Chapter 294
Chapter 294
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 297
Chapter Title: Hidden Claws Revealed
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"That guy's completely insane!"
Ho Tae-gun shouted excitedly at the sea of blood unfolding before his eyes.
Nangong Hyeok had charged into the enemy lines of over five hundred men like Guan Yu himself, tearing through them in every direction.
At first, it had seemed so reckless it bordered on stupidity, leaving him breathless.
But Ho Tae-gun quickly realized it wasn't foolish at all.
"He had faith in himself!"
It was bolder and more decisive than he could have imagined.
Even when he'd first laid eyes on him, he'd thought the kid was odd, but that had been an understatement!
Nangong Hyeok's movements continued to astonish him.
The young punk seized every advantage with a single judgment.
The Nangong family's warriors had barely made it inside the Celestial Pavilion, and here he was, single-handedly upending the enemy formation.
A moment's hesitation, a slight shift in numbers, and everyone would have been in dire straits. It was a massive gamble.
What had looked like pure recklessness turned into the boldest decision imaginable once it succeeded.
To pull it off as naturally as breathing—nothing short of astonishing.
'And even in the midst of that, he was hiding his martial prowess?'
The level he displayed now was worlds apart from when they'd clashed earlier.
Faster, more efficient, and craftier besides.
It meant their fight hadn't even registered as a threat to him.
"He had the gall to act all leisurely in front of me, Ho Tae-gun?"
Ho Tae-gun chuckled lowly, his breath steady.
A sinister smile spread across his face at the end of that eerie laugh.
"What should we do?"
The White Blood Squad Leader asked cautiously.
"Isn't it fun?"
"It's past time to join the south gate, Sect Leader."
"Let it be. This side's more entertaining."
"Urgh!"
The south gate had Ghost Valley Manor's Soul-Escaping Sword Mu Kyung.
A disciple raised in their main stronghold wouldn't die just because he was a bit late.
'He might even be pushing back by now.'
In any case, Nangong Hyeok rampaging ahead piqued his interest far more.
"He was hiding his claws!"
Look at that ruthless, vicious bastard.
He never left anyone alive who'd pointed a sword at him.
Deliberately gruesome and brutal, he severed heads to crush their spirits.
His might, his momentum, his madness shook the unorthodox ranks.
A strange thrill ran through him at the sight of someone barely in his twenties dominating the battlefield.
"Do more. More."
He stared at Nangong Hyeok with gleaming eyes.
He was dying to see just how wildly the kid could go berserk, what his true power looked like.
How deep did his reserves run?
Licking his lower lip, he crooked a finger at the White Blood Squad Leader.
"Peel off half the troops and send them toward the Celestial Pavilion."
"Toward the Pavilion?"
"Don't you think we need to, to see him run even wilder? He's been eyeing our flanks since earlier. Turning himself into bait and all."
Ho Tae-gun grinned like a kid who'd found a shiny new toy.
The White Blood Squad Leader bowed and signaled his men.
Some White Blood Squad warriors and unorthodox fighters peeled off toward the Celestial Pavilion.
Ho Tae-gun toyed with the sword at his waist, eyes locked on Nangong Hyeok darting east, west, north, and south.
'When should I step in for maximum fun?'
Yeah, I'll make my entrance at the peak of excitement.
Ho Tae-gun's lips twitched.
* * *
Crunch! Splaat!
Nangong Hyeok's Soul-Shattering Fist caved in his foe's chest and pulverized the heart.
"Cough, hack!"
Wracked by unimaginable agony, the enemy thrashed and collapsed.
His gaze had already shifted to the next target, his sword claiming another neck.
His blade moved on instinct, his mind growing ever colder.
With each bucket of blood he bathed in, his madness and killing intent surged higher.
The corpses lining the blood-soaked path stiffened.
The dawn light added to the grim atmosphere.
Dozens, hundreds of killing intents bore down on him, sending shivers across his skin.
Even with a new body and changed circumstances, his mind—his instincts—remembered this sensation.
