Nano Machine c 401 to 410
Chapter 401: Guest from the North (1)
“Gasp… gasp… gasp…”
An hour ago, in an ice cave that was cold enough to see the misty breaths of
air flow out of the entrance. The transparent and beautiful ice that covered
all of the inner cave like rare crystals broke and turned the once beautiful
cave into a mess of remnant ice shards.
Drip!
Looking at the floor of the cave, where ice was dripping down from, red
blood stains spread across the floor.
It wasn’t clear how hastily the bleeding man ran, but the thick fur coat he
was wearing had turned blood red.
“Haa… haaa! Cough!”
The places where he was cut was becoming more painful with every step he
took.
He wasn’t sure whether or not he could get out of this place quick enough
to treat his wound, but all he knew was that the cold weather seemed to tear
apart his wounds even further.
‘I need to hurry up… and inform them.’
At this point, the man was barely standing up and was only able to walk by
slowly limping, that was when something strange happened.
Rumble!
The entire cave vibrated.
As the cave shook as if there had been an earthquake, the ice shattered and
vapor began to fill up his vision.
“No- No way!”
His heart began to beat rapidly at the ominous sign.
He was under the impression that he managed to save his life, but was ‘it’
trying to break through the thick ice of the cave?
Scared, he hurried to get out of the cave.
That moment,
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Grrrrrr!”
The solid ice wall shattered and a black monster roared.
The appearance was faint because of the rising vapor, but the injured man’s
face turned pale at the sight.
‘It- it broke through the ice wall?’
Shocked, he covered his mouth.
“Uhmp!”
The moment he covered his mouth and tried to breathe as silently as
possible to not notify the monster, the yellow glowing eyes of the monster
that noticed him twisted and strichten like a snake, revealing the vicious
teeth it was hiding.
“Kyaaaal!”
“Arckkkkk!”
Puhk!
The man screamed, struggling to get away from the monster.
As the man ran away, his coats and fur were thrown off and sunlight shone
through the gaps of the cave.
It looked like a bright day.
“Gasp… Gasp…”
His face was breaking out in cold sweat and he was shocked.
Not so long ago, the monster had attacked him in an underground ice cave.
And as if it was a nightmare, it appeared in another cave!
‘Again… it‘s going to happen again!’
The young man, whose face was full of scars, wiped off the cold sweat with
the back of his hand.
Crackle!
When he turned his head to the sound which was next to him after a couple
of blinks, a middle-aged man in a white fur coat was putting in dry branches
to light the bonfire.
The middle-aged man looked at the young man with worried eyes and
asked.
“Did you have that dream again?”
“Uncle!”
“It seems to be stuck in your memory. After all, you are the only one who
lived after crossing paths with that monster. Phew… ah, hot!”
The middle-aged man took off his fur coat.
He seemed to be so hot that the clothes he was wearing inside were wet
with sweat.
“It has been a while since I came here, but it really is hot. I have no idea
how the people of Jugwon can live in such hot places.”
The weather is neither hot nor cold.
However, to a middle-aged man who came down from the north the weather
of Jungwon felt hot.
The young man, whose face was full of scars, thought that the weather was
too hot, which was why he wore a long robe of light material instead of fur
coats like he used to in his homeland.
After waking up from that nightmare, his trembling finally stopped as if he
managed to escape his fear of that monster.
Seeing that, the middle-aged man spoke.
“You came down here basically without sleep for the past three days, go
and get some more rest.”
“No, uncle. We don’t know when that monster will break through the ice
again, how can I rest?”
“Stay put.”
In total, the young man only slept four hours a day since he came down
from the northern part of Hanam.
His eyes were proof of that.
He wouldn’t have been able to hold on in that place if it wasn’t for the luck
he had on his side.
That was when the middle-aged man spoke.
“We’ll soon have to move. I’ll head over to Yulin straight away. Are you
sure you want to go there?”
“… yes.”
“You are quite stubborn when compared to your brother. Do you really
think that they will help? Among the Wulins, they are the only ones who
see harmony as we do.”
“Isn’t it better than staying still and not doing anything?”
“The things that pursue the nature of Demons will follow you.”
The middle-aged man was still taken aback by the young man’s stubborn
nature.
Still, he felt like asking the Yulin for help and guidance was a lot better. He
couldn’t understand why the young man was so against the idea of heading
to Yulin.
‘Those people are wicked ones, but he doesn’t know that.’
He was sure that the people who pursued the path of demons would never
help others who were in a crisis.
Looking at the eyes of his uncle, who seemed to be filled with disbelief, the
young man, whose face was full of scars, grabbed onto a hidden object.
It was something which was handed to him by a man who saved him from
death.
His uncle wouldn’t believe it, so he couldn’t show him that hidden object.
He wasn’t sure if help could be gotten from Yulin.
[Please tell me.]
If ‘that person’ really was the owner of this thing.
--------
The opening of the Demonic Cult’s branch in Gaekzan.
People were sitting at the table under the canopy which was used as a shade
from the bright sunlight, sipping light drinks and eating duck meat noodles.
There were a lot of people who were passing by the street, but not a single
person approached that place.
It was because of those people who were eating under the canopy.
They were all wearing red robes with the word ‘Demon’ written on them
and anyone could tell that they were people of the Demonic Cult.
It has been a month since the opening of the Demonic Cult’s new branch,
but people were still afraid of them because of the preconceived notions.
It was a natural reaction since it had been under the domain of Yulin for
several years.
“Ugh, they can just come and eat. I don’t understand what they are trying to
avoid?”
A young man in a purple hood lightly shook the glass of wine. It was Hu
Bong.
As he grumbled, people would get close, but when they would see the
members of the cult looking at them, they would run away in fear.
Tak!
‘Is he asking because he really doesn’t know?’
The waiter put the additional ordered food on the table while cursing the
members of the cult inwardly.
It was lunchtime, but the food house, which was normally filled with
customers and overflowing orders, was completely barren.
‘If you are so concerned about the reason, find some other place to eat!’
He didn’t have the courage to say it out loud, so he just put down the food
and quietly went in.
Ko Wanghur, the muscular young man, spoke to Hu Bong, who was
shoving a piece of sushi into his mouth.
“It will take some time for them to get used to it. Still, this is a lot better
than at the beginning, isn’t it?”
When the branch was first opened, the people would avoid the members of
the cult. They would even refuse to meet their eyes as if they were seeing a
ghost or a monster.
However, after a month, their actions seemed to have eased down.
“It is, but… tch, I still think that it’s a long way off from what it is supposed
to be.”
It didn’t seem right.
“Hahaha, Hu Bong, you are being too greedy. How is it possible to change
the perception about us, which had been built over hundreds of years, in a
mere 30 days?”
Tap! Tap!
Sama Chak, who was sitting on the opposite side of Hu Bong, tried to
explain it.
As he said, it was indeed difficult to change the perception of people who
were constantly being fed with wrong information.
Therefore, the people belonging to the Demonic Cult’s branch were
working hard in many ways to change the perception.
“Besides, thanks to the reputation of our Lord, there are 100 new members
in this month only. Wasn’t that enough publicity already? Don’t worry too
much.”
“Those were all martial arts students.”
Those newly admitted to the academy weren’t ordinary people.
They were all wandering martial arts rogues who applied for admission into
the Demonic Academy after hearing about Chun Yeowun’s rise to the
Divine Master level and the battle in Jin Castle.
Chun Yeowun’s face as one of the five strongest warriors skyrocketed in the
entire Wulin.
As rumors spread about the change in the state religion and humiliation
endured by the Yulin in the Jin Castle, the words that the Demonic Cult’s
Lord might end up conquering the entire Wulin spread, which made
independent and non-famed martial arts people who didn’t belong to any
clan began to show up.
“It‘s just the beginning. This is proof that many people want to join the
academy of our Lord, who‘s considered to be the youngest one of the top
five strongest warriors.”
“I am actually a little dissatisfied with that.”
“Huh?”
Everyone was shocked at what Hu Bong said. This man was supposed to be
Chun Yeowun’s fan.
Grumbling, Hu Bong continued.
“I don’t get it. At this point, shouldn’t the Lord be called the strongest in
Wulin and not one of the five strongest warriors? Even the Great Leader of
the Forces of Justice is no match and our Lord could deal with three
Supreme Masters at the same time. Everyone witnessed that.”
“Hm, that is true.”
Even Ko Wanghur agreed with Hu Bong’s words.
Chun Yeowun showed such great power and he was still ‘only’ being called
one of the five strongest warriors of Wulin, even though his powers far
exceed that threshold.
He even took down the Forces of Evil and the divided Yulin in the Jin
Castle all by himself.
At that time, Hou Sanghwa, who was quietly having her noodles, opened
her mouth and spoke.
“Maybe it’s because of that monster of the east.”
“Monster of the east?”
While Hu Bong was puzzled, Sama Chak, who was next to him, clapped his
hands.
“Ah! Are you talking about the East Challenger God?”
Ark Wui.
One of the five strongest warriors.
He was called the East Challenger God. Among the five, he was known for
not using any weapons but still reaching the top ranks with just his fists.
Chun Yeowun also had the character of ‘God’ attached to his title, but Ark
Wui was the only one before Chun Yeowun to hold the character of God in
his title.
“Ah, but does it even make sense to compare our Lord, who publicly
displayed his power, to someone who is only rumored to be strong?”
At Hu Bong’s words, Ko Wanghur, who had been smiling, snorted and
spoke.
“No, Hu Bong! Aren’t you just dismissing what our Sanghwa said?”
“Our Sanghwa? Woa! It’s starting again.”
“Pfffttt!”
Spit!
At those words, Ho Sanghwa ended up spilling the noodles in her mouth as
her face turned red.
Thanks to that, Sama Chak’s face was wrapped up in noodles, who sat
opposite to Sanghwa.
‘Ah… I think I’ve been through this before.’
Was it a déjà-vu or a jamais-vu?
Ko Wanghur and Sanghwa started dating a while back.
As if two bears were getting along with each other, the two of them were
taller than other people and got along well. It almost felt like they were born
into that relationship.
Which only made someone’s stomach churn.
“Huh, is he trying to make others who are single feel miserable?”
“Khuem!”
“I was holding back myself from talking about it. When you two are the
only ones who go ahead and do that, my delicate heart will break. And…”
‘… it’s starting again.’
Tch!
At the start of Hu Bong’s non-stop rapping, Ho Sanghwa looked at Ko
Wangur who was seated next to her.
She told him to not call her ‘Our Sanghwa’ in front of others, but now that
he did it, they would have to listen to Hu Bong’s complaints throughout
their meal.
In that noisy mumbling, Hu Bong suddenly stopped speaking.
“Huh?”
They looked at the place where his gaze lingered; a young man with a long
robe and a face full of scars was approaching them.
‘Martial arts user?’
At first glance, they recognized that the young man with scars was trained
in martial arts.
He was at the Super Master level.
They thought that he would be wary of approaching them, but the man who
approached their table did something unexpected.
Thud!
He knelt on the ground.
“I… I am greeting the people of the Sky Demon Order.”
“Huh?”
Everyone looked puzzled at the sound of the young man who suddenly
knelt down.
Ko Wanghur stood up from his seat and asked.
“Why did you suddenly get down on your knees?”
With an earnest voice, the young man answered.
“Let me see the Lord of the Demonic Cult!”
“?”
When he suddenly asked them to take him to the Lord of the Demonic Cult,
even Ko Wanghur was at a loss for words.
Looking at the shabby demeanour, the young man seemed like a rogue and
they thought that he wanted to join the academy.
Hu Bong got up and spoke.
“Ah! If you are going to enter the academy, you need to go into the alley
across the street and inquire in the branch…”
At those words, the scar faced young man shook his head.
“I am sorry, but I didn’t come here for that. I came to see the Lord of the
Demonic Cult and ask for his help.”
Hu Bong raised his eyebrows as he approached the young man and said.
“Hah, recklessly asking us to take you to the Lord of the Demonic Cult, you
must be thinking that we’ll simply say ‘yes’ and guide you to our Lord
right…”
The moment Hu Bong was about to finish, the scar faced young man pulled
something out of his arm.
“!?”
A slate made of jade. The moment he saw that, he immediately knew what
it was.
Hu Bong’s eyes widened at the sight.
“Hu Bong, what is it… ah!”
Wondering what Hu Bong was seeing, Ko Wangur leaned his head close to
Hu Bong, who was shocked.
The jade slate was engraved with characters and a seal.
South Demon Lord, Chun Inji.
The jade slate was none other than that of Chun Inji, the former Lord, who
had disappeared a long time ago.
Chapter 402 - Guest from the
North (2)
Chapter 402: Guest from the North (2)
The opening of the Demonic Academy.
The site of the opening, which had received great support from the
Emperor, and the hall of the academy were both as large as the original hall.
It could be called the largest, except for the main headquarters of the
Demonic Cult.
In the grand hall of the branch, about four hundred warriors of the Demonic
cult were in their training uniform and watched the battle of two people.
These people were two of the Six Swords, Bakgi and Che Takim.
Tak! Tak!
The two were fighting while not holding onto any weapons, which was
different from the existing martial arts.
Unlike the ordinary martial arts that form qi through the connection with
internal energy, the movements of Bakgi and Che Takim were techniques
that aimed directly for the opponent’s blood points.
Punch!
Bakgi avoided the incoming attack while spinning in mid-air with his
unique footwork and tried to kick his opponent, but only until Che Takim
grabbed Bakgi’s leg with his bare hands.
“Woah!”
That wasn’t the end.
The moment he grabbed Bakgi’s leg, Che Takim twisted his body like a
snake strangling its prey and restrained Bakgi tight enough to break the leg
joints for the finest movement.
Each and everyone who was witnessing the battle exclaimed what they saw.
Everything was unfolding too quickly.
“Woah!”
“How did he suppress the kick from Bakgi like that?”
Che Takim was an excellent martial arts user, but he was the lower ranked
one in the Six Swords ranking.
However, when he defeated Bakgi, the third ranked in the Six Swords, in a
matter of seconds, everyone was shocked.
‘Tch’
Maybe he was offended by the reaction from the Cult’s warriors, so Bakgi
bent a little, gathered internal energy in his arms and spread his legs while
rotating them like a windmill.
“Woah!”
Wooong! Thud!
Thanks to that, Che Takim, who was crossing his legs, couldn’t overcome
the force and was thrown away.
Of course he could have clenched his grip a little more to break the legs, but
if Bakgi realized his intent and gathered energy in his legs, then Che Takim
would end up suffering damage.
“Woah! He got out of it!”
“How can such a skill be used properly?”
At first glance, it looked like he was rolling around on the floor, but at some
point, the momentum of a typhoon emerged.
The sharp wind pressure in the rotation of the two legs loaded with energy
made it difficult to approach the man.
It was a unique technique completely different from usual martial arts.
‘Nano, what’s this?’
[Capoeira’s Windmill has an appropriate distribution of energy. If strong
force qi is concentrated with the internal energy, the killing power will be
more than doubled.]
Nano answered Chun Yeowun, who was observing the match.
The martial arts displayed by Che Takim and Bakgi, the current Six Swords
who were present, were techniques that Nano made by including the
future’s martial arts of boxing, taekwondo, jiu-jitsu and capoeira.
The existing martial arts can be destroyed and defended against once the
opponent understands the technique, but the martial arts from the future
were thoroughly made only to destroy the opponent’s body, making it a
dangerous weapon.
