Childhood Friend of the Zenith
chapter-274

The surroundings fell silent.

Only the sound of people breathing could be heard in the now rowdy street.

What led to this conclusion?

When the Sword Dragon and the Water Dragon made their sudden appearances, an unexpected fight broke out. Since Henan was where the Murim Alliance and Shoalin were situated, the people were used to martial arts and they showed great interest in their fight.

And the fight drew even more attention as it was between the two who were confirmed to become the representing martial artists of their respective clans, the Wudang Sect and Mount Hua and were considered to be the best of the Meteor Generation.

Moreover, once the Lord of the Namgung Clan vacated his position and title, the ones fighting for the Sword King title in the future would be these two.

Young masters flexing their strengths was always welcomed entertainment.

However,

“…Ah…ahh…”

“What just happened…?”

What happened was enough to make everyone shut their mouths.

“The Sword Dragon and the Water Dragon… fainted?”

The two who were perfectly fine just moments ago, both lost consciousness and fainted.

The problem was…

“What just happened?”

Most people didn’t understand how that happened.

The Sword Dragon and the Water Dragon seemed to pause for a moment because they were trying to do something, but a gust of wind suddenly stormed through the streets and made the two of them roll on the ground and faint.

The crowd was dumbfounded, but seeing the man standing between the two martial artists who had fainted, they could infer that he was responsible for this.

“Is that... possible?”

“Is that young man also a martial artist…?”

“I’ve never seen him.”

No one even knew who he was.

His fierce looking eyes, a young face, and a frowning expression made him look hard to approach.

While everyone was observing the situation in shock…

“Ah!”

Someone from the crowd exclaimed loudly.

“That face…! I think I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

It was hard to forget such a scary looking face that was hard to stare at for long and moreover, when considering what that young man did on his debut in the Central Plains.

“The True Dragon! That young man is the True Dragon!”

“True Dragon? You are talking about that True Dragon…!?”

He was the last martial artist to join the Six Dragons and Three Phoenixes, and the person who overpowered the Lightning Dragon and the Meteor Sword in the tournament of Dragons and Phoenixes.

It was the True Dragon, Gu Yangcheon himself.

The problem was though…

“E-Even if he is the True Dragon…”

“That had to be due to luck, right?”

Even if the True Dragon was a genius and a new star from the Meteor Generation, people wondered if he could defeat the Sword Dragon and the Water Dragon as easily as he just did when they were also known as geniuses of the Central Plains.

And because of that question, many people couldn’t believe what they just witnessed despite seeing it with their own eyes.

In addition, Muyeon and Gu Jeolyub who were watching from a distance…

“I wonder what made him think that it was a good idea.”

“…He caused trouble again. Jeez, it looks like the Young Master acts without thinking as well.”He was the one who had warned him to think before acting, yet he himself was causing trouble by running into the situation without doing that.

Even though he thought so, Gu Jeolyub was really shocked internally.

Because the Young Master overpowered the famous Sword Dragon and the Water Dragon in an instant.

I barely saw it.

He could barely follow Gu Yangcheon’s movements, and the only reason he could do so was because he had experience getting beaten up by Gu Yangcheon.

Else, he wouldn’t have been able to follow at all.

Just how powerful is he?

Gu Jeolyub had never seen Gu Yangcheon fight seriously, so he didn’t know how strong he was, or what his level was.

All he knew was that Gu Yangcheon was a martial artist who had clearly overcome the wall of Peak Realm as he was stronger than Muyeon.

To reach Peak Realm at his age, how was such a thing possible?

“…Seriously, if he didn’t have the talent to back his nasty personality, he would’ve already been dea–

-You piece of– I’ll see you later.

“…”

Gu Jeolyub frowned after hearing a telepathic voice.

That damned Young Master even had sharp hearing.

“Hmm…”

I’m fucked… I need to flee.

Moreover, it wasn’t just Gu Jeolyub who was in shock.

The person who was the most shocked wasn’t part of the crowd spectating or Gu Jeolyub, but the person taking care of the Water Dragon, Woo Eehyuk, a student of the Wudang Sect.

“Uh…uhh?”

Seeing Woo Hyuk fall unconscious to the ground, Woo Eehyuk could only let out a dumbfounded reaction.

That shouldn’t have been possible…

It shouldn’t have been possible for his senior to faint and fall to the ground like that…

The Elders of the clan may have defeated his senior , but he always put up a good fight without being pushed back easily.

