Almighty God of War - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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074

That evening, Guyang Cheongang, who had simply packed his belongings for tomorrow’s departure, sat drinking tea with Du Jinseong in the pavilion located in the separate building’s garden.

Du Jinseong had a thoughtful expression and hadn’t even touched his tea.

He opened his mouth.

“Grand Young Master, please take me with you. Elder Hwang isn’t accompanying you either, and if you tell me to stay behind as well, then who will serve the Grand Young Master?”

Guyang Cheongang set down his tea cup and looked at him.

“Brother Du’s intelligence and talent shouldn’t be wasted serving as an attendant by my side.”

His voice was gentle, but it carried an irrefutable weight.

“Until now, having no one to trust, I’ve worked Elder Hwang too hard despite his advanced age. Now I hope Brother Du will take on that role. Important matters that our family’s future depends on, such as secret communications with Bamboo Forest Manor and other allies, and financial management. I trust in Brother Du’s abilities.”

Confirming that Guyang Cheongang had no intention of changing his mind, Du Jinseong sighed in disappointment and bowed his head.

“Sigh… I understand, Grand Young Master. I will obey your command.”

It was at that very moment.

Guyang Cheongang’s eyes subtly changed.

However, Du Jinseong, who was looking down at the ground in disappointment, didn’t notice this.

With Akasha activated at the fourth stage, Guyang Cheongang could now release ten thousand nanobots externally to protect himself.

Even so, there was no interference with his daily life whatsoever.

At the same time, the nanobots’ surveillance detection range had expanded to 100 meters (33 jang), and Akasha could transmit everything within that range as still images to his mind.

Of course, image transmission required all one thousand units to be deployed, with the limitation of one image per minute.

The Constant Qi Circulation System of the Transcendent Impermanence Divine Art, backed by this Gapja-level internal energy, could easily handle all of this.

Guyang Cheongang’s lips moved silently behind the tea cup covering his chin area.

It was Sound Transmission.

[Elder Hwang, there’s an intruder.]

[What?]

The surprised voice of Elder Hwang, who was guarding Guyang Cheongang while hidden in the shade of Estate Mountain about five jang away, could be heard.

His voice contained faint disbelief beyond surprise.

[I haven’t detected any presence at all, Young Master.]

[Near the back gate wall, twenty jang from here. Someone whose stealth has reached the pinnacle.]

Elder Hwang was astonished.

[T-twenty jang? How on earth…?]

It was common knowledge in Murim that even a supreme master’s range for detecting human presence didn’t exceed ten jang.

Twenty jang was the realm of Transformation.

[I have my own methods.]

Guyang Cheongang cut off Elder Hwang’s words.

A still image sent by Akasha appeared in his mental vision.

A man in black clothes was clinging to the shade beneath the wall like a lizard, peering inside.

If one hadn’t known to look, his stealth technique was so exquisite that it would be difficult to distinguish even in the image.

Guyang Cheongang spoke to Du Jinseong with a calm expression.

“Brother Du, please go inside and rest now.”

As soon as Du Jinseong left, Elder Hwang’s tense voice continued again.

[If it’s someone who can display stealth techniques that I cannot detect, he must certainly be a professional assassin!]

[An assassin… you mean someone sent to kill me.]

[I’ll deal with him immediately!]

[No. I’ll handle it.]

Guyang Cheongang’s answer was firm.

[It’s too dangerous for you to act directly, Young Master!]

[To hear such words, you know that I’ve become quite a bit stronger, don’t you, Elder?]

Confidence filled Guyang Cheongang’s voice.

[This is a night visitor who came targeting me. As the host, I should greet him kindly. And for the current me, this level of intruder can serve as good real combat experience.]

Elder Hwang fell silent.

Though he was worried, Guyang Cheongang’s words were correct.

He had been feeling for some time that the young master was no helpless child.

Guyang Cheongang began waiting for his guest in the darkness while handling the cold tea cup.