‘I was worried if they could learn it properly, but they got it down
perfectly.’
Chun Yeowun was satisfied.
Yet, there were bound to be people with different views.
Che Takim was more specialized in boxing and Jiu-jitsu, both of which
depended on the hands, while Bakgi mastered taekwondo and capoeira,
both of which focused on the legs.
It was the best way to give them what they were used to the most.
‘With this level of execution, they can do wonders in hand-to-hand combat.’
The work of the modern day martial arts, which they started to train for
when Chun Yeowun was crowned as the Lord, had finally come to fruition.
These two had brilliantly learned the skills in just a couple months’ time.
Pak!
Bakgi and Che Takim, who finished their duel, politely bowed to each
other.
The warriors, who witnessed the confrontation, cheered.
“Woow!”
Hou Jingchang, the head of the warriors, who was standing next to Chun
Yeowun, was first seated and then shortly after took a couple steps forward
and shouted.
“Watch carefully! This is something that the Lord has created, a
combination of different kinds of combat martial arts, which will become
the foundational Martial Arts of our academy.”
“Woahhhhh!!!”
The “Combination of Combat Martial Arts“.
Chun Yeowun had named it as such because the completed product was
done by collecting the essence of various future martial art styles.
When Hou Jinchang first saw it, he couldn’t get himself to believe it.
[The Lord had created such techniques?]
He couldn’t believe that Chun Yeowun, who was nothing more than a
beginner at first, created a martial art with a thorough analysis of the human
body that was completely different from the existing styles.
[Oh oooh! He is truly on the road of becoming a great lord! The presence of
our Lord is enhancing the academy!]
[…]
Chun Yeowun was happy, yet it made him feel uncomfortable.
Strictly speaking, it was a martial art created by the analysis of Nano that
was inside Chun Yeowun.
“From today onwards, the warriors’ guards will be trained like the military.
They will be taught the combination of combat martial arts. Let’s learn it
perfectly, so we do not become a nuisance to our members!”
“Yes!!!”
Chun Yeowun’s lips went up at the morale filled shouts of the fierce warrior
guards, which resonated throughout the hall.
This was just the beginning.
And within the Ten Thousand Mountains, Demon Doctor Baek Jongwu and
Godly Doctor Gam Rosu were done analyzing the Qilin’s Blood and
entered into the process of converting it into a stable elixir.
The process was done quickly as Chun Yeowun had passed on Nano’s
information about the ingredients.
‘Not long now.’
The day to hold the power that one wants was coming closer.
Meanwhile, two women were watching the battle from outside the great
hall.
The two women were so beautiful that it would be no exaggeration to say
that they were the best looking women in the place.
The woman in the blue uniform with a pleased smile on her face was Mun
Ku.
However, Mun Ku, who always had a smiling face, had reddened cheeks
and was conscious of the woman standing next to her.
With a pure white face like Chun Yeowun and long silver hair stood Wang
Yogun.
Wang Yogun’s gaze didn’t move from Chun Yeowun’s face, who sat in the
Great Hall like the king.
Seeing Yogun’s cheeks flush red, Mun Ku’s cheeks began to turn red in
anger.
‘Hmph!’
Plain dissatisfaction.
She was nothing more than a female warrior who arrived at the academy
five days ago.
She said that she had come with Lee Hameng to announce some important
news, but she had been hanging around the Lord for five days straight!
Mun Ku did say that she’s trying to understand the situation, but she
couldn’t help but be pissed off at her presence.
‘Right. I need to act bolder!’
Jealousy didn’t suit her.
In her usual tone, Mun Ku spoke to her.
“Hm hm! Lady Wang, I heard that you weren’t feeling well yet, so why not
go and rest instead of straining your body unnecessarily?”
Thanks to Chun Yeowun, Wang Yogun’s life was saved, but her body was
currently fragile as she had Chun Yeowun’s yang energy inside her.
And she was picking up excuses to always be around Chun Yeowun.
At Mun Ku’s words, Wang Yogun responded with a smile.
“No, Lady Mun. I am fine. It’s nice to see the Lord enjoying himself. If you
are tired, you don’t have to worry about me and can head back in.”
‘Ughhhhh!’
At her answer, Mun Ku’s cheeks blushed red.
It felt like she had been attacked.
‘Bold… be bolder… I need to be bold… ah! I don’t know!’
She couldn’t be bold.
Wang Yogun had come to tell Chun Yeowun about the news of Chun
Yujong after waking up, but she was using it as an excuse to cling to Chun
Yeowun and try to get to know him better.
‘She should have just headed back with the Left Guardian. There is nothing
left for you to do. Tch tch.’
When Chun Yeowun heard that the former Lord had woken up, he sent Lee
Hameng to finish the work that was left behind in the central academy.
However, Wang Yogun wanted to return to the Demonic Cult with Chun
Yeowun.
‘Hmm.’
Looking at Mun Ku, who was embarrassed, Wang Yogun felt sorry for her.
‘Lady Mun, I am sorry. It is hard for me to see the Lord’s face too, which is
why I am doing such things.’
Unlike Mun Ku, who had an emotional bond with Chun Yeowun since the
time of the academy, Wang Yogun was connected to him through her body
(lol). And because she didn’t know him very well yet, it was the exact
reason as to why she wanted to get to know him better.
However, since Chun Yeowun is the Lord of the Demonic Cult, she
couldn’t meet him very often. Also, there was no better opportunity for her
to meet him than the one right now.
‘If things go well with the Lord, I’ll treat you as an older sister. Until then,
hold on. Hm.’
While they were competing with each other, someone hurriedly entered the
Great Hall.
Tatak!
“Hu Bong?”
Mun Ku was shocked when she saw him.
However, as it was urgent, Hu Bong didn’t even greet her and went straight
for Chun Yeowun.
‘What is wrong?’
Even Chun Yeowun was surprised to see Hu Bong rush in like that.
He knew that something big had happened.
** *
Chun Yeowun followed Hu Bong.
He said that a guest was waiting for him within the hall.
Hu Bong’s hand held the jade slate, which was engraved with the signature
of the former Lord Chun Inji.
The identity slate was real and so was the seal on it.
He had Nano analyze it and it was an object made of jade with the same
composition that he had.
‘The identity slate of my lost grandfather.’
Chun Inji had gone missing during the festival twenty years ago.
He disappeared without saying a word, so the warriors of the Demonic Cult
searched for him everywhere, but they were never able to find him.
However, after so many years someone who knew something about him had
appeared.
“Lord, you need to be prepared just in case. Although the jade slate is real,
it doesn’t mean that we can trust him blindly.”
Great Guardian Marakim, who was walking next to Chun Yeowun,
expressed his opinion.
Marakim was the only one who saw Chun Inji before he disappeared.
Even to him, Chun Inji didn’t reveal why he wanted to leave the Cult.
The fact that such a man, who disappeared without a trace, sent his identity
slate with someone else made it difficult for him to trust the situation.
“Once we see him, we’ll know.”
The truth can only be found out when the person was met.
When they entered the guest room on the east side, Ko Wanghur and Hou
Sanghwa were waiting with a young man, whose face was full of scars.
Almost as if he had been detained by the two.
“Lord!”
The two of them got up when they saw the Lord. The eyes of the young
man looked straight at Chun Yeowun.
‘That is the current Lord of the Demonic Cult?’
The supposed lord seemed a lot younger than him.
When he came down to Jianghu and heard of the rumors about the Divine
Master level, he thought that the Lord would be elderly and someone who
possessed unparalleled dignity, but this was completely different to what he
had expected.
Although his eyes were sharp and he had a mysterious aura around him,
there was no sign that said that he had been training in martial arts. He just
looked like a noble family’s young lord.
‘Are they trying to make a fool out of me?’
He couldn’t help but feel suspicious, but the man who was walking next to
the Lord made him nervous.
Just looking at him was enough to know that he was a great man.
‘Ah! He has to be that famous man!’
The famous Dark King, Marakim.
Everyone knew that he was the Lord’s right hand man, but the fact that he
was walking alongside this young man meant that he had to be the Lord of
the Demonic Cult.
The scar faced young man quickly got up from his seat and was about to
greet, when suddenly Chun Yeowun opened his mouth first.
“Are you the one who brought this slate?”
Chun Yeowun asked after showing the identity slate of the former lord of
the Demonic Cult.
“Ah-yes.”
That was when Ko Wanghur, who was next to the man, warned him in a
low voice.
“You saw the Lord of our faction now, are you still not going to disclose
your identity?!”
The young man had insisted that he wouldn’t reveal anything until he met
with the Lord of the Cult in person.
They were planning on forcing him to answer, but realizing that the issue
was serious, they held back and brought him to the academy, despite not
liking him.
Tak!
At that moment, the young man hurriedly introduced himself.
“I-I am honoured to meet Chun Ma of the Sky Demon Order. My name is
Dan Baekhyun who came here as an envoy from the North Ice Palace.”
“North Ice… Palace?”
Everyone in the room was shocked at the unexpected identity reveal of the
scar faced young man.
Shockingly, he wasn’t a warrior from the Jianghu, but a person from the
North Ice Palace, one of the three powers who held supremacy over the
cold northern land.
Chapter 403 - Guest from the
North (3)
Chapter 403 : Guest from the North (3)
The three great powers outside of Jianghu.
There were different kinds of martial arts established and followed by the
people there.
Of course, from the point of view of the Jianghu people, though they were
people outside the region, their martial arts and fighting style were not too
different from Jianghu martial arts.
The three powers, who were considered an outside power, were East, West
and North. First was the Boudala palace, where Buddhism was spread to the
Tibetan plateau. The second was the Imperial region, where the Shaolin
temple became famous for its martial palace. Last but not least was the
North Ice Palace, which was also called the Northern Sea (Lake Baikal), a
land of cold snow fields.
Of course, in addition to those, there were the South Yunan forces, Indo
forces and the Pasa warriors. There were known to be various groups of
armed people, however the mentioned three were the only ones known to be
gaining strength consistently.
‘North Sea Ice Palace…’
At one point, around 30 years ago, among the outside forces, there was a
group that moved to the south to seek power over the Jianghu.
They were the North Sea Ice Palace.
Less than a month after entering the Central Plains (Jianghu), they gave up
on their plans due to the climate and food culture, which was too different
for them to get used to in a long war.
At that time, the North Sea Ice Palace became famous for signing a peace
treaty with the Wulin, which was about giving up the confrontation and not
continuing the war.
“An envoy from the North Sea Ice Palace?”
Chun Yeowun’s eyes lit up.
It was surprising to hear that the person who brought in the missing former
Lord Chun Inji’s identity slate was someone from the North Sea Ice Palace.
‘Envoy? Ugh.’
Hu Bong looked at the young man with distrust.
If he really was an envoy of such a famous place, then he should have come
with some people behind him, but this man was shabby looking, lean, scar
faced and looked like a total rogue.
“If you really are the envoy from the North Sea Ice Palace, shouldn’t you be
holding something to symbolize your status and role?”
Great Guardian Marakim, who had been suspicious of the young man since
the beginning, asked.
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
When referring to themselves as envoys, they would usually carry around at
least a letter from the palace or, in the case of the North Sea Ice Palace, an
identity slate.
“Ah…”
At Marakim’s question, Baekhyun, who called himself the envoy, looked
puzzled.
Come to think of it, the letter from the Palace requesting the help was taken
by his uncle to the Yulin.
“T-that is with my uncle, not me…”
“Uncle?”
“Ahh, how do I begin to explain this…”
In fact, the letter to Yulin was an official request, but the request from the
Demonic Cult was being done by Baekhyun on his own volition.
It felt like if the truth was told, then the atmosphere which was already sour
would turn into a big mess.
‘Suspicious.’
As he hesitated to answer, Marakim’s distrust grew.
Baekhyun, who was confused about what had to be done, spoke out as soon
as he thought of something.
“Ah! I will show you proof that I am a person from the North Sea Ice
Palace.”
The simplest way.
Dan Baekyun, who was standing next to Ko Wanghur, asked him.
“Would you mind releasing the control on my internal energy?”
“Release of internal energy?”
Ko Wanghur’s eyebrows rose.
This young man didn’t seem like a dangerous man and also didn’t look like
he had reached Super Master level, however, he couldn’t help but wonder if
the control over his internal energy should be released before even verifying
his identity.
However, Chun Yeowun allowed it, so it had to be released.
Tatata!
“Sigh!”
The moment the control was released, mist flowed out of his mouth.
It was a phenomenon that happened when the control was released.
Dan Baekhyun, who took a deep breath, pointed to a teacup placed on the
table.
“Uh?”
“Look there.”
He held the half full teacup, and then started to expand his internal energy.
After a while, a change occurred.
Swoosh! Crack!
Cold energy rose from his hand, and the half full teacup froze immediately
along with a light vapor appearing above it.
It was a typical cold energy show, a symbol to prove that he belonged to the
North Sea Ice Palace.
‘There was such an easy way, but I was too confused and ended up looking
suspicious in their eyes. Ugh.’
Baekhyun sighed out of relief.
Since he went ahead and showed them his ability, he thought that they
would no longer doubt his identity.
‘Huh?’
The eyes looking at him were still suspicious.
They seemed upset too.
‘Wh-what went wrong? I even showed them my cold energy, so what?’
They still were in disbelief.
What he showed was the North Sea Ice Palace, Ice Palm, but the situation
didn’t seem to lighten up.
He couldn’t understand, but Chun Yeowun placed his hand on the table.
Swoosh!
‘!?’
Crack!
‘Wh-what was that!!!’
In that moment, intense cold energy radiated, cooling the entire room. Then
white frost started to form on the table, which froze the table completely.
When Chun Yeowun lightly slammed the completely frozen table, cracks
formed around the part, like it was ready to shatter.
Crack!
Looking at the pieces of the ice which fell to the floor, Baekyun mumbled
in a flustered manner.
“H-how could you do this?”
The extent of cold energy produced was unbelievable.
Moreover, it was much faster than the internal energy’s Ice Palm technique
he showed.
As he lived in the north, he was exposed to the cold all year around, but he
was surprised to see Chun Yeowun, who had never been to the North,
perform techniques which needed Yin energy in his body.
“If that is the case, then I must be from the North Sea Ice Palace too, right?”
“…”
Asking something like that, left the man speechless.
Baekhyun, who was dumbfounded for a moment, opened his mouth while
stuttering.
“H-how… do you have so much Yin energy?”
“Is that important? I don’t think that showing your identity to prove that
you were from the North Sea Ice Palace was such a tough thing.”
Baekhyun was embarrassed.
In the beginning, he did seem suspicious.
He came in with the identity slate of the former Lord, so it was very hard to
believe that it wasn’t a trap. Especially from the Lord of the Demonic Cult‘s
perspective. It seemed like Baekhyun was trying to isolate him.
“Lord, isn’t there an easier way than to do all of this?”
Hu Bong asked with a sneaky smile.
He knew that Chun Yeowun had something he liked using to clearly tell if
someone was lying or not.
Seeing that uneasy smile, Baekhyun spoke out.
“Wait a minute! You must know this right? Those who have mastered the
martials arts in the main palace have silver hair due to the influence of the
internal energy in their body.”
“… your hair is black.”
It had a faint in it grey, but still, it was of black color.
“It is because I still haven’t mastered it yet. However, if the 5th level could
be reached out of the 8 levels, silver hair will start to appear once one uses
cold energy.”