He was like a sloth, filled with laziness and sleep, but the Water Dragon, Woo Hyuk, had more than enough talent to be able to get away with it.

“Wha… huh…?”

Woo Eehyuk wondered if he was seeing things.

Because if that wasn’t the case, what he was seeing right now made no sense whatsoever.

Then…

“Why are you just staring, aren’t you going to take him away?”

He heard a voice from the young man who had an even more annoyed expression than his senior.

Gu Yangcheon grabbed Woo Hyuk by the back of his neck and threw him at Woo Eehyuk.

“Agh!”

After tossing him as if he was throwing a light object, Woo Eehyuk screamed as he barely managed to catch Woo Hyuk.

Then, Gu Yangcheon spat on the ground.

“Even after knowing everything, they had a spar with so many people around. How absurd.”

Sigh.

The appearance of him sighing made him rather pissed off for some reason.

“They should’ve just had a light spar at most…”

Tsk.

The True Dragon clicked his tongue and held back with his words.

Who would’ve imagined that these guys were crazy enough to use their Qi while fighting in the middle of the street?

This place might’ve turned into a wasteland if no one stopped them.

These dumbasses.

They were both competitive and wanted to win as if their manly pride was on the line, so neither of them would’ve backed down even if they went down to the line.

Gu Yangcheon looked elsewhere with a resentful gaze.

“At least do your job properly.”

Woo Eehyuk looked in the same direction as Gu Yangcheon, wondering who he was whispering to, but there was no one.

“What are you spacing out for? Hurry and take him away.”

“Ah…”

“What do I do with this fucker? Why is no one coming for him?”

The man Gu Yangcheon was tapping with the tip of his foot was the rising star of Mount Hua, the Sword Dragon Yung Pung, but to Gu Yangcheon, he was just additional baggage.

Since it had been a while since they had seen each other, he was happy to meet him, but this whole fiasco made him less enthusiastic.

The Water Dragon had someone come for him, but for some reason, no one from Mount Hua stepped forward.

What should I do?

I can’t just leave him here and…

As Gu Yangcheon was thinking, a sudden thought struck him.

Couldn’t he just leave him there?

Who would dare to lay their hands on a martial artist of Mount Hua?

Shortly after, Gu Yangcheon nodded his head and decided to leave him as he was.

“Alright, I’ll just leave him here and return to my…”

“I’ll take this child, so do not worry.”

Just as Gu Yangcheon was about to leave Yung Pung, who was knocked out by a single blow, a soft voice coming from behind made him stop.

A light scent of flowers, much denser than the scent of plum flowers coming from Yung Pung, tickled his nose.

“It’s been a while.”

Gu Yangcheon was rather flustered after seeing the lady speak with a smile.

“…Why are you here?”

It didn’t really make sense for her to be here at the moment.

She was someone who should’ve been spending her time with her student at that mountain right now.

The lady replied to Gu Yangcheon with a smile.

“There’s something I need to take care of here.”

The lady’s smile was accompanied by a sweet scent of flowers, making the men who were watching her falter.

Wearing the same outfit as Yung Pung, with a plum flower drawn on the chest region, the most beloved female master of the Orthodox Sect, the Plum Blossom Sword, Soi was standing before Gu Yangcheon.

******************In a building located somewhere at the top of Henan’s Mountain.

Rustle.

Inside a small room where sunlight and the breeze of winter could enter, an old man was sitting alongside a cup of tea that hadn't cooled down yet, writing a letter with his brush.

From his shoulder hung a blue armband with the word ‘Head’ written in white.

Moving the brush slowly, the old man asked the man standing in front of him.

“I heard that the Dragons had a spar in the middle of the street.”

With white pupils that looked similar to clouds, the old man had a gaze that was heavy, yet filled with clear Taoist Qi.

The man gulped nervously after hearing those words.

“…That’s right.”

“What was the reason?”

“…It was said that the Sword Dragon made the first move against the Water Dragon.”

“The Sword Dragon huh…”

The Head.

The owner of Kunlun Sect, Qinghai Sword tilted his head after thinking about the title.

“I could’ve sworn that he didn’t have a violent personality.”

The greatest prodigy of Mount Hua, and one of few things that the Celestial Plum Blossom used to brag about.

