Chapter 38 : One on One (3)

Clatter! Clatter!

Dongbak stepped on the gravel field.

Following Ah Geol’s tracks, he had entered a canyon covered with gravel.

Kurururung!

The sound of a waterfall was also heard.

There seemed to be a very large waterfall inside the canyon, and the water foam was scattered all the way to the entrance of the canyon.

On the left and right were hundred-zhang cliffs.

The gravel path was winding, and next to the gravel path, the stream of water flowing from the waterfall flowed as a small stream.

“It’s a dead end, isn’t it?”

Dongbak said indifferently, as if it were someone else’s business.

A very deep canyon began from where he was standing.

Judging by the terrain, the canyon was blocked ahead. A completely blocked space… a dead end.

A disciple of the Single-Instant Sect would not choose such a place.

Because it was a place you couldn’t get out of once you entered, it was a terrain that was absolutely avoided unless you were in a great hurry. Especially if you were being chased, there was nothing more to say.

But Ah Geol had chosen the dead-end canyon.

It was a place for a duel!

Clatter! Clatter!

Dongbak walked into the canyon.

There were footprints that had been stepped on first on the gravel field.

What kind of trace would be left when a person stepped on gravel, on stones? No trace would be left. Not to mention a person, even if a bear stepped on it, no trace would be left.

And yet, Dongbak had found a trace.

The gravel was pushed to the side. A shoe print was engraved in the sand under the gravel. It was needless to say that it was a trace that Ah Geol had deliberately made.

Ah Geol had definitely entered the canyon.

Kururururung!

A huge waterfall appeared.

The waterfall falling coolly from a height of a hundred zhang was truly a magnificent sight. The amount of water was also large, so the water foam splashed very fiercely.

The waterfall was in front.

The canyon was a completely blocked place, just as he had thought. Except for the entrance where Dongbak had entered, there was no way to break through. On the left and right were cliffs, and the front was blocked by the waterfall.

Ah Geol was not visible.

Where was he… not even a shadow was visible.

“You’ve chosen a good place.”

Dongbak said.

His voice became an echo and rumbled through the canyon.

A waterfall! A waterfall had a very amazing effect.

First, it completely hid one’s presence.

A waterfall completely concealed any sound. It even buried the sound of clothes fluttering. It covered most of the sounds a person could make with its roar.

Especially in the case of a highly trained martial artist, it was even easier to hide.

Even without a waterfall, one could hide their presence, but if there was a waterfall, there was no way to find them.

Second, a waterfall hid one’s aura.

Violent auras like killing intent or fighting spirit were buried in the breaking foam and subsided.

A waterfall itself had a violent aura.

When you approached a fierce waterfall, you would sometimes flinch without realizing it. You would feel fear at the pouring waterfall and take a step back.

You had felt a violent aura.

Sometimes you would also feel a damp and gloomy aura. You would feel hot and stuffy for no reason, and… so you would think that it was not as good as you had thought and quickly leave the place.

A waterfall had various properties.

These properties completely annihilated the killing intent or fighting spirit that a human revealed.

There was a way for an ordinary person to test very simply what kind of magic a waterfall performed.

Go to a waterfall with a friend. And close your eyes.

Feel your friend. Observe how your friend moves. Perceive it with your whole body.

If you could feel that your friend was next to you, you had overcome the aura of the waterfall. But there were almost no such people. Most people could not feel their friend.

They had lost to the waterfall.

Moreover, it was needless to say if the hidden person was a person who had accumulated a high level of training. You would not be able to sense them even more.

The aura of a waterfall was that violent.

It killed the opponent’s presence and also killed their sense of aura.

Dongbak had said that this was a good place in that sense.

The only way for Ah Geol to defeat him was by a surprise attack. He had only seen Ah Geol’s blade cut the chest of a Living Sword Sect disciple. But judging from various circumstances, he was far below him.

He could not defeat him in a head-on fight. So he had to use a surprise attack. Only then would he have a slight chance of winning.

“I’ll give you this chance. So don’t disappoint me. At least leave a scratch on my body. I’m looking forward to it.”

Dongbak drew his blade.

He sat down in a cross-legged position on the gravel field. He placed his blade on his lap and closed his eyes.

Swoooosh!

He circulated his energy. He waited until the attack came.

In the Single-Instant Sect, such a fight was called a calm confrontation.

A calm confrontation proceeded when one side was unilaterally advantageous.

I could not read the opponent, but the opponent was reading me. They could see, and they could feel.

In this state, you could not launch a preemptive attack. You could only respond when the opponent provoked you first.

You had to provide the opponent with a pretext to attack first.

You had no choice but to wait until then. A literally calm confrontation continued.

Dongbak had done various training in preparation for a calm confrontation.

He had mostly trained against beasts, but he could guarantee that it was several times harder than facing a human.

Ah Geol would not have been able to train in a calm confrontation yet.

Training in a calm confrontation was only possible after obtaining the Single-Instant Blade. Because you had to counterattack immediately against a surprise attack, you had to give your life if your hand was even a moment late.

If you trained in a calm confrontation before obtaining the Single-Instant Blade, even ten lives would not be enough.

A calm confrontation was that difficult of a fight.

Dongbak waited.

* * *

A calm confrontation!

As he had thought, Dongbak knew how to fight in a calm confrontation. No, it was natural that he knew.

Dongbak would have experienced a calm confrontation countless times.

Ah Geol did not have much experience fighting in this state. No, he had never fought once. He had experienced it a few times, but they were all false fights experienced in his mind.

