Chapter 228 – The Sand Castle is Swept Away by Strong Waves (3)

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Yeom Jung-hwa woke up early in the morning.

As his nickname “Zhongnan’s True Sword” suggested, he was a master swordsman. Since joining Zhongnan, he had never skipped morning training. This habit remained unchanged even after coming to Shouzhou.

The first thing he did after waking up was to polish his sword. He wiped the surface of the sword until it was shiny with a dry cloth.

Yeom Jung-hwa considered polishing the sword to be the most important thing in the world. By polishing the sword, he could better understand its condition.

After carefully polishing the sword, he came out to the training ground. As it was still before dawn, there was no one at the training ground.

The disciples of Zhongnan, knowing that Yeom Jung-hwa trained every morning, had vacated the training ground.

Yeom Jung-hwa stood in the center of the training ground.

Swish!

He drew his sword with his eyes closed.

For someone who had reached Yeom Jung-hwa’s level, physical training had little meaning. However, it was necessary to move the body moderately to prevent rust from forming.

Yeom Jung-hwa, with his eyes closed, imagined one person.

Rough, disheveled black hair, fierce eyes like a beast, and a slightly limping foot. Even though it was just an imaginary figure, he could vividly sense the beastly smell mixed in the breath of the person he was imagining.

The being he had created in his imagination was Dam-ho.

The imaginary Dam-ho was walking towards him, limping slightly. The pulsation created by that off-beat step pressed down on Yeom Jung-hwa’s heart.

Yeom Jung-hwa pointed his sword at the imaginary Dam-ho. At that moment, Dam-ho kicked off the ground and charged like a bull.

It was the Rushing Stride, which could be called Dam-ho’s signature move.

Swoosh!

Yeom Jung-hwa deployed Zhongnan’s secret footwork, the Shadow Step, to avoid Dam-ho’s attack while simultaneously counterattacking with the first move of the Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River.

Defense and attack occurred almost simultaneously.

As befitting an absolute master of Zhongnan, Yeom Jung-hwa unleashed the Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River flawlessly. Like a river flowing freely under the sky, his sword fiercely drove Dam-ho back.

The sword energy condensed to form a sword river. The waves of the sword river surged towards Dam-ho as if to sweep everything away. However, the sword river he had created shattered the moment Dam-ho moved.

‘Ugh!’

Yeom Jung-hwa’s lips twisted unpleasantly.

In his imagination, Dam-ho’s counterattack continued. The Single Yang Strike, Wave-Breaking Kick, and the ultimate techniques of the Poison Flow Style repeatedly pounded his body.

Yeom Jung-hwa unleashed the first move of the Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River with all his might. But Dam-ho, like a demon, broke through all those techniques one by one and approached within arm’s reach.

Clang!

The sword shattered, and his collar was grabbed. Then the world turned upside down.

Thud!

As his head hit the ground, Yeom Jung-hwa opened his eyes.

“Huff! Huff!”

The rough breathing he had been suppressing until now burst out. His entire body was already drenched in sweat.

It was just mental training. A training method that any master of that level could do. But its effect was no less than actual sparring.

“Lost again?”

Yeom Jung-hwa smiled bitterly.

He had engaged in mental sparring with Dam-ho several times so far. And he had lost every time.

When he first saw Dam-ho, he was tremendously shocked.

Martial arts and destructive power that defied common sense.

Above all, the terrifying killing intent to definitely kill the opponent.

He saw in Dam-ho the ideal of a martial artist that he had longed for.

The limp wasn’t a problem. Rather, it made him seem even more frightening because he limped.

He wanted to defeat such a Dam-ho. Even if it was just in mental sparring.

“Sigh!”

Yeom Jung-hwa let out a sigh.

His heart was heavy. Emptiness and a sense of defeat filled his chest.

He wanted to overcome Dam-ho so badly, but not being able to overcome him even in mental sparring made him feel self-loathing, wondering if his martial arts were this insignificant.

Swish!

Yeom Jung-hwa shook his head as he sheathed his sword.

“I can understand those children’s feelings now.”

When he first heard the news that Jin Mu-young and the Nine Dragon Warriors had tried to drive Dam-ho out, risking infamy, he was furious.

