139
Chapter 139: Do You Really Need a Retirement Fund?
Wolf King fully withstood the ominous energy waves emanating from Mu Hwi head-on. The energy he himself emitted was no less wild and ferocious than Mu Hwi's.
Crreeaak!
A sound like tearing fabric erupted from the point where the energies of the two supreme masters collided. The shockwave spread across the entire Okhwasan, causing plants and trees to bow and tremble.
Wolf King scraped off the dried blood on his curved blade with his fingernail and spoke.
"Hang me up? Do you really think you can?"
Wolf King's energy, honed over a lifetime of roaming battlefields like a wolf, surged forward to swallow Mu Hwi whole.
"The Martial Alliance made a mistake. Sending a brat who doesn’t know his place. Did you think you amounted to something just because you cut off the arm of the cowardly Sword King and survived the battle of Changcheon? If you wanted to stop me, you should’ve sent the Thunderbolt Sword Master, who’s said to be playing around in the Meng region."
Wolf King, believing Mu Hwi’s cultivation to be inferior to other supreme masters due to his youth, tried to provoke his pride. But Mu Hwi was no ordinary young supreme master, contrary to Wolf King’s expectations.
Listening quietly, Mu Hwi instead grinned, the corner of his right mouth curling up mockingly.
"The Sword Master is about to retire. It wouldn’t be proper to bother him with trivial matters like this."
At Mu Hwi’s words calling this affair trivial, the wrinkles on Wolf King’s face twitched.
"Come to think of it, you old men are of the same generation as the Sword Master, aren’t you? Let this junior personally send you into retirement."
Without responding, Wolf King immediately unleashed a barrage of blade energy. Crescent-shaped waves of blade energy surged at Mu Hwi from multiple angles. As the blade energy flew, leaving deep gashes in the ground, petals of sword energy fluttered down like falling blossoms.
The plum blossom petals fell as the Sim-myeong Sword trembled. The moment the sword energy and blade energy clashed, Wolf King and Mu Hwi closed the distance, thrusting their weapons at each other.
Kaa-kang!
Sparks flew from the fierce collision of their weapons, scattering fragments of shattered blade and sword energy. Wolf King swung his curved blade horizontally with a face that seemed intent on tearing Mu Hwi apart.
Swaaang!
The horizontally swung blade expanded into a massive crescent-shaped wave of energy.
Mu Hwi avoided it by bending backward, his back nearly touching the ground, using the Iron Plate Bridge Technique stance, while simultaneously slashing out with the Sim-myeong Sword in the same manner as Wolf King.
Wolf King crushed the sword energy, aiming for his chin from below with a downward elbow strike. At the same time, he raised his foot high, stomping down to crush Mu Hwi’s chest as he maintained the Iron Plate Bridge Technique.
Kwaaang!
Mu Hwi flipped his body mid-stance, barely dodging the stomp as it struck the ground. Using the momentum of his flip, he channeled the rotation into his foot and sword, unleashing a rapid succession of kicks and sword slashes.
Wolf King blocked the kicks with his blade, then flipped his curved sword to deflect the follow-up sword strikes before retreating. Mu Hwi landed firmly during the brief respite.
"For a rigid orthodox sect disciple, your offense and defense are quite free-spirited. Still young, so not yet fully tamed by the old dogs of your sect?"
"Show me the power of your experience, old man. It’s not very impressive."
"Hah!"
Mu Hwi responded to Wolf King’s scoff with a kick.
Seamlessly transitioning from the kick into Dark Scent Flutter, Mu Hwi’s movements accelerated instantly, causing his plum blossom-adorned sleeves to flutter wildly.
Wolf King lightly stepped back as a deep sword mark gouged the ground where he had stood. This was the signal for Mu Hwi’s relentless assault.
Sinister sword strikes, dripping with killing intent, painted dazzling plum blossoms in the air. A slash aimed at his ears from above suddenly shifted, as if sprouting from the ground, targeting his knees from below.
Subtle adjustments in wrist angle, changes in grip, the flexible whipping of the sword—Mu Hwi displayed sword techniques as if he had multiple arms, unleashing countless variations in the blink of an eye.
