Chapter 100
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: The Scholarly Divine Sword Has Arrived!
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With the person I wanted to kill right in front of me, what could be so urgent that I had to drop everything else?
Our group hurriedly followed the Beggars' Sect disciples in tracking the Demonic Cult.
What is O Juhyang after?
I had left Yeoseol at the inn.
There were five escorts with her who were still too injured to fight, so I didn't have to worry too much about her safety.
Beggars' Sect disciples we met at various spots along the way pointed us in the right direction with their fingers.
We just had to follow their guidance to keep on the trail.
About fifteen minutes later, at the edge where the forest began, one beggar pointed to a specific spot.
Pang Soun was the first to step forward, ready to plunge into the woods.
"Wait! Hold on!"
At my words, the group came to a halt.
Stopping our pace when we were busy tracking made Dang Jin-ok and Zhuge Dowon openly scowl at me.
"What's the matter?"
I turned to the Beggars' Sect disciple and asked.
"Is this the right way?"
The disciple nodded without a hint of panic at my question.
"Yes. This is it."
I stared him down intently.
The sensation from my Silk Scripture was coming from the opposite direction.
I circulated my three spiritual energies to check his blood flow.
As expected! He's lying. And his appearance is unmistakably that of a Beggars' Sect disciple.
The Beggars' Sect disciple who had been leading us spoke up.
"What's wrong?"
When he saw me doubting the direction the other beggar had pointed, he added.
"This beggar has been active in our area for over three years."
He meant there was no reason to suspect him.
"A Demonic Cult spy, then. If he's been here since three years ago, that means the Demonic Cult has been planning this for even longer. Is there a trap that way?"
At my words, the disciple flinched in surprise and bolted in the direction he himself had indicated.
"What the—!"
Pang Soun jumped in shock as the beggar fled and chased after him.
I reached up, plucked a leaf from overhead, and flung it.
Peeeng!
Thwack!
The leaf struck him squarely in the back of the head. Unable to withstand his momentum, he tumbled forward and face-planted.
The Beggars' Sect disciple inspected the fallen beggar, then turned back and flew into a rage.
"What do you think you're doing? Why did you kill him?"
He was still treating the fleeing beggar as one of their own and bellowed in anger.
"That Beggars' Sect disciple just now tried to lead us in the opposite direction. What do you think that means?"
"There's no reason he'd give us false directions. But how can you be so sure?"
I was about to give the prepared answer when Pang Soun spoke up instead.
"My brother here can read minds."
"Read minds? What is this, some child's game?"
The disciple scoffed in disbelief, which offended Pang Soun. He shouted back.
"Then how else would he know that beggar was lying? Do you even know who this is? It's Scholar Cheon, the Scholarly Divine Sword Cheon Taesan!"
The disciple's eyes went wide at Pang Soun's words.
"Really?"
I didn't answer and turned my body toward the opposite direction.
"If you want to go that way, be my guest. I'm heading this way."
At my words, the group followed me in the direction I chose.
"From now on, suppress your presence as much as possible."
I dashed toward where the Silk Scripture sensation was strongest.
Pang Soun sidled up to me and whispered.
"But seriously, how did you know?"
He knew it sounded absurd, but he had to ask.
"Back at the dock fight, when I threw that paper, I coated it with Thousand-Mile Fragrance. I can sense it even from a thousand li away."
"Ah, so that's how you spotted it right away even when we were across from each other."
"Exactly."
"Impressive foresight, brother."
"If the situation looks dangerous, I won't intervene."
With the group's current strength, facing O Juhyang and her subordinates might let me survive, but the others would be wiped out.
"Won't it be a fair fight once the Beggars' Sect elites arrive?"
I nodded at Pang Soun's words.
To even stand a chance, we'd need at least a few hundred.
I wasn't holding out much hope.
"Kill them!"
"Hold the line!"
"Argh!"
The clamor of weapons clashing and all sorts of screams carried from afar.
We picked up speed and raced toward the battle.
Emerging from the forest, we saw over two hundred people tangled in combat.
It was a large-scale fight.
Pang Soun muttered.
"It's the Blue Dragon Unit."
Nearly fifty wore the Blue Dragon Unit uniforms.
"Huh? Tang Family warriors."
Zhuge Dowon spoke up.
There seemed to be over fifty Tang Family warriors too.
