Chapter 75
The martial arts tournament for the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader was just three days away. Upon arriving in Hangzhou, the Ten Clans of Zhejiang arranged their own accommodations and prepared for the martial arts tournament. Since participation wasn’t mandatory, they first had to submit an application to participate in it. Otherwise, they could choose to drop out.
After tabulating the application submissions, the Clear Sun Sect and the Kang Household had been confirmed to have dropped out of the competition. The others chose to join. The eight patriarchs drew lots to determine the tournament brackets.
The tournament brackets were as followed:
The first match was between the Baek Sword Sect’s Baek Cheon-Sang and the Draconic Tiger Gang’s Yong Gun-Seong, followed by the Byeok Sword Manor’s Byeok Cheol-Gun and Flying Lance Sect’s Jo Jin-Myeong. The third match was between the Wind Saber Sect’s Tae Mu-Gang and the Iron Palm Sect’s Dam Hwa-Seong, and the fourth was between the Justice Martial Sect’s Jeong Won-Hyo and the Mei Household’s Mei Jung-Hak.
In the midst of that, a magnificent arena was set up in the middle of downtown Hangzhou. A high platform was placed to the left of it, and hundreds of seats were prepared on the remaining three sides. It had been prepared free of charge by the Hangzhou Merchant Company in exchange for taking all the profits from the ticket sales for the tournament.
The promotions for the martial arts tournament started a month ago, so the public had considerable interest in it. That led to a surge in ticket prices. If the tickets were sold out, it would be more than enough to offset the cost of installing the arena. The Hangzhou Merchant Company’s anticipation was right on the mark. Despite the expensive price, the tickets were sold out in less than an hour since they began selling them. It was solid proof of how high the interest in the martial arts tournament was.
The Hangzhou Merchant Company earned 1,000 silver nyang in ticket sales after deducting the costs of the arena’s installation. It was an insignificant amount compared to the profits they usually earned, but it was better than making losses. They also sought profits in other ways to profit anyway. They started a gambling event to bet on the martial arts tournament’s champion. In reaction to that, many people placed bets.
An overwhelming amount of money was placed on the Byeok Sword Manor’s Byeok Cheol-Gun, which served as proof of how high his chances of winning were. The second and third places with the highest bets were the Wind Saber Sect’s Tae Mu-Gang and the Iron Palm Sect’s Dam Hwa-Seong. Very few people bet on Baek Cheon-Sang. When Baek Mu-Gun heard that a gambling event was being held to guess the final winner of the martial arts tournament, he immediately went and placed his bets, as he thought that it was basically a jackpot up for grabs.
Mu-Gun betted 10,000 silver nyang, the maximum amount he could bet, all on Cheon-Sang. If Cheon-Sang won, Mu-Gun would earn 100,000 silver nyang—which was tenfold his bet. Mu-Gun was confident that the Baek Sword Sect patriarch would win the tournament.
With the tournament bracket of the martial arts tournament finalized, Mu-Gun began to work behind the scenes to win over the support of the other clans. Won-Hyo and Jin-Myeong also actively engaged in persuading the other clans. Won-Hyo went to persuade Yong Gun-Seong, the Draconic Tiger Sect’s patriarch, and Jin-Myeong went to persuade Kang Won-Hee, the Kang Household’s patriarch.
Both the Draconic Tiger Gang and the Kang Household supported the Wind Saber Sect, but objectively speaking, it was highly unlikely for the Wind Saber Sect to beat the Byeok Sword Manor and become the Zhejiang Martial Alliance’s leader. Even if Mu-Gang defeated Cheol-Gun and emerged victorious in the martial arts tournament, it would be difficult to win over the majority support of the Ten Clans of Zhejiang.
Won-Hyo and Jin-Myeong suggested that they support the Baek Sword Sect since the Wind Saber Sect was unlikely to become the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader anyway, which was an absurd proposal in Gun-Seong and Won-Hee’s perspective. In their opinion, the Baek Sword Sect had even lower chances of becoming the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader compared to the Wind Saber Sect. Won-Hyo and Jin-Myeong emphasized that the Baek Sword Sect should become the alliance leader for the Zhejiang Martial Alliance’s development, explaining that the Baek Sword Sect had improved their sect’s martial arts. The Baek Sword Sect didn’t spare any efforts in supporting the improvement of their martial arts either.
