Chapter 192
Chapter 192
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 192
Chapter Title: Black Dragon Gate (3)
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After purchasing the Hanzhong branch, I ordered the construction of a thirty-pyeong pavilion in the rear courtyard.
Although I had risen to the upper echelons of the martial world, my body was still that of a young man in his prime, so I needed a private space.
However, this modest wish of mine was thwarted by Yu So-pyeong.
He had drastically expanded the scale of the construction.
The result was the War King Pavilion.
A three-story structure with a total floor area of a staggering two hundred pyeong, it ended up housing not only the executives of the Iron-Blooded District but also other scholars and officials.
Thanks to him, my plan to hide away a lover for some sweet, romantic time was completely ruined.
In any case, over thirty martial artists had gathered in that very War King Pavilion.
“…”
They were the masters of the sects that had participated in the Hanzhong Martial Alliance.
“Have you all been well?”
“...If you spare our lives, we will do anything.”
The Fortress Lord of Hyeong-o spoke in a somber voice.
“What do you take me for? I have no hobby of shedding blood in a fight that’s already over.”
After all, Mujeon, the leading representative of the Righteous Path and a man endowed with the intellect of a modern person, is magnanimous.
*Tap.*
I rose from my seat and tapped the shoulder of the man at the very front as I walked past, and he immediately showed a strange reaction.
“Eek! Gurgle.”
“Seriously.”
What’s with him? Why is he acting like this?
*Drip, drip.*
Is he pissing himself?
As I glanced around with a troubled expression, my disciples approached, dragged the man out.
“Hey, be careful not to get any on your hands.”
“Yes, sir.”
After clearing the hall, I looked over the kneeling men.
For some reason, every single one of their faces was etched with palpable fear.
“Is the Master of the Sword and Saber Gate present?”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
“You’re going to be busy from now on.”
“Pardon?”
“You’ll have to leave Hanzhong with nothing but the clothes on your back.”
Hah.
Even though he pointed a sword at me, his punishment is merely the confiscation of all his assets and exile.
What a lenient sentence.
“Ah, don’t worry too much. I’ll give you some travel money. I’m not that heartless.”
For the record, I planned to give them half a nyang each.
It wouldn’t be a lavish sum, but it should be enough to relocate somewhere else.
At that, the Fortress Lord of Hyeong-o shot to his feet.
“Isn’t this too much! No matter how…”
*Pow!*
A Battle Lord Arrow flew out and burst his left forearm.
As he, a renowned peak master, lost his arm in an instant, everyone in the hall hastily bowed their heads.
This just goes to show that a martial artist must never let their guard down.
A single moment of carelessness can lead to a lifetime of disability.
“Anyone else have a complaint?”
“…”
“So-pyeong.”
“Yes, Gate Master.”
“Take the men and scrape together every last thing.”
“Understood.”
“Sister, discuss with Yang Ryeong what to do with the expelled merchant guilds.”
“I’ve already got a rough idea of what to do.”
“You’re fast, as always.”
*Clap.*
I clapped my hands together and said.
“Alright, let’s all get to work.”
Of course, I couldn’t just stand around either.
“Chief Yuk, let’s go.”
“Heh heh, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten my hands dirty.”
It was time to catch the final enemy, Gongson Jeoksan.
And so, Yuk Hak and I headed to the Baekcheong Association with light hearts.
The problem was, Gongson Jeoksan was nowhere to be found.
“He’s not here?”
“He’s not.”
“…”
What was even funnier was that the warriors of the Baekcheong Association were still here.
Perhaps realizing their master had abandoned them, they immediately offered their surrender upon seeing us.
It was a victory without a fight, but…
“Damn it.”
What good was it?
The one who truly mattered, Gongson Jeoksan, was gone.
I needed to catch him to seize the hidden gold, or the gold, or the gold.
“...This completely ruins everything.”
I hadn’t expected him to run at all, so I was utterly baffled.
“I thought he was from the Wudang Sect.”
A man like that just abandons his subordinates and flees alone because the situation turned unfavorable?
It was undoubtedly a grave violation of the Wudang spirit.
‘I should send a letter to the Wudang Sect.’
Telling them to properly educate their secular disciples.
“Gate Master!”
One of my disciples who was searching the interior ran over, holding a broken safe.
A safe engraved with an unusual pattern.
It was obvious that something valuable had been stored inside.
It seemed Gongson Jeoksan had grabbed the most expensive item and bolted.
Rage boiled within me.
I had gone through all this trouble because of him; shouldn’t he at least pay for the damages before leaving?
In the end, I had no choice but to make a decision.
‘Catch him.’
Catch him and take it.
