180. The High Mountain King...
“Kill the men and spare the women.”
Yeop Hyeon felt as if he'd been struck on the head with a hammer, leaving him utterly dumbfounded.
He never imagined such brutal words could come from a woman's mouth.
He didn't know her, but his first impression of her had been far from negative. She'd been polite from the start, gentle, and even her speech was refined. How could he think ill of such a woman?
So it was only natural that he was thrown off when those words—“kill”—emerged from her lips.
Yeop Hyeon turned to the woman standing beside him.
“Why?”
The woman looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Why what?”
“No, you don't seem like a bad person...”
“A bad person?”
She stared blankly for a moment before bursting into laughter, clutching her stomach. After laughing for a good while, she wiped her teary eyes and said,
“I don't look like a bad person?”
Yeop Hyeon nodded, and she immediately shook her head vigorously.
“Someone who truly looks like a real bad guy might not actually be one. The real villains are the ones with kind faces. Well, you might not get it, but that's fine. You'll have a chance to learn in the next life!”
Yeop Hyeon fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
“Learned something good there.”
The woman looked at him and burst into laughter again.
“Keeping your cool even in a situation like this—you're no ordinary guy. But you're still gonna die all the same.”
“Hahaha! Instead of that, why not take me with you and make me your consort? Wait, wrong word. How about serving you as Big Sis?”
At that moment, the man who'd called her “sis” shot him an incredulous look.
“A blind punk like you wants to be our Big Sis's man? What the hell...”
Suddenly, a sword appeared out of nowhere, aimed right at the man's forehead.
The air in the room turned ice-cold in an instant.
At the same time, the woman's eyes, which had narrowed as she watched Yeop Hyeon, flashed with a chilling light.
Yeop Hyeon slowly withdrew his sword.
The man, unable to contain his rage, bellowed,
“You dare...”
But he couldn't finish. Yeop Hyeon's sword had severed his head.
“...!!”
“Who the hell are you?!”
The woman glared at Yeop Hyeon in disbelief. Inside, a storm raged in her heart. The man he'd just killed wasn't some ordinary martial artist—he was a Divine Fusion Realm powerhouse.
To slay a Divine Fusion Realm expert in a single stroke, without giving him a chance to counter!
Yeop Hyeon took a step toward the woman. Her faint, distinctive fragrance tickled his nose.
“Someone as beautiful as you—why resort to banditry?”
She replied calmly.
“Hard times.”
Yeop Hyeon nodded.
“Want me to show you a way to survive? Care to hear it?”
She scoffed at his words.
“You know there are twenty-one Divine Fusion Realm experts here, right? You sure about that?”
At that, Yeop Hyeon raised his hand and pointed to the right. The head of a man on the cloud ship to his right flew into the air.
The martial artists in the room who witnessed it were speechless.
Even the woman facing Yeop Hyeon was inwardly shocked beyond measure.
Could he be a Myriad Laws Realm expert!?
Meanwhile, the elderly manager of Yeop Hyeon's cloud ship started in surprise as if he'd noticed something, then his face lit up with joy and relief.
Yeop Hyeon extended his right hand, and the sword that had just flown returned to his grasp. He carefully wiped the blood from the blade, then lightly tapped the woman's cheek with it.
A thin line of blood appeared on her skin.
Yeop Hyeon smiled.
“There. Last chance. Surrender or die.”
Instead of answering, she glared at him.
“Who the hell are you?!”
“Hey, shouldn't you answer my question first?”
She stared intently at his face, then cried out as if struck by lightning.
“No way... Yeop Hyeon?!”
Her shout filled the room with murmurs.
In Qingzhou these days, who hadn't heard his name?
All eyes turned to Yeop Hyeon, filled with curiosity, excitement, and more.
Qingzhou's youngest Sword Lord, Yeop Hyeon, was here.
The cloud ship's manager approached, cupped his fists in respect, and bowed.
“Greetings, National Scholar Yeop! Forgive us for not realizing you were aboard and failing to serve you properly!”
Yeop Hyeon smiled lightly.
“Not your fault.”
The manager bowed again and stepped back.
Yeop Hyeon turned back to the woman.
“You still have a chance to live. What'll it be?”
She sneered mockingly.
“You think we're pushovers?!”
With those words, she retreated like lightning. At the same time, a streak of silver light shot toward Yeop Hyeon's forehead.
But the silver light was utterly shattered by his Pure Intent Sword Intent before it could reach him. And a sword flew from Yeop Hyeon's hand.
Shing-!
A flash of sword light pierced the forehead of the woman hovering a hundred zhang away in the air!
Her eyes half-unfocused, she gazed at the distant sky and murmured,
“F-Fast...”
