Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Confrontation with the Life-Reaping Squad (1)
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On the opposite side of the sparring stage stood three men in a row. They were subordinates from the Peerless Sect: Wang Gil-sang, Hwangbo Sung, and Danmok Yang.
Sang Gang-jo had taught the Peerless Sect subordinates martial arts, not just techniques. Today, these three had been selected to judge the applicants' martial skills.
Of course, An Do-pil and the other members of the Dong-ro Branch had no idea who these three were.
Do Hyeon-tak addressed Mo Hui-mun, who had stepped onto the stage.
“What is the level of your martial skill?”
Mo Hui-mun politely asked in return.
“What level is required to pass?”
Do Hyeon-tak pointed to the branch members.
“If you can last twenty seconds against one of them without being defeated, you will pass.”
Just then, the second applicant who had passed the document screening arrived.
Mo Hui-mun cupped his fist.
“Understood.”
Do Hyeon-tak pointed to Deung-bo, who was standing first in line.
“You're up.”
“Yes, sir!”
Deung-bo stepped onto the stage. He carried a longsword he had newly acquired while learning the Sa-il Sword Art, slung over his shoulder.
Deung-bo said.
“How shall we compete?”
“With fists and feet.”
A look of confidence appeared on Deung-bo's face.
“Attack.”
“Be careful!”
Mo Hui-mun wasn't arrogant, but he was confident in his skills. He predicted he could take down Deung-bo in ten moves at most.
Watching the two of them fight, I predicted that Mo Hui-mun would defeat Deung-bo in about seventeen or eighteen seconds.
The Deung-bo from before learning martial arts from Sang Gang-jo would not have lasted even three moves against Mo Hui-mun.
Mo Hui-mun must have been a promising disciple at the White Tiger Sect. Yet here he was, struggling against a mere branch member he had dismissed, thinking he could defeat him within ten moves.
Mo Hui-mun had a slight advantage, of course, but the problem was that Deung-bo had mastered the Sixteen Linked Fists and Feet of the Diancang Sect.
Mo Hui-mun had trained in the fist and foot techniques of the White Tiger Sect for over ten years, yet he couldn't easily defeat Deung-bo, who had practiced the Sixteen Linked Fists and Feet for only a couple of months.
Moreover, Mo Hui-mun had twice been in danger of being struck by Deung-bo's fists and kicks, forcing him to be on high alert.
To my eyes, Mo Hui-mun and Deung-bo seemed to be moving in slow motion.
This meant my martial abilities had returned. Their movements were perfectly clear to me.
*Thwack!*
“Kugh!”
Just as I predicted, after eighteen moves, Deung-bo took a hard punch to the side from Mo Hui-mun.
“Hah... hah... hah...”
Mo Hui-mun had won, but he was exhausted. He had used all his strength to defeat Deung-bo.
“Knghh...”
Deung-bo tried to stay on his feet, but eventually collapsed to a sitting position.
*Thud!*
Do Hyeon-tak shouted.
“Pass!”
But Mo Hui-mun didn't step down from the stage. Instead, he looked at the Peerless Sect subordinates standing on the opposite side.
“What benefits are given if I fight and win against them?”
Do Hyeon-tak answered.
“If you defeat one of them, you will become an officer.”
“No.”
I interjected.
“The condition is to withstand ten of their moves.”
“Ah...”
Mo Hui-mun looked greatly surprised.
Do Hyeon-tak wore an ambiguous expression. In his eyes, Mo Hui-mun's skill was at an intermediate level in the Hangzhou branch. But if his opponent was someone whose ten moves he merely had to endure, didn't that mean they were at an advanced level or even higher?
Danmok Yang of the Peerless Sect stepped onto the stage and asked Mo Hui-mun.
“How shall we compete?”
“Let's use swords.”
His pride slightly wounded by the condition of merely enduring ten moves, Mo Hui-mun's competitive spirit was ignited. His swordsmanship was originally stronger than his fist techniques.
“Very well.”
