Chapter 219
Chapter 219
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 219
Chapter Title: Even If I Leave, I Leave of My Own Will (1)
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“Senior Brother!”
Song Gyeong kicked open the door and rushed into the grand training hall. The atmosphere in the grand training hall was markedly different from the one around the Annihilation Squad.
In one corner of the grand training hall, a temporary kitchen had been set up, and in front of it, on a long table, various appetizing dishes were served in large bowls by type.
In front of it, numerous tables and chairs were neatly arranged for easy eating, and countless people were sitting or standing around them.
But such scenery did not enter Song Gyeong's eyes at all. All he could see was the blood-soaked man sprawled out in front of the table.
His head was turned sideways, so his face wasn't visible, but Song Gyeong instinctively knew the man was Jang Il-wan.
“Senior Brother!”
Song Gyeong hurriedly scooped up Jang Il-wan.
Blood from Jang Il-wan's body had soaked into his own clothes, but Song Gyeong didn't even notice.
“Senior Brother, what's wrong? Pull yourself together.”
Jang Il-wan had gone outside to scrounge for scarce food. Why was he here, covered in blood?
Song Gyeong scanned his surroundings with bulging eyes. Countless people were watching him and Jang Il-wan with blank stares.
Song Gyeong shouted in rage at their indifferent gazes, as if they were looking at strangers.
“A man's hurt—why are you just standing there like that? No, how did this happen to my senior brother?”
His roar echoed through the grand training hall. Some warriors blushed and turned their heads away, but most glared back at him with anger in their eyes.
At that moment, Woo Yang-chun, who had followed behind, pointed at someone and yelled.
“It's that guy. That bastard did this to Senior Brother.”
Prominent features, a hulking frame over seven feet tall, a body that looked chiseled from steel, and intense, arrogant eyes that matched it perfectly.
The one exuding an especially powerful presence was none other than the Heavenly Thunder Warrior Guest, Nam Hak.
Nam Hak, one of the Nine Dragons hailed as the greatest among the later-generation disciples of the martial world. With his arms arrogantly crossed, he looked down at Song Gyeong and Jang Il-wan with cold eyes.
Nam Hak occupied a position so lofty that a mere wandering warrior like Song Gyeong wouldn't even dare to meet his gaze normally. There was a chasm as vast as heaven and earth between Nam Hak, a promising talent of the Kongtong Sect—one of the Nine Great Sects—and a ronin like Song Gyeong.
Undaunted, Song Gyeong approached Nam Hak.
“Answer me. Why did you do this to my senior brother?”
“He ignored my warning.”
“Warning?”
“This place is specially prepared for the elites of the Murim Alliance. It's not a place for ronin like you to enter. He ignored my warning, barged in, and caused a scene.”
Jang Il-wan had said there was plenty of food left here and that he'd take just a little. That's how he clashed with Nam Hak, and it ended up like this.
“For something so trivial?”
Song Gyeong's eyes burned with fury.
“The people here are the finest warriors dispatched from each sect to fight the Demonic Cult. If their morale or physical condition falters, our overall strength suffers. That's why they require special care.”
“Does that even make sense? We're the ones who stepped up voluntarily to fight the Demonic Cult too. We came forward to uphold justice in the martial world.”
“Hmph! In the end, you're just bats riding the trend, aren't you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You're sneaking in to join now that the Murim Alliance seems to have the upper hand against the Demonic Cult, hoping to share in the glory.”
“That... you really mean that?”
Song Gyeong's voice trembled involuntarily.
He never dreamed someone like Nam Hak would think that way. That's why the shock hit even harder.
As if he'd decided to let it all out now that he'd started, Nam Hak spilled what he'd been holding in.
“You think it's unfair? Can't help that. The world has always been unfair. The food laid out here was all provided at the expense of the great sects like the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families. Naturally, it should be for their use.”
“How can you say that...”
Song Gyeong's cheeks quivered.
Nam Hak's words were tantamount to denying the ronin who had willingly charged into the jaws of death for justice in the martial world.
