Chapter 676: The New Semester Has Begun (10)

The tension kept tightening as the first-round exam went on.

The only snag was how ugly the mood turned whenever examinees kept side-eyeing each other above a perfectly good examiner—“you go, no you go”—instead of stepping onto the floor.

It was at that moment.

A young man stepped forward.

A rather easy smile, light steps.

Delicate, handsome features.

Why is there always one like that? The kind that naturally pulls the eye. Call it presence.

In truth, he was just good-looking.

Pretty faces win goodwill by existing, get welcomed, and therefore brim with confidence; the ease born of that confidence draws eyes again.

That ease then reads as poise, wins more goodwill, the confidence rises again, and so on—an endless treadmill of charm.

Of course, so what if a man’s handsome?

So what, he’s got a few more chicks. Somehow that’s a bit annoying.

“I am Chae Seong-ha of Azure Dragon Gate. I ask the instructor for a bout.”

Azure Dragon Gate. Quite a dashing name, isn’t it?

Qing immediately turned to the pouch of wisdom at her elbow—no, to Sima Chunbong. Because when she wonders about something, she does not hold it in.

“Sima, Azure Dragon Gate? Is that a famous sect?”

“Heh-heh, my, Heavenly Flower Sword. Are you asking this Sima Chunbong? Of course ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of, and seeking wisdom from this Shining Wise Flower is only natural.”

And for some reason Sima Chunbong puffed up, very pleased with himself, and continued.

“Heavenly Flower Sword, the Central Plains are vast, and eccentrics and recluses are as many as the stars in the sky and grains on the shore. In the rivers and lakes, nothing should surprise you. Disciples of masters who have turned their backs on the world sometimes appear, and then there are provincial young experts whose special talent goes unknown. Such things do happen.”

“Ohhh, a reclusive eccentric.”

Qing nodded, right, right—then paused.

Hm? Isn’t that just saying he doesn’t know?

Why lift your chin when you don’t know either?

“No, I thought I asked you to explain Azure Dragon Gate.”

“Heavenly Flower Sword, the Central Plains are vast, and eccentrics and recluses are as many as the stars in the sky and grains on the shore—”

For some reason the exact same answer came back word for word, intonation and all. If this were back home, she might have suspected he was equipped with a built-in recorder.

But the back half did shift a little.

“—such things do happen. Countless bits of wisdom exist in this world, but alas, as the youngest deputy-adjutant runner to enlist under the Martial Alliance for the peace of the martial world, this Sima Chunbong has made a magnanimous decision to keep only the wisdom necessary for the tranquility of all under heaven. It is truly a pity for those nuggets not retained by the number-one brain of Sima Chunbong.”

In other words, he didn’t know.

Qing decided she just wouldn’t ask him things going forward.

What is this, a giant pouch of wisdom that’s completely empty.

Or is a pouch of wisdom enough on its own? Honestly, it is enough. At that size it’s already valuable purely by existing; the largest, most natural shape the public will accept. Does the world need a separate intangible cultural heritage listing?

“And where exactly are you nodding at?”

“Right, right. Indeed. Number one under heaven. I keep being amazed.”

“Hoo-hoo, now you’ve finally recognized the true worth of Sima Chunbong? I am—”

Right on cue, the spar began, and Qing naturally ignored Sima Chunbong.

This round’s examiner was one Ivory Sword Oh Jang-rak, apparently a squad leader of some unit in the Martial Alliance’s Inner Martial Office.

As his epithet suggested, the one thing that shone was his extraordinarily white, perfect teeth. In fact they dazzled so much Qing hardly caught his self-introduction.

Yielding the initiative to the examinee is as ordinary as the sun rising and the moon setting.

Chae Seong-ha’s foot touched the ground.

Rather than a true explosive step, he gave the lightest push with his toes to pick up speed and—what, he’s spinning? He spread both arms wide and whirled forward with jaunty ease.

In truth, a lesser fighter must not dare turn his back in front of a master.

Even in a snap, it’s an act of exposing your back; it bares your weakness.

