I Obtained Guan Yu's Martial Arts - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Obtained Guan Yu’s Martial Arts — Chapter 74
Life and Righteousness (6)
Splinters from the shattered table scattered like projectiles through the air, while the rising dust swirled down like falling leaves.
And at the center of that dust cloud—
“Heh… heh…”
Guo Zhongshan, the Heavenly Father, lay sprawled with his head driven into the earth.
The wrists he’d relied upon for his grip strength hung limply, bent at grotesque angles.
The broken bones of his wrists hung there, shattered evidence of complete destruction.
“The… the Heavenly Father lost!?”
“He boasted an undefeated reputation in grip strength…”
“Who in heaven’s name possessed such absurd power!?”
The onlookers gasped in astonishment, each throwing out a remark.
In Shaanxi, it was Guo Zhongshan who was called first in raw strength.
A man who had never tasted defeat, who snapped the wrists of martial artists like chopsticks—their shock was only natural.
“Mm. My apologies.”
Guan Hui stroked his beard, looking down at him without the slightest trace of exertion despite the impossible display of power.
“Apologies… you say?”
“Yes. I didn’t realize your wrists were quite so frail.”
“…!!”
Blood vessels stood out across the whites of Guo Zhongshan’s eyes.
He was no fool.
He knew all too well that these were words meant to provoke him.
He had far too much experience mocking his opponents after crushing their arms.
“Growing muscle size alone doesn’t make one strong. You’ll need to return to studying External Martial Art from the beginning.”
Guo Zhongshan possessed muscles so massive they stood out sharply even beneath his martial robes.
His forearms alone were thick as gourds.
Born with the Heavenly Martial Body and forged through daily External Martial Art training, even Guan Hui’s physique was dwarfed by Guo Zhongshan’s frame—his muscles were twice as large.
“And yet your arms still can’t reach your back? How foolish.”
Guan Hui clicked his tongue at the sight of Guo Zhongshan’s unnecessarily massive musculature.
A ceaseless stream of mockery.
Guo Zhongshan, who had only ever dealt out such insults and never received them, grew short of breath and began to foam at the mouth.
It was a precursor to Fire Deviation Demons Entering Body.
“Your mind is weak as well.”
With those final words, Guan Hui drove a blade through Guo Zhongshan’s heart and departed without hesitation.
Behind him lay the murmur of the crowd.
“Truly… a magnificent man.”
“Impressive physique indeed. Like watching a great warrior of old.”
“Those whiskers… divine! It’s as if we’ve witnessed the return of the Handsome Bearded One!”
As he returned to his seat, Huang Xiaozhe greeted him with a knowing smile.
“That was hard work. You stepped in deliberately, didn’t you?”
“Mm.”
Huang Xiaozhe, who observed Guan Hui closely at all times, understood the reason for his intervention.
That beast Guo Zhongshan had broken the arm of a common civilian, not a martial artist.
“I merely taught him some manners.”
Righteousness is not merely the suppression of bandits and the destruction of Black Path forces.
It is also to step forward for the weak in such personal matters as these.
This was what Guan Hui understood as righteousness—the Righteous Path.
“Ahahaha!”
Chu Xue burst into laughter, clutching her belly.
She had laughed so hard that tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, and her lips had spread all the way to her cheekbones.
“That was… absolutely delightful.”
Chu Xue wiped away the tears that had fallen while laughing and rubbed her stomach gently.
She had laughed so much that cramps had begun to set in.
“To think you’d show me something so entertaining.”
The sight of that arrogant Black Path brute being utterly defeated was so satisfying, so exhilarating.
Watching Guan Hui, he had appeared like a hero from an adventure tale.
“I’m just happy I could laugh so freely at the end.”
Chu Xue smiled, her mood clearly much improved.
At the same time, Zhang Cheng turned his head and pressed his fist to his mouth.
“Heh-heh!”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
Guan Hui replied placidly, picking up his chopsticks again.
“Well then, now that the nuisance is gone, let’s finish our meal.”
“Sounds good!”
Guan Hui and his companions turned their attention back to the delicacies spread before them.
The man with the broken arm and his subordinates watched the four of them intently for a long time.
Sharpening the blade of vengeance in their hearts.
* * *
“That cursed bastard…….”
Guo Zhongshan emerged from the medical quarters radiating murderous intent.
