Chapter 585: To Kaifeng (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 585: To Kaifeng (4)
Hubei and Henan provinces were, without question, the territory of the Orthodox Faction.
To the north sat the Murim Alliance in Kaifeng; to the south were the Wudang Sect and the Jegal Family; and to the east was the Namgung Family of Hefei.
To openly engage in banditry in such a place?
One wouldn't find much profit; instead, they would merely become sacrifices for the rising stars of the Orthodox Faction to build their reputations.
No matter how uneducated and boorish bandits might be, they weren't entirely devoid of common sense.
Furthermore, experts of the Orthodox Faction were currently flocking to Kaifeng for the Grand Martial Arts Tournament.
Engaging in banditry at a time like this was no different from shouting to the world that you had a death wish.
In that sense, the Red Mountain Stronghold, nestled here in Mount Mukam, was a rather peculiar bunch.
Of course, the terrain was rugged and the area sparsely populated, so they didn't have to worry about being purged by the Orthodox Faction.
But could one even secure a decent meal by being a bandit in such a remote wilderness?
The answer was "no.”
Originally, until a few years ago, this place was a small clan village formed by people hiding to escape military service and taxes.
However, a notorious band of horse bandits called the Blood Wolf Band, who were being pursued by the authorities, raided the village, slaughtered the inhabitants, and settled down under the name of the Red Mountain Stronghold.
For them, banditry was merely a side income; their true goal was for the leader and the executives to recover from their internal injuries.
In that regard, Mount Mukam was a perfect hiding place.
The terrain was so treacherous that they didn't have to worry about being discovered by the authorities, and because the mountain was teeming with wild beasts, even herb gatherers avoided it, allowing spirit herbs to grow wild in various places.
Thanks to this, most of the Blood Wolf Band had not only recovered from their internal injuries but were also in a position to seek realm advancement.
The leader, "Death Soul Wolf" No Jeok-pung, was an expert who had reached the mature stage of the Transcendent Realm, and the vice-leader was also in the Transcendent Realm.
That wasn't all.
There were also many executives who had reached the Peak Realm.
They were planning to take advantage of the fact that the core strength of the Orthodox Faction was concentrated in Kaifeng for the tournament to head down to Hunan and join the Evil Alliance.
With this much power, it was possible for them to establish a new sect and live in luxury.
After all, did they roam around on horseback and plunder because they enjoyed being horse bandits?
Of course, there were those who had developed a taste for it, but as long as one was born human, they eventually desired to settle down, start a family, and lead a stable life.
Above all, they couldn't live as horse bandits forever.
To spend a comfortable retirement in a large manor, it was time to settle down.
Just as they were one day away from putting their grand plan into motion.
A subordinate who had been planted in a horse stable to monitor the movements of the authorities and the Murim—and to find "guests" to bring to the stronghold—returned after a long time with people in tow.
The Blood Wolf Band had refrained from banditry as much as possible to avoid attracting the attention of the authorities, but they were leaving Hubei tomorrow anyway.
Thus, the leader, No Jeok-pung, judged that there would be no problem.
Besides, the horse and carriage looked expensive at a glance, and the attire of the man and woman who stepped out was far from ordinary.
They were clearly children of prestigious families who had come from another province to participate in the tournament.
They were the perfect prey for one last score.
I'll demand a ransom for the man and pass the woman around among the men.
No Jeok-pung wore a fishy smile as he looked at Yeo-hwa, who was wearing a veil.
Standing beside her, Kang Hyun-woo let out a small sigh and stepped in front of Yeo-hwa.
“...Forty-seven in total? What are they, cockroaches? Why are there so many? Plus, twenty at the First-rate Realm, nine in the Peak Realm, and two in the Transcendent Realm...”
“Hey, what are you muttering about? Didn't you hear the Great One? Strip and get on your kne—”
Thwack!!
At that moment, the head of the Blood Wolf member who had been disguised as the coachman flew off.
“Bandit bastard has no tact. Can't you see I'm thinking?”
Thud—
The body, which had lost its head in an instant, collapsed helplessly, gushing blood.
The other Blood Wolf members just stood there blankly at the event that had occurred in the blink of an eye.
But No Jeok-pung was different.
W-What...?!!!
It had been six months since he had reached the mature stage of the Transcendent Realm.
He felt he had sufficiently consolidated his enlightenment and believed he could even aim for the next realm, yet he hadn't been able to react at all until his subordinate's head was gone.
If it had been him standing there, would he have been able to block it?
Shiver—
No, nine times out of ten, he would have died without even being able to react.
