I Am This Murim’s Crazy Bitch
Chapter 223: Hidden Dragon Martial Arts Competition (5)

“Hmm. So who do you think will win?”

“Hero Wang has quite a lot of practical experience, but how can he compare to a direct disciple of one of the Nine Great Sects? Moreover, if it’s Senior Bung Sain, even more so.”

Bung Sain was a Kunlun Sect disciple with the character ‘Bung’ in his name, and his title was Jade Tower Sword. He was given this title because he was so sensitive that he cried when happy, cried when sad, and even cried just seeing sad people.

“Is that so. Excuse me, what are the odds?”

“78.9 to 1 for Hero Wang. 1.1 to 1 for Daoist Bung Sain.”

“Hmm. Then give me one tael on Hero Wang.”

Qing bought a bet on Hero Wang’s victory.

At this, Jegal Ihyeon objected.

“Sister, why are you wasting a whole silver tael buying a bet on a martial artist who’s clearly going to lose?”

“Isn’t it just for fun anyway? If I bet on Daoist Bung Sain, I’d only win 10 copper coins, but if by chance Hero Wang wins, I’d win almost seven silver taels.”

“That’s just the kind of thinking that leads to ruin.”

“Well, it’s not like I’m betting a large sum…”

And so the match began.

Surprisingly, the martial art using a chair looked good.

It wasn’t an ordinary square chair, but the long rectangular type used for two people in old shops.

The edges of the seat were reinforced with metal plates, and the chair legs were loosely wrapped with wire.

The way he wielded this special chair was truly a unity of offense and defense, blocking attacks while thrusting with the legs, hooking and turning or pushing to aim for joints, or striking with the metal-plated edges, showing fierce power.

Bung Sain was constantly retreating and barely managing to deflect attacks, so Hero Wang had the upper hand.

“What’s this, he’s fighting well?”

“I didn’t know he was hiding such skill. But Kunlun’s true power hasn’t been revealed yet. After all, how can we discuss victory or defeat for a Kunlun Sect martial artist without that movement technique like a dragon freely roaming the rugged Kunlun Mountains?”

“Hmm. Is that so…”

And the match became more and more intense, lasting over thirty exchanges.

At this, Qing spoke again.

“When exactly is this true power going to be revealed?”

“Oh my. I’m ashamed.”

Jegal Ihyeon’s insight was the best among muscle-heads, but it seems he couldn’t overcome the limitations of being a muscle-head.

Daoist Bung Sain’s sword got stuck right in the middle of the chair with a thud. Hero Wang forcefully twisted and pushed the chair, and the sword that couldn’t withstand it snapped.

“Winner, Wang Bang from Nanning!”

At this, the audience’s joy and sorrow were mixed.

If Qing’s match result was the biggest upset of the tournament, this match was the second upset, so once again many people lost large sums on bets.

“See, betting against the odds is the orthodox way. Look, I made seven taels just sitting here.”

“To be precise, it’s not seven taels, but six taels and eighty-nine copper coins, Sister.”

“Jegal. How ugly. Accept your defeat.”

At this, Jegal Ihyeon let out a frustrated sigh.

“Ugh. How can human intellect be defeated by animal instinct!”

“Jegal, thank Hyang. If it weren’t for Hyang, I would have given you a really beastly blow.”

“Heh. Now you realize why I deliberately brought Ahyang- Ack!”

“You’re really asking for a beating.”

“No, how could you land such a fierce blow on my crown from this angle…!”

It was thanks to the Flowing Willow Soft Refinement training that had reached Two Star achievement.

With the increased range of motion in her joints, the angles and leverage of Ximen Surin-style nuclear attacks were greatly expanded.

Right, there seems to be a little reward for enduring the pain.

Besides learning the weakness of the White Hand Demonic Arts, there were other helpful aspects.

Qing’s beautiful white hands were sturdy enough to be fine even if hit with a hammer and chisel, but they were helpless against joint bending.

