Chapter 183
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: The Three Supreme Blades of the World and the Three Swordsmen
Mu-heun recalled the inn he had encountered on the road.
A neatly kept establishment, and an innkeeper who served food he hadn't even ordered. In a way, it was quite novel.
*Was I supposed to not find this suspicious? Or was it so clumsy that they thought I would let my guard down?*
Such were his doubts.
Of course, for Mu-heun, one of the three great Divine Doctors of his past life and a master of the Myriad Fragrances, the poison mixed into the food was something he could detoxify without even lifting a finger.
Thanks to that, he had eaten every last bite, just to show them.
Still, despite their clumsiness, the aura they exuded was something else…
‘They might even be better than those Seven Melodies of Asura fellows.’
The Three Supreme Blades of the World, heretics of the Unorthodox Sects, were different from the Seven Melodies in that there were only three individuals worth watching. Unlike the Seven Melodies, who commanded seven executives and a number of promising underlings, the subordinates of the Three Supreme Blades were all nobodies.
Yet, the reason no one had ever managed to capture the Three Supreme Blades was a testament to just how powerful their three leaders were.
Just then, the man, angered by Mu-heun who simply scanned him up and down without answering, bellowed.
"Are you itching to die!?"
"Heh, you say the funniest things."
"What did you say?"
"Why would you think I'm itching to die? Am I supposed to answer just because you ask? Or are you sworn brothers with the Seven Melodies of Asura or something?"
"What? Ha! Hahahaha! You young whelp, playing your little tricks! Did you think I wouldn't know you're Baek Mu-heun, the Lord of the Dragon Demon Pavilion of the Demonic Cult? A Demonic Cult dog comes out after spying on the Martial Alliance, and now you think everyone else is an idiot?"
Mu-heun sighed at the words of the Supreme Blade and replied.
‘This one also only says what he wants to say.’
"Haa. I don't know why there are so many idiots in the world. I already know you were sent by the Ice Demon and the Flame Demon to kill me. So what is there to be afraid of? You'll kill me if I answer, and you'll kill me if I don't, right?"
"Wh-What? That's…"
"You even created a non-existent inn! And poisoned the food! And right now, you have your men surrounding this place. And you ask if I'm itching to die!? Haa… If that bald head of yours isn't just for decoration, try using it before you make threats."
"Wh-What? You mean you knew everything!?"
"Haa… Of course. Did you think I wouldn't? If you can, go back to the inn. That waiter and the innkeeper have already inhaled my poison mist."
"P-Poison mist?"
"That's right. They're probably dead by now."
"You little bastard."
"Crying about age in the martial world… I may have been a renowned scholar, but I don't show courtesy to murderers."
"Who do you think you are, bluffing like this!"
"…"
‘I know there are many smart people in the Unorthodox Sects, like Wi Guk, the leader of the Beggars' Sect, but it seems these heretics are all fools.’
Then again, if they had any sense, they wouldn't have done something so stupid as to turn their backs on the Unorthodox Sects, the Orthodox Sects, and the Demonic Cult all at once.
No matter how strong the Seven Melodies of Asura and the Three Supreme Blades of the World were, they couldn't stand against the Orthodox martial world, nor could they oppose the Unorthodox Blood Alliance.
In that case, it would have been more profitable to join the Unorthodox Blood Alliance and secure a position, with some guarantee of their interests, rather than continuing to antagonize the alliance, accumulate sins, and eventually be subjugated by the Orthodox martial world.
But they were incapable of making such a judgment.
They had built their strength through their talent in martial arts, and with that power, their wicked deeds were likely forgiven to some extent. As a result, they became drunk on their own power and dreamed foolish ambitions.
To act so recklessly in a world teeming with those stronger than themselves… they were nothing but foolish and dull-witted men.
Mu-heun spoke again.
"Which of the Three Supreme Blades of the World are you? How could idiots of your level command subordinates? And how did you coax these men surrounding us?"
"Kuhahahaha! You know I'm one of the Three Supreme Blades, yet you don't seem scared at all? I'll give you credit for that much!"
The man's booming voice was still filled with only what he wanted to say.
Mu-heun realized that any further conversation was a waste of time.
