Chapter 55

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Even though his face was covered with a black snake mask, the traces of panic were felt from his exposed lower face alone.

“Young Master was defeated!”

“In a single strike?!”

Because he was a figure of considerable presence.

It seemed the flashy snake, the python (giant python) mask, was indeed outstanding even among the masked pirates.

Perhaps the bandit whose throat I gripped was the chief disciple of the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas.

Even so, I was not very satisfied with this situation. No, to be more precise, I was not satisfied with the process of creating this situation.

It was because the experience of fighting the Young Spirit Slayer had dragged my eyes to a slightly higher place.

‘If I had utilized the double pendulum form of the upper arm and forearm more dramatically, the power of the Single Whip stance would have come alive.’

As my standard rose, flaws were visible even in the martial arts routines and force-release formulas that were considered complete. It was a part that needed supplementation.

In the meantime, no pirate took off his mask as I had shouted. It was a natural thing.

The masks of the Chaotic Heaven Green Forest, imbued with technique power, had a great influence on the martial prowess they displayed, and at the same time, they could not be put on or taken off at will.

When did they take off their masks?

This was a matter not yet confirmed by the orthodox sects, but…

‘In Zhushan, the Changyou mask controlled the subordinate masks through spoken commands.’

As that thought led to a hypothesis,

I slightly loosened the strength in my hand gripping the throat of the python mask and whispered into his ear.

“Order them to take off their masks. I know that if it is your order, they can take them off.”

Simultaneously with those words, I placed my finger on his death acupoint.

The fellow nodded slightly and then moved his jaw.

At that moment.

Chut—!

I twisted my neck sharply.

Something long and sharp pierced the neck of the python mask and grazed the side of my neck. A stinging sensation. Blood smeared out.

I immediately retreated while activating the Three-Section Brocade body-protecting qi. At the same time, the air changed as if it possessed a sticky viscosity, and my body became as heavy as water-soaked cotton.

Only then did it come into my sight.

Behind the masked warriors.

A mask even flashier than the python mask whose throat I had gripped.

A man of massive build wearing a mask in the shape of a black-scaled flood dragon was slowly rising, with his hand stretched out.

“You avoided this?”

The man muttered, tilting his head. A turbid voice that sounded like scratching iron rang deeply.

Along with that, as he lowered his outstretched arm, water dripped from the fingertips of the flood dragon mask.

Only then could I guess the identity of the weapon that had tried to pierce the python mask and me.

‘A compressed stream of water.’

There were not many in the world who could handle flowing water to this extent. Moreover, there was only one person in the world who would pull such a mask over his head and act as a pirate on the river.

“Great Sage Who Overturns Seas…!”

At some point, Martial Aunt Hye-won, who had approached my side, spread her arms and blocked my front.

“Wasn’t the lower reaches of the Yangtze River your territory? How did you enter the territory of the Mount Heng Sect?”

At her question, the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas cracked his neck left and right and replied.

“Hehehe. Isn’t that how all those orthodox sect bastards who pretend to be gentlemen are? Mount Heng is probably busy cleaning up their own dirty laundry. No matter what happens to all the living beings under heaven.”

What the Young Spirit Slayer had done after cutting off the neck of the Mount Heng elder, Revered Sword of Liaoyun, was to expose his head along with a public poster containing his dirty secrets.

It was a fact known to everyone who should know that the honor of Mount Heng had fallen to the ground because of that incident.

“By the way, is that young Taoist you’re keeping so dearly behind you the Monster and Spirit I’ve heard so much about? As expected of the child the Great Sage Who Drives Spirits was gnashing his teeth over, he indeed harbors a good root. Hehehe. Should I just eat him up instead of handing him over to the Great Sage?”

Below the eyeholes of the black mask, his deep pupils turned toward me.

The Tai Chi Diagram Exposition rang an alarm.

—Appetite.

The moment a bottomless abyss of greed that seemed to harbor the darkness of a bottomless pit was felt, Martial Aunt Hye-won blocked my front and cut off that gaze.

The air sank heavily.

A sticky, sluggish energy tightened around the surroundings.

However, as Martial Aunt Hye-won stamped her foot, a refreshing energy surged up and blocked the advance of the ink-colored energy.

The Great Sage Who Overturns Seas smiled, revealing his teeth.

“The future of the Wudang Sect, and even the flesh of a young Taoist… I can have a feast today!”

At that moment, Martial Aunt Hye-won’s lips quivered.

[Take all the members of Group Bing and escape.]

I immediately shook my head.

[You will die, Senior Sister.]

[It is enough for me alone to die today.]

Leaving those words behind, Martial Aunt Hye-won gently pushed my chest.

She immediately advanced forward while raising the Cloud-Climbing Step propulsion force wave.

“Strike!”

“Kill!”

“Let’s take the Taoist’s good root!”

It was the beginning of a melee.

**

“Hehehe. Do you not know that the moment you face me on the river, you are a dead person?”

Following his voice that sounded like scratching iron, the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas stretched his right arm to the side. The moment he raised his palm, which had been facing the ground, toward the sky,

with a splash—! A water column like a waterspout rose from the bottom of the Xiang River.

