Signs of Collapse (7)
“Here you are.”
Hwang Seok-tae’s eyes lit up at the sudden appearance of Kang Liang.
“What brings you here?”
“I received a sound transmission from my brother. He said you and your guest would be in this area.”
“Hmm.”
That meant the street cleaning was finished.
In such a short time, he had no idea how Yeon Hojeong had dealt with all those assassins. As expected of an extraordinary man.
“The transmission came from quite a distance. His voice kept cutting out in the middle.”
“I’m sure it did.”
Kang Liang turned to Songha Sinni.
She had stopped circulating her energy and rose in an awkward posture.
Kang Liang cupped his fists.
“I am Kang Liang.”
“Ah, I am Songha.”
Despite her poor condition, Songha’s greeting was filled with sincerity and courtesy.
Kang Liang smiled.
“You seem to have a noble character.”
“Ah, not at all.”
“Let us head to our lodgings first.”
Hwang Seok-tae asked,
“What about Pae Yul?”
“He is resting. I did not think both of us needed to come.”
“That fellow has it easy.”
“He is remarkable. He knows exactly when to step in and when to stay out.”
At that moment, Songha Sinni asked in surprise,
“Pae Yul? Do you mean the elder of the Jeomchang Sect?”
Kang Liang’s face showed mild surprise.
“You know Senior Pae Yul?”
“Of course. When I visited Jeomchang in the past, we compared our martial arts. He used extremely practical techniques.”
Although the Nine Great Sects were connected, their locations were scattered across the land. With so many experts in each sect and such vast territory, it was rare for masters of different sects to form close bonds.
Fortunately, it seemed Songha Sinni had met Pae Yul before. After all, he is an elder of Jeomchang. Even the youngest elder was still an elder.
“Let us go. There is no need to circulate energy while exposed to the cold wind.”
“B-but……”
Songha Sinni looked flustered.
“Is it all right to leave without waiting for Young Hero Yeon?”
“He told us to bring him ourselves. Besides……”
Kang Liang chuckled.
“The most unnecessary worry in the martial world is worrying about Wall Mountain Tiger. Even if you pray for his death, that man will not die.”
BOOM!
The heavy palm strike, delivered with crushing force, shattered the reddish sword qi into countless fragments.
PAANG!
In contrast to the palm, a short, whipping kick sent a hidden dagger flying.
Two threatening blade attacks that had come rushing in collapsed with startling ease. Without any complex techniques, miraculous defenses, or evasion maneuvers, the assaults were neutralized in an instant.
WHOOOSH!
The surging palm force and fist winds passed by without even brushing Yeon Hojeong’s collar.
With a spin, he unleashed palm strikes and kicks that dismantled every attack coming from all four directions. His judgment in the moment had reached its peak. His movements were so miraculous that they defied belief.
CRASH!
With a thunderous explosion, Yeon Hojeong’s body closed the distance and appeared right in front of a middle-aged man.
The already pale face of Tang Gak turned even whiter. He had been watching with his own eyes, yet he could not tell when Yeon Hojeong had reached him.
Yeon Hojeong’s knee shot forward like a cannonball.
THUD!
There was no scream. Tang Gak vomited blood and was sent flying, smashing through a wall. He had likely lost consciousness the moment the blow landed.
“Poison and hidden weapons are a nuisance.”
The moment the battle began, he neutralized the most troublesome opponent first.
It was easy to say, but making the right judgment in that fleeting instant was no simple feat. Even if the judgment was made, actually succeeding in the ambush amid the chaos of the environment and the movements of experts was extremely difficult.
To execute such a difficult task as naturally as breathing was what made one a true master.
Yeon Hojeong was a master. His martial arts, his combat techniques, and his battlefield instincts were unmatched, and all these elements combined to produce optimal efficiency.
“Damn it!”
“Blow his head off!”
The words were quite gruesome.
