The semifinals of the martial arts competition began.

The four martial artists who made it to the semifinals were already guaranteed prizes.

Because of that, the level of these four warriors was high, and the audience’s expectations grew accordingly.

After all, how often did they get to witness the peak-level experts battling right in front of them?

If they were to see something like this again, it would likely be a life-or-death situation.

“I will call the names! Park Dae-woong! And Lee Seo-jun!”

By the time it’s the semifinals, they finally start calling names, huh?

Seo-jun leisurely made his way up to the stage.

Once again, he didn’t get a chance to face Namgung Sua.

Meeting in the finals, huh…

Maybe there’s a bit of manipulation going on.

A lackluster final would be pretty underwhelming.

Seo-jun glanced briefly at Jong-in, who was sitting up high, looking down at the stage, and clicked his tongue.

Whether it was because he’d heard about how cunning this man was, Seo-jun couldn’t help but feel that if anyone could manipulate the tournament, it’d be him.

The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he got.

Who just jumps onto the stage during a martial arts match anyway?

And how much of a connection does he really think he has with the legendary divine sword?

“Haaa…”

With a sigh, Seo-jun turned his gaze to his opponent.

Park Dae-woong. Just like his name suggested, the man looked like a bear.

He looked like the type who’d instantly take up a leading role if he became a bandit.

He could definitely be considered a bandit-specialized elite talent.

Of course, judging someone by their appearance wasn’t right, but whatever, that’s just how it was.

Who’s going to argue with me for making a judgment?

“Lee Seo-jun, good luck…!”

Chun-bong stood on her seat, waving her arms enthusiastically.

Seo-jun waved back, placing his hand on the sword at his waist.

His opponent, meanwhile, lifted a heavy saber that looked like something a bandit would wield.

‘Isn’t he a bandit, though?’

As he blankly wondered,

“Begin!”

At the judge’s declaration, Park Dae-woong charged forward.

“Hrrraaaah!”

With a strange shout, Park Dae-woong rushed forward in an instant, bringing his saber down in a powerful swing.

However, Seo-jun stood unmoving, seemingly caught off guard.

But in that very moment—

──────────!!

With a blinding flash, Park Dae-woong’s saber was knocked sharply upward.

“Gah…!”

Park Dae-woong’s eyes shifted to Seo-jun’s hand.

A broken sword.

At some point, Seo-jun had drawn his half-sword, which shimmered with a dull light.

“Oh.”

Looks like taking him down in one strike won’t be easy in the semifinals, huh?

Seo-jun casually raised his left hand, pressing his thumb against his forefinger.

Pew! Pew!

Shocked by the sudden attack, Park Dae-woong hastily rolled away.

“Waaaaaah──────!!” “Well done, Guangarang!”

Park Dae-woong’s face flushed bright red.

Rolling on the ground to avoid an attack was often ridiculed among martial artists.

The shame of it brought bloodshot rage to his eyes.

“I’ll kill you!”

“Wait, he’s the one who rolled, and now he’s angry…?”

Yeah, that’s about what you’d expect from the average martial artist.

I’ve been spending too much time with Chun-bong and getting used to these softer emotions.

Seo-jun subtly glanced toward Namgung Sua.

She had shown something in her match, so now it was his turn to show something in return, to keep things fair.

‘Now, let’s see….’

With so many martial arts techniques under his belt, it was getting hard to choose.

‘The half-sword technique… Ah.’

Since he already had the half-sword in his hand, when else would he get a better chance to use it?

Plus, didn’t he boast to Wang Daesan that he’d slice someone up with the Wang Family Sword Technique?

“Just stand still.”

“You…!”

As Park Dae-woong charged again, the blue aura around his saber flickered before it ignited like a flame.

Blade Flame. One of those cheap techniques that enhanced a saber’s destructive power with fire energy.

Seo-jun calmly coated his half-sword with a golden sword aura.

It wasn’t the Hwangun Shingong but the internal energy of the Wang Family Sword Technique.

Using the Hwangun Shingong in such a public place wasn’t really something he wanted to do unless absolutely necessary.

Swish!

As Park Dae-woong’s saber came down, Seo-jun twisted his waist, gripping the sword with both hands, and slashed upward.

Swish────────

A golden trail cut a clean line through the air.

Park Dae-woong’s saber was sliced cleanly in half, and Seo-jun’s half-sword stopped just short of his chin.

Gulp… As Park Dae-woong swallowed,

“Take care now.”

Whack!

Seo-jun smacked Park Dae-woong’s temple with the flat of his blade.

“Who yells at people like that?”

As Seo-jun sheathed his sword, the judge shouted.

“The victor! Lee Seo-jun!”

Waaaaaah──────!!

The crowd roared.

Seo-jun raised both hands for a brief moment, acknowledging their cheers before swiftly stepping off the stage.

“Ball! Quickly, the ball! Urgent!”

“What? What are you talking about?!”

“Before I enter qi deviation! Hurry!”

“Qi deviation…?! Here, here!”

Squeeze squeeze

The sensation was satisfying.

With a content smile, Seo-jun sat back in his chair.

Naturally, the next match would be Namgung Sua’s.

When someone tells you what happens, it’s a spoiler, but watching it yourself is analysis.

Seo-jun stared intently at Namgung Sua as she stepped onto the stage.

“Alright, let’s see what you’ve got.”

What will she show this time?

It wasn’t much.

Namgung Sua swung her greatsword, lightning struck, and her opponent collapsed with a single blow.

But the implications were significant.

