Chapter 198 – Head-on Breakthrough (2)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Hmm.”

The man with half-white hair neatly swept back let out a low groan.

And four women were carefully massaging various parts of such a man’s body. They were so enthusiastic that the bodies of the four women were completely drenched in sweat.

“It is finally a bit refreshing. Perhaps because I’m getting older, my body isn’t quite like the past.”

His low-echoing voice was exceedingly heavy, unlike his slender appearance.

Shiver.

The women trembled once.

The man’s voice was truly peculiar. Even though it was a pleasant low tone, it felt like it was sharply gouging the listener’s nerves.

As if the voice itself was a martial art, it was full of brutal oppressive force. It was a voice imbued with an aggressive impression.

“So, the Gray Wolf Squad evaporated just like that?”

“That is so.”

In front of the man, a middle-aged man wearing hemp clothes bowed his head.

“They say they were annihilated without a single survivor.”

“Tsk.”

The man clicked his tongue.

“I heard they swept the Outer-territorial region for ten years, but in the end, their roots are just bandits, is it?”

The Gray Wolf Squad was no ordinary bandit group. If they made up their minds, they could easily sweep away most minor sects, and if they set up a strategy, even powerhouses on the level of the Nine Great Sects would have to bear some damage.

In terms of combat power, there was absolutely no reason for them to be disparaged like this. However, the man had the qualification to say such words.

The middle-aged man sneaked a glance at the man.

The man’s eyes, looking down at him with a languid face, were terribly indifferent, unlike his aggressive voice.

‘He is incredible no matter how I look at him.’

Ooooong.

The internal energy tightly filling his dantian shrank on its own.

‘His words were right. To think they say he is a powerhouse who cannot be dealt with unless it’s someone on the level of the Cult’s Grand Priest… Are the Saintly Heaven Thirteen Seats all monsters like this?’

He didn’t emit his power, nor was he angry.

They just made eye contact, but it felt like invisible chains were binding his limbs.

To the oppressive force inherent in humans, the power of an absolute master who had caught a glimpse of the ultimate realm was unconsciously spewed out. Ordinary people who hadn’t learned internal energy wouldn’t be able to maintain a sane mind just by staying in the same place.

‘His existence itself is a disaster.’

It was a realm he couldn’t even dare to dream of with his current self.

The middle-aged man spoke cautiously.

“It is true that the Gray Wolf Squad was below expectations, but it seems the unit dispatched by the Murim Alliance was also no ordinary one.”

“Did you say they were the Evil-Annihilating Army?”

“To be exact, they are two units, the Demon-Sweeping Army and the Evil-Annihilating Army.”

“Sweeping Demons and Annihilating Evil. They sure named them explicitly.”

A small interest arose on the face of the man, the Combat King Yang Cheon.

“Those bastards called the Evil-Annihilating Army. Didn’t they smash several Black Path sects until recently?”

“That is so. Among them was the Red Demon Group.”

“The Red Demon Group, huh.”

Yang Cheon frowned.

“They aren’t even worth a single meal, but didn’t they say they are somewhat burdensome guys for kids to deal with?”

“That is so. It’s not that their martial arts are strong, but they are bastards who resort to any means necessary to kill their targets. Not only do they use forbidden firearms, but they are also guys who even accept requests against government officials.”

“I like that.”

Yang Cheon’s eyes shone.

“They kill without discriminating against their opponents… They go their own way without caring about others. For such guys to be done in so vainly, it is truly a regrettable thing.”

The middle-aged man swallowed his saliva.

‘He is still the same.’

Yang Cheon was a dangerous person.

His primary standard for judging people was neither martial arts nor brains. It was the ‘line’.

He cherishes those who can cross the line without hesitation, even if they have no ability. But no matter how outstanding their ability, he despises those who are inflexible.

It was the reason Yang Cheon was able to become as strong as he was now, and it was also the reason he could unite the Black Path to this scale in a short time.

“Whatever the case, since the Gray Wolf Squad ended up in that state, those bastards from the Cult must be burning their guts too.”

The middle-aged man’s eyes flashed.

“It seems they will hide once more.”

Yang Cheon chuckled.

