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Translator/Editor: Asakusa

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◈ A Wandering Warrior's Survival Guide ◈

Chapter 45: Eat or Be Eaten (1)

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As though he understood how Cheon Hwi felt, Murong Geon let out a hearty laugh and continued.

“Ha ha! I like that spirit! I'd like nothing better than to trade fists with you at once myself. But a sparring match is only at its best when there are spectators, is it not?”

Murong Geon continued, looking quite pleased with Cheon Hwi.

He pointed to Cheon Hwi's shoulder wound.

“More importantly, that wound on your shoulder doesn't seem fully healed yet.”

“No, it's healed.”

Murong Geon shook his head. Whether it was tomorrow or today, neither the external nor internal injuries would differ much. Still, Murong Geon was firm, as though he had a reason to insist.

“I don't wish to trouble a tired man, and I have already gathered people for tomorrow's match.”

In other words, he had made a grand occasion of it. Cheon Hwi could understand why Murong Geon wanted to compete before as many people as possible. He could also understand why he had challenged him.

‘Competitive pride and reputation.’

A base scheme to steal the glory of the person who had drawn more attention than even Murong Rin among those who joined the subjugation force, and claim it for himself. What other reason could he have for challenging someone to a sparring match? Especially an Outer Hall warrior.

Perhaps he was simply confident that he could never lose to an Outer Hall warrior.

As the third young master of this clan's direct line had made his decision, Cheon Hwi had nothing more to argue about.

“It will be around noon tomorrow. Keep that in mind.”

“Understood, Young Master.”

Cheon Hwi cupped his hands and withdrew to his room.

Too many realizations were tangled in his mind, leaving him unable to fall asleep easily. He headed for the training ground instead.

Someone watched Cheon Hwi from afar. It was the clan head's eyes, ordered to follow him.

* * *

“He went straight to the training ground after accepting the sparring challenge?”

“Yes, Clan Head.”

The head of the Murong Clan showed rare interest at those words. After staring out the window in thought for a while, the clan head spoke as though reaching a conclusion.

“Tell Geon this. When he spars with that child Cheon Hwi, tell him to face him prepared to kill.”

“...Yes.”

The martial artist who rose and headed toward Murong Geon's residence wore a strange expression.

It was because of the clan head's peculiar tone. At first, the martial artist thought the clan head wanted the third young master to use Cheon Hwi as a sacrifice, devour his glory, and grow from it.

Cheon Hwi was receiving attention within the clan now. If he died in the sparring match, it would damage the Murong Clan's reputation, but it would also draw that much attention to Young Master Murong Geon.

But if that were the case, the clan head would have told him to kill Cheon Hwi in the match, not to face him prepared to kill.

It sounded as though...

‘...he would lose if he did not come at him ready to kill.’

The third young master, Murong Geon, had built up his martial arts solidly since childhood. Could the rumor that Cheon Hwi had held off a first-rate killing move truly have been no rumor at all?

* * *

The next day, as noon approached, the training ground was packed with people.

Since the sparring match was being held within the Inner Compound, outsiders, including the Guarding Martial Authority, could not enter. Cheon Hwi was the sole outsider.

Murong Geon's claim that he had gathered people beforehand had not been an empty one. Rising juniors of the Inner Hall, along with people who had heard the news and come to watch, stood surrounding the training ground.

“Is that Cheon Hwi?”

“The Outer Hall warrior who supposedly stopped the Blood Serpent Sword at Black Fang Stronghold? It is just a rumor.”

“Even so, isn't he injured? I heard his shoulder has not fully healed.”

“Can he really be a match for the third young master?”

People whispered among themselves. Most were young people who had not joined the subjugation force.

“He doesn't look like he has an uninjured spot on him.”

“I heard he went into the Martial Classics Pavilion yesterday, then ran around the training ground until late.”

“Doesn't he ever get tired?”

Murong Rin was there as well, standing to one side. With her arms crossed, she looked down at Cheon Hwi on the training ground.

In her mind, the image of Cheon Hwi calmly walking through the stares fixed on him overlapped with the Cheon Hwi she had seen at Black Fang Stronghold.

Cheon Hwi, cutting through Black Path scum like slicing through tangled hemp, breaking through as he was drenched in blood. The sight of limbs and heads flying in every direction as he killed without a moment's hesitation, as though killing people were familiar to him, was as vivid as if it had happened yesterday.

