Chapter 2

A week after my father told me about the duel.

A lot of people had gathered around the training ground’s arena. The arena itself was a simple raised platform made of stone, a place where people could spar. Many martial clans and sects had this kind of arena because, as martial artists, getting challenged to a spar by guests or having someone knock on their front door and challenge them to a spar was quite common.

Of course, most of the time, the spar wouldn’t be dangerous, as both sides would not use killing techniques.

Once the news of my duel with Seolhwa was out, many members of the Cheon Clan made their way here to the clan’s main estate, to watch the duel that would decide on who would the next leader of the clan.

I stood on the arena, waiting for Seolhwa to arrive while hearing the murmuring of the spectators.

“Hey, who do you think will win?”

“Cheon Seolhwa of course. The kid is a genius. Even a lot of the elders prefers her than young master Hwi.”

“But Cheon Seolhwa is a girl. The clan leader was always a man for the past 200 years and usually a woman wouldn’t even be allowed to lead the clan.”

“Hey, that’s just how amazing Cheon Seolhwa is. Her talent made even the clan elders readily bend the tradition. After all, no matter what anyone says, the Cheon Clan respects talents and strength the most. So if a woman have a better martial skills than a man, why not let her be the leader?”

“That’s right. Cheon Clan is a very meritocratic martial clan after all.”

People saying that was not rare and I tended to agree with that view. Those who could lead should lead, no matter their gender. But that didn’t mean I would just give up on holding my position as the heir.

Not long after, the murmuring of the spectators got louder as a young girl walked to the arena and climbed up.

Cheon Seolhwa had arrived.

She wore a martial artist uniform with opposite colours to mine. My martial arts uniform was white with dark blue trim, while Seolhwa’s martial arts uniform was dark blue with a white trim.

Her expression was just like how I remembered her when we met a year ago. Her calm expression and clear eyes that looks uninterested in anything else around her were still the same.

As far as I knew, it seemed that Seolhwa really had no interest in anything else other than martial arts. She didn’t even have any friends, as she preferred to spend her time in the training ground of her family rather than socializing like the other young ladies of the clan.

In that regard, she was very similar to me. The only difference was that she was actually talented at what she’s doing.

And me?

Not so much.

With Seolhwa’s arrival, Instructor Ma, one of the martial arts instructors of the clan, climbed up to the arena. He looked towards the place where my father and mother, the elders, and Cheon Seolhwa’s parents were seated, gave a fist and palm salute then began to speak.

“The duel between young master Cheon Hwi and Cheon Seolhwa will begin. Before we start, I will tell the audience on the rules of this duel.”

Instructor Ma’s voice was loud enough for everyone to hear.

“No killing or seriously injuring your opponent. The duel will be over once one side gives up or I, as the referee, decide that you can’t continue. The winner will be the heir of the clan. Is there any objection?”

Instructor Ma looked at me and Seolhwa.

“None.”

I said shortly.

“Hm.”

Seolhwa just gave a small nod, telling Instructor Ma that she agreed.

“Well then, since both sides have agreed…”

Instructor Ma raised his right arm.

“Let the duel begin!”

Right after the duel began, I immediately ran towards Seolhwa, taking the first move. I had to do this because if I gave Seolhwa a chance to attack first, I didn’t think I could hold out for long.

I moved quickly towards her and stopped with my right foot forward before thrusting my wooden sword at her body.

She easily dodged to the side and immediately released a thrust of her own.

Fast!

I jumped to the side to dodge her attack, but when I was about to attack her again, she was already right in front of me, her wooden sword raised high as she swung it down.

I raised my wooden sword above my head and positioned it slightly to the side, redirecting her attack.

Heavy!

I successfully blocked and redirected her sword, then swung diagonally at her, targeting her shoulder. But my hand felt slightly numb from blocking her attack, making my swing slower.

She took a step back to dodge my diagonal swing, then turned on her heel and kicked me hard in the abdomen.

I managed to jump back slightly when she kicked me, so I didn’t take the full force of the attack, but I still felt most of it.