Right, the next training is in seven days…

The light gradually scattered from Qing’s eyes.

No matter how good the martial art is, that torture-like, no. It wasn’t like torture, it was real torture.

And it was very precise torture that only broke joints halfway and tore tendons 80% of the way, just short of causing permanent disability.

“Sister?”

“Ah. Uh. Yes. What?”

“Are you going to aim for the underdog odds this time too?”

While Qing had been shivering for a moment, several matches had passed, and this time it was a match between a disciple from the Mount Gao Sect and an unaffiliated Hero Wu.

“Of course. A man should proceed straight ahead once he’s decided. Here, one tael on Hero Wu.”

And Jegal Ihyeon lost again.

“You’re called Beastly Sage, but it seems even the boldness of beasts needs to be cultivated? When you hesitate and calculate like that, you can’t win.”

“Ugh…! Such humiliation…!”

As the matches progressed, what Qing felt was that orthodox martial artists were indeed kind-hearted.

If they were from a certain sect or clan, they had about one digit of righteous karma, or even if it was low, their evil karma didn’t exceed 50 points.

But the unaffiliated martial artists who entered through preliminaries had evil karma in the high double digits, just short of three digits.

By Qing’s own standards, it wasn’t enough to call them evil people, but she thought they might be close to potential villains.

“But wasn’t it supposed to be just young orthodox martial artists participating? Did they accept everyone who applied if they studied on their own?”

“What are you saying? Even if they’re unaffiliated martial artists, they’re righteous heroes famous in their active regions who passed strict verification.”

“Really…?”

Isn’t their evil karma a bit high for that?

Of course, others can’t confirm evil karma in numbers like Qing can.

The martial arts competition was a series of upsets.

The unaffiliated martial artists who entered through preliminaries (unaffiliated martial artists could be called ronin, but while ronin wasn’t quite a derogatory term, it had negative connotations) kept winning.

This also meant that Jegal Ihyeon kept losing, and it was also a defeat for those who tried to easily win money with safe odds.

Thanks to this, the atmosphere in the venue became increasingly gloomy, with people here and there looking lost with expressions on the verge of tears.

Before they knew it, it was time for Shaolin disciple Wolbong’s match.

“Sister, you’re going to bet on the underdog this time too, right?”

“Hmm. Well. Excuse me.”

Qing caught a passing betting merchant and asked:

“What are the current odds?”

“Three li for Monk Wolbong-“

“What? Three li?”

Qing asked again.

Three li in Qing’s homeland terms would be 1.003 times, so betting 10,000 won would only win 30 won, an extremely stingy payout.

“It’s eight li. The odds for Hero Son from Xincheng are 820 to 1, why don’t you try for a life-changing win this time?”

“No thanks.”

There’s underdog betting and then there’s betting on impossible fights.

The betting merchant sighed deeply and walked away dejectedly, as there was so little money being bet on Hero Son.

“Hmm. The odds have gone crazy.”

“Of course, a Shaolin monk with the character ‘Wol’ means he’s a disciple of Great Master Wuhak. It’s natural when the disciple of the world’s greatest has appeared. So, you’re not betting on Hero Son this time?”

“Master said he’d be my semi-final opponent. That means he’ll definitely advance, but it’s not worth buying a bet to win three li.”

At this, Jegal Ihyeon’s expression stiffened.

“Sister, how can you say two different things with one mouth? You clearly said a man should proceed straight ahead once he’s decided- Ugh…!”

Jegal Ihyeon gritted his teeth as if frustrated.

“Heh. You still have a long way to go. Didn’t you fall for this once in Luoyang too? I think I said something similar then.”

“That time it was Brother Peng who fell for it, not me.”

“Still, doesn’t that mean you didn’t learn anything from seeing it then?”

“Ugh…!”

Jegal Ihyeon pretended to be frustrated again.

At that moment, Shaolin disciple Wolbong appeared in the arena. Cheers erupted from all around.

-All martial arts come from Shaolin!

