Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Reinforcements
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Dang So-so and Seol Ha-ryeong couldn't hide their astonishment as they read the letter.
Who was Mu-heun? Was he not the strongest of the strong, a warrior who had single-handedly defeated even the formidable Dang Baek-ho? And now, he was anticipating danger and asking for help?
Even the demonic corpse he had sent possessed power that had reached a divine state. Its strength should have been more than sufficient against anything short of a major power like one of the Nine Great Sects.
Yet, he needed them, and even Elder Gu Pae-seon, the Cloud Dragon of Kunlun? What on earth could be the reason?
Just then, a group of warriors appeared in the distance, speeding toward them using their lightness techniques.
Dang So-so was aghast when she saw the approaching warriors.
“Th-that is… Is Master Mu-heun truly a divine immortal?”
Seol Ha-ryeong was just as surprised.
“Hoho… It seems so.”
The approaching warriors were none other than the heroes of Kunlun.
The masters of Kunlun. Led by Gu Pae-seon, there were three other elders, and beside them were ten first-generation disciples boasting profound martial arts, followed by a line of second-generation disciples.
Seeing Pae-seon approaching from a distance, Seol Ha-ryeong waved her hand and shouted.
“Elder Pae-seon! Over here! I have something to tell you!”
Hearing Ha-ryeong's shout, Pae-seon rushed over at incredible speed and offered a light greeting.
“Heheh, what are you young rascals doing, stopping here? Shouldn't you be on your way to Hubei?”
“Haha, Elder, please take a look at this letter.”
“Hmm? What’s this? A letter?”
“Yes. Master Mu-heun asked me to deliver it to you.”
Pae-seon took the letter from Ha-ryeong and unfolded it. Just then, the Kunlun elders arrived behind him.
“Brother! Why have you stopped here?”
“Oh? Isn’t that Dang So-so? Ah! You’re participating in the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly this time, I see?”
“Haha, yes, that's right. Greetings to the elders of Kunlun.”
“We heard about Dang Baek-ho’s defeat. The Tang Clan has done much to us, but we have spoken at length with Lady Dang Yeon-hwa, and we were moved by her sincerity.”
“The Tang Clan and Kunlun have agreed to maintain a stronger relationship, so please do not worry about that.”
“I thank you for your consideration, Elders.”
“By the way, with your participation in the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, it is sure to be quite a fierce competition.”
“I know the heroes of Kunlun are formidable as well. But more importantly…”
Just as Dang So-so was glancing at Pae-seon, who was reading the letter, he spoke.
“We must rally the disciples. There is a place we must go, taking only you elders, myself, and the first-generation disciples who are at the Transcendent level or higher.”
The elders were momentarily taken aback, but Pae-seon’s expression was so grave that they realized something urgent had occurred.
The letter Mu-heun had sent to Pae-seon read as follows:
[ Your outstanding martial arts and wisdom are the only hope for saving this village.
We need at least ten masters at the Transcendent level or higher.
I implore you for your help. ]
The message was simple. However, Pae-seon had never seen Mu-heun make such a desperate plea.
Therefore, he understood the gravity of the situation without needing further explanation and immediately began to move with perfect coordination.
Just then, Seol Ha-ryeong and Dang So-so called out to Pae-seon.
“Elder.”
“If you are not fully committed, you need not come. The heroes of Kunlun will resolve whatever the matter is.”
“…”
Pae-seon spoke sternly. But the look in their eyes as they gazed at him was not one of fear. Instead, they stared straight at him with unwavering resolve.
“Haa… very well. Let’s go together.”
* * *
And now.
Heroes soared through the air, executing the Cloud Sea Flying Shadow lightness technique. Among them were Dang So-so, her green robes fluttering, and Seol Ha-ryeong, executing her immortal arts, her white garments tearing in the wind.
Above all, there was one who led the heroes of Kunlun, his voice thundering through the sky like lightning.
“Have you been waiting long!?”
He was the reclusive Cloud Dragon of Kunlun, the Light-Splitting Immortal, and Mu-heun's childhood friend.
“That’s an understatement…”
Just then, over twenty masters from Kunlun soared overhead using their lightness techniques, and Dang So-so and Seol Ha-ryeong joined Mu-heun’s side.
The one who had led them all was none other than Hyeok, the Heavenly Demonic Corpse who had left on Mu-heun’s orders. Mu-heun had tasked Hyeok with summoning Dang So-so and Seol Ha-ryeong.
Mu-heun had anticipated this.
He knew that his old friend, Pae-seon, would surely stop by Sichuan before heading to Hubei, and that they would travel using their lightness techniques under the guise of training, rather than taking a carriage.
Therefore, he had calculated that they would be passing by Dang So-so and Seol Ha-ryeong's location around this time and had ordered Hyeok to summon Pae-seon as well.
Of course, since Hyeok was unable to speak, he had entrusted him with the letters.
Pae-seon’s reason for visiting Kunlun was to bring the elders and disciples to participate in the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.
Of course, since the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly was a contest of martial prowess among the younger generation, the participants would be the second-generation disciples, but they wouldn’t want to miss such a good spectacle.
No matter how far Hyeok was from Mu-heun, he could always return to him. As long as they were connected by the Heavenly Demonic Ki, they could never be separated.
However, just in case there were any interruptions, he had also told Cheon-hyang to burn an incense in the sky that Hyeok could recognize.
As a result, at the most critical moment, reinforcements as mighty as a grand army had arrived.
Mu-heun was overcome with a sense of nostalgia.
‘It was like this before… It happened before.’
In Mu-heun's past life, when he was Baek Jung-hyeok.