Even as O Juhyang and her subordinates rampaged, the Blue Dragon Unit and Tang Family warriors held them off well.
The reason was the poisons the Tang warriors were scattering.
This was where the Tang Family's true value shone.
No matter how peak-level experts O Juhyang and her men were, they couldn't ignore Tang poisons.
"Why the hell is that bastard here?"
Dang Jin-ok spat vulgar curses laced with worry.
At the front lines, a young man was hurling hidden weapons and poisons like a madman amid the Tang warriors.
When no one seemed to recognize him, Zhuge Dowon explained.
"That's Tang Ji-in. Dang Jin-ok's younger brother."
Pang Soun nodded.
"Ah, Tang Ji-in. The Tang Family's little terror."
Calling the brother of the Murim Alliance's treasured brat the Tang Family's terror made Dang Jin-ok bristle with insult as he glared at Pang Soun.
"My little brother. Watch your mouth, Young Master Pang."
"Shouldn't we join the fight too?"
Dang Jin-ok was itching to jump in, seeing the Tang warriors locked in desperate combat.
Dang Ga-ryeong already had both hands full of hidden weapons, poised to fight.
But something didn't add up.
Did O Juhyang really come all this way, leaving me behind, just for this skirmish?
Why would a Demonic Cult Fourteenth Corner Lord come here?
O Juhyang was protecting a young man who had lost consciousness.
She glared at Tang Ji-in.
A young man O Juhyang is protecting...
I examined his attire closely.
Then I spotted the blood dragon emblem embroidered on the left chest of his uniform.
Only one group in the Demonic Cult bore that mark.
The mark only three disciples of the Demonic Cult Leader Jeok Cheol-mok can wear. And given his youth, it must be the third disciple, Mo Dong-gwak.
Above all, seeing how O Juhyang doted on the young man confirmed it.
O Juhyang was a Corner Lord who supported Mo Dong-gwak.
No wonder revenge on me takes a backseat.
But Mo Dong-gwak was known as a transcendent expert, yet he'd been taken down so easily?
O Juhyang provided the answer to my question with a shout.
"Capture Tang Ji-in! We need the antidote for Formless Poison!"
Hearing that, Dang Jin-ok and Dang Ga-ryeong paled.
"That crazy bastard! He brought Formless Poison?"
"The kid must've stolen it. No way the family elders gave it to him. He snuck it out..."
"That explains how we're holding off those Demonic Cult bastards with amplified innate true qi."
Bloody Tang Ji-in fought at the front like a maniac in a trance.
With a single flick of his wrist, two or three Demonic Cultists enhanced by innate true qi dropped like flies.
So that's Formless Poison.
The ultimate colorless, odorless toxin.
p>Invisible, impossible to dodge—victims just succumb.
Even Transformation Realm or Phenomenon Realm masters fell to it, or so the tales went.
"Push harder! The poison won't last forever!"
Demonic Cultists yelled from the rear.
"Formless Poison can't hold out indefinitely!"
Thanks to it, the battle was in a delicate balance.
Once it ran out, Tang Ji-in was as good as dead.
To me, it looked like he was fighting to die.
Dang Jin-ok approached me.
This was the closest he'd ever come to me.
"Scholar Cheon."
His tone was even polite.
His lips trembled slightly.
It must have been hard to say.
"Please save my brother. You're the only one I can rely on right now."
As her older brother struggled to speak, Dang Ga-ryeong clung to me too.
"I beg you. Save my brother. We'll repay the favor."
Tang Ji-in was rampaging right in the heart of the battlefield.
Rescuing him meant charging into the center—a dangerous gamble.
If he were on the outskirts, Dang Jin-ok or Dang Ga-ryeong wouldn't have begged me.
"Of course, we'll cover your back."
I nodded at Dang Jin-ok's words.
I'd be staying with the Tang Family for a while anyway; owing them a debt wasn't bad.
Selfish, sure, but this wasn't a matter for pure chivalry.
"Let's go. Save him first, then we'll talk favors."
My crass words actually seemed to reassure Dang Jin-ok.
Plenty believed true heroes didn't exist in this world.
As I prepared to join the fray, I said.
"Everyone, stay sharp. And link up with any Beggars' Sect experts who arrive."
