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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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‘He has a ridiculously large amount of internal energy.’
Enough to be considered at least sixty years’ worth by Central Plains standards.
William, baffled by this unexpected disparity, drew aura from his mana core.
Paeng Jeok-san, brimming with internal energy thanks to a childhood of rare herbs and elixirs, declared confidently,
“Let’s see what you’ve got!”
His surging internal energy radiated a fierce, tiger-like aura. A visible, shimmering blade aura, a qi long, extended from his greatsword.
The mark of a peak expert—the manifestation of visible qi.
“Waaaaah!”
“To see blade aura with my own eyes!”
The rare opportunity to witness a peak expert’s blade aura firsthand sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Paeng Jeok-san grinned, basking in the attention, and said to William,
“As expected! Sword Qi! You truly are remarkable!”
‘As expected?’
William tilted his head, puzzled by the remark, but he channeled his own sword qi into his longsword.
While his sword qi was paltry compared to Paeng Jeok-san’s, Paeng Jeok-san didn’t underestimate him.
‘Father said those who borrow the strength of others also borrow their sword qi, so never let your guard down!’
Qi wasn’t a cure-all.
Even if qi was a symbol of power, it consumed a significant amount of internal energy, and the moment the opponent also imbued their weapon with qi, it became a battle of pure skill.
Ultimately, the outcome of a fight depended on honed martial arts.
“Let’s do this!”
Paeng Jeok-san lunged at William like a tiger pouncing on its prey. As the greatsword descended, threatening to cleave William in two, he sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the attack.
A simple, clean movement.
Seizing the moment the greatsword was embedded in the arena floor, William swung his longsword. In an ordinary fight, this would have been the end.
But Paeng Jeok-san chose a drastic method to escape.
Boom!
‘He deliberately detonated his blade aura to escape the attack. What an extravagant move. How frustrating.’
To forcefully inject qi and deliberately detonate one’s blade aura.
William was taken aback by the sheer brute force and abundance of internal energy.
“Huh.”
“Hah!”
The greatsword sliced through the air once more, aiming for William’s waist. William smoothly parried the attack with his longsword.
Sword qi clashed against blade aura, creating a momentary stalemate.
William, as always, angled his sword, deflecting the force.
The rising tip of the greatsword collided with his aura-infused crossguard and stopped. Even Paeng Jeok-san’s monstrous strength couldn’t easily overcome this.
The closer to the base, the more efficient the transfer of power.
“I didn’t expect it to be blocked by the crossguard!”
For the tiny crossguard to withstand his greatsword and maintain its balance was a surprising sight for Paeng Jeok-san.
He had anticipated a clash of blades, not the crossguard blocking his attack. Central Plains weapons weren’t designed with such usage in mind.
‘I need to start applying pressure.’
A prolonged fight would favor Paeng Jeok-san and his immense internal energy.
William’s longsword tilted forward, using the greatsword as a pivot, aiming directly at Paeng Jeok-san.
Startled by the sudden shift in attack, Paeng Jeok-san quickly retreated.
“Your attacks are fierce!”
“I haven’t even started yet.”
William pursued the retreating Paeng Jeok-san, swinging his sword from top to bottom.
A simple downward strike, seemingly devoid of any profound technique or principle.
Paeng Jeok-san, puzzled by the seemingly mundane attack, blocked it with his greatsword.
A faint force traveled through his weapon.
‘There’s almost no power behind it…’
Confusion flickered across his face. He soon understood the reason for his confusion.
William’s longsword, having slid along his greatsword, immediately swung upwards in an upward slash the moment the two weapons separated.
Paeng Jeok-san, burdened by his massive weapon, could only lean back to avoid the attack.
There wasn’t enough time to recover his greatsword and counter.
‘A chain attack. If I’m not careful…’
William’s relentless assault continued. But Paeng Jeok-san couldn’t find an opening to counterattack.
He couldn’t simply overwhelm William with his superior internal energy, as the attacks came relentlessly from all directions—up, down, sideways, pommel strikes, thrusts—a dizzying array of techniques.
Ox. Vom Tag. Pflug. Ox. Vom Tag. Ox. Alber. Ox. Alber. Pflug. Ox. Vom Tag…
Just as he prepared to counter, William would seamlessly transition back to a defensive stance, firmly holding his ground.
