Battle for the Spirit Beast (3)
“Wh-what?”
“The Demon Sword Young Master Hyeon Yucheon?”
“That Sapa supreme who’s turning the current martial world upside down, the young monster?”
The young experts of the Murim Alliance paled at the words of their instructor, Namgung Sangjin.
However, Namgung Hoon—a fellow young expert of the Murim Alliance and a junior from the Namgung family—still hadn’t grasped the situation. He forced an awkward smile.
“Come on~ What are you talking about? That guy isn’t young; he’s just a kid... and a lucky young master who’s always falling into some woman’s arms, right?”
Namgung Hoon still couldn’t tell shit from soy paste.
“Watch your mouth. I warned you.”
But that lasted only a moment.
When the famously good-natured Namgung Sangjin’s face hardened and he barked the order, Namgung Hoon and his companions froze solid.
The two from the Namgung family especially turned ashen, their faces like stiff corpses.
And who could blame them? The Namgung family had recently issued a strict directive.
- Avoid entanglement with the Demon Sword Sect as much as possible.
Especially avoid encountering the Demon Sword Sect Lord, the Demon Sword Young Master Hyeon Yucheon.
Do not approach out of curiosity. This is the family head’s command.
Not long ago, the Namgung family head, the Crimson Sky Sword King Namgung Ungwang, had been utterly defeated in a speed sword duel against Hyeon Yucheon. While recuperating in seclusion within the family, he had issued the order with utmost severity.
Word was, Namgung Ungwang jumped out of his seat and lost sleep at the mere mention of the Demon Sword Sect—enough to suspect formal trauma.
“Not just Namgung Hoon... all of you too. Have you forgotten the Alliance’s orders?”
The good-natured Namgung Sangjin glared at the Murim Alliance juniors.
As instructors—elders or vice-branch leaders—they had received direct orders from HQ.
- Beware the Demon Sword Sect and its lord, Hyeon Yucheon!
Yet these fools had picked a fight with Hyeon Yucheon, the sect lord himself and their idol.
And his own family junior, Namgung Hoon, was staring back in disbelief. How could Namgung Sangjin not seethe?
“Oh, Namgung family, huh? Or Murim Alliance?”
Hyeon Yucheon, having roughly assessed the situation, approached with a casual grin.
Gulp!
As he drew near, Namgung Hoon and the young warriors—who’d been so bold moments ago—swallowed hard, visibly shaken.
“Greetings. I am Azure Wind Sword Namgung Sangjin, instructor of the Murim Alliance and a member of the Namgung family.”
Hyeon Yucheon tossed back a pointed remark.
“If you’re Namgung family, just say so. What’s this Murim Alliance instructor nonsense? If the Namgung family and the Alliance clashed, whose side would you take?”
“Th-that... uh...”
It was truly bizarre.
This man before them wasn’t a Namgung elder or Alliance leader, yet his presence carried an inescapable weight, rooting them in place.
Of course, it was the pressure from Hyeon Yucheon’s invisible inner power.
“Anyway, a Murim Alliance instructor?”
“Y-yes, sir!”
“How the hell are you training these kids?”
“Pardon?”
“They come at me out of nowhere with third-rate insults and call my companion, the Haomen lord, a filthy whore.”
At Hyeon Yucheon’s words, not only Namgung Sangjin but Namgung Hoon—the culprit himself—and his friends all stiffened.
Hyeon Yucheon alone was overwhelming enough. What now?
Haomen lord?
That young, pretty girl is the Haomen lord...?
Namgung Hoon was utterly confused, at a loss.
In a way, it made sense. The Haomen lord, So Jaun, was known as the Faceless Black Rabbit, never showing her face publicly.
So a novice warrior could easily misjudge her based on her attire.
“Is that true?!”
Namgung Sangjin exploded in fury, grilling Namgung Hoon.
In truth, he’d stepped away briefly on orders from Alliance HQ to discreetly check who would claim the Sun Golden Frog.
But in that short time, a Murim Alliance disciple—his own family junior, no less—had screwed up. How could he not rage?
“No, it’s...”
Namgung Hoon hemmed and hawed for a while before.
“I’m sorry! Truly sorry, Demon Sword Sect Lord. Haomen Lord. Please forgive this foolish junior’s mistake!”
Unable to bear the weight of his error, he bowed deeply before the two.
“Oh ho ho!”
Just moments ago, he’d been ready to charge in, but now, head bowed and trembling in defeat, Namgung Hoon’s sight filled So Jaun with sweet satisfaction.
“Forgive their rudeness. These young Alliance disciples aren’t yet accustomed to the rivers and lakes...”
With the mood unexpectedly softening, Namgung Sangjin saw an opening.
But he didn’t know Hyeon Yucheon well.
“He looks about my age—not exactly a kid... Anyway.”
Hyeon Yucheon cut him off abruptly, fixing him with his signature cold gaze.
“The Murim Alliance banned all entry to Shaanxi after their branch got wrecked. So what brings you here?”
Hyeon Yucheon was incisive.
He seemed focused on the juniors’ blunder, yet he pierced straight to the core: why Murim Alliance members were in Shaanxi.