It was an experience created by imagination in his head, not acquired through his body.

It was a fight between one who had experienced real combat and one who had only trained in forms.

Ah Geol held his half blade tightly in his arms and remained silent.

He had been in a half-dead, suspended animation state since before Dongbak had entered the canyon.

He did not see Dongbak. But he knew that he was sitting there.

There was only a large rock between him and Dongbak.

Dongbak did not know that he was close. But he knew where Dongbak was located.

Ah Geol held the initiative.

Ah Geol could move first. Dongbak could only move after he had moved. He would only move after Ah Geol had made a sound or shown some kind of movement.

Paaat!

Ah Geol heightened his entire body’s senses to the maximum.

‘Let’s begin.’

He had lured Dongbak.

His confidence was at its peak. The confidence that he could defeat Dongbak overflowed in his entire body.

Dongbak’s blade was also erased.

In fact, he had not been able to completely erase his blade. He had only managed to push it to a corner of his mind by relying on the sound of the waterfall. But that was enough. No fear arose.

His physical condition was, needless to say, the best.

He had eaten well on the way. He had slept enough, and had rested well. His energy circulation was also running at its best.

Everything was at its best.

If he could not defeat Dongbak even in this state, then his chances of defeating him were nil. It would be better to give up cleanly and turn back. Although he couldn’t escape now that he had been seen by Dongbak.

“Hooop! Hoooop!”

Ah Geol started with his breathing.

Look at me.

The beginning of all fights had to arise from my center. There was a center, and there were surroundings.

He could see his true energy. He could see his acupoints. He could see himself.

Here, Ah Geol hesitated for a moment.

After seeing himself, he now had to see the opponent. And the fight would begin from here.

If he attempted to see the opponent, he could not retreat.

‘Let’s go!’

“Hooop! Hoooop!”

Ah Geol expanded his breathing.

After seeing himself, he saw the opponent. He placed himself at the center, created an unshakable center, and observed the opponent.

When his breathing reached this level, the opponent would also see him.

Although the waterfall blocked the aura, he could not not know when there was a true energy that directly touched his senses.

Ah Geol approached. He touched the opponent with his breathing.

He only touched his senses with his breathing, he did not move. So the place where Ah Geol was hiding was still safe. Ah Geol still held the initiative. However, he could not rule out the possibility that Dongbak would follow his breathing.

So he had to carefully observe whether Dongbak was pursuing his breathing.

“Hoooop! Hoooop!”

Ah Geol breathed slowly.

He read Dongbak’s breathing. And he placed his own breathing on top of it.

Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hooo!

Dongbak breathed short, short, short, and then long.

The length of their breaths was different. Ah Geol’s was evenly drawn out, and Dongbak’s repeated short and long.

Originally, Dongbak’s breathing was as slow as Ah Geol’s.

But he had suddenly changed his breathing. He had noticed that another person’s breathing had been placed on his own. It was natural… so he had changed his breathing at once.

The fight had begun in earnest.

The two fought with their breathing.

If Ah Geol followed Dongbak’s breathing, Ah Geol would lose. On the other hand, if Dongbak’s breathing was matched to Ah Geol’s, Dongbak would lose. The one who lost their own breathing would lose.

What would happen if you lost your breathing?

Your true energy would change. A change would occur in your true energy circulation. It was only for a very short moment, but something similar to qi deviation would flare up in your meridians and then disappear.

A Single-Instant martial artist would seize that moment.

I would move at a fast speed, and the opponent would be momentarily paralyzed.

That state was shorter than an instant… but even if it was only for a moment, they would flinch.

You could defeat anyone.

Dongbak knew this technique. So when Ah Geol had touched him with his breathing, he had changed his breathing. He was saying, let’s see which of our breaths is matched to which.

“Hoooop! Hoooop!”

Hoo! Hoo! Hoo! Hooo!

The two breaths clashed.

It was not a long fight. It was no different from clashing their true energies intensely, so the victory or defeat was decided surprisingly quickly.

“Hoooop! Hoooop!”

Hooo! Hooo! Hooo!

Dongbak’s breathing began to slow down.

It was not as slow as Ah Geol’s breathing, but it was considerably slower than the breathing he had been exhaling.

The elasticity of his breathing disappeared. He could not breathe voluntarily, and he followed Ah Geol.

A disciple of the Single-Instant Sect would call such a breathing ‘a dead breath’.

Dongbak’s breathing was dead. It could not be more perfect than this. He had seized complete initiative.

Paaat!

Ah Geol shot his body forward without leaving even a moment’s leeway.

The phenomenon of his qi and blood getting tangled would soon be removed. Dongbak would change his slowed breathing to his own breathing. He would attack before that. Dongbak would also counterattack immediately, but the Single-Instant… the Single-Instant would be about one hundred-thousandth of a second late. He had suffered until now to obtain that one hundred-thousandth of a second.

Jwaak!

The half blade cut across the cliff.

In that instant, the cliff was split in two. The hundred-zhang high cliff, the cliff behind Dongbak, was split in two.

The split upper part slid down along the diagonal line.

Dongbak was also split. His body was split in two. From his shoulder to his side, his upper body was split… his upper body?

Strange!

The object was split in two, but Dongbak’s body stopped being split.

The blade was blocked.

Even if he used the blade more deeply, it was impossible to cut it in two. It had already become a crude blade, so it could not create a fine line. It was not cutting, but tearing.

‘Something’s wrong!’

Ah Geol suddenly felt a sense of alarm.

(End of Chapter)