Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Dispatch to the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion (3)
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The Trial of Life and Death proceeded much as it had when I experienced it.
The fifteen prodigies crossed mountains, forded valleys, and scaled cliffs, forging ahead through the treacherous Nine Dragons Mountain Range.
After two days, the prodigies had separated into vanguard, middle, and rear groups.
As planned beforehand, the instructors took charge of the vanguard and rear, while we handled the middle group.
The Outer Hall warriors weren't skilled enough to keep up with the vanguard, and if we lost track of the middle group, we could switch with the instructors in the rear.
It was a formation that accounted for the possibility of losing some of them.
Of course, the men of the Outer Hall were still martial artists.
Their pride wouldn't let them accept being outrun by children, so they pushed themselves to keep up somehow.
But before long, the mental fortitude born of their pride began to wane, and their exhaustion became noticeable.
Still.
"Your feet are heavy. Have you forgotten the basics of movement techniques?!"
"Treat this as training!"
"Circulate your energy as you step! Running low on internal energy? What have you been doing all this time instead of practicing your arts?"
Thankfully, Woo Je-jun was doing a good job keeping them centered.
The members of the First Squad moved in perfect unison at his words.
Seeing that filled me with a sense of pride.
'There are no great soldiers under a poor commander.'
After all, Woo Je-jun's leadership was a reflection of my own.
'I wonder how far we've come?'
I unfolded the map and compared it to the terrain; it looked like we were about halfway.
'A piece of cake.'
I felt a sense of satisfaction, knowing the Trial of Life and Death would be over in just two more days.
It made sense. After spending ten days at the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion, I'd only been on the actual assignment for four.
Sure, the return trip would take some time, but I could just train in the Flying Heavenly Wind on the way, so I wasn't worried...
'Wait, I'm going to train my martial arts on the way?'
The sudden question sent goosebumps from head to toe.
Not long ago, I would have grumbled about such a long journey, calling it a total pain.
Not to mention my past self, who would take a taxi for any distance over a hundred meters.
Yet here I was, brushing off such a long trek as an 'opportunity to train my martial arts.'
It seemed the recent incidents had brought about some kind of shift in my perception.
'Still, it's not bad.'
It's not like I'm learning it for someone else.
Feeling more at ease, I was walking leisurely when the prodigies ahead came to a stop.
The sun was about to set, so it seemed they planned to rest here for the night.
There were four prodigies in the middle group.
They began to scatter in all directions, looking for a place to sleep.
I said to Woo Je-jun.
"I'm going to do some hunting. Hold down the fort."
I'd brought some dry rations just in case, but freshly hunted and roasted meat was a delicacy of its own.
Paired with the white liquor I'd secretly packed, it was heaven on earth. So today, too, I set out to hunt for something to go with my drink.
Having tasted it himself these past few days, Woo Je-jun licked his lips and replied.
"Yes, sir. I'll get a fire started and wait."
I immediately used the Flying Heavenly Wind and disappeared into the mountains.
At the same time, I expanded my senses to scan the surroundings.
'Let's see.'
I'll just catch a single deer.
As I sharpened my senses and surveyed the area...
'The smell of blood?'
I sensed something I shouldn't have.
In a mountain teeming with wild beasts, the smell of blood itself was common enough.
The problem was...
there was none of the strong, gamey odor that should have accompanied animal blood.
'Could it be?'
Praying I was wrong, I dashed toward the source of the smell as if taking flight.
"Shit..."
I saw a corpse.
An instructor from the Heaven-Ascending Pavilion.
I immediately approached and examined it. The body was covered in stab wounds.
'A combined attack by at least three people.'
His sword was still in its scabbard, meaning he hadn't even had a chance to fight back.
A murder committed in the heart of the Nine Dragons Mountain Range, the territory of the Nine Dragons Fortress.
And it just so happened to occur during the Trial of Life and Death.
'This can't be a coincidence.'
I didn't know who the culprits were, but this was no random murder.
