Chapter 168: v7c18 - Limbs
Volume 7 Chapter 18 – Limbs
Read it only at Nineheavens.org
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Rooftops.
From the front and back of Tang Baek, who was surrounded by enemies, internal energy lunged in.
“Thigh Severing!”
Along with the sound of tearing the air, the sharp saber shook as if it had split into two.
“Heup!”
From the rear, with a short shout, a broadsword scraped the ground, sparking, and sprang up as if launched. ….
However, Tang Baek’s face was as cold and emotionless as usual.
Because he knew that no blade could ever reach him.
The heads of the two different martial artists who had been deploying a joint attack from the front and back rolled onto the ground.
Those who had been surrounding and rushing in did not even have the chance to be astonished by the sight.
For the necks of some of them were snapped by chains, the heads of others were flown off, and the daggers of yet others pierced through their skulls.
“Huu….”
Tang Baek composed his breathing with a long breath as he retrieved his chain-scythes and flying daggers.
As they advanced, the proportion of martial world figures among the enemies was rising.
It also meant that they were getting closer to the plaza located at the center of the middle stream of the Valley of Sin.
There had already been a prediction that the plaza, where the forward base was located, would become the central area in the conflict between the three underworld organizations.
Because the plaza was the only wide and open area in the middle stream.
Even so, the enemies’ resistance was fiercer than imagined, and the proportion of martial artists was higher than predicted.
Similarly, the limbs who were moving while taking control of the rooftops came into view, taking turns to hide and reorganize themselves.
‘If it were normal times, I would have had to switch to a hit-and-run tactic here.’
No matter how great of a master one was, unless they were in the middle of a life-and-death battle, it was always most important to maintain their breathing and the flow of internal energy.
Especially for someone who had mastered a martial art of the one-hit-kill style like Tang Baek, its importance was even greater.
‘But….’
Tang Baek’s gaze directed toward the street below.
There was a person there who was continuously sucking in even the enemies who should have thrown themselves at Tang Baek and his limbs.
His presence was larger than that of Tang Baek and all his limbs combined, and thus, it was giving them the leisure to regulate their breathing and qi.
Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon.
He alone took charge of the center, bearing all the pressure by himself at the tip of the formation, opening up a path on the ground.
* * *
An underworld assassin, who was making a name for himself with assassinations stemming from his innate method of stealth, was watching for an opening.
The assassin was targeting the prey who had fearlessly jumped into their conflict alone.
‘Foolish, so foolish. In his youthful mind, he has become too infatuated with his own skills.’
Every time a conflict broke out, the vanguard commanders who ran wild in the melee became his brilliant achievements.
The vanguard commanders, who had to play the role of constantly facing enemies in the midst of a melee, always had a habit of tolerating minor damage, and piercing that gap was his specialty. ….
Holding a dagger dripping with extreme poison, he crawled down the wall without a sound.
His gaze was fixed, as if nailed, to the boy wielding the iron staff.
And he waited.
For the moment when the prey’s hands and feet moved in the most complex manner.
And he did not miss that moment.
‘Huh?’
He was flustered.
His dagger coated with extreme poison was stabbing the wrong person.
‘Huh?’
When the iron staff lightly tapped his hand holding the dagger, this time the dagger plunged into the chest of another organization member.
‘What is this…?’
It was as if the iron staff was controlling his body.
As the iron staff touched his knee, then his elbow and wrist, his body spun around and ended up slashing his own organization members who had been trying to execute a splendid joint attack from the left and right.
“Uh…?!”
And with that single word, he realized that the dagger he cherished so much was lodged in his own chin.
* * *
Watching that sight, an empty laugh leaked out of Tang Baek’s mouth without him realizing.
The assassin’s method of stealth was decent, and targeting the moment when the Eldest Young Master’s hands and feet became complex was not bad either.
But that was all.
The assassin’s method of stealth was to the point of being meaningless to a master of Tang Baek’s level, and even if it was a blow targeting an opening, it was ultimately crude.
There was no way an assassin of that level would work against the Eldest Young Master.
‘But.’
The reason he burst into an empty laugh was not because of the futile antics of the assassin who threw away his life in vain.
‘The bastard thought he could catch the Eldest Young Master, and that was why he moved.’
He did.
The assassin moved because he ‘judged’ that he could sufficiently kill the Eldest Young Master.
To the extent that Tang Baek burst into an empty laugh unconsciously, the Eldest Young Master’s movements were just that ‘bizarre’.
* * *
A strike of a sword targeting Yeon So-hyeon seemed to futilely slash through the empty air, and then the opponent’s nape was struck by the iron staff.
The sword that had slashed through the air was led by the opposite end of the iron staff and plunged into the abdomen of another organization member.
The iron mallet held by that organization member seemed about to fall to the ground, but after brushing past Yeon So-hyeon’s sleeve, it struck the neck of another organization member.
The iron mallet that had broken the neck bone in that manner smashed someone else’s knee, and only after being wedged into another person’s skull could it pause for a moment.
But that was also only for a moment.
