Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: The Yellow Hegemon Fiend
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A refreshing breeze rustled through the reed fields.
In the midst of them stood a lone man, waiting for someone.
With his sturdy build and bronze skin, he wore a blackish-blue uniform that left his thick forearms bare, topped with a yellow hood.
His name was Hwang Gajo.
The man dispatched by the Four Black Alliances in response to the Nine Snake Sect's request for aid.
He was a master whose name graced one of the seats among the Ten Great Apostles.
Strapped across his chest was the Silent Heavy Wolf Fang Rod, its tip fitted with a massive iron mace studded with brutal spikes that sent chills down the spine just looking at it.
Forged by melting and hammering dark iron twenty-five times over, this iron mace added a devastating impact to the rod's inherent power, making it a truly unique weapon.
And so, as he stood silently, patiently biding his time...
Shhh...
Sensing the presence approaching on the wind, Hwang Gajo spoke.
"You've arrived."
Muttering to himself, he watched as a strangely imposing young man in dark blue robes strode toward him, exuding an aura of grandeur.
Confirming the man weaving through the reeds, Hwang Gajo scanned the surroundings.
Yet truly, no other presences could be felt.
'I said we'd meet one-on-one, but to think he'd really come alone.'
A bolder man than expected.
Of course, he too had been waiting solo, just as agreed on paper, but he couldn't help wondering how the man would have responded if this had been a trap.
'...That confident, is he?'
Hwang Gajo cast an intrigued gaze toward him.
As one of the top ten powerhouses in the unorthodox world, he rarely ventured out.
But the Nine Snake Sect had made such a vehement plea to the Four Black Alliances that he had deigned to make the journey.
"I wondered what kind of marvel could drag me all the way to Shaanxi Province, but it seems this won't be a wasted trip."
Had he come all this way only to find the opponent lacking? Hwang Gajo's frustration would have fallen squarely on the Nine Snake Sect. But upon sizing up his foe, that seemed unlikely.
Even from the simple poise as he approached, he could sense a league far above riffraff like the Nine Snake Sect or Danri Clan.
As Hwang Gajo probed his opponent...
Thud.
Hyeok Mulin halted a zhang away and fixed him with a steady gaze before speaking.
"The Yellow Hegemon Fiend, I presume."
Hyeok Mulin had recognized him at first sight.
In truth, it would have been stranger not to.
A warrior clad in a yellow hood and bearing a wolf fang rod—there was only one such man in all the world, unorthodox or otherwise.
Originally a farmer, he had taken up the rod late in life, only to unleash his prodigious talent in an instant and claim a seat among the Ten Great Apostles.
'And he's one who never hides himself away.'
Rather than concealing his presence, he flaunted it.
Otherwise, he wouldn't carry such flashy garb and weaponry.
And that flaunting was proportional to his confidence.
No matter how unorthodox the world, few had the guts to challenge one of the Ten Great Apostles.
Hyeok Mulin stared at him and spoke once more.
"For the Four Black Alliances to send reinforcements means you're pinning quite some hopes on the Nine Snake Sect. Or perhaps swallowing up Dangeong was the Alliances' intent from the start."
"......"
Hwang Gajo fell silent for a moment at Hyeok Mulin's sharp deduction.
Then, parting his lips again, he posed a different question to Hyeok Mulin.
"And where might you hail from?"
"The Falling Dragon Society."
Hwang Gajo shook his head at the reply.
"Spare me the false name. We already know no such group exists in the world."
Before arriving in Dangeong, the Four Black Alliances had scoured every scrap of information on this so-called Falling Dragon Society.
But their search had turned up no band of ronin by that name anywhere in the Central Plains.
"What in the world is the Falling Dragon Society—or rather, who are you?"
The one who had burst into Dangeong out of nowhere, foiling the Nine Snake Sect's plans.
The one masquerading as leader of a ronin band, bringing the Alliances' movements to a halt.
Most would assume, without fail, that he was some hidden master from the Alliance or orthodox sects.
But Hwang Gajo, facing him directly, sensed something different.
'A strange aura.'
He emanated an odd energy signature unlike anything from the orthodox fools—yet it wasn't quite unorthodox either.
And it felt almost as if he were deliberately projecting his inner power toward him.
As if daring him to guess his origins.
He answered Hwang Gajo's question lightly.
"Curious?"
"Naturally."
Hwang Gajo nodded at once.
In truth, a vague suspicion had crossed his mind.
But he dismissed his own guess.
No way that man would be in Shaanxi Province, smack in the middle of the Central Plains.
Forcing his eyes away from that possibility, Hwang Gajo closed his mouth and opened his ears, awaiting the answer.
Yet Hyeok Mulin's impassive face delivered something entirely contrary to his hopes.
"Fulfill the purpose of your coming here, and you'll know soon enough."
As expected.
The reason Hwang Gajo had proposed this one-on-one was straightforward.
The Danri Clan's greatest force: the Falling Dragon Society Leader.
To eliminate him right here.
Once that was done, Hwang Gajo planned to withdraw.
He judged the remaining Danri Clan warriors well within the Nine Snake Sect's power to crush.
Thus, to achieve his original goal—and resolve the questions stirring within him now—he had no choice.
