Chapter 101: Let Me Kill a Few First!
The warriors' expressions froze in an instant.
I Hyeon-chang, a peak Myriad Laws Realm expert.
Not only in Jiang Kingdom, but one of the top martial artists across the entire Qingzhou continent!
And yet, this I Hyeon-chang had so easily offered up his forehead?
Moreover, not a single person in the hall had properly seen the sword's movement.
What terrifying skill was this!
All eyes turned to the woman. Their faces were the picture of sheer astonishment.
Meanwhile, Gu Lu-ju, watching from the side, couldn't contain his excitement.
Though he was gravely wounded and could barely hold himself upright, a broad grin stretched across his face.
The gamble had paid off!
Yeop Hyeon truly had someone watching his back—and not just any expert, but a Sword Immortal! That was why he'd sided with Yeop Hyeon despite knowing it would make enemies of the Shadow Realm and Daeun Changmok Academy. He'd bet on the existence of this Sword Immortal. Now, Gu Lu-ju's face finally brightened.
Gu Lu-ju suddenly slapped Gang Wol-cheon's shoulder with his palm.
"Brother Gang, our choice was right! Haha!"
Gang Wol-cheon, as if he hadn't heard, simply stared blankly at the woman in her mourning skirt.
The most stunned face of all belonged to I Hyeon-chang. He hadn't been able to twitch a muscle while the sword hovered at his forehead.
The moment he'd tried to react, the blade was already before his eyes.
What realm did one need to reach for swordsmanship like this!?
Right then, the black-robed man beside I Hyeon-chang kicked off the ground and leaped high into the air. In that instant, the sword aiming at I Hyeon-chang vanished.
I Hyeon-chang instinctively looked up at the sky.
And there, a bloodied head was slowly tumbling down!
Instant kill!
I Hyeon-chang and all the other warriors couldn't hide their shock once more.
A Myriad Laws Realm expert in black robes, taken out so easily!?
The elder from Daeun Changmok Academy wore an expression of utter disbelief.
Under the bright moonlight, though he couldn't see the woman's face directly, her figure was as pristine and beautiful as a fairy untouched by the mortal world.
The Daeun Changmok Academy elder cried out involuntarily.
"Y-You're a... Sword Immortal..."
At that moment, the woman's hand moved lightly.
Slash—!
In a flash, the elder's head shot high into the sky.
As the elder collapsed, spurting blood futilely, the hall fell utterly silent.
Gu Lu-ju felt as if his heart might freeze solid.
That elder had been a peak Myriad Laws Realm powerhouse!
Someone who could die so easily!?
But recalling that the woman before him was a Sword Immortal made it all click.
Sword Immortal.
A title that had never once appeared in all of Qingzhou.
There had been experts approaching that level, but no true Sword Immortal had ever emerged.
Now, the surrounding Myriad Laws Realm experts began trembling in their boots.
Right then, the woman's green sword swept through the hall at invisible speed.
Swish swish—!
Two shadows hovering in the air plummeted to the ground.
They were the two Shadow Realm assassins who had ambushed Dean Ji Yuan Zhang!
Two rays of sword light pierced into their bodies.
Unable to move a muscle, the two warriors glared at the woman standing under the moonlight with eyes full of disbelief.
At that moment, one Myriad Laws Realm expert stepped forward, bowed politely, and spoke.
"Sword Immortal, we..."
The woman turned her head toward him, cutting him off.
"Don't say a word. Just watch me kill you."
Her hand moved lightly toward the elder who'd just spoken.
Slash—!
The elder's head thudded limply to the floor.
Her hand moved again, and the green sword danced through the hall like a butterfly flitting among flowers.
Swish—!
In the span of a single breath, the heads of over a dozen Myriad Laws Realm experts scattered blood as they flew into the sky—a spectacular sight.
Now, only six remained!
Gu Lu-ju and Gang Wol-cheon, I Hyeon-chang, the two Shadow Realm assassins, and the youth from Daeun Changmok Academy.
By now, I Hyeon-chang had lost all will to fight.
A Sword Immortal.
He'd long known Yeop Hyeon had a backer, but he'd never imagined it was a Sword Immortal!
I Hyeon-chang shot a venomous glare at Yeop Hyeon, who lay collapsed on the side, uncertain if dead or alive. Curses flooded his mind.
If his backer was a Sword Immortal, why hadn't he said so earlier!? If he'd known sooner, he wouldn't be in this mess!
But even if Yeop Hyeon had claimed to be a Sword Immortal's disciple himself, I Hyeon-chang wouldn't have believed it.
No one else would have, either.
Because none of them had ever actually seen a Sword Immortal!
"Hup!"
As I Hyeon-chang was lost in thought, the green sword flew in, once more aiming at his forehead. Moments later, the woman's voice rang in his ear.
"Didn't you come looking for me?"