Gun-Seong and Won-Hee couldn’t easily bring themselves to believe what the two said. The Baek Sword Sect they knew of was not capable of doing that. Won-Hyo and Jin-Myeong stressed that Gun-Seong and Won-Hee would realize that they were not lying once they had seen the outcome of the martial arts tournament. As such, Won-Hyo and Jin-Myeong asked them to support the Baek Sword Sect if their words proved true.
After much consideration, Gun-Seong and Won-Hee added their own conditions. If the Wind Saber Sect’s Tae Mu-Gang emerged as the victor of the martial arts tournament, Won-Hyo and Jin-Myeong would have to support the Wind Saber Sect. They tried to retain the minimum amount of loyalty to the Wind Saber Sect. Won-Hyo and Jin-Myeong readily accepted their condition.
If Cheon-Sang lost, there was no possibility for them to become the alliance leader anyway. Moreover, they were confident that Cheon-Sang would win, so there was no reason for them to refuse that condition. Won-Hyo and Jin-Myeong immediately told Mu-Gun of their meetings afterward.
Although some conditions were at stake, Mu-Gun was satisfied since the Baek Sword Sect would win over their support if Cheon-Sang won the tournament. He thanked Won-Hyo and Jin-Myeong for successfully persuading Gun-Seong and Won-Hee. Now that the Draconic Tiger Gang and the Kang Household were on their side, they only needed one more clan’s support to take hold of the majority of the votes.
Now that it had come down to this, Mu-Gun wanted to obtain the support of either the Byeok Sword Manor or the Wind Saber Sect, the clans with the biggest forces within the Ten Clans of Zhejiang. If they didn’t support the Baek Sword Sect, even if Cheon-Sang became the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader, they would become a major obstacle to future operations.
However, if they could at least gain the support of one of them, the Baek Sword Sect would increase their influence as the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader. Mu-Gun thought it would be easier to persuade the Wind Saber Sect, considering the Byeok Sword Manor had a lot of supporters. Mu-Gun decided to secure the Wind Saber Sect’s support but chose to wait until the martial arts tournament ended. Persuading them would be difficult, considering they still harbored hope to become the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader.
Once Cheon-Sang had emerged as the victor in the tournament, it would be easier to persuade the Wind Saber Sect when the possibility of them becoming the Zhejiang Martial Alliance leader had disappeared.
Meanwhile, a day before the martial arts tournament, the Shaolin Temple’s Great Monk Gong Seon and the Putuo Sword Sect’s Jeong Ryeo-Gun, both of whom were in charge of overseeing the event, arrived in Hangzhou.
The Shaolin Temple’s Great Monk Gong Seon was a venerable monk affiliated with the Palace of Eternal Life mainly in charge of the Shaolin Temple’s external affairs. His name was widely known throughout murim. He previously represented the Shaolin Temple and met the Great Namgung Family and the Great Huangfu Family to handle the Great Sima Family incident. His reputation and skills were great enough to be publicly credible and were more than enough to oversee the martial arts tournament. Jeong Ryeo-Gun, who was in charge of the Putuo Sword Sect’s General Affairs Hall, was the second-in-command of the Putuo Sword Sect. That was enough proof to see she wasn’t lacking in reputation or skills either.
With those two overseers ready, the day of the martial arts tournament finally arrived. The event would last for two days. The first day was divided into morning and afternoon sessions. The quarterfinals and semifinals would be held on the same day. The long-awaited final battle would be held on the second day.
Those who purchased the tickets for the martial arts tournament came to the venue early in the morning and secured a seat while waiting in anticipation for it to begin. The first contestants, Cheon-Sang and Gun-Seong, went up the stage as scheduled. They cupped their fists and greeted each other, then proceeded to wait for the match to start. The host of the martial arts tournament informed the two about the rules.
“The use of hidden weapons or poison that goes against the righteous path is strictly prohibited in this match and will result in immediate disqualification. The match will only end once one of you admits defeat or can no longer fight. Lastly, although winning is important, it is equally important not to hurt each other, so please refrain from any excessive use of force. We’ll begin when you’re both ready.”
After hearing the rules from the host, Cheon-Sang and Gun-Seong unsheathed their sword and saber respectively and announced that they were ready.
“Then, let the first match of the martial arts tournament begin!”
“Wowww!”
“Win the match, Baek Cheon-Sang!”
