Chapter 338 – When Heart Reaches Its Peak, Heaven Moves (1)

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They wore deep gray martial robes with scarves concealing half their faces. Wildly disheveled hair and sinister gleaming eyes beneath. They rampaged like wild wolves released from captivity.

Swish!

Their swords cut through space sharply.

“Krek!”

“Dammit! The left side broke through. Block them!”

The Azure Sky Escort Agency’s porters fought with all their strength. But the martial disparity was too great. The gray-clothed martial artists mowed down the Azure Sky Escort porters like cutting down scarecrows.

“You bastards!”

Nam Woo-saeng’s eyes trembled faintly. His eyes were filled with rage and bewilderment.

The journey until boarding the Yunma Dao River Ship had proceeded smoothly. Problems arose after the Azure Sky Escort Agency boarded the ship. Suddenly, gray-clothed martial artists came rushing along the riverbank following the Yunma Dao River Ship.

Initially, they weren’t worried. The Yunma Dao River Ship traveled well into the middle of the fairly wide river, while the gray-clothed martial artists ran along the riverbank. The distance between the ship and riverbank was tens of zhang, too enormous for even a master of lightness techniques to cross in one leap.

“Hahaha!”

“What are those guys?”

The initially tense Azure Sky Escort martial artists, recognizing this reality, let out mocking laughter. But it didn’t take long for that mockery to transform into shock.

The gray-clothed martial artists threw the wooden planks strapped to their backs into the river. Small wooden planks just large enough for an adult to step on lined up in a single row on the water surface. A stepping stone bridge connecting the riverbank and Yunma Dao River Ship had been created in an instant.

They stepped on the wooden plank bridge and instantly jumped onto the Yunma Dao River Ship. It was a water-based lightness technique application called Water Sky Flight.

The gray-clothed martial artists who invaded the ship that way immediately damaged the rudder. The rudderless Yunma Dao River Ship swayed back and forth before crashing into the riverbank. After that, the situation unfolded as witnessed.

The gray-clothed martial artists were strong. Their swordsmanship was exceedingly profound and sharp. The Azure Sky Escort porters, though battle-hardened veterans, couldn’t withstand the gray-clothed martial artists’ sword techniques.

“Kraaaaak!”

“Huk!”

Azure Sky Escort martial artists were dying before Nam Woo-saeng’s eyes.

They were all people he had worked alongside for years or over a decade. His brothers and juniors were being killed by the gray-clothed martial artists’ swords.

“You bastards!”

Nam Woo-saeng’s eyes filled with blood.

His gaze turned toward the riverbank. There stood a man who appeared to be the leader of the gray-clothed martial artists. An extraordinary momentum emanated from his entire body.

A solemn and upright bearing felt coldly like frost-laden blades.

“You bastard!”

Nam Woo-saeng didn’t hesitate and rushed at the leader martial artist. But before he could reach him, three gray-clothed martial artists blocked his path.

“Get out of my way!”

Nam Woo-saeng swung his sword with full force. He had already reached the realm of extreme mastery. Powerful sword energy emerged from his blade.

Zing zing zing!

But his sword energy was blocked by the gray-clothed martial artists.

Nam Woo-saeng’s eyes widened. He had deliberately drawn up his sword energy. Naturally, its power was tremendous. Yet the gray-clothed martial artists blocked it without difficulty.

‘These bastards!’

His entire body’s blood ran cold.

His sword energy was blocked by subordinates, not the leader himself. Though three of them blocked it together, it was proof their martial prowess was exceptional.

If the subordinates were like this, Nam Woo-saeng couldn’t even imagine the leader’s martial prowess.

The leader martial artist left the fighting to his subordinates while observing completely. It was a display of confidence that he could win without participating.

“Who exactly are you? How dare you attack the Azure Sky Escort Agency?”

Nam Woo-saeng shouted furiously, and the gray-clothed martial artists answered with their swords instead.

Under their three-man coordinated attack, Nam Woo-saeng’s hands and feet became bewildered.

Their swordsmanship was so profound it came together like interlocking gears without gaps.

Under their wave-like offensive, Nam Woo-saeng gradually found himself cornered. Meanwhile, Azure Sky Escort martial artists continued dying.