Driving out a great force like Dam-ho from Shouzhou because of trivial desire for fame? It was something that anyone with even a little common sense wouldn’t understand. But after losing to Dam-ho several times in mental sparring, he could understand to some extent.

“Only a Four God-level warrior could subdue him.”

Yeom Jung-hwa was shaking his head as he was about to leave the training ground. Suddenly, his steps came to a halt.

He raised his head to look at the sky.

It was still before dawn. It was an early hour when most people hadn’t woken up yet. Naturally, there should have been almost no movement of people. But a strange sensation was felt.

Yeom Jung-hwa’s eyes widened for a moment.

Something was moving in the pitch-black night sky. At first, he thought it was a large bird. Most birds are active only during the day, but there are nocturnal birds too. However, the movement was too quiet to be simply a bird.

With a strange feeling, Yeom Jung-hwa raised his inner force.

Yeom Jung-hwa’s eyes shook as if an earthquake had occurred as he looked at the night sky.

What he thought was a bird was actually a large kite. Hanging from the kite riding the wind was a figure dressed in black martial attire. There were hundreds of such kites floating in the dark sky.

“A-Attack!”

His voice, infused with inner force, echoed loudly throughout the Shouzhou branch.

At that moment, black figures dropped from the kites that had approached close to the ground.

Whoosh!

The black figures, falling towards the ground with their arms and legs spread wide, landed lightly on top of the pavilions of the Shouzhou branch. Then they all started running in one direction.

Yeom Jung-hwa leaped towards the black figures and shouted once more, gathering his inner force.

“We’re under attack!”

His shout woke up the entire Shouzhou branch that had been asleep.

“What’s going on?”

“An attack?”

Martial artists rushed out with their weapons. But by then, the black figures that had jumped from the kites had already disappeared beyond the pavilions.

“You b*st*rds!”

The only one pursuing them was Yeom Jung-hwa.

Tap! Tap!

In just two steps, he leaped over a large pavilion and saw the black figures sprinting through the Shouzhou branch.

“Stop!”

Yeom Jung-hwa unleashed the Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River towards them.

Powerful sword energy rose like a tidal wave and surged towards the black figures. At that moment, four black figures who sensed the danger turned around.

Clang clang clang!

They swung their swords and shattered Yeom Jung-hwa’s sword energy. While they were buying time like this, the rest of the black figures disappeared beyond another pavilion.

“You think you can escape?”

Yeom Jung-hwa roared and tried to pursue them. But the four black figures who had turned around stood in his way.

Swoosh!

Their swords flew towards Yeom Jung-hwa like vipers.

Yeom Jung-hwa intended to quickly take them down and pursue the disappeared black figures. But the martial prowess of the black figures blocking his way was more formidable than he had expected.

Clang!

With the sound of metal clashing, Yeom Jung-hwa’s body came to an abrupt stop.

‘These b*st*rds!’

Yeom Jung-hwa was slightly taken aback by the stronger than expected counterattack.

At that moment, an exquisite combined attack technique that seemed to move as one body was unleashed towards Yeom Jung-hwa. The four black figures pressed Yeom Jung-hwa, interlocking like cogwheels without the slightest gap. Even Yeom Jung-hwa was momentarily unable to do anything against them and had to step back.

But Yeom Jung-hwa was the absolute master that Zhongnan boasted of. He soon regained his grip on his sword and unleashed the higher-level moves of the Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River.

Swish swish swish!

The air was filled entirely with his sword images. It wasn’t simply manipulating sword energy.

Heavenly River’s Raging Waves, the most destructive technique among the Thirty-Six Swords of the Heavenly River that utilizes sword rivers.

The moment sword rivers formed on Yeom Jung-hwa’s sword, the black figures hurriedly retreated. It was an astonishingly quick judgment. But Yeom Jung-hwa was also an absolute master. His movements far exceeded the black figures’ expectations and he had already approached within arm’s reach.

Yeom Jung-hwa’s sword plunged towards them. The black figures had no choice but to raise their swords to cover their front.

Boom!

At that moment, an explosion occurred. As if a thunderbolt had struck, an explosion centered on Yeom Jung-hwa’s sword.

