Chapter 421
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 421
Chapter Title: I Was Reckless
Bi Jin-hyeop was truly out of his mind.
It was because merciless attacks from the instructor were flying at him from all directions.
Retreating meant hellish agony, while advancing brought only tolerable pain.
He had no idea when this sparring match would end, but fewer blows were always better.
Bi Jin-hyeop gritted his teeth and hurled himself into the instructor's sword strikes, swinging his own blade.
'Faster! Faster! More! More!'
To block as many attacks as possible and take fewer hits.
Even as he charged at Ha Mu-baek, Bi Jin-hyeop kept repeating the same mantra in his head.
When Bi Jin-hyeop swung first, Ha Mu-baek would block it.
In those exchanges, Bi Jin-hyeop avoided getting hit.
Even if his body surged forward, a delayed strike meant he got hit without fail.
Yet if he moved just a bit faster, he could block the attacks.
And that realization...
Was what Bi Jin-hyeop was chanting to himself now.
Faster. More.
With all his focus poured into it...
His dantian's internal energy began to flow smoothly—not to his legs, but to his arms.
Bi Jin-hyeop already had some skill in handling his internal energy.
As his will infused the sword...
The energy followed toward the blade.
The result.
Whumm.
The sword trembled faintly and gradually began emitting a subtle blue glow.
Sword aura.
He'd swung the sword just to avoid the pain...
And Bi Jin-hyeop had become the second in the Fierce Dragon Corps to successfully manifest sword aura.
"Huh? Wh-what?"
Startled by the sudden sword aura, Bi Jin-hyeop himself flinched.
His energy flow broke, and the sword aura vanished.
"Focus!"
Ha Mu-baek's shout came with a sword that slammed straight into Bi Jin-hyeop's abdomen.
"Gahhh!"
Caught off guard by the excruciating pain, Bi Jin-hyeop screamed.
"From now on, if your sword aura breaks, that's what happens."
A terrifying voice rang in Bi Jin-hyeop's ears.
When he raised his sword and focused again, the sword aura reappeared.
Ha Mu-baek unleashed a barrage of strikes, and Bi Jin-hyeop blocked them all.
The sword aura didn't falter.
Ha Mu-baek was attacking in ways he could block, so he didn't miss a single one.
But to do so, Bi Jin-hyeop had to swing his sword countless times.
Even then, he desperately kept his energy flowing without interruption.
Because if it broke and the sword aura vanished, he'd get hit.
He hated that.
He gritted his teeth and swung relentlessly.
Watching him, two people bit their lips and clenched their fists.
Cho Mu-ha and Woong-cheol.
Chu Geum-neung's face darkened as he roamed various parts of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
He had already confirmed the extent of the great walls encircling it.
'The lands of Mountain-Crossing are this small...'
The Mountain-Crossing of the Blood Cult's dominion in his memories was far grander.
Mountain-Crossing, the foundation and heaven of the Blood Cult.
Reduced to this size.
Trapped like this.
He wanted to shatter those walls right then and there.
But Il-no's orders restrained him.
Chu Geum-neung scoured the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest again to carry out his directive.
But he found no one worth capturing.
It seemed...
The ones he missed earlier had spread word outside.
The crowds gathered beyond the northern walls weren't venturing in.
A few trickled in occasionally, but they weren't satisfying.
He'd been told to kidnap the strong ones.
These were weaklings.
As Chu Geum-neung prowled the forest, he frowned.
He felt a summons through his spirit link.
Il-no was calling him.
Ordering him to return.
As it was a command relayed through the Cult Leader's decree, Chu Geum-neung couldn't refuse.
So he turned back.
To the place where past glories now lay in ruins.
One of his fellow Protector Deities had sacrificed themselves trying to prevent it from becoming ruins.
They'd failed in the end.
What kind of person could...
Defeat a Protector Deity.
Chu Geum-neung descended deep underground through a hidden entrance.
After going down and down...
He entered Il-no's office.
"You've arrived?"
Il-no rose from his seat to greet Chu Geum-neung.
Though he was taking Il-no's orders now, Chu Geum-neung was a Protector Deity from the previous generation's Cult Leader, of immense seniority.