"Annoying."
The purple petals and plum blossoms further obscured his vision, but Wolf King’s curved blade showed no hesitation. He didn’t bother distinguishing feints from real strikes in Mu Hwi’s swordplay.
If something obstructed his blade’s path, he tore through it. Wolf King focused on executing his own martial arts without being distracted by Mu Hwi’s Twenty-Four Hands Plum Blossom Sword Technique.
Even as dozens of sword shadows occupied every direction, even as plum blossoms pushed back his blade energy, the Wolf King’s curved blade never stopped.
Pahak!
Occasionally, cuts opened on his body, splattering blood, but Wolf King paid no mind. If the wound wasn’t fatal, he endured it to strike back. This was how he had survived, rising from the lowest dregs of the wandering warriors.
"I’ve seen flashy swords like this dozens, hundreds of times!"
Wolf King sensed the flow of the incoming sword energy, reading Mu Hwi’s footwork and shoulder movements through the petals to predict his strikes. His battle-hardened instincts, though crude, pierced through the illusions with precision.
He deflected five simultaneous sword thrusts aimed at his waist and chest, then bent his knees and tore through the plum blossoms blooming above his head, leaping upward.
Below him, Mu Hwi stood with his sword lowered, looking up at him. Wolf King, having finally broken through the storm of blossoms, swung his curved blade at Mu Hwi’s neck. At the same time, Mu Hwi’s left hand moved.
A palm force shaped like blooming petals surged from his palm. Guided by the movements of his five fingers, the force twisted the trajectory of the curved blade.
Simultaneously, Mu Hwi’s right foot stomped down, channeling weight into the Sim-myeong Sword, which bent like a whip, aiming for the Wolf King’s chest.
Plum Fragrance Seep into Bone (梅香浸骨).
An extremely thin, swift purple line traced from the tip of the Sim-myeong Sword, designed to let the plum blossom’s fragrance pierce flesh and seep deep into bone.
The curved blade was bound by Plum Blossom Scattering Hands. Seeing the sword’s edge thrust toward his brow, Wolf King didn’t hesitate—he stretched out his left arm.
His left hand, wreathed in erupting internal energy, struck out with palm force, but Plum Fragrance Seep into Bone tore through it effortlessly, piercing his palm. As if expecting this, Wolf King instead pushed his hand forward with full force. The veins on Mu Hwi’s sword hand bulged in response.
As blood dripped down the Sim-myeong Sword, Wolf King’s left hand reached the middle of the blade. Gripping it tightly, he kicked toward Mu Hwi’s dantian.
Bam!
Mu Hwi blocked the sole with his knee, but Wolf King used the momentum to pivot, using Mu Hwi’s knee as a platform to launch himself forward.
Mu Hwi smirked at the sight of Wolf King’s forehead descending toward him.
‘A headbutt…’
A move more suited to untrained street thugs than a supreme master who had reached the Transcendent Realm. The past of Wolf King—surviving by any means, with no dignity was clearly revealed.
But Mu Hwi saw no need to humor the headbutt. Without hesitation, he released Wolf King’s curved blade, twisted his body with Dark Scent Flutter, and then regripped the Sim-myeong Sword with a new technique.
As Mu Hwi pulled the sword back, he drove the palm force of Plum Blossom Scattering Hands into the Wolf King’s exposed chest.
Five-Petal Rising (五聯葉昇).
A single plum blossom bloomed from Mu Hwi’s palm, scattering five petals that struck Wolf King’s chest.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thunk!
Wolf King raised a protective barrier like invisible armor, but he couldn’t fully withstand the five consecutive palm forces digging deep.
Forced back by Five-Petal Rising, Wolf King pursed his lips at Mu Hwi. A needle-like spit shot out, but Mu Hwi tilted his head slightly to dodge.
"Huu…"
Wolf King, leaving deep footprints as he retreated, glanced at his nearly shredded left hand and sighed lightly.
"Old man, running out of tricks?"
At Mu Hwi’s taunt, Wolf King clenched his bleeding left hand into a fist and charged again.
