Chapter 15

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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**

As the wall shook with a roaring sound of koo-goong along with a gale, Yang Cheol, the Sub-altar Leader of the Blood Selling Cult, stood up in alarm.

With a sharp metallic ringing sound, a ceramic jar shattered, and dark red liquid seeped into the floor.

“Shit!”

The Blood Selling Cult warriors who were gathered together also drew their respective weapons and carefully examined the shaken wall, but even after half a meal’s time passed, there was no further commotion such as the wall shaking again.

“Who touched the device?”

As Yang Cheol scanned the cultists with glistening eyes, the lower-ranking disciples guarding the piled-up wealth sent him resentful looks, since the entrance door mechanism was installed on the chair Yang Cheol was sitting on.

“Those Zhuge Clan bastards. If they took so much fresh blood, they should have made a proper mechanism.”

Yang Cheol blamed the artisans who built this place.

It was a phenomenon that could not be explained otherwise.

Fortunately, an incident like the one just now did not happen again, but the commotion was not over.

“You blood ghouls! The Taoists of Wudang Mountain have come down to deliver heaven’s punishment!”

“Pui! Drop dead, you bastards!”

This was because the people who had been holding their breath inside the iron cage on one side of the hideout began to shout.

“Shut up, you blood bags!”

“Do you want to die?!”

It only quieted down after a few vicious threats from the cultists guarding the front of the iron cage.

Once the commotion subsided, one of the cultists rolled his eyes anxiously and asked Yang Cheol.

“Sub-altar Leader, by the way, when is the Zhuge Family coming? With the Wudang Sect and even the Beggars’ Sect poking around here, aren’t they abandoning us?”

At the subordinate cultist’s words, Sub-altar Leader Yang Cheol glared at the cultist with eyes glistening with bloodlust and said.

“Nonsense. Do not forget the reason why they sought fresh blood. Our Blood Selling Cult is the only one that can resolve the internal troubles of the Zhuge Clan.”

At Yang Cheol’s words, the subordinate cultist muttered to himself.

‘We probably aren’t the only ones…’

Of course, since he was not enough of a fool to utter that out loud, the cultist backed away.

When about another half a meal’s time had passed.

The sound of koo-goong was heard again.

This time, they did not draw their weapons in surprise like before; they simply took it for granted.

However.

As the wall began to open with a rattling sound, the remnants of the Blood Selling Cult turned their heads toward Yang Cheol all at once.

“It’s not me!”

Yang Cheol waved his hand.

Just as he said, there was no sign of the entrance door mechanism installed at his seat having been operated, because if it had been operated, the lever should have been pointing to the right, but it was still fixed to the left.

Ultimately, it meant it had been opened from the outside.

There were two possibilities.

Either the Wudang Sect and the Beggars’ Sect, seeking to wipe them out, had burst in.

Or they were welcoming the Zhuge Clan, who had entered into a secret transaction with them.

Unfortunately, the result revealed before their eyes was the former.

“Hwan-hyeol! Right now, discard the remaining blood pouches!”

Yang Cheol shouted to the physician standing in front of the iron cage, then immediately drew the serrated saber from his waist.

Before his eyes, three warriors dressed in the Wudang Sect’s Black Pine Gate Taoist robes and five martial artists of the Wuchang’s Mysterious Sword Sect were visible.

“Ugh. You leech-like bastards!”

At Yang Cheol’s words, the Wudang Sect Taoist, who exuded a vacant energy, snorted.

“What are you talking about, you actual leeches?”

Instead of replying to the Taoist’s words, Yang Cheol shouted toward the cultists.

“Everyone, risk your lives to practice the faith! The blood will protect you!”

“Yes!”

Along with the blood-drenched shout.

Their blood boiled, their bodies grew hot.

And their blood flow began to race like a bull with its tail caught on fire.

The guardian martial art of the Blood Selling Cult.

It was the Violent Blood True Yang Skill.

“Huuu.”

In an instant, Yang Cheol’s face turned crimson, and his clothes began to swell, as the body and muscles beneath his clothes puffed up.

In that state, Yang Cheol had already lost his reason.

“Kyaaaah!”

Yang Cheol—no, the blood-faced monster who could no longer be called Yang Cheol—roared and kicked off the ground.

