Chapter 228
Chapter 228
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 228
Chapter Title: The Sandcastle Washed Away by Fierce Waves (3)
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Yeom Jung-hwa woke up early at dawn.
True to his nickname of Zhongnan True Sword, he was a master of the sword. Ever since joining the Zhongnan Sect, he had never once skipped his dawn training. That habit hadn't changed even after coming to Sakju.
The first thing he did upon waking was polish his sword. He wiped its surface shiny with a dry cloth.
Yeom Jung-hwa considered polishing his sword the most important task in the world. It allowed him to understand the blade's condition better than anything else.
After meticulously polishing it, he headed to the training ground. The sun hadn't risen yet, so the training ground was empty.
The Zhongnan Sect disciples, knowing of Yeom Jung-hwa's dawn training routine, had cleared out of the area on their own.
Yeom Jung-hwa stood in the center of the training ground.
Shring!
He drew his sword with his eyes closed.
For someone who had reached Yeom Jung-hwa's level, physical training held little meaning. But if you didn't move your body now and then, it would rust away.
With his eyes closed, Yeom Jung-hwa pictured one person in his mind.
Wildly disheveled black hair, beast-like savage eyes, and a slightly limping gait. Even though it was just an image in his imagination, the beastly stench mixed in with his breathing felt vividly real.
The being he conjured in his mind was Damho.
In his imagination, Damho was limping toward him. The irregular rhythm of those steps crushed Yeom Jung-hwa's heart.
Yeom Jung-hwa aimed his sword at the imaginary Damho. At that moment, Damho kicked off the ground and charged like a battering ram.
It was the Charging Step, Damho's signature ultimate technique.
Swoosh!
Yeom Jung-hwa deployed the Zhongnan Sect's secret movement art, Latent Shadow Step, to evade Damho's attack while simultaneously unleashing a killing strike from the Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River for a counterattack.
Defense and offense happened almost simultaneously.
As befitting the Zhongnan Sect's supreme master, Yeom Jung-hwa executed the Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River without a hitch. His sword flowed wildly toward Damho like a roaring river beneath the heavens.
Sword energy coalesced into sword force. Waves of sword force surged toward Damho, threatening to sweep everything away. But the moment Damho moved, the sword force shattered into pieces.
"Urk!"
Yeom Jung-hwa's lips twisted unpleasantly.
In his imagination, Damho's counterattack followed. Single Sheep Strike, Wave-Breaking Claw, and the ultimate techniques of Venomous Lone Flow battered his body relentlessly.
Yeom Jung-hwa poured all his power into unleashing killing strikes from the Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River. But Damho smashed through every one like a demon and closed in right up to his face.
Clang!
His sword broke, and his collar was grabbed. Then the world flipped upside down.
Thud!
The moment his head hit the ground, Yeom Jung-hwa opened his eyes.
"Huff! Huff!"
The ragged breaths he'd been holding back burst out. His entire body was drenched in sweat before he knew it.
It had only been mental training. A method any master of his level could perform. Yet its effects were no less than actual sparring.
"Lost again?"
Yeom Jung-hwa gave a bitter smile.
He had clashed with Damho in his mind several times now. And he had lost every single one.
The first time he saw Damho, he had felt an immense shock.
Martial arts and destructive power beyond common sense.
Above all, the terrifying killing intent that absolutely sought to kill his opponent.
In Damho, he had seen the ideal form of a warrior that he so desperately desired.
The limp didn't matter. If anything, it made him seem even more fearsome.
He wanted to defeat that Damho. Even if it was only in his imagination.
"Whew!"
Yeom Jung-hwa let out a sigh.
His heart felt heavy. Futility and defeat filled his chest.
He had so desperately wanted to overcome Damho, but even in mental combat, he couldn't. A sense of self-loathing washed over him—were his martial arts truly this pathetic?
Shing!
Yeom Jung-hwa sheathed his sword and shook his head.
"I can understand how those kids felt."
When he first heard that Jin Mu-young and the Nine Dragons had tried to drive Damho out despite the disgrace, he had been furious.
To chase out a key asset like Damho from Sakju over some petty ambition for fame? No one with even a shred of common sense could understand it. But after losing to Damho several times in mental duels, he could empathize to some extent.
"You'd need the Four Divine Envoys to suppress him."
Yeom Jung-hwa shook his head as he left the training ground. That's when his steps suddenly halted.
He looked up at the sky.
Dawn hadn't broken yet. It was too early for most people to be awake, so there should have been hardly any movement. Yet he sensed something odd.
In an instant, Yeom Jung-hwa's eyes widened.
Something was moving in the pitch-black night sky. At first, he thought it was a large bird. Most birds were active during the day, but there were nocturnal ones too. However, the movement was far too quiet for a mere bird.
Out of curiosity, Yeom Jung-hwa focused his inner energy into his eyes.
His pupils shook as if struck by an earthquake as he stared at the night sky.
What he had mistaken for a bird was a massive kite. A black-clad figure dangled from the kite riding the wind. And there were hundreds of such kites floating in the dark sky.
"A-attacker!"
His voice, infused with inner energy, boomed throughout the Sakju branch.
At that moment, black-clad figures dropped from the kites approaching the ground.
Whoosh!
The figures plummeted toward the earth with limbs spread wide, landing lightly on the rooftops of the Sakju branch buildings. Then they all dashed in unison toward a single direction.
Yeom Jung-hwa launched himself toward the black-clad figures and shouted again, gathering his energy.
"Attackers!"
His cry roused the entire sleeping Sakju branch.
"What?"
"An attack?"
Warriors rushed out with weapons in hand. But by then, the black-clad figures who had leaped from the kites had already vanished beyond the buildings.
"You bastards!"
