Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Inferno Battlefield (1)
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Both squad leaders widened their eyes.
Thud thud thud thud!
Down the small downhill path along the trail, a single figure stood blocking the way.
'Another one of the group?'
That was his first thought, but upon seeing the fluttering red blood-red robes, his heart sank.
"Halt!"
He immediately stopped and raised his hand.
Whoosh!
But as the man shook his hand, a blazing fireball, glowing bright red amid a wave of scorching heat, came flying toward them.
'If I dodge, the students are in danger.'
Instinctively kicking off, Squad Leader Yang unleashed the opening stance of the Nine Hundred Divine Fists with both fists fully charged with inner energy.
"Hah!"
Boom! Boom boom!
"Urk!"
Even with the momentum of his charge behind the punch, Squad Leader Yang was pushed back five steps and swallowed a groan.
'Incredible inner energy.'
But it wasn't just a matter of raw power.
Sizzle.
"Urk!"
Squad Leader Yang gritted his teeth, shaking off the heat from his gauntlets that had turned red-hot in an instant.
'Heterogeneous true energy.'
Was this foe truly this formidable?
As he swallowed dryly...
The sinister figure blocking the trail let out a creepy chuckle.
"To block my Fiery Yang Palm... not bad."
"Who are you?"
"No need to know. A man about to die doesn't deserve a name."
Snap.
As the enemy flicked his fingers, two masked men in similar robes appeared at his side.
'Impressive. Just their presence is making the air hotter.'
Such a fearsome Fiery Yang martial art.
Sip.
Feeling his lungs dry with every breath, he raised his fists into a guard stance.
Despite the enemies right in front, the robed man seemed utterly disinterested.
"Let me see."
Instead, he craned his neck to inspect the students, bursting into continuous creepy laughter.
"Thirty young ones? Lucky day. Quite the haul."
As the cackling man bared his teeth in a grin...
"Not sure about lucky."
Step.
Nangong Il-Jeon's advance, followed by the Changcheon Hundred Swords Squad members, made light flash in the enemy's eyes.
"South Heaven One Sword?"
"If you'd heard my name, you wouldn't act so arrogantly."
Despite the clear hostility, the enemy didn't stop chuckling.
"Heh heh heh. South Heaven One Sword. Didn't know a Nangong Family elder had graced us here."
"Now that you do, get lost."
He'd hoped to avoid a fight, but the enemy showed no sign of backing down.
On the contrary.
"Well, as a first sacrifice upon entering the world, you'll do nicely."
"Hah. Sacrifice."
Thud.
In an instant, Nangong Il-Jeon shot forward with his movement technique and landed before the enemy, sword held at an angle.
"Didn't expect a Flame Flower cult dog's lackey to speak of sacrifices."
Shing!
With a sharp metallic ring, Nangong Il-Jeon's blade was already at the enemy's brow.
"Hah!"
Startled by the lightning-quick strike, the man wiped the grin from his face and urgently twisted away.
Swish swish! Thunk!
Beneath the wildly flapping red blood robes, a red sword blade glinted.
"Cheap tricks."
Clang! Clang clang clang!
Nangong Il-Jeon deflected the extremely thin sword hidden under the robes and unleashed a flurry of strikes.
"Your blood robe illusions won't fool me."
Clang! Crack crack crack!
Each clash of blades sent sparks flying, bending the man's narrow sword as if it might snap.
A true heir to the Nangong Family's divine arts, indeed.
In less than thirty exchanges, he had the enemy on the back foot.
'Heh. How's that? This is our family's martial art.'
As he anticipated Nangong Yun-ho's admiring gaze from afar, having just disarmed the narrow sword with a single blow...
"Hmph."
The man twisted his lips.
"Finally closing in."
Whoosh!
"Urk!"
Nangong Il-Jeon was startled as intense heat erupted the moment he narrowed the distance.
"Ha ha! Priceless look on your face!"
Whoosh!
The instant flames blazed in both hands, a bang! from Nangong Il-Jeon's chest sent sparks flying.
"Gahhh!"
Boom! Boom boom!
Roar!
Suppressing the pain of his chest blistering red and bubbling, Nangong Il-Jeon flicked his sword again.
The form he unleashed was the Nangong Family's Heaven-Soaring Great Swordsmanship.
The robed man clicked his tongue at the sudden majestic and solemn technique.
"Tch. Your swordsmanship is impressive, as expected."
But unfortunately for Nangong Il-Jeon.
"A sword that doesn't reach is meaningless."
Roar!
As if his prior weakness was a feint, the man infused his hands with even fiercer heat and swung both arms.
"Hah—ha! Burn like insects in the blaze!"
Roar!
Startled by the flames singeing his hair, he tried to retreat, but the man's movements were swift.
Crack!
If he pulled back, hooked claws raked his upper body; if he thrust his sword, the man twisted to slap palm strikes onto the blade.
Clang! Sizzle!
"Urk!"
The moment the Fiery Yang Palm struck the blade,
Boom!
Nangong Il-Jeon staggered, swallowing a groan amid the exploding flames and rising heat.
"Elder!"
The watching Changcheon Hundred Swords Squad moved to assist, but.
Swish!
The two previously motionless robed enemies unleashed Fiery Yang martial arts toward the inner trail.
Boom! Boom boom!
Kaboom! Bang!
"Urk!"
Amid the earth-shaking blasts, the flanking forests and trees turned into massive bonfires in an instant, erecting a wall of flame between them and the group.
'Damn. They're trying to separate us!'
Roar!
Only then did Nangong Il-Jeon realize their scheme.
"You fiends!"
Not a fight, but turning this place into a sea of fire?
"Cowardly! Have you no honor as warriors?"
"Ha ha. What a lame joke."
Anyway.
"Just purify them all."
