Heading to Songshan (3)
The Giant King Blade, Wang Ho, boasted a massive frame brimming with masculine prowess.
Yet even he was no different from any other man in the end.
Struck by Hyeon Yucheon's invisible, razor-sharp Formless Sword Qi, he screamed and fled like a frightened child.
"Tch, you carry such a huge blade, but your durability is pathetically weak."
Hyeon Yucheon mocked Wang Ho outright.
"Guh... W-what the hell did you do to me...!"
Wang Ho clutched his bleeding forearm and barely managed to stagger back.
With his level of skill, he should have sensed Hyeon Yucheon's Formless Sword Qi instinctively and dodged at least once. But until moments ago, rage had clouded his reason.
And Hyeon Yucheon had deliberately provoked him to create that opening.
"What did I do? I'm just executing the cowards who ambushed our client's caravan."
Hyeon Yucheon's strikes knew no mercy.
His innate killer instinct began to writhe.
One Flash One Kill!
Hyeon Yucheon knew that Yeon Daecheon, Yeon Jinjin, and the rest of the Gold Amount Escort Agency were watching from behind.
Since he'd introduced himself as a hidden weapons expert, he disguised the forms of his Formless Flash Quick Sword with throwing motions.
Snikt!
Wang Ho's thick earlobe was sliced clean off.
The invisible quick sword's power was so overwhelming that even Wang Ho's hardened external arts were carved through like tofu.
"Aghk!"
Wang Ho reeled, frozen in place.
"W-what did you throw? Hidden weapons? Or... finger flicks?"
Wang Ho was beyond confused—he was on the verge of madness.
He'd already been deceived by Hyeon Yucheon's feigned throwing gestures, and he couldn't even handle a simple sword technique like One Flash One Kill.
It felt like battling a ghost. He stuck out his tongue in terror, trembling uncontrollably.
I've faced plenty of experts stronger than me.
But an attacker whose strikes were invisible, leaving him clueless to how he was hit—this was a first.
Wang Ho had hunted ordinary folk until now, but now he was the prey, and the bone-deep terror of it sank in.
"Uwaaaah!"
Consumed by fear, all he could do was wildly swing his Giant King Blade techniques.
Whoosh, whuuuuum!
His massive meat cleaver unleashed the ultimate strikes of the Giant King Blade, powerful enough to cleave the world in two—but its raw might left glaring openings.
Paat!
Hyeon Yucheon, already sensing victory.
This time, he didn't use the Formless Flash Quick Sword. He threw actual hidden weapons.
Anticipating the need to use martial arts before the client, he'd prepared daggers and flying needles in advance.
"Ugh, guh!"
Hyeon Yucheon's hidden weapons weren't even true expert throws—just infused with inner power—yet Wang Ho couldn't withstand them.
His mind had shattered, and his body followed.
"I... I lost. I'll give up the Shaolin manual. Just spare me."
Wang Ho even begged for his life from Hyeon Yucheon, who was far his junior.
Hyeon Yucheon sneered.
"If I'd lost and begged for mercy, would you have spared me?"
His eyes, dark with killing intent beyond his years, fixed on Wang Ho.
Flinch!
That gaze was so feral and chilling that Wang Ho felt a shiver crawl up his spine.
"And... you tried to steal from others. Time to pay the price."
Hyeon Yucheon coldly extended his hand.
He decided to break the commandment against killing and take Wang Ho's life.
Killing wasn't familiar, but he felt no aversion.
A world where martial manuals tempt murder, and killing is natural.
Hyeon Yucheon's desire to shatter this damned martial world swelled with fury.
"N-no, stay back! I'll call off my men..."
Hyeon Yucheon ignored Wang Ho's pleas.
He simply unleashed Formless Sword Qi clearer than his impassive eyes.
Kwajijik!
A gruesome, spine-chilling crunch, and Wang Ho's heart was pierced clean through.
A peak expert of his caliber, mentally and physically broken, couldn't last and died pathetically.
Had he kept his cool, the inexperienced Hyeon Yucheon might have struggled.
Thud!
Hyeon Yucheon turned from Wang Ho's soulless corpse.
Woooah!
The moment Hyeon Yucheon felled the Great Separation Mountain Stronghold's chief, Wang Ho, Yeon Daecheon, Yeon Jinjin, and every Gold Amount Escort member erupted in cheers.
They could scarcely believe their eyes.
Just what is this young hero's true power...?
Even Yeon Daecheon, the agency leader, gaped in awe.
Amid their cheers, Hyeon Yucheon remained cautious.
Foregoing victory's thrill, he focused on exterminating the stronghold's bandits.
"We must kill them all! If even one escapes, they'll spread rumors that our agency killed Wang Ho to protect a Shaolin martial manual!"
What made Hyeon Yucheon truly fearsome wasn't just his skill, but his profound thinking beyond his age.
He was right.
Rumors spread uncontrollably; a few mouths could turn fiction into fact.
