Chapter 128
Chapter 128
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Uninvited Guests (3)
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Flying Heavenly Wind.
A movement technique said to have been mastered a hundred years ago by the Flying Heavenly Fox, Bukgung Chusan, who was renowned as the fastest martial artist and a transcendent master in the land.
‘Looking at it now, this one also has the Bukgung label on it.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly and drew upon even more of my true energy.
The surrounding scenery blurred past me. As expected of a supreme movement art, it boasted incredible speed.
The advantages of the Flying Heavenly Wind weren't limited to just speed.
Its true value was revealed in its efficiency; mastering the Flying Heavenly Wind allowed one to travel ten li on a mere handful of true energy.
Using this movement technique that killed two birds with one stone—speed and fuel efficiency—I reached the entrance of Sword Pavilion Mountain in just four hours.
“Hoo…”
I caught my breath for a moment and stared at the mountain entrance.
A pitch-black entrance, untouched by even a sliver of moonlight.
Demonic energy permeated the area.
The atmosphere was utterly ominous.
It was like looking into the maw of a tiger waiting for me.
Of course, I had no intention of backing down now.
I immediately expanded my senses to survey the surroundings.
My senses, which had become exponentially sharper after reaching the transcendent level, detected several enemies.
‘They’re watching this area.’
They must be scouts, prepared for any pursuers.
But it didn't matter.
I had no intention of sneaking in.
‘Not that I have the skill for it anyway.’
I just planned to move at a speed that surpassed their expectations.
*Boom!*
Stomping down with the War King Step, I entered Sword Pavilion Mountain in a single bound.
The sound of crunching leaves was accompanied by the crack of trees breaking as my body collided with them.
At the same time, I felt the presence of enemies.
But I had no time to deal with them, so I charged forward even faster.
*Boom!*
I intended to advance by only dealing with the enemies who blocked my path.
“Hup!”
*Pow!*
Using my forward momentum, I threw a punch that smashed an enemy’s head like a watermelon.
“There he is!”
I ignored the numerous blades flying toward me and just kept running forward.
*Tink.*
After all, it was obvious they would be blocked by the Dragon Scale Armor.
“What!”
*Crack.*
I reached out and broke the neck of the man who was stunned that his attack had failed.
*Fwoosh!*
The black steel nail I immediately sent flying pierced an enemy’s brow and returned to me.
It seemed a little warmer than before, perhaps from its tour of the enemy’s brain.
*Hwoong!*
“...!”
Just then, a sword energy flew at the back of my head without a sound.
I ducked just in time to avoid it, only to see a saber energy flying toward my legs.
‘Experts!’
A surprise attack from peak masters, on a completely different level from the ones I had been fighting.
But I wasn't about to be taken down by something like this.
*Kwaang!*
The Explosive Death Force I unleashed, imbued with my internal energy, shattered the saber and sword energies.
*Boom!*
And then, I used the War King Step.
I ignored the enemies and charged straight ahead.
It was to break through their encirclement as quickly as possible.
*Whoosh, whoosh.*
I ran, dodging the massive trees whose outlines were barely visible in the faint moonlight.
Whistles and shouts echoed from all directions as presences followed me.
This continued for about seven minutes.
‘Found it!’
My senses, which I had spread out around me, picked up a location where numerous people were gathered.
Over a hundred people, at a rough estimate.
Which meant.
From here on out, I would have to advance by smashing every single enemy's head.
*Crackle. Crack.*
The force leaking from my entire body began to dominate the surroundings.
* * *
The day I was first reincarnated into the martial world.
I despaired.
I had a premonition that I would live a life worse than my previous one.
But the time I spent in despair wasn't long.
What had already happened couldn't be undone. It was better to focus on how to live from now on than to despair.
That's why I wanted to succeed.
I wanted to take care of the new family I had met in this place.
That is, until my family died from a sudden plague.
After being left alone, I went down to the city and started begging.
Cold and hungry days continued, but I gritted my teeth and survived.
Then I met my grandfather.
I followed him into the Nine Dragons Fortress and was able to join the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion.
Thinking back now, I don't know what he was thinking, letting me join.
A beggar kid picked up off the street would have been more than sufficient as a servant.
Thanks to him, I was able to learn martial arts, bleeding and sweating every single day.
I didn't stop training, even through the pain of broken nails and torn muscles.
Was it fun? Did I like getting stronger?
It wasn't for such a self-indulgent reason.
It was because I knew it was the only way for me, born with nothing, to repay the kindness my grandfather had shown me.
Eight years passed like that.
Just as I was beginning to distinguish myself in the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion, thanks to the Dragon-Slaying Thirteen Strikes I had found by chance, news of my grandfather's death arrived.