My abdomen throbbed.

Endure it.

I told myself that as I prepared to attack her again.

After she kicked me, she didn’t make any follow-up move. She just stood there, watching me.

She must be underestimating me.

Well, it’s a good thing for me if she lets her guard down.

I ran towards her again, but this time, I was going to use a feint.

I thrust quickly again, only this time, when she dodged to the side and was about to counterattack, I quickly jumped forward to get into her space.

I wrapped her right arm with my left hand, locking it so she couldn’t swing her wooden sword, then swung my wooden sword down, intending to hit her head with the pommel.

But she grabbed my sword hand to stop the attack.

Before I could react, she slammed her forehead into my face.

Crack!

Pain exploded through my nose.

I stumbled backward, my vision shaking as blood immediately began to drip from my nose.

Seolhwa didn’t let up. She started attacking me quickly while I was still disoriented.

Head, side, chest, shoulder.

Relying on my instincts, I somehow managed to block her attacks even while I was still disoriented.

Maybe seeing that none of her attacks were getting through, Seolhwa jumped back.

This time, she didn’t just watch me.

I could feel it.

She had started using her inner energy.

She’s about to stop using basic swordsmanship.

She’s going to start using martial techniques.

As she started circulating her inner energy, I did the same.

Seolhwa started using the Cheon Clan movement technique, Wind Steps, making her movement speed increase dramatically.

Once I was in her range, she used one of the martial arts techniques of the Cheon Clan, Wind-Chasing Sword Art. This sword art allowed the user to attack so fast and precisely that it was hard to properly dodge or block it.

If you block the sword strike, a sharp wind will still cut you. If you dodge her sword, a sharp wind will chase you.

Of course, that level of Wind-Chasing Sword Art was still beyond Seolhwa. No matter how much of a genius she was, she was still a 10-year-old kid with five years’ worth of inner energy. She needed to grow her dantian to be able to hold at least 20 years’ worth of inner energy before actually shooting thin and sharp wind from her sword. But with just the amount of inner energy she currently had, it was enough to make it hard to dodge and block her attacks.

Her attacks before she used inner energy were already fast and heavy. Now that she was using her inner energy and martial arts technique, they hit even faster and harder.

I managed to block and dodge some of her attacks, but I couldn’t block or avoid most of them.

“Haa… Haa…”

I looked at her. She wasn’t even out of breath, and there wasn’t even a drop of sweat on her face.

Then I looked at my own body.

My white martial arts uniform had a lot of cuts, and my blood had already seeped through them.

The injuries weren’t deep, so I could still ignore them.

My sweat getting into the cuts stung a little, but it wasn’t anything to make a fuss about.

She’s really strong.

At this rate, I’ll lose.

I might have the same amount of inner energy as her, but the flow of my inner energy wasn’t smooth. There was always a delay, and that delay was fatal in fast-paced combat.

“Hoooo…”

I took a deep breath and took a stance.

I started circulating my inner energy earlier to make up for the delay.

One attack.

I can only do this once.

I prepared to unleash something I had been working on this past week.

Whenever I trained, especially when I was meditating to train my inner energy circulation, I often felt some kind of energy that was similar to inner energy, but different.

I noticed that rather than accumulating in my dantian, this energy accumulated in my heart.

I tried to use this energy, but just pulling it out caused a lot of pain.

But I didn’t have any other choice.

Seolhwa made her move.

Maybe she felt something and instinctively felt the need to end this spar immediately.

As she swung her wooden sword downward, I swung mine upward, using the energy stored in my heart.

Crack!

A loud sound could be heard as my wooden sword broke and Seolhwa’s wooden sword flew out of her hands.

For the first time since the start of the match, I saw a shocked expression on her face.

“Heh, I did—”

Thump!

I knelt and grabbed my chest.

My heart felt like it was being squeezed.

Splat!

Blood came out of my mouth.

Not just my mouth. Blood was also coming out of my nose, ears, and eyes.

I saw the world spinning as I felt pain all over my body.

“Fuck…”

I fell to the ground and lost consciousness.