Baekta, who had proven that his fame was not in vain, seized victory and slowly descended the competition stage, responding to the cheers of the audience.

He even showed the consideration of comforting the heart of the defeated and personally carrying his opponent on a stretcher.

It was worthy of being called the character of a young hero.

The gazes of the participants who looked at him as he came down were also like that.

A respectful nod.

Baekta, who made eye contact with each one, headed to a corner.

Near Cheonyeong, who seemed isolated as no one but Lee Cheongik approached him.

And then.

"Did you see? Did you see? You saw, right?"

The young hero had returned to a very light-hearted human.

"What?"

"What do you mean, what? The Drunken Eight Immortals Steps, the Dragon's Roar Twelve Hands! Just like this! Huh?!"

"Ah... sorry, I went to take a piss."

"What? You bastard! You went to take a piss at that important moment?"

"Then should I have pissed my pants?"

"You should have held it in!"

"Held what in?"

"You could have held it in for a little while!"

"What's so great to see?"

"This bastard..."

As Cheonyeong shook his head, Baekta's face contorted.

It was difficult for others to accept such a sight.

Baekta, who had shown a much greater appearance than his fame just a moment ago?

"Um... you two. You should probably check the atmosphere around you."

Lee Cheongik, who couldn't watch any longer, gave them a hint with an awkward smile.

"You shut up! What do you know to interfere!"

"Pardon?"

"You son of a bitch! He said he didn't see it!"

"Th-that's..."

"You should have stopped him! You should have told him to go take a piss later!"

It wasn't Lee Cheongik's fault, was it?

Lee Cheongik, who had suddenly become the nagging sister-in-law who was trying to stop them, was the target of Baekta's anger.

Damn it, he wouldn't do that to Family Head Tang...

"Hah, that's enough. How did it go?"

"Tch!"

Although Baekta sat down with a thud, crossed his arms, and turned his head away.

[It wasn't him. That punk.]

He sent the telepathic message faithfully.

In the meantime, two participants were climbing onto the competition stage according to Ilhae's progress.

"Huh? That punk."

"Huh?"

"It's him."

Which punk is that?

At least add a brief explanation before and after.

"You know! That..."

[The winner punk that the Blue Green Sect is pushing!]

Baekta, unable to say it out loud, sent it via telepathy.

"Ah, that punk?"

"Yeah."

As Cheonyeong understood, Baekta nodded eagerly.

"That punk?"

"Huh?"

"Which..."

Lee Cheongik, who was next to him, showed interest, but Baekta said indifferently.

"There's a punk like that. You don't need to know yet."

"Pardon?"

"Kid, stop being interested."

As Baekta cut him off as if ignoring him and focused on Cheonyeong, Lee Cheongik's face contorted.

This beggar bastard...

We're not even that different in age.

"Are you grumbling?"

"Pardon?"

"I can hear everything. I can hear it clearly."

"No, what did I do? I didn't say anything..."

"Don't even think about it."

At Baekta's words, Lee Cheongik pouted with his lips sticking out.

"Why are you picking on an innocent kid?"

"What did I do!"

"Hah, that's enough, that's enough. You conspiracy theorist."

"I'm telling you, it's not a conspiracy theory!"

As Baekta got angry, Cheonyeong sighed and waved his hand.

To others, the relationship between the three was just absurd.

Why are they close?

Although they had been watching them the whole time, they still couldn't understand.

It was Baekta.

He was a person whose fame was not limited to the Sicheon region like them, but was spread throughout the entire Central Plains.

And the Lee Family's Sword Dragon.

He was a person who competed for the top skills even among the Twelve Dragons of Sicheon.

In contrast, that punk... just the Tang Family's estate?

Did he say he lived in Ganyang?

But why?

Why on earth were Baekta and the Lee Family's Sword Dragon taking such a low posture towards that punk?

And among the three, the Family Head of the Tang Family's estate was the youngest, yet he was speaking informally.

The strange gazes of the participants changed from bewilderment to curiosity.

However.

That bastard...

Only the gaze of Jeokseong of the Blue Serpent Sect was different.

He didn't like the way he was putting on airs as if he were something, backed by the prestige of Baekta and the Lee Family's Sword Dragon.

Wasn't he just a country bumpkin who had taken care of one Yin Hand Chamber?

He heard that he was a punk who gathered vagrants and called it a family.

That's why there were no talented people in his family, so he had to personally participate in a fight of juniors, abandoning the dignity of a family head.

