Chapter 517

The usual attitude of a warrior facing a Life and Death Match can be summed up in one word: getting their affairs in order.

Before a duel that might be their last, they might awkwardly get sentimental with acquaintances, share hidden feelings they normally wouldn’t, or even write down what they’d want to leave behind if things went south.

Or they might just pretend to be all serious and spend the last moments meditating.

But Qing was living it up.

Dining and drinking, chatting away with the scholars of Wang Hee-jiok about all sorts of scholarly tales.

So much so that Wang Sang-ryong couldn’t help but think, is this really okay?

It was a rather audacious thought when Qing, who was just lounging about, ordered the duel stage for the coup plotters to be set up for the next day.

Of course, the remarkable ability of high-ranking officials often tends to overshadow their own judgment.

Such dusty thoughts could accidentally slip out if one isn’t careful, so it’s wise to have a different mindset altogether, isn’t it?

So perhaps the title of “Mama” had no serious thoughts at all, and I find myself rolling the dice of irreverent doubt again.

Snake eyes!

Indeed, Mama is amazing!

Completely incapable of even imagining her own defeat and enjoying life to the fullest!

Mama is strong!

Anyway, Qing was slowly removing the stitches from her wounds in her Personal Barracks.

Normally, the removal of stitches depends on the thickness of the skin and the amount of pulling pain.

As a physician woman, she knew all too well about these odd jobs.

Five days for the face, ten days for the chest and abdomen, five days for the back and legs, and so on.

But Qing also knew that her recovery speed was on a different level than ordinary people.

About three times faster, give or take.

It was a miraculous body that cut down a six-week injury to a week back in her hometown.

In the Central Plain, there’s still no custom of grouping days into weeks, so it’s just her hometown way of phrasing it.

As she snipped the knots with her nails and pulled them out, there was a bit of a scar, but…

Those vague scars would eventually fade and disappear over time.

Still, the remaining marks have a stingy salve known as Jeongchasan that melts and erases scars, and it doesn’t seem harmful either.

What kind of body is this, right?

Hmm… good thought.

It’s just overly strong.

If you’re a warrior wielding the cosmic mystery of Inner Strength, speedy recovery is par for the course.

Compared to others at the same realm, it’s not like she’s exponentially faster, right?

Originally, a warrior’s recovery level is different from common folks, so someone at the peak level should at least be a couple times stronger.

She’s just a tad bit faster than that, and thankfully immune to infections.

Ugh. It’s all in the physique, that’s for sure.

But that physique… huh, who knows…

Having stepped on a mine for the first time in a while, Qing headed into the duel grounds with a bit of an uneasy expression.

Although her expression looked uneasy, others saw only solemnity, making her appear as grave as a tombstone.

Now, they had even set a chair in the shade on one side of the duel grounds.

No one seemed to be coming, and after hastily preparing it a couple of times, they’d already set up a waiting place from the start, it seemed.

When feeling low like this, if only she could physically move around, it might get better.

Going back and forth, it seemed there were quite a few practicing their techniques, but would anyone come at her today?

It might get tougher if they all attacked at once later.

And so, Qing took a sip of her cold tea.

The sweet and tangy fruit tea wrapped around her tongue, lifting her spirits a bit.

Qing glanced down at her frosty tea cup.

Her beautiful face softly blurred over the icy surface like a work of art.

Sweet things are expensive.

If the folks from the Western Regions knew about this, they might go wild, thinking it cost less than what even the poorest of households in the Central Plain could seldom afford.

But the Central Plain is the leading empire of this era, where even the lowest of peasants fry their meat with cooking oil.

The bureaucracy runs amidst thieves and thugs, yet the abundance of local goods continues what little drifts along.

Of course, Qing had no warning of these circumstances.

Even if she knew, she probably would’ve thought, “Well then, go ahead and revolutionize it.” (And they did revolutionize.)

That day when she fought like a rat against a bunch of beggars (and got unceremoniously beaten) feels like just yesterday.

And now she’s sipping sweet fruit tea and dressed in fine clothing, living the high life.

So this is what they mean by living well.

It was precious fruit syrup too good to keep to herself.

Master, dear teacher, cute young lady, Grandpa, and our fellow members of the Half-Swording Association, Seolga, and others.

It would be nice to have anyone by her side.

Honestly, yeah. Things are pretty good nowadays.

Pretty good, actually. Enjoyable and exciting every day.

So, I guess I’m meant to be here.

A bittersweet smile spreads across Qing’s face.

So, she must fight.

Not against bad people or to feel the electric thrill of killing.

First enter the Realm of Transformation and go check out the current realm.

She’s got to settle the score with that grand destroyer, and face off with Taechang as well.

“I need power—”

Nope, not buying. Go away. What a schemer.

With the ominous voice from within her stirring again, Qing swats it away like a fly.

And then all of a sudden?

In the Central Plain, there exists something called a tea-poker.

It’s a pointed stick used to poke through any tea leaves that have clogged up the teapot.