Furthermore, the fact that a first-rate instructor was brutally killed without even drawing his sword meant the enemy's strength was formidable.
I hoisted the instructor's body over my shoulder and ran down the mountain.
Before long, I reached the spot where my squad members were gathered.
"Squad Leader!"
Seeing me with the body, Woo Je-jun's eyes widened as he shot to his feet.
"We're under attack. Bring the prodigies here, now."
At my command, the squad members quickly scattered and brought back the prodigies.
The prodigies were just as shocked to see the body.
One of them stared, his eyes wide with fury.
"Senior Brother!"
It seemed he knew the dead instructor.
But there was no time for personal grief.
*Thud.*
I grabbed the scruff of his neck as he clung to the body, threw him back, and said in a low voice.
"Snap out of it!"
"..."
"Woo Je-jun."
"Yes, sir."
"You're in charge. Take the prodigies and the squad members and join up with the group behind us."
"...What will you do, Squad Leader?"
"I'm going to find the prodigies and instructors who went ahead."
"Understood."
"And if your lives are in danger, you can surrender. Just stay alive. If that's not possible, run."
"We are also warriors who wield the sword. We will fight to the end."
At his words, the squad members nodded, their eyes gleaming.
"Cut the crap and do as I say. As long as you're alive, I'll find a way to save you. And that goes for you too. Don't worry about your useless pride. Save your own necks first."
"...Yes, sir."
Their replies were filled with discontent, but there was no more time.
Right now, the group ahead could be under attack.
"Let's all see each other again, alive."
With those final words, I unleashed the Flying Heavenly Wind.
* * *
As expected of the notoriously rugged Nine Dragons Mountain Range, obstacles appeared one after another, but I didn't slow down.
I raced up sheer mountain paths, and when I came to a deep valley, I infused my body with internal energy and leaped across in a single bound. When faced with a dense forest...
*CRASH! CRACK.*
I simply smashed through it with my body.
My internal energy and stamina were draining in real-time, but that didn't matter.
What mattered now was whether or not I could save those who had gone ahead.
As I ran through the pitch-black mountain paths, I tried to deduce the enemy's identity.
'The Ten Demon Alliance.'
The Nine Dragons Mountain Range stretches from the middle of Sichuan to the northwest.
And the end of that range borders Qinghai, the territory of the Ten Demon Alliance.
In the first place, no one but them would dare to trespass into the Nine Dragons Fortress's territory and pull off something so audacious.
'Those sons of bitches!'
I gritted my teeth and pressed on for two hours.
"Krrk."
In the moonlight, I saw a prodigy gasping for breath, a sword embedded in his chest.
*Flick.*
As soon as he saw me, he pointed a finger behind me and spoke in a trembling voice.
"...R-run."
I understood perfectly what he was trying to say.
My mind moved, and my body and ki moved with it.
*POW.*
With a flick of my hand, an enemy's head exploded.
*Crackle. Crackle.*
At the same time, the energy of the War King began to rage.
I immediately unleashed the War King's Thirteen Strikes.
*RUMBLE. KABOOM.*
A single explosion erupted, and the bodies of five men were torn to shreds.
Each and every strike was imbued with the power of Explosive Death Force.
"Yiek!"
The one I'd left alive for information raised his sword and swung, but my hand grabbed his throat before he could.
*GRIP.*
"How many of you are there?"
"Krrk."
A simple question. But his answer surpassed my expectations.
*Drip.*
In an instant, he bit his tongue and ruptured his own heart meridian, committing suicide.
"Damn it."
I threw the man aside and approached the dying prodigy.
"You held on well."
"Kuh... My classmates... Please."
*Thump.*
He breathed his last, entrusting his comrades to me.
A frightening, cold death.
The sight made a fire rage within me.
* * *
Meanwhile, the First Squad, led by Woo Je-jun, and the four prodigies were retracing their steps.
They moved slowly, their tension mounting with every step.
