Chapter 248
Chapter 248
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 248
Chapter Title: The Ambush
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*Ssk.*
Just then, another shadow emerged from the darkness.
It was Myo Cheon-u.
“Bu Eun-seol. You truly have a lot of good people around you.”
Myo Cheon-u, who had been in the barracks, had sensed Bu Eun-seol’s stealthy departure.
Without hesitation, he had followed him. After all, Bu Eun-seol's safety was the safety of the entire squad.
But upon realizing the other person was Seo Jin-ha, he had remained hidden in the shadows.
“That guy’s had the fastest rise.”
Myo Cheon-u gazed at the sky where Seo Jin-ha had vanished, his eyes full of envy.
“A squad leader of the Cheon-sal-dae at his age. In terms of rank, I’m probably like the dirt on the sole of his shoe.”
“Still, you’re both squad leaders, aren’t you?”
“That’s not a funny joke.”
Then, Myo Cheon-u let out a sigh.
“Bu Eun-seol, what on earth are you plotting?”
“What do you mean?”
“This isn’t something that will end easily. We don’t know how long this standoff will last.”
Myo Cheon-u furrowed his brow.
“Why did you leave Yu Un-ryong out of this important matter? He may be prickly, but he’s a major asset.”
“I left him out *because* it’s an important matter.”
“What?”
“And this will be over soon. There’s no need to drag it out.”
“What? How?”
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Myo Cheon-u sighed deeply.
Bu Eun-seol never revealed the thoughts in his head to others.
While it was a common trait among those with brilliant minds…
For Myo Cheon-u, who felt a friendship toward him, it was quite disheartening.
“I understand.”
He couldn’t force an answer out of him yet.
Bu Eun-seol likely still considered feelings like friendship a luxury.
Myo Cheon-u resolved himself once more.
One day, he would definitely change that way of thinking.
“Aren’t you going?”
“You go first.”
Bu Eun-seol said, looking at the distant sky.
“It’s quiet and nice. I’ll stay here and think for a bit before I go.”
Myo Cheon-u tilted his head, then nodded.
“Alright. I understand.”
As Myo Cheon-u vanished in a flash using his movement technique, the forest fell silent once more.
Bu Eun-seol stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the distant sky. He spoke in a low voice.
“Looks like you’ve had your fill of watching. Time to come out.”
But only silence filled the forest. Bu Eun-seol chuckled and said.
“Starting tomorrow, I’ll be with the main squad members twenty-four-seven. If not now, you won’t get another chance.”
But the forest remained still and quiet.
Bu Eun-seol scoffed briefly and turned his body to face the deep woods.
“So this is all the assassins of the Murim Alliance amount to.”
*Swoosh.*
As he finished speaking, the bushes rustled, and black shadows began to appear one by one.
Even as they revealed themselves under the bright moonlight, their forms were as hazy as mist.
If it were an ordinary person, they wouldn’t be able to see them no matter how hard they strained their eyes.
“Is that the Ghost Shadow Stealth Technique the Murim Alliance is so proud of?”
The Murim Alliance had units, like the Demonic Sanctum's Gu-sal-dae, that carried out secret missions not officially recognized.
And for them, a mysterious stealth art called the Ghost Shadow Stealth Technique was created and passed down.
“Impressive.”
A low voice echoed from the man standing at the very front.
“No one has ever seen through our squad’s stealth technique before.”
“You must not have met the masters of our Pavilion.”
The masters of the Nang-ya-gak trained in the Way of the Beast, a demonic martial art that granted the most superior extrasensory perception.
Having reached the state of Gongsim-tongryeong, Bu Eun-seol’s extrasensory field covered dozens of feet without him even having to focus.
If he were to raise his senses to their full potential, he could scan every inch of the area within a hundred feet.
“Then again, the Nang-ya-gak’s Way of the Beast is the natural enemy of all sorts of stealth arts scattered throughout the Murim.”
*Sssss.*
At that moment, the man’s transparent body slowly began to regain its color.
He wore a black martial uniform with a strange sheen, and his face was covered in countless tiny scars.
“Seeing those strange clothes, you must be from either the Cheol-myeon-dae or the Chuseongdae.”
“Hoh.”
A flicker of interest appeared in the eyes of the man who had revealed himself.
“To casually name the secret squads of our Alliance, unknown to outsiders… I see.”
Recalling something, he smiled.
“You’re from the Demonic Sanctum's Gu-sal-dae.”
When Bu Eun-seol gave a confirming smile, the man spoke calmly.
“I am Jin Baek, leader of the Chuseongdae.”
Taking a deep breath, Bu Eun-seol smiled at Jin Baek.