“On the river, even the Great Sage Equal to Heaven cannot be my opponent!”

Following the gesture he made simultaneously with his words, the water column plunged down over the head of the advancing Hye-won.

In an instant, Hye-won’s figure was faintly fragmented and floated in the air.

Pugak—!

Wood splinters from the deck, smashed in collision with the water column, bounced into the air. As if she possessed no mass, she lightly stepped on the bouncing deck fragments and rose into the sky, no different from the incarnation of the Goddess of the Moon.

Turning her body just like that, her palm faced downward.

Woong. Woooong. Woooooong—!

It was the internal heavy strikes method of the Cloud-Dispelling Divine Palm, unmatched under heaven.

The moment the vibration starting from her extended palm was about to sweep over the body of the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas across the void, the Great Sage also stretched his hand upward. The energy spreading like ink neutralized the vibrating palm force, completely wiping it out.

“Hehe. Is there any fool who gets hit by the same method twice? An internal heavy strikes method in a void strike. It is great, but slow.”

In the voice of the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas, a past grudge was felt.

Regardless, Hye-won kept her mouth shut and extended a fist.

A fist loaded with soft yet condensed internal energy.

As a second and a third fist were added over it like shadows, space distorted and true qi vibrated.

Yin qi and Yang qi. Softness and hardness, lightness and heaviness. A fist strike in which three disparate energies were overlapped.

The fist strike of the Three Supremes Demon Extermination of the Thirteen Fists of True Martial, said to contain the power of the True Martial Great Emperor, the Taoist deity worshiped at the Wudang Mountain temples, exploded over the internal energy shield deployed by the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas.

Puhwak—!

As if a huge rock had fallen onto the river, the black energy scattered. Over the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas, who was slammed down below the cabin in the aftermath of the fist strike, Hye-won lightly descended with a movement like the Goddess of the Moon.

On the half-destroyed ship, standing alone in her entirety was one of the Nine Swords of Wudang.

She was none other than the Greedy Wolf Unit Leader.

However, the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas did not mind.

This was on the river.

For he was invincible in places where there was water.

“Kaat!”

The moment he swung his two arms widely in a diagonal line along with a metallic screech, the thinly sliced water qi (Sugi) from his fingertips cut through space like willow leaf sabers.

Hye-won did not lose her balance even on the sinking ship and twisted her toes. An art that could stretch out in all eight directions. The step containing starlight concealed her figure.

The Seven Stars Evasion footwork force of the Wudang Sect evaded the water qi slashes unleashed by the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas.

The gesture she subsequently extended was as light as a water droplet dampening a collar, but the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas knew the power of that stance better than anyone else.

‘Eighteen Clothes-Dampening Falls!’

It was an insidious technique that shook the insides through the penetrating force contained in the continuous grappling hand movements.

Ever since he was hit by that stance, his chest still throbbed on one side whenever it rained.

“Uaat!”

With a bizarre shriek, he clapped his palms together.

At the same time, along with a chut— sound, sharp qi exploded outward.

The sharp qi (Yegi) aiming at the space between Hye-won’s brows through her soft hands was the stance of the Rapid Thrust of Dui Water, which had taken the life of his own chief disciple, the python mask.

The deadly strike of the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas headed toward the space between Hye-won’s brows.

However, she avoided the Rapid Thrust of Dui Water, which had slowed down while penetrating the Eighteen Clothes-Dampening Falls energy, with a light tilt of her head.

Nevertheless, dozens of strands of Hye-won’s long hair fluttered in the air, one by one.

Watching that, the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas shouted roughly.

“All of you, attack together at once!”

An attitude that even in a duel between masters, a combined attack did not matter as long as they could win.

Such was the method of the unorthodox and demonic paths.

Blood was bursting out on the half-destroyed flood dragon ship.

**

Thrown onto the fleet under the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas by Martial Aunt Hye-won’s hand, I assessed the situation while parrying, catching, and returning the water-combat weapons flying from all directions.

What Hye-won had ordered.

‘To run away with everyone means to prioritize survival.’

There were over thirty masked warriors on each ship, and there were six such ships.

By simple calculation alone, it meant there were close to two hundred masked warriors. On the other hand, Group Bing, including myself, consisted of only eight people, excluding Martial Aunt Hye-won.

By rational judgment, it was the right thing to escape following Martial Aunt Hye-won’s words, but I shook my head.

‘Is that really the only way?’

It felt like I hadn’t used my brain enough.

If that were truly the only way, there would be no choice, but…

If I wondered whether there was truly no way for everyone to return alive, was that really the case?

While my thoughts continued, the deadly strikes of the black snake and python masks, the subordinates of the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas, continued.

The deadly strikes of the shameless scoundrels who stuffed their own bellies by plundering innocent merchants and commoners were unbearably disgusting. Since their skill (Su) was low but their number (Su) was large, it was extremely disruptive to continuing my thoughts on survival.

What to do at a time like this.

—First, it is a priority to solve the annoying problem.

