Chapter 122: Retaliation-2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 122: Retaliation-2
'A power stronger than the alliance of the Orthodox Faction? Could it be the Demonic Cult?'
Hearing Sun-woo’s words, Lee Ye-seol was seized by a sudden, chilling thought.
In the Murim, who else but the Demonic Cult would not fear the united front of the Orthodox Faction?
"Who... who are you people?" Lee Ye-seol asked, her voice thick with suspicion.
"Why? Scared now that you’ve caused trouble?"
"Hmph. No matter who you are, she’s likely just some lowly, common wench."
Lee Ye-seol snorted as she continued. She knew the identities of every child from prestigious families and every disciple of the great sects by heart. Yet, in her vast mental library, there was absolutely no information regarding that woman.
What did that imply? It wasn't even worth thinking about—it was proof that the woman was utterly insignificant.
"Watch your mouth. Yorang is not a lowly woman."
"Hmph. As if someone like her could be anything special."
A mocking sneer played on her lips.
Whirrr!
Lee Ye-seol’s Dragon Tail Soft Sword lashed out, surging toward Sun-woo’s heart.
Swoosh!
Thud!
Sun-woo caught her soft sword once again.
"It’s useless."
Having snatched the blade, Sun-woo spoke to her in a calm, flat tone. Catching her sword wasn't difficult at all. Her trajectory was simply too predictable.
If a sword path is so simple that it can be caught in an instant, one should incorporate variations and erratic movements. Instead, she just kept thrusting blindly, exactly as she had before.
'How did someone with this level of skill turn Yorang into a half-corpse?' Sun-woo wondered.
No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't see how someone of this caliber could have pushed Yorang to such an extent.
It was then.
"Hm?"
The soft sword he had caught suddenly extended, lunging toward Sun-woo’s heart.
"What!?"
Clang!
Startled, Sun-woo reflexively slammed the soft sword down onto the floor. The extending blade was driven straight into the ground by Sun-woo’s hand.
"You have good instincts," Lee Ye-seol said with a sneer, her cheeks still swollen.
The man had sharp reflexes. To think he would notice the hidden trick of the Dragon Tail Soft Sword. She sent her will into the weapon.
Shirrrrk!
The extended length of the Dragon Tail Soft Sword began to retract. Before long, it had returned to the length of a standard sword.
Sun-woo was genuinely surprised. What kind of sorcery was this? A sword that could expand and contract at will—its elasticity and flexibility were beyond belief.
"It’s too early to be surprised."
Whirrr!
Finishing her sentence, she swung the soft sword at Sun-woo again. The blade lengthened once more, surging toward him.
"You’re carrying a strange toy," Sun-woo muttered as he watched the incoming blade.
A soft sword was typically a weapon that used its flexible elasticity to cut opponents with erratic movements. It was not supposed to be a weapon that changed its physical length at will. He doubted such technology even existed in the modern world.
Whirrr!
The soft sword surged again, this time aiming for his torso.
Clang!
Sun-woo infused his hand with internal energy and flicked away the blade targeting his body.
Swoosh!
The deflected sword immediately changed direction and lunged at Sun-woo again.
Clang!
Sun-woo, already familiar with the bizarre movements of the soft sword, did not panic. He reached out and deflected the lunging blade once more.
Swoosh!
Despite being parried several times, the soft sword did not lose its momentum and continued its assault.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The soft sword pressed Sun-woo as if it were a living creature.
'How tedious.'
It was exactly that—tedious. Normally, a soft sword would lose its force the moment it was deflected. But Lee Ye-seol’s sword, through some strange trickery, relentlessly came at him without fail. It was annoying.
Sun-woo began to circulate his Yin-Yang Harmony Divine Art. Concentrating his internal energy, he manifested his Protective Qi.
Wooooong!
He decided there was no need to deflect every single strike. A thick, multi-layered Qi Barrier formed around Sun-woo’s body.
Clang!
The unpredictable soft sword lunging at Sun-woo was repelled the moment it touched his Qi Barrier.
Clang!
Clang!
It lunged at him repeatedly, but it seemed piercing the Qi Barrier was impossible. It couldn't even leave a scratch on him.
"Pro... Protective Qi?!"
