Chapter 185: Chapter 185
Riiip!
The Sayu Valley Lord tore the letter to shreds and exhaled heavily through his nose.
He was extremely furious.
The Chief Steward, who was watching, held his breath.
The Valley Lord was already feeling anxious recently as the interference from those controlling Sayu Valley from behind had increased.
The anxiety that had reached the top of his head completely exploded because of this letter.
“These damn bastards!”
The Sayu Valley Lord’s face flushed red. He trampled on the torn letter.
“May I know what the matter is?”
The Chief Steward asked carefully.
He knew it was dangerous to intervene in the current situation, but he had no choice but to do so for the sake of what was to come.
“Those guys cut off their support.”
“Su, support…!”
Just when the Chief Steward was having a hard time hiding his bewilderment at the unexpected words.
“They made such a huge mess and just pulled out their feet!”
The Sayu Valley Lord vented his anger.
Thanks to their unidentifiable power, they were able to grow their strength quickly.
But now.
The communication network they maintained with them was cut off.
And right before the most important decisive battle between the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhongnan Sect!
The Chief Steward aimed for that gap and spoke.
“Valley Lord. It is rather an opportunity.”
“What did you say?”
“Now, there is no one behind us. That means, if we just pass the battle with the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhongnan Sect well, wouldn’t you be able to achieve the independence you so desperately desired, Valley Lord?”
“Who doesn’t know that!”
The Sayu Valley Lord shouted loudly.
“Our opponents are the Mount Hua Sect and the Zhongnan Sect. Are you saying we can even win without their support!”
“There are the other Four Hegemons of the Divine Province.”
“…!”
“As long as it’s not known to them that our backer has disappeared, they will destroy the Zhongnan and Mount Hua on their own.”
“…Are you suggesting another case of borrowing authority?”
“That is correct.”
The excited Sayu Valley Lord calmed down.
“Do you think it will succeed?”
“They are also puppets.”
The Chief Steward’s voice rose slightly.
“How would they know whether the backer of this valley has dropped out or not?”
“But couldn’t the backer helping them figure it out?”
“All this time, they have purposely put other sects forward from behind. But it’s hard to imagine they would act in a way that might reveal their true identity now.”
The Chief Steward’s words were perfectly reasonable.
If they tried to obtain information, they could find out about the other backer at any time.
But to do so, they had to bear the risk of their own identities being revealed.
And they were not the kind of people to move while taking such risks.
The Sayu Valley Lord plopped down on his seat.
“…Then we’ll have to bluff like they are here for the time being.”
“That is a wise judgment.”
“Still, won’t the other Four Hegemons of the Divine Province be suspicious with this kind of fighting power?”
“Just in time, the Ten Swords of Dead Souls, who were raised using what they provided, have finished their closed-door training and come out.”
A smile hung on the Sayu Valley Lord’s lips.
“That’s a much earlier progress than expected.”
“The elixirs and mental methods they sent were amazing. The current skill of the Ten Swords of Dead Souls can easily be said to have surpassed first-class and reached near the peak. Of course, it’s a pity they lost their rationality in exchange, but just this much is a huge deal.”
“Ten peak-level experts…”
The corners of the whispering Sayu Valley Lord’s eyes curled deeply like a resplendent half-moon.
Until a few years ago, the Sayu Valley was just an unknown sect in the outskirts.
But after the White Ghost Castle collapsed.
They came, and everything changed.
For starters, he himself had learned new martial arts and reached the peak realm.
“Just as the Chief Steward said, we only need to pass this time well.”
The eyes of the Chief Steward, looking at the Sayu Valley Lord who had regained his composure, shot a sharp light.
However, since it happened in a fleeting moment, the Sayu Valley Lord did not see it.
* * *
Weinan in Shaanxi.
A group of people was moving through the mountains that had sprung up here and there like bamboo shoots after rain.
Cheon-hwi, who was at the very front of the group, looked at Heavenly Ear Beggar who was following closely and asked.
“About where is it?”
“We just have to cross this mountain.”
“They’re hiding quite deep.”
“Would it be called a valley for nothing? Besides, the guiltier the bastard, the more they try to hide themselves tightly, so it must be the optimal location for Unorthodox Faction bastards.”
Cheon-hwi nodded his head.
It was understandable, considering didn’t the Heavenly Demon Cult, the center of the Demonic Path that was persecuted in the Central Plains, establish its base in the rugged Tianshan Mountains?
The more enemies one had, the more fitting it was to hide in such a narrow place with complex terrain.
Cheon-hwi subtly turned his head.
“We don’t have time, so I’ll hurry.”
As the disciples followed well, Cheon-hwi further increased his speed. At the same time, the disciples also squeezed out every ounce of their strength and utilized their movement techniques to follow closely behind Cheon-hwi.
Cheon-hwi, who crossed the mountain in one breath, stared at the pavilion hanging on the cliff above the clouds.
“Is that it?”
“That’s right.”