With a shattering sound, the brick floor cracked, and he fiercely swung the serrated saber held in both hands.

However.

“Huh! Blocking us with something like the Blood Selling Cult’s Guardian Martial Arts?”

Snorting, the Taoist with vacant eyes, Myeong-hun, drew his sword, and simultaneously, Yang Cheol’s physical form became unnatural, as if submerged in water.

It was the function of the force wave of the sword qi of the Four Symbols Flowing Sword, a Wudang secret.

“Kyaaaah!”

As if uncomfortable, Yang Cheol let out a monstrous shriek once more.

As the blood vessels that had already swollen from the aftermath of the Violent Blood True Yang Skill burst, red blood began to stream from his eyes, and a dark red energy began to fluctuate violently in his chest.

It was an explosion of innate qi.

In addition, Yang Cheol’s movements, which had been unnatural as if submerged in water, quickened, and his serrated saber exuded a murderous momentum.

Tjeong! Kakak!

The serrated saber and Myeong-hun’s blue steel sword clashed, throwing sparks along with a roaring sound, while the teeth of the serrated saber gnawed at Myeong-hun’s sword blade, pushing relentlessly.

Myeong-hun, instead of resisting, conformed to the force and retreated.

This was because the martial prowess of the Blood Selling Cult’s Sub-altar Leader, who had even exploded his innate qi, was superior to that of an ordinary True Martial Pavilion disciple when considering pure internal energy alone.

However, Myeong-hun did not bend.

Even though the internal energy infused in his sword could not compare to Yang Cheol’s, Myeong-hun’s pure internal energy flowed continuously without interruption, and finally, the moment Yang Cheol’s pushing force weakened, he softly twisted his wrist.

With a scraping metallic sound, Myeong-hun’s sword slid up Yang Cheol’s blade and sliced off Yang Cheol’s wrist.

“Kyaaa!”

The moment the red eyes of Yang Cheol, who had lost a wrist, flashed, the blood connected like a bridge and pulled back the severed wrist.

**

Senior Brother Myeong-hun was dealing with the leader of the Blood Selling Cultists, who exuded the fiercest momentum.

Meanwhile, I flew toward the iron cage where the people were trapped.

“Stop right there!”

Two Blood Selling Cultists with hair dyed red waved their hands and blocked my path.

Although the smell of blood pricked my nose along with their rough breathing, the internal energy felt through the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition was below expectations.

‘There is no need to use the Four Symbols Wind and Thunder Palm.’

I recalled the Tai Chi Chuan routine and found my center.

Opportunities to test the efficacy of the new Tai Chi Chuan in real combat were rare; today was that testing ground.

“Kyaaa!”

Fluttering his red-dyed hair, a Blood Selling Cultist threw himself forward with a shout.

As the distorted flow of true qi shaped the attack trajectory, the lines were naturally read.

‘From beneath the armpit to the Middle Dantian acupoint.’

The gap drawn in my mind led to action.

The linked forms of the leaning method of Parting the Wild Horse’s Mane, continuing from the Tai Chi Chuan’s Great Emptiness Form, struck the Blood Selling Cultist’s torso precisely.

Pung!

A dull sound, like a leather drum tearing, echoed.

The red-haired Blood Selling Cultist was sent flying and slammed into the iron cage.

Kwang!

The iron cage bent greatly, and the people clinging beyond the bars retreated in panic, having heard Yang Cheol’s order the moment they entered the Blood Selling Cultists’ hideout.

“Uuugh.”

The person called Hwan-hyeol showed no traces of practicing martial arts, and because he was such a person, my mind relaxed for a moment; when my mind relaxed, Hwan-hyeol watched me with wary eyes and slowly stepped toward the side of the iron cage, then reached out. In that instant.

‘What is this?’

The Tai Chi Diagram Exposition began to sound an alarm.

It was not like this even when the Blood Selling Cultist rushed at me just now, but an ominous premonition did not stop; that premonition made the world slow down, and in that slow world, as Hwan-hyeol’s hand almost touched the long lever beside the iron cage, a thought came to mind: for some reason, I must stop that.

Supporting with the Hamgok acupoint on the instep, energy exploded from the Yeotae, Jieum, and Taibai acupoints at the tips of the toes, which was the stamping step of the Cloud-Climbing Step.

Doong.

