Chapter 102: A Rowdy Eve (2)
Chapter 102: A Rowdy Eve (2)
Every eye in the tavern fixed on the intruder. A chilling winter wind howled through the gap in the crumbled outer wall, cooling the indoor air that had grown sweltering from the heat of battle.
With his back to the wind, the young man scanned the room. His brilliant blue eyes flickered over each person before suddenly coming to a halt upon reaching Cheon Hwa-ryeong.
Twitch. Cheon Hwa-ryeong unconsciously clenched her fists. Even in this chaos, the fact that he was conscious of her sent a thrill through her heart.
Then, as if trying to appear indifferent, his gaze brushed past her and finally landed on the corpse sprawled on the floor.
"Cheong."
"Yes?"
"Do you know his name?"
"One moment."
The woman who had been piggybacking on him hopped down. She stared blankly at the body and spoke.
"He is the Young Lord of the Duanmu Family. Duanmu Hwang. I have seen him twice before."
"Fortunately, he's from a minor house."
"…The Duanmu Family isn't exactly minor, but…"
"As long as it wasn't a direct descendant of the Five Great Clans, it’s still manageable."
Peng Hyeon-hwi spoke as he dusted off his sleeves. Creak. A threatening metallic sound echoed from the gauntlets wrapped around his left hand. He immediately drew his saber and rested it over his shoulder.
Thud.
He took a step forward. Standing at a crooked angle, he looked like a complete loafer—hardly someone one would believe studied under a prestigious sect.
He stared at the assassins, who were still frozen in place.
"Names."
Thump, thump, thump. The sound of a heartbeat echoed faintly.
His black martial robes, accented with red cuffs, billowed in sync with that sound. They surged in a direction clearly opposite to the wind, fully revealing his grand, sturdy physique.
Lightning seeped into the saber blade on his shoulder, the forearms exposed beneath his sleeves, the veins bulging in his neck, and around his eyes. Zap, crackle. Shards of lightning flowed along his form.
"The Peak Realm…!"
A ragged gasp escaped Sang-gwan Wook’s lips. Every young talent of the Jiangnan Forest Association present looked at Peng Hyeon-hwi with the same sentiment.
In the current Orthodox Martial World, was there anyone else who had reached the Peak Realm at that age? Excluding Shaolin’s Little Arhat and Mount Hua’s Sword-Flower, they had never heard of anyone reaching such a realm before even reaching their twentieth year.
Thus, the conclusion was simple.
If this young man continued to grow, a Great Demon would be born. A Great Demon of the Black Path Demonic Alliance. A Great Demon who would carry the Hebei Peng Family on his back, raising the Peng flag to rebuke the world.
And the assassins shared that same realization.
"Young Master Peng. I hadn't heard that you reached the Peak Realm."
"Naturally, since no one who saw it lived long enough to spread the word."
At Peng Hyeon-hwi’s cold remark, the assassins quickly glanced at one another. They slowly spread out, adjusting their stances. The martial artist who had taken the initial blow when Peng Hyeon-hwi first burst in pointed his sword and spoke.
"How can two hands handle four? Your confidence is quite impressive, Young Master, but why not step back? There is no reason for us to oppose you, is there?"
As he spoke, he tilted his sword tip slightly toward the young talents of the Jiangnan Forest Association.
"These people are direct descendants of the Jiangnan Orthodox sects. Is there a need for you to protect them? Especially when you must risk your life."
"Chongqing Ten Thousand Ghosts Alliance. Correct?"
"It is so."
"And yet, you dare."
Peng Hyeon-hwi stared blankly at the masked man.
"You dare command me to retreat without even revealing your identity in my presence?"
"…It is a request, not a command. Our interests do not have to clash, do they? If you wish, we can finish the job before the other Orthodox martial artists swarm in—"
The man couldn't finish his sentence. Before he could even level his sword again, Peng Hyeon-hwi’s gauntlet was flying toward his face.
