Chapter 399: A Warrior Above Warriors
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The forest was engulfed in silence.
As if the entire heaven and earth were holding their breath…
It was a situation where three people faced off in a trident formation.
In that context, the pupils of Tang Chun-chu and Mak-mon quickly scanned the uninvited guest’s appearance.
He wore a black Ceremonial Robe similar to a rain cape wrapped around his body.
There were no patterns whatsoever.
It was difficult to guess which organization he belonged to.
Also.
Uniquely, he wore a silver iron mask on his face.
Only his two eyes and mouth were visible.
So it was hard to confirm his features.
Inside the Ceremonial Robe, he wore gray clothes.
They were ordinary attire.
Looking at his outward appearance, there was nothing readily discernible.
But one thing was clearly evident.
That he was an unprecedented expert.
A warrior he had never encountered until now.
They quickly realized he was a martial artist.
Because he had a weapon attached to the side of his waist.
A blackish scabbard.
Like his attire, that too was utterly ordinary.
The silence like death grew ever deeper.
KKULLKEOK…
It was silence so profound that even the sounds of Tang Chun-chu and Mak-mon swallowing dry gulps could be heard loudly.
An overwhelming Aura that had erased even the vitality of the mountains.
Thus, the Aura of Black Tortoise Divine General Wang-ryu, one of the Four Divine Generals, evoked a reverential heart that transcended simple fear.
The distance between Tang Chun-chu and Mak-mon was roughly within one jang.
But the feeling of those two was different.
It felt as if the distance itself was meaningless.
Why.
The reason was simple.
Because Wang-ryu’s terrifying Aura had rendered that gap utterly trivial.
That’s right.
It was a Aura that ignored distance and pressed in close.
Wang-ryu made no movement, not even speaking.
He just cast deep and heavy eye-light.
Despite standing still like that, Tang Chun-chu and Mak-mon felt as if he was pressing right up against them.
Like a great tsunami rushing toward their faces.
Had a giant dark mountain risen up?
No.
That was an insufficient expression.
It was truly a grand mountain range beyond compare.
Soaring without knowing how high the sky was, and seeming to stretch endlessly along the ground…
In an instant.
SEUK.
Wang-ryu’s eye-light, having glanced left and right, subtly changed.
For a moment, a faint vertigo encroached into Mak-mon’s mind.
PING.
That momentary vertigo stirred the fear in his chest.
How could this be possible?
That a single wordless gaze sent by the opponent could make his head dizzy and cause the fear in his chest to amplify wildly like a bellows-fed flame…
Such thoughts even occurred to him in an instant.
Was there an expert in this land who could fully withstand that gaze?
Tang Chun-chu’s body also reacted to that gaze.
THUMP THUMP, THUMP THUMP… !
His heart pounding intensely as the sense of crisis in his chest heightened.
He felt it once again.
That within the opponent’s gaze lurked an extreme martial power transcending the mortal world.
Also.
He realized anew.
That this was the crossroads of life and death.
However, Tang Chun-chu soon suppressed the fear.
In its place, pride and self-respect regarding his personal martial achievement pushed in.
Of course, who was he?
He was nominally a warrior of Four Famous Hands of Sichuan and the current lord of the Orthodox prestigious martial family Sichuan Tang Family.
To feel fear before even fighting?
For him, it was something he couldn’t tolerate even if he died and came back.
Thus, he awakened his competitive spirit as if denying the fear.
‘At least he’s not from the Darkness-Craving Blood Clan.’
Tang Chun-chu’s thoughts in his mind quickened.
He didn’t know if he was enemy or not, but anyway, he was a witness.
One who had seen his atrocity of trying to harm a fellow Orthodox martial artist…
If so… he should be eliminated here somehow.
Along with Mak-mon, who had already expended a considerable amount of strength.
At that time, Black Tortoise Divine General Wang-ryu finally spoke.
“I took a detour, but coincidentally we’ve met.”
The meaning was somewhat vague.
The words that immediately followed were the same.
“Go.”
What exactly did that mean?
He couldn’t tell if it meant he found them bothersome or if he didn’t want to get involved in the dispute.
At that sound, Tang Chun-chu coldly asked while injecting a large amount of True Energy into the Heaven-Terrifying Divine Whip.
“You’re telling… me to get out of the way?”
Wang-ryu, having slightly turned his head, quietly responded.
“I’m in the middle of hunting to fill my hunger. If you want to fight, go somewhere else.”
“Ha…”
Tang Chun-chu suddenly gazed behind the opponent.
Only then did he notice that a bit further away, several dead beasts lay stacked.
‘Interesting. So he really was hunting…’
Having muttered inwardly, Tang Chun-chu asked with meaningful eye-light.
