Chapter 88: Tang Family Internal Strife (3)
Just from the aftermath of raising his energy, he spewed enough poison qi to melt the walls of the building. This alone was enough to know his level.
‘Did he call him Jo Mun-hyeok?’
Chief Seneschal Tang Man-ok, who was protecting the still-unconscious Myriad Poison Divine Lord and blocking the poison qi that could cause harm, had uttered his name. Just like when he mentioned the man named Oh Sam-bo, it was a voice mixed with anger and regret.
‘He is on a different track from the man named Oh Sam-bo.’
This fellow manipulated the man named Oh Sam-bo. That meant his roots were from that side from the very beginning.
Such a fellow had simultaneously mastered the Tang Clan’s martial arts. And he had properly practiced poison arts enough to not fall short of being called a poison man.
It was clear that it was a talent that Chief Seneschal Tang Man-ok, who did not know the exact circumstances, would feel regretful about.
“Kak!”
As he stepped using footwork, Jo Mun-hyeok’s body became blurry.
He approached while unfolding a footwork method that dazzled the eyes.
Dazzling the eyes could mean deceiving one’s hand, but it could also be to hide another intended target.
As expected, the movement seen through the Taiji Line did not aim for me.
He was aiming beyond me, not at me.
He had not yet abandoned the goal of killing the Myriad Poison Divine Lord.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
Although it had not been long since the Fire God Power began to settle in my body and its size was not large, perhaps because Yi Hwa was nearby, I could borrow as much energy as I wanted.
I blocked it with a single palm strike filled with the power of the Fire God Power.
Kwakang!
The sound of a falling thunderbolt rang out right in front of my nose.
As an acrid smell of burning dirty things spread, the man named Jo Mun-hyeok could not handle the power and was pushed back.
Jo Mun-hyeok, who had taken a full ten steps backward, collected himself and glared at me.
“Y…o…u…!!”
“Try looking away again. Next time, I will properly send your head flying.”
Taunting Jo Mun-hyeok, who couldn’t say a proper word because his tongue was ruined, I kept him in check to prevent him from aiming at the Myriad Poison Divine Lord.
‘Tch! He’s stronger than I thought…’
However, I was slightly surprised by the formidable strength. Even though the Fire God Power had burned away the poison qi, the edge of the sleeve of the arm that had blocked Jo Mun-hyeok’s palm strike was melted as if half-burnt.
This meant that I could not completely erase the poison qi.
‘I know that even among the people of the Tang Clan, the number of those who walk the path of a poison man is small.’
One of the things proving one is a person of the Tang Clan is the green-colored leather gloves. They are used as protective gear to protect the hands when handling poison-coated hidden weapons.
This means that not everyone undergoes training to put poison on their hands, swallow poison, and receive poison qi into their bodies.
‘To think an expert of this caliber is a spy of the Demonic Cult.’
Following the Mount Hua Sect, this was the second time. Following the Nine Great Sects, a spy had also infiltrated the Five Great Families.
In the worst-case scenario, spies of the Demonic Cult might be planted inside all major prestigious Orthodox sects.
[The way that guy is rolling his eyes is strange.]
‘Huh?’
While I was contemplating the complex situation of Martial World, I felt my mind snap alert at the voice echoing in my head.
Just as Master Zhang Sanfeng mentioned, although it was brief, that guy’s gaze shifted to another side.
‘Look at this bastard?’
It was a direction to move avoiding the spot where I and the Myriad Poison Divine Lord were, a direction suitable for escape.
He was planning to pull back.
‘This fellow must absolutely be killed here.’
Setting aside the fact that he was a spy planted inside the Sichuan Tang Clan, he was a guy who had seen Yi Hwa by my side.
Letting this guy escape would also be a great harm to me.
‘First, block the escape route.’
The footwork of the Cloud-Soaring Golden Light Step closed the distance with the guy at once and blocked the escape route.
At the same time, I gathered the collected power into my fist.
The martial art, which layered the flow of thousands of refinings and tens of thousands of emptyings and converged them into a single point, reared its head.
“I will crush you!”
Ultimate Extreme Strike!
The solid and fierce blow that crushed everything blocking it extended without hesitation.
