The Black Death Unmasked
The leader charged at Tang Myung with a cruel laugh.
“You dog from a house of mourning! Die!”
At the leader’s words, Tang Myung lightly lowered his hand.
Swish!
The silver threads unraveled as Tang Myung spoke.
“You feared our family enough to wear masks while attacking?”
“It’s not fear!”
With the shout, the leader swung his blade.
“It’s just tiresome!”
Whoosh!
A heavy blade gang swept toward him. Tang Myung stepped back, unfolding the Harmony Hand technique as he hurled hidden weapons.
Thud-thud-thud!
Leaf darts poured from Tang Myung’s hand. The leader swung his blade to deflect them.
Clang-clang! Clang!
Watching the darts bounce away, Tang Myung laughed.
“Black Tiger Blade Art! Black Death Killing King! If you wore a mask, shouldn’t you have hidden your martial arts as well?”
At Tang Myung’s cry, the masked man’s face hardened. He tore off his mask.
“Fine, I am the Black Death Killing King! Since you’ve seen my face, I’ll have to kill you!”
At the Black Death Killing King’s shout, the man attacking Tang Myung alongside him also removed his mask.
He was the vice lord of the Black Death Room—the man who, in a past life, had been used as a meat shield by the Black Death Killing King and died.
“You Tang dogs! Die!”
With the cry, the Black Death Killing King unleashed the Black Tiger Blade Art with ferocious intensity.
As he performed Black Tiger Rising Blade, his weapon slashed upward from below, sending a blade gang hurtling forward.
ROAR!
With a tiger’s roar-like blade cry, the gang crashed toward Tang Myung in a violent storm.
‘A master above the Young Family Head’s level.’
Even after mastering the Samyang Divine Art and forming the One Origin Dan, Tang Myung had only reached the Peak Realm a year ago.
But the Black Death Killing King was a seasoned Peak expert who had stood at that level for over ten years.
Tang Hong’s hand brushed past his robe.
Several daggers appeared in his grasp.
The Tang family’s hidden weapons were most lethal when small. Larger ones served to warn enemies or create openings.
That was why he had drawn the bigger weapons—to throw them at a critical moment and help Tang Myung evade danger.
As Tang Hong watched the Black Death Killing King with hardened eyes, the other Tang experts fought fiercely against the eight Peak masters.
Yuji Cheong and Yuji Se observed from a slight distance with their own guards.
They had initially tried to join the fight, but once the Tang experts began spraying hidden weapons, they could no longer approach.
Blades had no eyes. If even a sword in hand could fly unpredictably, hidden weapons launched from the hand were far more dangerous.
So they stayed back.
Yet the situation was strange. Tang Hong had not even stepped in, yet three Tang experts were holding their own against eight Peak masters.
“Strong… incredibly strong.”
Yuji Cheong muttered without realizing it. Mansong swallowed hard and nodded.
Young Family Head, do not speak it aloud.
At Mansong’s warning, Yuji Cheong nodded and turned his gaze toward Tang Myung.
Surprise filled his face.
Tang Myung retreated to avoid the blade gang rising from below, his hands moving constantly.
Swish-swish!
Hidden weapons streamed endlessly from his palms.
“Hmph!”
The Black Death Killing King snorted and stomped the ground hard.
BOOM!
Earth and stones erupted upward, blocking the incoming projectiles.
Thud-thud-thud!
As the weapons fell after striking the debris, the vice lord stepped on the Black Death Killing King’s back and lunged at Tang Myung.
“Hah!”
With a battle cry, his blade descended as if to cleave Tang Myung in two.
“Excellent!”
The Black Death Killing King shouted and used his blade to hurl the airborne earth and weapons toward Tang Myung.
Thud-thud-thud!
As the qi-infused debris and darts rained down, Tang Hong flinched and moved to intervene.
But his hand stopped.
He had seen Tang Myung’s hand trace a circle.
“Hah!”
With a cry, green qi surged from Tang Myung’s body.
Whoosh!
The One Origin Dan’s energy erupted. Tang Myung’s Wood Origin Dan resided in the liver, which corresponded to the Wood element.
The Wood Origin Dan’s property was to amplify qi—making it stronger.
Whoosh!
Explosive Wood Origin Dan energy burst forth as Tang Myung shook his robe.
Thud-thud-thud! Thud!
The hidden weapons, propelled by the amplified qi, poured toward the vice lord.
“Hurk!”
Facing the sudden storm of weapons, the vice lord twisted desperately and swung his blade.
Clang-clang-clang!
The darts exploded against his blade, but the force pushed his body backward, lifting him higher into the air.
He was being overwhelmed by the Wood Origin Dan’s power.
‘How can this brat’s inner force be so strong?’
While the vice lord muttered in shock, Tang Myung’s weapons also flew toward the earth and darts the Black Death Killing King had scattered.
Thud-thud-thud!
Unlike before, Tang Myung’s hidden weapons pierced through the soil and stones, surging toward the Black Death Killing King behind them.
The Black Death Killing King hurriedly raised his blade.
Clang-clang-clang!
By striking in short, sharp motions, he deflected every incoming weapon.
However…
Hum!
His blade began to vibrate.
The qi contained in Tang Myung’s hidden weapons made the weapon cry out.
The Black Death Killing King stared at his trembling blade with a hardened expression.
‘The qi in those weapons is this potent?’
It felt as though he had blocked individual strikes rather than mere projectiles.
But the surprise lasted only a moment. Shaking his blade to dispel the vibration, he swung it at Tang Myung once more.
‘Black Tiger Triple Rising Blade!’
The Black Death Killing King’s weapon shifted, targeting Tang Myung’s neck, chest, and waist in succession.
As the heavy blade gang approached, Tang Myung twisted his wrist sharply.
Swish!
