Chapter 202
Chapter 202
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 57
>Chapter Title: Water Ghost (3)
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“Do you want me to explain what a threat really is?”
The old tiger’s expression hardened at the soft voice coming from behind him.
He hadn’t even noticed it in that split second, yet someone with the lightness skill to take his rear like this was no ordinary fighter.
‘Hah.’
From his energy sense, it felt like peak realm.
But to fool his senses like this meant the intruder could completely conceal their aura—a mark of a true master.
‘...I can’t believe it.’
The old tiger inwardly denied it.
To deceive him to this degree, one would have to surpass the wall.
And this person was barely seventeen or eighteen years old.
Had they really reached the Flower Realm at such a young age?
‘Right. No way. It’s far more likely they’ve mastered some special concealment technique.’
Even he, with nearly sixty years of martial arts training, hadn’t reached that height.
There was no way this brat had crossed the wall.
Convinced of this, the old tiger kicked off the ground.
-Pat!
He needed to put distance between them first.
The old tiger shot his body forward, his gray robe flapping as he spun around.
‘Dual Poles Linked Hands!’
As he rotated, the sleeves of his robe sharpened into blades, unleashing a fierce energy.
They sliced through the pouring rain within a five-zhang radius in an instant.
-Chwaaack!
But he didn’t stop there.
The old tiger stomped toward the ground.
‘One Step Scattering Force!’
The moment his true step hit the pooled rainwater, the splashing droplets absorbed his qi and scattered in all directions as hidden weapons.
The range was so vast that
“What the—!”
“Block it!”
-Sring!
Seop Chun and Mong Mu-yak drew their swords and blades simultaneously to fend off the incoming droplets.
-Chaeng chaeng chaeng chaeng chaeng!
The power of the qi-infused raindrops made their hands go numb even while gripping their weapons.
The two blocked them while inwardly clicking their tongues.
Not only had he reached the pinnacle of super-first-rate, but his internal energy level was no exaggeration to call beyond that.
-Chaeng! Parururu!
With internal energy like this, he could rival one of the Five Kings—practically upper-echelon executive level.
Having blocked the qi-charged droplets and seeing them pushed back, the old tiger rolled his eyes in search of Mok Kyung-un.
He’d unleashed fairly powerful techniques to create distance from the brat.
Both had great power but consumed a massive amount of internal energy.
Still, he figured this much was necessary to shake the kid off his back for sure.
‘Where are you? Where the hell are you?’
The rain was pouring so hard it was difficult to secure a clear view at once.
But then,
“Interesting techniques.”
The voice from behind made the old tiger’s face stiffen again.
He’d assumed he’d created distance for sure.
What was this?
‘...I failed to pull away?’
The old tiger was utterly bewildered.
He’d unleashed an all-directional area attack, yet not only had he failed to gain distance—he’d still lost his rear?
-Grit!
The old tiger ground his teeth.
How could he keep letting this young punk take his back repeatedly?
“Insolent brat!”
The old tiger changed tactics.
Instead of pulling away, he used his sect’s footwork, Five Compliant Steps, to pivot directions while unleashing Dual Poles Linked Hands to attack Mok Kyung-un.
This time, since he hadn’t created distance, the brat wouldn’t be able to block or dodge the technique without giving up his positional advantage.
-Chwaak!
And then, a black shadow appeared before his eyes.
‘Got you!’
The old tiger unleashed a sequence of claw techniques toward the shadow.
‘Dual Poles Roaring Linked Claws—Overturning Claw Sweep!’
-Papapapapak!
It was like a roaring tiger baring its fangs at prey as it launched its form.
The old tiger aimed to end it the moment he caught the shadow’s movement.
But,
-Paaaak!
‘What?’
In that instant, his claw techniques whiffed past the shadow.
And immediately, a voice came from behind.
“Too slow.”
“You bastard!”
The old tiger swung a backhand strike.
-Pak!
But his hand met nothing.
Only Mok Kyung-un’s mocking voice echoed in his ears.
“How do you expect to see my face like this?”
‘Playing with this old man, are you!’
-Papapapapak!
Enraged by the taunt, the old tiger unleashed a barrage of claw strikes indiscriminately.
He needed to force this punk in front of him somehow to vent his frustration.
But right then—
-Puk!
A piercing pain shot through his right leg, and the old tiger’s form slipped on the rainwater, nearly collapsing to the ground.
Panicking, the old tiger hurriedly reached out to steady himself.
However,
-Puk!
“Urk!”
As his form crumbled, a kick smashed into his left ribs, sending him crashing to the ground.
-Kwang!
“Groooan.”
The old tiger clutched his ribs and groaned on the ground.
That last strike had cracked bones, it seemed.
Even breathing was agony.
Mok Kyung-un’s voice reached the old tiger’s ears.
“You’re making a fuss over that? Or is it just that you’re too old to handle this much pain?”
“Cough cough.”
The old tiger lifted his stiff face.
There stood Mok Kyung-un, hands behind his back, looking down at him.
To end up sprawled humiliatingly on the ground and finally see this punk’s face.
The old tiger was truly dumbfounded.
‘...He really crossed the wall.’
The gap was too clear to deny.
