Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 20: Clear River Sect (3)

Throughout the duel, Cheongwoon proudly watched the sect leader dominate the arrogant Black Path scum.

Serves that insolent bastard right for running his mouth!

Every time the sect leader swung his sword, harmonizing gentleness and strength, a cool breeze would blow.

This was the Clear Flowing Clear Sky Sword. A secret martial art passed down only to the Sect Leaders of the Clear River Sect through generations.

Someday, I will inherit that sword. Cheongwoon’s eyes burned with determination.

But that guy... didn’t he say he was from the Black Tiger Sect?

How can Black Path scum emit such a pure qi?

The duel between the sect leader and Seojun briefly paused, and until the sect leader sheathed his sword, Cheongwoon had his doubts.

But all those doubts vanished when that bastard suddenly charged at the sect leader even though he had already put away his sword.

“How dare...!”

As Cheongwoon leaned forward ready to rush in, a small figure blocked his path.

“Don’t interfere. This is an important moment.”

“You...”

It was the kid who had been with that arrogant bastard. Unable to raise a hand against a child, Cheongwoon tried reasoning instead.

“Child, look at what that person is doing. Nothing good will come from associating with someone like him. Why not join the Clear River Sect instead? If you work diligently, you could even become a disciple...”

Flinch. Cheongwoon’s body stiffened. A sword was at his throat before he had even noticed.

The kid’s eyes held a chilling light as they looked at him.

“Quite. Just close your mouth and watch.”

Chunbong clicked her tongue and sheathed her sword.

These Orthodox Faction types are just as annoying as ever. There’s not a single good thing about associating with them. And here they are, running their mouths without knowing a damn thing.

Watching the resumed duel, Chunbong found herself smiling without realizing it.

That’s right.

Her spirits lifted seeing Seojun drive back the sect leader as if he had gained some insight.

Sweat had formed on her tightly clenched fists without her noticing.

As she focused closely on their duel without even blinking, Chunbong’s eyes suddenly went wide.

“...Huh?”

A murky, viscous energy enveloped Seojun’s sword.

What is that? I definitely never taught him anything like that.

As the confused Chunbong darted her eyes around, two words fell from Seojun’s lips.

“Primordial Chaos.”

That name suddenly reminded her of something. The Primordial Divine Art. He had said he mixed the Yellow Cloud Divine Art, Blue Cloud Divine Art, and Clear Flowing Sword, but...

There’s not even a trace of those left.

This wasn’t the crude Primordial Divine Art from just this morning, nor some haphazardly mixed martial art, but a proper, complete martial art in its own right.

That was what the Primordial Divine Art looked like to Chunbong’s eyes.

Could it be that...

Someday, perhaps, a martial art truly deserving of being called a divine art will be born?

A fire kindled in her eyes.

*Primordial Chaos.

The first movement of the Primordial Divine Art.

No, to be precise, it was just a technique without a fixed form and could barely be called a movement.

A single technique that would become the foundation and basis for the Primordial Divine Art he would create.

“Watch closely and keep this to yourself.”

Confusion crossed the faces of the dozens of disciples watching, but he paid them no heed.

It was time to get serious, his smile fading away.

“Hah...!”

Seojun swung his sword. The murky sword qi enveloping the blade began to transform.

BOOM!

The sect leader blocked the sword but quickly twisted his body in panic.

Swish—

A thorn of sword qi grazed the sect leader’s cheek.

“Where did you learn such a martial art...!”

The sect leader backstepped, pulling his sword. The qi on his blade intensified, flowing rapidly like a violent river.

Raging Torrent.

He unleashed one of the movements of the Clear Flowing Clear Sky Sword.

Seojun captured all of it with his eyes. All the martial arts he had witnessed thus far. Any moves derived from them would fall within an expected range.

“Huu...”

He inhaled, angling his sword.

Then, like two rivers converging, Seojun gently curved his sword and deflected the sect leader’s blade downward.

“What...!”

The sect leader’s eyes widened. His opening move had been perfectly replicated by his opponent.

But he had no time to be angry at this blatant provocation, for Seojun’s sword had turned blue.

There was a clear distinction between clear and murky, but how could the golden inner qi completely change color?

It defied logic. It defied common sense.

One person cannot use two different cultivation methods.

Why was the Wudang Sect’s Sun Moon Divine Art called a divine art? Because it achieved the miracle of using two cultivation methods with one body.

But how?

Even that Sun Moon Divine Art required one to ascend to the Transcendent Realm to properly use, did it not?

“Try blocking this.”

Seojun’s eyes flashed blue for a split second. Frost formed around his blue-tinged sword.

Goosebumps rose on the sect leader’s arms from the intense yin qi.

Seojun’s sword fell, the sky caught on its tip. The Weight of Mount Tai from the Three Principles Sword Technique.

The sect leader raised his sword with full force to meet it.

BOOM────────!!

A fierce wind blew from the impact of their clashing swords.

The sect leader’s face contorted. His half-frozen hands had lost all feeling.

“What... What sorcery is this...!”

“Sorcery? This is a divine art, you know.”

Seojun pressed down on their locked swords. Clang! Their eyes grew cold as they vied for dominance over their crossed blades.

Then, Seojun’s mouth curved into an unnaturally wide grin.

“Have you adapted yet?”

The frost coating the sect leader’s hands melted away. Somehow, he was resisting the yin qi.

The sect leader’s expression hardened at Seojun’s smile, more befitting an Evil Demonic Master. Though vigilant for Seojun’s next move, what came was beyond his wildest imagination.

