Chapter 594: Even Without Having Raised a Child
Chapter 594: Even Without Having Raised a Child
"Every one of you, leave through the door we open for you."
The Fist King and his subordinates knew exactly what he meant. The door the Fist Demon spoke of was the gate to hell.
Fist King Kang Hu did not grow angry. Instead, a cryptic smile played across his lips.
"If it is a door you open, I shall gladly pass through it."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Fist King’s subordinates, who had been encircling them, lunged forward in unison.
Bred as living weapons, their collective momentum was pure, unadulterated killing intent. There were roughly thirty of them.
The Fist Demon calmly observed the murderous aura before turning his gaze toward Lee An. His eyes posed a silent question:
Do you want to take them?
Lee An did not answer blindly.
Her gaze shifted toward the enemies. She asked herself: Are you ready to dive into that sea of killing intent right now?
In the most pivotal moments of one's life, or in the heat of a crisis, one must never leave decisions to impulsive emotions. There were others within her who had to answer that question first.
The first to respond was the Flying Heaven Sword Technique, which she had mastered to Great Achievement.
— Have you forgotten the nature of the martial arts you have learned?
The next to respond was the Sun and Moon Sword held in her hand.
Wuuuung.
The Sun and Moon Sword let out a low vibration against her palm. Through constant communion since she had received it, the sword now recognized her as its true master.
The final answer came from her own grueling effort.
— Even if everything else in the world betrays you, your hard work never will.
The endless days of training, of sacrificing sleep to perfect her forms, flashed through her mind.
Finally, Lee An answered her father’s question.
"I will do it."
It was not an emotional or impulsive response, but an answer forged from the entirety of her life’s discipline.
At Lee An’s deliberate reply, the Fist Demon gave a silent nod.
The One Flower Sword Venerable watched, anticipating the coming battle.
Can Lee An truly win?
The answer didn't come immediately. If Lee An saw this fight as a close match, then the Fist Demon surely felt the same.
That was how the Sword Venerable knew. In this moment, the one trembling with more fear and anxiety wasn't Lee An, but the Fist Demon. She could only imagine the whirlwind of emotion churning behind that blunt, terrifying face.
So win, Lee An. If only for your father.
Savor the moment a martial artist truly becomes strong. Not the moment you defeat a hundred weaklings, but the very moment you overcome an opponent you aren't supposed to beat!
Lee An walked forward, her back straight and her posture firm.
The tension grew until it felt ready to explode. Though they were facing a woman beautiful enough to be called the World’s Most Beautiful Woman, the subordinates had no room to admire her.
The aura Lee An radiated was extraordinary, prompting them to surge with even greater momentum.
Chaaang!
Lee An drew her sword in one fluid motion. This was her first time facing multiple opponents who specialized in fist techniques.
The moment the straight blade of the Sun and Moon Sword glinted in the sunlight, she charged.
When fighting a crowd, the standard tactic is to avoid being surrounded. However, Lee An defied expectations by diving straight into the heart of their formation.
Shweeeeeeek!
The moment she landed, she spun in a wide sweep. Blood sprayed from the tip of her sword. Everyone moved so quickly it was impossible to tell whose blood it was.
Faster than the fists flying at her from all sides, Lee An lunged forward, thrusting her sword at the enemy directly in front of her.
Shweek!
As the opponent twisted his body to throw a punch, she rotated in the opposite direction. Her target changed in an instant.
Pook!
Lee An skewered an enemy rushing from behind and used the momentum to drive forward. Even as he died, the man grabbed the blade with his gauntleted hands.
Chwaaaaaak!
Lee An’s sword sliced sideways through his torso and caught the throat of another enemy charging from the flank.
Slic!
The sharpness of the Sun and Moon Sword cut through human bone and iron gauntlets alike.
As Lee An tore through the center of the enemy ranks, both advantages and disadvantages emerged.
The disadvantage was having to deal with enemies attacking from every direction; the advantage was that the opponents could not recklessly discharge their Gang Qi.
If thirty people all unleashed their Gang Qi at once, it would be nearly impossible to dodge, and the moment one hit landed, it would create an opening for the rest to pour their energy into her.
That was why she hadn't started the fight by unleashing the forms of the Flying Heaven Sword Technique. She had judged that a battle of raw Gang Qi and internal energy would be disadvantageous.
