Chapter 285: Chapter 285
Pababak!
The Extermination Unit kicked off the ground in unison.
The pure white figures, which began to move through the falling snow, divided in all directions and charged at those who were completely stiffened.
Every time they took a step, the snow piled on the ground exploded in all directions.
A pure white snowstorm bloomed in an instant.
Within it, each member of the Extermination Unit wrapped their entire bodies in qi and unfurled their momentum.
The pure white figures moving quickly within the snowstorm.
Accompanied by a fierce aura like snow ghosts from folktales, that appearance caused several Unorthodox Faction warriors to momentarily falter.
“W-what is this…?!”
Due to their rapid charge, the distance of about fifteen zhang was narrowing in an instant.
And then.
Before they knew it, the Extermination Unit, which had taken a formation that surrounded them like a net, heavily stomped the ground.
Koong!
The ground shook from the release of qi unfurled at the same moment.
At the same time, the Extermination Unit caused a wave of qi and surged toward those within their territory.
It was their intention not to let a single Unorthodox Faction warrior they had surrounded escape.
“…You dog-like bastards!”
“Damn it!”
The Unorthodox Faction warriors, who involuntarily spat out curses, suddenly came to their senses.
The Extermination Unit’s intention was clearly felt.
Only then did they urgently grip their respective strange weapons and put strength into their eyes.
An instinctive action to live.
They raised their qi in preparation for the imminent collision, and before long, clashed with the Extermination Unit.
Puck! Seogeok! Kwajik!
“Keohuhk!”
“Ueek!”
All sorts of sounds burst out.
The sounds of flesh being cut and bones being broken.
Screams and vomiting sounds, among countless other sounds, combined together, and the area descended into chaos.
The Extermination Unit strongly pressured the Unorthodox Faction warriors.
The opponents before their eyes were neither the Ghost Shadow Squad nor the Blood Shadow Squad, the elites of the Four Black Alliances.
They were mere warriors brought from minor factions.
In contrast, although they were young, the Extermination Unit consisted of the top rising stars from each sect; their caliber was different from the start.
“These dog-like sons of bitches!”
“Do you think I’ll die here!”
The Unorthodox Faction warriors spat out curses.
It was a struggle born out of frustration.
Under the fierce attacks poured out by the scattered forty-two members of the Extermination Unit, the Unorthodox Faction warriors were busy blocking without even a moment to catch their breath.
However, there were occasional counterattacks.
Seugeok!
The warrior who swung his flexible sword and cut off the blood wind cloak of a careless Extermination Unit member smiled grimly and parted his lips.
“Did you think we’d just take a beating like this?”
The moment the warrior, who spoke as if he had seized the chance of victory, tried to swing his flexible sword again.
Puk!
A sword blade protruded from his abdomen.
“Keo, keok. Be, behind…”
The warrior’s body collapsed forward.
Song Dae-geuk, whose blood wind cloak was cut and a stream of blood flowed down his cheek, looked in surprise at the person appearing behind the fallen warrior.
“Vice Squad Leader?”
Danli Gwan-cheon, who had thrust his sword into the warrior’s back, looked at Song Dae-geuk and opened his mouth.
“You seem fine.”
“Of course. Something like this isn’t even a wound.”
Song Dae-geuk wiped the blood flowing on his cheek with his blood wind cloak and smiled.
Meanwhile, a fierce battle was taking place on the opposite side as well.
“Heup!”
Im Ha Yul, swallowing her breath, bowed her head to avoid the swung bizarre sickle, then raised her knee to strike the opponent’s abdomen.
It was a type of fist and kick martial art she had learned at the Jinmu Pavilion.
At the short and snappy attack, the warrior who had swung the sickle bowed his head like ripe rice.
And Im Ha Yul was not the type of person to miss such an exposed opening.
‘Jinmu Palm!’
She, opening wide her left hand that was not holding a sword, roughly struck down on the back of the bowing warrior.
Kwaang!
The warrior collapsed onto the floor just like that.
The single palm strike that accurately hit while in a defenseless state greatly shook the warrior’s insides.
“Keohuhk!”
The warrior, who vomited a mouthful of blood and organ fragments, writhed his entire body in shock.
“Finally one…”
Sweat flowed from Im Ha Yul’s entire body.
Her flesh trembled with every single strike.
The surrounding Extermination Unit members were easily striking down the Unorthodox Faction warriors, but she was not.
The lowest level of skill in the Extermination Unit.