“Yong Gun-Seong is the best!”
In response to the host’s announcement, the spectators cheered and shouted out the names of the contestants they were supporting. When the first match began, Gun-Seong took the initiative. He didn’t completely believe Won-Hyo that Cheon-Sang would win, but he thought that Won-Hyo wouldn’t have made that claim for no reason. Gun-Seong had no idea how strong Cheon-Sang had become, but if his martial arts really had become stronger, going on the offensive first was a way to increase his chances of winning.
Gun-Seong gave it his all from the very beginning and unleashed the ultimate saber art of the Draconic Tiger Gang, the 18 Draconic Tiger Saber Art. The saber qi that manifested from his saber created a ferocious momentum and stormed at Cheon-Sang head-on. In response, Cheon-Sang used the Heavenly Sea Convection Step to steer sideways, then retaliated with a swing of his sword. The moonlight sword qi that poured out from his sword indiscreetly struck Gun-Seong’s side.
Cheon-Sang’s offensive movement took Gun-Seong by surprise. Cheon-Sang easily dodged his saber qi with a movement art and launched a counterattack.
Gun-Seong swung his saber to the side, curving and twisting his saber qi’s trajectory to collide with the moonlight sword qi that was charging at him.
With a loud clash, Gun-Seong was pushed back. Cheon-Sang chased after Gun-Seong and launched a barrage of moonlight sword qi again. Gun-Seong urgently swung his saber to block it.
“Ugh.”
The entanglement of saber qi and sword qi caused an explosion of energy, and Gun-Seong let out a frustrated groan. The weight behind the moonlight sword qi exceeded his expectation. It was very much different from the sword art of the Baek Sword Sect that he had known. The Baek Sword Sect’s sword art focused on variability and change, so it was lacking in destructive power. However, that didn’t seem to be the case now, seeing as how it contained enough power to shred his saber qi in an instant. Even then, it still retained its eye-boggling variability.
It had only been three seconds since their battle started, but Gun-Seong already knew that Won-Hyo wasn’t just exaggerating when he said that Cheon-Sang would become the martial art tournament winner. He also realized that he wouldn’t win against Cheon-Sang with his skills. Nevertheless, having already participated in the tournament, he wanted to do his best even if he would end up losing.
Gun-Seong swung his saber with all his might to block the eye-boggling moonlight sword qi that was plowing at him, and with great difficulty, barely managed to block it. However, he couldn’t overcome the power it contained. He was blasted back once again, causing him to stagger and preventing him from standing up straight. Not wanting to give Gun-Seong a chance to regain his footing, Cheon-Sang charged at him head-on and unleashed moonlight sword qi again.
In all honesty, the outcome of the match between the two had already been set in stone. All that was left to do was for Gun-Seong to admit defeat. The patriarchs who were watching their match were shocked beyond belief by Cheon-Sang’s skills. Only Won-Hyo and Jin-Myeong remained calm since they were already aware of that.
The other patriarchs expected their match to be neck and neck. However, contrary to their expectations, Cheon-Sang overpowered his opponent. Despite being up against Gun-Seong, Cheon-Sang’s skills were exceptionally outstanding. He was by no means lacking in any aspect even when compared to the Byeok Sword Manor’s Byeok Cheol-Gun or the Wind Saber Sect’s Tae Mu-Gang.
‘As expected, my hunch was right.’
The Byeok Sword Manor’s Cheol-Gun confirmed his suspicion, which he had been bothered about, to be true. Although Cheon-Sang’s scheme of perfectly hiding his true skills all these while felt really scary, it was also suspicious that Cheon-Sang’s skills suddenly increased by a huge margin. However, that was not important right now. The more pressing issue was whether he could beat Cheon-Sang and become the winner of the martial arts tournament.
Cheol-Gun was surprised by Cheon-Sang’s skills, but he still believed that he would be the champion. He finally managed to advance into the Absolute Realm by consuming the additional spiritual pill that the Hangzhou Merchant Company procured. Strictly speaking, he barely stepped on the doorsteps of the Absolute Realm, but he had faith that it would be enough to emerge victorious in the martial arts tournament.
If he had known that Cheon-Sang was an Absolute Realm master, he wouldn’t have had such condescending thoughts. Unfortunately, it was difficult for him to gauge the exact level of Cheon-Sang’s skills with his current cultivation.
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