Chapter 29
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Beast Palace Intruders
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Special intelligence from Old Blind Eye.
"How dare they!"
Gwang-il's response was profoundly emotional on one hand, yet chillingly cold-blooded on the other.
"Even if I killed those beastly scum a hundred times over, it wouldn't be enough...!"
Pa-pat!
In the pitch-black night, with not a sliver of moonlight piercing the darkness, Gwang-il's figure—swept up in uncontrollable rage—shot down the mountainside through the dense thickets of Point Cang Mountain like a plummeting arrow, all without a single sound disturbing the heavy silence.
This was the hour when, exhausted from daytime training, his junior brothers should have been fast asleep, leaving him to immerse himself in personal cultivation.
"To think they'd dare do this in our sect's own front yard...!"
Kkaduduk!
But the news of Beast Palace spies brazenly infiltrating the county seat itself had erupted into such a massive fury that it shoved aside every existing priority.
"I'll kill them!"
He could scarcely contain the boiling wrath surging from deep within, not even for a moment.
"Huwook!"
Unbefitting his lofty realm, his breathing grew ragged after mere sprinting.
Yet this was unavoidable.
From his previous life to this one, the root of all evil—the very culprits who had brutally shattered and utterly ruined his existence—were none other than those Southern Barbarian Beast Palace bastards.
How could he possibly sit idly by upon hearing that his blood-sworn enemies had slunk right under his nose?
"I absolutely won't forgive them!"
His eyes bulged with throbbing veins.
Even in the enveloping blackness, the horrific killing intent radiating from his gaze was clear proof that his reason had already half-collapsed.
By cold calculation, this was the perfect chance to strike at the Beast Palace operatives, who knew nothing of his regression.
Letting them be for now and turning the tables with counterintelligence might yield even greater gains later...
"How dare they, how dare they...!"
Kwa-aak!
Drip. Drip.
His nails dug into his palms, hot blood droplets falling, as his current state—consumed by monumental rage—deemed such rational options mere trivial nonsense not worth considering.
Right now, his mind was so packed with the singular urge to punish the enemies who had hurled his life into the abyss that it felt ready to burst.
Tat!
Thus, his strides darting through the dark underbrush like a bird of prey held not a shred of hesitation or reluctance.
As he raced madly and reached the base of the mountain...
"...Even if they notice something's wrong, it's not like I have no countermeasures."
In one corner of Gwang-il's mind, once blindly fueled by fury, the sharp intellect of the absolute ruler who had once divided the Central Plains suddenly asserted itself.
"I can just team up with the Beggars' Sect and make off with all their corpses, right?"
Leaving no trace of whether they lived or died.
Old Blind Eye had done just that earlier today, after all.
"This is something we at the sect headquarters can't overlook."
"Besides, it's the perfect chance for our division to make up for all our past blunders in one go."
The beggar had been constantly on edge, fretting over the loss of his sweet deal.
In that context, the emergence of these Beast Palace spies was undoubtedly a monumental achievement, enough to offset every accumulated mistake.
It was the early detection of an invasion by one of the Western Outer Evil Palaces, after all.
"So even if I tear those beasts to shreds, I can just hand the cleanup to the Beggars' Sect."
Then the world would focus more on the invasion by the outer factions than on some freak who defied norms like him.
It would buy plenty of time for his sect brothers—still unprepared for war—to continue their diligent training.
His earlier snap decision to tell Old Blind Eye to keep his distance and just monitor from afar had ironically turned into a blessing now.
"If those beggars bungle it clumsily, they might let other infiltrators hiding elsewhere in Yun Province slip away."
In that case, wasn't it far more reasonable for him—the one capable of spotless execution—to handle it solo?
Seen another way, who better for such a task than him, the fastest sword in the world?
"I'll sweep away the trash in the county seat first, then crush them one by one."
There were still over nine years until the full-scale invasion.
To think not just the Sichuan Tang Clan, but even the Beast Palace had been laying groundwork this far in advance!
It made perfect sense now why Point Cang—one of the Nine Great Sects—had burned so futilely in his past life.
The betrayal and sabotage by Gwan-jong and his peace faction, the indifference of the other orthodox sects.