“Did Jo Cheon-wang send you?”
He had killed Jo Bi-un, the son of Jo Cheon-wang, the leader of the Murim Alliance's Mucheon Division, with a single strike.
Now that he had come to a battlefield where the Demonic Path and the Orthodox Faction were directly clashing… it was a golden opportunity that Jo Cheon-wang could never miss.
“I can’t tell if you’re smart or just well-informed.”
At Jin Baek’s words, Bu Eun-seol tilted his head.
“But this is strange.”
“What is?”
“Our squad heading to Hainan was top-secret information.”
“Who knows.”
In that instant, a faint memory flashed through Jin Baek’s mind.
He recalled his private meeting with the Division Leader, Jo Cheon-wang, before coming here.
***
“What is this?”
Jin Baek glanced back and forth between the intelligence report on the table and Jo Cheon-wang, who sat before it.
It was already strange for Division Leader Jo Cheon-wang to summon him, the leader of the Chuseongdae, who specialized in covert assassinations.
And now, an intelligence report out of the blue?
“Read it.”
At Jo Cheon-wang’s gesture, Jin Baek had no choice but to read the report.
“The leader of the Sa-yeong Squad?”
It stated that the leader of the Sa-yeong Squad, who had been making a name for himself in the Demonic Sanctum recently, would be dispatched to Mount Oji, which was in an uproar over the Public Enemy, the Divine Thief.
“This is some amusing information.”
Jin Baek’s lips curled up.
The source of this information was listed as the Demonic Sanctum itself.
“I thought so too, at first,”
Jo Cheon-wang said with a grave expression.
“But upon checking, it was true. This information definitely came from the Demonic Sanctum.”
“In that case…”
Putting down the report, Jin Baek narrowed his eyes.
“It’s a plot to kill with a borrowed knife.”
An organization like the Demonic Sanctum could easily conceal the source of its information.
But for them to deliberately not hide it and leak it directly to Jo Cheon-wang, there was only one reason.
Someone high up in the Demonic Sanctum had intentionally leaked the information to have Bu Eun-seol killed.
“That must be it. Using my thirst for revenge.”
The leader of the Sa-yeong Squad was the enemy who had killed Jo Cheon-wang’s only son.
And now that man was heading to a place where he would be facing off against the Murim Alliance’s Sword Division? It was the perfect opportunity for revenge.
“So that’s why you called for me.”
Jin Baek nodded as if he understood the whole situation.
Since they couldn’t send a force the size of a clan to Hainan, Jo Cheon-wang meant to send the Chuseongdae, the best assassination squad.
“That man is a master known to have slain King Geol, one of the Seven Demonic Kings. And he has come to the Jianghu leading his own squad…”
Jo Cheon-wang trailed off, his eyes narrowing.
He wanted to say that unless a force large enough to annihilate a small sect was sent, it would be impossible to kill him.
“But with you and the Chuseongdae, you can surely kill him.”
The Murim Alliance, of course, had its own assassination squads.
They too moved for their own vested interests and banners.
Jo Cheon-wang looked at Jin Baek and said in a low voice.
“Will you take care of it?”
Jin Baek accepted the offer.
It was for two reasons.
First, Bu Eun-seol held the greatest reputation among the new generation of masters, and second, as payment for the job, Jo Cheon-wang had offered him the position of Vice-Leader of the Mucheon Division.
The unwavering dream of every martial artist in the Murim Alliance was to enter one of the Seven Great Divisions and become a Division Leader. The same was true for Jin Baek.
After completing his investigation on Bu Eun-seol, he immediately went to Mount Oji with the Chuseongdae.
And upon finally catching up with the Sa-yeong Squad, he had been watching for an opportunity to assassinate him.
This was possible thanks to the peerless secret stealth art, the Ghost Shadow Stealth Technique.
As long as they maintained a distance of a hundred feet, not even the most skilled master could detect them.
However, as he observed the members of the Sa-yeong Squad, he hit a snag.
Contrary to his expectations, the presence of each Sa-yeong Squad member was consistently formidable.
As an elite assassin, Jin Baek could tell at a glance that they were warriors who had undergone tremendous training and real combat.
While he was contemplating this, Bu Eun-seol left the barracks and moved somewhere.
And after everything was over, Bu Eun-seol had pinpointed his exact location.
—*Looks like you’ve had your fill of watching. Time to come out.*
‘Is it a trap?’
For a moment, Jin Baek deliberated.
He had his men scout hundreds of feet around, but Bu Eun-seol was the only one in the vicinity.
‘Overly confident. A common trait among young masters.’
Convinced that Bu Eun-seol was alone, Jin Baek decided to reveal himself without hesitation and finish him off.
