Chapter 280: Where Does Conflict Come From (5)
“……?!”
The eyes of Gi Wu-hui, who was running fast, shook greatly.
‘That person is…?’
A person running from the front at a fearsome speed.
That speed was truly out of the human realm. It seemed that even a bird flying in the sky, a beast of prey pouncing on its prey, or even the fastest excellent horse under heaven would be no match for it.
With Gi Wu-hui’s skills and her reflexes, she could not read the movements of the person running while holding a huge axe and iron chain.
But what was this?
The figure of the young man running at a speed far beyond imagination seemed to be clearly visible.
It was as if she had fallen alone into slowed time. In it, Gi Wu-hui could see and feel not only the young man’s eyes and expression but also each and every explosive presence he emitted.
‘Dangerous.’
The first impression she felt upon seeing the young man was that.
Dangerous.
‘Incredibly dangerous!’
Gi Wu-hui tried to twist her body without realizing it.
At that moment, Yeon Ho-jeong accelerated once again.
Kwang!
Yeon Ho-jeong, who soared with a terrifying hot wind, leaped over Gi Wu-hui in one breath and entered the rear.
“Kyaaaaak!”
The scream that burst out without realizing it rang through the mountains and streams.
Yeon Ho-jeong shouted.
“Muk Bi!”
Pooooow!
The Red Lotus Bow was held in the hands of Muk Bi, who instantly followed behind Yeon Ho-jeong.
Tatatatatang!
A merciless rapid fire, a five-shot burst of invisible bullets was fired at the assassins who revealed themselves.
Puk! Peobeok! Tiiiing!
Muk Bi’s eyes flashed.
Three invisible bullets blew off the heads of three, but the remaining two drew their swords and deflected them.
‘They’re fast.’
Their reaction speed was excellent. Moreover, the level of their internal energy and sword technique was also outstanding. Even though it was archery without nocking iron arrows or wooden arrows, they blocked it despite a penetrating power that would be difficult to block with ordinary martial arts.
‘But I won’t consume arrows.’
If she had been alone, she would have started wildly firing the supreme techniques of the Nine Dragons Heaven-Shattering Bow. However, there was no need for that now.
It was because a reliable ally, the incarnation of practical martial arts, was with her right now.
Vuuuuuuuung! Thwack!
The bodies of the two assassins were torn and sent flying by the strike of the Crazy Dragon Axe swung at a tremendous speed.
It was as if a north wind possessing the weight of a thousand catties was blowing in. The flesh and bloody water ripped off by that overbearing strike completely filled the air.
Yeon Ho-jeong’s feet spewed fire.
Kwang!
It was the sprint of a Fire God breaking through a short distance at super-high speed.
Yeon Ho-jeong, who entered the entrance of the forest in one breath with the Blood Wing Sweeping Heavens, grasped the Flood Dragon Chain tied around his upper body.
Chwarrrrrrk!
An axe in his right hand, and the Flood Dragon Chain in his left.
‘Two top left, three bottom left, two middle right.’
He was exactly piercing through the locations of the assassins hidden in the bushes.
Yeon Ho-jeong swung the Flood Dragon Chain.
Chwarrrrk! Thwack!
From top left to middle right, the Flood Dragon Chain, which became sharp like an awl, pierced through the bodies of seven assassins at once.
It was neither White Tiger Qi nor Vermilion Bird Qi. It was exactly Azure Dragon Qi.
The Azure Dragon Art specialized in evasion and counterattacks. The Azure Dragon Qi, which is the foundation of those Azure Dragon Art, has the characteristic of freely shaping the nature of a weapon. If the intention was not for a one-hit sure-kill purpose but to pierce and drag them out, Azure Dragon Qi was better than Vermilion Bird Qi.
Yeon Ho-jeong pulled the Flood Dragon Chain just like that.
Snap! Kwang!
The seven assassins with their bodies pierced flew through the air and approached.
All of their postures had completely collapsed. Yeon Ho-jeong swung the Crazy Dragon Axe.
Peo-eo-eo-eo-eok!
The beast-like offensive power of the Sovereign Tiger’s Nine Thunderclaps tore the bodies of the seven assassins to shreds at once.
It was a linked technique of unwieldy strange weapons. Even though one was a full eighty catties in weight, and the other was an iron chain reaching five zhang in length, his ability to handle them with one hand had reached the realm of full maturity.
“Crazy.”
Gang Ryang, who approached Gi Wu-hui’s side, clicked his tongue.
“What kind of nonsensical martial arts is that?!”