Only then did No Jeok-pung snap to his senses.
At the same time, he realized that the beautiful young master before him was not a rising star of the Orthodox Faction, but a rejuvenated old master.
“Everyone, get your heads on the ground!!!!!!”
“Y-Yes? Leader, what do you mean...”
Slam!
No Jeok-pung slammed the head of the questioning subordinate into the ground and immediately prostrated himself in a full kowtow.
Seeing their leader, who wouldn't even bow before the government army, slam his head down without hesitation, the Blood Wolf members finally realized the gravity of the situation.
Fuck, we messed with the wrong person.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!!
The dull sound of foreheads hitting the ground echoed in succession from all around.
“Please forgive this junior who failed to recognize a Senior Master and committed a grave error!!!”
“"Please forgive us!!!"”
At the bizarre sight of forty-seven—no, forty-six—grown men prostrating themselves, Kang Hyun-woo seemed to deliberate for a moment before slowly nodding his head.
“Ah...!!”
No Jeok-pung let out a sigh of relief.
Grateful that he could keep his life even after offending an absolute expert, he resolved to become a "good" member of the Evil Faction from now on.
However, there was no such thing as a "good" member of the Evil Faction, and Kang Hyun-woo had no intention of letting these useless bandits live.
“Yeo-hwa, could you step back about a hundred paces?”
“Take your time. I shall rest for a moment as well.”
Swish!
In that instant, Yeo-hwa's shadow vanished.
It was the Moon Spirit Divine Step, known even within the Heavenly Demonic Cult as a peerless movement technique.
Kiiiiii—!!
Soon after, an ominous Heaven-Shattering Demonic Energy bloomed over Kang Hyun-woo's hand.
When the Ominous Star that descended upon the human world finally took shape, it was called Hand Aura.
“Stop the theatrics and get up and fight. I'm a pretty good judge of physiognomy, and I can tell that not a single one of you is walking out of here alive today.”
“...Dammit!!! We were supposed to leave this wretched mountain tomorrow, and we had to run into a blood-crazed slaughtering demon of all people!!! Deploy the Blood Wolf Encirclement Formation!!!”
“"Haat!!!"”
Boom—
The Blood Wolf members, who had quickly scrambled to their feet, stomped the ground and instantly surrounded Kang Hyun-woo.
Anyone else would have been shocked that a mere band of horse bandits had mastered a combined attack formation.
But Kang Hyun-woo didn't care.
For one, he lacked some of the common sense that a martial artist should naturally possess, and it was the same principle as a person feeling disgust at a swarm of bugs but not feeling threatened by them.
Unless they were poisonous bugs, that is.
“Funny bastards. Who are you calling a slaughtering demon?”
“Attack!!!!!!”
At No Jeok-pung's desperate cry, the Blood Wolf members lunged at Kang Hyun-woo all at once.
To an outsider, it might have looked like a simple gang beating rather than a combined attack formation, but the act of multiple people attacking simultaneously with blades required a high level of skill.
It wasn't for nothing that hundreds of soldiers died by their own allies' blades on the battlefield.
A single misstep or a strike half a beat late could cost a comrade their life.
In that sense, the Blood Wolf Band's formation was quite refined, as practicing it was the only thing they could do while hiding in the mountains for the past few years.
I thought they weren't ordinary bandits when I saw Transcendent Realm experts mixed in... this might be a bit fun.
Without realizing it, Kang Hyun-woo wore a demonic smile as he drew up the Heaven-Shattering Demonic Energy that was rampaging in his dantian.
Even though it was only at the 1st Stage, he could feel the terrifying demonic energy surging.
At that moment, Kang Hyun-woo took a step.
It was a step on a completely different level from the Blood Wolf members' stomps, like the stride of a Heavenly Demon reigning over all evil—
Heavenly Demonic Divine Art.
Heavenly Demon’s Reigning Step.
BOOM—!!!!!!
A black wave rippled out in all directions.
“"?!!!!"”
With that single step, which contained the power of a demon that twisted the laws of the world, the Blood Wolf members of low cultivation vomited dark red blood and collapsed.
As his internal energy threatened to backflow due to the demonic energy invading his body, No Jeok-pung could not hide his bewilderment.
W-What is this... could it be?!!
He hurriedly suppressed his internal energy and shouted.
“He's a Demonic Human!! Everyone, fall back and focus on expelling the demonic energy!! Vice-leader, follow m—”
“Who said you could?”
Kang Hyun-woo reached out as he pursued the frantically fleeing Blood Wolf members.
Thwack!!