It was to the point where it was difficult to be certain that she was stronger than the Unorthodox Faction warriors in front of her right now.
However.
‘I am not afraid.’
She slowly caught her breath.
The opponent was strong, but for some reason, she was not that tense.
‘Compared to the Squad Leader…’
Recalling her spars with Cheon-hwi, the opponents before her eyes seemed manageable.
She, having braced her mind, drew up her internal energy.
Jinmu Art.
It was by no means an outstanding mental method.
The mental method of a martial pavilion that failed to become a sect.
Because it was merely at that level.
However, it was the martial art she had learned throughout her short life. The internal energy of that Jinmu Art naturally followed her will, slowly wrapping around her sword.
The subtly flowing internal energy.
Soon, a faint sword qi like a haze wrapped around the sword, displaying its majesty.
Looking at the Unorthodox Faction warriors holding strange weapons, Im Ha Yul put strength into the tips of her toes.
The tip of her leather shoes trampled the snow.
Just when she felt the sensation of hard dirt, Im Ha Yul’s body shot forward.
Like a streak of light.
Just like Im Ha Yul, the other Extermination Unit members also moved calmly.
If it were in the past, they would have been swept up in the heat of this war, but not anymore.
They were cold and composed.
And then.
Seogeok!
There was no hesitation in their killing moves.
Although it had only been two missions, the Extermination Unit, which had accumulated experience in the meantime, completely overwhelmed the Unorthodox Faction warriors.
And there was a group holding their breath at the edge of this battlefield.
The Hongyang Sect Leader and his subordinates.
Furthermore, there were those who were conserving their strength just like them.
“The Beggars’ Sect and Kunlun, and Qingcheng…”
The old man let out a groan and muttered.
Looking at his wrinkled face and bent waist, his age seemed considerable.
Everyone listened closely to his words.
Zhejiang Ghost Hand.
It was because he was a master from the previous generation who was notorious for his vicious methods within Zhejiang Province, possessing a level of martial prowess that was among the best of those gathered here right now.
“Are they bastards from the Martial Alliance?”
The old man muttered, making the long pure white beard grown at both ends tremble.
“That’s right.”
An answer to the question that was like a soliloquy was heard.
It was from an unexpected place.
Sabak, sabak.
Cheon-hwi, who had drawn a sword emitting a red light, was walking lightly over the snow.
It was a light footstep as if taking a stroll.
However, those watching Cheon-hwi getting closer and closer could not hide their astonishment.
There were no footprints in the snow he had passed over.
What that meant was only one thing.
“Treading on Snow without Leaving Traces?!”
In an instant, the Gang Leader of the Myriad Might Gang, Evil Heart Lord, burst out a shout of dismay.
He was not the only one.
The Unorthodox Faction masters in the area felt their breath catch at the martial prowess of the Plum Blossom Divine Hero, which they had only heard in rumors.
At that moment.
“What are you doing? It’s your interval.”
A voice mixed with ridicule was heard.
A distance of five zhang.
Cheon-hwi, who stopped momentarily at that distance, opened his mouth once again.
“If you don’t like taking the initiative, I’ll go.”
Cheon-hwi raised Hwawol up to his chest.
Just the act of raising his sword.
It was only that, but the Unorthodox Faction warriors opened their eyes wide at the sight that subsequently appeared.
A colorless haze bloomed on the sword blade.
The haze, which felt unrealistic like a mirage, soon coalesced into one and transformed into a flower.
A flower blooming in the snowy winter.
The Unorthodox Faction warriors were momentarily terrified.
The identity of that red flower was exactly one thing.
It was the sword flower, the essence of the Mount Hua Sect.
“Plum Blossom Sword Art…?!”
At that moment, the plum blossoms sank down upon roughly ten warriors who were at the very front, and.
Pushooshook!
Blood poured out from all directions.
Blood flowers, even redder than the plum blossoms that bloomed from the sword, scattered and mixed with the snow as if they were petals falling in the spring breeze.
A sight that was terrible yet beautiful.
Soon, the ten warriors collapsed forward without even being able to let out a groan.
Kung.
A dull sound followed after that.
Even though the sound of swords clashing and noise filled the area, it seemed to be heard exceptionally louder.
Blood dripped belatedly, and Cheon-hwi raised his head while stepping on the red-stained snow.
His indifferent gaze captured them.
It was a sight that induced silence.
No one had seen it.
Neither the swinging of the sword, nor what kind of martial art was used.
