Chapter 189
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 189
Chapter Title: Such a Commotion
He ran at full speed.
Pinpointing the suspects, he charged toward them at his utmost velocity.
The moment he reached the distance where he could see them...
One of them leaped into the air and scattered powder from a small pouch into the sky.
Concentrating his inner energy into his eyes, every single particle of that fine powder became visible.
The wind blew.
The particles began to scatter on the wind.
Too late.
...
No, not too late.
'They aren't poisoned until they inhale it.'
His movements were faster than expected.
In an instant, Ha Mu-baek was swinging his sword.
Autonomous Flying Sword.
His target wasn't a person.
It was the powder scattering through the air on the wind.
Ha Mu-baek focused.
The sword whirled around him.
At an astonishing speed.
Spinning in a specific radius.
Like a whirlwind.
And then...
A whirlwind howled to life.
A whirlwind of sword aura.
The ten Blood Cult warriors gaped at the sword that had appeared out of nowhere, spinning on its own.
That was the source of the whooshing sound they'd heard moments ago.
A sword moving by itself?
Impossible.
Yet it was happening.
"A-Autonomous Flying Sword..."
One of the ten muttered under his breath.
In that moment, as they were entranced by the sword aura whirlwind...
"I'll deal with you lot later."
A sudden voice rang out, followed by...
Thud! Thump thump thump!
Dull impacts echoed as all ten crumpled to the ground.
"Whoa, what is that?"
"Incredible!"
Passersby marveled at the sword that had suddenly appeared, spinning wildly before vanishing into speeds invisible to the eye.
And at the gleaming white whirlwind as well.
Gasp. "I-Is that an Autonomous Flying Sword?"
The Dragon Training Pavilion's gate guards widened their eyes at the abrupt spectacle.
Ha Mu-baek ignored the reactions around him.
He paid no mind to the ten fallen Blood Cult warriors either.
He focused his gaze upward, pouring every ounce of his visual energy into the sky.
Determined not to miss a single speck of poison powder.
He directed his sword.
The whirlwind had grown into a full-fledged tornado.
A gale fierce enough to uproot everything nearby.
Dust from the ground actually rose, caught in the vortex and spiraling skyward.
"W-Woah."
"D-Dangerous!"
Clothes and hair whipped wildly toward the tornado.
The onlookers panicked and retreated in haste.
"W-We can't stay here."
As the wind showed signs of intensifying, the crowd scattered.
Life mattered more than the bizarre sight.
The trees near the tornado were already swaying as if about to be torn out.
Ha Mu-baek reached his hand toward the sky.
He'd sucked most of the Soul-Melting Poison into the vortex's pressure.
But left like this, the powder would ride the winds upward, dispersing everywhere from the top.
That would poison the entire Wu Chang instead.
"Time to seal the lid."
Ha Mu-baek muttered softly.
Pure white sword aura gathered in his outstretched hand.
With a slight motion, the aura detached and floated in the air.
It began expanding.
A circular disk of pristine white sword aura.
"Go."
At his quiet command, it drifted upward. The higher it rose, the wider it spread, unperturbed by the raging winds, ascending steadily without a tremor.
True to his word, it capped the tornado like a lid.
"Rise."
His sword, spinning furiously, slowly ascended into the air.
Still whirling.
The tornado weakened back to a whirlwind.
As the sword rose, the vortex shortened.
Moments later...
As the sword neared the aura disk...
Ha Mu-baek clenched his fist.
The vast disk contracted sharply, as if grasping the air, folding into a pouch.
The sword halted its spin and drifted back to him.
Ha Mu-baek stared sharply at the sky.
"Is this the best I can do..."
He muttered, dissatisfied.
No choice.
He hadn't recovered it all.
About ten percent of the Soul-Melting Poison had shattered into finer particles and spread across Wu Chang's sky.
"Please don't exceed the threshold..."
The Soul-Melting Poison Ha Mu-baek knew didn't turn people into corpse demons from a mere trace.
It needed a certain amount to activate, devouring the brain and transforming the victim.
What he'd missed was minuscule.
Even gathered, barely enough to poison five people.
Dispersed so finely, inhalation wouldn't matter.
The amount was negligible.
But the Moon Dragon Inn's food was the issue.
Many in Wu Chang had already accumulated doses from that fare.
If they inhaled this and crossed the threshold?
The thought was horrifying.
But Ha Mu-baek could do no more.
As he pondered briefly...
The fist-sized aura pouch drifted down before him.
He glared at it.
Whoosh!
Fierce flames erupted from within.
The inferno from the Threefold True Fire incinerated the gathered poison completely.
The aura vanished too.
"Now for these guys."
As Ha Mu-baek moved to drag the Blood Cult warriors inside the pavilion...
"What in the world is going on now?"
Wi Ji-gun's voice rang out.
He'd come after seeing the tornado and aura.
"Master."
"What's happening in Wu Chang?"
"First, we need to take these inside."
The scattered crowd began creeping back now that the winds had died.
"Let's do that."
Wi Ji-gun and Ha Mu-baek used Air Grasping to lift and carry the ten warriors.