At a young age, Mu-heun had fallen into despair.
A poison master from the Unorthodox Sects had spread a toxic mist, killing everyone in his village.
He, too, was hiding inside his house, waiting for the encroaching poison mist.
It was no different from waiting for death. For the young Mu-heun, who had lost his entire family, it was like finding another layer of despair beneath the first.
Then, saviors appeared in the village.
The Arhats of Chipyeong Temple.
They circled the sky before descending upon his village and began to clear the toxic mist. Mu-heun watched with his own eyes as the mist, which had reached his very feet, receded.
It was as if despair itself was retreating.
One who has faced death learns the value of life. That day, Mu-heun reclaimed his own life.
And he made a vow. He would burn his very life to repay this debt of gratitude. Afterward, Mu-heun spent a month mourning his lost family and the deceased villagers.
When his mourning was over, he devoted all his time to his studies and became the Divine Doctor.
If not for the Arhats who appeared that day, the Mu-heun of today would not exist. And if not for him and these heroes now, this village’s future would also be lost.
This was like planting a single seed. And it was a seed that had to be planted, even at the cost of one's life.
As he was lost in thought, the sun began to rise in the distance.
The dreadful night was over, and morning had begun to arrive.
* * *
Seol Ha-ryeong opened her fan and instantly froze the arms and legs of the children infested by the Needle Gold Worms, then approached Mu-heun and spoke.
“What on earth are you getting yourself into all alone again?”
Following Seol Ha-ryeong's question, Dang So-so sprinkled a paralyzing poison, the Supreme Orthodoxy Thousand Collection, on the children whose limbs were bound, stopping their movements.
At that, the children, who had been screaming and convulsing, stopped and went limp. Dang So-so looked at Mu-heun and said,
“You truly are a reckless one, aren’t you?”
“Thank you for coming.”
Mu-heun bowed deeply to Dang So-so, then gathered his profound internal energy and projected his voice across the entire village.
[ The villagers can be saved! I will deal with the beast one way or another, so please stop the villagers from reaching it! ]
At his words, Pae-seon began to command the Kunlun warriors. There were three Kunlun elders and about twenty second-generation disciples, all of whom were masters at the Transcendent level or higher.
They began to subdue the villagers with incredible speed. Mu-heun looked at Dang So-so and Seol Ha-ryeong and said,
“Please do the same for the villagers as you did for the children.”
The two of them smiled and replied.
“Of course!”
Worried that the children, who were more deeply infested than the villagers, might awaken, Mu-heun deployed the Cloud-Gazing Formation. He then entrusted them to Hyeok, the Heavenly Demonic Corpse who had safely completed his mission, and left the pavilion.
“Now, I will truly put an end to this.”
Mu-heun condensed the formation he had spread across the sky into a single point.
“Cosmic Shift.”
Inside the cage that had trapped the village, Mu-heun had been gathering all the energy he had emitted in the sky.
And…
“Explosive Formation! Detonate!”
A terrifying amount of energy erupted from all directions, all of it converging on the mass of ki in the sky.
Mu-heun combined the explosion created by the Explosive Formation with all the energy he had emitted thus far.
He also refined the Heavenly Demonic Ki by clashing its strands together again. The explosively refined melody of ki, guided by Cosmic Shift's unique ability to manipulate the flow of energy, collided and erupted with even greater force.
The Heavenly Demonic Ki, exploding while maintaining a delicate balance, layered upon itself, hanging in the sky like a violet sun. The strands, few at first, grew larger, gathered, and amplified each time Mu-heun released his ki, until it became an uncontrollable force.
Like a sun of infinite power, setting off an endless chain reaction. A great Purple Sun, settled in the sky above the village.
Just then.
“Kiaaaak!”
The beast, sensing the tide turning against it, let out a series of roars. Each time, the villagers began to run wild, but thanks to the efforts of the Kunlun heroes, Seol Ha-ryeong, and Dang So-so, none of them fell into the river.
“Kiaaaa!”
Enraged, the creature let out a ground-shaking roar and brought its massive claw down upon Mu-heun.
The foreleg approached, carrying immense power.
Using Cosmic Shift, Mu-heun fluidly deflected the beast's foreleg. In terms of internal energy, the beast's power was at the peak of the Transformation Realm.
In terms of sheer internal energy, it surpassed even Mu-heun, but the monster was merely swinging its leg based on its instinct for destruction.
There was no profound martial art within its movements, no feint designed to read its opponent's mind.
“Keuk!”
Though he felt a slight impact from the massive strike, Mu-heun quickly dodged the creature's attacks, then fused ki at the tip of his sword to create the Purple Sun Arts and two black dragons, before shouting.
“Dragon Annihilation!”
From the tip of Mu-heun’s sword, two black dragons clutching a small sun roared ferociously as if to swallow the sky and charged at the beast. The clash of their roars with the beast’s shriek created a shockwave that seemed to rip the atmosphere apart, blowing away the roofs of all the village pavilions.
Kraaaaaang!
After Mu-heun's Dragon Annihilation collided with the beast.
While the beast was reeling from the impact.
Mu-heun approached the energy in the sky.
The ominous energy, exploding and amplifying with ferocious momentum, exuded a terrifying aura, but Mu-heun did not hesitate.
Absorbing such a massive amount of energy at once, without building up to it step by step, could cause him to lose balance, making his dantian explode and kill him.
But now, Mu-heun felt no hesitation, and his eyes showed no trace of wavering.
Mu-heun plunged the Sun and Moon Sword into the ominous mass of ki. Then, he began to absorb it.