Ten Paths of the Master - Chapter 120

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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 120. Where are you headed?
Haenam Province.
Nakju.
Luo Ning County.
At twilight’s edge.
An old man entered an inn that stood at the mouth of the village.
The old man took a seat by the window and ordered three-treasure noodle soup and dumplings from Jeom Soi.
The food arrived shortly.
When the old man had eaten about half his noodles and dumplings, a Buddhist monk carrying a Steel Spear and wearing a straw hat stepped inside.
The monk sat across from the old man and tilted the straw hat back slightly.
The face revealed beneath it was Hong Jin, the Dharma master of Cheonryeon and Laughing Buddha.
The old man—Hyeol Je, of the Ak Mugun—paid him no attention, absorbed in his meal.
A peculiar tension flowed between the two.
Then Jeom Soi approached Hong Jin’s side.
“What may I bring you?”
“The same as his.”
“Of course.”
Once Jeom Soi had gone, Hong Jin spoke.
“Where are you headed?”
“You’re the one traveling, not I.”
“This is no time for jests. If you’re bound for the capital, I urge you to turn back.”
“And why should I do that?”
Hyeol Je fixed Hong Jin with a blank, unblinking gaze.
For a moment, Hong Jin felt a chill run through him, but he did not yield.
“Because it is the Sect Master’s wish.”
……
Hyeol Je said nothing further and returned to his meal.
As he did, Hong Jin’s noodles and dumplings arrived.
Hong Jin ate in silence as well.
Once Hyeol Je had finished first, he spoke abruptly.
“Is the Imperial House not the very root of evil?”
“It is indeed the root of evil.”
“Then why do you stand in my way?”
“You said it was for your sake.”
At those words, Hyeol Je’s pride smarted, and he frowned slightly.
“For my sake? Do you too think me lacking?”
“I wouldn’t know. I am merely an errand runner.”
“Hmph! When was it that you called me the greatest under heaven? And now you claim ignorance?”
“The Sect Master said……”
“The Sect Master will not forbid me once she understands the true nature of the Destined Opportunity I have obtained.”
Hong Jin regarded Hyeol Je with curious eyes.
“The Sect Master knows you have acquired the Destined Opportunity of the Heon Won School, one of the Divine Mystery Sects.”
“And knowing that, she still says I should not go?”
“Yes, she spoke plainly. The Imperial Palace is a Dragon Pool Tiger Cave—do not trespass, she said.”
“After decades of hiding from the Imperial House, has my mind grown dull.”
Suddenly Hong Jin’s voice rose sharply.
“No matter who you are, disrespect toward the Sect Master will not be tolerated!”
“Disrespect?”
A faint killing intent flickered in Hyeol Je’s eyes as he looked at Hong Jin.
Realizing his misstep, Hong Jin hurriedly changed his tone.
“Ah, but everyone says these things only for your own good. You know that, don’t you?”
“I am not some novice of the Martial Realm. I have battled the Five Evil Sword Sect for more than thirty years, and now they hardly concern me.”
“I know of what happened at Hwangsan. But the Sect Master said……”
“Enough. I wish to hear no more. You say the Imperial Palace is a Dragon Pool Tiger Cave? I am the true dragon and tiger. If I choose to go, none can stop me. Do you have the confidence to stand against me?”
At this, Hong Jin exhaled a long, weary sigh.
“Ah, how could I presume to oppose you?”
Hyeol Je rose from his seat and spoke.
“Settle the bill on your way out.”
With that, Hyeol Je turned and left without a backward glance.
***
Five days later.
Gwannae Province.
The Qujjang River, in Nakan County.
Around noon.
An elderly man in his seventies walked leisurely along the riverbank path.
The old man with bright, piercing eyes that belied his age was Hyeol Je.
As Hyeol Je passed through a stand of reeds that had grown to a man’s height, he stopped abruptly and cried out in a loud voice.
“Stop cowering like rats and come out!”
Swish-swish-swish-swish—
More than twenty masters erupted from the reed thicket, launching themselves into the air.
Soon they descended to the ground as lightly as feathers.
They were the Execution Squad of the Five Evil Sword Sect.
The squad masters occupied four positions at each of the five cardinal directions.
Hyeol Je stood at the center of the Five Elements Sword Formation, yet he didn’t blink once.
“Gongsun Chan, it seems the lesson at Hwangsan was insufficient.”
To Hyeol Je’s words, Gongsun Chan, the sect leader, responded coldly.
“No more talk! Open the formation!”
Ching-ching-ching-clash—
The squad masters drew and moved with blinding speed in the same instant.
Four of them shot toward Hyeol Je like streaks of light.
Hyeol Je too drew and unleashed the Void Slash in one motion.
In that instant, all four masters vanished as if extinguished.
Almost simultaneously, a thread of Dark Energy sliced through the empty space.
