Martial Arts Ain't Anything Special-Chapter 43: Plum Blossoms (1)

“My bad, I apologize. But seriously, they’re huge.”

“Hehe, you’re quite amusing. I think so too.”

The woman made a casual fist-palm salute.

Surprised by the unexpected response, Seojun awkwardly returned the gesture.

“Uh... yes.”

“How can you say such things and then get flustered, Young Expert?”

“Um... good point.”

As he scratched his head, the woman smiled gently and bowed.

“Fufu, anyways. I called out because I saw a familiar face. You’re also participating in the martial arts tournament, no?”

“Oh, yeah. We are.”

Seojun subtly stepped back and pushed Chunbong forward.

Theoretically speaking... she’s an invincible shield.

Anyone with a human heart couldn’t possibly harbor ill intentions with my Geum Chunbong in front.

The trade-off was receiving Chunbong’s sharp glares, but it wasn’t a bad deal.

“Oh my, I’ve been wanting to greet you. Hello there.”

“Ah, hello.”

Chunbong awkwardly returned the greeting as Seojun whispered in her ear.

“As someone who’s part of the Geum Chunbong is the cutest in the world camp, she’s probably not a bad person?”

“Please stop saying bullshit.”

Chunbong sharply replied but made an awkward fist-palm salute with a forced smile.

“Well, we’re a bit busy, so we should get going now.”

“Oh my, I’ve been keeping some busy people for too long.”

The woman let out a small laugh and waved her hand gently.

“Say hello if we meet again, okay?”

“Sure.”

After giving a quick reply and escaping, Seojun wiped his forehead once they were far enough from the woman.

“Phew, you held back well, Lee Seojun.”

“What did you hold back? Hm? Did you want to grope those huge tits?”

“No! Wait Geum Chunbong, where did you learn to talk like that!?”

“Don’t change the subject!”

She glared at him sharply.

Seojun scratched his head and chuckled awkwardly.

“I prefer petite chests.”

“That... Oh fuck, my head hurts.”

Chunbong smacked her forehead, clicking her tongue.

“Fine, but don’t do anything crazy like that again. What’s with the lack of manners?”

“Sorry, sorry. I swear I didn’t mean to. It’s just, I’m surprised every time I see them y’know?”

What the hell? It’s not like she’s Cerberus or something.

If that woman had a title, wouldn’t it be something like Three-Headed Witch?

“Ugh...”

He shuddered and trembled.

Chunbong looked at him strangely.

“Has a woman hurt you badly in the past?”

“Huh?”

“You weirdo. I heard most men like big breasts.”

“Now now. I only need my Chunbong.”

Seojun picked up Chunbong and gave her a piggyback ride.

Pat pat—somehow, he felt satisfaction from Chunbong’s hands tapping his head.

“Alright, I get it. Let’s go, Lee Seojun.”

“Yes~”

*The woman who had been quietly observing the two as they left, let out a deep breath.

“Mhm, who could they be?”

There weren’t many martial artists of her generation who could deceive her eyes.

But those two...

Even her eyes couldn’t easily penetrate them, and while they were clearly from one of the Nine Sects or Noble Clans, she had never heard of them before.

Especially the man.

She had some sense of the cute girl’s realm, but she couldn’t get a read on the man at all.

It was like gazing into an endless abyss or beholding the untouched nature.

“Well, we’ll meet again soon enough.”

The woman chuckled and turned away.

*According to the news, a total of 128 people had passed the preliminaries.

The main tournament would probably be in a tournament format as well, so one would need to win seven matches to claim victory.

“Since it’s once a day... if you win, does that mean you’ll be fighting non-stop for a week?”

“That’s right.”

Chunbong sipped her tea, swaying side to side.

Is this what they call Chunbong-gazing?

Time flew by just blankly staring at her like you would a fire.

“The main tournament is next week too, right? Why can’t they just do it right away?”

“Mount Hua Sect needs time to prepare too. It’s better to wait a bit than rush and mess things up, right?”

“Well... that’s true.”

Hmm. Seojun nodded and picked up the teacup in front of him.

What kind of tea was this again?

He couldn’t remember the name, but it was quite expensive.

Sip—

After taking a sip, it just tasted like any ordinary tea.

I want coffee, I wonder if they sell it?

Of course, they probably wouldn’t.

Considering that friendly Mount Hua Sect martial artist from the first day knew about pizza, it might be possible, but...

It seemed that despite surprisingly many people knowing English, Western culture hadn’t really been adopted much.

Well, it wasn’t really his business anyway.

—Hey, did you hear about that?

Seojun, who had been Chunbong-gazing, tuned into the nearby conversation out of boredom.

“I heard Tyrannical Blade Dam Je-il is participating in this martial arts tournament.”

“What? Tyrannical Blade? Who’s that?”

“Man, you’re a terrible listener!”

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

Hearing a familiar name, Seojun leaned his body more in that direction.

“Haven’t you heard the rumor about Dam Je-il single-handedly fighting off an Unorthodox Faction group to save women?”

“Oh, ohh. That one! I heard that story.”

“You see, that very Dam Je-il has entered this martial arts tournament.”

“Oh ho. That is interesting.”

That old man fought off an Unorthodox Faction group alone?

Seojun recalled the Black Serpent martial artists he had met before.

He’d probably get his ass kicked.

If Dam Je-il and that man who seemed to be their leader fought, Dam Je-il’s head would probably fall within ten moves being exchanged.

“But I heard that Dam Je-il was eliminated in the preliminaries, you know?”

