Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: The Truly Careless
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Just then, the Supreme Sword Emperor, clad in black and white Taoist robes, spoke.
“Haha! By the boundless heavens! By the boundless heavens! Well, well, isn't this a rare sight? The Plum Blossom Sword Venerable, who travels far and wide for the peace of the martial world! It’s been too long!”
The Supreme Sword Emperor, Mu Jin-hyeon, stroking his long beard, maintained a perfectly composed demeanor. He was nonchalant, as if the Three Absolutes of the Underworld before him could be swept aside at any moment.
However, while he was indifferent to the Three Absolutes, his tone toward the Plum Blossom Sword Venerable was lively as he spoke with a raised eyebrow.
The same was true for the Plum Blossom Sword Venerable, Jin Hong. Without a hint of tension despite facing the Three Absolutes, Jin Hong clasped his fist and spoke to Mu Jin-hyeon.
“Greetings, Supreme Sword Emperor. Have you been well?”
“Ho ho, by the boundless heavens, by the boundless heavens. Nothing of note, aside from my martial arts having taken another step forward.”
“I must express my respect for your continuous dedication to self-improvement. I shall strive to follow your example.”
“Hah, hahahaha! My good Taoist, that is welcome news indeed! I would have been disappointed to hear that the Plum Blossom Sword had grown lax in his training!”
“Haha, that could never happen.”
Mu-heun could sense a subtle undercurrent in their conversation. In fact, he knew the reason why.
On the way here, he had asked Jin Hong about the Supreme Sword Emperor, and Jin Hong had shared an interesting story.
Apparently, the Supreme Sword Emperor Mu Jin-hyeon and the Plum Blossom Sword Venerable Jin Hong periodically held duels to determine whose martial prowess was superior.
When asked why the Martial Alliance Leader, Du Baek, didn't participate, the answer was that Du Baek was an extremely busy man. Furthermore, as the face of the Martial Alliance, it wouldn't look good for him to be seen as subordinate to anyone, so he refrained.
Thus, only the Supreme Sword Emperor and the Plum Blossom Sword Venerable would duel. Each time, endless debates erupted over whether the martial arts of Huashan or Wudang were superior, and it became a topic of great public interest.
The debate over who was the greatest swordsman in the Orthodox Sects.
The Sword Venerable?
Or the Sword Emperor?
It is the way of martial arts that even among those who learn the same techniques, there are the weak and the strong. Therefore, it seemed people believed that the superiority of a school’s martial arts was determined not by mediocre strength, but by the outcome of a battle between the top masters of each sect.
In essence, two of the only three officially recognized masters of the Transcendent Realm in the entire Orthodox Sects were acting as representatives for their respective schools.
So far, their record was five to five. A perfect tie, with neither giving an inch.
Though their skills were evenly matched, public opinion was divided. The deciding factor was age. With the Supreme Sword Emperor Mu Jin-hyeon approaching seventy, the consensus was that Jin Hong, who had just passed forty, had the upper hand.
Jin Hong valued the contest of skills and the pursuit of a higher realm far more than such public opinions, but Mu Jin-hyeon seemed to take it to heart.
In other words, the subtle undercurrent Mu-heun sensed was born from the competitive spirit stirred up by Mu Jin-hyeon.
He had just come out of closed-door training not long ago…
It seemed he was itching for a match.
‘With the score at 10-10, I suppose every win counts.’
However, now was not the time for the two to test their mettle. Ma Gon-jeok, the leader of the Three Absolutes of the Underworld, was a man who dreamed of swallowing the world. Yet, the three swordsmen before him were completely ignoring his group.
As if they could be dealt with at any moment!
Of course, he was not ignorant of their fame, but his group was also one of the infamously powerful leaders of the Unorthodox Sects.
‘Even if… even if they are strong, if we retreat now, we can never recover. With the fate of the Seven Valleys of Asura unknown, if we flee from these bastards and lose all our men…’
They would become the laughingstock of the world.