As expected, sharp.
Young Master Hyeon is peerless in both letters and arms.
Jeong Se-in and Yeon Jinjin, watching warmly from behind, hid their smiles at his acuity.
“Well...”
Namgung Sangjin hesitated briefly before deciding honesty was safer than greater trouble.
“It’s the Sun Golden Frog. The Alliance wants a final report on who claims it.”
Hyeon Yucheon instantly caught on.
Waiting for a final report meant they knew the interim situation.
“So you know its current location too?”
Namgung Sangjin marveled inwardly at Hyeon Yucheon’s perceptiveness.
What an extraordinary man.
His gaze drifted to Namgung Hoon, who seemed the same age as Hyeon Yucheon.
A promising junior in the Namgung family and rising talent in the Alliance—yet compared to Hyeon Yucheon, he was a firefly before the sun, a fly before the phoenix.
Sigh~
Namgung Sangjin sighed deeply inside and leaked top-tier intel even Haomen couldn’t fully penetrate.
“The Sun Golden Frog is heading to the summit of Hyunhwang Peak, the remotest crag of Mount Zhongnan.”
Got it!
Finally pinpointing the Sun Golden Frog, Hyeon Yucheon clenched his fist in delight.
But one thing nagged.
“The Sun Golden Frog is being driven there?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Namgung Sangjin pointed to the faint silhouette of Hyunhwang Peak, the farthest peak of Mount Zhongnan.
“Right now, that modest peak’s summit is swarming with top experts from orthodox and unorthodox sects alike.”
As he said, desperados from across the Central Plains seeking life-changing reversal had gathered.
Fools chasing illusions.
Hyeon Yucheon gazed at them from afar and chuckled.
The spirit beast was the Demon Sword Young Master’s by right anyway.
* * *
According to the Spirit Beast Records, a travelogue penned by the erudite Divine Turtle Cultivator Byeongukryeong, the Sun Golden Frog favors places brimming with hot yang energy and basking in warm sunlight.
It emerges only once every millennium because it dwells deep in earth veins, amid searing lava, ascending only when its aura reaches perfection.
In other words, the inner core of a Sun Golden Frog manifesting in the real world held denser, vaster hot yang energy than any spirit elixir.
“Almost herded it!”
“Everyone, keep pushing!”
Contrary to expectations of infighting between orthodox and unorthodox, they moved as one.
Their goal was singular.
The Sun Golden Frog.
Flash!
Leaving faint afterimages and scorching heat, the Sun Golden Frog darted across Hyunhwang Peak.
True to records of its love for warmth, Hyunhwang Peak was the sunniest among Mount Zhongnan’s south-facing crags.
“Huff... huff.”
“Hooo.”
Even elite warriors from across the Central Plains, united in effort, found the Sun Golden Frog no pushover.
Hyunhwang Peak was a dormant volcanic zone; the frog had lingered below for its fiery qi but was now driven to the summit.
“We did it!”
How much hardship had passed?
At last, they cornered it atop the thousand-foot sheer cliff of Hyunhwang Peak.
“Grraaawr.”
The millennium-aged Sun Golden Frog emitted eerie cries, menacing the crowd.
But what was this?
As it hit a dead end, a strange tension rippled through the mixed throng of orthodox, unorthodox, and neutral experts.
For one reason.
- The Sun Golden Frog is mine alone!
Most were strangers, with clashing goals to boot.
No reason to share the priceless treasure—its core, hide, bones unobtainable elsewhere.
Gulp!
The silence was so thick, swallowing sounds rang clear.
Clang, sching!
They drew weapons, steeling for desperate battle.
The dogfight was upon them.
Mount Zhongnan, Taoism’s birthplace and holy site, now a hellish pit of muddy dogfights—utterly absurd.
“The Sun Golden Frog is mine!”
“No, it’s mine!”
“Give it up!”
Ridiculousness unfolded.
The mere beast gazed haughtily below, while self-proclaimed lords of creation slaughtered kin for greed. Who was beast, who man?
As warriors tangled and lethal strikes flew—
Bwooom!
The silent Sun Golden Frog spewed scorching breath at a charging warrior.
While experts clashed in greedy frenzy, the swift, peerless lightweight expert Flying Shadow Bandit Jecheonsu had reached out—only for disaster.
“Gaaahhh!”
Jecheonsu, near-super peak in lightness skill, melted on the spot like lava, unable to evade.
“Impossible!”
“Wh-what? The Sun Golden Frog fights back?”
Those with prior intel watched from afar.
The Sun Golden Frog was a spirit among spirits—even super peak masters couldn’t guarantee victory.
Its lava-like breath, impervious hide, and bones perfect for peerless swords were why.
“This isn’t the time to fight among ourselves!”
“Right. We must unite again.”
“First! Down the Sun Golden Frog—then we fight over core or hide!”
Absurdity redux.
United one moment, at each other’s throats like blood foes the next—now reuniting because it wasn’t easy prey.
No comedy funnier in the world.
As the mood shifted back to unity—
“The true master of the Sun Golden Frog has arrived!”