As the head of the iron mallet was stepped on by the rear foot of Yeon So-hyeon, who was constantly moving forward step by step, the bounced-up mallet shattered the jaw of a rushing opponent.
And in the meantime, the poison dagger that had cut off the assassin’s breath had already cut off several more lives.
The weapons targeting Yeon So-hyeon, and those targeting his life, were moving disorientingly as if dancing while entangled with him.
The sight ‘looked’ precarious.
It also ‘looked’ dangerous.
In the midst of that, Yeon So-hyeon’s face was as calm as if he were taking a walk, and his mind was even calmer than that expression.
* * *
How should one explain that bizarre movement?
Tang Baek licked his drying lips.
‘To call it stillness in motion, there is too much movement; to call it motion in stillness, there is too little movement.’
To call it seizing the initiative by launching late, he seemed to move in advance to respond to all surrounding movements, and to say he moved in advance to respond, his movements were too slow.
‘Slow, yet not slow. And despite that, slow.’
It was contradictory.
However, the scene created by the Eldest Young Master was clearly, in fact, like that.
There was no grandiose internal energy, nor did dozens of people bounce off in a single blow.
The Eldest Young Master looked like a ferry boat on the verge of sinking in a harsh storm.
And because of that, every enemy who spotted him came to target him.
At the enemies’ eye level, Yeon So-hyeon was at a ‘level that seemed reachable’.
That ferry boat, the Eldest Young Master, seemed to barely overcome and barely overcome the waves rushing in with the storm at his back.
To those without internal energy, it looked as though they could eventually catch him if they attacked all at once.
To those with internal energy, he looked like an opponent they could sufficiently catch if they aimed for an opening.
Then, to those who had crossed the wall….
‘…Incomprehensible.’
Tang Baek shook his head.
‘It cannot be specified either.’
If one were to ask if it was simple external martial arts, it was not.
Then, was it internal energy?
But it was not hidden force, nor was it inch force, nor was it flying force, nor was it silk-reeling force, nor was it cross force, nor was it sinking force, nor was it bouncing force.
To conclude it as a technique of neutralizing force or grafting flowers onto trees, it was not controlling the opponent’s force, but rather as if he was dominating the opponent’s physical body.
‘Its category cannot be restricted either.’
To say he unfolded a single move, the iron staff, fist, palm, and kick were bursting forth simultaneously, and yet to say it was the kind of martial art that contained the flow itself, there was no distinct form.
It seemed like change but was restrained, and it looked like restraint but was change.
‘It cannot be grasped either.’
Incomprehensible.
It looked like a young child flailing their body at will.
Also, in a way, it looked as if someone who had just learned martial arts was showing off their skills.
At the same time, it also looked like a movement containing the lofty enlightenment of a grandmaster.
‘I cannot judge.’
Tang Baek could not properly judge the Eldest Young Master’s realm, martial arts, or anything at all.
It was just like listening to the koan of a high monk pointing at a blank wall and claiming that enlightenment lay there.
[Leader!]
Tang Baek snapped out of it at the transmission of his limb. ….
How tightly he had been gripping the two chain-scythes, his palms were drenched in sweat.
[Report.]
A limb replied to Tang Baek’s transmission.
[The plaza is visible right ahead!]
Ultimately, Yeon So-hyeon had succeeded in reaching right in front of the destination in that manner, concentrating the enemies’ attention on himself.
* * *
Valley of Sin, Middle Stream, Forward Base.
“This is the worst out of all imaginable situations!”
A senior Taoist screamed like a shriek, wildly wielding a sword atop the wall of the forward base.
“If I had known it would be to this extent, I would not have volunteered for the Valley of Sin…!”
The senior Taoist grumbled constantly.
At that voice full of complaints, a senior citizen in a worn-out Buddhist robe, who was smashing the organization members climbing over the wall with his two fists, bellowed.
“You crazy donkey-nosed Taoist! It’s distracting, so stop blabbering!”
Contrary to his words about it being distracting, the old man in the worn-out Buddhist robe maintained high concentration, treating his entire body like a weapon to crush the enemies.
“Shut up! You crazy fake monk! If you hadn’t coaxed me to volunteer together, would I have ended up in this state?!”
The Taoist called donkey-nose, separately from grumbling, was piling up the corpses of enemies on the wall with light and graceful movements.
Besides them, everyone in the forward base who could fight was fighting.
However, the entire personnel of the forward base, including the two who called each other donkey-nose and fake monk, felt that the current situation was bleak.
As long as they had eyes, they also knew the severity of the fire in the lower stream.
Because of that, they also knew that it would be hard to hope for reinforcements.
And also that if there were no reinforcements, they would not be able to get through tonight by their own power.
At that moment.
With a loud roar, one side of the defensive line was shattered just like that.
Revealed in the dusty wind was a giant man wearing red heavy armor.
“Hehehe….”
Confirming that sight, donkey-nose and fake monk shuddered.
“What a crazy Primordial Heavenly Lord!”
“Is that bastard not the Vice Leader of the Three-Five Union, Red-Armored Pig?!”
The one called Red-Armored Pig let out an ominous laugh inside his large iron helmet.
