I Know I'm Shameless Too
'How arrogant!'
'Calling for reinforcements before the fight even starts—what sheer insolence!'
Meanwhile, the middle-aged man facing Yeop Hyeon was desperately feigning composure, but cold sweat poured endlessly down his back.
He could clearly feel just how much he had underestimated Yeop Hyeon. And yet, his own skills weren't weak by any means. He was a Myriad Laws Realm powerhouse, after all.
But just moments ago, he hadn't even been able to properly react to Yeop Hyeon's single sword strike before yielding his brow!
"Call for reinforcements, and I'll let you live."
Yeop Hyeon's voice pierced the middle-aged man's ears once more.
"Y-Young master. It seems I've come to the wrong place. I'll leave Jiang Kingdom right now, so please..."
"Why is your tongue so long!?"
Yeop Hyeon suddenly bellowed in anger.
"You've come all this way from afar, and you're leaving without even fighting? Do I look that pathetic to you?"
Slash—!
With one swing of the blade, the middle-aged man's arm flew off.
The other warriors stared at the man, now drenched in blood in an instant, speechless.
'Crazy bastard... he's insane!'
The warriors instinctively stepped back.
The middle-aged man facing Yeop Hyeon was already paralyzed with terror. No matter how he looked at it, the man before him wasn't normal.
At that moment, the razor-sharp sword tip touched the middle-aged man's throat.
"Last chance. Call for support. Contact your Cheongnim Sect or whatever your sect is right now!"
The middle-aged man stared straight into Yeop Hyeon's eyes and shouted.
"Do you truly crave blood that badly?"
Slash—!
As he spoke, the middle-aged man's body split vertically, spilling its contents.
In that instant, the warriors' eyes widened as they stumbled backward.
Yeop Hyeon pulled a cloth from his bosom and wiped the blood from his blade as he spoke.
"If I'm going to play the villain, standing around chattering like this... tsk tsk."
Suddenly, Yeop Hyeon looked up and yelled at everyone.
"What the hell are you staring at? Didn't you come to kill me!? Come at me all together!"
The warriors were thrown into confusion by the sudden reversal.
The more timid ones had already turned tail, preparing to flee!
At that moment, an old man stepped forward from among the warriors.
He was a Law Realm powerhouse.
"Don't be afraid, everyone! Even if he's a master, he can't take us all on!"
Yeop Hyeon nodded as if agreeing and replied.
"That's a fair point. But out of pity for you, let me tell you something: ordinary Myriad Laws Realm experts can't even block one of my strikes. Nor can Law Realm powerhouses defeat me. No joke, old timer. So when I'm being nice, call all your friends like I said. It'd be a shame if a moment's misjudgment kept you from seeing tomorrow's sunrise!"
The old man's face twisted in an instant.
"Yeop Hyeon! You think your words will scare anyone? In this old man's hands, you'll—"
Before he could finish, Yeop Hyeon stomped forward. A streak of sword light shot like lightning toward the old man thirty feet away.
Slash—!
In a flash, the old man's head soared into the sky.
Blood erupted like a fountain from his neck, spraying everywhere.
Ten Zhang One Kill!
As the Law Realm elder was beheaded with a single strike, the warriors cried out in shock and hastily retreated.
Yeop Hyeon, now holding the old man's storage ring, shook his head with a sigh.
"What's the world coming to... I tell you the truth, and you still won't believe me."
Yeop Hyeon looked up at the remaining warriors and said.
"Since you won't call for support, you'll all have to die now."
Before his words even ended, Yeop Hyeon's figure shot into the air.
As over a hundred warriors stood frozen in panic at his charge, one of them shouted.
"Kill Yeop Hyeon and enjoy heavenly riches! Let's all kill—"
The speaker's head was cleanly severed mid-sentence.
With that as the signal, Yeop Hyeon's flying sword sliced through the group like a flash of light, bloodied heads dropping each time.
As Yeop Hyeon slaughtered the warriors like a murderous demon, the survivors lost all will to fight and began fleeing en masse.
But Yeop Hyeon's flying sword was faster than they were.
Soon, only about twenty of the hundred remained in the field, desperately running for their lives.
Yeop Hyeon didn't chase them himself. The Chang Lan Dao Soldiers behind him had already set off in pursuit.
Yeop Hyeon walked forward, sword dripping blood. He stopped before a warrior still twitching amid the mountain of corpses.
His face was emotionless. The merciless blade plunged deep into the man's chest. The body stiffened, then his soul fled.
Cruel?
In this harsh world, you can't survive long without being ruthless. Showing mercy to enemies often endangers those around you.
Finally sheathing his sword, Yeop Hyeon collected the storage rings from the corpses. His haul from this battle was around ninety million extreme-grade spirit stones.
Plus a dozen True Realm spirit artifacts and about thirty Famous Realm ones. A tidy profit.
