Chapter 462: Chapter 462

Surpassing a wall is never an easy task.

Especially, in a situation where one has raised their skills to the level of the Five Emperors, it is no exaggeration to say that breaking through it one step further is nearly impossible.

Sado Hak always pursued strength.

Despite having risen to the highest position in the Central Plains, he still thought there were places left to go and pursued it.

However, he could not achieve what he wanted.

Blocked by a wall, he could not move forward.

The wall did not break, as if it were made of steel, and it was too high to overcome.

“What should I do…”

Sitting alone on the porch, Sado Hak thought as he drank. If it had been before he met Dan Woo-hyun, he wouldn’t even be having such thoughts.

Even without that, Sado Hak was in the position of the strongest, an existence everyone looked up to.

But it was different now.

He wanted to move forward.

He wanted to stand side by side with the person named Dan Woo-hyun.

Such longing rushed in like thirst, making his throat dry.

“What are you thinking so deeply about?”

Namgung Cheon approached Sado Hak.

It was because he was worried by his frowning expression, looking like he was in deep thought.

He even wondered if he might fall into qi deviation like last time.

But Sado Hak’s eyes, raising his gaze to look at Namgung Cheon, seemed definitely alive unlike last time.

Relieved by that, he took a seat and sat beside him.

Furthermore, as if waiting for this, Bi Cheon-ung also revealed himself, took a seat next to Sado Hak, and offered a drink.

“Why are you here too?”

“It’s a day when I want to have a drink…”

Bi Cheon-ung muttered softly.

He too felt a lot of disappointment.

Training by the Heavenly Martial Emperor’s side, he prided himself on being quite strong. But when he was sprawled out and crushed without being able to use his hands or feet properly, even Bi Cheon-ung couldn’t help but have his pride wounded.

“If I had lost to Manor Lord Dan, I wouldn’t have felt this way…”

Namgung Cheon smiled bitterly.

Dan Woo-hyun was truly an insurmountable mountain.

If one tried to surpass him, having ten lives would not be enough.

It was a statement that could only come because he instinctively felt that no matter how many times he was reborn and spent his whole life training, he could never reach Dan Woo-hyun.

“I want to land a blow on that bitch…”

“Haha, I feel the same.”

“I wanted to kill her.”

The three muttered with a frown.

Outwardly, she possessed something beautiful that captivated people. But the viciousness she showed during training was infuriating enough to make them tremble with anger.

It seemed like she was teasing them, and sometimes she completely ignored them or praised them, leading the atmosphere.

It felt like disciplining young children.

“It felt like I became a child…”

“Hahaha.”

Namgung Cheon burst into laughter.

It seemed he found it quite amusing that he wasn’t the only one, but others had the exact same thoughts.

But it didn’t seem to be a wrong statement.

“She is Manor Lord Dan’s acquaintance. Naturally, from her perspective, we would be children.”

“Ugh…”

“…You’re not wrong.”

At Namgung Cheon’s words, Sado Hak swallowed a groan and nodded. If she was an acquaintance of the Martial God, who was considered a legend a thousand years ago, she must have lived a corresponding amount of time.

From their point of view, no matter how old one appeared, they could still feel like children.

Sado Hak frowned.

“So? Are you just going to keep taking it like this?”

Sado Hak huffed and stood up.

He felt so resentful that he could hardly sleep. Being toyed with by a woman who looked much younger, not even being able to cut the hem of her clothes made him feel helpless and miserable, and even his pride was crushed and trampled.

Sado Hak could not stand it.

“Agh! I’m going to train!”

“Where are you going?!”

“I’m going to get some fresh air. Why?!”

Sado Hak threw the liquor bottle in his hand, grabbed his sword, and stepped out. He noticed Namgung Cheon’s worried look, but he wasn’t in a good enough mood to care about it.

Also, as if he didn’t want to train in the manor, he simply opened the main gate and stepped outside.

But that didn’t mean he had a particular destination.

He just wanted to smell the mountains for the first time in a while and swing his sword.

He thought that if he broke a sweat, this shitty feeling might subside a little.

Sado Hak walked slowly along the waterway of Dongting Lake.

Perhaps because it was late at night, only the sound of insects crying filled the air.

The moonlight shining through the clouds struck the surface of the lake, and Sado Hak walking on that boundary became one with the darkness and moonlight, making it look like a painting.

‘To make me, the great Sado Hak, feel this way…’

No matter how much he walked, Sado Hak could not shake off his distracting thoughts. He had stronger pride than anyone else, and what he had protected so far had collapsed in an instant, so it wouldn’t be easily recovered.

“Haa…”

He let out a long sigh and stopped in one place.

It was a place where he had fished with Dan Woo-hyun for a long time.

Sometimes sitting together with Dan So-mi, and sometimes with Jang Sam-tae, they would bait the hooks and cast their fishing rods, boasting that they would catch an even bigger catch.

Sado Hak didn’t originally like fishing that much, but after spending time with them, it seemed to have become a hobby he couldn’t leave out.

In his eyes, it was as if he could see the sights of those days.

