If this weren’t inside the tournament grounds, he would have taken his time and tortured him slowly. It irked him that he couldn’t.Even so, Tak Mu Gyeol racked his brain over and over on how to squeeze the most fun out of it.When Wi Cheol Ho set his stance to fight, Tak Mu Gyeol let out a thin grin.First, I’ll peel that annoying blank face wide open.Tak Mu Gyeol rolled his neck left and right, loosening up his body.Then he burst forward straight at Wi Cheol Ho.His first target: the wrist.He couldn’t wait to see Wi Cheol Ho’s face twist up.Whoosh—“Soul-Hook Spirit-Snatch.”Tak Mu Gyeol’s hand shot out for Wi Cheol Ho’s wrist.Wi Cheol Ho snapped his hand back fast, but there was no avoiding Tak Mu Gyeol’s grip.Like a snake, the hand curled in, seized Wi Cheol Ho’s wrist, and twisted it hard.Crack—That sound—pleasant no matter when he heard it—slid into Tak Mu Gyeol’s ear.Grinning as if delighted, Tak Mu Gyeol turned his head to savor Wi Cheol Ho’s expression—just as an attack came flying in.“—Hk!”The strike came so fast that Tak Mu Gyeol jerked his body back and barely evaded.Thud—“Khk!”He’d dodged—hadn’t he?Then why was pain spiking?He turned toward the direction the pain came from and saw his own grotesquely bent wrist buried in his abdomen.Only then did Tak Mu Gyeol lift his head and look at Wi Cheol Ho’s face.Wi Cheol Ho’s expression was still blank.As if he couldn’t feel pain at all.Startled, Tak Mu Gyeol fell back.Because the attack had been thrown with a bent wrist, the power wasn’t as great as he’d expected.Even so, the simple fact that the “prey” had landed a hit stoked a rage in Tak Mu Gyeol.More than anything, that unfeeling, pain-blind blank face made him angrier.As if nothing at all were wrong, Wi Cheol Ho set the wrenched wrist back into place.Tak Mu Gyeol’s features twisted at the sight.He was being completely ignored.He no longer needed the crowd’s eyes.People already thought of him as a cruel man anyway.He decided to utterly smash Wi Cheol Ho to pieces.And then Wi Cheol Ho crooked a finger, beckoning him in—snapping the last of Tak Mu Gyeol’s reason.He charged straight at Wi Cheol Ho.“I’ll cripple you so you can never use martial arts again!”Wi Cheol Ho’s arm was caught just like that.“Soul-Hook Spirit-Snatch!”Same move—but on a whole different level from before.Cra-aaack—Wi Cheol Ho’s entire left arm turned like laundry wrung tight.Normally, anyone in that state would be writhing in agony—but not Wi Cheol Ho.Even as his arm was being twisted, he began attacking Tak Mu Gyeol.Tak Mu Gyeol angled to evade and go after the right arm when—The mangled left arm moved and clamped onto him.An unbelieving stare.With muscles torqued and joints yanked out, he shouldn’t have been able to so much as twitch a finger.But that arm grabbed him.And tight.Clamp—“Khk!”With the grip set, Wi Cheol Ho’s headbutt smashed in.Wham— wham—No named technique—just a headbutt.But the power was brutal.It felt like a massive chunk of iron was caving in his skull.“Khk!”Each clash sent his mind reeling.Tak Mu Gyeol poured everything into the left arm holding him.Crunch— crack—He shattered the arm completely.At the same instant, the grip fell away.“Huff… huff—!”A ribbon of blood slid down Tak Mu Gyeol’s brow.His focus wouldn’t hold.From just a few headbutts?Watching Wi Cheol Ho gaze at him without a shred of emotion—even with his arm dangling in pieces—raised gooseflesh along Tak Mu Gyeol’s neck.He’d never met a man like this.A man whose nature clashed with his own.The thought of making him show pain vanished.He would break him so completely he would never rise again.Wiping the blood from his forehead, Tak Mu Gyeol hauled up his inner power.In that moment—Wi Cheol Ho, who had never once struck first, closed in fast.“—Hk!”The ruined arm lashed out like a whip.He’s swinging that?Ignoring his sound right arm?Tak Mu Gyeol flinched to evade—Rip—Wi Cheol Ho’s head crashed in again, pinning his philtrum dead on.