Chapter 163: Chapter 163
The area around the Yujang Sect, which had been quiet for nearly three days, was filled with commotion.
Every Black Path bastard in Yueyang who could use a blade had gathered there, and because of that, there was no room to set foot not only inside the Yujang Sect, but outside it as well.
Among them were bastards who fought because they had taken a place on the wall first, bastards who opened a gambling table in the middle of it all, and even bastards who had bought alcohol and side dishes and were waiting for the Martial Duel to begin.
All sorts of strange bastards had gathered.
Of course, a few sects from the Orthodox Path side had also come to observe, but the difference in numbers was so great that they could not easily square their shoulders.
“Orthodox Path trash, get back!”
“Hey! After the Yujang Sect, your sect is next. You know that, right?”
“The Murim Alliance has no interest in the likes of you! Do not even think about getting help!”
The Decisive Martial Duel had not even begun yet, but the heat was gradually rising, and when the murmuring of the people reached its peak.
“They’re here!”
At one man’s shout, the gazes of everyone in the arena turned behind them.
As though the sea were parting, the densely packed crowd moved to either side and opened a path to the already broken main gate of the Yujang Sect.
“Awesome! The Mukhyul Gang!”
“Show those bastards what you can do!”
“Let’s take this chance to drive every Orthodox Path bastard out of Yueyang!”
Behind the Mukhyul Gang’s Deputy Gang Chief…… no, now the Gang Chief of the Mukhyul Gang after the death of the previous Gang Chief, So Gyeong-chu, Assault Captain Sang-gwan Baek, Sword Evil, Snake Evil, and the warriors of the Mukhyul Gang crossed through the broken main gate of the Yujang Sect without hesitation.
After passing through the Yujang Sect’s Grand Riding Ground, the members of the Mukhyul Gang stood in the Grand Training Ground and looked ahead.
The Yujang Sect warriors who had stood at the entrance of the hall, the people from the Murim Academy, and Jin So-un’s party slowly stood on the opposite side of the Mukhyul Gang.
When even those who had been noisily chattering fell silent, a strange tension swept through the arena.
Soon, Dang Hyeok-jae, who was standing with the Murim Alliance members on one side of the training ground, shouted.
“We will begin the Decisive Martial Duel.”
“““Waaaaaaaah!”””
As if proving they were Black Path bastards who loved watching fights, cheers rose loud enough to shake the Yujang Sect.
So Gyeong-chu, who had been sweeping his gaze over the Yujang Sect’s camp, furrowed his brow.
“Where did that arrogant bastard go?”
At So Gyeong-chu’s words, Sword Evil also stepped forward.
“Promissory Note Jin. Not here. Bring Promissory Note Jin.”
Dang Hyeok-jae answered in his place.
“Jin So-un is currently preparing to come out.”
“Ha! Are you saying our Mukhyul Gang looked so laughable to him?!”
At So Gyeong-chu’s booming shout, even the commotion in the arena faded.
Dang Hyeok-jae spoke with a calm expression.
“……Were you not the ones who came early to begin with?”
“…….”
“Why are Black Path bastards keeping an appointment so punctually? Tsk.”
He spoke as though muttering to himself, but the Black Path members all around heard it clearly.
People here and there ground their teeth and spewed killing intent, but Dang Hyeok-jae ignored them while digging in his ear with his pinky finger.
Soon, the sound of footsteps came from the hall, and people’s gazes gathered in one place.
“No…… Good heavens…….”
“What is that state?”
“Is that really the Black Flame Dragon?”
The gathered people began to grow flustered.
The Black Flame Dragon was coming out of the hall while being supported by Namgung Seon-hwa.
His appearance was so gaunt that he looked as though he might stop breathing at any moment.
Only three days had passed, yet he had changed so much that one wondered whether he was truly the same person they had seen three days ago.
“Promissory Note. Condition is strange.”
At Sword Evil’s words, So Gyeong-chu gave a snort of laughter.
“I can tell without even looking closely.”