“Let’s go.”
“Hm? Where to?”
Yuk Hak, with whom I had somehow become quite friendly, asked back.
“Where else? We have to go catch that Gongson whatever-his-name-is.”
“What about the men?”
“They’re busy, so let’s go by ourselves. What’s the point of taking a whole crowd to catch just one guy? It’ll just take more time.”
“Hmm… That’s true.”
“Then first, we should go to Wolhwaru and request they track him down.”
“Tsk, why spend money to chase one measly fellow?”
Yuk Hak stepped forward confidently.
“Today, I shall show you, Gate Master Jin, the true essence of military tracking techniques.”
* * *
“No, I’m telling you, let’s just hire someone…”
“This, this can’t be right.”
“Hah! We need to catch him before he crosses into Gansu to get the money… I mean, to bring him to the fair judgment of the law.”
Yuk Hak, sweating profusely, stared intently at the ground.
“The direction is certain…”
“The hell it is. You’ve been saying it’s certain this whole time, but look where we are.”
“Come on, I’m telling you, this time it’s really certain. I once tracked an enemy for three thousand li to get my revenge.”
“Sigh, let’s just go. Let’s go.”
And so, the chase began anew.
As we neared Gansu Province, the terrain opened up.
To pass the time while we ran, I struck up a conversation with Yuk Hak.
“You just said you tracked someone for three thousand li for revenge. What kind of grudge was it that you’d go that far?”
“He was a truly heinous villain.”
His expression changed as he answered.
“Did he harm a close acquaintance…?”
“He ran off in the middle of the night without paying the gambling debt he owed me.”
“…”
This man isn’t normal either.
We ran in silence again for about half an hour.
[Found him!]
Yuk Hak’s telepathic message came through, seemingly after he confirmed something.
I stopped with him and surveyed our surroundings.
A desolate plain.
However, waist-high reeds obscured our vision.
[This is a good place for an ambush. Be careful.]
Yuk Hak tightly gripped the crescent glaive on his back.
In truth, with his level of martial arts, he could subdue someone like Gongson Jeoksan without much difficulty.
He could probably take his head in under ten moves if he went all out.
But things in the martial world rarely go as planned.
One slip-up and an arm could be lost; a moment of distraction and a sword could be buried in your gut.
Considering the poor medical standards of this era, either of those would be a fatal injury.
I drew my finger through the air, spreading my ki in all directions.
It was the Seventh Sense Diagram, the only radar-like martial art of this age.
And then.
I felt something in the ground.
I didn’t know what it was, but there was no need to think.
“Move!”
It was either a rock or an enemy.
*KABOOOM!*
The moment I shouted the warning, the spot where Yuk Hak had been standing was engulfed in a massive explosion.
*Thud.*
Yuk Hak, having narrowly avoided it, landed right next to me.
“Are you hurt?”
“Damn it.”
His robes and beard were singed, not a pretty sight.
Enraged, an iron-like pressure crushed the earth.
I couldn’t see who the opponent was, but Yuk Hak seemed to know their identity.
“The Blood Killing Hegemon. Yeom Han-baek.”
I’d heard the name before.
A mercenary who would do anything for money and a master of the Seven Hegemons. A great demon said to kill anyone, be it a child or a woman, if the price was right.
In other words, a public enemy of the martial world.
“He’s the only one in the martial world who uses Thunderbolt Bombs.”
“Damn it.”
To think I’d run into one of the Seven Hegemons while chasing Gongson Jeoksan.
A curse escaped my lips at the appearance of a stronger-than-expected enemy.
“I’ll take him, so you…”
As Yuk Hak was devising a plan, he swung his glaive.
*Clang.*
A long sword appeared, deflecting his glaive and emitting a powerful aura.
At the same time, a sinister energy flew toward me.
“...!”
It was so fast that even though I used the War King Step, the tips of my hair were sliced off.
‘Damn it.’
And I was growing it out…
*Thud.*
The bastard who ruined my long hairstyle shot out from the ground.
“...Are you a mole?”
“Kekekek, you have good senses, boy.”
He had the air of someone with a few screws loose.
I quickly offered an apology first.
“You look old enough to know better. Why don’t you quietly retire to the mountains? I’ll let you live.”
It was always best to avoid the crazies.
“You should be worrying about your own life.”
*Flicker.*
The man’s figure vanished without a trace.
I immediately spread my palm, creating dozens of ki threads and plunging them into the ground.
*Screeeech!*
The moment I located him, I unleashed the Ultimate Death Force, slicing a long gash across the ground where he was.
But.
*Shwack!*
The man shot out of the ground completely unscathed and thrust a spike at me.
