Chapter 426
Chapter 426
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 111
>Chapter Title: Hun and Po (3)
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Shanxi Province, western Xing County, southern end.
A bizarre war was unfolding around a massive estate there.
And it was no wonder, for this was not a battle between man and man—between humans.
One side consisted of martial artists, while the other was made up of entities that weren't beasts, grotesque forms known as monstrosities or imae-mangnyang.
-Kraaaargh!
There were all sorts of monstrosities: ones spewing poisonous mist from their mouths, moving with nimble lightness skills, slashing bodies with long claws, and more.
They were the sort of beings that could instill terror just by looking at them, but the human side—the martial artists—were not yielding an inch. Instead, they were overwhelming them with superior force.
Their numbers alone seemed to exceed two thousand.
Banners fluttered in various spots among the martial artists, revealing the identity of their group.
[Evil Alliance]
[Second Alliance Leader]
[Fifth Alliance Leader]
[Sixth Alliance Leader]
The Evil Alliance.
One of the three powers dividing the current martial world, formed by the remnants of the old martial world and the unorthodox sects of the present.
Three of the Evil Alliance's alliance leaders were participating in this war.
Second Alliance Leader Golden Body Invincible Hae Yeok-won, Fifth Alliance Leader Asura Annihilation Blade Yu Kyung, and Sixth Alliance Leader Evil Serenity Sword Gwi Sa-man.
Among them, Second Alliance Leader Hae Yeok-won was one of the Eight Stars, hailed as the pinnacle of the current martial world.
How had these prestigious supreme experts of the Evil Alliance ended up fighting these imae-mangnyang?
It was all for one person.
-Shoooo!
“Waaaaah!”
“It's the True Blood Golden Body!”
The Evil Alliance warriors cheered at the sight of a massive middle-aged man whose muscles swelled brown across his entire body, steam billowing from him.
“Hmph!”
-Boom!
The middle-aged man kicked off the ground, launching his form forward. He smashed both fists down on the head of a colossal imae-mangnyang that looked like a tiger and wild boar mashed together.
Its head shattered on impact, its jaw slamming into the ground as it collapsed.
“Keheheh. All bulk, no substance.”
The muscular middle-aged man with a scruffy beard was Hae Yeok-won.
He was one of the Evil Alliance's pillars, worthy of the Eight Stars title.
Just then, an imae-mangnyang with agile movements sneaked up behind the laughing Hae Yeok-won.
In that instant,
-Slashslashslashslashslash!
Someone flew in, unleashing blade strikes like flashes of light from both hands, slicing another imae-mangnyang into dozens of pieces.
-Thudthudthud!
“Don't let your guard down, Second Alliance Leader.”
“I knew you'd save me, Yu Kyung.”
“You talk a good game.”
The long-haired man smirking with blades in both hands was the Evil Alliance's Fifth Alliance Leader, Asura Annihilation Blade Yu Kyung.
These two shared one thing in common: they hailed from the old Blood Cult, once the dominant force in the old martial world.
-Sssrrrr! Popopopow!
“Gasp!”
“W-what is this?”
Suddenly, the tree roots nearby elongated on their own, binding the Evil Alliance warriors so they couldn't move.
The warriors panicked, trying to sever them, but the roots kept rising, wrapping them tighter.
Yu Kyung clicked his tongue at the sight.
“Heh. Looks like sorcery.”
-Fwoosh! Slash!
Fifth Alliance Leader Yu Kyung shot forward, severing the tree at its core.
As the massive ancient tree toppled, drained of power, he set it ablaze with the Threefold True Fire technique, just in case.
-Fwoosh!
The tree, which had moved its roots like a living thing, writhed in agony as it burned.
“Freaky stuff.”
“Damn it!”
Hearing voices from the direction of the estate, Yu Kyung turned his head.
There, sorcerers were forming hand seals and holding talismans.
‘I thought it'd be an easy fight, but it's annoyingly tricky.’
He had wondered why they needed his help just to fight a bunch of sorcerers.
