Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Visitors from the Snow Cloud Palace
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By the bank of the Qiantang River, next to a small boat, Jang Ung and Go Un-hyo stood staring at Anpyeong Island in the middle of the river, their faces etched with anxiety. It seemed they couldn't relax, knowing their opponent was a group of ten from the Demonic Emperor's Life-Reaping Squad.
The distance from the riverbank to Anpyeong Island was about one hundred and fifty paces.
On the edge of the island facing them, a dense thicket of yellow reeds grew, obscuring the situation within.
Just then, the two spotted a black figure shooting out from the reeds on the island, heading toward the river.
“Brother!”
“My lord!”
The two shouted simultaneously.
Using the lightness skill of walking on water, I glided across the river as if taking a slow stroll.
It looked like a leisurely walk, but in reality, my speed was as fast as if I were using my lightness skill on land.
With my hands clasped behind my back, I calmly proceeded across the water, recalling the thoughts I had while fighting the Life-Reaping Squad experts just moments before.
‘It seems I’ll have to leave Dong-ro Prefecture soon!’
Even if the Martial Alliance’s Dong-ro Branch became invincible, the stream of martial arts masters flocking to face me would inevitably stagnate at some point.
Moreover, if I only attracted experts at the level of the Demonic Emperor's Life-Reaping Squad, the fights would lose their thrill. I wouldn't be able to ascend to a higher plane of combat and find the true meaning of my life.
My ambition is to rise endlessly until I reach the absolute pinnacle.
Therefore, hunkering down in Dong-ro Prefecture waiting for prey would eventually reach its limit. My ambition to become the strongest in actual combat would become like stagnant water, festering and rotting.
A predator doesn't hesitate to travel thousands of miles through mountains and fields in search of prey.
‘When the masters I desire no longer come, that’s when I will leave.’
I never had any lingering attachment to Dong-ro Prefecture in the first place.
As I stepped onto the riverbank, Jang Ung and Go Un-hyo greeted me with bright expressions.
“You’ve worked hard!”
“What happened to them?”
I smiled faintly.
“I killed them all.”
For me, who had killed the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable, killing ten Life-Reaping Squad experts should not have been surprising, yet Jang Ung was filled with admiration.
“That’s incredible!”
“Brother, are you hurt?”
Go Un-hyo, however, was worried about me first.
As I walked across the sandy beach, I felt my martial arts fading away.
Walking on the sand, which sank up to my ankles with each step, was difficult.
“Uh…”
Then, one of my feet sank deep, and as I stumbled and was about to fall, Go Un-hyo caught me.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
“You must be exhausted from killing ten members of the Demonic Emperor's Life-Reaping Squad.”
Jang Ung said, acting as if he knew.
“If he were that tired, would he have crossed that wide river by walking on water?”
“Ah!”
Jang Ung ran across the beach.
“I’ll bring the horses.”
Jang Ung, who had brought three horses to the edge of the beach, pushed my rear to help me mount.
He knew I became greatly exhausted after a big fight and had prepared the horses in advance.
He would never dream that my martial arts had completely vanished.
* * *
By the time we returned to the Dong-ro Branch, the screening of applicants was still ongoing.
As I headed to the annex with Jang Ung and Go Un-hyo, Do Hyeon-tak ran up to report.
“Grand Branch Master! So far, one hundred and twenty-seven applicants have passed.”
“Good work.”
“And…”
“Later.”
I stopped Do Hyeon-tak from saying more and went to the annex.
So Yang-gun, who had been observing the applicants' martial arts screening, was resting in the annex and talking with Sang Gang-jo. He greeted me as I entered.
“Where have you been?”
“I went to kill someone.”
I answered So Yang-gun’s question without reservation.
In truth, the news that I had killed ten experts from the Demonic Emperor's Life-Reaping Squad was already spreading rapidly through the martial world.
On the way back to the Dong-ro Branch, Jang Ung had ordered his subordinates from the Peerless Sect to spread the rumor.
It was a fact the martial world would learn eventually, so we were just spreading it faster. Doing so would further elevate the prestige of the Fire Dragon Sword, and more powerful enemies would flock to Dong-ro Prefecture.