Slash!
A chilling sound, and the enemy's throat was slit in one stroke.
No hesitation in striking vital points and deadly acupoints.
On a battlefield where hesitation meant death, he showed no mercy.
Save your pity for the dogs.
He'd seen fools die from such sentiments, but never one survive.
Nangong Hyeok swung his sword without pause.
On the battlefield, there were no absolute powerhouses or weaklings.
Unless you were a peerless master, getting stabbed in the back mid-war was par for the course.
Even the unparalleled likes of the Young Tyrant had met their end surrounded on all sides.
That's when Nangong Hyeok, gauging his moment to withdraw, glanced aside and spotted enemies moving toward the Celestial Pavilion.
"Ah, damn it."
This was why smart guys were such a pain.
'Protect too much, and you multiply your weaknesses.'
The ancestors' wisdom never missed the mark.
...Wait, I was an ancestor, wasn't I?
I'd dropped plenty of gems myself.
Right on the nose.
Nangong Hyeok's eyes turned to Ho Tae-gun, smirking at him from afar.
Smug grin, face full of intrigue.
Looking down on me from on high, huh?
You're asking for it.
Heh.
Nangong Hyeok laughed.
"But..."
The ones being protected had their own pride, didn't they?
What I'm guarding isn't the Thunder Dragon Squad—it's the Nangong family!
"You bastard, we'll settle this later! I'm gonna smash your skull flat! I'll show you how heads get cracked!"
Roooar!
His lion's roar swept across the battlefield.
Ho Tae-gun burst out laughing and drew his sword.
Shing!
"You've got venom in your veins now!"
"Can't even tell venom from killing intent?"
"Fine, let's end this here..."
"You think you can soapbox me here? You think I haven't been through this once or twice?!"
Ho Tae-gun looked baffled.
What the hell was this kid on about?
Nangong Hyeok raised his bloodied fist and shook it vigorously.
"Come at me, punk."
Then he bolted toward the Celestial Pavilion with all his might.
Ho Tae-gun hurled a pebble from his hand.
It whistled through the air like a streak of light, but Nangong Hyeok swatted it away effortlessly.
Thwack!
The rebounding pebble cracked an unlucky subordinate's skull.
Ho Tae-gun's eyebrow twitched.
The kid's real talent wasn't guts or skill—it was provocation.
Provocation!
That taunt ignited the killing intent in the usually composed Ho Tae-gun.
"What are you lot doing? Still can't breach the gate?!"
Boom!
A thunderous crash erupted from the Celestial Pavilion, followed by screams.
"Arghhh!"
"Gaaack!"
"P-poison needles!"
A storm of Plum Blossom Needles burst from inside, sweeping through the unorthodox warriors approaching the main gate.
Thud!
The doors flung open again, and Nangong Ryong and the Thunder Dragon Squad poured out, mowing down the foes in the chaos.
Rumble! Boom!
Thud thud thud!
Nangong Ryong's heavy sword strikes paired perfectly with the Thunder Dragon Squad's Ghost Valley Chain Formation.
They cleverly engaged the enemy right at the doorway.
"You filthy bastards!"
"Come out!"
"Drag 'em out!"
"Arghhh!"
The Thunder Dragon Squad's masterful use of the sturdy doors and walls had the unorthodox elites fuming.
Despite their overwhelming numbers, they couldn't push inside—they were just getting shredded.
The Pavilion's structure was too solid; lesser impacts barely scratched it.
The White Blood Squad's vice leader glanced up at the second floor.
There were ways in besides the door.
He stomped the ground and leaped up in an instant, aiming for a window, when a black object hurtled from the side.
Wham!
"Urk!"
Startled, he deflected the incoming projectile.
It was Nangong Hyeok, who'd closed in unnoticed, kicking a roof tile from a pillar.
The rebound jolted through his hand.
"Blocking me?"
"You dare!"
Radiant sword light flashed from the vice leader's blade.
White Blood Radiant Thousand Swords.
