Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 113 – The Final Gate (4)

At the moment when Mok Gyeong-un was pushed back, his ribs and chest were struck by Mu Jang-yak’s secret technique.

-Swoosh!

“Ha!”

In an instant, exclamations of astonishment erupted from the spectators’ seats beside the platform where the duel was being observed.

And they were not alone.

Even the other cadets waiting for their turn to duel couldn’t help but be amazed by the scene unfolding before their eyes.

‘…So this is what it meant.’

Mok Yu-cheon clicked his tongue as he watched Mok Gyeong-un being pushed back.

He had only one chance to gauge Mu Jang-yak’s martial prowess, and that moment came to mind.

[Are you perhaps left-handed?]

[Who knows.]

At the time, he had been puzzled by that ambiguous response for a moment before forgetting about it.

However, after witnessing the Right Fist, Left Palm technique, each employing different techniques, it made sense.

This was not a method anyone could casually attempt.

‘Impressive.’

Mok Yu-cheon was genuinely amazed.

If one could wield different martial arts with each hand, it meant they could perform the work of two people alone.

Since it wasn’t being executed by two individuals in the first place, it could become even more precise.

Of course, the very act of pulling it off was difficult, as it required splitting one’s thoughts.

In any case, witnessing this aspect of Mu Jang-yak’s potential, Mok Yu-cheon’s heart raced with excitement, even giving him goosebumps.

-Thump! Thump! Thump!

Indeed, the world was vast.

To think such a monster existed among his peers.

‘I was nothing more than a frog in a well, after all.’

Coming here and having his eyes opened didn’t mean he could afford to be complacent.

Mok Yu-cheon clicked his tongue as he looked at Mok Gyeong-un.

It seemed he had truly met his match.

‘It’s futile.’

Even if he had mastered a unique technique, this duel was meant to demonstrate one’s martial prowess, plain and simple.

The reason for his sudden improvement remained unknown, but the opponent was too formidable.

Mu Jang-yak could genuinely be called a true genius.

-Bam!

Now, it appeared Mu Jang-yak was about to end it.

As he unleashed his Right Fist, Left Palm technique, even Mok Yu-cheon felt at a loss as to how he would counter it if he were in Mok Gyeong-un’s place.

At the moment, other than creating distance…

‘!?’

Mok Yu-cheon’s eyes widened in that instant.

-Pow!

He was so astonished that he sprang up from his seat.

‘This is insane…’

For a moment, he doubted his own eyes.

Mok Gyeong-un was employing different martial arts techniques with each hand, just like Mu Jang-yak.

With his right hand, he executed sword techniques, and with his left hand, he wielded fist techniques.

‘…Is this possible?’

He wasn’t just clumsily imitating; he was genuinely displaying proper techniques.

Mok Yu-cheon couldn’t help but be shocked by this sight.

He was confident that the bizarre method of using different techniques with each hand, like Mu Jang-yak, couldn’t be easily replicated even by supreme masters, so what on earth was happening?

‘It can’t be.’

Even seeing it, he couldn’t believe it.

How could one imitate it after seeing it just once?

He wasn’t the only one surprised.

“…Ha!”

Hang Yeo-ryang of the Summoning Sound Valley let out an astonished gasp, her eyes narrowing.

She had already judged that the outcome was completely tilted in Mu Jang-yak’s favor upon witnessing his Right Fist, Left Palm technique.

However, something entirely unexpected had occurred.

‘He’s imitating that?’

Wielding different martial arts techniques with each hand.

It was a method that, contrary to the idea, was difficult to execute in practice.

If it were easy, countless martial artists would already be employing different martial arts with each hand.

‘…The true genius was someone else, I see.’

She had considered Mu Jang-yak a rarely seen genius after witnessing his Right Fist, Left Palm technique.

But now, that thought had changed in an instant.

If Mok Gyeong-un had truly made Mu Jang-yak’s technique his own in a flash after seeing it just once, then she might be witnessing a tremendous genius that appears only once every few centuries.

-Swoosh!