Showing respect to one's forebears was only natural.
"Why did you summon me back?"
A rough, cracked, sinister voice poured out, grating on the ears.
"Did you attack the walls by any chance?"
Chu Geum-neung nodded slightly at Il-no's question.
It was the truth.
"I spotted some decent captures and chased them to the walls. The energy they emitted irritated me so much that my hand moved on its own. It was truly infuriating."
An excuse that wasn't quite an excuse.
Il-no nodded.
"My apologies."
He bowed his head immediately.
"I should have explained in more detail."
This was indeed Il-no's mistake.
He'd ordered not to cross or attack the walls but hadn't explained why.
For mindless jiangshi without will, orders sufficed.
But Protector Deities were different.
Yet he'd treated him the same.
"The walls encircling our Mountain-Crossing lands are imbued with spells and formations. They emit energy antithetical to jiangshi, so they instinctively repel them and avoid approaching. Lowly evil jiangshi ignore it, of course."
"That's all?"
It was far from 'all.'
"Even Dark Blood Jiangshi can't approach easily. But you're different, Protector Deity."
Chu Geum-neung nodded.
He could probably smash them right now.
"Even if you can destroy them, you mustn't. The moment you do, those vile, cursed righteous faction scum will swarm to annihilate us. Our forces are still too weak."
"......"
Chu Geum-neung fell silent.
"The walls are both our prison and our shield."
"......Understood."
The reply came after a long pause.
"Is that why you called me?"
"Yes. It's crucial whether they've learned of a jiangshi capable of attacking the walls."
"I was reckless."
His remaining reason was remarkably sharp.
From Il-no's words, he realized his actions might provoke the righteous faction to attack.
"It's my fault."
"Understood."
Deeming further words pointless, Chu Geum-neung turned to leave.
"Among the Protector Deities, who is the strongest?"
Il-no's question came from behind.
Chu Geum-neung halted abruptly.
"I don't know."
With that, he left the office.
The Guardian Jiangshi had been created over generations.
Each survived different eras, so it was natural not to know who was strongest.
Still, Il-no had asked just in case.
"My mistake. I awakened and deployed them too soon."
The Dragon Training Pavilion trainees wouldn't arrive for over a month yet.
Word of the Protector Deities had spread too quickly.
For now, he'd ordered them to stand by here via spirit link.
He needed to rethink their next moves.
In the worst case, that bastard Ha Mu-baek might show up.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Yeon Ja-kyeong asked Cheon Gi-buk in astonishment.
A jiangshi attacking the great walls?
Impossible.
Yeon Ja-kyeong knew this better than anyone.
His proposal to build the walls hadn't been made lightly.
He'd already discussed it thoroughly with Il-no in secret and confirmed it.
At Hidden Rain Valley, hadn't they said the spells over their valley would keep any jiangshi from approaching the walls?
Indeed, Hidden Rain Valley had been safe from outside jiangshi.
No Dark Blood Jiangshi had ever entered.
Lowly evil jiangshi occasionally ignored the spells, but they were no threat.
As long as their numbers weren't overwhelming, repelling them was easy.
Yet a jiangshi had attacked the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall.
The impossible had happened.
'Il-no. That bastard. Truly.'
Flames sparked in Yeon Ja-kyeong's eyes.
Fury at being deceived.
"Let's inform Heavenly Eye Pavilion immediately."
"My disciple passed this to me personally, but he said he also sent official word through proper channels."
Yeon Ja-kyeong nodded at Cheon Gi-buk's response.
After that recent incident, both Cheon Gi-buk and the Demon-Sealing Corps were keeping a low profile.
"I came straight to you upon hearing, as the Grand Elder should know."
"Thank you, Elder Cheon."
After Cheon Gi-buk left...
Yeon Ja-kyeong remained alone.
Crunch.
The sound of his grinding teeth echoed fiercely.
'That damned bastard Il-no...'
What was his scheme?
He'd complained that dwindling jiangshi numbers were a crisis.
Then the new poison jiangshi last time, and now this new breed.
He'd hidden such cards?
'In the martial world, power is everything.'
Yeon Ja-kyeong rose and headed to the training chamber.