At those words, Chun Yeowun looked at Great Guardian Marakim.
However, even Marakim, who was the most aware of martial arts, shook his
head as if he wasn’t familiar with it.
The North Sea Ice Palace had practically little to no interaction with people
of Jianghu, except for the incident that happened many years ago.
And with the Demonic Cult being in the south of the Yellow River, there
was no chance of them encountering or interacting with the people of the
north, so it was practically impossible to know the details of the Cold
energy, the techniques or the martial levels they used.
Elder Huan Yi, who was the type to gather information, might have known
about this.
At that time, Marakim remembered a person who knew about this.
“Maybe Wang Jing might know.”
“Ah… that could be.”
Chun Yeowun nodded as if it felt reasonable.
Martial Dual Sword Wang Jing was living in secret after he became one of
the five strongest warriors of Wulin, right after annihilating the pirates.
And 30 years ago, Wang Jing was a member of the Wulin, so he could
know about it.
“Hu Bong. Bring Wang Jing.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
At Chun Yeowun’s command, Hu Bong left.
‘Wang Jing… Wang Jing… where did I hear that before… Wang Jing… I
definitely heard that name a lot…ah!’
Baekhyun, who was contemplating the name which felt familiar, yelled out.
“Martial Dual Sword Wang Jing!”
Come to think of it, he heard something when he entered Jianghu.
In addition to Chun Yeowun who reached Divine Master level, there was
the news about Wang Jing joining the Demonic Cult.
‘The rumors were true.’
Baekhyun, a member of the North Sea Ice Palace, also dreamed of taking
over the Wulin in Jianghu, so he knew about the famous people in Jianghu.
Though his memory was still fuzzy.
‘Two great masters of Wulin in one place, the Demonic Cult. It was no
exaggeration to say that he is coveting all the strength.’
The five strongest warriors were always a group of people he heard a lot
about.
And now he would see them.
“Stop being so shocked and prove it.”
“Ah, I understand.”
He didn’t learn the use of cold energy to use it for such a situation, but it
was the only way to prove his identity.
Goooo!
Unlike the cold energy that was used before, this time a noticeable change
occurred in Baekhyun’s body.
At the frost, which began to appear, his skin turned white and the black hair
began to turn silver from the root.
“Oh!”
Ko Wanghur and Hou Sanghwa began to exclaim their emotions at the sight
that was unfolding in front of their eyes.
Baekhyun’s hair, which was black until recently, turned silver giving off a
mysterious feeling to the people around.
‘It is amazing.’
They weren’t sure what kind of phenomenon it was, but it surely was
shocking.
Until a moment ago, they were feeling skeptical, but if Wang Jing could see
it, he would definitely believe that this man’s identity was indeed true.
Swoooo!
When Baekhyun stopped, the silver hair lost its color and changed back to
black.
It was as if they were seeing a magic trick happen.
“Did you see it?”
Baekhyun was pleased to see their shocked expression.
When it came to silver hair, he was sure that it would be accepted since that
was something only those who use cold energy could do.
“My Lord, Wang Jing is here.”
Right that moment, Hu Bong brought Wang Jing with him.
Wang Jing, the Dual Martial Sword, could only prove his identity once the
issue would be solved, but there was another difficulty: he had to convince
Lord Chun Yeowun to help them.
‘Still, since the former Lord’s slate is with me, he might help me.’
The door opened first, with Hu Bong coming in followed by someone else.
‘Ah… it really is Wang Jing!’
Baekhyun was happy to see Wang Jing, one of the five strongest warriors,
whom he had heard of since his childhood. He quickly turned around to
look at him.
“North Sea Ice Palace’s Baekhyun greets Wang Jing, who is one of the five
strongest warriors of…”
Baekhyun’s eyes shook when he turned.
A white faced, silver haired beauty, Wang Yogun, was walking alongside
Wang Jing and entered his eyes.
‘Ugh, what is that?’
Baekhyun was confused for a moment, so he wasn’t sure what to say.
He was already confused at Chun Yeowun using cold energy a while back.
Now he was afraid that the same thing would happen again, and because of
the woman, he felt his feet go numb.
“Wh, something doesn’t seem right. How could this happen? For someone
who is unaware of our skills…”
He was speaking in gibberish, even tears began to fall.
Baekhyun thought that everything would go smoothly if he showed the
identity slate of Chun Inji, but everything was turning into a mess.
--------
At the same time within Yulin.
In the room of the Great Leader, Yi Mok and four other leaders were
discussing the current matter with serious faces looking at the content in the
long booklet that was on the table.
There was someone impatiently waiting in another room, Dan Juseong,
uncle of Dan Baekhyun, from the North Sea Ice Palace.
He delivered the letter he got from the palace and informed them.
Yi Mok called in for an urgent meeting with the available leaders.
They all had anxious expressions, and so did the man seated in the other
room.
He heard numerous rumors as he headed to this place.
‘Why did such an incident have to happen at a time like this? Ahhh.’
It was about the war in Jin Castle.
He heard about the damage the Yulin and the Forces of Justice took.
After the signing of the treaty, regular information was being exchanged,
but he was concerned if Yulin and the Forces of Justice might be of any
help this time.
In the room, opinions were divided in half, and the discussions were severe.
Hong Palwoo raised his voice by pointing the finger at the contents of the
book.
“This is very dangerous, Great Leader. A dragon?”
“I agree with leader Hong. What on earth is this spirit beast that has lived
for so many years after being sealed in the North Sea Ice Palace? I don’t
understand this!”
The opinions were divided.
A plea for help in killing a dragon, the Dragon Turtle, which was the same
as the Imoogi and Qilin: A spiritual beast.
Chapter 404 - Guest from the
North (4)
Chapter 404 : Guest from the North (4)
Dragon Turtle.
A divine animal and one of the five Spirit Beasts.
The five Spirit Beasts which are Imoogi, Flame Qilin, Dragon Turtle, Great
Bird (Garuda) and Pung Baekho (White Tiger).
As the name suggests, it is a dragon spirit, with the head of a dragon and
body of a tortoise.
As the time passes, with most spirit beasts, their bodies grow and begin to
generate stronger spiritual power, and the dragon spirits display their
strength in the number of their heads.
Dragon spirits are often worshipped as the Gods by the merchants who
create dragon amulets and pray for safe arrival and departure of their goods.
According to the ancient texts, in the days of the give Five Emperor, a six
headed dragon spirit had appeared and taken away the lives of half the
people of Zhongyun.
At that time, there was a legend that the three of the Five Emperors, Suiren,
and Fuxi and Shennong led their people and killed the spirit beast for the
sake of peace in their world.
“Dragons are real dangerous creatures. It isn’t something that warriors can
take on.”
As Hong Palwoo said his opinion, even Moyong Kang, insisted that the
request for help should be refused.
The way he spoke, with his eyes trembling, and a serious look.
The people of Moyong clan, who came from the fallen Yan dynasty, knew
the power of the dragon very well.
“In the past, even the Yan Dynasty met with a three headed dragon. Do you
have any idea what happened?”
Because of that one three headed dragon, five cities were annihilated, and
thousands of people died.
With the help of numerous military forces and Wulin, finally the dragon
was killed.
Therefore, Moyong Kang was more familiar with the legends and tales of
the dragons than the others, as he himself had witnessed the destruction
those beasts brought.
“They are not called creatures of disasters for nothing. Even if that isn’t
true, I see no need for us to overdo and help them when we know that our
Yulin clan’s power has been greatly reduced.”
Moyong Kang spoke out.
On the other hand, Shaolin temple’s head, Gakyeon, the 2nd leader of the
Forces of Justice had a different opinion.
“Amitabha. The words of Leader Moyong are understandable, but if we
ignore the plea from the North Sea Ice Palace, they won’t just suffer great
damages, but might go extinct. We signed an agreement with them and
promised to help each other when there was something that couldn’t be
handled.”
“Even if that is the case…”
Before he could finish, the 14th leader of Forces of Justice, Jeokyang
intervened.
Among the clans, who worshipped martial arts, he was known to be a
moderate figure.
“Leader Moyong. Even I think that the saint’s words are correct in this
matter. If our Yulin represents Justice and aims for justice, don’t you think
that we should be the first to move?”
“Kum!”
As soon as he mentioned the representation of Yulin, Moyong Kang
couldn’t refute it.
However, Hong Palwoo, had something to say.
“As the leader said, justice is our spirit. Upholding justice is supposed to be
our thing but, the Forces of Evil in the west and the Blade God Six Martial
clan in the east are doing well, while the Demonic Cult’s powers are getting
stronger with each day. Who will keep justice alive if something happens
during this mission?”
“If we can help them out in a way that doesn’t hurt out…”
“No. Didn’t he just say how dangerous the three headed dragon was, it
destroyed five cities. So, I am guessing you can understand how dangerous
the four headed dragon can be, right? Rather, we should be thankful that it
is in the North and not in Jianghu…”
“Amitabha! Leader Hong, your words are excessive!”
It was one of the most intensive meetings they ever had.
Neither side wanted to back down, and both had reasonable arguments.
It was turning into a meeting, where the Great Leader would have to take a
side.
‘The opinions of both sides are valid as they are looking for the well-being
of Forces of Justice. But there is one thing which worries me.’
The danger they would get themselves into was not being considered.
If it really was a dragon spirit, which had been sealed for ages, and released
recently, they should have given them more in depth information.
When the leaders were arguing about the dragon spirit, Yi Mok was
concerned about the details.
‘Hmm?’
However, there was someone else who was paying attention to the same
part as Yi Mok.
It was his second son, Kang Soah.
He was someone who exuded a completely different feel from Yeon Buso,
this kid was full of typical Forces of Justice spirit.
The eyes which looked like they could see through anyone, made people
feel threatened.
‘He is talented enough.’
Yi Mok tightly blinked his eyes.
The first kid, Yeon Buso, was given back to the Forces of Justice a month
ago.
[Monster… that one is a monster. Ughhh!]
When Yeon Buso arrived, even though his arm was cut off, he didn’t stop
training.
However, just as any powerful man who got his pride crushed in utter
defeat, his broken heart and spirit showed no signs of recovery.
‘Because he chose to hide in the dark, I didn’t try to use him…’
Kang Soah was the most ambitious of the three children he raised.
The scary thing was, despite being ambitious, he knew how to wait for the
right moment before revealing himself.
It was a driving force which could make him develop infinitely, but Great
Leader Yi Mok never took him seriously.
[Evil forces need to be annihilated.]
Kang Soah had been making the same claim for the past ten years.
Great leader Yi Mok knew what his character was from that moment.
The fear that, if this kid took the power of Yulin into his hands, the entire
Yulin would get stained in blood.
[Isn’t Kang Soah’s talent comparable to Yeon Buso?]
[Isn’t it better to leave the possibility of a new successor open for now?]
There was a reason why Yi Mok placed Kang Soah away from the position.
Since Yeon Buso turned broke, he tried very hard to accept the opinion that
it would give Kang Soah a chance.
So, as a test, he recently had him attend various meetings.
Maybe this dragon would end up giving him an opportunity to wake up to
reality?
Kang Soah, who had been in thought, got up and looked at the other leaders
before saying.
“Great Leader. And various other leaders here, is it alright for me to ask a
favor?”
The eyes of everyone, who had been arguing for a while, turned to Kang
Soah.
‘Huh?’
Even Yi Mok was puzzled.
He didn’t expect the kid to give his opinion in such an important meeting,
which he was attending for the first time.
It was the same with the others, who were looking at him.
“Amitabha. A favor? Leader Kang?”
It was the Gakyeon of Shaolin temple.
Kang Soah, was the leader of Black Shadow force, one of the four major
forces of the Forces of Justice, along with the North Justice Blade of Yeon
Buso.
At the question of Gakyeon, Kang Soah politely pointed to the door of the
room and said.
“I have a question for the envoy from the North Sea Ice Palace. May I
summon him inside the room for a moment?”
Moyong Kang narrowed his eyes and asked.
“But this matter hasn’t been decided yet.”
It implied that he, who was a kid, didn’t have the right to express his
opinion.
Nevertheless, Kang Soah answered not showing any intention of backing
down.
“This is an important issue that will determine whether or not we should
head to the North.”
“Something that can decide against or not?”
“Hm…”
Everyone seemed a little shocked with Kang Soah’s words.
Dan Juseong, who was waiting in the other room, entered the room with an
anxious expression.
Eyes filled with anticipation, hoping that they had come to a favourable
decision.
Contrary to his expectations, Kang Soah touched the booklet and asked.
“I would like to ask this question to the envoy from the North. According to
the contents of this booklet, it is said that you tried to search the
underground path by breaking down the ice to find the lost treasure of the
North Sea. This means that you didn’t know that the dragon was alive,
right?”
Dan Juseong was disappointed with it.
They had been busy for one straight hour, but it looked like the decision
hadn’t been made yet.
However, he didn’t express his regret, and answered.
“… Hundreds of years had passed since the dragon spirit was frozen in ice
and sealed away. From the palace’s thoughts, they assumed that the monster
was long dead.”
“Is that so? Hmm, that doesn’t matter.”
Dan Juseong,’s eyes turned cold.
He didn’t like that Kang Soah was interrogating him.
Not caring, Kang Soah continued to speak.
“However, in this booklet, it was written that this happened because of the
power of the bomb you got from Jianghu.”
At those words, Dang Juseong’s expression hardened.
After hesitating a moment, he briefly answered.
“… that is right.”
“You wrote something about the bomb you got from Jianghu, can you tell
me in detail about where you got it?”
“How is that important?”
Kang Soah answered the question of Dan Juseong, who was flustered.
“If the power of that bomb is strong enough to destroy the place where the
dragon spirit has been sealed, the explosive power is unusual.”
“… true.”
“It was mentioned that the bomb was from Jianghu, the central plains.”
“…”
“But, the bomb with that power shouldn’t even be made, and it isn’t
supposed to be released to others at all. It’s something that even the Yulin,
who have a close relationship with the Imperial family, don’t touch.”
“Ah!”
At Kang Soah’s words, all the leaders exclaimed.
They were so focused on the matter of the dragon which was a disaster that
they overlooked what Kang Soah was talking about.
“I heard that during the war which took place in Jin castle, a large number
of bombs were planted underground.”
Kang Soah speculated that the bombs were from the Blade God Six Martial
clan.
Which was why he asked this question.
The answer about what North Sea Ice Palace had to do with the clan, would
make the leaders decide on helping them.
It seemed like something was being hidden from them.
Everyone was now focused on Dan Juseong.
Perplexed, he pondered for a while and then answered after taking a deep
breath.
“Phew, this is a matter of internal affairs in the palace, so it was only
supposed to be revealed later. I’ll be honest. The bomb was obtained from a
monstrous group in the central plains. They came to the palace and
presented it.”
“Monstrous group?”
“Neither the officials nor the palace people know who they are.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“We only heard that it was a clan from the Jianghu, who had great
connection with three elders of our palace.”
“And even they don’t know?”
“They said that they couldn’t reveal the identity, until the situation was an
emergency, we are unaware.”
The leaders were confused.
Even if that was the case, if those three elders had such a relationship, it
meant that they had a high status which no one could counter.
“Are saying that those elders aren’t revealing it? That is tough for us to
understand.”
At Kang Soah’s words, Dan Juseong answered with a trembling voice.
“What could we hear from the people who aren’t in the world any longer?”
