𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟐𝟓: 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝟏
Martial Arts Tournament
Qinghai Province, China.
A few houses lined up in the middle of nowhere.
The old buildings were covered in layers of dust, and the roads were filled with rugged cars that ran wild through the area.
The dusty soil was flying up into the air.
Old people sat on old chairs, chewing on sunflower seeds while looking at the unfamiliar foreigners.
There were no famous tourist attractions, but people had started coming a few months ago.
It was because of the huge, plain building that was being constructed on the outskirts of the town.
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
“Dae-sung, you called for me.”
Xiaolong nodded slightly.
“Is the construction finished?”
“Yes, it is. We can’t do anything about the exterior, so there’s nothing left to do, and the interior is in the finishing stages.”
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a party, so make sure our guests are well taken care of.”
“Yes, Dae-sung!”
Xiaolong looked at the huge interior.
A space the size of a World Cup soccer field, designed to be both above and below ground.
One of his long-cherished dreams,
‘𝘼𝙣 𝙄𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙁𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙖’
Magic circuits built by dozens of professional Hunters were engraved all around the 360-degree space, making it resistant to any kind of shock, and magic stones were embedded everywhere, allowing for immediate restoration.
It was a space that existed solely for fighting.
“Wonderful, wonderful.”
He hummed contentedly, his eyes narrowed.
The enormous construction costs were nothing compared to the income he would be making from now on.
He had held several tournaments before, but this was the first time he had hosted one with the government’s support.
“The Standing Committee member must be in a good mood.”
The number of participants and the size of the venue were incomparable to previous tournaments.
Of course, the tournament itself was private, and everything that happened there was kept secret, so no one on the outside would know anything about it.
“Dae-sung, Lee Chang has returned.”
“Oh? Tell him to come in.”
At Xiaolong’s call, Lee Chang, who had been to Korea, appeared.
He was pale and trembling, and he knelt before Xiaolong.
“Oh, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. . . Dae-sung.”
“Yes. How is he?”
“Yes?? Th-th-that is. . . I-I-I will explain. . .”
Lee Chang stammered, his lips trembling.
It was as if he were a rabbit that had been bitten by a tiger and had come back alive.
Xiaolong’s eyes glinted as he brushed back his long black hair.
“Raise your head.”
“Yes??”
Yun-ju, who was standing next to him, grabbed Lee Chang’s hair and pulled it back with all her might.
“Crack!”
“Hmm. . . it seems like Master is angry.”
Xiaolong looked at the dark purple handprint on Lee Chang’s neck with interest.
It was probably pure hand strength, without even using magic power.
If he had used even a little bit of magic power, Lee Chang’s neck would have been crushed to dust, not just bruised.
“Do you still hate it the most when someone touches your people? Hehehe.”
Xiaolong waved his hand as if to say that the observation was over.
Yun-ju threw Lee Chang’s hair away.
“Guluck! Gulleruck!”
“You’re lucky. My master didn’t kill you because he aimed his arrow of anger right at me.”
Xiaolong sat down on a luxurious chair and put a long pipe in his mouth.
“Come to think of it, what’s my sister up to?”
“Yes. She is currently locked up in a separate room with a magic restraint device.”
“I see. Keep a close eye on her until my master arrives.”
“Yes, Dae-sung.”
Xiaolong exhaled smoke and briefly faced the past that came to his mind.
Si-joon, Yeo-hwa, and Min-jun.
The days when they had fun training under the same teacher.
What on earth had caused their paths to diverge?
Whew.
“What are you thinking so deeply about?”
Yun-ju asked as she poured clear alcohol into a glass.
Xiaolong leaned back and took a sip of alcohol before muttering softly.
“A nightmare I want to relive.”
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
The magic power flowing out of the dantian swept through his entire body and gave energy to each blood vessel.
In the process, he discovered the causes of the deterioration in his condition one by one and restored his mana veins.
Every time he mended the path of the mana veins through which magic power flowed, and every time he carved out a new path where there was none, he was struck by terrible pain.
However, Siwoo did not move from his cross-legged position.
The magic circuits drawn around the place where he sat reacted with the magic stones scattered everywhere and spread magic power in all directions.
Inhale and exhale.
Blood poured out of his nose and mouth.
Rectifying the circulation of magic power was no different from destroying his existing body.
It was like grinding away his original bones and growing new ones.
Therefore, this crude method was something that only Siwoo could do.
No matter how much he carved out or filled in, Siwoo was able to heal his wounds and simultaneously repair and regenerate his mana veins.
Although the pain of tearing his muscles and severing his nerves continued, he never died.
If anyone else had tried the same method as Siwoo, they would have died within 30 minutes due to the raging pain and damaged dantian.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle.
This whole process required an enormous amount of magic power.
Thanks to the regenerative areas that sucked up magic power like a sponge, the magic power spread throughout the cave and the numerous magic stones nearby were quickly consumed.
Siwoo repeated the task of breaking down and rebuilding the imbalance in his body for a 0.0001% step.
The blood he shed formed a small puddle on the floor.
His large pupils burned with the heat and energy emanating from Siwoo.
Sizzle. . . sizzle. . . sizzle. . . .
As he emptied all the magic power in his dantian, including the surrounding area, the light from the magic circuits gradually faded.