‘I’d rather we all die together!’
Ma Gon-jeok couldn't control the shame he felt. In an instant, his killing intent surged, and his internal energy exploded.
Just then, Mu-heun spoke to the two men engaged in their war of nerves.
“Gentlemen, shouldn't we deal with the wolves before us first?”
Jin Hong was the first to nod and look at Mu Baek, and the Supreme Sword Emperor also turned his gaze to Ma Gon-jeok.
“By the boundless heavens, by the boundless heavens. After we catch these wolves, I would like to have a word with you as well.”
Mu-heun, looking at Dan Ri-ak, replied.
“Of course.”
Hearing the three swordsmen, the veins on the foreheads of the Three Absolutes bulged. They were clearly furious. Not only were they being ignored and chatted over, but they were also being openly compared to wolves.
There was no way they could back down after such an insult.
Although these men would be difficult opponents even if they fought with all their might, they were brothers who had long synchronized their movements. The three swordsmen before them clearly looked like men who had never fought together before.
‘A coordinated attack, yes, if it’s a coordinated attack!’
A one-on-one fight would offer low chances of victory, but what about three-on-three? Could they withstand their combined might? And what if their subordinates attacked at the same time?
Through Ma Gon-jeok’s telepathic message, Dan Ri-ak and Mu Baek knew their men were forming a pincer formation.
Before them were the swordsmen at the pinnacle of the Orthodox Sects. The Plum Blossom Sword Venerable and the Supreme Sword Emperor! However! They were clearly being careless. In a real fight, even for the most skilled master, carelessness invites death!
‘Yes, let’s end this here!’
The Three Absolutes exchanged glances, nodded, and readied their stances. Then, their leader, Ma Gon-jeok, shouted with profound internal energy.
“Strike!”
In that moment, each of the Three Absolutes prepared their greatest techniques. The instant their underlings, whom they had gathered over the years, charged the three swordsmen, they would unleash their techniques with all their might.
Of course, their men would all die, caught between the powerful sword strikes of the three masters and their own ultimate techniques… but wasn't that what underlings were for? If they could be useful even for just this moment, they would have served their purpose well enough.
Yes, that was how it should have been…
But their underlings did not charge.
“What… what are you all doing! Do not be afraid! I will follow you into battle!”
“Are you more afraid of these Taoists than me? Do you not value your lives?!”
The Three Absolutes shouted fiercely, but no answer came. Only a white, fog-like substance could be felt from where their men were supposed to appear.
“Is that… cold energy?”
“Ice arts?”
“When?”
Come to think of it, the woman who had been with the Supreme Sword Emperor since he appeared was nowhere to be seen.
Watching the bewildered Three Absolutes, Mu Jin-hyeon spoke nonchalantly.
“Hahahahaha! By the boundless heavens! By the boundless heavens! You foolish Unorthodox dogs! Did you really think that I and the Plum Blossom Sword Venerable, both men called Taoists, would be chatting away without a plan?”
Jin Hong and Mu-heun also nodded.
Hearing this, the Three Absolutes finally understood. They had thought their opponents were merely looking down on them… and had thus grown careless.
But the ones who had truly been careless, who had truly underestimated their opponents, were themselves.
It was a rather late realization.
Ma Gon-jeok muttered under his breath.
“……Shit.”
***
Seol Ha-ryeong was dumbfounded. Even with two absolute masters of the Orthodox Sects present, their handling of the situation seemed incredibly lax.
Their opponent wasn't some common mountain bandit, but the Three Absolutes of the Underworld. The Three Absolutes were notoriously evil masters of the Unorthodox Sects. Not just that, but all three were masters who had reached the pinnacle of their demonic arts.
To engage in a verbal spat before enemies so powerful that she herself had just brushed with death?
Moreover, were they not aware that the enemy’s underlings were surrounding them?
Just then.
