Chapter 61

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Translated by Seoulbound

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

Hye-won questioned her young martial nephew’s words.

“Are you saying we should divide our numbers?”

“Yes. Since we cannot know where the Group Jia members are captured if we attack them one by one, it is correct to attack them all at once.”

At her martial nephew’s words, Hye-won thought quickly.

It was not only Group Bing that was dispatched for the rescue of Group Jia.

Group Ding and Group Geng were also dispatched.

In these two mobile units as well, different renowned masters were leading the rising stars and coming to Xining.

The safer choice would be to wait until the other two mobile units arrived before striking, but…

‘If the blood ghoul martial artists from the Blood Cult’s headquarters arrive in Xining first…’

The safety of the prisoners could not be guaranteed in that situation.

Just like Yeon Baek-jung’s words, striking when they had not yet thought of it was the method that would maximize the probability of rescuing the prisoners.

However, what weighed on her mind was that in order to strike the three sects all at once, dividing their numbers was inevitable.

If she herself were together with them, she was confident that she could prevent anyone from Group Bing or Group Jia from being hurt unless the personnel from the Blood Cult’s headquarters arrived; however, if the numbers were divided, it would be a different story.

Because caring for the other rising stars of Group Bing would be physically impossible.

At that moment, the young martial nephew looking at her grinned.

“Martial Aunt, all the Group Bing members here accomplished their mission against the masks of the Chaotic Heaven Green Forest in Guangxi without anyone dying or being injured.”

Following the martial nephew’s words, Su-gyo, who was quietly hiding his presence, also added a word.

“We survived even after meeting the River of Three Crossings’ Young Spirit Slayer.”

“And also against the great fleet of the Great Sage Who Overturns Seas.”

“We are not weak.”

“Above all, isn’t Taoist Nun Hye-won together with us?”

Seeing the Group Bing members speaking with confidence, Hye-won was able to ease her worries, and in addition, there was one more thing.

‘If we raid the three sects, the Group Jia members who have been waiting for an opportunity will join in.’

Since just having the Affectionate Swordsman of Group Jia and her disciple, Yi Chae-yang, join would give them much more breathing room.

“Very well.”

She divided Group Bing into three according to her martial nephew’s opinion.

First, it was decided that Hye-won would break into the Qinghai Sect, the largest among the three major sects of Xining, alone.

“Four of you, including Taoist Priest Su-gyo, will handle the Huangzhong Association, and four of you, including the Bringer of Chaos, will strike the Datong Sect.”

“Yes.”

“Since we must strike simultaneously and by surprise, we will break in right at noon.”

“Pardon? But we are launching a surprise attack?”

“There must be Blood Cult remnants in the enemy camp. We must strike at their weakest moment to increase our chances of victory.”

“Ah.”

Generally, launching a surprise attack in the dead of night was the standard, but the opponents might not just be unorthodox martial artists; if they also had to deal with the Blood Cult’s martial artists, daytime was more suitable than nighttime.

Most of the blood ghouls, who were the primary force of the Dawn Sky Blood Cult, could not act in broad daylight. Although they were capable of regenerating even after having their arms and legs severed, it was a fact somewhat known to some of the prestigious righteous sects that had faced blood ghouls for a long time that they peculiarly burned and disappeared under sunlight.

The members of Group Bing who had questioned it immediately recalled that fact and nodded.

The Group Bing members dispersed in three directions according to their assigned roles.

**

In launching the surprise attack on the Datong Sect, a team was formed consisting of myself, Namgung Hyeok from the Namgung Clan, Tang Si-hyeok from the Tang Clan, and Jeon Uk from the Hainan Sect.

Although there were various ways to attack an opponent by surprise, the most certain was…

“Let’s go with making a feint in the east and striking in the west.”

“Sounds good.”

Everyone agreed to the proposal of Namgung Hyeok, who came from a prestigious family.

Since the Datong Sect was the one with the lowest level among the three major sects, it would be relatively easy to deal with the enemies, but because the important thing was to rescue the Group Jia members…

I assigned roles according to the characteristics of the martial arts of those who were with me.

“An unorthodox sect like the Datong Sect would surely have a dungeon underground. Brother Namgung and Brother Jeon, please cause an uproar at the main gate. In the meantime, Brother Tang and I will infiltrate underground to check if there are prisoners. Safety is the top priority, so if it seems dangerous, do not hesitate and run away.”

Namgung Hyeok and Jeon Uk were swordsmen; they might find it difficult to fully display their skills inside a narrow indoor space. On the other hand, since I had mastered unarmed strikes and hand-to-hand martial arts, there were few spatial constraints, and to assist the short-range unarmed strikes, a long-range weapon like hidden weapon arts was helpful, which was why I made this staffing choice.

