Chapter 186
Chapter 186
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Fierce Flame Great War (3)
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Roar!
As the blaze retraced its charged path, the scorching heat once again scorched their faces.
But the instructors trailing behind were gripped more by a strange emotion than fear.
'Temporary Instructor Chu Un-hwi.'
The figure advancing with hands clasped behind his back.
No overwhelming aura emanated from him particularly, yet just the fact that he led the way brought a sense of relief.
'This is weird. I'm not scared.'
'It feels like everything will work out if I just stay put? Amazing.'
'I heard he's just a first-rate expert at best. But he seems so composed.'
It wasn't just the instructors.
"Is it really okay to move so openly like this?"
"Who knows. But he's charging ahead without a care, so probably?"
"Temporary instructors are quirky, after all."
Un Ho-seung and the twins also sensed the anomaly and tilted their heads.
The one most bewildered by this sight was Nangong Il-jun, whose martial prowess was the highest.
'What a peculiar sensation.'
Judging by the depth of the arts he had mastered, it couldn't compare to his own.
Compared to his insight into the world's experts, this man's internal energy must surely be shallow.
'To feel this secure just from following him.'
He had felt something similar before.
'It's like when I follow Father.'
The presence of a true master offers subtle comfort simply by being there.
Without lifting a finger, their existence overwhelms foes and kindles hope.
But Nangong Il-jun shook his head.
'To sense the shadow of the world's Sword Saint in a mere Bronze Hall instructor.'
Was his head not working right from the heat and flames?
Nangong Il-jun forcibly shook off the emotion and scanned his surroundings with cold eyes.
Step. Step.
His nephew advanced gripping his sword, his expression unchanging.
Not a trace of fear showed on his face.
'What should I do about this.'
This instructor was undoubtedly strange.
He had sought the source of the oddity seen at the Octagonal Pavilion, but the more he peeled, the more layers appeared.
'Is this why Yun-ho is drawn to him?'
He was lost in thought when—
Suddenly.
The small back ahead swayed slightly.
"Enemies."
'Enemies?'
As they glared into the raging flames, Chu Un-hwi had already drawn his sword and quickened his pace, leaping into the inferno.
Slash!
"Gahk!"
The flames parted, and the enemy behind spewed blood as he toppled.
A single stroke without question.
Truly swift sword strikes continued unabated from beyond the blaze.
***
Once he tasted blood, Chu Un-hwi was like a wild beast.
Tatata!
Slice!
Enemies meant nothing—leaping through roaring flames or charging hordes held no hesitation.
Slash!
"Kaaak!"
Even as his sleeve edges charred, each flash of sword light brought screams.
"You bastard! Who the hell are you!"
Kwarung! Thud thud!
"Urk. Hot."
He endured the searing heat that blistered skin, impaling foes on his blade.
Drip. Drip.
Struck by fiery palms, leaping flames that set his robes ablaze—he never stopped.
The moment he spotted an enemy, before they could muster battle intent, his sword was already slashing their throat.
Half a beat faster attacks.
Yet they didn't seem brute force alone.
The instructors watching were entranced by movements sometimes fiercely like fire, other times serenely like wind.
"What kind of movement is that..."
"Is that what a first-rate expert looks like?"
"Isn't that the textbook for real combat?"
It was no ordinary footwork.
If legs failed, hands pounded the ground, moving ghost-like.
Sometimes he walked with the refined gait of a scholar, then kicked off trees or rocks to pounce like a four-legged beast.
"Who the hell dismissed this guy as a country bumpkin warrior?"
"It feels like he reads the terrain and enemies perfectly."
"Isn't it ghostly prowess beyond battlefield basics?"
As one instructor said.
The familiar forms of the mass-produced iron sword were basic stances everyone knew.
Early forms of Divine Martial Swordsmanship.
Plain, rough moves without flair or immense power.
Yet each flick of the blade tip sent a fountain of blood skyward.
Yeo Mae-hong tilted her head at how effortlessly these simple forms erased lives.
"Are the enemies Instructor Chu faces just particularly weak?"
"No way."
Among them, the Clear Sky Hundred Swords Brigade felt the deepest confusion.
Having once roamed the jianghu under the Sword Saint, they precisely discerned the swordsmanship's nature.
"Vicious killing sword."
"Less a martial art, more a study in killing methods."
"He finds the tiniest gaps and strikes precisely."
To them, forged by the Sword Saint's guidance, this freak's essence was ruthless pragmatism.
A sword style that wrought death mercilessly—utterly efficient, allowing no hesitation.
"Elder, he knows the most effective ways to kill."
Wielding a three-chi iron lump to swiftly and accurately reap lives.
Easy to say, but had any mastered such a killing art since ancient times?
Doubt clouded the brigade members' eyes.
"...He's a Bronze Hall instructor, right?"
"Unless we're blind, how's someone like that at the bottom?"
"More seasoned than battle-hardened veterans."
An incarnation born to fight.
The brigade had already forgotten he was a Bronze Hall instructor.
"What I saw at the Octagonal Pavilion wasn't an illusion."
Watching the flickering ghostly forms, Nangong Il-jun shook his head slowly.
