eyes.

The man covered those fierce eyes with his foot and pressed down, burying Ju Yangil’s head into the ground.

“Kughk...!”

Ju Yangil squirmed under his foot.

“Oops, my mistake. I didn’t realize there was a person there.”

Seojun chuckled and waved to Chunbong.

“Big Brother’s here, Chunbong.”

“...This guy’s completely insane.”

Chunbong’s jaw dropped.

*‘A successor of divine blood still remains?’

In the chaotic arena, a man secretly concealed his presence.

‘I must report this quickly before the plan is disrupted.’

As the man’s eyes turned blood-red, several nearby rats raised their heads.

Squeak squeak-!

Watching the rats scatter quickly, the man raised the corners of his mouth.

‘Soon. Very soon...’

The savior who will purify the Central Plains with blood is coming.