Chapter 105: Bluffing (4)
Hanbin had realized that his opponent might not be beneath him.
The Remnant Blood Demon discarded any notion of letting his guard down.
Hanbin tensed even further at the sharpened edge of the Remnant Blood Demon's blade.
He could still only wield two stances of the Yongrin Sword Art at once.
Drop either Lightning Flash or Swift Sword, Chaotic Demon, and he'd be pushed back immediately.
Hanbin channeled his own inner power to boost his speed even higher.
Shuk!
The Remnant Blood Demon's Blood Burst Blade grazed Hanbin's upper body once more.
Whirick!
Under the Remnant Blood Demon's assault, the gray martial robe Hanbin wore tore into rags.
Bit by bit, the gray robe shredded away, revealing the red martial robe underneath.
With the outer gray robe pulverized by the Remnant Blood Demon's attacks, Hanbin's true garb—a crimson martial robe—emerged.
Gray scraps fluttered off from the Remnant Blood Demon's strikes, leaving only the red robe intact.
Hanbin's situation wasn't great. But to the eyes of the unorthodox warriors, he looked divine.
The blood trickling lightly over his red robe resembled a protective aura enveloping his body.
Someone shouted.
"That hero's in the Hwagyeong realm too! We're saved!"
"Woooah!"
Cheers echoed through the air.
Someone else gripped their sword again.
"Let's help the hero!"
As he lunged toward the Remnant Blood Demon, a warrior from behind grabbed him.
Thud!
Stunned by the unexpected interference, the warrior turned.
"What gives?"
"If we jump in, we'll just get in the hero's way."
"What do you...?"
"Think about it—this is a duel between Hwagyeong masters. Can we even help? The hero might be holding back his full swordsmanship just to avoid hurting us."
It was a convincing argument, so the warrior let his sword droop limply.
But he didn't bow his head.
He refused to miss the sight of Hanbin holding his own against the Remnant Blood Demon, a demonic cult elite.
The fear of death at the demon's hands had vanished.
His eyes fixed unblinking on Hanbin's sword.
Unknowingly, the warrior cried out.
"It's beautiful!"
He meant it.
The clash of the two masters wasn't perfectly visible, but it was breathtakingly gorgeous.
Something surged in his chest.
A burning yearning for strength.
The Shanxi Three Evils felt the same.
This was their chance to flee. Yet they stayed, watching Hanbin and the Remnant Blood Demon intently.
The Ice Blood Scholar murmured softly.
"It reminds me of the saying, 'Hear the Way in the morning, and death in the evening is no regret.'"
"Same here. I never thought those words would hit so hard."
The Shanxi Three Evils gazed at Hanbin with genuine admiration.
Even knowing he was the fourth young master of the Hebei Paeng Family, they felt an odd respect.
And realizing the martial prowess he'd shown them was just the tip of the iceberg filled their hearts with inexplicable awe.
No matter how he sliced it, Hanbin had definitely gone easy on the Shanxi Three Evils.
Their conversation reached Hanbin's ears clearly.
Hanbin wanted to scream internally.
If everyone charged in a chaotic melee, he might actually stand a chance.
But they thought he was a Hwagyeong master and stayed out to avoid interfering.
He wanted to yell for them to all pile on, but he had no time for that.
Shuk!
Even now, blocking the incoming Blood Burst Blade of the Remnant Blood Demon was a struggle.
The silver lining was that thanks to Swift Sword, Chaotic Demon, Hanbin's blade pierced the protective aura and wounded the Remnant Blood Demon's body.
A sword that breached protective aura?
Anyone would assume they were equals in realm.
Shuk!
Hanbin dodged to the right, evading the Blood Burst Blade.
But strands of his hair rained down from the blade's path.
A brush with death!
That summed up the moment.
Hanbin decided to take a gamble.
He'd use his new stance.
Bluffing!
As Hanbin recalled the stance, Lightning Flash vanished, replaced by Bluffing.
In that instant, Hanbin bellowed.
"Go!"
His voice halted everyone.
The Shanxi Three Evils included, no one so much as blinked.
Even the Remnant Blood Demon froze.
For a split second, Hanbin's shout constricted the Remnant Blood Demon's body.
His current realm was Hwagyeong 1st gyeong.
Hanbin's cry carried the power of Hwagyeong 3rd gyeong or higher.
The gap was as vast as between a first-rate and a transcendent master.
The Remnant Blood Demon flinched, torn between dodging or observing longer.
Of course, it was just a fleeting moment.
Hanbin's overwhelming presence evaporated as if it had never been.
Then came a strange sound.
Sslash!
His side burned hot.
Gritting his teeth, the Remnant Blood Demon checked his flank.
Thanks to his protective aura, the wound wasn't deep—but he'd been hit.
He dismissed that bizarre pressure as an illusion.
The thought that his own misjudgment had wounded him twice drove him mad.
But anger lasted only a moment. Remnant Blood Demon Im Gil-tae sealed his meridian to staunch the blood flow.
Pick!
Using inner power would be wasteful, he figured.
With fierce eyes, he whipped his head around.
There stood Hanbin, who had slashed past him, now pulling away while staring skyward.
