Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Supplementary Lessons (2)
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Whoosh... whoosh...
A cold wind slashed at his ears relentlessly as he dashed along the mountain path.
Even as he pushed his lightness skill to the limit in a frenzy, the Beggar Elder sighed inwardly.
'I was too naive.'
When he first uncovered the truth about the Blood Dew Stone, he had thought everything was settled.
He knew the Heavenfall Society's intentions now, so he just needed to exploit their weaknesses.
But that was a grave miscalculation.
The enemy had hidden themselves far deeper and closer to him than he had imagined.
Tatata tat!
As he unleashed his lightness skill, a voice came from beside him.
"...It seems the enemies are closing in."
"Hm?"
It was true.
His senses picked up one or two presences stealthily tailing them. They weren't just ahead, either. Others were tightening the noose around them like hunters driving prey.
"Damn it. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse."
The Beggar Elder cursed his own carelessness.
'I should never have let my guard down until the very end.'
Meeting the old man and excitedly heading to the Murim Alliance branch had been his downfall.
Upon arriving in the small fortress city of Buhyeon, he had used the branch's messenger pigeon to relay the clue about the Blood Dew Stone. That had been the trigger.
Assassins with blades in their mouths had come for him in the dead of night.
The assassins came in all forms.
Sometimes they were servants working at the branch, other times old men collecting laundry.
Some had no martial arts training at all, while others concealed considerable power.
Sensing the danger, the Beggar Elder had chosen immediate flight, but his pursuers dogged him relentlessly.
'What a blunder. I should have realized they weren't ignoring me—they simply couldn't catch up.'
Snatching the Blood Dew Stone and wandering the wilderness in search of the old man had been lucky breaks.
They hadn't tracked the old beggar's movements yet.
But the moment he visited the Murim Alliance branch and mentioned the Blood Dew Stone, they had locked onto him.
The implication was clear.
'The Heavenfall Society's lackeys had infiltrated deep into the Alliance.'
It had been his mistake to assume the previous bloodbath had ended everything.
"Go!"
The Beggar Elder came to an abrupt halt.
Whoosh... whoosh...
With a lion's roar, the scattered fallen leaves swirled forward into the darkness ahead.
Amid it all, the Beggar Elder bellowed into the shadows.
"Who are you lot? Show yourselves!"
How much time passed after his stern shout?
Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh...
Riding the whispering wind from the darkness, over a dozen masked figures blocked the path.
They weren't just in front.
The four or five who had been tailing them now cut off the rear.
Twenty in total.
Lips curling at the sight of enemies who didn't bother hiding their killing intent, the Beggar Elder ground his teeth.
"You scum who'd choke me to death. So you're the Heavenfall Society's tentacles?"
"The old beggar talks too much."
One of the masked men stepped forward.
The man, with his leisurely gait, sneered.
"We should be the angry ones. What you snatched isn't for the likes of a lowly beggar. Touching it with your filthy hands is crime enough for death."
"You're here for the Blood Dew Stone?"
"Blood Dew Stone? Seems you've picked up a thing or two."
Madness crept into the man's voice.
"What you hold isn't something you can name. It's a priceless treasure that opens the gates to our puddle-turned-ocean, the key to fulfilling our society's aspirations."
"Hmph! What could a mere rock possibly be?"
The man's voice grew icy.
"Ignoramuses like you wouldn't recognize an eternal treasure."
"How valuable can something born from human sacrifices even be? I can't fathom what you'd use it for!"
"I can hear your brain grinding from here."
"You bastard! What did you say?"
"Best abandon any thought of prying info from me."
Snap.
Flicking his fingers, another masked man stepped forward and scattered something from his bosom into the air.
"Damn it."
"Stalling won't bring Alliance reinforcements. We've recovered every secret message you left."
The Beggar Elder's face twisted in dismay.
'How much of the Alliance's secrets do they know?'
The exchange had been nothing but setbacks, but it wasn't entirely fruitless.
"One thing's clear now. Your identity."
"...What are you talking about?"
"Buhyeon Branch's Perfect Circle Sword Jang Deuk. Never dreamed the deputy branch chief was a Heavenfall dog."
Grind.
The man ripped off his mask.
"Sharp ears for an old beggar. That's another reason you need to die."
The man waved his hand and shouted.
"Kill!"
Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh...
Killing intent surged toward him from all sides.
Alert, the Beggar Elder glanced sideways.
His eyes caught the old man panting as he strained to keep up with his lightness skill.
'Too much for him to match my pace, after all?'
With his top-tier lightness skill, it was inevitable.
'No escaping this fight.'
He might slip away, but the exhausted old man couldn't evade their blades.
No matter the danger, he couldn't abandon the man who had broken his seclusion for his sake.
'Have to go on the offensive from the start.'
He needed to buy a split-second for the old man to flee.
Sensing the killing intent closing from all directions, the Beggar Elder acted.
"Where?!"
He spread his arms wide.
Woooong.
Shaking out his palms, a haze rippled from his long palms, forming the shape of a brilliant azure dragon.
Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms.
First stance: Dragon's Frolic.
Bam bam bam bam boom!
Countless palm shadows erupted around the Beggar Elder, surging toward the charging masked foes.
Clang! Clang clang clang!
"Hup!"
"Hah!"
The attackers slashed wildly in midair or twisted their bodies to counter the Dragon's Frolic strikes.
Then, the Beggar Elder's form shifted again. Leaping high, he unleashed palms in all directions like scattering seeds.
Kaboom kaboom kaboom boom!
The ground exploded like fireworks where the ferocious palm force struck from above.
Whatever the palm force touched burst like firecrackers.