Following my master’s words, I stretched out my hand.

With the Tai Chi Chuan Grasp the Bird’s Tail gesture, which means catching a sparrow’s tail, the wrist of the black snake mask who was brandishing a dagger was caught.

Bbuduk—!

“Keuak!”

I disabled the fellow, who was retreating while holding his twisted arm, by kicking his shin with the Tai Chi Chuan Whirlwind Kick. At that moment, I felt an insidious energy targeting my back.

While firming up the defensive meaning of the Three-Section Brocade internal energy, I thrust the Parting the Wild Horse’s Mane strike behind my back.

With a bang—! Two black python masks flew through the air. Simultaneously, a wind rose with the single strike extended along with my step. The wind of internal energy gathered by the Obscure Dust Accumulated Clouds, the first form of the Four Symbols Wind and Thunder Palm, lodged into the lower belly of another python mask.

“How, at that age…”

As he groaned, the nature of the dispersing internal energy was cold and sticky.

‘Water qi (Sugi).’

Befitting enemies who utilized water arts, they accumulated internal strength based on water qi. Throwing harmony to the wind, they had accelerated the speed of qi accumulation through an extremely biased management of internal energy.

It was a typical internal cultivation of the unorthodox and demonic paths.

That internal cultivation became a clue, and my interrupted thoughts reconnected.

‘The energy that is incompatible with water qi!’

On another ship far away, the seven members of Group Bing were fighting back, clustered around Taoist Su-gyo. Although the other ships were forming an encirclement around that ship, it did not seem like anyone would lose their life immediately.

‘If so?’

Simultaneously with my thought, my body moved.

Following the Cloud-Climbing Step footwork force, I stepped onto the flood dragon ship ridden by the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas once again. It was a situation where the sinking was accelerating due to the massive explosions of internal energy force waves occurring on deck.

It looked as if the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas and his subordinates were dragging it into a prolonged battle, waiting for the ship to sink so that Martial Aunt Hye-won would be completely submerged in water.

On the other hand, Senior Sister was in a situation where she was trying to get close to the Great Sage by any means and deliver a fatal blow.

‘Cloud-Dispelling Divine Palm.’

The wave of internal energy vibrating on Senior Sister’s hand followed the formula of the Cloud-Dispelling Divine Palm. The moment that single palm strike exploded on the body of the Great Sage, which was shimmering with ink-colored light, I could tell immediately.

‘She cannot inflict a fatal wound.’

The resonance waves contained in the Cloud-Dispelling Divine Palm were of two kinds.

Longitudinal waves and transverse waves.

Of the two kinds of waves, longitudinal waves pass through any medium, whether fluid or rigid body, but…

‘Transverse waves are transmitted only through rigid bodies. They are not transmitted through water or air.’

Moreover, the one possessing stronger force between longitudinal and transverse waves was definitely the transverse wave. When an earthquake occurred, the one that increased the damage was also the earthquake caused by this transverse wave.

This was also the reason why Martial Aunt Hye-won tried to approach and explode the internal heavy strikes method on the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas, but…

Even though her internal heavy strikes method exploded on the Great Sage’s body…

“Hehehe.”

Although he spilled a little blood from the corner of his mouth, the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas did not look like he had sustained a fatal wound. Because the internal energy contained in his extended gestures was still the same.

It was because the water qi body-protecting shield overlaid on his body had blocked the transverse waves of the Cloud-Dispelling Divine Palm.

In addition, the sharp qi contained in the Great Sage’s extending hand exploded on Martial Aunt Hye-won’s shoulder, leaving a long scar.

“Mmh.”

Although she quickly pressed the acupoints on her shoulder, the blood did not stop easily.

‘The invading water qi is scattering the acupoint-striking energy.’

That meant Martial Aunt Hye-won’s full strength would drop the more wounds she received.

I had to settle the situation quickly.

I deployed the Primal Chaos Tai Chi Art to the limit and concentrated my internal energy into the Danzhong acupoint.

At the same time, the gazes of everyone on the sinking ship turned toward me.

“Hehehe. Foolish bastard. Thanks to you, I will feast on the tender flesh of a young Taoist!”

Looking at the lower face of the loudly laughing Great Sage Who Overturns Seas, I slowly began to step through the forms of the Four Symbols Wind and Thunder Palm.

Koong.

The moment the rapidly swirling internal energy rotated around my heart,

the figure of the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas approached fiercely like a shark. The moment Martial Aunt Hye-won chased after him with urgent eyes,

her eyes and mine met.

I nodded.

—Now is the time.

Additionally, as the palm force of the Primal Chaos Producing Infant form of the Four Symbols Wind and Thunder Palm in my extending hand embraced the True Formula of Thunder…

Pazzzzt—!

The thunder qi spreading like a vortex struck the water qi barrier covering the Great Sage’s body, and

“Keo-heok?!”

for an instant, steam expanded around the Great Sage’s body, and the water qi barrier was stripped away.

Along with that, Martial Aunt Hye-won’s internal heavy strikes method of the Cloud-Dispelling Divine Palm exploded on the back of the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas.