Chapter 222
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 222
Chapter Title: What to Do?
A middle-aged one-armed man leaped effortlessly over the great wall before him.
His destination.
Hefei in Anhui Province.
The fastest route there was straight through the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
It was the act of a madman, but the man was confident.
Over many years of traversing this place, he had honed his eye for the paths.
He had fought the jiangshi of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest even before the great wall was built, and he continued to travel these routes afterward as well.
Though it was filthy land infested with demonic beasts, strangely enough, rare medicinal herbs grew in abundance there.
He slung his medicine chest onto his back and sheathed his sword at his side.
Ready to draw it at any moment.
'As long as I avoid the territories of the ones too tough to handle.'
The man possessed the eye to read those territories.
And so, as he passed through the central region toward his goal in the northwest...
"Run away!!"
"It's dangerous!!"
Desperate cries pierced the dense forest and reached the man's ears.
The man halted his steps.
Anyone who would be in this cursed land was obvious enough.
Either herb gatherers risking their lives to dig for roots,
or
'Righteous Heaven Alliance warriors.'
He knew well of those who managed the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall.
They patrolled steadily around the vast expanse of the wall.
The man shifted his steps toward the source of the shouts.
Not that he particularly liked the group, but what sin did these powerless warriors have, posted to suffer in this treacherous land?
Sssaeak!
A sharp yet heavy whoosh cut through the air as Gwan Ha-kyeong's saber sliced the space.
Heaven-Severing Saber Method.
A saber art that any disciple of the Dorim Sect could learn without much difficulty.
However, her movements were utterly unlike those of any other Dorim practitioner.
To the point where one might doubt it was the same technique.
Of course, such thoughts were hardly appropriate for the current situation.
They had taken a wrong turn and encroached upon the territory of a troublesome foe.
Kang!
The saber, flying with enough momentum to sever a neck in one stroke, rang out loudly and bounced away.
The jiangshi that blocked it with its raised arm glared at them with pitch-black eyes.
Skin faintly shimmering with an inky sheen.
It was a dark iron corpse.
"Th-thank you."
One Fierce Dragon Corps member, whose shield had been shattered, managed a strained bow toward Gwan Ha-kyeong.
Had she not hurled her saber in desperation just now, he surely would have lost his life to the dark iron corpse's grasp.
Gwan Ha-kyeong nodded slightly.
'Not even a scratch...'
She was mildly surprised to see the jiangshi unscathed despite her fairly powerful strike.
This was her first encounter with a dark iron corpse.
"Fuck. We can't even take this bastard down among ourselves..."
Pung Geon, squad leader of the Demon-Sealing Corps' Black Squad Two, spat curses in a frustrated voice.
His face was filled with a sense of crisis.
And understandably so.
Taking down a dark iron corpse required at least three squads at minimum.
Five squads to do so without casualties.
Facing it alone like this was a guaranteed loss.
To survive,
the Demon-Sealing Corps squad leader glanced at the ten Fierce Dragon Corps members.
Nine with tense faces clutching shields. One whose shield lay in pieces.
Abandoning them might mean survival.
Dark iron corpses each had their own territories; tossing in suitable bait and slipping out during the distraction meant they wouldn't pursue further.
The squad leader's gaze shifted to another squad member.
The man hung his head low, as if guilty of some crime.
He had deviated from the patrol route claiming urgent bowel needs.
No one had anticipated a shift in the dark iron corpse's territory right there.
Around last autumn.
For some unknown reason, a massive change had rippled through the previously quiet southern sectors of the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall.
The effects had reached even this northwestern area.
As a result, the painstakingly mapped dark iron corpse territories had become scrambled.
If the dark iron corpses had shifted, then the shadow blood corpses, and even the more monstrous ones, would have changed too.
'This is insane. Even if we survive here, the next part's the problem. Do you know how much time and sacrifice went into scouting those territories...'
Learning that jiangshi even had territories was a recent discovery, just a few years old.
And now those hard-won maps were ruined.
Squad Leader Pung Geon gripped his sword tighter.
He had to judge wisely.
Sacrifice the Fierce Dragon Corps as fodder and escape, or join forces with them to take down the monster.
Most squad leaders would choose one option in this scenario.
Abandon the Fierce Dragon Corps and flee.
But the situation was ambiguous now.
