Let's Have Some Fun

The Wolgwang-geom (Model Ten) that Cheong wielded was, by anyone's standards, a vicious weapon that could only be classified as a massive blade. With the tip of the sword leading the way, Cheong stomped across the ground with ferocious footwork that seemed to shatter the earth itself, accelerating like a steel chariot pulled by eight powerful stallions.

“Guhk.”

The Wolgwang-geom pierced through a stomach with ease. The three-chi-long blade plunged straight into a Sadoryeon warrior’s abdomen in an instant. The warrior, skewered on the sword up to the guard, had his forehead slam violently against Cheong’s own, which was as smooth and pale as a full moon.

“Spare—”

But Cheong’s charge did not stop. Then came another wet shunk, and another. After skewering three ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠burly men in a row, even Cheong’s reckless dash began to slow noticeably. Still, she thought, No, one more. I can do this.

“Uraaaaaah!”

Cheong let out a roar and thrust both arms forward. Three people strung together like a human kebab, their six legs dangling in the air, flew forward before slamming down with a heavy thud.

“Kill him! Kill that bastard!”

“Young Lady!”

A sword should never come out the way it went in. However, no matter how strong Cheong was, pulling a blade that had four Sadoryeon warriors lined up on it in any direction wasn’t easy. After all, when something sharp burrows into a person’s gut, they instinctively grab onto it with both hands in a desperate death grip.

One of the Sadoryeon warriors swung his massive cleaver high. Cheong immediately released the hilt and bent her knees. Crack! The fourth warrior on the skewer had his skull split clean in half like a log under an axe. Collateral damage!

“Uh, ugh, guhk!”

The warrior who had just accidentally slaughtered his own ally froze in shock, only to let out a pained groan as something slammed into his solar plexus. It was Cheong’s headbutt, delivered with the top of her skull.

Cheong kept charging forward like a wild ox, then suddenly threw both arms straight up in a powerful victory pose. The Sadoryeon warrior’s body was launched into the air, tangling with his comrades and sending them all tumbling down in a heap.

Then, after three quick steps, her left foot stamped the ground. Her right leg whipped back. As her ankle, knee, and hip rotated, the rotational force built up before exploding outward with the tremendous leg strength that was said to be three times that of the arms—a magnificent kick!

The top of her foot slammed precisely into the back of a fallen Sadoryeon warrior’s neck. His head, now separated from his spine, shot forward like a cannonball and smashed into another warrior’s face.

“These guys sure know how to defend their house!”

Cheong, having spouted some nonsense, lifted her knee and stomped straight down. She crushed the spot just above a Sadoryeon warrior’s elbow, causing his forearm to bounce upward from the reaction force. The tendons pulled tight, forcing his fingers to spread wide, and the straight sword he’d been holding flew upward.

Cheong tilted her waist and snatched the flying blade out of the air. A straight sword was essentially a kitchen knife stretched out in every direction. Its tip ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was sharp enough for thrusting, but because the center of gravity was focused near the hilt, its destructive power was somewhat lacking. Of course, if one possessed enough raw strength, there was no need to worry about such drawbacks.

“You’re back! Jigokchamma-do!”

Had the sword possessed a soul, it might have replied with, “Me? Really?” Unfortunately, weapons had no ego. The cheap straight sword instantly transformed into the Jigokchamma-do and bit into an enemy’s shoulder, bursting out through the opposite side of his torso.

The Sadoryeon warrior staggered back from the brutal strike. Backing away? Then I’ll just come to you.

Cheong kicked off the ground with all her might. Her blue robes left long afterimages trailing behind her as her toes lifted and slammed into one man’s jaw in an upward kick. It looked remarkably similar to the kicking techniques Na Yang-gyeol used. Cheong had apparently watched and perfectly copied it in such a short time.

The Sadoryeon warrior’s body floated half a jang into the air. His neck bones surrendered instantly to the vertical kick under his chin. His head nearly touched his own back. Instant death.

With her left and right feet aligned in a straight line and her leading foot rising even higher than her head, Cheong stamped down hard. Boom! Her figure vanished in an instant.

Having crushed the ground so fiercely it seemed to cave in, Cheong soared into the sky. She drew back her left arm while airborne. Twisting her body like a dolphin leaping through the air, she gently pushed her left palm forward.

Three people’s worth of crushed bones and flesh filled the massive handprint left by the Buddha’s Palm on the ground. It looked exactly like a fly swatted by a giant hand.

