Chapter 292: Chapter 292
Chapter 292. The Right to Hold Opportunity (8)
DRIP─
DRIP─
DRIP─
The sight of dew bearing golden heat falling drop by drop was wondrous beyond measure.
However.
“…….”
“……This is taking a long time.”
The speed was far too slow.
It was certainly a wondrous and beautiful sight, but because the droplets fell so slowly, it quickly became dull.
And there was a greater problem.
‘Ugh, this is…….’
My arm hurt far too much.
Not even a single drop of the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil could be allowed to vanish, so I had to hold the waterskin high and catch it. No matter how well trained a person was, keeping one’s hand raised was no easy task.
“Geum-pyo.”
“Yes.”
“I will grant you the chance to receive a Spiritual Medicine with your own hands. Come hold this.”
“…….”
Geum-pyo looked back and forth between me and the waterskin raised high, then shook his head.
“No, Eldest Senior Brother. I could not dare take on such an important task. I am fine.”
Why were these children becoming so perceptive?
“Come hold it while I am still speaking nicely.”
“……Yes, sir! It is an honor!”
Contrary to his grimacing eyes, Geum-pyo forced a smile and approached.
As I relaxed my stiff arm and neck in satisfaction, Sa-ryeon stared at me with a dazed expression.
“Did we really, truly obtain the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil?”
Even after witnessing a sight one could hardly see even in another lifetime, Sa-ryeon seemed unable to believe it and could not hide her dazed expression.
‘Well…… she was the child who wished for Taeul Sect’s rise more than anyone.’
She had always lived with the heavy sense of responsibility that she had to shoulder Taeul Sect.
No one had ordered her to do so, yet she had taken that unbearable weight upon herself.
Because of that, she had been a child who lived her whole life in misery and pain.
Since I knew the Sa-ryeon of my previous life, the sight of her being so unable to contain her emotion brought me a small measure of comfort.
“Yes. Taeul Sect has truly obtained the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil.”
For some reason, moisture gathered in Sa-ryeon’s eyes.
“And we will obtain far more from now on.”
“…….”
“I will make it so.”
Soon, dew like the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil rolled down from her eyes.
Sa-ryeon made a startled expression and hurriedly hid her tears.
I quietly turned my head and pretended not to have seen.
In any case, what mattered now was not what Taeul Sect would become in the future.
The greatest problem was leaving safely with the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil.
‘The problem is that this(?) is far too slow.’
Unlike the foolish Zhongnan Sect, which had lit torches and lost a portion of the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil, we had put out the torches beforehand, so none of it had been lost.
In that case, we could fill at least half of the waterskin.
But in a situation where the Zhongnan Sect might burst in at any moment, I could not estimate how much we would be able to collect.
‘Please, just keep wasting a little more time.’
The harder Zhongnan Sect struggled to stop the people entering from outside and drive out the people inside, the more Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil we would be able to receive.
How much time had passed?
“……Eun-ho.”
Geum-pyo’s voice rang low. But no answer returned.
In the end.
“E…… Eun-ho!”
Geum-pyo desperately called Eun-ho in a dying voice, but Eun-ho merely continued pretending not to hear.
“That bastard…… urgh, his Mute Acupoint was sealed. Why! Why is he pretending…… his ears do not work?”
“…….”
Caught between his two older brothers’ contest of will, Dong-ryong hesitated and approached Geum-pyo.
“G-Geum-pyo hyung, should I hold it?”
Geum-pyo looked down at Dong-ryong, who was a full head shorter than him.
Was his gaze not wavering far too violently?
“No, you are too small…….”
Of course. That was how it should be. Surely he would not make his young brother do it….
SLIDE-
“……Hey, where are you looking?”
At my bark, Geum-pyo’s gaze, which had been headed toward Sa-ryeon, was hurriedly withdrawn.
But the direction of his gaze had already been exposed.
“Geum-pyo hyung, that is too much.”
“……Mmmmmph!”
When Eun-ho and Dong-ryong both made expressions of disbelief, Geum-pyo shouted in a fit.
“What, what! Why?! Did I say anything?!”
At that moment, Sa-ryeon approached Geum-pyo, whose face had turned bright red.
“Give it here. I will hold it.”
“N-no, Senior Sister. Please rest.”
“If you miss even one drop, how much of a loss would that be? Let us take turns.”
“……Ah, then just for a moment…… hehe.”
While they bickered and enjoyed an ease we had not had until now,
TAP TAP TAP.
Someone entered my Sensory Perception.
I sprang to my feet.
