Kill Every Last One!
“They’re here!”
With Luk Ban-jang’s shout, a flock of falcon riders descended from the distant sky toward them.
The Ninth Mercenary Corps!
At that moment, the Tang Kingdom soldiers charging toward Yeop Hyeon had already halted and formed ranks.
What they needed to block immediately were the demon beasts of Baek Taek and Mu Yun Qi.
From behind the great tiger, Baek Taek yelled.
“Yeop hyung, what’s the plan?”
Yeop Hyeon glanced at Baek Taek and replied.
“Kill them! Not a single one spared!”
“Not a single one spared—kill them all!”
As his words fell, the demon beasts surged forward with frenzied speed.
The ground shook violently, as if it might crumble beneath them.
In response, the vanguard of the heavy cavalry raised his longsword high and bellowed.
“Charge!”
Thousands of heavy cavalry thundered toward the demon beasts, followed closely by thousands more of the Tang Kingdom’s elite troops.
Right then, a flock of falcon riders appeared in the sky overhead. At the same moment, twenty warriors leaped down from midair.
The burly man at their lead rushed swiftly to Luk Ban-jang’s side. His face twisted in rage at the sight of her wounds.
“Who the hell did this to you?!”
Luk Ban-jang said nothing, merely staring at the man.
Just then, Yeop Hyeon, standing beside her, raised his hand and pointed toward a distant Divine Fusion Realm expert.
Confirming the target’s face, the man drew a massive heavy saber and charged straight ahead.
“Wipe them all out!”
A dozen warriors followed tightly on his heels.
As Yeop Hyeon stepped forward to lend a hand, Luk Ban-jang shook her head to stop him.
“No need!”
Yeop Hyeon, puzzled, simply looked at her—when horrific screams erupted from all directions.
He turned to survey the scene, unable to hide his astonishment.
Over forty Divine Fusion Realm experts had been shattered in an instant by just twenty warriors.
Overwhelming dominance—utter and complete.
Though their realms matched and their numbers were more than double, they were no match for these foes.
The gap in skill was far too vast.
At a glance, the Ninth Mercenary Corps’ strength far surpassed even the Changmok Academy Dao soldiers.
Meanwhile, watching this unfold, Mok Cheong-hyeon darkened his expression and shouted toward the Shadow Lord.
“You still won’t step in?!”
The Shadow Lord fell silent for a moment before slowly shaking his head.
“It’s already over. Let’s go!”
The Shadow Lord’s figure vanished from the spot in a flash. At the same time, the auras of the hidden assassins scattered without a trace.
Seeing the Shadow Lord flee, Mok Cheong-hyeon’s face contorted with savage fury.
Moreover, in the distance, Divine Fusion Realm experts were trying to slip away—but they couldn’t escape their pursuers’ grasp. The enemy’s speed vastly outpaced theirs.
Even so, they had to flee. They couldn’t just sit there and die!
The Divine Fusion Realm experts had long lost their will to fight.
At that moment, the mercenary leader’s enraged voice boomed across the field once more.
“Don’t let a single one escape! Not. A. Single. One!”
In the blink of an eye, the Divine Fusion Realm experts began falling one by one.
As the tide turned in the arena, the warriors who had gathered from various parts of Qingzhou started slipping away.
Right then, Yeop Hyeon moved.
Chiik—!
The Spirit Water Sword flashed like lightning here and there, and each time, fresh blood sprayed into the air.
No one among the survivors could block Yeop Hyeon’s single stroke.
In moments, over thirty corpses piled up around him.
Blood dripped steadily from the Spirit Water Sword in his hand onto the ground.
Just then, the Ninth Mercenary Corps had fully cleaned up their side. The Divine Fusion Realm experts’ corpses lay gruesomely strewn at their feet.
True to their bold claim, not a single one had survived.
It was a terrifyingly clean sweep.
Yeop Hyeon now turned toward Baek Taek and Mu Yun Qi. The Tang Kingdom heavy cavalry and demon beasts were locked in fierce combat. The two sides were evenly matched in momentum.
These heavy cavalry were the Tang Kingdom’s finest elites, handpicked from the best.
Yeop Hyeon raised his sword and advanced toward the Tang soldiers. At that moment, an elder appeared before him.
It was the Tang Kingdom’s National Scholar, whom he had met not long ago.
The elder regarded Yeop Hyeon with grave eyes.
“I’ll withdraw the troops. Let’s end the war here.”
The current situation was overwhelmingly favorable to Yeop Hyeon and his group. After the Changmok Academy warriors’ crushing defeat, the Tang army could no longer claim superiority.
Yeop Hyeon and Luk Ban-jang’s group, plus these two dozen terrifying warriors who had appeared out of nowhere—if they allied with Gangguk’s forces, they could stand toe-to-toe with not just the Tang Kingdom, but even Jeoguk.
Moreover, reports had come in of massive numbers of demon beasts appearing at the Tang border.
The National Scholar judged that further war was impossible.
Yeop Hyeon gripped the Spirit Water Sword reverse and took a step toward the elder.
“If a single word could stop this war, it never would have started in the first place.”
Yeop Hyeon brushed past the elder and leaped into the midst of the Tang army.
At that instant, a green sword gleam flashed through the Tang ranks from afar, and in a flash, half a dozen heavy cavalry toppled over.
Witnessing this, the elder’s expression darkened sharply.
Having handled their share, the Ninth Mercenary Corps approached Luk Ban-jang. As they opened their mouths to speak, she launched herself toward the heavy cavalry.