Also, a human neck doesn’t actually swivel that far, there are no eyes on the back of your head or mid-spine, and turning makes you lose your opponent from your field of view.

You can’t see the enemy but he sees your weakness—try that halfway and you’re liable to take a blade between the shoulder blades and drop.

That said, one can use rotation as an axis to deliver a heavy strike.

In that sense, it could be called a fairly strategic choice.

The examiner will yield the first strike anyway, so if you’re going to ram in with full force from the start, you might as well spin without worrying about a counter.

Because Qing tries to write the evaluation to an examinee’s advantage whenever possible—mm, knows how to read the situation and steer it favorably? She was thinking lines like that for the evaluation sheet when—

“Oooh!”

Exclamations burst out here and there, from the judges’ dais and the crowd alike.

From Chae Seong-ha’s toes, blue qi surged, took the shape of a soft whirlwind, and wrapped his body.

Wreathed in a slowly pressing dragon-coil breeze, Chae Seong-ha lifted his sword and turned, his limbs unfurling long with a springing sway, sometimes snapping out with crisp precision, sometimes folding smooth to draw big and small curves.

Less a series of techniques than something closer to dance.

What do they call it—dance lines.

Those long arms and legs shot out with gusto; unlike Central-Plains dance that emphasizes only softness, this had power and ferocity.

It somehow reminded her of home soil.

Call it a step out of its era?

While Qing sank into an ill-timed wash of nostalgia, those with real eyes—in other words, the masters seated in place—had faces full of surprise.

The dragon-coil breeze around Chae Seong-ha was a blurred form, yet also a blade with clear killing power.

A navy flow swaddled limbs and torso; the dragon-coil wrapped his entire figure; and along the sword ran a light-green current that drew the shape of a larger greatsword.

Three currents of qi, each with a slightly different character, yet all in the form of wind, wound around him.

Most of all, the flow of that qi.

Wind pressed in from the four sides of Heaven and Earth until it took the form of a current; it wasn’t just wind—Heaven-and-Earth nature-qi flowed in with it.

An astonishing art that used not one’s own internal energy, but the very qi that exists in nature—the nature-qi itself!

Oh Jang-rak’s expression grew heavy.

Even those brilliant teeth were hidden behind clenched lips as he swept net-like steel-qi in all directions, barely managing to check the gale.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG—an iron-hammering racket.

It truly looked like countless blades of wind were roaring.

You cannot grasp wind with human hands.

And no matter how abundant a person’s inner power, it cannot exceed the qi of Heaven and Earth.

In the end, Oh Jang-rak seemed to reach a conclusion.

White starlight draped over his sword, Ivory. The mark of one who has stepped past the limit once set as the boundary of human reach.

The keenest edge of the superlative peak: steel-qi.

Chae Seong-ha’s dance changed to match.

The ferocity eased; the tempo slowed; he retreated in a more fluid dance line to open the distance.

In contrast, the flow of wind raged more wildly—and finally surged into Chae Seong-ha’s sword to form a colossal greatsword of wind.

So dense and defined a flow of wind—an aggregation of nature-qi—that the true blade beneath could not be seen.

Oh Jang-rak stamped first.

It was a moment everyone would remember.

Because the first strike belongs to the pressed.

Delay any longer and the scales would tip—anyone who knew martial learning would read who held advantage.

Even those who didn’t could tell by the air alone: the serene youth against the hurried examiner.

And—CHOOONG!

The sword of wind and the steel-qi crashed head-on.

Then the two passed each other.

They stood with backs turned, and silence fell.

The eerie starlight and the hall-filling wind vanished as if they had never been.

Everyone held their breath to see the end of that clash; the hall held only silence.

At length, Oh Jang-rak spoke.

“What is the name of that martial art...?”

“It is called Azure Dragon Dance.”

“Azure Dragon’s dance. Indeed. A divine art worthy of its name. I... have lost.”

With that, Oh Jang-rak spoke, coughed a stream of blood, and staggered.

-WAAAA!!!

All at once a roar like the earth itself shaking exploded.

A once-in-an-age upheaval!