Somehow, the more he uncovered, the more onion-like layers of mystery emerged.
***
"We can't just spectate."
Moyong Seon-ya and Yeo Mae-hong felt their hearts surge.
Having witnessed Chu Un-hwi's prowess charging ahead without qualms.
"Definitely a mysterious guy."
She had wondered after seeing the sword that slew Eunwol Bi-jeok.
"Hiding this level of skill?"
"We can't be baggage either."
"Exactly. Returning like this would just be embarrassing."
Moyong Seon-ya chattered, then swiftly stepped forward, launching herself beyond the flames.
Swoosh!
She unleashed the Moyong Family's famed Jade Swordsmanship.
Shwapapap!
The green sword qi pierced the blaze, making a dazed enemy spew blood.
"Urk! Where'd you lot come from!"
'Shallow!'
Enemies felled effortlessly by Chu Un-hwi now felt several times stronger up close.
"You bitch! Die!"
Fierce eyes flashed as flaming palms roared in; Moyong Seon-ya urgently twisted away.
Bang! Bang!
She evaded, then unleashed over twenty exchanges until the foe bled out.
"Grrrk!"
As he convulsed, foaming, Moyong Seon-ya finally exhaled belatedly.
Beside her, Yeo Mae-hong also downed her opponent after fifty-plus exchanges.
Achy. Achy.
'Monstrous power. My wrists hurt.'
Without teamwork, victory wasn't assured.
Yet—
Puk!
An enemy feigning death with suppressed presence dropped from a tree, sword piercing his crown.
"Tch. Makes you doubt if they're the same caliber."
This terrifying skill, yet he'd playfully feigned ignorance until now?
"Hmph! Don't think a treat will make me hold back."
Yeo Mae-hong teased playfully and moved again.
***
Roar. Roar.
Amid earth and sky where heat soared to the heavens, Nangong Yun-ho buried himself in brush and stilled his breath.
- When strength fails, there's another way to fight.
His mind recalled the instructor's teachings.
- Not fighting, but hunting.
Nangong Yun-ho murmured.
"Hunting basics: hide your presence."
Huuup. Huuup.
He erased his breath and relaxed as much as possible, but it was tough.
Flickering flames and smoke drew his eyes; chaotic enemy footsteps bred fear.
But Nangong Yun-ho immersed himself.
"Then, blend with surroundings."
Only then, the instructor said, could one mimic a true hunter.
'Pretty hard.'
Applying unpracticed theory in real combat was truly daunting.
Imagining detection and death while hiding vulnerably made him dizzy.
But Nangong Yun-ho believed.
"Instructor never gives impossible tasks."
If I can't trust myself, trust the instructor.
"I'm the Ghost of Bronze Hall."
Do as taught, and I can.
I definitely can.
The instructor taught survival anywhere, beyond jianghu battles.
'As if foreseeing today.'
Trust fully, strive—summer training memories surfaced.
Living wild, more attuned to mountains than beasts.
In hills and valleys, quieter than mossy rocks.
'I can do it.'
His heartbeat slowed; senses blurred.
"Huuuuuu..."
Soon, senses expanded like stone and rock, melting into surroundings.
Finally, he forgot breath, forgot self.
'I am rock.'
An ugly boulder, moss-covered, rooted for centuries.
Nangong Yun-ho forgot himself, forgot the swirling killing intent.
***
'Yun-ho might be in danger.'
Nangong Il-jun, adjusting pace to dash out anytime while slaying foes, panicked.
A Clear Sky Hundred Swords member approached.
[Elder. When did the Young Master learn such stealth?]
[No idea. Unclear.]
At first, it didn't seem impressive.
Just shoving into trees or rocks desperately.
Forcing his large frame into tight spots was comically futile.
But soon, as presence vanished, astonishment hit.
[Doesn't seem like a martial art.]
Regulating heartbeat or erasing warmth existed, but usually required training.
No one melted seamlessly into scenery with mere breaths.
[Heh. A mountain bird landed on Young Master's head.]
When wary wild birds perched chirping atop Nangong Yun-ho, it was mind-blowing.
'Feels like watching Temporary Instructor Chu Un-hwi.'
The surprise didn't end there.
Snap!
"You bastards!"
An enemy spotting them and lunging had his ankle severed, crashing down.
The instant spotted, he rose as if waiting, slicing the ankle.
Thud thud!
Brigade members followed, beheading him, and shouted.
"Are you safe, Young Master?"
But Nangong Yun-ho's gaze was deeply sunken.
With lifeless, rock-like eyes, he appraised the bleeding corpse.
"If you're approaching to check the body, stop there."
He muttered alone, then suppressed presence again, covering himself in dirt.
Watching his entranced nephew, Nangong Il-jun clicked his tongue.
'What exactly did you teach them, Instructor Chu.'
He'd vowed no more surprises, but that was hasty.
***
If Nangong Yun-ho learned the predator's ambush hunt, Baek Ri-seol mirrored a predator dancing more brilliantly than flames.
"Hohohoho!"
Letting out a long cry, Baek Ri-seol hurled four swords into the air and unleashed piercing blue eyes.
"Die like trash!"