Chapter 232: Chapter 232
“Hahaha!”
So Yeon-gang burst into hearty laughter.
Among the martial units of the Four Black Alliances, the Black Shadow Squad was famous for being the most cruel, and he was the leader of that place.
On top of that, were the masters who had perished at his hands merely one or two?
Even a sect leader of a sect could not remain safe.
The Seven Snakes Sword and the Spring Wind Blade Eccentric who had tried to escape from the Four Black Alliances, Sword White Art who had dominated the Yangtze River, and the Song Il Sect Leader…
It was to the extent that one could not count them on their hands.
Thanks to that, he had reigned as a name of terror in the Jianghu for a long time.
But the young man in front of him was looking down on him, so how could it not be funny?
‘When did I ever receive such treatment?’
Before he became the Black Shadow Squad Leader?
Or during his rookie days when he had just entered the Black Shadow Squad?
It was so long ago that his memory was hazy.
Perhaps because of that.
So Yeon-gang, who had been laughing for a while, felt a different emotion rising afterwards.
An arc was drawn on his lips.
“Interesting.”
With those words, So Yeon-gang took off his cloak. His eyes, holding the sword hidden inside the thick cloak, contained Cheon-hwi.
Srrng…
A darkish sword blade popped out.
A special sword made by mixing black iron and cold iron, and a friend who had been with him for decades.
Holding the Black Fiend, he opened his mouth.
“Go.”
Simultaneously with those words, the four Black Shadow Squad members standing on both of his sides grabbed their cloaks with their hands.
Then they took them off and threw them at Cheon-hwi.
The wide-open cloaks completely covered Cheon-hwi’s field of vision.
Seeing the cloaks blocking the sunlight and casting darkness, Cheon-hwi sneered.
“Wow, very unorthodox.”
As soon as those words ended.
Puk!
The sharp sword blades that appeared piercing through the cloaks aimed at Cheon-hwi’s body.
“But it’s slow.”
Cheon-hwi lightly kicked off the ground.
Escaping their range at once, Cheon-hwi stuck closely to them as they belatedly grasped the situation and withdrew their swords.
“Will the swords even reach me like that?”
“……!”
Cheon-hwi thrust his sword towards the side of a Black Shadow Squad member whose eyes were glaring fiercely.
Puk!
A heavy sensation was felt at his fingertips.
It probably pierced through the waist and dug deep into the internal organs.
However, far from running wild, the guy did not even let out a moan.
‘Oh, look at this.’
Moreover, the two eyes facing him were not terrified even with death at hand, nor did they contain any regrets about life.
Only cold, and chilly.
Cheon-hwi twisted one corner of his mouth.
“You hold back well.”
Blood was flowing from his mouth.
It was clearly a fatal wound.
However, he was rather emitting a killing intent that made the skin tingle.
Around the time his pupils, which contained Cheon-hwi while glistening with killing intent, were being dyed with malice,
Swaaaaek!
The nearby Black Shadow Squad members charged.
Cheon-hwi said while looking at them.
“He will die if you do that, is that okay?”
He spoke while glancing at the Black Shadow Squad member he had thrust his sword into, but they did not waver in the slightest.
And that was the same for the person himself.
Seeing them having no intention of withdrawing their swords, Cheon-hwi pulled out the sword that was stuck in the Black Shadow Squad member’s waist.
Jurreuk…
As the deeply embedded sword slipped out, blood and internal organs poured out.
“……Keuheok!”
When the Black Shadow Squad member glared his eyes in intense pain, Cheon-hwi grabbed his head.
And.
Hwaek!
He threw him without hesitation towards those rushing at him.
“This……!”
At the moment when the Black Shadow Squad members, who had never thought he would throw a person just like that, were flustered.
Cheon-hwi’s sword was drawn diagonally.
Seogeok!
The body of the Black Shadow Squad member touched by the sword was cut from the shoulder joint, rapidly collapsing.
Blood and flesh poured down towards the charging Black Shadow Squad members.
However, as if they had never been flustered, even while being covered in their comrade’s remains, they did not bat an eye.
