Novel Martial Artist Lee Gwak - chapter 358
We lost all our site content, but I will work on re-uploading it manually, you can support us from here: https://ko-fi.com/novelgate
Episode 358
Carrying their names(2)
The first to notice the disturbance was Woo Mun-pae, who had been relentlessly pressuring Mok Seon-wol.
Thud!
Like the plucking of a pipa string in a quiet hall, a ripple spread across one side of the battlefield.
At first, he thought it was a mistake.
The Martial Sword Troupe and the Jade Heaven Alliance had already gained momentum, while Dragon Heaven Valley was being pushed back helplessly.
Under such circumstances, a shift in the battle’s tide seemed impossible.
To tip the scales back, an event or presence more shocking than the Martial Sword Troupe’s betrayal of Dragon Heaven Valley would be needed.
And as far as Woo Mun-pae knew, Dragon Heaven Valley had no such trump card.
He had systematically eliminated all possible wildcards before betraying Dragon Heaven Valley, ensuring that no outside interference could occur.
“Could it be Sa Yeon-hee?” Woo Mun-pae furrowed his brow.
He had been utterly flustered when Sa Yeon-hee insisted on coming here. Despite being around the same age as him, she held the same status as his master.
Sa Yeon-hee was unyielding and could not be swayed. Woo Mun-pae had deliberately lured her elsewhere, away from this battlefield. Had she been here, he might never have pulled off this scheme.
There was no way she could have returned so soon.
‘Then, is there another variable?
Woo Mun-pae slightly wrinkled his nose.
Though it bothered him, he wasn’t overly concerned.
Even if Sa Yeon-hee returned, it would be impossible to reverse the already tipped scales.
Boom!
Woo Mun-pae unleashed the ultimate technique of Thousand Wave Fist of the Blue Sea against Mok Seon-wol.
The Thousand Wave Fist of the Blue Sea was the Martial Sword Troupe’s supreme fist technique—unpredictable as a thousand waves crashing against the vast blue sea and imbued with the relentless force of the ocean.
After his defeat by Lee Gwak, he devoted himself to perfecting the Thousand Wave Fist of the Blue Sea.
The perfected Thousand Wave Fist of the Blue Sea possessed the destructive power of a raging tsunami.
“Ugh!”
Mok Seon-wol coughed up blood.
Already suffering from internal injuries and unable to exert even half of her strength, Mok Seon-wol was no match for Woo Mun Pae’s Thousand Wave Fist of the Blue Sea.
Her complexion had turned pale from the severe internal damage.
“Let’s end this.”
Though he regretted having to destroy Mok Seon-wol’s beauty, now was not the time to indulge in such thoughts.
Woo Mun Pae raised his fist, and a tremendous amount of qi condensed within it.
A look of despair flashed in Mok Seon-wol’s eyes.
She no longer had the strength or energy to withstand Woo Mun Pae’s attack.
There was no hope, no way out.
‘Is this the end?’
Just as Mok Seon-wol was about to give up—
Boom!
A sudden, intense wave of qi swept across the battlefield.
In an instant, Mok Seon-wol felt her heart pounding violently.
A chill ran through her body, which had only moments before been filled with helplessness.
Woo Mun Pae felt it too.
He froze in the posture he had taken to strike down Mok Seon-wol and stared ahead.
Woo Mun Pae’s expression was terrifying, as if he had met his mortal enemy.
Rumble!
A fierce aura radiated from his entire body. Although he hadn’t used his full power against Mok Seon-wol, he was now unleashing it in response to the mysterious qi.
“Who is that…?”
In the distance, he could see the crowd of martial artists parting on either side, and through the gap, someone was walking towards them, carrying a thick pole.
Woo Mun Pae used his internal energy to sharpen his vision, and the figure became clearer.
“Lee.. Gwak!”
Boom!
In an instant, an overwhelming, savage qi erupted from Woo Mun Pae like a storm.
“Gah!”
“Lord Wu!”
The martial artists nearby were swept away by the storm-like qi, collapsing to the ground. Among them were martial artists from the Martial Sword Troupe, but Woo Mun Pae paid them no heed.
His gaze was fixed on the man approaching from the distance—Lee Gwak.
Lee Gwak walked forward, carrying a massive pillar on his back like a condemned prisoner. The pillar was studded with countless weapons, resembling the spines of a porcupine.
Woo Mun Pae didn’t know what it signified.
All he knew was that Lee Gwak had appeared on the battlefield.
The man who had dealt him his first defeat.
Grind!
Woo Mun Pae gritted his teeth.
Mok Seon-wol was no longer his concern.
“Bastard!”
