An Unmistakable Chivalric Act
Caught completely off guard, the search party had never anticipated that a second beastman would appear. Yet with four Peak Realm masters among their ranks, the initial shock failed to translate into immediate casualties.
That composure, however, began to fray when a third and fourth attacker lunged from the gloom.
"Damn it all!"
"Just how many of these bastards are there?!"
The sheer physical prowess of the beastmen was formidable enough, but the formation enveloping them proved far more vexing. The creatures struck unpredictably from unseen angles, and counterattacks simply failed to find purchase.
"Hup!"
A fierce surge of qi billowed from Namgung Su’s blade, swiftly taking solid form over the steel—Sword Gang, the indisputable hallmark of a Peak master.
Neither Sword Qi nor Sword Thread could compare to its blinding speed and destructive violently cleaving force. A single stroke possessed more than enough power to shear a beastman in two.
Provided, of course, that the strike landed.
The blade whistled cleanly through empty air.
Even Sword Gang cannot pierce it?
Namgung Su had known this was no ordinary formation, but he had never imagined it would prove this insidious.
We are holding our ground for now, but...
Subjected to an assault the likes of which they had never witnessed, the martial artists were gradually descending into confusion. To make matters worse, the number of beastmen continued to multiply. Because the beasts endlessly attacked only to melt back into the dark, confirming their exact ranks was impossible, yet he had already counted six emerging simultaneously.
Even so, he reasoned, the situation had not yet spiraled out of control.
No one had been killed, nor had anyone even sustained an injury. Startled as they were by the bizarre methods, the martial artists were steadily acclimating to the rhythm of combat.
Their strikes are crude. In the end, they do nothing more than claw and thrash like mindless beasts.
Fierce and swift though they might be, their movements carried neither refinement nor feints. At this rate, the initial chaos would not last much longer.
"Hah!"
Namgung Su slashed his sword once more. As before, the beastman attempted to duck into the shadows, but this time the outcome differed.
The edge of his blade grazed the creature's forearm. The devastating Sword Gang imbued within the steel tore through flesh, pulverized muscle, and shattered bone in a single breath.
"Screeech!"
Though the beastman vanished into the darkness, a vivid splatter of fresh blood remained where it had stood.
I have the measure of them now.
Mo Seok-heon, Won Jin, and Hong Jong were likewise handling the creatures with practiced ease. If this momentum held, they would eradicate them all before long, no matter how many lurked in the wings.
Another beastman materialized from the dark, sweeping its razor claws toward him. Namgung Su brought his sword around to parry with fluid certainty.
An explosive shockwave detonated against his guard.
"Ugh?!"
The sheer concussive impact eclipsed anything he had faced thus far. Namgung Su's eyes widened in disbelief as his gaze locked onto the beastman’s claws.
Gangqi?!
Could a creature barely deserving of the title of human have attained the Peak Realm?
This is dangerous!
If a monster of that caliber began fading into the shadows to execute hit-and-run ambushes like the rest, the threat level would dwarf everything they had encountered up to this point.
His dread was instantly validated.
A sickening crunch echoed through the cavern.
"Aaaargh!"
The search party suffered its first casualty—a martial artist of the Anhui Mo Clan battered down by the Peak-level beastman. Even that had been a stroke of sheer fortune; had Mo Seok-heon not unleashed an intercepting strike from the flank, the man would not have escaped with his life.
"Regroup into a single formation!" Namgung Su roared.
With a beast of that caliber stalking them, remaining scattered would only lead to piecemeal slaughter. Everyone needed to fall within the protective sphere of the Peak masters.
Sharing the urgency of the moment, the martial artists converged without a murmur of dissent. Even Mo Seok-heon tacitly complied with Namgung Su's command.
Most of the party consolidated their ranks in an instant. The problem, however, lay with the members of the Zhuge Clan, who had scattered across the periphery in their bid to analyze the formation.
Pushing their movement techniques to their absolute limit, they raced to rejoin the main body. But the beastmen were not about to ignore isolated prey that had suddenly become easy targets.
The Zhuge martial artists desperately parried the ferocious claws lunging from the gloom. As First-rate masters, they did not fall easily, yet every clash sapped their momentum. Though the distance to the main force was short, to the Zhuge Clan, it felt like a march of a thousand li.
