Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Ambush
“Who is it?”
Around noon.
Jinpung, while practicing the Bright Light Great Hand Seal, suddenly turned sharply and shouted.
“It’s me.”
Hanjong walked out from behind a tree, looking at Jinpung with a surprised expression.
“Jinpung, your rate of progress is truly astonishing. It’s almost miraculous. You’ve already reached the peak of the third level? It seems you’ve also grasped martial techniques to some extent?”
Given the situation, Jinpung found it difficult to speak honestly to Hanjong. He simply smiled and tried to change the subject. He glanced toward the thatched hut not far behind him. Inside the hut, which consisted of little more than bare walls, there was no proper furniture. He felt slightly embarrassed.
“Uncle-master, I’m sorry. You’ve come all this way, and there isn’t even a place to sit…”
Hanjong waved his hand.
“No need for that. I came today because of an urgent matter. You don’t need such formalities.”
Jinpung asked seriously.
“What is it…?”
“Today, I will be leaving with an extermination squad composed of outer sect elders to head deep into the Qingshan Mountain Range to hunt demonic beasts. I likely won’t be able to look after you for about half a month. Elder Son already knows that I’m entering the mountains and is waiting for a chance to deal with you. So, it would be best for you to hide for a while so that he cannot find you.”
Hanjong’s expression was solemn. Jinpung was startled and fell into thought for a moment before asking,
“Uncle-master. Will Elder Son personally take action…?”
Hanjong shook his head.
“No. Elder Son has many matters to handle. If he were to act personally… he would need to set his sights high and steel his resolve. Since you are also a member of the sect and someone he wants to eliminate, he will likely send disciples who recognize your face.”
“What level are his disciples?”
“His disciple Choi Jinsan is at the sixth level of the Houtian realm, and he has several others at the fifth level.”
Hanjong said with a grave expression.
“Jinpung. Absolutely do not remain here and think of fighting them. At your level, that would be no different from suicide. Do as I say and run far away to hide.”
“Yes, uncle-master. I understand.”
Jinpung nodded and promised.
“Don’t worry. A man knows when to bend.”
Hanjong nodded as if relieved, then departed.
Hanjong had always regarded Jinpung as a diligent and composed boy. Thus, he believed the promise would not be broken.
However…
“Uncle-master, I’m sorry. I truly cannot follow your wishes.”
Looking at Hanjong’s departing figure, Jinpung’s eyes were resolute.
‘That Son fellow is aiming for my life, so I will make him pay the price. After teaching Sonhun a lesson like that, he still hasn’t learned his lesson. This time, I will make sure he wakes up properly. I, Jinpung, am no longer trash, and I will make it clear that I am not someone to be underestimated. Still, don’t worry, uncle-master. I won’t act rashly. I have the Padarayepgeum Sutra and the Bright Light Great Hand Seal. Even if a sixth-level Houtian expert comes, I have confidence in fighting them.’
After Hanjong left, Jinpung ate lunch and continued his cultivation in the afternoon. If Elder Son were to send people, they would surely arrive at night, so he needed to strengthen himself as quickly as possible.
As he cultivated repeatedly, Jinpung felt a sense of exhilaration. The more he practiced the Bright Light Great Hand Seal, the more his true qi increased. By evening, his entire body’s strength had reached eleven hundred jin, surpassing the strength of a fourth-level Houtian martial artist.
However, his realm did not advance. He remained at the peak of the third level of the Houtian realm. Still, he did not rush. Perhaps he had entered a plateau, and breaking through would require another opportunity.
The night was as clear and still as the surface of water.
Two shadows rapidly approached the thatched hut. From dozens of zhang away, their pace slowed.
Seeing how cautiously they approached step by step, it seemed they were wary of being detected by whoever was inside the hut. Just from their stealthy movements, it was clear they had not come with good intentions.
They peeked through the window beside the hut.
One of them asked in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s,
“Senior brother. It doesn’t seem like that brat is inside.”
“Whether he’s inside or not doesn’t matter. We’ll just rush in and kill him with a single stroke.”
The one called senior brother muttered in a low voice in response.
Just as the two were about to enter through the window, a shout rang out from behind, and the ground split open. Someone burst out from beneath the earth, and a surge of true qi could be felt.
A golden hand seal then appeared in the air and, addressing them as senior brother and junior brother, struck the chest of the junior brother who had invaded the hut.
In the blink of an eye, struck by a force of twelve hundred jin, the junior brother screamed and was sent flying backward, coughing up blood.
Seeing this, the one called senior brother retreated a few steps, his face full of vigilance as he shouted,
“Who is it? Come out now!”
From the darkness, Jinpung walked out with a cold smile.
“Senior brother Zheng, weren’t you looking for me? Why? Do you not recognize me?”
“You, you bastard! How could a piece of trash send Junior Brother Zhang flying with a single strike? Have you already reached that level?”
The senior brother thought in shock.
‘Is this really the same trash I knew…?’
“You came to kill me without even investigating anything. You deserve what you get.”
“Ambushing us and you dare call us cowardly… you despicable fool!”
“Aren’t the two of you the ones who came here to kill me in secret? If I hadn’t sensed it in advance, I might already be dead. And yet you call it cowardice? Who is calling whom cowardly!”
Jinpung thought inwardly.
‘Since you came here to kill me, there’s no need to talk about fairness. Yes, I ambushed you. In a fight where both sides intend to kill, what meaning is there in procedure!’