“They built it quite precariously.”
“The Mount Hua Sect isn’t much different either.”
“That’s true too.”
Cheon-hwi lightly cleared his throat.
“Then let’s go.”
Cheon-hwi stepped forward.
His footsteps were refreshing.
And the steps of the Flying Sword Squad and Fire Spirit Squad following behind him were also consistent.
The mountain path going up was tranquil.
Only the sound of their footsteps echoed faintly.
But that was instantly broken.
“Enemies?”
A sonorous voice stimulated their ears.
There was a woman on the opposite side.
She was a woman with delicate features, appearing to be at the age of having just turned thirty.
“Why is she dressed like that?”
“Huh? What’s with that wretched state?”
Jeok-geom and Cheon-hyang frowned.
Her appearance was bizarre.
Her partially unfastened clothing, which she couldn’t wear properly, was dragging on the ground, and her eyes were cloudy.
Some Taoists who saw her blushed and hurriedly turned their heads.
At that time, Cheon-hwi took a step forward.
“Enemies?”
The woman tilted her head.
It was an overly innocent gesture of the head that didn’t match her age, but for some reason, it caught people’s attention.
Cheon-hwi smiled coldly.
“Yes, we’re enemies.”
The moment those words dropped.
“So you are enemies!”
The expression of the woman who shouted loudly with a pure voice instantly turned ferocious.
The innocent face disappeared, transforming into that of a vicious fiend, and a sharp murderous intent spread numbingly.
“Then die!”
Murderous intent exploded along with a chilling voice that was distinctly different from before.
“Heup!”
“What is this…?”
At the storm of murderous intent cutting into their skin, the Flying Sword Squad and Fire Spirit Squad quickly emitted their internal energy.
Tat!
The woman lunged at Cheon-hwi.
Her pure white fist swung towards Cheon-hwi’s face. But it hit empty air.
Simultaneously.
Smack!
Cheon-hwi’s kick struck the woman’s back, and she slid right onto the dirt floor.
“How interesting. Very much so.”
Cheon-hwi’s eyes, looking down at the woman who fainted in a single blow, narrowed.
‘So evil qi has invaded her mind.’
The woman’s condition was the worst.
She had lost her rationality due to the evil qi and was only following orders.
‘Look at this. I didn’t know there would be bastards more terrible than the Blood Cult.’
The Blood Cult bastards whose goal was to dye the world in blood were not easy either, but the bastard who turned a woman into this state didn’t seem in their right mind either.
How could one think to steal a person’s rationality and turn them into a weapon?
Was that all?
Her Upper Dantian was eaten away, creating a small hole, and innate energy was leaking out from there little by little.
It was a very small amount.
But wasn’t it said that dripping water pierces a stone?
If it continued to accumulate, it was obvious that it would bring about a fatal result.
No, there was no need to look far.
‘If it continues to leak out, her remaining lifespan will be less than five years.’
Watching her lifespan decreasing even now, Cheon-hwi pulled his neck back and glared at the pavilion precariously built on top of the cliff.
‘I’d really like to see the face of the creator who did this crazy shit.’
Just then.
“Third Sword! Where are you… heup!”
A giant man who came pushing through the bushes quickly turned his body when he saw Cheon-hwi and the others.
But there was someone who moved faster than him.
“This little brat. Where do you think you’re going?”
Heavenly Ear Beggar grabbed his wrist.
The giant roughly swung his arm to free the grabbed wrist, but instead, his body floated up in the opposite direction.
Thud!
He fell face down on the ground.
The giant, who suffered a high-level technique utilizing Redirecting Force, had a dumbfounded face before his complexion turned pale.
“What on earth did you do?!”
Heavenly Ear Beggar gritted his teeth and spoke.
Although not as much as Cheon-hwi, he too was expressing fierce anger, likely having noticed the change that occurred in the woman.
“What do you take humans for…”
Right then, a massive blade struck down.
Whoosh!
At the powerfully destructive slash, Heavenly Ear Beggar backed away and looked at the one who swung the blade.
Heavenly Ear Beggar’s face contorted violently.
“It wasn’t just one?”
His gaze was fixed on a man.
The eyes of the man holding the blade were cloudy and unfocused, just like the woman from earlier.
Heavenly Ear Beggar, looking him up and down, eventually could not contain his anger and shouted furiously.
“Look at these crazy bastards! What on earth do you take people for!”
When his shout rang out resoundingly and echoed loudly across the Sayu Valley.
“I’ll leave this place to you.”
Cheon-hwi smacked his lips.
“What?”
“Pardon?”
“What are you talking about?”
When everyone including Heavenly Ear Beggar looked at Cheon-hwi spitting out sudden words.
Swish…
Cheon-hwi’s figure vanished.
Executing the Divine Movement Hundred Transformations, Cheon-hwi scaled the cliff in a single breath and slipped into the pavilion.
