Chapter 373
Chapter 373
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 373
>Chapter Title: Who is Evil? (3)
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The seven Plum Blossom Sword Guards who dodged or deflected the sword qi Il-mok had fired came at him from all directions.
The title of Plum Blossom Sword Guard was bestowed only upon the most outstanding sword experts of the Mount Hua Sect, and those who bore it were granted the right to learn the Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Moves.
The Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Moves was a sword art that embodied the principles of speed and illusion, and barring the Violet Haze Divine Art permitted only to the sect leader, it could be called the most exquisite technique of the Mount Hua Sect.
“Die!!!”
Clang!
As he withstood the combined assault of Mount Hua's top experts, Il-mok calmly observed their movements.
‘It’s different from the Amitabha’s Demonic Extermination Fierce Tiger Formation or the Potala Palace’s Seventy-Two Vajra Arhat Formation.’
The Amitabha Sect’s Demonic Extermination Fierce Tiger Formation or the Potala Palace’s Seventy-Two Vajra Arhat Formation had started with over fifty people forming the array from the outset.
In contrast, these seven were forming the Seven Star Formation to execute joint attacks.
The Seven Star Formation wasn’t an array with any special properties. It was merely a type of Seven-Man Joint Strike Technique that ensured the movements of those forming it didn’t overlap.
However, there was undoubtedly something more troublesome about it than the Demonic Extermination Fierce Tiger Formation or the Vajra Arhat Formation.
Not the power of the formation itself, but the difficulty stemming from the characteristics of those composing it.
‘No openings, huh.’
All seven had reached the supreme realm, and since they weren’t relying on the formation to draw out their power, finding and exploiting a single gap wouldn’t work.
Moreover, since all seven were executing the exact same sword art, they displayed impeccably clean joint strikes without any overlapping paths.
“You’ll never escape this place!”
“Consider it an honor to die intoxicated by the scent of plum blossoms, you filthy cultist!”
With shouts, the Plum Blossom Sword Guards swung their swords from all sides simultaneously, sending countless petals scattering through the air.
As petals continuously whirled from every direction, their joint strikes had the added effect of naturally disorienting anyone facing them.
For a long while, he seemed to be on the defensive as he parried their joint strikes.
Then, as he gazed at the petals filling the air from all around, Il-mok sneered at one point.
“I’d heard that the swords of Plum Blossom Sword Guards exude the fragrance of plum blossoms, but instead of plum scent, the stench of rot is overwhelming.”
“What!?”
The moment the frontal Plum Blossom Sword Guard’s face twisted at Il-mok’s provocation.
Flash!
Il-mok unleashed his lightness skill to the extreme, charging aggressively toward the man in front.
Countless petals blocked his path, but Il-mok swung his Ascending Heaven Sword in a very concise manner.
Exactly three friction sounds rang out.
For some reason, the petals that had filled the front scattered all at once.
Since the Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Moves focused on speed and illusion, Il-mok had ignored the feints among the countless petals and only struck down the real ones, neutralizing them.
“H-How?”
When his technique was dismantled so effortlessly, the Plum Blossom Sword Guard was visibly flustered.
Yet, as a seasoned expert, even in his panic, he swung his sword again.
Clang!
The moment his sword met Il-mok’s Ascending Heaven Sword, Il-mok used the principle of deflection to slide the enemy’s blade aside and thrust into his chest.
With a sneer.
“With all seven of you using the same sword art, only an idiot wouldn’t notice by now.”
The constant whirl of petals from all sides had only dazed him at first. Having already reached a profound realm and possessing innate talent, Il-mok easily discerned the characteristics of their sword art.
“Eek! How dare a filthy cultist like you!”
“The Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Moves is invincible!!”
Enraged by Il-mok’s taunt, the remaining six Plum Blossom Sword Guards swung their swords even more ferociously.
Amid a thick plum blossom scent thick enough to fill the vacancy left by the departed one.
“Then it’s not the Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Moves—you lot are the problem.”
Il-mok neutralized the disorienting petals before him once more, then charged at one Plum Blossom Sword Guard and swung his sword.
Slash!
There were no special openings. After all, all seven were inferior to Il-mok regardless.
Now that he was familiar with their sword art, no matter how many there were, they posed no difficulty.
After dismantling the Plum Blossom Sword Guards’ sword art and claiming several lives.
Before long, all the Plum Blossom Sword Guards lay as corpses on the ground, leaving only Sect Leader Mok Seon-ja alive with a dazed expression.
“H-How could a mere cultist…”
Seeing Mok Seon-ja struggling to accept reality, Il-mok suddenly had an amusing thought.
“Hmm. You must have quite the pride in the Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Moves.”
Muttering casually as if it were nothing, Il-mok swung his sword, and countless petals bloomed in the air.
The Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword that Il-mok had mastered encompassed strength, deflection, speed, illusion—every technique possible with a sword, the creation of a mad perfectionist.
The speed and illusion that formed the foundation of the Plum Blossom Twenty-Four Moves were all too familiar to Il-mok, and for him, who had entered the Transcending Demon realm with the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword, executing both simultaneously was as easy as twisting a child’s wrist.
The only difference was that, due to the disparity in internal energy, the petals took on a gray hue unlike Mount Hua’s.
In the spectacle of countless gray petals unfurling in the air, Mok Seon-ja stared at them, entranced.
‘Falling Petals in Profusion…’
Without even realizing his own throat was being severed.
Slash.
* * *
While Il-mok dealt with Mount Hua Sect Leader Mok Seon-ja and the seven Plum Blossom Sword Guards, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult warriors were slaughtering Mount Hua Sect Taoists throughout Zhuchen County.