Jeokseong glared at Cheonyeong and strengthened his resolve.

You must win.

Your opponent is the Black Net Saber of the Nine Dragons Faction, so the chances are low, but you must win and advance to the next match.

Of course, Cheonyeong was not one to not feel that gaze.

That bastard, if you just wait, I'll trample you...

In front of everyone.

But Cheonyeong, who had soon lost interest, turned his attention to the competition stage.

Yes. Let's see, let's see.

Although it was Baekta's misguided guess, he had to at least check his skills.

Cheonyeong silently rested his chin on his hand and looked at Yu Seongyeon.

He was a punk with many similarities to himself.

A family that was not a martial family, the eldest son who had shouldered that burden and entered the martial world.

What kind of skill would he have...

"Huh?"

Cheonyeong's indifferent eyes widened.

It was a single moment.

The start of the match was announced, and in a single moment.

Yu Seongyeon calmly drew his wooden sword and aimed it, and a warrior named Banseok rushed in.

As his martial name, Tiger Claw Hand, suggested, Banseok's claw technique was as ferocious as a tiger's claws.

He rushed in an instant and seemed about to tear Yu Seongyeon apart.

But the moment Yu Seongyeon deflected the attack and dug in close.

"Keuk... I-I lost."

Banseok collapsed in Yu Seongyeon's arms and admitted defeat.

The audience seats, which had been excited by Baekta's match, became quiet as if cold water had been poured on them.

"What? What happened?"

The participants stood up and looked at the competition stage.

They had bewildered expressions because they hadn't seen properly what had happened.

"Look, I told you so."

"Hmm, it went in properly."

Of course, only Baekta and Lee Cheongik seemed to have seen it clearly.

A single exchange.

The moment the opponent dug in, Yu Seongyeon had struck Banseok's solar plexus with the pommel of his wooden sword.

Since he was hit in a vital point, his breath would have been caught, and his strength would have drained, causing his legs to give out.

No, what Cheonyeong's eyes saw was not just that.

The moment the wooden sword touched the solar plexus, Yu Seongyeon's hand.

He was clearly preparing for the next move.

What if Banseok hadn't admitted defeat?

Yu Seongyeon might have shown more for the sake of victory... 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"What an interesting punk."

"See, isn't it suspicious?"

"A little."

"I'm telling you, it's not a little. This is definitely."

Cheonyeong smirked at Baekta's words, who wouldn't let go of his reasoning until the end.

"Hey. Don't you see the tournament bracket over there?"

"Huh?"

"If you have eyes, look. If the Blue Green Sect is after something as you say, then Yu Seongyeon should have drawn a bye."

Although it was a plausible statement at first glance, Baekta shook his head.

"That's not it!"

"What's not it again?"

"Think about it, with the audience and participants watching with their eyes wide open, can it be manipulated? Right now, we have to see his hidden skills, his skills. Think about it. He's a really cunning punk. He only used the necessary strength. It means he doesn't want to show his skills to others."

"What's wrong with that? If you know yourself and your enemy, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles. Hiding myself from the opponent is the basis of strategy. I think he fought efficiently."

"I'm telling you, it's not like that. There's definitely some conspiracy. My intuition tells me so."

What a stubborn punk.

Baekta, who seemed to have something covering his eyes, didn't seem like he would be persuaded no matter what was said.

There was no answer.

He was so red-eyed trying to find the Changlim Sword Saint's weakness.

"Then you try it."

"Huh?"

"Tomorrow, he might be your opponent."

"Ah!"

Baekta's face lit up.

"If your reasoning is correct, then the Blue Green Sect's expression when you win will be a sight to see."

"Good! I'll do that. Just you wait. I'll be right."

As Cheonyeong soothed him, Baekta's fighting spirit burned with a slightly different meaning.

And then.

"Hehehe. Tang Cheonyeong."

"..."

"Watch carefully."

The snake punk from the Blue Serpent Sect laughs as he passes in front of Cheonyeong.

Watch, what on earth am I supposed to watch?

And aren't you sorry for your opponent who is just climbing onto the competition stage?

Why are you talking as if you've already won?

He's also one of the Twelve Dragons of Sicheon.

But Jeokseong's skills, which he had watched with a snort, were quite surprising. There was nothing he lacked compared to his opponent.

However, it made him frown.

"Hmm."

The audience seats were filled with frowning faces and sighs.

His match lacked the etiquette and propriety that a martial artist should have.

