Shall We Continue, Then?

Even the Black Path men didn’t dare step in under the man’s oppressive presence.

Gyo-ha slowly walked toward him.

Seeing this, the man looked at Gyo-ha in surprise.

“Oh? Not running? Is that courage?”

His cold gaze raked Gyo-ha up and down.

“Or is it bravado? We’ll know soon enough.”

The internal energy he felt from Gyo-ha was minimal.

He rested the club on his shoulder and beckoned to Gyo-ha.

It was a signal for him to come at him first.

“Then I won’t hold back.”

As Noh-sam had said, his opponent was a master.

The aura that pricked at the skin was proof of it.

‘A probing exchange is pointless.’

Go all out from the start.

Gyo-ha stepped forward.

Koong!

The ground boomed as his body shot forward.

Seeing him, the man shifted his grip on the club.

KWA-KANG!

The club and iron shackles collided, bursting the air apart.

“Ho.”

Interest flickered over the man’s previously bored face.

The impact had run up through his club.

Gyo-ha stepped back.

But he reset his stance at once and dove back in.

“So there was someone with some use after all.”

His club swept for Gyo-ha’s head.

Twisting his waist to evade, Gyo-ha dropped low and closed in.

Just as he was about to punch—

The man’s knee cracked Gyo-ha under the chin.

“Ghk.”

Gyo-ha staggered back. The club came for him at once.

The club swept past his eyes.

A moment slower and the spikes would have flayed skin.

But Gyo-ha smiled as if he’d expected it.

“As expected, it won’t be easy.”

Gyo-ha shook out his hands and feet.

Watching, the man spoke, his expression changed.

“You—your name?”

“Gyo-ha.”

“I’m Iron Tyrant Staff Nam Gwang.”

A few spectators up front gasped at his words.

Iron Tyrant Staff adjusted his grip, eyes on Gyo-ha.

“Your head looks like it’ll crush nicely.”

Iron Tyrant Staff licked his lips and grinned. Gyo-ha grinned back.

Their figures crashed together again.

---

Iron Tyrant Staff Nam Gwang, was an unorthodox master famed in Angang, Shaanxi.

The reason he’d come all the way to Gansu was simple.

As usual, he robbed people and harassed women.

Reigning like a king in Angang, he feared nothing.

Yet sometimes a hero-wannabe appears.

This one strode out boldly and died by his hand like the rest.

The problem was the man’s affiliation.

He was a disciple of Wudang.

His infamy in Shaanxi couldn’t eclipse the name of Wudang.

Wudang’s fury at losing a disciple was fierce.

So he had to hide his name and flee to Gansu.

But that would soon end.

‘I’ll take the money and slip into Qinghai.’

Qinghai.

Even Kunlun had fallen there; to the orthodox, it was a wasteland.

They wouldn’t easily pursue him there.

Disappear there for a few years and even Wudang would forget him.

Iron Tyrant Staff turned his gaze to the foe before him.

His face looked boyish; his qi was third-rate at best.

But his body alone surpassed any martial artist he’d seen.

‘I’ve been bored. Good.’

His weapon drew too much attention.

So it had been far too long since he blooded his club.

But this brat would do as an offering.

Iron Tyrant Staff swung his club at the incoming iron shackles.

Kang! Ka-gang!

Sparks flew as shackles and club struck.

It was Gyo-ha who yielded a step at a time.

No matter his strength, blocking qi-infused blows wasn’t easy.

Even so, the smile didn’t leave his lips.

But only for a moment.

Soon the balance of power broke.

“Huh—?”

Gyo-ha misstepped mid-motion.

The club didn’t miss it and smashed his chest.

Thud!

Gyo-ha’s body lifted and slammed to the ground.

His chest looked as if a hoe had scraped flesh away.

Yet Iron Tyrant Staff eyed him with a puzzled look.

“Did he twist his body in that split second?”

Before he finished, Gyo-ha staggered to his feet.

Iron Tyrant Staff frowned at the sight.

He bled a lot, but the wound wasn’t that deep.

Which made his state seem odd.

“Uh, wait a sec—why is this happening?”

He blinked, even bopped his own head.

Watching that, Iron Tyrant Staff’s rising excitement cooled.

‘Just a colt kicking above its station.’

He must have drawn on latent strength and wrecked his body.

He couldn’t even gauge his own ability.

Otherwise lasting this long with that qi made no sense.

Even Shaolin’s famed external arts couldn’t do that.

Iron Tyrant Staff never once considered they might have used poison without trusting him.

“Die already.”

He swung the club at Gyo-ha.

Vwoom.

The club cleaved the air.

Gyo-ha bent his waist and slipped past it.

But not cleanly, as blood dotted a spike.

“Nh.”

The club slammed down.

This time Gyo-ha rolled along the ground to dodge.

It was a move called a donkey roll, a move martial artists considered shameful.

But Gyo-ha didn’t care.

Iron Tyrant Staff kicked at the rolling Gyo-ha.

But even that cut only air.

Gyo-ha slammed both hands to the ground and popped upright.

No, he was upright only for a moment.

“Aht, cha, cha.”

He hopped along on one foot.

Even standing seemed hard. Iron Tyrant Staff clicked his tongue and swung again.

Gyo-ha toppled as he tried to evade.

But he didn’t just fall.

Whip!

Iron Tyrant Staff backstepped as an iron shackle whipped past his face.

Beyond it he saw Gyo-ha smack his lips, disappointed.

“As expected, your reaction’s slow.”

Gyo-ha said as he punched the air.