Number Seven entered the back garden like a ghost.

His movements were so stealthy that they didn’t break not only sound and presence, but even the flow of air.

He approached Guyang Cheongang, who was drinking tea defensively in the pavilion, slowly but surely.

Distance to target: one jang.

It was the perfect assassination distance that had never failed once in the past twenty-odd years he had been in the world of blood.

‘For a sick bastard who doesn’t know when he’ll die, one thousand silver taels… the client must be making a fuss over nothing.’

He sneered inwardly while looking at the target’s relaxed back.

Kicking off the ground, he shot into the pavilion like a streak of black shadow.

The pitch-black dagger blade, reflecting not a single point of moonlight, ruthlessly pierced toward Guyang Cheongang’s nape.

It was a perfect assassination strike that even a Murim master couldn’t avoid.

Guyang Cheongang calmly brought his tea cup to his lips as if unaware of anything.

At that very moment, Akasha’s calm voice rang in his mind.

[High-speed approaching object detected at cervical area. Nanobots in corresponding area condensing to maximum hardness. Activating defense protocol.]

Clang-!

It wasn’t the ‘thud’ sound of cutting flesh.

A sharp and eerie sound of metal striking metal shattered the pavilion’s silence.

The moment the dagger touched his neck, a blue microscopic hexagonal honeycomb pattern appeared on Guyang Cheongang’s neck skin for an instant before disappearing.

“…!”

Number Seven’s eyes widened as if they would tear from shock.

His dagger, which could pierce through steel an inch thick, bounced off as if it had hit an invisible wall.

At the same time, his wrist twisted as if it would break.

In that brief moment while Number Seven was frozen in shock, Guyang Cheongang finished the action he had been performing.

He leisurely took a sip of tea and set down the tea cup with a clinking sound.

Only then did he turn his head and look at Number Seven with indifferent eyes.

Number Seven felt goosebumps rise on his spine.

But his hand, like one who had undergone long training, was reflexively thrusting the dagger toward Guyang Cheongang’s heart.

Spot!

However, that was his final gesture.

Guyang Cheongang’s right hand moved so fast it didn’t even leave an afterimage.

Whoosh-

It was Gale Chain Palm, but its power was on a different dimension from the past.

Through his continued training to increase qi density, his palm force now carried incomparable weight compared to before.

It was overwhelming mass violence that seemed capable of toppling even Mount Tai.

Bang!

The first palm force struck Number Seven’s chest at a speed invisible to his eyes.

His sternum caved inward, creating a hole the size of a head in his chest.

Before Number Seven could even scream, the second palm that followed shattered his head.

Splat!

With a thick spray of blood, Number Seven’s headless body fell backward.

Guyang Cheongang slowly rose from his seat and looked down at his palm indifferently.

‘Is this the power of Gale Chain Palm with added mass… terrifying.’

A breeze seemed to blow, and Elder Hwang silently appeared beside him.

He looked at Guyang Cheongang with complex eyes mixing surprise and pride, and said.

“Are you injured anywhere, Young Master?”

“No. I intended to just subdue him and investigate his background… but I failed to control my strength.”

Guyang Cheongang looked at the assassin’s corpse and continued asking.

“Elder, do you know if this person operates alone, or if he belongs to an assassin sect?”

Elder Hwang shook his head.

“We won’t be able to find out. Real assassins don’t carry anything that could prove their identity.”

He examined the corpse briefly before continuing.

“However, this person’s movement technique and dagger technique are extremely practical assassin skills, refined by cutting away all unnecessary elements solely for killing. He’s someone who has been in the assassination business for at least twenty years.”

“If assassins are targeting me, I must leave the family estate tomorrow before any innocent harm occurs. If I’m the target, they’ll follow me.”

At Guyang Cheongang’s words, Elder Hwang asked.

“Even in this situation, you won’t change your mind about leaving this old man here and going alone?”

“You saw it yourself, Elder. I’ve become too strong to fall to the likes of assassins.”

