Chapter 23: You Have to Start Off on the Right Foot (2) |
Vol 2 Chapter 23. You Have to Start Off on the Right Foot (2)
Words should not be spoken lightly.
Why, isn't it commonly said?
That one word can repay a debt of a thousand nyang. To rephrase that saying....
"Well.... Let's leave it at this for now."
"......."
It means one wrong word can get you thoroughly fleeced like this.
Jeong Seon stared into the void with blank eyes.
At first, Patrick....
When he said that.
He ended up letting his guard down.
Common sensically, that was the correct statement.
But, you see.
This Daoist who lived in a pure sanctuary did not know.
Originally, real con artists don't deceive with wrong words but misuse correct words to rip off money.
Patrick ripped off the funds the Sect Leader of the Kongtong Sect could operate personally.
And recommendation letters for connections to merchant guilds and escort agencies linked through secular branches.
And trading rights for the smithy that had an exclusive deal with the Kongtong Sect, etc....
He thoroughly ripped off everything he could within the breathtaking limit that Jeong Seon could decide alone.
'How can he fleece me so thoroughly? Anyone would think he's an expert who has fleeced a Kongtong Sect Leader before.'
He is a person with good intuition.
"Ah, we survived. With this, we won't have to worry about the sect's finances for a while."
Detestable. Truly detestable.
If only he could drop a single bolt of lightning on that human's crown, he would be fine being called a horse-nose Daoist for the rest of his life.
But unfortunately, he did not have such divine power.
"Since we're done with business, you should go now."
"You mean for me to leave?"
"Why? Do you have more left to give?"
"......."
Is this really an Orthodox Faction?
Could it be that a Unorthodox Faction more evil than the Blood Saber Sect has taken root?
"Ahem, still, since you came all this way, how can we send you off immediately? We haven't even treated the guest...."
Still, hearing the Sect Leader's common-sense opinion, it seems they are indeed Orthodox.
But there was a human who couldn't stand to see this.
"Ei, you got a cup of tea and even viewed another sect's precious Divine Item, what guest treatment is there here?"
"At least a meal...."
"Oho, you're going to get a free meal here too? If you act so shamelessly, you'll hear the sound of a horse-nose."
"No, that is...."
"Does the Sect Leader want the Sect Leader of the Kongtong Sect to hear the sound of a horse-nose? Do you?"
"Not.... good. Of course."
"Right? So I will send him off. I will see him off properly myself, so don't worry."
"......."
Only worry fills the mind.
But Patrick pushed the backs of Jeong Seon and Mun Yul and went out of the sect before Go Seok-hyeon could stop him.
Watching that blankly, Go Seok-hyeon spoke to Persona.
"Is this okay?"
"Usually, it's not okay."
"Then even now...."
"But you see, my Master's specialty is that. Making things that aren't okay, okay."
"......."
"Ah, the opposite is also possible."
Only a sigh came out.
***
Patrick saw Jeong Seon and Yun Gi off.
No, in fact, to call it seeing them off, he came out quite far.
He went beyond the Twin Dragon Sect, out of Tianshui County, and followed them to a deep mountain path where people rarely passed.
'Is he planning to follow us all the way to the Kongtong Sect like this?'
Around the time Yun Gi was thinking that, Patrick spoke.
"Well, I think this is about enough?"
"Thank you for seeing us o...."
Before Yun Gi could finish his sentence, Patrick spoke nonchalantly.
"You step out a bit. You tactless punk."
"I must say a word, just how is your etiquette...."
"Step aside to the side."
"M.... Master?"
Yun Gi was flustered.
He didn't expect his Master to suddenly say words like that dissolute man here.
Yun Gi, feeling even a sense of betrayal, turned his head to see his Master with a solemn expression.
Jeong Seon looked at Patrick in that state and said, "You are quick-witted."
"Hahaha, that is just one of my many strengths."
"......."
"Well, thinking with common sense, the reason you came here is ultimately because you got interested in me, isn't it? Isn't that right?"
"That is true."
"But you see. How can you make a proper evaluation just by looking? You have to cut open a watermelon to know the inside, and a martial artist...."
"One knows by crossing swords."
"Keuu, that's exactly it."
Smiles formed on both Patrick and Jeong Seon's faces.
"Actually, this was the original purpose, right? Then in the middle, seeing the World Tree, your heart was stolen and you got sidetracked for a moment...."
"Thanks to that, the loss is immense."
"Thanks to that, it is very lucrative."
"......."
"Anyway, it would be very regrettable to leave just like this. So...."
Patrick gestured with a smile and said, "Come on in."
"......."
"I'll teach you a thing or two?"
