Chapter 102
Chapter 102
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Invincible Members of the Dong-ro Branch!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I glanced from the blood-soaked Gang-sin of the Celestial Vault to see how the fight with the Soul-Devouring Wolves was progressing.
Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, Song Ga-hyeon, Geum Cheong-san, and the Blood Crow Saber were fighting fiercely against the Soul-Devouring Wolves.
Four Soul-Devouring Wolves lay on the ground in pools of blood. Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo had taken down two, while Song Ga-hyeon and Geum Cheong-san had each felled one. Only the Blood Crow Saber had yet to kill any.
This had all happened while I was killing Gang-sin of the Celestial Vault.
In the martial world, Life-Reaping Masters and Soul-Devouring Wolves were feared beings, known as grim reapers.
But Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo had fought Life-Reaping Masters before; she was a supreme master beyond comparison to them.
Even now, fighting three Soul-Devouring Wolves at once, she maintained her composure, relentlessly attacking and forcing all three onto the defensive.
Song Ga-hyeon, Geum Cheong-san, the Blood Crow Saber, Jang Ung, and Go Un-hyo were each facing two Soul-Devouring Wolves, while Neung Yu-seong, Namgung Yeong-ho, and Gu Bon-gyeong were each fighting one.
A quick scan of the situation revealed that Jang Ung and Go Un-hyo, who were fighting two wolves each, and Neung Yu-seong, Namgung Yeong-ho, and Gu Bon-gyeong, who were each fighting one, were all being pushed back.
Suddenly, I became curious about Jang Ung's martial arts.
Jang Ung was executing a sword technique. Watching him for a moment, I recognized it and was slightly surprised.
‘Dragon Scale Repelling Sword!’
The Dragon Scale Repelling Sword was among the techniques I had mastered. The manual stated it was the signature sword art of the Grand Dragon Flower Sect.
I’d been drawn to its unusual name. The manual for the Dragon Scale Repelling Sword had been on the red shelves in the Martial Alliance’s armory, reserved for first-class martial arts, with an addendum stating it was a lost art from over two hundred years ago.
During my time as a low-ranking warrior in the Martial Alliance, I had never heard of a sect called the Grand Dragon Flower Sect.
Just because Jang Ung used the Dragon Scale Repelling Sword didn't mean he was from the Grand Dragon Flower Sect, but he had to be connected to it somehow.
From what I could see, Jang Ung's mastery of the Dragon Scale Repelling Sword was at the sixth stage, and his internal energy was at the level of about a hundred years.
A hundred years of internal energy... I had expected him to be no ordinary man, but this was surprising.
The average Soul-Devouring Wolf had seventy to eighty years of internal energy, so it was a bit much for Jang Ung or Go Un-hyo to face two at once.
Likewise, it was too much for Neung Yu-seong, Namgung Yeong-ho, and Gu Bon-gyeong, with their sixty to seventy years of internal energy, to each face a single Soul-Devouring Wolf.
Without exception, they were all being dangerously pushed back, frantically blocking and dodging the wolves' attacks as if they could collapse, spurting blood, at any moment.
Neung Yu-seong was using two short spears to perform the Thunder Wall Ghost Shadow Spear, but his skill was so poor it was shameful for someone from the Divine Spear Sect.
If he had properly learned the Thunder Wall Ghost Shadow Spear, left behind by the Ghost Shadow Divine Spear, the god of spearmanship, he should have been able to easily kill a single Soul-Devouring Wolf, even with only sixty years of internal energy and fifth-stage mastery.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Ugh!”
As he struggled to block the shower of attacks, strained groans escaped his lips one after another.
I first shot up into the air, then darted diagonally toward the Soul-Devouring Wolf that Neung Yu-seong was fighting.
Though the Fire Dragon Sword was in my right hand, I extended the middle finger of my left and unleashed the Vajra Divine Finger with a hundred years of internal energy.
Piiing!
The Vajra Divine Finger, a secret art of the Shaolin Temple, can only be unleashed with over a hundred years of energy and has the incredible power to pierce a boulder one foot thick.
A mere Soul-Devouring Wolf could never dodge or block the Vajra Divine Finger backed by a hundred years of energy.
However, I had no intention of killing the wolf with it; I wanted Neung Yu-seong to kill it himself.
So, as the bolt of energy flew, I reduced its power from a hundred years to fifty. The sound it made grew louder, and its speed slowed considerably.
Swoooosh!
The Soul-Devouring Wolf hastily looked toward the source of the attack, flinching in surprise when it spotted the faintly glowing golden chi.
