Three Hundred Paces to the Summit
The Furious Golden Ape King swung its fist and smashed it into Qi Gongtian's skull. A blow that seemed to weigh tens of thousands of pounds burst his head like a ripe melon. In an instant, chunks of white and crimson sprayed in every direction and painted the stone steps.
Its rage still unsated, the ape king seized Qi Gongtian's corpse, tore it in two with a wet crack, and hurled the pieces into the crowd.
"My son!"
Gi Yeo-hae writhed as if something vital were being ripped out of him. Of his only two sons, one had already been ruined by Yeop Pung and left a cripple. The other — the last hope of the clan's future — had just been slaughtered by a beast.
"Khah!"
Choking on fury and grief, Gi Yeo-hae coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed, unconscious.
"You filthy beasts!"
Naeng Chu, the strongest fighter on the field, clenched his teeth at the slaughter unfolding before him. He shook off the four apes clinging to his body and charged the blood-soaked ape king.
"Kill them all!"
The Ascent Battle, meant to conquer the summit, had degenerated into a blood-soaked war between man and beast.
Under the desperate assault of Naeng Chu and the other masters, the Furious Golden Apes — savage lords of the Yongneung Mountain Range — began to fall one by one. The apes could scale cliffs with unmatched agility, but they could not escape the attacks of Naeng Chu's party, who pursued them aboard flying vessels.
At last Naeng Chu severed the savage ape king's head and let it drop to the ground, and the horrific battle came to an end.
The aftermath, however, was devastating. Qi Gongtian, eldest son of the Gi Clan, had died so thoroughly that even his corpse was no longer intact.
The Cheonbong Legion had suffered grievously as well. Of their twenty participants, five were dead and ten critically wounded. Only the five who had reached the Six Meridian realm escaped with light injuries.
Sa Cheonseong, in particular, stunned everyone by taking several of the ape king's terrifying punches without going down.
"Damn those apes!"
Naeng Chu hurled the ape king's corpse to the ground, his eyes burning with rage.
"Furious Golden Apes have never once appeared on Taibai Peak. A beast uprising in the Yongneung Mountain Range hasn't happened in decades. This hunt has been nothing but strange from the start! One disaster after another!"
His face had gone black as charcoal. An incident of this magnitude meant he would inevitably be summoned to the Military Supply Bureau and raked over the coals.
But how had any of this happened? The Furious Golden Apes, especially, had behaved like they'd lost their minds. Why would they suddenly attack the Cheonbong Legion when they had been living just fine? It was practically suicide.
No one could explain it. Even Maeng Chang-haeng, watching from a distance, could only vaguely suspect that Yeop Pung was involved. He, too, had no idea how the boy could have orchestrated something like this.
Had Yeop Pung really planned a trap this terrifying?
"Enough... The hunt must go on."
Naeng Chu sorted through the wreckage of the situation and let out a long sigh.
Ouyang Cheong and Gongsun Hong, who had sent the unconscious Gi Yeo-hae down the mountain on a stretcher, offered bitter smiles.
"Commander, given how things stand, the rankings are all but decided. As you can see, Sa Cheonseong will take first, and the other four will fill out the top five. As for the rest..."
Both men were in a somber mood. There was nothing more to say about the rest. Everyone else was either dead or being treated at the foot of the mountain. This year's hunt had become a complete disaster.
"No."
Naeng Chu waved a hand.
"Regardless of what happened, every participant in the hunt must reach the summit. That is the rule."
Soldiers prized discipline and principle above all else. Of course, Naeng Chu had another reason for saying so. He had already decided the outcome in his heart. It was only a matter of time before Sa Cheonseong's party reached the peak.
Fortunately, first through third place would claim the precious rewards offered by the Military Supply Bureau and the three great clans. The Bureau would be satisfied with that, at least.
"Go, Cheonseong!"
Naeng Chu clapped Sa Cheonseong on the shoulder.
Sa Cheonseong nodded, his expression cold, as if he had already recovered his composure. He set off toward the summit with the remaining four.
"The rest of you, follow behind."
At Naeng Chu's order, no one dared to push ahead. They quietly fell in behind Sa Cheonseong's group.
Damn it. After a disaster this big, if anything happens to that monster Sa Cheonseong, the Governor won't let me live it down.
A procession of several dozen masters climbed in silence. No one felt like talking anymore.
About an hour passed.
The mountain path grew steeper, the stone steps tilting toward the vertical. As the stairs gave way to a stone ladder, the climb entered its final stretch.
"We're almost there!"
Naeng Chu exhaled in relief from the rear, watching Sa Cheonseong's party bound up the stone ladder ahead. At last he could let the tension drain from his shoulders.
"Congratulations, Commander!"
Ouyang Cheong and Gongsun Hong sidled up with practiced smiles.
"The Military Supply Bureau has swept first through fifth place this year — even better than last time!"
Naeng Chu offered a bitter smile at their shameless flattery.
As Ouyang Cheong piled on the compliments, he thought of his own son, who had been pinned down at the mountain's base by more than fifty Cheonun Sect disciples. A flicker of resentment crossed his small eyes.
Damn it. If those Cheonun Sect bastards hadn't swarmed us with sheer numbers, my boy would have placed in the top ranks!
"Well now..."
Still simmering, Ouyang Cheong turned a mocking look on Maeng Chang-haeng, Han Un, and the rest of their party, who had been standing in silence.
"Cheonun Sect put so much effort into those tactics down below. I can't wait to see how that works out for you."
"Hmph."
The cold-natured Gongsun Hong sneered in agreement. His own child was still cooling his heels at the foot of the mountain, so he was in no mood to be generous.