I quickly stood and looked at Dong-ryong.
“Dong-ryong!”
“……Yes?”
His complexion did not change.
However, the bearing given off by the person caught in my Sensory Perception was far from ordinary.
I was sure it was the same man who had been chasing us earlier.
I looked at Dong-ryong’s face.
‘Why does he not know this time?’
I had briefly fallen into thought, but the sound of someone calling me pulled me out of it.
“Mmph?”
“Senior Brother?”
Sa-ryeon, who had switched places with Geum-pyo again, and Eun-ho approached me.
Right. Now was not the time to think of something else.
Sa-ryeon whispered in a worried voice.
“Has something happened?”
“Someone…… is coming this way.”
“Mmph?”
“Could it not be someone passing by, like earlier?”
At Sa-ryeon’s words, I shook my head.
“He has already found us.”
Otherwise, how could he head precisely toward us among so many branching paths?
“Then shall we collect only this much?”
Anxiety appeared on Sa-ryeon’s face.
Of course, this was an abrupt situation. However.
“No. Receive it until the end.”
To give up a Spiritual Medicine right before my eyes?
That was absolutely impossible.
I looked back at them and added,
“I will hold him off.”
Then my junior disciples stopped me with shocked expressions.
“Senior Brother! What do you mean by that?”
“Eldest Senior Brother! I will go with you.”
“Me too!”
I tilted my head as I looked at my junior disciples rushing in at once.
What was this? Why were they acting this way?
“This is something I must do as the Eldest Senior Brother.”
When I slowly shook my head again, complicated emotions appeared in my junior disciples’ eyes.
‘Hm, somehow this…….’
They looked as though they were grieved by their Eldest Senior Brother’s sacrifice, yet at the same time could not hide their respect.
Why make such a fuss over one person…… Ah.
At that moment, I realized what my junior disciples were misunderstanding.
Right. So that was it.
After clearing my throat a couple of times, I added,
“Ahem. No matter how numerous the Zhongnan Sect may be, I will ensure they cannot enter this place. So…… you must receive the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil until the end.”
Of course, it was largely my fault for not telling them that the opponent was alone, but there was no need to correct their misunderstanding.
No, why not? One man could be like a hundred men. Hm, hm.
At that moment, Eun-ho, whose sealed Mute Acupoint seemed to have been released, spoke.
As expected, he had been moved….
“……Eldest Senior Brother, then why have you not done that until now?”
I looked at Eun-ho.
“Eun-ho.”
“Yes.”
And slowly said,
“It is your turn to receive the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil.”
“…….”
I truly hated perceptive junior disciples.
Once I had left the cave where the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil was appearing and put some distance between us, I sent Sword Qi flying toward the ceiling.
SLICE- SLICE- SLICE- SLICE-
RUMBLE- THUD THUD-
The severed rocks and heaps of earth poured down, blocking the narrow entrance where a gap had remained.
The light of the Five-Spirit Immortal Flower Oil, which had been intermittently leaking out, was completely blocked, and darkness dyed every direction.
It was a measure I took in the hope that if no light leaked out, there would be less risk of the others being discovered.
CLICK- CLICK-
Using a flint, I lit the torch again and ran toward the direction from which the mysterious figure was approaching.
When his presence grew clearer and the Killing Intent he radiated gradually began to prickle against my skin, I stopped in place and waited for him.
He, too, who had been running at great speed, began to slow little by little from a certain point.
Then he soon began walking slowly.
As though he also expected to fight me.
Since there was no longer anything for me to hide, I openly spread my Sensory Perception and began examining him.
Because he was not at a distance where I could use Torrent of Qi, I could not know his martial prowess precisely, but I could roughly estimate it based on information about masters I had accumulated in my previous life.
‘Hall Master…… or above!’
Because it was only a rough estimate through Sensory Perception, there was a high chance he was actually stronger.
‘If I am lucky, he will be Hall Master level. If I am unlucky, an Elder or…….’
For some reason, I remembered the Northern Dipper Swordsman Cheol Sun-jik had spoken of.
As I hoped my luck was not that terrible,
STEP―
A moment later, the sound of footsteps reached me.
The one who appeared within the swaying red shadow of the torchlight was, even if one judged generously, a man in his mid-thirties.
He possessed a gleaming blade engraved with the pattern of the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper.
‘Damn it, seriously…….’
The Northern Dipper Swordsmen.
Zhongnan Sect’s final attack unit.
A group said never to step outside Zhongnan unless the sect was on the verge of destruction.
