Chapter 83

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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An assassin whose forehead was pierced collapsed.

The raised hand of the waiter of the same age, who had been pushed back, was clutching my arm.

I lightly pushed the boy back, then swung my sword.

Immediately after, a tightly held dagger cleaved the air.

It was not that I had dodged it.

The arm of the assassin disguised as the married couple next to us flew off under the sword swung by Senior Brother Myeong-hun.

Thanks to reading my senior brother’s movement in advance, I advanced straight ahead without any unnecessary movements.

Toward the floor where a hole had been punctured.

Underneath the ruptured floor, the presence of black-clothed assassins soaring upward was felt.

‘Go down.’

I loaded my internal power fully into the sword blade.

Woo-oo-ong—!

Along with the sword hum, the sword qi force wave stretched out.

A net of true qi, whose weight was different from the release of force that was sprayed like a coating on the surface of the sword blade, was woven.

“Uh, ah!”

The rising assassins fell before they could even reach the second floor.

I turned my body just like that and scanned the surroundings.

From those who hid themselves under the tables to those whose bodies froze at the commotion that arose in a split second.

At the origin of the gazes directed toward our side, the center of the commotion, the agitation of the commoners was felt in their dilated pupils.

And.

‘It is calm.’

Eyes like still water and a clear mirror were visible here and there.

Immediately, I sent sound transmission to my senior brothers.

[Look at the people’s pupils.]

Right after, I took a step forward in the slowed sense of time.

Dung.

Along with the light foot-stamping sound unique to the Wudang Sect’s lightness skill, the creaking of the wooden planks was felt beneath my feet.

My body moved forward.

It was toward the one with pupils like still water and a clear mirror.

As our eyes met, a hand gesture followed as if adjusting their clothing, and a blade like a metal skewer was held in their hand like magic.

‘The trajectory starting from the arm. I read it.’

The amount of internal power extending from the lower dantian to the extremities of the body was at the level of the Resonance Stage.

However, that internal power gathered at the tip of the skewer’s blade at an explosive speed.

An attack that put everything into a single blow, without considering anything like successive forms.

It was a typical assassin’s martial art.

A black haze shimmered at the tip of the metal skewer, parting the flow of true qi in space as it stretched forward.

A straight trajectory connecting their hand to my forehead was drawn.

In the slowed time, I slightly tilted my head.

And I thrust my sword.

The tip of the sword drew a cycloid curve.

As the sword strike, which utilized centrifugal force to the maximum, grazed the assassin’s body ahead of the metal skewer.

The assassin’s deadly weapon narrowly grazed the side of my temple, and my sword cleaved the guy’s body a step ahead of it.

The eyes that had been like still water and a clear mirror lost focus.

Leaving the falling person behind, I moved my feet once again.

The number of cow-hair needles cleaving the air was about thirty.

The sword wind generated by a short, snapping sword strike blew away half of the cow-hair needles, and the remaining half passed by as I took a step of the Slender Willow Flutter to the side.

And another one was struck by the extended sword.

Two steps, three steps.

Every time the tip of the sword moved along with my steps, the assassins bled and collapsed.

After two breaths had passed like that.

The assassins, who had been indistinguishable from the commoners, all disappeared.

The moment I was about to immediately turn around and head to the lower floor.

“Stop!”

An assassin, covered from head to toe in black, was holding a young waiter and pointing a dagger at his neck. It was that boy waiter who had stood behind me.

“Wudang Sect’s Bringer of Chaos… It is indeed more than what I heard. I heard you are a genius crazy for martial arts. But!”

Along with those words, blood appeared from the dagger pressed against the neck of the waiter who was of the same age as me. The tip of the dagger had shallowly dug into the skin.

At that sight, Senior Brothers Myeong-hun and Myeong-jin, who had been about to rush at the assassin, hesitated.

“What is this righteousness that you guys shout about! Does it not matter to you if this child dies! Lower your sword!”

Senior Brother Myeong-hun and Senior Brother Myeong-jin let go of the swords in their hands. At that sight, a scoff burst out from beneath the black-clothed assassin’s mask.

“Hehehe. Foolish bastards. This is why orthodox softies are no good…”

The nonsense of the assassin holding the waiter hostage was washed from my ears in accordance with the ear-washing skill I had learned from living with my master.

Instead, I focused all my concentration on the combat distance between the assassin and me.

The distance and time narrowed by advancing in one step and extending the sword. As a result of calculating the difference in that combat distance.

‘Before the tip of the sword pierces the guy’s forehead, the artery will be cut.’

Even if I used the full power of my middle dantian’s inner core, it was narrowly insufficient.

Perhaps the black-clothed assassin knew this as well, as he dragged his feet and subtly retreated backward.

It was a posture to prepare even for any contingency.

For a moment, I wondered how it would be to employ the thunder energy of the Four Symbols Wind and Thunder Palm, but the moment he noticed a strange sign, the guy’s dagger seemed likely to dig into the child’s neck.

‘Before I can raise and extend the thunder energy, the assassin’s arm will be faster.’

It was a matter of the speed of supplying internal power.

