“There.”
Mo Yong-woo looked at Gangryang.
“Is that the place?”
“Yes.”
Gangryang’s gaze remained fixed between two small peaks.
“Assassins operate on principles that resemble those of infiltrators. Because they cannot openly spread their names and must work from the shadows, they make a point of concealing their headquarters completely.”
“Mm.”
“That said, they would never choose somewhere entirely devoid of people. The principle that the darkest place lies beneath the lamp applies to assassins as well. Many top-class assassins live disguised as merchants, courtesans, or butchers.”
“But the Yin God would be different.”
“Correct. The Yin God is the king of the assassin world. He has no choice but to hide himself completely. He is not in a position where he can take advantage of that principle.”
“You mean that he might build an impregnable fortress, but he would never blend into the lives of ordinary people?”
“Exactly.”
Mo Yong-woo’s eyes gleamed.
“The earthquake occurred about fifteen miles from here.”
“If we go there, we will be annihilated. It was likely prepared as a trap, with a killing formation designed to ensure that no one who enters returns alive.”
“Mm.”
“I found it strange from the beginning. The location Brother—no, Supreme Commander Yeon—heard from the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor was similar, yet the terrain was subtly different. That was why even the intelligence adviser unconsciously accepted the earthquake site as the Yin God’s main stronghold.”
“I believe anyone would have.”
Gangryang gave a bitter smile.
“It is the assassin’s way, and also the way of the Dark Path. We have always lived while being hunted. Setting double and triple traps is basic practice. Without them, survival is difficult.”
Mo Yong-woo looked at Gangryang.
He knew Gangryang’s origins. Gangryang was the heir to the Ghost-Iron Sword Gate, once hailed as the foremost sword school of the Dark Path. After a traitor within the gate destroyed it, he had become its sole survivor and an avenger.
That was right.
Gangryang had a blood debt to settle.
And one of the targets of his vengeance was Yangcheon, the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor.
“Were you not furious?”
It was an abrupt question, but Mo Yong-woo wanted to ask it.
Gangryang tilted his head.
“About what?”
“You met Yangcheon with the Supreme Commander.”
“...I did.”
“I know this is hardly the proper moment for such a question, but I still wish to ask. The Fighting King, Yangcheon, is your mortal enemy. You cannot live beneath the same sky, yet you saw his face once and simply returned.”
It was a question that could easily have been taken as an insult.
Mo Yong-woo, uncharacteristically, had asked it only because he knew how firm Gangryang’s resolve was.
Gangryang shook his head.
“You are correct, but the order of my vengeance is different.”
“The order?”
“To conquer the Dark Path, Yangcheon destroyed countless sects, including the Ghost-Iron Sword Gate. Sometimes he acted personally. Other times he used discord and infiltrators.”
“That is what I have heard as well.”
“He is a conquering ruler. His power is great enough to justify the name, and his personal strength stands at the summit of the martial world.”
Gangryang smiled bitterly.
“He is the enemy I must ultimately bring down, but not yet. How could I challenge Yangcheon when I lack the necessary strength? Moreover, I possess neither the Supreme Commander’s strategic mind nor his situational awareness.”
“.......”
“That is why Yangcheon cannot be the first target of my vengeance. The first is the traitor who betrayed my gate.”
“I see.”
Mo Yong-woo sighed.
“I respect your restraint. Even a seasoned veteran of the martial world would struggle to control himself before a hated enemy. Yet despite your youth, you understand what must come first.”
“You give me too much credit. In truth, I do not even remember how I kept my expression under control. The instant I saw Yangcheon, I wanted to draw my sword.”
“.......”
“But it would have been meaningless. Yangcheon did not even spare me a glance.”
“Is that so?”
Gangryang stroked the hilt of his sword.
He recalled the moment he had met Yangcheon alongside Yeon Hojeong. Even now, after becoming far more composed than he had been in the past, the memory sent a surge of rage through him.
“When I punish the traitor who destroyed my gate, I have no intention of distinguishing between honorable and dishonorable methods. I will use any means necessary to give him the most miserable death possible. But Yangcheon is different.”
“.......”
“He probably did not even know that I was the heir to the Ghost-Iron Sword Gate. He must have assumed I was merely some ordinary warrior the Supreme Commander had brought with him.”
“...Perhaps.”