Yin-Yang Reversal.

Yin qi transformed into yang qi. The blue sword qi blazed golden and began radiating intense heat.

Sizzle!

“Ugh!”

As his skin burned, he quickly retreated, but Seojun gave chase while firing finger bullets.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

Pew pew pew!

The sect leader frantically swung his sword to block them.

“Impossible...!”

A chilling cold traveled up the sword that had blocked the bullets. They were infused with yin qi.

“The Sun Moon Demonic Art!?”

The demonic art of the Demonic Cult, also known as the Sun Moon Divine Art. Without it, such free manipulation of yin and yang qi would be impossible.

“You’re just naming every martial art you know at this point, huh?”

Seojun somehow closed in right in front of him and gripped his sword tightly.

The sect leader urgently tried to block it, but his movements were too slow, dulled by the penetrating yin and yang qi.

Certain of victory, Seojun grinned and threw his sword to the ground. At the same time, he clenched his right fist.

“Chunbong...! Your big brother won...!”

Thud!

“Guh...!”

The sect leader staggered, clutching his abdomen where Seojun’s fist had struck.

Seojun stood before him, beaming brightly.

“Testing whether I use the Clear Flowing Sword is one thing, but if you’re gonna be rude... you know you’re gonna get hit, right?”

His fist yearned for more.

*“Oh no, Sect Leader...!”

“Sect Leader! Are you alright?!”

“H-Have you ever seen such an utterly despicable bastard! We must kill him immediately!”

The disciples wailed as they saw their sect leader’s eyes swollen and bruised blue.

They seemed to take good care of their sect members, if nothing else. Chunbong glared at Seojun while pouting.

“Hey, you bastard. If you keep hitting people for being rude, you’re gonna get beaten to death someday, you know?”

“Now now, Geum Chunbong. Why are you pretending not to like it when you’re clearly happy?”

Seojun poked her on the side, and the smile she had been hiding behind her pouting lips bloomed across her face.

“W-What! Well... I just wanted you to know that good. I really didn’t think you’d win.”

“Of course I would. Someone was cheering for me, so I had to win, right?”

“There you go again...”

Watching her pretend not to like it while clearly pleased, Seojun chuckled.

The sect leader approached them. After glaring at Seojun for a moment, he sighed and spoke.

“...It’s late, but I am Cheong Muwon, the Thirteenth Sect Leader of the Clear River Sect. I apologize for my prior rudeness.”

“Ah, no hard feelings. We’ve moved past that already.”

After beating him up, he felt much better.

When Seojun smiled and waved his hand dismissively, the sect leader sighed again.

“Huu... That was quite an impressive martial art. Primordial Divine Art, was it? Though I’ve never heard of it, it is truly worthy of being called a divine art.”

“I think so too.”

“Haha... indeed.”

The sect leader let out a bitter laugh as he quietly observed Seojun.

Despite his behavior resembling that of a back alley thug, his qi is pure and righteous. However, the state of mind within that qi was violent and worldly.

He doesn’t seem to be from the Nine Sects, so he must be from a noble clan...

After pondering, the sect leader closed his eyes and asked directly.

“Let me ask you plainly. What sect are you truly from?”

“I dunno.”

“...Very well, if you do not wish to tell me.”

“If you’re that curious, ask that kid. She’s my master after all.”

“What?”

The sect leader’s eyes bulged. Under his glare that looked ready to shoot laser beams, Seojun’s face soured.

“What.”

“Is that any way to speak about your master!? Have you never heard of the phrase, ‘The King, Master, and Father are one body’?!”

The grace of the king, master, and father are one and the same. Basically meaning you should respect your master as highly as your king or father.

I know that much.

As Seojun nodded with a satisfied expression, a vein popped on the sect leader’s temple.

“No matter how young you are, a master is a master! Show proper respect immediately!”

“Eh?”

Seojun’s eyes went wide as he approached Chunbong.

“Um, mommy...?”

“Haah... what am I going to do with this idiot?”

Chunbong held her forehead as she spoke to the sect leader.

“There’s no need to say such things as I am not his master. He’s just someone who jokes about everything, please understand.”

“...But.”

“I. Do. Not. Want. To be called mommy by this bastard, so please kindly understand.”

At her words that were polite yet rude, the sect leader reluctantly nodded.

“...Very well.”

*“...Rest comfortably during your stay.”

“Hey, you sure you’re okay? You seem pretty pissed.”

“...What right does the one who lost have to speak? I was rude first, so I have nothing to say.”

The sect leader called Cheongwoon to attend to them before heading to his quarters with a farewell.

His disappearing back looked extremely tired.

Ah, I had something to ask him.

Guess I’ll have to find him later.

Seojun eyed Cheongwoon while pressing his lips together.

“Um... Hello?”

“...Forget it. Why bother with formalities now? I will show you to the guest room.”

Maybe because his sect leader got beaten up, he seemed in a really bad mood.

Thus, Seojun deployed his social skills honed in modern society.

“Hey, that Clear Flowing Sword or whatever, it was pretty good.”

“The... Y-Young Expert’s martial art was far superior. The Clear Flowing Sword is merely our sect’s basic martial art.”

“Git gud noob, hardstuck blaming own martial art.”

“What does that mean...?”

“Oops. Uh, I just meant the Clear Flowing Sword is a good martial art too.”

I definitely wasn’t saying it because you’re boosted trash.