A touch-and-go situation.
Instinctively feeling that the moment they closed their eyes, they would end up in the same state as their comrade in front of them, they concentrated their minds.
Around the time when the high concentration caused an illusion as if the blood drops and flesh were falling slowly.
Seogeok!
Their necks were cut in a single breath.
Kung!
The two corpses that lost their necks in an instant fell forward just like that.
The severed heads, with their eyes wide open as if they still did not know they had died, rolled on the floor and then stopped.
“…….”
So Yeon-gang’s face hardened slightly.
Three died in the blink of an eye.
And three of the best among the Black Shadow Squad at that!
‘He is a master.’
Even while watching him deal with the Green Forest bandits, he thought he had decent skills, but he considered that he was able to show an overwhelming advantage because the opponents were weak.
But for him to have such martial prowess against the Black Shadow Squad…
‘To think the information about the Plum Blossom Divine Hero was not exaggerated.’
He had not believed the information about the Plum Blossom Divine Hero all this while.
Understandably so, didn’t they say a young brat who had barely passed twenty possessed martial prowess surpassing the Flying Swallow Sword Lord?
Who would believe it.
The Flying Swallow Sword Lord was a master who had destroyed the White Ghost Castle along with the Mount Hua Divine Sword.
However, the moment he saw the martial art he unfolded just now, he could not help but automatically acknowledge it.
No, beyond the level of acknowledgement, he was feeling an incomparably strong threat.
‘For the sake of the future as well, I must kill this guy right now.’
So Yeon-gang rolled his pupils to the side.
The moment it seemed his gaze was directed towards the empty bushes, he let out a low voice.
“Kill Order.”
In an instant, the bushes subtly rustled, and dense killing intent poured out.
The ‘Kill Order’ was a command to absolutely kill the enemy with the resolve of mutual destruction.
The final order that he had not given even when he took on the mission to annihilate the Song Il Sect previously fell to deal with a mere single person.
It was clearly an excessive command.
However, the Black Shadow Squad members hidden in ambush did not think it was excessive.
Rather, everyone accepted it.
The movement that killed three just now.
It had occurred so swiftly that it was not visible to their eyes at all.
At that time, So Yeon-gang muttered a command.
“Kill that guy.”
Pababat!
Black shadows surged from all directions.
Looking at the numerous Black Shadow Squad members covering the sky, Cheon-hwi burst into a chuckle.
“Weren’t you going to keep ambushing?”
Although many black shadows were pouncing on him with bizarre appearances, Cheon-hwi was incredibly carefree.
Cheon-hwi was putting on a comfortable smile to the extent that anyone looking would think he had given up on life.
“Well, it’s good for me if you step up like this.”
Along with his words, he raised his sword up.
The sword tip soaked in blood pointed at them, and soon, a red plum blossom bloomed at its end.
A plum blossom redder and clearer than the blood stained on the sword blade.
It was so vivid as if it had actually bloomed rather than just being clear, a plum blossom that was rather heterogeneous.
It would have been normal to have their eyes stolen by such a bizarre sight, but the Black Shadow Squad members continued to surge forward without being disorganized at all.
As if they had become arrows leaving the bow, only towards Cheon-hwi!
The swords, disregarding defense and solely focused on attacks to kill the opponent, narrowed the distance with Cheon-hwi at a fierce speed.
Swords that were merely thrusting with internal energy loaded into them.
However, as those swords reached dozens rather than one, their might was quite magnificent.
Cheon-hwi scanned them rushing while gathered so densely that they even blocked the sunlight.
‘Will Plum Blossom Full Bloom be good.’
Cheon-hwi, who recalled the most dazzling and complex technique among the Twenty-Four Forms Plum Blossom Sword Art, moved the sword blade that had been stopped while pointing at them.
At that moment, his sword divided into dozens, and dozens of plum blossoms bloomed fully in the empty air.
Appearing unawares, the Black Shadow Squad members who looked at the dozens of plum blossoms starting to embroider the empty air furrowed their brows.
They could feel it was dangerous just by looking at it.