He had seen it several times, but it was a martial art he couldn’t get used to no matter how many times he saw it. At the same time, Gang Ryang was convinced anew. That in the spar with him, Yeon Ho-jeong hadn’t even shown thirty percent of his true skills.
Murong Yu looked at Gi Wu-hui and gave a short fist salute.
“I am Murong Yu, Commander of the Demon-Sweeping Army of the Murim Alliance. Are you the Divine Maiden of the Western Regions?”
“Y-Yes?! Ah! I am not a divine maiden… Th-that is to say, well…”
Flustered, she stammered her words repeatedly.
Murong Yu nodded his head.
“Divine Maiden of the Western Regions, Divine Physician Gi Wu-hui. From now on, we will protect you.”
“Th-thank you.”
Even in the midst of confusion, she bowed at the waist and greeted. Murong Yu could feel Gi Wu-hui’s mild temperament.
At that time.
Kwang! Poooow!
A brutal roar erupted.
It was the sound of trees breaking and the crust of the earth flipping over. Seeing how much destructive attacks were pouring out, it felt as if heaven and earth were shaking.
Yeon Ho-jeong shouted.
“Commander Murong! Go to the place we agreed on in advance!”
Murong Yu immediately carried Gi Wu-hui on his back.
“Excuse me.”
Paaaaang!
Murong Yu, carrying Gi Wu-hui on his back, and Gang Ryang slipped out of the battlefield at once.
At the same time, the assassins waiting in the forest bypassed at a bizarre and fast speed. It wasn’t even a wide-open terrain, yet their movements through the forest were terrifyingly fast and precise.
Yeon Ho-jeong shouted.
“Block them!”
Huuuuwoooong.
Muk Bi nocked an iron arrow to the Red Lotus Bow.
‘Dragon Fang Cannon!’
The enormous internal energy swelled by the Great Heaven Qi transformed the iron arrow on the bowstring into an absolutely invincible cannon.
Muk Bi released the bowstring.
Vuaaaaaaang!
The air heated up hotly from the strike of the Dragon Fang Cannon that shot out while swirling.
Kwaaaaaang!
Five or six giant trees were smashed and three house-sized rocks were crushed, forming a huge wall. It completely cut off the assassins’ movement path in a single strike.
At that moment, Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes flashed.
Paaaak!
Some twenty assassins climbed the blocked wall and flew high into the sky.
Surprisingly, the capes they wore formed a huge membrane and moved along with the wind.
It was tremendous. In order for such aerial movement to be possible, clothing made of special fabric, extremely delicate internal energy control, and high-level movement techniques and enlightenment suitable for it were necessary.
‘They aren’t just mere assassins.’
There were people like that during the Dark Emperor Castle days as well. A special forces unit that flew around riding cliffs used to escape or infiltrate operation zones in that manner.
‘Their skills are one thing, but to obtain items like that, an enormous financial power is required.’
Yeon Ho-jeong shouted.
“Muk Bi!”
“I know!”
Muk Bi nocked five iron arrows on her bowstring.
Pipipipiping!
The firing speed was faster than even the invisible bullets.
The five iron arrows, shot out erasing a distance of dozens of zhang in one breath, pierced straight through the clothing and bodies of five assassins.
It was an archery skill that hit the mark with every shot. Indeed, as she had said, the existence of an archer during combat was becoming a tremendous threat to the enemy.
Of course, Yeon Ho-jeong didn’t just watch either.
Clank!
Having connected the Flood Dragon Chain to the ring at the end of the Crazy Dragon Axe’s shaft, he stepped with the Blood Wing Sweeping Heavens again.
Pabababak!
He ran out like a weightless flame. Narrowing the distance in one breath, he climbed a tree and stepped on the end of a branch.
Pooooow!
Yeon Ho-jeong, who soared high into the sky causing an explosion sound, swung the Flood Dragon Chain just like that. It was the Blood Wind Dance.
Vuaaaaang! Rip!
A bloody shower arose in the air. The elongated Flood Dragon Chain, and the Crazy Dragon Axe tied to the end of that chain swept away some ten assassins.
‘Oh my.’
Yeon Ho-jeong frowned.
‘These guys, they are real experts.’
Even though they saw their comrades dying right in front of their noses, there was no shaking in their eyes. The surviving ones continued to fly to catch their target somehow.
They even showed amazing stunts.
Tatatatatang!
Five invisible bullets sliced through the air again.
At the same time, the remaining five assassins all twisted their bodies simultaneously. Then their formation scattered instantly, and the invisible bullets pierced through the empty air.