The majestic sound of a temple bell suddenly echoed across the battlefield, drawing every eye.

“It’s the Heavenly Flower Sword! The Cheonhwa-geom is here!”

Cheong, launched high into the air by the recoil of the Yeorae Shinjang, descended gracefully using the elegant steps of the Wolnyeo Sanbo. She landed right in the middle of the enemy lines.

Sect Leader Kang Su-yang snapped back to his senses. She had said she would lead the unidentified experts from the royal palace to strike the rear. She had never said she would charge straight into the heart of the enemy formation. So why?

The greater the chaos in the rear, the greater the disorder in the front lines. Even though there was no need to draw so much attention, she had used the Yeorae Shinjang to make herself the center of focus. It was as if she had willingly placed her own life on the scales.

Something hot surged up from deep within Kang Su-yang’s chest.

“The Heavenly Flower Sword is over there! The greatest rising star of the Righteous Faction is surrounded by enemies! Are we, her seniors, just going to stand by and watch?!”

At Kang Su-yang’s shout, the disciples of Gyerim and Jangsan answered with a thunderous battle cry and charged forward. It was the signal that the vanguard of the Flame Fang warriors and the Black Bear Unit members had begun to falter and retreat.

Cheong, for her part, was simply having the time of her life.

That was why even she thought, Oh crap. Because she realized that every direction—front, back, left, right—was filled with nothing but enemies. No matter how much of a Super Peak (or whatever) she was, even she couldn’t play the lone hero against a crowd of first-class and peak experts.

However, the enemies who had just witnessed someone drop from the sky were still too stunned to react. Cheong drew forth the cold energy of the Bingbaek.

A dragon’s head suddenly burst from her shoulder with a chilling sound of grinding ice, wrapping around her left arm and flowing toward her hand. The moment the translucent ice dragon reached its destination, Cheong’s palm also struck a Sadoryeon warrior’s chest.

In an instant, every rib shattered. The heart exploded. The skin of his chest and back met in a gruesome reunion. This was the ferocious might of the Bingbaek Shinjang!

Exactly where the “ice” part was supposed to come from in this violently destructive technique was anyone’s guess. Frost instantly formed over the corpse, so perhaps the Bingbaek Singong was actually a martial art specialized in rapidly cooling bodies.

A gap!

Okay. I’m just gonna leave now.

The Sadoryeon warriors were in no state of mind to throw pink hidden weapons, so Cheong took advantage of the opening and kicked off the ground. One step on an enemy’s shoulder, the second on someone’s head, and on the third step—the most vicious footwork of the Cheonma Gunlimbo—boom!

A Sadoryeon warrior’s head exploded in all directions, losing all shape, as Cheong shot through the air like an arrow.

Meanwhile, Gyeon No let out a desperate scream.

“Young Lady! You mustn’t!”

Before he could even stop her, Cheong had already plunged into the enemy lines and flown straight into the middle of the enemy formation, vanishing from sight.

“Damn it! Chang Yeo-in! Gakda-gwi!”

“We know!”

The two of them skillfully dropped to one knee each. Gyeon No, moving with agility that belied his elderly body, spun like a swallow and landed on their upturned palms. The two Transcendent experts then pushed upward with all their strength, launching the old man like a human catapult. A human trebuchet, or rather, a human projectile.

Gyeon No flew forward at a sharp angle.

“Yoooooung Laaaaaady!”

It was a cry filled with the desperate longing of a grandfather searching for his granddaughter.

And so, at the very moment he finally reunited with the young lady he had been so desperately seeking, their eyes met perfectly in mid-air—Cheong, who was using an emergency escape technique to fly back toward the rear, and Gyeon No, who was flying toward the front.

The moment their eyes met, time seemed to freeze. The young woman and the old man slowly drifted past each other, communicating entirely through their gazes.

‘Young Lady? Why are you here? Where are you going?’

‘Huh? Gyeon No? Where are you going? That’s the enemy camp?’

“Yoooooung Laaaaaady!”

The same words, yet carrying completely different emotions, rapidly faded into the distance behind Cheong.

Tap. Having returned to the rear once more, Cheong saw Chang Yeo-in and Gakda-gwi staring at her with utterly dumbfounded expressions.

What the…? Is this some kind of system where if Gyeon No flies forward, the Young Lady comes back?

What kind of bizarre harmony is this?

Cheong snorted.

“No, Grandfather Gyeon. No matter how strong a Harmonious Realm expert you are, you can’t just charge out like that. How excited were you to fly off like that? What are you doing? We need to go save him right now.”