***
“Well, top secret or not, it doesn’t matter.”
Jin Baek’s eyes sharpened again as he finished his recollection.
“You’re going to die anyway.”
“So it was someone from our Sanctum.”
Watching Jin Baek’s confident eyes, Bu Eun-seol nodded as if he had realized something.
“Someone from our Sanctum leaked the information.”
Jin Baek smiled coldly.
“I’d like to praise you for being smart… but well, it’s a rather obvious conclusion if you think about it.”
“You’re full of confidence.”
Bu Eun-seol chuckled.
“For an assassination squad to reveal itself means it’s absolutely certain of the kill.”
“Assassination squad?”
Jin Baek let out a low laugh and tilted his head.
At that, transparent shadows began to flicker around Bu Eun-seol.
“You seem to think we are a mere assassination squad.”
A smile played on Jin Baek’s lips.
“This squad is not a hierarchy. It’s a gathering of individuals of equal skill.”
The skills of the Chuseongdae assassins were incomparably superior to those of ordinary assassin guilds.
Furthermore, since their martial arts were also based on those created by the Murim Alliance, they were at a level where they wouldn’t be pushed back even in a direct confrontation.
“You were too arrogant.”
Jin Baek smiled.
“It’s a common mistake made by talented rising stars, though.”
In the Murim, a single moment’s judgment determines life and death.
Bu Eun-seol should not have flaunted his own martial prowess, and he absolutely should not have been alone.
*Pfft.*
But then, Bu Eun-seol burst into laughter.
It was not the laughter of a young man who was arrogant or showing off.
Jin Baek couldn’t understand.
‘He’s serious. He believes he absolutely cannot be defeated.’
To kill Bu Eun-seol, he had personally visited the Beggars' Union and thoroughly investigated the situation at the time.
As a result, he had determined that Bu Eun-seol’s martial arts had just stepped into the Peak Heaven Realm, and he had brought a force that was impossible to lose to, and yet…
Why was that man wearing such a confident smile?
“Arrogance.”
Bu Eun-seol wore a smile.
“I’ll return those words to you.”
*Thud.*
He then lightly struck a nearby tree.
At that moment, the form of a Chuseongdae member who had been concealed in the air became clearly visible, and then,
*Pshush!*
A spray of blood erupted from his neck.
In that instant, Jin Baek’s eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.
Ricochet Energy Projection.
The technique of striking an object to shoot out energy was not that remarkable.
However, Bu Eun-seol had materialized the formless power into a sharp blade and unleashed it.
Such a technique was a feat that a master who had just entered the Peak Heaven Realm could never display.
“Don’t tell me, in that short time…”
Jin Baek’s gaze wavered like a river.
“You’ve advanced your martial arts once again?”
It hadn’t even been a few months since he had killed King Geol.
And to advance another step from such a high realm was nearly impossible.
But in just a few months, was Bu Eun-seol entering a new realm yet again?
Through his research of the Martial Emperor’s Enlightenment and the insights gained from his life-and-death duel with Yeop Hyo-cheon, he had once again surpassed his limits.
“Are you flustered because your calculations were wrong?”
Bu Eun-seol looked at Jin Baek and sighed.
“Your presence has diminished by thirty percent since I first saw you.”
No matter how skilled a master was, if their spirit took a blow, their presence would diminish and their body would shrink back.
Jin Baek had appeared with the conviction that he could kill Bu Eun-seol. That conviction became confidence, and that confidence, in turn, transformed into presence.
But when Bu Eun-seol’s martial arts exceeded his expectations, his confidence plummeted.
As a result, his presence also diminished, and even his body recoiled.
‘I see now why the grandmasters of martial arts emphasized the secret mental arts.’
The body is connected to the mind.
No matter how much one trains their body and martial arts to the extreme, to perfectly control them, a steadfast spirit is necessary.
*Sreung.*
With a low hum, the Muk-geom slowly revealed itself.
Bu Eun-seol’s motion of drawing the Muk-geom was like the black claws of the god of death emerging from a black mist.
“This is going to be a boring fight.”
Bu Eun-seol muttered with a bored expression.
Instantly, Jin Baek’s pupils quivered.
He sensed it instinctively. This was a fight he could not win. In the end, only annihilation awaited the Chuseongdae.
“If you won’t come…”
Taking a deep breath, divine light streamed from Bu Eun-seol’s eyes.
“I’ll come to you!”
*Swoosh! Swoosh!*
Simultaneously, a sharp aura swirled around his body.
He had unleashed the Thirteen Nocturnes, the ultimate technique of the Martial Emperor, which displayed even greater power in a fight against multiple opponents.