A telepathic message reached her.
[Lady Ha-ryeong.]
[…Yes.]
[The Supreme Sword Emperor and the Plum Blossom Sword Venerable are buying time. The enemy is focused only on the three of us, so turn your back to us and leave this place. Then, using your ice arts, create a circular trap centered here.]
[…!!]
[The underlings of the Three Absolutes will surely attempt to encircle and attack us before they charge. At that moment, please use your specialty, the ice swords, to annihilate them. I will assist you.]
[So that was the plan. Yes, I understand.]
Ha-ryeong realized her own thinking was still far too shallow. Then, blocking her energy with the Demon-Sealing Paper and erasing her presence, she moved.
She slipped through a blind spot cleverly created behind the three swordsmen and entered the forest.
There, Ha-ryeong opened her fan and swung it in a straight line from above her head down to the ground.
“Myriad Ice and Snow Ground.”
*Saaaaa*
A mist of cold energy flowed out along the line she had drawn. Unlike before, the mist crept along the ground, encircling the area where Mu-heun’s party stood like an invisible forest fog.
Next, Seol Ha-ryeong opened her fan again and spun it round and round.
She gathered all her internal energy to create a chilling cold, infusing it into the ground-hugging mist.
*Crack, crackle*
The grass on the ground began to freeze and crack, but the range was extremely narrow.
As she condensed the cold energy to its absolute limit, a chill comparable to the Full Moon Art she had used against Mu-heun at the Divine Dragon Assembly gathered.
Just then.
‘Hm?’
She began to sense an unknown fragrance. It was like smelling the ice of the cold North Sea.
Ha-ryeong easily identified the source of the fragrance.
Mu-heun had drawn out the Yin and Water energies from the Five Elements of Yin and Yang residing in his dantian. Normally, the most suitable energy for the Heavenly Demonic Arts was the fiery heat of Yang, so he would have had no use for these in a real fight.
But this time was different. To support Ha-ryeong, he spread his Myriad Fragrance, creating a formation in the air that amplified the cold energy. Furthermore, to prevent the Three Absolutes from noticing, he sent his own Yin energy flowing underground to merge with hers.
From the air, Cheon-hyang assisted in spreading it in a circle.
He had heard that the underlings of the Three Absolutes were nothing more than street thugs. At this rate, it would be more than enough to wipe out a motley crew of ruffians.
And so, the underlings of the Three Absolutes completely surrounded the three swordsmen and finished their preparations to charge, completely unaware that the moment they did, they would be struck down and killed by a wave of frigid energy.
Seeing the cold energy gathered to its peak, Ha-ryeong made her final preparation.
‘Crystal Ice Swords. Unleash.’
As Ha-ryeong manipulated the cold energy, moisture within the low-lying mist formed into ice swords, sharpened to a razor’s edge. The ice swords were aimed precisely in the opposite direction of Mu-heun’s party.
Just then.
“Strike!”
With Ma Gon-jeok’s shout, the underlings of the Three Absolutes threw themselves forward.
At that same moment.
Ha-ryeong also shouted inwardly.
‘Strike.’
*Stab! Stab!*
The bodies of the underlings were frail. Most had not properly learned martial arts and were barely at the third or second-rate level. The slightly stronger ones were at the first-rate or peak level, but there were none beyond that.
Worse, they only knew how to attack, not how to protect themselves. They knew nothing of dodging an opponent’s attack or raising a protective aura.
The bodies of such a disorderly mob were helplessly pierced by the razor-sharp ice swords.
*Crack, crackle*
In an instant, their bodies stiffened as the cold energy spread rapidly, and they died without even a chance to scream.
This was all the result of a single move, unleashed by Seol Ha-ryeong, a master who had reached the Transcendent Realm, with all her gathered internal energy.
Only a few warriors who chose to flee immediately survived, and even they were being hunted down one by one by the Heavenly Demonic Corpse, Hyeok.