“Who did you kill?”
Sang Gang-jo and So Yang-gun, who knew nothing, were intensely curious.
“They called themselves Life-Reaping experts.”
The two of them flinched as if stung by a bee.
“Do you mean the Demonic Emperor's Life-Reaping Squad?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“There were ten of them.”
“Ah!”
“My goodness…”
I gave a short reply and entered my room, leaving Sang Gang-jo and So Yang-gun to their gasps. Frankly, explaining everything in detail was a bother.
* * *
After a nap, I woke up and left my room to find Go Un-hyo and Ja-un sitting opposite each other at a table. They stood up as I appeared.
“My lord!”
Ja-un, who had been waiting, chirped brightly.
“You must be hungry. I’ll prepare dinner!”
Looking outside, I saw it was already dark.
I sat at the table as I watched Ja-un leave.
“How long did I sleep?”
“You slept for about an hour and a half.”
Go Un-hyo glanced outside before speaking.
“Of the two people who were here earlier, one said he had something to tell you, brother, and wanted to wait, but I told him to leave.”
“I see.”
The two must have been So Yang-gun and Sang Gang-jo. Go Un-hyo didn't know about them.
“The applicant screening ended about half an hour ago.”
“Alright. Sit.”
As Ja-un and a maidservant busily set dishes on the table, I asked Go Un-hyo a question.
“Your former master, the Golden Sword Martial Venerable, what kind of person was he?”
“He was a just, gentle, and unyielding man.”
Go Un-hyo’s face was instantly colored with longing.
The Golden Sword Martial Venerable, Dongbang Je, had entered the martial world at the age of thirty-five. For fifteen years, he roamed the land, fighting hundreds of renowned masters without a single defeat, earning his fame. Because he wielded a single golden sword, he was given the title Golden Sword Martial Venerable.
He was also a rare figure of the Orthodox Path, respected by martial artists and commoners alike for his many chivalrous deeds.
At the age of fifty, the Golden Sword Martial Venerable took in a five-year-old child who was crying after losing his parents to bandits, making him his disciple. That child was Go Un-hyo.
For fourteen years, Go Un-hyo inherited the swordsmanship of the Golden Sword Martial Venerable.
“Was your master’s weapon a golden sword?”
“Yes. After the Blood Shadow Sword Venerable killed my master, he gave the golden sword to his disciple, Gyu-wi.”
“You mean that bastard who ruined your face?”
“Yes.”
A thick cloud of resentment rose on Go Un-hyo’s face.
“Someday, when I meet that bastard, I will retrieve the golden sword and kill him by slicing his body into a thousand, ten thousand pieces!”
“As you should.”
Ja-un finished setting the food and smiled brightly.
“Shall I call Uncle So and Uncle Jo from outside?”
Uncle So was So Yang-gun, and Uncle Jo was Sang Gang-jo.
“The other branch members are having dinner, the people from the Hangzhou Regional Branch have gone to their quarters, and Uncle So and Uncle Jo were waiting outside for you to wake up, my lord.”
Before she could call them, So Yang-gun and Sang Gang-jo entered with smiles.
“You’re awake?”
“Have a seat.”
As we ate, So Yang-gun spoke.
“The Hangzhou Regional Branch would like to be placed under the command of the Dong-ro Branch. What are your thoughts?”
So Yang-gun must have been waiting all this time to say this. The Hangzhou Regional Branch, which oversaw the entirety of Zhejiang Province for the Martial Alliance, was offering to come under the command of a mere branch like Dong-ro.
“I refuse.”
But I rejected it flatly.
So Yang-gun looked troubled, while Sang Gang-jo nodded almost imperceptibly, as if he had expected it.
“Great Sir, if you would just hear me out…”
“Let’s eat.”
It is human nature that if you grant one request, they will ask for two, and if you accept that, they will push for three and four.
As long as I knew what So Yang-gun—no, what the Martial Alliance wanted, I had no intention of playing along with their tune.
As we were eating, Ja-un smiled gently and said.
“My lord, would you like some wine?”
“Let’s.”