They were not the kind of words one would expect from a Taoist or a Buddhist nun who had spent years in mountain cultivation.
Without replying, Yeon Hojeong launched himself forward.
BOOM!
It was a powerful fist technique.
A fist technique that approached without a sound and exploded in midair.
It resembled Shaolin’s Hundred Steps Divine Fist, yet it was quieter and sharper. It was like a predator silently approaching its prey before sinking its fangs in one swift motion.
It was the Emei Sect’s proud Vajra Subduing Tiger Fist, executed using the method of the Separated Air Palm. When Emei’s ultimate fist technique was infused with advanced martial principles, it was no exaggeration to call it unparalleled under heaven.
However—
“Where—?!”
Though the fist wind was powerful and timely, Yeon Hojeong was no longer there.
TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP!
Moving like a ghost along the wall, Yeon Hojeong appeared behind one of the two Qingcheng swordsmen.
He had not used any particularly impressive movement technique or footwork, yet he had seized the blind spot.
In the dark night, in a narrow alley, with movements that disrupted human vision and inner energy control that freely concealed his presence—
No one present could read Yeon Hojeong’s movements. They were all experts, but none of them were accustomed to fighting in such an environment.
Yeon Hojeong’s fist buried itself in the Qingcheng swordsman’s side.
THUD!
“Guh!”
The swordsman collapsed on the spot. A single blow had rendered him unable to fight.
Yeon Hojeong’s strength was renowned enough that even the Martial Alliance’s top experts acknowledged it. Combined with the Black Tortoise Qi of the Penetrating Realm transformed into a rebounding force and driven into the target, the man’s internal organs had taken the full impact.
“You bastard!”
SHWIIING!
A chilling sword strike scattered red light.
It was fast and powerful. Rather than the sharpness unique to sword techniques, it was a sword art that destroyed the opponent through overwhelming inner energy and strength.
It was the Red Sunset Sword of Qingcheng’s signature art, Blue Cloud Red Sunset. One of Qingcheng’s greatest sword techniques, difficult even for the talented to learn, had revealed itself in a dark back alley.
A white tiger aura shimmered around Yeon Hojeong’s hand blade.
CLANG!
The White Tiger Art, the Tiger King’s Nine Wall World, was reproduced through a bare-handed hand blade. It was the White Tiger Blade Art.
“Hah!”
The Qingcheng elder ground his teeth.
The destructive power of the Red Sunset Sword was unmatched in the martial world. In terms of sheer destructive force alone, it would not be an exaggeration to call it the best in Sichuan.
Yet it had been deflected by the opponent’s attack. And with bare hands, no less.
Drip. Drip.
Blood droplets fell from Yeon Hojeong’s hand blade.
The output of the Four Gods Qi, empowered by the Yeon Family Divine Elixir, possessed unparalleled might. But the limitations of bare hands were clear. Although Yeon Hojeong’s main martial art was not the flesh palm, even accounting for that, the destructive power of the Red Sunset Sword was astonishing.
“I did not put enough power into it.”
At Yeon Hojeong’s calm words, killing intent flashed in the elder’s eyes.
“How dare a brat like you speak so arrogantly!”
Just then—
THUD!
It was a chilling moment for both the Qingcheng elder and the Emei elder.
It was the sound of the Emei expert who had used the Vajra Subduing Tiger Fist collapsing. Before dodging the fist wind and climbing the wall to take down one Qingcheng swordsman, Yeon Hojeong had unleashed the hidden force of the Azure Dragon Art’s Dragon Army Three Forms into her heart meridians.
The inner energy manipulation required for that hidden force strike was so complex that he had poured all his available energy into taking down one Qingcheng swordsman. That was why the power of the White Tiger Blade Art had not been at its full strength.
“I did not wish to see the Red Sunset Sword in a place like this.”
Yeon Hojeong wiped the wound on his hand blade with his sleeve and rolled it up. Blood no longer flowed from the cut. It had already stopped.
