Formation! Cheonmu Squad 3 (5)
The full might of Cheonmu Squad 3 came crashing down in an all-out assault.
Kwarung!
Neung Saegeuk, one of the Ma-gyo's elite masters, staggered under the immense impact, wracked with agony—but the man was truly a monster.
"My God!"
"He endured that?"
Meng Yuon and Peng Jincheon, who had struck as one, gaped in shock, their eyes wide.
Despite his grievous wounds, Neung Saegeuk held on to the bitter end.
"You bastards... I'll make you pay... no matter what!"
And it wasn't just him. The Nine Yin Asura Demon Lord spewed ferocious glares, seething with rage as he desperately fought off our attacks and struggled to purge the Formless Poison Skill I'd inflicted.
But the real terror was this:
Shoooo!
Thick, inky vapors like storm clouds billowed from Neung Saegeuk's entire body. They were the poisons I'd force-fed him, and him expelling them meant he was on the verge of overcoming them entirely.
"This monster!"
We couldn't let up now.
Crunch!
I gritted my teeth and charged. With Great Power Iron Hardening Skill and Divine Transformation Heart Method bolstering me in tandem, nothing could faze me.
-Cold Seal Palm!
Shwaaaa!
I unleashed the frigid Cold Seal Palm with its extreme yin properties, pouring every ounce of my strength into the strike.
-Fighting Cock Angry Fist!
-Half Dragon Knee!
Truth be told, I could feel it too. The poisons I'd fed him were steadily unraveling.
"Cough, cough! Heh heh heh... Once the poison's gone, you lot... will die horribly by my hand."
Neung Saegeuk spat the words one by one, his voice dripping with malice. The sheer ominous aura and ghostly chill made my legs tremble.
"Ma-gyo's fiend!"
"We can't let you live!"
With the flames licking at our feet, we threw everything we had into the fray—nursing every last drop of strength from our mother's milk.
Not just me—Peng Jincheon and Meng Yuon held nothing back either, unleashing their ultimate techniques.
'Less than half a breath remains until the Formless Poison Skill wears off.'
No—just a few seconds now, and it would shatter.
Kwang, kwarung!
Yet Neung Saegeuk embodied the essence of Nine Yin Asura Demon Art, his protective aura unyielding as ever. In that moment, it almost seemed like Great Power Iron Hardening Skill itself.
To think even a peak super first-rate expert like him was this formidable—what must the Entry to Divinity realm be like, the pinnacle claimed by the world's top ten martial artists and Ma-gyo's Ten Elders? The thought was horrifying.
"3!"
Time ticked down, and though Neung Saegeuk took hits and spat blood, he endured. I began counting slowly.
"2!"
Right up to the end, we hammered him relentlessly. Meng Yuon, the weakest among us, was on the verge of collapse, his swift swordplay pushing him to total exhaustion and fainting.
"1!"
Sizzle!
The Nine Yin Asura Demon Lord Neung Saegeuk flashed a triumphant sneer as he called the final second. As his wicked smile deepened, color slowly returned to his hands and body.
It meant the Formless Poison Skill's toxin was lifting, his inner energy returning.
'No! Not like this!'
If this continued, even if I survived, my two friends were in mortal danger. Peng Jincheon might hold out, but Meng Yuon had hit his limit—he couldn't withstand Neung Saegeuk's counterattack.
I sensed the crisis and racked my brain for a way out when—
Whoooosh!
Suddenly, something whistled from behind me, launching a massive projectile.
It was none other than the familiar Flying Dragon Spear.
The Flying Dragon Spear shot forth like an arrow from a giant crossbow, so swift and nimble its trajectory was impossible to track.
-Harmony Great Bow!
Hard to believe, but Instructor Hwang Yi-cheon of the Flying Dragon Spear Hero had barely regained consciousness, risen, and squeezed out his all to hurl the Flying Dragon Spear, unleashing the pinnacle of Harmony Silver Spear Arts.
It was a selfless act, one that anticipated his own backlash—noble beyond words.
Kwajijik!
The surprise strike pierced his guard perfectly, slamming into the center of Neung Saegeuk's chest.
"We won!"
"It's over!"
In that miraculous reversal, we forgot our desperation, raising both hands in premature celebration—
"Urraaaagh!"
But Neung Saegeuk, struck dead-center in the chest, made one final spasm. Already fatally impaled and facing death, he aimed for mutual destruction—to take at least one of us with him.
Thud, thud, thud!
The man was a demon among demons, a superhuman fiend. Even with his chest run through, the Flying Dragon Spear dangling from it, he leaped like a madman toward his target.
His mark? The one who'd thrown the spear—Flying Dragon Spear Hero Instructor Hwang Yi-cheon.
Even in his death throes, he sought revenge, a testament to his vile nature.
But I'd already anticipated it.
'No way a vicious demon like that dies quietly.'
The moment the surprise spear hit, I moved first.
-Illusion Body Flight!
I flashed forward at blinding speed, latching onto the back of Neung Saegeuk, who was set on mutual destruction.
Next, I had to stop him—instinctively, I seized his throat.
Wrapping my arms around his neck like a serpent—
Crack!
I squeezed with all my might!
Neung Saegeuk resisted at first, writhing in torment, but only briefly.
With a gruesome snap from his neck, it twisted unnaturally, and he breathed his last.
Thud!
