Reaper of the Drifting Moon novel - Chapter 579

Chapter 579

“Gah!”

Yong Geom-sang vomited blood and knelt down.

The crimson blood stained the snowy earth a deep red.

“Sect Leader!”

“shit!”

He could hear his subordinate’s voices from a distance.

For a moment, clarity returned to him.

‘Have I… been defeated?’

Yong Geom-sang bit his lips.

There were large wounds on his sides and thighs.

They were inflicted by the sword of One Sword-Master.

Fortunately, One Sword-Master had shown mercy and allowed him to keep his life. However it was a clear defeat for him.

“Are you alright?”

He heard the voice of One Sword-Master

Raising his head, he saw Il Geom-jin looking at him with a worried expression.

One Sword-Master’s condition was not great either.

His injuries were as severe as Yong Geom-sang’s. However, he was still standing on two feet while Yong Geom-sang was on his knees.

The difference was substantial.

One Sword-Master had won, and Yong Geom-sang had lost.

The fierce battle, which lasted half a day, ended in a narrow victory for the One Sword-Master.

Even if it was only by a half a second, a loss was still a loss.

Yong Geom-sang accepted his defeat humbly.

But the martial artists of Dragon Mountain Manor had different reactions.

“The Sect Leader has fallen.”

“Protect the Sect Leader.”

They frantically rushed to protect Yong Geom-sang.

Some even lunged at One Sword-Master.

It was then.

“Everyone, stop!”

Mustering the last of his strength, Yong Geom-san shouted.

At his roaring command, the approaching martial artists hesitated.

Yong Geom-sang struggled to his feet and rebuked them.

“How much more shame will you bring upon me? I fought with all I had and feel no shame in my defeat. Stand back, all of you.

“Yes!”

“By your command!”

The martial artists of Dragon Mountain Manor could do nothing but pause at his imposing rebuke.

Only then did Yong Geom-sang let out a faint sigh.

“Phew! I have lost.”

“It was a good fight. If you had been a little more level-headed, I would have lost.”

“You don’t need to console me. You were stronger, and I lost because I was weaker. False consolation is an insult to me.”

“I apologize.”

“Forget it. What more can a loser say? I’ll keep my word, so don’t try to console me.”

“Understood.”

“Hoo!”

After a brief sigh, Yong Geom-sang turned to his subordinates.

He was ashamed to see their faces. But he mustered the courage and spoke.

“As you can see, I lost the duel with my senior, so we’ll return to the Dragon Mountain Manor. But this is not the end. We’ll regroup and return to Kangho. Until then, we’ll lie low and grow stronger. Understand?”

“Yes!”

His subordinates responded in unison.

“Let’s go!”

Yong Geom-sang turned and walked away without any second thought.

The warriors of Dragon Mountain Manor followed him.

One Sword-Master silently watched their retreating figures.

He stood like that for a long while.

Finally, when the martial artists of Dragon Mountain Manor had disappeared from sight, One Sword-Master’s body swayed.

“Whew!”

Using the Pine Gate Great Sword as a staff, he barely managed to stay standing.

Drip!

Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth.

He had sustained injuries as deep as Yong Geom-sang but had suppressed any sign of weakness.

“I have indeed grown too old. Had I been ten years younger, I would have subdued him without this much effort.”

One Sword-Master felt that time was ruthless.

No matter how advanced his martial arts were, if his flesh could not keep up, he would not be able to unleash even a tenth of his power.

“Anyhow, I’ve barely extinguished the urgent fire.”

Now that the warriors of Dragon Mountain Manor had retreated, his immediate goal was achieved.

He had brought his old bones all this way, and it was worth it.

One-Sword Master Il Geom-jin collapsed on the spot, performing his cultivation technique.

It was impossible to completely heal the internal and external injuries with energy cultivation. However, he had recovered enough to move.

One-Sword Master strapped the Pine Gate Sword he had left on the ground back to his waist and started walking.

“When will I reach the Wudang Sect?”