“Sorry?”
“The king and the three elders died as they were imprisoned in the ice along
with that dragon including the group.”
‘!?’
Everyone was shocked at the bitter truth which was revealed.
Since the seal that was on the booklet belonged to the deputy king, they
assumed that something was wrong with the palace, but they never guessed
that this would have happened.
In a bitter voice, Yi Mok apologized.
“We are very sorry to hear that. We will mourn for him.”
“Thank you for your words, but our King’s death wasn’t an accident.”
Gasp!
Dan Juseong took something out of his sleeve and placed it on the table.
It was well folded paper.
Moyong Kang, who was the closest, opened the paper which had a cloth
attached to it and showed it to the others.
“T-this is?”
“The only thing that survived from the wounded bodies.”
The moment they saw it, everyone knew.
The marks on the cloth.
‘Blade God Six Martial Clan!’
The marks left on that cloth were the same as the Blade God Six Martial
clan’s sword.
As they fought them in the Jin Castle, they were able to clearly recognize
them.
Kang Soah’s insight proved to be right.
Chapter 405 - Guest from the
North (5)
Chapter 405 : Guest from the North (5)
The new branch of the Demonic Academy.
Chun Yeowun looked at the marks which were left on the upper body of
Baekhyun, who took his shirt off.
It was something he knew very well.
It was obviously a wound which was caused by the Extreme Art of Blade
God.
“Do you know this?”
When everyone else in the room looked unfamiliar, Baekyun asked with a
firm face.
Great Guardian, Marakim nodded and answered.
“Extreme Art of Blade God. It is a technique used by the Blade God Six
Martial clan.”
“Blade God Six Martial Clan!”
Dan Baekhyun, who heard those words, couldn’t hide his surprise.
Even after coming into Jianghu, he couldn’t understand what was the
technique which had put him on the verge of death.
‘Isn’t that a clan which only recently emerged?’
As it was a bizarre technique, he thought that the esteemed Lord of the
Demonic Cult, and the other clans of Jianghu might know it, only to realize
that a dangerous group much worse than he expected was the source of his
wound.
‘They touched the North too.’
Chun Yeowun thought to himself.
Dan Baekhyun, who barely proved himself as a person from the North Sea
Ice Palace, thanks to Wang Jing’s words, showed them the wound while
trying to explain the process of obtaining the former lords jade slate.
“Did you say that they were invited by the three elders?”
“Ha ah… yes, the three elders knew someone from the clan who handled
bombs, and wanted things to go smoothly.”
It was said that a sacred object was long lost in the North Sea Ice Palace.
The so-called sacred object was a treasure which symbolized the North Sea
Ice Palace and was passed from generation to generation.
However, in the process of subduing the Dragon Turtle which appeared in
the North Sea Ice Palace hundreds of years ago, the warriors of the palace
sacrificed themselves in the underground of the palace along with Adularia
(Ice ) and the spirit.
“And as hundreds of years have passed since then, we thought that the spirit
must have frozen to death down there.”
The king, along with the three elders and the group of the Blade God Six
Martial clan, who had brought in the bombs, managed to break through
some of the ice walls while creating explosions and successfully entered the
underground.
“At that time, I was unaware. The fact that they had their own reasons to
help us.”
As the elders were concealing their identity, it was assumed that there
would be no ill intentions.
And the underground they were always told about, turned out to be very
deep inside.
“At some point, we didn’t even know how deep we were going.”
They only hoped to find the Adularia at first, but contrary to their
expectations, the first thing they found was the Dragon Turtle which was
frozen in the ice.
The appearance of the Dragon Turtle was more majestic than they
imagined.
“It was there They revealed their true colors.”
The group of the Blade God Six Martial Clan suddenly attacked them.
The king, the warriors of the North Sea Ice Palace, who were considered as
outside forces, calmly responded to the sudden attack on them.
However, there was an unexpected ambush.
“The three elders who were supposed to be our men…”
Grunt!
Baekhyun grinded his teeth as he remembered what happened.
“Those bastards backstabbed our King!”
The King, who was attacked by the trusted subordinates, was later hit by the
enemies and died on spot.
The remaining warriors of the Ice Palace fought but they couldn’t last long
because of the drop in morale, and the enemy was too strong for them.
“I thought it was over.”
But something unexpected happened there.
No one knew what it was, but a bomb exploded inside.
“The glacial ice shattered… the… the spirit… it was released. Something
no one could have imagined happened. Who would have thought that a
monster frozen a hundred years back would still be alive?”
It was something that even the Blade God Six Martial clan hadn’t expected.
Released from the ice, which had imprisoned him for hundreds of years, the
Dragon Turtle ran rampant, and the Blade God Six Martial clan rushed to
kill it.
“The Dragon Turtle… was truly a monster.”
Baekhyun couldn’t forget the roar from the monsters.
The people of the Blade God Six Martial clan connected their internal
energy, but the scales of the Dragon Turtle couldn’t even be scratched.
Contrary, they got electrocuted by the lightning which was brought in by
the Dragon Turtle and died.
They died right away.
However, among the people of the Blade God Six Martial clan, there were a
few who seemed different.
“They had iron masks on their faces. They were different somehow. In
them…”
One man’s martial arts were astonishing.
A man of thrilling actions, convinced everyone that he could kill that
monster in one-on-one combat.
“But even that monstrous person had no choice but to succumb in front of
the real monster.”
The Dragon Turtle was literally a disaster itself.
Every time the Dragon Turtle ran, the entire place shook. Dan Baekhyun
knew that he couldn’t handle it, so he escaped with his injured body.
Fortunately, he wasn’t caught.
“I ran like crazy, without looking back.”
On the way up, he heard a huge explosion underground.
The entire cave, which was made of ice, shook as if it was about to
collapse, scared Baekyun ran even faster.
“Bomb.”
Baekhyun nodded at Chun Yeowun’s words.
“Perhaps… those bastards detonated the bomb to kill the Dragon Turtle.”
How far he had run.
The cave, the underground cave which was shaking, went silent.
There was no sound of battle.
When he reached the point halfway through the cave, Baekhyun, who was
bleeding heavily from the wounds he had received from the Blade God Six
Martial clan, stopped for a couple seconds to recover his exhausted body.
“I thought that I was the only one alive. I even considered that monster to
be dead. But that was all an illusion.”
A crack appeared in the ground, and one of the dragon’s heads peeked out.
Whether it was to satisfy the hunger of starving for a long time, the dragon
bared his vicious teeth and tried to devour him.
“I thought I was dead.”
Suddenly someone came out, and stabbed the Dragon Turtle in its eye.
The dragon roared in pain, and its long neck and head soon returned back
into the hole it appeared from.
Seeing that underground cave shook violently, it seemed like the dragon
was angry and wanted to move up.
“Who was the one who saved you?”
Chun Yeowun’s eyes twinkled.
He seemed to know who it was.
“He was a man in an iron mask who did that tremendous action. Seeing that
he saved my life, I couldn’t understand what was happening.”
There was no doubt that he was a member of the Blade God Six Martial
clan.
But Baekhyun didn’t know why that man saved him.
That was when the man behind the iron mask said to him.
[Run away. And ask for help. Never let the Dragon Turtle fall into their
hands.]
He didn’t know why he did that, but he was the man who saved Baekhyun’s
life.
Baekhyun decided that he can’t be the enemy, and asked the man to even
run away with him.
However, the man in the mask said that the ice cave had to be destroyed to
make sure that the Dragon Turtle didn’t escape.
“And then he gave me this.”
Baekhyun pointed to the identity slate of the former Lord, Chun Inji which
was on the table.
Great Guardian Marakim’s eyes fluttered through the gap in the mask.
“The man in the iron mask gave it to you?”
“He said this. Take this and go to the Lord, Chun Ma of the Sky Demon
Order.”
The man in the iron mask showed his identity slate, and asked to use the
slate to enter the Ten Thousand Mountains, to enter the Demonic Cult.
Due to the lack of time in the cave, he couldn’t give Baekhyun the full
details.
“Odd as it was, he referred to himself as the owner of the slate, and didn’t
reveal who the group of people who targeted the Dragon Turtle belonged
to.”
Chun Yeowun’s eyes widened at it.
But Baekhyun, unaware of it, concluded the story.
“He disappeared into the hole from which the Dragon Turtle’s head popped
up after handing over the slate…”
Pak!
Before he could even finish, Marakim grabbed the man by his arms.
“Are there any techniques that you remember, even a little bit of moves that
the man in the iron mask performed?”
“I-it was a sword technique which was too hard for me to follow…”
“Anything will do. It is okay even if you mess it up, so if there is something
you can remember, just do it one. Lord!”
Marakim’s complete attention went with the words from Baekhyun who
said that the martial arts of the iron mask man were thrilling.
If Baekhyun could remember even a little bit of what he witnessed, it could
be of great help in knowing the identity.
Chun Yeowun nodded as he looked at Marakim and gave his permission.
Srrrng!
Marakim pulled out his sword which was on his waist and handed it over.
It was embarrassing, but Baekhyun took the sword and closed his eyes to
recall those moments.
“I can’t remember it in detail, so don’t expect too much.”
With those words, Baekhyun swung the sword.
Recalling everything he could about the movements the man in the iron
mask performed against the Dragon Turtle.
‘Remember, remember everything I can.’
The technique the man used was almost impossible to do.
Because it was a sword technique that Baekhyun could never reach.
Chachachachacha!
The sword slashed through the air.
It was more like a sword wielding practice than the performing of a sword
technique.
‘Ah, that is so clumsy. Is this the only way to find out?’
In Hu Bong’s eyes, the man was as sloppy as one could be.
However, Chun Yeowun and Marakim, who watched him wield the sword,
reacted differently.
After a while, the same words came out from their mouths.
“Sword Force of the Sky Demon!”
Baekhyun’s clumsy movements had too many openings, but it was clearly
similar to the Twenty Four Demon Sword and Sword Force of the Sky
Demon.
At that, Marakim’s face turned red and tears formed in his eyes as he spoke.
“Ahhh! Lord! He is undoubtedly, the former Lord!”
Chapter 406 - To the North (1)
Chapter 406: To the North (1)
Gonga Mountains located on the border of Sichuan.
In the Gonga mountains, known for its steepness, there was a famous place
on its cliffs.
It was called Death Valley, it was named as such because of the rapid
currents which kept coming from upstream. Once swept away by them, no
one could survive.
Swoosh!
With the heavy rain, the valley was more ferocious than ever.
A fierce battle was taking place on the steep cliff of Death Valley, that no
one would choose to climb.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of weapons and sharp clashes cut through the air. In the
aftermath of the fierce confrontation, the surrounding cliffs were all
devastated.
Swoosh!
Even though it was hard to open the eyes during the heavy downpour,
dozens of people with bamboo hats were looking at the confrontation which
was happening before their eyes.
Among them, there were those who stood out.
Two old men and one middle-aged man with a scar on his face, they were
so different from the others that the water didn’t even touch their body.
Among them, an old man with white beard and gold eyepatch on his left
eye, watched the battle in amazement.
“He sure is a great kid. How can he be that confident when facing the Blade
Lord.”
“Right, I now know, why the Forces of Evil and Hang Yen had a hard time
and ended up in a civil war.”
The bald old man next to him agreed.
The young man they were talking about was battling against the Blade
Lord, head of the Blade God Six Martial clan.
He was doing a fairly great job against the man who was known to be
invincible.
“Even so, it isn’t much of a fight.”
The middle-aged man with a scar spoke to the old men.
He pointed to someone and said.
“Our Blade Lord is fighting without moving one step from there . No matter
how good the opponent is, it is like throwing an egg at a rock.”
As the middle-aged man said, the Blade Lord didn’t move a single step
since the battle started.
The only thing which was moving was his right arm which was wielding his
sword, he even blocked some of the attacks with just one hand.
“Maybe because we are getting old, we might not know much. But to be
able to move like that at that age, is great in its own way.”
As the old man said, the opponent was a young man in his early thirties.
He was skilled enough to possess a title within Wulin.
Even in the middle of the battle, after realizing that he had no chance, he
was still giving it his all.
The middle-aged man’s eyes narrowed at something.
‘Wulin is wide. However, he is certainly competent for someone of his age.’
It was understandable that the Forces of Evil suffered a setback because of
him.
It was said that the young man was a good strategist who split the Forces of
Evil into two, which had never happened before, and if he stuck around, he
would have gained a nice title in the Forces of Evil.
‘Ah, he is out of luck. To meet Blade Lord before even experiencing
power.’
The young man was flustered at the sudden appearance of Blade Lord.
Due to him, the young man missed his chance to kill Gongyun, Hang Yen’s
right-hand man.
And this man was a monster.
He was full of confidence as he managed to kill numerous people with his
martial arts, but this monster in front of him, didn’t even budge.
‘Is he really human?’
Even Hang Yen, one of the five strongest warriors, wasn’t like this.
Hang Yen too had to fight to stay alive.
But this monster seemed different.
‘I need to decide.’
He thought of giving up and trying to run away, but it would be impossible
with all the cliffs and the water below.
At that time, Blade Lord, who had been silent till then, spoke.
“Is this all you got?”
“Tch!”
The young man’s face distorted at the provocation.
He couldn’t even come up with an excuse.
All he managed to do was cut the bamboo hat on his opponent by a little.
“I watched as you seemed interesting, you used a total of 38 martial arts.”
“!!!”
It was shocking how accurately he spoke out the number of martials arts
which were used.
To confuse the opponent, the young man had purposely used multiple
martial arts one after another, but for it to get noticed.
“Are there no other styles you know?”
The young man didn’t say anything.
That was an answer.
Now that all his cards were exposed, he couldn’t even respond to Blade
Lord.
“Then there is nothing more to see.”
“What?”
That was when something amazing happened.
Shhh!
The man put away his sword.
It seemed like he was willing to let his young opponent go, when he
suddenly began to gather tremendous energy, sword qi, which took the
shape of a sword.
A sword of sword qi.
“T-that is?”
The young man was bewildered at what he saw, but then the sword qi
turned into an Air Sword aiming for his chest.
Puhk!
“Kuak!”
The eyes of the young man screamed in agony.
He was shocked looking at the sword qi, but to see it come flying at his
chest was even more shocking.
“I-invisible sword?”
Just the invisible sword was shocking enough, but then he used it as an Air
Sword.
Which could only mean one thing, the monster he had been fighting was a
Divine Master.
His intuition about not having a chance to win, turned out to be true.
“Kuak!”
Stagger!
Having his chest pierced, he staggered a couple steps as he fell into the river
below.
Ah!
Seeing that, people who were watching the battle came to the edge of the
cliff to see what happened.
Looking down, they saw that he fell off the cliff and drowned in the water
currents.
“Huk!”
Among them, a middle-aged man in a red coat, couldn’t help but shudder.
As if piercing the heart wasn’t enough, the man had fallen into the Death
Valley and his body couldn’t be recovered.
The man in the red coat approached the young man’s opponent and spoke in
a pleased way.
“Indeed, the Blade Lord has reached the level of god! You treated that
monster like a child…”
At that, the middle-aged man with a scar came in between the two.
Like a spokesman for Blade Lord, he said.
“Nothing is impossible for our Lord.”
The true identity of the man in the red coat was Gongyun, Hang Yen’s righthand, and an official of the Forces of Evil.
“Did you say you were Slaughter Blade Master? If our Master hears this
news, he won’t be able to contain his joy.”