“You know who I am, don’t you?”
If he looked at his attire, there was no way he wouldn’t know.
“Sichuan Tang Family Lord, Butterfly Dance Great Lord Tang Chun-chu. And…”
Wang-ryu’s gaze thus shifted to Mak-mon.
“Heaven’s Unity Sword Sect Master, Eulji Sword Hero Mak-mon.”
Immediately after, Tang Chun-chu wore a cold sneer.
“Keuk. As expected…”
He was certain the other was a martial artist active in the martial world.
He absolutely must not be left alive.
But he also thought that if he could win him over well, he might become an ally.
Like Lake-Emerging Martial Family Head Eon Po-Wook, with whom he had developed a cooperative relationship today.
“Since this is also fate, shall I make one proposal?”
No sooner had Tang Chun-chu thrown those words than the corner of Wang-ryu’s mouth twitched and rose.
“Foolish one.”
“What…?”
“I have no interest whatsoever. In the petty scramble for a mere Divine Martial Sword.”
For Tang Chun-chu, it was somewhat shocking.
‘What? A mere?’
To speak that way about the Divine Martial Sword, truly the foremost of the Ten Great Heavenly Weapons that guaranteed the position of martial world hegemon…
Such presumptuous nonsense.
No matter how superb an expert he was.
At that time, Mak-mon cried out with an urgent expression.
“Please help me! Then I’ll find the Divine Martial Sword for you! I swear on my position!”
He had harbored hope inside upon seeing Wang-ryu’s attitude that didn’t seem favorable toward Tang Chun-chu.
However.
It was a misjudgment.
Wang-ryu’s voice crushed that hope.
“Step back. I’m giving you a chance to live.”
As Mak-mon despaired, Tang Chun-chu laughed triumphantly.
“Huhut. He’s a fellow with no thought of helping anyone. What did you expect? How pathetic.”
Then he kicked the ground and swiftly advanced.
KARARARARARAK… HUUUUUUWOONG… !
The Heaven-Terrifying Divine Whip containing a large amount of Internal energy descended.
WAJIJIJIK… KKWAAAANG!
The dead tree shattered into pieces and scattered.
“Keuk…!”
Mak-mon, who had thrown his body sideways and barely dodged, rolled rapidly on the ground.
It was humiliating.
But with his body already exhausted, there was nothing he could do.
It was fortunate enough just to have dodged.
Before he knew it, Tang Chun-chu had closed the gap with nimble footwork.
Following that, one leg rose high then fell down like lightning.
HUUUUUK… !
A stomp attack of formidable power.
He intended to smash Mak-mon’s head or torso just like that.
KWANG!
Simultaneously with the heavy booming sound.
JJEOJJEOJJEOJJEOJJEO… DEUDEUDEUDEUDEU…
The ground that was stamped caved in like a large pit and shook fiercely.
He missed.
He had only smashed and exploded empty ground.
Mak-mon had once again rolled on the ground to dodge.
‘Hu, like a rat!’
Tang Chun-chu flashed his eye-light fiercely and charged toward Mak-mon, who was just rising to his feet.
The master’s murderous intent made the Heaven-Terrifying Divine Whip trace an arc.
KARARARARARARARAK… !
The iron whip extending to the side in a long curve.
Mak-mon hurriedly raised his sword upright before his chest and defended against the heavy attack.
KKAAAAAANG… PEOEOEOEOEOONG!
Along with an explosive sound, Mak-mon’s body lost its center and flew backward.
KKWANG!
Having crashed his back against a rock, he retched crimson blood.
Due to the heavy impact, a series of external injuries was of course exacerbated, and even his internal injuries worsened.
Before he knew it, Tang Chun-chu had compressed the gap and moved his right hand.
Hand techniques like butterflies fluttering about in confusion.
Along with them, the Heaven-Terrifying Divine Whip danced splendidly.
KARAK, KARARAK, KARAK… !
Mak-mon clenched his teeth and resisted with all his might.
KAKANG, KANG, KAKANG, KANG…!
The whip’s dance and the blade’s dance harmonized as stinging metallic sounds burst out in succession.
Each time, Mak-mon’s form staggered back and forth, left and right.
With an exhausted body, overcoming the gap in Internal energy was no easy task.
Then at some moment, a chilling tearing sound struck his ears.
CHYUHAAK… TUDUDUDUK!
The Heaven-Terrifying Divine Whip, flying about confusingly like a swarm of butterflies, had wrapped around and torn Mak-mon’s left thigh.
Fresh blood gushed out in torrents from where a chunk of flesh had fallen off.
Thus, Mak-mon’s body, bleeding, tilted to the side.