From beneath the Black Death Killing King, silver threads snaked upward like a serpent, coiling around his body.
Whoosh! Swish!
The threads climbed his leg in an instant and completely wrapped one limb. The Black Death Killing King hurriedly withdrew his blade and swept it across the ground.
Swish!
He intended to sever the threads binding his leg.
But…
The moment he applied force, the threads tightened, and blood burst forth.
“Graaah!”
Screaming, the Black Death Killing King collapsed. The threads had sunk into his flesh down to the bone, leaving no visible trace.
“You cowardly bastard!”
Tang Myung paid the curse no attention. He simply pulled his hand back.
Slash!
“Graaah!”
The leg was severed cleanly. Tang Myung kicked off the ground and shot toward the vice lord.
“Vice Lord!”
Shocked by the Black Death Killing King’s severed leg, the vice lord rushed forward, only to raise his blade upon seeing Tang Myung charging straight at him.
“Hah!”
The vice lord roared and unleashed a powerful blade gang.
Whoosh!
A fierce blade gang erupted from his weapon with all his strength.
Tang Myung swung his hand rapidly toward the incoming attack.
Swish-swish!
The silver threads that had severed the Black Death Killing King’s leg now blazed with silver and green light, whipping through the air.
Slash-slash-slash!
Everything the threads touched was cut apart.
Facing the dazzling storm of silver threads sweeping in all directions, the vice lord frantically swung his blade.
Clang-clang! Clang!
His blade gang struck the threads repeatedly.
Yet confusion filled the vice lord’s face. The threads had no weight. Striking them with his blade neither deflected nor cut them.
Instead, they changed direction, trying to coil around him.
The vice lord, who had been striking in short bursts to knock them aside, quickly retreated.
‘There must be a point where the force is concentrated.’
No matter how one controlled the threads with inner force, there had to be a focal point to move something so delicate. Having fought many unorthodox experts who used strange weapons, the vice lord immediately grasped the core of the Silver Dragon of the Heavens.
His eyes darted rapidly, searching for that focal point. In such cases, there was usually a small weight or counterbalance attached somewhere.
But… he could find nothing.
Watching the vice lord continue to deflect the threads without pause, Tang Myung felt a flicker of admiration.
‘He’s more skilled than the Black Death Killing King, who relies purely on power. His experience truly surpasses mine.’
A pine tree breaks in a typhoon, but reeds bend and endure.
The strong break; the flexible bend yet survive. The vice lord was bending and enduring against the threads.
However…
Tang Myung’s threads whipped violently around the vice lord. They coiled around the hidden weapons scattered on the ground and flung them toward him.
Thud-thud-thud!
Hidden weapons flew at the vice lord from every direction.
“What?”
Caught off guard by the sudden barrage, the vice lord swung his blade in haste.
Clang-clang-clang!
After deflecting the weapons, he glanced at the Black Death Killing King. The man was rolling on the ground in agony, his leg severed.
‘What kind of idiot is this supposed to be as vice lord!’
Even in pain, he should have withdrawn from the fight. Only then could the vice lord himself have found a chance to escape.
The vice lord’s lips tightened as he scanned the surroundings. The Peak masters who had entered with him had already fallen.
The Yuji family guards had not even joined the battle, yet three Tang escorts had annihilated eight Peak experts.
Biting his lip, the vice lord glared at Tang Myung.
‘I just need to capture this one.’
With that thought, he charged at Tang Myung, spinning his blade like a windmill.
‘He’s trying to entangle my threads with his blade. But… only within range.’
The threads were fluttering strands. When wrapped, they would coil. Tang Myung had prepared for this during his training in the Heavenly Grant Forest.
Whoosh!
Spinning his blade left and right, the vice lord rushed forward and saw the threads wrapping around his weapon.
Then he drove it straight into the ground.
Thud!
With his blade embedded, the vice lord closed the distance to Tang Myung in an instant.
“Die!”
Fist gang erupting from both arms, the vice lord lunged. Tang Myung’s face hardened for a moment.
Abandoning his own weapon to bind the threads was unexpected.
A martial artist discarding his weapon!
Tang Myung’s expression stiffened, but only briefly. His hands shook up and down.
Swish!
In an instant, a flash of silver and green light appeared before the vice lord.
‘Threads!’
Sensing the threads targeting him, the vice lord twisted slightly to the side.
He only needed to avoid the straight line from Tang Myung’s hand to where his blade was embedded.
Evading with that minimal movement, the vice lord unleashed the Black Tiger Fist at Tang Myung.
Thud-thud-thud!
As the storm of fist strikes poured down like a gale, Tang Myung flicked his wrist.
Swish-swish-swish! Swish!
The threads whipped violently between them. Each strand carried sharp qi. The vice lord roared.
“Hah!”
With the cry, his hands opened wide and seized the threads.
Crackle! Crackle!
Qi clashed against qi, sending sparks of lightning flying.
And then…
Slash! Slash!
The sharp threads cut into the vice lord’s hands, and blood sprayed out.
“Die!”
When Tang Myung yanked the threads sideways, the vice lord’s hands were severed. Even though he protected his arms with qi, the threads themselves carried qi as well.
Forcibly wrapping and twisting the sharp threads around his hands tore them apart.
Slash! Slash!
Fingers, wrists, and arms were cut away. The vice lord screamed and swung his remaining fist at Tang Myung’s chest.
Rumble!
His punch carried a dense layer of fist gang, as if he had poured everything into it.
“Graaah!”
Screaming, the vice lord’s fist flew forward. Tang Myung crossed both hands and thrust them ahead.
‘Samyang Divine Palm!’
Bang!
Tang Myung’s palm force and the vice lord’s fist gang collided head-on.
BOOM!
A tremendous surge of energy exploded outward from between them.