Chapter 88
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Farming Comes Before Quests (1)
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Kaang!
Still, it wasn't like he was playing hwa-tu cards at the super peak level.
Even though it was a reasonably successful ambush, Nangong Baek reacted to my attack and swung his sword.
"Not bad."
"You bastard, learning such an insidious demonic art...! And you call yourself an orthodox sect disciple?!"
Oh dear.
Where else could you find an orthodox sect as upright, splendid, and honorable as me?
"Who might this be, the one who chased me all the way to this deserted place to kill an orthodox sect disciple?"
I pressed Nangong Baek with his own hypocrisy, tossing out a sneer.
Life's all about striking first.
I seized control of the sword flow first and pressed the assault, managing to dictate the close-quarters fight for a while.
"Hah, you arrogant punk!"
Letting out a lion's roar-like bellow, Nangong Baek finally unleashed his full power.
Sword qi was merely piecing together fragments of the stars.
Sword gang went further, comprehending the stars' intent and infusing their true essence.
Nangong Baek, wrapped in sword gang radiating a brilliance incomparable to the qi on my blade, sneered.
"Hoo, behold the Emperor's Sword. Kneel... Huh?"
A fusion realm master on the level of that Chicken Father could maintain sword gang all day long.
But where does a mere super peak punk get off trying to harness stellar power?
"Sword gang, huh."
This was a mountain path.
Trees everywhere, shadows galore.
I melted effortlessly into the terrain.
Sister Seol somehow saw right through me, but I have no idea how.
Nangong Baek failed to track me properly again, firing off bursts of energy everywhere.
"Y-You cowardly bastard!"
As a thank-you to Instructor Nangong Baek for praising my excellent martial arts, I gifted him a poison bomb.
Peng!
"—!"
"A gift from your unworthy disciple to you, Instructor."
Even amid the thick poison mist, I deliberately provoked him to lower his guard while swinging my sword.
Kaang—!
But Nangong Baek calmly parried my blade, holding his breath.
He must have figured I'd taken the antidote beforehand and lured him into the fight.
Tsk. What a shame.
I smacked my lips and melted back into the woods.
Sword gang's a bit unfair, don't you think?
How about we turn it off and fight fair?
* * *
How the hell did it come to this?
Nangong Baek felt like he was going insane for real.
— Nangong Baek. Handle it personally and alone. No more failures will be tolerated. Three days from now, Geum Sihyeon will leave the west bank and head south.
When he confirmed the council directive received via the messenger pigeon raised by Dang Mok.
He'd worried he might get discarded like a worn-out shoe.
Right.
If he handled it cleanly, his evaluation would even rise.
He'd gritted his teeth and made full preparations to execute the council directive flawlessly.
And the timing was perfect.
The people who could protect Geum Sihyeon.
Not just the Demonic Cult's swordsman, but even that arrogant Green Forest girl and his close friends had all left him.
All that remained was to kill him cleanly and erase all traces.
But.
"Come out, you son of a bitch—! Fight fair and square!"
Nangong Baek bellowed in rage.
Swaeek—!
A formless arrow whistled by, mocking him as it grazed his side and inflicted another wound.
As if.
He'd fallen into a trap.
Geum Sihyeon pressed him meticulously without exposing any openings.
Nangong Baek was momentarily dumbfounded.
"Y-You...! It's a fact you learned it! That shadow stealth technique of yours—it's definitely from the Demonic Cult!"
Was he originally a Demonic Cult assassin? No such intel, and the academy wouldn't have slacked on background checks. How did he master it so quickly—
"Kuh."
This time, a sinister formless palm force flew persistently at his ankle.
The moment he startled and stepped back.
From the enveloping darkness, Geum Sihyeon's sword thrust out, carving another red line across his chest.
"Graaah! Geum Sihyeon, you bastard!"
Enraged, Nangong Baek unleashed indiscriminate slashes.
The brilliant starlight that had once gleamed on his sword was now gone.
Only then did Geum Sihyeon emerge from a short distance away, his sword-bow reverting to its bow-sword form.
"Our Ghost Killer Unit always fights in the darkness of night, to our advantage..."
Geum Sihyeon spouted some nonsense.
But Nangong Baek felt a clear sense of unease.
Maintaining Shadowless Step.
Firing formless palm force.
Honing that force sharper into arrow form and shooting it—all that would consume considerable inner energy.
Especially since its power pierced the protective aura of Nangong Baek at super peak realm.
That damn punk must be running low on inner energy too.
"How are you still fine...?"
Yet Geum Sihyeon appeared utterly serene, his breathing undisturbed.
An incomprehensible situation by any logic.
Why.
Why could that guy remain so composed?
At mere peak realm?
Chaeng, chachang, kang!
Thinking he'd cornered him for sure.
Nangong Baek gritted his teeth as Geum Sihyeon slashed fiercely without hiding anymore.
He felt his dantian emptying as he'd scattered sword gang too wildly, caught in the feint.
But if that bastard insisted on a frontal clash.
One strike.