Some said that Zhongnan Sect’s Northern Dipper Swordsmen were the final weapon for certain mutual ruin.
Zhongnan Sect declared this:
If one wished to destroy Zhongnan, then one had to be prepared to be destroyed as well.
‘To think I would see here a Northern Dipper Swordsman I never saw even after Zhongnan was destroyed in my previous life.’
It felt strange.
No, it felt a little unpleasant.
Well, since the very reason for the unit’s existence was to protect their sect, it was natural that I had not seen them in the Great Righteous-Demonic War….
Yes, it was natural, but still.
Seeing such an existence in Thousand Caverns was not welcome.
‘Zhongnan bastards. This is more than a little excessive, is it not?’
STEP-
The one standing at the cave entrance noticed me and walked farther inside.
As he entered, his appearance came into clearer view.
Perhaps because he had come from quite an intense battle, bloodstains marked various parts of his martial robe, and fresh blood still flowed along the blade where the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper were drawn.
After discovering me, he looked around the cave and frowned in puzzlement.
“Are you alone?”
I nodded.
“That is right. I am still too young to get married.”
“…….”
CRACKLE, CRACKLE.
Only the sound of the burning torch flowed heavily between the two of us.
“I…….”
The man’s mouth opened slightly, then stopped. His eyes shook violently, as though he had no idea what to say.
“That was not what I meant when I asked.”
“Is that so? I thought it might be proper etiquette among Zhongnan’s people to ask about marriage at a first meeting, so I answered.”
After thinking for a moment, he replied,
“I apologize for causing a misunderstanding.”
……He apologized here?
“As long as you understand.”
I hid my bewilderment and nodded.
“Then I will ask again. Where are your companions?”
I tilted my head.
“Companions? I entered alone.”
The man again made a confused expression.
“Then…… did you kill the ones who were with you?”
What was with this person? Was he a fool?
“Ah, if you mean the people I was traveling with, we parted ways long ago and each decided to go our own path.”
“…….”
The man stared at me for a long while.
“That is a lie.”
……It seemed he was not a complete fool. Tch.
Still, I tried denying it firmly one more time.
“What are you talking about? I am a man who has never once lied in all my life. How can one who calls himself a Daoist Priest of Zhongnan carelessly judge a person??!”
When I shouted at him, he somehow made a dubious expression.
“……Is that truly so?”
Why was he asking if it was truly so?
What was this person, really?
“That is right. I have never once told a lie in all my life.”
“Then why are you wearing a mask?”
“……Because I have a bashful nature.”
“I see…….”
……He accepted it this easily.
Damn it. Surely this was not some profound mind game.
Then, a question suddenly occurred to me.
And for some reason, I felt that this person might answer it.
“Are you truly a Northern Dipper Swordsman?”
“GASP!!!”
The man widened both eyes.
Damn it. Wh-what was this?
“H-how did you know that?!!!”
“…….”
Was the pattern of the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper on his blade not the symbol of the Northern Dipper Swordsmen?
Did this man think the fact that he was a Northern Dipper Swordsman could be hidden?
“As far as I know, the Northern Dipper Swordsmen do not step forward unless Zhongnan Sect faces an existential crisis. Why did you step forward merely to obtain a Spiritual Medicine?”
At my sarcasm, he flared up and shouted,
“Because Zhongnan Sect is in a crisis right now!”
He looked startled even after the words left his own mouth.
“Ah! This is classified!”
“…….”
At this point, I had serious doubts about the selection criteria for the Northern Dipper Swordsmen themselves.
The Northern Dipper Swordsman continued muttering to himself, his pupils shaking violently.
Then, as though steeling his resolve, he pressed his lips together.
“I had resolved not to take lives in Thousand Caverns…… but since you have learned classified information, it cannot be helped.”
“……It does not seem like such important classified information.”
“Even so, it cannot be helped. I am sorry.”
Damn it! It was not as though I had listened because I wanted to!
The man stepped with Northern Dipper Heavenly River Step, and his form vanished in an instant.
‘Body-Shift Transposition?’
Immediately after, a heavy sword cutting through the air appeared before my eyes.
How could the speed of a heavy sword rival a Swift Sword?
BANG!
The moment I hastily received it with the Black Dragon Sword, a great weight pressed down on my shoulder as though the entire cave had collapsed.
‘What strength!’
I had known that he was at a higher level than Gun Cheon-ji, but I had not expected there to be this much difference between him and an ordinary swordsman.
The Northern Dipper Swordsmen were not called the final attack unit for nothing.
The fact that a halfwit whose mind seemed half gone possessed this level of skill made the hair on my body stand on end.