Teoang!
However, what remained on my fist was not the neatness felt when breaking something.
It was the feeling of kicking something elastic.
“Heu!”
Jo Mun-hyeok let out a short laugh as he took my strike from behind. He was trying to pull back by using my attack as thrust.
“…So you don’t even care about your hands anymore, huh?”
The Ultimate Extreme Strike was Master Bodhidharma’s ultimate art. It was not a martial art of a nature that could be easily blocked. Even if he received it as if letting it flow without resisting the force, not a small blow would have remained.
For the sake of escape, he casually sacrificed even his remaining hands.
I could feel his tenacity to return alive even if he lost both arms.
“Do you think I’ll let you escape!”
Kicking off the ground, I leapt high following the opponent’s trajectory.
Lightly leaping over several buildings, I pursued Jo Mun-hyeok, who was suspended in midair.
As I soared high, the Sichuan Tang Clan came into view at a single glance.
‘It seems they are having a battle over there too.’
A fight was taking place in the trap where I had drawn attention by claiming to make the medicinal herbs to treat the Myriad Poison Divine Lord.
It would not be incorrect to call it a one-sided slaughter rather than a fight.
It was a natural result, if one could call it that.
Not only did they have the numerical advantage, but those lying in ambush were the absolute elite of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
At best, they were only holding on because they fought with the determination that there was no tomorrow, throwing everything away, and it seemed they would be subdued before long.
‘Now, once I deal with this guy, it’s over!’
The moment I stepped on the roof of the building again to leap once more, my body shot out like an arrow from a strong bow.
Extending vertically, my physical form quickly closed the distance.
At that moment, I saw Jo Mun-hyeok struggling to lift something with his bloody hand.
“A hidden weapon?”
What he pulled out from the blind spot of my vision was a bamboo tube as thick as a child’s forearm.
Pear Blossom Storm Needles.
It was a hidden weapon of the Tang Clan’s secret inheritance, said to explosively pour out the hidden weapons contained inside just by containing internal energy and triggering it.
Since both his hands were ruined, he wouldn’t be able to throw hidden weapons properly, but with that, it was a different story.
The corners of Jo Mun-hyeok’s mouth curled up.
Kwang! Swaaaa!
A loud explosion occurred, and a sound like a downpour of rain rang out.
Approaching to close range turned out to be a disaster.
A rain of vicious hidden weapons poured down!
‘Spirit-Descending Hand!’
Master Zhang Sanfeng’s listening force and Master Heavenly Demon’s synesthesia rose to the peak in an instant.
The capabilities of the two masters flowed through the Spirit-Descending Hand, which responded to everything my senses captured.
Swaaa!
Entrusted to instinct, the movements of my hands were enough to surprise even myself.
Making a perfect wall, I blocked the downpour.
“Ho!”
“To block the Pear Blossom Storm Needles with bare hands from that distance?”
Because it was a combat taking place in midair, there seemed to be quite a few watching eyes. Voices evoking admiration rang out, enough to make one wonder if they had forgotten they were in the middle of a battle.
“Young Heavenly Dragon?!”
“Young Heavenly Dragon Yeon Cheong-un!”
Words that heated up my face followed.
On the contrary, in front of me, there was strong anger and hostility.
Whether it was because he felt I had some connection with the Divine Maiden Yi Hwa, he seemed to have tried to kill at least me, and he was expressing anger at that being foiled.
“Keuik!”
Although he couldn’t speak because his tongue was ruined, he could express his intentions through writing or the like.
If that guy opened his mouth, various troublesome things would happen.
‘You must die here.’
It was then.
Hunchup!?
The senses of my entire body rose in alarm.
Something disturbed the domain of my senses.
“W-What? It pierced right through?”
By the time I realized it, it had already passed.
The place where that thing, which easily passed through my domain, landed was Jo Mun-hyeok’s forehead.
“This…”
A red spot appeared on Jo Mun-hyeok’s forehead.
What made that red spot was a half-damaged hidden weapon of the Tang Clan.
If this person had been an enemy, my head would have already flown off the moment I realized his existence.
I could guess the identity of that strong expert.
