Chapter 112
Chapter 112
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: Peng Yeonhwa's Metamorphosis
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Most of the spectators gulped at Peng Yeonhwa's transformation. The Peng Clan's tragedy caused by the Tiger Calamity was infamous. In particular, the expressions of the Murim Alliance's Demon Purging Vanguard and Alliance Leader Gam Taejun, who had personally pursued him eight years ago, turned icy.
Gam Taejun had become Alliance Leader eight years prior. Back then, he was burdened with high expectations as the successor handpicked by Won Gwang Bul, alongside concerns that he lacked the prestige and martial prowess befitting a leader compared to his predecessor.
When the Tiger Calamity massacred his clan and fled, the Alliance Leader personally led the Demon Purging Vanguard and Alliance forces in pursuit.
But they failed to capture him. At that time, Peng Yeonwoo—known by the moniker Silver White Tiger—slaughtered the pursuit forces and leisurely escaped toward the demonic realm, earning his new title: Tiger Calamity.
Afterward, it came to light that the Peng Clan, counted among the Four Great Clans, had for centuries treated peerless warriors as breeding stock and inhumanely modified them. The sole survivor, Peng Yeonhwa, had nearly lost her mind from the shock. After barely regaining her sanity, harsh interrogations confirmed she had been ignorant of her family's dark secrets.
The Tiger Calamity's slaughter of the Peng Clan tarnished the Murim Alliance's prestige. They had neither captured nor killed him. The Alliance had never even suspected the Peng Clan's centuries-long deception of the world.
Gam Taejun had been unlucky.
If he had ascended to Alliance Leader just a year—or even half a year—later, he wouldn't have faced the backlash. The failure to uncover the Peng Clan's centuries of breeding peerless warriors wasn't his fault, but that of past Alliance Leaders.
"......You're bringing up unpleasant memories."
Gam Taejun muttered softly. The Black Demon King, who had been watching the arena with keen interest, turned to look at him.
His face was clouded with worry.
"Do you regret it?"
The Black Demon King asked with a hint of amusement. Gam Taejun didn't answer immediately. After a brief silence, he spoke.
"It's hard to guess Your Excellency's intent in asking. Regret? Is there anyone in this world without regrets?"
"The decision not to kill that girl was yours, Alliance Leader."
"There was no reason to kill her."
"True. Poor thing—she was just unlucky enough to be 'born that way.' Who chooses where they're born into this world? Only celestial immortals, perhaps."
The Black Demon King chuckled.
"But Alliance Leader, you let her be despite the criticism. Many called her a seed of inhumanity, demanding the death or imprisonment of a twelve-year-old girl. Yet you did nothing to her."
"As Your Excellency says, no one chooses their birthplace. The Peng Clan's centuries of sins were not something heaven would permit.
Frankly, I believe their downfall was well-deserved. That doesn't mean I condone the Tiger Calamity's patricide. He committed a grave sin."
Gam Taejun's eyes narrowed.
"But what sin does a child already born bear? As Your Excellency noted, she was only twelve and ignorant of the Peng Clan's secrets. If anything, she nearly broke from the horror of the truth she uncovered."
He had publicly decreed via Alliance Leader's command that Peng Yeonhwa would not be held accountable for her clan or the Tiger Calamity's crimes. And he left her alone.
He didn't take her under his wing. Nor did he lash out at her to vent his anger over the Peng Clan and Tiger Calamity, who had drawn massive criticism to him as a new leader.
He simply let her be.
"It made my position precarious, but that's in the past. I don't regret deciding eight years ago not to punish that girl. However...... I do have other regrets."
"Such as?"
"My regret for accepting the role of Alliance Leader."
Gam Taejun said with a faint smile. The Black Demon King blinked, staring at him.
He was wondering if Gam Taejun was joking or speaking sincerely.
"And for letting the Tiger Calamity escape."
Gam Taejun murmured, recalling those 'unpleasant memories.' He had never directly confronted the Tiger Calamity.
But he did have unpleasant memories.
When his advance scouts arrived as mangled corpses to greet the main force, and he first laid eyes on the Tiger Calamity standing amid a sea of blood and corpses.
Seeing Peng Yeonwoo—drenched in blood, fangs bared in a grin much like Peng Yeonhwa's—Gam Taejun first called him the 'Tiger Calamity.'
He sent pursuit forces after the fleeing Tiger Calamity, only to find his son's body amid the shredded and mingled corpses.
That day, Gam Taejun first truly understood the meaning of grief.
Many cast looks of disgust and tension her way, but Peng Yeonhwa herself was oblivious.
She had always been acutely sensitive to such gazes. The hatred she'd received since eight years ago had shrunk her spirit, filling her with hostility and defiance toward those stares.