And if you place the tea poker in the middle of the cup and swirl it with the icy technique of Ice White Divine Skill.

Bam! Ice dessert complete!

The cup swelled up, making the ice treat look like fluffy bread.

Qing licks her lips.

With a bite harder than any beast, she chews away at it.

The fruit tea melts and trickles down, deliciously dripping.

The sight was nothing short of spectacular.

There she is, the unmatched beauty of the world, licking away shyly at the ice.

And what do the onlookers think?

Just fine by us.

Here to witness a mortal struggle of revenge, a deathly duel, but they figure just this sight alone was worth the trip.

Meanwhile, the avengers boil with rage.

Some are biding their time, waiting for their moment to strike.

That arch-enemy seems to thrive in her nonchalant attitude.

Is she teasing us or what, is this some lewd and crude spectacle?

Truth is, she kinda is teasing.

Qing understands this isn’t the proper sight to show all these people.

But look at those aspiring avengers.

Someone’s just waiting for the opportunity to inflict some injuries to exhaust her energy, so can’t she do this just to get them hyped up a bit?

It was a form of mass provocation.

If you want to fight, quit being coy and come out already!

Did it have an effect?

“Oh, oh!”

“Oh my, are they about to fight?”

Finally! Here they come!

Qing’s eyes light up as she stands up.

But is it just one person?

The Realm of Transformation? Hmm. The Realm of Transformation is kind of tough.

For Qing, facing just one from the Realm of Transformation is scarier than three Supreme Martial Artists.

According to the martial world, initially, facing three Supreme Martial Artists working together is somewhat similar to dealing with one in the Realm of Transformation.

But for Qing, who uses vast Inner Strength and a few defensive moves, one from the Realm of Transformation is indeed much more fearsome.

There’s no comparison to the density of their qi, as they’d just slice right through her defenses.

Quietly feeling tense, Qing unsheathes her sword.

Eventually, the man speaks up.

“I am Toun-gung, of the Lightning Blade Sect. I have come to hold you accountable for the murder of the Jangpyeong Sect leader. Will you admit your guilt?”

“So it seems someone from the Jangpyeong Sect was among those I cut down? Had I known your name, I wouldn’t have committed such a huge act of barbarism. What a shame.”

The Toun-gung gritted his teeth.

Since you didn’t announce your name, I might not have cut you down, and since you didn’t announce your name means you came trying to ambush me, doesn’t that mean it’s your fault?

Then Qing thought, ah.

Right. Nothing to worry about. No need to provoke.

Still, shouldn’t a master of the Realm of Transformation be a bit more intense before jumping in?

But that sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?

Should I just lay down my sword for you to take away?

At that moment, he says, “Cheonhwa-geom. You said you’d handle three Supreme Martial Artists, so how many would you say you can equate one from the realm with?”

Oh, so they didn’t come just for a duel.

Qing smiles and replies, “How many did you come prepared for?”

The warrior’s forehead twitched as he thought, what? Taking me lightly? How curious, and strangely enough, it only infuriates me.

Qing feels wronged.

This time she was genuinely offering to help.

She merely wanted to make things fit as he wished.

“You seem to be at the peak of the Supreme Martial Artist level. Don’t think you can run away; I’ve seen how you joined the Divine Sword Merging.”

“Right. At the peak of the Supreme Martial Artist level. So, what do you want to say?”

Usually, those with a long tongue are either frauds.

Qing interrupts, insisting he just say what he must.

“A warrior at the peak of the Supreme Martial Artist level would easily take on two at the mid-level or three at the beginner level, then one at the beginner could handle three from the advanced level, and so on…”

What in the world is this?

Are we doing math now or measuring noodles?

Two parts of saltwater ought to equal this much. What’s the total quantity?\

Qing blinks in disbelief as all the crowd that thought they’d see a fight are left speechless.

Not that he’s wrong per se.

But inserting widely accepted fighting prowess into equations is just absurd.

With a long sigh, Qing replies:

“Got it, so just go ahead and do it your way.”

“Wait. But worth considering here is that while it might seem right, in practice, the gap in levels makes it extremely challenging for the underlings to display their true prowess—”

“Enough, just come prepared!”

Qing cuts off Toun-gung’s words.

With all these inconsequential debates and chit-chat, she had no desire for that at all.

Ultimately, two of the peak levels and a mix of various ones at the beginner levels, and the others were just a bunch of rubbish among them, spread across ten.

Yet among the rabble, each holding nets makes Qing roll her eyes.

“Ugh…”

She wipes her forehead and takes a deep breath, only to find everyone among the onlookers looking disappointedly at the shameless avengers.

Qing relaxes her sword.

“No more talk. Blood for blood.”

And the crowd oohed in surprise.

Amidst all those numbers, how could a single warrior stand so firm and beautiful?

Thus, with Toun-gung’s command to attack, they came crashing down like a wave.

Qing raised her sword high.

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