Chapter 326
Chapter 326
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 326
Chapter Title: Heavenly Conqueror (?) Gwak Jidal
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, Dang Mujin departed from Chongqing alongside Hwayeon Divine Nun, heading for Dongting Lake.
However, Hwayeon Divine Nun dawdled in a peculiar way. At this pace, it was clear they wouldn't make it back in half a month—probably not even in a full month.
"..."
But he couldn't urge her on hastily.
Dang Mujin was the one in a hurry, and the gap in their cultivation levels was no small matter.
Even looking across the entire martial world, Hwayeon Divine Nun's prowess was unmatched. Meanwhile, Dang Mujin was barely stepping out of the late-stage realm. The distance between them was vast.
However, Dang Mujin's worries didn't last long. Once they were a fair distance from Chongqing, Hwayeon Divine Nun picked up her pace as if she'd never dawdled at all.
Now the problem was the opposite. Her speed was too fast—more like running than walking.
It was doubtful they could maintain that speed all the way to Dongting Lake, or even for half a day.
Dang Mujin desperately unleashed his lightness skill and shouted.
"Too fast!"
"That's how you train lightness arts!"
Hwayeon Divine Nun shouted back, tightening the chin strap of her bamboo hat to keep her snow-white hair from whipping around.
Dang Mujin realized the journey back to Dongting Lake wouldn't be easy.
*
While Dang Mujin and Hwayeon Divine Nun hurried toward Dongting Lake, and Dang Mujin's friends roamed in search of spirit herbs under Hyun-gong's orders, a man deep in thought sat far away. A hulking figure with sharp eyes—Heavenly Conqueror (?) Gwak Jidal.
The unorthodox martial world is divided into north and south.
Among the northern unorthodox masters, a few like Blood Face Mad Wolf and Twin Pole Blood Gramps had made names for themselves.
Similarly, the southern unorthodox world had its two powerhouses, known as the Twin Strong.
One was Blood Rain Wanderer, who left rivers of blood wherever he went. The other was the warrior with the largest force in the south—Heavenly Conqueror Gwak Jidal.
They were called the "Twin Strong" in past tense because, about two or three years ago, Blood Rain Wanderer had suddenly set aside his sword.
In this situation, the one most delighted by the news of Blood Rain Wanderer sheathing his blade was none other than Heavenly Conqueror Gwak Jidal.
'Felt like a nagging tooth fell out on its own.'
Back when Blood Rain Wanderer roamed the unorthodox world, clueless underlings would spout nonsense in front of Gwak Jidal.
Something like this:
"Bro! Blood Rain Wanderer showed up two days away."
"So?"
"How can two tigers share one mountain? Crush Blood Rain Wanderer right now and stand tall as the south's supreme!"
Each time he heard such talk, Heavenly Conqueror thought:
You idiots. It's not your neck on the line, so easy for you to say.
Despite his grandiose title of Heavenly Conqueror, Gwak Jidal had no desire to fight Blood Rain Wanderer. He wasn't a man who enjoyed battle to begin with. His interest lay only in the wealth and glory that followed victory.
Gwak Jidal hadn't carefully trod the path of conquest from the moment he learned martial arts to earn the title Heavenly Conqueror. Rather, he had survived until now to claim the position, calling himself Heavenly Conqueror.
Occasionally, fools appeared who tried to make a name by meticulously walking that path.
But every one of them died before crossing the peak realm wall. Nothing in the world is as foolish as walking the path of conquest without the skill to back it up.
It was only natural that Gwak Jidal, having survived this long, held a mindset slightly different from what the title Heavenly Conqueror implied.
'The important thing is survival.'
Whenever his underlings created an atmosphere pushing for a showdown with Blood Rain Wanderer, Gwak Jidal would defuse it with some suitable excuse.
"A rash thought. I'll draw my sword if there's reason to, but Blood Rain Wanderer respects me and doesn't infringe on my territory, so there's no need to clash blades."
Each time he brushed it off like that, Gwak Jidal worried inwardly.
'What if Blood Rain Wanderer actually challenges me?'
But despite all the horrific rumors swirling around him, Blood Rain Wanderer never challenged Heavenly Conqueror Gwak Jidal. Not even after long years.
