The Fist King's Deadly Ambush
Yang Dong spoke. “As expected... the Murim Five Sovereigns are disasters in human form. I am truly impressed, Sword Sovereign.”
“Did you really think these could stop me?”
“Of course not. But it seems you are unaware of something, Sword Sovereign.”
“What?”
“Long ago, when the Black Tiger Sword Sect was founded, the one who established it was none other than a member of the Demonic Cult!”
“..!”
Chwarururururuk! At the Black Tiger Sword Sect Leader’s clap, black chains burst from the corpses of the assassins. Baekri Hyeok, shaken for the first time by an unfamiliar art, quickly steadied himself and cut at the chains. Yet it did not take long for him to realize the truth—these chains were an endlessly regenerating spell meant to bind him.
“You must have heard of the Phantom Demon Sect! They specialize in illusions. To break free from this illusion...!”
“Pathetic.”
Chwaaaaaak!! Baekri Hyeok seized his sword with both hands and swung with such force that it seemed he would cleave the world itself. It was the complete form of the Hundred Heavens Three Stances—the True Slash. Though only a single strike, its power was immense. The absolute sword that bisected space itself not only shredded the regenerating chains into fragments but annihilated them entirely. More precisely—
“You shattered the very space layered with the illusion? This madman— Gack!”
“It seems you have sorely underestimated my true strength.”
Having escaped the illusion, Baekri Hyeok immediately seized the Black Tiger Sword Sect Leader by the throat. The man, stunned by such insane martial prowess, offered no resistance and had his life placed entirely in Baekri Hyeok’s hands. His face turned a deep blue as breath failed him.
“I will not kill you. I need information about the Demonic Cult.”
“Keck! Keheek!”
“To think the Demonic Cult would not merely plant spies but attempt to establish entire sects... They are bolder than I imagined.”
More than a hundred years had passed since the Demonic Cult last revealed itself. Their previous rampage had occurred when the current Five Sovereigns—excluding Baekri Hyeok—were at their peak. They had suffered devastating losses before barely escaping to the Heavenly Mountain.
“At this point, I have no choice but to inform the others.”
He had intended to keep silent about the Demonic Cult until he was certain, but the moment he realized the massive Black Path sect known as the Black Tiger Sword Sect was under Demonic Cult control, the matter could no longer remain his secret alone.
Yet at that instant—
Kwaaaaaang!
“Hmm?”
A tremendous clash of power echoed from somewhere nearby. Judging by the sound, a real battle had erupted. Who could have moved when the Black Tiger Sword Sect lay in ruins?
“...Could it be?!”
Baekri Hyeong had warned of spies within the clan. Baekri Hyeok now considered the possibility that those spies were Demonic Cult pawns. If so, they could share information with their fellow cultists. What if this entire scheme was meant to lure him, one of the Murim Five Sovereigns, away so the defenseless Baekri Clan could be struck? What if someone had broken out from within the clan and was now heading toward Black Tiger territory—only to clash with forces already moving against the Baekri Clan?
“Fist King Neunghogun!”
Having grasped the situation, Baekri Hyeok seized the Black Tiger Sword Sect Leader by the scruff and soared into the sky. One of the Ten Great Masters had moved. No matter how deep the Baekri Clan’s foundations ran, how long could they withstand a master who had reached the pinnacle of the Hwagyeong realm? Praying that whoever was fighting would survive until his arrival, Baekri Hyeok used successive Void Steps to race toward the source of the massive disturbance.
**********
“So you are the Sword Sovereign’s son?”
“...”
While heading toward the Black Tiger Sword Sect’s forces, Baekri Hyeong sensed an overwhelming power and came to a halt. The old man before him was one of the Ten Great Masters—the Fist King of the Unorthodox Path, Neunghogun.
‘There is no chance of victory.’
At the Transcendent Peak realm he might have stood a ten percent chance, but facing one of the Ten Great Masters while still at the Peak realm was impossible. Had the man been waiting for the exact moment Baekri Hyeok left the clan? If so, it meant the Black Tiger Sword Sect had planned to destroy the Baekri Clan from the start—and that the spies within the clan were in league with them.
“This lowly one of the Murim greets Senior Fist King. Might I ask what brings you here...?”
“Whether you truly do not know or are merely stalling for time, I cannot tell.”
