Chapter 61
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: That Was a Close Call
Gong Son Gyeong swallowed dryly upon confirming Ha Mu-baek's presence.
He had anticipated that Ha Mu-baek would eventually track down Pang Gun-ho after clashing with Pavilion Lord Pang.
He knew full well how much Ha Mu-baek despised the Blood Cult.
Tracing back from Pavilion Lord Pang Mu-ryang's trail would naturally lead to Pang Gun-ho.
But not now.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
At least according to the sect leader and his own expectations, it should have been after Pang Gun-ho achieved the Tenth Realm and met his end at their hands.
The branch members...
The moment he faced Ha Mu-baek's murderous aura, he thought of those left behind at the branch.
One of them was Yi Gong-nyeong, wasn't she?
His eyes, brimming with killing intent, were overwhelming enough just to endure. Looking into those eyes, they probably...
He knew what kind of monster the man was, but facing him as an enemy surpassed all imagination.
In the last war, even if there were minor conflicts, they had been allies, so he hadn't realized.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze shifted back to Pang Gun-ho. It was due to the energy emanating from him.
"Not bad... It's been barely any time, and you're already at this level. You... are truly trash."
Pang Gun-ho's eyes widened at Ha Mu-baek's words, but that was all.
The fear etched into him ran deeper than he could imagine.
Even Pang Gun-ho himself was shocked by this reaction.
How long had it been since he vowed to master his divine art and devour that damned bastard?
Yet here he was, cowering like a mouse before a cat.
Miserable. Utterly miserable.
Ha Mu-baek's gaze turned back to Gong Son Gyeong.
"No answer?"
"......"
Gong Son Gyeong couldn't utter a word.
"What the hell is your sect leader thinking? Even deploying the Grand Protector to build a place like this and shield that scum?"
Ha Mu-baek's eyes were chilling to the bone.
"Shield?"
At that moment, Ha Mu-baek caught sight of Pang Gun-ho muttering with an incredulous expression.
That wasn't the look of someone being protected.
"Hm? Don't tell me... An experiment?"
Ha Mu-baek voiced the thought that flashed through his mind.
Gong Son Gyeong flinched.
As he reacted to the unconsciously slipped words, Ha Mu-baek's face hardened.
"So they were dead serious about this."
Ha Mu-baek's face twisted into that of a furious demon. This was his true rage.
"To think they'd set up a place like this. Instructor Ha, how did you find this spot?"
At that moment, Iron Staff Beggar Cheol Dam-gae, who had hopped over the wooden fence, approached Ha Mu-baek with a sly grin but halted.
He had sensed the energy radiating from him.
He had seen that demeanor occasionally during the last war. Ha Mu-baek in that state was not to be touched.
Instead of advancing, Cheol Dam-gae stepped back, and he signaled the other three to do the same.
"Lucky we found it quick. Have you been here about two days?"
There was no reply.
He hadn't expected one.
Ha Mu-baek's sword moved.
"Kuhk."
The instant he sensed it, Gong Son Gyeong retreated with all his might. There was no time to grab Pang Gun-ho.
Being highly sensitive to energy, Gong Son Gyeong barely dodged.
At least, that's what he thought.
However.
A red line began forming from between his brows.
Gong Son Gyeong felt that itching sensation too.
"Damn monster bastard..."
Those were his last words, uttered as he instinctively knew his death had come.
With that, he split apart and died.
"Eek!!"
Pang Gun-ho cried out in terror at the sight.
When had he ever witnessed something like this?
Ha Mu-baek glanced at Pang Gun-ho and strode into the cave.
It seemed prepared with considerable effort; inside, there were two rooms.
He entered one. It showed signs of recent occupancy.
The other looked newly settled, so this must have been Gong Son Gyeong's quarters.
To prepare a place like this, he must have stayed here for quite some time.
There were a few books and documents there.
The documents appeared freshly completed.
They noted that Pang Gun-ho, who had been at the Fourth Realm two days ago, had now reached the Sixth Realm.
This suggested room for analysis.
"An experiment after all..."