“Gah—!”His vision swam.What is that bastard’s head made of, to hurt like this?That was the start.As his vision blurred, he couldn’t fix his focus, and with it he couldn’t launch clean attacks.His style relied on Seize-and-Lock Hand—he needed more focus than anyone—and he was losing it.Above all, it was humiliating.He hadn’t been felled by some dashing technique, but by headbutts.As he tried to pull himself together—Crunch—With a sickening sound he didn’t want to hear, pain flared through his left arm like someone had slammed a huge rock down on it.He winced and turned—only to find his own left arm bent into a fresh grotesque angle.Crunch—“Gggkh—!”A groan dripping with pain tore out of Tak Mu Gyeol’s mouth.He’d wanted to hear Wi Cheol Ho groan—yet here he was groaning instead.He tried to wrench free of Wi Cheol Ho’s hand—but the head was already flying in again.Wham—His mind fogged; pain surged back through the left arm.After several repeats, Tak Mu Gyeol’s left arm had become like Wi Cheol Ho’s.In the haze, he finally heard Wi Cheol Ho’s voice for the first time.“Count yourself lucky.”What does that mean?Wham—Thud—The blow that followed those words dropped Tak Mu Gyeol flat and knocked him out.The referee sprinted in, checked Tak Mu Gyeol’s condition, then lifted Wi Cheol Ho’s hand.“One Origin Gate’s Wi Cheol Ho—wins!”As Wi Cheol Ho’s victory rang out, the spectators who had been holding their breath burst into cheers.From where they sat, it looked like he’d endured Tak Mu Gyeol’s vicious, inhuman attacks and paid them back in full.It looked like justice had won.And beyond that—no special martial art, just headbutts.It was refreshing.Even with both arms compromised, Wi Cheol Ho had done everything he could do.Which is why they cheered his victory all the more.On the other hand, not everyone felt that way.“Mu Gyeol!”The Blood Demon Gate Master, Tak Ho Sang, started to rush out—only for Hwa Sogwang to seize his arm.“Gate Master Tak! Compose yourself!”“Compose myself? My son is lying there like that!”“He’ll be fine once he gets treatment. For now, calm yourself.”“Would you be calm if your son were like that? Easy words when it isn’t your problem!”He glared daggers at Wi Cheol Ho.“That damn brat!”Yes, he was furious about what had happened to his son—but the fight had felt too much like a street brawl, and that stoked him too.He told himself his son had been flustered by gutter tricks fit for alley thugs.In truth, that thinking was nonsense.If you’re a martial artist, you prepare to answer any attack.To be beaten by headbutts meant you weren’t prepared at all—you’d looked down on your opponent and let your guard drop completely.“Gate Master Tak. Keep it measured. Anyone can see that child, Wi Cheol Ho, responded properly and won.”At Hwa Sogwang’s words, Tak Ho Sang stared at him with eyes full of venom.“Are you done talking?”Tak Ho Sang’s rough tone made one of Hwa Sogwang’s brows twitch.Hwa Sogwang’s face set, and he spoke low.“I’m choosing my words, and you seem to have forgotten my temper… Gate Master Tak.”Tak Ho Sang shuddered and came back to himself.“M—my apologies. I got too heated and lost my head.”Hwa Sogwang gave his shoulder a light pat, offering comfort.“It happens. Whose parent wouldn’t, with their child hurt? But it was a fair match—so rein yourself in.”“Y—yes. I’m sorry.”Tak Ho Sang was strong.But he couldn’t match Hwa Sogwang.The Blood Demon Gate barely scraped into the lower ranks of the Twelve Halls.Hwa Sogwang was a top-tier force even among the Twelve Halls.Even within the same Twelve Halls, there were tiers to strength.If he provoked the man and this blew up into a clash between sects, the Blood Demon Gate would be wiped out.Just then, someone came up to the Bukcheon Gate Master, Sa Se Hwang, passed along something, and slipped away.Sa Se Hwang unfolded it and frowned.