“Understood.”

“Causing an uproar is something I’m confident in. Leave it to me. I will definitely draw their attention.”

While the two men, Namgung Hyeok and Jeon Uk, headed toward the main gate of the Datong Sect with deliberate swagger, Tang Si-hyeok and I ran to the back of the Datong Sect.

Since it was a surprise attack exploiting their unguarded moment that the Murim Alliance warriors could not have arrived here yet, I judged that it would be best to delay exposing our identity as much as possible.

Around the time we reached the back, the commotion at the main gate was captured by my hearing, which had been sharpened by the thunder energy stored in my middle dantian and the function of the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition.

“Who is it?!”

“What is this…”

When the sound of clashing metal was heard along with cries of astonishment,

I closed my eyes and focused on my senses.

‘Three. Heading toward the main gate.’

The moment I felt three presences that had been patrolling the rear of the Datong Sect rushing toward the main gate, I locked eyes with Tang Si-hyeok and immediately leaped over the wall.

The space where we landed soundlessly was quiet.

Only the bright sunlight in the clear sky of Xining Castle struck the bodies of Tang Si-hyeok and me, noisily shouting our presence, but there was no way that clamor would reach the ears of the Datong Sect warriors.

We began to move quietly while silencing our footsteps.

In the typical structure of a triple-courtyard residence (a siheyuan with three courtyards), the place where we descended was the rearmost upper courtyard; the reason we descended here was that the upper courtyard was the most private space.

[Let’s go.]

[It seems to be this way.]

Taoist disciples learn Feng Shui, and children of prestigious families live in massive manors.

This was the reason why the structure of the Datong Sect was familiar.

And the entrance to spaces that people were reluctant to expose to the outside, such as an underground dungeon, was usually built near such a private upper courtyard.

‘Since it is an underground dungeon, the ventilation won’t be good, so it must be damp.’

Through the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition, I searched for the space that emitted the most damp and dark energy.

Under the shade located facing north where even the bright sunlight of Xining could not reach, a rusted iron door that seemed to shout ‘dungeon entrance’ at a glance welcomed us.

Without even raising my cultivation power, I broke the padlock hanging on the iron door; since it was a scene Tang Si-hyeok had already seen when we destroyed the poison-manufacturing workshop of the Chaotic Heaven Green Forest in Guangxi, unlike the first time, he did not even flinch and opened the door straight away.

With me standing in front and Tang Si-hyeok standing behind, we headed underground.

As the sensitivity of the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition expanded, the structure of the underground dungeon was grasped, and the energy emitted by the people staying inside was felt; and the energy felt belonged to two.

‘Their breathing is uneven. It’s internal injuries.’

However, in their energy and breathing, the pure and upright energy unique to prestigious righteous sects was felt.

I turned back to Tang Si-hyeok and nodded.

A certainty that those below were the Group Jia prisoners.

However, the fact that there were only two people weighed on my mind.

‘Are the others captured in another sect?’

Since that was something for the other teams to confirm, we silenced our footsteps and went down the stairs.

In the space we descended to, there was yet another iron door, and beyond it on a table, a Datong Sect warrior was dozing off.

The moment Tang Si-hyeok’s hand, having glanced at the Datong Sect warrior, swept through his sleeve, a golden light cut through the damp air of the underground dungeon with a hissing sound and drew a line.

The silently embedded hidden weapon was the Life-Death Slice, a secret hidden weapon of the Tang Clan, carved from golden bamboo that was said to grow only in the Tang family estate of Sichuan and treated with medicinal substances.

Just like the saying that it was harder and sharper than most hundred-refined steel, the Life-Death Slice was embedded in the body of the Datong Sect warrior without a trace.

It was instant death.

“Let’s go.”

Although we had eliminated the troublemaker who could inform the outside of what was happening here, we did not know when we would be discovered, so we had to get the job done as quickly as possible.

We broke the iron door once more like that and entered inside.

In the innermost dungeon cell, two people were lying down with pale faces.

“Are you Eon Baek-san and Ma Jong-gil of Group Jia?”

They were the faces from the portraits we had memorized before setting out for Xining.

At our appearance, those who had been lying with pale faces staggered and raised their bodies.

“Who is it?”

“I am Yeon Baek-jung of the Wudang Sect. I belong to Group Bing.”

“The Wudang Sect’s Bringer of Chaos?”

“Aha. Finally!”

While they were marveling, I grabbed and bent the iron bars of the dungeon cell to make a space to escape.

“Come out.”

“…”

“…”

“There is not much time. Hurry.”

“…Ah, understood.”

“Surely, it didn’t look like you raised your internal energy…?”

The ones who came out staggering looked uncomfortable somewhere.

