Chapter 353
Chapter 353
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 353
>Chapter Title: Empress Dowager (3)
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For a brief moment, Il-mok entertained the absurd thought, then let out a hollow chuckle before replying in a serious tone.
“The space here is too cramped for a spar. How about we move somewhere else?”
It was a chance to exchange moves with one of the Twelve Heavenly Lords of the Central Plains, so Il-mok saw no reason to refuse.
Especially since the man could become an enemy in the worst-case scenario.
“Hahaha! More magnanimous than you look!”
Hwangbo Ak burst into laughter like Dokgo Pae.
As Il-mok led Hwangbo Ak away, Il-mok’s maidservants and the Hwangbo family warriors followed. The Taiji Sword Immortal and Yunbaek Dojang from the Wudang sect trailed behind out of curiosity.
Il-mok guided them to the outskirts of Nanzhou.
Fighting a master like Hwangbo Ak or using the scriptures of the Maitreya Divine Cult could reduce the entire area to rubble.
After traveling at a moderate pace with lightfoot skill, they arrived at a low hill.
“Spread out wide.”
At Il-mok’s command to his subordinates, the others wisely created distance, forming a large circular formation.
Il-mok and Hwangbo Ak faced off at the center.
Hwangbo Ak opened his mouth with a smile tinged with competitive spirit.
“I was going to yield the first move, but it doesn’t seem necessary.”
“You flatter me.”
“Then, I’ll go first!”
No sooner had the words ended than Hwangbo Ak closed the distance in an instant with lightfoot skill and charged.
‘At least he exchanged greetings, so he’s better educated than those Dokgo clan brats.’
Il-mok drew his sword and thrust at Hwangbo Ak while entertaining the trivial thought.
Hwangbo Ak tried to slip past Il-mok’s first strike with concise footwork, but as the Ascending Heaven Sword’s trajectory twisted like a snake to pursue him, he hurriedly thrust out his hand.
Boom!!
The qi gathered in Hwangbo Ak’s fist clashed with the sword qi of the Ascending Heaven Sword, unleashing a thunderous explosion.
Il-mok used the rebound to retract his sword and unleashed a crescent slash.
Amid the afterimages of the Ascending Heaven Sword filling the air, a smile crept onto Hwangbo Ak’s lips.
As if intending to block his approach from the start, Il-mok employed a sword style focused on short, concise thrusts.
He dodged the relentless strikes with minimal movement, or struck them away with qi-wrapped fists when evasion was impossible—repeatedly.
“Urgh!”
Hwangbo Ak snorted like a bull, took a large step back, and bellowed, “Haaah!”
Crimson energy flowed from his body, enveloping him entirely.
It was Protective Gang Qi.
With qi-formed armor cloaking his body, Hwangbo Ak’s eyes gleamed as he charged at Il-mok again. Il-mok responded with the same concise thrust as before.
Boom!!
Il-mok’s Ascending Heaven Sword collided with Hwangbo Ak’s Protective Gang Qi in another explosion, but Hwangbo Ak pressed forward recklessly, ignoring defense like a madman.
As Hwangbo Ak closed in instantly and swung his fist at Il-mok’s face, Il-mok smoothly stepped back.
When Hwangbo Ak followed with a hooking fist, Il-mok had already retracted his Ascending Heaven Sword and deflected the punch using the principles of flowing water.
And so the two men’s game of tag began.
Hwangbo Ak charged bullishly, swinging his fists relentlessly and occasionally whipping out kicks with sudden retreating steps.
But Il-mok kept widening the distance with footwork, blocking or deflecting the fists with his Ascending Heaven Sword whenever danger loomed, maintaining the gap.
After about fifteen minutes of this pursuit.
Hwangbo Ak, now somewhat accustomed to Il-mok’s movements, opened his fist the moment Il-mok tried to deflect his punch with the sword—attempting to grab it with the Golden Crow Claw technique.
Boom!!
Sword qi and Protective Gang Qi clashed in an explosion, and just as Hwangbo Ak’s fingers neared the blade.
Whoosh!
Il-mok urgently unleashed lightfoot skill, soaring into the air, and the Ascending Heaven Sword barely escaped his grasp.
Hwangbo Ak swung his fists repeatedly at Il-mok midair, sending blasts of qi slicing through the sky toward him.
Il-mok trampled the air as if standing on solid ground, twisting his body effortlessly to dodge the qi blasts.
Screeech!
The qi trailing Il-mok’s swung Ascending Heaven Sword flew back at Hwangbo Ak in retaliation.
Boom!!
Hwangbo Ak blocked the crescent-shaped qi blast, and as the obscuring dust cleared from his vision.
Il-mok, now landed, sheathed his sword and spoke.
“This should be enough of a spar.”
After over fifteen minutes of exchange, Hwangbo Ak—his blood still boiling—hesitated briefly, snorted heavily, and replied.
“You’re holding back a few moves, which is a shame in many ways.”
“Isn’t it the same for you? It’s just a spar, not a life-or-death battle, so it can’t be helped.”
Even as he replied, Il-mok quickly reviewed the recent exchange in his mind.
‘Protective Gang Qi.’
He had already devised a countermeasure.
In a short battle, he could shatter the Protective Gang Qi with a qi ring during a moment when the opponent overextended and finish him.
Moreover, Protective Gang Qi consumed immense inner energy since it cloaked the entire body. Dragging it into a prolonged fight like this offered overwhelming odds of victory.
Of course, the opponent likely had hidden cards, so real combat was unpredictable.
‘Still, he’s one or two moves below the Alliance Leader.’
Honestly, in a life-or-death fight, Il-mok felt he could win eight or nine out of ten times.