-Disciple of Great Master Wuhak!

-Successor of the world’s greatest!

At this, Qing got slightly annoyed.

What’s this, they didn’t say anything when I came out, but now they’re pouring out cheers after winning.

Separately, there were almost no high-pitched screams from women.

Qing thought this was probably largely due to the characteristic baldness of monks.

As the odds showed, it was a match where the outcome was decided from the start, so it was closer to a guidance match than a real competition.

Even with just basic techniques, he smoothly closed the distance and found the right position for fist techniques.

Giving up the distance advantage he had worked to gain by retreating again seemed to be a way of giving his opponent a chance to display his martial arts.

Didn’t Ximen Surin advise to decide the match after at least ten exchanges?

So there was no point in Qing’s spying.

From Qing’s perspective, the lines drawn by the martial arts moved straight ahead in a direct line.

“It’s very linear.”

“All martial arts come from Shaolin, so Shaolin, which is said to have put forth the basics of all martial arts, isn’t this the original form of martial arts? Stronger, faster, more efficient.”

“The first martial art is the Yue Maiden Sword Technique, isn’t it? Then shouldn’t the origin be the Yue Maiden Sword? Why Shaolin?”

“Isn’t the Yue Maiden Sword Technique just an imitation of movements without true meaning, just the form without essence? Rather than the first martial art, it would be more accurate to call it the first martial technique.”

When the Yue Maiden taught the Yue Maiden Sword Technique to Yue soldiers, there wasn’t even a concept of martial arts, let alone martial studies.

So they could only roughly copy the outward appearance without understanding the function and purpose of the movements.

Even with just that, the Yue soldiers gained combat power to overwhelm their great enemies, one against a hundred.

This was when the words “sword technique” first appeared in history.

Even now, the Yue Maiden Sword Technique was one of the easiest martial arts to obtain.

Of course, it was just a third-rate technique completely different from the true form Qing had learned.

In the meantime, Wolbong cleanly ended the match in fifteen exchanges.

Jegal Ihyeon evaluated Wolbong’s match:

“I thought it would be a chance to see Shaolin’s martial arts, but in the end it was settled at the level of Six Harmonies Fist. It’s truly regrettable.”

“Six Harmonies Fist? The one sold in the marketplace?”

Qing had also learned Six Harmonies Fist.

She had learned easily obtainable white-bordered martial arts just because they were cheap, and the common Six Harmonies Fist was among them.

“Shaolin’s Six Harmonies would naturally be much more precise and profound, but since Shaolin’s Six Harmonies Fist spread widely to become that Six Harmonies Fist, the form shouldn’t be too different.”

He added that almost all of these common martial arts techniques easily obtainable in the marketplace were degraded versions from Shaolin’s 72 Fundamental Techniques. The saying “All martial arts come from Shaolin” was a clear fact, at least for fist techniques, that is, martial combat techniques.

“Hmm. So in the end we didn’t see any real martial arts. I guess I’ll have to face him directly to know a bit more.”

Qing didn’t get to see the martial arts Jegal Ihyeon had annotated in his introduction to Shaolin Temple.

Arhat Divine Fist, White Lotus Divine Fist, Kasaya Demon Subduing Fist, Eighteen Arhat Palms, Great Strength Vajra Palm, Hundred Steps Divine Fist, Bouncing Finger Divine Skill, Vajra Finger and Nine Cycles of Rebirth, etc. - where were all these purple divine arts she searched for, and all she saw was just Six Harmonies Fist?

Thus ended the second day of the Hidden Dragon Martial Arts Competition, the round of 64.

Since a martial arts competition isn’t about fighting continuously to display proper skills, the schedule tended to be rather leisurely.

The next schedule was four days later with 32 matches in one day, so until then, she could just diligently wear painful clothes and spar to get used to the sensations.

By this point, everyone should have finished their business with their families, so she thought it might be time for the Half-Sword Double-Dao Association members to gather again.

***

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