Having entered a shifted territory, who knew what might happen while retreating and regrouping.
Pung Geon's gaze turned to the Fierce Dragon Corps squad leader.
Five years in the Fierce Dragon Corps. Just one more year, and he could escape this hellish Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
And over those five years, they had shared life and death together.
Yu Gwi-gwang.
He had been assigned to Black Squad Two alongside Pung Geon back in his green rookie days.
Despite the deep rift between Demon-Sealing Corps and Fierce Dragon Corps, the years had forged a friendship deeper than that divide.
Just then, Yu Gwi-gwang looked back at Pung Geon.
Their eyes met.
A faint smile played on Yu Gwi-gwang's lips.
The meaning was clear.
We'll hold it off. You go.
Pung Geon recalled last night, sharing drinks with the guy.
Laughing about how in just ten more months, with the money saved, he could finally reunite with his family.
"Fuck."
Pung Geon ground his teeth.
A faint energy gathered on his sword.
Sword qi infused with every ounce of his inner power.
"Cover me!"
With that shout, he charged at the dark iron corpse.
Kang!
His sword clashed against the corpse's arm.
Unlike Gwan Ha-kyeong's strike, a small wound appeared.
At minimum, sword qi was needed for effective damage against this monster.
"Kraaaargh!"
As the dark iron corpse swung its arm at Pung Geon,
Kwang!
Yu Gwi-gwang, who had slipped in unnoticed, blocked it with his shield.
"You mad bastard."
Yu Gwi-gwang shot Pung Geon a glance and muttered under his breath.
"Gotta see my family, right?"
Pung Geon replied and charged again.
Following the squad leader's decision, the other four threw everything they had at the dark iron corpse.
The five Demon-Sealing Corps members naturally unfolded the Graceful Dragon Sword Formation.
Though they wielded different weapons, such variations didn't matter.
Back at the Dragon Training Pavilion, they wouldn't have spared it a glance.
But after assignment to the Demon-Sealing Corps, they had mastered it desperately.
It was essential against strong individuals, be they dark iron or even blood corpses.
Chaeng! Kakang! Chaechaeng! Kwang!
The Graceful Dragon Sword Formation meshed well with the Fierce Dragon Corps' shield techniques to confront the dark iron corpse.
They weren't being pushed back easily.
But they weren't landing significant blows either.
'A real monster.'
Gwan Ha-kyeong thought so as she swung her saber with full power.
Like Pung Geon, she drew her inner power to its limit, manifesting saber qi.
Only then did wounds begin to appear on the dark iron corpse, bit by bit.
This was the limit of Gwan Ha-kyeong's skill.
She had trained the Heaven-Severing Saber Method relentlessly and thought she had achieved something,
but it was arrogance.
Without saber aura, even the highest realm of saber arts was useless against these monsters.
Still, Gwan Ha-kyeong gritted her teeth and swung.
Of course.
Stopping meant death. Retreating meant death.
All she could do was give her all.
Unable to use aura,
five was too few to inflict damage with mere sword and saber qi.
Kwaang!
A loud crash echoed.
Yu Gwi-gwang's shield splintered.
This was the limit.
Through the shattered gap, the corpse's claws thrust forward.
A Demon-Sealing Corps sword flew in, but the corpse ignored it.
A shift in strategy.
Eliminate them one by one for certain.
"Kuhk."
Yu Gwi-gwang widened his eyes, glaring at the eerie, ink-shimmering hand stabbing toward him.
Sguk.
Suddenly, a flying sword severed that wrist.
A blade coated in blue sword aura.
The one-armed man holding his sword in his left hand followed with a kick to the corpse's face.
The corpse staggered back from the single blow.
The middle-aged man regarded the dark iron corpse with a calm expression.
'Not bad.'
It was unexpected.
He had thought the Fierce Dragon Corps kids were barely holding with shields, but Demon-Sealing Corps were here too.
A highly rare occurrence.
Considering what those guys had done inside the forest over the years.
He had come to rescue the pitiful Fierce Dragon Corps lads,
but witnessing this unforeseen sight.
The sword aura on the middle-aged man's blade grew denser.
Kicking off the ground, his sword danced gracefully.
"Ah!"
The Demon-Sealing Corps members watched in admiration.
It was a familiar sword style, but he had no memory of seeing one so majestic.