---

Once you’ve mounted a running horse, you cannot simply dismount at will. Since Susi-wang had already given up his son along with the great army, he was now fated to ride this horse to the very end. Therefore, he decided to follow his younger sibling’s advice—to make use of the martial artists.

In truth, even without the advice, after witnessing Deokhyeon Chinwang leading a group of experts to threaten him, Susi-wang had gained a great realization: a distant army could not protect him from nearby martial artists.

But the Righteous Faction? In the end, they were all just thieves carrying swords. Was there really any need to distinguish between the Righteous and Demonic Factions?

And so, Susi-wang summoned his officials and asked them everything they knew about the martial sects of Guangxi Province.

One might wonder how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a prince could be ignorant of the ways of Murim that even the lowliest porter knew. However, the truth was that high officials, martial artists, and commoners knew almost nothing about each other.

For example, non-martial artists believed that when they heard the words “Righteous Faction Daoist temple,” it meant monks sitting in lotus position beneath waterfalls every day, walking the path of mysterious and transcendent cultivation.

In reality, even the disciples of the Nine Great Schools often gathered together to play childish pranks, and if someone told a dirty joke, their eyes would sparkle as they perked up their ears.

Those born into martial families or wealthy scholar households knew nothing of the lives of commoners. They couldn’t understand why people would walk around wrapped in oily, smelly rags. Don’t they have any clothes? Why don’t they wash them? They couldn’t comprehend why people ate clumped, half-cooked grains that barely qualified as a meal off the side of the road. If there’s no grain, can’t they just eat meat? They had no idea where gold and silver even came from, so they simply assumed commoners lived by digging up dirt from the mountains and fields like animals.

And those who were not officials believed officials did absolutely nothing. They thought officials simply sat in their seats accepting bribes, occasionally receiving luxurious entertainment at brothels while groping courtesans’ breasts.

Of course, that part was actually true.

Therefore, the officials’ evaluation of the martial world was as follows:

“Those called the Righteous Faction are arrogant beasts who don’t know how to bow their stiff necks. They won’t even lower their heads before officials who serve the nation.”

“They even interfere with the work of the government.”

“They are utterly lawless, daring to pass judgment in place of the law and capture and kill people ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as they please, despite being mere commoners.”

“They are despicable wretches who dare to plunder the nation’s taxes.”

The evaluation of the Righteous Faction sects was extremely harsh.

In comparison?

“Although they are called the Demonic Faction, aren’t they the ones who actually understand what loyalty is?”

“Though they are martial artists, when they see an official they rush out barefoot to show proper etiquette and cooperatively assist with the nation’s affairs.”

“They even collect taxes on behalf of the officials. In provinces where a major Demonic Faction has established itself, the officials’ workload becomes much lighter. They are truly admirable people.”

Surprisingly, the evaluation of the Demonic Faction sects was quite high.

Therefore, Susi-wang thought:

Then wouldn’t it be better to use the Demonic Faction bastards? They listen well, they have loyalty. If they have a history of helping with government work, couldn’t we treat them as quasi-officials with practical experience?

The one who pulled Susi-wang out of this quagmire was, unexpectedly, the puppet-like Guangxi Provincial Administrative Commissioner.

“Please use the Righteous Faction martial artists.”

“Why?”

“The Demonic Faction bastards shower the officials with bribes, so of course their evaluation is good. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. The fact that they scatter bribes means they are trying to hide their dirty sides. There is no reason for Your Highness to personally wield a blade already stained with filth.”

It was the sincere advice of the Administrative Commissioner, who had been living a very comfortable life by pushing all his work onto the prince and simply riding on his coattails. Of course, that comfortable life had not been free either. As payment, he had become a traitor. Therefore, his words carried a truly heartfelt sincerity.

“Yes. You are right. Even the ancient sages said that good medicine is bitter to the tongue and loyal ministers are prickly to the ear. It is fortunate that I have at least one loyal subject by my side.”

“This subject is overwhelmed with gratitude.”

The Administrative Commissioner bowed deeply. Of course, it wasn’t out of burning loyalty. Having already become a traitor, he had seized the critical moment where, even if he were dismissed from his post, he could remain as a loyal subject of the royal palace.

“Now that I think about it, I hear Nanning has been quite noisy lately. I didn’t pay much attention since I heard it was just a fight over territory among martial artists. But if I bestow grace upon them at a time like this, wouldn’t they return with loyalty?”

“I will summon the Inspector and the Military Commander.”