A bloodless face, deeply sunken eyes, blood vessels swollen as though they might burst all over his body, and at the same time, his flesh had wasted away.
“He has fallen into Qi Deviation.”
“Qi Deviation?”
“He must have tried to develop some move over the three days and failed. This should save Sword Evil some trouble.”
“…….”
Jin So-un, who had appeared with Namgung Seon-hwa supporting him by the hand, slumped down on the chair the Yujang Sect’s people had brought over.
At that, huge laughter burst out among the Black Path members.
“Hey! Black Flame Dragon! That is the Orthodox Path side! Bastard, wake up!”
“Hey, punk! You should be standing over here~!”
“The Four Emperors Peak Lord told us to send his regards!”
Jin So-un, who had been slumped there, slowly raised his head toward the place where the voices came from.
“…….”
Then he slowly raised both arms and flipped them off.
Among the Black Path camp, there were even those who clutched their bellies and collapsed laughing when they saw that even that movement was slow.
So Gyeong-chu went up onto the Grand Training Ground.
“……His condition does not look good. Is he still participating?”
At So Gyeong-chu’s question, the Sect Leader of the Yujang Sect looked at Jin So-un, and Jin So-un nodded.
“That is correct. We intend to proceed as planned.”
“To think the place you barely managed to lean on is a wooden dummy like that. It is only natural that the Yujang Sect should fall!”
“…….”
With those words, So Gyeong-chu stepped down from the training ground, and when a man holding a sickle came up next, Jang Woo-jae also stepped forward from the Yujang Sect’s side.
“If you want to resent my cruel methods, resent Jin So-un.”
At the sickle-wielding man’s words, Jang Woo-jae looked at Jin So-un.
How shocked had he been when he heard that the man who had told him not to use the Blood-Explosion Pill had ended up in that state after making an excessive attempt for the sake of the Yujang Sect?
He always sacrificed himself and endured beyond all expectations.
Jang Woo-jae once more stared hard at the sickle-wielding man.
“Even if I die today, that will not happen.”
When Jang Woo-jae took the starting stance of the Flying Current Sword Art, the sickle-wielding man also took his stance.
“Begin!”
At Dang Hyeok-jae’s shout, the two men shot toward each other like arrows.
The one who drew his weapon first was the sickle-wielder.
Using a short movement path, he carved through the air in the shape of a cross, then struck down with the sickle, aiming for five Death Acupoints.
At the sharp attack, Jang Woo-jae, who had been displaying the Flying Current Sword Art, hurriedly withdrew his sword and blocked the attacks centered on his Death Acupoints.
Clang, clang, clang, clang.
The attack pattern of a weapon called a sickle was originally extremely unfamiliar, so even someone with considerable experience would have found it hard to block, yet Jang Woo-jae blocked the sickle’s attacks quite skillfully.
“Now it is my turn!”
Using the Absorbing Formula of the Flying Current Sword Art to draw in the sickle and shake the opponent’s body, Jang Woo-jae immediately attacked the sickle-wielding man while aiming for three Vital Acupoints.
The man tried to avoid the attack quickly, but because of the unprecedented pulling force, he had no choice but to leave a wound on his arm.
“Tch!”
The man glanced at the wound once, then even drew the short saber at his waist.
“Now it begins.”
The instant he drew the short saber, which was only half as long as an ordinary sword, the man’s aura changed completely.
Gulp.
Jang Woo-jae swallowed without realizing it.
At that moment.
-The sickle is a tool meant to draw your gaze to begin with. Focus on the short saber.
A sudden Sound Transmission reached him.
When his eyes met Jin So-un’s, Jin So-un nodded.
Jang Woo-jae clenched his teeth again, and this time, he moved first.
“Uaaaaah!”
Along with the Returning Wind Flying Current form, wind began rising around him, and riding that wind, Jang Woo-jae’s sword began to close in on the sickle-wielding man.
“Do you think you can do anything with such petty tricks?!”
The man’s sickle grazed Jang Woo-jae’s face in a dizzying sweep.