I Hyeon-chang glared at her with savage eyes and burst into mad laughter.
"Hahaha! Don't humiliate me— just kill me..."
Then, the green sword quivered lightly.
Whing!
With a sword cry, I Hyeon-chang's physical body collapsed to the floor. But his soul still stood before the green sword!
Staring back and forth between his fallen body and the woman, I Hyeon-chang cried out in disbelief.
"N-No... Separating body and soul... How can you... do this..."
At that moment, the woman's voice echoed softly through the hall.
"If you're not dead yet, get up and learn a new sword stance!"
At her words, Yeop Hyeon, lying on the ground, twitched. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet. His body was covered in wounds too gruesome to look at straight, but he gritted his teeth and stood firm on both legs.
"Nngh..."
Yeop Hyeon groaned in pain and approached Mu Yun Qi, who lay collapsed nearby. He nudged him with his foot.
"Stop playing dead and get up already."
"Heh, how'd you know I wasn't dead... Cough!"
Yeop Hyeon replied in a low voice.
"Obviously. How could a dead guy fart?"
"..."
Yeop Hyeon moved toward Bai Ze and Ji An Zhi nearby. The two were barely clinging to life. It seemed I Hyeon-chang hadn't intended to finish them off in one go back then.
Yeop Hyeon pulled out golden wound-healing pills and slipped them into their mouths.
Bai Ze looked up at Yeop Hyeon with resolute eyes.
"I'll... get stronger!"
Yeop Hyeon nodded.
"Good. First, pick up your pants and put 'em on."
When Bai Ze had rolled on the ground earlier, his lower body had gotten shredded by debris. Right now, he was stark naked, his 'precious parts' on full display for all to see.
"..."
Approaching Ji An Zhi, Yeop Hyeon simply patted her shoulder lightly without a word. She gazed up at him silently in return.
Finally, Yeop Hyeon bowed respectfully toward the woman hovering in the sky.
Her voice came then.
"How's it feel to be on the receiving end of bullying?"
"Infuriating!"
The woman's tone softened a touch.
"But this kind of thing will keep happening. Remember that. Someone with a bad temper but no skill doesn't last long. Even if your personality's shit, if you have power like me, just kill them all. Like this..."
At that moment, the green sword shot toward the ground.
Slash—!
The neck of one of the two bound Shadow Realm warriors was cleanly severed.
"..."
"Wanna vent a bit?"
Yeop Hyeon nodded.
"But don't you lack this kind of power?"
Yeop Hyeon pondered briefly before answering.
"But I'm still young."
"Young? Ha! At your age, I already had no rivals in the world!"
"..."
"Well... a genius like me won't appear again anytime soon..."
As Yeop Hyeon silently cursed her in his mind without voicing it, the green sword flew toward I Hyeon-chang's soul.
"The stance I'm about to show you is called One Sword Determines the Soul. As the name implies, it's for targeting souls. It deals massive damage to foes with souls. There are plenty strong in body, but few strong in soul. One Sword Determines the Soul was devised to counter even those with powerful souls. With this stance, even yokai ghosts or demons can be obliterated."
Yeop Hyeon nodded vigorously.
"Got it! Teach me!"
"This stance, too, stems from a form of sword dao conviction. Figure out what conviction on your own. Even if you can't, you must. Don't make me explain."
"..."
Then, the woman's hand moved.
Whoosh—!
The green sword pierced straight through I Hyeon-chang's soul. His form vanished completely.
Gu Lu-ju and Gang Wol-cheon shuddered involuntarily at the sight.
This woman killed without the slightest hesitation, as if slaughtering a chicken.
A Myriad Laws Realm expert who once commanded Jiang Kingdom... extinguished so pathetically...
At that moment, the green sword flew over Gu Lu-ju and Gang Wol-cheon's heads and halted.
Their faces drained of color.
"M-Master..."
"Relax. I have no intention of killing them."
Hearing that, Gang Wol-cheon and Gu Lu-ju sighed in relief.
The woman's voice rang out again.
"Without you two, that boy's body would already be rotting away."
Her fingers twitched, and two sword gleams shot forth, vanishing into their bodies. The pair convulsed violently in response.
"Those gleams will circulate through your bodies from now on, filtering out impurities. At longest, in a year, your martial arts will be far purer than they are now."
At her words, the two knelt toward her and cried out in trembling voices.
"Thank you, Sword Immortal!"
Right then, a tremendous aura approached rapidly from the distant sky. An elder in black robes appeared.
He scanned the hall, spotted the Daeun Changmok Academy elder's corpse, and bellowed at the woman with cold eyes.
"Who permitted you to touch someone from Daeun Changmok Academy!?"
Gu Lu-ju and Gang Wol-cheon gaped at the elder in bewilderment.
In the heavy silence, the woman asked with exasperation.
"Hey, do I look like an easy mark to you too?"
"..."