Then Jeong Seon smiled back and said,
"I am starting to like you for the first time."
***
A mountain path on the outskirts of the village with few people.
There, the Sect Leader of the Kongtong Sect and Patrick confronted each other.
Patrick drew the Black and White Twin Dragon Swords first.
The moment he saw the black and white blades revealing themselves with a ‘Schwing—’ sound, Jeong Seon admired them unconsciously.
"A famous sword under the heavens."
"You know how to look at swords."
Even a layman could tell at a glance that Patrick's Black and White Twin Dragon Swords were famous swords.
The sword Jeong Seon possessed was also a famous sword forged from refined steel by a master artisan, but it was lacking compared to the Black and White Twin Dragon Swords.
"Ah, surely you aren't laying the groundwork to blame the weapon after you lose, right?"
"Do not worry about that."
And the moment Jeong Seon held his sword in front of his chest....
Paaat!
Sharp momentum extended from his whole body.
In that state, Jeong Seon looked straight at Patrick and said,
"Because I will win."
"Good spirit. Then shall we...."
"Let us begin."
As soon as the word 'gin' ended from the Sect Leader's mouth, Patrick's body vibrated slightly and trembled.
But that was all.
There was no other change.
However, Jeong Seon urgently twisted his body and set his sword towards the left.
Kwaaaang!
An attack flying from a blind spot following a peak ‘Form-Shifting Position Change’.
But Jeong Seon responded to that attack.
'Hooo.... He's really quite something?'
Patrick was slightly surprised.
People who have seen through his 'Form-Shifting Position Change' were few enough to count on one hand until now.
At least in the Kongtong Sect during the time of Radiant Dragon Great Master Jin Cheon, there was no one who could see through Patrick's 'Form-Shifting Position Change'.
In that sense....
"The ancestors of the Kongtong Sect would be proud."
Patrick gave a rare sincere blessing.
Since he saw through Radiant Dragon Great Master Jin Cheon's peak 'Form-Shifting Position Change' for the first time in the Kongtong Sect, this is a brilliant achievement. However....
"Do not underestimate the Kongtong Sect too much!"
Patrick's praise only ignited Jeong Seon's fighting spirit instead.
[ Demon Subduing Sword Art: Starlight Falling Demon ]
In an instant, a cluster of lights like starlight at dawn twinkled at the tip of Jeong Seon's sword.
At the same time, that star cluster flew towards Patrick.
"Hmm...."
Not a fast attack.
But the intent contained in that attack was unusual.
An attack that seemed to say 'dodge if you can'.
If one dodges such an attack, it becomes like providing the opponent a stepping stone for the next move. So....
'Break it head-on.'
The Black and White Twin Dragon Swords moved dazzlingly in Patrick's hands.
[ Radiant Dragon Twelve Sword Forms: First Form: Black and White Twin Dragons Dance ]
The two twin swords became a black dragon and a white dragon and moved as if dancing. Those complex and dazzling trajectories cleared away every bit of the star cluster unleashed by the opponent.
Peopeopeopeopeng!
A flashy explosion like fireworks bursting in broad daylight.
At that, Patrick's expression stiffened slightly.
'It has more power than I thought?'
The tingling sensation in his wrist was quite something. On top of that....
"The mental calculation is also quite...."
Swiiiik!
Patrick lowered his head.
Then Jeong Seon's sword passed by, cutting a few strands of his hair.
He blinded Patrick's eyes with the sword technique just now and in that gap, he narrowed the distance and attacked from a blind spot.
It was an excellent linked attack that utilized even the flashiness of the technique practically.
What was most surprising was that the penetrating movement was chillingly smooth.
Truly the peak of ‘Flowing Clouds and Moving Water’.
It unfolded more perfectly than the masters of the previous generation Kongtong Sect whom Patrick remembered.
"Good."
Patrick, whose excitement rose, ran forward as he was, stepped on the tree in front of his eyes, and kicked off in the opposite direction.
[ Radiant Dragon Twelve Sword Forms: Third Form: Flashing Dragon Strike ]
The moment Patrick's body turned into a single streak of flash.
Jeong Seon opened his eyes wide.
'This is that very....'
Before coming to Tianshui County, he had read the records about the Radiant Dragon Great Master remaining in the sect.
A refreshing single strike charging at the enemy becoming a streak of flash in the state of Sword Unification.
That this is exactly the technique that is like the symbol of the Radiant Dragon Great Master.
Pop!
The flash pierced through the air and narrowly grazed Jeong Seon's body. And appearing a considerable distance away, Patrick looked at Jeong Seon and said,
"Quite something. I thought you would block it, but I didn't expect you to know how to deflect it."
Should I call it arrogant?