Paeng Jeok-san was bewildered.
‘It’s as if he’s wielding his sword just to change stances. It’s an attack, yet not an attack. In some ways, it’s stranger than the Wudang swordsmanship!’
An ordinary martial artist would have been trapped in the endless cycle of longsword techniques, unable to react.
But Paeng Jeok-san wasn’t an ordinary martial artist.
‘This is consuming a lot of energy, but!’
Internal energy erupted from Paeng Jeok-san’s body. A powerful surge of energy. He unleashed a shockwave of qi, forcing William to retreat three steps.
“Brother Wi! You’re amazing!”
“I don’t recall becoming your brother.”
“Let’s just skip that!”
It was Paeng Jeok-san’s turn to attack. He unleashed the first form of the Five Tiger Severing Blade technique.
“Crushing Momentum!”
As if responding to his cry, his blade aura swelled, splitting into three tiger claws.
A troublesome situation—even if one attack was blocked, three more would follow.
Seeing this, William charged forward.
Defend aggressively.
That was the core of longsword swordsmanship.
Instead of blocking the three menacing claws of blade aura, William lowered his body, channeling aura into his feet, and propelled himself forward.
The distance between them closed rapidly. Just as the blade aura was about to strike his head, William’s longsword tangled with the greatsword, pressing against its side.
It seemed like a pointless move, but the unexpected force pushed Paeng Jeok-san’s greatsword off course.
And that meant…
“That hurt!”
…he couldn’t defend against William’s elbow strike to the face.
Paeng Jeok-san stumbled back, spitting blood. He had managed to channel qi to his face in a split-second reaction, but it hadn’t fully mitigated the damage.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been hit like that!”
“You shouldn’t be saying that yet.”
William pressed his attack without giving Paeng Jeok-san a moment to recover.
A relentless barrage of slashes, thrusts, and cuts.
‘The attacks keep coming from unexpected angles…’
He’d block one attack, only for William to spin around his greatsword and slash from a different angle.
He’d think it was a thrust, only for it to morph into a sweeping cut. He tried to create distance, but William stuck to him like glue.
But Paeng Jeok-san wasn’t helpless. He used his footwork and swordsmanship to parry William’s relentless assault.
It was a truly even match.
‘This is fun! So much fun!’
It had been a long time since he’d had such an exhilarating fight. He rarely found opponents his equal among his peers, and even when he did, the fights weren’t this thrilling.
This spar with William was exactly what he needed.
‘A natural-born battle maniac.’
Seeing Paeng Jeok-san’s ferocious grin, just as described in the original story, William sighed inwardly.
Battle maniacs were the most troublesome type to deal with.
But this was the path he had chosen.
He couldn’t complain now.
“I think it’s time to end this.”
“Can’t we go a little longer?”
“Well, everything must come to an end.”
“Haha! That’s true! Tiger’s Roaring Aura!”
Paeng Jeok-san’s qi surged forward, taking the form of a tiger.
Impressed by the almost magical manipulation of qi, William charged towards the tiger.
A seemingly suicidal move—charging straight into a tiger formed of qi.
Every eye in the arena was on William.
Why did he choose to charge instead of retreating or dodging?
How would he overcome this technique?
Some clasped their hands together, some cheered, and some watched with gleaming eyes.
As if responding to their expectations, William began to channel aura throughout his body.
‘A bit crude, but I can withstand this much.’
Following a set sequence honed through experience, the aura began to take the shape of armor around his body.
‘The mana consumption is atrocious.’
But with his internal energy boosted by the Haesoo-oh, he could use it at least once.
Failure meant defeat, but if he didn’t end this quickly, things would only get more troublesome.
‘There’s no need to shout the technique name, right?’
Aura Armor.
The core, and practically the only, enhancement art of the Knight Arts.
The ultimate defense, the pinnacle of protection.
The armor of aura, honed to its limits, shattered the qi tiger and enveloped William as he charged towards Paeng Jeok-san.
A life-or-death crisis.
But Paeng Jeok-san grinned and swung his greatsword.
“This has been a most entertaining match!”
“You’re saying that now?”
Paeng Jeok-san’s greatsword was effortlessly deflected. Simultaneously, William’s longsword reached his neck.
“I yield.”
“The winner of this match is! Wi Lieom!”
The victor of the first match was decided.
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nice