“What’s got you scowling like that?”At Hwa Sogwang’s question, Sa Se Hwang stroked his chin and spoke.“I had someone look into Golden Flower Gate, Dao Immortal Gate, and One Origin Gate—and there’s nothing.”“What do you mean?”“They say there’s no information at all. That such sects don’t exist.”“Hm.”“I put the request directly through the Afternoon Gate, and they say they have nothing. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”“It does.”Other hall masters who’d been listening joined in.“Now that you mention it, it is odd. If we’ve never heard the names, they’re nobodies. But not one place—three, no, four of them popped up? Strange, isn’t it?”“Four?”“Shouldn’t we include Shincheon Manor? I’d never even heard the name, and they’ve got two in the round of thirty-two. The shadiest of the lot.”At the name “Shincheon Manor,” Hwa Sogwang and Sa Se Hwang’s expressions flickered.“Ahem. I know Shincheon Manor well. They’ve more than enough depth—don’t cast suspicion.”“I know them well too. Their name isn’t wide yet, but before long there won’t be a soul in the Central Plains who doesn’t know Shincheon Manor.”With the two of them stepping up to vouch, people looked puzzled—but didn’t press doubt.“I see. Even if we set Shincheon Manor aside, those three sects reek of something.”“On that point, I agree. For even the Afternoon Gate to know nothing? I’d say they were whipped up for this tournament.”“Heh. So the Divine Dragon Tournament’s vaunted name is for show—taking in sects that haven’t been vetted at all.”“That’s part of the Divine Dragon Tournament’s charm. Even a warrior from the hinterlands can ride it to fame. Isn’t that the event’s very reason to exist?”“That may be, but those ones are suspicious. We’d best look into them closely, don’t you think?”Heads nodded around in agreement.Hwa Sogwang spoke.“I’m on good terms with the Beggars’ Sect Chief. I’ll go ask him.”“Oh! You have ties with the Beggars’ Sect Chief?”“If even the Beggars’ Sect doesn’t know, then we should treat them as a threat, shouldn’t we?”Hwa Sogwang nodded.“Then we should. In any case, today’s matches are done—let’s break up here.” ****That evening.People flocked to the lodging where Yeon Woo Jin was staying.The reason was the Shincheon Manor dragons who had shown astonishing performances today.Among the visitors were people from sects with real names.“The Sect Leader of the Mount Tai Sect requests an audience. Might you spare a little time?”At the words “from Mount Tai Sect,” the crowd stirred.“Goodness—Mount Tai.”“They aren’t summoning him for payback because they lost, are they?”“Bah! Mount Tai’s one of the great orthodox sects. They’re calling to build rapport.”Everyone assumed the Master of Shincheon Manor would accept Mount Tai’s invitation.But the reply that came back was a refusal.“We apologize. The Master is ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) occupied today and won’t be able to accept the invitation.”At the refusal, the man from Mount Tai walked off with a bruised expression.Not just Mount Tai—the people who came later from Heavenly Strength Gate and Mount Heng Sect were refused as well and left looking none too pleased.People worried.Great, prestigious sects don’t take kindly to being snubbed.They won’t retaliate openly, but one way or another, they’ll try to pay back the slight from the shadows.If even the great sects were being turned away, what chance did the rest of them have of being received?As the disappointed began to drift off, someone from Shincheon Manor stepped out and spoke.“To all of you who came all this way—thank you, sincerely. The Master wished to express his gratitude, and told us to deliver one of these to each person present here.”

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