“Aaaah!”

Young escort porter Jo Su-gwang swung his sword with all his remaining strength. But his sword was blocked by a gray-clothed martial artist’s blade and bounced back.

“Kreu!”

The palm gripping the sword was torn and bleeding.

From the start, Jo Su-gwang was no match for the gray-clothed martial artists. The martial disparity was too great.

‘What exactly!’

Jo Su-gwang bit his lips.

The sword techniques displayed by the gray-clothed martial artists weren’t ordinary. Clearly, they were prestigious family sword techniques refined through long periods of careful cultivation, not hastily improvised methods.

The subtlety of the techniques and the deployment of sword energy far exceeded Jo Su-gwang’s level.

Zing-clang!

A gray-clothed martial artist’s sword struck Jo Su-gwang’s sword, shattering it in half.

Swish-sound!

A gray-clothed martial artist’s sword flew toward the weaponless Jo Su-gwang. The blade cut through Jo Su-gwang’s waist.

“Kurhek!”

Jo Su-gwang screamed and collapsed to the ground. Blood spouted like a fountain from his waist. Severed intestinal fragments flowed from the split wound.

It was a fatal wound beyond recovery.

‘Is this…the end?’

Tears flowed from Jo Su-gwang’s eyes as he lay on the ground.

He had devoted himself to the escort agency with dreams of a prosperous future.

He had wanted to become an escort head, and someday establish his own escort agency. He had wanted to become an escort leader who would always complete assignments, and wander the martial world like Dam-ho. But such dreams were ending now. His eyes gradually closed.

Then suddenly, a dark shadow fell across his face. Someone was looking down at him.

With his remaining strength, Jo Su-gwang opened his eyes. In his blurred vision, someone’s silhouette appeared.

Though his face was too blurred to recognize his features, Jo Su-gwang knew who he was.

“Fist…Demon.”

He knew through feeling, through instinct.

Those facing imminent death sometimes developed remarkably acute senses. Jo Su-gwang was experiencing this now.

The one looking down at Jo Su-gwang was precisely Dam-ho.

Dam-ho silently gazed at Jo Su-gwang.

It was merely one night’s connection. There should have been no special feelings. Yet Dam-ho felt he should witness Jo Su-gwang’s final moments.

Dam-ho called out his name.

“Jo Su-gwang.”

“You…remember my name.”

Dam-ho nodded silently. A faint smile appeared at Jo Su-gwang’s lips.

The one he most respected and believed to be the strongest in the world had remembered his name. That fact brought him joy.

Suddenly, Jo Su-gwang’s body convulsed. His breath was fading. Yet Jo Su-gwang continued looking at Dam-ho.

“The…escort goods…”

With those words, Jo Su-gwang’s breath was cut off.

The focus faded from his wide-open eyes. All that the young escort Jo Su-gwang had built up dissipated like water mist.

Dam-ho silently watched all of this.

Then it happened.

Swish!

A gray-clothed martial artist’s sword shot at Dam-ho’s back. It was the very person who had killed Jo Su-gwang.

His sword underwent numerous transformations in midair. At that moment, Dam-ho’s gaze sank coldly.

Click!

The gray-clothed martial artist’s sword, undergoing numerous transformations, was firmly grasped in Dam-ho’s hand. The gray-clothed martial artist’s eyes widened.

“How?”

His lips parted and a hoarse voice emerged.

It wasn’t a divine blade, but it belonged to the renowned blade tier. It couldn’t be grabbed barehanded. Yet Dam-ho’s hand holding it bore not a single scratch.

An energy net called the Silver Net Hand, formed from condensed energy, enveloped his hand.

The gray-clothed martial artist tried to withdraw his sword by utilizing even sharper sword energy. But Dam-ho’s hand remained completely unmovable.

The gray-clothed martial artist’s gaze met Dam-ho’s. Suddenly, the gray-clothed martial artist’s body trembled. He glimpsed the wild murderous aura in Dam-ho’s eyes.

At that very moment, Dam-ho’s words continued:

“How are you able to practice Mount Hua’s sword techniques?”

Kuuuuu!

Dam-ho’s shout became a storm sweeping the area.