Gazing at the empty sky, as if unconcerned with his foe—it had to be a ploy to deceive him, the Remnant Blood Demon thought.
Composing himself, Remnant Blood Demon Im Gil-tae spoke.
"Killing you would be a waste. I'll capture you and toy with you until your dying breath."
"......"
But Hanbin didn't respond.
Naturally—his human-grade stance was nearly complete.
Completed one stance from the scattered Yongrin Sword Art formulas. Stance activated.
◈ Corresponds to the grafting technique in the Yongrin Sword Art stances. Using the enemy's own power against them marks the entry to true mastery.
◈ Upon activation, the target rebounds 50% of their deployed inner power. (If the target's realm exceeds the user's, rebounds 30% instead.)
◈ Duration: One hour. Required power: Five years' worth.
A sly smile spread across Hanbin's face as he backed away stealthily.
The Remnant Blood Demon raised his Blood Burst Blade and furrowed his brow.
Ignoring him, Hanbin inwardly activated the Beggar's Eighteen Steps.
No need to keep fighting now.
No more formulas were visible on the Remnant Blood Demon.
Just because he'd fought the demonic cult in his past life didn't mean he had to in this one.
The great righteous-unorthodox-demonic war was still over a decade away.
The Remnant Blood Demon's presence in the Central Plains made no sense anyway.
The demonic cult had sealed its gates.
Righteous, unorthodox, and demonic factions alike were sheathing their blades.
Yet here was one of the cult's Twenty Great Experts, the Remnant Blood Demon, gunning for the Qingming Pill?
Hanbin hadn't pieced it together either.
Whatever the case, all he wanted was to collect formulas.
Making enemies with the demonic cult now just added grudges.
If his identity leaked here?
The Hebei Paeng Family could become their prime target.
It might even hasten the great war.
And force him to the front lines.
That couldn't happen.
Hanbin vanished from the scene in a flash.
Sasasak.
With the rustle of grass underfoot, he was gone. The Remnant Blood Demon scanned the surroundings.
His eyes fell on the dazed unorthodox warriors.
Their shoulders began to tremble faintly.
"Did the hero run away?"
"He just showed us that move. Why didn't he finish off the Remnant Blood Demon?"
The unorthodox warriors buzzed with confusion.
With Hanbin gone, their resolve to die melted like spring snow.
Then—
The scanning Remnant Blood Demon vanished without a sound.
Someone shouted.
"The hero didn't flee!"
"Then why'd he disappear?"
"He stepped aside for our sake. A supreme technique like that could engulf everything nearby if unleashed carelessly. The hero lured the Remnant Blood Demon away to protect us."
The murmurs ceased.
They exchanged glances.
Masked unorthodox warriors staring at each other.
One removed his mask.
As others tilted their heads, he yelled.
"I don't need the Qingming Pill. Even if I get caught in the hero's supreme technique, I'll witness that final clash. I'll cast off this mask and stand proud as a true unorthodox warrior!"
He flung his mask away.
That sparked it.
All the unorthodox warriors began ripping off their masks.
Women were among them.
The female warriors' eyes held deeper longing.
Then someone eyed the Shanxi Three Evils.
"Ice Blood Scholar!"
"What is it?"
The Ice Blood Scholar replied, and the man asked.
"You seemed to know the hero's identity earlier. Who the hell is he?"
"Hm."
The Ice Blood Scholar tapped his temple.
If he said "fourth young master of the Hebei Paeng Family," would they believe him?
And what backlash might hit the Shanxi Three Evils if his identity came out?
After much deliberation, the Ice Blood Scholar shook his head silently.
A female warrior, gazing in the direction Hanbin and the Remnant Blood Demon had vanished, spoke.
"Who cares about his name? I'll call him the Crimson Dragon Hero."
"Crimson Dragon Hero?"
"Exactly."
She nodded, and another woman chimed in.
"Crimson Dragon Hero—fits perfectly. Isn't he the savior of the unorthodox three hundred years ago?"
"That hero's worthy to inherit the name. Cloaked in blood as his protective aura, he's the unorthodox savior of this era—the Crimson Dragon Hero reborn. I'm ready to pledge my loyalty."
With those words, they exchanged determined looks.
Then they stomped their weapons on the ground.
Thud, thud.
In unison, they roared.
"Long live the Crimson Dragon Hero!"
"Long live!"
"Long live" was a cry for emperors, but the unorthodox warriors didn't care.
One of the emotional women stepped forward slowly.
A familiar warrior asked.
"What's up?"
"Let's go. I'm confident in tracking. We'll follow the Remnant Blood Demon and Crimson Dragon Hero's trail and witness their duel. I don't care if I die—I have to see it."
"Right!"
Others agreed.
With that, the unorthodox warriors dashed up the mountain path.
The Qingming Pill was gone from their minds.
The Shanxi Three Evils stared blankly at the departing warriors, baffled by what had just transpired.
Side-Meat Lang-a cried out.
"They're calling that demon the Crimson Dragon Hero?"
"Shh!"
The Ice Blood Scholar pressed a finger to Side-Meat Lang-a's lips.
Black-Clothed Killing Wind added.
"Best we pretend we saw nothing."
"Yes, agreed. We should bow out of this mess."