Before nightfall, Jinpung had already dug a pit beside the hut and lay inside it, covering his entire body with soil, leaving only a breathing hole. He slowed his breathing to the utmost to eliminate any trace of life and waited for Elder Son’s disciples to arrive.
As expected, the two men not only failed to detect Jinpung, but were also thrown into confusion by his ambush.
“Hahaha! So what if that’s the case? Trash like you. Do you think you can defeat me just because you beat Junior Brother Zhang? Trash is trash. You’ll never be my match. Die!”
Senior Brother Zheng let out a sinister laugh, drew the long sword from his waist, leapt into the air, and slashed down toward Jinpung.
He was one of Elder Son’s disciples and had already reached the fifth level of the Houtian realm, two levels higher than Jinpung.
At the fifth level of the Houtian realm, Senior Brother Zheng possessed a strength equivalent to two thousand jin, or the power of four tigers. Thus, Jinpung did not forcefully confront him and continued to retreat. Seeing this, Zheng’s vigilance relaxed, and his momentum grew stronger.
“Trash! Why don’t you fight back? As expected, trash is trash! You don’t even have the courage to block my sword!”
Jinpung only smiled faintly and said nothing.
He continued retreating while Zheng pressed forward. Eventually, as if losing patience, Zheng erupted with true qi and shouted,
“Die!”
In an instant, Zheng unleashed eighteen consecutive sword strikes toward Jinpung.
Jinpung was somewhat familiar with this technique. It was the Huang-grade first-tier cultivation method called the “Eighteen Continuous Breaking Sword” that he had seen in the martial pavilion.
Blocking eighteen consecutive strikes in an instant was extremely difficult. However, it had a weakness. Each of the eighteen strikes did not possess great individual power. The later strikes were weaker than the earlier ones.
Jinpung smiled and continued retreating until, at a certain moment, he activated the Bright Light Great Hand Seal. Golden hand seals split into two streams and flew toward the chaotic incoming sword lights. The two streams shattered the sword energy into pieces.
“Im, impossible!”
Senior Brother Zheng’s mouth fell open in disbelief as he stared at what had just happened before his eyes.
“Why is it impossible?”
Jinpung had already turned to face him. With the obstruction of the sword light gone, the golden hand seal struck directly at Zheng’s chest. His chest caved inward. Tendons snapped and bones crumbled as a mouthful of pink blood sprayed from his lips.
He collapsed to the ground, blood flowing from his mouth and nose, his chest deeply sunken.
As Jinpung approached the fallen Zheng, immense fear filled Zheng’s eyes. He crawled backward trembling and pleaded,
“P-please, don’t kill me… please don’t kill me…!”
“If it were you, would you have let me go?”
Jinpung said this with a cold smile. Then he struck Zheng’s crown, killing him on the spot.
‘I can’t stay here any longer. If those two don’t return, Elder Son will definitely come looking. Elder Son is likely at least a seventh-level Houtian expert, and I am not yet his match. Honestly, without mastering the Great Hand Seal, even a fifth-level Houtian like Zheng would have been difficult for me to handle. I need to leave quickly. I’ll enter the Qingshan Mountain Range. I’ll cultivate while hunting demonic beasts and obtain their core crystals. Those cores are valuable and can be exchanged for spirit stones, other martial techniques, or weapons—killing two birds with one stone. When Uncle Hanjong returns, I can come back here.’
Jinpung prepared to leave and thoroughly searched the bodies of the two men. Unfortunately, since they had come to kill him, they carried very little. Combined, they had only ten spirit stones.
Jinpung threw their corpses into the river. The river had a strong current and abundant water; by the next day, the bodies would be carried far away, never to be found.
He also erased all traces of the fight so that Elder Son would not find any other clues. Of course, Elder Son would likely suspect that Jinpung had killed his two disciples, but without evidence, there was nothing he could do.
After finishing the cleanup, Jinpung wrapped all the spirit stones in a bundle and quickly left the place.
The Qingshan Mountain Range was tall and densely forested, home to many demonic beasts. In the valleys of the primeval forest, gusts of wind and thunderous sounds echoed, along with flashes of golden light.
Jinpung trained the Great Hand Seal repeatedly while sweating profusely. After attaining a certain level of mastery, his hands moved where his mind went, and his eyes followed where his hands moved. The technique had become one with his body.
As Jinpung prepared to practice the Great Hand Seal again, a sudden insight arose.
His movements slowed. It felt as though a heavy object weighing a thousand jin was pressing down on him, or as if he were performing techniques in sticky water. Something clung to his body, slowing all his motions. Each practice of the technique took as long as one ke.
After completing his cultivation, Jinpung let out a shout. True qi surged through his entire body, and a golden hand seal, the size of a fan, formed before him. It then struck a large boulder nearby. A thunderous boom echoed throughout the mountain.
With a single strike, the blue stone boulder, weighing well over two thousand jin, was reduced to powder.
At that moment, the first level of the Great Hand Seal was complete.
Jinpung once again sat in a cross-legged posture. The body that had been tempered through cultivation was undergoing a transformation.
The true qi he had activated circulated through his body, striking and breaking down his flesh and meridians, then rebuilding them anew.
Impurities within Jinpung’s body were expelled, covering his skin with a dark substance. His body felt more lustrous and solid, his meridians wider and more flexible, and his strength continued to rise.