Watching Wolf King rush forward with monstrous energy, Mu Hwi slowly raised the Sim-myeong Sword.
"Difficult."
Throughout the fight, Mu Hwi had been trying to channel his will into the sword. He still couldn’t even grasp how to project bare-handed. The enlightenment from the Sword Immortal in the Martial Alliance had given him some insight, but he was still stuck.
Focusing solely on the sword and his will, Mu Hwi’s energy flowed as calmly as Lake Poyang when he had crossed from Hubei to Jiangxi.
Wolf King, mistaking Mu Hwi’s changed energy for contempt, roared in fury.
"How dare you! How dare you face me with such a serene expression!"
"How dare I? What are you talking about, old man?"
As Wolf King slashed wildly in all directions, Mu Hwi straightened his sword vertically.
"Now, even the Ten Kings are nothing but stepping stones to reach the Three Seats."
The Sword Immortal, Sima Gang, the Paewangseong Lord—in his past life, they had been untouchable, like the heavens themselves. But not anymore.
"As I am now!"
The moment he thought of the supreme masters of the Three Seats, the Sim-myeong Sword emitted a sword cry unlike any before. The cry resonated across Okhwasan, shaking the flora violently.
Ziiiiing!
The sword cry carried an indescribable emotion, as if the sword itself had come alive, like the first cry of a newborn.
Both Mu Hwi and Wolf King were startled, but the battle continued without pause.
Wolf King unleashed a lifetime’s worth of techniques without rest, but Mu Hwi, caught off guard by the sword’s sudden cry, had no time to react. Yet, unfazed, he instinctively thrust his sword.
Thud!
Planting his foot, Mu Hwi slashed simply yet precisely, deflecting Wolf King’s blade and exploiting the opening to thrust the Sim-myeong Sword flawlessly.
Though not as grand as before, Mu Hwi felt the sword’s pulsating cries and realized,
He had finally channeled his will into the sword, however faintly.
"This feeling…"
He couldn’t tell if it was an illusion, but the Sim-myeong Sword seemed to radiate warmth. Enchanted by the sword now carrying a fragment of his will, Mu Hwi continued the swordplay he had just executed.
Six Harmonies Sword (六合劍).
With simple thrusts and slashes of the Six Harmonies Sword, Mu Hwi dismantled the Wolf King’s techniques one after another.
Craaack!
Wolf King’s curved blade split in half, embedding itself in the ground. Blood gushed from the deep gash across his chest.
"What kind of…"
Wolf King recognized the Six Harmonies Sword at the end, but he couldn’t accept that his techniques had been broken by something so basic.
Mu Hwi grabbed Wolf King’s throat as he flailed, trying to rise.
"Ghk!"
Mu Hwi smiled faintly at Wolf King, whose bloodshot eyes burned with murderous intent.
True to his earlier promise, Mu Hwi hung Wolf King upside-down from a tree, just as Wolf King had done to the Wind King.
"You bastard! Release me now!"
"Wolf King. Let me retire you. Do you really need a retirement fund?"
He asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. Channeling the full force of his Purple Sunset Divine Technique, Mu Hwi drove his palm into the Wolf King’s dantian.
Craaash!
A massive shockwave erupted from Wolf King’s body, spreading across Okhwasan. Even when their dantians were shattered, supreme masters were different from ordinary martial artists.
Trembling like he’d been struck by lightning, Wolf King couldn’t even scream from the pain of his ruined dantian.
After several ragged breaths, he barely managed to speak.
"Kill me…"
"Can’t do that. There are too many Beggar Sect members at the foot of this mountain waiting to tear you apart."
Wolf King, now looking a decade older, barely opened his wrinkled eyes to stare at Mu Hwi.
Seeing Mu Hwi grinning ear to ear, Wolf King exhaled weakly.
"For a damn orthodox sect disciple… You’re quite vicious."
Mu Hwi’s smile deepened.
"Right. I’m not some naive orthodox sect disciple."
It was a truth Wolf King would never understand. Gripping Wolf King’s white hair, Mu Hwi leaned in close.
"Wolf King. Give up on dying peacefully."