Chapter 444: Shock the World Again
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The founder of Neo Taekwondo and the Martial G.o.d of the State of Korea, Bae Seong-Joon was defeated.
The outcome for the loser in this battle was death. It would not end with heavy injuries, nor the cliche outcome of striking a truce and befriending the opponent.
This was a deathmatch! Most onlooking martial artists knew clearly that the battle of Baengnokdam would only end with the winner walking down the Hallasan alive.
The summit of the Hallasan collapsed slowly. The life of the peak of the mountain seemed to have died alongside the Korean Martial G.o.d, Bae Seong-Joon, as the collapse of the mountain resembled it accompanying Bae Seong-Joon in leaving the mortal realm.
The remaining few young martial artists in the sky who withstood the impact of the airburst shockingly looked at the Hallasan as it collapsed slowly.
This was the strength of martial artists above the fifteen-star cla.s.s. Even the peak of the Hallasan that had stood for millennia could not withstand such a brutal bombardment.
Apart from shock, the young martial artists’ eyes were filled with incomprehension. From their expectations, the battle between two martial dao masters on the Hallasan should’ve had the display of various flashy moves, with a duel progressing for three full days until everything around them was leveled to nothingness, only to defeat their opponent with an ultimate move.
With just one move, the young martial artists couldn’t understand at all. Is this the battle between martial dao masters? The fight earlier between both of them consisted of only a single move. Although it was majestic, there wasn’t really anything special about it.
The martial dao masters from all over the world that were floating in the air were showed gloomy faces. Compared to the immature young martial artists, the martial dao masters knew that a duel was no street performance, where the partic.i.p.ants showed off flashy moves and finished off their opponents with an ultimate while shouting the name of their move.
A match deciding life and death was no child’s play.
No one would be stupid enough to use up sixty percent of their power first, only to crank up their power to eighty percent, and then crank it up again to a hundred percent of their power and entering overdrive.
The battle between life and death was all about defeating one another with the strongest hit at the right place in the shortest time.
Under these conditions, if one were to use only sixty percent of their power to display flashy moves, they would not survive today’s battle at all.
Sometimes a punch was enough to determine the outcome of the battle.
A martial dao master was not a performance master. They weren’t trained to show off flashy tactics, but to effectively use their powers to defeat their opponents. Sometimes, a duel between ten-star martial artists was more interesting than watching a duel between two martial dao masters.
Song Zhenting’s eyes locked on Qin Fen as he was shocked with amazement. Inside his heart, he was admiring Qin Fen, This young man is really amazing every time I meet him. It’s clear from his boxing that he had reached his limit earlier in the battle, only to defy normal expectations by breaking the limits once again, releasing a fusion of dry and violent wind. That finis.h.i.+ng strike even gave us the feeling of a sandstorm.
Great, majestic, intense, ruthless! Song Zhenting nodded as he summed up the battle. Bae Seong-Joon also reached his limit, as he put down his glory and dignity as a martial dao master, and even his life, just to kill Qin Fen.
That strike of Taebaek was perfect no matter how Song Zhenting looked at it. That strike was beyond the combination of the rich Korean history that spanned for millenniums, even beyond the infusion of his life as a martial artist! That very strike had even taken away the soul of the Hallasan!
The soul of Hallasan, which had stood on the island of Jeju for thousand of years, had been merged into the life of Bae Seong-Joon. That was the very reason why he chose the Hallasan as the venue for the deathmatch.
Bae Seong-Joon gave everything he had in this battle! The moment he struck, Song Zhenting had a feeling that Bae Seong-Joon would take away the soul of the Hallasan from the mountain, fusing into his fist of Taebaek that was infused with the rich Korean history that spanned millenniums.
That was the perfect punch! Song Zhenting firmly believed that if Bae Seong-Joon survived this battle, his martial dao that had been stagnant for years would be revitalized after this battle. He might even be promoted into a grandmaster as a result!
“It’s a pity…” Song Zhenting looked at the dead Bae Seong-Joon with regret, “If you survived, your martial dao would’ve definitely gone a step further. Unfortunately, you have encountered one of the three strongest martial artists from the younger generation. You’ve lost honorably.”