Danmok Yang nodded and drew his sword. With a determined expression, Mo Hui-mun drew his as well.
*Shing!*
Mo Hui-mun resolved to use his full strength in this match and, contrary to the condition, defeat his opponent within ten moves.
*Clack!*
“Ugh!”
Mo Hui-mun took a short, powerful blow to his right shoulder and knelt on one knee, letting out a frustrated groan.
Danmok Yang had struck Mo Hui-mun's shoulder with the flat of his blade. He then took two steps back, held his sword in both hands, and politely cupped his fist.
“Thank you for the match.”
“Mmm!”
Mo Hui-mun staggered to his feet and cupped his fist to Danmok Yang in the same manner.
“Not at all. I used my full strength.”
The sincerity was plain on Mo Hui-mun's face.
“You have awakened me to my own narrow-mindedness. Thank you.”
Mo Hui-mun had vowed to defeat his opponent in ten moves, but instead, he was the one brought to his knees. And in only five moves at that.
Do Hyeon-tak stared at Danmok Yang with a complicated expression. From what he saw, the swordsmanship Danmok Yang displayed was of a very high level. But he couldn't identify what style it was.
Danmok Yang had used the Sa-il Sword Art he learned from Sang Gang-jo.
Watching Mo Hui-mun step down from the stage, I thought.
‘He's useful.’
As a member of the Dong-ro Branch, of course.
***
The screening for applicants to the Dong-ro Branch was now in its third day.
Thirty-two applicants passed the document and martial skills screening on the first day, and forty-five on the second, for a total of seventy-seven.
The probability of an applicant who passed the document screening also passing the martial skills test was about twenty percent.
If we had used the old standards of the Dong-ro Branch, more than seventy percent would have passed.
This time, however, I had ordered a significant increase in the standards for the martial skills test.
It was because I wanted to create a powerful, invincible branch. No one objected to my intention.
***
“Chief Jang, do you know where the Demonic Emperor's Life-Reaping Squad is?”
“I do.”
“Relay a message to them for me.”
Before I could even finish, Jang Ung instinctively tensed up.
“Please, speak.”
“Tell them I want to meet in two hours.”
“My lord.”
His suspicion confirmed, Jang Ung's expression hardened.
“Where would be a good place?”
“My lord, please reconsider.”
I smiled faintly.
“What would change if I did?”
Jang Ung couldn't answer.
“You know my purpose, don't you?”
“I do.”
Jang Ung composed his breathing and spoke seriously.
“However, it would be more advantageous to fight after getting to know the enemy.”
“I don't need to know about the enemy.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because I don't know the extent of my own martial prowess.”
“Ah...”
Jang Ung realized that I wasn't the least bit tense.
“Where would be a good place for the confrontation?”
“...What kind of place do you want?”
“A place where, once they enter, they can't escape and must fight with the resolve to die.”
Jang Ung thought for a moment before speaking.
“There is one such place.”
***
As I was leaving the annex with Go Un-hyo to face the Demonic Emperor's Life-Reaping Squad, a roar erupted from the direction of the sparring stage.
Looking at the stage, I saw one person standing tall and another collapsed on the ground.
But when I saw who had collapsed, I was a little surprised.
‘Mak-pyo!’
Mak-pyo, the chief of the Martial Alliance's Hangzhou branch, was grimacing in pain, pressing a hand to his right chest, a trickle of blood leaking from his mouth.
My gaze shifted to the person who had brought Mak-pyo down.
He was about thirty years old, very tall with a commanding physique and an angular face. He carried two short spears strapped to his back.
Seeing me walk toward the stage, Dam Geum-hu hurried over.
“Captain! That applicant defeated the Hangzhou branch chief in just over ten seconds!”
Dam Geum-hu spoke so loudly, almost shouting, that everyone turned to look our way.
He paid them no mind and continued his loud explanation.
“After that applicant defeated the two martial arts judges, he demanded a stronger opponent, so the chief went up!”
Mak-pyo had gone up intending to teach the applicant a lesson for his insolence, only to be defeated.