Lee Ye-seol gasped in shock. She had already realized the man’s martial arts were strong, but Protective Qi?! That was a feat only possible for those who had reached the complete Super-Peak Realm.
It made no sense. At most, the man looked to be in his Age of Thirty. How could someone so young reach the sublime heights of the Super-Peak Realm?
She herself was a genius who had reached the Upper Stage of the Peak Realm in her early twenties, but the Super-Peak Realm was several times more difficult to attain. Because she was at the Upper Stage of the Peak Realm, she understood better than anyone how high the wall to the Super-Peak Realm truly was.
Looking up from the Peak Realm, the Super-Peak Realm was transcendent. It might look close, but in reality, it was as high as a mountain peak in the clouds.
She couldn't help but be stunned. A man who didn't even look thirty had reached the Super-Peak Realm. No matter how much the Dragon Tail Soft Sword was a treasure capable of turning the tide of battle, that only applied when the gap in power was within a certain range.
Her confident face began to turn pale. She realized she could not overcome the difference in their realms.
"You’ve been acting this arrogant based on such pathetic martial arts?"
Sun-woo, who had closed the distance in an instant, stared directly into her eyes.
"Eeeek!"
Grab!
She tried to swing her sword at him again, but her wrist was already caught.
Slap!
Sun-woo whipped his hand across her cheek.
"Urgh!"
Her head snapped to the side from the force of the blow. She was nearly sent flying by the impact. Sun-woo released her wrist and grabbed her by the hair instead. It was easier to hit her if he held her steady.
Slap!
"Agh!"
Sun-woo slapped the other cheek. Lee Ye-seol let out a shrill scream of pain.
Slap!
"Aaagh!"
Slap!
"St... stop!"
Slap!
"Ple... please!"
It hurt. It hurt so incredibly much. Had she ever been hit like this in her entire life? Absolutely not.
Her father was the Absolute Martial God Lee Jae-won, a man revered by everyone in the Murim, and her mother was Joo So-yang, famous as the Best Among Women. When had she ever been treated this way?
She felt a surge of sorrow. What was so wrong about treating a lowly person like a lowly person that she had to endure this?
Grit.
She clenched her teeth and endured Sun-woo’s violence. she didn't want to beg pathetically for her life.
Not long after Sun-woo began slapping her, Lee Ye-seol’s face was covered in blood. Her cheeks were swollen like overripe fruit, and blood flowed freely from her split skin. For a woman, it was a hideous injury she wouldn't even want to imagine.
'Stubborn bitch.'
Sun-woo clicked his tongue. Despite the brutal beating, she hadn't uttered a single word of apology, let alone a plea for mercy.
After checking her condition, Sun-woo pulled back his hand. He wanted to kill her, but killing her here would make the situation impossible to clean up. He had to stop at corporal punishment—though it was quite excessive for a mere "punishment."
Sun-woo withdrew his hand, but she continued to glare at him with eyes full of venomous hatred.
"What are you staring at?"
"You... you’ll regret this..."
"As if."
Sun-woo let go of her hair.
Thud.
As soon as he released her, Lee Ye-seol collapsed onto the ground. Her legs had long since lost their strength.
Sun-woo looked up at the second floor. The Rising Stars of the Dragon and Phoenix were huddled together, looking down at Sun-woo and Lee Ye-seol.
"Hey."
Flinch.
At Sun-woo’s call, the Rising Stars involuntarily trembled.
"Come down."
Sun-woo clenched his fist. Their faces turned ashen as they heard his command.
One by one, the Rising Stars began to descend to the first floor. Having witnessed Sun-woo’s martial prowess from above, they had seen with their own eyes just how powerful he was.
Hwa Un-san, Hwangbo Ak, Eon Do-tae, and Priest Cheongmyeong had been defeated in an instant. They were among the top experts of the Rising Stars. Yet, they had been taken down before they could even mount a proper defense.
The same went for Lee Ye-seol. Having reached the Upper Stage of the Peak Realm, she was the strongest among the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering. Even with a treasure like the Dragon Tail Soft Sword, she hadn't been able to resist once before being beaten until her face was a bloody mess.
He was someone so strong that the younger generation simply couldn't handle him. Fear made them shudder.