“I will make him look at me. I will become so strong that he cannot ignore me under any circumstances. That is when I will declare my vengeance against Yangcheon.”
Mo Yong-woo nodded.
“You will succeed. I would stake my name on it.”
It was not because of Gangryang’s talent.
More than anything else, Gangryang possessed terrifying self-restraint. He was also surrounded by the geniuses of the Yeon Clan and exceptional senior swordsmen.
Gangryang would grow stronger.
And he would do so at a frightening speed.
Before anyone realized it, he might undergo explosive growth and become a master capable of engraving his name upon the world.
“We have talked long enough. Shall we go strike the enemy’s stronghold?”
“Let us. Ah, before that, I heard you made a separate request of the intelligence adviser.”
“It was hardly enough to call a request. The Supreme Commander and I simply devised a small scheme.”
“A scheme?”
“What else would one request from an intelligence organization?”
“......?”
“Information.”
“You will understand naturally as we proceed.”
“Mm. Very well.”
SHING!
Mo Yong-woo drew the Demon-Sweeping Greatsword.
“All forces, advance.”
RUMBLE.
The five hundred soldiers of the Demon-Sweeping Corps crossed the ridge.
And roughly forty-five miles behind them, a master radiating golden True Qi was approaching at terrifying speed.
*****
CLAAAAANG!
Mad Dragon flew through the air.
After being knocked away, the axe curved back around with the movement of the Flood Dragon Chain and swung toward the ground.
RUMBLE!
A boulder shattered, and the earth’s surface was torn apart.
Though there was a difference in their martial realms, Mad Dragon’s destructive power was already racing toward the summit of the martial world. One might devise a counter to its path, but its raw force could not be ignored.
Whether Yayul Jeok or Soh Bang, even if they were stronger than Yeon Hojeong, allowing Mad Dragon to strike them would still result in a critical injury.
TAAANG!
The Flood Dragon Chain’s movement was astonishing.
It endured the weight of a heavy weapon exceeding eighty pounds with ease—even after centrifugal force had multiplied that burden several times over.
This was not merely because the Flood Dragon Chain was made from extraordinary material.
It was possible because Yeon Hojeong’s control of his Inner Qi while gripping and swinging the chain had reached an extreme degree of precision.
CLINK-CLINK-CLINK!
The Flood Dragon Chain folded inward, and Mad Dragon, suspended in the air, returned to Yeon Hojeong’s grasp.
Yayul Jeok’s gaze deepened.
“He is strong.”
Yeon Hojeong was powerful.
Quite apart from his martial realm, his handling of both heavy and unconventional weapons was an art in itself. His lightness skill had also reached an extraordinary level. It did more than perfectly complement his weapon techniques—it prevented his opponents from landing any attack at all.
It always seemed as though Yayul Jeok could close in and strike him with ease, only for Yeon Hojeong to slip beyond the line of attack before he knew it.
It was incredible.
At least in lightness skill, he is no worse than I am.
Yayul Jeok had been highly regarded even within the Perverse Lust Cult.
After entering the service of the previous Yin God, he had mastered the strongest assassination arts in the Central Plains. He had reached the summit not only in direct martial combat, but also in the arts of killing.
Furthermore, he believed himself a step above Soh Bang when it came to applying martial arts in practice.
But this man...
FLASH!
Yayul Jeok closed the distance at terrifying speed and unleashed a cleaving strike with his hand blade.
CLAAAAANG!
The Flood Dragon Chain, which had been stretched taut, suddenly went slack and dispersed the force of Yayul Jeok’s strike.
He surpasses even me!
THOOM!
Yeon Hojeong was hurled backward, blood appearing at the corner of his mouth.
He had redirected most of the power, but the minute portion he had failed to disperse had shaken his insides.
He deflected the Yin Fire Divine Slash and suffered only that much?!
That was not all.
WHOOOOOM!
In the next instant, the True Qi rising from Yeon Hojeong’s body became Wood Qi overflowing with the vitality of spring.
The Wood Qi flashed like lightning, and Yeon Hojeong’s wavering presence stabilized in the blink of an eye.
Yayul Jeok’s eyes trembled.
He healed his internal injury? In that brief instant?
Was such a thing even possible?
Even if it was, how could he dare treat an internal injury in the middle of a battle against a master whose realm exceeded his own?
This bastard.
And even that was not the end.
SWISH!
