Episode 155 - The Grudge of Blood Jade Shatters Even Mount Tai
Yeon-hoo stood behind Jang So as he collapsed limply without a fight.
Whoooong! With no time to draw his sword, Wi Cheon Hwa thrust out both palms toward Yeon-hoo. At the same time, he kicked off the floor and hurled his body toward the window, squeezing his dantian as he shouted.
"Assassin…."
Crack!
"Gahk!"
A brutish hand clamped around Wi Cheon Hwa's throat. It was Cheol-u.
"Grrrk."
With a gurgling rasp like phlegm boiling in his throat, Wi Cheon Hwa lost consciousness and went slack. Cheol-u had sealed his pressure points.
He set Wi Cheon Hwa down and approached the window to scan outside. A few guards were milling about the front gate, but fortunately, they seemed oblivious. They'd handled it swiftly, and during the scuffle, he'd deployed an invisible barrier of inner energy over the entire room to muffle any sound from escaping.
Yeon-hoo gazed down at Jang So first. The man, already dead, wore a serene expression as if merely asleep.
"You should have begged forgiveness for your father's sins against me. I might have spared you…."
With this, the Jang Family's line was utterly severed. No loose ends remained. He'd expected triumph, but there was none.
Cheol-u watched Yeon-hoo silently.
Tearing his gaze from Jang So's face, Yeon-hoo approached Wi Cheon Hwa.
Thud! He nudged a pressure point with his foot, and Wi Cheon Hwa's eyes snapped open. But with his vital points sealed, all he could do was flush red in the face.
Wi Cheon Hwa's eyes brimmed with terror and dread of death.
"Curse the fate that made you son to your father."
Did he sense his doom? Tears of blood tore from the corners of Wi Cheon Hwa's eyes.
"Cheol-u."
"Yes, my lord."
"Behead him."
"Understood."
* * *
Wi Yeon Gwang took another swig of liquor. He was furious, yet utterly unconcerned. If the forces pinned down by the Blood Clan and Golden Merchant Group returned, he was confident they could sweep the North anytime.
Without that assurance, he'd have charged to the battlefield for morale's sake rather than lingering here.
"Just wait a little longer. This time, I'll wipe out every last drop of your Yi family bloodline."
"They say the North's young lord is terrifying, don't they?"
His concubine snuggled into his embrace with a nasal whine.
"Hmph! That brat might scare others, but before me, he's just a whelp."
"Of course. How could some green boy handle you? Your girl isn't worried at all. So stop with the drink and…."
A jade-white hand slipped into Wi Yeon Gwang's crotch.
Normally, he'd have welcomed it ten times over, but not tonight.
"I'm not in the mood. Go fetch more liquor."
"Tch. Fine."
Wi Yeon Gwang caressed the sulky concubine's rear as she rose, then lifted the bottle to his lips.
Gulp, gulp! As he tilted his head back to down it, he froze for an instant—then his body rocketed backward off the chair like a shot.
Crash! Clatter!
He sprang up, sword already in hand—the treasured blade symbolizing Wall Thunder Manor's lord.
Something whistled through the air and thudded down before him.
Thump!
Roll, roll….
The severed head rolled to a stop at his feet. Wi Yeon Gwang glanced down reflexively, and a guttural roar erupted from him.
"Euuuk!"
How could he not recognize it? His son's face.
* * *
Yeon-hoo advanced on Wi Yeon Gwang, channeling inner energy into his sword.
Sizzle. When he summoned his most potent demonic energy, the blade didn't glow white or blue—it turned blood-red and lengthened. Just like now.
'Dragging this out puts me at a disadvantage. End it in one strike.'
Until then, Wi Yeon Gwang had trembled violently while staring at his son's head. Now he raised his gaze. His eyes burned crimson like a demon's, and an unprecedented, terrifying killing intent poured from him—something even Yeon-hoo had never felt.
"I'll tear every shred of flesh from your body and make you die in the utmost agony. Grind!"
Whoosh! Flame-like heat erupted from Wi Yeon Gwang's body in a storm. Objects in the room smoked and charred, unable to withstand it.
In contrast, white frost settled around Yeon-hoo.
Crackle!
"If I'd wanted you dead, I'd have killed you at White Night Cartel. Don't you wonder why I spared you then?"
"I'll hear the answer right before you die!"
Boom!
Wi Yeon Gwang lunged.
* * *
The Millennium Gateway, Blood Jade. There, Yeon-hoo had claimed countless demonic weapons and arts. But he never rested on them—instead, he refined them through relentless training to unprecedented heights.
He had a clear goal: arts capable of slaying White Night Cartel's absolute masters and the Eight Great Families' heads.
Moon Fang and Blood Demon Chain now boasted versatility beyond legends. His demonic arts gained even greater lethality and destructive power.
