Surviving as a Rival in a Martial Arts Novel

Chapter 21 – The Blood Wind of Sacheon Blows Twice (01)

Every time Samae’s blue blade cut through the air, the blood and flesh of the Real Spirits scattered, and those sent flying afterward either had their necks broken or crawled on the ground with broken backs after receiving Bangu’s iron fists.

In its own way, when the situation stabilized, Bangu’s current skills were evident. With calm punches, he subdued the Real Spirits in one strike, and in direct confrontations, he held his ground, placing him among the top-tier martial artists.

‘If I fight Real Spirits here and gain practical experience and achievements, I’ll reach the pinnacle soon.’

Actually reaching the pinnacle required time and opportunity, but it seemed like he could cultivate his skills to a level close to that.

“…”

Samae, thinking that he was constantly missing Real Spirits, occasionally glanced back.

I deliberately used the disturbance water technique to lure Real Spirits in and make them attack Bangu. Explaining this was complicated, and I couldn’t tell Samae why I wanted to strengthen Bangu. For now, I just avoided Samae’s gaze, worrying that Bangu might be in danger…

Thud!

“Ugh…!”

The Real Spirit, who seemed almost 2 meters tall, did not budge even after taking Bangu’s blow.

Although Bangu’s punch clearly decided the match, the opponent was a Real Spirit who didn’t care about his own pain or life.

Crunch.

Gripping the hand buried halfway into his own chest, he stretched his arm, longer than Ban Kyu-Seong’s, trying to grab the latter’s collar.

Even if it meant his own death, he was determined to unravel the fragrance inside Ban Kyu-Seong, precisely, in his stomach.

“Argh!”

As the giant illusionist’s fingers brushed past his chest, a murderous intent began to gleam in Ban Kyu-Seong’s eyes.

“This bastard…!”

With Ban Kyu-Seong’s skill, he could have calmly dodged and broken the assailant’s arm if only he hadn’t been grabbed by the collar. But in this sudden crisis, he lost his cool and charged at the giant illusionist, as if blood rushed to his head.

‘Foolish guy.’

My illusionists, already deployed around, were rushing towards Ban Kyu-Seong. He should have kept his distance and stayed calm, but now, blinded by rage, he was walking right into the trap.

Thump!

In reality, as one illusionist grabbed Ban Kyu-Seong’s shoulder and another circled behind to hold his waist, Ban Kyu-Seong’s face turned pale, realizing he was surrounded.

“Lie down.”

“Ugh!”

Hearing this, Ban Kyu-Seong hurriedly bowed his head before his long hair could fold.

‘At least he listens well, so I’ll spare him this once.’

If he had been caught to the extent that he couldn’t even bow his head, or had ignored my commands and acted recklessly, my Kung Fu would have been the first to smash Ban Kyu-Seong’s skull.

Thump thump thump thump thump!!

One by one, delivering punch after punch, I sent all the illusionists flying into the river outside the harbor.

Simply destroying their bodies could kill the illusionists in about 5 seconds, but in that time, they could still cause damage.

Using my Internal Destruction Technique, I demolished them from within and sent them flying off the battlefield, ensuring they would fall and die on their way back here.

Chembereong!

In one breath, I blew away five real husbands and grabbed the stiff neck of Ban Gyu-sung, who was frozen with half-closed eyes, forcing him to stand up.

“Ah, Yeon-hyung…”

“It’s a life-or-death situation right now. If we get caught, we’ll be torn apart by those guys. But you just went in without even assessing the situation?”

At times like this, you have to give a warning, even poking your fingers in their face.

They have to fully realize what they did wrong so they don’t make the same mistake again.

“I can’t always be chasing after you and taking care of you. Got it?”

“Yeah, I know. I was just momentarily startled.”

Anyway, even if this guy gets caught by the real husbands, his skin is tough enough that he won’t be torn apart easily, but I still don’t want to see him getting beaten up and his clothes torn, looking all disheveled.