From his furious eyes blazed a sinister, menacing light.
Those who had been heading toward the medical quarters caught the look and turned back the way they’d come.
“Did you find out what that son of a bitch is?”
“Yes, brother. I went to the Hao Gate and asked around.”
A subordinate crept closer, gauging his mood.
“Speak.”
“First… the beautiful woman you saw is named Chu Xue.”
“Chu Xue? The one called Flower Phoenix?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“So the girl had skill to match her pretty face. What about the others?”
“Guan Hui, Zhang Cheng, and Huang Xiaozhe, respectively.”
“Never heard of them.”
“Zhang Cheng and Huang Xiaozhe are guests of the Guan Family Clan, where Guan Hui serves as Family Head.”
“The Guan Family Clan? Never heard of that either.”
The Black Path generally pursues the way of the strong preying upon the weak.
Thus most adherents of the Black Path knew intimately all the great sects and powerful families.
It was the only way to avoid the misfortune of carelessly offending the wrong people and dying needlessly.
“They’re a family that’s recently made a name for themselves in Shanxi Province. You know — the very place the Lord has been eyeing.”
“Ah. That trivial family.”
Guo Zhongshan recalled the matter concerning the Guan Family.
“Those idiots who helpfully cleared out Black Path scum so our headquarters could expand easily into Shanxi?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“The Family Head ventures out on travels? It seems talent is truly scarce in that clan.”
Guo Zhongshan let out a scornful laugh.
By nature, a Family Head is like a pillar, a guardian spirit standing firm within the family.
For such a figure to leave his post suggested the family’s circumstances were far from favorable.
“Perhaps they suffered heavy losses in personnel while fighting that Black Path faction in Shanxi?”
Ming Tianjiao was certain the Guan Family Clan had bled profusely in their battles with the Shanxi Three Great Black Gates.
Though they lacked individual skill, their numbers were so great that even the Mingtian Society regarded them warily.
It seemed all but obvious that the Guan Family would have paid in blood.
“Excellent. Send five of the Soul-Killer Corps there. That should be more than sufficient to finish off the survivors and wipe out the entire line.”
“Understood.”
He spoke of murder and annihilation without hesitation.
Guo Zhongshan, born and raised in the Black Path, felt neither compassion nor fear.
“Brother, what do you intend to do about this Guan Hui?”
“Kill him. Send three of the Soul-Killer Corps after him as well.”
“Brother, but he’s currently in the Huazhong Sect?”
“…Then don’t send them now.”
The Huazhong Sect and the Mingtian Society.
Both claimed to be the supreme authority of the Righteous Path and Black Path in Shaanxi, respectively.
Yet that did not mean the two sects’ military strength was equal.
Shaanxi is vast; in the reaches where Huazhong’s influence wanes, Mingtian holds dominion.
If the two sects were to clash in earnest, Mingtian’s defeat was certain.
“Is the Huazhong Sect Master still in Secluded Cultivation?”
“Yes. As far as we know, his period of seclusion, now over a year in duration, is still ongoing.”
“That’s fortunate, at least.”
Guo Zhongshan’s dark expression brightened somewhat.
Deng Buying, master of the Blunt Truth One Sword—such was his existence.
Merely to speak his name was to impose burden on some and fear on others.
“Whether or not he has business at the Huazhong Sect, he’ll emerge eventually. When he does, we strike.”
“Yes, understood.”
“But this fellow Guan Hui—how strong is he, exactly? Didn’t the Black Gates mention anything about that?”
“Well……”
The subordinate scratched his chin awkwardly.
“We’d already spent all the money you gave us on other information. I wasn’t able to obtain anything beyond that.”
“……”
Guo Zhongshan, his brow furrowed, raised his hand toward the sky.
Crack!—
He brought his palm down hard against the subordinate’s head and clicked his tongue.
“Fool. You should have gotten it on credit if necessary.”
“Should I—should I go now?”
“Never mind. He’s nothing special anyway. No point wasting more money on a corpse-to-be.”
Guo Zhongshan let out a snort of contempt, speaking with certainty.
No matter how capable this bastard was, he’d be nothing but a third-rate fighter below the Peak Realm.
Three members of the Soul-Killer Corps would be more than enough.