“Oh! So all that talk about the Unorthodox Faction group was just baseless rumors!”

“That’s also hard to say, you see. I heard his opponent ended all their matches in a single move.”

“Isn’t that just another rumor?”

“A friend of my friend apparently saw that match in person.”

“So it’s true?”

Seojun smirked after hearing all that.

“Hey, Miss Geum. You hear that?”

“Mmph?”

Munch munch, Chunbong was chewing with her mouth full of food she had ordered again.

This hamster brat.

Seojun was tempted to pinch those cheeks but held back and slumped down.

“Never mind, it’s nothing.”

“Tell me, what is it!?”

“Blah blah blah.”

Not telling.

*They played to their heart’s content for a week.

After playing during the day and training at night while Chunbong was asleep, he didn’t feel tired at all.

He was in peak condition.

“Very good~”

He hummed as he checked his sword one last time.

“Hmm.”

Not bad.

Despite its age, the sword had remained impervious to deterioration since he had attained First-Rate.

It felt more like he had been cutting with sword qi rather than the sword itself.

Sword Rend. You could say it was the realm where one could harm people through sword qi alone.

“Hey! We’ll be late! Hurry up!”

Chunbong, her face completely hidden by a bamboo hat and face veil, stomped her feet impatiently.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Seojun stood up.

The feeling of the crisp new martial arts uniform was satisfying.

To set the mood, he had also bought a matching bamboo hat with Chunbong, and its black paint made him feel like a martial arts master.

“MUGONG Master Lee Seojun, taking off!”

Finally, the main tournament.

*The first thing he felt upon arriving at the main tournament venue was that these Mount Hua Sect bastards had a fuck ton of money.

“Wow, this is sick.”

It was like looking at some kind of Colosseum.

There were several large arenas in the center, with seats densely packed around them.

Though there wasn’t enough seating for all spectators and many people were standing to watch behind the seats, it was still impressive.

Seojun showed his token with 78 written on it and entered. As he looked around, people in blue robes guided him.

“You may wait here.”

“Okay.”

After chatting with Chunbong sitting next to him for about ten minutes, someone climbed onto the arena accompanied by murmurs from the crowd.

“Welcome, everyone. I am Woonjak, a Second Generation Disciple of Mount Hua.”

His voice, imbued with inner qi, spread crisp and clear to the far reaches.

Recognizing the familiar face, Seojun poked Chunbong on the side.

“It’s that guy from before. The one who scolded you.”

“You’re one to talk for getting scolded twice.”

“I was stopping a fight!”

“Whatever.”

Chunbong sneered. He immediately got revenge by pinching her cheeks.

“To begin, we are honored to welcome Elder Jongin, who will grace us with his presence today.”

It felt like some kind of opening ceremony.

Seojun carefully observed the person introduced as the Mount Hua Sect elder.

He could sense the flow of qi leisurely circling around him.

It didn’t seem intentional, but rather the qi was drawn to his presence and naturally swirled around him.

Is this the Transcendent Realm?

Just looking at him made his hair stand on end.

As Seojun unconsciously licked his lips, their eyes met.

“...”

Why’s he looking at me like that? Does he find something unpleasant?

He slightly furrowed his brow, and the elder looked away.

When he pressed his lips together in disappointment, Chunbong poked him from the side.

“What are you doing?”

“A staring contest?”

“With who?”

“That elder over there.”

Chunbong’s jaw dropped.

“...Are you fucking insane? He’s letting it slide because he’s a Mount Hua Sect Daoist, but if you do that to someone with a nasty temper, you’ll get stabbed.”

“Ah, that would be bad.”

Seojun chuckled.

Meanwhile, Woonjak’s voice continued in a low tone.

“With your permission, I shall have the privilege of commencing today’s tournament.”

Shwing—

The soft sound of a sword being drawn rippled across the venue.

In that instant, that insignificant noise silenced the entire arena.

At the center of the stillness, Woonjak began to swing his sword with deliberate precision.

Slowly at first.

The speed of the sword leisurely cutting through the air gradually increased.

Swish—

When he thought the sunlight scattering from Woonjak’s swinging sword looked like flower petals, people suddenly started murmuring as they smelled a strong floral scent.

“Indeed that is...”

“This is Mount Hua...?”

While they smelled the fragrance, Seojun saw the flow of qi.

The inner qi flowing roughly like a wildfire within Woonjak scattered like flower petals, unable to resist that flow.

“Wow...!”

“Could that be...!”

Red flower petals danced in the wind.

The sword’s tip guided the scattered fragments of qi, and then, with fluid strokes, the sword painted countless flower buds in the air.

Whoosh!

And thus, the plum blossoms bloomed.

The flower buds drawn by the sword tip embroidered the air and finally blossomed into pale red flowers, leaving the audience in awe.

“The Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique...!”

The gorgeously bloomed flowers scattered into petals once more, bringing it to an end.

He had captured an entire life, and the life cycle of plum blossoms, in a mere sword technique.

Seojun silently watched Woonjak from among the cheering crowd, observing the sword dancing brilliantly, the fluttering petals, and the blooming plum blossoms.

Standing there was not a swordsman, but a plum blossom tree.

So this is Mount Hua.

It was amazing. For such a feat to be possible with the sword...

But on the other hand, he felt a bit disappointed.

If it were me, I could make it bloom even more beautifully.

I might not be able to replicate that incredibly intricate swordsmanship, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t make plum blossoms bloom.

“Chunbong.”

“Yeah?”

“If I copy that, will Mount Hua Sect come bash my head in?”