They were barely surviving on a bowl of porridge, while these people filled their bellies with lavish meals.
It felt like these folks lived in a separate world. Song Gyeong thought the whole thing was absurd.
“So you're rationing us watery gruel just to keep us barely alive and fighting? Is that it?”
“If you're so aggrieved, then earn some merit. Who knows? You might get treated better.”
A smirk crept onto Nam Hak's lips. It was unmistakably a sneer. Enraged, Song Gyeong exploded.
“Hey! You son of a bitch. Do you think you're the only one living in the martial world? Are you the only martial artists? The chosen ones?”
His roar swept through the grand training hall.
Some warriors hung their heads in shame. They too thought Nam Hak had gone too far. But Nam Hak's intimidating presence was so overwhelming that they dared not step forward.
Nam Hak's face flushed with anger at Song Gyeong's cursing.
“How dare you!”
“Dare what? Huh? You beat my senior brother half to death, so trash like us ronin probably don't even register in your eyes.”
In an instant, a chilling killing intent flickered in Nam Hak's eyes.
Raised as the prized hope of the prestigious Kongtong Sect since childhood, Nam Hak had exceptional talent and senses that set him apart in martial arts. To perfect him, the Kongtong Sect had sacrificed the inner energy of six elders in a ritual to infuse him with their power.
Thanks to that, in terms of raw inner energy alone, Nam Hak was nearly unrivaled under heaven. With his superior energy and martial achievements, no one dared cross him.
Even the elders of the Kongtong Sect hesitated to speak harshly to him. Thus, Nam Hak could not tolerate anyone talking back to him.
“You fucking bastard! You viper who ripped out of your mother's womb. I'll show you how well you live... Gahk!”
Boom!
Song Gyeong, mid-curse, suddenly screamed and flew backward. Unable to hold back any longer, Nam Hak had unleashed a palm strike.
A dark handprint was vividly imprinted on Song Gyeong's chest as he tumbled across the floor.
“Urk! You dog... Kehek!”
Song Gyeong, forcing himself to rise, vomited black dead blood.
His organs churned, his qi and blood roiled. His limbs felt disassembled, drained of strength.
Nam Hak pressed his foot down on Song Gyeong's chest.
“Try talking again. Go on.”
“You think I won't just because you say so? You motherless cur who sucks up to anyone. Bastards like you... Graaah!”
Cracking sounds rang out as Song Gyeong's chest began to cave in bit by bit. The ribs under Nam Hak's foot were on the verge of shattering.
Killing intent gleamed in Nam Hak's eyes. A little more pressure, and Song Gyeong's chest would shatter entirely.
“Stop it.”
Woo Yang-chun, unable to watch any longer, tried to intervene but was sent vomiting blood by Nam Hak's casual palm strike.
“You vermin. Do you think learning martial arts makes you warriors like us? You're just meat shields to buy us time. And you dare expect equal treatment? Know your place.”
“Nam Hak!”
At that moment, someone called out from behind Nam Hak.
“What?”
Crack!
As Nam Hak carelessly turned, a fierce blow slammed into his face.
“Urk!”
Nam Hak's cheek swelled up instantly from the unexpected strike.
“What the hell?”
“What do you think you're doing, Nam Hak?”
The one who had struck Nam Hak was none other than Cho Yeon-un.
He glared at Nam Hak with eyes full of fury.
“What are you doing? What gives you the right to harass people who came running to lend their strength against the Demonic Cult?”
Cho Yeon-un cried out as if vomiting blood. His eyes had already turned red with rage.
Cho Yeon-un pointed accusingly around him.
“What are you all doing? Why are you just watching? Not one of you steps up to stop that bastard. You're all the same cowards!”
Cho Yeon-un berated the onlookers, veins bulging in his neck. Those silenced by fear of Nam Hak blushed in shame, but unfortunately, there were more who weren't.
“What? You defending ronin scum now?”