His Protection Aura had already been heavily damaged during the first surprise attack. The man, who had been talking to buy time, should never have attempted a conversation in the first place.
"You coward—!!"
In that split second, another martial artist standing nearby quickly raised his sword to strike Peng Hyeon-hwi down. Clang! Sparks flew as the sword strike was blocked by the saber blade. Peng took a palm strike from the martial artist on his left with his shoulder, charging straight through—
—BOOM!!
An explosion erupted from the panicked man's chest. Blood and flesh burst out like mist. His Protection Aura shattered instantly, and the gauntlet could be seen buried deep, tearing through his ribs.
The Peak Realm was a stage where one could guide internal energy through every nerve of the body. The output of internal energy itself was on a different level compared to the realms below.
In a sensation where time seemed to have stopped, through the gaps of fragmented moments, right now.
Even amidst the raging gale, every single grain of dust from the crumbling wall seemed to float slowly in the air. Within that elongated sense of time.
Peng Hyeon-hwi pulled his gauntlet out of the chest of the man whose True Qi had scattered, causing him to fall out of the same timeline.
Crunch!!
Droplets of blood fell, then stopped in mid-air. The man’s collapsing body also seemed preserved in the air, its speed slowing down.
A muffled sensation, like swimming underwater. An overwhelming burden applied to every single movement. The texture and density of the air itself felt heavy and sluggish.
—Kieeeeeing!
Watching the two remaining martial artists rush in, he took his stance again.
It’s a relief I neutralized one with a surprise attack on the first move, he thought.
It was a fierce struggle that could barely be followed even by concentrating internal energy into one's vision. It was a speed like blurring shadows. None of the young talents present dared to speak or feel relieved.
Cold sweat pooled in their clenched fists. They lacked even the minimum qualification to intervene in a life-and-death duel of that level.
However, one thing was clear to them.
"Why is he helping us?"
The back of Peng Hyeon-hwi, fighting like an enraged tiger against the Black Path experts who had carried out the ambush, was certainly not their enemy.
"How can he fight like that?"
He was their peer, perhaps even a bit younger. The level of this young man, who had just turned eighteen, was already too far ahead to even be discussed among young talents.
They watched him with the gaze one reserves for a fully grown martial artist who has already stepped ahead, capable of rebuking the Martial World with his own will and strength.
The minimum requirement for a martial artist of the Hebei Peng Family to enter the Astral Energy Skill is the mastery of the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Art. It was only natural, as the Hunyuan Art and Thunderbolt Art were included in the basic training to open the Middle Dantian.
Therefore, a member of the Peng Family who reached the Peak Realm would generally forge the same Protection Aura.
Zap. Lightning crackled. Astral energy imbued with lightning rampaged through the meridians of his entire body, scattering as fragments through his pores. It was not for the sake of protection.
Unlike general Protection Auras, the Peng Family’s Astral Energy Skill did not block an opponent's blade.
—Kieeeing!
Instead, it heightened physical sensitivity.
Because of that, he could 'see.' He could feel the movement of the blades rushing in to sever the moment. It was a sensation that replaced sight with skin. Like licking with a tongue, like fumbling with fingertips.
As delicate as the fingertips of a craftsman carving a work of art. It was as if every bolt of lightning extending over his skin and crumbling into fragments became the terminal of his senses.
His head throbbed. A flood of information, far beyond what a human brain could handle, was pouring in. He analyzed every sensation one by one, dispersing them, and reading the trajectories.
—Swoosh!!
Those trajectories converged into lines and lunged forward. He saw countless blue thread-like lines swirling in all directions. Every one of the opponent's technique variations was captured in his eyes.
The Low Five Constant Examination Method. The secret ocular technique of the Hao Clan Leader illustrated those lines in his eyes.
The Seven Shadow Immortal Step. The secret footwork of the Hao Clan Leader drew the optimal path to reach them.
And in between, toward all the rushing thread-lines.
The saber fell.
The only offensive move of the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Blade, possible only after entering the Astral Energy Skill and mastering the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Blade.
