Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 223 - Successor (2)

Chapter 223: Successor (2)

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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I memorized the familiar faces and set the bundle of papers down. Gok Pyeong-un, who was looking at other documents, gasped in surprise.

“You’re done already?”

“I am used to paperwork.”

“My word.”

Gok Pyeong-un shook his head in amazement. Since it was rare for a martial artist to be proficient at reviewing documents, it was understandable why he was surprised.

“Can you actually memorize the faces when you look through them that quickly?”

“I have roughly memorized them.”

Gok Pyeong-un tilted his head in disbelief. Even I was surprised by this; despite only glancing through the portraits, I remembered every single face. It seemed to be a function of the upper dantian, which had opened during my awakening.

“But where do they primarily operate?”

“I don’t know. At least, they aren’t in Haikou. It’s probably because Haikou has the largest concentration of mainlanders on Hainan Island. It would be troublesome if they were recognized.”

“That makes sense. So we can assume they are everywhere except Haikou.”

“Indeed.”

Hainan Island’s power distribution map was incredibly chaotic. While the Hainan Sect held a firm grip on the Qiongzhong and Tunchang areas near Wuzhi Mountain, various unorthodox forces were running rampant in Wanning in the southeast, Sanya in the southwest, Changjiang in the northwest, and Haikou in the northeast.

“So we are surrounded by enemies.”

“Yes. We considered asking mainland martial artists for help, but their situation isn’t great either.”

Come to think of it, he had mentioned that various factions on the mainland had also surfaced. To think all of this had happened in just half a year. It raised a rational suspicion that the Imperial Court might have been preparing for this all along.

“Anyway, while the Sea-Purifying Unit usually moves in squads, elder-level members like myself sometimes operate alone.”

“In that case, may I also operate alone?”

“Well, with your skills, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Perhaps because he had witnessed my martial prowess, Gok Pyeong-un easily granted permission for solo operations. It was a relief, as forcing myself into a squad of Hainan disciples would have only bred resentment.

I considered leaving the Hainan Sect immediately, but at Gok Pyeong-un’s urging, I decided to depart after a night’s rest.

Come to think of it, today was the first day I emerged from the burial chamber. So much had happened that it felt like several days had passed.

Although a lot had happened, I didn’t feel particularly tired. Whether it was due to the talent of awakening or the clearing of my Conception and Governing vessels, my upper dantian operated constantly, maintaining a state of heightened awareness.

In fact, I had rarely slept for long while inside the burial chamber. To escape as quickly as possible, I had minimized my sleeping hours and immersed myself in training every single day.

Thankfully, time flowed much slower on the outside compared to the inside.

Guided by Gok Pyeong-un, I entered my quarters and pulled up the blankets. Inside the burial chamber, I had been forced to curl up and sleep in fits on the cold floor everyday. Now, lying down with a proper pillow and blanket, it finally hit me that I had escaped that place.

“Haa.”

My body had grown comfortable, but a sigh escaped my lips. I couldn’t help but think of the uncle who had cried out for the revival of Great Ming until the very end. The comfort my body now enjoyed was built upon his sacrifice.

Naturally, my body rolled onto its side, my back hunched, and my knees pulled up. The habit of sleeping like that for several years was not easily broken.

* * *

In the end, I slept fitfully, just as I always did in the burial chamber. Sleeping so lightly actually made my body feel heavy and tired. Sitting cross-legged and performing a minor cosmic orbit immediately lightened my body.

Even in the blue dawn, the Hainan Sect was already bustling. In fact, except for the young disciples who couldn’t engage in actual combat, almost all Hainan disciples belonged to the Sea-Purifying Unit. That alone showed how dire the situation on Hainan Island was.

“You’re awake.”

When I went outside, Gok Pyeong-un greeted me.

“Hainan’s mornings start early.”

“The more we sleep, the more the commoners suffer.”

“That’s true.”

In any case, the purpose of an orthodox sect was to protect innocent commoners. Even if that was their purpose, translating it into direct action was no easy feat, and the Hainan Sect was walking a very difficult path.

“I will patrol the Baisha and Changjiang regions.”

“Those are areas that many people avoid.”

“Then that is exactly where I should go.”

I knew why the people of Hainan Island avoided the northwest. It was because many orthodox martial artists who had fled the mainland resided there.

However, I needed to meet them, which was why I was heading northwest.

“I see. Thank you. But if you deem them to be orthodox practitioners, please do not harm them.”

“Understood.”

I stuffed a few signal flares given by Gok Pyeong-un into my waist and immediately left the Hainan Sect.

Now, there was no instability even as I leaped off tree branches. It meant my mastery of internal energy had deepened that much.

