Fighting the Black Sword Pavilion (4)
As if they were from the same sect, Jo Do-hwan's reaction was eerily similar to that of his deputy leader, Yeon Ji-ryang.
"Lies! Don't lie to me!"
He denied it at first, but then a thought struck him.
Who could be famous enough to shatter the elite forces of the Black Sword Pavilion—including their Black Sword Formation—with just three people?
And if they were supreme experts from the Demon Sword Sect, the answer was obvious.
"No way... Really?!"
Jo Do-hwan, who had dismissed it as a lie just moments ago.
But no matter how he racked his brain, there was only one possible conclusion.
If his opponents were truly the Black Wolf Three Swords, everything made sense.
And one more thing.
'The Black Wolf Three Swords follow the Demon Sword Ghost Elder with fanatical loyalty, prioritizing him even over the Demon Sword Sect itself.'
For them to attach themselves to this young warrior claiming to be sect leader, after abandoning the Demon Sword Sect to search for Cheon Baeksang following his disappearance...
"Have you inherited the true legacy of the Demon Sword Ghost Elder, Cheon the Elder?!"
Now Jo Do-hwan was finally speaking sense.
Nod!
Hyeon Yucheon nodded and assumed his stance.
There was a saying: those who tie the knot must untie it.
Since Jo Do-hwan was the one who started all this chaos, it was only right for the two of them to settle it.
'Demon Sword Ghost Elder, Cheon Baeksang the Great Hero...'
As Jo Do-hwan stepped forward to meet him, the man suddenly came to mind.
The pillar of the unorthodox sects, and their pride incarnate.
Jo Do-hwan had grown up watching his back, and there was a time when he'd dreamed of joining the Demon Sword Sect to become like him.
But life doesn't always go as planned, and somehow he'd ended up here.
Shing!
Jo Do-hwan finally drew his signature blood-red sword.
It was originally a famed blade boasting a pristine white body, but after being steeped in blood over countless years, it had turned a vivid crimson.
"I don't usually trust others' words easily."
Before the clash, Jo Do-hwan spoke in a surprisingly calm voice.
And it was true—he rarely took people at their word.
When he'd first declared his ambition to establish the Black Sword Pavilion in Hebei Province, many acquaintances had tried to dissuade him.
It was a land heavy with orthodox influence, close to Shaolin, and above all, home to the Demon Sword Sect. They urged him to choose another province.
But Jo Do-hwan had pressed on with his own will.
Though the circumstances differed, he believed this situation was no different.
"Fine. Convince me properly, then."
Hyeon Yucheon understood his meaning and drew his Formless Gas Sword.
Formless Gas Sword!
This technique excelled at preparing for attack, as it could not only strike from any direction but also manifest and sustain an invisible blade.
"Hmph."
Jo Do-hwan couldn't hide his surprise at seeing the legendary formless sword for the first time.
But the astonishment was fleeting.
The Central Plains were vast, filled with all manner of eccentrics and experts. He believed similar arts could exist.
"Haaap!"
After the tense standoff, Jo Do-hwan seized the initiative with a preemptive strike.
Normally, as a senior unorthodox warrior, he would have yielded the first move to this junior.
Ambitious as he was, Jo Do-hwan wasn't a petty man; such courtesy was in his nature.
But his instincts, honed from years in the brutal martial world, screamed a warning.
This young warrior before him was no inferior.
Black Strong Ink Sword!
This was the art that had etched Jo Do-hwan's name into the unorthodox martial world: the Black Strong Iron Ink Sword Method.
Where the Demon Sword Ghost Elder's techniques pursued ultimate speed, Jo Do-hwan's embodied the opposite—heavy, weighty profundity.
Wooong!
His sturdy sword vibrated as it surged toward Hyeon Yucheon in an instant.
It wasn't a massive blade, yet Hyeon Yucheon felt as if a colossal wave of sword intent was crashing over him.
But the gap in their skills was clear.
Jo Do-hwan was at the early stage of Super Peak, while Hyeon Yucheon held the advantage.
One Flash One Kill!
Hyeon Yucheon refused to yield to the momentum.
Some claimed a light, swift sword could never best a heavy one.
Nonsense—at least not against the Formless Flash Quick Sword of the Demon Sword Ghost Elder.
Flash!
Hyeon Yucheon unleashed the technique with all his might.
This strike fired invisible sword qi at supreme speed—completely opposite to Jo Do-hwan's Black Strong Ink Sword.
'If we clash head-on, I'll win!'
Even without seeing it, Jo Do-hwan could sense Hyeon Yucheon's sword qi clearly.
At Super Peak, such detection was possible.
Thus, if their techniques collided and swords tangled, his heavy sword would prevail.
The reversal came next.
Kwachik!
The moment their strikes intertwined!
Something unbelievable happened.
Jo Do-hwan's prized sturdy blood sword... snapped!
"Im... impossible!"
Even the anxiously watching Black Sword Pavilion members cried out.
It was unprecedented for the heavy sword master's blade to break.
Moreover, this blood sword symbolized the Black Dragon Blood Sword—it meant defeat.
'I can't lose!'
Defeat would spell the Black Sword Pavilion's ruin, so Jo Do-hwan gritted his teeth.
Slash!
He even offered his shoulder willingly.
Despite the grievous wound severing his shoulder tip, he clamped down hard.
His vision blurred, his shoulder burned like fire, but he ignored it.