Behind my back, something casting a massive presence that felt experienced somehow washed over like a tsunami.
“Myriad Poison Divine Lord.”
The Family Head of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Having become able to control his original body once again, the presence he created swallowed the entire Sichuan Tang Clan in an instant.
‘It is just like Divine Monk Gongryo…’
It felt like experiencing the presence of that person I saw at Shaolin again.
Although which side was at a deeper realm was something that couldn’t be measured with my level, the unique presence of those who had cast off their human shells was certainly similar.
[Wahahahaha! Success! Success!! Kyahahaha!]
[Brother Bian Que! It’s done! We did it!! Hahahahahahaha!]
[Finally, a sunny day has come for our medical school too!]
Although the sound of Master Bian Que and Master Hua Tuo running wild was heard, those words did not register properly for now. Because they were shouting while half-losing their minds, they couldn’t even be heard properly.
A shocking sight was unfolding in my vision as I descended to the ground.
People were melting. The traitors of the Tang Clan who were desperately resisting became pools of blood in an instant.
From the head.
Thanks to that, not a single scream was heard even within that horrible sight.
“…It looks like melting candles. Setting aside whether it is acceptable to use such an expression for people.”
[Bian Que’s gamble has succeeded. With this kind of result, it has sufficient value.]
Master Zhang Sanfeng focused on the realm that created that result, rather than my expression.
As expected, bitterness was steeped in his voice.
However, there was no leisure to comfort my master.
“The expression is quite interesting.”
The existence that had erased everything in the blink of an eye was right in front of my nose.
“Are you the fellow who saved me?”
It felt like looking at a mass of storm accompanied by thunder and lightning. The one clad in a dangerous presence was staring straight at me.
Looking at him, at least one thing could be clearly known.
‘If this person sets his mind to it, the fluctuating situation of Sichuan will find stability.’
If this person stepped forward, it would surely be so.
He was a person who made one think such thoughts.
Although I had gained confidence in my own martial arts in my own way, he was a person who suppressed that confidence as arrogance.
Considering that point, my thought would by no means be an excessive judgment.
‘Or it will fluctuate even more violently.’
However, on the other hand, another thought came to mind and my heart pounded strangely.
Along with some ominous feeling.
***
After Yeon Cheong-un headed to the Sichuan Tang Clan, Teacher Emerald Bamboo ran here and there to prevent a war in Sichuan by mobilizing all his connections and influence.
Teacher Emerald Bamboo’s influence extended widely, regardless of Orthodox or Unorthodox factions.
He was a personification of integrity, faithful to rules and principles, and yet even the unorthodox figures showed respect for his attitude of treating people without prejudice.
Based on this influence, he met people to clear up misunderstandings about the current situation and went through legwork to calm the situation.
Although it was localized, there were results of his hard work.
“Hoho.”
Having enjoyed the sense of achievement that he had somehow done his share, Teacher Emerald Bamboo suddenly recalled the letter of Mu-ae, Yeon Cheong-un’s grandfather.
“A crane…”
From some point on, he realized that existences of unknown powers had intervened. Although it did not appear on the surface, that power certainly existed.
Observing that presence, Mu-ae, Yeon Cheong-un’s grandfather Yeon Ja-yeom, had said this.
“It is like a crane.”
A crane with slender legs and a long neck always looks down on its prey from a high place. Aiming its beak from a high place where the prey cannot see, it swallows the prey in an instant.
An existence aiming its beak toward the world from an unrevealed place.
Teacher Emerald Bamboo had thought that Mu-ae’s expression was quite fitting.
“Why is that?”
Recalling that letter about the crane having moved was an expression of his subconscious.
A person’s subconscious looks into even the areas that the conscious mind cannot see and observe.
Teacher Emerald Bamboo thought and pondered about the reason for a moment.
It was then.
“A good expression. A crane.”
From behind Teacher Emerald Bamboo, where nothing was felt, a voice was suddenly heard.
“I came to visit because there is an annoying link connecting Martial World and the government, but you are telling an interesting story.”
What was contained in that voice was interest, but it clearly carried the scent of a predator.
A predator is a predator because it devours something.
“You had better disappear.”
The crane’s beak moved.