Most members of the subjugation force's Vanguard Unit who had witnessed that side of Cheon Hwi were absent, as though they already knew the outcome of this match.

Her guards, too, had been reserved upon hearing news of the spar. It was not hard to see that they merely did not dare say Cheon Hwi would win, since that would be a tremendous affront to the clan.

‘If Cheon Hwi has been hiding his strength...’

She kept her arms crossed as she watched the training ground. Her face was indifferent, but her gaze never left Cheon Hwi.

Murong Gyu stood in the shade at one side of the training ground. After handing over duties at the Martial Classics Pavilion to a junior, they had come to watch the spar.

A bandage was wrapped around Cheon Hwi's shoulder, and his wrist did not look whole either. His complexion looked tired, as though he had not slept, but his posture was straight and his eyes remained clear.

<Twin Dragons Whirlwind Fist>.

‘I'll get to see that martial art firsthand.’

Unlike sword arts, there was a limit to how much one could understand fist arts through martial arts manuals. As his understanding of fists was lacking, it was naturally impossible to train through mental imagery as well.

And now, by chance, he had found himself fighting a fist fighter who used the Twin Dragons Whirlwind Fist.

At that moment, Murong Geon walked to the center of the training ground.

After hearing his father's words the previous day, Murong Geon's thoughts had become more complicated.

‘When the sparring match begins, face him prepared to kill.’

But he soon understood and accepted his father's intent without difficulty. It meant he should devour that man without thinking of the consequences.

‘It shall be done, Father.’

One of his father's people would report the outcome of this match and the level of martial arts displayed in detail.

At a time when the contest over the position of formal young clan head was fierce, there could be no better opportunity to stand out and draw the clan's attention.

Above all, Murong Geon had a goal.

‘When the Martial Alliance convenes, I will be the one who goes.’

He would make his name known throughout the Martial World and rightfully seize the position of young clan head.

Recalling that goal, Murong Geon walked toward Cheon Hwi.

“How is your body?”

“Not bad enough to postpone a sparring match.”

Cheon Hwi did not think much of it. It was simply a chance to practice a little of what he had been working on alone at the training ground yesterday. And, as a guest, to indulge the young master before him, who seemed hungry for attention. That was all.

“Good. The rules are simple. No killing. Stop if someone surrenders. That is all.”

“Simple is good.”

“Do not worry about injuries. The physicians of the Inner Compound will treat you well.”

Then, Whoosh. Murong Geon leaped backward to open the distance. It was a swift movement that revealed the level of his movement technique.

Cheon Hwi immediately drew his sword. In contrast to Murong Geon, who took a ready stance, Cheon Hwi stood with his sword lowered loosely.

Before Cheon Hwi could even raise his sword into a ready stance, the gong announcing the start of the spar rang, and Murong Geon stamped his foot and struck like lightning.

It happened in an instant, before the gong's sound had even fully spread through the air.

Boom!

The moment his foot struck the training ground floor, he shot forward at a speed that did not suit his massive body.

Murong Geon closed a distance of thirty paces in an instant, and his fist rapidly swelled before Cheon Hwi's eyes.

Murong Geon's right fist came at him as though to smash down a gate.

Cheon Hwi knew the stance and form. The first form of the Twin Dragons Whirlwind Fist.

‘Twin Dragons Open the Gate.’

With a roar that tore through the air, Murong Geon's Twin Dragons Whirlwind Fist erupted.

Like opening enormous castle gates, both fists tore fiercely through Cheon Hwi's defenses from either side. One hand created a violent whirlwind that pulled at Cheon Hwi's center, while the other shot toward his exposed solar plexus like an iron mace.

It felt as though a battering ram were charging toward him.

‘So this is it.’

He had the form's trajectory, as described in the Martial Classics Pavilion, in his head, but an actual fist was different.

Clang!

Cheon Hwi hurriedly raised his sword and deflected the fist gauntlet at an angle. But the brutal inner force contained in the gauntlet slammed directly into his wrist.

“Ghk!”

Cheon Hwi's body was shoved back more than ten jang.

The wound on his shoulder, which had only just begun to heal, split open, soaking his martial uniform with dark red blood. Low murmurs spread through the crowd.

“Was it too much after all?”

“He was arrogant, trying to block the third young master's Twin Dragons Whirlwind Fist while injured.”

“Against such powerful fists, one should evade, not block.”

“That is the limit of an Outer Hall warrior, is it not?”

