Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Kunlun Five Killers
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In that instant, the Celestial Wind Young Lord's eyes flicked toward Yong Seol-ran with a faint glint.
It happened so fleetingly that no one noticed except the people involved.
Except for one person.
Heuk Do-san glanced sideways at Yong Seol-ran. Just as he expected, her expression had frozen like ice.
She clearly hadn't anticipated the Celestial Wind Young Lord's appearance.
Bang Dae-gang and the escorts gripped their sword gauntlets even tighter. The veins bulging on the backs of their hands showed just how tense they were.
Neither Yong Seol-ran nor Bang Dae-gang looked strong enough to have killed the Golden Cloth Axe King and stolen his Changbo Blade.
'They stole it.'
Or perhaps tricked him somehow. Either way, the picture was coming together.
First, Yong Seol-ran and Bang Dae-gang snatched the Changbo Blade from the Golden Cloth Axe King and fled to Black Tooth Mountain Pass.
Second, the Golden Cloth Axe King's disciple, the Celestial Wind Young Lord, witnessed it either by chance or while in hiding.
Third, while all eyes in the martial world focused on the one crossing Black Tooth Mountain Pass with the Changbo Blade, Hong Gongtak tracked the Golden Cloth Axe King and captured the Celestial Wind Young Lord. Now he was using him to find whoever had taken the blade.
But why was Hong Gongtak asking about the Changbo Blade's whereabouts right here in front of everyone?
The people gathered in the pavilion meant nothing to him.
That was when Heuk Do-san felt a slight twinge of doubt.
Once upon a time, Hong Gongtak had been the leader of the Soul-Hunting Ten Ghosts, striking fear into the hearts of Demonic Cult members.
Three years ago, he might have been somewhat underrated due to being in the company of Hyeon-gak, Gong Cheon-ak, and Seop Dae-gang, but he too was a master who had reached a considerable realm.
Even so, those ten men couldn't take everyone in the pavilion.
And some were clearly masters even Hong Gongtak couldn't handle. If he had any sense, he would have detected them to some degree.
'He must have something up his sleeve...'
As the Celestial Wind Young Lord's gaze swept over the people in the room one by one, it locked onto five middle-aged men sitting beneath the western wall.
They wore fur hats and short-sleeved jackets made of sable fur, with a one-piece garment underneath called a riding suit.
Such attire was commonly called barbarian garb, referring to the clothing of northern nomads.
In truth, it was the preferred outfit for any merchant crossing deserts and steppes, as it was comfortable for riding and offered protection from the cold.
But these men were no merchants.
The expressions of the five middle-aged men seated around a single table grew icy cold.
Killing intent poured from the Celestial Wind Young Lord's glaring eyes. Anyone could see it was the look of someone burning for revenge.
"Kunlun Five Killers. You've come a long way."
Qinghai Province, where the Kunlun spurs extended, was close to the frontier from the Central Plains perspective.
There's a saying that customs change after a hundred li, and language after a thousand li. Even if martial artists traveled the world, they couldn't know every master out there.
That's why masters of Qinghai don't know those of Shaanxi, and vice versa.
But like water overflowing its banks, sometimes a name spreads beyond provincial borders.
The Kunlun Five Killers were just such a case.
Uncontrollable masters notorious for countless murders in the northwest region of Qinghai Province.
The mere mention of Kunlun Five Killers turned the pavilion into a stirred beehive. Hong Gongtak and his subordinates' eyes gleamed coldly.
A man whose face had turned ashen like he had some disease spoke toward the Celestial Wind Young Lord.
"You know better than anyone that we don't have the Changbo Blade. What twisted motive do you have for framing us?"
"How would I know that?"
"......?"
"Because my master and I encountered you crossing Fogok Pass a fortnight ago. We clashed blades."
"But we couldn't defeat the Golden Cloth Axe King then. We naturally returned empty-handed. These wounds from his axe blows haven't even healed yet—what nonsense are you spouting?"
"Anyone hearing that would think you were one-sidedly defeated. That day, you cowardly poisoned our drinks, then attacked while my master was poisoned. And you slashed me when I rushed to protect him."