This brat was genuinely a Flower Realm master.
‘For someone not even in his twenties to reach such a monstrous height.’
He was a real monster.
Which sect could produce such a prodigy?
With prowess like this, his name should be renowned across the martial world.
Even coming from ‘that place,’ the old tiger knew the famous figures in the jianghu to some extent.
Catching his ragged breath with effort, the old tiger asked,
“Haa... haa... What’s your name?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Haa... No particular reason. I’m just impressed by your skills and curious about your reputation.”
“Then keep wondering.”
“......”
He had no intention of telling.
The old tiger let out a sigh close to a lament.
What an ironic twist.
He’d touched this guy because he couldn’t defy the young lady’s tantrum, and he turned out to be a Flower Realm expert.
What kind of ridiculous luck was this?
He’d picked the wrong opponent.
‘...This old man’s mistake.’
Truthfully, it was hard to call it a mistake.
Encounters with absolute masters who could completely fool one’s energy sense were exceedingly rare.
And meeting someone who’d reached the Flower Realm before their twenties was equally improbable.
It was closer to plain bad luck.
“Haa... haa...”
The old tiger sat up straight and said,
“Understood. Since you won’t share your name, I’ll just call you young brother.”
-Pak!
The old tiger clasped his hands in a fist salute and bowed his head.
“This old Pan humbly apologizes to you young brothers from the heart.”
“Apologizes?”
“Indeed. I have no excuse even if I had two mouths, but I truly had no intent to harm you. Regardless, I certainly made you feel threatened. For that, I apologize and offer the greatest compensation I can. Please, show mercy just this once.”
The old tiger bowed his head once more, sincerely.
Unlike ‘that place,’ the jianghu ran on power, so he’d cast aside his pride to apologize accordingly.
But mere words might not suffice,
-Swish!
The old tiger drew a square jade plaque from his bosom.
He held it out to Mok Kyung-un and said,
“This is a first-grade jade token issued by the Western Plains Battlefield.”
“Western Plains Battlefield?”
“Yes. This token can be exchanged for a hundred gold taels at once.”
“A hundred gold taels?”
Interest gleamed in Mok Kyung-un’s eyes.
A hundred gold taels was equivalent to ten thousand silver taels.
An enormous sum—one that could sustain a mid-sized sect for a year.
He figured anyone would be swayed by compensation like this.
“Oh? Is that so? I’ll gladly accept.”
Mok Kyung-un took the jade token.
Seeing this, the old tiger thought, *As expected.*
Martial artists were human too.
No one could resist such a massive fortune.
It pained him to give up half his travel funds, but better than letting things escalate.
“Thank you.”
As the old tiger released his salute and tried to stand,
Mok Kyung-un tucked the square jade token into his bosom and said,
“Compensation is compensation. Shall we continue our conversation?”
“What?”
The old tiger furrowed his brow.
What was he saying now?
He’d accepted a Western Plains Battlefield jade token worth a hundred gold taels in one go—what more?
“Look here. Let’s end this matter here...”
“No ending yet. Some things can be settled with money, some can’t.”
“What? You take that much gold and say something like that now?”
“Exactly. If you were stronger than me, you wouldn’t be paying money or groveling with apologies. You’d have gotten what you wanted.”
“......”
The old tiger fell silent at Mok Kyung-un’s words.
He couldn’t deny the truth.
He’d planned to pressure them with force and drag them to the young lady from the start.
He’d even said as much, making excuses pointless.
So the old tiger tried to placate Mok Kyung-un as gently as possible.
“Young brother, I fully understand your feelings. If it seems like I was trying to buy you off with money...”
“Understand what?”
“Well...”
“Doesn’t seem like you understand at all.”
“......Didn’t I say otherwise? This old man merely...”
“Isn’t experiencing it firsthand the quickest way to learn?”
“Experience?”
“Yes. You seem unable to tell threats from cooperation.”
‘This guy doesn’t mean...?’
The old tiger’s eyes sharpened at Mok Kyung-un’s words.
Come to think of it, his companions had vanished unnoticed.
Right then—
-Crash!
-How disrespectful!
‘!?’
A loud crash from the inn and a familiar shout made the old tiger’s pupils shake wildly.
‘You bastards!’
-Pat!
The old tiger’s face twisted as he urgently shot toward the inn.
Entering through the back door, his expression froze.
There lay the fallen escort warriors, and behind the veiled woman stood Mong Mu-yak, pressing a blade to her slender neck.
Mong Mu-yak and Seop Chun were a rank below the old tiger, but none of the other escorts could handle them.
“You... you scum! Release her at once!”
The old tiger bellowed in fury.
He wanted nothing more than to tear those holding a sword to her throat apart right then.
Mong Mu-yak replied coldly to the old tiger,
“You’d best not move.”
“You—!”
What could he do in this situation?
He’d suspected, but these bastards had gone and done the irreverent deed.
Then,
“How does it feel? Do you get the difference between cooperation and threats now?”
-Grip!
The old tiger bit his lower lip at Mok Kyung-un’s voice from behind.
He hadn’t expected retaliation like this.
He’d truly picked the wrong fight.
End of Chapter 57 Water Ghost (3)