“Krek!”

“Huk!”

The gray-clothed martial artists attacking the Azure Sky Escort martial artists received spiritual damage from Dam-ho’s shout and staggered.

Dam-ho’s eyes shone more fiercely than ever.

The sword techniques the gray-clothed martial artist displayed were clearly the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword, Mount Hua Sect’s supreme technique.

It was Mount Hua-only martial arts that only the Plum Blossom Sword Masters could practice. It was martial arts never to be leaked externally and never to be learned by outsiders.

“Krek!”

The gray-clothed martial artist who directly received Dam-ho’s lion’s roar had his pupils flip backward. Dam-ho’s lion’s roar completely shattered his eardrums and heart meridians.

Blood burst from the gray-clothed martial artist’s seven orifices. His appearance, bleeding from nose, mouth, and ears as well as eyes, was truly horrific.

“Kuuuh!”

The gray-clothed martial artist flailed helplessly before collapsing. He was dead.

Dam-ho turned his gaze from the collapsing gray-clothed martial artist toward the others.

“Krek!”

“Mm!”

The gray-clothed martial artists who directly received his gaze flinched. The Azure Sky Escort porters no longer existed in their minds.

Their entire bodies trembled with cold, and their hands and feet seemed to curl up. Dam-ho’s presence was that formidable.

A massive beast was erupting with killing intent.

Killing intent they had never experienced even once before.

Silence descended upon the area.

No one dared breathe heavily. That’s how overwhelming Dam-ho’s killing intent was.

Dam-ho’s steps moved toward a nearby gray-clothed martial artist. A gray-clothed martial artist who had been enthusiastically attacking the Azure Sky Escort head froze.

Shiver!

A horrifying killing intent invading even consciousness caused his mouth to open involuntarily and saliva dripped. Yet he too was a master who had undergone rigorous training. He forcibly deployed the demonic path’s Heart Protecting Method. His frozen body then gained some freedom.

Even as this happened, Dam-ho approached him.

“Hyaaaaaa!”

He displayed his full sword technique. Sword technique deployed while enduring Dam-ho’s killing intent. It failed to demonstrate even half its original power.

A faint plum blossom bloomed in empty space.

This was the phenomenon occurring when the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword was deployed. He truly did practice the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword.

CRASH!

At that moment, thunder echoed.

Like lightning striking from the heavens to earth, Dam-ho’s fist was driven into the gray-clothed martial artist.

The plum blossom completely dissipated before fully blooming, and the gray-clothed martial artist’s back exploded outward like fireworks.

“Kuuuh!”

The gray-clothed martial artist trembled before collapsing.

Dam-ho stepped over the gray-clothed martial artist’s corpse and moved onward.

The battle between the Azure Sky Escort Agency and gray-clothed martial artists had already ended. The gray-clothed martial artists stopped attacking the escort agency and stared at Dam-ho. The same was true for the surviving Azure Sky Escort porters.

Thump! Shuffle! Thump! Shuffle!

An ominous footstep echoed through the battlefield.

A footstep only Dam-ho in the world could produce. The syncopated gait causing the heart to beat uneasily grew increasingly louder.

The gray-clothed martial artists retreated backward step by step.

Splash!

Only after wading ankle-deep in water did the gray-clothed martial artists realize they had no more space to retreat.

They briefly stared at each other’s faces. Though they didn’t exchange a single word, they understood each other’s intentions.

“Hyaaaaaa!”

“Die!”

They shouted and rushed at Dam-ho in unison.

After all, they had no choice. Attack was the only option.

Countless sword energies beautifully embroidered empty space. Innumerable plum blossoms flickered before Dam-ho’s eyes.

At that moment, Dam-ho moved.

Violent energy wrapped around his body and swirled.

Kwaaaaaaa!

A massive black tempest covered the gray-clothed martial artists.

The brightly blooming plum blossoms were first swept up in the tempest and vanished. Following that, the swords held by the gray-clothed martial artists shattered. And the gray-clothed martial artists were swept by the tempest and flung in all directions.

They were already broken beyond recognition as human.

“Ah!”

Seeing that horrific sight, the surviving Azure Sky Escort porters squeezed their eyes shut.