“I am glad to hear that. We did what you requested, I hope you hold up your
end of the deal.”
From their conversation, it looked like the Blade God Six Martial clan and
Forces of Evil had come to a deal.
And the contents of Gongyun’s words revealed it.
“Of course we will. Now that we have eliminated that damn bastard, if the
other remnants can be taken down, this alliance will proceed as promised.”
An agreement between the Blade God Six Martial clan and the Forces of
Evil.
From Gongyun’s point of view, Blade Lord was someone with extreme
power, someone he wanted as an ally, seeing his strength, he was glad he
came ahead.
Gongyun was delighted with it; he even tried to invite them into the
stronghold of Forces of Evil, but they refused.
Swoosh!
Blade Lord, who had the bamboo hat, looked down at the valley water in
the heavy rain.
He looked through the hat.
Since the invisible sword was made from his internal energy, he felt the
man’s heart stop.
But something felt wrong.
‘What is this feeling? What is this?’
It was worrying.
For that very reason he did not talk with Gongyun and used Slaughter Blade
Master as his proxy.
“Blade Lord!”
A man with a bandaged face approached him.
Blade Lord looked at him with a puzzled expression, as he hurriedly knelt
on the rain drenched ground.
“What is it?”
“There was a problem in the North Sea Ice palace. Most of them were
destroyed. It seems like only two masters and one from the spirit unit are
alive…”
Goooo!
“Eiik!”
As soon as he heard those words, intense energy surged from his body.
He knew that the North Sea Ice palace news was supposed to come, but he
didn’t expect it to be that horrible on his ears.
This time, even that Demon God hadn’t interfered.
Swoosh! Clench!
“Kuak!”
When he reached out, the bandaged man’s body was forcibly dragged into
his hand.
He was angry because the mission was easy to get done.
Judging from how he was grabbing the bandaged man’s neck, one wrong
word and his neck would be snapped.
“Why did they fail?”
There had to be a good reason.
Fortunately, there was a reasonable excuse this time.
“Kuak, the Dragon Turtle… kuak… wasn’t… dead… contrary… it…
kua… has four heads…”
The news about four heads made Blade Lord’s eyes light up.
This was unexpected.
According to their gathered information, it was supposed to be a two
headed dragon which had been trapped in the ice for years.
However, as if being alive wasn’t enough, it even grew in power.
Splash!
“Cough!”
As Blade Lord released his neck, the man in bandages coughed and gasped
for air.
“A dragon with four heads…”
Even a three headed dragon was called a walking disaster.
Thinking, Blade Lord opened his mouth.
“Slaughter Blade Master.”
“Yes!”
Sangdal, who was close by, came on order.
And the Lord gave him an order.
“You and 20 more men, bring me that Dragon Turtle’s spirit core and
blood.”
The man in bandages coughed at the number of people.
“Tw-twenty people, that is half of the spirit squad.”
“Well, those people are used for this kind of thing, it won’t be a problem.”
Although much stronger than others, they were trained to be used for such
situations.
Even so, it was better to send in experienced ones than send in others who
will end up turning into a worthless sacrifice.
“Will that be enough?”
“Would a little more be fine? I heard that ‘it’ was sealed in the Pobalap
palace and is still alive.”
There was a reason why the Blade God Six Martial clan came to Sichuan.
Their real goal was the Podalap Palace.
A cold vice came out of Blade Leader’s mouth.
“Since when did you start voicing your opinion to me?”
Realizing what he had done, Sangdal got on his knees.
“Ah, not at all. I obey the orders of the Lord.”
Looking down, the Blade Lord spoke.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the Podalap Palace.”
--------
Headquarters of Forces of Justice in Yulin.
More than 400 people were gathered in five rows at the north gate.
Divided into three groups.
A hundred or so warriors were in light brown robes, they were elite
warriors of the Hwang Bo clan.
Another group of hundred men, wearing thick white robes, were warriors of
the Moyong clan, led by Moyong Kang.
Finally, the group of two hundred men, who were covered in thin armor
with the word shadow on their back, were the Blade Shadow Forces, one of
the four major armed groups of Yulin.
“Thank you for the support.”
Kang Soah, the leader of the Black Shadow Forces, was moving ahead with
his horse, he took the lead thanks to Moyong Kang, who was a couple steps
behind.
Moyong Kang, who opposed the decision, joined in on their plan.
“I would like to thank my father.”
Moyong Kang didn’t want to go over there because of the Dragon Turtle
being alive, but being from the north, he couldn’t refuse the request of Yi
Mok, who asked him to accompany the troops.
“Ahhh! I am forever grateful to the ones coming to our help. I sincerely
thank the warriors of Yulin for accepting this request of ours.”
At that time, Dan Juseong, an envoy from North Sea Ice Palace, who was
on a horse beside them spoke to them.
His face was full of pride.
He was afraid that they wouldn’t accept his request, but in the end the Yulin
didn’t just dispatch warriors, but also the elite among them.
[Defeating the Dragon Turtle is important, but the fact that the Blade God
Six Martial clan is aiming for it, means they are planning something.]
At Kang Soah’s words, the leaders unified their opinion.
They decided to help the North Sea Ice Palace in defeating the Dragon
Turtle without suffering any major damage.
“If your older brother comes out of the building, he might praise Kang
Soah’s spirit.”
A pretty woman’s voice came from the right side of Kang Soah.
The woman was Jegal Sohi, one of the three beauties in Jianghu and the
strategist of Yulin.
In addition to the three armed groups, twenty men of the Jegal clan had
come.
They were experts in seals, and were brought along to see if it was possible
to re-seal the spirit beast one again.
“There is no need for such things.”
Kang Soah responded coldly at Jegal Sohi’s words.
At that, she smiled bitterly.
‘Still like that.’
It was because she knew very well that Yeon Buso and Kang Soah, or the
children of Yi Mok, were never on good terms with each other, they were
like water and oil.
She wondered if they would get close if Yeon Buso wasn’t so perfect, but
Kang still seemed to hate his brother.
He didn’t even like his fiancée, Jegal Sohi, and shouted to the warriors who
were behind without even sparing a glance at her.
“Each hour is important. I’d like to make sure that everyone is prepared
beforehand, for the journey to the North Sea, you won’t get very much rest.
So be mindful of your bodies and condition!”
“Yes!!!”
Four hundred warriors of Yulin shouted vigorously as they passed through
the North Gate and began to march for the North Sea.
Chapter 407 - To the North (2)
Chapter 407: To the North (2)
The new academy of Demonic Cult.
Thud!
Baekhyun, the envoy from North Sea Ice Palace, showed his earnestness by
hitting his forehead on the floor.
“Please help us.”
Everyone in the room was in deep thought.
He didn’t miss the opportunity when he revealed that the owner of the
identity slate was Chun Inji, the former Lord of the Demonic Cult.
Despite the situation, Baekhyun thought that seeing the identity slate, the
new Lord would surely come to help them.
‘Please help us out, like your former lord did.’
At that moment, Chung Yeowun’s voice entered Baekhyun’s ears, who had
his head on the ground.
“I have a question for you.”
Baekhyun raised his head slightly.
“Yes?”
“According to Wang Jing, the North Sea signed an alliance agreement with
the Yulin forces, why didn’t you ask them for help?”
‘This…’
The North Sea and the Demonic Cult rarely interacted, and that was the
truth.
But they were doubting it because of Baekhyun’s behaviour.
And when Chun Yeowun pointed it out, he was too flustered to answer.
“I am grateful that you brought us news about our former Lord. However, I
don’t understand why the North Sea sent one envoy to us expecting that we
would trust the words of one person. Besides, this isn’t even a formal
request.”
‘… maybe we look easy to him.’
Of course, he knew that such a request would be a bit unreasonable in
normal circumstances, but he thought that since he brought the slate along,
the Demonic Cult would help him.
“Do you think that any man from the palace can come down to Jianghu
alone, without an official request and ask us to dispatch people just because
we are loyal to our former lords?”
Baekhyun’s face hardened at those words.
Wooong!
“Huh?”
Baekhyun’s body, which had been lying face down, was raised by force.
Shocked, he tried to rebel against the force which was raising him in the air,
but he couldn’t even move.
Chun Yeowun spoke to the man, who was flustered.
“Since I am no idiot, I can make two guesses. You came here by yourself
thinking you can represent the North Sea.”
‘!!!’
Gulp!
Baekhyun gulped his saliva with a nervous face.
While Chung Yeowun continued to speak to him.
“Maybe you judged that there is an enemy inside, so you are asking for our
help personally, this is not an official request from the North Sea, right?”
Baekhyun couldn’t help but be shocked.
He only talked about the related events to the Dragon Turtle and what
happened in the North Sea Ice Palace, but that information was omitted.
‘His intuition isn’t normal.’
Indeed, he was the lord of the forces which moved the Wulin.
He heard the rumors, but he thought that they were exaggerated because of
the age of the Lord, however, Baekhyun was wrong.
‘I can’t hide it anymore.’
If he guessed so much, a couple more guesses and the Lord would probably
figure out everything.
Baekhyun nodded and apologized.
“I never meant to deceive you. I couldn’t tell you right away because I was
scared that the Lord would turn down my request right away.”
From Baekhyun’s point of view, there was nothing else he could do.
The reason he asked for the help from Demonic Cult alone was because it
was a matter related to the internal problems of the North Sea Ice Palace.
He couldn’t just reveal such matters to outsiders casually.
“Explain everything.”
“… I am the prince of the North Sea Ice Palace.”
“I knew it!”
Hu Bong couldn’t hold back his words.
Baekhyun wasn’t an ordinary man from the palace.
He was the prince, who would lead the North Sea Ice Palace in the future.
Listening to how Chun Yeowun was on guard, the others had roughly
understood his identity.
“I am amazed at the wisdom of the Lord. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“That was pretty bold of you. If you hadn’t given me that slate of our
former Lord, I would have made you pay a considerable price.”
Crap!
He spoke casually but goosebumps rose on Baekhyun’s body.
That jade was acting as a shield for him.
Baekhyun knew that if he spoke any more lies, his life would be in danger,
so he decided to reveal everything.
“I have no intention of hiding it anymore. As the Lord guessed, the formal
envoy went to request Yulin.”
Baekhyun revealed everything.
“Ha!”
Hu Bong couldn’t hide his dissatisfaction at those words.
From what he said, it was likely they wanted help from both the Demonic
Cult and Yulin forces.
The problem was that the official request was only for Yulin, so if they went
to the North Sea by listening to this man, it would end up as a problem from
the Demonic Cult.
At that time, Ko Wanghur pointed out a fact.
“That is strange, If you are the prince of North Sea Ice Palace, aren’t you
the deputy king?”
Right.
In case of an accident, it was normal procedure for the prince to take over
the position as a proxy and lead the office.
At that, Baekhyun bit his lip trying to calm the anger and spoke.
“I am not. Now, the deputy king of the palace isn’t me, but a person named
Dan Jucheon, my second uncle.”
“Second uncle?”
At those words, Chun Yeowun’s eyes lit up.
If so, it meant that the current head of the Palace was someone else.
Judging from Baekhyun’s reaction, there must have been an internal
conflict in the Palace.
This attracted Chung Yeowun’s attention.
“Excluding everything you said, you are currently asking for our Cult’s
help, when you have no authority in your hand.”
Chun Yeowun asked Dan Baekhyun in a stern tone.
“T-that, it can be thought of as such, but there was nothing I could do. There
are numerous spies in the main palace.”
“Spies?… Are you talking about the Blade God Six Martial Clan?”
“… yes.”
In addition to those who died in the underground, Baekhyun was certain
that there were spies of the Blade God Six Martial clan everywhere in the
Palace.
The most suspicious ones were Dan Jucheon and his followers.
Hearing that the king met with an unfortunate accident and the dragon had
been released, the first action he took was to convene a meeting and be
appointed as the deputy king of the palace.
“He took advantage of the crisis rather than devising measures. At that
time, I was unconscious because of the wounds I suffered, only if I was
fine! Tch!”
Taking advantage of the release of the Dragon Turtle, he had himself
appointed as the deputy king in the palace, and was delegated all the powers
as he gathered all the powerful people in the palace.
Although it was a moment of crisis, Dan Jucheon was being respected as a
hero by the people of North Sea Ice Palace.
While Baekhyun was unconscious because of his injuries, everything had
already been decided.
As if they were all waiting for that moment.
“It is a situation which raises suspicion, but maybe he could have done it
without the help of spies?”
Ko Wanghur asked.
At that Baekhyun raised his head and answered in anger.
“If that person really wanted the position of king based on his skills, maybe
my father and I would be able to understand! But he, a person who is
supposed to be my father’s brother, took advantage of a crisis and took
power. If something like that happens in your Cult, would you dismiss it as
a simple power struggle?”
“…”
At that, Ko Wanghur went silent.
Baekhyun’s words weren’t wrong.
He kept saying that his uncle took advantage of the crisis, but there was a
high probability that he thoroughly colluded with the Blade God Six Martial
clan.
They had plotted things the same way everywhere.
“And, the three elders are known to be the right hands of my uncle. They
and my uncle were all in favor of bringing in those bombs from the Blade
God Six…”
“Enough.”
‘?’
Chun Yeowun asked him to stop talking.
When he said that without hearing the entire story, Baekhyun turned
restless.
Chun Yeowun spoke to him.
“I don’t think there is any need to hear more.”
“T… then?”
“Well, people of the Demonic Cult will head to the North Sea to secure the
safety of the former Lord.”
“Ah!”
Baekhyun’s face swelled with happiness at the good news which came out
from Chun Yeowun’s words.
From looking at how Chung Yeowun acted, it seemed like they were going
to send Baekhyun back, but now he was willing to help.
“Th-thank you!”
However, the happy feelings ended quite fast.
“Let us sign a contract here.”
“Huh?”
Baekhyun doubted his ears at the sudden words of a contract.
He thought that since they would need their former lord, they would help,
but the new turn of events were unexpected.
“The safety of your former lord of the Sky Demon Order is at stake…”
“Don’t get me wrong.”
“What?”
“If we head to the North Sea without an official request, we will
undoubtedly face backlash from the Yulin and the North Sea soldiers.”
“W-well…”
“If the life of our former Lord cannot be secured or identified, our cult will
choose to not move.”
It was an undeniable fact.
If the former Lord, Chun Inji’s body wasn’t left behind by the Dragon
Turtle, it would be like the Demonic Cult had interfered in the matters of
another Palace without an official request.
No one could point fingers at the cult when getting rid of the Dragon Turtle,
but once the matter gets solved, people are bound to question their reasons.
‘Ah! A justification!’
Baekhyun understood.
He had no idea how the current deputy king would act.
But there was one problem.
“Lord. Even though I can write down the contract, I hold no authority. The
deputy king of the palace might ignore this, would you still like this?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Write it down.”
Baekhyun was puzzled at Chun Yeowun, who spoke as if he didn’t care
about it.
However, realizing that Chun Yeowun could change his mind any moment,
Baekhyun took the brush on the table.
He looked up at Chun Yeowun.
“What kind of contract should I write?”
“Simple one. All you need is to put down three conditions.”
“Three?”
Baekhyun frowned.
He didn’t know that there were going to be three conditions.
He was anxious, but he decided to give in and listen.
“First. The core and blood of the Dragon Turtle will belong to the Sky
Demon Order, who will kill it.”