Even though he was strong enough to overwhelm his opponent, he tormented him as if playing with him and gave him shame.

He added wounds to wounds, and tore the torn places even more.

It was pitiful to see his opponent, who got up tenaciously even after falling.

And Jeokseong's gaze was on Cheonyeong.

As if to show him well, as if to show him his miserable opponent...

At that sight, the corners of Cheonyeong's mouth slowly rise.

"Hehehehe."

At the sudden eerie laughter, Lee Cheongik and Baekta were startled and looked at him.

"That punk, he's really interesting. Right?"

Baekta and Lee Cheongik, who felt a chill at the sight of Cheonyeong smiling with his mouth stretched wide and his eyes shining murderously, slowly moved back.

[D-dangerous. I know that laugh well. Don't go near him.]

[I think I know it well too.]

In the meantime, Jeokseong's opponent, who could no longer endure, collapses.

The waiting Taoists move busily.

It was because the loser's wounds were severe.

And Cheonyeong's match.

"The family head of the Ganyang Tang Family's estate! Tang Cheonyeong and the Black Net Saber of the Nine Dragons Faction, Hwang Jeongmun, please come up to the competition stage!"

At Ilhae's shout, Cheonyeong stood up from his seat.

And he walks towards the competition stage.

"Did you see?"

"..."

"If you win by some luck, look forward to tomorrow."

Jeokseong laughed eerily as he passed by Cheonyeong.

I'm glad.

That you're that kind of punk.

I'm looking forward to it.

The match with you, the punk who lent his name to the Yin Hand Chamber that destroyed the Mandeok Estate.

You probably just took a bribe.

But you wouldn't know.

That bribe became a debt to me, twisted my fate... and made me be here now.

"Jeokseong."

Cheonyeong called out in a low voice to Jeokseong, who was passing by.

"Get a good night's sleep."

"What?"

"Get a good night's sleep, you must. Hehehehe."

Cheonyeong left behind an eerie laughter and climbed onto the competition stage.

"That punk?"

Jeokseong, who had stopped walking and turned around, frowned in displeasure.

I'll put aside the matter of Jingagu for a while.

But Jeokseong.

You will have to get a good night's sleep tonight, as I said.

Because if you meet me, you will have to spend a sleepless night tossing and turning in pain.

And Cheonyeong, breaking everyone's expectations except for a few, won against the Black Net Saber.

So much so that everyone thought it was a fluke, and even the leaders of the Blue Green Sect tilted their heads as if the victory was unexpected.

With the Six Harmonies and the Three Talents.

But.

"Family Head Tang."

"..."

"It was a good match. I learned a lot thanks to you. If I have the chance in the future, I would like to compete with you again."

Hwang Jeongmun, the young master of the Nine Dragons Faction, who had been happy to know that his opponent was Cheonyeong, admitted defeat himself after exchanging a few exchanges.

What a strange punk.

Although it seemed he had hidden a lot, he did not reveal his full strength.

Why?

Is there some other purpose...

Damn it, is it because of Baekta?

Whether I look at this punk or that punk, my head is just full of suspicion.

Cheonyeong shook his head vigorously to shake off his thoughts, smiled brightly, and held out his hand.

"If you come as a friend, the gates of the Tang Family's estate are always wide open."

"I will pray for your victory."

"Whatever."

After exchanging greetings with Hwang Jeongmun, Cheonyeong came down from the competition stage and called Cheongik.

"Cheongik."

"Yes?"

"Win. You have to keep winning to meet me. You haven't shown me what you've realized yet, have you?"

At Cheonyeong's indifferent encouragement, Lee Cheongik answered with a bright expression.

"I'll be back."

"Yeah."

Lee Cheongik went out for the last match.

There was no need to watch.

He was full of confidence, but not arrogant.

As he climbed onto the competition stage, he was overflowing with sharpness like a well-sharpened sword.

"Winner! The Lee Family's Sword Dragon, Lee Cheongik!"

"Waaah!"

It was an expected victory.

Still, it was worthy of being called splendid.

The wind created by his sword Blue Wind was enough to be compared to the clouds of the Blue Green Sect’s Blue Cloud.

At Lee Cheongik's splendid appearance, the first day of the main tournament of the Assembly of Elders ended, boiling and unable to cool down.

It seemed the night at the Blue Green Sect would be quite long today.

Because everyone would have to calm their excitement to be able to sleep.

(End of Chapter)