Just one decisive strike could reverse everything.
Of course, he might have a hidden card.
But so did he.
"Haat!"
Kaang—!
He batted away Geum Sihyeon's serpentine sword thrust and swiftly retreated.
Then he pulled the Azure Explosive Heavenly Qi Pill from his bosom and popped it into his mouth.
For non-Azure Heaven Society members, the side effects from the implanted larva would be severe.
But for him, a 2nd-grade member, it would draw out purer power than a regular qi explosion pill.
Of course, his movements would be restricted for a while.
But better than dying here.
Fortunately, Geum Sihyeon just leered vilely, watching.
As the pill's energy surged through him, granting unprecedented might.
"Kekeke, you arrogant fool...! I'll end you here!"
Nangong Baek concentrated his qi into the blade.
The Nangong Family's secret art, Emperor Sword Form—bestowed only upon those acknowledged for sword talent.
The king's domineering power began to infuse his sword majestically, pursuing only hegemony.
With momentum to cleave anything in one stroke, ferocity to split the heavens—the raised sword became heavenly thunder—
"Guhuk—."
Before he could even swing.
A horrific twisting of his qi and blood wracked him, and he vomited blood, collapsing forward.
"Tsk."
Geum Sihyeon clicked his tongue and approached the convulsing Nangong Baek.
"Instructor, sometimes what you thought was medicine becomes poison when mixed with something else. Like the horrific combo of fermented soy crab and raw ginger."
"What... nonsense... Guhek, keok."
"It's the great Science Lord's recipe. Anyway, the poison from that first bomb interacts with the qi explosion pill you just took. You're paying the price for drug doping."
Amid surging agony, Nangong Baek was stunned.
How did he know about the qi explosion pill exactly?
And how did he analyze it to create a reacting poison?
Then.
"If you hadn't relied on drugs, I would've liked to clash swords fair and square at least once. A bit disappointing."
"Pl-Planned..."
Geum Sihyeon grinned and waved a paper in front of Nangong Baek's eyes.
On it.
Was the exact same content as the council directive Dang Mok had passed him, in the identical handwriting.
Finally understanding, Nangong Baek sighed.
"From the... Keok, start... You targeted... Me..."
"If you promise to cooperate obediently now, I could let you live. We're not total strangers, after all."
Nangong Baek suddenly reflected on himself.
His body flickering like a candle about to go out.
Qi and blood twisted beyond repair, qi deviation imminent.
Could he survive on his own?
Hard.
Could he beg and survive?
If he expelled the poison now, maybe.
But even if he survived that way...
"—!"
As his resolve weakened amid life's conflict.
A massive unease flooded his middle and upper dantian.
As if someone had placed his vision and thoughts on their palm, peering in...
...Right.
Even if he begged for his life and survived.
There was no escaping the Leader's eyes anywhere in the Central Plains...
"Get... out...!"
Seizing Geum Sihyeon's brief opening.
Nangong Baek gritted his teeth, detonated his primal true qi, and swung his final strike.
"...!"
No, he tried to.
"You're right on script. Sweet dreams."
With the world spinning for the first time, as his finale.
Nangong Baek's consciousness blacked out.
* * *
Inside the Azure Heaven Society headquarters.
There was a forbidden zone no one but the Leader and his most trusted could approach within thirty feet.
The hall named Shuncheon Hall appeared quaint from outside.
But its underground passages sprawled like an ant colony.
In one stone chamber.
Amid countless transparent jars.
A middle-aged man watched female parasites corresponding to those implanted in members' bodies slumbering in venom.
As if drawn by prophecy.
His steps halted before a plaque reading Nangong Family, Nangong Baek.
Unlike the black others.
Nangong Baek's glowed red.
Interest gleamed in the middle-aged man's eyes.
No separate orders issued afterward.
Had he felt responsible for past failures and gone to eliminate personally?
Even consuming Azure Explosive Heavenly Qi Pill against a mere peak realm novice?
He reached out and grasped Nangong Baek's jar.
At that instant.
His vision merged with Nangong Baek's.
The cornered, panting Nangong Baek.
Forcing qi to swing his sword.
But the young man's sword struck first in his view.
"Tch."
The middle-aged man clicked his tongue and infused qi into the jar heart.
Kieeeek—!!!
The parasite screamed its death cry, melting into bloody water and merging with the venom.
"2nd-grade member No. 137 is dead. Track his whereabouts. And the Heaven-Defier too."
The middle-aged man muttered to himself.
But.
"Understood."
A strange ripple echoed in the empty chamber.
The middle-aged man released the jar, pondering next moves.
The simplest was deploying himself or a grandmaster subordinate to crush him.
But perhaps the karmic ties weren't twisted enough yet, or heavenly law forbade such intervention.
"Intriguing. Very intriguing. How much more will you grow in the time allotted... Heh."
Recalling the Heaven-Defier, Geum Sihyeon's eyes from the parasite's view, he smiled.
And murmured softly.
"Make the martial world great again."
For the long-enduring dominion and the blue skies of eternal pursuit.