Of course, they knew that being careful didn't guarantee safety.
In fact, moving quickly might have been better.
However, considering the prodigies were experiencing their first real battle, Woo Je-jun judged it was far better to proceed with caution.
Nothing was more dangerous than a chaotic first taste of real combat.
They continued like this for an hour.
Ha Jin-hyeong, who had been sent out as a scout, came running back in alarm.
The reason was obvious without even asking.
"Form the Shadow-Suppressing Formation!"
At Woo Je-jun's command, fifteen members drew their swords and formed a line at the front.
The remaining five and the prodigies stood behind them, drawing their own weapons to face the enemy.
Fortunately, they were in a forest surrounded by large trees.
In other words, it was good terrain for stalling.
Woo Je-jun gritted his teeth and stared ahead.
Twenty Outer Hall warriors—a pitiful force, if one were to be blunt.
But they had experience gained from the Southern Barbarian War.
They knew what they had to do to save their comrades and themselves.
A moment later.
Before long, enemies began to approach slowly from all sides.
A group clad in black night-prowling attire, as if to advertise that they were the bad guys.
Judging by their appearance alone, it was impossible to tell who they were.
Woo Je-jun shouted at them.
"Who are you!"
*you- you-*
His voice, filled with internal energy, echoed and spread through the surroundings.
He had shouted deliberately, hoping that Jin Mujeon might hear it on his way back.
As if sensing Woo Je-jun's intent, a large man sneered.
"Clever little trick. Heh heh, but it won't change the fact that you're all going to die here."
The large man at the front of the enemy group spoke.
"Hmph! This is the territory of the Nine Dragons Fortress! Do you think you can lay a hand on us and get out of here alive?!"
"If we were afraid of the likes of the Nine Dragons Fortress, we wouldn't have come this far."
Hearing the reply, Woo Je-jun groaned inwardly.
The fact that the enemies didn't waver at the mention of the Nine Dragons Fortress meant their faction was by no means weak.
"Kill them!"
At the large man's shout, thirty men in black charged like a tempest.
Wielding a straight sword, Woo Je-jun blocked the vanguard with the techniques of the Shadow-Suppressing Sword, supported by his squad members.
The battle began with the clash of weapons.
* * *
*Crackle.*
As I took a step, a burst of force swept through the area, scattering the fallen leaves.
I grabbed one man and drove a strike from the War King's Thirteen Strikes into his chest.
*Thwack.*
With a dull thud, my fist crushed an enemy's head.
*Shluk.*
At the same time, I felt the cold sensation of a sword blade piercing my shoulder.
*BAM!*
Without looking back, I unleashed a kick that struck the head of the one who had stabbed me.
I glanced at the head, torn from its neck, rolling on the ground, and then scanned the area in front of me.
More than twenty enemies stood before me, and thirty corpses lay on the ground.
"Hah, hah."
Belatedly, I felt my breath catch, and sharp pains shot through my body.
It wasn't from injuries inflicted by the enemy.
It was the cumulative shock from breaking through to this point.
But I endured the searing pain and charged at the enemies again.
*CRACK.*
The windpipe of a man caught in my grip was torn out.
*CRUNCH.*
A lightning-fast kick shattered another man's ribs completely.
*Thrust.*
My outstretched fist pierced through another's chest.
Perhaps because of my brutal methods, the remaining men hesitated.
"Hoo, hoo... Hah... You fucking bastards. Have you got nothing better to do than target someone else's kids? Is that what your parents taught you?"
"Die!"
Unable to endure my blatant taunting, one of them swung his sword at my torso, but...
*CLANG.*
it bounced off with a hollow sound.
It was thanks to the Dragon Scale Armor.
*Thump.*
I smashed the bewildered man's head, sending it flying.
The most effective way to deal with a large group.
Is to use fear.
Just as I intended, the enemies began to back away one by one.
*Crackle. Crackle.*
I gathered up a massive amount of the War King's energy and said.
"I'll let one of you live."