Now, facing his blood-sworn foe Wi Yeon Gwang, it was time to test those efforts. Yeon-hoo summoned one of his painstakingly devised techniques.
The Grudge of Blood Jade Shatters Even Mount Tai.
Whoooong! Yeon-hoo charged straight at Wi Yeon Gwang tearing through space. Wi Yeon Gwang didn't dodge. Instead, he bellowed madly at the onrushing foe.
"Kraaaah!"
His sword, laden with qi that could cleave anything, speared toward Yeon-hoo's chest. In that instant, Yeon-hoo's left hand whitened and slapped the blade aside. Simultaneously, his blood-glowing sword pierced Wi Yeon Gwang's body-protecting aura, plunging into his chest.
Pfshk!
The blade skewered his heart and protruded from his back. A drop of blood at the tip froze white, then shattered with the sword.
Clang!
"Grrrk…."
Wi Yeon Gwang collapsed with a phlegmy rasp. But Yeon-hoo wasn't done. He yanked out the broken blade and mercilessly severed the man's head.
Thud!
The headless corpse toppled at his feet.
"My lord."
Cheol-u approached, first checking Yeon-hoo's condition. His face was pale, lips bloodied, but his eyes were as sharp as ever.
"The enemy approaches. We must leave at once."
Yeon-hoo moved to hand Wi Yeon Gwang's head to Cheol-u but paused as dizziness surged.
"My lord!"
"Wait."
Yeon-hoo pressed pressure points at his temples several times. The vertigo faded.
"Now, let's go."
"Yes!"
Yeon-hoo and Cheol-u slipped out the back door into the woods. Moments later, Wall Thunder masters burst in.
They stood dumbfounded before the gruesome scene. A headless corpse. A head rolling in a pool of blood. The body was Wi Yeon Gwang's; the head, Wi Cheon Hwa's. The shock hit like a bolt from the blue.
"The lord… the lord…."
Thump!
One elder collapsed into the blood, clutching Wi Yeon Gwang's body and wailing. The others stood frozen like statues, lost in shock. It paralyzed them—no one even thought to pursue traces of the killer.
Thus fell Wi Yeon Gwang, Northwest Murim's overlord and Wall Thunder Manor's patriarch, who had dreamed of a new era.
* * *
It was a dense forest somewhere. Judging they'd put enough distance from Wall Thunder Manor, Yeon-hoo entered a cave for a brief rest.
Cheol-u asked with concern.
"Internal injuries, my lord?"
"I killed a head of the Eight Great Families. It'd be a lie to say I'm unscathed."
"Then circulate your qi first."
"No need. A short rest will mend it. Got any liquor?"
"…None. There was a stream on the way—shall I fetch water?"
"No."
Yeon-hoo leaned against the cave wall and sat. He gazed at the broken sword.
It was the treasured family blade from Elder Council Chairman Song Gyeom. He'd never imagined it snapping. And not from clashing blades, but merely stabbing Wi Yeon Gwang.
'If I'd known he cultivated the Buddhist divine art Indestructible Diamond, I'd have used Moon Fang….'
Indeed. Wi Yeon Gwang had mastered the Buddhist supreme art Indestructible Diamond. Yeon-hoo realized it only as his sword pierced the man's chest—too late.
'The treasured sword symbolizing the North's lords for generations, broken in my era.'
Yeon-hoo gave a wry smile and sheathed it.
Click!
"May I ask something?"
"What."
"When facing Wi Yeon Gwang earlier… did you go all out?"
"Why ask?"
"It just seemed like you held back your power."
"You're right. I didn't use full power."
Cheol-u's eyes widened slightly. He knew Yeon-hoo's strength better than anyone, but holding back against Wi Yeon Gwang was unbelievable. What was astonishing wasn't killing him despite restraint, but facing a family head so casually.
Yet it didn't make sense.
"If you'd used twelve-tenths power, you wouldn't have taken those injuries."
Leaning his head against the wall, Yeon-hoo replied.
"At White Night Cartel, I met the Eight Great Families' heads. I sensed then that among the seven, Wi Yeon Gwang was the weakest… So I held back. Going all out against him would've bruised my pride."
"…."
Cheol-u nearly burst out laughing at the absurdity. Holding back against such a foe for that reason.
Now was the time for bluntness.
"You're not alone anymore, my lord. Please never do that again."
"Don't worry. I'm crafting an art that shatters not just mountains, but the heavens."
"Please do."
Ting.
Dizziness hit Yeon-hoo again. Exhaustion crashed over him; he closed his eyes. Sleep claimed him swiftly.
But nightmares plagued him as always. He awoke in cold sweat after about two hours. This time, even the Wi father and son tormented him.
'Damn it….'