Chung Myung and Tang Gunak faced each other at a distance. Everyone who watched them gulped.

Of course, those who supported Chung Myung struggled to ease their anxiety.

“Sasuk…”

Yoon Jong asked with a trembling voice.

“Lord Tang must be very strong, right?”

“… Yes.”

“How strong?”

Baek Cheon frowned.

How strong?

This was a hard question.

“Within the whole world? I don’t know. But in Sichuan, he must be somewhere among the top three.”

“… I see.”

Yoon Jong’s face went pale.

‘Top three.’

How vast was the land of Sichuan!? In addition, there were some ancient sects in this land, the Qingcheng sect, and the Emei sect. Yet, Tang Gunak would still rank within the top three strongest?

“Can Chung Myung deal with such a person?

“…”

Baek Cheon kept silent.

In fact, the only answer he could give was that he had no idea.

When making measurements, a standard needs to be set on both sides. For example, if Baek Cheon were to measure Yoon Jong’s strength, he would start with the degree of difference between himself and Yoon Jong.

Through that comparison with himself, one could determine where Yoon Jong lies and then use that as a basis to discuss the strength of those similar to Yoon Jong.

But what about Tang Gunak?

‘I don’t even know where to begin.’

Baek Cheon cannot measure the Lord of the Tang family’s power. The only conclusion he could reach is that his strength is immeasurable.

As such, Tang Gunak must be strong.

It was to the point where Baek Cheon was getting goosebumps.

‘But isn’t it the same with Chung Myung?’

Baek Cheon couldn’t compare or measure the strength of Chung Myung. How could he predict the outcome of a battle between two people whose strengths were unknown?

Just…

“Winning doesn’t make sense.”

“I knew it….”

“But if he only needs to hold on for 10 attempts, then it is a different story.”

“…”

Baek Cheon spoke with certainty.

“If it were an ordinary man, he wouldn’t be able to last for even one, let alone ten. But Chung Myung isn’t ordinary.”

Baek Cheon looked at the back of Chung Myung.

‘I should watch without blinking?’

Baek Cheon already knew that.

If Chung Myung had set his mind on it, he could have avoided the fight with Tang Gunak. Sparring wasn’t the only way for him to prove his strength.

But Chung Myung provoked the man to create this situation and asked his sahyungs to observe carefully.

Why?

‘What a fucking bastard!’

Baek Cheon grunted.

What was Mount Hua lacking?

One was strength.

What else?

The most obvious was…

‘Absolute Master’

It wasn’t as though Mount Hua lacked powerful figures to fill its ranks. However, there was just no one in a high position that could make the disciples of Mount Hua look up to them and learn.

Of course, there are Un Geom and Hyun Sang, but they couldn’t describe what an absolute master was like to their disciples. There was no way to make others understand the power of those who entered the realm beyond humans. They needed someone strong enough to be at the absolute mastery level.

So, the disciples of Mount Hua could only guess and imagine such a person. They had been aiming for a level of strength that they couldn’t see or feel.

Now, in front of such disciples, an Absolute Master had appeared.

Baek Cheon bit his lip.

‘Okay. I won’t miss a single thing.’

No matter how accurately he could guess, it was bound to be different when seen in person.

Just by watching this spar, Baek Cheon and Mount Hua’s other disciples could climb higher.

With such thoughts, Baek Cheon clenched his fists.

Tang Gunak frowned upon seeing Chung Myung in front of him.

‘I don’t know.’

When he looked at his face, the child looked like a normal person. Usually, Tang Gunak could tell if the opponent was weaker or stronger than him to some extent when coming face to face.

But with Chung Myung, everything seemed ambiguous and vague.

It seemed empty but also deep, like he was being sucked into an abyss. He seemed like a thoughtless child but gave the sense of a sage too. Tang Gunak was bewildered.

‘Should I say it is bizarre?’

How could there be so many different aspects coming from one person?

This wasn’t simply curiosity. It was something more.

Tang Gunak was curious about what was going inside this child so much that he couldn’t stand it.

It was reminiscent of a time when Tang Gunak was young, and his father had come with a tightly wrapped present. He couldn’t sleep a wink without checking what was inside it.

‘Hmm?’

Tang Gunak noticed his feelings and felt strange.

‘Have I ever been so excited in recent days?’

It was strange.

Bizarre.

Tang Gunak took a deep breath and looked straight at the source of his excitement.

“Ten attempts.”

This wasn’t said to confirm with Chung Myung. It was more akin to Tang Gunak clarifying the purpose for himself. If this man let his excitement carry him away, then Chung Myung was done for.

“If you can last for ten attempts, I will… no, the Tang family will recognize you.”

“What a surprise.”

Chung Myung held out his hand and nodded.

“Let’s begin. No need to get ready.”

Tang Gunak smiled.

“That’s bold.”

If someone else had dared to act like this in front of him, Tang Gunak would never forgive them. But strangely, he didn’t feel that with Chung Myung.

‘It’s not arrogance; is it confidence?’

There was no reason to hate Chung Myung. Confidence comes from skill, and skill comes from hard work.

It was only natural for a warrior that tirelessly worked to improve himself to feel confident.

Wasn’t Chung Myung a hundred times better than his sons, who have been trained by him constantly but still lack the nerve to even look him in the eyes?

“I heard that my son’s dagger technique was broken.”

“Wasn’t that Jo Gul sahyung?”

“… it is the same.”

“Huh? It’s entirely different?”

“… it is nothing special.”

Chung Myung looked at Tang Gunak with strange eyes.

‘Blood doesn’t lie.’

