“… we won.”

Baek Cheon opened his mouth as his voice trembled.

They won.

Chung Myung finally defeated Shaolin’s Hae Yeon.

“That damned bastard…”

Baek Cheon bit his lip.

He had to rejoice.

Rush up in joy.

But Baek Cheon couldn’t do it. Because if he opened his mouth to cheer, he was sure he would burst into tears.

He desperately held back his tears as he bit his lip and clutched his clothes.

“Sasuk!”

Even Yoon Jong’s voice was trembling as if they were all going through the same thing.

How heartbroken were they?

Chung Myung had never lost.

That was an unbreakable faith they had in him.

Which was why this was more touching.

Of course, even if Chung Myung were defeated and came back, their faith in him wouldn’t be the least bit broken. However, it was clear that Chung Myung would have a hard time accepting the defeat.

So they were wishing for him to win.

If the knees of the person who is silently carrying Mount Hua broke down, those who would watch it would be the ones suffering the most.

Jo Gul clenched his fist and shouted,

“… he won, sasuk! He won!”

“Right. He won…”

But at that moment, Yu Yiseol, who was quietly looking at the stage, spoke in a calm voice,

“… in a different form than usual.”

“Uh?”

Baek Cheon looked at her, feeling puzzled.

“What do you mean?”

“… that.”

Yu Yiseol’s face also had a subtle change.

“It feels a bit bad.”

“…”

“Uh?”

Baek Cheon turned to the stage again.

N-no?

Looking at Chung Myung with his sword pointed at Hae Yeon, Heo Do Jinin couldn’t take his eyes off the scene.

And it seemed like it wasn’t only him who was surprised.

“… was that the Shining Light of Buddha?”

“Oh my. Even after that was used…”

The sect leaders were unable to speak.

The Shining Light of Buddha was a martial art that was treated as the best defensive technique.

Of course, no matter how talented Hae Yeon was, he wouldn’t be able to use it at his age perfectly, but even so, it was one of the most famous techniques.

And Chung Myung had managed to break through that technique and made his opponent kneel.

“… so there really was another genius.”

“Yes.”

“Even when he was being called the best in the world, I thought it was just exaggerated rumors…. But again, I feel like that title is not right for that child. He needs something more.”

Praises kept coming in.

But Heo Do Jinin could read the emotions hidden behind those words.

Pity.

Shame.

To the Shaolin, who had spent a lot of money preparing for this competition and were now being forced to hand over the glory to Mount Hua.

And the shame felt by those who had been indirectly stabbed in the heart by Chung Myung’s words. To hide that, they complimented him.

‘In the end, people are like this.’

He knew it too.

Since they were the sect leaders of the Nine Great Sects, they knew everything, but there were people of all kinds. Just because they were in a high position didn’t mean that they were some kind of amazing person.

They were just a bit stronger and maybe a bit smarter than the others.

“The result came out a little different from what I expected. The Abbot must be quite shocked.”

“Right.”

Heo Do Jinin looked at the Abbot.

Unsurprisingly, the old monk’s face was stiff to the point that it was readily shown.

‘That’s bound to happen.’

It would have been better to win the finals.

Rather than losing to Mount Hua in the finals, if they had won, the attention would have been on them.

All the glory that Shaolin prepared to give to Hae Yeon will now be going to Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon. This had gone more poorly than they had prepared for.

Furthermore….

‘This will shake Murim.’

Having the title of being the best in the world was not a small thing.

In addition, Mount Hua proved that they were the best sect now through this. The win here would serve as proof of this.

What would happen to the sect which possessed the strongest person?

Even those who were here right now must be planning to attach their ties back to Mount Hua. And if these small snowballs start to roll…

‘The order which the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families represented will come crashing down.’

And this was the price they might pay for the sins of the past.

If Mount Hua had belonged within the Nine Great Sects now, the result of this competition would have been just a simple matter of who was above who within the organization.

But now, Mount Hua is not one of them, and in order to bring Mount Hua back, they would have to expel one clan now.

And who will do that?

Shaolin, which pushed Mount Hua out?

Heo Do Jinin smiled, looking at the Abbot.

‘Abbot. Your insides must be boiling.’

The Abbot’s fists were hiding within his long yellow robe, but he knew that his palms must be bleeding from the clenching.

He couldn’t believe that Chung Myung was pointing his sword at the neck of Hae Yeon.

‘How did this happen? Amitabha.’

Everyone gathered here must be seeing the pride of Shaolin break down. Words would move without even taking a rest. Today’s result will spread through the mouths of people in an instant.

The Abbot’s face was wrinkled up as he kept biting his lip, trying to hold his expression.

‘I need to look fine.’

If he could show composure despite the defeat, the world would still believe that Shaolin still held some power.

For those who were ready to believe in Shaolin, this would give them trust. So, the Abbot released his fist.

What he needed to do was simple.

Praise Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon.

Even a loser had some dignity to protect.

And by acknowledging the existence of Chung Myung and praising him, the position of Shaolin would be seen as one with good spirits.

So the Abbot got up from his seat.