Muk Bi’s eyes shook.
‘They dodged it?!’
It was truly not easy to show such agile movements in the air where movement was severely restricted.
‘Their individual martial arts are nothing much. Even if I generously assess them, they are below Gang Ryang. But…’
Yeon Ho-jeong’s voice was heard.
“Don’t deal with them as if facing ordinary martial artists! These guys, they are properly trained bastards! Remember when we fought the Dead Soul Group bastards of the Black Dragon Manor!”
In an instant, Muk Bi’s shaking eyes shone brilliantly.
The Dead Soul Group was one of the Black Dragon Manor’s special forces, individuals specialized in anti-expert warfare. It wasn’t for nothing that Yeon Ho-jeong had a hard time against them.
However, the Evil-Annihilating Army that appeared on the battlefield under Muk Bi’s command massacred the Dead Soul Group with terrifying breakthrough power and god-like formations.
Was that one-sided battle really the result of a practical difference in military power?
That’s not it. The reason the Evil-Annihilating Army could overwhelm the Dead Soul Group lay elsewhere.
Paaaaaak!
The Dragon Flying Divine Walk movement technique boasted such tremendous speed that it made one’s jaw drop whenever they saw it.
Now, it passed right through the assassins approaching their target in low-altitude flight in an instant. The place she reached was precisely Murong Yu’s rear.
Gang Ryang’s eyes widened.
“Big Sister!”
“Let me borrow your shoulders!”
Paak!
Muk Bi climbed onto Gang Ryang’s shoulders at once.
An amazing movement technique, a breathtaking sense of balance. She stood on the shoulders of Gang Ryang, who was running quite vigorously, and drew her bowstring, but the movements of her knees and hip joints were so flexible that there was no shaking at all in her upper body and shoulders.
Even Gang Ryang couldn’t help but be surprised. Muk Bi, who had even eliminated her sense of weight with internal energy control that reached the extreme, Gang Ryang’s movement speed did not decrease much even after placing a person on his shoulders.
Muk Bi shouted.
“Run! I will take care of the rear!”
“Yes!”
Paak!
Gang Ryang ran forward, and Muk Bi, standing stepping on both of his shoulders, turned back and aimed her arrows at the assassins approaching in low-altitude flight.
‘There was only one reason the Evil-Annihilating Army could overwhelm the Dead Soul Group.’
Kkadeudeudeudeuk!
The bowstring of the Red Lotus Bow was drawn to its maximum.
‘It was because we utilized the advantage of the environment and simultaneously rendered the opponents powerless!’
The Red Lotus Bow spewed fire.
Boom!
The bodies of the five assassins moved madly at the mercilessly fired arrows.
Tititititing! Titititititing!
Muk Bi’s hand movements had truly reached divine skill.
She randomly fired iron arrows, wooden arrows, and invisible bullets, making it impossible to know in what manner the arrows were flying in. An ultra-high-speed rapid-fire technique. Among the archers living in the Central Plains, there would not be a single archer capable of high-speed rapid fire to the extent of Muk Bi.
At that time.
Thump!
Muk Bi fired an invisible bullet toward the ground.
Huuuuung! Thwack!
“Keok!”
With a groan, one assassin spat blood and fell to the ground.
It was an amazing strike. It was not an ordinary curved shot that utilized gravity to hit an object after shooting it high into the sky, but an invisible bullet that grazed the ground and curved upwards to pierce the assassin’s neck.
It was an archery skill beyond imagination. The person capable of this kind of archery would also be none other than Muk Bi in all of the Central Plains.
The assassins’ eyes shook. They too realized that they could not approach any further in front of Muk Bi’s terrifying archery.
‘No.’
Murderous intent lingered in Muk Bi’s eyes.
‘I have to catch them all here for the aftermath to be easy.’
Tatatatatang!
Invisible bullets flying in bizarre curves from up, down, left, and right threatened the lives of the assassins.
Trickle.
Muk Bi’s complexion turned pale, and a streak of blood flowed down the corner of her mouth.
Forcibly bending an internal energy shot at the fast speed of an invisible bullet was a technique that consumed tremendous mental and internal energy. Even the great Muk Bi could not help but endure internal injuries.
Thwack!
Two assassins fell once again. The sound of bones shattering to pieces was heard from their bodies rolling on the ground.
‘Two remaining!’
At that time.
Kwang!
A massive flame erupted from the left side of the fleeing group.
Muk Bi’s eyes opened wide as if they would tear.
“C-Cannon?!”