The moment the alcohol he had avoided all his life touched his face and entered his mouth, a dizzying sensation of breaking a taboo overwhelmed Myeong Jin.
But it only lasted a moment. The pervasive aroma around him and just that single sip of alcohol were enough to make Myeong Jin, who was experiencing it for the first time, completely drunk.
“Hiccup! Truly… incredible!”
Myeong Jin kept exclaiming with a slurred tongue.
“A most magnificent… hiccup! trick indeed!”
“Uh, well….”
Even as he was drunk, Myeong Jin praised Baek Woo Jin’s move and called it brilliant. Seeing him like this made Baek Woo Jin feel as though he had committed some great sin.
“First, get rid of the effects of the alcohol.”
“Hiccup! Then, if you’ll excuse me for just… a moment.”
Myeong Jin sat down in a lotus position. He intended to dispel the alcohol’s effects through a brief session of qi circulation.
It didn’t take long. Before much time had passed, he returned to the same state as when he had first stepped into the arena.
“Thank you for waiting.”
“We would have both been disappointed to end it like that.”
The audience felt the same.
These were people who had stayed at the academy for days and spent money just to watch this final duel. If the match ended in a dull performance, they too would be angry.
“Indeed. This is the most enjoyable duel I’ve ever had.”
Myeong Jin also shared that sense of regret. For the first time, he had the chance to pour all his strength into a match against someone his age, and if he had lost due to being drunk, there would be nothing more frustrating and disappointing.
“So, I’ve decided to change my approach.”
Myeong Jin, who initially intended to reveal everything inside him and engage in a prolonged battle, changed his mind.
Instead of dragging things out with drawn-out tactics, he resolved to display the strongest move he could muster at that moment.
“Hup-!”
With a brief shout, energy began to surge through Myeong Jin’s entire body.
The eyes of Baek Woo Jin who was standing across from him, along with the leaders of the Moorim Alliance, widened in shock.
The energy swirling around him gathered into both hands and formed a distinct shape around them.
The energy that something only “peak masters” possessed was clearly manifested in his two fists.
“Energy… It’s fist energy!”
“Has he already reached the peak master realm?”
“Incredible!”
In the past ten years, only two students had ascended to the peak master level while they were still in their first year.
Ten years ago, after graduating from the Jeongmu Academy, Beom Woo from the Gonryun Sect joined the Moorim Alliance’s Divine Master Division and has since risen to the position of Vice Leader. He was the first.
The second was Dokgo Cheon, a genius from the fallen Dokgo clan, who was currently a third-year student in the Jeongmu Academy and had claimed the title of Divine Dragon at the Dragon and Phoenix Martial Arts Tournament in the past.
It was no surprise that everyone was shocked when a third figure appeared to follow in the footsteps of these two extraordinary individuals.
“I apologize in advance.”
“For what?”
“I’m still not used to handling fist energy, so I might unintentionally injure Young Master Baek more than necessary.”
If Namgong Soo had said this, it would have been dismissed as arrogance, but Myeong Jin had every right to say it.
Sword energy could cut through steel, and fist energy possessed the force to pierce a thick iron plate effortlessly.
It was clear what would happen if such energy struck a human body directly.
“Chaaht!”
Not only was his fist energy unleashed, but the overall activation of his internal energy made his movements even more swift and fluid.
The Vajra Unmoving Steps was pushed to its extreme, and the distance between them was reduced to nearly nothing in an instant.
A streak of light traced through the air.
Just before the fierce fist could drive into his abdomen, Baek Woo Jin’s body suddenly vanished from Myeong Jin’s sight.
“As expected, you’re incredible!”
The sudden movement from a still position only made it seem as if he had disappeared. Myeong Jin immediately spun around and thrust his palm even faster toward Baek Woo Jin who was coming at him with a sword.
“Oh my!”
Baek Woo Jin quickly retreated.
A bitter smile appeared on his face as he saw Myeong Jin, who looked at him with an expression of sheer enjoyment.
The intense exchange continued, where a moment’s carelessness could result in his entire body being shattered.
The excitement of the spectators reached its peak.
With attacks like flashes of light and graceful evasions, the crowd was gripped with anticipation, wondering when an attack would land, or how long the evasions would last. The duel grew more and more heated.
“Myeong Jin, hang in there!”
“Just a little more!”
Before long, everyone was rooting for Myeong Jin’s victory. They wanted to see a peak master with such impressive fist energy triumphantly claim the seat of the Divine Dragon.
In fact, the fight appeared to be evenly matched at first glance. However, as the attacker and defender became clearer, it appeared that Myeong Jin was gaining the upper hand.
However, contrary to what it seemed from the outside, Myeong Jin, who watched Baek Woo Jin dodge his fist attacks by the width of a sheet of paper, couldn’t help but feel both endless admiration and a growing sense of exhaustion.
The amount of internal energy consumed by fist energy was huge. Especially since it hadn’t been long since he’d reached the peak master level. The control of his internal energy was still imperfect, which caused even more rapid depletion.
Because of this, Myeong Jin was quickly becoming exhausted.
But he did not stop.
If I’m getting tired, my opponent must be getting tired too!
In reality, Baek Woo Jin wasn’t in a comfortable position either. His internal energy was abundant, as it was only being used for his footwork, but his physical stamina was nearing its limit.
This was because, ever since he had taken on this body, he hadn’t focused much on physical training.
At this rate, I should still win…
Even so, Baek Woo Jin had already seized the advantage. While his stamina was depleting, Myeong Jin’s internal energy was being drained just a little faster.
If things continued like this, victory would soon be in his grasp.
But that wouldn’t be any fun.
A win like this wouldn’t be satisfying for anyone, himself included.
He had already tested everything he wanted in this duel.