No reinforcement came.
The others simply stood watching from their secure perimeter.
The Zhuge martial artists gritted their teeth. Yes... this is the modern Jianghu. Anyone expecting salvation from others was an utter fool; in this realm, one had to weather their own crises alone.
Which was precisely why they could not believe their eyes when the silence broke.
A lone figure detached from the main body, dashing straight toward them.
"What do you think you're doing, Namgung Yun?! Get back here at once!"
Namgung Su’s shout reverberated across the cavern, but Namgung Yun did not heed it. Anyone could see that the Zhuge Clan was on the brink of disaster.
Now this—this is undeniably a chivalrous act!
At last, a situation had arrived that required no tedious moral soul-searching.
The moment Yun broke away from the group, attacks descended upon him from every direction. A beastman lunged from his flank, driving a boulder-crushing fist toward his head. Facing the strike, Yun naturally transitioned into his steps.
Azure Sky Footwork: Wandering Freely in the Clouds Step
The beastman’s blow cleaved nothing but thin air. The same fate met every subsequent strike; weaving through the minuscule gaps left by the barrage pouring in from all sides, Yun slipped past them with uncanny, breathtaking precision.
"Hah, what on earth is that?!"
"Is that... the new rising star of the Namgung Clan?"
Exclamations of pure shock rippled through the ranks, escaping not only the First-rate martial artists of his generation, but even seasoned Peak masters like Namgung Su. Though still anchored to the First-rate realm by his underdeveloped dantian and youthful physical vessel, Yun possessed martial enlightenment that was overwhelmingly profound. His footwork was a spectacle that demanded awe from anyone who possessed eyes to see.
Gliding past the monsters, Yun intercepted the nearest Zhuge martial artist and whipped his blade around, deflecting the encroaching claws.
"Run."
"Y-yes!"
With Yun covering his flank, the Zhuge martial artist accelerated his pace. Yun’s sword moved in a dazzling blur against the claws raking in from the shadows, the condensed filaments of Sword Thread dancing along his steel to turn aside every ferocious strike.
Is this the martial art of the Namgung Clan?
Even while sprinting for his life, the Zhuge swordsman felt his breath catch in wonder. They were both in the First-rate realm, yet how could there be such a chasm between their swords?
We are still so far behind...
The unvarnished gulf between the Namgung Clan, which had long stood as the supreme sovereign of the Five Great Clans, and his own clan, which barely clung to its seat by compensating for weaker swordplay with mechanical contraptions and formation arts, laid itself bare before him, casting a heavy gloom over his heart.
After escorting the first Zhuge martial artist safely into the main ranks, Yun immediately pivoted to rescue the others.
"I told you to get back here!" Namgung Su roared again, but to a man who had already embarked upon a righteous deed, such reprimands held no weight whatsoever.
The second Zhuge martial artist was already fairly close to the perimeter. Because the beastmen had concentrated their numbers in an attempt to cut off Yun and the first escapee, the frequency of attacks against the second had lessened considerably.
Once he too slipped safely into the group, only one person remained stranded.
Has he only managed to make it that far?
Watching the sluggish arcs of the man's sword, Yun grasped the reason at a single glance.
He's weak.
Though nominally classed as a First-rate martial artist, he appeared to have barely set foot across the threshold. He was almost certainly the weakest individual not only within the Zhuge contingent, but among the entire search party.
Yun broke into a sprint toward him.
At that precise moment, a hand erupted from the shadows.
With terrifying velocity, it seized the last Zhuge martial artist by the collar.
"Urk!"
Terror drained the color from the man's face, but the sensation lasted only an instant. His entire form vanished, melting into the pitch darkness alongside the clawed hand that had dragged him under.
It's the Peak-level beastman.
The person he had set out to rescue had vanished. Yet Yun did not check his momentum for a fraction of a second.
"You reckless fool, Yun!"
Before the echoes of Namgung Su’s desperate shout could even dissipate against the stone walls, Yun plunged straight into the gloom, his figure swallowed by the void just like the Zhuge martial artist before him.
Nothing registered within his vision. All that existed was total, suffocating blackness.