He no longer seemed capable of enduring.
Killing light gathered in Tang Chun-chu’s two eyes.
‘Now, you first!’
He planned to kill Mak-mon first, then deal with the uninvited guest.
KARARARARARARARAK… !
As the iron whip extended making a terrifying sound like a whirlwind.
SEUSSEUT.
Black Tortoise Divine General Wang-ryu intervened in the center of the gap.
Without sound, without Aura.
Truly a movement faster than even a beam of light.
Simultaneously, his right arm knocked away the Heaven-Terrifying Divine Whip.
A brief swing, but its power was terrifying.
KIIIIIIIING… KKWAAAAAAAANG!
Along with a heavy sound, the Heaven-Terrifying Divine Whip bounced back.
Along with it, Tang Chun-chu’s form also flipped over.
The sky and earth captured in his eyes spun round and round rapidly.
And then.
DEOLKEOK!
The spinning view came to an abrupt stop.
He had crashed into the ground far behind.
It was instantaneous.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
“KEOK…!”
Like Mak-mon had, Tang Chun-chu also wore a pained expression and vomited fresh blood.
To think his entire body’s meridians would be shaken by merely one strike.
‘Damn it…!’
Tang Chun-chu immediately raised his head and gazed forward.
There, Wang-ryu, standing to block Mak-mon, could be seen.
‘Kkeuk…! He acted uninterested but saved him?’
But at that moment, Wang-ryu extended his left hand backward.
DEOKSEOK!
Having firmly grabbed Mak-mon’s neck, he released a cold and heavy voice.
“You’ve forsaken the chance to live.”
No sooner had the words ended than UDEUDUK! Mak-mon’s neck bent limply.
Death.
He died without even time to scream.
It was the futile end of a famous Orthodox warrior representing the Guangxi region.
Seeing that, Tang Chun-chu’s heart dropped for a moment.
The fear in his chest reared its head once more.
He had killed him by twisting his neck.
Without exerting any effort whatsoever.
He hadn’t even detected ascending Internal energy in that series of movements…
Tang Chun-chu instantly operated extreme cultivation.
A sense of crisis and survival instinct heightening at breakneck speed.
In this moment, he realized acutely.
The opponent was a predator of the highest-tier beast class.
And he was prey.
Like the beasts stacked dead over there.
‘Flee!’
Tang Chun-chu pivoted his form the instant he thought it.
But then.
‘ACK!’
His entire body froze just like that.
Wang-ryu, who had just been over there, had appeared ahead at some point.
His escape route was blocked.
Wang-ryu, blocking his path from about ten paces ahead, showed an arrogant chin gesture and spoke.
“Try moving your hands one last time. This body will receive it all.”
Even before the words were fully finished, Tang Chun-chu’s Heaven-Terrifying Divine Whip extended fiercely like a violent storm, targeting the opponent.
SYUAAT… !
Terrifying Internal energy enough to tear apart his entire body was loaded onto the iron whip.
Against that, Wang-ryu raised his right hand.
KARARAK, KARARARARARAK!
Thus, the long Heaven-Terrifying Divine Whip tightly wrapped around Wang-ryu’s right hand.
In an instant, Tang Chun-chu’s expression turned pale.
‘H-how can this…!’
Wherever the sleeve was torn off as the Heaven-Terrifying Divine Whip compressed and the forearm was revealed, there was no fresh blood at all.
Not even a single scar…
What on earth was that body?
What kind of power did it possess that it remained unscathed even when wrapped by the Heaven-Terrifying Divine Whip exerting extreme cultivation?
Suddenly.
PAENG!
When Wang-ryu forcefully pulled the arm wrapped in the iron whip, Tang Chun-chu’s body was drawn forward as if flying rapidly.
HWIIIIIIIIK…
Simultaneously, Wang-ryu’s left fist struck Tang Chun-chu’s face.
KKWAJIJIK!
Tang Chun-chu’s sharp scream as his face was cruelly smashed.
“AAAK!”
He who had collapsed on the ground trembled all over.
His mind was dazed just from the power of one punch.
When Wang-ryu exerted force, the iron whip wrapped around his right arm broke off like thread and shattered to pieces.
The bone-breaking sound that followed immediately after.
UDEUDUK!
One of Wang-ryu’s feet smashed Tang Chun-chu’s ribs.
An overwhelming gap in martial prowess.
It felt like he was freely toying with a little child.
Soon, Wang-ryu lifted up Tang Chun-chu’s collapsed form.
“Your sobriquet is a waste.”
Having so muttered, he applied force with both hands, and Tang Chun-chu’s upper and lower body were CHWAHAAAK! torn apart, spraying crimson blood.