The culprit was an unidentified master of the demonic path.
It was the result of him standing alone against them to protect the powerless.
It was an absurd death, unbecoming of a renowned transcendent master.
It was from then on.
That I lost my goal and, at the same time, my interest in martial arts.
Still, I had to live, so I set a new goal.
A very worldly goal: to escape the Nine Dragons Fortress and live a comfortable life.
Honor? Martial arts? Power?
I realized they were all useless when it came to survival.
But now.
*Kwajik!*
In the midst of the continuous battle, the goal of living well had long since vanished from my mind.
*Smirk.*
Every time enemy blood splattered on my face, the heat rising in my chest made me feel alive.
“I am!”
*Kwaaaang!*
The Explosive Death Force I unleashed tore the body of the enemy in front of me to shreds.
“Jin Mujeon!”
*Hah… hah…*
The battle had lasted for nearly half an hour.
I inhaled to control my ragged breathing.
*Ssssp.*
The thick scent of blood filling the air seeped deep into my nostrils.
And.
“Ugh…”
Groans filled with fear echoed throughout Sword Pavilion Mountain.
*Squish. Squish.*
The muddy ground, soaked with the blood of my enemies, stuck to my shoes.
‘Myo Hyang bought these for me as a gift…’
“Aaargh!”
Someone screamed and swung their sword. But I had no intention of getting hit by a blade wavering with distracting thoughts.
*Stab. Pshuk!*
I sharpened my fingertips and tore out the man's throat, then spoke to the survivors.
“Are you guys really from the demonic path? Why are you so weak?”
“How dare you!”
“Grr!”
Only then did the enemies move.
And among them, five men I had been watching earlier slipped through.
*Fwoosh!*
A scorching energy was imbued in the sword flying stealthily towards me.
It was the Scorching Yang Force of the Flame Sect, one of the Ten Sects.
*Crack. Crunch.*
“Kurg.”
Ignoring the pain of my flesh cooking from the heat, I slammed a fist from the War Dragon Thirteen Strikes into the man.
With the sound of his breastbone caving in, the man’s body collapsed.
“You bastard!”
A short shout was heard, and I felt a chilling energy. It was the dark art of the Ghost Sect.
*Shwing!*
I sent the black steel nail flying, piercing the brow of the man who had shouted.
Taking advantage of the opening, a dozen blades came pouring in, aimed at me.
“Hup!”
*Shreeee!*
I unleashed the Ultimate Death Force I had prepared, slicing their bodies apart, only for five peak-level demonic masters to swing their crimson blades at me.
*Whoosh. Sizzle.*
Blazing Demonic Art.
It is the Flame Sect's unique martial art, a divine technique that can imbue any weapon with immense Scorching Yang Force.
No matter how divine a weapon the Dragon Scale Armor is, it is still armor made of metal.
If it were hit by that much Scorching Yang Force, the internal temperature would likely skyrocket in an instant.
In other words, I couldn't let it hit me.
*Thud!*
As soon as I saw the red energy imbued in their blades, I immediately used the War King Step to retreat.
“Die!”
The men gritted their teeth and pursued me.
They were trying not to lose the opportunity they had finally seized.
Of course.
*Kuaaaa!*
There was never such an opportunity to begin with.
“Gasp!”
“Aaargh!”
The War Dragon Energy, which had advanced in the previous fight, devoured the Scorching Yang Force.
*Kwaaaa.*
Then it poured it right back at them.
*Thud.*
Charred black corpses fell limply to the ground.
They had been struck down by the very Scorching Yang Force they had unleashed.
“Hah! Hah!”
But I too had suffered a considerable loss.
Not only was my stamina depleted from the continuous fighting, but the War Dragon Energy I had just used also consumed an immense amount of internal energy.
*Clang, clang, clang. Boom!*
Turning my gaze to the left, I saw dozens of warriors fighting the Ten Demon Alliance while protecting Geum Geuk.
I chewed on a recovery pill while observing the situation.
The Gold Dragon Hall was being pushed back one-sidedly.
It was to be expected.
Not only were they outnumbered, but they were also outmatched in quality.
If the strike team hadn't been protecting them, they would have been annihilated long ago.
‘Are there about fifty left…?’
Considering their procession started with a little over a hundred people, half were already dead.
On the other hand, the number of enemies pressing them was close to a hundred.
It was a situation of overwhelming odds.
‘I believe.’
I believed in what I had.
There is no greater folly than thinking of death before a fight.
*Crackle. Crack.*
As if reading my mind, my War King Energy began to rage wildly.
Without hesitation, I threw myself into the heart of the battlefield.
*Thoom.*
"...?"
A few of the men who noticed my presence shot me looks filled with confusion.
