I Prayed for a Murim Reincarnation, But I Was Born as the Youngest Imperial Prince - Chapter 40

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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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Chapter 40
The Leader of Baekwol Sect was utterly confused.
Why?
Had this boy not said with his own mouth that his sect was a nameless, obscure group?
And such a sect had raised a young master like this?
His mind refused to accept it.
Something like this would only make sense if the opponent were the successor of the Namgung Clan in Anhui Province, the one rumored to be their next patriarch and strongest warrior.
Even standard Jeoljeong Gosu were by no means common, so a Jeoljeong Gosu who was ‘this young’ should be exceedingly rare.
‘This… this cannot be!’
He had simply been careless just now.
That was why he had been caught off guard.
There was no way his esteemed self could be inferior to a green, wet-behind-the-ears brat.
Right, using the Full Moon Filling the Sky had been his mistake.
Trying to subdue the boy in a single blow had backfired instead.
He needed to be a bit calmer….
[Baekwol Chanma]
Yes, he would use this to lightly test the waters first.
Trying to use an ultimate move right from the beginning was what had allowed his blind spot to be pierced.
The saber Qi that had been blanketing the area converged into a single line, unleashing a fierce yet clean strike.
It appeared simple, but for that very reason, it lacked any openings.
Watching Peng Muliang’s much calmer response, Seonwu thought that the man hadn’t reached the Peak Realm entirely by fluke after all.
‘But well, that’s about all he’s got.’
It wasn’t amateurish.
But putting it another way, it lacked the level of refinement found in the Jinyiwei Guards.
He could see exactly where and how to break through it.
Hmm, since he had started this with his fists, he might as well finish it with his fists.
What you just used—let me show you how to do it properly.
Seonwu’s fists multiplied countlessly, blanketing the saber.
[Jewangcheongun]
“Huh?”
The concentrated saber Qi hacked away at the Fist Shadows, but after cutting through three or four, it lost its momentum.
Overwhelming the strike, the ever-multiplying Fist Shadows began to batter Peng Muliang’s entire body.
Thud.
Thwack.
Thud.
As all of them rushed forward, it felt as though an entire army had risen from all sides to engulf him.
“Urgh.”
He was struck in the head.
He was struck in the waist.
He was struck in the chest, and struck in the legs.
He was struck in the arms, and struck in the shoulders.
He was struck in the neck, and struck in the stomach.
He truly could not pull himself together.
He had reigned like a petty king in the local Wulin, fearing absolutely nothing, but now he was being thrashed like a helpless peasant.
Just like the subordinates he used to beat whenever he was in a foul mood, he was now the one being thoroughly thrashed.
If he had been cleanly cut down in a single blow, he might have at least maintained the dignity of a master.
A master meeting a greater master in a clean, decisive match.
If only that kind of romance had remained.
But now, because he was simply being beaten to a pulp, the morale of his watching subordinates plummeted straight to the floor.
‘The Munju!’
‘He’s being overwhelmed so effortlessly?’
‘Was our Munju only at that level?’
Or was the opponent simply too powerful?
However, their own situation wasn’t any better.
Because Dan Suyeong was running wild like a tiger leaped into a pack of dogs.
Swoosh.
The sword, still encased in its scabbard, slashed outward.
At the very least, the fact that the internal force infused within it wasn’t honed to a razor-sharp edge meant he wasn’t killing them.
Yet it was incredibly perilous; the moment those single strikes landed, it felt as though their bones would shatter into dust.
Thus, the three Hall Masters and the remaining subordinates joined forces to form a formation, attempting to withstand that momentum.
Entangling sabers parried the sword all at once.
The remaining sabers aimed for various spots on Dan Suyeong’s body.
If they targeted him like this, even if he were a Jeoljeong Gosu, blocking every direction wouldn’t be easy. He would have to block, deflect, and dodge, which ought to prevent him from attacking them at his own whim.
Yet Dan Suyeong ignored it completely, pressing his attack straight forward with the intent to eliminate a Hall Master-level combatant first.
His horizontally slashing sword deflected the attacks of the front two Hall Masters, and the Sword Qi that erupted alongside it pierced through the subordinates’ chaotic sabers, shooting outward.
Though it was Sword Qi, its straight extension made it resemble a spear.
As the Sword Qi extending in all directions pierced various parts of the subordinates’ bodies, blood splattered and sprayed everywhere.
“Gah, ugh.”