Though they were called the "Rising Stars of the Dragon and Phoenix," they were merely chicks raised within a safe fence. When had they ever been subjected to the murderous aura emitted by a Super-Peak expert?
They were terrified. And because they were terrified, they had no choice but to obediently come down to the first floor as he ordered.
Sun-woo slowly scanned their faces. He had acted on his emotions because he was furious, but the aftermath was indeed a problem. If he killed them all, he would be branded a Public Enemy of the Murim, and the Orthodox Faction’s pursuit squads would be after him. And if someone like Lee Jae-won appeared, he would surely die.
On the other hand, even if he just gave them a light beating and sent them away, they would surely harbor a grudge and seek revenge. Furthermore, while he could change his appearance using the Zhu-Rong Art, the fact that Yorang’s face was now known was a problem. She was already rumored to be the Sixth Lady of the Tang Clan. Hiding her would be impossible.
No matter which way he looked at it, there was going to be trouble.
When Lee Ye-seol was threatening him, he had acted recklessly, thinking he was already a Public Enemy and marked by Lee Jae-won anyway. But now that his anger had cooled slightly and he thought about it, his current face wasn't Jang Sam’s. Moreover, hadn't he established a safe haven within the Tang Clan?
He had no desire to ruin everything he had built so far because of these worthless brats. Besides, White Flower Peak was just around the corner. He didn't want to waste time brawling with Orthodox pursuit squads. Even if he had reached the Transcendent Realm, it would be impossible to safely deliver the Poison Essence while constantly looking over his shoulder for Yorang’s sake.
He had to fix this. This situation was a total mess.
"Hey."
Sun-woo pointed at a woman in the very back. The woman looked around, seemingly unaware he was pointing at her.
"You, the one looking around."
"M-me?"
Zhuge Jia of the Zhuge Clan, the one Sun-woo pointed out, replied with a tearful face. Why was he pointing at her out of nowhere? Was he still not satisfied after turning Lee Ye-seol into pulp? If he wanted to vent his anger, he should have picked someone like that pig-like Paeng Do-ji, not her.
Her heart sank. This man didn't seem like the type to go easy on someone just because they were a woman. She was terrified.
"Yeah, you. Explain what happened here."
"...What... exactly?" she replied in a trembling voice.
He had come in and wrecked everything himself, so what was there to explain?
"Why was Yorang getting beaten by that bitch?"
Sun-woo pointed at the crumpled Lee Ye-seol. To resolve the situation, he first needed to know the cause. His next move would depend on her words.
"Ah."
Zhuge Jia let out a small gasp of realization. It seemed the man wanted to hear the facts of the case. She thought carefully. How should she speak so that this man wouldn't harm them? Should she emphasize the faults of those already lying on the ground? Or should she highlight the faults of the woman named Yorang, who was currently sleeping like the dead?
She was torn.
"Don't try to be clever. Just tell me exactly what you saw. If I find out later that you lied, I’ll turn you into a mess just like her."
Sun-woo growled as he watched Zhuge Jia try to think. If subjective bias entered the story and ruined the objectivity, the inquiry would be pointless.
"I... I understand."
Zhuge Jia flinched at Sun-woo’s threat and began to speak. She had a strong feeling that if she lied or spoke partially here, she wouldn't escape with her life.
"Well, we are the Rising Stars of the Orthodox Faction, members of a group called the Dragon and Phoenix Gathering. Today, we held a celebration in Gyunhyeon, right below Mount Wudang, to celebrate the birthday of Priest Cheongmyeong of the Wudang Sect..."
Once she started, Zhuge Jia began to explain the situation fluently.
"And Young Master Hwangbo and Young Master Hwa, who were smitten by her beauty..."
She continued, adding a bit of her own perspective on the situation.
"And Lady Lee, who couldn't stand it anymore..."
Sun-woo listened quietly, taking in everything she said.
"...And that’s how it happened."
By the time she finished her explanation, Sun-woo’s expression had turned incredibly grim.
At first, he had thought Yorang might have committed some great discourtesy. Since she had only recently become human, she might have done something that humans would find rude.
But after hearing Zhuge Jia’s story, he realized the truth.
The reason the situation had escalated this far, and the reason Yorang was lying there covered in blood, was entirely due to an accident caused by his own complacency.