Ha Mu-baek muttered lowly.
He thoroughly searched everything else.
Then he found a book.
A transcribed copy of the Extermination Technique.
Though only about ten percent transcribed.
"That was a close call."
Ha Mu-baek shook his head.
If these bastards had fully transcribed the manual here and completed experiments on cultivating the Extermination Technique using Pang Gun-ho?
They would surely have attempted to modify and practice it.
If the Hao Sect could do it, that cursed Extermination Technique wouldn't be called as such.
Instead, it would have bred countless demonic beasts.
Ha Mu-baek ignited Samadhi True Fire, burning all the books and documents.
As acrid smoke filled the cave.
"Aaak!"
A scream echoed.
Ha Mu-baek emerged to find Pang Gun-ho curled up, bleeding from his abdomen.
"Damn scum."
Pang Do-won, holding a bloodied saber, glared coldly at his eldest son and muttered with killing intent.
He had personally shattered his son's dantian.
To eradicate the Extermination Technique, destroying the dantian was the only way.
"Your punishment will be decided back at the main house according to clan rules. Whether you live or die."
Pang Do-won said coldly. Pang Gun-ho merely trembled from the pain and shock of his shattered dantian.
Ha Mu-baek watched impassively.
He wanted to kill him on the spot, but his cultivation was only at the Sixth Realm, and he hadn't done anything noteworthy.
If anything, he had killed Pang Clan warriors.
But that was internal clan business. He had to respect Pang Do-won, the future clan head.
Still, there was one thing Ha Mu-baek needed to confirm.
"Where's the manual?"
At the question, Pang Gun-ho clutched his chest with both hands that had gripped his dantian.
The divine art manual he never let leave his person was there.
Thwack.
A light punch snapped Pang Gun-ho's head back.
Neither Pang Do-won nor Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul said a word.
Ha Mu-baek was still radiating thick killing intent.
Ha Mu-baek pulled the Chaos Blood Extermination Technique manual from Pang Gun-ho's bosom.
It bore the marks of long handling; it was indeed the one Pang Mu-ryang cherished.
After verifying the contents, flames erupted from Ha Mu-baek's hand.
Thus, the Chaos Blood Extermination Technique manual vanished.
"Whew. That was fairly exhausting."
Ha Mu-baek muttered briefly and started walking.
His direction: Wuchang.
Now it was time to return to the Dragon Training Pavilion.
He considered heading to the Hao Sect's main branch for this incident, but with the manual burned, there was no particular reason.
The Hao Sect leader's daughter and five protectors had already died by his hand.
With Iron Staff Beggar there, the rest would be handled by the Beggar Clan and Righteous Heaven Alliance.
That was Ha Mu-baek's conclusion.
Iron Staff Beggar, who wanted to chase after Ha Mu-baek and hear the full story, couldn't bring himself to follow.
The thick killing intent still poured from Ha Mu-baek.
"That guy... Can't he get along with people without the sky falling? Sigh. Guess I need to move my residence. Old folks like me get restless with a change of bed..."
Iron Staff Beggar muttered, having decided to stay in Wuchang where the Dragon Training Pavilion was.
It was meant for Ha Mu-baek to hear.
The distance was considerable, but he knew Ha Mu-baek could hear it.
"Th-this... what the hell..."
Ye Cho-a trembled violently as she stared at the report in her hands.
She didn't want to believe its contents.
"Hye... Hye-a...?"
It detailed her daughter's death.
The deaths of three other protectors were listed as well.
This urgent dispatch came from the protector who survived Ha Mu-baek's hand.
"Aaah... My fault... I should have warned more strictly about that monster..."
Tears streamed from Ye Cho-a's eyes.
For the sect's wishes, Yeong So-hye had hidden Pang Gun-ho's location to the end and perished by Ha Mu-baek's sword.
She could have revealed it.
The experiment using Pang Gun-ho was important, but not worth her daughter's life.
With the transcribed copy already in hand, they could experiment on someone else if needed.
Yet to lose her life over mere Pang Gun-ho.