In just three exchanges, the man's sword cleaved the dark iron corpse into four pieces.
"Hoo."
Sheathing his sword, the man let out a deep sigh and grimaced.
Pain radiating from his dantian.
Due to his dantian injury and inner power limits, he could maintain sword aura for barely five exchanges.
"Th-thank you, great hero."
Pung Geon recovered first and clasped his hands in salute.
"The territories seem to have shifted. Get out of here quickly."
He shared what he had sensed crossing the central area.
The man had the eye to read territories and detected the subtle changes, but these folk likely didn't know yet.
"Th-thank you."
The others soon followed, bowing deeply in gratitude.
"No need. I merely lent a hand because I was pleased to see comrades protecting each other even in peril."
"Might we know the great hero's esteemed name?"
Pung Geon stepped forward.
He hadn't even considered someone outside the Demon-Sealing Corps being in the forest.
Thanks to the aid in escaping peril, perhaps.
"Let's leave this place first."
The man urged, but Pung Geon didn't budge.
"Hoo."
The man sighed.
"...Nam Hui."
With that, he started walking.
"Follow me. I'll guide you to safety."
And so, the middle-aged man Nam Hui escorted the Demon-Sealing Corps out, scaled the northwestern wall of the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall, and raced straight toward Anhui Province.
"Stop."
At the sudden command from their instructor, question marks appeared on the faces of Wa Dragon Corps Squad Twenty trainees.
He occasionally offered advice, but halting training like this was a first.
Muk Hae-jin stepped to the center of the training ground.
"Your formation looks solid enough. Time to test it in real combat."
The Wa Dragon Corps Squad Twenty trainees were currently practicing the Graceful Dragon Sword Formation.
"Pardon?"
"There was an Iron Cavalry Clan guy among your opponents, right?"
The trainees were at a loss how to respond to Muk Hae-jin's question.
Because they knew his origins lay with the Iron Cavalry Clan.
"The Fierce Dragon Corps lot would no doubt advise breaking you individually."
The follow-up words startled the twenty trainees.
Muk Hae-jin smirked at their reaction.
After all, he himself had been the judge who witnessed that individual dismantling up close at last year's Summer Combat Festival.
"To pull that off, you need a swift resolution. At least know your enemy first."
The trainees were dazed by the friendly advice.
And understandably.
They had never received such favor from their own sect's disciples before.
"Why such faces? It's only natural for an instructor to teach his trainees. Come at me."
Muk Hae-jin took up his spear stance.
The Iron Cavalry Clan was a faction centered on iron cavalry troops.
As such, their spear arts using cavalry spears were highly developed.
When not mounted, they used long spears about six feet three inches—slightly shorter than cavalry spears.
"Here I come first."
Toward the still-dazed trainees, Muk Hae-jin swung his spear first.
If their heads couldn't grasp it, their bodies would learn through motion.
At Muk Hae-jin's preemptive strike, the Wa Dragon Corps Squad Twenty trainees scrambled into action.
Iron Soul Spear Method.
Muk Hae-jin's specialty, and also the ace of Wa Dragon Corps Squad One, Cheol Ryeong's, signature spear art.
A domineering style that swept away foes in a single sweep assaulted the trainees relentlessly.
From the academy rooftop, Ha Mu-baek watched the scene.
'Hmm. Do those kids just have a knack for drawing good people?'
Han Seol-bing was one, and now Muk Hae-jin too.
Seeing the instructors personally assist, Ha Mu-baek gazed thoughtfully.
Wasn't he himself paying close attention to those kids?
Though it was his own trainees who had stirred things up.
'What to do?'
Ha Mu-baek pondered.
Watching like this, their chances of victory were slim.
Last year had succeeded because he stepped in personally.
The current Wa Dragon Corps Squad One kids were more complacent than last year's Hidden Dragon Corps Squad One, true.
But Squad Twenty's preparation fell short compared to last year.
Above all,
'Inner power's the issue.'
This was an insurmountable wall.
Only a certain gap could be bridged with techniques and formations.
Last year, Ha Mu-baek had overcome it by personally implanting inner power seeds.
But stepping in like that for these kids now would be ridiculous.
Moreover, their heart method wasn't the Three Talents Heart Method.
'What to do?'
It wasn't a worry he would normally entertain.
But the image of Ha Seol-ran occasionally seeking his advice lingered in his mind.