"Such cowardice!"
Nangong Il-Jeon was at a loss.
He hadn't anticipated they'd burn the terrain itself instead of clashing martial arts.
'My mistake. Too complacent.'
Expecting a normal warrior duel had been his downfall.
'If only I'd known heterogeneous true energy was this tricky sooner.'
A useless regret now.
"Ha ha ha ha! Do you grasp the terror of the Flame Flower? This is the flame that will purify the world!"
The robed man threw his head back in mad laughter, hands ablaze.
A fanatic who'd burned even his emotions as kindling.
"Kill them! Burn them!"
As the death sentence loomed...
"Changcheon Hundred Swords Squad! Fight to the death!"
"Changcheon!"
"One Sword!"
Shing! Shing shing!
As the squad resolute raised their swords against the heat from the two enemies...
Ping!
A sharp whistle cut through the air.
"Hidden weapon?"
Spotting it with keen eyes, the man grinned.
"Think a mere metal lump can withstand my heat?"
Kwaaa!
As he clenched the air, his palm glowed white-hot, flames roaring fiercer.
When he raised his hand next...
Drip. Drip.
Molten metal dripped down.
"Heh heh heh. Commendable effort, but crude projectiles can't endure infernal flames."
Ping!
But another whistle rang out.
Bored, the man reached out again.
But this time, the result was utterly different.
Boom!
For the first time, the robed man shrieked as the object exploded mid-air upon touching the flames.
"Urk! What the—?!"
Ping! Ping!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Staggering back five steps amid the successive whistles, the enemy faltered.
Meanwhile, Nangong Il-Jeon, kneeling on the ground, finally identified the projectile.
'A pebble?'
The stone cracked faintly upon hitting the flames, then...
Boom!
It exploded with a thunderous roar.
"Urk!"
The enemy staggered, eyes injured by the shards.
That was when.
"Hey, you little punk bastards!"
With a shout, a figure burst through the flames like a lightning-struck wild boar, dusting off his hands.
Swish! Thunk!
"Gah!"
Caught off-guard, the enemy convulsed like a speared fish and collapsed.
"Think you're the only ones who can play with fire?"
Whoosh!
Dropping low, a kick from the toes targeted the enemy's ankle threateningly.
"Urk! Damn!"
Leaping mid-air to dodge, the enemy's hands glowed red, stabbing for the intruder's heart.
"Fuck. Hot as hell."
Sizzle.
Unfazed by the Fiery Yang energy, Chu Un-hwi twisted the enemy's wrist and smirked.
"Got a question, though."
"Urk. Grk. What... strength..."
"Can you make flames with your thick skull too?"
Crack!
Without hesitation, he headbutted the forehead, bursting the enemy's skull.
"Gurgle!"
As the enemy collapsed with a caved-in brow, Chu Un-hwi wiped his forehead on his sleeve and muttered.
"Guess not."
Crack!
The enemy's jaw dropped wide.
'What the hell is that guy?'
The robed man panicked as his comrade fell in an instant.
'For a Flame Guard to go down so easily.'
Even more shocking was the intruder's final move.
He'd precisely evaded the flame's reach to snap the wrist, then delivered a killing blow.
First time since venturing into the jianghu.
'How did he know our weakness?!'
Unlike him, his underlings could only project Fiery Yang energy through their hands.
'He definitely knew.'
Otherwise, he couldn't have broken the wrist poised to hurl a sword throat-stab or Fiery Yang Palm the moment he leaped through the flames.
'This is bad.'
Heterogeneous true energy's trickiness was its strength.
Now that the weakness was exposed, a prolonged fight favored them not.
Especially since.
"Hah. This is embarrassing."
The previously flailing South Heaven One Sword's aura had turned ferocious.
No need to watch his back, all killing intent now aimed at him.
Thud! Thud thud thud!
The fiercer sword strikes were trouble, but losing a subordinate meant worrying about a pincer attack now.
'Damn it.'
Flustered, limbs faltering, the enemy made a decision.
'Fall back for now.'
Thud!
As he swiftly launched into the air...
"Where do you think you're going!"
Nangong Il-Jeon pursued, but something faster intervened.
Ping!
Another projectile flew.
"Tch!"
Unlike before, he whipped his blood robes over his eyes, bracing for explosion.
But regretfully, the target differed.
'What the hell are they doing?'
As he leaped through flames, his gaze caught a round object floating nearby, and then...
Boom!
"Argh!"
Tiny spheres burst simultaneously, sweeping him in shockwaves.
"Gahk!"
Thrown to the ground unaware, the enemy staggered up.
'What... what happened.'
Thunder bombs?
'No, no warrior carries forbidden gunpowder.'
Not unless they wanted to feud with the imperial palace and million-strong army.
He tried to think further, but burst eardrums made even standing difficult.
He struggled to rise, but sadly, his time was short.
"Looks like you're the unlucky one."
Nangong Il-Jeon, face furious, swung his sword high.
Slash!
In a flash of light, the man's head thudded to the ground.
The group arriving at the clearing encountered a disheveled Moyong Seon-ya, who panicked and rushed over.
"What on earth happened?"
"We were ambushed on the way."
Squad Leader Yang held up two fingers, making Moyong Seon-ya's eyes widen.
"Ambushed..."
"More importantly, where are the others?"
"They're supposed to join soon. Probably around there."
As her slender finger pointed...
Boom!
A signal flare shot up from where she indicated.
Bang!
Scattering red smoke as it faded—the emergency signal.
"No way."
Moyong Seon-ya's trembling voice shook with dread.
Boom! Boom boom!
Red signal flares burst successively across the flame-charged sky.
"My god."
Thud.
The red dust blotting even the remaining Changcheon skies above the crimson glow...
Seemed to herald the coming nightmare.