152. Great Sun Association (2)
Great Sun Association (2)
152. Great Sun Association (2)
It was overwhelming, in the truest sense.
There was no other way to explain the devastation before my eyes. In martial combat, a master's presence was close to a strategic weapon, but honestly, even I hadn't imagined it would have this much force. The Four Heroes, far separated from me, were literally slaughtering the Great Sun Association bastards like a pack of dogs. They had been the protectors of the Orthodox Martial World, and when they'd fought the Peng Clan martial artists, they'd held back appropriately, stopping at wounding them, but they showed not a shred of mercy toward the unorthodox faction that disturbed the Martial World.
The Four Heroes without physical bodies were at a disadvantage when it came to protecting someone. But precisely because they lacked bodies, martial artists facing them found it extremely difficult to block their attacks. And while sword techniques decided victory or defeat in duels between masters, sheer internal energy was the real tyrant when it came to slaughtering common troops. Their techniques, boasting high firepower and high destructive power, filled the sky, the earth, this entire space, turning not just people but even buildings to dust at terrifying speed.
I maintained a safe distance, a fraudulent tactic of facing the enemy with the overwhelming firepower of the Four Heroes. In the past, this tactic had one weakness. If someone targeted me, the Four Heroes had to defend me from a disadvantageous position. But at my current level, having completed Limitless, I could now handle my own defense well enough even against a first-rate master, so I could pour the Four Heroes' firepower entirely into the attack.
Not participating in the attack myself meant I could conserve my internal energy, and the Four Heroes' internal energy was infinite. Well, Top Hundred Masters and all that aside, the only thing that could stop a cheat raider like this was probably someone like the Goshifa Lama of the past. The crashing of collapsing halls and screams continued endlessly. Counting them was meaningless, but the enemy dead already easily numbered in the dozens. But just as we moved past the garden toward the largest hall, the Four Heroes' advance was finally halted.
A giant in a black martial uniform, wielding two curved sabers, who blocked the attacks of Heosan and Moon Immortal.
"Who is it! Who dares to come to the Great Sun Association and..."
I wanted to answer stylishly with 'Yeongmok,' but while he was still fending off Heosan and Moon Immortal's combined assault, the ruthless onslaught of Geo Am and Flame Emperor severed the giant's neck. He seemed to be a considerably skilled martial artist, but in this situation, he was merely Extra A. If they'd formed up a unit of first-rate masters from the start and faced me, such a reckless assault would have been unthinkable, but because of the sudden surprise attack, this place was now the very definition of chaos. The very first lesson my teacher Flame Emperor taught me: surprise attacks really were the best in a fight.
The first-rate masters who'd already lost their heads numbered over five. It was about time for a top master on the level of the Top Hundred Masters to appear... As the four swords danced, one sword suddenly flew at me. I lightly diverted the sword with Transforming Force imbued with the Taiji, but it redirected itself and attacked again relentlessly. This was likely the true Qi-Guided Sword. It was literally a higher stage of sword-control art, flying through the air with sword qi wrapped around it and unfolding sword techniques from a distance.
All this time, I'd been imitating a Qi-Guided Sword master by using the Four Heroes, but witnessing the genuine Qi-Guided Sword made me feel a bit let down. Facing it directly clarified why first-rate masters didn't use Qi-Guided Sword. A sword was a close-range weapon. It was difficult to produce even half of its true power with a ranged attack. To be honest, the realm had been something I'd slightly admired all this time, thinking of it as the realm of a Qi-Guided Sword master. But seeing it in person was quite disappointing. If the purpose was simply to throw something, a throwing knife seemed like it would have been far more effective.
When I struck the opponent's sword with my Flame Aura, the blade, which had barely been imbued with sword qi, shattered into pieces.
"What are you doing!! The enemy is just one bastard! All members, take up your weapons and assemble in the garden!"
A Lion's Roar burst out powerfully. It seemed the enemy had finally gotten a grip, as literally hundreds of black-uniformed martial artists poured out from the many halls, nearly in the hundreds. Here and there, sword qi and sword auras were visible. These bastards really were freakishly swarming around.
"Are you the one called Yeongmok? We have never held a grudge against you! Why have you invaded our Great Sun Association and slaughtered our members?!"
A man who clearly looked high-ranking, wearing a martial uniform embroidered with brilliant gold thread, finally showed himself and spoke. As the martial artists swarmed forward, the Four Heroes also temporarily returned to my side to steady their footing, giving us a brief moment for conversation.
"Didn't you hear that Commander Geum died? Your men disrespected our Great Grandmaster."
At my short reply, the Great Sun Association martial artists wore expressions of blank dismay. Four days had already passed in Sakju. As expected, they'd probably figured out about Commander Geum's murder and that the culprit was me, but they wouldn't know the reason. No one would have imagined that a captured girl from Jidong Sect was the daughter of the Yeongsan Sect Leader's master, and that was why things had escalated to this point, after all.