“If you hold on a little longer, the real husbands will be done, so don’t let your guard down until the end… Huh?”

As I was trying to check if he got hurt anywhere, a piece of cloth that looked like a bandage gently caught the light, hanging from Ban Gyu-sung’s tattered robe.

‘Where did he get hurt?’

Thump.

When I pressed his chest, thinking that maybe he got hit by the real husbands earlier, and saw him untangling his collar, I was certain that what I saw was not an illusion, but an actual bandage.

“Ban Gyu-sung. You’re hurt…”

“Kieeak!”

“Ouch…!”

That’s when it happened.

The sword of Samae, which was relentlessly cutting through the real husbands like an electric saw, wavered, and the real husbands who couldn’t approach her and were being pushed away regained their momentum and started approaching Samae.

‘Samae? Why all of a sudden…’

Checking the state of the twin, I noticed that they were suddenly withdrawing, breathing heavily as if there were issues with the manipulation of their inner energy.

Observing the twin retreating with a terrified expression, I kicked away the fear that clung to me and moved forward to help them, determined not to let my counterpart succumb to death.

Thud!

Even with just a forceful grip, the sound of air tearing apart could be heard.

Operating the Cheongsim Glass Technique with a polarized approach, my hair began to bleach and shine, not turning completely white like the twin’s, but slightly lightening and taking on a grayish hue, resembling a new moon.

‘How about testing it here?’

It was the modified technique, derived from my master’s Cheongsim Glass Fist Technique.

“Cheongsim Glass Fist Technique Modification No. 2 (淸深喩離拳法 改造 第 二式).”

At the pinnacle, the Cheongsim Glass Sphere emitted a radiance so vivid that it was perceptible not only in senses but also visually.

Although I practiced a martial art based on the Cheongsim Glass Technique, it was a modified technique that I altered according to my own preferences.

‘Originally, he was one who used miscellaneous martial arts until his death, so it shouldn’t be a problem.’

However, my modification of the Cheongsim Glass Technique involved intentionally avoiding the original and randomly learning and incorporating various other martial arts.

Gathering the history of my Cheongsim Glass Sphere shining from my arm like a halo, I thrust my fist forward.

“Cheongcheon Wall-Striking Fist (淸天霹靂拳).”

While the Cheongsim Glass Fist Technique No. 2 was a rapid single strike called Cheongsim Fast Strike (淸深快速打), the martial art I used involved extending my fist into the air, creating a shockwave by swiftly retracting it, as if slicing through the air.

Crack!

‘This is not a sound coming from the mouth. It’s the sound of wind being split.’

My fist darted forward at an invisible, rapid pace, returning to its original position. Except for the twin who had approached me, no one seemed to have noticed that I had extended my fist.

‘No, Ban Gyu-seong… did he notice?’

I only felt a vague atmosphere that I had done something, but it seemed like he, too, as my rival, had recognized the technique I had used with his exceptional talent.

Kuwaahh!!

Unlike the thin sound created when a fist cut through the air just moments ago, a loud roar echoed, and shockwaves spread outward.

The target of my attack was the air.

A thunderbolt, also known as a dry lightning in the clear sky. True to its name, with a loud noise, specters around were hit by the shockwave and bounced away.

Though the power wasn’t overwhelming, using shockwaves for a widespread attack, I could disrupt the specters’ assault, buying time. I pulled back, securing the waist of my twin sister, and safely retrieved her.

“Samae. Are you okay?”

“I’m… okay, Sahaeng. Just a little surprised…”

But looking at Samae’s pale face, I guessed that she had been desperately holding on while facing the specters. I held Samae’s trembling hand.

“From now on, I’ll take the lead. You’ve done well, Samae.”

The situation was already coming to an end.