"What result could there possibly be? That Yeop Pung fellow hasn't even shown his shadow. He's probably been torn apart by Furious Golden Apes and thrown off the mountain!"
It sounded plausible enough.
Snickers rippled through the crowd. Of the several dozen masters present, only seven belonged to Cheonun Sect. Gongsun Hong, Ouyang Cheong, and the others took one look at the darkening faces of Maeng Chang-haeng's party and felt their own moods lift.
Han Un and his companions, however, could not hide their anxiety.
"Peak Master."
Han Un, who had been worrying over Yeop Pung, approached Maeng Chang-haeng carefully.
"Yeop Pung... he'll be all right, won't he?"
"Don't ask."
Maeng Chang-haeng narrowed his eyes, staring toward the distant end of the climbing path. Sa Cheonseong was so far ahead he was nearly at the summit — and there was no sign of Yeop Pung anywhere.
Had something really happened to that brat?
And then it happened. A white shadow flashed like lightning across the cliff face east of the stone steps.
What was that?
Everyone stared, bewildered, at the white blur.
To their astonishment, the figure was cutting diagonally across the cliff on the far side of the stairs. With only a few tremendous leaps, the white shadow vaulted back onto the stone steps — and in the next instant it had overtaken Sa Cheonseong's party and pulled ahead.
Good heavens. Who is that?
Naeng Chu's heart, which had only just settled, began to hammer wildly again.
What kind of bolt from the blue is this?
"It's Yeop Pung!"
Elder Han Un was the first to cry out, his voice ringing with joy.
"There's no mistake! That's a Cheonun Sect disciple's robe!"
The other five elders were so excited their voices cracked.
What? That's Yeop Pung?
Ouyang Cheong and Gongsun Hong felt their faces burn as if they'd been slapped. Only moments ago they had been mocking Yeop Pung — and now the boy had appeared out of nowhere, sprinting as if first place were already his.
How is this possible?
No one could understand why Yeop Pung had emerged from the opposite face of the mountain. But there was no time to think.
Yeop Pung had less than a kilometer left to the summit. Barring some unforeseen twist, the championship of this hunt would be his.
"Cheonseong! There's someone above you!"
Naeng Chu roared at once, his voice carrying clearly even to Sa Cheonseong far ahead.
Impossible!
Sa Cheonseong wrenched his head back at a ninety-degree angle and looked up. At last he spotted the white speck above him.
This can't be!
His pupils shook violently.
A terrifying surge of Profound Qi erupted from Sa Cheonseong's body, flooding every meridian as if a dam had burst inside him.
Boom!
The stone step beneath Sa Cheonseong's feet exploded. His body shot skyward like an arrow loosed from a bow, a speed that seemed to shatter the limits of the Six Meridian realm.
"No!"
Watching from afar, Maeng Chang-haeng was seized by a terrible premonition.
That little monster is already halfway to the Spiritual Sea realm. At that speed... Yeop Pung is in danger!
"Kid, hang on! Someone's coming up behind you!"
With a whistle of wind, Maeng Chang-haeng leapt onto his flying sword and streaked toward Yeop Pung, bellowing a warning that was also a cheer.
"Yeop Pung, go!"
Han Un and the five elders surged forward in an instant, racing up the stone steps, pouring every last ounce of strength into their voices. They wanted nothing more than to send their remaining power into Yeop Pung and fuel his climb.
"Cheonseong, go!"
Naeng Chu was no more willing to yield. He screamed himself hoarse as he flew toward Sa Cheonseong on his vessel, throwing his support behind the Military Supply Bureau's last hope.
Everyone else was struck speechless.
No one had imagined that a hunt whose outcome had seemed already decided would twist into a contest this desperate, this fierce.
Two white shadows raced up the cliff face like streaks of light. But Sa Cheonseong was visibly faster. The gap between them was closing so quickly the naked eye could track it.
"Kid! Come on — faster, get up there!"
Maeng Chang-haeng had already drawn alongside Yeop Pung and could see him clearly now — teeth clenched, hauling himself up the stairs. Both of the boy's hands, wreathed in lightning, were so swollen they had lost all recognizable shape. Blood burst from all ten fingers, and every time he drove his strength into the stone, a vivid, bloody handprint remained behind.
But Yeop Pung did not seem to hear Maeng Chang-haeng at all. He clenched his hands with mechanical precision, launched his body upward, seized the next step, and bit down harder. Again. And again.
Behind them, Naeng Chu flew to Sa Cheonseong's side just as Maeng Chang-haeng had done, shouting encouragement.
"Cheonseong, just a little farther! You're about to catch him — go!"
A roar tore from Sa Cheonseong's throat. A terrifying white radiance filled his eyes. The Profound Qi throughout his body surged like a bursting dam, and his speed jumped once more. He felt as if he could overtake Yeop Pung at any moment.
"Go, Yeop Pung!"
By now the Cheonun disciples already at the summit had noticed the commotion and came pouring forward. They screamed themselves raw, trying to pour every scrap of their strength into Yeop Pung.
"Sa Cheonseong, go!"
The people of the Military Supply Bureau answered with a roar that seemed ready to bring down the sky.
In that moment, everyone forgot everything else. They could barely breathe. They shouted, trying to pour the tension out of their bodies, and their passion felt hot enough to set all of frozen Taibai Peak ablaze.
They screamed until their throats tore and waved their arms wildly. Their eyes held nothing but those two distant white shadows. They wanted to know only one thing: who would reach the summit first.
Amid the frenzied cheering, Yeop Pung had barely a hundred and eighty meters left to the peak.
And on the stone steps a mere ninety meters behind him, Sa Cheonseong's cold eyes burned with killing intent.