The first was unleashing fire. Known as the Flame Breath, it wasn’t an efficient technique in itself. However, there was one thing that had been confirmed through it.
I can control fire energy.
He could wield fire energy, which was a completely different kind of force from what his body originally possessed.
Of course, to generate that fire energy, he had to swallow either poison or a spirit pill imbued with fire’s essence, and it could only be used at that moment, but Baek Woo Jin was certain it would become a useful technique in the future.
The second thing he tested was the compatibility between himself and Myeong Jin.
Baek Woo Jin’s Drinking Wine cultivation technique was not very compatible with Tang Seon Yeong. To be precise, Tang Seon Yeong was above, and Baek Woo Jin was below.
In order to maintain the intoxication required for the Drinking Wine cultivation technique, the faint fragrance of the aphrodisiac leaking from Tang Seon Yeong’s body easily clouded his judgment.
But here…
The situation with Myeong Jin was the complete opposite. To Myeong Jin, who had no immunity to alcohol, the Drinking Wine cultivation technique could display overwhelming power, becoming something akin to his natural enemy.
Baek Woo Jin, who had been solely focused on evading, finally raised his sword.
Myeong Jin, who had been closing the distance while watching his every movement, froze in shock as he noticed the change in the sword.
“Huh…!”
Before anyone realized it, a silver energy that was clearly visible to the naked eye enveloped his blade.
“Sword energy?!”
“Baek Woo Jin was a peak master too?!”
“Since when can any random dog become a peak master…!”
Two first-year students were both peak masters?!
Myeong Jin who was watching this burst out laughing.
“Hehe…”
He took great pride in having reached this level. He was convinced that no one else in his grade had achieved the same.
But there was someone else who had reached the peak master level just like him. In fact, the other party had climbed slightly higher.
To think his sword energy is that smooth.
While the energy around Myeong Jin’s fist flickered like flames, the sword energy surrounding Baek Woo Jin’s blade flowed smoothly, like a majestic river.
This meant that Baek Woo Jin’s skill in controlling his internal energy was a step above his own.
“Young Master Baek is truly remarkable.”
He spoke with genuine admiration. He thought he had seen everything, yet Baek Woo Jin had hidden something even greater.
“Thank you!”
Myeong Jin was grateful. Even without showing the sword energy, Baek Woo Jin had been more than enough. While Myeong Jin’s physical stamina was slowly waning, his internal energy was depleting at a much faster rate.
Still, the fact that Baek Woo Jin revealed his sword energy was nothing short of a gesture of consideration. He was allowing Myeong Jin to face a match he could fully accept.
“In return for your kindness, Young Master Baek, I too will respond with my best.”
“As you wish.”
There’s a saying: All martial arts under heaven come from Shaolin.
The number of ultimate techniques Shaolin Temple possessed was so vast that even the world acknowledged it.
Among those still passed down today, there were no less than seventy-two. People called them the Seventy-Two Supreme Arts of Shaolin.
Among the most famed fist techniques, there was one that stood above the rest. It was called the Hundred-Step Divine Fist. It was named so for its ability to strike a target from a hundred paces away when mastered to perfection.
While the ability to hit a target from such a distance was impressive, even more impressive was the sheer destructive power the technique possessed.
All the internal energy remaining in Myeong Jin’s body was drawn into his fist.
The distance between him and Baek Woo Jin was roughly one foot. He exploded with the strength of the muscles he had trained since he could first walk and unleashed a powerful punch.
Boom!
The deafening roar, which could hardly be believed to be the sound of mere air being struck, accompanied the fist wind filled with energy as it surged toward Baek Woo Jin.
Baek Woo Jin did not stay still either. In recognition of Myeong Jin, who had maintained excellent form throughout the match, he decided to reveal a hidden technique he had kept in reserve.
In the fantasy world, he had two masters who taught him the way of the sword. One was a sword demon who was obsessed with the raw destructive power of the blade itself. The other was a sword demon who believed that the ultimate sword was one in harmony with the great forces of nature; he dedicated his life to creating a sword style that mirrored nature and engaged in all manner of eccentric practices to achieve this.
“Hooo…”
He exhaled lightly and took a middle stance. He then crouched low as if he was ready to leap forward at any moment with his heels lifting off the ground.
He awakened the remaining fire energy inside him, mixed it with his internal energy, and spread it throughout his entire body.
The sword demon once said that of all the forces of nature he had endured, the most destructive by far was lightning.
He claimed that to replicate the movement of lightning with one’s body, explosive power was essential.
Rumble…
The internal energy that had spread throughout Baek Woo Jin’s body split into hundreds, even thousands, of streams and started crashing into each other. Each collision sent waves of intense pain through his pressure points, and with each burst, his energy surged even more.
The internal energy swirling around his Bubbling Well point clashed all at once.
Boom!
With a loud noise that resembled thunder, Baek Woo Jin’s new form advanced forward like a flash of light.
The sword covered in reddish sword energy soared into the sky.
Crack!
With the sound of thunder echoing once again, his strike came crashing down upon the force of Hundred-Step Divine Fist.
The overwhelming energy of the Hundred-Step Divine Fist, which seemed capable of obliterating everything in its path, split apart in an instant and got shattered into pieces.
By the time the attack was complete, the tip of Baek Woo Jin’s sword was already poised right before Myeong Jin’s chest. It was too fast for the eye to follow.
Myeong Jin swallowed hard before asking Baek Woo Jin,
“May I ask the name of that attack?”
Baek Woo Jin retracted his sword from Myeong Jin’s chest and calmly replied,
“Lightning.”
Myeong Jin forced a smile with a pale face.
“Impressive.”
His body was drained of energy. And so, he lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor of the martial arts stage.
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