Chapter 468
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 468
Chapter Title: Was It This Easy?
Ha Seol-ran extended her senses to their maximum range.
Within that range.
She barely caught her big brother.
How fast had he run off?
Her senses were vast, yet she just barely grasped him at the edge.
A battle was unfolding there.
With her eyes closed, focusing solely on her senses, Ha Seol-ran let out continuous sighs of regret.
Those around her could only watch her tensely.
They knew nothing.
How much time passed like that?
Ha Seol-ran's expression gradually brightened.
Finally.
"H-He... He won."
At her quiet murmur.
"Is that true? Seol-ran?"
Yeon Ha-min asked, voicing the feelings of everyone around them.
As Ha Seol-ran nodded.
Slowly.
Doubt turned into spreading joy.
So Hwi-woong shook his head.
Ha Mu-baek had vanished less than an hour ago.
Yet.
He'd caught up to that monster, fought it, and brought it down?
The real monster was Ha Mu-baek.
'His vessel is too vast.'
It was his honest thought.
Would Ha Mu-baek, who had already become a dragon of the vast sea, stay confined to the small pond called the Righteous Heaven Alliance?
He wondered if the eyeless imugi—no, the snakes—obsessed with petty squabbles at the pond's bottom could even handle him.
He'd driven the pond's dragon to another lake, and it had become a dragon of the great ocean.
Dam Mu-hyeon merely glanced at So Hwi-woong's complicated expression but said nothing.
He was simply in awe of his corps leader's greatness.
Han Seol-bing wore a slightly troubled look.
She had already heard from the Seven Squad members who had been here.
All the jiangshi hordes of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest had swarmed this place, like a tsunami.
And they'd taken them all down.
As the elder revealed his true power.
Which meant.
In the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
'Are there any jiangshi left?'
That doubt arose.
And if there were none.
'What are we Fierce Dragon Corps doing here?'
That question followed.
Han Seol-bing looked around.
The battle between Ha Mu-baek and the Heaven-Destroying Jiangshi.
And before that, the fights between Wi Ji-gun, So Hwi-woong, and the local jiangshi.
The area was utterly devastated, making her question if this was really the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Collapsed walls and ruined forests everywhere.
Before that great wall had been built around it.
This place, once a denser sea of trees, had seen countless brutal struggles.
Demonic Forest.
It wasn't called that for nothing.
Yet.
The result now revealed was.
'Was it this easy?'
She couldn't believe it.
Just one day.
In a single day, this outcome.
'It's because we've grown stronger. And because of the corps leader.'
She thought.
In truth.
During their first operation here.
Even that monster corps leader Ha Mu-baek had faced a crisis.
The Heaven-Destroying Jiangshi he'd first seen when he raged and wiped out the Blood Cult's main base in fury.
What if there had been six of them back then?
Ha Mu-baek might have been the one to die, not them.
Even so.
Something felt hollow.
She had steeled herself to become vice corps leader of the Fierce Dragon Corps and come to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest by the monster corps leader's side.
But upon arrival.
After recovering her qi and assessing the situation.
Everything was already gone.
The day she met the Fierce Dragon Corps as vice corps leader.
There was no work left to do.
'Well, this is better anyway.'
Han Seol-bing chuckled wryly and accepted reality.
What did her own role matter?
They'd overcome a massive crisis and wiped out those damned jiangshi bastards.
Good thing.
The Fierce Dragon Corps' future.
That was for the higher-ups to decide.
Han Seol-bing glanced at So Hwi-woong briefly.
No one seemed to have realized this reality yet.
It was inevitable.
They had lived through it.
Han Seol-bing had arrived late and only focused on circulating her qi.
So she could grasp the implications of what lay before her now.
Those who had endured the fierce battles.
Simply rejoiced that it was over.
And marveled at Ha Mu-baek's incredible power.
Ha Mu-baek kicked off the ground and dashed forward.
His dantian ceaselessly absorbed the influx of qi from his breathing, converting it to inner energy.
Less than thirty percent remained.