The original source of the Hunyuan Blade. The secret of the Hunyuan Thunderbolt Blade.
Only when the Middle Dantian was fully opened, the meridians of the entire body were filled with Astral Energy, and one breathed within the sensitivity of a Peak Realm master.
Finally, with the Essence (精) refined enough to endure even while holding all the power one possessed in a single hand.
The Accumulated Power (積功) one had cultivated. The Qi (氣) forged by putting all of that into a single move.
And when those elements became one, the Spirit (神) descended to guide the hand.
Finally, the single bolt of lightning completed in that moment was called:
—Cr-cr-cr-ack!!
Thunderbolt Severing the Heavens.
A bolt of lightning that split the heavens to manifest on earth.
—Slash.
In an instant, the white-hot blade struck the martial artist's neck and traveled down vertically until it touched the floor.
Zap. The man’s face, filled with horror, froze stiff.
Thud. When the tip of the blade that had dug in stopped straight and curved into the floor of the tavern.
—BOOM!!
Behind the frozen martial artist, the outer wall of the tavern split and exploded, leaving a scar.
Deep and ominous, as if a mountain lord had clawed the world.
"Whew…"
Zap, crackle… When the lightning subsided, his body, scattering the remnants, cooled rapidly as it met the chilly winter wind. Steam billowed from his entire body due to his boiling temperature.
This is bad.
Because he had overworked his Middle Dantian to the point of unleashing the secret technique, he had no strength left. It hurt terribly, as if his acupoints were filled with dense needles. Perhaps he was becoming used to the pain, as he was able to maintain his composure unlike before when he would have foamed at the mouth and writhed.
"…Impressive. I offer you my respect, Young Master."
He could only watch as the last remaining Peak Realm martial artist performed a sword salute.
"You faced three martial artists of the same realm and killed two. Though these men were not the most outstanding of our sect, they were also not ones who should have been matched by someone of your age."
"…."
"This Jin’s mission has failed, but at the very least, I must take your head here. I cannot sit idly by and watch the Peng Family’s influence rise any higher than it is now."
Peng raised his saber and rested it on his shoulder. His body almost swayed, but he forced himself to stand firm. One foot forward, gauntlet held loosely and lowered halfway to the left.
He stared at the man while taking the starting posture of the Hunyuan Art. Admiration could be read in the man's eyes.
"A steadfast will. Today, this Jin has truly had his eyes opened."
You talk too much. It was a relief. Usually, the martial artists of the Central Plains belonged to the talkative sort. Due to the culture regarding face and reputation, they tended to ramble when they were in a position of complete dominance.
In the meantime, I quickly scanned the room.
First, Murong Cheong was useless. The opponent was a Peak Realm master in perfect condition, and if I told her, "Go, Murong Cheong, use Tackle!" she would surely end up as Mu/rong/Cheong.
I expected nothing from the young talents of the Jiangnan Forest Association. At least the guys from the Huangfu and Namgung families seemed to know how to fight a bit, but neither of them had the strength to fight right now. They were already injured before I arrived.
Sang-gwan Wook… was weaker than Murong Cheong and seemed to have no backbone.
As I turned my gaze, I looked at Cheon Hwa-ryeong.
No, I looked at Hwa-yeong.
—Should I step out?
It felt as if that quiet voice, thick with the scent of irises, was whispering to me.
Yes, she was the only 'real' ally Peak Realm master here, and a master capable of handling this guy as easily as breathing… but…
If she uses her full power, she’ll definitely be caught.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art was not a martial art system that could be hidden. If she rampaged while flowing streaks of pitch-black Demonic Energy, her identity would surely be revealed. Then, even if I lived, her survival couldn't be guaranteed.
No matter how much the Demonic Cult wasn't that hostile toward the Martial Alliance, would they really overlook the Little Heavenly Demon secretly operating deep within their core? Well, unlike me, who had the protection of the Murong Family, Hwa-yeong had no such backing.
