Ten Paths of the Master - Chapter 116

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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 116. A Frog in a Well
Hup Ju.
Hwang Shan.
Hwang Shan held seventy-two peaks, large and small.
One hundred thirty-three martial masters had gathered atop Yeon Hwa Bong, the highest among them.
They were masters of the Five Evil Sword Sect, united under the name Cheon Do Hoe.
The Five Evil Sword Sect meant the Shaolin Temple—East Peak Tai Shan Faction, West Peak Hwa Shan Faction, South Peak Hyung Shan Faction, North Peak Hang Shan Faction, and Central Peak.
True to their reputation as the righteous path’s greatest schools, more than a hundred thirty warriors moved without so much as a whisper.
High noon.
Cheon Do Hoe encircled a stone ravine halfway up Yeon Hwa Bong.
Gong Sonchan, the leader of Cheon Do Hoe, surveyed the surroundings.
The venerable monks Mu Saeng, Mu Myeong, and Mu A of Shaolin Temple, and the Eighteen Arhats they had trained, caught his eye first.
They were the masters he trusted most.
Beside them stood the elders of Hwa Shan Faction and twenty-four Plum Blossom Sword Masters, the elders of Hyung Shan Faction and the Seven Swords of Hyung Shan, along with twenty disciples of Hyung Shan Faction.
Finally, Gong Sonchan’s gaze turned toward the elders of Tai Shan Faction and the Ten Heroes of Tai Shan, the elders of Hang Shan Faction and the Ten Exemplars of Hang Shan, and the disciples of Hang Shan Faction.
Against Hyeol Je, the venerable monks Mu Saeng, Mu Myeong, and Mu A, the Eighteen Arhats, the Plum Blossom Sword Masters, the Seven Swords of Hyung Shan, the Ten Heroes of Tai Shan, and the Ten Exemplars of Hang Shan were perhaps excessive.
Yet Gong Sonchan’s face remained composed, as though he faced no formidable opponent at all.
Without a word, Gong Sonchan raised a Red Flag, no larger than his palm.
The masters of the Five Evil Sword Sect dispersed in five directions.
As Gong Sonchan waved the flag, the masters of the Five Evil Sword Sect advanced slowly forward.
Upon reaching the end of the ravine, a stone cave emerged unexpectedly.
Three characters—Hyeon Cheon Dong—were carved in relief above the cave entrance.
Go Ryul, an elder of Tai Shan Faction and known as the Sword Master of Tai Shan, shouted toward the cave.
“Hyeol Je! Don’t cower like a rat! Come out this instant! I, the Sword Master of Tai Shan Go Ryul, have come to seize the demon!”
Not to be outdone, Chung Ho, an elder of Hyung Shan Faction and known as the Sage of South Peak, spoke as well.
“I, the Sage of South Peak Chung Ho, stand here too! Demon! If you have courage, crawl out and face me!”
Yet the cave offered no response.
Go Hae, the elder of Hang Shan Faction who loved taking the lead and bore the title First Sword of Hang Shan, also bellowed.
“Ak Mugun! I, the First Sword of Hang Shan Go Hae, act in heaven’s stead——”
He could not finish his sentence.
Hyeol Je, known as Ak Mugun, had appeared—when, no one could say.
He stood as though he had been there all along.
Soon Hyeol Je opened his mouth.
“So, a pack of dogs came to catch one man.”
In that instant, the faces of the Five Evil Sword Sect’s masters tightened slightly.
As all stood uncertain, Gong Sonchan stepped forward and spoke.
“Why speak of martial courtesy when executing a great demon? The Five Evil Sword Sect has joined forces not from any lack of individual strength, but to prevent your escape.”
“I fled? Ha-ha-ha! Gong Sonchan! Sly fox! Your words are twisted, but speak truth for once—had I not avoided them, how many of you do you think would be standing here now?”
“That is merely your shameful excuse. Today, I shall put an end to the blood debt between you and the Five Evil Sword Sect!”
“Thirty years ago, the Five Evil Sword Sect was no match for me. How could you be now, having obtained even the legacy of the Heon Won Sect?”
“I know not what this Heon Won Sect is, but it shall not spare you from death!”