*Smirk.*
I answered them with a grin.
*Pow!*
An enemy’s head, struck in the jaw by my kick, was torn from his body and flew into the sky.
The gazes of the enemies poured onto me.
*Rumble! Kwaaaang!*
I squeezed out my remaining internal energy and unleashed the Explosive Death Force.
“Aaargh!”
With a sound like a cannonball exploding, the enemies' bodies were torn apart.
“Hup!”
I threw myself among the terrified enemies.
A melee. In other words, a dogfight.
My favorite way to fight.
I took the incoming weapons with my Dragon Scale Armor and slammed my fighting techniques into the enemies.
*Crack. Crack.*
Fists that crushed the enemies’ bodies.
*Stab, stab.*
Blades that grazed my body.
And.
*Shreeee!*
Amidst the melee, the Ultimate Death Force I unleashed sliced the enemies apart.
*Boom!*
Taking advantage of the enemies’ brief hesitation, I stomped down hard and activated the War King Step.
To their eyes, I must have vanished.
The targets were the enemy experts pounding on the Gold Dragon Hall.
I had to reduce their numbers as much as possible while they were even the slightest bit off guard.
“Gasp!”
An enemy who sensed my presence turned and swung a saber filled with crimson Scorching Yang Force.
*Pow!*
But my hand reached his left chest first.
“Kurg.”
His heart burst, and blood gushed from his five orifices.
“You baaastard!”
Attacks poured in from all directions.
*Pow, pow, pow, pow.*
To conserve my internal energy, I blocked half with my body and parried the other half.
“Cough.”
I could feel my true energy being severed strand by strand by the scorching heat.
And.
*Shaaa.*
Demonic energy flew from somewhere and assaulted me.
It was the Twenty-Four Desires Realm Art of the Ghost Sect, renowned for its sorcery.
A chilling sensation washed over me, and my consciousness began to fade.
My War King Energy raged wildly, driving out the demonic energy, but it would take time to recover.
And the enemies did not miss that opening.
*Shwing!*
A crimson saber energy came pouring in.
‘Should I use the War Dragon Energy?’
No.
Considering the remaining enemies, I had to conserve my internal energy.
It can’t be helped.
‘I’ll trust the Dragon Scale Armor.’
*Grit.*
Just as I gritted my teeth and braced for the attack.
“Halt!”
Geum Geuk and his peak masters leaped out and slaughtered the enemies.
They had broken through the enemy encirclement, prepared for death.
“Are you all right?”
From the back of the man standing before me, I could feel a firm resolve.
Suddenly, I recalled what I had rambled on about to Geum Jahwan about him.
‘I don’t know if it’s because he has a lot to lose, but his heart is filled with fear.’
*Pfft.*
‘Bullshit.’
What kind of arrogance was I spouting?
To say that about such a fine warrior.
“I’m fine.”
“I didn’t expect you to come. Thanks to you, I’m alive.”
“If you’re truly grateful, repay me with money.”
“I will.”
“You’ll have to give me a lot. I’m quite an expensive person.”
“I’ll give you an amount of money you’ve never even heard of in your life.”
“My affection for you is skyrocketing.”
While we were exchanging idle banter, my War King Energy drove out all the demonic energy.
I got up and surveyed the situation.
Thirty members of the Gold Dragon Hall.
Twenty from the strike team.
More than half of their forces were dead.
On the other hand.
‘There are still a lot of them.’
I didn't know how many had entered Sword Pavilion Mountain, but the remaining enemies seemed to be going strong.
Moreover.
“That old man, do you know who he is?”
“He is the First Elder of the Flame Sect. It’s shameful, but we were pushed back because I failed to stop him.”
A transcendent master who seemed to be on the same level as Hyeon San-wol.
“This won’t be an easy fight.”
“I am prepared.”
“Let me ask one thing before we fight.”
“Anything.”
“Why on earth are you fighting with the Red Dragon Hall? You’re a man who lacks nothing.”
“Indeed. My desire to crush my rival has called me to my deathbed.”
“When you get back, try to get along.”
“We’ll see how that old man behaves.”
Geum Geuk cleared his throat and said softly.
“I will personally execute the First Elder. Pil-dae and Jong-dae, lead the warriors and follow me.”
“Father!”
“Hall Master!”
The two tried to stop him from taking the lead, but Geum Geuk just shook his head, refusing to bend.
“This fight will only end when the First Elder is dead.”
He looked at me with determined eyes.
“Will you help?”
“And if I don’t? Are you going to get your son and all your subordinates killed?”
*Pfft.*
Geum Geuk shouted, his voice laced with internal energy.
“Slaughter the enemy!”
The final chapter had begun.