But now,
She was serene. No—not serene. Her senses were sharper than ever. She could distinguish her heartbeat, the hot rush of blood through her veins, even the flow of her inner energy.
Yet she wasn't swayed by the noise. Was it the Immovable Heart Technique holding her mind steady?
No.
The reason was far simpler. She had no spare attention for anything else—she kept her eyes, ears, and focus fixed ahead.
Her innate instincts were incomparably stronger than any human's.
Centuries of breeding had ingrained the instincts of a predator.
Instincts that intuitively distinguished prey from non-prey.
'I'll lose.'
Her instincts were clear. They warned her not to fight. In truth, Peng Yeonhwa wanted to run.
But she forced her legs to hold firm. She had already shown this unsightly side to so many. Even if it wasn't deliberate, she had no regrets.
Because she knew it was necessary.
'I need this to stop running.'
Her instincts screamed to flee, but she refused. From the moment she slapped Yeong Sojin's cheek, she had resolved to run no more. Peng Yeonhwa ground her sharpened fangs.
Her opponent, who allowed no such leisure, stood not far away. Hidden weapons in both hands, she appraised Peng Yeonhwa like an object on display.
Old memories surfaced.
Back when the Peng Clan thrived. Before their sins were exposed, when they were revered as one of the Four Great Clans.
Dang Seona was just a year older—a sister in age—but to Peng Yeonhwa, she was harder to face than any adult.
They met at clan gatherings, but whenever the children played, Dang Seona always watched from afar, 'observing.'
Even then, with senses far keener than others, Peng Yeonhwa sensed that Dang Seona's gaze wasn't on their games—it focused solely on Dang Heeran.
'Same as always.'
Dang Seona's hostility was clear. But it wasn't aimed at Peng Yeonhwa. She raged at her father and Heavenly Death.
Just as Dang Seona had said. What she was about to do had nothing to do with personal grudges against Peng Yeonhwa.
It was mere stress relief.
"......Hoo......"
Though made the target of ire unrelated to her, Peng Yeonhwa felt no anger. If anything, her mind grew calmer.
Chaeng!
Her right hand's nails fused into a slender blade.
'I can't win.'
That didn't anger her. The moment she stepped into the tournament arena, victory or defeat mattered little to Peng Yeonhwa.
What mattered was upholding her resolve to run no more. She glanced at the spectator stands behind Dang Seona.
She saw Wi Seongcheon and the Tai Chi Sword Lord. Wi Seongcheon watched with a stern face, while the Tai Chi Sword Lord smiled faintly.
Victory was a blatant long shot, but the Sword Lord was pleased she had chosen to fight.
She looked at the Black Demon King,
And at the Murim Alliance Leader beside him. Peng Yeonhwa bowed her head toward them.
She had ultimately rejected his offer to join the unorthodox path, but she was grateful to the Black Demon King for making it.
After the Peng Clan's devastation, his covert financial aid had allowed her to focus solely on training.
Toward the Alliance Leader, she felt guilt. While fleeing, the Tiger Calamity Peng Yeonwoo had killed many in the pursuit forces—including the Leader's young son. Yet he had never shown it to her.
'Live rightly.'
On the day the Peng Clan's underground was unearthed and the truth revealed, as he passed Peng Yeonhwa sitting dazed in the training ground still reeking of blood, the Alliance Leader had said those words.
"......Thank you for waiting."
Peng Yeonhwa murmured softly.
Dang Seona gave a faint smile.
Peng Yeonhwa kicked off the ground and charged forward. As she accelerated, Dang Seona's hands 'vanished.' The motion was faster than any swift sword Peng Yeonhwa had ever seen.
And more dazzling. A chill pierced from a blind spot outside her vision. Peng Yeonhwa didn't slow her sprint.
She instinctively knew that no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't evade the barrage from her blind spots.
Fierce Tiger Heaven-Cleaving Blade, Fierce Tiger Advance. Faster, without slowing. Her right arm swung wide and fierce, as if the joint might snap. Thus she wielded the blade.
Kagak!
The blade scraped the ground and leaped, slicing the hidden weapons.
'Distance......'
Not widening?
She faltered for a moment. Dang Seona hadn't moved an inch from her spot. Her smile deepened, and her arms vanished once more.
It was the instant Peng Yeonhwa cleaved the weapons with Fierce Tiger Advance and took 'one step' forward. More pierced from the blind spot.
A beat later came a palm-sized flying dagger straight from the front. She hadn't even seen such a large hidden weapon thrown.
'Faster.'
Peng Yeonhwa's thighs swelled.
Kwang!
The sturdy arena of black iron rock trembled. Leaving a clear footprint, her body accelerated further. Blind-spot weapons—one arm couldn't handle them all.