The Sakra in the helicopter finally brought out a smile from his expressionless face. Although Qin Fen had already entered the fifteen-star cla.s.s and became a martial dao master, not many people in the realm of martial dao, if any at all, recognized Qin Fen as martial dao master.
The easiest way to become a true martial dao master was to defeat a real martial dao master. When Zhang Tianhe was killed, Qin Fen was accepted as a real martial dao master by the martial dao world.
Today, Qin Fen had defeated the sect-founding martial dao master Bae Seong-Joon. His future in the world of martial dao was bright. As his master, the Sakra felt pride on his face.
These days, being a divine beast doesn’t guarantee that your disciples would have the chance to become a martial dao master. Never in history had a disciple of a master become a martial dao master before hitting the age of twenty.
The Sakra was very proud, he had two disciples who became martial dao masters below the age of twenty! This record would probably remain unsurpa.s.sed for a long time.
Other spectators at the scene had mixed reactions. Some were surprised at Qin Fen’s powerful martial dao, others were amazed as they looked at the rising star of martial dao.
Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten floated in the air quietly. His face was unlike other martial artists. Apart from the display of shock from his eyebrows, there were other feelings hidden within.
“The martial dao master is less than twenty years old…” Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten’s eyes were violently twitching as he deeply inhaled the cold air, “This is unusual, way too unusual! There must be something off with his martial arts! There must be!”
Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten moved his eyes around slowly and soon locked upon a weakened Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi who was partially sitting in the ruins with blood from his mouth.
As the former master of the ex-neo Karate disciple, Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten knew him very well. It was already unbelievable for Genichi to achieve the power of eight-stars, let alone achieve the power of ten-stars and completing the Reborn of Blood Transfusion Real Inborn.
The young man who showed slightly promising talents wasn’t considered a prodigy had surpa.s.sed many of his prodigal contemporaries with his performance today.
The True Inborn Blood Transfusion Rebirth was a difficult level that made countless martial artists age a few years in a single night! But it doesn’t seem to have affected Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi a lot.
Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten was doubtful. There must be other reasons apart from hard work and luck that made Qin Fen into a strong martial artist today.
That would be martial arts! Internal art!
Even the martial artists who were new to martial dao knew that, under normal circ.u.mstances, two martial artists with the same potential would produce different results if one were to practice secret internal art and the other practiced ordinary internal art. After some time, the martial artist that practiced the secret internal art would be much stronger than the one who practiced ordinary internal art.
Internal art! There are many internal arts in the Federation now, but it does not mean that the internal art had reached its full potential.
With the understanding of martial dao, martial arts masters generally believed that there was potential to develop a stronger version of internal arts. The question is, how should the internal arts be developed further? Developing one doesn’t only require a strong foundation in martial arts, but also an unbelievable amount of luck for it to succeed.
Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten was more than willing to believe that Qin Fen merely had a sheer amount of luck in successfully developing a form of secret internal art, with the secret internal art bearing the possibility of making the True Inborn Blood Transfusion Rebirth easier than ever.
Being able to carry out the internal art of True Inborn Blood Transfusion Rebirth might not be attractive to a martial dao master. However, if one could extract and understand its inner workings, there was great value in learning from it.
Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten knew that his foundations in martial dao as a sect-founder of a famous sect for years far exceed Qin Fen’s. However, if such internal arts really did exist, then he might have more opportunities for innovation if he got his hands on it.
Getting martial arts knowledge from Qin Fen! Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten snuck a glimpse at Qin Fen, and the fire of his inner desire was extinguished in an instant. The earlier display of boxing by Qin Fen was enough for Kouten to fear him.
Give up? Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten’s eyes were filled with unwillingness. The longer one stayed at the level of a martial dao master, the less likely they were to have a breakthrough in the future. As a result, the martial dao spirit would not be as calm as before.
“I can’t give up.” Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten clenched his fists. This is the best chance of breaking through the realm of martial dao masters, and I have the best excuse ever at this moment!
If he let go of this opportunity, Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten felt that he would never encounter another such opportunity again in his lifetime.
