Surviving as a Rival in a Martial Arts Novel

Chapter 28 – Jin Oklang Dragon Sword (01)

Deep in the Murlim Sect.

On the surface, it was a paradise with butterflies fluttering and fragrant flowers blooming. However, the woman sitting nervously in this beautiful place was swallowing saliva with a tense expression.

Here, even a slight step or disturbing the concentration of someone in front could make a top-notch martial artist disappear without a trace, turning it into a dangerous space.

“It’s surprising that the Sword Saint has taken in a disciple. When he was asked directly to choose a disciple from the Murlim Sect or even share some teachings, he used to pretend not to hear.”

“The Sword Saint… originally didn’t think he had anything worthwhile in his swordsmanship to pass on to others.”

“Yes. Though it’s an artistic swordsmanship, since he comes from a certain background, he considered swordsmanship as something trivial. If he could pass on his swordsmanship to a successor from a prestigious faction, it would be a great strength for our sect.”

The woman, dressed in a robe, couldn’t help but feel tense while looking at the beautiful young man with tied black hair using a hairpin.

Note: All characters are fictional and above 21 years of age.

The lady dressed

“Master Gumsung asked for a ‘favor’. Although they are a respected prosecutor as Gumsung, they don’t have the authority to send manpower that will be deployed for the reconstruction of Sacheon to a useless place.”

“Ugh…!”

“So… just pretend to understand and leave it at that. Isn’t it a sad thing to be unable to acknowledge the dead and cling to them until the end? Instead, the Mureum League will hold a splendid funeral, so let the Gumsung and that disciple of his know that.”

After finishing his words, the young man stopped his piercing glare at Jeon Galyeon.

“Ahem… cough, cough…!”

“So, Cheonbong. You might have fallen for that man, but wouldn’t it be better to face reality?”

While laughing, Jeon Galyeon pretended to accept it, even though he was boiling inside.

“Instead, let me introduce a good man to Gumsung’s disciple and Cheonbong. Oh, and there’s a man who came to the Mureum League in place of the one called Yeoncheong.”

“Not a man… a woman. She’s dressed as a man because she has her reasons, but if someone has a good eye, they’ll notice right away.”

“Let’s just say it’s a man. There are already rumors spreading about the man who saved Sacheon, so he can just replace that person. After all, it would be better for both of them if the living substitute for the dead, as it’s an honor to return to the deceased, right?”

The young man, or rather, the Mureum League Chief, Cheon Wonsang, smiled as he gave his final order to Jeon Galyeon.

“Announce it to everyone, Cheonbong. The hero who resolved the Sacheon Blood Incident is called Bangyuseong, a divine being.”

The conclusion had already been reached, so it was merely a one-sided notification.

Jeon Galyeon could do nothing but bow his head in front of Chief Cheon Wonsang.

‘If I find Master Yeon, I will definitely… expose this despicable act…’

At least, that’s what he thought for now.

* * *

“Nyaang!”

“Is it tasty?”

“Niyaaang!”

I have no idea how there could be a cat in this treacherous mountainous region, but after seeing a goat fall to its death while riding on the front cliff, I just shrugged it off.

Its fur was fluffy, and touching it gave a refreshing feeling, so I secretly left food for it every day and fed it. But from the beginning, the little guy, who was thin and slender, suddenly started to swell up like a pig and roll around.

“It’s not even a tiger…”

I heard that it’s not good to feed human food to cats, but there was no suitable food around here, so I had no choice but to feed the little guy who was whining with a healthy meal.

“This little guy! Look how chubby it is.”

“Gyarrung…”

When I gently stroke its lower belly and touch it, it makes a purring sound as if it feels good. And when I gently rub its chin and give a light tap on its tail-end with a tail, it turns over in delight.

Thud.

It actually turns over.

“Yeah. Anyway, since I’m caught by the Chugum every day and only practice swordsmanship, I need something like this.”

I feel like keeping a pet because of this taste.

It seems a bit big in size, but I wonder if it’s because I keep feeding it human food, and I also think that I should get some fish or meat instead of carbohydrates, and if it’s because of salt, I think I should soak it in water and give it to it…

Since there are limited things I can do in this mountain village, I end up giving it leftover food every day.

“If I could go outside, I would get some fish and feed it…”

It has been almost a year since I started living with Chugum.

I don’t know if it’s actually been a year or not, but it feels like it’s been about a year.

Eating wild vegetables every day and occasionally eating unknown meat, sharing swords with Chugum, and learning vegetation while learning swordsmanship, as a result, I have reached the level of a 5-star Okrangcheon sword.