“…Mount Hua Sect? Why would those guys attack our valley…”
Cheon-hwi narrowed his brows and spoke to the middle-aged man shouting and the scholar showing an awkward expression in front of him.
“That’s because you provoked us first.”
“…!”
“M-Mount Hua Sect?”
The Sayu Valley Lord leaped back.
Then he looked at Cheon-hwi and asked.
“What do you mean by provocation?”
“Hwayu Escort Agency.”
“…!”
The Sayu Valley Lord’s eyebrows shot up.
‘They sprayed shit right until the end and left!’
Recalling the man who led the subordinates of Sayu Valley out the previous day, he finally bit his lower lip and opened his mouth.
“Did you come alone?”
“For now.”
In an instant, murderous intent flickered in the Sayu Valley Lord’s two pupils.
“You have a lot of guts. To come up alone to our valley where the Flying Swallow Sword Lord was defeated.”
“Huh? The Flying Swallow Sword Lord was defeated? It doesn’t look like that from what I see.”
Cheon-hwi’s lips curled up.
“Ah! Back then, there must have been guys watching your back unlike now.”
“…!”
The Sayu Valley Lord’s eyes widened.
“But why aren’t they here now?”
Cheon-hwi’s words didn’t stop.
“Hmm. Did they go somewhere else like attacking the Hwayu Escort Agency? Or…”
Cheon-hwi’s eyes pierced through the Sayu Valley Lord.
“Are they not helping you anymore?”
“…?!”
‘I just took a wild guess, but I hit the mark.’
Cheon-hwi twisted the corners of his mouth.
It was a remark spat out of rough speculation, thinking it strange that experts hadn’t appeared despite him attacking so openly.
Judging by his intense reaction, it seemed to have accurately pierced the truth.
“…You know too much of what you shouldn’t know.”
An intense energy flowed out from the body of the Sayu Valley Lord who realized his mistake.
‘Oh, he’s still a Valley Lord, so he’s a bit different.’
He had thought he was just a Valley Lord of a mere Unorthodox Faction, but the momentum he emitted was stronger than expected.
‘At this level, is he evenly matched with that guy who used the disguise art? Or maybe slightly superior. Very minutely though.’
Paaat!
The Sayu Valley Lord lunged.
The moment he thought Cheon-hwi was briefly lost in thought, he struck his weak point in one breath.
A surprise attack aimed at a moment of carelessness.
The attack, unleashed after reading a perfect trajectory and psychology, aimed for Cheon-hwi’s solar plexus, but.
Swish…
He dodged it by lightly twisting his body.
Crash!
The palm wind that cleaved through the air hit the wall behind Cheon-hwi, cratering it.
‘He dodged the Eight Palms of Death Slaughter this easily?’
His pupils were enveloped in shock.
The Eight Palms of Death Slaughter was a qi palm that sucked in surrounding energy to suppress the opponent at once.
However, right now, the opponent easily dodged it, let alone being swept away by the Eight Palms of Death Slaughter.
Right then.
“Now it’s my turn, right?”
A cold voice struck his ears.
There, Cheon-hwi was looking with azure radiance spewing from his two eyes.
“Take this.”
The sword, drawn at some point, was swung.
A strong gust of wind raged.
The Sayu Valley Lord swung both palms widely at the gust of wind.
Clang! Clang!
It was an extremely fast fist palm, like light.
And it also combined heaviness.
It could be said to be quite an excellent fist and palm art for a mere Unorthodox Faction lackey.
However.
Crack!
Cracks began to form on the fist palm that blocked the sword, and soon he staggered.
“Keugh!”
The Sayu Valley Lord let out a groan.
Both of his palms were already hacked to pieces by the sword and covered in blood.
‘A-at this rate, I will die!’
Clenching his lips tightly, he blocked Cheon-hwi’s attacks and shouted furiously.
“Chief Steward! That…!”
“A-are you sure you’ll be fine? If you take that, no matter how much you are the Valley Lord…”
“Is this the time to consider such a situation!”
“U-understood!”
The Chief Steward hurriedly bowed his head and flashed a faint smile on his lips before erasing it.
‘I’m finally feeding him this!’
Then, quickly returning to his usual expression, he took something out of his sleeve and threw it forcefully towards the Sayu Valley Lord.
“Please take this!”
“Hmm?”
Cheon-hwi, who was watching something draw an elegant parabola in the air, half-opened his eyes.
“An elixir?”
Just then, the Sayu Valley Lord quickly snatched the thrown elixir.
“Ugh!”
Perhaps because he grabbed the pill with his blood-stained hand, the Sayu Valley Lord let out a short groan and immediately tossed the pill into his mouth.
“I will make you pay the price for making me eat this!”
At that moment, a change occurred.
The black pupils in the Sayu Valley Lord’s eyes disappeared, and they were completely filled with whites, and soon, an intense murderous intent burst forth.
Seeing that, Cheon-hwi smiled.
“So that was it. The thing that made that woman and man lose their rationality.”
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