In death, he looked like a scrawny rural bumpkin, but until that instant, he'd loomed like a colossal fortress.
It was a moment etched in my mind: how terrifying Ma-gyo's absolute warriors truly were.
"Hah, hah, hah."
More than joy at slaying the foe, I heaved ragged breaths, still buzzing from the battle's adrenaline.
"Yesss!"
"We did it, we did it!"
"Big brooo!"
Only when my comrades rushed over, writhing in ecstasy, did reality sink in.
No matter the hows or whys, we'd pulled off a miracle.
Three greenhorns from Cheonmu Academy—not even debuted in the martial world—plus one dying instructor had banded together to take down Neung Saegeuk, Ma-gyo's fearsome Nine Yin Asura Demon Lord.
"Ha! Haha!"
The realization hit late, drawing a chuckle laced with disbelief from me.
This was a miraculous comeback, a legendary giant-slaying greater than David felling Goliath.
"Kids... check his breathing... Demons can play dead and endure to the end."
Hwang Yi-cheon, who'd wrung out his last strength for that ambush, rasped in a near-death whisper.
At his words, I inspected Neung Saegeuk's body closely.
No mere butcher—I, versed in medicine and poison, left no room for tricks.
"He's... definitely dead."
Dead. When the original plot would've seen this wicked Ma-gyo fiend, one of the Ten Elders dreaming of conquering the Central Plains, we'd taken him down.
"My God, my God!"
Even Peng Jincheon, ever the steady one, muttered like a madman.
Stagger!
Meng Yuon, who'd given his all, collapsed backward in total exhaustion.
Great victories demand sacrifice. Instructor Hwang Yi-cheon suffered severe internal injuries; Peng Jincheon and Meng Yuon took minor wounds; I had mere scratches.
A trifling price for slaying a top-tier demon.
"Cheonmu... Squad 3. You're already... fine warriors. Forget the final training—return to the academy..."
Hwang Yi-cheon, who'd received perfect emergency aid only to worsen his internals unleashing that technique, passed out after ordering us back, canceling the trial.
But for once, I disobeyed the instructor.
"The Henan branch is closer than the academy. Let's head there first."
With that, I checked Hwang Yi-cheon's pulse again.
Slump!
He smiled faintly and drifted off—probably into the sweetest of dreams.
"Jincheon, the flag I gave you?"
I turned to my comrades.
Peng Jincheon pulled the blue flag from the grass. Thankfully intact, and Instructor Hwang Yi-cheon's injuries weren't fatal.
"Cheonmu Squad 3."
With Ma-gyo's deadly fiend slain, it was time to resume our mission.
A quick search of Neung Saegeuk's corpse yielded no loot worth taking.
Once sorted, I declared to my squad:
"Onward to the Cheonmu Academy Henan branch!"
I took the flag; Peng Jincheon hoisted Instructor Hwang Yi-cheon; I handled Neung Saegeuk's corpse.
Even exhausted Meng Yuon rallied at "keep going," offering to carry the flag—but I refused.
As squad leader, it was mine to bear, come hell or high water.
'We ran into Nine Yin Asura Demon Lord Neung Saegeuk unexpectedly, but record-breaking potential remains.'
It might've cost us two hours, but we'd still shatter the final training record.
"Let's go."
My soul's transmigration to this world wasn't for nothing. I wouldn't miss a single opportunity, claiming every gain perfectly.
Thus, I couldn't abandon the final training triumph.
And after that dogged push—
"We're here at last!"
I strode into the Henan branch, proudly waving the flag.
Battle-worn and ragged, we shone brighter than ever.
Cheonmu Squad 3 didn't just outpace other squads—we smashed the shortest-time record in Cheonmu Academy history, across all past trainees.
And that wasn't all.
"Wh-what happened to Instructor Hwang?"
No sooner had we arrived than Dan Ri-cheong and Baek Ho Jun took him in horror.
To their question, I dumped Neung Saegeuk's wretched corpse on the floor.
"This... bastard's handiwork!"
Meng Yuon, speaking for our weary group, recounted it all: Instructor Hwang Yi-cheon's unlucky clash with the Ma-gyo fiend in Henan's wild mountains just before completing the trial; our trio charging in, staking our lives to save him; and the miracle of barely felling him.
"Wh-what?"
"Is that for real?"
Even Dan Ri-cheong and Baek Ho Jun, who knew us well, shook their heads in disbelief.
It sounded like some heroic growth tale from a novel—utterly implausible. Plus, Nine Yin Asura Demon Lord Neung Saegeuk ranked top 20 in Ma-gyo strength; they dismissed it as fiction.
"Look at the corpse."
Conveniently, I had proof: Neung Saegeuk's body itself.
Bearing Flying Dragon Spear marks, scars of our fierce battle—and most damningly—
"Gasp! Oh God! Academy Head! This guy's really the Nine Yin Asura Demon Lord!"
Dan Ri-cheong, the Linked Wind Silver Sword, spotted the wooden nameplate at Neung Saegeuk's waist and cried out in shock.
Ma-gyo's sacred relic, carved from black sandalwood—the irrefutable proof of the Nine Yin Division Leader.
"In Cheonmu Academy history... nothing like this has happened before, nor will it again. Cheon Myeong—no, Cheonmu Squad 3."
Baek Ho Jun staggered toward us, reeling.
"You've achieved a feat even the Martial Alliance couldn't dream of!"