The mercenary leader hesitated briefly before gripping his great saber and following her.
With their addition, the balance tipped in an instant.
And then… the one-sided massacre began.
No ordinary soldier could withstand the swords of these so-called geniuses.
Each could handle dozens alone. They precisely targeted only the elite cavalry and officers, cutting them down.
Soon, the heavy cavalry’s numbers dwindled dramatically.
“Retreat!”
The National Scholar elder’s voice rang out.
Only then did the Tang soldiers hurriedly fall back. As they turned tail, even more fell in the blink of an eye—far more than before.
Watching his elite troops crumbling helplessly, the elder glared at Yeop Hyeon with murderous intent.
He desperately wanted to intervene himself.
No matter how talented these warriors were, if a Myriad Laws Realm expert like him stepped in, he could halt the slaughter.
Yet he couldn’t dare act on the thought.
If he did, the entire Tang Kingdom might vanish.
The kingdom was far too small to withstand a single Sword Immortal.
About half an incense stick later, Yeop Hyeon and the others finally stayed their hands. Corpses formed mountains around them, blood rivers soaking the earth.
It was a scene of brutal slaughter.
Yeop Hyeon suddenly turned to the elder staring at him and asked.
“Not a pretty sight, is it?”
The elder fixed Yeop Hyeon with bloodthirsty eyes and replied.
“As a martial artist, do you take pride in butchering mere soldiers?”
Yeop Hyeon shook his head.
“Before a martial artist, I’m a man of Gangguk. If this Tang army had invaded our land, countless civilians would have become corpses.”
War was merciless, without blood or tears.
Had the Tang army struck Gangguk instead, it would have been Gangguk’s people piled in death.
The elder stared at Yeop Hyeon wordlessly for a long while before vanishing in an instant.
Yeop Hyeon then turned toward Baek Taek and Mu Yun Qi. Catching his eye, Baek Taek spoke first.
“We stopped by Mang Mountain on the way, so we’re a bit late.”
Yeop Hyeon shook his head.
“No, you weren’t late. But how did those demon beasts make it all the way here?”
“Humans have borders, but demon beasts don’t. Plus, they took the most treacherous mountains, so they slipped through without a fuss.”
Yeop Hyeon nodded and turned toward the Ninth Mercenary Corps. As the leader eyed him, Yeop Hyeon cupped his fists.
“Thank you for the help!”
The man replied flatly.
“No need for thanks. We didn’t come to help you.”
He turned to Luk Ban-jang.
“Ban-jang, come home with your brother now!”
Luk Ban-jang answered curtly.
“No.”
“Sigh… Let’s drop the anger already! Father’s been moody lately, holing up in the estate and barely speaking all day. He must regret it. So come back home with brother!”
Luk Ban-jang glanced sidelong at Yeop Hyeon.
“I’ve already joined the Bandit Mercenary Corps.”
‘Bandit Mercenary Corps?’
His eyebrow twitched.
“What the hell’s the Bandit Mercenary Corps?”
Yeop Hyeon, standing nearby, chimed in.
“It’s the mercenary group I formed recently. And I’m the leader, no less!”
“Hahaha!”
“Hahahaha!”
“Kekekeke!”
The entire mercenary corps burst into laughter at Yeop Hyeon’s words.
Neung Han and the others approached, lining up behind Yeop Hyeon.
Luk Ban-jang’s brother sized Yeop Hyeon up and down.
“A blind guy who can’t even see, playing leader for my sister? You wouldn’t happen to be…”
At that moment, Yeop Hyeon’s sword tip hovered at his chin.
“Words are cheap—want to test your skills instead?”
Actions spoke louder than words.
“Oh ho, got some guts on you. Been a while since anyone piqued my interest. Come at me!”
With those words, the heavy saber in his hand swept toward Yeop Hyeon in a massive arc.
Peak Divine Fusion Realm saber path grandmaster!
Yeop Hyeon wasted no words and thrust his sword straight ahead.
One Sword Determines Life and Death!
A martial artist reaching Sword Lord before forty was rarer than rare, even scouring all of Jungto Sinju.
Yeop Hyeon’s sword clashed head-on with the man’s saber.
Bang—!
Both Yeop Hyeon and the man staggered back wildly. With each step, the ground cracked and trembled.
They halted in place.
The man stared at his great saber in disbelief. It was riddled with cracks, and his right arm hung torn open, bleeding profusely.
Gazing at the unscathed Yeop Hyeon, he muttered hoarsely.
“Sword Body Dual Cultivation?!”
Yeop Hyeon clenched his left fist, and in that instant, a wave of sword intent swept the field.
Sword intent!
Martial Path Grandmaster!
The man was stunned anew.
“Martial Body Sword Triple Cultivation…”
Yeop Hyeon nodded and stepped forward, stopping before him.
“Yeop Hyeon. Want to be friends?”
The man stared into Yeop Hyeon’s face for a long moment before finally speaking.
“Yuk Gwang.”
Yeop Hyeon smiled faintly at Yuk Gwang.
“How about… joining me for something big?”
“Something big?”
Yeop Hyeon gazed into the distance.
“Come with us to the Tang imperial palace—and borrow some money!”
Yuk Gwang eyed Yeop Hyeon.
“You planning to borrow it and not pay back?”
Yeop Hyeon straightened seriously.
“What do you take me for? I’m no scum like that!”
From the side, Mu Yun Qi gaped in shock.
“Spouting bald-faced lies without even wetting your lips!!!”