With Overwhelming Power
As Jin Somyeong walked toward the swarm of monstrous insects known as Black Cloud Locusts, he sank into thought.
How much of my strength should I reveal?
It was a question that had plagued him ever since he faced the unknown organization searching for Yeo Dongbin.
A sword cultivator who had begun learning thunder arts. If that organization had investigated Yeo Dongbin properly, that was likely the extent of what they knew. But if he used swordsmanship and thunder arts together, there was a chance they would connect Yeo Dongbin and Jin Somyeong as the same person.
Haa.
A sigh escaped him of its own accord.
Hiding his power because he feared attention. It was the same dilemma he had wrestled with back on Sky Island, yet this time the situation was different. Unlike during the Boarding Tournament, revealing his identity now carried a high chance of real danger.
What a nuisance.
If he followed his heart, he would rather travel comfortably, without agonizing over every little thing. A deranged thought even crossed his mind: if someone came after him, he could simply cut them all down.
Wait... but do I really need to hide? I can't be the only sword cultivator in the world who has learned thunder arts.
The world was vast. If something was rare, that meant it existed, however seldom. Could that unknown organization truly afford to make enemies of every thunder-wielding sword cultivator under the heavens?
Impossible.
Sword cultivators who had mastered thunder arts were powerful without exception. They were not beings one would choose as enemies without good reason.
And if they can do that anyway... then this whole dilemma is meaningless from the start.
If the organization was so powerful that, once it seriously decided to find him, hiding his strength would change nothing, then there was no point fretting over it. He had already run wild on Sky Island. Given enough time, word of what happened there would spread as well.
In that case...
Boom!
While he walked lost in thought, the black cloud that had somehow drawn near crashed into the formation.
As the distance closed, the shape of the cloud became clear. What had looked like black mist was a swarm of locusts, each with a sharp spike protruding from its head.
Wooooong!
The restriction guarding the clearing shook violently. The Black Cloud Locusts had turned their own bodies into projectiles and launched attacks close to suicide charges.
Kwaang!
A Black Cloud Locust shot forward like an arrow, smashed into the formation, and burst apart. At a glance it seemed like a foolish charge, but they did not die cleanly. As they perished, they left behind green bodily fluid, and wherever that fluid touched the formation, gray smoke rose as the barrier blurred as though it might collapse at any moment.
"Fellow Daoist Jin, be careful! Black Cloud Locusts are venomous creatures! If even one of their spikes pierces you, you may find it difficult to circulate your mana!"
He met Madam Ryeo's eyes as she shouted swiftly, then turned his gaze forward again.
Click.
He leveled the Five Elements Sword before him, the blade that had accompanied him through countless battles since Sky Island, and continued the thought he had been having.
Was it truly right to curl up in fear of an uncertain future? While he held his breath and hid, would countless opportunities simply pass him by?
"..."
He looked between the Black Cloud Locusts buzzing toward him and the Five Elements Sword. The sharp gleam of the blade in his hand steadied his mind.
Then, all at once, he realized he had nearly repeated the same mistake.
Why was he reconsidering a conclusion he had already reached? The situation had changed since Sky Island? Had it really?
No.
It had been the same then. He had accepted the risk. The threat was merely clearer now; the fundamental circumstances had not changed.
And besides, no one could know what consequences an action might bring. Just as a wise choice did not guarantee the best outcome, the reverse was also true.
What mattered was the direction his heart pointed.
I've decided.
He would not become obsessed with hiding his power and narrow the range in which he could act. There was no need to reveal his strength uselessly, but when it was necessary, he would not hesitate to use everything he had.
What sort of life would it be if the result of all his grueling cultivation was to live in hiding? He would suffocate.
The life Jin Somyeong wanted was one of freedom, living as his will led him.
Then he would do something simpler.
He would grow at a speed no one could predict.
If someone came for him, he had only to cut them down.
What had been little more than a wild delusion, he now resolved to make reality.
"Mugeuk."
A sword born from tens of millions of strands of Sword Qi condensed into one.
Mugeuk, which had been sleeping inside the Mental Secret Realm, awakened. The instant that mirage-like power dwelled in the Five Elements Sword, a storm of cutting sharpness split the space before him.
A colossal slash.
The pitch-black sky was cleaved open. Bright moonlight poured down, and he felt as though even the weight in his chest had been swept clean.
"A sword cultivator!"
"That sword... is it his Natal Dharma Treasure?"
Startled gazes poured onto him, but he paid them no mind.
He flicked the sword's body with a finger. The humming vibration spread outward, carrying his Sword Qi with it.
Crack!