In addition, by adding the subtle logic of the Flowing Cloud Movement Skill, the flow of true qi around my advancing body is formed into a smooth flow to reduce friction and increase speed.

‘The last step.’

As the mnemonic formula of Distinguishing Empty and Full from Wudang Tai Chi Chuan’s Advancing into emptiness, leaving the temple was loaded onto the widely-stepping step of the Cloud-Climbing Step’s Body-Stepping Force.

The moment Hwan-hyeol’s hand touched the lever.

Along the smooth trajectory between Hwan-hyeol’s Middle Dantian acupoint and my right fist, the fist advanced.

It was the trajectory of the cycloid (Seeming but bent path leads to the Way).

Just as Hwan-hyeol pulled the lever halfway.

‘I reached him.’

The fist struck Hwan-hyeol’s Middle Dantian acupoint.

In the slowly flowing world, the hem of Hwan-hyeol’s clothes in contact with the fist rippled in concentric circles like a water droplet falling on a calm surface.

With a crunching sound, his sternum and ribs shattered.

“Keo-heok!”

When Hwan-hyeol’s coughing-up-blood body collided with the iron cage with a bang, my usual sense of time finally returned.

‘Is this the supreme realm?’

It was said that when one’s Upper Dantian training deepened, the flow of time would stretch.

It was also said that when the training of the Middle and Lower Dantians, which is comparable to the training of the Upper Dantian, is supported, one can play with and swim in time alone within the slowly flowing time.

It was the realm of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.

Even though my achievement was not yet the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown.

‘It means the Upper Dantian training of the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition is at a decent level.’

When I evaluated myself and stood upright.

With a crunching sound, I faced Hwan-hyeol, who stood up while restoring his sunken chest.

**

At the sight of Yang Cheol calmly reattaching his severed arm, Myeong-hun’s relaxed expression also cracked.

“Blood ghoul!”

Because he had heard that the blood ghouls of the Dawn Sky Blood Cult, a member of the Six Great Evils and an unorthodox sect disturbing the Jianghu, showed such regenerative ability.

His suspicion grew even deeper.

Fortunately, however, there was no trace of the Dawn Sky Blood Cult’s martial arts in Yang Cheol’s swordsmanship as he swung his saber; in other words, he was nothing special.

“Kyaaaah!”

Furthermore, the saber techniques of the monster who had fallen into deviation into heresy and lost his reason had neither form nor style, only containing fierce momentum and killing intent.

Myeong-hun deployed the continuous sword forms of the Four Symbols Flowing Sword, deflecting Yang Cheol’s oncoming serrated saber and counterattacking, and with each time, the sword cuts on Yang Cheol’s body increased one by one.

Fortunately, the blood ghoul’s regenerative ability was not omnipotent; as his wounds increased, the speed of wound restoration also dropped significantly, and his movements began to gradually slow down.

And finally.

“Die already, villain.”

The cloud-like sword blade gently grazed Yang Cheol’s neck and passed, which was Yang Cheol’s end.

**

“Stop rushing in already!”

While slicing the neck of an oncoming Blood Selling Cultist with Wudang’s secret Supreme Clarity Free Hand hand-blade strike, Yi Chae-yang glanced at Yeon Baek-jung.

While she was worried about her youngest junior brother’s first real combat, she was also curious about what kind of martial arts the junior brother, who had emitted absurd palm force, would use in real combat; however.

‘Tai Chi Chuan?’

The training martial art of Wudang Sect’s formal disciples was being unfolded in blood-splattering real combat.

That alone was a novel sight, but what was even more surprising.

‘Is that really Tai Chi Chuan?’

Befitting its purpose for training, the speed of unfolding Tai Chi Chuan stances was basically extremely slow.

However, Yeon Baek-jung’s Tai Chi Chuan was different; the routine was also strangely different, making it fast enough to be utilized in real combat. Above all, what was peculiar.

‘It looks like he is dancing!’

It looked as if the Blood Selling Cultist was coming to collide with his body on his own accord at the youngest junior brother’s linked leaning method, as if they were doing a pre-arranged sparring.

Doong! Kwang!

The body that flew and slammed into the iron cage could not rise again.

He had subdued or killed them with a single blow.

With Wudang’s martial arts.

A young disciple who had not yet reached the age of twenty.