It was imbued with a sharpness and speed I had never seen before.
“Tsk!”
Just before the long spike could pierce my calf, War Dragon Qi shot out.
*Kwoooosh.*
If I hadn’t been prepared, I would have lost my leg in that one blow.
But I couldn’t just stand there and take it.
“Hup!”
*Pow!*
I unleashed the Thirteen Strikes of the War King, filled with force.
I had no doubt that my fist, trained thousands, tens of thousands of times, would pummel his entire body, but…
“...!”
My fist only struck an afterimage; the man had vanished.
‘Phantom Step!’
The speed of the Thirteen Strikes of the War King was practically instantaneous.
To have dodged an attack at that speed, it could only be the Phantom Step.
Still, I couldn’t just stand by.
To secure my vision, I fired a Battle Lord Arrow, cutting down all the reeds in the vicinity.
As expected, Yeom Han-baek was nowhere to be seen.
I spread my Seventh Sense Diagram to locate him, but I couldn’t find an opening to counterattack.
While it wasn't quite the Phantom Step, he was moving at such an incredible speed that even when I pinpointed his location, I had no way to attack.
In the end.
“Hnngh.”
The only thing I could do was draw out my War Dragon Qi to its maximum and endure.
Thus began the battle of offense and defense.
*Kwoooosh.*
I blocked the incoming spike with my War Dragon Qi.
*BOOM!*
I fired a Battle Lord Arrow to detonate a Thunderbolt Bomb in mid-air.
“Haaap!”
*Crackle.*
I unleashed Explosive Death Force to blow away a cloud of poison mist.
Of course, my opponent was one of the Seven Hegemons.
*BANG!*
“Keuk.”
The crisis continued, and a few times, I was truly on the verge of death.
Just like now.
*Schwing.*
“Gah.”
The man’s spike pierced my shoulder.
*Kwoooosh.*
My War Dragon Qi reacted instantly, but he had already withdrawn.
‘Damn it all.’
After about five minutes of this.
As I endured the attacks that came from all directions, I noticed something strange.
‘Why is he in such a hurry?’
He had maintained the same speed from beginning to end.
Even when there was no need to.
‘There’s something else.’
And then.
“Hup!”
The moment I showed the slightest opening, his attack flew in, and I found my conviction.
‘He’s desperate.’
A conviction born from instinct and experience.
*Smirk.*
A smile unknowingly spread across my face.
If I could just catch him, I could pay him back for everything he’d done.
As soon as I was sure, I unleashed the Chain Ring Force.
If I waited, an opportunity would come.
The force filling my entire body granted me speed and power.
And then.
*Thwip.*
Another Thunderbolt Bomb flew at me, and I fired a Battle Lord Arrow.
*KABOOOM!*
With the sound of the explosion, a thick cloud of dust rose.
*Swoosh.*
A skewer, heavily laden with sinister energy, flew toward my shoulder.
*KWAAAAH!*
The simultaneously erupting War Dragon Qi devoured the skewer, but…
His attack wasn’t over.
“Kekek.”
*Thunk.*
Something invisible lodged itself in my chest.
A feint within a feint.
It was an attack that no one could have avoided.
However.
He wasn’t the only one who could use a feint.
The Dragon Scale Armor, which had saved my life several times before, had once again done its job splendidly.
*Grab.*
“Gotcha, you bastard.”
*Squeeze.*
I grabbed the startled man’s right arm and poured every ounce of my strength into it.
The force of the Chain Ring Force shot into his forearm.
*Crack.*
“...!”
The sound of a bone cracking.
The panicked man unleashed a palm strike, aiming for my head.
A swordsman who had lost his weapon had no way of beating me in close combat. I quickly struck his palm with Explosive Death Force.
*Crunch. Crackle.*
A gruesome sound.
His entire arm must have been shattered to pieces.
“Eek!”
His title as one of the Seven Hegemons wasn’t just for show; he didn’t give up.
Instead, a massive amount of internal energy began to flow from the arm I held.
He wanted a contest of internal energy.
A wise choice for a martial artist.
While pushing against each other's ki, neither of us could move.
He must have thought that his own reserves of internal energy would be greater, given his age.
However, I had chugged three bottles of Snowy Yin Liquid, the greatest elixir of the Cheong family.
In terms of pure internal energy, I was probably on par with a reclusive master playing immortal on top of the Five Great Mountains.
As I held my ground, a vein popped on Yeom Han-baek’s forehead.
I gave him a small smile and…
*CRACK! CRUNCH.*
I headbutted him.
Because the War King Arts impose no restrictions on movement, even during a clash of internal energy.