Despite grumbling in a manner unbecoming of his age, One-Sword-Master diligently walked on.

It was just as he was leaving the plain where he fought Yong Geom-sang.

Suddenly, One-Sword Master’s expression turned rigid.

The smile that hadn’t faded even after suffering from deep internal wounds disappeared as if it was a lie.

His eyes fell on a rock that seemed ordinary enough.

On the rock sat a man, sitting cross-legged.

He appeared to be in his early to mid-thirties.

Dressed in a crimson robe, the man seemed intimidating and threatening.

It was extremely rare for a master like One-Sword Master to feel intimidation from others.

If he did, it was only when he encountered a martial artist of a similar or higher level to himself.

Hence, the man sitting cross-legged was undoubtedly an absolute master who had reached at least the same level as One-Sword Master Il geom-Jin.

The problem was that the man’s identity was unknown.

Most masters who had reached a similar level to him knew who they were, but the master in front of him was a face he had never seen before.

One-Sword Master Il geom-Jin sighed.

“Huh! Good people don’t come; those who come are not good…”.

Just as Yong Geom-sang had unexpectedly appeared in front of him, the man in front of him did

not wait with good intentions either.

Just like Yong Geom-sang had done, One Sword-Master asked the man his identity first.

“It seems that you have been waiting for this old man. May I ask your honorable name and purpose?”

The man, seemingly reacting to his voice, opened his eyes and looked at him.

One-Sword Master Il Geom-Jin involuntarily flinched the moment he met the man’s eyes. He felt threatened even though the man had done nothing.

The man opened his mouth.

“My name is Jang Cheon-Hwa.”

“Jang… Cheon-Hwa? Heh heh! Heavenly Martial Sects Chief, is it? But you look very different from what I knew. Have you, perchance, rejuvenated yourself?”

“ Indeed, I have!”

“Hmm!”

One-Sword Master grunted at Jang Cheon-Hwa’s response.

The Jang Cheon-Hwa he knew was not like this.

If he truly underwent rejuvenation, he must have reached an unimaginable level.

The man before him could be lying. But the One-Sword Master believed it to be the truth.

It was because of the presence and aura he felt from Jang Cheon-Hwa.

He had seen Jang Cheon-hwa once before, and he remembered the aura he had given off.

Just because he had regained his youth through rejuvenation, it didn’t mean that his unique aura was going to change.

One-Sword Master asked,

“What are you doing here? A person who’s busy running the Heavenly Martial Sect,”

“What are you doing here, the elder of the Wudang Sect?” Jang Cheon-hwa retorted.

“Haven’t you seen? I stopped Dragon Mountain Manor from intervening. If you had helped, it would have been easier. Just watching?”

“I wanted them to interfere, actually.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just as you heard. I welcome Dragon Mountain Manor’s entrance into Kangho.”

“How can the head of the Heavenly Martial Sect say such a thing?”

“Why can’t the head of the Heavenly Martial Sect say such a thing?”

“That’s…,”

Unable to find an appropriate answer, One-Sword Master hesitated. A trace of a smile played at the corners of Jang Cheon-hwa’s lips.

A mocking smile.

He relaxed his cross-legged posture and rose to his feet. A mountainous aura surged, pressuring the One-Sword Master.

One-Sword Master’s face turned pale.

His suppressed internal injuries were aggravated by Jang Cheon-hwa’s terrifying aura.

One Sword-Master was one of the top experts in the world.

Although his body was weakened, the deep cultivation he had gained and the internal energy he had cultivated were more than enough to support his fragile body. Still, he could feel himself being pushed back by Jang Cheon-hwa’s aura.

An Aura reveals a person’s character, mindset, and accumulated learning.

It told who he was.

What he had achieved.

Why did he came here.

What his ultimate goal was.

Without speaking, he revealed it all through just his aura.

Il Geom-jin shivered.

Even he did not dare to guess the extent of Jang Cheon-hwa’s ambition.

He had never seen anyone with such great ambition.