“What is he doing?”
The martial artists who had initially been startled by Lee Gwak’s appearance and stepped aside now erupted in anger.
They were on the verge of annihilating the martial artists of Dragon Heaven Valley.
All they needed to do was finish them off and claim the spoils. But now, an unexpected intruder had appeared, infuriating them.
Among them, the most furious was Ok Cheon-hwa, a martial artist from the Martial Sword Troupe.
Years ago, during the Sea Martial Festival in Haenam, Ok Cheon-hwa had won the competition and became a disciple of the Martial Sword Troupe.
Since then, he had risen through the ranks to become one of Woo Mun Pae’s most trusted aides.
Ok Cheon-hwa was willing to do anything for Woo Mun Pae. In fact, he had already carried out many dirty tasks on his behalf.
To him, Lee Gwak was an obstacle that had to be eliminated.
Blinded by his ambition, Ok Cheon-hwa charged at Lee Gwak.
“Give up your life!”
He unleashed his signature technique, the “Sixteen Waves Blade Technique
,” toward Lee Gwak.
Whoosh!
A tidal wave of sword qi surged toward Lee Gwak.
At that moment, Lee Gwak drew a sword from the pole on his shoulder.
It was the sword of an unknown outer hall martial artist.
Lee Gwak’s weapon of choice was not the sword, but the blade.
He had never trained in swordsmanship, but at Lee Gwak’s level of martial mastery, the type of weapon was irrelevant.
Sssit!
Lee Gwak’s sword clashed with Ok Cheon-hwa’s blade.
Pakang!
Suddenly, Ok Cheon-hwa’s eyes widened.
The cheap, crudely made sword had split Ok Cheon-hwa’s blade in two. As a result, the sword Lee Gwak was holding also shattered like brittle straw. But Lee Gwak was unfazed.
There were plenty of weapons left.
Lee Gwak just grabbed another weapon from the pillar.
This time, it was a blade.
Sssit!
“Keuk! You bas…”
Ok Cheon-hwa’s eyes bulged.
A small nick appeared between his eyebrows, and blood spurted out.
The wound was only the size of a child’s finger, but the brain inside Ok Cheon-hwa’s skull was crushed like mush.
Ok Cheon-hwa floundered before collapsing to the ground.
This was the end of Ok Cheon-hwa, the “Young Hero of the South Sea,” who had once won the Sea Martial Festival.
“Hero Yu!”
“He killed Hero Yu!”
Enraged by Ok Cheon-hwa’s death, the martial artists from the Martial Sword Troupe charged at Lee Gwak.
Swoosh!
Lee Gwak’s blade sliced through the air.
Three or four martial artists fell, spraying blood.
Crack!
And then Lee Gwak’s blade shattered like sand.
Lee Gwak tossed the broken blade handle aside, grabbed another weapon from the pillar, and continued to face the martial artists of the Martial Sword Troupe.
“Ugh!”
“Kuh!”
The martial artists who charged at Lee Gwak screamed and fell. The weapons in his hands broke.
But Lee Gwak didn’t care.
He still had plenty of weapons left.
Though their original owners were no longer of this world, the weapons they left behind now shone in Lee Gwak’s hands.
“What the hell is that guy?”
“He’s insane!”
By now, even the martial artists of the Jade Heaven Alliance had turned their attention to Lee Gwak. Some of them recognized him right away and shouted:
“It’s Lee Gwak!”
“It’s the Sura Blade!”
Because Lee Gwak had spent many years in the Jade Heaven Alliance, most of them were already familiar with his face. Envy flickered in their eyes. In truth, they almost wished they had never known him at all.
After all, Lee Gwak had once been nothing more than a low-ranking squad leader in the outer hall.
They had always looked down on him and considered him beneath them.
But now, this same person had suddenly risen to fame in the Jianghu, receiving treatment far beyond what they could ever hope for. It was unbearable to watch.
They believed that his reputation had been exaggerated.
“Die!”
“Hyahaaah!”
Because of that, they rushed at Lee Gwak even more fiercely than the Martial Sword Troupe martial artists did. If they could kill him, the prestige he enjoyed would become theirs.
Lee Gwak swung his blade toward them.
Shigaak!
A silver streak cut through the air, and droplets of blood stained the air red.
Those who had attacked Lee Gwak were flung back at a speed several times faster than they had charged forward.
Their faces, rolling roughly on the ground, were devoid of life.
“Ugh!”
“How can this be?”
Their expressions turned pale as they stared at Lee Gwak, their eyes brimming with fear.
No one could halt his advance.
Every time he drew a weapon from the pillar on his shoulder and swung it, someone inevitably lost their life.
