Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 408 (Part 1)



408 (Part 1)

The justification is a guiding duel.

A guiding duel.

This was a justification that could be applied anywhere.

It was like a high-level master giving a lesson to novices through a duel.

In a way it was merely a glorious event and a miraculous encounter for the novices.

If a master of the level of the White Lotus Sword were to offer a guiding duel many would gather from all over the country eager to participate.

But whether the current situation should be deemed right is still a question.

The White Lotus Sword’s Moyong Biyeon looked at the three people in front of her with an intrigued gaze.

She was curious about how they would react the moment she unleashed her aura.

Would they be frightened? Or would they be flustered?

Moyong Biyeon judged that they would not stray far from these two possibilities.

‘Wow.’

Her expectations were beautifully off the mark. The children neither looked scared nor flustered.

On the contrary.

Swish.

As soon as they sensed the aura they raised their stances and composed themselves.

Especially the two who appeared to be masters were exceptional.

‘Not a hint of wavering huh?’

The Tang Clan child certainly had an impressive presence for his age.

But he was nothing compared to those two.

It would be an insult to call him a prodigy at this level.

Having already surpassed the peak he could no longer be called a prodigy.

‘They say this generation is particularly outstanding. That must be true.’

She could feel the reality of what she had only heard in rumors.

The young man Gu Yangcheon was so exceptional that it was hard to call him the average of his generation.

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So he could be disregarded. What she should focus on now were these children.

Interest began to fill Moyong Biyeon’s eyes.

In her view the Sichuan expedition led by the Poison King was not only peculiar but also sufficiently intriguing to capture her attention.

There were particularly many prodigies from different families.

Yet each individual’s level was extraordinary.

The three in front of her along with the boys including Gu Yangcheon were dazzling.

The young Taoist of the Wu Dang known as Jang-ryong had already reached a level of mastery.

The large young man from the faction remained at a first-rate level but his skill was not lacking.

The prodigy with the lowest level was surprisingly her own nephew.

‘Unusually outstanding.’

Moyong Biyeon harbored a slight doubt as she observed.

The only one who seemed problematic was the young boy from the Cheolga family.

That child was at a level where it was hard to even call him a martial artist so she let it slide.

If each of them were from her generation it wouldn’t be strange for them to be at the prodigy level…

‘Ah… that wouldn’t be the case.’

That would have been too much to ask.

At that time ‘that person’ was at the tail end of the prodigies.

However there were plenty of individuals below that who could easily be called geniuses.

‘Is it a coincidence?’

Did these individuals gather purely by chance?

Or did they gather around something?

If they were drawn together by something then what could be the center?

‘It must be that child.’

A young man’s face flashed through Moyong Biyeon’s mind.

If that were the case it made a bit of sense.

Just as they had when one sees something extraordinarily brilliant they tend to gather there.

And since the brightest figure of this generation happened to be here it couldn’t all just be coincidence.

Having experienced it firsthand in the past Moyong Biyeon could see it as natural.

Even so.

Moyong Biyeon had to let out a hollow laugh as she faced forward.

‘No matter how you look at it isn’t this a bit excessive?’

The moment she exhaled in disbelief.

Swish-!

The tip of a sword brushed past Moyong Biyeon’s cheek. She slightly recoiled from the subtle aura that lingered.

No she tried to create distance but something else slipped in beside her.

Two daggers flew swiftly.

Glancing Moyong Biyeon adjusted her angle and twisted her body.

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Whoosh-! As she moved a gust of wind followed altering the angle of the daggers.

Thud-! The daggers that had been flying towards her passed by and lodged into a tree.

To her surprise the tree began to rot around the embedded daggers.

That meant the daggers had been coated with poison.

‘Look at these kids?’

Seeing that Moyong Biyeon scrutinized the one who had thrown the daggers.

It wasn’t strange for someone from the Tang Clan to use poison but to actually use it was impressive.

When she had suggested a duel Moyong Biyeon had expected a level akin to real combat.

Of course she intended to be lenient while observing the children’s conditions.

‘This is more than I expected…’

Aren’t the children’s levels extraordinary?

Thud thud thud-!

“…!”

It seemed they wouldn’t let her think for long. As she dodged the daggers a storm of energy surged toward her.

Moyong Biyeon had to admire this.

‘Incredible.’

The energy appeared to branch out into dozens of strands each displaying different movements as if they had their own will.