Hundreds of specters had entered the precincts of Sachwon Temple, memorizing and ingesting poisons, dying instantly. Initially, unmanned beings needed dozens of memorizations to barely kill one, but now, they were figuring out the weaknesses of the specters. By exchanging one specter about five times, the success rate of defense was gradually increasing.

Despite breaking through that, we were heading towards Samae, and after crushing their heads or necks, we subdued them, throwing them into the river where they couldn’t resist and drowned.

“Originally, while Bon Gyu-sung and Han So-so were blocking, other factions couldn’t provide support due to not grasping the situation because of a sudden ambush by Heukwoldang’s controllers manipulated by Yeoncheongha from the rear… but now…”

Now, we engaged in a direct confrontation, simply wiping out the specters.

Sachwon Temple had prepared in advance and with the summoning of two peak-level experts, we were able to capture the specters without any resistance.

“But… isn’t it too easy?”

A sense of unease crept in.

It felt like it wouldn’t end so easily, so effortlessly.

Boom!

The last real marriage was handled by Bang Gyu-sung, and after that, the unmanned at the Sacheondang gate were sitting, their bodies twisted as they maintained their positions.

No fatalities, some minor injuries, but not a significant issue; most were just exhausted from excessive use of internal energy.

“Huuu…”

To think that with my full strength, I couldn’t block the Sacheon Blood Clan that could be easily dealt with by just three top-notch experts was quite strange.

‘It’s too easy, but well…’

The sorcerers of the Black Moon Faction will likely try to awaken the second real marriage, but in the original work, Yeon Cheong-ha tracks them down and thwarts their attempts.

‘If my predictions are correct…’

Han So-soo would have probably attacked and dealt with the sorcerers by now.

She most likely started her activities right after Bokuya and Bang Gyu-sung left.

In the original work, when Yeon Cheong-ha, who initially came to help them, detects a strange smell on her, thinking it’s the scent of the Black Moon Faction, she rushes to the location mentioned by Han So-soo, assassinating and rejoining in that manner.

Given her sensitivity to smells, if she had taken charge herself, there wouldn’t have been a second real marriage attack.

‘The second real marriage they prepared… was it an elite created by brainwashing a recently missing top-class expert in the martial arts world?’

After Jegal Yeon-ji investigates and finds the location where they are buried, the Four Bloods plan their funerals, and the Sacheon Blood Clan episode concludes quietly as they euthanize them.

So, by now, Han So-soo should have arrived, and Bokuya should be saying something like, ‘Your face says it all’…

Thud.

“Kyaa!”

Suddenly, a falling object startles Bang Gyu-sung, who tries to catch it, but my movements, higher than Bang Gyu-sung, are quicker.

Thunk!

I catch the falling lump mid-air and land on the ground. My body is pushed away in mid-air with considerable force.

‘Transcendent Weighted Bead!’

Thud!

Pulling the ground beneath and landing without falling into the river, but it was a struggle to come down.

“Is this… a woman?”

Somehow, the weight felt familiar. Almost like the weight and figure one would feel when embracing a twin, nearly similar in body shape and height…

Bangu-seong, recognizing her clothes, approached me in surprise.

“A soldier!”

Hansoso unexpectedly appeared before us.

With a mask covering his face, tied up with ropes after suffering blood poisoning, he fell in front of us like a sack.

“Hansoso captured? Why?”

Even though the Masked Ghost was already dead, there must be a skilled member of the Heukwoldang threatening Hansoso…

“No way… could it be?”

It was.

A skilled member of the Heukwoldang who, even if all the forces here were combined, couldn’t be guaranteed to deal with.

“Hansoso. Are you okay?”

Bangu-seong, whether to take care of his woman or not, uncovered Hansoso’s mask and checked her body. Despite being unconscious due to blood poisoning, judging by her body condition, she didn’t seem to have suffered major injuries.

She was only gagged, and when Bangu-seong untied it, a bead rolled down from Hansoso’s mouth.

Roll…

From the bead, a strong chemical smell emanated to the point where the nose tingled.