Even with his hands bound, the Celestial Wind Young Lord lifted his robe slightly. A lightning-like sword scar across his lower abdomen came into view.
Crusted scabs thickly layered over what looked like generous applications of golden sore medicine indicated it was about a fortnight old.
The Celestial Wind Young Lord's mouth opened again.
"It's widely known that your Dream Blade Style leaves Lightning Scars. Do you think you could have dared leave such a mark on my abdomen if my master had been unharmed!"
"That wound was just from clashing weapons. What kind of ridiculous—"
"Even if I buy it, I doubt these friends will."
"Strike!"
Hong Gongtak's order fell.
Eight bamboo-hat warriors leaped from their horses, instantly assaulting the Kunlun Five Killers.
Dragon-head longswords drawn in their hands scattered sharp blue gleams.
Ascending lightness skill followed by dazzling sword draws!
The Kunlun Five Killers swiftly drew ox-head sabers hidden beneath the table and met them head-on.
Eight dragon-head longswords and five ox-head sabers tangled chaotically in the air.
Clang! Kaching! Clang! Clang!
Metallic clashes rang out, blue sparks flying everywhere. Sword winds whipped up, blade lights flashing in the moonlight.
The table had long since shattered under the storm of sword-and-blade collisions.
The bamboo-hat warriors' martial arts were truly astonishing.
Each seemed on the verge of first-rate realm, their movements fluid and sword strikes sharp.
Layered with the exquisite linked assault of the Ascending Sword Formation, it was like a downpour.
The sword formation they displayed was one specially devised by Mount Hua Sect elders for Seop Dae-gang to lead the Soul-Hunting Ten Ghosts: the Light-Splitting Eighteen Sword Formation, which had never lost during the Righteous-Demonic Great War.
An ultimate formation where ten men wielded the might of nearly double, eighteen fighters.
But regrettably, no one in the pavilion recognized it.
Even so, the Kunlun Five Killers lived up to their fame and were no pushovers.
They blocked the bamboo-hat warriors' relentless one-sided assault without a single error, leaning against the wall.
It looked like two massive gears meshing perfectly.
Exclamations erupted from various corners of the pavilion.
People first marveled at the Kunlun Five Killers' impressive martial prowess, then were awed by the merciless linked assaults from the bamboo-hat warriors holding off such infamous killers.
The Kunlun Five Killers' appearance alone was headache-inducing, and now a new contender overwhelming them had emerged.
Those who felt they couldn't match the Kunlun Five Killers abandoned their greed for the Changbo Blade and became mere spectators.
Meanwhile, confident masters closely observed the bamboo-hat warriors' swordwork and linked techniques. Identifying who they were was now the priority.
Then, at one point, a decisive move that decided the fight's outcome exploded.
The bamboo-hat man who had merely watched from horseback until now—likely their leader—spurred his saddle and soared into the air.
The people in the pavilion were clueless, but Heuk Do-san knew who he was.
'Hong Gongtak!'
In the blink of an eye, Hong Gongtak flew to the wall and first scattered hidden weapons from mid-air toward the weakest-looking one.
In an instant, silver needles embroidered the sky.
The five killers paled in shock and frantically swung their sleeves toward the air. Then something astonishing happened. The hidden weapons, drawn into their palm force, suddenly burst like fireworks.
Boom boom boom boom boom!
Hong Gongtak dropped through the thick smoke, vigorously slashing down with his dragon-head longsword.
Slash!
One killer's wrist, flailing in the air, was cleanly severed. As he landed, Hong Gongtak swept his longsword upward again. Blood burst from the killer's lower abdomen.
The killer, slashed across wrist and belly by a hair's breadth, staggered back against the wall. He slid down and collapsed to one side. Blood pooled thickly around him.
"Thunderclap Bombs!"
Someone among the spectators screamed at the top of their lungs.
Then came a cry from one of the killers.
"Takmun!"
That must have been the fifth killer's name.
Takmun's death caused one side of the Kunlun Five Killers' exquisitely meshed assault formation to crumble.
Seizing the gap, the bamboo-hat warriors unleashed a ferocious, deadly barrage. Their sword strikes grew denser, the formation swiftly closing in.
Heuk Do-san's eyes darkened.