And in merely half a shichen, the nearly hundred Mount Hua Taoists had all become lifeless corpses.
From early morning the previous day until this dawn, after constant movement via lightness skill and repeated battles, Il-mok ordered his warriors a brief rest.
The next morning.
As he awoke and lightly stretched, one warrior hurried over and reported.
“Young Master, a signal has come from Zhangye County.”
After advancing from Gulang County to Jinchang County in a single day, Il-mok had left a few Heavenly Demon Divine Cult warriors at key points on the way to Zhuchen County during their overnight rest.
Familiar with Gansu’s terrain, they had taken positions at several spots with clear sightlines to monitor if any righteous faction forces were approaching.
“Zhangye County—that’s about half a day’s distance.”
Upon hearing that the righteous faction’s main force was pursuing them, Il-mok nodded with a satisfied expression for some reason.
The maidservants by his side felt the same.
“We’ve drawn them into the north, so it’s time to move to the next phase.”
As Jin Ha-yeon said, luring them north had been part of the scheme.
Il-mok, leading Heavenly Demon Divine Cult warriors through secluded paths to infiltrate Gansu Province, had obtained new information.
While Mount Hua Sect was plundering villages in the northwest centered on Lanzhou, Mount Zhongnan Sect was ravaging the southeast.
Thus, he made a slight adjustment to the plan.
“As planned, instruct some of the warriors to leave as many traces as possible while heading to Xining.”
“Understood.”
As Jin Ha-yeon responded and left the hall first, Il-mok turned to Hyeok-ryeon Seon-a and gave orders.
“Tell the rest to prepare. We’ll begin heading south.”
He had no intention of going to Lanzhou.
After moving south some distance from Zhuchen County, the treacherous Qilian Mountains would appear.
They planned to cross the Qilian Mountains to Qinghai in the south, then pass through Qinghai toward northern Sichuan.
To deal with the Mount Zhongnan Taoists causing chaos there.
After Il-mok’s orders, from early morning, the cultists moved with perfect discipline.
Around twenty warriors headed west, leaving as many traces as possible, while the remaining hundred or so headed for the Qilian Mountains.
Though the Qilian Mountains were infamous for their steep and rugged terrain, since all were peak-level experts or higher, none fell behind while crossing.
After leaving the Qilian Mountains, they continued south for a long while. Around evening, they arrived at De Linghe.
After resting there for a day and stocking up on emergency rations, they set off again early the next morning.
That afternoon.
As they traveled along the massive Qinghai Lake, a group blocked their path.
Il-mok and the cultists alike couldn’t help but show bewildered expressions.
They numbered at least five hundred, with Martial Alliance banners fluttering intermittently among them.
‘They definitely said the righteous faction forces were pursuing from Zhangye County?’
As the cultists pondered this.
At the center of the righteous faction warriors, Alliance Leader Cheok Bae-myeong looked fondly at the Chief Strategist beside him.
* * *
Several days prior.
Upon hearing of the cult’s raid, the righteous factions of Lanzhou mobilized en masse.
Though they arrived at Gulang County after half a day, the cultists had already departed long ago, leaving them empty-handed.
Upon learning the cultists had headed northwest, Cheok Bae-myeong tried to lead the righteous factions in pursuit, but Gongson Hyeon stopped him.
“Alliance Leader, it’s too late to chase them now. They’re at least a full day ahead.”
“Then you’d have us just let them go like this?”
At Cheok Bae-myeong’s words, Yang Mu-ja sided with him.
“The Alliance Leader is right. With Mount Hua’s main force in the north, if they buy us time, we can rendezvous and crush them in one fell swoop.”
As others nodded in agreement and opened their mouths to speak, Gongson Hyeon hurriedly interjected.
“We must think rationally. Pursuit is already too late. Instead, we should block their retreat.”
“???”
At Gongson Hyeon’s words, people wondered if he’d lost his mind.
When they couldn’t even catch up from behind, how could they block a retreat?
“Why did those fanatics suddenly appear? Because Mount Hua and Mount Zhongnan moved separately. With only about a hundred fifty, those who crossed here are surely a detachment. So, what would be their next target after dealing with Mount Hua?”
“You mean they’ll go after Mount Zhongnan?”
“Exactly. After Mount Hua, they’re likely to cross Qilian or Daxue Mountains to Qinghai.”
“…What if they just flee over Xining?”
At Namgung Jin’s question, Gongson Hyeon replied coldly.
“Think of it the other way. Pursuit is already too late anyway. So, don’t we have to take a gamble?”
“…….”
As the sect leaders pondered, the Chief Strategist added.
“They’re just a detachment, so not too numerous. We split into two groups. One chases the cultists from behind, the other heads straight to Qinghai now to wait at their likely path.”
In the end, everyone accepted the Chief Strategist’s proposal, and at Gulang County, the righteous warriors divided into two groups.
Alliance Leader Cheok Bae-myeong and the Martial Alliance warriors, Namgung Jin and Namgung family warriors, plus mid-to-small sect warriors and the Jeonma family followed them.
The Buljon and Shaolin monks headed north, joined by Hwangbo Ak who wished to avoid battle with the cult, with Yang Mu-ja and Mount Hyeong Sect Taoists following.
* * *
The Alliance Leader, who had given a look of trust to Chief Strategist Gongson Hyeon, soon turned to face forward.
Drawing his sword, Cheok Bae-myeong pointed at the roughly hundred cultists blocking the road and bellowed with immense internal energy.
“The time for Exterminating Demons and Upholding Righteousness has come—purge these vile cultists!!”
His command became the signal to start the righteous-demonic great war.
“Waaaaah!!”
The righteous warriors roared and charged toward the cultists.