Chapter 91: Chapter 91

Early morning.

Namgung Cheon was circulating his energy at the training ground. Jang Sam-tae and Gwon Mu-jin were watching him with peculiar eyes.

Something about the air was different.

The morning air, which had felt heavy and settled until just a few days ago, now felt as if it were swirling around him. Furthermore, even though not even a breeze was blowing, Namgung Cheon’s clothes were fluttering.

That was extremely fascinating.

It was a sight they had not even seen from Dan Woo-hyun.

“Is that… the Sword Emperor?”

Gwon Mu-jin muttered.

He could feel it.

Although it was merely circulating energy, the power and the pressure were such that, even though it had only been a few days since he recovered his internal energy, he could not stop trembling all over, as if he were looking at the Sword Emperor of the past.

“If I make a slip of the tongue now, I’ll end up in the grave, won’t I?”

Jang Sam-tae also muttered, breaking out in a cold sweat.

The situation today was just that different from other times.

Before long, Namgung Cheon slowly opened his eyes.

Whoosh!

A wind blew.

A fierce wind swept across the entire training ground.

It was a wind pressure so great that it made even Gwon Mu-jin and Jang Sam-tae, who were watching from a considerable distance, stagger.

“Hoho, this is the first time I have shown you my circulation of energy.”

“Hey, what is the big deal? I do it too sometimes.”

“You impudent rascal! Are you and I the same?”

“We are both humans, aren’t we?”

Namgung Cheon and Gwon Mu-jin gasped in disbelief.

Jang Sam-tae was probably the only one in the world who could speak like that in front of the Sword Emperor. While he trembled like a mouse in front of Dan Woo-hyun, his liver seemed to have swollen to the point of audacity when it came to other people as he spat out whatever he wanted.

Was that something to say in front of the Sword Emperor, who had neutralized the energy-dispersing poison and was regaining his strength bit by bit, even if it was not yet perfect?

“Crazy bastard.”

Gwon Mu-jin muttered, shaking his head.

“By the way, who on earth are the bastards who made you like this, old man?”

“Hoho, I wonder. I simply had too many enemies.”

If he had to name the people who came to mind, that alone would exceed twenty. Furthermore, if he included those he could not remember, he thought it would easily exceed a hundred.

Some were quite famous, and there were also hidden masters in seclusion.

Since his childhood until now, no matter how much he raised his sword crying out for justice, it would actually make no sense if he did not make enemies.

“Now those bastards won’t even be able to go to the outhouse in peace, will they? Since you neutralized the poison and regained your strength…”

“I have not fully recovered my strength yet. Besides, it has not been revealed who they are.”

It made him think many thoughts.

Indeed, who could forge a letter from the Murim Alliance and prepare such a meticulous plan? Only a few came to mind.

Those called the Five Emperors.

However, Namgung Cheon soon shook his head.

They were all individuals at the peak in their respective positions. They were not the type of people to formulate such a petty plan, and if they had planned to eliminate him, they would have come to find him confidently holding their swords from the very beginning.

“Won’t you have to find out soon?”

“Hoho, of course I should. Though I do not know who it is…”

Namgung Cheon quietly looked up at the sky.

The existence that dragged down the Sword Emperor of the world.

Thinking that such a person existed under the same sky made him grind his teeth. He was filled with the desire to find those bastards right away and tear them to pieces, but it was said that a gentleman’s revenge is not too late even after ten years.

Since he had not perfectly regained his strength yet, and because this manor had quite a few interesting things, he had no intention of breaking this peace for the time being.

He would just quietly wait for the flow of events.

The moment he closed his eyes with that thought.

Boom!

The earth rumbled from somewhere.

“What is that sound?”

Startled and flustered, they turned their heads toward the source of the sound.

He had come out for an early morning walk.

It was only that.

It was not as if an ominous wind was blowing or he was searching for something. Dan Woo-hyun had merely been taking a walk since early morning.

He seemed to have come quite far.

He seemed to have walked leisurely for about an hour.

The manor was no longer in sight, and if he went a little further along this path, Yueyang would reveal itself.

However, Dan Woo-hyun did not go as far as Yueyang and stopped dead in his tracks.

Beside him, the vast Dongting Lake stretched out. Although the view of Dongting Lake from the front of the manor was also good, the lake from this distance had an irresistible charm.

Even so, it was more or less the same. Just because he walked for an hour, where would that body of water go?

It was simply a matter of mood.

At the refreshing feeling he had not experienced in a long time, Dan Woo-hyun inhaled deeply and smiled with a pleasant expression. It was a mistake not to bring Dan So-mi.

Such scenery should be viewed with that child.

While he was thinking that, Dan Woo-hyun suddenly turned his head.

Someone was approaching.

“Hmm?”

It was a presence felt from afar, but it was not just one or two people.

Flocking one by one, they seemed to be heading exactly toward where Dan Woo-hyun was, or to look closer, toward the manor.

What was this?

Was it Hong Won-chang?

No.

For that to be the case, it was a rather unpleasant sensation.

Dan Woo-hyun frowned slightly. It felt as if his pleasant morning was being ruined.

He waited without moving from the spot. After about seven minutes passed, men wearing masks even in the bright morning began to reveal themselves one by one.