It looked as if he were fooling around.

Iron Tyrant Staff’s face twisted at Gyo-ha’s composure.

“…You bastard!”

Furious, he lashed the club like lightning.

Gyo-ha reeled aside and avoided it.

At once he spun and brought a shackle down from above.

He batted the shackle away—then a kick snapped up.

The foot grazed the tip of Iron Tyrant Staff’s nose.

Gyo-ha hit the dirt and sprang right back up.

The club went for his head again.

Gyo-ha ducked as if collapsing.

Then a shackle shot in.

BANG!

“Ghk!”

Iron Tyrant Staff was driven back.

He bit his lip at the unexpected impact.

It was hard to believe such a blow came from someone who could barely stand.

Gyo-ha spun again.

‘He can’t stand, so he attacks while falling?’

Iron Tyrant Staff’s eyes quivered.

He was whipping his arm like a lash.

That way, he could compensate for his lacking strength with rotational force.

The attacks were sloppy.

Which made it hard to predict.

Normally he’d struggle to land anything.

But Gyo-ha’s attacks were growing sharper.

As if adapting to his condition.

‘Nonsense!’

Iron Tyrant Staff glared at him.

It was only temporary anyway. If he continued to fight like this, his shoulder wouldn’t hold.

Sure enough—

One arm hung limp as if dislocated.

But his eyes weren’t the eyes of a man resigned to defeat.

Even through the drugged haze on his face, a clear light shone.

“…Playtime ends here.”

Creak.

The club in his grip shuddered.

Heat-haze rose with it.

It went beyond released qi and took form.

So distinct it showed even at a distance.

First-rate realm.

At the same time, the air changed.

Koong!

He stamped with advancing footwork and swept the club.

Cross-Sweep Thousand Troops.

The most basic of basics for anyone who wields weapons to learn.

The club drove straight.

Judging it hard to dodge, Gyo-ha threw both hands up.

Kwang!

With a blast, Gyo-ha was hurled away.

“Urk!”

Gyo-ha fell on the floor and spit blood at once.

But he rolled aside immediately,

as the club came crashing for his head.

KWA-GANG!

The ground heaved.

As he rose, Iron Tyrant Staff kicked into his belly.

Gyo-ha flew again.

Thud!

He hit the iron fence and it screeched and collapsed.

“…You’re getting up after that?”

Iron Tyrant Staff stared, dumbfounded, as Gyo-ha staggered up.

But he looked like a tap would topple him.

“Fine, I acknowledge that you have persistence.”

Iron Tyrant Staff stamped the ground.

It meant that he was going to finish it.

As the club fell toward Gyo-ha’s head—

“Now I can see it.”

Gyo-ha muttered.

“What?”

Before he grasped the meaning of his words, Gyo-ha’s head dipped.

‘Hmph. The same trick again?’

He sneered and redirected the club.

In that instant—

Creak—Gyo-ha’s turning body halted and reversed.

His waist screamed at the strain, but he didn’t stop.

“Ghk!”

A heavy shackle scraped Iron Tyrant Staff’s cheek.

A hair slower and it would’ve struck his head.

But then—

Puck!

Something slammed the side of his waist.

“…!”

Driven back, he realized what hit him and scowled.

Gyo-ha’s knee.

“…The shackle was bait?”

His side was caved in.

Pain flared. Gyo-ha stood, wobbling his waist left and right.

Then he smoothed his wild hair back.

“Ah. Taking a hit really clears the head. Or was it two?”

Gyo-ha smiled playfully.

Covered in blood and unable to even lift one arm properly, he was grinning from ear to ear.

Anyone could see his staggering steps weren’t normal.

But his eyes curved as if he was enjoying this to no end.

Seeing that look, Iron Tyrant Staff grimaced.

“Insolent!”

The club’s heat-haze grew fiercer.

The club shot toward Gyo-ha!

But he evaded with only a twist of his head.

Instead of stopping, his fist darted for the chin.

But before it landed, he lurched and his fist veered aside.

This caused the shackle to skim the cheek instead.

Iron Tyrant Staff’s eyes widened at the unforeseen strike.

He called it luck and swung again.

And the exchanges continued.

The longer it went, the more he realized it wasn’t luck.

Gyo-ha was either slipping or deflecting every attack.

‘He’s read it all?’

No, that’s impossible.

The club rippled; Gyo-ha avoided as if of course.

At that moment he stepped in with his lead foot.

A kick shot out!

But the shackle blocked it.

“I’ve seen this one too.”

“…!”

Gyo-ha slid back, not absorbing all the force.

But he grinned and rushed in.

An unknown displeasure rose in him.

Soon he knew what it was.

As he set to swing, Gyo-ha’s torso slid aside.

He froze.

He forced the swinging arm to halt.

His elbow ached from the strain, but he didn’t care.

Iron Tyrant Staff stared at Gyo-ha in disbelief.

“You—just now…”

“Whoops, a bit early?”

Gyo-ha smiled sheepishly like a child caught teasing. That made it certain.

He wasn’t merely reading his movements.

He reacted before Iron Tyrant Staff moved.

“What—nonsense…”

A marvel like this. This was something he’d never even heard of.

Gyo-ha licked blood from his torn brow and smirked.

“Shall we continue, then? My body’s finally back.”

Gyo-ha rolled his shoulders.

That arm had surely been loose and rattling, yet now it moved fine.

Not just the arm.

At some point, the wound on his chest had stopped bleeding as well.

Gyo-ha grinned fiercely at the frozen Iron Tyrant Staff.