But facing them now, he saw they were no ordinary sorcerers.
They were led by one of the top six sorcerers among the Sixty-Four Pavilions of the Square Plains, and they lived up to the hype.
They commanded imae-mangnyang stronger than most martial artists as their spirit familiars and tormented the warriors with bizarre sorcery.
Of course, they had monsters on their side who could handle these imae-mangnyang and sorcerers with ease.
“Kra hahaha!”
-Crunch!
Hae Yeok-won snapped the two horns off a charging red ox-like imae-mangnyang.
Not satisfied, he hoisted it up and hurled it backward.
-Boom!
Second Alliance Leader Hae Yeok-won was exactly that type.
Once he activated his unique breathing technique, True Blood Golden Body, he was practically invincible, earning him the moniker Golden Body Invincible.
Though the old martial world era after the Great Cataclysm was forgotten by all, Hae Yeok-won's Hae family had been a prestigious martial clan, rumored to have produced the world's greatest master.
-Slashslashslash!
Of course, he was no pushover himself.
After turning one imae-mangnyang into chunks of meat, Fifth Alliance Leader Yu Kyung spoke to Hae Yeok-won in a low voice.
“It's been nearly half a shichen since the young lady infiltrated, and no word yet. That's worrying.”
In response to his concern, Second Alliance Leader Hae laughed.
“Keheheh. No need to worry. It's not just anyone—it's her, the legend of the old Blood Cult, with Sixth Alliance Leader Evil Serenity Sword.”
“True, but...”
It was taking longer than expected.
They had pinned down the sorcerers' forces for over half a shichen, yet no news. It was hard not to worry.
Even as a small elite team, three supreme experts had gone in.
If they still hadn't subdued it, that Sixth Directions God sorcerer was no ordinary foe.
Fifth Alliance Leader Yu Kyung gazed toward the estate's main hall.
[Word Spirit True Origin Pavilion]
Word Spirit True Origin Pavilion.
* * *
“Cough... cough...”
A middle-aged man in golden sorcerer's robes, a sword impaled in his abdomen, hacked up blood.
His identity: the pavilion master of this Word Spirit True Origin Pavilion, the sorcerer Gi Jin-mun, bearer of the Sixth Directions God title.
How had one of the top six sorcerers ended up like this?
After coughing up blood for a while, Pavilion Master Gi Jin-mun laboriously lifted his head, staring at someone's back.
The figure was a woman in red guard robes with a golden belt.
The beautiful Golden Guard woman, her clothes stained with blood everywhere, was none other than Sixth Thousand Commander So Ye-rin.
-Swish!
Pavilion Master Gi Jin-mun subtly tried to move his middle finger.
That instant,
-Slash!
“Gaaargh!”
His middle finger was severed.
The cutter was a seductive woman with long nails: Blood Star Dan Baek-ha of the old Blood Cult.
Dan Baek-ha warned Pavilion Master Gi Jin-mun in a murderous tone.
“Move a single finger, and I don't care if it's the young lady's orders—I'll kill you.”
“Grrr... you venomous bitch!”
“If you understand, stay still.”
Blood Star Dan Baek-ha was on high alert for a simple reason.
They had infiltrated to secretly subdue him, but hit a wall.
Even a so-called god-tier sorcerer could be taken down easily if denied the chance to use spells or talismans—or so they thought.
But the Sixth Directions God title was well-earned.
‘Snuck up and severed an arm, yet barely subdued him.’
He was tongue-twistingly strong.
They assumed sorcery required chanting or talismans, but he unleashed spells with almost no openings, tormenting them.
Even if prepped in advance, it was skill befitting his fame.
“Hmph.”
And they nearly had a disaster thanks to an unexpected spy.
It was due to the one who infiltrated with them.
On the floor lay a corpse charred by lightning energy, its body bisected.
This corpse was Evil Alliance Sixth Alliance Leader Evil Serenity Sword Gwi Sa-man.
Dan Baek-ha clicked her tongue at the sight.