“You mean, the cult will kill it?”
“Yes.”
That was understandable.
If they killed it, they would have the right to take it.
Of course, if they joined up with the North Sea Ice Palace to kill it, there
could be problems.
The Cult was indeed risking their life to help the North Sea, a place which
had nothing to do with them, so this condition felt acceptable.
“Second. After the Dragon Turtle is eradicated, break the agreement
between North Sea Ice Palace and Yulin forces.”
“Huh? That is a bi…”
While he was still flustered, Chun Yeowun continued the third condition.
“Third. In place of the cancelled agreement, the North Sea will make a new
one. Write these three things very clearly.”
‘!?’
At Chung Yeowun’s words, Baekhyun was speechless.
His first condition felt right, but the second and third weren’t something he
could decide on his own.
“If we sign the contract with the said conditions, we will head to the North
Sea right away.”
“W-wait a minute! Lord! The contents of the contract that you mentioned
aren’t things I can…”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Huh?”
“You will soon be inaugurated as the King.”
Baekhyun trembled at the sudden words which came out of Chun Yeowun’s
mouth.
The feeling of embarrassment he felt had changed.
Chun Yeowun’s lips raised into a smile and spoke to Baekhyun.
“You decide. King Dan.”
--------
After many hours passed, Chung Yeowun came out of the guest room, and
gave orders to his subordinates.
“Call the Six Sword right now. We will depart.”
“Yes!”
At that moment, the Demonic Cult’s expedition to the North Sea was
confirmed.
Chapter 408 - Great Hung Clan of
the Great Plains (1)
Chapter 408: Great Hung Clan of the Great Plains (1)
The north belongs to the Jianghu.
It meant the border of Shaanxi, Gansu, Shanxi, and Hebei.
To reach lake Baikal, where the North Sea Ice Palace, which held power
over the outer north, is located, you would have to pass through the great
plains that were ruled by several barbarian tribes.
Clip clop! Clip clop!
In the border area between Shanxi and the Great Plains.
The sound of horses running echoed everywhere.
More than four hundred or so elite Yulin Clan warriors were moving to the
north in a line.
As previously announced by Kang Soah, the unit commander, the situation
was urgent, so after a non-stop trip, they reached this place in just three
days.
Of course, to get to Shanxi at that speed, they had to stop by other clans
under Yulin, which were on the way and change horses.
Clip clop! Clip clop!
Throughout the ride, the commander, Kang Soah, was silent and concerned.
There was a reason for his concern.
It was because he heard unexpected news on his way to the north.
[Are you saying that your people have asked for help from the Demonic
Cult?]
[Yes. Well, it wasn’t a formal request, only one member of the army was
sent to them, but since it wasn’t an official request from the main palace,
the demonic cult might not dispatch any troops.]
Dan Juseong told the truth just to be careful.
Of course, he knew that the Demonic Cult wouldn’t come to help, but they
were in an emergency, so he decided to disclose this information just in
case.
Kang Soah thought that only the Yulin were only being asked for help
because of their agreement, but the mention of the Demonic Cult made
Kang Soah feel troubled.
[This is totally unexpected.]
[Well, it wasn’t a formal request, so they won’t care. Except during wars of
conquest, leaders usually ignore other requests.]
Moyong Kang of the Moyong family heard that and responded that the
Demonic Cult would in no way help the north.
Even Jehal Sohi half-agreed.
[Leader Moyong’s words have some truth. Currently, the Demonic Cult is
in a situation where they need to lay the groundwork for their new academy.
In the meantime, if they were to distribute their men, they’d lose time and
money. But.]
[But?]
[That is a correct answer from a military point of view… but I can’t
guarantee that Lord Chun Yeowun will do that.]
Jegal Sohi had gone as an envoy to the Demonic Cult, and she met with
Chun Yeowun when he was still the crown prince.
And as a result of closely observing Chun Yeowun’s progress as a Lord, she
realized that he wasn’t the type of person to move according to textbook
strategies.
Therefore, she wasn’t sure about the Demonic Cult’s movements.
[Kang Soah. After all, we and the Demonic Cult are in alliance. Would it be
so concerning just because they send a couple of men to the North Sea Ice
Palace?]
[… I wonder how we would distribute the dragon’s blood and core after it’s
killed.]
[Core?]
Kang Soah was more concerned about what would happen after the Dragon
Turtle is killed.
Jegal Sohi was just as concerned as Dan Juseong, the envoy from North Sea
Ice Palace but didn’t speak about it.
[Leader Kang, I hope you take ownership of the core at that…]
[Even though Yeon Buso’s right arm got cut off by the Lord of the Demonic
Cult, his fiancée seems to have a soft heart towards the Cult, seeing how
you are talking about the alliance. Have you fallen for evil?]
[What did you say!]
[I have nothing to say to you.]
Jegal Sohi felt strongly insulted and tried to yell, but Kang Soah ignored her
and accelerated the march.
‘Ugh…’
Jegal Sohi suppressed her anger.
Wouldn’t she hate Chun Yeowun, who cut off her fiancée’s arm?
However, as a soldier in charge of the military strategy of the entire Yulin,
she endured because she knew that there was nothing more foolish than
involving personal matters in work.
‘Is he still worried about the Demonic Cult dispatching troops?’
With each passing day, the silence from Kang Soah grew.
Looking at his face, he seemed to be worried about the strategy.
‘Ah! We are entering the great plains!’
As she was riding her horse, she saw the northern plains.
She had no intention of talking to him either, but she shouted at Kang Soah
because he led the group.
“We will arrive at the Great Plains. Leader Kang. The realm of barbarians.”
At those words, Moyong Kang’s face tensed.
Unlike the Jegal clan and Hwang Bo clans, which were located inside the
Jianghu, the people of Moyong had settled in Liaoning, which was in the
north, and they were well aware of the barbarians.
Although they weren’t martial artists, they were still capable of fighting
wars throughout the four seasons.
Of course, it wasn’t one-on-one, so he wasn’t afraid, but it would have been
difficult if the barbarians wanted war and brought in their men.
‘I am glad that Kang Soah has been made the commander.’
Moyong Kang looked at Kang Soah, who was driving the march ahead.
He heard that Kang Soah and the Black Shadow group had been fighting
the barbarians in the north of Shanxi for five straight years.
Therefore, even Yi Mok and other leaders agreed to him leading the troops.
‘Was it recently that he signed an agreement with them?’
He heard that two years ago, Kang Soah made an agreement with Asara, the
war chief of Great Hung Clan, who was greatly known among the
barbarians of the Great Plains.
There were several treasure chests next to the goods in the wagons behind
the march, which must have been prepared if they ran into each other.
‘I hope nothing goes wrong.’
It would be disastrous if the Dragon Turtle mission doesn’t go as planned,
yet, there was a reason why only one envoy was sent from the North Sea
Ice Palace, and that was to avoid friction with the barbarians.
Although not large, the barbarians were going to encounter 400 armed men
willing to cross the Great Plains.
Nothing had happened during the half-day trip.
And it was late afternoon.
Dudududu!
“Ah!”
The advancing procession of Yulin forces stopped at once.
The commander’s orders weren’t given, but they all stopped and looked
somewhere.
A vast force seemed to fill the horizon in the sunset.
Thousands of horse hooves were making the earth below tremble as if there
was an earthquake.
“Will we end up meeting them on the first day?”
Moyong Kang shook his head.
The barbarians sat quietly on the saddles as the horses moved. They were
all covered in fur coats and had weapons on them.
“Greyish brown wolf fur… they are the Great Hung Clan.”
Dan Juseong, the envoy from North Sea Ice Palace, who was next to Kang,
spoke.
Puuuuu!
The sound of horns from the army could be heard.
Tension rose on the faces of the Yulin warriors, who had to advance.
It was then that Kang Soah sent a hand signal to raise the flag.
“Raise the flag!”
“Yes!”
The warriors in the front row raised white flags at the cry of the lieutenant
of the Blade Shadow group.
When the Blade Shadow flag was raised, dozens of horses at the forefront
fell apart and came towards them.
‘Ah! Their chief?’
Although Yulin had so many troops, they only came with a small number of
men showing their courage.
Among the dozens of horses, there was one which particularly stood out, a
man wearing red fur, so big that even the horse he was riding on seemed
covered.
The man knew no martial arts, yet, it was evident how strong and brave he
was.
“Asara.”
Moyong Kang’s and Dan Juseong’s eyes widened at the name which came
out of Kang Soah’s mouth.
Asara was the name of the war chief of the Great Hung Clan.
Everyone had heard of his name and fame but had never actually seen his
face.
‘I don’t get it. That big guy is the war chief of the Great Hung Clan?’
Looking at the colossal mace that he was holding, he seemed like someone
with great power.
As the man called Asara arrived, Kang Soah politely greeted him.
“Намайг удаан хугацаанд уулзаарай (It has been long)”
Shockingly, the words which Kang Soah was speaking were in the language
of the barbarians.
Everyone, who was leading the troops along with him, was surprised.
They knew that he was dealing with the barbarians for five years, but it was
shocking to see how fluent his words were.
Clap!
The war chief of the clan, called Asara, reached out to him.
The Kang Soah, as if used to it, grabbed it, and both tapped their chest.
Pak! Pak!
Finishing it, Asara showed off his yellow teeth and smiled broadly.
‘Ah! So this is their greeting.’
Seeing the broad smile, there seemed to be no hostile feelings.
As Kang Soah raised his hand, the warriors of the Black Shadow, who were
behind them, went to the carriage and brought out ten colorful boxes.
Thud!
When the boxes were opened, it was filled with numerous objects and gold
ingots.
Seeing that, Asara, the War Chief of the Great Hung Clan, nodded with
satisfaction and said.
“Би дурта (I like it)”
It was prepared in a hurry, but it looked like Asara liked it.
Kang Soah explained in advance that they would have to cross the land to
go to the North Sea.
Asara was glad that there was no damage to the clan and that they were
being given a tribute.
“I think that the talks went well.”
At the quiet words of Dan Juseong, Jegal Sohi asked.
“Can you understand them?”
“Since the North Sea and Great Plains are close to each other, I know the
difference between a conflict and an exchange.“
Most of the people in North Sea Ice Palace can speak that language.
According to Dan Juseong’s words, it seemed that they were permitted to
move to North Sea Ice Palace without any problems.
However, the conversation was taking longer than expected.
“Та юу гэсэн үг вэ!”
Asara’s voice rose slightly.
‘What is it?’
Jegal Sohi felt like something was off about Asara’s reaction.
Kang Soah spoke with many hand gestures as if asking for something, but
Asara and the man next to him, who looked like his lieutenant, were
arguing about something.
“Huh…”
However, even Dan Juseong, who heard their conversation, seemed
troubled.
[Envoy Dan. If it is okay with you, can you tell me what they are talking
about?]
Dan Juseong spoke back in a flustered tone.
[I, I don’t know that well…]
[?]
[Ah, Leader Kang is asking the Great Hung Clan to take care of those who
try to cross the Great Plains other than the Yulin and to prevent them from
passing.]
[Huh?]
Sohi’s expression hardened.
After the Yulin finished the exchange, they headed north. After they left,
Sorachu, the left arm of Asara and the second strongest man in the clan,
spoke.
“Chief. Are you really going to accept Kang Soah’s offer?”
“Why are you so concerned about that? It’s shocking that he even asked
something like that.”
Asara asked Sorachu, who was a brave warrior who fought countless wars
alongside him.
Sorachu shook his head and said.
“The Wulin is dangerous, but haven’t you heard the news from Buchoi who
recently visited the Jianghu?”
Buchoi is one of War Chief Asara’s escort warriors.
Although the barbarians were thought to be completely cut off from the
Jianghu, they would send people to Jianghu to collect information and
sometimes exchange information too.
“Buchoi!”
At Asara’s call, from the horses waiting behind, a man with a large scar on
his face answered.
“Yes! War Chief!”
“Did You say that the ones fighting for supremacy in the Jianghu are the
Demonic Cult and the Blade God Six Martial clan?”
“Yes. Among them, I heard that the one named Chun Yeowun, the Lord of
Demonic Cult, is a monster and is being called the Demon God.”
Demon God, Chun Yeowun, his actions were heard through the people of
Jianghu.
A power that was beyond human ability.
The rumors were that he floated up in the sky and brought down a lightning
bolt in the castle. No one could believe it when they heard it.
“Demon God, huh… that is one crazy name indeed. But how dare they call
a human a God.”
Surprisingly, they knew about the news in Jianghu.
The reason was martial arts.
Asara’s escort warrior, the one called Buchoi, was a warrior who mastered
martial arts.
Every time they went to the south for war, the War Chief of the Great Hung
Clan, who had conflicts with the Wulin people, in addition to the Imperial
army, got interested in martial arts.
This was why he sent people to Jianghu and invested three generations
worth of time just to create an invincible army made of warriors who
mastered martial arts.
And with that, the Great Hung Clan was able to claim hegemony of the
Great Plains.
“By the way, didn’t he say that the dangerous thing was that Demon God?”
Even before Kang Soah made an offer and tried to advise Asara to stop the
demonic cult from proceeding, the War Chief had no intention of letting the
Demon God pass.
But Kang Soah kept on persuading him, not knowing that.
[You don’t have to worry about the Demonic Cult. The Great Leader of the
Forces of Justice would never come here for such a task. Do you really
think that the Lord of Demonic Cult, who holds such power, will appear
here, in person?]
Kang Soah kept saying that the Lord of Demonic Cult would never cross
the land.
However, if members of the cult come, Asara accepted the proposal of
helping the Yulin clan.
“I know, but…”
“Don’t worry. We won’t have any direct encounters with them.”
At that, Sorachu looked puzzled as he asked.
“Do you have anything in mind?”
“Huhu, didn’t they ask us to not let anyone other than the people of Yulin
go through?”
“That is true.”
“The courageous warriors of the Great Hung Clan are standing here, even if
they are martial artists, will they try to fight us in our land?”
Thousands of troops.
It was not something that could be taken lightly.
Didn’t the Yulin troops, which just passed them, become anxious because of
that number?
Just by shooting arrows, the barbarians could cover the sky in black.
“Are you going to push them into fear?”
“Yes, a moderate threat. Only if we bump into them, even if he is called the
Demon God, would he come all the way here to the Great Plains just to
fight us?”
That was the real plan of War Chief Asara.
Sorachu spoke with a wide smile after hearing the War Chief’s words.
“That is amazing! If we do as you said, we will get 3,000 sheep without
even taking any damage to our tribe.”
In exchange for granting Kang Soah’s request, he promised to give the
Great Hung Clan 3,000 sheep.
Gold and silver were good, but sheep held real value to the nomadic
barbarians of the Great Plains.
“Hahahahaha! Isn’t this called one stone for two birds⁽¹⁾?”
While laughing loudly, they saw that a messenger with yellow feather fur
was approaching them.
Without even properly getting down the horse, the messenger bowed his
head and reported.
“War Chief. Right now, about 20 miles to the southwest, an armed force of
about six hundred men are moving to the north.”
“People from other tribes?”
“No. Judging from their attire, they seem to be from the Jianghu.”
Hearing that, the War Chief Asara and his men’s eyes gleamed.
Those people were coming sooner than expected.
The sun had set, and darkness began to come.
About six hundred men, with torches lit, marched towards the north in five
rows.
They were the demonic cult, who had the word ‘Demon’ written proudly on
their flags.