“Yes!” Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten once again regained his calmness, secretly telling himself, “This is the best chance. Qin Fen had just fought with the Korean Martial G.o.d, Bae Seong-Joon. It is impossible for anyone to believe that he did not suffer any injuries.”
Bae Seong-Joon might be dead, but it did not mean that his death was in vain. For Qin Fen to fight Bae Seong-Joon, whose power level exceeded him, would mean that even if Qin Fen achieved the final victory, it would be unsurprising if he had depleted most of his true energy and had suffered multiple internal injuries.
“As he had just defeated Bae Seong-Joon, he needs to rest. This is the best time.”
Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten thought through every detail quickly before inhaling deeply and moved out from the crowd. He floated above the crumbling peak of Hallasan. He looked at Qin Fen and arched his hand, “Master Qin. Congratulations on winning the duel.”
The spectating martial artists looked at Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten, puzzled. Although it was worthy of celebration that Qin Fen had won the duel, he had defeated a senior master of martial dao. Everyone present received the results with mixed emotions. As much as they recognize Qin Fen’s performance, most did not wish to congratulate him directly.
“Master?”
Qin Fen produced a slight smile and gently arched his hand. This was the first time someone had called him a master, causing his heart to be elated from the greeting.
With the name of martial dao master, Qin Fen’s decision to propose marriage at the Song household was reinforced with newfound confidence and pride.
Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten exhaled the air out of his lungs slowly and asked with a solemn look, “Master Qin, I have a question that I couldn’t really wrap my hands around. Can you enlighten me on this matter?”
Qin Fen frowned slightly with a hint of uncomfortableness in his heart. His instincts told him that Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten might say something bad and therefore he merely nodded without saying anything.
Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten looked up slowly and spoke to the onlookers around him, “Although we have entered the era of s.p.a.ce technology and new developments are being made every pa.s.sing day, some rules remain unchanged. And that is the code that we have always honored, the code of obedience and respect, to our teachers!”
The martial artists that floated in the air nodded. The founder of the new Aikido, Hatoyama Yukio saw Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi sitting among the ruins in a distance. With a face of realization, he immediately nodded in agreement, “The social norms of man should naturally be preserved. This is the etiquette that the martial artists of my generation should carry on.”
Also floating high up in the air was Has.h.i.+moto Nagas.h.i.+ro from the Neo Sumo sect. He saw Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi and witnessed the expressions of Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten and Hatoyama Kazuo, and immediately displayed a scornful expression with a disdainful “hmph” coming out from his nose.
Although they belonged to the same generation of martial dao masters as the Korean Martial G.o.d, Has.h.i.+moto Nagas.h.i.+ro looked at the actions of those two with disdain. At the same time, he also admired the strike landed by Qin Fen.
Has.h.i.+moto Nagas.h.i.+ro had always believed that only a real man with a benevolent heart can display such powerful boxing skills! Although both were martial dao masters of different generations, Has.h.i.+moto Nagas.h.i.+ro wished to get to know Qin Fen personally to discuss their insights and understanding of martial arts.
Friends.h.i.+p! Has.h.i.+moto Nagas.h.i.+ro had a peculiar instinctive feeling after watching Qin Fen’s fight. He might be able to befriend this young man who was much younger than him.
Having the support of Hatoyama Yukio, Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten was happy and once again arched his hand and politely asked, “Master Qin, since respecting the teachers is still the norm of the world of martial dao, I suppose that those who betray their teachers and sects should be punished, no?”
Qin Fen slightly lifted his eyelids as he looked at Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi not far away from the corner of his eye. He finally understood the whole situation. Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten of the new Karate Kyokus.h.i.+n Style had finally revealed his ulterior motive!
“Interesting.” Qin Fen smiled faintly as he admired Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten deep inside his heart.
This is really great timing! What a wonderful excuse! Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten was the master of Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi and therefore, unsurprisingly, he knew Genichi very well. Naturally, Kouten would also be more doubtful of his ex-disciple than anyone else in terms of his martial arts abilities.
What a nice move! Qin Fen had to give a thumbs up and praised Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten for the impeccable timing.