It was an attack that an ordinary person would have avoided long ago.
However, recalling Jin So-un’s words, Jang Woo-jae swung his sword while aiming for the short saber instead of the sickle until the end.
“Kraaagh!”
As he screamed and lowered his body, a long cut was left on Jang Woo-jae’s cheek.
After withdrawing his sickle, the man swung it savagely three more times.
It was a fierce attack, to the point that afterimages of qi remained in the air.
However, even as blood dripped from him, Jang Woo-jae raised himself again and attacked the man’s left hand with the Flying Current Sword Art until the end.
Squelch, squelch, squelch.
Along with the sounds of flesh being pierced, blood poured like a fountain from Jang Woo-jae’s abdomen, thigh, and left arm.
But the scream actually came from the sickle-wielding man.
“Kraaaagh! My hand!!!”
The man’s hand, which had been holding the short saber, had been severed whole.
He looked at his empty left arm with an expression of disbelief.
Both of them were collapsed on the ground, so it was impossible to tell who had won.
So Gyeong-chu looked at Dang Hyeok-jae and asked.
“Who won?”
“…….”
Dang Hyeok-jae tapped Jang Woo-jae’s cheek and checked his consciousness before speaking.
“The Mukhyul Gang’s victory!”
At Dang Hyeok-jae’s judgment, cheers briefly rang out from the Mukhyul Gang.
After the Yujang Sect’s people carried Jang Woo-jae away and began emergency treatment, Jang Sa-gyeong stepped onto the training ground and observed the scene closely.
“…….”
“Is there value in the Yujang Sect worth enduring even to the point of driving your own child into life and death?”
When Jang Sa-gyeong turned his head, So Gyeong-chu, who had stepped onto the training ground, continued speaking.
“Thanks to the Black Flame Dragon’s wit, did we not spare his life? You could have matched him with a suitable opponent and then given up.”
“Deputy Gang Chief…… No, I suppose I should call you Gang Chief now.”
Jang Sa-gyeong slowly drew his sword.
“Do you know why even a Black Path Sect with favorable circumstances cannot last more than a hundred years?”
“…….”
Jang Sa-gyeong’s eyes flashed brightly.
“Because it lacks conviction.”
“……Those are words worthy of a bookish Orthodox Path bastard.”
Jang Sa-gyeong paid it no mind and spoke while looking around.
“No, this is truly important. If there is no powerful conviction that establishes a sect or a clan, it is nothing more than a group of thugs.”
“Then today will prove it. Even if one has conviction, the weak die in the end.”
“That may be so. If you return alive from this place, think about what spirit stands as the pillar of the Mukhyul Gang.”
“You are trying to probe me with wicked words.”
So Gyeong-chu raised his great saber and prepared his starting stance.
Jang Sa-gyeong, like Jang Woo-jae, displayed the starting stance of the Flying Current Sword Art and finished preparing.
Whoosh.
Even though Dang Hyeok-jae had not said to begin, the two men sent qi flying at each other simultaneously.
Boom.
Sword Qi and Saber Qi exploded in midair, and the instant sand dust spread thickly from the floor of the training ground.
The two men entered the thick dust without any distinction of who moved first and continued the Martial Duel.
Clang, clang, clang, clang—
BOOM, BANG, BANG.
The sound of metal striking metal.
The sound of qi exploding against qi.
The thickly gathered dust scattered in every direction and blocked people’s sight.
“Ptooey, ptooey!”
“What the hell? The Sect Leader of the Yujang Sect was this strong?”
“Then why was he one-sidedly beaten all this time?”
The people’s questions were soon resolved after all the sand dust cleared.
A martial artist’s use of Internal Qi was, by nature, meant to be used in the most efficient manner.
If one was a fist artist, only on the fists. If one was a swordsman, only on the sword.
But currently, Jang Sa-gyeong had qi wrapped not only around his sword, but around his entire body.
“He is using Innate True Qi?”