He had the opportunity to meet him as well, but the child from his memory wasn’t someone with a violent personality who would attack someone out of anger.

The Qinghai Sword nodded his head after thinking for a while.

“Yes… young fellas should play with each other. However…”

The main subject wasn’t the Sword Dragon or the Water Dragon.

“Someone other than the Water Dragon or the Sword Dragon was the victor?”

“Yes.”

The victory should’ve obviously belonged to one of the two fighting.

The Qinghai Sword believed that the Water Dragon would win, but surprisingly, it was a different martial artist who stopped the two of them.

“The True Dragon you said?”

“Yes, he is the son of the Tiger Warrior, from the Gu Clan of Shanxi.”

“Hmm…”

The Tiger Warrior, Gu Cheolun, and the True Dragon.

“Yes, I’ve heard of him.”

A young child who overpowered everyone in the tournament of Dragons and Phoenixes and came on top.

Let alone the Tiger Warrior, he heard that he had the same blood as the Sword Phoenix.

Thinking about how that outcome messed up the Alliance Leader and the Heavenly Eye, the old man felt refreshed.

Even so, he overpowered the Water Dragon huh.

He didn’t even stop the fight by butting, but instead it was said that he overpowered both of them at once and made them faint.

It was rather shocking to hear that a Young Prodigy did this.

Qinghai Sword then asked the man with a firm gaze.

“Are there no lies in your words?”

“…Yes, I saw it clearly with my own eyes.”

The man gulped nervously as he spoke.

It was because despite speaking to the Lord of his clan, and the current Head of the Heavenly Dragon Academy, the Qinghai Sword, he had mixed lies into his words.

He said that he saw it clearly.

However, even though he was a well-trained Peak Realm martial artist, back then, the man missed the True Dragon’s movements.

“Wiseok.”

“Yes, my Lo- …No, Head.”

“Do you think you would be able to do such a thing?”

Hearing the Head’s question, Jo Wiseok clenched his fist behind his back, out of the sight of the Head.

“…I’m not sure.”

That too was a lie.

He knew that he wasn’t capable.

He was certain about it.

The Water Dragon and the Sword Dragon’s levels were much higher than expected.

They were on an entirely different level to be considered as Young Prodigies.

It might’ve been better if he considered himself to be on the same level as them.

Then, what about that kid?

The True Dragon who instantly overpowered both of them.

On top of that, Jo Wiseok recalled one more thing that made him bite his lips.

When Jo Wiseok was observing from the rooftop after using a Stealth Technique, the True Dragon caught him without any difficulty, looked straight into his eyes and spoke.

-At least do your job properly.

A mere Young Prodigy detected his Stealth Technique.

No, the True Dragon wasn’t at a level where he could even be called a Young Prodigy any longer.

The man thought to himself.

If the True Dragon really entered the Heavenly Dragon Academy in this manner, then it was as good as releasing a giant dragon in the pool of mountain snakes and serpents.

“I heard that the Tiger Warrior’s son was lacking, but that does not seem to be the case.”

That was what he had heard in the past, but what happened to him to change this much?

The Qinghai Sword pondered over Jo Wiseok’s words and let out a light breath.

“Anyway, I’m excited to see his face now that he is supposedly that strong.”

If Jo Wiseok was right, it meant that the True Dragon was a monster who would devour this current generation.

The Qinghai Sword took a sip of his tea with a bright smile.

“Wiseok.”

“Yes, Head.”

“Put aside this matter for now, and go search for something else.”

“What should I search…?”

When Jo Wiseok asked with a curious expression, the Qinghai Sword responded with a quiet whisper.

“I heard that the descendant of the Sword Emperor was looking for the Heavenly Dragon Academy.”

“…!”

“I heard that they are around the age of a Young Prodigy, so go find out what type of a child they are. I believe they’ll arrive in a few days.”

“…Understood.”

Compared to the Sword Dragon or the Water Dragon or even the True Dragon, this news was shocking enough to blow all of them out of his mind.

With his face slightly paler than before, Jo Wiseok left the room, and left alone, the Qinghai Sword gazed outside the window and closed his eyes.

The entrance test of the Heavenly Dragon Academy would begin in five days.

The geniuses of this generation shone brighter than ever.

Moreover, with all of those geniuses gathering in one spot, it felt like a giant storm was coming this way.

“I’m excited.”

What would happen?

The Qinghai Sword smiled with uncontainable excitement.