It didn't recognize the Vajra Divine Finger but instinctively knew it was a formidable finger attack and panicked.
In that moment, Neung Yu-seong, who had been on the defensive, seized the opportunity and swiftly attacked with his short spears.
Shwiiiiik!
The wolf noticed Neung Yu-seong's counterattack, but its immediate priority was to dodge the Vajra Divine Finger, which was now right upon it.
At this point, the outcome was decided. Even with only fifty years of energy, the wolf would have to use all its strength just to dodge it and save its life. Blocking it was out of the question. It was, after all, the Vajra Divine Finger.
The Soul-Devouring Wolf threw itself aside, trying to evade both the Vajra Divine Finger and Neung Yu-seong's spears at the same time.
Thud!
To do so, it had no choice but to roll ungracefully on the ground.
But Neung Yu-seong failed to properly capitalize on the opportunity.
Seeing the wolf narrowly evade both attacks, I fired the Vajra Divine Finger once more.
Piiing!
The Vajra Divine Finger, imbued with a hundred years of energy, made a taut, whistling sound, like a fishing line straining with a prize catch.
The Soul-Devouring Wolf finally noticed me, floating leisurely in the air with my hand extended toward it, and its face paled.
“Hah!”
It sprang to its feet, desperately trying to dodge the Vajra Divine Finger.
But the energy bolt vanished mid-flight, just as Neung Yu-seong's two short spears pierced the wolf's neck and chest.
Thwack! Thwack!
“Guh!”
Startled by the sight of me, it had momentarily forgotten about Neung Yu-seong.
As Neung Yu-seong pulled his spears from the wolf, panting heavily, I gave him an order.
“Go join the others.”
With Neung Yu-seong, Namgung Yeong-ho, and Gu Bon-gyeong joining forces, the three of them should be able to handle two Soul-Devouring Wolves.
Still hovering in the air, I twisted and flew toward the four Soul-Devouring Wolves that Jang Ung and Go Un-hyo were fighting, firing four streams of the Vajra Divine Finger, each with a hundred years of energy.
Piiing! Piiing!
When I fire four bolts of the Vajra Divine Finger with a hundred years of energy, it doesn't mean each one gets twenty-five years. Each of the four streams is infused with a full hundred years.
But the four Soul-Devouring Wolves were unaware of the attacks heading for them because the Vajra Divine Finger was so fast and nearly silent.
To make them aware of it, I reduced the power to fifty years.
Swoooooosh!
As the sound of tearing air erupted, the Soul-Devouring Wolves finally flinched in surprise and looked up.
They saw the streams of white chi heading for them and recoiled in panic.
Jang Ung and Go Un-hyo were not the type to miss such an opportunity.
“Kuaargh!”
“Waaagh!”
Jang Ung and Go Un-hyo first cut down two of the Soul-Devouring Wolves, then easily finished off the other two while they were still panicking.
Around that time, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo killed two more Soul-Devouring Wolves, and the Blood Crow Saber killed one.
As I was landing on the ground, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo leaped over and landed beside me.
She smiled as she looked at the gruesome corpse of Gang-sin of the Celestial Vault in the distance.
“That was incredible.”
Only six Soul-Devouring Wolves remained. In the blink of an eye, two more fell, and then the remaining four suddenly fled, darting back the way they came.
The Soul-Devouring Wolves, known as beings of terror in the martial world, had never once fled from a battle.
“Hahahaha! Where do you think you're going?”
“You bastards! Stop!”
As Neung Yu-seong and Namgung Yeong-ho, their fighting spirit belatedly ignited, were about to give chase, Song Ga-hyeon commanded.
“Let them go!”
Gang-sin of the Celestial Vault and twenty Soul-Devouring Wolves had come, yet only four escaped with their lives.
In a way, the fact that four barely escaped with their lives was more humiliating than if all twenty-one had been annihilated.
Song Ga-hyeon and the others examined the fallen Soul-Devouring Wolves. All of them were dead; not a single one was merely wounded.
Song Ga-hyeon and the others gathered around the corpse of Gang-sin of the Celestial Vault.
“Ugh!”
“Umm! He was sliced in half vertically...!”
Neung Yu-seong and Gu Bon-gyeong couldn't bear to look directly at the gruesome corpse.
Namgung Yeong-ho stared at the body, his face tense, and asked.
“Who is this man?”
Jang Ung said quietly.
“Gang-sin, one of the Three Gods of the Celestial Vault.”
“Ah!”
“The Three Gods of the Celestial Vault?”