In the end, that protector hadn't revealed the location.
Otherwise, it was because Ha Mu-baek threatened to come for her.
He was the type to do it.
"Ha Mu-baek... I will tear you apart and kill you."
Her tears had turned to bloody tears.
Her voice quivered with rage from the depths of her heart.
"Anyone here?"
At Ye Cho-a's call, her subordinate appeared.
"Hye-a is dead. And that protector revealed So-o Taesan... The Grand Protector is in danger too. Send urgent messengers and men immediately."
Even that protector didn't know Gong Son Gyeong's exact location.
Only Sect Leader Ye Cho-a herself knew.
Thus, she had no choice but to inform her subordinate of the location.
As she spoke with effort, she knew it might already be too late.
That's why she sent not just messengers, but people as well.
To confirm that exact spot.
Her daughter's death had secured one thing.
The transcribed copy of the Chaos Blood Extermination Technique—no, Hunwon Ryuha.
Ha Mu-baek hadn't realized the transcription was complete and at the Hao Sect headquarters.
Distracted by Yeong So-hye and the protectors desperately hiding Pang Gun-ho, he hadn't considered the copy already finished.
"To think the Hao Sect would pull such madness..."
So Hwi-woong muttered in disbelief.
"What will you do, Alliance Leader?"
Beggar Clan Leader Blue Bamboo Divine Beggar asked gravely.
He had rushed straight to the leader upon receiving the urgent dispatch from Vice Leader Iron Staff Beggar.
The alliance hadn't even reached a conclusion on Pavilion Lord Pang's Extermination Technique yet.
And now the Hao Sect incident erupted.
Moreover, the Hao Sect was an evil faction.
Under the Evil Blade Alliance's oversight.
To address the Hao Sect, they had to go through the Evil Blade Alliance.
And Ha Mu-baek had already stirred things up.
"He killed the Hao Sect leader's daughter and four protectors. Even if it involves the Extermination Technique..."
This was a problem too.
Even if it was the Blood Cult's Extermination Technique, a public enemy of the martial world, there was no solid proof, and it happened during interrogation.
Of course, the Grand Protector was hiding Pang Gun-ho and tampering with the Extermination Technique, but that was hindsight.
If not, it would be unforgivable.
"That's why I came to you first. If the other old fogeys learn, they'll foam at the mouth and charge."
The other Nine Great Sect leaders would focus on Ha Mu-baek's actions rather than him blocking the Extermination Technique from reaching the Hao Sect.
It was obvious. They were desperate to take him down.
The Beggar Clan was the only one among the Nine Great Beggars and Sects friendly to Ha Mu-baek.
The only faction in the White Path Assembly that hadn't opposed the Alliance Leader.
Though part of the White Path Assembly, the Beggar Clan valued justice over interests, due to long-standing ties.
Especially current Beggar Clan Leader Blue Bamboo Divine Beggar.
Moreover, no faction knew Ha Mu-baek's war exploits better than the Beggar Clan.
Thus, Blue Bamboo Divine Beggar respected him as a warrior.
He knew too well what Ha Mu-baek had done in the war.
So he understood this incident.
But that was that, and this was this.
It could make positions awkward between the Righteous Heaven Alliance and Evil Blade Alliance.
Internal alliance conflicts were an issue too.
"What do you think the Hao Sect will do, Clan Leader?"
"Cover it up."
Blue Bamboo Divine Beggar answered So Hwi-woong's question immediately.
So Hwi-woong thought the same.
Just look at the criticism the Pang Clan was facing from the sects.
Being evil factions didn't spare them from the Extermination Technique's harm. If anything, it was worse.
They had gone mad seeking and practicing Hunwon Ryuha.
Thus, the Hao Sect would be desperate if this leaked.
"We'll cover it too. If they do."
Blue Bamboo Divine Beggar nodded slightly at So Hwi-woong's decision.
He had expected as much.
"Then we'll proceed accordingly."
Blue Bamboo Divine Beggar withdrew quietly, and the letter he brought burned to ash in So Hwi-woong's hand.