He had used some of the qi recovered after Deep Abyss to incinerate the final clone of Dugok Yapae.
As he raced toward where his sister waited, Ha Mu-baek glanced at his left foot.
There was pain, but nothing new—he'd endured far worse countless times.
But.
The wound piercing from sole to instep bothered him.
Every time he pushed off the ground, blood oozed through the clotted mess.
Dust and dirt clung to it.
"Tch. Damn bastard."
It had been ages since such a wound.
Ha Mu-baek spat curses at the now-vanished Dugok Yapae and kept running.
The injury slowed his lightness skill; he couldn't sprint across the air like on the way here.
His inner energy wasn't enough.
So he just ran like that for a while.
The collapsed great wall came into distant view.
"Big brother!!!"
Ha Seol-ran was sprinting toward him at full speed.
A faint smile tugged at Ha Mu-baek's lips.
She must have been worried.
Anyone else might not, but.
Ha Seol-ran might have sensed the battle with her qi perception, he thought.
How anxious and tense she must have been, feeling those colossal qi clashes directly.
She would have sensed his victory.
But until she saw him safe with her own eyes, the worry wouldn't fade.
Knowing that, Ha Mu-baek had chosen to return rather than tend to himself first.
Confirming his presence with her eyes, Ha Seol-ran ran even faster.
And threw herself into his arms.
"Thank goodness. Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness."
Ha Seol-ran sobbed in Ha Mu-baek's embrace.
She hadn't known before.
After awakening her qi senses.
She understood now, so she worried more—and felt greater relief.
She knew well how strong her big brother was.
But this time.
The qi had been truly immense.
Ha Mu-baek said nothing.
He simply patted her back, waiting for her to calm.
He knew showing himself unharmed was the best he could do for her.
People crossing the collapsed wall toward them came into view.
All of them.
When Ha Seol-ran had suddenly dashed out, staring into the distance.
They realized Ha Mu-baek was near.
But they hadn't followed.
To not interrupt the siblings' reunion.
And now they approached.
Wi Ji-gun led them.
"You did well."
At the calm words, Ha Mu-baek grinned.
"I can't even guess how much stronger you'll get now. Ha ha."
Wi Ji-gun let out a hearty laugh at his disciple's feat.
Ha Seol-ran pulled away from Ha Mu-baek's arms at her master's voice.
Only then did she recall her actions and bowed her head in embarrassment.
But something caught her eye.
"B-Big brother. Y-Your foot..."
She saw the wound pierced through to the instep, caked in bright red blood.
"Hm? Oh, just a scratch."
Ha Mu-baek replied nonchalantly.
It had been a while since he'd been hurt.
But back when he first left and joined the Hocheon Corps, injuries were daily routine.
"W-What do we do? Treatment?"
As Ha Seol-ran fretted, Ha Mu-baek placed a hand on her head.
"It'll heal on its own. No need to fuss."
Wi Ji-gun's gaze also fell on Ha Mu-baek's foot.
"A tough opponent, I see. As expected."
Wi Ji-gun had felt that qi himself.
"Just an annoying demon."
Ha Mu-baek downplayed it.
But he couldn't hide the faint fatigue on his face.
Wi Ji-gun patted his disciple's shoulder.
"Ha ha, Instructor Ha injured? That's a shock."
Gongson Mu-oe's voice rang out then.
"Now I can repay the debt I owe. Let me take a look."
The former pavilion lord of Seonyu Valley, the Righteous World's Greatest Divine Physician, stepped forward.
Ha Seol-ran hurriedly made way, knowing him too.
She just watched with desperate hope that he'd treat her brother quickly.
"Cleanly pierced through, from sole to instep. For you to take a wound like this... that thing was a monster too."
Gongson Mu-oe had seen Dugok Yapae.
When it took the six Heaven-Destroying Jiangshi.
Facing Wi Ji-gun and So Hwi-woong.
The reality of such a monster in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest had chilled him.
For even Ha Mu-baek—the strongest he knew—to have such a wound on his foot.