The examinee had defeated the examiner!

“Truly an Azure Dragon—a Little Azure Dragon!”

“Little Azure Dragon!” “Little Azure Dragon! Little Azure Dragon!”

Someone’s awed cry led the chant, and the crowd raised their voices, shouting “Little Azure Dragon” again and again.

It was the birth of a young hero—uh, what is with this mood? Why all of a sudden?

And then Sima Chunbong at her elbow {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} had to add one line.

“Indeed, a Little Azure Dragon. This Righteous-Proper Martial Academy will be truly entertaining. I look forward to it. Heh-heh. Another archrival, is it?”

What’s supposed to be entertaining about a strong one entering the academy?

Well, if he starts a dance club it might get entertaining.

“No, with skill like that, why bother entering the Righteous-Proper Martial Academy?”

“Heavenly Flower Sword, the Central Plains are vast, and eccentrics and recluses are as many as the stars in the sky and grains on the shore—”

What is this, a pull-string talking doll?

It really does sound like someone pressed play on a recorded line.

“—turning their backs on the world— KYAAK!? W-what are you doing?”

Sima Chunbong shrieked in a high pitch when Qing poked him hard in the side.

“I wondered if pressing you would make the line start from the top.”

“...? I don’t know what you mean. Hmph. Indeed, Heavenly Flower Sword, we god-men have facets others cannot comprehend. Now, where was I? Anyway, recluses do not know the affairs of the world, or what level their own realm sits at, or what the average level of the world’s martial learning is. Thus that young expert likely doesn’t know where his power ranks.”

“Ah. I think I know the type.”

You know the type.

A stern master checks a disciple’s conceit by saying, “Your realm is still only between third-rate and second-rate,” but in truth the disciple is already one of the top experts.

Then the disciple descends the mountain still thinking he’s weak, and—something like that?

“Also, beyond the academy’s learning itself, this is a golden chance to stamp his name in orthodox circles. A young expert like that would naturally want to enter my Righteous-Proper Martial Academy and thunder his renown, wouldn’t he?”

It was unclear when exactly the academy had become Sima Chunbong’s, but aside from that, he wasn’t exactly wrong.

Anyway—Azure Dragon Dance.

Qing consulted the Martial-Arts Window she only uses when it suits her.

No result popped. Is his, too, incomplete?

Honestly, this Martial-Arts Window is all façade and no use. No use at all.

The loyal Martial-Arts Window was past resentment and about to shatter into a blue screen.

Qing’s eyes narrowed.

But Azure Dragon Dance. Azure Dragon Dance.

Something snagged at her mind.

If there’s an Azure Dragon Dance, are there others? In that case, isn’t it a bit of a shame for the Black Tortoise side? Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger—then “Black Tortoise Dance” sounds like it loses a lot of shape just in the name. Black Tortoise Dance. Black Tortoise Dance. And if it’s a turtle dance, that’s kind of funny?

That is exactly Qing’s level of thought.

By default, Qing doesn’t think much.

It’s not like he had any glaring bad karma either.

As Chunbong said, the martial world is wide and full of people; the arts are just as varied. If a divine art pops up from somewhere, there’s no call to make a fuss.

So—just, okay, sure.

But Chae Seong-ha, apparently, was not done.

Even after handsomely defeating the examiner, he did not withdraw, but held his ground.

The crowd’s cheers, too, dwindled at some point; eyes lit up, wondering if he would show something more.

Of course, this was an entrance exam, not a grand debut stage in the rivers and lakes for Little Azure Dragon.

One of the examiners issued a caution.

“Young sir, step back. We have to proceed with the next test.”

But Chae Seong-ha only answered with a pliant smile.

“Before that, I have heard a rumor that a great hero—one predicted to become number one under heaven—sits in this very place. Though my skill is humble, I would ask for a single lesson.”

“Ohh,” rose from here and there.

At the same time, every head turned as one. Every gaze in the hall swung to Qing.

A completely packed house staring up with eyes sparkling with expectation—burdensome to the extreme.

Qing thought:

You want to face me?

Mm. Why would I?