It didn't seem like he'd suddenly attack now, but the lingering worry was unavoidable. Occasionally, Gwak Jidal imagined the rumored Blood Rain Wanderer appearing before him, drawing his sword.
In his imagination, Blood Rain Wanderer was a man hiding mad eyes beneath a bamboo hat, his robes always soaked in blood.
It wasn't mere fantasy. Countless rumors backed his image. Honestly, Gwak Jidal was a bit afraid of Blood Rain Wanderer.
'Hope he never shows up.'
But Gwak Jidal's anxieties vanished cleanly with the rumor that Blood Rain Wanderer had set down his sword.
Once word spread that he'd bathed in gold basin water to wash away the blood, his underlings vied to praise Gwak Jidal.
"Blood Rain Wanderer ultimately chose not to challenge you, bro. He knows his place."
"Of course. If he'd come at you, he'd have died without even sheathing his sword."
It pleased him greatly, but Gwak Jidal scolded them with a stern demeanor.
"Mind your tongues. A hero of the unorthodox world has set aside his sword—you should lament it. I never wished him as an enemy, yet I awaited the day our blades would meet."
As he spoke with a feigned look of regret, his underlings praised him even more fervently.
The twin power structure collapsed, and Gwak Jidal truly became the south's strongest in name and reality. Wealth trickling in from various southern regions filled his coffers.
However, contrary to what people thought, Gwak Jidal hadn't fully dominated the southern martial world.
If Blood Rain Wanderer was a massive worry, there was also one tiny, nagging concern.
An insignificant village no one paid attention to—a single place in the south beyond Gwak Jidal's influence. Head a bit south from Dongting Lake, and you'd find Samgu Village.
"..."
Gwak Jidal raised his hairy right hand and traced the scar crossing over his nose from left cheek to right.
Not long after surpassing the peak realm wall, young Gwak Jidal heard rumors of an astonishing swordswoman beauty in Samgu Village.
He rushed there, and sure enough, a stunning beauty appeared to greet him and his companions.
Her lofty beauty was such that just meeting her eyes made his heart tremble.
But moments later, it was his knees that shook.
The woman's skill far surpassed Gwak Jidal's. Worse, she wasn't entirely sane. Gwak Jidal earned a deep scar across his face, pissed himself, and fled.
After much digging and piecing together info, he learned she was Tu Hui, famed in the righteous martial world.
And from that moment until now, Gwak Jidal never once spoke of Tu Hui. Speak of her, and his surroundings would egg him on to fight.
In truth, the southern unorthodox world had always been a three-power structure, not two. Luckily, two of them showed no interest in expanding influence.
Each time he was hailed as the south's strongest, Gwak Jidal thought of Tu Hui.
His chest would tighten. She was like the single white spot on pitch-black paper—the one person Gwak Jidal couldn't conquer.
'...Still, I feel like I could win now.'
Long years had passed since that scarring day. His martial prowess had soared past transcendent peak, earning him the title Heavenly Conqueror.
Even recently, he'd gained a tremendous breakthrough in his arts from an opportunity brought by someone from the Demonic Cult.
But he had no desire to fight Tu Hui needlessly. Lately, Gwak Jidal had been enjoying immensely happy days. Just not perfectly free of worries.
Gwak Jidal averted his eyes from Tu Hui.
*
However, a trivial issue arose not long ago. It started with unexpected news.
One of Gwak Jidal's underlings burst in, shouting.
"Bro! Sword Ghost Nangong Jencheon's appeared!"
"What? Where?"
"He's left the Nangong family and is heading this way."
At those words, Heavenly Conqueror Gwak Jidal lurched to his feet. Seeing this, the underling yelled.
"Bro! You planning to retreat? You can beat Nangong Jencheon, right?"
Unthinkingly, Gwak Jidal raised his right hand to his right cheek, feeling the scar running vertically to his jaw.
A wound from his youth, when he'd luckily survived encountering Nangong Jencheon. That day too, Gwak Jidal had fled with wet trousers.
The gap between him and Nangong Jencheon was even wider than between him and Tu Hui.
Yet Gwak Jidal feigned boldness.
"...Of course I can win. When blades clash, it's not always a hundred victories in a hundred battles, but I'd win eight out of ten."
"Then why retreat!"