“I don’t know if they are being cautious, or if they have a lot of fear. When they need to be bold, they must know how to be bold to accomplish great things. Those guys are the problem.”

“…….”

“Why? Are you feeling bad because they are people from your hometown?”

“How could that be? From the moment I resolved to serve you, Elder, my soul has settled here.”

“Kuhaha! Well said.”

Yang Cheon burst into mad laughter.

Kugugugugung.

The middle-aged man’s complexion turned pale.

That wasn’t all. The women massaging Yang Cheon’s body instantly suffered from breathing difficulties, and then simply fainted.

‘Tremendous internal energy!’

An enormous power was loaded into his laughter.

The highly dangerous energy digging into his ears destroyed his body’s balance, and furthermore, even shook his brain. It was even enough to make the building tremble slightly.

Ooooong.

The middle-aged man hurriedly raised his internal energy to protect his head and ears.

Yang Cheon, who had stopped laughing before he knew it, looked down at the middle-aged man. He didn’t even glance at the women who had collapsed to the left and right.

“Heug-yang.”

“Yes, Elder.”

“This morning, this letter arrived for me.”

Srrrk.

Before they knew it, a red letter floated above Yang Cheon’s hand.

The eyes of the middle-aged man, Heug-yang, shook.

‘Empty Space Apprehension of Objects!’

Using extreme internal energy, it was a realm of controlling objects without touching them.

It seemed Yang Cheon had seen the end even in such a realm. The flow of true qi pushing the atmosphere could not be felt at all. It was as if he was controlling the object with pure will.

A realm that wouldn’t be lacking even if called a supernatural ability. With that much, there was already no reason to be called human.

Hwoooong.

The red letter floated up and was placed in front of Heug-yang.

Heug-yang bowed his head and opened the letter.

His eyes widened.

“Isn’t it interesting?”

“……!”

“There is a saying that a hero representing an era must be born with the fortune of time and people in addition to their own abilities. According to those words, am I not also someone who meets the conditions of a hero.”

A strong heat rose in Heug-yang’s two eyes.

“Are you planning to accept it?”

“Well? As you know, I have no thought of accepting just any busybody. If they are guys worth that much as the rumors say, I should put them under my command.”

Yang Cheon smiled.

“How about it? Will you go and test them once?”

Heug-yang bowed his head.

“I will depart immediately.”

“Good.”

Like that, Heug-yang left the seat.

As Heug-yang disappeared, the smile that had been on Yang Cheon’s face also vanished without a trace.

“No matter what I do, he won’t become my person.”

Heug-yang was definitely a talent he wanted to keep under his command in terms of ability.

However, the bastard had no loyalty. Although he said he had cut his ties with the Cult and come to me, Yang Cheon knew that wasn’t the truth.

That was why he purposely showed an exaggerated appearance. Because Heug-yang was a person of the Cult. Because he would report his personality and abilities to the Cult exactly as they were.

If he followed his heart, he wanted to beat him to death with one punch, but it wasn’t the time yet.

A languid light appeared on Yang Cheon’s face.

‘There is no bastard I can trust.’

His pride was hurt anew by the reality that he couldn’t show a comfortable appearance to a bastard he could kill with a single finger.

However, Yang Cheon believed that it was something worth enduring. Because a petty person obsesses over things in front of their eyes, but a great person knows how to look into the future.

But, he was slowly getting tired.

“Tsk, this is the problem with the Black Path. That it’s rare to find a bastard worth raising. If someone truly dedicated their soul to me, I would gladly give them everything.”

Yang Cheon stood up from his seat.

Woooooong.

The four fainted women floated up into the air.

With his hands behind his back, Yang Cheon walked into the corridor, followed by the four women.

* * *

The group, who had taken sufficient rest, directly entered the western part of Hunan.

The journey was much more comfortable than expected. It was because they didn’t particularly move secretly, nor did they pay attention to their surroundings.

Furthermore, Yeon Ho-jeong poured his efforts into maintaining the bright atmosphere of the group. He played many jokes on everyone, and they also trained together when necessary.

Ga Deuk-sang was the only person who saw through the intent contained in Yeon Ho-jeong’s words and actions.