Just the moment they thought the sword was raised.
Everything was over.
“Was it a bit shallow?”
Cheon-hwi glanced at the fallen corpses, then raised Hwawol up high once again.
The internal energy of the Plum Blossom Divine Art boiled over.
Due to the qi that arose around his feet, the surrounding snowflakes scattered and disappeared in an instant.
It was the manifestation of an overwhelming momentum.
Within it, Cheon-hwi swept his gaze over the Unorthodox Faction warriors one by one, and slowly parted his lips.
“This time, I’ll properly sever your lives.”
* * *
Hwik!
Nong-jil frowned her eyebrows at the intense qi wave felt from behind and turned her head.
A distance of approximately two hundred zhang.
Her interest was drawn to the momentum that was clearly felt despite it being a considerably far distance.
Something that could not be explained in words…
It was a supreme momentum.
“Hm? What is this aura?”
Evil? Demonic? Dao? Buddha?
No, it was none of those.
That was transparent.
As if it were natural qi.
However, she had to withdraw her interest right away before long.
It was because something more important was in front of her.
Seueuk-
Nong-jil bit down on her long smoking pipe.
The smoke came in, stimulating her sense of smell.
Was it because she smelled a familiar scent?
She, whose boiling heart had calmed down, turned her head again and looked ahead.
The mountain gate of the Subduing Tiger Temple.
Under the signboard where Dharma power poured out, there was a person standing firmly and straight like a divine general, guarding the mountain gate.
A middle-aged woman with a bluish shaven head.
Nong-jil was aware that she was quite a bit older than how she currently appeared.
“It seems you are Abbess So-un?”
Just as Nong-jil guessed, she was the Sect Leader of Emei, Abbess So-wun.
Abbess So-wun also looked at Nong-jil.
Raised eyebrows, slightly loosened eyes.
The presence of a veil covering her mouth.
Furthermore, even her outfit that exposed her skin. Her decadent appearance carried an evil aura.
“You are not a Bewitching Immortal, but a wicked creature.”
Abbess So-un spoke in a low voice and forcefully raised the Reincarnation Six-Ringed Staff high before striking it down.
Hwaaaaak!
The snow piled up around them was pushed away in an instant by the storm of qi she emitted.
It was a strike carrying intense Dharma power.
Nong-jil lightly waved her long smoking pipe while looking at the pile of snow rushing over her.
Saaak!
The snowstorm and Dharma power were cut in half.
Soon, she shook her hand holding the long smoking pipe, brushing off the remaining force.
“I heard that in some quarters you are called the Emei Mountain God, and your Dharma power really is amazing.”
Staring at Abbess So-un, she narrowed her eyes.
Those long, slit eyes transformed as if into a fox’s and emitted light.
It was a chilling and evil gaze.
“I’ve become more curious about the taste of your blood.”
With those words, Nong-jil swung her long smoking pipe downwards from above with a whoosh.
In an instant, a streak of qi wave was generated.
Swaaaaek!
That qi wave advanced, rapidly crossing the air.
The moment Abbess So-un tried to raise the Samsara Six-Ringed Staff against that qi wave.
Grin-
Nong-jil’s eye corners curved greatly.
At the same time, the qi wave began to soar into the sky in a single breath.
“…!”
Startled, Abbess So-un hastily tried to swing the Reincarnation Six-Ringed Staff.
However, the qi wave collided with the signboard above beforehand, and.
Kwajijik!
It smashed it to pieces in one go.
The shattered remnants of the signboard fell down with a ‘koong’ sound.
Abbess So-un trembled her body while looking at the signboard pieces that had fallen at her feet.
It was a signboard that contained the history of the Emei Sect.
But it was now broken.
Intense Dharma power surged from Abbess So-un’s entire body, and her monk’s robe fluttered.
Great Serenity Divine Art.
It was the manifestation of the Emei Sect’s divine art.
The Dharma power that arose with her at the center swept over Nong-jil and the numerous forces behind her.
Even though everyone present was an elite, it was to the extent that several warriors flinched.
Around the time Nong-jil was also inwardly surprised by the intensity of the surging Dharma power.
“…You bastard!”
Abbess So-un opened her two eyes wide.
It was a rage that had never been shown even once before, and would not be shown again in the future.
Seeing that, Nong-jil waved her long smoking pipe with an expression showing she liked it.
While accompanied by a low command.
“Annihilate the Emei Sect.”