Chapter 15: Cheon Sojin

“Where… have you been? Now you show up? You bastard!!”

“Gu Yang Jihee.”

Jihee, with her eyes wide open in fury, stomped toward me.

She was still my former fiancée, but isn’t she being a little too harsh with her words?

Contempt was clear in her eyes.

The reason she came here was obvious.

If she craved candy so much, I’d prepare a big piece of it for her.

“What’s going on?”

“What? What do you mean, what’s going on? Are you really asking me that right now?! You trash!”

With every word I spoke, she bounced up and down in place.

“Why?”

“You seriously don’t know? Ha… The fact that I was once engaged to such an idiot is the biggest regret of my life.”

This just makes me want to tease her more.

I held back a laugh and shrugged my shoulders.

“I don’t get it. Why are you here?”

“Because of you spreading nonsense, my position has become difficult. Come and explain yourself. Right now! Follow me.”

Her attitude was incredibly arrogant.

She finished speaking and started walking ahead, expecting me to follow.

Is she still not getting the situation?

The Gu Yang family, once a prestigious name, was clearly no longer living up to its reputation.

Creeeak-

She opened the door and walked into the room.

“Well, this works out.”

From tomorrow, I could simply challenge one person after another to a duel.

For them, if they won, it was expected, but if they lost, it would be a huge loss.

Who could reject a duel request from the incompetent nobleman?

I closed my eyes and began a brief meditation.

I dispersed my impure intentions and focused even more on refining my inner energy.

Thump thump-

Thump thump-

“Cheon Sojin!! Come out now!!! Are you playing around?”

Soon, three flowers settled in my dantian.

‘Soon, I’ll be able to use the Wind God Step technique.’

Thump thump-

Thump thump-

“Cheon Sojin!! I know you’re in there, so come out now!! There’s no time!”

With the elixir, I had pierced all the meridians, and my growth rate was incredibly fast.

Thump thump-

Thump thump-

“You… if you keep this up, I have plans too…! You’ll regret it…! I’ll make you regret it!!”

It was a line I had heard before, but I didn’t care.

BOOM—

With a tremendous noise, the door was shattered, and Gu Yang Jihee looked up at me with a gaze full of killing intent.

“I told you… I’d make you regret it, right?”

Jihee smirked, her lips curling up, and confidently walked toward me.

This was a case of illegal entry.

Her hand glowed brightly like the sun.

The Nine Yang Power (九陽發勁).

It was one of the representative martial arts techniques of the Gu Yang family, which concentrated the yang energy of the whole body and released it explosively.

Just by looking at the door cleanly destroyed, I could guess the power behind it.

However, it wasn’t because Dang Soyeong, who came before, didn’t know how to break the door.

She just stood still, not attempting to break it.

“What are you doing?”

“Can’t you see? I told you I’d make you regret it, right? This is your last chance. You can either follow me willingly, or be dragged away half-dead. Choose.”

She crossed her arms and looked down on me arrogantly.

I knew she was looking down on me and was confident in her skills, but…

I couldn’t help but smirk.

“Go ahead.”

“Are you tired these days or something… Did I hear you wrong? What did you say?”

“You didn’t hear wrong. If you’re confident, try it.”

“…Cheon Sojin, you… even though I’m your former fiancée, I gave you a chance… Looks like you need to be crippled before you come to your senses. Well, there’s no choice—”

Before she finished her words, Gu Yang Jihee suddenly launched a punch.

The punch, filled with the inner power of a peak martial artist, flew at me quickly.

It was clear she had mastered the Nine Yang Fist (九陽拳), as the yang energy was strongly contained in her punch.

How shameless… Can a righteous martial artist act like this?

I tilted my body slightly backward to avoid her vicious punch, which brushed past my nose.

“Tch!”

She clicked her tongue but didn’t slow down, continuing her attack.

‘Do you think you’ll hit me?’

There was no way I would be hit by an attack that had already failed.

Jihee used every part of her body—hands, feet, knees—to attack.

Woosh—

Her leg brushed past my hair.

“Wow, you’re dodging really well!”

Her overwhelming inner strength, her martial arts achievements, and the narrow room all worked in her favor.

Yet, I narrowly dodged or deflected all her attacks, as if there was just a piece of paper between us.

While attacking might be difficult, defending was a piece of cake.

“Hah, heh… How… how is this…?”

Jihee, who had used several techniques, seemed to sense something was wrong and tightly closed her mouth.

“Are you satisfied now?”

“You… what? This shouldn’t be happening!”

The Yin-Yang Martial Arts (일월음양신공) starts from the balance and harmony of the yang (陽) and yin (陰).

It is one of the greatest martial arts in the history of the martial world.

Even with the same yang martial arts, the history behind it is different, so it’s not hard to deflect the attacks.

“Is this all you’ve got?”

“…Ugh.”

Gu Yang Jihee, she’s a cunning woman.

She would never rush in without certainty.

On the outside, she seemed calm, but on the inside, she must be filled with anxiety.

But I shouldn’t stop here. It’s almost time.

“What’s wrong? Are you scared? Why the sudden change? Keep going.”