Hang Yeo-ryang glanced at Shadow Master.

Shadow Master also appeared greatly astonished, his mouth slightly agape, unable to take his eyes off Mok Gyeong-un.

Who wouldn’t be amazed upon seeing this?

At this, her eyes sparkled strangely.

In the bet, she had already practically lost.

However, that no longer mattered.

‘Mok Gyeong-un…’

Originally, she had no interest in the male students and had come only with the intention of taking Mo Ha-rang of the Demon Fire Hall.

But now, that thought had completely changed.

Letting go of such immense talent was out of the question.

‘Could this ultimately be a good thing?’

Since she had lost the bet, she could use that as a pretext to concede the Demon Fire Hall’s woman to Shadow Master and take this monstrous fellow instead, which would be far more advantageous.

As this was happening, the tide of the battle noticeably shifted.

-Bam bam bam!

“Ugh!”

The sword techniques executed by Mok Gyeong-un’s right hand struck the acupoints of Mu Jang-yak’s left chest—the Six Roots[1], Sun and Moon (Il-wol), and the Small Sea acupoint (Sohae point) on his left arm—causing Mu Jang-yak’s body to stagger and be pushed to the side.

‘The variations in the sword techniques are too intense.’

While the fist techniques wielded by his left hand were simple and sturdy, making them easy to block, the sword techniques executed by his right hand were diverse in their variations, causing Mu Jang-yak to miss three moves.

‘This monstrous guy!’

Mu Jang-yak was genuinely dumbfounded.

He had initially thought that Mok Gyeong-un’s Right Fist, Left Palm technique might be a temporary strategy to catch him off guard.

After all, wielding different techniques with each hand required not only splitting one’s thoughts but also a special qi circulation method, which Mok Gyeong-un couldn’t have possibly mastered.

However,

-Bam bam bam bam bam!

The techniques Mok Gyeong-un displayed with both hands were by no means empty moves.

He was truly executing different techniques.

‘At this rate, I’ll lose.’

Mu Jang-yak, sensing the unfavorable situation, attempted to create distance.

His mind was becoming too scattered.

Normally, when employing the Right Fist, Left Palm technique, the opponent would become flustered and fail to respond to both techniques simultaneously, but with Mok Gyeong-un also wielding the Right Fist, Left Palm, the exchange of techniques had grown complicated.

‘It’s dizzying.’

Even Mu Jang-yak, the originator, felt dizzy.

Thus,

-Tap tap tap tap tap!

Mu Jang-yak utilized the lightness skill to try and create as much distance from Mok Gyeong-un as possible.

However, Mok Gyeong-un wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

“Where are you going?”

-Bam!

Mok Gyeong-un unleashed his body towards Mu Jang-yak without hesitation.

‘Tsk.’

Realizing it was futile, Mu Jang-yak gathered qi in the soles of his feet and stomped on the ground with his toes.

-Boom!

-Crack!

The ground of the plaza shattered, and rock fragments shot upwards.

The fragments, infused with qi, became dozens of small projectiles flying towards Mok Gyeong-un.

Naturally, he had no choice but to evade them.

However, in that fleeting moment,

-Swoosh!

Mok Gyeong-un bent his knees backward and leaned his waist back, sliding across the ground as if to avoid the fragments.

‘No way?’

How did he think to dodge by lowering his posture backward like that?

His waist and leg strength were no joke.

While it was impressive to evade in such an acrobatic manner, dodging like this would inevitably create a critical opening.

‘Foolish. You’ve made a mistake!’

-Bam!

Not missing this chance, Mu Jang-yak twisted his body, leaping forward, and attempted to strike Mok Gyeong-un’s abdomen with a vicious palm strike.

It was at that very instant.

-Bam bam bam bam bam!

“Urghh!”

Mu Jang-yak had thought that in this posture, Mok Gyeong-un would have a blind spot and be unable to respond immediately.

However, the moment he was about to deliver the palm strike, Mok Gyeong-un’s body, which was almost lying down backward, spun sideways, repeatedly striking Mu Jang-yak’s jaw with foot techniques.