The black figures’ swords, as well as their bodies, exploded.

It was truly a formidable power. But Yeom Jung-hwa had no time to admire his own martial arts and immediately leaped.

The number of black figures that had jumped from the kites exceeded several hundred at a glance. Yeom Jung-hwa had only taken down four of them.

Yeom Jung-hwa gritted his teeth.

The feeling was strange.

The black figures didn’t even scream once until the moment of their death. As if they were people who didn’t recognize their own death.

“What?”

Yeom Jung-hwa felt a strong sense of discomfort from their appearance. But he wasn’t given time to solve the mystery.

Crash!

Suddenly, the well cover inside the Shouzhou branch was shattered and numerous martial artists poured out like ants.

Like the martial artists who had infiltrated by riding kites, they too were dressed all in black. As soon as they came up to the ground, they all ran in one direction as if by agreement.

“You b*st*rds!”

Yeom Jung-hwa leaped towards them. But he couldn’t catch all of them alone.

“Over there.”

“Stop them.”

Belatedly, the martial artists who had been in the Shouzhou branch came running to block the black figures.

The sound of clashing metal and battle cries erupted from various places.

It was then.

“It’s the Demonic Cult. The Demonic Cult has invaded.”

The urgent voices of the martial artists standing guard outside the walls were heard. The Demonic Cult was launching a major offensive from the outside as well.

“This can’t be!”

Yeom Jung-hwa’s eyes shook.

Internal infiltration through kites and wells, and causing confusion. Not missing that gap, a major offensive from the outside.

The Shouzhou branch was crumbling helplessly.

On the inside, the black figures were causing disruption by throwing away their lives, and on the outside, the elite forces of the Demonic Cult were rushing in all at once. From the standpoint of the Murim Alliance, which had to deal with both sides simultaneously, they were bound to be short-handed.

Moreover, the place where the black figures had run to was where the leaders of the Murim Alliance were. If they were to be taken down by a surprise attack, the command system of the martial artists remaining here would collapse. Such a situation had to be prevented at all costs.

“You b*st*rds!”

Yeom Jung-hwa tried to rush to the quarters where the leaders were.

“Hoho! Where are you going in such a hurry, Master Yeom?”

If only an affected voice hadn’t stopped him.

Before him stood a beautiful woman who appeared to be in her late thirties. The woman with neatly coiled hair and wearing luxurious palace attire was someone he had never seen before.

Yeom Jung-hwa raised his voice while taking a defensive stance.

“Who are you, wench?”

“How rude to call someone you’ve never met before a wench. That’s too much.”

“Where do you get off making such a bewitching expression? If you don’t reveal your identity, I’ll take your head in an instant.”

“Ah! You’re being too harsh. This girl is called the Full Moon Immortal, Jin Hye-won.”

“Jin Hye-won? Did you also come from the Demonic Cult?”

“I came from the Divine Cult.”

“So you’re indeed a Demonic woman.”

Yeom Jung-hwa raised his inner force. Even seeing him like this, Jin Hye-won didn’t erase her smile.

“You don’t need to be so wary. The night is long, and we still have plenty of time allowed to us.”

“What?”

Whoosh!

At that moment, the ribbon belt attached to Jin Hye-won’s waist stretched out. The ribbon belt, longer and wider than a whip, instantly confused Yeom Jung-hwa’s vision. Surprised by the sudden attack, Yeom Jung-hwa hurriedly swung his sword to deflect the ribbon belt.

“Hohoho!”

Jin Hye-won let out a coquettish laugh as she retrieved her ribbon belt.

“Demonic woman!”

Although he should have been upset, she didn’t show any sign of being offended. It was because Yeom Jung-hwa’s words were somewhat true. She was a member of the Seven Great Demonic Masters.

“You’ve underestimated the Murim Alliance, Demonic woman.”

“What is there to fear when there’s no Fist Demon here? I wonder if you can stop the Seven Great Demonic Masters with just your strength?”

“You?”

As Yeom Jung-hwa’s expression hardened, Jin Hye-won smiled as if pleased.

“I don’t think so.”

“How dare you!”

“Shall we test it out?”

Jin Hye-won’s ribbon belt flew towards Yeom Jung-hwa once again.