“The Cloud-Seizing Dragon's lost his mind.”
Crabs stick together, greens are kin— the people gathered in the grand training hall were exactly that.
Most of the warriors here hailed from the great sects of the martial world. Their pride pierced the heavens; they never saw ronin without sects as equals.
Cho Yeon-un felt disappointed, deeply dejected by their attitude. He helped Song Gyeong and the others up from the floor.
Nam Hak strode toward Cho Yeon-un.
“Cho Yeon-un. Let go of him.”
“Don't make me laugh.”
“Are you denying you're a disciple of the Hundred Battles Sect?”
“What does that have to do with this? Why are you being so unreasonable, Nam Hak?”
“The Hundred Battles Sect's honor was granted by the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families. Not by the ronin you're propping up.”
“Bullshit! The Hundred Battles Sect's honor was won fighting the Demonic Cult ourselves. It has nothing to do with giant sects like the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families.”
“You...?”
“Nam Hak! Listen up with those ears of yours. The Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families aren't the whole martial world. When the martial world was in crisis, it was nameless warriors like these who saved it. My master started as a ronin and built the Hundred Battles Sect we have today. Don't underestimate ronin. They're the weeds that form the foundation of the martial world.”
Cho Yeon-un's lion's roar thundered through the grand training hall.
He was usually all smiles, always with a drink in hand, earning the nickname Cloud-Seizing Dragon.
His sudden display of ferocity was shocking. Many were overwhelmed by his presence.
Nam Hak didn't like what he saw.
“Cho Yeon-un!”
“Nam Hak!”
“I can't let this slide. I'll punish your arrogance.”
A murderous aura rose from Nam Hak's entire body. The surrounding warriors hurriedly backed away.
Cho Yeon-un's expression hardened. He sensed the killing intent hidden in Nam Hak's presence.
“I, Nam Hak of the Kongtong Sect, challenge Cho Yeon-un of the Hundred Battles Sect. If you're a man, Cho Yeon-un, don't dodge my challenge.”
“Fine! Nam Hak.”
Cho Yeon-un set Song Gyeong down and stepped toward Nam Hak. All traces of laughter vanished from his face.
‘Insolent fool!’
Nam Hak's jaw muscle twitched.
Cloud-Seizing Dragon Cho Yeon-un.
A man with "dragon" in his nickname despite not being one of the Nine Dragons. Always drunk, flapping his mouth—Nam Hak had never liked him.
Nam Hak resolved to crush Cho Yeon-un here and reestablish his authority.
Mixed Origin One Qi Art.
Nam Hak circulated the Kongtong Sect's secret core technique. Vast inner energy surged through his meridians.
Whoooosh!
Nam Hak was known to be nearly unrivaled under heaven in raw inner energy. As he focused it, the air around him resonated.
But Cho Yeon-un wasn't intimidated in the slightest.
If Nam Hak was a disciple of the Kongtong Sect, he was a disciple of the Hundred Battles Sect. Though its history couldn't compare, the Hundred Battles Sect was backed by many martial factions in the world. He had no reason to feel inferior.
The two stopped and glared at each other.
Overpowered by their auras, the warriors didn't dare intervene and could only watch.
“Cha!”
Nam Hak moved first.
Subduing Demon Great Power Hand, the Kongtong Sect's secret palm technique, unfolded.
Shhhrrk!
The air filled with Nam Hak's palm shadows.
Like rain filling the sky and pouring down, Nam Hak's hand images swarmed. Even Cho Yeon-un's vision was packed with them.
Without hesitation, Cho Yeon-un plunged into the midst.
Eight Emperors Divine Fist unfolded.
Boom!
With a massive explosion, the two clashed.
Their bodies jolted from the impact. The fierce collision shook their organs and disrupted their qi and blood.
Faint traces of blood appeared at the corners of their mouths. But neither yielded an inch.
Clang!
Cho Yeon-un and Nam Hak clashed repeatedly.
News of their fight soon spread throughout the entire Sakju Branch.