The signature technique of White Cloud Sword Wave's leader, Ho Tae-gun, now unleashed at Nangong Hyeok.
Sword qi split like a fan, pouring toward him.
The sunburst of qi carried unyielding killing intent to end his foe.
It was the sword that had helped Ho Tae-gun pacify the White Cloud Mountains.
No greenhorn could block it... couldn't block...
Crack!
Fissures spiderwebbed through his sun-like sword qi, then shockwaves erupted from the cracks.
Boom!
"Hack!"
Nangong Hyeok's brutal grip seized the vice leader's face and slammed it into the wall.
Kablooey!
"Gaaack!"
Killing intent gleamed stickily in Nangong Hyeok's eyes.
His hand tightened.
"Take a good look."
"G-gack!"
"This is what happens when you invade my turf!"
Slam! Slam! Slam!
Nangong Hyeok pounded the man's skull into the wall like hammering stone.
The impacts shook the very structure.
Ignoring the vice leader's frantic clawing and thrashing, Nangong Hyeok repeated indifferently.
Splat!
The head burst like a watermelon, its contents oozing down the wall.
"..."
"..."
The unorthodox elites straining to breach the door below gaped in horror.
Blood spraying from above and the revolting chunks made their pupils quiver.
Thud... boom.
The vice leader's heavy corpse hit the ground, and Nangong Hyeok's chilling killing intent gazed down, utterly crushing their will.
In the open plaza, they hadn't felt it—this gaze drenched in his madness and bloodlust now bore down on them.
Gulp.
Terrifying.
He'd crushed the vice leader like an eggshell.
Smashed a man's skull like a walnut and stared down coldly.
His merciless hands, the way a person could die like that—it drenched them in fear.
Slash slash!
"Gaaack!"
"Hiii!"
Below, the Thunder Dragon Squad savaged the stragglers' throats like feral fangs, then slammed the doors shut.
No need to see why they'd suddenly halted their counterattack.
Ho Tae-gun's eyebrow twitched.
The gruesome death of his longtime comrade, combined with Nangong Hyeok dominating the field, grated on him.
That blatant, provocative stare seemed to beckon him up.
Fine, let's throw down.
Right here.
Nangong Hyeok met his gaze steadily, smirked with a quirked lip, then slipped inside, putting the cherry on his mockery.
Twitch.
"Fine. Whatever."
If that's how you want to play, I'll show you something too.
"That the jianghu isn't won with brains alone."
If that's all you've got...
"You're dying by my hand today—torn apart."
Intense light poured from Ho Tae-gun's sword.
"Out of the way!"
Screeeee!
Sword qi like a beam of light sliced through the ironclad main doors of the Celestial Pavilion.
Shwick!
The doors parted smoothly like tofu, revealing the first floor inside.
The Thunder Dragon Squad flinched at the bisected doors.
Had Nangong Ryong not blocked the sword qi, it would have cleaved right through them.
Nangong Ryong grimaced at the smoke rising from his blade.
It had split thick doors and still packed this punch.
He stared ahead warily.
Enemies encircled the Pavilion like a wall.
Instinctively, he turned.
Nangong Hyeok leaped down from the second floor.
"Not bad—worth teaching you lot."
He grinned in satisfaction at the first floor barricaded with cover.
That's right—this was why he'd trained them!
Who trained them, though...
"Hyeok!"
"Young Master Hyeok, what now?"
"Any moves left?"
People called out to Nangong Hyeok urgently. Joy at his survival would have to wait—repelling the enemies at their doorstep came first.
Nangong Hyeok looked relaxed.
"What now?"
"Come on, what do we do?!"
Sogeolgae snapped in frustration, then wilted under Nangong Hyeok's glance.
Nangong Hyeok scanned around and smiled faintly.
"First, hold out."
"Huh?"
"Just hold."
"Is that the plan?!"
"Yeah, I've got one—buy me time!"
Nangong Hyeok stepped forward and shook off his demon sword.
At that moment, the bloodthirsty enemies charged the Celestial Pavilion.