Furthermore, if 'someone' assisting the Jinju Eon Family was still within the Martial Alliance, Hwa-yeong’s utility value would be dangerously high.
The Chongqing Ten Thousand Ghosts Alliance would desperately want Hwa-yeong’s head. They would want to ruin the alliance between the Hebei Peng Family and the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Ten years had passed since the marriage proposal. The circumstances of the broken engagement hadn't been announced yet, so it had to be assumed that the high-ranking officials of various martial factions knew about my marriage.
—Stay still.
I shook my head, conveying that message with my eyes. Even if I lived, if she died doing that, I’d have to worry about a Righteous-Demonic War, not just a Righteous-Evil War.
I even doubted if I could live if she did that.
—My god, assassins from a Black Path sect tried to assassinate the Orthodox young talents?
—And the son of the Hebei Dragon Slaying Alliance Leader and the daughter of the Heavenly Demon were found at the scene?
—Oh, that looks very innocent, doesn't it?
If the Jinju Eon Family whispered then, the Jiangnan Forest Association friends babbled, and the furious Heavenly Demon Cult roared? The troubled times or the cold war of the Central Plains would be over. Now, an era of chaos would arrive.
So, I had to overcome this obstacle alone as much as possible.
The Peak Realm master before me seemed to have finished his self-promotion, as he was looking at me while summoning his Astral Energy.
A harsh wind was blowing through the tavern wall I had split in half—
And from far away.
—Pweeeeeeeet!
A whistling arrow sounded.
From somewhere far in the distance. Beyond the dark streets of Wuchang. A sharp sound of piercing air soared toward the distant sky.
"A-Abba?!"
Murong Cheong, who shouted that, put her finger in her mouth with a movement so swift it could be felt even by a Peak Realm master’s senses—it was a gesture closer to desperation.
That became the signal. The Peak Realm master before me, who introduced himself as a man surnamed Jin, lunged forward.
"Not so fast!"
I didn't mind losing an arm. I could clearly feel that this was the only way to survive. The certainty and hope revealed in Murong Cheong’s actions.
—Clang!!
Fortunately, I managed to block it, though a crack appeared in my saber blade. I thought all my internal energy was gone, but since death was imminent, I seemed to have held on one last time.
Murderous intent flickered in the eyes of the assassin who had reached me. At a distance so close I could even feel his breath, I saw Astral Energy surging into his sword.
An exchange of a single blow that felt like an instant.
Immediately after, a sharp whistle sounded from Murong Cheong’s mouth.
—Pweeeeeeeep!!
I didn't know what that meant. But the man before me seemed flustered, urgently following up with his next move.
This was definitely hard to block. Now, it was even difficult to lift an arm. Just as I thought that and tried to take a step forward.
—Shhhhh…
I heard a small sound of piercing air at that moment when life and death were on the line.
—Whiririririck…
Before the sound could even cut off, the next sound followed. The moment I felt it resembled a whistle, it had already turned into a roar.
The moment I thought that roar had gotten a bit closer, it was already—
—BOOM!!
The master who was lunging at me 'disappeared.'
"…What is this…?"
"My father has arrived!!"
"Father…? The Murong Family Head?"
"Yes! Now we are saved!"
When I turned my gaze, there was a hole that had completely destroyed a corner of the tavern.
And the remaining lower half of the Peak Realm master, who just a moment ago I thought could easily kill everyone here, stood alone—his upper body literally 'gone.'
Unconsciously, when I turned my head toward the direction the sound had come from.
"Hah."
I saw a small light floating far away, beyond the vast streets of Wuchang.
At a distance where the great waves of the Yangtze River could be faintly seen, a distance that could be said to be hanging on the edge of the horizon, beyond that.
As the moon emerged from the clouds and cast its light, a great ship, large enough to be noticeable even at this distance, stood majestically.
"From there, to here?"
The Murong Family had arrived.
The Murong Family’s Sea-Cracking Fleet was entering Wuchang.
At the very front, led by a middle-aged man who was staring blankly this way while lowering his bow.