‘If I hadn't been behind...’
The young lady would have been done for.
Just as Sixth Thousand Commander So Ye-rin swiftly thrust her sword into Pavilion Master Gi Jin-mun's gut, Gwi Sa-man suddenly tried to behead her.
She countered with lightning, blocking him.
[What the hell are you doing?]
“Urk!”
Failing to kill her, the charred Gwi Sa-man then tried to finish the subdued, immobile Pavilion Master Gi Jin-mun.
As if to silence him.
But in a flash, So Ye-rin unleashed sword aura from her sword manual, ducked low, and slashed his waist, resolving the crisis.
‘What the hell?’
Even if formed from many unorthodox groups, how had a spy hidden among the Evil Alliance's executives?
They nearly had a catastrophe.
Once this was wrapped up, she needed to tell Second Alliance Leader Hae Yeok-won to root out spies thoroughly.
Blood Star Dan Baek-ha glanced at So Ye-rin without taking her eyes off Pavilion Master Gi Jin-mun.
The young lady was examining documents from the hidden vault.
But the mood felt off.
“Young lady?”
Why was she holding her breath, so fixated on that?
Puzzled, then Pavilion Master Gi Jin-mun spoke.
“Cough cough... I told you... seeing that changes nothing...”
So Ye-rin, engrossed in the document, turned around, document in hand, and approached him.
She spoke in a voice laced with anger.
“You—no, Milhoe—what the hell were you planning with this?”
Gi Jin-mun coughed blood and laughed at her question.
“Cough cough... keheheheh. Who knows. Knowing won't let you do a damn thing...”
-Stab! Twist!
“Guh!”
So Ye-rin twisted the sword in his gut.
The agony of his organs twisting and tearing on the blade was indescribable.
So Ye-rin glared fiercely and said.
“I won't let you scum have your way.”
“Guhhh... haa... haa... It's not about letting us... It's inevitable... Even if your ancient ancestor revives... you can't... stop...”
-Crack!
Pavilion Master Gi Jin-mun's head exploded.
So Ye-rin wiped her face with her sleeve amid the splattering brains and blood.
She glanced at the document, nearly bloodied, now tucked behind her back.
The aged paper bore a map, with several spots marked red.
One spot caught her eye.
It was the northern part of Shaanxi Province.
‘...’
Staring at it, she turned to Blood Star Dan Baek-ha.
“Sorry to ask, but could you do me a favor?”
“How can you call it a favor? Give me your order.”
“...Thank you. I couldn't have done this alone without Blood Star's help.”
“No need for such words. This isn't just your fight. I've been waiting for the day to exact bloody vengeance on them too.”
Dan Baek-ha showed fierce battle intent.
She was just as fired up for this.
Sixth Thousand Commander So Ye-rin handed over the document.
“Take this to Mok Kyung-un at the Heaven-Earth Society.”
“This? But...”
“I've memorized it. No need for it now.”
“...Understood. Then you'll return to the Imperial Palace in Kaifeng...”
“No. I think I need to head north of Shaanxi Province.”
“North of Shaanxi? You don't mean...”
Before Dan Baek-ha could finish, So Ye-rin gave a bitter smile.
“Yes... my long-lost hometown.”
* * *
Around the same time, at the Heaven-Earth Society.
The society leader, forcibly restrained by Cheong-ryeong's spirit power, spoke with difficulty.
“Haa... haa... I truly don't know. But a way to draw out that one... Ryu So-wol, you know it too, don't you?”
-...Speak.
“The traces of the golden alchemy to forcibly merge hun and po... Ghost Sword found them.”
-Ghost Sword?
“Cough cough. Yes.”
At those words, Cheong-ryeong's face, who had lost control to rage, grew strange.
She had desperately searched with the masses to find him.
But that wasn't important now.
-Where is Ghost Sword?
To her question, the society leader replied.
“Northern tip of Shaanxi Province. At the ruins of the fallen castle.”
[Chapter 111: Hun and Po (3)] End