“A frog in a well, exactly. Did you think I wandered Gangnam for thirty years on idle whim? Very well—as you say, let us end this blood debt once and for all.”
In truth, Hyeol Je’s wandering through Gangnam had been driven by the search for the Heon Won Sect.
When he had once been hunted by the Five Evil Sword Sect, he had discovered records of the Mysterious Records of Ancient Sects in an abandoned temple on Cheon Tae Shan.
The Mysterious Records of Ancient Sects documented lost sects of the Primordial Era.
The author was a descendant of the Heon Won Sect, and tales of that sect appeared with unusual frequency throughout.
From that moment, Hyeol Je had searched the famous mountains of Gangnam as one combs for lice.
At last, in Hyeon Cheon Dong of Hwang Shan, he had discovered one technique of the Heon Won Sect’s cultivation method, and mastered it not long ago.
It was called the Xu Kong Zhan.
He had been pondering whom to test it on when the Five Evil Sword Sect conveniently came seeking him—for which he was, in fact, grateful.
Hyeol Je drew his blade first.
At the sight of this, Gong Sonchan’s face went rigid.
Hyeol Je was a man of pride who always drew second.
Yet in decades, he had drawn first.
‘This cannot be. We must move first.’
Gong Sonchan hurried to signal the Pal Mun Geum Swae Jin formation with his flag.
But Hyeol Je drew his blade lightly through empty air.
The three Hwa Shan Faction elders at the vanguard had their heads severed cleanly from their shoulders.
They had stood more than ten zhang—some thirty meters—from Hyeol Je, yet their necks were cut in the blink of an eye.
“Elder!”
“What—what on earth is this!”
“Sorcery!”
The Hwa Shan masters, startled beyond measure, flailed about in confusion.
Hyeol Je swung his sword through the air again.
This time, the heads of two Tai Shan elders on the far left fell.
The Tai Shan disciples descended into chaos much as their Hwa Shan counterparts had.
Gong Sonchan, belatedly catching on, waved the Blue Flag and bellowed.
“Activate the Pal Mun Geum Swae Jin!”
Only then did the Five Evil Sword Sect masters rush into their rehearsed positions.
The Pal Mun Geum Swae Jin took shape in a single breath, yet nothing changed.
Hyeol Je traced his sword through empty air as though playing a game, and with each stroke, the necks of the Five Evil Sword Sect’s veteran masters severed and fell.
The seasoned Hyeol Je aimed only for the elders’ heads.
Terror seized the Five Evil Sword Sect elders, and they stumbled backward.
The Pal Mun Geum Swae Jin shattered utterly.
“Hold your ground! Don’t abandon your posts!”
Gong Sonchan shouted himself hoarse urging them on, but the dam had already broken.
As the heads of Hyung Shan elders fell, the Hang Shan elders and Shaolin’s Mu Saeng, Mu Myeong, and Mu A quickly fled their positions.
When the Pal Mun Geum Swae Jin crumbled, a metallic smile bloomed at the corner of Hyeol Je’s mouth.
The Xu Kong Zhan drained inner energy as fearfully as its power was devastating.
Just as he neared his limit, his enemy conveniently scattered—it seemed almost as though heaven itself were aiding him.
“Die, all of you!”
With a roar, Hyeol Je hurled himself into the tattered formation.
From his blade erupted a sword aura ten paces long, scything through the Five Evil Sword Sect masters.
It was a one-sided massacre, like a farmer bringing in the harvest.
Robbed of will by the Xu Kong Zhan, the Five Evil Sword Sect masters became a rabble in an instant.
Plum Blossom Sword masters, Hyung Shan disciples, Hang Shan disciples—all fell helplessly.
Within the stalled Pal Mun Geum Swae Jin, Hyeol Je alone prowled like a beast.
Gong Sonchan finally lowered his flag and shouted, “Retreat!”
The surviving Five Evil Sword Sect masters ebbed away from Hyeon Cheon Dong like a receding tide.
Hyeol Je did not pursue them.
“Kahahaha! Gong Sonchan! Didn’t you say you’d put an end to our blood feud? So you’ve become a dog of the Five Evil Sword Sect—and now you can’t even keep your own word!”