“I wanted to exchange proper moves with you on the quiet peaks of Qingcheng. But the flow of the world never matches one’s heart.”
The ultimate techniques of the Nine Great Sects were all magnificent. However, few of them truly stirred Yeon Hojeong’s curiosity.
Blue Cloud Red Sunset was one of them. Having dealt with Qingcheng’s sect leader Pung-byeok-ja, it had left an even deeper impression on him.
The elder, whose spirit had been shaken by the impact, soon roared in fury.
“How dare you, you cowardly bastard, speak of Qingcheng’s ultimate technique—!”
BOOM!
With a thunderous explosion, the elder vomited blood and was sent flying.
His speed was truly fast. The Emei elder, who had been standing awkwardly, cried out in alarm and dodged out of the way. She could have caught him, but she no longer seemed to be in a state of mind to do so.
Yeon Hojeong lowered his foot.
“How dare you speak of cowardice.”
PAANG!
Closing the distance with wind-like movement, the elder once again vomited blood and swung the Red Sunset Sword.
Yeon Hojeong’s hands emitted a greenish-blue radiance. It was a different martial art from the Azure Dragon Qi— heavier, yet clearer and more elegant.
It was the Yeon Family’s ultimate art, the Reverse Dragon Palm.
SHWICK! BOOM!
The sword qi of the Red Sunset Sword grazed Yeon Hojeong’s shoulder, while the force of the Reverse Dragon Palm exploded against the elder’s chest.
It was a palm strike that had absorbed and detonated even the sword force of the Red Sunset Sword. The elder collapsed on the spot. He was not dead, but his breathing was clearly labored.
“Now then.”
After loosening his shoulders once, Yeon Hojeong turned to the Emei elder who had led him here—Deunghwa Satae.
“You are the only one left.”
Deunghwa Satae swallowed hard. This… this cannot be.
She had guessed that Yeon Hojeong was a master beyond her imagination.
But she had never thought he was so powerful that he could defeat all of them in such a short time. After all, they were all elder-level experts of their respective sects. With their combined strength, even Shaolin’s abbot Gong Gong Dae-sa could not guarantee victory.
She was wrong.
Even this level of force could not defeat Yeon Hojeong, let alone Shaolin’s abbot Gong Gong Dae-sa. Their martial arts were all threatening, but they could not properly unleash them.
Merely holding a heavenly sword did not make one a great swordsman. Moreover, all of them had long since abandoned not only their martial training but also their cultivation.
This outcome had been inevitable.
“How disappointing.”
Yeon Hojeong openly frowned.
It was not a remark or expression meant to shake his opponent. He was genuinely disappointed.
“I did not expect you to fall apart this badly. You are supposed to be the representatives of your sects, yet your skills are far too lacking.”
“……”
“It is not a matter of combat sense. You neglected the training of what you learned and mastered in the first place. They say that even three days of rest causes regression in martial arts. From the looks of it, you have abandoned your training for a very long time.”
If they had trained properly day after day, even Yeon Hojeong would not have been able to defeat them so easily. Before experts of this level, no matter how superior one’s combat sense was, it could not overturn the total amount of power in a single decisive move.
Yet it had worked. That meant they had not even brought out half of their true strength.
“But you are different.”
A subtle anticipation appeared on Yeon Hojeong’s face, which had been filled with disappointment.
In that moment, Deunghwa Satae felt a chill run down her spine. The face of Yeon Hojeong, looking at her with expectant eyes, was that of a battle-crazed demon.
“You have trained properly. Your excessive fear is a flaw, but since you did not run, it seems your instincts have not died.”
If she had fled, Yeon Hojeong would have immediately abandoned the fight and chased after her to kill her. Deunghwa Satae knew this.
“It does not seem we have much time, but there is no need to rush into anything either.”
CRACK.
Yeon Hojeong raised his fist.
“Kneel. Then I will not kill you. At least not today.”