Her tail whipped like a lash. It swept the one targeting her right shoulder, while the frontal blade cleaved the flying dagger. Her left hand moved in tandem.
Shorter than her right, the nails formed a short blade, smashing the left-side weapons.
'The Peng Clan's blade arts have no dual-wield techniques.'
But Fierce Tiger Heaven-Cleaving Blade was different. This secret art wasn't for humans—it was for bred peerless warriors. A Peng peerless warrior's weapon wasn't a blade.
Their entire body was the weapon, and Fierce Tiger Heaven-Cleaving Blade was an art utilizing the whole body.
Explosive acceleration, defense with arms and tail. Yet Dang Seona still didn't retreat. Even as the gap closed, no fear showed on her face. Instead, she stepped forward.
Anyone could sense it. Dang Seona's actions were reckless. If she stuck to hidden weapons without poison arts, 'distance' should never close.
Who decided that?
Mere prejudice. Thrown weapons like hidden darts grow powerless up close. Really? Closer range means faster speed—harder to see.
Power doesn't diminish with distance. The closer the throw, the stronger and faster.
'Thunder Flash.'
Dang Seona's advancing hand flashed. No more blind-spot strikes. No need. Thunder Flash was the foundation of Heavenly Death Hidden Weapon Arts.
Infuse inner energy and hurl swiftly—that was all.
Thus, Thunder Flash—alongside Thousand Blossoms Rain—varied most in power by user's skill.
Most efficient, swift, precise. Thunder Flash could be used anytime. From above down, below up, diagonal. Even wrist and fingers alone sufficed, halving power.
Dang Seona
Used every method to launch them. Swinging arms, flicking wrists and fingers. Angle? Fingers used? No distinction.
One type: basic daggers. The Tang Clan had myriad hidden weapons, each Heavenly Death technique suited to specific ones.
But now, Dang Seona threw only finger-length daggers.
Countless daggers,
In an absurdly short span. Thunder Flash, Thunder Flash, Thunder Flash. The basic of basics, yet from her hands, more horrifying than any advanced technique.
'Crazy.'
Seo Baek's face paled. He too had trained hidden weapons and flying daggers.
Thus he acutely felt how absurdly precise and swift Dang Seona's were.
'Impressive.'
Even Heavenly Death admired it. He still had no intention of changing his mind, but he couldn't deny her level.
Dang Seona walked on without pause, hands swinging endlessly. Her serene eyes tracked and predicted every Peng Yeonhwa movement.
Pouring Thunder Flashes into every path. How many daggers per swing? They never stopped. Her swollen frame slowly shrank. The daggers armed on her body were already in hand the moment her arms moved.
Peng Yeonhwa's mind grew hazy. Her advance slowed, then halted. Just a few steps from Dang Seona.
She gritted her teeth and swung, but her blade was blocked by the onslaught before reaching, pushed back.
Dang Seona took another step forward.
Peng Yeonhwa retreated one more.
Countless daggers littered around her—ones she'd shaken off, teeth clenched.
But as distance closed, she couldn't cope. Instinct flared too late—the daggers already pierced. Her body wouldn't react.
'Too clear......!'
Seeing too well wasn't always good. Her sluggish body felt frustrating. Forcing ahead, swinging arms—blocked by daggers.
Thunder Flash unrelenting.
Pabababat!
Dozens grazed her body. Her uniform shredded, blood welled. No fatal wounds.
'She can't throw forever.'
Dang Seona's load lightened. Daggers weren't infinite. Or were they? Peng Yeonhwa startled, leaning back. The barrage had been frontal only. This chill was definitely from 'behind.'
"Darkness Shooting Kill at that age—performed so flawlessly."
Heavenly Death exclaimed in admiration. If Thunder Flash was basic, Darkness Shooting Kill was advanced.
It recovered inner-energy-infused weapons via Object Pulling at Distance. But it wasn't mere retrieval—it struck gaps, penetrating.
Yet Dang Seona's wasn't simple recovery to the back. She blended Thunder Flash's essence. Not as fast as direct throws, but swift and potent.
Blood poured from Peng Yeonhwa's forehead. Her braided hair unraveled. Severed bangs fluttered down, blood covering half her face.
"You......!"
Peng Yeonhwa's eyes blazed brilliant gold.
Dang Seona's hands blurred with afterimages.
Peng Yeonhwa, ignoring wounds to press on, froze. Gulping, she glanced down.
Dang Seona, now nose-to-nose, held a dagger to her throat.
"You did well."
Dang Seona murmured.
Peng Yeonhwa's lips trembled, then she squeezed her eyes shut.
"......I lost."
She forced out in a strained voice.