“Aaargh!”
Fortunately, not many were struck in vital spots, but the bleeding wounds brought intense pain, draining their strength and morale.
If this continued, the collapse of the formation was inevitable.
Therefore, as they witnessed the third Hall Master’s saber slash into Dan Suyeong’s shoulder from behind, a glimmer of hope flared within them.
With this, Dan Suyeong would be injured, and his wild rampage would slow down.
Clang!
What shattered that hope into a thousand pieces was the saber bouncing away without leaving even a single scratch.
“Gasp!”
“Is… is it a body protection martial art?”
A Body Protecting Astral Qi?
An Iron Shirt?
The name and type didn’t matter.
The critical point was that the saber of the third Hall Master—not just any ordinary martial artist—had bounced right off.
Excluding the Munju, the three Hall Masters were the strongest.
Since the difference in martial arts among the first, second, and third Hall Masters was negligible, the third Hall Master’s saber bouncing off meant the attacks of the rest wouldn’t work either.
Dan Suyeong’s role was to escort Seonwu under the guise of being his Junior Disciple.
Hence, they had even matched their aliases as Seonyeong and Jeolyeong.
Though being martial brothers from the same sect didn’t mean their martial arts had to be completely identical, it would also be strange if they were entirely different.
Of course, when it came to a place like Shaolin which boasted Seventy-Two Supreme Arts, one person might use palm techniques, another fist techniques, and another staff techniques.
They could all be completely different, but…
Thus, as a subject, he could not dare to learn the exact same martial art as his lord, but he had mastered one that appeared similar.
To correspond with the Vajra Indestructible Divine Art that Seonwu had mastered, Dan Suyeong had also cultivated a body protection art.
The Iron Ox Invulnerability Qigong.
Though it humbly used the title of a martial art instead of a divine art, it was actually a body protection art classified under the third grade of the Earth Pavilion.
While it was true that it fell just a single hair short of the Diamond Indestructible Body, it was still a body protection art capable of blocking most attacks, even those from an opponent in the same Peak Realm.
It was well worthy of being called impervious to blades and immune to all poisons.
Aside from inner energy, mastering it required a vast amount of spiritual medicine for external conditioning.
Furthermore, the process was excruciatingly painful, but once mastered, it gave him an upper hand against illusionary or rapid sword styles of the same realm, and it was highly effective against heavy or strong swords as well.
Therefore, it easily deflected the saber of someone who was merely a high-class master.
Crunch!
Ignoring the attack from the rear, Dan Suyeong’s strike carried through to the very end, and the sound of the first Hall Master’s shoulder bone shattering echoed out.
“Keo-hook.”
The moment his primary right shoulder was pulverized, the options available to a saber-wielder drastically diminished.
And while formations were typically designed so that if less critical members fell one by one, others would just step in to fill the gap.
There were still plenty of first-class and second-class martial artists in the White Moon Sect to fill the head count.
But what if one of the three core pillars fell?
The power of the entire formation shriveled instantly.
How could a weakened formation handle a rampaging master whom they couldn’t properly block even when they were whole?
Thwack.
At the last second, he twisted the sword that normally would have severed a neck, shattering another shoulder instead.
When the second Hall Master suffered the same fate, the third Hall Master’s morale hit rock bottom.
‘Damn it, damn it! Why isn’t the Munju surrendering already!’
No matter how good their medicine and doctors were, this wasn’t a clean fracture.
An shoulder pulverized to near dust like that could not be fully restored with ordinary medicine.
And there was no guarantee that they could receive such high-grade treatment, even if they were high-class masters.
If permanent aftereffects remained, he might never recover his original martial prowess as a saber-wielder.
But should he grovel right here?
Even if he begged for his life, he didn’t know if the opponent would show mercy, and besides, the first and second Hall Masters had fallen while fighting. If he alone surrendered?
The aftermath once these two martial brothers left would be a problem.
He needed to fall only after having a bone broken somewhere himself.
‘Please, can’t he just cleanly break an arm or a leg bone instead?’
He desperately tried to protect his shoulders.
He was all alone now anyway, so what kind of counterattack could he possibly launch?
It didn’t even have to be his whole body.
Please, just spare his two shoulders.
Dan Suyeong granted that wish.
Because he struck the waist of the third Hall Master, who was solely focused on defending his shoulders.
“Aaargh!”
With a scream, the third Hall Master collapsed to the ground.