She looked at me with anxious eyes.

Seeing that, I slightly raised the corner of my mouth.

“Is this the end? I’m about to yawn.”

“…Ugh, if I just land one proper hit… you’ll see…!”

But who’s going to let you hit them?

Certainly, each of her techniques was powerful, but she didn’t understand the meaning behind her martial arts.

Enlightenment is a profound thing.

…And now, the time has come.

I slowly walked towards the entrance.

“Is that so? Then try hitting me, I won’t dodge.”

“What?”

“I said I won’t dodge, so try hitting me.”

I then raised my inner energy, preparing for her strike.

“Are you serious?”

“You’re worrying for nothing. What’s going to change if I get hit by your soft punch?”

Crack—

Did she think I was ignoring her? Her eyes flared with rage again.

And she was right to think that I was ignoring her.

“Fine… then die.”

Screech!

Before she finished speaking, Jihee launched a punch again.

I had no intention of dodging, but the fact that she was resorting to such tricks made her seem anything but righteous.

Her Nine Yang Fist landed perfectly in my abdomen.

Boom—!

And with a loud crash, I was sent flying out of the room.

“Huh?”

I could hear her surprised voice, and I landed on the first floor.

“Shit! What… what’s going on?”

“Someone fell from upstairs!!”

“What’s happening here? Get the master quickly!”

“Isn’t that Cheon Sojin?”

“Did someone just fall from the top floor?!”

As the screams and commotion from below grew louder, so did her anxiety.

“What do I do?”

Using violence to suppress someone isn’t always the answer.

I hope she enjoys what I’ve prepared for her.

“So, does that mean I’m ranked 1200th now?”

There was no answer.

Actually, the correct response would be to say that it wasn’t possible.

The person who had fallen was foaming at the mouth and unconscious.

When I turned my head, I saw many people watching the sparring.

Since this wasn’t an official match, stealing rankings wasn’t possible, but my evaluation was definitely improving.

“Does this even make sense? A useless noble?”

“Is that guy really ranked 3000th? He’s gotten insanely strong.”

“It’s just luck.”

“Yeah, yeah… low-ranking people always grow fast.”

“Then what about you? You’re still in the 2000s.”

“…I’m not that person.”

“And he’s even handsome…”

“Stop saying useless things. Honestly, women lose their minds at just the sight of a handsome guy.”

“What did you say? Have you finished talking?”

Voices filled with surprise, shock, and envy echoed from everywhere.

The daily sparring matches that happened several times a day were always an interesting sight.

Before long, the conversation had shifted to talk about my ex-fiancé.

“A few days ago, Gu Yang Jihee nearly killed him. But seeing him up already, isn’t he pretty tough?”

“Ugh… it’s creepy how she beat him senseless and still tossed him aside.”

“I always thought he was cold and aloof with that emotionless face… but turns out, he’s just a crazy woman with no emotions.”

“I think Cheon Sojin is impressive. After all that, he still forgave Gu Yang Jihee.”

“Is that what love is? I don’t really understand…”

“Isn’t he just a fool?”

When I descended to the training hall below, the crowd naturally parted to let me through.

The stares coming from all directions felt incredibly sharp.

I moved towards the martial arts hall.

It was the sixth day today.

After the sparring just now, I had completed the 10 victories promised with Master Raeji.

Most of the people seemed to have left for Zhongyuan, as there were half as many people as the first week.

It was time for me to leave as well.

Knock, knock—

“Come in.”

“Please enter.”

As soon as Master Raeji gave his permission, the door opened and I stepped inside.

“Master, hello.”

“Ah, Sojin. You’ve done well.”

Master Raeji was slowly savoring his tea.

“Master, I’ve returned after completing the 10 victories in our agreed-upon sparring.”

“Good job. Sit down.”

“You’re not as surprised as I expected.”

“No, I was actually very surprised. I must have misjudged you. This event has taught me an important lesson: the most important thing is to trust and wait.”

“Congratulations, Master.”

I was curious as to what lesson he had learned, but I didn’t ask.

“Well, as promised, I’m going to grant you permission to head to Zhongyuan, but do you intend to keep using the name Cheon Sojin?”

“No.”

Given the martial world’s obsession with empty titles, Master’s question wasn’t surprising.

It would be strange to keep the surname Jin when I had been expelled from the Jin family.

“Then, do you have another name in mind? If not, how about Rae Sojin?”

I shook my head.

It was such a bad name.

‘I still prefer the familiar Cheon Sojin.’

Honestly, I couldn’t think of anything else.

Maybe I’ll just keep my name?

“I’ll go with Cheon Sojin.”

And then, the weapon that symbolizes Cheon Sojin.

The unmatched legendary sword inherited from the sage’s legacy. The Heavenly Sword (天劍).

I plan to obtain it once I reach the level of the Tenth Flower.

“Cheon Sojin… does it have any special meaning?”

Originally, it meant becoming a sky that can embrace all people, but for me, it was different.

I… yes.

I slowly wrote the name on the paper.

I will stand as the sky.

“Cheon Sojin (天紹進).”