The lower-ranked members like Neung Yu-seong were terrified, while even Song Ga-hyeon, Geum Cheong-san, and the Blood Crow Saber were shocked, their faces paling.
Namgung Yeong-ho asked Jang Ung.
“You don't mean the Three Gods of the Celestial Vault from the Eight Absolutes of the World?”
“That's right.”
This time, Song Ga-hyeon asked.
“Are the Three Gods of the Celestial Vault part of the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path?”
Jang Ung looked down at Gang-sin.
“Seeing as he led the Soul-Devouring Wolves here, it seems he was with the Ten Heavens. I don't know about the other two, however.”
Song Ga-hyeon looked over at me, standing a short distance away.
“Grand Master! How many moves did it take to do this to him?”
“He attacked with five moves. I used three.”
“Mm! Only three moves...”
“My god! To defeat Gang-sin of the Celestial Vault in just three moves...”
Namgung Yeong-ho and Gu Bon-gyeong groaned heavily.
To have sliced one of the Eight Absolutes in half in just three moves was something they couldn't believe, even having witnessed it firsthand.
The branch members realized that the Fire Dragon Sword, whom they had only heard about through rumors in the martial world, was far more powerful—no, immensely powerful—in reality.
At the same time, they felt an immense pride in being the Fire Dragon Sword's direct subordinates, members of the Grand Branch.
Geum Cheong-san shook his head in amazement.
“And to think I lasted seventeen moves against the Grand Master. It gives me chills just thinking about it.”
He boasted, subtly reminding everyone that he was more impressive than Gang-sin of the Celestial Vault.
Song Ga-hyeon groaned heavily.
“Mm! And I even managed to inflict two sword wounds on the Grand Master. Looking back now, I must have been out of my mind, practically begging to die.”
He took it a step further. But neither of them would ever dare claim they were stronger than Gang-sin of the Celestial Vault.
They were merely trying to ride on the coattails of the Fire Dragon Sword's immense reputation.
* * *
In Dong-ro County, Zhejiang Province, new rumors about the Fire Dragon Sword were emerging almost daily, shaking the entire world.
Thousands of applicants, admiring the Fire Dragon Sword, sought to join the Martial Alliance's Dong-ro Branch. It was said that over a thousand had already passed the rigorous screening process and become members.
Even so, hundreds more were reportedly applying to the Dong-ro Branch each day, with an average of a hundred new members joining.
What other branch in the world could boast a supreme master like the Fire Dragon Sword as its Grand Branch Master, with over a thousand members?
Furthermore, a rampant rumor shook the martial world: that renowned masters from the Record of the Invincibles, including the Thousand Illusions Wanderer and the Life-Ending Saber, had come seeking a duel with the Fire Dragon Sword, only to submit to him and become his subordinates in the Dong-ro Branch.
But not long after, another incredible rumor swept through the land like a typhoon.
The sensational news was that the Fire Dragon Sword had ambushed a ship belonging to the Demonic Emperor's Grand Union in the East Sea and annihilated everyone on board.
It was said that the Fire Dragon Sword alone had killed a staggering force: four of the Nine Demonic Emperors—the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth—as well as thirty members of the Demonic Emperor's Life-Reaping Squad and a hundred Soul-Suppressing Masters.
At first, people refused to believe the rumor. The opponents the Fire Dragon Sword had supposedly killed were too numerous and too powerful.
The Nine Demonic Emperors of the Grand Union were known to be far superior to the Fifteen Venerables of the Martial World and certainly no weaker than the Eight Absolutes. And he had supposedly killed not one, but four of them.
Moreover, the grim reapers of the Life-Reaping Squad and the elite Soul-Suppressing Masters of the Grand Union were so famous that they needed no introduction.
The story was that the Fire Dragon Sword alone had descended from the sky onto their ship and slaughtered all one hundred and thirty-four of them.
Such a feat was impossible in reality, something that could only happen in legends.
In truth, the deed was done by both the Fire Dragon Sword and the Alliance Lord, Hyukryeon Byeok-gyo, but any mention of her was conspicuously absent from the rumors.
While people were debating whether this rumor was true or false, another eye-popping tale followed.
The rumor was that Gang-sin of the Celestial Vault from the Ten Heavens of the Unorthodox Path and twenty Soul-Devouring Wolves had boldly invaded Dong-ro County, only for a mere four wolves to barely escape with their lives.
Their opponents were none other than the Fire Dragon Sword and his direct subordinates, the members of the Dong-ro Branch. Such an incredible group of branch members existed nowhere else in the world.
The people of the world were now living in a strange new era where they could wake up each morning to a new rumor about the Fire Dragon Sword.