Soh Bang had been charging toward Okcheong and Sima Hyeon, but Yeon Hojeong suddenly appeared in her path.
It was an action beyond imagination.
Even while engaged in a fierce clash with a master as formidable as Yayul Jeok, he had moved with that streak-of-light footwork to protect Okcheong and Sima Hyeon, swinging his axe as he did.
CLAAAAANG!
Soh Bang’s face twisted.
The path of the Blood-Drinking Palm was disrupted in an instant. Mad Dragon had cut apart the Blood-Drinking sequence midway through its chain of palm strikes.
“You bastard!”
BOOM!
Blood sprayed from Yeon Hojeong’s mouth.
Even though he clearly understood the counter to the Blood-Drinking Palm, the difference in their strength remained. When Soh Bang abandoned the palm’s established paths and simply struck with the full force of her Inner Qi, even Yeon Hojeong struggled to block her.
The circumstances differed from their previous battle, when he had formed a formation with Mookbi, Okcheong, and Yeoguk.
At that time, the formation’s power had allowed them to overwhelm Soh Bang. Now Yeon Hojeong had to endure her strength alone.
Even Yeon Hojeong, hailed as the embodiment of real combat, could not easily counterattack beneath a tide of overwhelming power.
Then—
FLASH!
A streak of white light shot toward the center of Soh Bang’s chest.
Soh Bang, who had been about to close in and deliver a follow-up strike, recoiled in alarm and moved aside.
BOOM!
The White Dragon Axe grazed her collar, flew past her, and shattered an entire boulder.
The corner of Soh Bang’s eye trembled faintly.
“Huff! Huff!”
Yeon Hojeong drew ragged breaths.
His face had gone pale, yet his presence stabilized once again. He was igniting the medicinal force of the Wood Spirit Pill through Azure Dragon Qi, suppressing his internal injuries each time they flared.
Naturally, that was not the whole reason.
Yeon Hojeong’s combat instincts might have been worthy of being called the finest under heaven, but even he could not face both opponents through the healing power of Azure Dragon Qi alone.
“I see.”
Yayul Jeok glided to Soh Bang’s side and looked behind Yeon Hojeong.
Okcheong stood there.
Even while watching Yayul Jeok and Soh Bang, the Wudang Daoist held his hands together and gathered Taiji True Qi.
“They were able to form a temporary formation. Even with only the two of them.”
WHOOOOOM.
Wudang’s Daoist divine arts possessed an all-embracing nature capable of encompassing every orthodox art under heaven.
Okcheong stood behind Yeon Hojeong’s flexible yet unyielding flow of True Qi.
Okcheong was the axis of the formation.
At the same time, he was supporting Yeon Hojeong’s circulation of True Qi with the supreme divine art known as Primordial Qi.
Yeon Hojeong’s ability in real combat, his battle instincts, his perfected weapon techniques, and his overwhelming lightness skill—
Because Okcheong supported them all, Yeon Hojeong could continue to endure despite being driven relentlessly backward.
But...
Soh Bang was fighting with all her strength, while Yayul Jeok was not.
That was due to Yayul Jeok’s habits as an assassin: achieving maximum efficiency with the minimum expenditure of power.
At this rate, they can never defeat us—
Yayul Jeok’s eyes suddenly flashed.
BOOOOM!
“Urgh!”
Yeon Hojeong skidded backward. Had Okcheong not supported him from behind, he would have been driven another thirty feet.
Soh Bang stared at Yayul Jeok in surprise.
Yayul Jeok stood with one hand extended, waves of Killing Intent pouring from him.
It had been an attack delivered with all his strength.
“Soh Bang! This is no time to play! We must kill them with everything we have!”
“What?”
“They are not trying to fight us.”
Yayul Jeok’s face twisted.
“They are stalling! They are waiting for something!”
At that moment—
WHOOSH!
Five heavy presences approached swiftly from beyond the retreat route.
Yeon Hojeong’s eyes flashed.
“They’re here.”
There were enough of them to form two Evil-Smiting Three-Kill Formations.
Five of the soldiers Yeon Hojeong had spread in a long line across central Guangdong arrived in formation.
Yeon Hojeong swung the Flood Dragon Chain.
CLINK-CLINK-CLINK! CLANG!
Yayul Jeok caught the chain in his hand.
Yeon Hojeong smiled coldly.
“She might get away, but you won’t.”
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