Chapter 236
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 236
Chapter Title: Making Baek Liyeon Womanly Again (3)
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Geum Sihyeon swung his blade with genuine pleasure for the first time in ages.
No, to be precise, he was swinging a staff he had snatched away.
Smack!
“Eek!”
“Like this? Or maybe like that?”
From Geum Sihyeon's perspective, who had reached the verge of mastering supreme swordsmanship, there was no real need to learn staff techniques.
What had caught his interest wasn't the staff techniques themselves, but the staff formation as a whole.
Of course, if he wanted, he could have disrupted their momentum in an instant with a light Heavenly Demon Skip-Step right on their heads.
But Geum Sihyeon's ambitions were grand.
In the future, when the ranks of the Geumhyeon Sect swelled, wouldn't they need a proper sword formation of their own, like Shaolin Temple's 108 Arhat Formation?
A batter's first sequence formation adapted from the arts of baseball.
A myriad heavenly rain formation adapted from the arts of soccer.
Even as he parried the chaotic barrage of staffs and the occasional unpredictable punches, Geum Sihyeon surveyed the entire setup, broadening his knowledge.
“You bastard! Are you toying with us?!”
A roar that hit the nail on the head erupted from Chwi Ssanggae's mouth.
Smack! Thwack!
“Kuhk.”
“Ugh.”
Geum Sihyeon's staff mercilessly struck the gaps in their staff formation, smashing the heads of the two beggars with resounding force.
Come to think of it, Drunken Fist was quite an alluring martial art in its own right.
“Here, take it back.”
He spun the staff into the air with a flourish, embedding it precisely into its original owner's skull and knocking him out cold.
Then he closed in on Chwi Ssanggae, clashing head-on with fist and palm techniques this time.
With Chwi Ssanggae at the core of the staff formation, the pressure from the array had weakened considerably.
Whoosh──!
“Whoa, damn. Yoga fire.”
Geum Sihyeon hurriedly unleashed his ice arts to suppress the bizarre sight of flames spewing from Chwi Ssanggae's mouth.
And then.
“Isn't that the Northern Sea Ice Palace's...?”
“Oops.”
To the world's chattiest bunch, the beggar rabble.
Geum Sihyeon had accidentally revealed a technique he'd secretly learned from his fiancée's maternal family without permission.
For a split second, the brutal notion of total annihilation flashed through his mind.
But killing one would mean having to kill them all.
And regrettably, not everyone here deserved death.
That was why he'd been holding back since earlier.
“Pretend you didn't see that?”
His exceedingly generous proposal slipped from Geum Sihyeon's lips, but no one showed any sign of accepting it.
Even as Chwi Ssanggae hiccuped, his arm thrust precisely at Geum Sihyeon's vital points. Geum Sihyeon countered by wrapping it around and slamming him into the floor using the Moyong Family's Headbreaker Technique.
Boom!
Crack──!
“Ah.”
The Headbreaker Technique was a unique Moyong Family skill that turned the opponent's physical force against them.
Geum Sihyeon had been controlling his power carefully up to now, but Chwi Ssanggae hadn't bothered with restraint. His full force collided directly with the floor.
Crash──!
After smashing through the wooden floorboards with a mighty crash, Chwi Ssanggae plummeted through the hole.
That much was fine.
Breaking things wasn't a crime he'd committed for just a day or two.
But.
“...!”
“Gasp.”
“Urk.”
The remaining Beggars' Sect disciples let out involuntary groans as a stinging sensation pricked their hearts.
At the same time, Geum Sihyeon detected a thick killing intent seeping through even his barrier of qi.
It was deeply sinister, profoundly sticky.
And all too familiar.
Geum Sihyeon leaped down through the gaping hole in the floor without hesitation.
It was incredibly hard to make sense of the scene unfolding before his eyes.
In the empty downstairs devoid of other guests, Chwi Ssanggae lay face-planted in a table of food, seemingly passed out.
And a man—or rather, a woman—sat motionless in a chair, her eyes glowing red.
Baek Liyeon was there.
“Wh-what are you doing here...?”
She at least turned to look at him when he spoke.
And then.
The ferocious crimson glow of the Heavenly Slaughter Star in her eyes intensified.
Why?
Why at me...?
After all the one-sided affection I'd showered on my junior to comfort her, to see those rebellious eyes now—it made this senior want to burst into tears.
Well, judging by the food she'd spilled everywhere, her anger probably stemmed from missing her meal.
Having one's meal interrupted was the greatest humiliation for any martial artist.
“I-I'll buy you a fresh meal, so calm down. Good girl?”
“I'll kill you...!”
My poor choice of words only filled her Heavenly Slaughter Star gauge even more.
In the end, with her eyes fully flipped, Liyeon had the audacity to draw her sword and attack this senior.
“Gasp!”
“Th-the Heavenly Slaughter Star...!”
“Why is that murderous aura here?!”
“Ah, damn it.”
The Beggars' Sect disciples who had descended via the stairs instead of the hole cried out in shock, their voices echoing around.
This won't do.
Poison is easy to come by in Beggars' Sect territory anyway.
“Heupunggae Secret Technique! Sleepy Gas!”