Thousands of Black Cloud Locusts burst apart at once. Unable to approach beyond a certain distance, they were all sliced to pieces and fell like rain.
With a single strike, a vast empty space opened around Jin Somyeong.
"Huh. I've never seen Sword Qi that powerful before..."
After he swept away all the Black Cloud Locusts rushing in from every direction, the party members who had been staring blankly finally began responding a beat late.
Madam Ryeo did her utmost to maintain the formation, while the man called Un Bi opened his palm and sent out a wall of flame. Hye-gong drew out an enormous tiger puppet standing five meters tall, and judging from his confident expression, he seemed to trust deeply in the puppet's power.
"Go!"
"Wait! If you send the puppet outside the formation now, it'll be surrounded by Black Cloud Locusts!"
At Madam Ryeo's urgent warning, Hye-gong flinched.
In truth, Black Cloud Locusts were known as calamities. They were among the most dangerous beings in the Sahon Wilderness. Even a Golden Core merchant, upon encountering a swarm of Black Cloud Locusts, was supposed to flee without looking back.
And yet...
Every time Jin Somyeong swung his sword, hundreds of Black Cloud Locusts were sliced apart. Not a single one could approach him.
Watching the Black Cloud Locusts being slaughtered so easily made it feel unreal. Perhaps the rumors had been exaggerated. If that was the case, there was no reason to be frightened in advance.
After hesitating briefly, Hye-gong spoke with resolve.
"It will be fine. My puppet is extremely sturdy. The Black Cloud Locusts won't be able to pierce it."
Graaaah!
At Hye-gong's gesture, the tiger puppet roared as though alive and kicked off the ground.
The formation did not block passage from inside to outside. The puppet emerged easily and plunged into the midst of the Black Cloud Locusts. Flames spewed from its mouth, burning dozens of insects to death, and every sweep of its claws scattered blades of wind.
As expected, the tiger was a third-tier puppet, and it displayed the power of an emotionless slaughter machine in full.
Ankles, flanks, abdomen, face. Hideous Black Cloud Locusts clung to every part of it, yet it only repeated the same cold motion of swinging its claws.
Thud!
Seeing the locusts dying in droves, Hye-gong was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when...
Chiiiiik...
The puppet, touched by the Black Cloud Locusts' bodily fluid, began to stagger.
"Hm?"
How many breaths passed?
The tiger, which had been rampaging without restraint, slowed at an alarming rate. An ominous creaking rang from every joint.
"No!"
At the same moment Hye-gong's eyes flew wide and he coughed blood, the tiger puppet collapsed. The legs that had supported its torso had long since corroded and fallen away.
It happened in a blink. There was not even time for anyone to save it.
Before they could react, the tiger puppet was completely covered by Black Cloud Locusts and reduced to a heap of scrap metal...
"Kuh."
Blood trickled from Hye-gong's mouth from the backlash of losing the puppet, and only then did he understand.
These Black Cloud Locusts were not opponents to be underestimated.
A sudden surge of resentment rose in him, and he looked at Jin Somyeong. Jin Somyeong was still slaughtering the Black Cloud Locusts with ease. Of the locusts charging toward the formation, seven out of ten died beneath his sword.
They were both at the first layer of Golden Core, so why was the difference this severe?
"Damn it. These things consume too much mana."
Lamenting under his breath, Hye-gong drew out another puppet.
This time it was three monkeys. Each held a bow like an archer, and they looked specialized in ranged attacks.
When the monkeys drew their empty bows, powerful mana gathered and formed arrows.
Whip, whip, whip!
As arrows carrying Golden Core-level power shot out, the number of Black Cloud Locusts crashing into the formation decreased. They were merely dealing with the few that survived after evading Jin Somyeong's sword, but they were helpful nonetheless.
"Madam Ryeo. Do we truly need to hold out until sunrise?"
"Yes. Only after tonight passes will it fully transform into Moonlight Golden Grass, and the fragrance will stop as well."
"Whew. Understood."
While the group focused on ranged attacks from within the formation, Jin Somyeong, who had been scattering slashes with a calm expression, turned his gaze.
Narrowing his eyes, he stared at the distant sky for a moment before speaking to Madam Ryeo, who was controlling the formation.
"I'll be back shortly."
"Pardon?"
"I told you earlier that we had a guest. Since they're trying to leave, I'll go see them off."
"...A guest? Weren't you talking about the Black Cloud Locusts?"
When Jin Somyeong gave a short nod, the faces of everyone, including Madam Ryeo, filled with confusion.
"There was someone else?"
"Goodness. I knew something felt strange."