Ja-un poured the wine she had prepared into a cup and respectfully offered it to me.
Just as I was about to drink, a resonant shout erupted from the courtyard.
“Blue-White Jade Hand, show yourself!”
The moment I heard the shout, my body reacted with a powerful surge. It meant a strong enemy had arrived.
Usually, outsiders came looking for the Fire Dragon Sword, but this visitor was peculiar, seeking the Blue-White Jade Hand.
I put down my wine cup.
“Let’s drink after we’ve dealt with the matter outside.”
In the dark courtyard stood five unfamiliar figures.
Hearing the shout, all the branch members had rushed out.
Spotting me, they swarmed to stand behind me.
The five strangers were all dressed in white, differing only in their attire of light armor, short robes, or long robes. They carried no weapons.
I spoke calmly.
“I am the Blue-White Jade Hand. What is your business?”
The man in the center of the five, who looked to be in his sixties, clasped his fist and spoke in a deep, dignified voice.
“I am Hwa U-gun, the Palace Lord of the Snow Cloud Palace.”
‘Snow Cloud Palace?’
I had never heard of such a sect.
Just then, Sang Gang-jo, who was in the annex, sent me a mental message.
[The Snow Cloud Palace is a mysterious sect, known for using Ice Arts.]
[Ice Arts?]
[The people of the Snow Cloud Palace use only palm techniques based on their Ice Arts, instead of weapons.]
[I see.]
[I won’t tell you to be careful.]
I calmly addressed Hwa U-gun, the Palace Lord of the Snow Cloud Palace who had just spoken.
“Do you have business with me?”
I hoped he had come to fight. If not, I would have to start one. Having been interrupted during my meal, I needed to get something out of this.
I had fought and killed ten members of the Demonic Emperor's Life-Reaping Squad today, but I was not yet satisfied.
And there was no law against fighting twice in one day. If given the chance, I could fight ten times.
There was no hostility on the faces of Hwa U-gun and the other four. But there was no goodwill either.
“I heard you killed the Sword Demon King, Nu Jin-sang. Is this true?”
“It is.”
“By what method did you kill him?”
The conversation was heading in a strange direction.
“Is that why you came to find me?”
“It is.”
When I gave him a nonplussed look, Hwa U-gun’s expression turned serious.
“This is a very important matter to us. Please tell me.”
“The Five Elements Divine Art.”
“The Five Elements Divine Art!”
When I killed Nu Jin-sang, I had imbued the Five Elements Divine Art with the Blue-White Ice Flower, so it was ambiguous to say I had killed him with the Blue-White Ice Flower alone.
Hwa U-gun and the other members of the Snow Cloud Palace were greatly shocked, their faces changing color.
Not only them, but So Yang-gun and the branch members also stared at me with astonished faces.
It was only natural they would be surprised to hear that I had killed Nu Jin-sang with one of the Five Great Divine Arts of the world, the Five Elements Divine Art.
In my opinion, and it was a fact, there were not many in the martial world who had mastered one of the Five Great Divine Arts.
So Yang-gun knew that I had killed Nu Jin-sang, but he had no idea I had used the Five Elements Divine Art, so he was extremely surprised.
So Yang-gun was falling deeper and deeper under my spell, but this was only the beginning.
Hwa U-gun cleared his throat and asked again.
“The rumors say the Sword Demon King turned to ice and then shattered into dozens of pieces. Is this true?”
I shook my head.
“That is not true.”
Hwa U-gun narrowed his brow.
“Then what is the truth?”
“Nu Jin-sang didn’t shatter into dozens of pieces of ice, but hundreds.”
“Hah!”
That was the truth.
I asked him directly.
“Have you come to avenge Nu Jin-sang?”
“No.”
“What is your purpose in seeking me out?”
“I want to know what technique you used to freeze Nu Jin-sang’s body.”
“Didn’t I just say it was the Five Elements Divine Art?”
“Does the Five Elements Divine Art include Ice Arts?”
“It does.”
They had barged in while I was eating, called me out, and were now spouting such nonsense.
I hadn't realized it before, but now I was starting to understand why I found conversations so irritating and infuriating. It seems I don't like talkative people.