However, their bodies were already leaning forward, and it was a situation where it was too late to retreat.
“……Kkadeuk!”
They gritted their teeth and squeezed out their remaining internal energy to thrust their swords forward.
Soon, the moment the swords and plum blossoms clashed.
Paaang…
The plum blossoms burst as if they could not withstand the offensive, scattering petals in all directions.
The expressions of the Black Shadow Squad members brightened.
Because the plum blossoms that felt ominous were breaking and scattering.
However, their brightened expressions did not last long.
“……!”
Plum blossom petals fluttered in the empty air.
The moment the plum blossom petals, which had spread out in all directions so numerously that their number could not be counted, touched them.
Pusyuk!
Blood fountains poured out from all directions.
Terrible wounds had appeared on the bodies of the Black Shadow Squad members that came into contact with the petals.
Blood flowed from cracked skin, and for some wounds where the plum blossoms had completely dug in, the petals pierced through to the extent that white bones could be seen.
“Keok!”
“Keuheok!”
Swept away like autumn leaves falling in the wind, they collapsed on the floor and let out groans.
Looking at them starting to collapse after being hit by Plum Blossom Full Bloom before they could even approach him, Cheon-hwi carried out his next action without hesitation.
Tat.
He approached one of those who were still keeping their lives and pierced his heart.
“Keoeok!”
While looking at the corpse that collapsed with boiling blood bubbles, Cheon-hwi gave a nod.
Hwiik…
In an instant, a sharp sword blade brushed past his cheek like a flash of lightning.
“It’s too obvious of a surprise attack.”
Cheon-hwi said while turning his gaze towards the one who swung the sword.
So Yeon-gang, who wielded the Black Fiend, was standing while emitting intense demonic energy.
Cheon-hwi placed the sole of his foot on the back of the corpse where the sword was stuck, and then gave it a smooth push.
Jurreuk…
Cheon-hwi, who flicked off the blood by sharply swinging the pulled-out sword to the side, faced So Yeon-gang who had murderous eyes.
“Your momentum is good.”
“……You are much stronger than I had thought.”
So Yeon-gang smiled only with his mouth and took a step forward.
Just a single step.
But at that moment, it seemed like his figure elongated, and he rapidly shot forward, reaching right in front of Cheon-hwi.
Kwaaang!
An ear-piercing noise erupted.
“Keuk!”
So Yeon-gang was pushed back by the shock and stepped backward.
“What in the……”
Cheon-hwi gestured with his sword towards him, who was looking at his trembling hand with an unbelievable face, and the Black Shadow Squad that was still standing.
“Don’t play around, and come?”
In an instant, heat haze bloomed from So Yeon-gang’s body.
A terrible killing intent instantly dominated the space, and a sense of joy circulated in his eyes.
“Pour out everything.”
As soon as those words ended, the momentum of the surrounding Black Shadow Squad members burned up.
Opening their eyes fully harboring killing intent, they rushed at Cheon-hwi simultaneously.
Chwaaak!
The rushing Black Shadow Squad members were cut by Cheon-hwi’s sword, scattering blood and pieces of flesh.
“This is not the end!”
A Black Shadow Squad member with a split chest threw a hidden weapon he had in his left hand at Cheon-hwi.
Piing!
That was not all.
Black Shadow Squad members popped out from all directions and began to unfold killing moves.
“Oh. It seems you’re not afraid of death.”
Looking at those rushing while ready to face death, Cheon-hwi calmly lowered his eyes.
At that time, So Yeon-gang, who unfolded the Black Shadow Step at its extreme limit, approached right in front of him.
“You let your guard down!”
The Black Fiend shot out eerie sword qi.
The Black Fiend, enveloped in about an inch of sword qi, was thrust as if to pierce Cheon-hwi’s heart. It was at that moment when the sword, charging like an arrow, reached Cheon-hwi’s chest.
“Not at all.”
Cheon-hwi smirked and swung his sword.
At that moment, a red plum blossom bloomed before his eyes, and soon encroached upon his vision.
‘What is this!’
The moment he urgently opened his eyes wide.
Seogeok!