Murong Geon did not slow his momentum.

Twisting his waist, he drove his rising fist forward, following with the second form, Returning Dragon Sweeps the Heavens, which targeted Cheon Hwi's jaw and chest at once.

Crash!

The moment Cheon Hwi met the upward-rising force, he was thrown into the air, left helplessly exposed to the third form.

‘It is over.’

Those watching thought so as they saw Cheon Hwi's body rise. It was as though a dragon had seized its prey and leaped into the sky. Cheon Hwi looked pitiful, unable to place his feet on the ground.

The flow of Returning Dragon Sweeps the Heavens immediately led into Wind Dragon Presses the Summit, which came crashing down from above like Mount Tai, bearing down on Cheon Hwi's wounded shoulder and his entire body.

Suspended in the air, Cheon Hwi sensed murderous intent that went beyond fighting spirit from Murong Geon and frowned.

‘Is he trying to kill me?’

Cheon Hwi had now reached a level where he could easily distinguish between attacks that contained murderous intent and those that did not. Reading Murong Geon's intention was not difficult.

In midair, Cheon Hwi activated the movement technique he had learned the previous day, including at the Martial Classics Pavilion. The inner qi gathered through the movement technique burst forth, and Cheon Hwi kicked off toward the ground, landing in an instant.

His speed was like a star falling to earth.

Boom!

As the movement technique erupted, several martial artists of the Murong Clan rose to their feet at once.

“That...!”

“Could it be?”

“...Meteor Chasing the Moon Movement Technique?!”

Those who practiced that movement technique had no choice but to recognize it immediately.

And amid those who were still uncertain, Cheon Hwi proved that what he had learned truly was the Meteor Chasing the Moon Movement Technique. Furthermore, he vividly demonstrated why it was called a movement technique rather than being limited to footwork.

The principles of changing speed and acceleration contained in the Meteor Chasing the Moon Movement Technique began to erupt without fail.

He needed to alter the flow of Returning Cloud Step slightly to suit the movement technique's flow, but it was not difficult for Cheon Hwi. He had always advanced according to the situation, rather than binding himself to the passages of a fixed martial arts manual. That was the sole mnemonic formula behind the martial arts Cheon Hwi used.

“How can an Outer Hall warrior use that movement technique?!”

“No... is it truly the Meteor Chasing the Moon Movement Technique?”

It was a movement technique that even martial artists within the Murong Clan considered extremely difficult to master.

Meteor Chasing the Moon Movement Technique, bursting forth alongside Returning Cloud Step, contained not just explosive instantaneous acceleration but a naturally smooth, gliding softness and movements that confused the eye by shifting left and right.

It was vastly different from the footwork of the Meteor Chasing the Moon Movement Technique, which had seemed to break off in abrupt segments until now.

Murong Geon landed, greatly shocked as he watched Cheon Hwi's movement technique easily evade his linked strikes.

Murong Geon's own landing just before had also contained the principles of the Meteor Chasing the Moon Movement Technique, but the difference in their levels was apparent in their speed.

As Murong Geon stood there with a stunned expression, Cheon Hwi adjusted his stance and gathered his thoughts. He had thought this was merely a sparring match, but it seemed his opponent intended to kill him.

It was an unfair fight. If Cheon Hwi killed Murong Geon, he would not be able to bear the consequences. But even if Murong Geon killed him, it could likely be quietly passed off as an accident.

‘This... may be harder to deal with than the Black Fist Twin Tyrants.’

He had realized too late that this was not something to take lightly. No matter how he looked at it, Cheon Hwi knew this was not the level of murderous intent one would normally bring to a sparring match. To Cheon Hwi, drawing his sword had always been synonymous with life and death.

After considering it briefly, Cheon Hwi changed his mind.

‘He tried to kill me first.’

Then was there any reason for Cheon Hwi not to kill him?

Cheon Hwi thought there was not. It did not matter if he was the third young master. The martial path Cheon Hwi had followed was not like that. In other words, one ought to show proper respect to an opponent who came to kill them.

Even before the comfort of a clan estate, Cheon Hwi thought that the Martial World was still the Martial World.

In the forest that was the Martial World, were there only two kinds of people: those who ate, and those who were eaten?

‘Then I will be serious as well.’

Cheon Hwi thought it was time to test the new sword art that he had adapted from his Three Powers Swift Sword Forms.

His new practical sword art, the Meteor Sword Forms.

“This time, I will go first.”

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