Chapter 31
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Nether Blood Remnant Demon Blade Method
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As Seonwoyong barely managed to draw a single fan, Somyeongcho grinned sinisterly.
‘A true pup that knows no fear of tigers. Heh heh heh…’
In that instant, Somyeongcho seized the initiative.
“Here I come!”
Shockingly, his opening move was the infamous killing technique of the Mount Hua Sect, Blood Plum Needle.
A single strike, single form—a lethal blow aimed solely at taking the opponent’s life. It was a technique no Mount Hua warrior would use lightly.
“Gah!”
Jinchang let out a sharp cry upon seeing it.
He never imagined their first clash against a stranger would involve such a vicious move.
In a flash, Somyeongcho’s sword tip pierced toward Seonwoyong.
The Blood Plum Needle thrust straight at the foe’s heart with the sword tip, but it wasn’t merely a stab with the arm. It was a method that detonated the practitioner’s entire inner energy at a single point in the opponent’s heart.
Even a superior master couldn’t dodge it, let alone a greenhorn like Seonwoyong…
But Somyeongcho immediately sensed something was wrong.
Seonwoyong’s heart—the target of the Blood Plum Needle—wasn’t there.
Clang!
Instead, the bamboo folding fan deflected Somyeongcho’s blade to the side.
Seonwoyong’s counterattack began right away, having evaded the Blood Plum Needle with Ghostly Phantom Step.
His fan danced nimbly, targeting Somyeongcho’s vital points across his entire body.
Somyeongcho devoted himself entirely to defense.
It was the fatal flaw of the Blood Plum Needle technique.
If the initial strike failed, a counterattack followed immediately, and reversing the disadvantage was no easy task.
Seeing Seonwoyong overcome the crisis and gain the upper hand, Jinchang glared coldly at Noduk.
He drew a black leather pouch from his waist and pulled out a pair of gleaming silver objects.
They were gauntlets intricately woven from thin metal chains.
Jinchang slowly slipped them onto both hands.
Noduk’s gaze grew grave as he watched.
“I don’t know what schemes you’re plotting, but it seems you’ve already crossed the line.”
Noduk raised his crescent saber without responding to Jinchang’s words.
As Jinchang channeled his inner energy with the gauntlets on, the loose, clinking metal chains clung tightly to his hands.
When he clenched his fists, they became fists of steel.
“Now, let’s begin.”
Noduk immediately launched his attack with the crescent saber in hand.
Seven Plums Blade Method.
It was Noduk’s signature technique, one he had elevated to a new realm by adapting the Mount Hua Sect’s Seven Joints Plum Blossom Sword Method into a saber style.
Jinchang responded with orthodox Shaolin techniques for facing blades, splitting his supreme arts between both hands.
His right hand formed a fist for Shaolin Palm Fist, while his left employed Dragon Claw Hand against the crescent saber. It was the essence and foundation of Shaolin martial arts.
Noduk deviated from orthodoxy, while Jinchang embodied its pinnacle. Their clash was a sight to behold.
Once the probing exchanges ended, Noduk enveloped his saber blade in shimmering white sword energy and slashed at Jinchang.
It was proof that, though not widely renowned in the martial world, he was undoubtedly a peak-level saber master.
But the metal gauntlets on Jinchang’s hands were an exotic weapon imported from Tianzhu, unknown yet in the jianghu.
They were also a treasured heirloom passed down through generations of Shenzhou Merchant House leaders.
Incredibly, a blue glow of energy now flickered around Jinchang’s hands as well. He met Noduk’s crescent saber head-on with it.
Manifesting energy with bare fists was the stuff of legends, and most fist fighters avoided clashing with energy-infused blades.
The indestructible diamond body was the pinnacle of external martial arts, but in truth, it was exaggerated. Flesh and blood couldn’t withstand an energy-clad blade.
Jinchang, however, generated his energy through the metal gauntlets on his hands.
Once his fists brimmed with energy, Jinchang swiftly gained the advantage.
His Dragon Claw Hand easily blocked Noduk’s crescent saber, while his energy-wreathed right fist relentlessly targeted Noduk’s vitals.
Noduk was pushed entirely on the defensive.
His signature Seven Plums Blade Method could no longer stand against Jinchang.
With a wide swing to create distance, Noduk stepped back and caught his breath.
“What’s wrong? Tired already? Heh heh…”
Jinchang mockingly circulated his energy, casually clasping his fists.
He glanced briefly at the other fight unfolding nearby, between Seonwoyong and Somyeongcho.
Nothing had changed.
Seonwoyong calmly shifted his stance, handling Somyeongcho’s sword with ease.
To any onlooker, Seonwoyong held the clear edge.
Noduk also glanced at their duel, then slowly raised his saber blade horizontally—as if resolved.
He positioned it to shield his eyes.
Such a stance was taboo in the jianghu, one Jinchang had never witnessed.
Suddenly, Noduk’s form exploded forward like a spring.
Spinning like a top, he unleashed five lightning-fast slashes.
The ferocity suggested he had unleashed his full latent power.
In speed and power, it dwarfed his prior Seven Plums Blade Method.
Jinchang flailed his hands in panic, barely blocking the blade.
Without the metal gauntlets, he would have suffered greatly.
Fortunately, the energy-infused gauntlets adequately protected his hands from Noduk’s savage strikes.
Yet it was Seonwoyong who was truly startled by Noduk’s altered aura and technique.
‘That’s…’
Seonwoyong knew that martial art all too well.