“Now you all die.”
Donkey-nose shouted as if having a fit.
“No, you lunatic! You guys can fight among yourselves, why the hell are you messing with us?!”
Red-Armored Pig snorted.
“In the first place, was it not you bastards who grew greedy and built a base in our territory, the middle stream, first?” ….
Rendered speechless, donkey-nose frowned.
“If we occupy this base, our Three-Five Union will be able to rule the plaza in the future! You built it very well!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the members of the Three-Five Union began to pour into the defensive line that Red-Armored Pig had breached.
“…Amitabha!”
Red-Armored Pig, enjoying the Buddhist chant recited by the fake monk, laughed loudly while moving his iron armor up and down.
“Guys! Kill everyone and smash everything! This place is ours now!”
At that moment, someone’s voice pierced into everyone’s ears so clearly.
“You say this place is your territory?”
A bolt of lightning fell from the sky.
The lightning struck the center of the plaza.
The bodies of dozens of organization members who were entangled and slaughtering each other in the center exploded just like that.
As the earth shook, those without internal energy lost their balance and fell flat.
Those who had mastered martial arts hurriedly drove their weapons into the ground to barely maintain their balance.
As the thick dust rising across the entire plaza was scattered by the fierce valley wind, what revealed its form at the spot where the lightning struck was a giant flag.
Someone read the characters engraved on the flag fluttering in the wind, stammering.
“Lu, oyang Sword Family, El, dest Young Master…?”
At that moment, a boy’s figure descended and stood tall at the tip of the flag.
Fluttering his black fine-silk coat in the wind, the boy, who had folded his arms, smiled arrogantly.
“Yes. I am the Eldest Young Master of the Luoyang Sword Family, Yeon So-hyeon.”
* * *
The battle stopped, and everyone in the plaza was looking at Yeon So-hyeon.
“…The Swordless One?”
Among them, several people began to murmur.
“Didn’t they say the Swordless One doesn’t know martial arts?”
“That person is that Swordless One?”
As the murmuring of the Swordless One, the Swordless One, began to grow louder, Yeon So-hyeon raised his hand.
“Keuhak!”
“Guk!”
Without exception, those who had been pointing fingers and chattering at Yeon So-hyeon spun half a turn in the air and collapsed onto the ground.
Hidden weapons were lodged in all of their heads.
It was the handiwork of the concealed Tang Baek and his limbs.
“Please stop!”
It was the voice of Red-Armored Pig of the Three-Five Union.
Due to the single move of unfathomable realm shown as the flag was driven down, and the hidden weapons flying from unknown places, he was one who decided to choose conversation first.
“…Whether you are truly that Eldest Young Master or whatever, we cannot know, but at any rate, I will state our position!”
The one who had breached the defensive line of the forward base revealed himself in the plaza.
He shouted toward Yeon So-hyeon atop the flag.
“Our Three-Five Union, and all the forces here, are paying sufficient ‘tribute’ to the Sword Family!”
At the mention of tribute paid to the Luoyang Sword Family, the eyes of the personnel of the forward base widened as if about to tear.
“They are paying tribute?”
“To the Sword Family…?”
He waved his arm encased in sturdy armor.
“But, if you are the Eldest Young Master of the Sword Family, why are you ignoring our territory and persecuting us?!”
He pounded his chest.
“On behalf of the Sword Family, who does not want to dirty their name and hands, we are making gold in this filth-filled dung bucket and offering it!”
At those words, a small commotion was rising in the forward base.
“Acting on behalf of the Sword Family…?”
“Is that man’s word true…?”
“Seniors, please answer us…!”
There was no answer from the fake monk and the donkey-nose who were called seniors. ….
They seemed to know something, but they simply closed their mouths tightly and watched the plaza.
Red-Armored Pig, the Vice Leader of the Three-Five Union, shouted vigorously.
“Even if the Sword Family does not acknowledge it externally, we are unmistakably the limbs and agents of the Sword Family!”
His words rang resonantly across the plaza.
“Therefore—!”
He could not finish what he was saying.
Because a loud roar that shook the earth and a flashing gleam occurred, and Red-Armored Pig’s torso exploded just like that.
The storm of immense force starting from the inside of the body could not be blocked by the red heavy armor he was proud of.
“Hmph.”
Yeon So-hyeon withdrew the fist he had extended and folded his arms again.
Yang Family Secret, Thunderous Sky-Piercing Cannon Modified.
It was the Thunderous Sky-Piercing Cannon improved by adding the subtle logic of transmitting that hidden force across empty space to the original form of inch force that lacked preparatory movements.
“In its own way, it is true, but….”
The words he had babbled were not much different from the facts Yeon So-hyeon knew. …!
In the midst of the gatherers’ gazes filled with astonishment, Yeon So-hyeon snorted.
“I did not like how he did not know his place and his tone was insolent.”
Yeon So-hyeon, standing atop the fluttering flag, spoke to those gathered.
“There must be others here who want to talk with this Eldest Young Master.”
He smiled.
“I hope it is someone who knows their place this time.”