‘Is that Wudang Sect’s martial arts?’

Although it was practical and even domineering, unlike the mountain-dwelling Taoist martial arts, it was a move containing the essence of Wudang Sect’s martial arts in that it properly utilized the subtlety of striking second to control first with silk reeling force.

In addition, the youngest junior brother was flying toward another Blood Selling Cultist, and the youngest junior brother’s movement skill.

‘He is fifteen?’

The junior brother’s straight punch of Advancing into emptiness, leaving the temple, showing body-stepping force training that surpassed both Myeong-hun’s and her own, struck the Blood Selling Cultist’s chest along a strange curved routine.

The Blood Selling Cultist, whose chest was crushed as it was, collapsed while coughing up blood, but didn’t his sunken chest flatten out again as he stood up?

At the re-emergence of the blood ghouls occasionally mixed among the Blood Selling Cultists, Yi Chae-yang immediately shouted.

“You must sever the neck!”

Hardly had her words fallen when the youngest junior brother nodded, grabbed the neck of the rising Blood Selling Cultist, and—

‘Ugh!’

Twisted and pulled it off.

With a snapping sound, the torso that had lost its head slumped down.

‘Let’s not worry about him.’

Such a thought naturally came to mind.

The youngest junior brother was not weak enough to worry about.

‘Right. Who is worrying about whom?’

Yi Chae-yang shook her head and busily moved her feet and hands.

In the time it took to catch their breath a few times, the area was neatly cleared, and only the hostages, trembling far from the iron bars, remained.

Myeong-hun, who had dealt with the one who seemed the strongest among the Blood Selling Cultists, also approached her side before she knew it, sheathing his sword, and pointed at the corpse that had hideously lost its neck near Yeon Baek-jung.

“Did Junior Brother make it like that?”

“…Yeah.”

“……”

The two lost their words for a moment.

The Mysterious Sword Sect warriors, who also glanced at the Wudang Sect disciples from time to time while cutting down the remnants of the Blood Selling Cult, muttered as if fed up.

“Is that a human?”

“It’s not human. It’s a chaotic spirit. Bringer of Chaos.”

At that time, the people trembling beyond the bars exercised their survival instinct and began to speak.

“Taoist priest, please save us!”

“We are innocent! We were captured!”

“Please don’t grab and pull our necks off!”

“If you are going to kill us, just slice and kill us with a sword!”

At that sight, Yeon Baek-jung was temporarily lost for words.

Yi Chae-yang had to step forward and calm them down.

“We are the Wudang Sect. Not the Blood Selling Cult. Rest assured!”

“A person’s neck with hands…”

“Ah, I mean, that’s because they were blood ghouls…”

Only after they barely calmed down did she look at the iron bars, feeling troubled.

“Should we look for the key?”

At Myeong-hun’s words, Yi Chae-yang nodded as she saw the people sending intense looks that said, ‘Please let us out quickly!’

“Let’s find it quickly.”

Then Yeon Baek-jung stepped forward.

“I don’t think we need the key.”

Then, Yeon Baek-jung bent the iron bars with his bare hands and pulled out the children and the elderly first.

As a few children cried hysterically, the shadow of worry deepened on Yeon Baek-jung’s face, but soon the elderly comforted them and escaped the cell.

“Thank you, Taoist priest.”

“Thank you for saving us.”

Their expressions soon brightened.

“It is a relief that you are safe.”

At Yeon Baek-jung’s words, the elderly replied with warm smiles, and the children and elderly who escaped through the iron bars Yeon Baek-jung opened were immediately handed over to the Mysterious Sword Sect warriors to exit the sewer, because they might be caught in mechanisms if they took a road other than the one they came from.

The expressions of ‘I want to go out quickly,’ and ‘I don’t want to stay here for even a moment!’ were clear on the faces of some of the remaining people, but the moment they locked eyes with Yeon Baek-jung, their faces changed to smiling ones as they pushed the backs of the children next to them.

“Child, go out first.”

As such an orderly exit took place quickly.

“Let us go as well.”

With Yi Chae-yang’s words, the party attempted to leave the hideout along with the last of the commoners.

However, they had no choice but to stop their steps.

This was because the Sagacious Eye Scholar and the Crouching Dragon Scholars were blocking the entrance.