This meant the caster was fine-tuning each of those strands of energy.

If it had only been that it could have been passed off as genius.

But the master of the energy was also using swordplay while controlling all of it.

Controlling so many strands of energy while moving their body too?

Moyong Biyeon’s mind flashed to the face of the Namgung Clan’s leader as the master of that energy was indeed a descendant of the Namgung Clan.

‘That brat has given birth to a monster beyond his means.’

A chill ran down her spine.

Her toes felt heavy and she sensed her energy rising slowly.

Her shoulders were heavily weighed down confirming that it was indeed the martial arts of that family.

The Emperor’s Sword style.

That damned martial arts which was incredibly cumbersome.

Dodging the pouring energy Moyong Biyeon scanned her surroundings.

The only thing flying toward her from the front was the energy.

So where were the others?

Moyong Biyeon raised her energy.

Zing-! Just as expected.

She quickly sensed those who were rapidly closing in on her.

Both left and right.

The moment she noticed white and golden flashes surged from both sides.

There was no hesitation in the thrusts of the swords.

In fact judging by their trajectory they were aiming for Moyong Biyeon’s neck.

‘Wow.’

Moyong Biyeon realized this.

It seemed she had been mistaken.

She had been viewing them solely as prodigies.

Thinking that Moyong Biyeon immediately adjusted her grip on her sword and swung it gathering a handful of energy.

Then.

Whoosh-!

The azure sword flux imbued with the Moyong Clan’s symbol burst forth in all directions.

“…!”

“Ugh…!”

As the energy erupted just before the sword made contact Namgung Biya and Wi Seol-ah flinched and were pushed back.

The ensuing energy that followed was swept away by Moyong Biyeon’s sword flux.

The two who landed far away where Dang So-yeol was waiting looked at Moyong Biyeon in surprise.

The swirling energy surrounding them was undoubtedly the sword flux.

It was a heavy and dense energy entirely different from what a peak martial artist would emit.

From within it a somewhat awkward voice flew toward the three.

“Sorry. Unnie might have thought a bit too highly of herself.”

Moyong Biyeon with her unique energy enveloping her sword smiled slightly.

“I thought it would be enough to be moderate. I shouldn’t have had that mindset.”

Given the situation she had intended to treat them somewhat as juniors.

But those kids were already martial artists before being her juniors.

It meant this was not a situation to treat lightly.

Moyong Biyeon looked at the three with a peculiar gaze.

‘Was that how he felt?’

On the day she faced the former sword master alongside the current sword master So Yi.

Wasn’t the look in her eyes similar to this?

The only difference was that the sword master back then had genuinely treated them as martial artists on the same level from the start.

Whereas Moyong Biyeon had not done so now.

‘Oh dear.’

Recalling that Moyong Biyeon scolded herself.

At the same time she felt relieved.

That So Yi was in the position of the current sword master.

She wouldn’t have made the same mistake as herself.

Though Moyong Biyeon had never been interested in the position of sword master she felt grateful.

No matter how she looked at it she was far from the image of a sword master.

“Phew.”

Regulating her breath Moyong Biyeon slowly gathered her energy.

Now that she realized her mistake she would act differently moving forward.

Her softly settled eyes captured the three who seemed tense.

She raised her sword.

“I’ll go again.”

Perhaps sensing the meaning behind her voice.

The energy of the three changed.

They must have noticed that Moyong Biyeon was different from before.

Seeing that Moyong Biyeon couldn’t help but smile inwardly.

She felt herself getting excited.

‘Ah this isn’t good.’

She had only intended to observe her nephew and the pretty girls following Gu Yangcheon.

What was she doing getting excited about this situation?

Suddenly she recalled her younger sibling’s plea to act her age.

‘Sorry.’

Moyong Biyeon quietly apologized to her younger sibling.

No matter how she looked at it she felt it would be too much for her to mature.

As the energy that had been gradually intensifying began to settle a moment of calm arrived.

Moyong Biyeon slightly moved her toes.

In an instant her figure vanished.

At that Namgung Biya widened her eyes and spread her energy.

Wi Seol-ah also frowned raising her sword and scanning the surroundings.

Tap-!

Moyong Biyeon appeared in the small gap between the two.

At that moment.

A storm began to rage through the forest once more.

A storm much larger than before.

******************

Dense qi gradually filled the air.

The aura which sent chills down the spines of martial artists was abundant.