Dodging Baek Liyeon's venomous sword thrusts, he indiscriminately sprayed knockout poison at her face and the wary Beggars' Sect disciples.
It was potent enough to drop a dragon, let alone an elephant.
Thud!
Thump!
Snore!
The Beggars' Sect disciples were subdued in an instant.
“I'll give it to youuuu!”
“What? Why are you fine?”
“I said I'll give it to youuuu!”
Did awakening the Heavenly Slaughter Star grant status immunity? Baek Liyeon ignored it completely, growing even more frenzied as she wildly swung her sword.
Her sheer killing intent was terrifying enough to tear a person apart.
No wonder the Heavenly Slaughter Star was considered a cheat trait.
Though... losing all composure like that made it useless anywhere.
Still.
Clang! Zing! Clang!
Crash! Clang!
After a few clashes in full earnest mode with his rampaging junior, he could see glimmers of hope from her training.
The killing intent itself felt like an intangible pressure pricking his skin sharply.
“Die...!”
But right before lethal strikes, she hesitated, her blade tip wavering.
Even unconsciously aiming away from vital points.
It was remarkable progress from diligently suppressing her Heavenly Slaughter tendencies all this time.
People really do learn after a beating.
Good job! My junior!
It would have been even better if she'd stopped attacking altogether, but with her eyes still manic, no such sign appeared.
“That pissed you off so much, huh? Not getting your mala tang.”
“Graaah!”
“You really love mala tang, which confirms you're a girl, not a guy.”
The moment she swallowed those random words.
“Kh...?”
Baek Liyeon's swordplay, which had regressed below even Luri-level speech, suddenly halted.
At the same time, the blazing killing intent in her eyes softened slightly.
What?
What did that imply?
No way?
“You're definitely the type of junior who looks great all squishy up top.”
“...”
Ah.
I got it.
“Perfect for squeezing those little tits.”
“Dieeee!”
Hmm.
That wasn't it.
As he parried Baek Liyeon's strikes, now three times faster with an even redder glow,
“Intellectual, androgynous, aloof beauty!”
“Kyaa! So pretty! Gorgeous!”
“Silky, flowing hair!”
With each bit of nonsense he spouted,
The Heavenly Slaughter that had seeped into her bones began peeling away layer by layer.
“Flawless skin!”
“Birthing hips... Ow! Sorry!”
“Slender shoulders you just want to protect!”
After a few more praises, the red bloom that had clouded her eyes finally dissipated.
“Ah...”
Baek Liyeon's clear pupils met his gaze.
The crimson flower he'd thought fully wilted now bloomed on her cheeks instead, softer and more vibrant than before.
“Ah, fuck...”
Baek Liyeon covered her face and sank to the floor.
He quietly approached his junior and patted her shoulder.
“Don't take it too hard. These things happen. I didn't mean it seriously──”
Baek Liyeon lunged for his neck—something she'd never targeted even in her berserk mode.
As if.
.
.
.
After barely calming Baek Liyeon, who seemed ready to hang herself right then, and sealing her Heavenly Slaughter Star by pumping her head full of Northern Bright True Qi,
“Go wash off that mala tang broth from your clothes.”
“...Yes.”
The once again meek and gentle junior shuffled downstairs, looking utterly defeated and pathetic.
He followed a short way down.
“Sorry for the commotion. Take these three bills for repairs, some spare clothes for this guy, and there's a guest room, right? Prepare a place to wash up too. Oh, and there's a decent table left over there—bring fresh food to it. Is this enough?”
“N-no, this is too much money...!”
Shoving three banknotes at the trembling errand boy who'd been peeking from downstairs,
He got to experience eyes that once saw a loathsome cur now viewing a heavenly jade emperor.
After sending Baek Liyeon off with the errand boy,
He returned upstairs and infused Heavenly Demon Qi into the heads of the still-dreaming Beggars' Sect disciples under the sleepy gas's effects, imposing memory seals.
All but one.
One needed to remember.
As he gently extracted the knockout poison from Chwi Ssanggae's body, soaked head to toe in beloved mala tang broth,
“Hu, huh...?!”
Chwi Ssanggae, hit with the knockout combo on top of unconsciousness, finally regained his senses.
Did they need long words?
“Behave yourself. Got it?”
He'd already demonstrated the power gap sufficiently.
And they could confirm he could even subdue them with poison, judging by the other disciples' states.
Unhak and the vice sect leader wouldn't dare interfere with their final do-or-die gamble.
Leaving Chwi Ssanggae, who looked up at him with faint fear, he purged the poison from the other sleepy-gas victims, restoring their consciousness.
“I covered the drinks, so be on your way.”
There's that saying about men's fights: like slicing water with a sword, and bonding after battle.
They parted on perfectly amicable, cheerful terms.
“H-hiiik...”
“Where did such a monster come from?”
“We'll never forget today...”
“Elder, what should we do?”
You beggar bastards.
Go gossip farther away.
I can hear everything.
.
.
.
A horde of errand boys swarmed in, cleaning up the mess with professional efficiency.
Another horde delivered fresh platters of food, their aromas wafting temptingly,
When the culprit behind all the destruction reappeared.
Baek Liyeon.
“Huh...?”
At that unfamiliar sight,
He could only blink in astonishment.