Especially since they firmly believed the cargo was a Shaolin manual.
"Yes, the young hero speaks true!"
Yeon Daecheon nodded, slapping his knee, and stepped forward.
With their leader gone, there was no need for pure defense anymore.
"If they escape, they'll spread lies and bring more foes. Annihilate them before things escalate!"
At the leader's command, the escorts and heads gripped their weapons.
With the terrifying Wang Ho dead and Yeon Daecheon and Hyeon Yucheon intact, fear was gone.
What seemed a prolonged siege against Great Separation Mountain Stronghold ended in total victory—thanks to one man's mad exploits: Hyeon Yucheon.
"We've eliminated them all."
The Gold Amount Escort succeeded in wiping out the stronghold.
Once cleared, Yeon Daecheon led Hyeon Yucheon to the center.
"Thank you. Truly, thank you."
Yeon Daecheon even offered a formal cupped-fist salute to Hyeon Yucheon.
For a mid-tier martial figure in Hubei to bow to a teenage boy—it was astonishing.
"No need. Even as a guest escort, I just fulfilled my duty."
Hyeon Yucheon waved it off, flustered by the respect.
A bit of skill, and now this lavish praise—he looked uneasy.
"Father's right. Without you, young hero, it would've dragged on... and others hearing the clash would've swarmed and stolen the cargo."
Yeon Jinjin agreed, gazing at Hyeon Yucheon.
But her eyes held something deeper, more intense than before.
"Anyway... this isn't the time. Scavengers will smell blood soon. We must reach Bulwaedang before the Shaolin manual misunderstanding spreads."
Yeon Daecheon nodded at Hyeon Yucheon's words.
No time to waste.
"Agreed. Everyone, head for Songshan!"
Having weathered one crisis, the Gold Amount Escort pressed on to Songshan with grim resolve.
Fortune smiled: aside from Great Separation, no others attacked.
Yeon Daecheon had chosen remote paths, traveling under cover of dark night.
After grueling hours, at last!
"There it is!"
Someone from the agency shouted.
As he said, Songshan emerged through the bright crescent moon, stirring hearts with its majestic sight.
And at its base stood Shaolin Temple, the North Star of Central Plains and martial world, drawing all eyes.
"Now we can breathe easy."
Yeon Daecheon sighed in relief.
Sighting Songshan and Shaolin meant the escort's end.
Who would dare ambush in Shaolin's front yard?
The mission raced toward success.
Just head to Bulwaedang beyond Songshan, outside Shaolin proper.
Its location was unique: a separate building from the main temple.
On Songshan, yes—but strictly distinct from headquarters.
Actually, perfect.
Seeing Bulwaedang's facade, Hyeon Yucheon smiled inwardly.
He had to kill Hongbulgeom Jonghun, but Shaolin's Four Guardian Kings or Eighteen Arhats interfering would ruin it.
Isolated, Jonghun was easy prey.
I'd love to take out Abbot Fist Buddha Cheollim too... but my current power can't match him.
A pity.
Shaolin's abbot, Fist Buddha Cheollim—one of Heaven's Five Venerables, the strongest in righteous martial world. Beyond Hyeon Yucheon now.
So he postponed Shaolin headquarters, heading to Bulwaedang instead.
"Oh! You've arrived?"
As Hyeon Yucheon and the Gold Amount group reached Bulwaedang, a figure appeared.
He looked gentle as Buddha reborn, with thick earlobes suggesting great virtue.
Hongbulgeom... Jonghun!
Hyeon Yucheon felt killing intent boil over at the sight.
Wanting to kill Jonghun, he nearly turned demonic—while a massive Buddha statue loomed behind him.
What irony.
He ached to lunge and tear Jonghun's throat, but the time wasn't right. He suppressed it.
"Young hero?"
Yeon Jinjin turned, puzzled by his ragged breaths.
"It's nothing. Haha."
Hyeon Yucheon laughed it off, composing himself.
Meanwhile, Yeon Daecheon approached Bulwaedang's master, Jonghun.
"Jonghun Hall Leader. Good to see you again."
Yeon Daecheon offered a cupped-fist salute; Jonghun replied with prayer hands, layman-style—which grated on Hyeon Yucheon's eyes.
Jonghun, you killed my parents and Mangeum Clan with those praying hands.
Worshiping Buddha with bloodstained filth—Hyeon Yucheon's loathing for Jonghun, Shaolin, and martial world deepened.
"You've worked hard. We've received the cargo safely... Escort mission complete."
Surprisingly, Jonghun barely inspected it, just thanking with prayer hands.
The long, arduous journey ended. Yeon Daecheon and the Gold Amount folk departed swiftly.
To return before fresh rumors haunted them.
"What will you do now, young hero?"
Yeon Jinjin asked amiably.
As a guest escort, post-mission was his call.
Hyeon Yucheon replied smoothly.
"I'll stay nearby, tour Songshan and Shaolin at dawn. Bound to learn much."