Had anyone else possessed such ambition, he would have laughed it off and moved on. But Jang Cheon-hwa was a warrior with the ability to make his ambitions a reality.

The mere fact that such a warrior harbored dangerous ambitions sent shivers down One-Sword Master’s spine.

Striving to maintain a calm expression, he asked,

“Do you dream of unifying the martial world?”

“That’s for my son to do.”

“Your son, Jang Mu-gak?”

“A remarkable lad who took over the Golden Heavenly Hall without much support from his father. He can lead the martial world to greatness.”

“You are entrusting the unification of the martial world to your son? Then what does Lord Jang want?

Instead of answering, Jang Cheon-hwa looked up at the sky.

“Heh! You want to become the sky? Dreaming of being the highest under the heavens?”

“I bear the original sin.”

“Original sin?”

“The original sin of killing my master.”

“What?”

Il-geom Jin’s eyes widened.

It was a story he was hearing for the first time.

He never heard the story of Jang Cheon-hwa killing his master, nor did he know who his master was.

From Il-geom Jin’s perspective, Jang Cheon-hwa was like a man who had fallen from the sky.

There was a fight that determined the fate of Kangho decades ago.

It was colloquially referred to as the Demon Sky Great War.

A superpower known as the Celestial Demon Troupe sought supremacy in Kangho.

Celestial Demon Troupe’s leader, Go Geom-Wol, had reached the realm of a Demon supreme-ruler, a supreme martial artist.

Under Go Geom-Wol’s leadership, the Celestial Demon Troupe had brought the martial world to its knees.

It was the first leader of the Mad Martial Sect, Lee Gwak, who stood up in this crisis.

Lee Gwak fought a fierce battle with Go Geom-Wol and barely managed to suppress him. However, the one who killed Go Geom-Wol was an unexpected person.

The young master of the Heavenly Martial Sect who was at the place where the two fought.

Jang Cheon-hwa, the boy, unexpectedly thrust his sword into Go Geom-Wol, when he was flung towards him.

That was the decisive factor.

The ambitious conqueror lost his life to a young boy, and due to this incident, the young boy was deeply etched in the memories of the heroes of the world.

Even though it was an accident, he had taken the life of Go Geom-Wol, who was an absolute martial artist.

After this incident, the Heavenly Martial Sect experienced explosive growth, and the boy became the absolute being of the world.

That was all One Sword-Master knew about Jang Cheon-hwa’s rise to power.

He knew nothing more.

‘Is there more to this story?’

He had an ominous feeling.

‘Master, master… Jang Cheon-hwa’s master? And original sin. The original sin of killing his master…’

Suddenly, Il-Geom Jinin felt a shock, as if he had been hit in the head with a sledgehammer.

An astonishing hypothesis had occurred to him.

“Could it be?”

He forced himself to bite his trembling lips and look at Jang Cheon-hwa.

A deep shadow had settled over Jang Cheon-hwa’s eyes.

The moment he saw his face, Il-Geom Jin knew instinctively that his assumption was correct.

He barely managed to open his mouth.

“Was the Celestial Demon Troupe’s leader Go Geom-Wol the master of Grandmaster Jang?”

“That’s right! I killed my master with my own hands, and with his death, nurtured the Heavenly Martial Sect to what it is now.”

“Heavens!”

“It was something my master commanded me to do, but a deep wound remains in my heart. A wound that will never heal. So I am going to walk the path that my master wanted me to walk.”

“Is that what you mean by becoming the sky?”

“Yes!”

“No matter how powerful the Heavenly Martial Sect is, this is impossible. The sects of the world will never allow your ambition.”

“I know. But in the end, everything will turn out as I intend.”

“You’re mad!”

At that moment, a cold smile spread across Jang Cheon-hwa’s face.

The words of One Sword-Master’s had described him perfectly.

It didn’t matter if people called him mad.

He was fine with being criticized for having a futile dream.

He had been patient without end, and now he was ready to soar into the sky.

“I don’t want this troubled era to end like this. Therefore, Il-Geom Jin, you must die.”