"Wh... What is the meaning of this? Why would Commander Geum have gone after your Great Grandmaster..."
"What's the point of arguing about it now? Since I've already killed Commander Geum, you have no intention of letting us go either, right? Now that we're already enemies, the one who doesn't launch a surprise attack is the fool."
The Great Sun Association martial artists looked at me as if they found it more dumbfounding than infuriating.
"You must be stark raving mad. Fine. I can see you are an absolute master straight out of legend. But did you really think you could face hundreds of the Great Sun Association's members all by yourself?"
"Naturally, that'd be impossible. I'm going to run away for now, so only the ones who want to die should follow. I can't say when, but I'll come back soon, so be prepared."
This was enough. It was time to retreat now. The Four Heroes had fought from a distance anyway, so I was far separated from them. If I used my Flame Blossom Steps at full strength, no one below a first-rate master could even follow me. Even if one or two first-rate masters barely managed to chase me, they'd just become prey for the Four Heroes. Seeing me withdraw without any hesitation, the Great Sun Association martial artists screamed their lungs out in fury.
"Hey! You cowardly bastard! A surprise attack and then fleeing! Are you even a martial artist after that?!"
Ah... it was refreshing. Was an enemy's rage really something that conveyed such a pleasant feeling? It was more a strategy of overwhelming force than true cunning, but achieving this effect made me feel almost like I was Zhuge Liang himself.
"Isn't it more than enough of a martial artist to charge into enemy territory alone? If you feel wronged, come find us at the Qingdao Yeongsan Sect yourselves. Well, if you have the confidence to break through Hebei's Beggars' Sect and Peng Clan, and Liaoning's Murong Clan, that is."
With those words, I ran at full speed toward the shattered main gate. A few foot soldiers tried to block my path, but as long as the Four Heroes, acting as autonomous weapons, were present, even stalling for time was impossible. From behind, one martial artist wielding a massive curved blade who felt like a first-rate expert did chase me, but when I kept a moderate distance, turned back, and sent all of the Four Heroes at him, it only added one more corpse to the count.
Well, this should be enough. Now that we'd succeeded with such a surprise attack, they were probably going to lose their minds. If they concentrated their masters here from now on to block my surprise attacks, the southern and eastern fronts would collapse. If they maintained the front lines as they were now, they'd never know when I might pull such an insane stunt again.
I was momentarily puzzled because the pursuit was less than I expected, but soon realized why. While I'd been carrying out brilliant acts of destruction rather than just a mere disturbance, Hyeon-gang and Hyesang had secretly infiltrated the inner area and stirred things up again. The Great Sun Association had only now realized this wasn't a lone infiltration after all and must have thought my flight was a decoy. After killing the Great Sun Association martial artists who occasionally came out to search the area while maintaining a cautious distance, Hyeon-gang and Hyesang returned to where I was some time later.
"It was a baffling display of martial might. The infiltration has already lost its meaning."
Hyesang spoke while wiping sweat. Since Shaolin specialized in fist-and-kick arts and excelled in close-quarters combat, Hyesang's monk's robe was already heavily stained with blood.
"Goshifa Lama, the Blood Cult Leader, the Demonic Cult Leader. I had long lamented why Heaven allowed transcendent martial artists to arise among the wicked, but the transcendent martial artist of this generation has come from our Orthodox Faction after all."
Hyeon-gang, who wielded a sword, still wore spotless martial robes. So this was the image of a martial artist who had perfectly infused the Taiji into his sword.
"I'm relieved you both got out safely. Did you find anything out?"
"The prison was completely empty. It seems they're holding the captives somewhere else, not here. And there's bad news. The Medical Immortal Rescue Force on the eastern front was ambushed before it even finished assembling and completely collapsed three days ago. The martial artists who went to the east are already on their way back to the Great Sun Association, so we must withdraw quickly. Considering their route, they may run into our support group."
At Hyeon-gang's words, my heart tightened with urgency. Those minor sect martial artists—there were said to be hundreds of them, but were they a disorderly rabble that crumbled at a single surprise attack? The importance of fellow sect members was the same for Hyeon-gang and Hyesang. We once again exerted our extreme lightness skill and returned to where the support group was.
It was the worst. A bad premonition was always right. By the time we reached the support group, the Great Sun Association forces and our support group were already engaged in chaotic battle. On our side, we had barely thirty-six members, while the enemy force easily seemed to exceed a hundred: an overwhelming difference in strength. But contrary to our concerns, the tide of battle was flowing easily.
Twelve people, moving as if one sword, drew a massive Taiji circle, pulling in and crushing the enemies outright rather than simply blocking their attacks. It was Wudang's Taiji Wisdom Sword Formation. I didn't know the reason, but Master was standing at the very center of the Taiji, moving the entire formation.
