Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: They Put Up a Bit of a Fight
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Byeok Taesan quietly watched the two men approaching in the distance. He tilted his head.
"Something about them feels familiar."
Of course, that didn't make him stop walking.
Byeok Taesan continued at the same pace as before.
Soon, the two men were right in front of him.
Byeok Taesan kept walking as if he intended to pass right between them.
"Is this bastard crazy?"
One of the two men shouted and swung his hand.
An immense amount of energy gathered in his palm. It flew toward Byeok Taesan's head.
Byeok Taesan just kept walking.
*Whoosh!*
The man's eyes widened in shock. He was sure he had struck the back of Byeok Taesan's head, but he wasn't there.
He had momentarily quickened his pace and slipped out of the attack's range.
The other man rushed at Byeok Taesan and threw a punch.
*CRACKLE!*
Lightning energy gathered around his fist, literally sweeping through the space in front of him.
But Byeok Taesan was still walking. He had merely changed his direction at a slight angle, moving out of the lightning's path.
By then, a strange light flickered in the two men's eyes.
"This one's pretty good."
"Yeah. He'll be fun to beat down."
The two of them charged at the same time.
A storm of palm strikes, fist techniques, and kicks poured down.
But surprisingly, Byeok Taesan wasn't hit by a single attack; he just kept walking.
His speed varied, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, and he shifted his direction slightly, but he never stopped walking.
The expressions on the two men's faces hardened.
This was practically toying with them. They had never experienced anything like it.
"I'll kill you!"
A ferocious aura erupted from their bodies. Wreathed in this energy, they threw themselves at Byeok Taesan.
Byeok Taesan took a step and half-turned his body. At the same time, he swung his palm.
*CRACK!*
His palm struck the cheeks of both men with exquisite timing.
It was as if the two men had willingly slapped their own cheeks against Byeok Taesan's hand.
*BAM!*
The two men collapsed, their heads slamming hard into the ground.
The force of Byeok Taesan's slap had sent them spinning to the floor.
The impact left them twitching on the ground for a while.
But they weren't dead.
"They can take a hit."
Byeok Taesan casually offered his assessment and continued walking.
He hadn't stopped walking for even a single moment.
The two fallen men staggered to their feet. They couldn't get up in one go, falling several times before finally managing to stand.
By the time they had regained their balance, Byeok Taesan had already reached their last remaining companion.
The two men hurried over.
Their comrade alone could never stop Byeok Taesan. It would take at least the three of them working together.
But they were too late.
They saw Byeok Taesan's palm strike their companion's cheek.
*SMACK!*
*CRASH!*
As they watched their companion's body spin and his head slam into the ground, they realized that was exactly what had happened to them.
Warriors rushed toward Byeok Taesan from all directions.
"Don't do it! You can't just charge in like that!"
They shouted in desperation, but it was too late.
Byeok Taesan disappeared behind the swarm of charging warriors.
***
The corners of Byeok Taesan's mouth lifted slightly. The hint of teeth he revealed was a smile of genuine amusement, but the sight of it struck fear into the hearts of his enemies like a nail.
And why wouldn't it? Every time Byeok Taesan moved lightly, one of their comrades would spin through the air, their head would hit the ground with a thud, and their body would tremble violently. How could they not be afraid?
As if he had decided on a theme, Byeok Taesan slapped the cheek of every warrior who charged at him.
It was just a light swing of his hand, but once it connected, their consciousness would momentarily vanish, their bodies would spin, and they would fall headfirst to the ground.
Those who fell like this couldn't get back up, only twitching like insects pierced by a needle.
Despite this, none of the warriors fled. They threw themselves at him like moths to a flame. And they were struck down.
By then, the first two men who had been defeated finally arrived.
From within the crowd of their allies, the two men watched intently, waiting for a chance to ambush Byeok Taesan.
A moment later, their third companion joined them, his eyes gleaming as he too began searching for an opening.
Among those looking for an opportunity was the man in charge today, Bu Ducheol.