"Cough!"
Two masked men caught in the blasts tumbled back, foreheads slamming into the dirt.
They vomited blood, unable to rise.
Perfect Circle Sword Jang Deuk clicked his tongue at the sight.
"Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms? A well-deserved reputation."
"It's the perfect cure for demonic mongrels."
"Hmph! Let's see how long you can keep dancing."
Whoosh... whoosh...
Before his words finished, more masked men lunged with thrusting swords.
Their darting lightness skills carried eerie sword qi aimed at his vitals, forcing the Beggar Elder's hands into a flurry.
Thud! Clang clang clang!
Palm shadows deflected swords in rapid succession.
Rumble rumble rumble!
He gathered power again with a flick.
But this time, it wasn't simple.
"Retreat!"
Whoosh... whoosh...
The palm shadows writhed and instantly pulled back.
Kaboom kaboom boom!
Striking empty air, they blasted dirt clouds skyward.
"Advance!"
They burst through the dust in an instant, charging.
Bam bam bam boom.
The retreat and pursuit were lightning-fast, sweat beading on the Beggar Elder's brow.
'Not easy.'
His robes tore here and there from the sword momentum, changing his movements.
Drunken Eight Immortals Step.
The steps of inebriated immortals.
Staggering like a drunkard, the Beggar Elder evaded the swords.
Whirr.
He rolled aside from a stab at his back, then unleashed a palm projection.
Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms.
Fifth form: Dragon in the Heavens.
"Gah!"
A masked man struck squarely in the chest by twin palms flew back and crashed, never to rise again.
But that was it.
"Beggar! This is your grave!"
Silent until now, Jang Deuk flicked his sword upward and descended with sword and body united, aiming to split his skull.
"Hah!"
Roaring, he swung both hands for the Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms, but his eyes caught the smirk on Jang Deuk's lips.
'Something's off.'
Bam bam boom!
Swiftly withdrawing his palms, the Beggar Elder fell back eight steps with the Drunken Eight Immortals Step.
His instincts proved timely.
Roarrr!
Seeing his former spot charred black by erupting flames from the sword, the Beggar Elder cried out in alarm.
"What art is this?!"
"Heh heh heh. Recognize it, beggar?"
His eyes twitched at the sword gleaming white-hot with scorching heat.
"Solar Divine Art?"
"Heh. Not bad eyesight."
The true Solar Divine Art?
Wasn't it the unique demonic art of the Solar Demon Lord, infamous alongside the Blood Demon when the demonic path split and warred?
"Well, no wonder you're shocked. This isn't the old Solar Divine Art."
"...The Solar Divine Art is an extreme yang demonic art. No sane man could refine it further."
Unlike orthodox arts that built upon insights like stacking bricks, demonic arts stimulated madness to convert into power.
They ignored principles, killing humanity to hoard strength—something even grandmasters dared not touch lightly.
Jang Deuk snickered.
"What makes the impossible possible is His Excellency the 'Apostle'."
"'Apostle'?"
"Too much talk. Die!"
Roarrr!
With flames as his vanguard, Jang Deuk's assaults made the fight even harder for the Beggar Elder.
Close, and his beard singed; retreat, and masked foes struck from behind.
Clang! Clang clang clang!
Boom boom! Clang clang!
Hands and swords tangled chaotically, filling the air with whooshes.
"Ha! The Drunken Beggar's fame shakes the world, yet here you are, a pitiful sight."
Jang Deuk crowed triumphantly.
"You fiend! Bloodshot eyes—properly poisoned by demonic arts! Have you no fear of heaven?!"
"Heaven is the Apostle himself. What is there to fear?"
"Urgh!"
Roaring, the Beggar Elder fought desperately.
But countering the flame art while facing twenty experts in rotation left no room to endure.
Slash!
"Gah!"
A sword finally grazed his shoulder, staggering him back.
"Heh heh heh. The end?"
"What end? This beggar's just getting warmed up."
"Beggars beat their empty bellies and live on bluster, they say."
Roarrr.
As Jang Deuk raised his sword to finish it,
"Elder Beggar, step back."
The old man who had watched until now drew his sword and stood.
The Beggar Elder's eyes wavered at the sight.
"Old sir. No need to—"
"I've mostly recovered the energy spent on lightness skill. Let me lend my strength."
The Beggar Elder had no retort.
He was recommended by Seok Gang-myeong of the Manseok Merchant Group, a famed swordsman in his own right.
But having left the world for so long, worry lingered.
'On the way here, he seemed short on energy even for lightness skill.'
As he pondered, the old man chuckled.
"No path back now anyway, eh?"
"...My apologies. If I hadn't been so stubborn."
It pained him to drag a quiet man into peril.
But the old man shook his head with his usual smile.
"Heh heh. No need for worry. I chose to join you. Nothing to apologize for."
"...This beggar will fight to the death and clear a path. It's not too late for you to flee."
"Years away from the jianghu, but my fighting spirit endures. My heart races at the clash of steel. If my spirit lives, my sword should serve."
His resolve to stand firm left the Beggar Elder no choice but to yield.
"Very well. If Brother Wang wills it."
"Brother Wang, suddenly?"
"We need brothers, even if forged now, to ease the regret of death."
"Fair point. Who'd think lifelong brotherless me would gain one on death's door."
Jang Deuk tilted his head at the old man's sudden presence.
'Who is he? Face rings a bell.'
But he dismissed it quickly.
Though rushed, all here were peak experts.
No matter how supreme, two couldn't escape death.
"If you crave early death, so be it. To the afterlife together."
No sooner had he spoken than the masked men surged chaotically.