‘It’s to look natural.’

That’s right.

No matter what anyone said, the leader of the group was Yeon Ho-jeong. As such a Yeon Ho-jeong maintained a bright atmosphere, the group’s atmosphere naturally became bright as well.

And that effort bore fruit, as Tang Sang-ah also began to smile more frequently by the time they entered Hunan.

Ga Deuk-sang smiled.

‘He is truly an amazing person.’

Whether it was calculation or instinct.

Yeon Ho-jeong accurately knew what role he had to play in each mission.

Even if it was laughing and chatting, he carried it out without difficulty. Although he often played jokes in front of close people, he was basically on the taciturn side, but there was no sense of incongruity in the appearance he was showing now.

“Is there something on my face?”

“Huh?”

At Yeon Ho-jeong’s words, Ga Deuk-sang grinned broadly.

“Handsomeness is fully smeared on it.”

“I know that too, Eldest Senior Brother.”

“Our third brother’s flaw is being too honest.”

“Haha!”

Before they knew it, the group had also become accustomed to the titles they used for each other.

It was a change brought about by the atmosphere. At first, it was awkward, but before they knew it, the group truly considered each other like martial siblings.

“By the way, where is our Martial Uncle?”

Ga Deuk-sang’s eyes shone.

The Martial Uncle referred to Pae-yul.

“Let’s see. There are roughly two hundred li left to go, so if we take it easy, we will probably be able to see him around tomorrow evening.”

“I want to see him quickly, so should we run as a form of training?”

“Our third brother sure loves training.”

Ga Deuk-sang said to Tang Sang-ah and Zhuge Ah-yeon-yeon.

“Shall we run lightly to loosen our bodies?”

“Yes, Eldest Senior Brother.”

“Let’s go.”

Tuwooooong!

The four men and women lightly unfolded their movement techniques.

The person with the lowest martial arts among the group was Zhuge Ah-yeon. However, Zhuge Ah-yeon’s martial arts were also quite considerable for her age group, and especially when it came to movement techniques, she was not inferior to Tang Sang-ah.

It was when the group, who had broken through the official road while passing each other, had already covered a hundred and fifty li.

In an instant, Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes flashed.

‘It has begun.’

He felt gazes scanning the group.

They were very secretive gazes. The stealth technique was nothing special, but it was strange, as if they were looking but not looking.

‘It’s been a while.’

A small smile appeared on Yeon Ho-jeong’s face.

It was a smile that simultaneously felt emotions such as ferocity and longing, a bit of tension and comfort.

‘It has truly been a long time, having gazes like this.’

A method completely different from tailing someone in the White Path Murim.

Finally, Yeon Ho-jeong could feel it. That he had entered the world full of filth that he knew, the world where he had spent half his life.

Stepping into that world, which he hadn’t felt a single speck of longing for during all this time, he sank into nostalgia as if he had returned to his hometown.

But nostalgia was nostalgia, and work was work.

“Senior Sister.”

“Yeah?”

Yeon Ho-jeong spoke calmly.

“There are bugs buzzing around us.”

In an instant, Tang Sang-ah’s eyes flashed.

“Is that so? I didn’t notice?”

“I’m naturally sensitive, as you know. I will tell you the directions, so please clean them up a bit.”

Tang Sang-ah smiled brightly.

“If it’s for the third brother, that much isn’t difficult.”

She was perfectly assimilated with her role. Perhaps she was enjoying the current situation the most.

A subtle murderous intent arose in Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes.

“Shall we start from the rear?”

“Good.”

“Behind the fourth pine tree on the left rear, the shadow next to the largest rock on the right rear.”

In an instant, Tang Sang-ah’s two hands moved like lightning.

Pipipipiping! Puh-beo-beok!

Hidden weapons fired at an invisible speed created a blood mist.

Yeon Ho-jeong smiled.

Seeing that cold smile, a similar smile appeared on Tang Sang-ah’s face.

“Awesome skill, Senior Sister.”

“Thanks.”

“Let’s begin in earnest. You must not miss a single one.”

“Don’t worry.”

Pang-pang-pang-pang!

Flying daggers covered all directions like a net.