“The path ahead belongs to the Orthodox factions—specifically the territory of the Hubei Alliance. If an Unorthodox master invades with killing intent, it would mean declaring war on the entire Hubei Alliance, would it not?”
“...”
“You do not deny it.”
Baekri Hyeong swallowed hard, tension tightening his throat even as he provoked the man. If Neunghogun attacked in earnest, he would die before he could even pass the White Lily onward. His only hope was to stall for time and wait for his father’s return.
“Are you hoping the Sword Sovereign will sense the situation and come to your aid?”
“Oh dear, you caught me. So, would you mind giving me a little time? I may not look it, but I am rather frail.”
“I heard you are eleven. Yet if you have already reached the pinnacle of the Peak realm... you would become the next number one under heaven. There seems little point in sparing you.”
Kugugugugung. As Neunghogun released his aura, faint strong qi gathered around his fists. Seeing this, Baekri Hyeong knew with certainty—the man was on the verge of breaking through to the Hyeon gyeong realm.
‘Damn it. My already nonexistent odds have dropped to zero.’
Only one option remained. He had to create the most powerful collision possible to alert Baekri Hyeok to the crisis. For that, he needed the Vermilion Bird Sword.
Piiiiiiiiik! Baekri Hyeong drew the Vermilion Bird Qi to its absolute limit to buy time. Resentful at having been ignored for so long, the Vermilion Bird Qi erupted with fury. Baekri Hyeong ignored its complaints and leveled his sword at the Fist King. Neunghogun’s lips curled in interest.
“You intend to fight me?”
“You are still several moves beneath my father, after all.”
“..!”
The Fist King’s face twisted at the comparison. Having once tasted defeat at Baekri Hyeok’s hands during his days as leader of the Cheoksagun, Neunghogun could not tolerate such insolence from a mere child.
Tadat.
“Hup!”
In an instant the Fist King’s figure blurred and reappeared behind Baekri Hyeong. The boy noticed the movement a step too late. Just as Neunghogun’s fist qi was about to pierce his solar plexus—
Kwaaaaaang!
Baekri Hyeong made a split-second decision and used the Black Tortoise Sword to deflect the blow. More precisely, he minimized the damage and was hurled backward.
“Gulp!”
“Hmm. The sword did not break. As expected, no weakling emerges from beneath a tiger’s shadow.”
“Huff... Huff...”
Baekri Hyeong wiped the sweat from his temples and recalled the Fist King’s strike. Had he not switched from the Vermilion Bird Sword to the Black Tortoise Sword, he would have been split cleanly in two. He had not imagined the gap would be this vast.
‘As expected, the Four Guardian Deities Sword...’
The true power of the Four Guardian Deities Sword manifested only from the Hwagyeong realm onward. From that point, each true qi was imbued with four of the five elemental energies, transforming every technique into the ultimate sword art capable of responding to any situation. For Baekri Hyeong, still at the Peak stage, merely blocking the Fist King’s fist qi with the Four Guardian Deities Sword was already his limit.
‘Hundred Heavens Three Stances? No. Attempting it clumsily would only get me killed.’
Even with familiar techniques, survival was uncertain. The one saving grace was that his father had already sensed the clash. It would take roughly half an hour to reach this place from the Black Tiger Sword Sect—he had to endure until then.
“Are you waiting for the Sword Sovereign to arrive?”
“...”
“I am afraid you will die before that happens.”
Paaang! When the Fist King swung his fist, faint fist qi surged toward Baekri Hyeong. The boy immediately raised the Four Blood Wall in defense. Though the barrier held, the overwhelming momentum of the fist qi forced it backward.
“Damn it!”
Abandoning any thought of enduring, Baekri Hyeong switched from the Black Tortoise Sword to the Vermilion Bird Sword and poured every ounce of strength into fleeing toward Black Tiger territory.
Kwaaaaaang!
‘Enduring is pointless! How could a Peak master possibly match a Hwagyeong master?!’
As he fled, Baekri Hyeong cursed under his breath. If the opponent had been someone he could handle, fine—but this was one of the Ten Great Masters, a man on the verge of the Hyeon gyeong realm. It was a miracle he was still alive.
‘If I had remained inside the clan...’
He would have been forced to fight the Fist King within the clan grounds. An environment where he could at least buy time was far better than one where escape was impossible.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a chilling voice drifted from the right.
“Where do you think you are going?”