Using his other subordinates like cannon fodder, Bu Ducheol waited for his chance, his face so contorted it seemed it might collapse in on itself.
'We were too unprepared.'
He never imagined Byeok Taesan would be this strong.
He couldn't gauge it precisely, but wasn't this level of skill close to that of the Ten Great Masters?
Was it even possible for someone so young to attain such a level of mastery?
Could he be some incredible master who had undergone a rejuvenation technique?
All sorts of thoughts raced through his mind.
As he circled, observing Byeok Taesan, an opportunity finally presented itself.
The three men who were stronger than Bu Ducheol charged at Byeok Taesan simultaneously.
*CRACK! THWACK!*
Unlike before, Byeok Taesan used his feet as well, sending all three of them flying at once.
He slapped two of them with his palms and struck the third one's cheek with his foot.
The two struck by his hands fell headfirst to the ground, while the one hit by his foot was sent flying backward.
And at the exact moment Byeok Taesan struck the three men, Bu Ducheol shot forward, almost scraping the ground, aiming for Byeok Taesan's lower body.
Byeok Taesan's foot, which had just sent a man flying, came down and stomped on Bu Ducheol's back.
*CRUNCH!*
An intense shockwave rattled Bu Ducheol's entire body.
And that was his last memory of this fight.
***
The rest of the group, without Byeok Taesan, had split into three teams.
The first consisted of the One-Needle Eccentric, who was the strongest martial artist, along with the four maids.
The second had the Divine Doctor of the Ages and two physicians from the Heavenly Medicine Hall.
The remaining members—Yeon Harin, Cheon Gyeongwan, and Yu Seoyeon—formed the third team.
Their plan was to circle around the destination and strike from the outskirts.
However, there were a considerable number of scouts in that area.
In the end, they were spotted by a patrol before they could even properly flank the enemy, and a fight broke out quite far from their destination.
Fortunately, the warriors in the patrol teams were relatively weaker than those in the central force, so the group was never in any real danger.
The enemies they encountered were also on reconnaissance duty, so they moved in small groups of three at most, making them not too difficult to fight.
The only tricky part was catching those who tried to flee.
Since their goal was to strike the enemy from behind, they had to be thorough in eliminating them to prevent their approach from being discovered.
As she moved with Cheon Gyeongwan and Yu Seoyeon, Yeon Harin felt a pang of inadequacy.
Not long ago, she had fought alongside them and witnessed how much stronger they had become.
But now, it was different again.
The two of them had grown even stronger since then. She, on the other hand, was still in the same place.
Of course, she knew how difficult it was to become stronger in just a few days.
But those two had managed it.
"My lady, I think we need to hurry. At this rate, the Young Master will have to fight all those enemies alone."
Her words jolted Yeon Harin back to reality.
'What am I doing?'
This was no time for useless thoughts.
"Right. Let's hurry. We're almost there."
They moved swiftly toward their destination where Byeok Taesan would be, trying their best to avoid any more patrol teams.
Elsewhere, the other teams were doing the same, moving quickly with similar thoughts.
Thanks to their haste, they were able to reach the target location quickly.
But by this point, they should have been able to hear the sounds of fighting, yet there was complete silence.
The three of them rushed forward urgently.
An ominous thought crept into their minds: the fight might already be over.
As strong as Byeok Taesan was, there was no winning against sheer numbers.
The scale of the patrols alone was an indication of how many enemies there were.
How could Byeok Taesan possibly handle so many opponents by himself?
They had to strike from the rear and break the enemy's formation. That was the only way to fight properly.
With these thoughts, the three of them moved swiftly, and a wide clearing came into view.
They froze in their tracks.
The clearing was filled with countless people. As expected, the enemy's numbers were enormous.
And every single one of them was lying on the ground.
In the center of the clearing sat Byeok Taesan on a large, flat rock.
Judging by the marks on the ground where another rock used to be, it seemed this one had been deliberately moved to the center of the clearing.
Whether Byeok Taesan had done it or the enemies before him, she didn't know.
In any case, after staring down at the scene in the clearing for some time, Yeon Harin snapped back to her senses.
"Did… did the Young Master do all of this by himself?"
Just then, the other groups began to arrive from different directions.
Their reactions were identical to Yeon Harin's.
***
The group reassembled before Byeok Taesan. He was sitting on the rock with his eyes gently closed.
A variety of emotions flickered in their eyes as they looked at him.
It was a complex gaze, a mixture of reverence, disbelief, and confusion.
"Are you going to just stand there and watch?"
Byeok Taesan asked, slowly opening his eyes.
"Please give us your orders, Young Master."
Hwaok quickly replied, and Byeok Taesan nodded.
"There should still be some remnants left. Go and round them all up. Don't let a single one escape."
"Yes, sir."
"And Hwaok, you stay."
"Yes, sir."
At Byeok Taesan's command, everyone moved with perfect discipline.
The "remnants" he spoke of were the countless patrol teams they had encountered on their way here.
If they managed to escape, it would likely cause a lot of trouble later.
Concealing their own information was also a crucial task.
Hwaok and the Divine Doctor of the Ages, who understood this best, diligently emphasized this fact to the group and gave appropriate instructions.
Having done similar things many times before, their commands were concise and efficient.
As everyone scattered in all directions, leaving only Hwaok behind, Byeok Taesan rose from his seat.
"Follow me."
Byeok Taesan led the way, and Hwaok followed quietly behind him.
The place they arrived at had four men lying side by side.
Even at a glance, their attire was different from the others.
"These must be the leaders."
"Seems so. They put up a bit of a fight."
Hwaok first checked if they were alive.
All of them were. Though it seemed it would not be easy to wake them.
"I'll wake them up. Get as much information out of them as you can."
"Yes. But it will be difficult to find out who is behind them."
They had already experienced this once before, with the Four Evils of Guangdong.
Byeok Taesan let out a faint smile.
"Behind them? I don't need that. Just find out where the Half-Jiangshi are. Oh, what's your feeling on these guys? Do you see anything?"
Hwaok gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
"They are similar to the Four Evils of Guangdong. I see blood and blades. It's a scene commonly seen from those who engage in slaughter."
"Is that so? Well, start interrogating them. Tell me immediately if you find anything."
After saying this, Byeok Taesan released a small amount of energy to wake them up, then found a clean spot nearby, sat down, and gently closed his eyes.
During the intense battle today, he had assimilated the spiritual elixirs—the high-quality spiritual energy—he had accumulated.
He hadn't originally planned to digest it so quickly, but it happened naturally as he became immersed in the fight.
Now, he needed to perfectly digest the assimilated spiritual energy through the Soul-Devouring Demonic Arts. This was to prevent the spiritual energy from seeping into his severed meridians and being used for healing.
From now on, the healing could be left to its natural course; there was no need to waste precious spiritual energy on it.
He needed to start accumulating spiritual energy in his body. His plan was to gradually convert it into internal energy and store it in his dantian as the healing progressed.
He could use spiritual energy directly in combat, but it was far too inefficient.
It was like using a tiger-slaying sword to kill a chicken.
In the past, he wouldn't have needed to think about such things, but now, he couldn't afford to be so wasteful.
Before, he had burned all his souls to absorb their power, leaving him with an overabundance of spiritual energy.
But that was no longer the case.
For the first time in a very long time, Byeok Taesan was contemplating efficiency.
And it was a very enjoyable task.
While Byeok Taesan organized his insights and spiritual energy, Hwaok approached the four fallen men and began her interrogation step by step.
She started by trying to identify them, and from that point on, she fell into confusion.
"The Three Mad Blood Demons!"
They were demonic masters who had been active over fifty years ago.
Moreover, they were masters who were supposed to have been beheaded under an execution order from the Martial Alliance.
< They Put Up a Bit of a Fight > End