True Realm spirit artifacts could go straight to the Chang Lan Dao Soldiers, significantly cutting the academy's expenses.
Selling off the miscellaneous items would net tens of millions more spirit stones, bringing the total to roughly two hundred million extreme-grade equivalents.
An enormous sum earned in one go.
But for Yeop Hyeon, it still wasn't enough. Far from it.
He decided not to hand these spirit stones to Gu Jiu, but to feed them into the Gyeok Ok Tower instead.
The strongest in Chang Lan Academy was none other than Yeop Hyeon himself. He couldn't afford to die no matter what. For that, his greatest trump card—the Gyeok Ok Tower—was essential.
At that moment, the Chang Lan Dao Soldiers who had pursued the stragglers returned, holding bloodied heads.
One dismounted and respectfully offered Yeop Hyeon two handfuls containing over twenty storage rings.
Yeop Hyeon shook his head.
"They're yours."
Yeop Hyeon turned and headed into the fortress. As he was about to pass through the gates, he suddenly stopped and shouted loudly.
"Clean up these bodies, then tighten security around Chang Lan Academy! Also, spread word that I've suffered severe injuries and am in recovery!"
With that, Yeop Hyeon entered the fortress.
Returning to his room, he sat cross-legged and began injecting spirit stones into the Gyeok Ok Tower.
Moments later, the storage rings that had been full were empty.
Yeop Hyeon was speechless in disbelief.
'Nine hundred million extreme-grade spirit stones...'
Even after devouring nine hundred million, the Gyeok Ok Tower remained unmoved.
A bottomless pit!
It was truly a bottomless pit. Yeop Hyeon seriously pondered whether to keep pouring spirit stones into it.
If the tower needed ten billion stones, where could he even get that many?
Even plundering had its limits.
'Do I really have to give up like this?'
Yeop Hyeon felt somewhat dazed. Continuing might shatter his own resolve.
Right then, a vibration emanated from the Gyeok Ok Tower within his body.
Yeop Hyeon hurriedly examined it, but there was no further movement.
Yet it had definitely trembled, however faintly.
Surely a sign of something.
After deep thought, Yeop Hyeon decided to push a bit further.
Nine hundred million were already invested, and he desperately needed the tower.
But the problem was he had no spirit stones left.
Yeop Hyeon shook his head with a heavy sigh. Burning through two hundred million in a flash...
He even felt a twinge of fear at what he was doing.
Two hundred million stones vanishing like pebbles dropped in a vast ocean, swallowed without a ripple.
Of course, the tower's reaction was encouraging. Still, the endless uncertainty frustrated him.
Just then, the door burst open, and an old man entered.
It was Sa Do-myeong.
"Hey, ever heard of knocking?"
"No time for jokes. Intelligence says the three strongest mercenary bands from Jungto Sinju are coming to deal with you. United as one."
"True Law Realm powerhouses too?"
Yeop Hyeon was confident against anyone short of a True Law Realm expert. Except perhaps Yeon Man Ri's level of peak Myriad Laws.
"What if there are?"
Yeop Hyeon frantically shook his head at Sa Do-myeong's words.
"Can't win. I'd run!"
"Tch! A Sword Emperor who's such a coward!"
"But True Law Realm is unbeatable—what can I do!?"
"Calm down. We'll handle any True Law Realm when the time comes. The rest is on you."
Only then did Yeop Hyeon nod in relief.
"No problem then."
"They're no pushovers!"
Sa Do-myeong snapped in a cold voice.
"Never underestimate them. Especially the top-ranked Huangquan Mercenary Band—they're shrouded in mystery. Even Sado Ga's intelligence can't fully uncover their depths. Their strength rivals anyone, and their leader occupies one of Yo Yeolbang's top three spots."
Sa Do-myeong caught his breath and continued.
"One more thing: absence from Yo Yeolbang doesn't guarantee weakness. Some powerhouses simply ignore it. You're not on it either, yet no one dares touch you lightly. Same principle. Understand?"
Yeop Hyeon nodded.
"Don't worry. I won't get cocky. But uh..."
Yeop Hyeon hesitated before continuing.
"I need gear... and my pills are out."
Feeling Sa Do-myeong's sharp glare, Yeop Hyeon shrank back and made excuses.
"Hey... I know I'm shameless. But think about it. Me blocking all those Jungto Sinju warriors alone? To train and use others, I need funds. Or you pick the useful ones and send them my way! Do that, and I'll lead the charge to wipe them out."
Yeop Hyeon's expression turned deadly serious in an instant.
"If my demands are too much, fine. I'll take Chang Lan Academy's warriors and flee Qingzhou, hide in some deep mountain. What can I do without power? We're not yet mortal enemies with Hogye Meng anyway."
At those words, Sa Do-myeong stared piercingly at Yeop Hyeon for a long while before rising and heading to the door.
"I'll return tomorrow with an answer!"
With that final statement, Sa Do-myeong left the room.