Among the spectators, regardless of who would’ve fought Bae Seong-Joon, no one would dare to claim that they suffered no injuries at all.
The martial dao masters present at the scene were naturally powerful in their own merit. It’s not surprising that it would be hard to determine the winner if everyone fought each other, as everyone had similar levels of power.
But if someone else started the fight first, new challengers would then battle the winner in a duel. His chances of winning would, therefore, increase drastically.
Everyone present at the scene that heard this might not know the ultimate goal of Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten, but they were able to speculate that he was taking advantage of Qin Fen’s heavy injuries by doing what he usually wouldn’t do.
Treacherous? That depends on the way you think. There were different views from different people depending on where they stood on the issue.
Be it treachery or wisdom! Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten had decided that today he must bring Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi back to the State of j.a.pan with the pretext of purging. He would then interrogate Genichi as soon as possible to learn the secrets of Qin Fen and find a place to isolate himself to plan with the gathered intelligence. With those, he would have nothing to fear when Qin Fen recovered and resurfaced into the public realm of martial arts.
If possible, Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten really wouldn’t mind killing Qin Fen afterward, claiming sole owners.h.i.+p to this martial dao secret alone as a result.
“Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi!”
Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten’s voice suddenly s.h.i.+fted into a heavy tone, his right index finger pointing at Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi sitting on the ground. “This person was a disciple of my new Karate Kyokus.h.i.+n Style, but he betrayed his sect to join the sect of Master Qin. This is a great insult to my Kyokus.h.i.+n Style. In regard to such traitorous behavior, I hope to be able to purge him personally. I would also ask Master Qin to save me some face by allowing me the purge, and I will definitely thank you in the future.”
Most of the onlooking martial artists were shocked. Although it seemed like Kouten was taking advantage of the situation, his requests were actually valid when viewed from his angle. There was nothing wrong with purging traitors.
Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi sat on the floor and sneered resentfully. He had spent a huge fortune that day to learn martial dao under Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten. However, he was looked down upon by Kouten for not having the best potential and ended up not learning much despite spending a fortune.
The impact of the two masters earlier was too strong. Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi suffered the heaviest injuries as he had no master to s.h.i.+eld him from the impact. If it weren’t for the completion of the True Inborn Blood Transfusion Rebirth, death was a real possibility for him.
Even if he survived, the huge impact still caused serious injury to Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi to the point where he couldn’t speak for the time being.
“Purging the traitor?”
Qin Fen put his hands behind his back and replied with a slight smile, “Genichi is now my disciple of Divine Boxing. Would you purge your traitor to regain your face at the expense of throwing my face out of the window?”
Face? Was it really face? Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten and Qin Fen were laughing. Face was not the issue at all. It’s something else hidden deep within.
Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten politely bowed to Qin Fen and said again, “Master Qin, I know that it is difficult for you to make this decision. However, when you accepted the traitor Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi as your disciple, had you not considered that I would lose more face as a result? Please be understanding! You just fought an intense battle, and I really don’t want to risk people saying that I am taking advantage of you by challenging you at this time. But since I encountered the traitor today, if I am unable to purge him, I… seek your forgiveness!”
Song Zhenting sneered. Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten had given a direct threat. If he doesn’t hand over Kyokus.h.i.+n Genichi, Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten will request a duel! Qin Fen had just fought an intense battle with Bae Seong-Joon. How can he fight Kyokus.h.i.+n Kouten with those injuries?
Hah… Song Zhenting exhaled slowly and began to move his floating body.
Qin Fen suddenly smiled at this moment. He began to loosen his hands slowly behind him and walked on the rugged hills while speaking coldly, “Taking advantage of my predicament? Taking advantage of me? Haha… haha…”
Qin Fen suddenly halted his footsteps, straightened up his chest and looked up at the sky with his right arm raised, “Asking me for your disciple at this timing, just for purging? What the f*ck were you doing earlier? Why didn’t you ask me for him before I fought Bae Seong-Joon? Trying to take advantage of my predicament? Fine, I shall let you take advantage of my predicament! If you want your disciple back for your purging, fight me! If you can defeat me, you can take him away!”