‘First, declare him as the victor and acknowledge the defeat.’

If the plan went wrong, it would take more time to complete the things that needed to be done. But if he could manage it right, then Shaolin would be praised and be able to hold power again.

“This spar…”

It was the moment when the Abbot was ready to declare victory for Chung Myung.

Swish.

Chung Myung pulled back his sword and turned away, making the Abbot feel awkward and go silent.

Declaring victory for someone who was walking away wasn’t right.

Only when he stopped again would he declare the win.

After walking back, Chung Myung looked around and then picked up the sheath of his sword.

Srng!

Then, with the sword placed on his side, he rearranged his robes.

The Abbot nodded.

‘Right, you are the disciple of Mount Hua.’

Although his words and actions were rough, he knew how to end a fair fight.

Chung Myung tidied himself and put his hands together, looking at the Abbot.

Now once he bowed, the Abbot would declare his victory. For the time being, Chung Myung would be the winner and take the glory, but one day…

It was then.

‘Um?’

Chung Myung clasped his hand and glanced at the Abbot.

Actually, this wasn’t unusual. The whole time during the fight, and even before it, Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon showed that he was consciously aware of the Abbot.

Yet, the reason Abbot was a bit shocked was because of the smile on Chung Myung’s face.

‘Smile?’

No, it wasn’t a simple smile.

This was the moment when he won the competition, so the winner smiling wasn’t unusual, but the smile on Chung Myung’s face made the Abbot feel odd.

Chung Myung met Abbot’s eyes and looking at the eyes of Chung Myung turn into a subtle arc, his heart sank.

‘No!’

The Abbot didn’t know what he was trying to do, but it was clear that he was trying to do something.

When that thought arose, the Abbot decided to end this first, but before he could even speak, Chung Myung turned to Hae Yeon and shouted loudly,

“Chung Myung of Mount Hua realizes he is lacking and wants to withdraw from this match.”

The Abbot’s body turned to stone.

Hae Yeon, who was being bowed at, looked at Chung Myung, unable to understand this.

Silence.

An eerie stillness seemed to fall over the hall.

And…

Tak!

Baek Cheon covered his face,

“…he did it.”

And Yu Yiseol mumbled next to him,

“Ugh.”

Yoon Jong and Jo Gul couldn’t even say anything despite opening their mouths.

Baek Sang, who was looking at this from behind, smiled in despair.

“Hehehe…. He has to be this amount of crazy…. A fuckin’ mad man.”

The disciples of Mount Hua were shocked, but it couldn’t be compared to the shock of Abbot.

There were a lot of things going on.

An unbelievable roar came from the mouth of the Abbot.

“W-what are you talking about? Surrender!”

“It is as it is. Surrender.”

Chung Myung waited intently. Then, he spoke in a soulless voice,

“Congratulations. Shaolin comes out as the winner.”

“This…”

The Abbot’s body trembled harshly enough it looked as if he was about to pass out.

A face that had lost its blood and a body that couldn’t stop shaking. And how much strength did he use for his veins to pop up and clearly reveal how much he had aged?

‘Y-You will go to hell….’

Surrender?

Does that make sense!?

Unless one had eyes for decorations, they wouldn’t like this. And, of course, no person here had decorative eyes.

After winning on all levels, he wanted to give up!?

Could there be a situation in the world where a winner acted this ridiculously?

“T-t… this!”

If this news spreads about, Shaolin will turn into a laughingstock.

“This…!”

The body of the Abbot, which wanted to shout, went silent.

“Abbot!”

“Abbot! Get yourself together! Abbot!”

“Ughhhhh!”

The Abbot ended up screaming and coughing up blood onto the ground. The disciples of Shaolin came over in shock.

Chung Myung only smiled at this.

“You are a strange one. Why are you coughing blood?”

And after looking at Hae Yeon and the Abbot, he turned around without hesitation.

Courage?

Maybe.

However, this was no action to bring shame to Shaolin.

‘I just don’t need this.’

The Shaolin planned this competition from start to finish.

The glory from the winner of this should also be something that Shaolin should notarize.

But now, Mount Hua wanted to eat away the glory of Shaolin?

‘Funny.’

No matter what good things there were in this world if Shaolin would provide it, he didn’t want it.

Accepting the honor that Shaolin gave was the same as confirming that the Nine Great Sects were still in power over them.

Chung Myung had no intention of letting that happen.

“Mount Hua will go the way of Mount Hua.”

Of course, it would not be easy.

Maybe it will be a more difficult time than now.

But…

The eyes of Chung Myung turned to the disciples of Mount Hua, who were looking at him.

‘There is nothing that is impossible, right?’

Right?

My sahyung?

-You stone-headed idiot!

I knew you were going to insult me.

Ah.

Chung Myung smiled and walked to the disciples of Mount Hua.

-Good.

The gaze of Chung Myung turned to the sky. The blue sky looked down at him.

Chung Myung, who smiled brightly at this, ran to the other disciples.

The Worldly Martial Arts Competition.

The victory for this went to Shaolin, as everyone had expected.

But…

The ripple effects of this competition began to flow in a different direction.