Seeing how they were advancing, it looked like they were all high in
morale. Instead of dispatched troops, it looked like they were out on
campaign.
Those who dignifiedly rode horses at the head of each group of hundred
warriors were the Six Swords.
They were full of determination as this was their first proper mission.
Despite their journey to the north and not resting for the past three days,
their eyes were more than alive.
At that time, the Demonic Cult troops, which were moving north, came to a
halt.
“What is that?”
“What’s going on?”
The reason they stopped was simple.
Dududududud!
The sound of horse hooves rumbled the ground.
Countless torches filled the night sky horizon from the north where they
were supposed to be heading, and the torches were only coming closer.
At first glance, it looked like a large army of ten thousand people.
They were the armies of the Great Hung Clan, the hegemon of the Northern
Plains.
A smile spread across the lips of War Chief Asara, his left arm Sorachu and
the other leaders of the tribe, who were moving at the forefront of the Great
Hung clan.
“They came right in the same day, saved us a lot of trouble. Hahaha.”
“Unfortunate. Those Yulin men had gone through before them, if only they
came ahead, the cult would have passed by after giving us a tribute.”
“Hahaa, those bastards need to be sent back to their place. Buchoi!”
“Yes! War Chief!”
At the call of War Chief Asara, the escort Buchoi stepped ahead.
And he was ordered to.
“Let them know that they can’t get through and tell them to go back to their
land. If they don’t go back, tell them that they will lose their lives under the
swords of the Great Hung Clan.”
“Yes, War Chief!”
He was one of the few warriors in the barbarians who could speak the
language of Jianghu.
Buchoi, who received the order, rode forward and shouted at the 600 troops
of the Demonic Cult who were visible.
“Listen to me!!!”
The voice of Buchoi, which held power, resounded in the Great Plains.
As if to give it momentum, the warriors of the Great Hung Clan slammed
the ground with their spears and shouted.
Thud!!! Thud!!! Thud!!!
“WAAHHHHHHHH!!!”
Their army shouted, and the roars spread all over the place.
Buchoi, who thought that he had sufficiently lowered the enemies’ morale,
delivered the words of War Chief.
“Men from the Jianghu! We are the Great Hung Clan, the great warriors
who rule the Great Plains! I am a warrior, Buchoi who is directly under the
Great Chief, our War Chief Asara!”
“Woaaahhhhhh!!!”
After introducing himself, Buchoi went straight to the main topic.
“This land is ours! This isn’t the place where foreigners can wander. Go
back to where you live right away! This is the only warning that you’ll be
given. If you don’t go back, you will be killed by the swords and spears of
our great warriors!”
“Waaahhhhhh!!!”
Even though the barbarians didn’t understand what Buchoi was saying, they
still shouted and helped in relay their power.
The shouts were so loud that their ear drums were pounding.
It was the moment when Buchoi, convinced that he had managed to scare
them, turned back his horse and looked at the War Chief with a satisfied
expression.
“Listen, Great Hung Clan!!!”
‘!?’
The very moment Buchoi turned, he had to look back at the Cult as the
voice resounded strongly in the open land.
It wasn’t the voice that shocked him.
It was because the one who spoke up was speaking their language.
Woong!
Even the warriors of the Great Hung Clan heard it.
There was no way that they couldn’t have heard that.
‘Did those people learn to speak our tongue?’
The pronunciation was a lot clearer than they expected.
Then followed the voice again.
“I am Chun Yeowun, the Lord of Sky Demon Order!”
‘!!!’
Buchoi, Asara and even Sorachu were shocked at the accurate wording and
precise voice, which could fool anyone into thinking he was a native
speaker.
The name which was introduced was something they heard just an hour
ago. There was no way they could forget the name.
“Chun Yeowun?… No, no way, Demon God?”
At Sorachu’s muttering, War Chief Asara pointed his mace at the troops of
the Demonic cult and shouted with a bewildered expression.
“What kind of bullshit is this?! We were told that he wouldn’t be here!”
Chapter 409 - Great Hung Clan of
the Great Plains (2)
Chapter 409 Great Hung Clan of the Great Plains (2)
An innumerable number of torches were in view of the Demonic Cult’s
contingents.
There was a large army that seemed to be made up of thousands, no tens of
thousands of people.
Even the Six Swords looked nervous as they watched the vast army
gradually approach them.
Although their Lord Chun Yeowun is called the Demon God, it would be
their first time facing such a large amount of warriors.
“No way… how is this possible?”
On the right side of Chun Yeowun, Baekhyun, who was riding his horse,
became scared.
He didn’t know that there were such a massive number of barbarians in the
Great Plains.
Before heading north from the Demonic Cult’s branch, he recommended
that Chun Yeowun prepare a tribute to avoid any fights with the barbarians.
Except in rare cases, most barbarian tribes would receive the tribute and let
people pass.
“Th-this is the first time this has happened.”
No barbarian would lead an army of that size just to drive away intruders.
Although the number of the Demonic Cult’s contingents wasn’t small, the
barbarians seemed fearless, as if they didn’t know what martial arts were.
“Uhh.”
Hu Bong shook his head as he sighed.
It wasn’t like they hadn’t thought that such a situation would crop up on
their journey to the North Sea Ice Palace.
However, they couldn’t blame anyone when the situation turned sour.
“This land is ours! This isn’t the place where you foreigners can wander. Go
back to where you come from right away! This is the only warning that
you’ll be given. If you don’t go back, you will be killed by the swords and
spears of our great warriors!”
“Wahh!!!”
The shouts of the warriors of the Great Hung Clan resounded.
The high morale of their warriors scared the Demonic Cult, who had to
advance quickly.
“The Great Hung Clan is the hegemon of the Great Plains. They are
dangerous.”
Baekhyun warned Yeowun with a serious expression.
The Great Guardian, Marakim, who was riding the horse left to Chun
Yeowun, spoke in a low voice.
“Too many, Lord.”
There were definitely too many enemies for them to fight.
Moreover, there seemed to be a few who mastered martial arts within the
barbarians.
As the army belonged to the Great Hung Clan, they couldn’t just dismiss
the matter.
At that time, someone not as huge as Ko Wanghur but middle-aged with a
large body wearing blue armor spoke.
“Lord. The Great Guardian speaks facts. To defeat them, we need to be
ready to make significant sacrifices.”
The opponents weren’t ten times greater in number. Their numbers were a
hundred times greater.
The middle-aged man who gave Yeowun the advice was the 6th elder,
Mong Mu.
As the Demonic Cult was being expanded, Yeowun brought in warriors
from the main base of the Demonic Cult.
‘.. it would be a waste of energy.’
Chun Yeowun had the same opinion as them.
If they went into a battle, it would be a loss for the Demonic Cult in many
ways.
In that case, negotiating would be effective. If that didn’t work, he could
resort to intimidation in moderation.
‘Nano. Can you analyze their language?’
Chun Yeowun asked, pointing to the warriors of the Great Hung Clan who
were screaming from afar.
And it didn’t take long for an answer.
[It’s close to Russian, the language of the East Slavic family. Interpretation
is available.]
‘Can you relay that to me?’
[Available. Transferring Russian into the user’s brain. Approve?]
‘Yes.’
Tring!
As the word ‘yes’ fell, his head stung from all the information of the
Russian language flooding into his brain.
Their language, which he couldn’t understand until recently, seemed clear
as day.
“GO away! Strangers!”
“If you don’t go back, I’ll stick this spear into you and turn you into a
kebab! Hahaha!”
There was a lot of swearing since they assumed that the Demonic Cult
couldn’t understand their language.
It seemed like they were dead set on not letting the Demonic Cult pass.
Chun Yeowun moved a little closer on his horse.
“Lord?”
“Why?”
While his subordinates were puzzled, Chun Yeowun shouted to the army of
the Great Hung Clan.
“Listen, Great Hung Clan!!!”
A completely different language came out of Chun Yeowun’s mouth, which
shocked all the cult warriors.
‘How is he speaking their language?’
Baekhyun was the one who was shocked the most.
He was about to interpret for Chun Yeowun because negotiation needed to
be done but hearing Chun Yeowun speak the language of barbarians, he was
shocked.
While Chun Yeowun continued.
“I am Chun Yeowun, the Lord of the Sky Demon Order!”
This man clearly knew the language of barbarians. Even the Great Hung
Clan, which was screaming, began to mumble.
Woong!
Once he said that Chun Yeowun began to negotiate.
“I am well aware that this is the land of the Great Hung Clan. Therefore, in
respect of the tribe, a tribute has been prepared to pass through your land.
We didn’t come here to wage war against the Great Hung Clan, we want to
avoid any friction for the sake of the people on both sides!”
At the attempt to negotiate, the faces of Sorachu, the War Chief Asara, and
even the other warriors in front of the tribe, turned stiff.
Until a moment back, the Great Hung clan tried to threaten the Demonic
Cult and send them back.
However, this was completely unexpected.
“Demon God? Kang Soah seems to have deceived us!”
Asara spoke in disgusted expression.
If what the Lord of Demonic Cult said was true, then Kang Soah had given
them false information.
Okuro, one of the commanders of the tribe, the war commander, spoke to
Asara.
“War Chief, they may be lying.”
“Yes!”
The other commanders agreed too.
Among the three major powers of Jianghu, the Demonic Cult is said to
control the Yellow River, so for what reason could they be coming to the
Great Plains?
As Kang Soah said, the Great Leader of the Forces of Justice didn’t even
move with their troops.
However, Sorachu objected to their words.
“War Chief. You need to be careful. We have no idea about them. However,
since he himself revealed his identity, it might not be a lie.”
Sorachu was right.
They were the only tribe of barbarians who knew information about the
Demonic Cult.
All because they were interested in martial arts, they constantly sent people
to Jianghu to get information. However, the other tribes were unaware of
martial arts.
“But he knows the language. Besides, he seems skilful in it. Maybe it isn’t
the Lord of Demonic Cult, but other tribesmen joining in to help them!”
Almost every commander had a different opinion on what was happening.
“But among other tribes, those who know about Jianghu…”
“War Chief. There is nothing one can be perfectly sure about in this world.
There is no way that the other tribes didn’t send their people to the Jianghu
to gather information.”
Sorachu was speechless with those words.
It was certainly strange that the Lord of Demonic Cult was speaking their
language.
At that, Okuro, the more warlike warrior, shouted bravely.
“War Chief! Why do we have to wait! Send me and my warriors! Let them
know my martial arts, I will make them kneel!”
Seeing the strong intent in his words, Asara fell into thoughts.
The Demonic Cult only had six hundred men, which meant that the
barbarians had nothing to fear.
No matter how skilled their martial arts were, there was no way the Jianghu
men had that much stamina.
However, the absurd rumors about Demon God didn’t leave his mind.
“War chief. All they asked for was permission to pass through to the North
Sea. This isn’t a territorial war, why do we need to resort to fighting?”
The commanders were displeased with Sorachu’s words.
It felt like something a coward would say. A man who is supposed to be
beside the War Chief after fighting so many wars was talking like a coward!
“War Chief! Since when did the Great Hung Clan fear any enemies…”
When Okuro was about to make another complaint, Buchoi rode back to
them and spoke.
“W-war Chief! It looks like he is the Demon God!”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Buchoi answered the question of Asara, who was puzzled.
“Did you hear what he said?”
“Would there be anyone who didn’t hear that?”
It was so clear that everyone heard.
“But he didn’t scream.”
“What do you mean?”
“To allow them to hear me I yelled, but that person spoke in a very low
voice. However, it isn’t unusual to speak with internal energy.”
Buchoi was a warrior who learned martial arts.
Having learned martial arts, he too, cultivated internal energy.
After honing his skills for a long time, he managed to reach Master level,
and the voice of the one called Chun Yeowun, who claimed to be the Lord
of Demonic Cult, reached a level that Buchoi couldn’t even guess.
“Hmmm.”
Buchoi was a brave warrior.
Having learned martial arts, the commanders of the tribe considered Buchoi
to be an excellent warrior and that made them puzzled by the fact that
Buchoi seemed scared of the enemy before even fighting them.
Honestly, that was natural.
Chun Yewoun knew that people mastered martial arts among the barbarians,
so he purposely used internal energy.
And those who knew about that would begin to fear him.
“Masei!”
“Wa-war Chief!”
Buchoi was the one Asara had ordered to go ahead because he knew martial
arts, but there were others too.
“Do you have the same opinion as Buchoi?”
“Ugh, I don’t know if it is the Demon God or not, but his internal energy
from that voice, he must be a lot stronger than us.”
Masei was also at the Master level, but was even stronger than Buchoi.
When he expressed the same opinion, War Chief Asara shook his head
If it was really the Demon God, no matter how superior their numbers were,
the damage they would take would be greater.
“This is so frustrating! War Chief! How great are the martial arts that we
need to be afraid of them? Do you need to believe all the words that warrior
Buchoi has said?”
Okuro complained.
He too, had witnessed numerous battles in his life, but he didn’t think that
they would lose to an army they never fought.
“Are you going to back down just because you are afraid of six hundred
strangers? All the other tribes will laugh at us! And do you really believe
that false rumor of him flying and striking down lightning?”
At Okuro’s provocative words, War Chief Asara’s eyebrows rose.
He knew that Okuro was purposely hurting his pride.
“Rumors are often exaggerated. Even more so if it is about those people!
Give me three thousand warriors. I will wipe them all out.”
“I think the same as commander Okuro. It is unacceptable for the Great
Hung Clan to be swept away by those rumors!”
One by one, the young ones too began to agree with Okuro’s words.
They didn’t believe Buchoi, who had been to Jianghu.
Those who had been dissatisfied with the fact that the tribe had always let
travelers through if they prepared a tribute, used this as an opportunity.
‘These bums. Were they all upset?’
War Chief Asar’a eye lit up.
Not many warriors of the Great Hung Clan believed in martial arts.
It was only natural that people began to feel displeased.
Then, a good war appeared.
“Sorachu. Are there any troops in the rear from the Yata tribe?”
“Yes there are.”
The Yata tribe was the last tribe the Great Hung Clan had defeated in a
territorial war.
The victorious tribes would take in the losers, and they recruited 2000
young warriors as loot.
It was less than a fortnight ago, so they weren’t well-integrated into the
clan.
“Commander Okuro, I will give you 2000 yata warriors, and the 3rd corps,
if you are confident, go ahead and show me your bravery.”
“War Chief!”
Bom!
Okuro shouted as he hit his chest.
“I will live up to your expectations!”
“Good! Go!”
“Yes!!!”
Asara gave Okuro three young commanders, who had agreed with Okuro.
Excited, Okuro rode his horse forward.
At this point, he only wanted to show off his bravery to the tribe, even if he
didn’t depend on the unit which learned martial arts.
‘I will get to confirm if it really is the Demon God.’
War Chief Asara looked at the back of the Okuro, who was gathering up his
warriors and advancing.
Meanwhile, Chun Yeowun and his subordinates, who were waiting for a
response, stood silently.
It was because they could see troops being divided and advancing towards
them.
It seemed to be a troop of 2000 men.
“We seem to have failed in negotiations.”
Baekhyun spoke with a puzzled expression.
Although only a portion of the soldiers were advancing, the number was too
large for the Demonic Cults.
They ended up entering the worst-case scenario that they desperately
wanted to avoid.
‘Wh-what are we supposed to do?’