Had his earlier foolish behavior been meant to make me lower my guard?
BAM! BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM! BOOM!
Each time I received one move, my feet sank deep into the ground.
I raised a great amount of Internal Energy and unfolded the Twin Heaven Sword Formula and the Minor Heaven Sword Art.
SHAAAAK!
Through dozens of Sword Shadows, the sword points poured down like lightning and aimed for his Vital Acupoints, but his sword art soon reversed and again defended all thirty-six directions, blocking every thrust.
Because there was a chance my identity would be exposed, I could not bring myself to use Ten Thousand Swords. Instead, I drew out Sword Force.
WOOONG-
With Sword Force rising a full foot from the tip of the Black Dragon Sword, I scattered the Twin Heaven Sword Formula.
Within the space filled with darkness, clusters of Sword Force light poured out in all directions and illuminated the gloom.
Although Sword Force had appeared, only Sword Qi still dwelt on the Northern Dipper Swordsman’s sword.
‘Can he not use Sword Force?’
The thought that I might be able to subdue him easily shattered at once.
Nine Palaces Divine Movement Sword Art.
Unlike Thirty-Six Swords under Heaven, which defended all thirty-six directions, it perfectly dominated only nine points (Nine Palaces), allowing defense and attack at the same time. It was a supreme sword art.
To think he had even learned this.
Only then did I realize that the Northern Dipper Swordsman was not unable to use Sword Force.
He simply had no need to use it.
CLANG CLANG CLANG! CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!
It was merely a sword art unfolded with Sword Qi, yet even when it clashed against Sword Force, he did not budge in the slightest.
Then his sword fell like a thunderbolt toward the place where the Twin Heaven Sword Formula had swept past.
BOOM BOOM BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Each time I blocked a single strike, the aftermath of the explosion shook my organs violently.
Although the food I had eaten the day before had long since been digested, I felt as though I might retch.
‘Subdue him? Damn it, what is that? Something one eats?’
I could feel it now. This was truly the final attack unit Zhongnan Sect had created with all its heart and blood.
Should I be grateful that I had not encountered all seven Northern Dipper Swordsmen?
Most of them were probably older and possessed higher martial prowess than this man.
Unless I went all out, I could not subdue him.
But if I went all out, traces would ultimately remain.
If I had even slightly witnessed their martial prowess during the Great Righteous-Demonic War, I would have avoided a head-on confrontation.
‘Wait…….’
Then a good idea suddenly came to mind.
I could not measure him precisely, but the opponent seemed superior to Il-gak and inferior to Je Geum-hak.
In that case.
‘This might actually be better.’
With martial prowess at this level, even if I went slightly overboard, he would not die instantly.
‘Shall I trust Zhongnan’s depth?’
As it happened, did I not possess one martial art that would allow me to use power without identifying myself?
As I rapidly turned over my thoughts, the energy of Cosmic Splitting Light Sword scattered from his blade and tightened around my entire body.
Unlike Thirty-Six Swords under Heaven, which defended thirty-six directions, Cosmic Splitting Light Sword occupied eighteen directions around the opponent and made them unable to move.
I unfolded Taeul Eighty-Thousand Divine Steps and narrowly slipped out of his offensive.
At the same time, I unfolded Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist to widen the distance, then shouted at him.
“Wait! Allow me to leave behind one final statement!”
“Y-your…… last words?”
He flinched.
“Come now, since it is the end, can you not allow me that much?”
After thinking for a moment, he nodded.
He seemed to truly believe I would die by his hand.
“Speak.”
And while he hesitated briefly,
“Please…… do not die or suffer a grievous injury. I hope you are wounded only enough to lose consciousness.”
I raised my Internal Energy with all my strength.
“That is your last words…… hm?!”
Who said those were my last words?
The Northern Dipper Swordsman sensed something strange and hurriedly charged, but…… it was already too late.
Three Forms of the White Moon Governing Heaven.
First Form.
‘Extreme Swiftness.’
The sword was swung, and only afterward did the sound of the air being torn apart ring out.
SHRIEEEEK─
The Northern Dipper Swordsman sensed something was wrong and hurriedly raised his sword, but it was already too late.
SLASH-
A single long line appeared across his chest, and blood surged up like a fountain.
“Y-you liar…… You said…… it was the last…….”
Yes. Your last.
THUD-
The Northern Dipper Swordsman collapsed with an expression like a child abandoned by his parents.
Tch. Why did he have to make that expression? It made me feel as though I had truly done something wrong.