It is proper to be angry as an elder of the Jianghu at those words spoken by a young man not even half his age as if looking down arrogantly. However....
'Haha, to think it is a joy....'
Jeong Seon had to desperately press down the corners of his mouth that were trying to rise unconsciously the moment he was acknowledged by Patrick.
Leaving aside age, seniority, and the position of the Kongtong Sect Leader, as a martial artist to a martial artist, he could not help but acknowledge it already.
The opponent is by no means below him.
How could he not be happy to be acknowledged by such a master?
However, Jeong Seon consciously managed his expression calmly, mindful of the disciple watching from afar, and said,
"The principle that the soft can overcome the hard is not the sole property of Wudang."
"Wudang does have a tendency like that. Those guys talk as if only they know how to do such things whenever they get the chance."
"I cannot deny that it is not so."
Jeong Seon said so and chuckled, then took a sword stance and said,
"Our sect's martial arts do not obsess over a single group. Strength, Speed, Flexibility, Illusion, Change. We accept all groups of this world and merely devise various means to unfold those groups."
From Jeong Seon speaking like that, an intense pride in the Kongtong Sect could be felt.
It is different from other sects that concentrate on only one martial study to pursue the ultimate principle.
From long ago, the Kongtong Sect took these three martial arts—Sword, Saber, and Fist—as their main force and studied them simultaneously.
Is that why?
In the other Nine Sects One Gang, they were sometimes implicitly treated as a spineless hodgepodge.
But the Kongtong Sect says.
The form of martial study is merely a means, not the end.
The real goal is how much one can realize the true meaning of the group deep within.
So they say.
'Well, actually, in my view, it's a pointless debate like the chicken or the egg, but anyway.'
What is certain is that in the Kongtong Sect of Radiant Dragon Great Master Jin Cheon's days, there was no one who reached the same state as the current Jeong Seon.
He doesn't know the level of the Sect Leaders of the other Nine Sects One Gang now, so he can't compare with other sects. However....
"I acknowledge that you are a master who counts on one hand among the successive Sect Leaders of the Kongtong Sect."
"...Thank yo...."
"But it is regrettable."
"......."
"Still, you are no match for me."
Having said that, Patrick moved again without waiting for Jeong Seon's answer.
'Right.'
Jeong Seon swung his sword immediately in the direction Patrick moved. However....
"It's left."
A voice heard from a direction completely different from what he saw.
With a chilling sensation, Jeong Seon abruptly twisted his body and set his sword towards the side where the voice was heard.
Kwaaang!
"Kueuk...."
As a result of receiving the opponent's attack in a state of insufficient preparation, Jeong Seon stumbled and retreated three steps back.
And the moment he barely planted both feet on the ground, Patrick was already swinging his sword right in front of his eyes.
"Try blocking this."
Radiant Dragon Twelve Sword Forms: Ninth Form: Splitting Light Single Annihilation
The White Dragon Sword held in Patrick's left hand scattered countless rays of light.
"Kuk...."
Jeong Seon, not daring to block each one individually, deployed his movement technique to the peak and dodged Patrick's attack.
If he deployed ‘Flowing Clouds and Moving Water’ to the peak, unless it was the Tang Clan's ‘Ten Thousand Streams Flower Rain’ , he could dodge most attacks. However....
Poke....
At first, he thought it was a coincidence. But....
Poke, poke poke poke... poke poke poke poke....
Patrick's White Dragon Sword stabbed as if lightly touching his skin and then retracted.
He wasn't just piercing through him who was deploying movement technique to the peak, but just stabbing as if lightly touching only the skin and retrieving the sword.
This means the opponent has completely captured him.
"N... Nonsense."
"Wake up. A strong one is coming."
Patrick said a word to the astonished Jeong Seon.
And the Black Dragon Sword's single strike followed.
Huuuung!
Slow.
Unlike the left-hand sword that was rapid as if light rays were splitting, the right-hand sword is slow, too slow.
Naturally, Jeong Seon tried to swing his sword to strike that attack away. However....
Kwaaaaaang!
"Keook!"
The moment he faced the sword, Jeong Seon flew away with a terrifying impact.
Jeong Seon rolled on the ground several times before stopping.
'N... Nonsense.'
What kind of immense strength is this?
The moment he faced the sword, he flew away as if he became a scarecrow made of straw.
Towards him making a face of disbelief, the opponent nodded and said,
"Quite something. Still, you didn't drop your sword."
"......."
"Excellent."
Arrogance is no different from before.
But his position, having to accept that arrogance, had completely changed.
'The arrogant one was me.'
The opponent was not a master of the same rank as him.
He was a supreme master on a level far higher, one he dared not even guess.