They tossed them roughly into the Fierce Dragon Corps' seventh squad's training ground, then Ha Mu-baek searched their pouches.
One per person.
Pouches of poison identical to what he'd recovered.
As he collected them all, Ha Mu-baek slowly recounted events to Wi Ji-gun.
Wi Ji-gun furrowed his brow.
"Such heaven-defying scum. The Blood Cult truly aren't human..."
Poison to make corpse demons.
And they'd just tried to scatter it in the air.
If Ha Mu-baek had been a moment later, what might have happened?
The mere imagination chilled him to the bone.
"So Ran's with Instructor Han now?"
"Yes."
"Such a commotion."
Wi Ji-gun gazed toward the Moon Dragon Inn and said.
"Indeed."
Ha Mu-baek's eyes followed.
"Looks like I need to check on Ran."
"Please do."
Wi Ji-gun leaped away.
Ha Mu-baek eyed the sprawled men.
"Wish Snow Ice were here."
He missed her Ice Soul Gate Freezing Array.
Interrogating them here in the open training ground...
If passersby saw or their screams spread, it wouldn't be ideal.
"Wall Thunder Dog's over there, so these first."
They might not know much, but he had to check.
Ha Mu-baek struck their pressure points, rousing them one by one.
"You bastard! Show me your neck!"
Wall Thunder Dog's staff swept through the space.
Sword aura scattered everywhere.
Yet Gwang Hoe-cheon evaded it all with a calm face.
"Hmph. I'm not the me of old."
Gwang Hoe-cheon scoffed and swung his fist.
Boom! Kwang kwang!
Deafening crashes resounded.
Neither yielded an inch in their exchange.
Perfectly matched.
Wall Thunder Dog was inwardly shocked.
He was giving his all. To think this Gwang Hoe-cheon was matching him.
The day the Dan Mok Clan fell.
How he'd berated his own weakness.
Since then, he'd never slacked in training.
Even lounging idly, he'd cultivated inner energy and mental imagery in secret, honing his forms.
He was certain.
'I've advanced at least two realms since then.'
Not arrogance—a cold assessment.
Yet...
The wretch who'd fled tail-tucked back then was now his equal.
Impossible.
He'd even seemed to seal his own martial arts to evade the Beggars' Sect's eyes.
And just now, he'd released that seal.
How could someone sealed for years reach such heights?
"You're using sorcery!"
That was the only explanation.
Blood Cult sorcery.
They'd used all sorts of foul arts in the last war.
"Heh. Can't accept it? But this isn't sorcery. It's my real power. Well, I did use another grand technique."
Gwang Hoe-cheon grinned.
But he was growing anxious too.
No expected reaction from outside.
'They should've scattered it by now?'
Half the poison should have left Wu Chang.
The other half scattered within, sowing chaos everywhere.
In that uproar, the Beggars' Sect would prioritize the city over him.
That's when he'd achieve his goal.
But nothing.
His faith in his subordinates wavered.
"Let's see how long you last!"
Wall Thunder Dog's clothes swelled as if to burst.
The sword aura on his staff thickened to an impenetrable density.
Using Eight Immortals Thousand Steps, his form multiplied instantly, closing on Gwang Hoe-cheon across space.
Staffs assailed from eight directions.
Gwang Hoe-cheon swung crimson aura-clad fists, batting them all away.
"Urk."
Confident in inner energy, yet Wall Thunder Dog took the loss in their clash.
He staggered back.
Gwang Hoe-cheon grimaced too.
'Still a monster of an old beggar. Half my accumulated energy's gone.'
No time to waste fighting here.
He'd planned to retreat once corpse demons appeared from the poison.
'Something's wrong.'
No more delays.
He'd achieved one goal with the poison; now for the other before leaving Wu Chang.
Years of sealing.
No inner energy, but his realm endured.
Gwang Hoe-cheon hadn't just hidden.
He'd opened his central dantian for constant mental cultivation.
And he hadn't erased his energy entirely.
During the seal, it accumulated steadily.
The moment it lifted...
Pent-up energy exploded.
Allowing him to match Wall Thunder Dog's power.
Now only half remained.
'Shake off Wall Thunder Dog here.'
He used the other half.
Crimson aura blazed fiercely.
Gwang Hoe-cheon lunged at Wall Thunder Dog.
"Time to end this!"
His fists stormed like a tempest.
The prior clash hadn't just cost Wall Thunder Dog; he'd taken minor internal wounds too.
Before recovery, Gwang Hoe-cheon pressed relentlessly.
Wall Thunder Dog retreated steadily under the onslaught.
A shift from their prior deadlock.
As he reached the room's center...
"Hah!"
Gwang Hoe-cheon hurled a massive aura blast and leaped back.
"You rat!"
Wall Thunder Dog swung his staff, shattering the incoming aura.
Boom!
As the explosion's shockwave spread...
"Farewell then."
Gwang Hoe-cheon's low words.
"What?"
Crunch.
Gwang Hoe-cheon punched into the wall.
And simultaneously...
Rumble rumble crash!
A massive roar as the entire building collapsed.