No matter how skilled the martial arts users were when compared to
ordinary people, the difference in number was too great to ignore.
Baekhyun was worried about how many people would make it to the North
Sea.
Contrary to him, Ko Wanghur, Bakgi, Sama Chak, and the others of the Six
Swords moved ahead a little with confidence.
“Lord. What should we do?”
Although the army of the opponent was overwhelming, they weren’t afraid.
If Chun Yeowun gave them an order to fight, they were ready to advance.
“… wait for a moment.”
“Yes!”
Chun Yeowun asked them to halt.
Negotiations were unsuccessful, but there was still one more thing to do.
Chun Yeowun slowly rode his horse forward.
‘Wh-what will he do going in there alone?’
Baekhyun looked concerned, unable to understand.
Dudududud!
As the force of two thousand began to get closer, the earth shuddered
stronger.
As the distance grew closer, the commander, Okuro, who was riding his
horse at the forefront, raised his hand and ordered the warriors of the Yata
tribe to halt.
“All troops! Aim!”
As the order fell, the advancing warriors of Yata got their bows and arrows
ready.
Not only the Great Hung Clan, but even the barbarians of the Great Plains
looked skilled. They seemed more accustomed to horseback warfare.
Even on the moving horses, their bows were stiff.
“Demon God? Who would believe in such false rumors? Don’t make me
laugh!”
“That’s right. Commander!”
“Huh! Let’s send them back with our finest arrows!”
“Shoot!”
At the cry of the young commanders, including Okuro, the warriors who
were aiming let go of their arrows.
The arrows, which were held back by the taut bowstring, rushed towards
the Demonic cult’s contingent all at once.
Arrows fell like rain in the dark sky.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
“Lift your spears!”
“Wahhh!”
The Great Hung Clan clan warriors picked up their spears to reduce their
enemies down right after the arrow strike.
However, something incredible happened.
“What?”
Since the night was dark, they didn’t notice it right away, but the two
thousand arrows stopped mid-air.
Dum!
Barbarians had sharper eyes than the people of Jianghu.
Shocked that the arrows stopped, they stopped their advance too.
They have been to many battlefields, but this was the first time they
witnessed such a sight.
“Wh-what the hell is that?”
In front of them, a young man riding a horse came into view.
The young man had fluttering hair and had his hand outstretched like he
was the one who halted the arrows.
Just the sight of him gave off a dignified aura.
Okuro muttered.
“Is-is he the Demon God?”
He instinctively knew.
Chun Yeowun gently waved his outstretched hand towards them.
All the arrows which were aiming at the Demonic cult turned around and
pointed at them.
Wheeing!
The direction the arrows changed and aimed towards them.
‘!?’
Flustered, Okuro shouted to the two thousand warriors.
“Di-divide!”
As his shout fell, the two thousand arrows which had rotated flew towards
them.
Wheeing!
Puck! Thud!
The horses collided.
The warriors of the Yata tribe desperately tried to spread out, after seeing
the absurd sight of arrows returning to them.
But,
Puk! Puk! Puk!
“Kuak!”
“Th-the arrows? Kuak!”
“Ack!”
Shockingly, all the arrows followed them and made sure to hit a person.
As if the arrows had a sense of direction, they went right for the hearts and
heads.
Okuro was stunned, after looking back at what was happening because of
the screams that came in from all directions.
“Th-that is ridiculous. How could this happe…”
The figure, who seemed like the epitome of bravery, vanished.
He, who dismissed the rumors about the Demon God, realized that he was
wrong only when he was moments away from death.
Pak!
“Kuaak!”
Thud!
The commander, Okuro, was pierced through his forehead and fell off his
horse.
War Chief Asara and the other commanders, who witnessed it from afar,
couldn’t hold back their shocked expressions.
Two thousand warriors who marched valiantly turned into corpses in an
instant.
With just a single gesture.
“It-it was all true!”
There wasn’t a pinch of lies in the rumors they heard.
Chapter 410 - Great Hung Clan of
the Great Plains
Chapter 410: Great Hung Clan of the Great Plains
‘The rumors are really true!’
The prince of North Sea Ice Palace, Baekhyun, was so shocked that he
couldn’t shut his mouth.
Chun Yeowun, the Lord of the Demonic Cult, moved alone, and he
wondered why no one stopped him, but seeing that, he knew how reliable
that monster was.
‘I thought that it was exaggerated…’
When Baekhyun went to the south to meet the Lord of the Demonic Cult,
he heard many rumors from the people of Shaanxi.
It was rumored that the Lord of the Demonic Cult flew into the sky and
caused lightning to strike in Jin Castle of the Tongho region, and because of
that, he was called the Demon God.
Most rumors are inflated, so Baekhyun thought that the Lord was strong but
didn’t realize that he was super strong.
‘That man is really the Demon God.’
Other than that, there was no other name to call him.
The fresh corpses of two thousand Yata turning cold was proof of that.
Wheeing!
The scent of blood in the cold night stimulated their noses.
The unbelievable sight that unfolded in front of everyone’s eyes brought
silence.
As everyone looked at the dead warriors in amazement, they couldn’t even
get themselves to understand what had happened.
“Did, did you see that?”
“The arrows came back? What the hell is that?”
It didn’t take long for the two thousand warriors to die.
Maybe if they took 5000 troops, it would’ve taken longer.
The warriors felt outraged, but the chiefs felt different.
“H-how did this happen?”
“H-he is a monster!”
“What kind of skill did he use to do that?”
Seeing the mysterious and overwhelming power of the Lord of the Demonic
Cult, Chun Yeowun, right in front of their eyes, not a single person wanted
to move.
Chief Sorachu hurriedly spoke to War Chief Asara.
“War Chief! De-demon God, if he is that, we shouldn’t fight that person.
Just let them go.”
To that, Asara nodded.
It was fortunate that the warriors they sent were from the Yata tribe and not
their own.
Thud!
‘Kang Soah, that bastard!’
All the resentment was directed at Kang Soah of the Yulin clan.
He was the one who said that the monster, who annihilated two thousand
warriors with a single gesture, would never come to the north.
Firstly, they had to avoid a fight with the Demon God.
War Chief Asara hurriedly ordered Buchoi.
“Buchoi! Make this right, and relay that the War Chief doesn’t want any
friction.”
The only ones who could speak the language of Jianghu were Buchoi and
Masei.
However, Buchoi didn’t respond to the orders.
Masei tried to do something and approached him, but Buchoi was looking
somewhere with a white face.
“What is he doin…!?”
War Chief Asara’s expression froze when he looked at where Buchoi was
looking.
It wasn’t just him. All the commanders and chiefs were the same.
They all frowned and had hardened expressions.
‘W-when?’
Chun Yeowun was supposed to be more than half a mile away.
However, he was suddenly standing in the middle of the enemy camp where
Asara and his other commanders were gathered.
Buchoi, the escort warrior, couldn’t help but be shocked at this.
He didn’t even sense any movement.
‘I-I missed it even though I was watching him. If this monster puts his mind
to it, War Chief and the others will die at any time.’
As an escort warrior, he wasn’t supposed to think like that, but if the
monster was really determined, he knew that no one could stop him.
However, that didn’t mean that he was giving up his role as an escort.
“Protect the War Chief!”
Srrng!
Shocked by Buchoi’s shouts, the warriors blocked the front of Asara by
holding up their weapons.
Thanks to that, War Chief Asara could barely open his mouth.
“De-demon God! Wait a…”
Chun Yeowun reached out to them.
“Huk!”
The chiefs and commanders who remembered the annihilation of the two
thousand Yata tribe warriors gasped in fear.
“High.”
“?”
Chun Yeowun raised his palm and lowered it, flipping it over in the process.
At that moment, intense vibrations rose from all directions creating pressure
which made sure that both horses and humans couldn’t stand up.
“Wh-what is this?”
“My body!”
Wheeing!
The horse they had been holding on to suddenly had their ankles crushed
and legs broken.
Thanks to that, everyone who had been mounted on the horses fell to the
ground.
Thud!
“Huak!”
“Kuaak!”
Seeing them all fall to the ground and groan in pain, Chun Yeowun nodded
in satisfaction.
Chun Yeowun, who wasn’t on his horse, moved closer to them after
bringing them down to his height.
It was the way they saw him.
He pulled them down from their horses because he didn’t want them
looking down on him.
“Ugh! Wa-war Chief! Protect the War Chief!”
War Chief Asara fell from his horse, and the commanders who were around,
went to guard him.
Their loyalty was so great that they were willing to protect their War Chief
despite the frightened expression on their faces.
‘I’m sure that he is the Chief.’
Thanks to them, Chun Yeowun got to know who their chief was.
The chief, Sorachu, who stood in the front of the Great Hung Clan, raised
both his hands as if he had no intention to fight and attempted to negotiate.
“De-demon God! W-we wish to talk.”
Seeing him break out in cold sweat, Chun Yeowun’s eyes went wide.
‘Demon God?’
It was a new name he had been given after he became one of the five
strongest warriors.
If it was Jianghu, he would have reacted normally, but he never thought that
the Great Plains would be so well informed about it.
Chun Yeowun, who stopped for a moment, walked forward.
“S-stop! Don’t come close…”
“I have nothing to say to you. Stay away.”
Chun Yeowun lightly waved his hand towards Sorachu.
Swish! Woong!
“Ugh!”
It was just a light swing, but the body of that man moved away as if he was
a piece of paper that got blown away by the wind.
It wasn’t just that.
Every time Chun Yeowun waved his hand, those between him and the War
Chief would be blown away.
Boong!
“Ack!”
Woong!
“W-what power! Ack!”
Buchoi, the martial arts user, was no exception.
The commanders and escorts who were supposed to protect their War Chief
were thrown out of the way, and the War Chief Asara faced Chun Yeowun.
‘De-Demon God!’
A young man with a pure white face, who was smaller than himself.
However, the ferocious and subversive force radiating from his body made
it impossible for Asara to treat the Lord of the Demonic Cult recklessly.
Facing him alone, Asara was at a loss for words on how to negotiate with
the monster.
At that moment, Chun Yeowun opened his mouth first.
“Are you the Chief of the Great Hung Clan?”
“Y-yes. Demon God.”
At the following question of Chun Yeowun, War Chief Asara couldn’t hide
his embarrassment.
“… who ordered this?”
‘!!!’
Shockingly, Chun Yeowun was thinking that the Demonic Cult was being
blocked by someone else’s orders.
‘How did he know that? Is this man really a God?’
Asara couldn’t help but be shocked.
In fact, it could be a pure coincidence.
The Great Hung Clan regularly dispatched people to Jianghu, so they knew
about Chun Yeowun. However, they thought that the name was given just
because someone made it up and not because of his skills.
‘Does he have a clue?’
It was a gamble, yet it seemed like it was right.
The truth came out when Asara looked shocked, and his fear of Chun
Yeowun increased.
“We-we just wanted to scare you people back to your place. We never
meant to fight.”
“… give me the full details.”
At Chun Yeowun’s cold voice, War Chief Asara immediately revealed the
identity of the person.
After all, he had been deceived by him, so he had no intention of protecting
that man’s identity.
“Kang Soah, the second son of the Great Leader of Yulin and the Forces of
Justice.”
“Yulin?”
Seeing how Chun Yeowun looked a little puzzled, War Chief Asara thought
that everything went well.
Now that he made a mistake, he decided to shift the blame onto Kang Soah.
He thought that the wrath of Demon God would be directed to Kang Soah.
‘Kang Soah, we are in this situation because of you, you need to suffer!’
“They came before you people arrived.”
Asara told the story of the delegation of the Yulin heading to the North Sea
and the proposal Kang Soah had for them.
The proposal to block the Demonic Cult’s contingents for 3000 sheep.
Asara kept on stressing that he had no intention of battling and only wanted
to intimidate them.
“We don’t have the power to stop the Demon God. Kang Soah, if he hadn’t
lied about your presence, such a thing wouldn’t have even happened!”
Grunt.
Asara gritted his teeth.
In fact, if it wasn’t for Kang Soah, such humiliation wouldn’t have
happened.
“We are angry too that such a situation cropped up because of him, that
Kang Soah. Without him, two thousand warriors’ lives wouldn’t have been
lost in vain.”
Asara mentioned the two thousand who died.
He wanted to show that they didn’t want to fight anymore and wanted to
end the conflict.
“We will make way for you right away!”
‘Please pass us! Aren’t you people in a hurry!’
Although it was humiliating for the Great Hung Clan, their opponent wasn’t
human.
They weren’t in a situation to hold their ground anymore.
Chun Yeowun nodded at War Chief Asara, who seemed desperate.
‘Ah!’
Joy filled Asara’s face, who thought that negotiation went successful.
‘Nice! Hahahaha!’
He was worried that Chun Yeowun, the Demon God, would end them, but
fortunately, the misunderstanding was resolved, and thinking that Kang
Soah will face the Demon God’s wrath, made him feel better.
“Thank you! I am grateful that we met with the Demon God of…”
Clang!
“Huh!?”
There was a sound of a mace falling to the ground.
His favorite weapon had fallen.
But it wasn’t the only thing that fell.
Wriggle!
The nerves in the arm holding the mace moved as if they were alive. An
arm fell to the ground. That arm belonged to Asara.
It happened so quickly that Asara couldn’t even feel any pain. At that
moment, turning blue, he began to scream.
Thud!
“Kuaaaak! My Arm!”
The pain of having his arm cut off was unbearable.
“War Chief!”
“W-why?”
The warriors of the Great Hung Clan who heard the conversation were
shocked.
Everything seemed to be resolved, so why?
Looking down at Asara, who was suffering, Chun Yeowun spoke in a cold
voice.
“I’m trying to get things done in moderation, but did you think that I would
let the one, who attacked me first, get away?”
“Kuaaa… ku…. That…”
Asara was speechless.
Chun Yeowun grabbed Asara’s hair.
Grab!
“Ack!”
“You would have attacked the contingent if I wasn’t there. And you say it’s
all Kang Soah’s fault?”
Asara’s face went pale at the words which flowed out of Chun Yeowun’s
mouth.
He was aware of his own mistakes.
Gooo!
Asara was even more scared once Chun Yeowun began to exude energy.
“D-don’t do this! Ka… Kang Soah. We wouldn’t have known of the Demon
God without him! Our clan wouldn’t have even stopped yours!”
“Well, you keep saying Kang Soah… Kang Soah, and that does seem true.”
“?”
Chun Yeowun spoke as if he wanted the entire Great Hung Clan to listen,
almost as if he too was puzzled.
“The reason for you to lose both of your arms is because of Yulin’s Kang
Soah. Remember that. Okay?”
“Two…arms?”
The words ‘two arms’ terrified Asara, he stepped back and staggered, trying
to avoid it, but he couldn’t.
Thud!
Looking at that, Chun Yeowun smiled and spoke to Asara, whose hair he
was still holding.
“Let all your resentment go to Kang Soah.”
“No, De-demon God! Please!”
Slash!
Before he could even finish, something passed through the left shoulders of
the War Chief Asara.
“Kuaaaaakk!”
A horrifying scream filled the silent night.
A scream full of resentment.
--------
Creep!
Commander Kang Soah, who was leading the unit to the North, suddenly
felt a chill run down his spine.
He couldn’t even figure out the reason why.
That was when he heard Jegal Sohi’s voice.
“Leader Moyong, did you hear something like a scream?”
‘!?’
Oddly, those words bothered him a lot.
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