Laughing out loud, and even getting wet, Dan So-mi’s appearance holding a big fish and smiling happily.

Sado Hak clenched his fists.

He wanted to protect all of those things.

This feeling was definitely different from how he wanted to protect the Demonic Cult.

If wanting to guard a single organization was his feeling towards the Demonic Cult, now he wanted to gain strength to protect and defend it as if it were for a family.

“Sometimes you desire crazy strength, right? Don’t you?”

At that moment, a voice was heard.

Sado Hak, who had been moving, suddenly stopped.

There was no presence, and he couldn’t even tell where the voice came from.

When he stopped and turned his gaze.

A man stood there blankly.

He smiled with a grin.

A feeling of smiling with only the corners of his mouth rising in the darkness.

The moment he saw it, Sado Hak stiffened like a stone statue and couldn’t move.

“Do you want to become stronger? Shall I help you?”

The man showed a gaze that seemed to measure and confirm everything about Sado Hak, and he slowly approached, reaching out his hand.

* * *

Namgung Cheon and Bi Cheon-ung were facing each other.

With an instantaneous flash, their swords clashed.

Clang!

As they felt each other’s strength along with the short sound, they stepped back half a pace and swung their swords.

Clang, clang, clang!

Late at night.

The blades wielded by the two men created elegant sparks. It was not a competition of who would win or lose, but movements as if trying to cover up each other’s shortcomings.

That’s why it was intense but seemed like watching a dance, and because it was a dance, it was more splendid and one couldn’t help but be drawn in.

Jeok Mu-seong and Mu Cheonpung watched the scene.

“…”

“Mmm…”

The two could not even say a word.

Engraving the sparring happening before their eyes, they distorted their expressions as if resentful, but also sighed as if in regret.

Whether they knew that it was impossible to intervene between those two in the first place, or because they felt their own strength was weak, the two watched the sparring for a long time before standing up.

“Let’s go somewhere else instead of here. I don’t want to show it to those guys…”

“Ahem, let’s do that.”

Mu Cheonpung and Jeok Mu-seong left the training ground with awkward expressions.

Unlike the three desperate people, the two had a somewhat comfortable and relaxed feel, but when watching such sparring day after day before their eyes, they were bound to devise a way to improve their own skills.

Mu Cheonpung and Jeok Mu-seong went out almost every day, which was probably because they had their own separate training method.

Clang!

And the remaining two.

Namgung Cheon and Bi Cheon-ung were still swinging their swords. The feeling of perfectly thrusting at the opponent’s weakness and retreating. The swung blades carried enough force to cause a heavy injury the moment they hit.

But they didn’t even care.

After swinging and clashing swords for a long time to grasp each other, they suddenly slipped backward.

“Haha, I feel this every time, but it seems you wouldn’t have to be an assassin.”

“…Your sword is quite wonderful too. It’s truly been a long time since I was blocked this much.”

The two nodded while evaluating each other’s capabilities.

However, they soon put on a regretful expression, because they knew better than anyone that it was impossible to overcome the wall, break it down, and move forward with this alone.

At the very least, they wanted to land a blow on Miho.

That desire was great.

Complementing their weaknesses in this way was also for the purpose of landing a blow somehow in a split second.

However, they also knew that this kind of sparring could never be perfect and was insufficient to overcome that wall.

Therefore, the two looked at each other and smiled awkwardly.

“I was thinking of doing a little… meditation, what do you think?”

“…Good.”

The two nodded and moved.

Meditation sometimes also belongs to good training.

Since it was an opportunity to organize what they had polished so far, if they were lucky, they could create a new martial art or have an opportunity to break down the wall.

However.

In front of those two, a shadow appeared without any presence.

The stealthily cast shadow swung a sword in the blink of an eye.

Whack!

They went flying.

Namgung Cheon and Bi Cheon-ung didn’t even have the time to block it; they were hit in the abdomen and went flying and tumbling like pieces of paper.

“Keugh!”

“Ugh…!”

The two groaned and crawled on the floor of the training ground.

What was it?

There was no presence, yet it was already in front of their eyes and swung a sword?

All the situations unfolding before their eyes were so fast and exquisite that it would be impossible even for Miho.

Grabbing their hit abdomens, Namgung Cheon and Bi Cheon-ung stood up.

Their gazes were still directed forward, and a firm resolve to never lose the enemy could be felt from them.

“It’s good. The fact that you didn’t let go of your swords in such a situation. I hit hard enough to drain your strength, though…?”

Soon, a beautiful, clear voice was heard.

The two men flinched and enhanced their eyesight.

It was just a simple silhouette that couldn’t be seen clearly due to the darkness, but the moment they guessed the opponent from that voice and the moonlight hit right on time.

They realized that a woman was standing before them.

With the sword, she had swung with its scabbard, held in her hand, she walked step by step towards the two men.

“I’m Nam Ju-ryeon. I intend to teach you for the next five days, so please take care of me.”

After confirming her name and appearance, Namgung Cheon couldn’t move as if he had received a huge shock.

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