However, Siwoo did not get up from his spot.
He decided to take one more step.
The power of the other world that had become his second dantian.
Siwoo was able to face that power again only after he had exhausted his own magic power.
He concentrated his entire consciousness on one point.
His consciousness passed through his empty dantian and gradually moved deeper and deeper.
Soon, a vast space like a blue sea spread out before his consciousness.
“ㅡㅡㅡ!”
Even for Siwoo, whose magic power was enormous, the area was so vast that it was hard to handle.
It was the place where the dragon cores he had absorbed so far were combined.
Siwoo filled a cup with the seawater in his empty dantian.
A storm of dark blue, violent power began to rise through his body.
“Ugh!”
Siwoo gritted his teeth at the overflowing power and the pain that was eating away at his flesh.
The dragon’s core was a double-edged sword.
He could gain enormous power, but he had to endure the pain that came with it.
He estimated how much of the dragon’s core he could use.
‘𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮. . . 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚.’
The seven-layer power hierarchy, consisting of seven cores, came with increasingly greater recoil the higher he went.
Siwoo slowly gathered his magic power and tempered his strength.
His bones ached as if he had been beaten up by Choi Dae-soo, and his muscles were torn so badly that he could barely lift a finger.
【𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐞𝐨-𝐡𝐰𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬? 𝐎𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐗𝐢𝐚𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠?】
At Pre’s sudden question, Siwoo opened his mouth.
His voice was hoarse, as if he had not spoken in almost three days.
“What?”
【𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐀 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭.】
“Effort.”
Siwoo turned his neck left and right, checking his condition.
‘𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 64% 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 79%. . . 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙄 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙.’
It was not much progress for three days, but Siwoo did not know about other people’s cases, so he decided to be satisfied with this.
Not to mention, his stamina, magic power, magic stones. . . everything was depleted, so there was nothing more he could do.
And the remaining 21% had a different density than the previous 79%, so he had to concentrate several times more.
“Of course Yeo-hwa is my precious disciple. But apart from that. . . I hate it the most when someone touches what’s mine.”
Siwoo stepped out of the cave.
Under the dark night sky, he saw the staff that Si-joon had stuck in the ground.
He pulled out the staff and lifted the barrier.
“And I felt that my teachings were very lacking, so I decided to let him realize it himself.”
【𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬?】
Siwoo answered as if it were obvious.
“That you get beaten up if you open your mouth.”
🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷
Inside the building, Qinghai Province.
Unlike its shabby exterior, the magnificent interior was filled with hundreds of people.
The tournament, which had been held with only 16 or 32 participants, now had 128 finalists.
However, since the building was large and well-maintained, there were almost no clashes between the players before they entered the arena.
Accordingly, the number of Hwang-doboks managing the players who had been invited to the finals was only about 100.
“Wow.”
“I’ve seen that guy on TV.”
“Hey, do you see that little girl? She’s the one who made a big fuss on Hunter Tube.”
From somewhere, they had gathered a huge number of participants, all of whom were famous figures in China.
Martial artists of all kinds, including Shaolin, Tai Chi, Wing Chun, and Tongbei, waited their turn in the waiting room, each carrying their own weight.
Ha Qing, who had participated in this martial arts tournament, was the same.
Tiger Fist, a martial art that he loved so much that he got it tattooed on his back.
Known as the Tiger of Shandong Province, he had put his life on the line for this tournament.
When he first received the invitation, he had tried to ignore it.
He had heard rumors among Hunters and martial artists about the underground fighting tournament, but he never thought he would be invited.
He was confident in his strength, but he did not want to go out and fight in a tournament.
The reason was simple.
‘What if I end up killing my opponent?’
Ha Qing did not want to become a murderer, so the fighting tournament seemed like a waste of time to him.
However, when he heard the prize money, he did not hesitate for a second.
“Grrr. . . I’m going to take the 50 billion won.”
Ha Qing rubbed the blood of a tiger he had caught on his face.
He walked out to the stands, his muscles rippling.
The finalists could either wait in their rooms or watch the current finals freely from the stands.
Ha Qing looked around the stadium.
Dozens of people were sitting in the stands watching the game, and instead of people in the so-called VIP seats, there were dozens of screens floating in the air.
The screens were the faces of China’s powerful politicians and tycoons.
Soon, Ha Qing’s number flickered on the scoreboard.
He jumped out of the stands and ran down to the arena.
“Grrr. . .! Who dares to fight this Tiger of Shandong Province!!”
Some people flinched at his roar, while others laughed.
Even in this kind of personal behavior, the opponent’s ability could be seen.
Then another number came up on the scoreboard, and the opposing player came up to the arena.
The opponent had not been watching the game from the beginning, so he appeared from the waiting room.
“That bastard looks delicious!! This old man will chew him up and spit him out in the trash!!”
“. . . . . . .”
The referee approached and stood between them, holding out his hand and waiting.
It seemed that the tycoons beyond the screens were able to ‘bet’ on the match, so they paused for a moment.
“Ready. . . begin!!”
As the referee announced, Ha Qing’s ten fingers shot towards his opponent in an instant,
Bang-!!
With a loud noise, Ha Qing’s head exploded like a watermelon.
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