Black Strong Iron Spirit Ink Heavy Sword!
He unleashed his signature killing move from the Black Strong Iron Ink Sword Method.
This ultimate technique was his final trump card: pouring everything into heavy sword profundity, not to slice but to shatter the foe.
Kwaaaaang!
Though partially broken, his blood-inked sword bit like gums without teeth.
Infused with a supreme expert's full intent and power, its force seemed to crack space itself.
'Victory isn't decided by realm alone!'
That was Jo Do-hwan's conviction.
Through their exchanges, he'd realized Hyeon Yucheon's skill surpassed his.
But in compatibility, his heavy sword trumped the formless swift sword.
After all, he'd crushed countless overconfident speedsters in the martial world.
He'd even shown off to Eum Ji-myeong and the Demon Sword Sect partly because they favored swift swords.
"A fine sword, full of heart. But..."
Hyeon Yucheon murmured, closing his eyes.
Not surrender—no, this was his first real clash with a Super Peak expert since entering the martial world. Proper respect demanded it.
Formless Dividing Light Extreme Sword!
From the later stages of the Formless Flash Quick Sword, this boasted extreme speed that split light itself—one of the Demon Sword Ghost Elder's fastest moves.
Its terror lay in its stealth, like an assassin's blade, nearly impossible to track.
Sss!
Indeed, the Formless Dividing Light Extreme Sword pierced Jo Do-hwan's killing move effortlessly and shot forward.
Then, the finale.
Craaaack!
Unable to withstand Hyeon Yucheon's ultimate swift sword, Jo Do-hwan's end was gruesome.
From head to toe, his body split vertically in two.
The Black Dragon Blood Sword had trusted his blade and heavy sword, but his fate was horrific.
He perished without overcoming the Formless Flash Quick Sword.
"Th-this... surely..."
On the brink of oblivion, Jo Do-hwan recalled a memory.
How could he forget?
The day he first beheld Demon Sword Ghost Elder Cheon Baeksang.
That day, Cheon Baeksang had used this very technique.
Against Yuji Cheon, the former world's greatest—the White Dragon Divine Sword, now two generations past—Muim Alliance's pride. His final move had been the Formless Dividing Light Extreme Sword.
"Y-you... you're truly... the Demon Sword Ghost Elder's... reincarnation!"
With those final words,
Splurt!
A brutal fountain of blood erupted as his corpse split apart.
Maintaining consciousness and speech till the end was possible only because he was a Super Peak expert.
Squeezing out his last strength, he'd affirmed to Hyeon Yucheon:
The Mugeom Sword Young Master was indeed the Demon Sword Ghost Elder's true successor.
No doubt, for he'd mastered the Formless Flash Quick Sword that even his famed three disciples hadn't fully grasped.
"Warriors of the Black Sword Pavilion! Your leader has met a tragic end!"
Hyeon Yucheon silently prayed for Jo Do-hwan's peace, but the situation demanded closure.
"Will you surrender now, or follow your lord to the afterlife?"
Hyeon Yucheon bellowed.
The Demon Sword Sect was critically understaffed.
The Black Sword Pavilion outnumbered them several times over, and unorthodox sects, unlike orthodox ones, expanded by conquering and absorbing rivals.
That was their strength, defying orthodox history and tradition.
The answer was inevitable.
"We... surrender!"
With the leader and deputy dead, the next highest-ranking captain dropped his sword and yielded.
Thus, with Mugeom Sword Young Master Hyeon Yucheon and the Black Wolf Three Swords,
A mid-tier unorthodox sect fell completely.
It had been easier after preemptively slaying Deputy Yeon Ji-ryang and the elite vanguard, but claiming the Black Sword Pavilion was a tremendous morale boost.
'The Demon Sword Sect will absorb the Black Sword Pavilion and fire the signal for our revival.'
Hyeon Yucheon smiled at the fully surrendering remnants.
The current martial world's view of the Demon Sword Sect was that of a dying sect.
Once this news spread beyond Hebei across the Central Plains, their true resurgence would begin—right now.
Flash Light Flying Gentleman Eum Ji-myeong and Plum Death Gentleman Elder Jeong Inheon had assembled the entire Demon Sword Sect, awaiting only Hyeon Yucheon's signal.
'Why no word yet?'
Ridiculously, like the already-dead Black Sword Pavilion leader Jo Do-hwan, Eum Ji-myeong grew anxious at the vanguard's silence.
Jo Do-hwan's prowess as the Black Dragon Blood Sword was renowned, spawning endless worries—until!
"The sect leader and Black Wolf Three Swords seniors... have completely conquered the Black Sword Pavilion!"
Vital intelligence arrived.
Hyeon Yucheon and the three swordsmen—four in total—had turned the pavilion into a bloodbath.
And more:
"Moreover, the surviving members, having lost their leader and deputy, have all surrendered and wish only to join the Demon Sword Sect."
Hearing this, Eum Ji-myeong and Jeong Inheon embraced without a second thought.
"It's done!"
"We're saved!"
These middle-aged men rejoiced like boys, forgetting their age, but not for the strong, quality fighters.
No—their joy stemmed from the Black Sword Pavilion's wealth.
'The Black Sword Pavilion dominated Hebei's back alleys and underworld, monopolizing it as an unorthodox power.'
Absorbing them meant Hyeon Yucheon and the Demon Sword Sect hadn't just seized their assets for free—they'd gained a golden opportunity for massive profits!