Yeop Hyeon, standing atop the cloud ship, spread his hand. The sword embedded in her forehead vanished in an instant, returning to his grasp. It didn't linger there long. Leaving his hand, the sword swiftly dyed the room red with blood.
Moments later, not a single breathing member of the Blood Wolf Mercenary Group remained.
Searching the corpses, Yeop Hyeon claimed three hundred million taels of gold and over five hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones.
Now his total gold stood at one billion taels. Top-grade spirit stones numbered around two million.
The spiritual artifacts and Mingjie equipment he possessed were all stored at Canglan Academy.
It was more useful for the academy to use them.
He believed Canglan Academy would one day bring him immense joy and pride. He was determined to fulfill his promise to Dean Ji—to make it the strongest academy in the Qingcang Realm.
At that moment, the cloud ship manager approached.
“National Scholar Yeop, what shall we do with these three cloud ships?”
“How much for one?”
“Hm... about one hundred million, I'd say. If you wish, Chwiseonru will buy them.”
Three hundred million in gold total?
“Good. Settle it in top-grade spirit stones instead and deliver them to O Lu Ju of Kanguk. Tell him it's to pay off the debt—he'll understand.”
“As you command.”
As the manager was about to say more, a guard approached them.
“Manager O, we've arrived at Daeun Checkpoint.”
Yeop Hyeon turned to look below the ship. Though blind, he sensed everything vividly. Far off, a massive city came into view. It was several times larger than the biggest he'd seen in Qingzhou.
“Is that the imperial city of the Daeun Empire?”
The manager shook his head with a smile.
“No, National Scholar. That's Nam Myeong Fortress, a small city on the empire's outskirts with about five hundred thousand people.”
That's small!?
Yeop Hyeon was stunned inwardly. Even Ganguk's imperial city wasn't as grand. Only now did he realize how much he'd underestimated the Daeun Empire.
Not just them—the Dark Realm and Changmok Academy surely had immense power too. It was only natural, given the centuries they'd dominated as regional powers.
Manager O continued.
“National Scholar, our cloud ship will stay in the city briefly to resupply. Though Nam Myeong Fortress is Daeun territory, it's so far from the capital that imperial authority holds little sway. Corruption and chaos abound, so if you leave the ship, please take care.”
Yeop Hyeon nodded.
“I will. Oh, right—is there a Changmok Academy branch in this city?”
“Yes. Changmok Academy, the Dark Realm, and various other factions have infiltrated most Daeun cities. Some are practically under their control already. If not for the High Mountain King, the empire would have been torn apart by them.”
High Mountain King...
Yeop Hyeon etched the name into his mind and nodded lightly.
Soon after, the cloud ship halted above Nam Myeong Fortress and began descending slowly.
Once it landed, Yeop Hyeon didn't stay aboard but entered the city.
Manager O hurriedly summoned several Chwiseonru guards to follow him.
The city inside was as vast as it appeared from outside. Strangely, the streets were sparsely populated, giving a desolate feel.
To avoid trouble, Yeop Hyeon had drawn his Spirit Water Sword from the start. Anyone could see he was a sword cultivator now.
As he walked slowly, a sharp scream pierced the air from somewhere. Turning, he saw a group of men chasing a woman down a narrow alley. She was running frantically toward him, while her pursuers cackled like cats toying with a mouse.
Suddenly, the woman reaching him dropped to her knees before Yeop Hyeon.
“P-Please... save...”
Yeop Hyeon extended his arm to help her up. But the moment she rose, she thrust a dagger at his throat.
Yet her dagger failed to reach its mark. Yeop Hyeon's sword was already buried in her neck.
Silence fell.
She stared at him in disbelief.
“H-How...”
Yeop Hyeon shook his head.
“First, the moment I enter the city, a chance to play hero falls into my lap? Too suspicious for coincidence. Second, for someone in peril, your strides were far too steady. Third, your eyes feigned panic but held no real despair. And most importantly—my instincts screamed danger!”
With a squelch, he withdrew his sword. She spewed blood from her neck and collapsed.
As Yeop Hyeon turned, a strange pattern appeared on the ground where he'd stood. In an instant, eerie energy poured from all directions, enveloping him.
A formation.
At that moment, an old man emerged nearby—the cloud ship's Manager O. Behind him stood seven or eight black-clad figures.
All at the peak of Divine Fusion Realm.
Manager O gazed at Yeop Hyeon and smiled.
“Surprised? A little formation prepared just for you. Try circulating your vital energy—see if it works.”
Yeop Hyeon tried, but nothing stirred within him.
Manager O's smile deepened faintly.
“Yeop Hyeon, you underestimated Changmok Academy and the Dark Realm far too much.”