“Hmm…”

A bitter smile appeared on Elder Hwang’s face as he let out a deep sigh.

“You’re as stubborn as your late Lady Mother, Young Master.”

Guyang Cheongang burst into light laughter.

“Haha, where else would that blood go?”

“Young Master, please go inside now. This old man will handle the cleanup.”

“I’ll leave it to you, Elder.”

Just as Guyang Cheongang was about to turn around.

Kieek-!

Golden King, who had been playing with Guyang Cheongcheong and only now appeared, saw the bloodstains and corpse on the ground, let out a startled cry, and leaped onto Guyang Cheongang’s shoulder.

The creature angrily grabbed and pulled at Guyang Cheongang’s ear, as if protesting ‘Why did you do such dangerous things without me!’

Kiek kiek!

Guyang Cheongang chuckled and patted the creature’s head.

“Golden Brother, you’re the one who was late, so isn’t getting angry at me crossing the line? The situation is over, so don’t be so angry.”

He returned to his room with the grumbling Golden King.

* * *

A troubled expression appeared on the Lord’s previously expressionless face.

He asked the masked man prostrating before him.

“One, Number Seven is dead?”

“That’s correct.”

The Lord furrowed his brow.

“Guyang Cheongang can’t learn martial arts due to Nine Yin Severed Meridians. So he couldn’t have killed Number Seven… It seems he has guards protecting him.”

“There was nothing about his guard warriors in the information the client provided or what we collected ourselves.”

“Hmm…”

One spoke.

“Lord, how about withdrawing for now? We could postpone the assassination of Guyang Cheongang until after we gather information about his guard warriors…”

The Lord shook his head.

“That’s impossible. If I can’t even complete such a simple assassination, what face would I have to show the Sect Master? We proceed as planned.”

It was the law of Blood Sea that subordinates couldn’t object once a superior made a decision.

One bowed his head.

“Understood.”

“If there are guard warriors, we just need to separate them.”

“How…”

“We need to make Guyang Cheongang leave his guard warriors behind and come looking for us on his own.”

The Lord’s eyes gleamed with sinister killing intent as he muttered.

* * *

The next morning.

To depart on his journey, Guyang Cheongang shouldered his well-dried bundle, placed Golden King on his shoulder, and opened his door.

But even before opening the door, he sensed that the air within the family estate was different from usual.

Instead of the quiet stillness that should fill the morning, he heard the urgent footsteps of servants and suppressed murmuring from afar.

He instinctively knew something had happened.

Elder Hwang was waiting for him in front of the door with a bewildered expression.

“Elder, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t know either. I’ll find out right away, Young Master.”

Before Elder Hwang could even take a step, Du Jinseong came running like an arrow, his face pale as death.

His usually neat and orderly attire was disheveled, and the headband on his head was crooked.

“Grand Young Master! Youngest Miss disappeared during the night!”

His voice was filled with self-reproach and bewildered confusion about what to do.

Guyang Cheongang’s complexion instantly hardened.

“Brother Du, calm down and tell me in detail. What do you mean Cheong-a is missing?”

“The maid who went to the Miss’s room this morning with wash water discovered that the Miss wasn’t in her room. Thinking she might have gone to Lady Mother, she went to the Family Head’s quarters, but she wasn’t there either. Everyone in the family estate is now scattered searching for the Miss, but…”

Guyang Cheongang and Elder Hwang’s eyes met in midair.

Both men simultaneously sensed that Guyang Cheongcheong’s disappearance was definitely not unrelated to last night’s assassin intrusion.

Guyang Cheongang gritted his teeth.

The nanobots conducted surveillance detection within a 100-meter radius 24 hours a day, even when he slept.

However, the Guyang Family Estate was vast, and the separate building where he stayed was over 200 meters away from the main building.

That’s why he failed to detect this commotion.

Just then, a shabby-looking boy came walking hesitantly from the main gate direction with guard warriors.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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