Followed by the thorough isolation plotted by the Yun Merchants, Sichuan Tang Clan, and Beast Palace, capped by the cruel inaction of the Central Plains righteous factions.
Kkaduk!
"I won't forgive a single one! Never!"
Huwook!
After exhaling decades of pent-up rage in a steaming breath.
Kwajik!
Gwang-il's figure crushed a thick tree branch beneathfoot and burst from Point Cang Mountain, charging unimpeded down the smooth official road.
[Over there.]
It didn't take long to reach the county seat after descending the mountain.
His realm advanced daily, evolving ceaselessly with each passing day.
At the same time, with his body utterly consumed by towering fury, he had no room to feel fatigue or exhaustion.
Thus, he arrived at a rundown manor on the southern edge of Dai-li.
There, Beggars' Sect division members led by the already-arrived Old Blind Eye had formed a wide encirclement.
Though calling it an encirclement was a bit of a stretch.
But it was unavoidable.
Gwang-il had sternly warned—no, practically threatened—them not to step within a hundred paces, lest they give the enemy any opening.
[So, what's the plan now? Shall we charge in together? Right?]
Old Blind Eye's voice came from beside him, thick with tension.
Yet Gwang-il offered no reply, merely glaring piercingly at the distant manor.
If eyes alone could attack, the place would have been pulverized long ago.
[Hey, no more stalling—let's attack now...]
"I'll handle the assault alone."
[Wh-what? Alone?!]
To those expecting a joint battle, it was thunder from a clear sky.
But Gwang-il, having already resolved his course, had zero intention of yielding the chance to punish his enemies to anyone else.
"I'm more than enough on my own, so stay out of it and just handle the aftermath properly."
[N-no...!]
"Tearing apart the Beast Palace beasts is solely my sect's and my right. No one in the world may infringe on that—nor should they."
"?!"
'Wh-what the hell is he saying?!'
Rights?
What rights?
What kind of madness was this?
Old Blind Eye couldn't comprehend a word from Gwang-il, yet found no retort to offer.
'How can human eyes be like that...!'
No killing intent, not even the natural presence any living being should have—just eerie stillness.
But Gwang-il's sclera, flushed blood-red as if ready to weep bloody tears, pressed mercilessly on Old Blind Eye, sealing his lips.
'What grudge could a third-generation Point Cang disciple possibly have against the Beast Palace...!'
Yet the incomprehensibility remained inescapable.
Of course, covert intrusion by outer faction scum into sect territory was infuriating enough to make one's hair stand on end.
Even he, the division leader, felt that way.
How much more for Point Cang, the longtime residents?
Yet amid it all, Gwang-il refused to alert his sect elders to this emergency.
And now, he even declared he'd go it alone, rejecting their aid.
'This is driving me insane! Is it really okay to keep playing along with this kid's tune?'
He knew full well of Gwang-il's public demonstration of the Sun-Piercing Sword, revealing terrifying prowess that inadvertently sparked enlightenment in Point Cang's seniors, leading to their collective seclusion—a stroke of genius.
'But still... is this really okay?'
A thread of unease tugged at his heart, no lie about that.
But such tangled worries from Old Blind Eye's agonized fretting posed no hindrance to Gwang-il's resolute advance.
His solitary stride ahead was proof enough.
'Ah, damn it... this is maddening!'
His subordinates, baffled by the bizarre situation, gestured wildly in confusion.
As Old Blind Eye's dilemma deepened without answers for them,
"I won't leave a single trace of our sect."
Gwang-il, resolved to become the Dark Heaven Emperor, had reverted everything—thoughts, aura, bearing, gait—to his past self.
Completely concealing the distinctive hue of the prestigious orthodox Point Cang Sect.
"I'll make damn sure they know this life is different from the last."
Though stepping firmly on the ground, his footfalls produced not even a whisper of sound.
Paired with an utterly silent presence, like a stone—no aura leaking whatsoever—it perfectly masked the explosive killing intent churning within.
His prowess had advanced even beyond the ambush on the Venom Dragon Captain days prior.
"......"
Thus, stealthily closing in on the manor,
Gwang-il's figure merged with the deep shadows beneath the wall, then slipped over it on the night breeze, vanishing inside.
It was the moment he took his first step as the Dark Heaven Emperor in this new life.