By now, more than two-thirds of the weapons that had been stuck in the pillar were used up—and broken in the process. That many people had died.
The path Lee Gwak walked was stained with blood.
He truly looked like an asura emerging from the depths of hell.
“What are you?”
Gung Choo-san glared at Lee Gwak.
He was the leader of the White Blood Gate, one of the three gates of the Martial Sword Troupe.
Originally, this was not a place for him to be.
He was a prominent figure in the Martial Sword Troupe, responsible for leading the White Blood Gate. Yet, he had come here out of ambition.
By helping Woo Mun Pae, the likely next leader of the sect, conquer Dragon Heaven Valley, the White Blood Gate’s position within the Martial Sword Troupe would undoubtedly become more secure.
Gung Choo-san was one of the top experts in the Martial Sword Troupe.
His martial prowess was on par with the other top experts in the Jianghu. In terms of pure destructive power, he far surpassed them.
Gung Choo-san aimed his large hook-scythe spear at Lee Gwak.
The hook-scythe spear, as its name suggested, was a combination of a spear and a scythe.
The spearhead had a scythe attached, making it excellent for both thrusting and slashing.
“Die!”
Whoosh!
The long spear shaft spun fiercely as it flew toward Lee Gwak.
As the spear shaft rotated, a red aura enveloped it, extending its length by another foot.
‘Spear Aura?’
A flicker of surprise crossed Lee Gwak’s face, but only for a split second.
It didn’t matter how strong his opponent was.
It didn’t matter if his opponent wielded a divine weapon unmatched in the world.
Even if the weapon in his hand was nothing more than scrap metal on the verge of crumbling.
Crack!
The moment the hook-scythe spear clashed with Lee Gwak’s blade, the blade shattered like a twig.
Whoosh!
Gung Choo-san twisted the spear shaft, aiming to slice Lee Gwak’s throat with the scythe blade. But his attempt failed.
Lee Gwak had already drawn a sword to block the hook-scythe spear.
Swoosh!
Lee Gwak deflected the spear in an instant and closed in on Gung Choo-san’s chest.
“Ugh!”
Gung Choo-san’s face twisted. But he, too, was a renowned expert in the South Sea.
With quick reflexes, he twisted the spear shaft to knock away Lee Gwak’s sword.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
In an instant, the sword and spear clashed over a dozen times.
Crack!
Unable to withstand the aftermath of the clashes, Lee Gwak’s sword finally shattered. But by then, another weapon was already in his hand.
“Ugh!”
A look of horror appeared on Gung Choo-san’s face.
He hadn’t even noticed when Lee Gwak had switched weapons.
It felt like he was witnessing a magic trick.
When he saw Lee Gwak’s indifferent expression, his heart sank.
It wasn’t just because he couldn’t read Lee Gwak’s emotions.
He was already breathing heavily from exerting his full strength, but Lee Gwak showed no signs of fatigue. This meant Lee Gwak hadn’t even used his full strength yet.
Moreover, Lee Gwak was carrying a massive pillar on one shoulder, which should have restricted his movements. Yet, he was evenly matched with Gung Choo-san, indicating that Lee Gwak’s martial prowess far surpassed his own.
‘I need to retreat…’
Gung Choo-san decided to fall back, regroup, and then attack Lee Gwak with the help of other martial artists. But Lee Gwak didn’t give him the chance.
Sssit!
A devilish howl of breaking air resounded.
Gong Chushan blocked Lee Gwak’s strike with his hook-scythe spear. But Lee Gwak’s attack was only the beginning.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Like rain pounding on tin, Lee Gwak’s attacks relentlessly hammered Gong Chushan’s spear.
Swords shattered, sabers broke, and swords shattered again.
Under Lee Gwak’s endless assault, Gung Choo-san’s body reeled again and again.
Then, as if time itself had stopped, I-gwak’s attacks suddenly ceased.
“Ugh!”
Gung Choo-san staggered weakly, like a reed swaying in the wind. His entire body was now pierced by more than a dozen swords and blades.
The weapons of the nameless martial artists from the outer hall had brought down Gung Choo-san, a towering figure of the Martial Sword Troupe.
“You…”
Gong Chushan reached out to grab Lee Gwak, but Lee Gwak walked past him indifferently.
Gong Chushan’s body crumbled to the ground, his hand still outstretched.
Lee Gwak’s eyes fell on Woo Mun Pae.
No one stood in his way anymore.
“……”
A suffocating silence dominated the battlefield.
At this moment, Lee Gwak was like a massive volcano.
His eruption was consuming the battlefield.
Unstable
Boom