But in the middle of the enemy pack?
Swaaaaak!
Sword Qi whipped out from her blade. The enemies hesitated to fire their Gang Qi for fear of hitting their own allies, but she had no such constraints.
Without waiting to see the results of her swirling Sword Qi, she slid toward the opposite side. She didn't check how many were wounded or killed by her strike.
She moved without a shred of hesitation, as if following a predetermined sequence.
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pak!
Through the spray of blood, the light of Lee An’s sword flashed terrifyingly.
An arm aiming for her head was severed, and the punch thrown by another seeking revenge struck only empty air. Lee An was already surging toward yet another foe.
Pa-ang! Pa-ang!
Fists flew from all directions like launched iron weights.
Her figure wove through the gaps between the punches. She fought with the grim determination not to be hit even once. She knew that if a single solid blow landed, it could all be over.
One of the enemies lunged low, trying to tackle her to the ground.
Pook, pook, pook!
She stabbed his chest in rapid succession and twisted her body, throwing him backward. The attacks aimed at her back slammed into the corpse instead.
This time, they rushed her from both sides. Their thought was that if they could just grab her and bring her down, it would be over. It was a desperate tactic against a master like Lee An, but these men were also experts capable of manifesting Fist Force.
She used her footwork to slip between them like a ghost playing tag.
Every time her sword traced a line through the air, flesh was carved and blood splattered.
Lee An was incredibly fast and strong. Lost in a trance of combat, she didn't even realize how well she was fighting.
In fact, the thing that troubled her most wasn't the fists, but the blood. The blood spraying everywhere. Her greatest fear was that the blood on her face might get into her eyes.
It was a worry she’d never had before experiencing a fight like this.
As the number of enemies dwindled, the fight actually became more difficult. The enemies, no longer relying on sheer numbers, began to form proper battle lines.
Kwang! Kwa-aaang!
And now, the enemies began to unleash their Fist Force. The Gang Qi discharged from their fists poured toward her. They no longer cared if their allies were behind her.
Kwang! Kwang!
The Gang Qi they fired collided with one another. They intended to crush Lee An within the crossfire of their energy.
Thud!
Taking a single glancing blow, her figure was pushed back. Had her Body Protection Qi been even a moment late, her internal organs would have been shattered. Those who remained were the strongest among them. They had survived because they were powerful.
Her internal energy was also beginning to wane. She had been confident that this amount of energy would be enough to face anyone. However, it was insufficient to kill thirty of the Fist King’s subordinates, all of whom were equipped with gauntlets.
Pwaaaaak!
Lee An fought frantically, drenched in blood. She rolled across the ground to dodge incoming fists.
Like a tenacious weed that would grab even a stone if it fell, she rolled across the floor and slashed at their ankles.
Paaaaaaa!
She drove her sword into the chest of a fallen enemy, and as she pulled it out, blood erupted like a fountain.
She had become a vision of gore. There was no elegance in this fight. It was a true battle, filled only with the murderous intent to kill.
Neither the Fist Demon’s side nor the Fist King’s side intervened. As Lee An grew visibly exhausted, the One Flower Sword Venerable became more tense than even the Fist Demon.
The One Flower Sword Venerable glanced at the Fist Demon.
Incredible.
He had to be many times more worried than she was. Yet, he did not step in, wishing for Lee An to overcome this fight on her own.
She felt that she wouldn't have been able to just watch like that.
How can you endure this so well, when you’ve never even raised a child?
The young man with red bandages looked at the Fist King. His eyes seemed to ask if he should step in since the subordinates were all dying, but the Fist King showed no reaction.
The Fist King didn't seem to regret the deaths of his men at all. His gaze seemed to say: If you can't even kill one girl, you might as well all die!
Among the two masters who had followed the red-bandaged man, the man holding a sword to his chest frowned.
This was a way of fighting he would never employ. Watching your subordinates get slaughtered? He couldn't understand it.
Was combat a joke? Were lives a game? They should have all charged in together and turned it into a melee to secure their numerical advantage.
Now, only Lee An’s ragged breathing echoed through the area.
"Ha... ha... ha..."
Finally, the scene around her came into focus. The surroundings were a literal sea of blood, and the other enemies were all lying dead. She couldn't even remember how she had killed them.
