Sweeping the Academy with a Wooden Sword

Hwangbo Seryeong extended her fist.
However, to Lee Dojin’s perception, it wasn’t a fist.

It wasn’t a weapon either.

It was like Mount Tai.

One strike.

Each single punch and palm strike was like an encounter with a massive wall.

A gigantic wall that could crush a person without leaving a trace.

Crack!

He dodged.
Clearly.

But the fist wind surrounding the punch violently distorted space, and Lee Dojin’s side, caught in that storm, erupted with blood.

Lee Dojin suppressed the pain.
With fighting spirit and the desire for victory rising throughout his body.

Clang clang clang!

The wooden sword surrounded by colorless sword energy and Hwangbo Seryeong’s hands and arms engaged in dozens of exchanges.

‘It won’t be cut.’

There was no frustration.
He was only glad to encounter this wall again.

Because he wanted to meet a monster like his teacher, Sword Emperor Dan Cheonwoo, once more.

“…Your sect?”

Hwangbo Seryeong asked softly.
Words that seemed detached from the world flowed into Lee Dojin’s ears.

“I don’t have one.”

“Your martial art?”

“Reverse Heaven Sword.”

And sword energy rippled on the wooden sword.
Without hesitation, he unleashed Reverse Heaven. The colorless sword energy gathered into a single point, emitting light.

First form, Soul Pursuit.

A heat haze rose from his body. An extreme thrust that drew out all the limits of the physical body.

That was Soul Pursuit.

The scenery became distorted. Hwangbo Seryeong, seeing the oncoming mass of light, used her divine technique.

‘At that level.’

There was no need to even bother controlling her strength.
Having judged so, Hwangbo Seryeong thrust her fist forward in response.

Golden wavelengths tore through the air in succession.

Two spears interlocked towards each other.

Boom!

The ground shook. Dozens of stones scattered into the air.

Colorless and golden monsters collided head-on.
Monsters that were evenly devouring each other. However, the equality soon began to crumble.

Lee Dojin smiled. Because he sensed the chance of victory?
No. Because Soul Pursuit was completely shattered.

Fragments of colorless sword energy scattered in all directions.

Screech!

Hwangbo Seryeong’s hand deflected the wooden sword with a harsh friction sound. The golden light facing Lee Dojin’s body exploded brilliantly.

Boom!

Hwangbo Seryeong’s fist was embedded in Lee Dojin’s abdomen. Red blood spurted from Lee Dojin’s mouth.

But he didn’t collapse.
It was thanks to maximally raising his internal qi circulation the moment Hwangbo Seryeong’s fist struck.

His legs trembled. If he collapsed now, it would be over.
With his defeat.

It wasn’t that he feared defeat.

‘Not now.’

He just thought that this moment, right now, shouldn’t be the moment of defeat.

He had to go a little further. Even just a little bit more.

His dantian boiled.
The flow of Reverse Heaven circulating through his body accelerated several times over.

Lee Dojin’s body, which had been in front of Hwangbo Seryeong, flickered.
It was Form Shifting.

Swish!

A streak of light grazed Hwangbo Seryeong’s shoulder.

Hwangbo Seryeong clicked her tongue, watching Lee Dojin swinging his sword in succession.

The fist strike just now was certainly an effective hit. Ordinary people would have been crushed beyond recognition.

This guy who hadn’t even used protective qi had endured the attack and was now showing such ghost-like agile movements.

“You’re a genius, aren’t you.”

And a genius who doesn’t know how to give up.
A genius who doesn’t define his own limits.

Such guys were always uncomfortable to deal with. Because they don’t experience frustration.

Lee Dojin didn’t stop moving his feet. He was aware that if he stopped here, it would be over. Because his body was expelling pain, as if signaling that it had reached its limit.
‘If I stop, it’s over.’
He raised his fighting spirit. The desire to overcome this massive wall.
He hammered the will to fight into his own mind.
The pain gradually receded. His consciousness entered a state of selflessness.

Taking a step forward-

Swish!

He moved the sword.

Blade winds rained down towards Hwangbo Seryeong with a ferocious sound.

Dozens of colorless sword paths were shattered by golden fist strikes.
Fragments of sword energy decorated the sky.

“Hoo.”

Lee Dojin regulated his breathing. He was at his limit now. It was the moment when he had to settle the match.

He took a firm stance.
The dark night sky and swaying forest receded from his vision.
In his eyes, only Fist King Hwangbo Seryeong was visible.

He pulled back the wooden sword to his waist.
He had to unleash a move that allowed not even a moment of hesitation.

He utilized the Reverse Heaven Divine Technique to its maximum.
Overheated energy rose from his entire body, slowly burning like fire.

Crack! Crunch!

The sound of something dislocating came from his body. But he paid no attention.