He shook his folding fan even faster to widen the gap with Somyeongcho, then retreated three or four steps.
“Greenhorn, starting to feel the strain? Heh heh…”
Somyeongcho mistook Seonwoyong’s retreat for weakness.
Having suffered from the failed Blood Plum Needle opener, this was his chance to turn the tide.
Somyeongcho’s momentum shifted.
He pressed the sword hilt to his solar plexus, pointing the tip at Seonwoyong.
Seonwoyong’s expression darkened further at the sight.
‘As expected, these guys have learned that martial art. No wonder it felt familiar.’
Somyeongcho read Seonwoyong’s grim look and burst into mad laughter.
“Regret won’t help you now. Time to end this.”
Somyeongcho’s form shot forward like an arrow.
It resembled Bow Body Shadow Leap footwork, but purely offensive—and far more vicious in speed and ferocity.
Seonwoyong didn’t counter. He simply evaded with his own Bow Body Shadow Leap.
Seonwoyong’s version was even faster than the assault, leaving Somyeongcho’s blade to stab empty air once more.
But this attack differed from the earlier Blood Plum Needle.
It seamlessly linked into the very method Noduk was using against Jinchang.
Spinning like a top, Somyeongcho began his frenzied onslaught.
Seonwoyong’s footwork accelerated further, effortlessly dodging the barrage.
‘This kid’s technique is truly astonishing. Even the Ten Stars’ Nether Blood Remnant Demon Blade Method can’t touch him…’
Somyeongcho fell into confusion.
About a dozen years ago, while wandering the jianghu after leaving Mount Hua, he had stumbled upon the Nether Blood Remnant Demon Blade Method by chance. He had never known defeat since.
He only used it in life-or-death crises, as warned against casual deployment—and only to ensure the kill. It had always sufficed.
Yet today, he faced such humiliation.
And against a greenhorn with no apparent signature techniques…
Noduk fared no better.
Though the Nether Blood Remnant Demon Blade Method pulled him from disadvantage, he couldn’t overwhelm Jinchang, who wielded Shaolin supreme arts bolstered by a divine weapon.
‘Brother Noduk, we should retreat from here first.’
As they traded blows in a back-and-forth struggle, Somyeongcho’s transmission reached Noduk’s ear.
Noduk shared the sentiment.
He executed the ultimate technique of the Nether Blood Remnant Demon Blade Method—Blood Heaven Remnant Annihilation—then withdrew his saber and retreated.
“This Noduk has received a profound lesson from Pavilion Master Jin today. I shall take my leave.”
His tone was brazen, as if they had merely sparred like upright seniors of the orthodox sects.
Jinchang, unable to fully subdue him, had no choice but to let it slide.
“Hmph. You’ve picked up some strange trick somewhere.”
Noduk calmly sheathed and stored his crescent saber.
Somyeongcho also retreated a few steps and recalled his sword.
Seonwoyong folded his fan and pretended nonchalance.
“I didn’t expect much, but I didn’t think you’d tuck tail so soon. Anyway, me meddling further in someone else’s fight would be ridiculous…”
“Hmph. Greenhorn, it won’t end like this next time. Just you wait.”
“Haha… ‘Just you wait,’ huh? Been a while since I heard that one. Sure, let’s. Haha…”
Ignoring Seonwoyong’s mockery, Somyeongcho and Noduk turned and exited the shop. Yang Dongsah, who had merely observed the mood, hurried after them.
Elder Jang watched their retreating figures with a meaningful gaze. Beside him, Han Sojung let out a long yawn.
* * *
That evening, a grand banquet was laid out in the Shenzhou Merchant House’s main hall.
Yet the protagonists were ambiguous, and the mood was somber.
Elder Jang, who had saved the endangered Jin Seolhwa, declined the seat of honor. The young master Han Sojung had no objections, and Seonwoyong had washed his hands of it.
Once the banquet began and Han Sojung finished eating, Elder Jang escorted him away. Only the Shenzhou Merchant House’s key figures and Seonwoyong remained, tilting their cups.
The atmosphere was heavy.
The Xingyang Merchant House stood alongside the Shenzhou as representatives of Xi’an.
In scale and history, it surpassed the latter and maintained close ties with the Mount Hua and Zhongnan Sects, the premier martial factions of Shaanxi Province where Xi’an lay.
Just as Shenzhou elites trained at Shaolin across generations, Xingyang had sent descendants to Mount Hua for over a century and enjoyed long-standing good relations with Zhongnan.
The two houses had coexisted for ages, with petty squabbles and rivalry ever-present—but this incident was on another level.
Two decades ago, they had even joined in harmony by marrying Xingyang’s eldest son, Yang Chungsan, to Shenzhou’s eldest daughter, Jin Seolhwa.
But Yang Chungsan’s untimely death in youth had abruptly ended those days.
Jinchang, who had silently drained his cup, finally turned to Seonwoyong with a proper greeting.
“By the way, Brother, your fist and leg work were no joke. Thanks to you, we made it through. Much obliged.”
“No need for that. With your skills, Brother, you could’ve handled it. Besides, Sister Jin was safe too…”
“No, their martial arts were at a formidable realm. I went all out against that Noduk fellow but couldn’t fully suppress him. We both had more cards hidden, but the outcome would’ve been the same.”
At that moment, a youth in green silk robes spoke up.
“Father, they acted so rudely—shouldn’t we hold them accountable?”
It was Jinchang’s only son, Jin Ugwang, lord of the Shenzhou’s Jade Pavilion Hall.