When they saw Dan Woo-hyun, they flinched in surprise.

They seemed not to have expected anyone to be there.

“You bastard! Who are you!”

“That is what I was going to ask…”

The opponent drew his sword without hesitation.

Seeing them fully prepared to cut him down without further questions, Dan Woo-hyun frowned. It seemed the current Murim had become a place where people brandished swords before even exchanging a single proper word.

“Are you one of those guys from the manor over there?”

The man asked.

Indeed, the only place nearby where people would reside was Dan Woo-hyun’s manor. Although Yueyang was close, the people there would not come all the way here at such an early hour.

When Dan Woo-hyun nodded slightly, the men in black exchanged glances with one another. Even just looking at that, it was clear they had approached with bad intentions.

As the sound of swords being drawn echoed from various places, Dan Woo-hyun let out a small sigh.

‘In the end, you bastards plan to attack.’

The expression of Dan Woo-hyun, who had come out to enjoy the morning breeze in a good mood, gradually hardened. Unlike moments ago, a heavy aura weighed down on the air.

Just then.

“You bastards! How dare you target someone who does not even have a weapon!”

A booming voice rang out.

Dan Woo-hyun turned his head in curiosity.

He saw a man in black flying lightly through the air.

However, seeing that he did not wear a mask, he seemed to be a man who possessed some righteousness in his actions.

Dan Woo-hyun watched the situation with interest.

At the violent thudding sound the man made as he landed, the masked men flinched.

“Who are you, you bastard!”

“Hahaha! Minnows like you have no need to know!”

“Crazy old man! Do you want to die!”

To Dan Woo-hyun, he did not look old enough to be called an old man.

The masked men no longer paid attention to Dan Woo-hyun as they exchanged words among themselves and fumed with anger.

“What? Such pathetic things must really be dying to go to the grave!”

“Ugh! Attack!”

Finally, the fight began.

Dan Woo-hyun took a step back from there.

Words no longer worked on either side, and the masked men brandished their swords without hesitation, as if they had no intention of leaving anyone alive from the start.

Dan Woo-hyun sat leisurely on a rock and watched them. He even pulled out some beef jerky from his robe and munched on it.

The most entertaining thing in the world was watching a fight. As if to prove it, Dan Woo-hyun watched them with his eyes sparkling.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Metallic sounds clashed continuously.

There were about twenty masked men, and the man in black was alone.

Although he was overwhelmingly outnumbered, one could tell at a glance that the man in black was a considerable master. Still, those twenty men could not be considered weak either, as they seemed to have reached the level commonly referred to as the peak.

Slash!

One…

The hands of the man in black were merciless.

He grabbed a flying sword with his bare hands, snapped it, and then swung the sword in his right hand to cut off the masked man’s head. He threw the corpse toward their comrades, then approached again and beat them mercilessly.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Not only did he hit them, but he also swung his sword.

Chew, chew.

While chewing the beef jerky, Dan Woo-hyun thought.

It was a truly foolish way to fight.

However, as simple as it was, it was fast.

Against the simple and brutal methods of the man in black, whose martial arts level was not revealed at all, the masked men fell without even knowing how strong the man was.

‘He is a formidable master.’

It was the first time he had seen this.

It was the exact opposite of the Sword Emperor’s case. Namgung Cheon basically observed martial arts and etiquette. Therefore, he tried not to behave in a way that deviated from that.

On the other hand, the masked man in front of him used a simple and foolish method that was embarrassing to even call martial arts. Rather than the etiquette of a martial artist, his goal seemed to be simply victory.

“Hahaha!”

And he laughed.

Covered in bright red blood all over his body, he beat them to death.

If he was going to do that, why did he even hold a sword in his hand in the first place?

Was it not in the way?

It was the first time in his life Dan Woo-hyun had seen such a useless fight. However, he felt he had to acknowledge that man’s destructive power and ability.

Finally, without even catching his breath, the man in black beat the twenty masters to death in the blink of an eye.

They had appeared out of nowhere trying to kill people, only to end up dead themselves. Since they became corpses before he could even ask anything, it was extremely awkward from Dan Woo-hyun’s perspective.

As Dan Woo-hyun scratched his cheek and looked at the man in black in front of him, the man laughed insanely.

“Bwahaha! No one can match this body! I am indeed the number one under heaven!”

Boom!

His voice echoed loudly, spreading everywhere.

Dan Woo-hyun sighed as he watched the man showing the pinnacle of self-absorption. He did not want to get involved with such guys if possible.

The moment he stood up from his seat with that thought.

“Wait!”

The man in black rushed toward Dan Woo-hyun at a fierce speed.

He reached out.

His hand, extended subtly like a joint-locking technique, tried to grab Dan Woo-hyun’s shoulder. Although he did not feel any killing intent, Dan Woo-hyun frowned.

When he lightly dodged, the man’s eyes widened in surprise. Since he had not expected him to dodge it at all, he seemed to have received a significant shock.

This time, the hand flew in even more subtly. Infused with internal energy, it was clearly a move thrown to capture the opponent.

But that was it.

Dan Woo-hyun’s hand, extended suddenly, struck the man’s face.

Crash!

Looking at him flying away without end, Dan Woo-hyun ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

His expression was calm, but his gaze was sharper than ever.

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