‘If I had reached the Nascent Soul Stage…’

It might have been different, but.

Frustratingly, my current level of internal power was at the Elixir Condensation Stage.

Since it was the same for my senior brothers as well.

“Monster and Spirit! Are you not going to let go of your sword? Yes! How about striking your own arm with that sword instead? It wouldn’t be bad to destroy Wudang Sect’s future yourself! If you bastards are so obsessed with righteousness that you’d die for it, you should be able to give up at least one arm!”

Following his words, a few assassins around him smiled.

In the rapidly passing thought process, the figure of the Sword Immortal, Immortal Jin-cheon, flashed by.

‘Even if I don’t have one arm, I think I can overcome it.’

Although it might be a little uncomfortable, it seemed that such a deficiency would rather stir up my willpower.

I looked alternately at my sword and my arm.

[Junior brother! You aren’t really thinking of cutting it, are you?]

[That is nonsense! Wait a moment!]

The voices of my senior brothers’ sound transmission were heard, but after contemplating for a moment, I raised my sword.

“Yes! Strike it down!”

The moment the assassin shouted joyfully.

Suddenly, a shadow shimmered behind him.

To be exact, it was a human figure that leaped from the first floor to the second floor.

‘An assassin?’

It was not.

A white and fine beard reflected the lantern light of the pleasure boat on the Yangtze River beyond the window.

In the sword strike extended noiselessly, as if friction with the air did not exist, neither murderous intent nor fighting spirit was felt.

The sword, filled only with a deep, refreshing energy, passed through the place where the neck of the assassin holding the waiter hostage had been, as naturally as a wheel rolling on the road.

“Uh!”

The head of the assassin, who had held the young waiter hostage and spouted all kinds of bullshit, fell to the ground.

The sword of the Lord of the Hyeoncheon Pavilion, Immortal Mang-won.

It was the Wudang Sect’s Nine Palaces Shadow Sword.

The martial prowess of the Wudang Sect’s elder was like that.

Having lost their hostage, a significant number of the assassins immediately began to flee.

**

I contemplated whether to pursue the assassins, but I remained in the inn, fearing that they might threaten other commoners.

The waiter of the same age, who had been bowing frantically to Immortal Mang-won, soon approached me and bowed his head.

“T-Thank you! Because of me…”

A child who would not have had to shed unnecessary blood from his neck if it had not been for me blamed himself.

The trembling gestures while expressing gratitude were inevitable due to the instincts of a boy who had not learned martial arts.

After the idle thought that if he had learned martial arts, he would have made a greater name for himself as a chivalrous hero than me flashed by.

I shook my head.

“I am sorry. You hurt your neck because of me.”

“Something like this will all heal if I just put spit on it!”

The fellow pretended as if it were nothing, really putting spit on his hand and rubbing it on his neck, but.

“Ouch.”

He frowned as if it stung.

I handed over a container of gold sore ointment from my bundle, which was distributed to the disciples of the True Martial Pavilion.

“Apply it. You will feel much better.”

At my words, the child thanked me again and said.

“My name is Yi Won-yu.”

“I am Yeon Baek-jung.”

“Yeon Baek-jung? No way! Are you that Bringer of Chaos of Wudang Sect?!”

“Uh… that is indeed my nickname.”

It seemed that my name had already spread to the edges of the Hubei region.

Along with that.

“Then, did you really kill that Blood Selling Cult Leader who was selling off blood?”

“Ah, no. What I did was just…”

In the conversation with a peer whom I met for the first time since entering the Wudang Sect, I clarified the facts and answered.

Because encountering a peer who believed in incorrect facts was deeply distressing.

“…To meet such a famous person! It is an honor!”

At the words spoken spiritedly by the fellow, who had applied the gold sore ointment and wrapped a bandage around his neck, I smirked and said.

“Later, if you get tired of working as a waiter, go to a nearby Wudang Sect branch, show that gold sore ointment container, and give my name. You will probably be able to enter the Wudang Sect.”

Although it was a slightly late age to formally enter the sect.

The waiter Yi Won-yu was, in a sense, entangled in the affairs of the Jianghu.

I had to prepare a minimum safety net.

Like Master.

At my words, the fellow nodded his head vigorously.

After finishing the conversation with him.

I followed my senior brothers, roaming around the inn to search for any remaining assassins.

As a result of tracking the poison detected in the noodle bowls.

A lump of arsenic and a lump of gold were found in the kitchen chef’s bosom.

The chef was immediately handed over to the magistrate of Gong’an County.

After fighting such a fierce battle with the assassins.

We decided to leave the inn immediately.

“Since the one the assassins targeted first was our Bringer of Chaos, the number one target of the contract is probably also Bringer of Chaos. Avoiding this place will also be good for those who make a living here.”

Immortal Mang-won immediately hired a boatman with whom he had a connection. Thus, by the time we had crossed about half of the Yangtze River.

Immortal Mang-won suddenly asked me.

“Were you really going to strike down that arm?”

For a moment, I thought of citing the Sword Immortal as an example, but kept my mouth shut.