"Hm. Impressive. The center of the Taiji is the most crucial position. I naturally assumed Myeong-jin would take charge of it, but it seems the Yeongsan Sect Leader, though lacking in attained martial might, already surpasses Myeong-jin in understanding of the Taiji."
When Master twisted her body, the entire sword formation moved. Without perfect control over this massive Taiji, she could never have conducted the battle from that command position. Master was truly amazing. My first Taiji had been a Taiji barely the size of a fist. Now I could unfold a Taiji larger than the reach of a single sword, but I still couldn't perfectly draw such a massive Taiji as this.
One person who stood out vividly in a sword formation where everyone had become one was Jeong-hyang. If the Taiji had a weakness, it was that its attacks could be monotonous enough that the circular pattern became visible to the eye. But Jeong-hyang, carrying the cold energy of the Ice Soul Divine Art, brought small variations to a Taiji that could otherwise become monotonous. The Taiji Wisdom Sword Formation showed not a single waver even against enemies more than three times their number.
In contrast, there was the Shaolin Arhat Formation. If the Taiji Wisdom Sword Formation was a sword formation like gently flowing water, the Arhat Formation called to mind a single gigantic mountain. It was a formation that trusted in the defensive power of the Indestructible Vajra Body and took a resolute, aggressive stance. Something slightly amusing was that whenever tiny Cho-ryeong kicked with a Cheomju Kick—like a low kick—the opponents found it difficult to react. No matter how experienced a martial artist was, it wasn't easy to react to attacks coming from the extremely low stance of a twelve—no, thirteen-year-old girl. Shaolin protected Cho-ryeong carefully, moving the formation to shield her from attacks imbued with sword qi.
Wudang was water, Shaolin was rock. In comparison, the Beggars' Sect's Dog-Beating Formation moved like a forest. The swift bamboo staves, switching nimbly between offense and defense, became ramparts in an instant, and the moment a gap appeared, they fell upon the enemy like flames of wrath. Among them, Son Yeong leisurely embroidered a dazzling path of sword strokes, slaughtering the enemy. Using the swift movements of Moon Immortal Steps, she'd cut down enemies the moment their weaknesses were exposed, then quickly hide back inside the Dog-Beating Formation before being surrounded. Freely mobile within the formation, Son Yeong might have felled the greatest number of enemies.
What made it impossible to guarantee Son Yeong's MVP was the presence of Lee Eun-ha, who should originally have been in a healer role. Protected by the three formations, Lee Eun-ha continued to play her small zither. With her monstrous internal energy, she simply launched sound waves, unleashing wide-area attacks through her sonic art. Her internal energy was already at a level right below Drunken Beggar within the support group, but sonic art was an inefficient martial art. Even so, her sonic art did not stop. That was because every time her internal energy ran low, she'd pop a medicinal pill she'd personally made into her mouth and recover her energy.
"It seems we didn't need to rush back so urgently after all."
Hyesang spoke with a cheerful laugh. Thinking about it, wasn't it natural? The martial artists of Shaolin, Wudang, and the Beggars' Sect, said to be the strongest of the Orthodox Faction, could never possibly be weak.
"If the Yeongsan Sect hadn't joined, there would have been significant casualties. The Beggars' Sect's Elder Drunken Beggar wouldn't have been able to remain with the support group either, and we would have still been in the middle of our infiltration, so the damage would have become enormous. Be that as it may, the potential of young martial artists is dazzlingly beautiful. Yet the Yeongsan Sect, which appears so magnificent, is only just beginning."
At Hyeon-gang's sincere praise, my shoulders rose, even if it felt childish. The battle was proceeding comfortably, but we hadn't come to spectate. I sent two swords each at the first-rate martial artist who appeared to be the commander and the first-rate master Drunken Beggar was facing, quickly bringing the fight to an end.
"Master. I have returned safely."
I reported my return to Master, who was wiping away her sweat and steadying her breath. She closed her eyes and sank into deep meditation. This was the enlightenment of an ordinary martial artist. Her Taiji expanded tremendously, and at last she broke through the wall of the third-rate realm and stepped onto the threshold of the second-rate realm she had longed for. The Wudang Daoists didn't touch her directly, but circulated their internal arts around her, helping guide her along the path of enlightenment. A moment later, when Master opened her eyes, the same pure and profound subtlety as Hyeon-gang's had settled deep into her expression.
"You've returned safely. Yeongmok."
A purity matching her guileless eyes. For some reason, my chest grew hot.
—So cheesy! Junior Sister, you just fell for Master all over again, didn't you?—
Jeong-hyang's voice transmission came from far away. I wasn't even an adolescent boy, but at Jeong-hyang's playful interrogation, I couldn't say a single word and just gazed awkwardly at the ground.