"You're still short-sighted. What do you think happens if I take Nangong Jencheon's head?"
"You'd raise your name as the south's supreme!"
Gwak Jidal's underling answered without hesitation. The others nodded.
But Gwak Jidal looked at him pitifully, then bellowed.
"Out!"
As the underlings flinched, he sighed deeply.
"You don't know the righteous folk. They never accept defeat quietly. Cut off Sword Ghost Nangong Jencheon's head, and Poison Owl Thunder Sword Nangong Jinya will rally the righteous martial world against us. Manforce Monk, Able Light Sword, Spirit Treasure Daoist... and that Ghost Grass Dog fellow too. That's how the righteous operate."
"...Bro, if I may, Spirit Treasure Daoist probably won't come."
The underling caught the slip sharply, irking Gwak Jidal.
"Even without Spirit Treasure Daoist, the other three will! Then I'd face three-on-one. Even I can't win that."
There's something admirable about a superior humbly admitting his limits.
Awed by Gwak Jidal's foresight, his underlings nodded.
"I see. Never thought that far."
"Blindly accepting reckless fights and courting foolish death isn't the warrior's way. For the unorthodox world's sake too, sometimes you must think realistically, swallow your pride, and retreat."
"Understood."
Having splendidly rationalized, Heavenly Conqueror Gwak Jidal fled Nangong Jencheon while preserving his dignity.
But what he'd told his underlings wasn't all red lies.
Heavenly Conqueror believed he could now defeat Nangong Jencheon, unlike in the past.
The arts taught by that Demonic Cult figure were that powerful. Against his self from two years ago, he'd win nine out of ten.
'Still, no need to fight needlessly. The Nangong family's power is no joke. I'm plenty happy as is...'
Heavenly Conqueror survived once more.
*
About half a month after hiding, the news he'd awaited reached Heavenly Conqueror Gwak Jidal.
"Nangong Jencheon's gone."
"Good. Well done."
Gwak Jidal started to return to base, then casually asked his underling.
"Where'd Nangong Jencheon head?"
"West, they say."
"West? Toward Dongting Lake?"
"A bit south of Dongting Lake, from what I heard."
Gwak Jidal's movements paused.
His underlings thought nothing of it, but he intuited Nangong Jencheon's destination. Hadn't he come straight from the Nangong family toward him?
Next target: Tu Hui. Nangong Jencheon was surely heading to Samgu Village for her.
Would sword-mad Nangong Jencheon visit Samgu Village just to chat with Tu Hui?
Unlikely. He only sought others when craving a blade fight. He must intend to clash with her.
Gwak Jidal smiled contentedly.
"Good. Let's head back."
*
Not long after, Gwak Jidal heard the next rumor.
"Nangong Jencheon's bypassing Dongting Lake, still heading west."
"Where's he at now?"
"At least Guizhou by now."
"Hmm. Any word of injuries?"
"Nothing like that."
Nangong Jencheon leaving Samgu Village unscathed meant he'd beaten Tu Hui.
Exactly as Gwak Jidal hoped.
He sprang to his feet. The time had come.
Time to become the south's ruler, a man unworthy of the shame of Heavenly Conqueror.
Time to remove the last pebble rattling in his chest, to cover the unstained paper completely.
'Did Nangong Jencheon kill Tu Hui? Probably. But she might live—with grievous wounds.'
Blood Rain Wanderer sheathed his sword, Tu Hui dead or critically injured.
One task remained for Gwak Jidal: seek out Tu Hui.
Whether to confirm her death or end her lingering breath, he didn't know.
His heart raced inexplicably.
He recalled the Tu Hui from his youth. Terrifying, yet more beautiful.
Looking back now, she might have been his first love.
Thus, Gwak Jidal vowed: if Tu Hui lived, he'd rape her before killing—don't forget.
His loins grew heavy.
Gwak Jidal grabbed his sword and ordered his underlings.
"I'll return soon. Hold the fort and keep out of trouble."
"Bro, where are you going?"
"No need to know."
Gwak Jidal headed to Samgu Village with utter confidence.
In this moment, his bearing matched the Heavenly Conqueror title perfectly.
Heavenly Conqueror Gwak Jidal never doubted Tu Hui was alone in Samgu Village.