‘There’s no point in talking anymore.’
He made the dormant energies in his dantian collide. Ominous energies exploded and amplified.
The man’s eyebrow twitched as he saw Mu-heun raising his energy.
"Keh! The young whelp has some nerve!"
The man also raised his energy.
His left hand, resting lightly on the saber at his waist, was covered in calluses. Beneath his muscular, well-built frame, a slight paunch protruded. He must have been drinking.
‘Pathetic fool.’
Mu-heun looked at the man with disdain. Jin Hong felt the same. Seol Ha-ryeong, however, tensed and lowered her stance.
In that instant.
*Fwoosh!*
Mu-heun and Jin Hong vanished from the man's sight.
*KABOOM!*
When they reappeared, they were clashing swords with a man with a long braid wielding a rugged great saber and another man wielding two sky-blue blades.
*CLANG!*
The battle continued, felling the trees of the mountain in a tremendous clash. The speed was incredible. Even Seol Ha-ryeong, who had reached the state of divinity, could hardly follow it with her eyes, and irregular sonic booms echoed from all directions.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!*
Mu-heun's Sun and Moon Sword clashed with the rugged great saber, and Jin Hong's Plum Blossom Sword clashed with the twin sky-blue blades.
Only then did the man who first appeared before Mu-heun's party speak again to the lone Seol Ha-ryeong.
"I am Ma Gon-jeok, the First Blade of the Three Supreme Blades of the World. The one with the rugged great saber is Danri Ak, the Second Blade, and the one with the two sky-blue blades is Mu Baek, the Third Blade. Still, it's truly surprising that they can move like that after being poisoned."
A group of Unorthodox martial artists surrounded them. Though a bit dim-witted… before her stood a master at the peak of the Profound Realm. Baek Mu-heun and Jin Hong, the ones who could defeat the Three Supreme Blades, were currently engaged with men named Danri Ak and Mu Baek.
Seol Ha-ryeong realized that the man drawing the saber from his waist was Ma Gon-jeok, the leader of the Three Supreme Blades, and she despaired.
‘Wh-what should I do?’
Seol Ha-ryeong held her fan, raised her ice energy, and prepared an immortal art to create a powerful gust of wind.
However, after drawing his long saber completely, Ma Gon-jeok spoke.
"That Baek Mu-heun fellow is stronger than I thought, and the one next to him is no ordinary warrior either… Danri Ak and Mu Baek alone will have a hard time."
"Then, are you surrendering?"
"However! While their strength is indeed great, they will surely waver if I take you hostage, won't they?"
"Hohoho, oh dear…"
Just then, Mu-heun sent a telepathic message to Seol Ha-ryeong.
[Lady Ha-ryeong.]
It was a tense, touch-and-go situation, but having witnessed the miracles Mu-heun had performed time and again, Ha-ryeong calmly replied.
[Yes, Lord Mu-heun. Please do not worry about me. I may not be able to win, but I will survive somehow.]
[No, that's not what I mean.]
[Please pay me no mind and focus on the enemy before you!]
[Haha… I will take care of my enemy. Never mind that, please relax.]
[Pardon?]
[He will be here soon. That Soul-Stealing Immortal… I told him not to contact him, but he did it anyway.]
[Wh-What…?]
[You will sense it soon. Just hold on for a little longer.]
At that moment.
Ma Gon-jeok's blade qi flew toward her.
*Swish!*
Seol Ha-ryeong immediately unleashed an immortal art infused with her ice energy. An ice wall rose from the ground along with a storm.
*KRAAASH!*
No matter how powerful Seol Ha-ryeong's ice energy was, it was nothing compared to one of the Three Supreme Blades at the peak of the Profound Realm. Thus, she couldn't completely block the blade qi that tore through the forest…
"Uh…"
Before her eyes was a white owl. Cheon-hyang was reinforcing the ice wall by shooting out a chill that amazed even her, and next to it stood Hyeok, the Heavenly Demonic Corpse.
He had used not only his Rebound Aura but also his purple poison arts to harden his flying daggers and collide with Ma Gon-jeok's blade qi. In the end, the weakened blade qi met the reinforced ice wall.