Whether he opened his eyes or squeezed them shut made no difference at all.
Sight was the pillar upon which human perception relied most heavily among the five senses; an ordinary martial artist would have succumbed to instant disorientation. Yet Yun strode forward into the unseen with utter nonchalance.
The darkness parted like a drawn curtain, and the world snapped back into focus.
He found himself inside a subterranean cavern that appeared little different from the one he had just left. Yun resumed his measured walk. A short distance ahead, he caught the faint rustle of a human presence.
"So this is where you were."
"...Young Master Namgung?"
The Zhuge martial artist looked up, his eyes round with astonishment. Yun recalled the formal introductions they had exchanged not long ago.
His name was Zhuge Chim, if memory serves.
"Are you injured anywhere?"
"No."
"That is a relief. Where did the beastman go?"
Zhuge Chim cast a wary glance toward a tunnel winding away on the far side of the cavern. "It dropped me here and vanished down that passage."
"Quite a courteous monster, it seems. If you'll pardon the phrasing, it practically captured its quarry only to deposit you here unharmed."
Zhuge Chim offered a self-deprecating smile. "There must be an underlying motive. The killing intent radiating from those beasts was entirely real. In all likelihood, it intended to use me as live bait."
"Then its ploy was a resounding success," Yun remarked, spreading his arms wide with an easy shrug. "After all, it managed to reel in a fresh catch just as planned."
Seeing Yun banter with such relaxed composure in the belly of an enemy trap, Zhuge Chim’s expression tightened.
"I am deeply moved by the valor you showed in stepping forward for my sake, Young Master, but it was profoundly reckless. In a crisis like this, one should never leap blindly into danger."
"I merely acted in accordance with my principles."
"...You speak of chivalry."
"Indeed. So you know."
"There is likely no one in the martial world with an ear to current affairs who does not know your name by now."
A jiangshi straight out of legend had appeared, only to be vanquished by a newly rising star of the Namgung Clan—who, against all prevailing norms, was now openly championing the antiquated ideals of righteousness and chivalry that modern society viewed with cynicism. Any one of those three facts would have been sufficient to capture the Jianghu's imagination; when all three converged upon a single youth, attracting widespread notoriety was inevitable.
"That saves me the trouble of a lengthy explanation," Yun said smoothly. "You have it right. Guided by my convictions of righteousness and chivalry, I simply sought to lend a hand to those in distress."
"And as a consequence, Young Master, you find yourself trapped in the very same peril."
"Tell me, does a true chivalrous hero pause to weigh profit and loss before acting?"
Zhuge Chim was left utterly without a retort.
"Now that we've grasped each other's circumstances, let us get moving. Surely you aren't harboring hopes that reinforcements will arrive to pluck us out?"
"Hardly," Zhuge Chim replied with a bitter chuckle. "Though... isn't there a possibility they might mount a rescue for you, Young Master?"
"Well, the possibility isn't zero, but I doubt it will happen anytime soon."
"Indeed. Attempting an extraction with only the Namgung Clan's manpower would be exceedingly perilous, and the other factions will hardly offer assistance. Least of all the Anhui Mo Clan."
He truly is a man of the Zhuge Clan, Yun thought. Sharp, observant, and quick to read the board.
At the very least, I won't have to suffer the headache of dealing with a fool.
"It seems our only choice is to break out on our own," Yun concluded. "Which brings us to the real problem: the formation."
Lethal as the beastmen were, the bizarre spatial formation that sheltered them and led their pursuers astray was the true bottleneck.
Yet despite belonging to the Zhuge Clan—a name that was practically the universal definition of formations throughout the martial world—Zhuge Chim's complexion turned uncharacteristically somber.
"...If you are relying on me to unravel this array, Young Master, I fear I will only disappoint you."
"What do you mean by that? Does the name of the Zhuge Clan not stand for mechanical contraptions and formation arts?"
Even Yun, who had spent the overwhelming majority of his previous life within the insular borders of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, knew that fundamental truth of the Central Plains.
Yet Zhuge Chim merely lowered his gaze, shaking his head with quiet desolation.
"Our Zhuge Clan no longer values mechanical contraptions and formation arts."