“Is this not a fight he has lost anyway? Why would he go that far……?”
“He is struggling desperately. How very desperate.”
Sneers burst out from the Black Path members all around.
The people of the Yujang Sect were equally shocked when they saw that sight.
“Sect Leader!”
“Father!!!”
They called out to Jang Sa-gyeong until their throats nearly burst in great alarm, but Jang Sa-gyeong only looked at So Gyeong-chu before his eyes.
“……Do you intend Mutual Destruction?”
At So Gyeong-chu’s question through clenched teeth, Jang Sa-gyeong answered leisurely instead.
“Are you afraid?”
“Do you think this kind of petty trick can bridge the gap between us?”
“Are you afraid of death?”
“You bastard!”
So Gyeong-chu’s Demon Force Blood Calamity Saber let out a thunderous roar and blasted out Saber Qi.
The eight streams of Saber Qi extending in every direction struck and exploded against the training ground and the halls.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
Within that tremendous destructive force, Jang Sa-gyeong calmly swung the Flying Current Sword Art, diverted the Saber Qi, and blocked the fragments.
“Do you know why you fear death?”
“What?”
“Because you have left nothing behind.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?!”
Jang Sa-gyeong briefly turned his gaze and looked at Jang Woo-jae.
The boy who had been unconscious until just now was watching him with a pale face.
It was a face full of fear, but he was certainly watching him clearly.
“That is why conviction… spirit… is important. Because even when death approaches, something remains.”
“Fine. I will grant you that death you do not fear!”
So Gyeong-chu’s great saber grew red-hot.
And above the great saber, a two-cheok-long crimson Saber Force bloomed.
“Blood Calamity’s Reign!”
When So Gyeong-chu struck down with the Saber Force, the Saber Force split into eight and shot toward Jang Sa-gyeong while tearing wildly through the training ground made of blue-steel stone.
“Of course. I am not afraid.”
Then the amount of qi wrapping around Jang Sa-gyeong grew even greater.
The Yujang Sect’s people called out to him in horror, but he no longer looked back.
“Returning Wind Flying Current!”
A wind of qi began to wrap around Jang Sa-gyeong with him at its center.
He immediately shot forward and made a one-cheok-sized Sword Force bloom at the tip of his sword.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.
The floor of the training ground was overturned, and heaps of earth were pushed back like waves.
Pang, pang, pang—
“A-Avoid it!”
“Gravel is flying!”
Smoke and sand rode the Force Qi and swept in every direction, causing the Black Path members who had been watching leisurely to turn pale and retreat.
“Flying Current Suppression!”
Along with Jang Sa-gyeong’s shout, another massive roar struck the eardrums.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
And at some point, the roars suddenly stopped.
A moment of silence.
“W-What happened?”
“Who won?”
Those who had turned their heads could not close their mouths at the sight spread across the training ground.
“……Good heavens.”
“What in the world…….”
The great saber, the beloved weapon of So Gyeong-chu, the second-in-command of the Mukhyul Gang, which had been stained with the blood of hundreds, had been split in two.
And Jang Sa-gyeong’s sword was piercing So Gyeong-chu’s heart precisely.
“D-Damn it…….”
With a thud, So Gyeong-chu fell backward and no longer moved.
Thud.
Immediately afterward, the people of the Yujang Sect crowded around Jang Sa-gyeong, who had knelt on the floor as though all his fuel had been exhausted.
“Sect Leader!”
“Sect Leader!”
At that moment, from among the Yujang Sect’s people, a man dressed in garments mixed with black and white pushed through the crowd and came out.
He immediately checked Jang Sa-gyeong’s pulse, placed a pill in his mouth, and inserted more than ten needles into him.
“Gasp!”
Jang Sa-gyeong, who until just a moment ago had not moved like ashes burned to nothing, opened his eyes wide.
“Do not move.”
“Wh-Who are you?”
“I came from the Tang Clan.”
“Is that so?”
“……Why did you overdo it to this extent?”
The man who was checking Jang Sa-gyeong’s pulse shook his head.