“She’s… stronger than I thought.”

At that level, wasn’t she almost at the peak of even the highest realms?

Narrowing his eyes, Seo-jun stared at Namgung Sua standing on the stage.

Mid-twenties? Early twenties?

It was hard to tell.

After all, once you reached a certain level in martial arts, it had an anti-aging effect, so judging by appearance alone was almost impossible.

“Hey, hey. She’s coming this way.”

Chun-bong nudged Seo-jun’s arm.

Seo-jun looked up and saw that Namgung Sua was indeed approaching them.

Stopping in front of him, she smiled and bent down to meet his eyes.

“What do you think? Still confident?”

“Uh… Yeah.”

Seo-jun scratched his cheek and subtly shifted his chair back to create some distance.

“By the way…”

“Yes?”

“How old are you?”

“Oh my.”

Namgung Sua covered her mouth with her hand, smiling softly.

“Starting to get interested, are you?”

“Hmm…”

How should he respond to that?

He glanced over at Chun-bong for help, but she was too busy glaring at Namgung Sua to notice.

With no help forthcoming, Seo-jun rolled his eyes awkwardly as Namgung Sua spoke again.

“I’m twenty-seven.”

“Oh, you’re pretty old.”

“…Excuse me?”

Namgung Sua’s eyes twitched ever so slightly.

In hindsight, it seemed like a pretty rude comment.

Seo-jun quickly stood up, scooping Chun-bong up under his arm.

“Ah, sorry about that!”

With a quick bow, Seo-jun dashed away.

“Phew.”

As Seo-jun sighed in relief, Chun-bong, still dangling under his arm, poked her head out.

“Hey.”

“Huh?”

“Are you scared of women, or do you just dislike them?”

“I like women.”

“Bull. Whatever.”

With a huff, Chun-bong tapped Seo-jun’s waist.

Seo-jun lowered her to the ground, and she started stomping off ahead.

Her hair, swaying with every step, caught his eye.

Is she not planning on cutting her hair?

Compared to when I first met her, it feels like it’s almost twice as long now.

“Hey.”

“What?”

As Seo-jun absentmindedly stared at her swaying hair, Chun-bong, without even turning her head, asked,

“You’re going to win tomorrow, right?”

“I’ll win.”

At Seo-jun’s confident response, Chun-bong stopped in her tracks and turned around.

“Pfft… What was that?”

“Winning is winning. What else would you call it?”

“Well, you’ve got a point.”

Chun-bong laughed.

When Chun-bong laughs, it makes me feel good.

In the martial world, they say you should always keep thirty percent of your power hidden.

In other words, you should only reveal seventy percent of your full strength.

Why? Because martial artists inevitably get entangled in grudges, and if you show all your cards, someone might calculate your weakness and stab you in the back.

But if you keep thirty percent hidden, you can flip the tables and stick a sword in their gut.

Of course, if they’re stronger than your hidden power, it than your hidden power, it doesn’t matter. You’ll lose anyway. And in that case, it’s just a matter of skill.

“Today’s the day.”

But Seo-jun had no intention of holding anything back.

Hide thirty percent of his strength? He might as well cut off his pride while he’s at it.

Rather than hide thirty percent of his power, he figured he could just become thirty percent stronger after the moment passed.

Isn’t that the right way to go about it?

Actually, now that I think about it, it might be a bit harder than I thought.

But in any case, Seo-jun was confident.

“Aah, I swore I wouldn’t draw this again…”

The Seo-jun of tomorrow will be stronger than the Seo-jun of today.

Naturally, the Seo-jun of next week will be ridiculously strong.

You could call it self-renewal.

So today, he would use all his power to crush Namgung Sua.

Because that’s what a martial competition is all about.

Nodding to himself, Seo-jun drew his half-sword from his waist.

“Cry, Hellslayer…, half-sword.”

“Hey! Lee Seo-jun! Stop messing around and get over here! We’re going to be late!”

“Yes, yes. I’m coming.”

Finally, it was time for the finals.

“Today, we have two young martial artists who will light the future of the martial world. On behalf of the Huashan Sect, I declare the beginning of this match…”

Since it was the finals, Elder Jong-in personally stepped forward to make a speech.

Seo-jun quickly tuned him out and instead listened to the whispers around him.

“Is Elder Jong-in the same Jong-in who performed the Ten Thousand Demons Slay?”

“Is there another Jong-in besides him?”

“Well, it’s surprising. He seems so gentle, but they say he’s beheaded countless demons.”

“Hmph. You must not be from Huaeum. The masters of Huashan don’t just sit and meditate. They also sharpen their swords.”

Not just meditate, but also sharpen their blades, huh.

As the speech dragged on, Seo-jun passed the time by playing with Chun-bong’s cheeks, until finally, Jong-in finished his long-winded speech and declared the start of the match.

“Now, let the match begin! Namgung Sua! Lee Seo-jun! Step forward!”

Even though he was using a pseudonym, Jong-in blatantly called him by his real name.

What an annoying old man.

“Tsk.”

Seo-jun clicked his tongue and got to his feet, but Chun-bong grabbed his sleeve.

He looked at her curiously, and she grabbed both his hands, pressing them firmly against her cheeks.

“Win for me. You have to avenge me, alright?”

This…!

Seo-jun was taken aback.

The rare and precious sight of Chun-bong being affectionate!

His dopamine levels skyrocketed.

If they were to test him for doping right now, it would definitely come back positive.

“If I lose today, I’ll really become Chun-bong’s little brother.”

No matter what, I’m going to win.