Because the fact that the Sword Immortal had been disabled was a secret.

Judging that no good would come from any leak, even if the boatman was hired by Immortal Mang-won, I shook my head.

“I was just buying time until the Elder arrived.”

Immortal Mang-won, who seemed somewhat suspicious, stroked my head with a sigh and said.

“You did well. Yes. You must continue to cherish your body in the future. Since that is the very beginning of righteousness. Only when you can protect yourself can you protect more people around you.”

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

Immortal Mang-won’s words set a fire in my heart once again.

Martial arts training.

Because I clearly felt that martial arts, which I had been absorbed in simply out of fun and interest, could save people depending on how they were used.

I recalled anew the time I cleaned out the remnants of the Blood Selling Cult during my first journey into the Jianghu.

The sight of the children and elderly people coming out of that damp underground sewer was still vivid in my mind.

Back then I had saved them, but this time was dangerous.

‘I must become stronger.’

This time, because Immortal Mang-won was present, we were able to save the life of the waiter, Yi Won-yu.

However, what if my martial uncle had not been there?

Although I did not want to think about it, either losing my arm or losing Won-yu.

It would have been one of the two.

‘I must become stronger.’

With a renewed realization, I breathed in the water qi of the Yangtze River deeply, following the mnemonic of the Primal Chaos Tai Chi Art.

In addition, through the hand holding the sword hilt, I infused true qi into the sword blade. As if it were my hand. A process of making it familiar.

As true qi extended from the center of the sword blade to the thin edge, the true qi also began to sharpen its edge little by little.

The fire deeply lit in my chest seemed to illuminate the path forward.

“It is a failure. I am sorry.”

The one wearing a bamboo hat responded to his subordinate’s report.

Young Spirit Slayer did not care.

**

Because it was a matter of course.

Instead, he asked in detail about the appearance shown by the Wudang Sect disciples at that time.

“They used swords?”

“Yes. Judging by the routine, it was assumed to be the Four Symbols Flowing Sword.”

The Four Symbols Flowing Sword.

It was one of the five sword arts representing the Wudang Sect.

Although it was a great absolute art.

“Tell me again the story of neutralizing the Sword Tree Hell’s Soul-Piercing Point with the Four Symbols Flowing Sword. In more detail, focusing on the sword path. The footwork and the position of the legs are also important.”

The Soul-Piercing Point was an assassin’s martial art that even a disciple of a typical Nine Sects could not easily neutralize.

Because it put everything into a single strike, even if the caster died, it was not easy to block.

Yet.

“His sword cleaved No. 17’s body first. Because the Girdling Vessel was accurately severed, the true qi was scattered, and he seemed to lose his strength.”

It was said that he had unleashed an even faster sword strike than the Soul-Piercing Point with the Four Symbols Flowing Sword. Listening to the event at that time, the situation was drawn clearly in Young Spirit Slayer’s head.

‘Is there a fast sword form in the Four Symbols Flowing Sword?’

If a master of Wudang Sect’s sword arts tried to display the Four Symbols Flowing Sword like a fast sword, it would not be impossible, but.

‘His specialty is a palm technique containing thunder energy.’

He had displayed such skill with a sword, setting aside his signature technique.

In just a single season.

The boy who used to display palm techniques had trained in sword arts to newly showcase his sect’s martial arts.

‘Indeed!’

It was exciting.

Within a short period of time.

He felt that Yeon Baek-jung was growing at a frightening pace.

However.

“Even so, he was just a young expert. If Wudang Sect’s elder had not been there, we would have been able to take the young guy’s arm.”

Just as his subordinate said, at the final moment, Yeon Baek-jung had tried to strike down his own arm.

Unable to overcome the combat distance with the hostage.

‘He could have just killed the hostage and taken the head.’

The behavior, typical of an orthodox softie, was not understood at all.

A feeling as if he had discovered a flaw in a perfect story disturbed his mind.

In addition to that, judging by the combat distance with that hostage, Yeon Baek-jung was still below him.

For now.

However, he did not know how long the advantage he, Young Spirit Slayer, held would last.

It was especially so because Young Spirit Slayer had never met anyone among his peers in the world who possessed talent superior to his own.

Therefore, it was interesting.

He became curious.

How much more difficult would it become to kill Yeon Baek-jung in the future?

That thought lit a fire in his heart.

Because, by nature, the harder the task one accomplished, the greater the pleasure that remained at the end.

“Keep an eye on their path. I must continue to watch his martial arts in the future.”

He could not estimate how far this young target of the contract would grow.

Thus, he could not guess how much pleasure it would bring him.

That unpredictability was thoroughly to his liking.

After crossing the Yangtze River.

We always took turns trying to sleep.

“Because among the assassin sects, the famous ones send assassins until they succeed in the contract.”

**

Senior Brother Myeong-jin looked at me with concern.

However, the assassin attacks that we worried about did not come again.

And we were finally able to arrive in front of the gate of the Murim Alliance’s Guizhou branch.

And.

“Uh… this…”

“It is unusual.”

Bloodstains were splattered all over the branch’s main gate.

It was the trace of a fierce battle.