'That's the true face of the Soul-Hunting Ten Ghosts.'
Though he used the cowardly trick of hidden weapons, Hong Gongtak's skill was undeniably impressive.
Especially the connected motions: launching hidden weapons mid-air, dropping with Thousand Jin Hammer technique to sever the forearm, then sweeping the sword up upon landing—it meant he had already entered first-rate ranks.
'Looks like I wasn't the only one grinding through hellish training these past three years.'
From what he could infer, the time adrift on the grasslands had given him some turning point. Otherwise, he wouldn't have trained so obsessively.
Reduced to four, the Kunlun Five Killers fought desperately for survival.
Clang! Kachang!
Nine swords and four sabers clashed fiercely for a while. Blood began spurting from various spots on the Kunlun Five Killers' bodies.
The clashes didn't stop amid it all, and soon the blood reached their faces.
At one moment, one couldn't handle three swords closing in simultaneously and was hacked apart, collapsing.
Moments later, another fell, then another.
Now only the eldest, the black-eyed first killer, remained.
"Damn it!"
Sensing this was the end for the five sworn brothers, he squeezed out his remaining strength to take at least one with him.
But bleeding profusely from half a dozen wounds, he could no longer stand against the ferocious Soul-Hunting Ten Ghosts.
Suddenly, a sword flashed like lightning and pierced his chest. It was Hong Gongtak's, the one who had scattered hidden weapons early and felled the fifth killer.
"That's the price for rampaging beyond your station."
Hong Gongtak yanked his sword forcefully from the first killer's chest.
"Kuh!"
With a short scream, the first killer slumped over. Blood poured from his chest.
The sword had missed his heart, so he clung to life, but not for long.
The air in the room chilled. The entire pavilion fell utterly silent, not even breaths audible.
The bamboo-hat warriors rushed over and rummaged through the fallen Kunlun Five Killers' clothes.
But oddly, despite searching thoroughly, the Changbo Blade didn't appear. Soon, all the bamboo-hat warriors looked to Hong Gongtak, one saying,
"It's not here."
Hong Gongtak asked the gasping first killer,
"Where is the Changbo Blade?"
"Foolish... bastard..."
With those words, the first killer's body toppled over. With him gone, the five demons who once terrorized northwest Qinghai met an absurd end, annihilated.
Hong Gongtak's eyebrow twitched. For some reason, he hurried to the Celestial Wind Young Lord and demanded,
"Did you trick me?"
"I never said they had the Changbo Blade. In any case, thank you. Now my master can rest in peace. Hahaha."
A low exclamation rippled through the room. They belatedly realized the Celestial Wind Young Lord had used the bamboo-hat warriors for revenge.
Heuk Do-san thought,
'An interesting guy.'
Hong Gongtak's face twisted in fury. He thrust his sword tip under the Celestial Wind Young Lord's chin and roared,
"Do you really want to die?"
The Celestial Wind Young Lord wiped the smile from his face and said,
"I've heard there's an outstanding young talent from Shanxi in the Righteous Alliance. Seeing you in person, you're impressive indeed."
"You... know me?"
"The third son of the Shanxi Hong Family. The new sword lord of the Righteous Alliance's infamous Hunting Squad, the Soul-Hunting Ten Ghosts. That sword art you just displayed mid-air must be Air Control Sword, right?"
"How do you know that?"
"I'm from Shanxi too. Your name and your family's reputation rang in my ears from childhood. Seeing you in person, you're impressive indeed."
Shanxi Hong Family, Righteous Alliance, Soul-Hunting Ten Ghosts, Air Control Sword... Tremendous names poured out at once.
The people in the pavilion finally realized the bamboo-hat warriors' identities and fell into great chaos.
After the Righteous-Demonic Great War, the Righteous Alliance devoted all efforts to hunting down surviving Demonic Cult masters.
Naturally, recovering missing Demonic Cult treasures was part of it. To them, those were spoils of war.
Spoils go to those who shed blood, right?
But the Soul-Hunting Ten Ghosts appearing here and now was gravely serious.
Killing them—especially the third son of the Shanxi Hong Family, famed for Air Control Sword—meant making enemies of the entire Righteous Alliance.