Considering his future as a man, it was highly questionable whether this was a better injury, but still.
With those three taken down, the rest grew terrified and began to scatter.
Yet Dan Suyeong still had no intention of showing them leniency.
‘Sacrilegious bastards.’
They were insolent because they didn’t know the true identity of His Imperial Highness the Prince?
That was why Dan Suyeong didn’t get angry at the commoners outside who failed to bow their heads when the Prince passed by.
He possessed that much discernment.
But these people had broken the laws of the land time and time again.
Had they not repeated the exact same crimes over and over while running the Yama Debt Ring?
Is violating the decrees promulgated by His Imperial Majesty the Emperor not a direct sacrilege against the Imperial Family?
And in front of the Prince, who had witnessed their crimes on the spot and rebuked them, they had showed no remorse whatsoever, but had instead spouted insolent words.
If they had spoken that way knowing he was the Prince, it would be a capital crime worthy of exterminating their nine generations, but since they did it in ignorance, he was ending it at this level in accordance with his benevolent lord’s will.
Having struck down all three Hall Masters, his sword swept through the surroundings, and his fists shot out amidst the chaos.
Now, three or four men were knocked flat within a mere breath.
“Aaaaargh!”
“Spare me!”
“Run away!”
Screaming outright, around two hundred men scattered in all directions.
Peng Muliang, the Leader of Baekwol Sect who had been beaten senseless by Seonwu, barely managed to witness the situation.
And he realized that holding out any longer would only result in a worse beating.
“I… I lose.”
“Your speech is too short.”
Seonwu, who had only been beating him enough to cause pain, increased the intensity of his fists.
Already staggering from the full-body assault, the leader could not block it.
The heavier fists were no longer just inflicting pain.
They were fracturing the bones across his entire body.
His arm bones gave way.
His leg bones gave way.
His ribs cracked, and his shoulder bones shattered.
Under that agony, Peng Muliang could hold out no longer.
He lacked the grit to proudly shout at Seonwu to just kill him instead.
He possessed Peak Realm martial prowess, but he hadn’t climbed to his position by surviving those kinds of life-or-death duels.
“Sp… Spare my life. I admit to everything. I admit to everything.”
“Then get down on your knees.”
Seonwu halted his fists and commanded.
Peng Muliang didn’t even have the luxury to think about what would happen to his authority afterward if he groveled here.
He simply prostrated himself to avoid being beaten any further.
The three collapsed Hall Masters also witnessed their leader’s pathetic display.
Several disciples saw it while fleeing.
Even the ordinary servants and maids saw it.
They all witnessed him groveling miserably, far beyond a simple defeat in battle.
It was the exact moment the authority of the Munju shattered to pieces.
* * *
Having broken the leader, Seonwu watched Dan Suyeong running wild as he pursued the fleeing thugs.
‘Hmm, strictly speaking, if he were a model bodyguard, it would be correct for him to return to my side and prioritize protecting me after chasing them this far, right?’
Right now, as he charged around capturing them, he looked less like a guard dog and more like a hunting hound.
To be more precise, he looked like a wolf on the hunt.
But then again, Seonwu was the one who told him not to suppress that nature and to just let it loose.
‘I already have plenty of bodyguards who stay perfectly by my side.’
Wouldn’t it be better to let that fellow do what suits him best?
Still, this was far enough.
“Junior Disciple, stop the chase and let’s clean up here first. How far can those bastards even run anyway?”
“Understood.”
Dan Suyeong stopped instantly.
The ferocious, rampaging killing intent vanished in a single breath.
He immediately came to Seonwu’s side and stood politely.
His demeanor was a bit excessively respectful for dealing with a Senior Disciple, but if one considered him a junior who deeply admired his senior, it wasn’t an impossible sight.
“Hmm, is there a chair anywhere?”
Dan Suyeong moved instantly and brought over one of the White Moon Sect’s chairs.
Seonwu seated himself comfortably.
“Now then, you said you would admit to your crimes and confess, right?”
“O… Of course.”
Even as he answered in terror, Peng Muliang belatedly began to spin his gears.
The option to fight had already been completely discarded.
Those two were capable of effortlessly wiping out a sect of their level.
‘Just where on earth did such masters come from….’
Even so, he had to find a way to survive.
What should he do?
How far should he confess?
‘Look at this punk, trying to roll his brain again.’
Seonwu clicked his tongue, thinking that the guy still had a long way to go.

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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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