"Heh, heheh."
Ha-ryeong was amazed that she had managed to neutralize Ma Gon-jeok's attack.
And at that same moment.
*Swoooosh!*
Ma Gon-jeok infused his saber with powerful energy, then furrowed his brow and spoke.
"You bastards! So you had more companions left!"
"Wh-What are you talking about…?"
"Tch, I was just planning to take Baek Mu-heun and leave!"
"Hoho… I don't understand what you've been saying… Huh?"
Ha-ryeong felt it too. A presence approaching from afar. And the aura exuded by the owner of that presence was at least as strong as Lord Mu-heun's.
A man in a Daoist robe, with the Taiji symbol of Yin and Yang harmony drawn upon it. The Way that gathers black and white into a single point. The absolute master of the Wudang Sect, known as the Pole Star of the Nine Great Sects and One Union.
The carefree immortal, Taiji Sword Emperor Mu Jin-hyeon, revealed himself like a deity frolicking above the clouds.
"Boundless Divinity! Boundless Divinity!"
A Daoist robe with black and white patterns.
"Where is this Baek Mu-heun who has made a name for himself in the Martial Alliance?"
From the way he bellowed "Boundless Divinity," it was clear that the rumors of him being a "carefree immortal" were false.
The Taiji Sword Emperor Mu Jin-hyeon appeared, parting the trees, and swung his longsword, imbued with the harmony of Yin and Yang, at Ma Gon-jeok. The slash, descending diagonally from the upper right, contained an unending stream of sword qi.
Ma Gon-jeok also swung his long saber fiercely in a diagonal upward slash from the lower right, a vortex of sharpness swirling from it, enough to cleave the heavens.
*KABOOOOOM!*
A massive shockwave resounded, and the sonic boom spread in all directions.
"Kyaa!"
Ma Gon-jeok and Mu Jin-hyeon faced each other in a standoff, while Seol Ha-ryeong was sent flying by the shockwave.
"Hoho! Boundless Divinity! You withstood that blow? For a piece of Unorthodox trash, you're quite skilled, aren't you?"
"You… you crazy bastard! What are you spouting!?"
"Hoho!? Boundless Divinity! Boundless Divinity! Watch your language, trash! Before I slice you in two with this Taiji Sword!"
"You son of a bitch!"
Stroking his long white hair and beard, the immortal of Wudang, Mu Jin-hyeon, pointed his Taiji Sword, marked with the circle representing Taiji, at Ma Gon-jeok.
Ma Gon-jeok realized who this sudden intruder was. An old master of the martial world with immense internal energy, confidence, and a foul mouth.
‘The Taiji Sword Emperor, Mu Jin-hyeon!?’
If that was the case, no matter how much they were the Three Supreme Blades of the World, they would not escape unscathed. The situation was turning desperate.
‘And Baek Mu-heun is stronger than I thought! What's with that Mount Hua brat next to him, too!’
Wait a minute…? A Mount Hua brat?
Just then, he heard Danri Ak's scream.
"Keuk!"
Danri Ak was already covered in large and small wounds, his clothes soaked in blood. He even seemed to have internal injuries, as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
It was clear. That Plum Blossom swordsman was strong.
Could it be…!?
"Keuk…! Are you the Plum Blossom Sword Venerable!?"
Just then.
*Thud! Thud!*
Danri Ak and Mu Baek landed on either side of Ma Gon-jeok, while Mu-heun and Jin Hong landed on either side of Mu Jin-hyeon.
Three swordsmen stood before the Three Supreme Blades of the World.
The Plum Blossom Sword Venerable, Jin Hong, raising his elegant Plum Blossom Sword.
The Taiji Sword Emperor, Mu Jin-hyeon, gripping his long Taiji Sword.
The successor of the Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon, Baek Mu-heun, holding his Sun and Moon Sword.
Their appearances were pristine, without a single scratch.
However, the Three Supreme Blades, with the exception of Ma Gon-jeok, were already in tatters.
Danri Ak coughed up blood and said to Ma Gon-jeok.
"…Brother."
He didn't say anything more, but it was clear what he meant.
No, it came as a telepathic message.
[We have to run!]