‘That other Tang bastard was pretending to be a serious person on the outside, but once he spoke, he was a fool! Perhaps, this Lord Tang is stupid too.’

“That is why I am going to use the same technique against you.”

“Huh? The one that was already shown once?”

“Do you think it is the same?”

Chung Myung smiled.

“As if that’s possible.”

“You know it well.”

Even if it was the same dagger technique, it would never be the same implementation.

Even if the same sword technique was used, Jo Gul, Baek Cheon, and Chung Myung would each display it differently.

As such, there was no way the daggers and needles-based techniques of the Tang family could be the same.

Because it all came down to skill.

Tang Gunak slid his hand into his sleeve. In his hand, what came out were old-looking throwing daggers.

“…”

Chung Myung looked at the blades in Tang Gunak’s hand.

He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again with a slightly stiff face.

‘Long time no see.’

Willow leaf throwing blade.

“You should think of it as an honor to face these blades. These daggers were the most loved by the one with the most perfect dagger technique in the long history of the Tang family.”

Chung Myung smiled.

‘Well, I think I know about those throwing blades a lot better than you.’

He couldn’t help but know.

Those old, stained blades. Because it was something his dear friend had used.

Soul Chasing Dagger

‘You returned to your family.’

It felt a little strange to see these blades in the hands of Tang Gunak.

Chung Myung let out a low sigh and calmed his mind.

“It is an honor.”

“Honor?”

Kwang!

At that moment, along with a terrifying popping sound, the throwing blades in Tang Gunak’s hand flew like a beam passing through Chung Myung’s face.

Shhh

Grazing past his cheek, a small incision split open, and the small line began to drip fresh blood.

Seeing this, Tang Gunak smiled eerily.

“It is an honor. It will be an honorable death.”

Hearing those words, Chung Myung raised his hand and wiped the blood flowing from his cheek. And then licked the blood on his fingertips.

“Oh.”

And then, with a look of disgust, he shook his hand.

“Tch! Tch! Eh, I lost my appetite.”

He couldn’t seem to get used to the taste of blood.

Chung Myung rubbed the blood onto his clothes and watched Tang Gunak grin.

“One attempt.”

“… what?”

“That was one attack. Now there’s nine left.”

“Huh?”

Tang Gunak looked blankly at Chung Myung.

The dagger he released flew right by his face. He must have clearly seen the blade’s speed and power, so it wouldn’t be strange if he gave up and ran away immediately.

But…

Nine more?

‘I never met someone like him.’

Grunt.

Two of the throwing blades in Tang Gunak’s hand rubbed against each other, creating a grating sound.

“Nine more.”

The cold eyes of Tang Gunak looked at Chung Myung.

“It will be enough to take your life.”

“No. Won’t you regret it though? You already wasted one clumsy move.”

“You….’

“I’ll show you–”

Srng.

Chung Myung unsheathed his sword.

“–why this was a mistake. This sword will show you.”

At the same time, the playfulness disappeared from Chung Myung’s face. His sword was slowly raised and aimed toward Tang Gunak.

As soon as the tip of Chung Myung’s sword pointed at him, Tang Gunak tightened the grip on his dagger.

His face hardened at the unfamiliar feeling that filled his heart.

‘What is this feeling?’

Right.

Fear.

Tang Gunak bit his lip.

He couldn’t comprehend feeling horror from the sword of a child younger than his son.

‘Impossible.’

The emotion disappeared from Tang Gunak’s face.

‘I am Tang Gunak, the Poison King.’

Tang Gunak, whose self-esteem was slightly hurt, began to embrace this situation. He had no intention of taking this lightly.

If the child died because he was unable to stop an attack, then it would be the child’s fault. What was the difference between this child and the many other people he had killed?

But what if Chung Myung succeeded in defending everything?

‘The family will truly receive their first guest in decades.’

A guest who could be acknowledged and treated right.

But…

Crack, crack, crack!

Tang Gunak’s eyes radiated a terrifying flare.

‘That cannot happen!’

At the same time, one of the willow leaf throwing blades in his hand was released once again.

The attack this time wasn’t just a simple threat.

Starting from Tang Gunak’s fingertips, the blade shot toward Chung Myung at speed imperceptible to the human eye.

Kang!

At that moment, Chung Myung gently swung his sword and slapped the dagger willow leaf throwing blade away.

The deflected blade flew across the area and pierced the pillar behind Chung Myung.

At the same time, Tang Gunak’s eyes widened.

‘He slapped it?’

Tang Gunak’s technique was deflected?

‘How?’

The throwing blade he released wasn’t just fast. There was too much strength in it. If someone tried blocking it, the sword would shatter, and the dagger should pierce the swordsman’s throat.

However, without much effort, Chung Myung just swung his sword and changed the dagger’s path.

Could anyone here aside from Tang Gunak understand how difficult such a feat was?

“Probably not…”

A cruel smile rose on Tang Gunak’s lips.

“Looks like I underestimated you too much.”

“I did tell you. You will regret it.”

“Right. And…”

In an instant, Tang Gunak’s sleeves began to swell up. At the same time, a weird flow of qi began to swirl around his body. His internal qi was circulating and brought out in full force.

With that tremendous momentum, the disciples of Mount Hua, who stood behind them, had retreated without realizing it.

Chung Myung flinched and stepped back.

Tang Gunak spread his arms to the left and right.

“From now…”

The Poison King’s anger was directed at Chung Myung.

“I will fight you with all my might.”

“… isn’t that a bit harsh?!”

‘Don’t you know what a joke is? You idiot?’

‘This is nothing like the old Tang family!’