Sensing the internal energy of many people as I traveled, I realized that my own internal energy was exceptionally pure.

Whether there was some device that purified internal energy inside the burial chamber or it was a function of the upper dantian, my current internal energy was virtually free of impurities. This meant that if we possessed the same amount of internal energy, I would unconditionally win.

Hainan was truly a spectacle. As I traveled from Baisha to Changjiang, I encountered countless unorthodox martial artists. They generally extorted tolls from the commoners or plundered them under the guise of donations.

I was now far too powerful to be dealt with by street-level unorthodox thugs. They couldn’t even graze my collar before becoming lonely ghosts under Myeong-a.

Hainan’s interior was the territory of the Li people. The attire, which I had never seen on the mainland, was fascinating. They spoke a local dialect called Hainanese, and the tones were so vastly different that I couldn’t understand a word.

I tried to explain the attire and appearance of orthodox martial artists to them using hand gestures and body language, but that too was in vain.

Ultimately, I had no choice but to wander the area and beat up unorthodox thugs. Not even six hours had passed since I arrived in the northwest, but the unorthodox martial artists already recognized me and fled from afar.

“It’s the Evil Guest!”

I didn’t know how such a name had spread. ‘Evil Guest’ meant a bad guest. It seemed they recognized that I was someone from the mainland.

Yet, it was absurd that these unorthodox bastards, who were also mostly from the mainland, were acting like natives and labeling me a ‘guest’.

Of course, I didn’t let those who caught my eye off easy, but it was practically impossible to catch them all. Their default response was to scatter and flee, and while pursuing them, I would run into yet another group.

“These damn pests.”

I lamented. It felt as if these bastards didn’t give birth but rather laid eggs like turtles, given how they kept appearing out of nowhere.

“Argh!”

It was when I killed the last person I was pursuing and wiped the blood off my blade.

I felt energies colliding from afar. Such occurrences were common. Since the unorthodox sects were also divided into factions, they fought amongst themselves. In those situations, I would quietly hide and take out the victors.

I closed in on the direction of the colliding energies. The closer I got, the stronger the energy felt. Suddenly, my eyes snapped open.

The clash wasn’t between two unorthodox factions. It was orthodox versus unorthodox. Now that I was close, I could even identify the nature of the energies.

I immediately surged forward. Before long, I arrived at the battlefield.

“Kill them!”

“Catch that bastard! He’s running away!”

Shouts reached my ears as I hid using the bushes as camouflage. Even without visual confirmation, I could discern the flow of the battle through intent and sensory perception.

The battle between the orthodox and unorthodox was practically one-sided. As expected, the orthodox practitioners were crushing the unorthodox scoundrels.

The reason I expected this was that many of the orthodox practitioners I had seen in the portraits belonged to prestigious sects.

While it was common for public enemies to flock to Hainan Island, it was rare for members of prestigious orthodox sects to gather here. Naturally, a disparity in power was bound to exist.

I watched from hiding, but unfortunately, there was no familiar face.

Once the unorthodox martial artists were mostly cleaned up, I slowly stepped out in front of them. The orthodox practitioners gasped in surprise upon seeing me.

“…What is that?”

They couldn’t help but be startled by the sudden appearance of someone who hadn’t registered in their sensory perception. The orthodox practitioners immediately pointed their swords at me, raising their guard.

“Do not be alarmed. I am an orthodox martial artist.”

Anticipating this, I had brought the emblem of the Hainan Sect’s Sea-Purifying Unit from Gok Pyeong-un. When I showed it to them, their guard lowered slightly, but they didn’t drop it entirely.

“You must know our situation makes it impossible not to be on guard.”

The man who appeared to be the squad leader spoke to me.

“Isn’t the Hainan Sect facing pressure from the Imperial Court?”

“That is true, but I am not a member of the Hainan Sect.”

At my words, their expressions turned puzzled.

“What do you mean by that? I believe you just showed us Hainan’s emblem.”

“I am merely temporarily affiliated with the Hainan Sect’s Sea-Purifying Unit; I am not a Hainan disciple. Look, I am not wearing Hainan Sect robes, am I?”

I grabbed my sleeves, let them drape, and turned from side to side. Only then did they realize that what I wore was not the Hainan Sect uniform.

“…So, what of it?”

“I have some personal business with the orthodox practitioners who have come down to Hainan.”

“In a grave situation like this, with someone whose identity we don’t even know?”

“I believe Young Master Hwangbo Un-hyeong of the Hwangbo Clan is here. He will verify my identity.”

At the words that left my mouth, the people flinched. Among the portraits I had reviewed, the one with whom I shared the deepest connection was Hwangbo Un-hyeong.