Yeom Jung-hwa was the only one pursuing them.
Tap! Tap!
In just two steps, he vaulted over a massive building, spotting the black-clad figures racing through the Sakju branch.
"Halt!"
Yeom Jung-hwa unleashed the Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River toward them.
Powerful sword energy surged like a tidal wave toward the black-clad figures. Sensing the crisis, four of them spun around.
Clang clang!
They swung their swords to shatter Yeom Jung-hwa's sword energy. While they bought time, the remaining black-clad figures disappeared beyond another building.
"Think you can escape?"
Yeom Jung-hwa roared and tried to pursue, but the four who had turned back blocked his path.
Swoosh!
Their swords flew toward Yeom Jung-hwa like venomous serpents.
Yeom Jung-hwa aimed to dispatch them swiftly and chase the others. But the black-clad figures blocking him were stronger than expected.
Kakang!
Swords clashed with a metallic ring, halting Yeom Jung-hwa's advance.
"These guys!"
Caught off guard by their stronger-than-expected counter, Yeom Jung-hwa faltered slightly.
In that instant, exquisite joint techniques unfolded toward him, moving as one body. The four black-clad figures meshed together like gears without a single gap, pressuring Yeom Jung-hwa. Even he was forced to retreat momentarily, unable to handle them.
But Yeom Jung-hwa was the Zhongnan Sect's proud supreme master. He regripped his sword and unleashed higher killing strikes from the Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River.
Swish swish swish!
The air filled entirely with his sword shadows. It wasn't mere sword energy manipulation.
Heavenly River Raging Waves—one of the Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River with the greatest destructive power using sword force.
The moment sword force formed on Yeom Jung-hwa's blade, the black-clad figures hurriedly retreated. Astonishing judgment speed. But Yeom Jung-hwa was also a supreme master. His movement exceeded their expectations, closing in to point-blank range in an instant.
Yeom Jung-hwa's sword pierced toward them. The black-clad figures had no choice but to raise their swords in full guard.
Boom!
An explosion erupted. Like a thunderbolt grenade detonating, the blast centered on Yeom Jung-hwa's sword.
The black-clad figures' swords—and their bodies—exploded.
A truly terrifying power. But Yeom Jung-hwa had no time to admire his own martial arts and immediately launched forward.
There were over hundreds of black-clad figures who had jumped from the kites, by rough count. He had only taken down four.
Yeom Jung-hwa gritted his teeth.
Something felt off.
The black-clad figures hadn't screamed even in the moment of death. As if they didn't even recognize their own demise.
"What?"
Yeom Jung-hwa felt a thick sense of incongruity from their appearance. But no time was given to resolve his doubts.
Crack!
Suddenly, the well cover inside the Sakju branch shattered, and countless warriors poured out like ants.
Dressed in all-black outfits just like those who infiltrated via kites, they dashed in unison toward one direction the moment they surfaced.
"You bastards!"
Yeom Jung-hwa flew toward them. But one man couldn't catch them all.
"Over there!"
"Stop them!"
The Sakju branch warriors belatedly rushed in to block the black-clad figures.
Metallic clashes and shouts erupted everywhere.
That's when it happened.
"It's the Demonic Cult! The Demonic Cult is invading!"
Urgent voices came from the warriors guarding outside the walls. The Demonic Cult was launching a full assault from outside as well.
"This can't be!"
Yeom Jung-hwa's eyes shook.
Infiltration via kites and wells, sowing chaos inside. Then, without missing the gap, a massive external assault.
The Sakju branch was crumbling helplessly.
Inside, black-clad figures were throwing away their lives to create diversions, while outside, the Demonic Cult elites swarmed in. The Murim Alliance had no choice but to be short-handed against both fronts.
Moreover, the black-clad figures were heading straight for where the Murim Alliance leadership was gathered. If they were ambushed and fell, the command structure of the remaining warriors would collapse. He had to prevent that at all costs.
"You bastards!"
Yeom Jung-hwa hurriedly tried to rush to the leadership's quarters.
"Hehe! Where are you off to in such a hurry, Hero Yeom?"
If not for the coquettish voice that stopped him.
A woman in her late thirties now stood before him. With her hair neatly pinned up and clad in ornate palace attire, she was someone he'd never seen before.
Yeom Jung-hwa adopted a guarded stance and raised his voice.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Calling someone you've never met a wench? How rude."
"Where'd you learn to make such a demonic face? Reveal yourself, or I'll sever your neck in one stroke."
"Sigh! You're too much. This girl is Jin Hye-won, the Full Moon Fairy."
"Jin Hye-won? You from the Demonic Cult too?"
"From the Divine Cult."
"As expected, a witch."
Yeom Jung-hwa gathered his energy. Even seeing that, Jin Hye-won didn't erase her smile.
"No need to be so guarded. The night is long, and we still have plenty of time left."
"What?"
Swish!
In that instant, the sash around Jin Hye-won's waist shot out. Longer than a whip and broader, it instantly disordered Yeom Jung-hwa's vision. Startled by the sudden attack, Yeom Jung-hwa hurriedly swung his sword to bat it away.
"Hehehe!"
Jin Hye-won giggled as she retracted the sash.
"Witch!"
It should have been infuriating, but she showed no displeasure. Because Yeom Jung-hwa's words were somewhat true. She was one of the Seven Great Demonic Lords.
"You dare mock the Murim Alliance, witch."
"No Kwonma here—what's there to fear? Can you really stop the Seven Great Demonic Lords with just your power?"
"You?"
Jin Hye-won smiled delightedly as Yeom Jung-hwa's face stiffened.
"I don't think so."
"How dare you!"
"Shall we test it?"
Jin Hye-won's sash flew toward Yeom Jung-hwa once more.