The opponent before his eyes was someone he couldn’t even gauge unless he gave his all, unless he risked his life.

Reverse Heaven Sword
Second Form, Waning Moon

The wooden sword shone with radiance and tore through the front.

‘Here it comes.’

Hwangbo Seryeong simply faced it head-on.

Shattering the opponent’s all-out strike by facing it head-on.
That was something Hwangbo Seryeong had done countless times in her lifetime.

Golden qi enveloped both her hands.
Originally, the Hwangbo family’s martial arts were tyrannical. Innate strong bones from birth. And a destructive fist technique that relied on that physical talent.

That was the pride of the Hwangbo family.

But Hwangbo Seryeong’s fist didn’t only contain tyranny.
Because she wasn’t born with the Hwangbo family’s characteristic innate strong bones, she had researched martial arts separate from the family for decades on her own.

Therefore, unlike other Hwangbo family members, her fist contained elegant techniques that could overwhelm the opponent’s attacks.

A golden light source revolved around Hwangbo Seryeong’s hands. And she extended both hands towards the lightning-like sword draw technique.

The air distorted.

Slash!

Waning Moon flashed with light and seemed to behead Hwangbo Seryeong.

Lee Dojin believed so. Because a streak of light had precisely penetrated Hwangbo Seryeong’s neck.

But Hwangbo Seryeong’s head didn’t fall to the ground.
Rather, a faint smile was on her face.

The gash on her neck was just a shallow wound.
Only her hair had been completely cut.

Hwangbo Seryeong smiled brightly.

“It was a hair’s breadth difference, kid.”

Hwangbo Seryeong, who had twisted the trajectory of the sword draw technique, Waning Moon, with both hands, didn’t stop her steps.
In her right hand, a golden energy current condensed, rotating like a typhoon.
Heavenly King Fist (天王拳)

The golden energy current swept through Lee Dojin’s entire body.

Boom

Lee Dojin’s vision went dark.

And he opened his eyes again.
He saw Hwangbo Seryeong’s face staring intently at him.
Though her beauty was hidden by disheveled hair like a lion’s mane, it was clearly a beautiful face.

“…Did I die once?”

“This isn’t a place where you can really die anyway.”

“…That’s true.”

“It was a hair’s breadth difference. Literally. My head could have fallen off.”

“And that hair’s breadth is everything in victory and defeat. It’s just my complete defeat.”

Lee Dojin abruptly stood up.
And bowed at the waist.

“I learned a lot.”

Hwangbo Seryeong chuckled, seeing Lee Dojin bow politely.

“Aren’t you angry? At your age, with this level, you’d surely be called a genius in this world. You shouldn’t be used to defeat.”

“I’ve died over a thousand times to my teacher, so what. I don’t mind losing here. Whether it’s a thousand or ten thousand times. If it’s against a true strong person like you, Hwangbo Seryeong, I can gladly die.”

Lee Dojin grinned.

“As long as I don’t lose even once outside.”

Hwangbo Seryeong clicked her tongue.

“There’s nothing more annoying than a polite and positive genius.”

Lee Dojin tilted his head.

“Aren’t you a genius too, Hwangbo Seryeong?”

He thought that Hwangbo Seryeong was much closer to being a genius than himself, at least. Just looking at the martial arts she had shown just now.

“I’m not a genius. I was ordinary. Now that I look… the scenery is beautiful.”

Hwangbo Seryeong told her story in a gentle voice.

Like an elder telling an old tale to their grandchild. Gazing at the night sky in Mistilteinn’s world.

Sunday morning, Baek Hwayeon opened her eyes.
The outing that was meant to just spend Saturday with Lee Dojin, who had become a friend, had become too heavy, but she wasn’t disappointed in Lee Dojin.

Rather, her desire to stand side by side with him grew stronger.

Baek Hwayeon looked in the mirror.
She thought she still didn’t look like an adult no matter how she looked at herself.

“My friend already has everything I need to have.”

Overwhelming power necessary for revenge.
Unhesitating hands and mental strength to deal with villains.

Everything was exactly as she wished for.

“…I want to become like you.”

She wanted to break free from her weak self that still wavered countless times.

Baek Hwayeon picked up her sword after repeating her last words once more.

In the vast garden.
She began swinging her sword there.

Along the sword path, plum blossoms bloomed and fell repeatedly.
Plum blossom petals scattered.
They were still snow-white petals, not yet ripened red.

Someone watched that scene from the second floor. It was Sword Empress Yoo Seol-ah.

“The goal is too high, but…”

But it was better to run looking at the sky than to sit still and do nothing.

“I should give that child a few more gifts.”

Because it wouldn’t do for the child her disciple likes to die in a foreign land.

“Hmm, should I give it after she comes in first place in the mock dungeon special exam?”

Because if I keep giving things like now, she might get too scared.