It had not been normal for Black Cloud Locusts to attack the moment the fragrance of the Moonlight Golden Grass emerged. It seemed someone had indeed played a trick.
That was not good.
The Moonlight Golden Grass would not complete its transformation until sunrise. If this so-called guest brought companions, the situation would become even more difficult.
"...Please be careful."
After pondering something with a grave expression, she finally nodded, and Jin Somyeong kicked off the ground.
He flew without hesitation toward the sky beyond the formation, where Black Cloud Locusts covered everything, and a sight entirely different from what had happened with the tiger puppet unfolded.
Whoosh!
At Jin Somyeong's gesture, a gust of wind erupted.
The wind coiled around his entire body like an imperial robe and ground apart everything that approached. Wind, already sharp by nature, gained Sword Qi, and its power rose exponentially.
Hundreds of Black Cloud Locusts burst and died without even staining him with their fluids.
The instant he left the formation...
Boom!
Someone who had been hiding among the rocks and watching them shot into the sky. Realizing he had already been discovered, the figure abandoned stealth and fled, focusing solely on speed.
It was a sinister-looking man wearing a cloak-like windbreaker, and strangely, the Black Cloud Locusts did not attack him.
As expected.
His suspicious appearance was blatant, and Jin Somyeong immediately gave chase.
Judging by the mana he gave off, the man was at the third layer of Golden Core, so there was no need to hesitate.
Ftt!
Activating Wind-Fire Divine Steps, Jin Somyeong became a streak of light and crossed the air.
So many Black Cloud Locusts blocked his path that they looked like clouds, but with Sword Qi-laced wind before him, he broke through in a single breath.
Had he chased him for about twenty minutes?
By the time they had grown distant from the clearing where the formation was installed, and the Black Cloud Locusts could no longer be seen, the opponent who had been fleeing so desperately shouted in an urgent voice.
"Fellow Daoist! Calm yourself! I was only passing nearby and came to watch because I wondered what the commotion was!"
"I see. You happened to be passing nearby, and just then a swarm of Black Cloud Locusts happened to gather. You also happened to know how to avoid Black Cloud Locusts."
"...Tsk."
Perhaps realizing that saying anything more would be pointless, the man turned around fully and twisted his face into a scowl.
"You should have gone back while I was still willing to let you save face! No matter how much of a sword cultivator you are, you're only at the first layer of Golden Core!"
When the man tapped the pouch at his waist, countless spirit insects burst from his spirit beast pouch.
Centipedes, mantises, spiders with a hundred eyes, and more. Hundreds of grotesque spirit insects poured out and glared at Jin Somyeong.
A stabbing ache pricked at the space between his brows; among the spirit insects, some seemed capable of attacking the Divine Soul.
As though he did not find the encircling gazes creepy at all, Jin Somyeong spoke calmly.
"You're the one who lured that abnormal number of Black Cloud Locusts, aren't you?"
"Hmph. And what if I am?"
"Tell me how you knew there was spirit grass there, and I'll kill you gently."
There was only one reason Jin Somyeong asked that question.
He suspected that someone among the group guarding the Moonlight Golden Grass might have leaked the information.
If he did not want lingering unease, he had to confirm it.
In that brief instant, the man's expression changed several times before he let out a disbelieving laugh.
"Kill me gently? Heh-heh-heh. You're so arrogant it's almost hard to believe you're sane. Fine! I'll tell you as a gift to a man who is about to die."
"..."
"That wench Ryeo Jeong may have thought she was being careful, but she acted suspiciously far too many times over the years. I secretly followed her just in case, and sure enough!"
The man spread his arms theatrically and pointed toward the canyon.
With the corners of his mouth curling upward, he spoke very slowly.
"She had installed a formation in a barren place like this. So I used the moments when the formation opened and closed to..."
While his strangely courteous explanation continued, killing intent suddenly flashed in the man's eyes, and a faint sound reached Jin Somyeong's ears.
Shhh!
Three centipedes that had crawled along the ground and approached from behind spat dark red liquid.
They must have been spirit insects specialized in concealment, for they were so stealthy that even Divine Sense had failed to detect them. It was a truly exquisite ambush, one that would have been unavoidable had Jin Somyeong focused on the conversation.
Of course...
It meant nothing.
The situation ended with nothing more than Jin Somyeong, wrapped in lightning, disappearing briefly and reappearing.
Click.
The sound of a sword sliding back into its sheath rang through the suddenly silent canyon.
"What absurd speed..."
A red line appeared across the wide-eyed man's throat.
He had not even let his guard down. Yet before he could perceive it, his neck had already been cut.