“There seems to be no problem with the flow of your cultivation power, but where are you uncomfortable?”

The one who answered my question was Tang Si-hyeok, who was from the Tang Clan and well-versed in medicine.

“It is anemia.”

“Ah.”

“Still, it seems you were not bitten by the blood ghouls.”

“The bastards drew blood from our arms using a strange device.”

“If you all had been just a little bit later, we would have ended up like mummies.”

Even for a robust martial artist, it was difficult to walk properly if they lacked blood.

Cultivation power was not omnipotent.

A martial artist whose balance of Qi and essence was broken was not much different from an ordinary person.

Ultimately, Tang Si-hyeok and I had to support them, taking one person each.

“To think we would be captured as prisoners by an unorthodox sect, and on top of that, be such a nuisance…!”

“We have no face to show you.”

“Since you survived, that is enough. Let us go quickly.”

“By the way, is it just the two of you?”

“No. There are two more drawing attention at the main gate.”

At my reply, Eon Baek-san, who was leaning his body against me, knit his brows and said.

“Mmm. The domineering force of the saber technique wielded by the Datong Sect Leader was no joke. In addition to that, there are even blood ghouls and Accumulated Blood Warriors of the Dawn Sky Blood Cult here. Four is not enough.”

“It will be fine as long as we do not clash head-on.”

“By any chance, is it night right now?”

“It is slightly past noon.”

“In that case, we won’t have to worry about the blood ghouls. However, the martial prowess of the Blood Cult’s Accumulated Blood Warriors was also no joke. We must go quickly before being surrounded.”

These were the words of those who had clashing experience with Xining’s three unorthodox sects and the Blood Cultists.

Tang Si-hyeok and I passed by the side of the dead Datong Sect warrior with quick paces.

At that moment,

On the vision illuminated by the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition, the flow of true qi was seen to change completely.

‘It’s cold.’

A cold wind blew into the damp and dark underground dungeon, and the torches hanging on the wall flickered.

At the same time, a sharp energy poured from outside of my vision to the inside.

“It’s from above.”

Simultaneously with my words, I backed away while supporting Eon Baek-san of Group Jia with one arm.

A sharp energy brushed past right in front of my nose by a hair’s breadth. The identity of the sharp weapon was long-grown fingernails.

“Hehe. You avoid this?”

A figure with glistening red eyes and revealing large, sharp fangs began to charge toward me with a sneer.

“Didn’t you say it was noon? How can there be a blood ghoul?!”

While protecting Eon Baek-san, who cried out in surprise as he spoke, I blocked the front using the stance of Tai Chi Chuan’s Six Sealings and Four Closings; it was a stance targeting only the opponent’s wrist so as not to touch the sharp fingernails.

With a cracking sound, the blood ghoul’s hand was deflected. However,

“Khak!”

The bastard, surprisingly, bared his teeth and thrust his head forward.

A behavior trying to bite my hand.

It was no different from a beast’s method.

“You must not be bitten! In a blood ghoul’s saliva, there is a poison that even martial artists find difficult to withstand!”

Even without Tang Si-hyeok’s words, I had no intention of being bitten, so…

I immediately raised my foot.

An strike of Tai Chi Chuan’s Whirlwind Kick, Front Advance, was driven into the blood ghoul’s lower jaw.

“Kahak!”

The thrust-out head was jerked back, and a tongue severed between teeth cut through the air; however, the blood spraying out soon connected like a bridge, and the tongue reattached to its original place.

“Were they able to move in the daytime as well!”

“I understand they can move as long as there is no sunlight.”

In Eon Baek-san’s surprised words, I felt the gap in information regarding the Six Great Evils among the various sects.

The Zhenzhou Yan Clan of Hunan had little experience directly confronting the Blood Cult’s blood ghouls; on the other hand, Tang Si-hyeok, who came from the Tang Clan which corresponded to the borderlands in the Central Plains, was more skilled in dealing with blood ghouls.

The Life-Death Slice sprayed from his hand lodged in the brow of the blood ghoul without a trace.

However, instead of avoiding the Life-Death Slice, the blood ghoul took it with his body and let out a sneer.

“Hehehe. Do you think you can kill us with this kind of thing?”

It was because of the blood ghoul’s regenerative ability.

The wound pierced in the bastard’s forehead gradually filled up, and the Life-Death Slice began to be pushed out.

At that sight, Tang Si-hyeok said in a cold voice.

“Yes. We probably cannot kill you.”

I could tell what his words meant.

For the Life-Death Slice that had brushed past my ear emitted a different smell from the one used when ending the life of the Datong Sect warrior.

‘He has a poison that can counter the blood ghouls.’

Simultaneously with that small realization, I calmly walked forward.

“This bastard?”

