Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Heavenly Martial Squad
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Whoooosh... Whoooosh...
Every time the squad members planted their feet on the ground and propelled their bodies forward, the trees and rocks visible in the distance rushed toward them at a dizzying speed.
"A bit faster."
As Se Yeong urged them to pick up the pace with their lightness skills, Paeng Se Gi let out a dying groan.
"Brother. If we keep running like this, we'll burn through our qi and collapse before half a day passes."
"That's the point of running."
"What do you mean by that, Brother?"
"Run until you collapse from exhaustion, then circulate your qi over and over. Your dantian will expand, and your internal energy will grow."
Paeng Se Gi was utterly baffled by this unfamiliar advice.
The other squad members running alongside him felt the same way.
"I've never heard of anything like that, Han Daehyeop."
Yi Cheon Yeong voiced the group's doubts on their behalf.
"It's not going to boost your power or speed in a way anyone notices right away. But since I've experienced it myself, you can trust me on this."
What more needed to be said when he claimed personal experience?
The squad members channeled their qi into their legs and focused on their lightness skills.
"This path detours around to Fierce Tiger Mountain, right?"
Paeng Se Gi double-checked what they'd confirmed before setting out.
"Yeah. It's a bit longer, but at this speed, we'll reach the area near Fierce Tiger Mountain before two days are up."
Kekeke...
"I can't wait to see the looks on those First Squad bastards' faces when they finally drag themselves there."
Just imagining it brought a gleeful laugh bubbling from Paeng Se Gi's lips.
Hahaha...
Kekeke...
Yi Cheon Yeong, Dang Ok Yi, and Hahu Yeon followed suit with their own chuckles.
As Se Yeong had predicted, Hahu Yeong was the first to run out of qi and stamina, collapsing in a heap.
"Carry him and keep running."
At Se Yeong's command, Paeng Se Gi immediately hoisted him onto his back.
Heave... huff...
"I... I can't run anymore."
Dang Ok Yi came crashing down next, gasping raggedly, and Yi Cheon Yeong picked her up.
They pushed on for a while longer before Yi Cheon Yeong finally sank to the ground, followed by Paeng Se Gi sprawling out flat.
Heave... huff...
"Brother... I can taste blood in my mouth."
Even as his breath came in choking gasps, Paeng Se Gi whined on.
"Catch your breath and start circulating your qi."
At Se Yeong's order, the squad members forced themselves into a seated position and regulated their breathing.
Dang Ok Yi and Hahu Yeong, who had been carried, began first, with Paeng Se Gi and Yi Cheon Yeong following.
Se Yeong sat down a short distance away from them.
He had plenty of internal energy left for circulation.
One session wouldn't fully replenish depleted qi anyway.
If they got up and started running with lightness skills again, they'd tire out much faster than the first time.
Repeating the process would eventually lead to a point where the body refused to move, even after circulating qi.
Se Yeong had been through this dozens of times.
Nearly half a shichen passed as he watched over them. Paeng Se Gi opened his eyes first, followed in turn by Yi Cheon Yeong, Dang Ok Yi, and Hahu Yeong.
"Let's go, Brother."
Paeng Se Gi waited for the others to wake before standing first.
"Hold on. I have something to tell you all."
At Se Yeong's words, he plopped back down as he was rising.
"Speak, Brother."
Se Yeong looked around at the squad members all staring at him.
They had secured a place in the Murim Alliance now, and these were his people. It was time to share.
"Have you seen any object engraved with a dharma text in the Murim Alliance?"
The squad members exchanged puzzled glances.
"Could you be more specific?"
Se Yeong felt a twinge of frustration.
"I don't know exactly what it is myself. But I'm guessing it could be something like a shortsword, a throwing knife, or maybe even a longsword or greatsword."
Not even his father or grandfather knew the exact nature of the hidden Ilbo.
They only suspected it was a weapon.
"I doubt there's anything like that in the Murim Alliance, let alone the Shaolin with all their scriptures."
Se Yeong nodded calmly.
If it were easy to find, his grandfather would have uncovered it already.
"Your job is to search every building in the Murim Alliance and find a weapon engraved with a dharma text."
"Out of all the Murim Alliance buildings, there are over twenty we squad members can't enter. To access them freely, we'd need status and renown, Han Daehyeop."
Se Yeong's expression grew heavier than ever.
From what he'd heard, there were about a hundred buildings scattered around the Alliance.
If they couldn't enter freely, that meant sneaking in.
Slipping past martial artists into buildings wasn't hard.
But thoroughly searching the interiors would be impossible without free rein.
'I thought this would be easier.'
As darkness began to fall, the First Squad members found a clearing and prepared to camp.
They wanted to press on through the night with their wagons.
The squad members could see well enough in the dark.
But the horses pulling the wagons couldn't, and a broken wheel in a pothole would spell disaster.
They pulled out salt-cured meat to grill and opened a jar to fill their cups.
"Right now, Tenth Squad's probably choking down dry rations with white rice."
Sa Sa Un, the sharp-eared mouth of Namgung Seok, spoke up first.
Hahaha!
Namgung Seok raised his cup with a booming laugh.
"How about we toast to First Squad's victory in advance?"
The squad members had no doubt about their win.
They'd set out at dawn and even bribed the Demon Subduing Squad Leader to saddle Tenth Squad with worn-out horses and wagons.
Hahaha!
Kekeke!
They drained their cups in one go, refilling each other's and chatting amiably.
But some couldn't relax yet.
"Paeng Se Gi and Yi Cheon Yeong may be hot-tempered bastards, but they're no pushovers. They'll pull out all the stops to catch us."
The other squad members fell silent at his words.
"I'm more worried about that Han Se Yeong guy than them. From what I saw last time, he seems to have Tenth Squad under his thumb."
There was truth in what they said.
Not just the squad—even Namgung Seok had sensed Han Se Yeong was no ordinary man.
He must have been the one who got them out of the Strategist's formation.
That nagging unease was real.
Hahaha!
At that moment, Sa Sa Un shattered the heavy mood with a flippant laugh.
"No matter how great he is, he can't match our Namgung Leader here. And how could those rats possibly catch First Squad?"
It was a nervous, forced chuckle.
But it lightened the tension all the same.
Sa Sa Un tossed out a petty scheme.
"What if we chop down trees tomorrow morning and block the official road? Tenth Squad would waste time clearing them."
The official road wasn't just for Murim Alliance martial artists.
Officials, commoners, and merchants used it too.
Suggesting they block it showed how anxious he was.
Namgung Seok approved the idea warmly.
"As expected, Sa Sa Un's got brains."
Aaaah...
A pained groan escaped Paeng Se Gi, sprawled on the ground.
He didn't even have the energy to sit and circulate qi anymore.
"We're camping here tonight."
"Thank you... Brother."
Paeng Se Gi passed out immediately after.
Se Yeong watched over the exhausted squad, then rested his sword across his knees and leaned back against a large tree.
'Se Gi's still the best.'
The others had collapsed unconscious, but Paeng Se Gi held out until the end.
In Se Yeong's eyes, the gap between him and the rest was huge.
'Where could Ilbo be hidden?'
His grandfather had searched the entire Murim Alliance—old buildings, wells, everywhere.
Yet found nothing. Either it wasn't there anymore, or it was in some utterly ordinary spot.
'To move freely inside the Alliance, I need renown that others respect.'
Lost in such thoughts, Se Yeong began circulating his qi.
Dark demonic energy soon gathered from all directions, swirling around his body.
It took the form of a massive demon shrieking before being sucked into him.
Fuu...
As Se Yeong exhaled, the black energy flowed out, then seeped back in through his mouth.
Fierce Tiger Mountain was infamous for its deep, treacherous terrain.
That rugged landscape allowed one of the Eighteen Green Forest Strongholds, Fierce Tiger Stronghold, to take root.
The Murim Alliance rarely subjugated bandit lairs.
New ones would just spring up soon after.
But when banditry grew rampant, they dispatched forces—like with Fierce Tiger Stronghold.
The Heavenly Martial Squad had boasted they'd crush it within a month.
Yet the Green Forest Strongholds' head stronghold kept sending experts, and a month later, they still hadn't taken it.
"Damn bandits."
A martial artist in his mid-twenties glared up at the sunlit Fierce Tiger Mountain.
Normally, the bandits would have fled by now.
Instead, they hunkered down, making the lair hard to seize.
As he finished washing his face and teeth by the stream, a strange sensation hit him.
'Have these bastards lost their minds?'
Bandits had never come down first to attack before.
But the crude killing intent surging from beyond the fields was unmistakably theirs.
"Enemies!"
Squad members poured out of the tents at his shout, weapons drawn by those outside.
They lined up in front of the tents, facing the vast field.
The bandits, backs to the sun, halted twenty-somezhang away.
A man in his mid-forties stepped forward from the hundreds-strong bandit horde.
His eyes gleamed with ferocious murderlust.
The men behind him exuded unusual auras—not ordinary experts.
But the Heavenly Martial Squad stood firm.
No matter their momentum, they were just forest thieves.
The squad leader bellowed first.
"We kill and kill, but they never end. State your identity!"
The lead bandit arrogantly revealed himself.
"The jianghu calls me the Life-Seizing Blood Blade. These behind me are my sworn brothers."
His moniker made the Heavenly Martial Squad flinch as one.
"So the head stronghold's deputy and his cronies finally show."
The leader mocked lightly, but the title was no joke.
Life-Seizing Blood Blade was a name that put even top jianghu experts on guard.
"The head stronghold Lord's message: We'll pay the Murim Alliance twenty thousand silver taels annually from now on. Withdraw."
The Life-Seizing Blood Blade growled a peace offer before battle.
The squad leader laughed in his face instead.
"And if we refuse?"
Kekeke...
"Then all-out war with the Green Forest."
Full war with the Green Forest burdened even the Murim Alliance.
Not from fear, but the hassle of hunting each lair.
Yet yielding here would tarnish their prestige and pride.
"Bring me the lair chief's head, and we'll talk."
"You reject fine wine for punishment brew. No more to see. Attack...!"
His grim laugh ended, the Life-Seizing Blood Blade drew his saber and roared.
Waaah!
The bandits charged the Heavenly Martial Squad.
At the same time, more poured from the fields behind the tents.