“I am sorry, but this has only bought you a little time.”
Jang Sa-gyeong slowly nodded.
“……Thank you. That is enough.”
Jang Sa-gyeong stood up through his own strength.
Shaking off the hands of those who tried to support him, he walked to his place.
Soon, the moment Jin So-un came up onto the training ground with Namgung Seon-hwa’s support, the two men briefly faced each other.
Jang Sa-gyeong murmured as though breathing out.
“Please… work hard… so that the Yujang Sect… may carry on… its conviction.”
Jin So-un smiled broadly with dry lips and slowly looked around.
“You have already made it so that the Yujang Sect’s conviction may break, but it will never bend.”
Jang Sa-gyeong, who turned his gaze along with Jin So-un, saw the eyes of the Yujang Sect’s people.
They were shedding tears, but they were emitting an intense spirit.
Their gazes were extremely firm.
As though satisfied, Jang Sa-gyeong formed a smile on his lips.
“I see. I should have done this long ago. We should not have leaned on anyone. We should have stood upright on our own.”
After Jang Sa-gyeong and the Yujang Sect’s people stepped down from the training ground, Jin So-un also freed himself from Namgung Seon-hwa’s hand and slowly walked to the center of the training ground.
Jin So-un, who staggered every few steps, finally arrived at the center of the training ground and looked at Sword Evil.
“Come up. Should we not see the end of this duel?”
“…….”
But for some reason, Sword Evil merely stared blankly at Jin So-un and did not move in the slightest.
“Sword Evil! Did you get scared of a brat? Why can’t you move?”
At Axe Evil’s rough voice, Sword Evil shook his head as though reacting.
“Promissory Note. Strange. Different from three days ago. I will not do it.”
When Sword Evil showed a strange appearance like a puppy that had met a tiger, Axe Evil looked at Snake Evil and spat out a curse.
“Fuck, your dog is trembling. What are you going to do?”
“…….”
Snake Evil looked at Sword Evil for a moment, then cursed along with him.
“You crazy bastard! What do you want me to do when he says he does not want to? Then you go out, you bastard.”
“Hmph! Stupid bastards. That is just like you lot.”
Axe Evil violently kicked off from his place, rose high into the air, and landed on the training ground with a thud.
“Brat, it does not matter if I face you, right?”
Jin So-un looked at the Mukhyul Gang and asked.
“If your side acknowledges it…….”
At Jin So-un’s question, a brief commotion rose within the Mukhyul Gang.
Since their Gang Chief and Deputy Gang Chief had suddenly died, the person with decision-making authority had vanished.
A moment later, one man appeared and nodded.
“Brat, are you all right with the stage like this? You look as though you cannot even walk properly.”
“It does not matter. I do not intend to move my feet anyway.”
“They said the Black Flame Dragon’s mind was wandering in and out. I see that was true.”
For some reason, Jin So-un nodded.
“……Lately, I have sometimes wondered whether that might be true as well.”
“Mad bastard.”
Axe Evil began swinging his great axe with a whoosh.
Then green qi began to gather on his great axe, and with movement nimble enough to seem ill-suited to his huge body, he quickly rushed at Jin So-un.
The moment he swung his log-like arms and tried to cut Jin So-un’s waist apart in a single strike.
Click.
SLASH—
Strangely, Axe Evil’s great axe was not swung in the end.
Axe Evil walked several steps past Jin So-un, then began touching the area around his neck with dazed eyes.
“What…… is this…….”
At that moment, a thin line appeared on his neck, and blood began pouring out.
Soon, his massive body and head separated cleanly and rolled onto the ground.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
Even though thousands of people had gathered, not a single breath could be heard at the shocking sight.
At that moment, Sword Evil trembled and grabbed Snake Evil as he spoke.
“S-Sword Demon…… It is the Sword Demon! Sword Demon! We have to run!”
***
TL Note: 1 Free Chapter For Every Review/Rate on NOVEL UPDATES – CLICK HERE