The blood ghoul tried to show his beastly movement from earlier once again. However,

“Huh?”

His hands went limp, and then he fell down, completely frozen.

“W-What is this!”

As if even his tongue was freezing, the bastard’s pronunciation grew slurred, and Tang Si-hyeok quickly stepped forward and said.

“It is a paralyzing poison created by the Tang Clan to counter blood ghouls. However, as it is not yet in its completed stage, it won’t be able to buy us much time. Let us go quickly, Taoist Yeon.”

Along with those words, Tang Si-hyeok quickly began to ascend the stairs while supporting Ma Jong-gil of Group Jia.

Just as the darkness was gradually fading and the vision adapting to light grew hazy, the sensitivity of the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition sounded an alarm.

Holding the back of the neck of Tang Si-hyeok, who was about to exit the entrance, I said.

“Someone is outside.”

**

The Datong Sect Leader, Jin Baek-lim, who had not budged despite the commotion at the main gate, immediately grabbed the ghost-head broadsword hung on the saber rack upon hearing a sound transmission from somewhere.

[An intruder has entered the dungeon.]

It was the sound transmission of the Dawn Sky Blood Cult’s immortal who was guarding the dungeon.

Jin Baek-lim immediately moved his massive body nimbly and headed toward the underground dungeon.

Since it was not far from his residence, he was able to reach it quickly.

[If it is the dungeon, has someone from the Murim Alliance arrived already?]

Despite the sound transmission sent to the immortal in the dungeon, no answer returned. Jin Baek-lim, whose hair suddenly stood on end, stood at the entrance of the dungeon.

‘How dare they!’

Having faced the Blood Cult’s immortals, as well as the other leaders of Xining’s three sects and the rising stars of the Nine Sects and One Association…

They were easier to deal with than expected.

‘As long as they aren’t those monster-like bastards!’

As long as it was not the girl who brandished a pair of fleshy palms like swords and the young monster who raised a tornado with a single sword, anyone was worth confronting.

It was a situation where he was full of confidence in his own martial arts.

Jin Baek-lim estimated the distance from the opponent through the creaking sound of the dungeon stairs.

‘Come!’

The moment they rose to the entrance, he slashed down his massive ghost-head broadsword. A powerful strike that could slice even a thick-skinned tiger in half in a single blow.

However, with a tearing sound, what he cut was the half-open iron door of the dungeon.

Additionally, what entered his vision was some playboy backing away while supporting the prisoners of the Nine Sects and Seven Families, and a greenhorn who seemed not to have even reached twenty at a glance.

‘To think such greenhorns dare to invade our sect?!’

Anger welled up, and strength surged into his upper arm holding the saber.

“You bastard!”

Jin Baek-lim immediately swung the saber upward from where it had been slashed down.

At that moment, to his surprise, didn’t the greenhorn raise his foot to block his saber?

It was absurd.

‘Just die.’

The moment he swung the saber upward with the intention of slicing him in half right there,

Clang!

“Hup!”

Although there should have been a sensation of parting flesh and bone, his ghost-head broadsword was blocked by the tip of the young Taoist’s foot.

In addition, the fact he confirmed was…

‘He cleverly avoided the blade and blocked the body of the saber with his foot!’

A move that one would not dare attempt unless they were a master of unarmed strikes.

Jin Baek-lim immediately corrected his stance and backed away.

A martial world maxim came to mind anew.

Beware of old men, women, and children!

Realizing that it was not an empty saying, a dark red haze began to rise from Jin Baek-lim’s body.

‘I must use my full power!’

He crammed the cultivation power of the Mount Wang Art —which he had created by weaving together the breathing methods learned in the military and the internal arts learned from renowned wanderers—into the ghost-head broadsword raised upward.

At that sight, the young Taoist also seemed to realize something, reached behind his back, and drew the sword he was carrying. Holding the Yan family man, who was larger than himself, in one hand and a longsword in the other as he thrust it forward, his posture looked extremely precarious.

However, Jin Baek-lim did not let his guard down.

For the opponent was a disciple of the Nine Sects.

‘I’ll end this in a single strike!’

The stance of the Datong Sect Leader’s signature ultimate technique, Heaven Mountain Split —which could not possibly be blocked by a pliant longsword—began to draw a diagonal line from bottom to top.

As the broadsword slash containing the intent of domineering force to cleave even a massive celestial mountain cut through the space, the flow of true qi and the texture of the air distorted.

‘It’s done!’

Because the young Wudang Sect disciple stood frozen in the exact stance of extending his sword without even reacting to the slash, at the moment he was certain…

‘Hmm?!’

The tip of the sword began to draw concentric circles like a snail’s shell and form a small vortex,

And the routine of his straight-thrusting first stance of the Heaven Mountain Split began to distort strangely.