His blackened palm pierced through a bandit's heart.
Heavenly Demonic Blood Hand.
True to its name, Kang Hyun-woo's hand was stained crimson.
If the Vajra Divine Monk had seen this, he would have cracked Hyun-woo's head with his wooden fish.
The sight of a Peak Realm martial artist being brutally murdered without even putting up a decent resistance filled the faces of the Blood Wolf members with terror.
Regardless, Kang Hyun-woo dashed toward his next victim.
Thwack!! Squish—!! Boom!!
“You bastard!!!!”
Enraged by the sight of Kang Hyun-woo tearing through his subordinates' muscles, bursting their organs, and blowing their heads off, No Jeok-pung swung his saber along with the vice-leader.
As two Transcendent Realm martial artists lunged at him, relentlessly unleashing Blade Aura, Kang Hyun-woo couldn't simply ignore them.
He reached out toward the weapon of a fallen bandit, and a large broadsword flew into his hand.
“K-Kinetic Retrieval?!!”
“Could he have been a master of the Profound Realm?!!”
Thinking they were a bunch with great reactions, Kang Hyun-woo swung the broadsword.
Heavenly Demonic Tyrant Dragon Blade.
Tyrant Dragon Emerges from the Sea.
KABOOM!!!
The three sabers collided, and a massive roar echoed throughout the mountain.
Surprisingly, it was No Jeok-pung and the vice-leader who were pushed back.
For a moment, they had mistaken Kang Hyun-woo for a master of the Profound Realm, but if he truly were, his blade would have been flying through the air on its own to perform techniques, so they were certain he wasn't.
That meant he was in the Flower Realm, but even so, how could two Transcendent Realm experts be pushed back after swinging their blades with every ounce of their strength?
In that moment, the two exchanged glances.
...Let's run. Fuck, we can't win this.
Nod.
Fighting here to maintain loyalty would result in nothing but a dog's death.
It was a waste of the subordinates they had raised, but two Transcendent Realm experts would be treated well even in the Evil Alliance.
“You have the leisure to think of other things? I guess you can handle this.”
“"?!!!"”
Using the Heavenly Demon’s Reigning Step to close the distance in an instant, Kang Hyun-woo's broadsword danced with incredible speed and momentum.
Heavenly Demonic Tyrant Dragon Blade.
Blood Dragon’s Dance.
“Aaaargh!!!”
“Gah?!!”
The two hurriedly drew up their internal energy to perform their techniques, but they couldn't block Kang Hyun-woo's strike, which possessed far more demonic energy than their combined internal energy.
However, there was a small gain.
Because he had infused too much demonic energy, the broadsword couldn't withstand it and shattered into pieces.
Feeling a glimmer of hope at that sight, No Jeok-pung threw himself forward, prepared for a mutual destruction.
But—
“Do I look like a mere swordsman to you?”
“...Ah.”
Kang Hyun-woo sneered at No Jeok-pung and thrust his hand out.
The fingertips that touched the opponent's abdomen rotated, detonating an inch-force strike.
Heavenly Demonic Crushing Strike.
KABOOM!!!!!
No Jeok-pung's upper body was blown away.
“L-Leader!!!”
The vice-leader gripped his saber in a rage.
But Kang Hyun-woo's fist reached him faster than he could swing his blade.
“This isn't the Marine Corps; isn't that call a bit too affectionate?”
“Y-You absolute arch-demon!!!”
“Whatever, you bandit scum.”
The vice-leader hurriedly raised his saber to block the attack, but—
Clang!!
“...This is impossible.”
“Why wouldn't it be possible? Even trash like you lot were living and laughing until just now.”
Heavenly Demonic Blood Claw.
Splatter!!
“Guh?!!”
Kang Hyun-woo's fingertips pierced the vice-leader's heart.
Simultaneously, the Heaven-Shattering Demonic Energy that had invaded his body detonated.
And so, the vice-leader died in excruciating pain as his organs and meridians burst throughout his body, unable to even let out a proper scream.
The faces of the Blood Wolf members, who had witnessed their leader and vice-leader being murdered so helplessly in an instant, were filled with unconcealable horror.
Some dropped their weapons, some collapsed as if the strength had left their legs, and some ended up wetting themselves.
Regardless, Kang Hyun-woo simply brushed the blood off his hands, swept back his disheveled hair, and stared at them.
Beyond his calmly sunken eyes, a dark red ghost-fire flickered.
The end of the Blood Wolf Band, which had once burned dozens of villages and slaughtered thousands of commoners in the Gansu and Ningxia regions, was now right before them.