Having recently broken through to the Flower Realm, he was focusing even more on cultivation.
A wall he'd thought insurmountable in his lifetime.
That's why he'd chased power.
Yet during tests of the Mountain-Scattering Poison meant to counter Ha Mu-baek, he'd grasped the key and shattered it.
Now in the Flower Realm, his clan arts appeared anew.
What he'd known before was mere surface knowledge.
"The Hubei Yeon Clan is the world's finest. We won't yield to some demonic fiend."
He murmured calmly and shut the training chamber door.
Hunan Province, Hyongsan.
Blood Flower Union headquarters.
Mun In Baek-song visited Gong Ya Jang-cheon's leader's quarters.
"Hm? What is it?"
Gong Ya Jang-cheon greeted Mun In Baek-song with a sullen face.
He rarely welcomed visits from that man.
He only came when problems arose, so there was no joy in it.
Seeing him at taverns, inns, or brothels outside was fine.
But when Mun In Baek-song sought him for union matters, it meant trouble nine times out of ten.
"There seems to be new activity in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest."
"Hm? Isn't the Righteous Heaven Alliance handling that anyway?"
"Even so, Blood Cult remnants might linger, so we should take interest."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon frowned at Mun In Baek-song's reply.
"Not our business."
"It nearly became ours thanks to the young miss."
Gong Ya Hwi-yeon had run off to the Dragon Training Pavilion's Fierce Dragon Corps.
After training, she'd head to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
"Tch."
Recalling those anxious days, Gong Ya Jang-cheon clicked his tongue.
"Why did the righteous faction leave it be? They should've rooted them out and slaughtered every last one."
That was the way of the unorthodox.
Gong Ya Jang-cheon muttered his displeasure.
If it were in Blood Flower Union territory, that's what he'd have done.
"You know Ha Mu-baek pushed for it, but Yeon Ja-kyeong opposed?"
Gong Ya Jang-cheon smirked at Mun In Baek-song's words.
"The righteous are more despicable. They just don't see it. Tch. So what's changed?"
"A new poison jiangshi appeared. Something called Soul-Entrancing Poison, apparently."
Interest gleamed in Gong Ya Jang-cheon's eyes.
Soul-Entrancing Poison.
He'd already heard reports about the toxin that threw Wuchang into chaos.
"See? Spare them, and this hassle happens. And?"
"An unidentified new jiangshi appeared... and attacked the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall."
His voice grew heavier.
Gong Ya Jang-cheon looked shocked too.
"Didn't they boast the Hidden Rain Valley spells would prevent jiangshi attacks?"
"We should prepare as well. If the walls fall and jiangshi break free, nothing stops them from entering our lands."
"It's Zhejiang territory anyway. To reach us, they'd cross Jiangxi Province."
Jiangxi Province.
Righteous Heaven Alliance land, but ambiguous.
A region surrounded by Zhejiang with the Demonic Forest, southern Hunan under Blood Flower Union, and Guangdong.
Righteous territory, but left as a buffer out of consideration for Blood Flower Union.
"How long can we leave Jiangxi so vague?"
Mun In Baek-song smiled subtly.
Gong Ya Jang-cheon straightened up.
"The time is ripe?"
"Chaos in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest means the Righteous Heaven Alliance won't spare attention for Jiangxi. And we have justification."
"Justification..."
"The Righteous Heaven Alliance failed to manage it properly. We set up defenses in Jiangxi to keep jiangshi spilling beyond Zhejiang from our Hunan and Guangdong domains."
"Nothing's breached yet?"
"Preparation for the 'if.' Be prepared, no regrets."
Their faces bore eerily similar smiles.
"Who to send?"
"How about Yeom-sa Protector?"
"Infernal Legion? Declaring war?"
Gong Ya Jang-cheon asked, considering the legion's temperament.
"We need that level. If they use force against Yeom-sa Protector, even the Righteous Heaven Alliance will know it's all-out war. They won't dare touch us lightly—not with the Demonic Forest headache alone."
The Infernal Legion's explosive nature, heedless of consequences, was infamous across factions.
That was the point.
A warning: touch us, and it blows up.
Gong Ya Jang-cheon nodded slowly.