Only four enemies remained.
Those four were certain of their victory.
"You tenacious bitch. Your internal energy has finally run dry."
Their faces were pale. Even when the fight began, they never imagined it would come down to just the four of them.
"Surely you aren't hoping for help now?"
Lee An’s heavy breathing slowed.
"Yes, my internal energy is gone."
She added a meaningful sentence.
"Except for enough to perform exactly one more technique."
In the next instant, the Sun and Moon Sword rose before her chest.
Chr-r-r-rk.
In a flash, the Sun and Moon Sword began to multiply.
Four blades of Sword Qi in the shape of the Sun and Moon Sword manifested.
Flying Heaven Sword Technique, Seventh Form: Flowing Heaven Form.
Swa-aaaaaaaaaa!
The Sword Qi, launched like beams of light in four directions, pierced through their hearts.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
She had won! But the joy was short-lived.
The man who had been holding a sword to his chest suddenly lunged. His target was Lee An.
If this young girl is already at this level...
He couldn't even fathom how difficult the fight against the Demon Lords would be. He intended to eliminate this woman now before the next battle began.
Shweeeeeng.
The sword he had been cradling was suddenly in his hand, flying toward Lee An’s throat.
Lee An had no internal energy left. And the man’s attack was far too fast to block without it.
At that exact moment.
Huk!
A short sound of wind, like a candle being snuffed out, was heard.
A single flash of sword light split the air.
Slic.
Lee An saw it. The sword of the man who had tried to cut her stopped in mid-air.
A red diagonal line began to form across the man’s face, running past his jaw and down his body.
Zzzzip.
The man’s body began to shift along that red line.
Slid-d-de.
Following the bloodline cut at an angle, the man’s body began to slide apart.
Was it because the cut was too fast, or too sharp? No blood even sprayed from the severed surface at first.
Only when the two halves of his body hit the ground did the blood finally erupt.
Beyond the spray of blood, she saw a person’s back.
The one who had surged forward like light to cut him down was the One Flower Sword Venerable.
From the tip of the One Flower Sword in her hand...
Drip.
A single drop of blood fell.
Her sword felt as if it were alive. The sharp energy flowing along the blade felt like the cold breath of the sword itself.
When she reached out her hand, the Sun and Moon Sword, which had been embedded in a distant wall, flew back to her through telekinesis.
Taking the sword, the One Flower Sword Venerable handed it back to Lee An.
"That was a magnificent fight."
The One Flower Sword Venerable could tell. This battle would serve as the catalyst for Lee An’s next stage of growth. Even if one wandered the Central Plains for a lifetime hunting villains, an opportunity for a fight like this would not easily come again.
Lee An, soaked in blood from head to toe, accepted the sword respectfully. At the Sword Venerable’s praise, her eyes grew hot. I fought so well. I can't cry! There are still enemies left!
"I will never forget that you saved my life. Thank you."
She should have just stayed facing forward.
The moment her eyes met the Fist Demon’s, who was standing behind her, the tears she had been holding back spilled over. Seeing her father’s face, she could no longer endure it. Whether there were enemies left or not, whether she looked weak or not, she couldn't stop the tears from falling.
They were tears of joy—joy that she hadn't betrayed her father’s trust.
The Fist Demon gave her a silent nod. He didn't say a word, but for Lee An, that was enough.
She could feel the deep affection contained in that single nod with her entire body.
A brief silence fell over the area.
The Fist King was staring toward them with an expressionless face, his thoughts unreadable.
The next person to step forward was Ghost Blade. As he walked out, he looked down at the corpse of the fallen man and spoke.
"He wasn't the type to die so pathetically."
Ghost Blade stared at the One Flower Sword Venerable and asked, "Do you know who it is you just killed?"
At his question, the One Flower Sword Venerable slowly turned toward him.
A cold and elegant aura flowed from her body.
If the aura of the Sword King that she had shown Geom Mu-geuk earlier was like a space filled with thousands of blades, the One Flower Sword Venerable’s aura was the opposite.
A single sword.
The feeling of a lone, solitary blade pointed directly at one's soul.
That was the aura of the One Flower Sword Venerable.
"I have no interest in who he was," she said calmly, staring at her opponent with those lonely, deep eyes.
"So don't bother giving me a long-winded explanation of who you are, either."