“Since I eat and practice swordsmanship all day long, I can’t help but improve.”

Chugum, on the other hand, is said to be a 9-star. I thought he was crazy to judge his own swordsmanship as 9-star instead of 12-star, but when I heard the story, there was a reasonable reason.

“Nyaong!”

“Tsk… What’s going on.”

Seeing this chubby one fleeing, it seemed like Chugeom, who had descended to the lower village, was coming back up again.

This guy, when it comes to a topic I like, I absolutely hate Chugeom, so I avoid approaching him just by sensing his presence.

“Ha… darn.”

“Did you come up with a good idea?”

“No.”

“Hmm. At this rate, when will it be completed?”

‘Are you the only one thinking about that? Am I the only one thinking about it?’

First of all, Okrangcheon Swordsmanship was an unfinished sword technique.

Starting from my first-generation Okcheon Frost Sword to my second-generation Hellfire Sword (摯玉佛劍), then continuing with the third generation, my old-style Simcheol Dan and my tenth-generation Elder Hwan Sword (長老丸劍), my eleventh-generation Okrangcheon Strike (玉琅穿擊), and finally, the last move I conceived, the twelfth move, I couldn’t complete it.

This Chugeom guy, without showing the twelfth move, dragged on and on, teaching me the unfinished sword technique. He suggested completing the twelfth move by combining my intelligence of 150 and his intelligence of 50, resulting in a combined intelligence of 200. The moment I heard that, I was stunned, and words couldn’t come out.

Cheongsim Yurigum Swordsmanship, even though it’s an easy sword technique for non-warriors and children to learn, has all the moves up to the eighteenth move implemented. But this guy, without even thinking about the last move, suggests making it together?

In this absurd situation, when I said I would go down once I learned all the sword techniques, Chugeom said he couldn’t go down until he made the twelfth move. If he learns that, he claims he can defeat me. Of course, he can only use up to the eleventh move, and if I use all twelve moves, I’ll win!

But if I go down with this half-baked sword technique, the pursuers from Heukwoldang will catch me and gruesomely murder me, so even though I thought I was being tricked, I continued to diligently conceive the twelfth move with Chugeom.

So, this, it wasn’t like I had to create the moves from the beginning with no moves at all.

Chugeom might be bad in the head, but when it comes to martial arts, he’s an incredible genius. Comparing our five elements, I, with at least one higher level of intelligence, was a talented individual.

Moreover, just by showing me the first move to the twelfth move last time, the approximate form of the twelfth move was captured, but how to turn this into a finishing move, how to make the conclusion strong, that’s what I was thinking about.

Once I roughly unfolded up to the eleventh move, I had a rough idea of how to do the twelfth move.

Initially, using the Okcheon Frost Sword to swing the sword horizontally, then using the Hellfire Sword to swing it back to the opposite side, sending out a consecutive strike, and thirdly, quickly slashing the surroundings while using the Seorangpung Sword (鼠狼風劍) to cut through the flesh…

Since then, consecutively wielding the Okrangcheon Sword, he spun around as Sim Cheoldan, cutting through all surrounding objects with its shockwave. He then used the Elder Hwan Sword to spread the shockwave, sweeping away everything nearby.

Penetrating the shockwave, he faced the approaching enemy with a lightning-fast, powerful thrust, followed by unleashing the Okrangcheon Strike to restrain, and finally recalling the ultimate technique.

“The strike befitting the Supreme Sword.”

Quaaang!

Lifting the sword above his head, he struck the ground with a blow that resonated across the earth. Now, the question was how to handle this.

“What would be a suitable name for the Okryong Sword?”

“Do you name it even before the first meal?”

“The name of the first meal is an important tradition. No matter how powerful the first meal is, if you call it the Samjae Sword Technique or the Mungtungguri Sword Technique, would it have the same spirit?”

Lately, Chugeom had entrusted me with the martial arts development, while he pondered over the name for the first meal.

Well, my Osung is better, and though it’s still a bit lacking, the foundation is there, so there’s nothing more to tolerate. But why should I do this?

Isn’t assigning a group project to someone else like this?

However, if we casually create the Twelve Chogeom here, and then when I need the power of the Twelve Chogeom in the moment of fighting the Heukwoldang in the martial world, unleashing a blow that weakens my strength, it would backfire, pushing me to the brink of death. So, I had no choice but to create it desperately.

“Darn it, thinking like this, it really feels like a group project.”

In the end, just as a student with unsatisfactory grades monopolizes a group project, a person with an unsatisfactory life had no choice but to monopolize the creation of the Twelve Chogeom.