I was just about to leap in when Pang Soun bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"The Scholarly Divine Sword has arrived! The one who thrashed Fourteenth Corner Lord O Juhyang, sent the Twelfth Corner Lord fleeing, and slew the Blood Heaven Unit Leader Iron Bear Swordsman!"
My face flushed at Pang Soun's shout.
The guy was utterly shameless.
I thought he'd done it on purpose to embarrass me.
"Wooah! It's the Scholarly Divine Sword! The Murim Alliance's secret weapon is here!"
"Huh?"
I flinched at the Blue Dragon Unit's cheers.
They know me?
Pang Soun grinned proudly.
"Hahaha, brother, you wouldn't know. Rumors of the Scholarly Divine Sword have spread not just in Gangseo, but to Sichuan and Hunan too. Didn't I hit a few taverns at night on the way here? Storytellers there were talking about you."
I let out a long sigh.
No time for lamenting now.
Tang Ji-in must have run out of Formless Poison; he wasn't scattering it anymore and was getting pushed back hard.
Tang warriors fought desperately to protect him, but couldn't handle the Demonic Cultists boosted by innate true qi.
"Kill that bastard and find the Formless Poison antidote!"
O Juhyang bellowed.
I emptied my leather pouch of all the inner pellets.
I tossed them into the air and charged.
At the same time, the inner pellet orbs shot out like lightning bolts.
Pipipipipiping!
Inner pellets of every color pierced the Demonic Cult warriors' skulls.
Popopopopunk!
Even amid the chaos, the sound of heads exploding made fighters pause.
Twenty inner pellets cleared a path.
I snatched up a fallen sword, accelerated my three spiritual energies to the max, and unleashed Vault of Heaven Unfettered Sword Technique: Dragon-Tiger Sea Surge.
Spiritual energy gathered on the blade, and a heavenly dragon burst forth.
The spiritual energy turned to sword qi, sweeping forward and everything around it.
It was a spectacular sight, even to me.
The path to Tang Ji-in opened up.
I rushed to him, swinging the Vault of Heaven Unfettered Sword Technique in a trance.
"Wooah! The Scholarly Divine Sword!"
Who knew I'd get cheers like this from the Murim Alliance's Blue Dragon Unit warriors?
Tang Ji-in looked at me with eyes full of admiration.
"C-Cool. Freaking awesome!"
Then Dang Jin-ok's sharp voice rang out from behind.
"You lunatic! Are you insane? Get over here!"
To Dang Jin-ok and Dang Ga-ryeong, Tang Ji-in was still the baby brother.
"Huh? Brother, you're missing an arm?"
"Lost it fighting Demonic Cult bastards. They're strong. This isn't the time to show off."
"These sons of bitches! They dared cut off my brother's arm!"
Suddenly, Tang Ji-in lunged forward, hurling hidden weapons.
"Hey!"
I grabbed Dang Jin-ok as he tried to advance.
"Stay here."
I returned to Tang Ji-in's side and summoned a heavenly dragon at the charging Demonic Cult warriors.
The heavenly dragon writhed dynamically as it surged ahead.
"Arrrgh!"
Demonic Cult warriors who couldn't dodge had their bodies torn apart on impact.
As more rushed in to fill the gap left by the dragon, I flicked my hand, letting the hovering inner pellets drill holes in their heads.
Popopopunk!
Demonic Cultists collapsed, foreheads gushing blood. Tang Ji-in stared at me in awe and asked.
"Scholarly Divine Sword, sir. What are those hidden weapons? Iron orbs?"
Even in this chaos, fixating on my inner pellets proved he was just as crazy.
I drilled holes in the foreheads of more charging Demonic Cult warriors with my pellets.
Any who dodged met my sword straight through the heart.
Taking heavy losses from me, the Demonic Cult warriors fell back.
O Juhyang supported the young man and glared at me.
My intervention stalled the battle. O Juhyang seemed to make a decision and ordered her nearby subordinate.
"Escort Third Young Master out."
As the subordinate looked at her, O Juhyang continued.
"I'll stay and get the Formless Poison antidote. If I can't, I'll die here."
The subordinate hoisted Mo Dong-gwak and swiftly withdrew from the battlefield.
No one here could pursue them now and chase the Demonic Cult Leader's disciple.
If they were prepared to die, we'd have to be ready for total annihilation too.
"Attack!"
O Juhyang took the lead, charging straight at me.