"In the end, you mean to say I must crush you."
Thud.
Hwang Gajo leveled the Silent Heavy Wolf Fang Rod at Hyeok Mulin.
Before slaying him, one more task had been added to his list.
This master who had appeared out of nowhere to sabotage the Four Black Alliances' plans.
Hwang Gajo had to uncover his origins—his background, his moniker, even his name—before departing.
Staring at Hyeok Mulin with razor-sharp eyes, he hesitated no longer.
Boom!
In an instant, he extended the rod to full length, raising it high before slamming it down.
This was a common ambush tactic of his.
The rod's reach extended suddenly, flattening most warriors with the iron mace at its tip before they could even register the distance.
But this opponent was no pushover.
"...Dodged it."
Dust billowed, but no impact reached Hwang Gajo's hands.
The mace had struck not his foe, but the flat ground.
Thud.
Instead, Hyeok Mulin now stood atop the rod's iron mace.
Hwang Gajo whipped the rod upward as Hyeok Mulin gazed down at him steadily from there.
But once more, Hyeok Mulin's form vanished in a blink.
And he reappeared right before Hwang Gajo's eyes.
Gliding in like the wind, Hyeok Mulin clenched his fingers and unleashed the Eight Demon Iron Fingers.
Eight fingers—thumbs excluded from both hands—hurtled toward Hwang Gajo's torso with ferocious power.
Boom boom boom!
But at that moment, Hwang Gajo erupted yellow inner energy from the rod, tracing a circle to defend with the Rotating Rod Body Guard.
The spinning rod formed an impenetrable shield.
Thus, Hwang Gajo blocked the finger strike, but he couldn't halt the one-sided barrage that followed.
The Rotating Rod Body Guard was purely defensive.
Seizing a momentary gap, Hwang Gajo hoisted the rod high.
The mace cleaved empty air—a feint.
His true aim was the rod's lower shaft to smash Hyeok Mulin's jaw.
The counter secret art: Rod Rising Heaven Strike.
And finally, sword energy surged along that path.
Whoosh.
Hyeok Mulin simply tilted his head back, evading effortlessly.
From there, Hyeok Mulin's counteroffensive began.
Gripping the rod short at the one-third mark with both hands, Hwang Gajo closed in for close-quarters combat instead.
Tat tat tat tat!
The rapid strikes poured forth, but Hyeok Mulin deflected them all effortlessly, nudging the rod aside with his elbows or knees.
The brief flurry continued, yet Hwang Gajo gained no ground.
Resolving on a decisive blow, he spun his body in a full circle.
Channeling extreme inner power and his full body weight, he swung the rod.
Rotating Rod Rigid Breaker Flow.
The curved, monstrous wolf fang rod hurtled toward Hyeok Mulin at blinding speed.
But facing the oncoming mace, Hyeok Mulin didn't dodge.
He merely curled his lips upward.
'Finally.'
The essence of this signature rod art lay not in ordinary staff work, but in the wolf fang mace at its end.
As the long-coveted mace closed in, Hyeok Mulin clenched and unclenched his fist.
Ghost King Heaven-Destroying Sword Breaker Finger.
At Hyeok Mulin's fingertips gathered pitch-black demonic energy, as if poised to devour the world.
"...!"
Hwang Gajo's eyes widened at the sight before him.
Could his suspicion be true?!
The one who did not dwell in this vast Central Plains.
The one lurking in distant Xinjiang, ever eyeing chances to claim the world.
Though the demonic qi he revealed was unlike any he'd witnessed in his life, its unique essence convinced Hwang Gajo: this man was a demon of the cult.
And in that instant.
Kwang!
Hwang Gajo's wolf fang rod clashed with Hyeok Mulin's hand.
The collision erupted in explosive force.
Yet they remained locked.
Hyeok Mulin's hand gripped the rod's mace tip.
As he tensed his fingers...
Kiririk!
The sturdy iron mace crumpled like paper.
At that sight, Hwang Gajo could scarcely believe his eyes, yet he hurriedly yanked back his body to retrieve the rod.
But the mace was already mangled beyond repair. Staring at it with hollow eyes, he silently regarded Hyeok Mulin.
"......"
Judging by the sword at his waist, he'd pegged him for a swordsman, yet he hadn't even drawn it.
He'd fought without revealing his primary weapon.
And yet displayed such overwhelming might.
Moreover, a demon of the cult who could unleash such prowess at such a young age...
Gulp.
Only one figure came to mind.
Realizing his identity, Hwang Gajo suddenly felt the weight of this encounter become unbearably heavy.
Swallowing dryly under that pressure, he asked Hyeok Mulin in a voice laced with tension.
"Why would the Demonic Cult meddle in a quarrel between orthodox and unorthodox?"
He'd never dreamed the Demonic Cult—neither the Alliance nor any orthodox faction—would intervene in the clash between Danri Clan and Nine Snake Sect.
Let alone its leader appearing in person.
Hwang Gajo couldn't even begin to fathom his motives.
A moment later, Hyeok Mulin slowly parted his lips to answer.
"Because you touched what is mine."
As Hwang Gajo furrowed one brow in confusion, Hyeok Mulin continued in a sunken tone.
"You'll pay the price accordingly."