Standing beside the stage, Do Hyeon-tak spoke to the young man in blue robes on the platform.
“You've passed, so come down!”
But the young man in blue saw me, cupped his fist, and spoke respectfully.
“Are you, by any chance, the Fire Dragon Sword?”
“I am.”
The young man in blue became even more polite.
“If it is not an imposition, could the great hero please bestow a few pointers upon this humble one?”
“What insolence! It is an imposition! Get down from there at once!”
Do Hyeon-tak scolded.
The young man in blue did not back down.
“In that case, I will withdraw my application to the Dong-ro Branch.”
“Do as you wish.”
I liked the young man's spirit.
However, Do Hyeon-tak, knowing that many assassins were after me, seemed to suspect the young man might be one of them.
But I could tell he wasn't an assassin. What is an assassination? It is when one approaches like a shadow, unknown to all, to end the target's life.
If the young man were an assassin, he wouldn't have gone through the cumbersome process of applying to join the Dong-ro Branch.
So Yang-gun stood up, smiled, and said to me.
“Are you going to lose such a promising talent?”
So Yang-gun also didn't think the young man was an assassin.
“I can't let that happen.”
By this point, So Yang-gun seemed to think he and I had become quite close.
So Yang-gun spoke gently to the young man in blue.
“Do you think you can win against the Fire Dragon Sword?”
“We won't know until we fight.”
To say that he wouldn't know the outcome of a fight against the Fire Dragon Sword—the man who killed the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable, one of the Fifteen Venerables of the Martial World—was this courage, or was the fellow a little mad?
But as I walked toward the stage, I had a different worry.
‘Will my body react to a situation like this?’
No matter that the young man had defeated Mak-pyo in just over ten seconds, he couldn't make me tense.
I tried to draw upon my internal energy, but as expected, there was no response.
So I recalled a desperate, gut-wrenching memory. The memory of fleeing with all my might toward the valley entrance in the Valley of Requiem, where over a hundred Thunderclap Bombs had detonated.
Standing stock-still in front of the stage, I closed my eyes and slowly immersed myself in the situation from that time.
“You bastard! Don't you run!”
The shrill shout of my direct superior, Altar Lord Cheol Ryu-yeop, rang in my ears.
Immediately after, the hidden weapon Cheol Ryu-yeop threw—the Iron Willow Leaf—tore across my right cheek. If I hadn't dodged in time, my throat would have been half-severed, and I would have died then and there.
‘Son of a bitch!’
The same curse from that time swirled in my mouth. My emotions were fully invested.
So Yang-gun, Do Hyeon-tak, the young man in blue, and the others were watching me as I stood before the stage as if in silent prayer.
I was completely immersed in the situation from thirteen years ago in the Valley of Requiem.
*Fwoooosh!*
As my internal energy swelled throughout my body, I awoke from the past.
‘It worked!’
Standing ramrod straight, I floated about five feet into the air and landed on the stage.
*Swoosh...*
Seeing that, the young man's eyes widened.
I stood facing him, three steps apart, and spoke quietly.
“What's your name?”
“Neung Yu-seong!”
A good name.
“Attack.”
“I will use my weapons.”
“Go ahead.”
Neung Yu-seong took a short spear in each hand and assumed his stance.
“You should use a weapon.”
“I'll be fine.”
“We're too close.”
“It doesn't matter.”
Neung Yu-seong lowered his upper body and began his attack.
The short spears were tipped with sharp points and had blades a handspan long. Their total length was five feet, and they shot through the air toward me.
*Shwiiiiish!*
They shot forward, one aiming for my upper body and the other for my lower. But a sharp eye would see they were targeting six different points on my torso and legs. An even keener eye would discern that the attack was designed to completely block any escape to my left, right, or above within a five-foot radius.
*Sh-sh-shk!*
The only escape was to retreat, but that was exactly what Neung Yu-seong wanted. The moment I moved back, he would launch himself into the air and rain down an even fiercer assault from above.
‘The Thunder-Splitting Ghost Shadow Spear!’