* * *
The Huazhong Sect, nestled like a sash around the waist of Mount Hua, was a place that made first-time visitors instinctively pause in their steps.
Ancient pines, several centuries old by the look of them, formed a screen-like barrier before the gates.
The narrow, straight path of stone that threaded between them disappeared into clouds, its end beyond sight.
“They say it was once a dwelling place of immortals. It certainly looks the part.”
Zhang Cheng gasped at the exquisite vista before them.
“They say it was influenced by Daoism. There’s definitely a feeling of distance from the mundane world.”
Huang Xiaozhe, her eyes wide, murmured as she surveyed their surroundings.
“Even a hooligan like Chu Liang could emerge from a place so thick with spiritual essence.”
“……”
Chu Xue averted her gaze, pretending not to hear.
There was nothing to dispute.
Her eyes fell to the rope slung across her shoulder.
It was the cord attached to the wooden box on her back.
Chu Xue suddenly felt the weight of the wooden box growing heavier.
The closer they drew to the Huazhong Sect, the more it pressed down on her like a thousand pounds.
“Hmm……”
“It’s impressive.”
She walked ahead in silence through the group, who were absorbed in sightseeing.
Step— step—
With each step forward, one of the seven colors faded away.
Soon, all the colors vanished, and before her eyes remained only black and white.
A grim landscape drained of all hue.
It was just as she lowered her gaze toward the gates of the Huazhong Sect, now looming before her.
“We’re nearly there.”
Guan Hui, who unlike Huang Xiaozhe and Zhang Cheng had been watching only her back intently, drew near to her side.
“……Thank you.”
In that moment, a single ray of light pierced through her colorless world.
The man who had breathed a pale rose-colored breath into her suffocated heart now walked beside her in silence.
What was he thinking?
There was no way to know.
‘I don’t want to know.’
The desire to understand only breeds attachment.
She took a step away from Guan Hui’s side as she spoke.
“From here, I’ll go alone.”
Chu Xue moved forward without waiting for a reply and opened the gates of the Huazhong Sect.
The guards stationed at the gates gave a light nod and stepped aside.
And then the sight revealed itself.
There were no disciples focused on cultivation as usual, no sound of children’s laughter.
The only one to greet her was a single elderly man of lean build.
“……Elder.”
Eyes sliced sharply open, a beard of ash-gray worn sparse and thin.
The old man, who bore the visage of a treacherous minister from the annals of history, was Tuo Xianwei, the Huazhong Sect’s elder and master of the Sunset Sword.
“I’ve heard everything already. Word has spread far and wide.”
“I see……”
It had been Chu Liang’s plan all along.
Cunning enough to outmaneuver even the Black Path itself, he had arranged things so that if I died, the blame would fall squarely on Guan Hui.
“Is the rumor true? No—there’s no need to ask. The stench of blood is already hanging in the air.”
……
Chu Xue lowered the wooden box she had been carrying on her back without a word.
Inside the half-open box lay Chu Liang, his head severed, eyes closed in death.
“So it’s true.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Why?”
The elder’s gaze fixed upon Chu Xue with the bitter chill of a deep winter’s northwest wind.
He had already heard the reports, and judgment on her punishment had long since been decided.
“Because it is the Righteous Way.”
“Foolish and arrogant.”
Shing—
Elder Tuo Xianwei, who had been glaring at her with eyes sharp as ice, drew his blade.
His sword gleamed with ruthless clarity, living up to his epithet: the blade that darkens even the sun.
“According to the sect’s strict codes, your Dantian should be sealed and your Four Limb Meridians severed.”
“Yes. I understand.”
“Yet as one who raised you from childhood, I cannot bear to watch you struggle through life in such degradation.”
His words held affection, yet his expression remained as cold as stone.
“I will behead you instead. Death is far kinder than what awaits otherwise.”
“I will accept your judgment, Elder.”
Chu Xue had always intended to end her own life anyway, once her meridians were severed.
This death would merely come sooner—but she did not object.
At least the suffering would be less.
“Go well, then.”
Tuo Xianwei’s blade rose skyward, eclipsing the sun as it climbed.
Whoosh!—
Without hesitation he swung, the steel cleaving through the air and descending toward Chu Xue’s head.
Clang!—
A silver azure dragon erupted from nowhere, its fangs clamping down upon the falling blade.

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