Though it was a spar against a slightly inferior foe, there were gains nonetheless.
‘I should practice Protective Gang Qi myself.’
It could be a lifesaver in dire situations, and above all, it seemed highly compatible with the Ascending Heaven Sword.
The energy-draining Protective Gang Qi and the sword that absorbed inner energy through blood.
‘It’s useless against an absolute master who could tear it apart effortlessly, but against multiple weaker foes, it’s invincible.’
As Il-mok pondered this inwardly.
Hwangbo Ak, his battle fervor somewhat cooled, laughed heartily and shouted.
“We didn’t go all the way, but this is more than enough to pass! As son-in-law material for the Hwangbo family.”
At Hwangbo Ak’s final words, Il-mok paused before responding.
“…Didn’t you mean alliance?”
“Hahaha! Isn’t it the same thing? What alliance is stronger than father- and son-in-law?”
At Hwangbo Ak’s insane remark, Il-mok ridiculously found himself turning first to check Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a’s reaction.
Worried she might have another outburst like last time.
Surprisingly, instead of murderous intent, Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a simply smiled softly as if to say it was fine.
‘She’s broken free of Extreme Demon realm.’
The realization dawned on Il-mok anew as he turned back to Hwangbo Ak.
“Are you really okay entrusting your precious youngest daughter—whom you treat like a forbidden treasure—to someone you barely know?”
“Hahaha. I’ve already heard. You’re only thirty-nine. To build this much power at that age, and match my own skill to boot. No room for doubt there, right?”
As Hwangbo Ak spoke, Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a, listening from behind, maintained her smile while thinking.
‘You stupid orthodox hypocrite. I wonder what reaction you’ll have when you learn Oppa is only twenty-three.’
Oblivious to Il-mok’s true age, Hwangbo Ak kept talking.
“Besides, our Se-hee is already of marriageable age. I wonder if this father’s standards have been too high, holding back her wedding.”
He said it almost like a joke, then added with gleaming eyes.
“Above all, allying with people you wouldn’t even marry your daughter off to? That’s nonsense.”
Only then did Il-mok realize.
This man, contrary to appearances, was someone who thought things through.
‘To lump a man like this with Dokgo Ryong and that mad old coot. I nearly committed a grave discourtesy.’
As Il-mok silently apologized to Hwangbo Ak in his mind.
Hwangbo Ak uttered another odd remark.
“That’s why I proposed marriage, but if you have another woman in mind, there’s no helping it.”
The woman Hwangbo Ak looked at was none other than Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a.
He hadn’t missed how Il-mok had glanced at her right after the proposal.
Meeting Hwangbo Ak’s eyes, Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a smiled faintly behind her mask while thinking.
‘Unlike a typical orthodox hypocrite, he can read people well.’
Il-mok noticed Hwangbo Ak’s misunderstanding but neither denied nor confirmed it.
Marrying an orthodox woman was burdensome, and directly rejecting the proposal risked straining the alliance.
Instead, he decided to view it as an opportunity and steer the conversation elsewhere.
But before Il-mok could speak.
The Taiji Sword Immortal, who had been quietly observing, stepped forward and spoke.
“Maitreya Incarnate, I have one question for you.”
“???”
Il-mok turned to him with a puzzled expression, and the Taiji Sword Immortal pointed at Il-mok’s side with his index finger.
Precisely, at the Ascending Heaven Sword.
“Watching your recent spar, I sensed an eerie energy from that sword. Much like the aura used by those Blood Cult bastards.”
Tension rippled through the area at the Taiji Sword Immortal’s words.
Though the Ascending Heaven Sword had been pacified by soothing the grudge of its vengeful spirits and was now controllable, its demonic energy hadn’t fully vanished.
Someone of the Taiji Sword Immortal’s caliber could detect it.
Taiji Sword Immortal.
The reason he had followed Yunbaek Dojang to Nanzhou was the promise Yunbaek had made.
During the Sacheon Flying Bandits’ Blood Massacre, Yunbaek had received a life debt from the Maitreya Divine Cult and vowed.
To grant any request from the Maitreya Divine Cult.
It was a careless promise from the young Yunbaek, but the Taiji Sword Immortal knew.
It was too dangerous a vow for a Wudang disciple.
If the Maitreya Divine Cult was a sinister organization, they might demand something perilous.
Thus, he had come to verify them personally.
‘A sword leaking subtle demonic energy.’
Having watched the spar between Hwangbo Ak and the masked man, the Taiji Sword Immortal’s distrust of the Maitreya Divine Cult grew.
Facing the Taiji Sword Immortal, who seemed ready to draw his sword depending on the answer, Il-mok spoke.
“This sword originally belonged to the Blood Cult.”
* * *
Around the time Hwangbo Ak and the Taiji Sword Immortal arrived in Nanzhou.
A single letter arrived at the main headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult in Singang.
The warrior who delivered it hurried to the Cult Leader’s Hall, and the Silver Guard Hall Master took the letter before handing it to Wi Jin-hak.
“Leave us.”
After dismissing the warrior, Wi Jin-hak examined the envelope and muttered.
“A letter from the Central Plains, marked urgent. It must be from the youngest.”
“Indeed.”
Thinking it was from his reliable youngest disciple, sent as urgent, Wi Jin-hak felt tension and curiosity stir.
Without delay, he opened the letter and scanned it quickly.
“Stupid orthodox fools. Falling for the Blood Cult’s tricks.”
Wi Jin-hak sneered at the unexpected news, but his expression changed at the letter’s end.
The end named a force suspected of the GuiZhou Castle massacre, disguised as the Blood Cult’s doing.
“The Imperial Family’s doing…”
Murderous intent surged in Wi Jin-hak’s eyes upon confirming the name.