As he fled, Gong Sonchan turned over their exchange in his mind.
―Thirty years ago, the Five Evil Sword Sect was no match for me. How could they be now, when I have even acquired the fortune of the Heon Won Sect?
―I know not what this Heon Won Sect is, but it will not save you from death!
―What a frog in a well you are. Do you think I wandered Gangnam for thirty years because I had nothing better to do? Very well—let’s end this feud as you say.
‘Could Heon Won Sect possibly be one of the Mysterious Records of Ancient Sects from the Primordial Era?’
There existed legendary mysterious sects passed down from the Primordial Era.
Among them, the names that had endured were but three: the Sect of Free Wandering, the Sect of Thunder and Cloud, the Sect of Mysterious Sound.
The reason he hadn’t connected Heon Won Sect with the Mysterious Records was that it had never appeared in the present age.
‘I had only dismissed it as legend from the Primordial Era……’
Recalling Hyeol Je’s swordsmanship sent a chill down his spine.
No sword aura, no sword force—nothing at all—yet heads were severed from ten paces away, without warning.
The victims didn’t know until their necks were already falling.
Even he had witnessed it, yet he couldn’t begin to fathom the principle underlying it.
‘This is a catastrophe.’
Hyeol Je’s words—”what a frog in a well”—clawed anew at his chest.
***
The battle at Hwang Shan struck the martial world not long after.
Gong Sonchan had reported the results of the Hwang Shan battle to Inspector General Yi Won Ho, and it spread from the high officials down through the common people.
Yet to preserve the Five Evil Sword Sect’s prestige, Gong Sonchan carefully omitted all mention of Heon Won Sect, the Mysterious Records sect.
And so, oddly enough, the question of supreme swordplay became the talk of the realm.
“Then who is the Supreme Sword of the Era?”
“Obviously Hyeol Je. No matter how skilled Mu Huin is, he couldn’t have fought the Five Evil Sword Sect like that.”
“Right—he smashed their Pal Mun Geum Swae Jin alone.”
“Still, Mu Huin might be stronger in single combat……?”
The Five Evil Sword Sect’s soaring reputation tumbled to earth, and the high officials grew all the more wary of Cheonryeon.
For Hyeol Je was one of the Thousand Buddhas under Cheonryeon.
Jang An City.
Jang An County.
Early morning.
Do Gyeom, the Hyeonwi of Pobang, summoned Dan Yeop outside.
“What have you decided to do about Haowen?”
“We’ve decided to send the troublemakers to other regions.”
Dan Yeop gave an evasive answer, reluctant to share the details of Haowen’s affairs.
“You mean you’re sending them out of the province as well?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve already started operations in the eastern provinces?”
Do Gyeom studied Dan Yeop’s expression carefully.
“Not at all. If we had, Haowen’s armed forces would need to be mobilized across the province. Haowen won’t venture beyond its borders.”
“Well, thank goodness for that. In any case, thank you. By the way, have you heard the news about the Five Evil Sword Sect and Hyeol Je?”
“Yes, I heard the Cheon Do Hoe suffered greatly at Hwang Shan?”
“Suffered greatly is putting it mildly. Of the hundred and thirty or so, only fifty survived. And Hyeol Je came through without a scratch.”
“Ah! The Five Evil Sword Sect must be deeply wounded?”
“Wounded is an understatement—they’re sharpening their blades. And now they’ve become bitter enemies with Cheonryeon. For us, it’s a blessing. The Cheon Do Hoe will actively pursue her elimination.”
“What about Hyeol Je?”
“I heard from the elders that they’re forming a new elimination squad against the Cheon Do Hoe.”
Dan Yeop was nodding absently when—
Jang Ho, a Pokwae official, came rushing into Pobang, shouting.
“Hyeonwi! A magistrate was murdered in Hyeon Mu Bang last night!”
Do Gyeom clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, tsk. So Cheonryeon’s killing spree is starting again. Jang, Hyeon Mu Bang falls under Man Nyeon County’s jurisdiction, so don’t make a fuss over it. And Dan, prepare yourself—there may be a request for reinforcements.”
“Yes.”
Cheonryeon’s killing spree. The words weighed heavy on Dan Yeop’s heart already.

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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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