"Just annoying."
Ha Mu-baek repeated.
Gongson Mu-oe chuckled.
"Come on, let's go. Hard to treat here properly. We've set up tents simply, so head there."
They'd prepared when Ha Seol-ran announced his victory.
He couldn't move right now anyway.
So they'd made camp.
Indeed, tents dotted the ruins his battle had wrought.
Ha Mu-baek entered Gongson Mu-oe's tent for treatment.
Cleaned with water, applied golden sore medicine, wrapped in fresh bandages.
"You'll heal quick enough."
Ha Mu-baek thanked the smiling Gongson Mu-oe with a bow.
Lifting the tent flap to exit.
Han Seol-bing and the Seven Squad members waited.
He'd sensed them long ago.
But the urgent situations had kept piling up.
This was their first proper meeting since leaving the Dragon Training Pavilion.
"First time meeting, Corps Leader."
Dang Jin-san stepped forward with a greeting.
His face was sullen.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze shifted to Han Seol-bing.
Even without a word from him, they knew he'd become Fierce Dragon Corps Leader.
Meaning she'd told them.
"While you were away, I handled the urgent matters."
Han Seol-bing shrugged.
Announcing that she and Ha Mu-baek were now corps leader and vice of the Fierce Dragon Corps.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze turned back to the Seven Squad.
Six, excluding Ha Seol-ran.
Especially those who'd been with him from the start—their expressions matched Dang Jin-san's.
"After I saved you all, and this is the thanks I get? Tch."
As Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue.
"Still, you went too far. Vanishing like that, then popping up."
Ha Mu-baek approached Dan Mok Un-roe at his words and patted his shoulder.
Dan Mok Un-roe, about to say more, bowed his head deeply.
Ha Mu-baek looked to Nak Woo-jin.
"You. All good?"
The words carried layers of meaning.
But Nak Woo-jin couldn't grasp them.
He never imagined it referred to that eerie sensation when he entered the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
"No issues."
Ha Mu-baek eyed him subtly, but only for a moment.
"How's it feel to nearly die?"
Ha Mu-baek addressed the Seven Squad.
"Regretting not going home when I told you to?"
He chuckled.
The six said nothing.
The Heaven-Destroying Jiangshi's terrifying aura flashed back.
"Um... what happens to us now?"
Yeon Ha-min asked cautiously.
The Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest was like this.
The Fierce Dragon Corps' purpose was gone.
At her question, Ha Mu-baek's gaze went to one tent.
So Hwi-woong, the Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader, who'd briefly greeted him upon return and vanished.
His tent.
"That gentleman will know."
With the alliance leader here.
What did a mere corps leader matter?
"And. It's not over yet."
The Fierce Dragon members' faces showed shock at his words.
"The roots are still there. Gotta pull those up too."
Ha Mu-baek's gaze turned far off.
Toward where he'd smashed the Blood Cult's main base.
Ha Seol-ran had told him.
When she expanded her senses into a sphere.
Heaven-Destroying Jiangshi burst from underground.
At that.
Ha Mu-baek felt like he'd been struck in the back of the head.
He hadn't thought to check underground himself.
'Hiding like rats underground, plotting...'
His mistake.
That day.
If he'd checked underground.
Then.
Regret and regret lingered.
The Heaven-Destroying Jiangshi he'd encountered then had blinded him to it.
After taking them down.
He thought the Blood Cult was finished.
No remnants besides the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest jiangshi.
Until he met Blood Judge Yeong Do Mun-wi of the Blood Cult's Ten Elders.
"Then when...?"
"Recover first."
Ha Mu-baek answered Han Seol-bing's question.
"What if they flee in the meantime?"
At the follow-up, Ha Mu-baek chuckled.
"In a day, how far could they go? I know where they're hiding. It's all within my palm anyway."
Han Seol-bing's gaze went to his left foot at his casual dismissal.
"This is nothing. Once my inner energy's full, we go immediately."
Ha Mu-baek's eyes turned to Dang Jin-san.
"So, where's my tent?"