‘H-how in this posture?’

-Thud!

Unable to contain his shock, Mu Jang-yak fell backward.

“Phew.”

Mok Gyeong-un got up and looked at the fallen Mu Jang-yak.

It seemed that having been hit in the jaw and face consecutively, his brain had been shaken, causing him to lose consciousness.

‘The 5th move of the Profound Mystic Foot Technique, the Whirlwind Kick[2]… quite useful.’

It wasn’t a technique meant to be used in this way, but when the posture was unbalanced, employing it could effectively draw out the opponent’s carelessness.

Cheong-ryeong’s martial arts were indeed worthy of being called supreme.

At that moment, Cheong-ryeong’s voice reached Mok Gyeong-un’s ears.

-You must have been quite eager to end it quickly.

‘…’

-You think I wouldn’t know? You added more power to the last move, didn’t you?

‘Ah, I’ve been caught.’

Mok Gyeong-un scratched his head.

The original plan was to determine the victor using only techniques within the Peak Realm.

However, while executing the Whirlwind Kick, he had increased the power he typically used from 20% to 30% in the final move.

‘Well, isn’t this still enough?’

He hadn’t done anything that would expose his true abilities.

Most of the leaders beside the platform were supreme masters of the Transcendent Realm, so to avoid revealing his actual strength to them, he had limited his power to 20% during the fight.

Moreover, there were several instances where Mok Gyeong-un had noticed openings in Mu Jang-yak’s defense but had let them slide.

-Don’t let your guard down. If the crowd realizes that you’ve already reached the Transcendent Realm, they will go beyond recognizing your talent and start to be wary of you.

‘Yes, yes. I’ll keep that in mind.’

Wasn’t that why he was controlling his strength?

Otherwise, Mu Jang-yak would have been lying on the ground long ago.

Controlling his power while fighting seemed to have been the right decision.

‘Thanks to that, I learned something interesting.’

As Mok Gyeong-un reached the Transcendent Realm, he could see the opponent’s qi more clearly.

Although not in great detail, he could roughly discern how Mu Jang-yak’s qi circulation was structured.

Interestingly, Mu Jang-yak’s lower danjeon was divided into two.

It could be considered a unique form, which likely allowed him to execute different techniques with one body.

Mok Gyeong-un applied this by drawing out some of the death qi from his middle danjeon to wield different techniques.

‘It’s quite useful.’

If utilized well, it seemed convenient when fighting opponents of similar levels.

In any case, had he achieved his objective to this extent?

The goal in the final gate was to impress upon the observing leaders that he possessed exceptional talent while only displaying the Peak Realm.

‘This should be sufficient, right?’

Of course, Mok Gyeong-un’s intentions were conveyed.

He had firmly imprinted his talent in the minds of the observing leaders.

However, beyond that, a small confrontation was unfolding among the leaders on the platform.

“Brother Son. It seems I’ll have to take that Mok Gyeong-un kid as my disciple.”

At the words of Won Byeong-hak, the Thunderbolt Fist King, Son Yun, the Bright Blade King, raised an eyebrow and replied.

“…What are you saying? Didn’t you just say you had chosen the child from the Esoteric Realm Gate?”

“I said I was considering it. But… no. Let me be honest. If I miss out on that child in today’s closing ceremony, I feel like I’ll regret it for a while.”

“Is it acceptable for someone who has received the title of ‘King’ to speak with a forked tongue?”

“Hah. I said I had the child from the Esoteric Realm Gate in mind. When did I ever definitively state that I would take that child no matter what? And respectable brother Son, you already have many excellent disciples, so why are you being greedy here?”

“Greedy? Did you just accuse me of being greedy?”

“If this isn’t greed, then what is it?”

Before they knew it, the atmosphere between them had become quite hostile.

‘Oh my…’

Lee Ji-yeom, the Corpse Blood Valley Master, felt perplexed. He needed to announce the end of the first duel, but the sudden confrontation between these two kings made it difficult.