Whoosh—
The corner of Hyeol Je’s mouth turned upward.
“Impressive.”
The squad masters seemed to have decided to dodge unconditionally whenever his blade moved.
Four of them rushed at Hyeol Je’s flank.
Hyeol Je turned his torso slightly and swung his sword.
Again, the four masters ghosted away from that spot.
But this time, no Dark Energy streaked toward where they had stood.
The squad masters had dodged the slash and looked it over, so Hyeol Je had merely feinted the Void Slash.
Swish-swish-swish-swish—
Soon after, the squad masters’ Five Elements Sword Formation began to press in on Hyeol Je.
Clang-clang-clang-clang—
For the first time, blade met blade.
After exchanging more than a dozen strikes with the squad masters, Hyeol Je launched himself skyward.
Rising to a height of some fifty feet, Hyeol Je descended while swinging his sword down like thunder.
The upper bodies of four members of the formation’s eastern line split wide open.
Gongsun Chan’s shout rang out across the reed thicket, though too late.
“Evade!”
Thud.
As Gongsun Chan spoke, all four men tumbled backward.
Hyeol Je’s single move shattered the Five Elements Sword Formation.
From that moment, chaos erupted.
Anyone positioned directly in front of Hyeol Je’s blade dodged unconditionally, while masters from other positions attacked him.
Though the Execution Squad had greater numbers, their assault lacked bite.
Since they fled whenever his eyes met theirs, their strikes could not be sharp.
Yet all of them were elders of the Five Evil Sword Sect, so they did not fall back as one-sidedly as before.
This peculiar exchange of attack and defense continued for nearly an hour.
Dan Yeop watched the battle between Hyeol Je and the Five Evil Sword Sect from a distance.
At first, he couldn’t fathom the foolish movements of the sect elders.
But when he saw the upper bodies of four men split open, he was taken aback.
‘What on earth….’
Dan Yeop’s mouth fell open.
It was neither sword energy nor something he could believe even seeing.
Hyeol Je was mixing the Real Attack with the False Feint, cunning as a fox.
Whether Real Attack or False Feint, the Five Evil Sword Sect elders dodged unconditionally.
He himself would have made the same choice as they did.
As time passed, victory tilted gradually toward Hyeol Je.
The elders of the Five Evil Sword Sect had begun moving more sluggishly.
Whenever their eyes met Hyeol Je’s, they would retreat hastily, and this rapid depletion of stamina was taking its toll.
By contrast, Hyeol Je, who had deployed the Real Attack sparingly, remained sharp as ever.
Clang-clang-clang!
Hyeol Je, having received every blade strike from the Thousand Root Pursuit, suddenly erupted in raucous laughter.
“Kahahaha! The swordsmanship of the Five Evil Sword Sect is nothing to boast of! Can you withstand this?”
He turned abruptly and drew his blade in a long arc from left to right.
In that instant, sensing the danger, two elders hurled themselves skyward.
But the six elders before him could not.
The waists of those six elders standing in front of Hyeol Je were severed.
At that appalling display of power, the faces of the Thousand Root Pursuit elders grew rigid.
Hyeol Je spun and swept his blade in a long arc toward those behind him.
Eight elders, startled by the motion, leaped skyward like a flock of sparrows.
Scatter-scatter-scatter!
But it was merely Hyeol Je’s False Feint.
His blade traced through empty air with the fluidity of flowing water.
The three Shaolin Temple elders—Musaeng, Mumyeong, and Mua—who witnessed this quickly descended using the Thousand Root Pursuit technique.
The remaining five elders failed to deploy the Thousand Root Pursuit in time.
Instead, they swung their blades recklessly straight ahead.
But Hyeol Je’s Void Slash could not be blocked by mere chance.
With a sickening sound, the bodies of the five elders were cleaved in two.
A terrible wail rang out.
Those fortunate enough to have only an arm or leg severed survived, but those whose torsos were split did not.
Severed limbs, corpses, and the wounded fell into the reeds below.
Thud! Splash!
“Ughhhh…….”
“Ahhhhh…….”
Groans from the survivors echoed through the reed beds.
Now only five elders and Gongsun Chan remained with limbs intact.
Six pairs of eyes were already lifeless.
Hyeol Je glanced over them once, then turned and walked away without a word.
Gongsun Chan cried out after the departing figure.
“Ak Mugun! Don’t think this is over! The battle has only just begun! The Cheon Do Association will not rest until you are dead!”
Dan Yeop followed Hyeol Je stealthily from behind.
‘This can’t be real.’
He clicked his tongue silently.
Hyeol Je’s martial prowess was several times greater than what was known in the Martial Realm.
It was unbelievable that such a master had been hunted by the Five Evil Sword Sect.
‘To think he gained Destined Opportunity from an ancient sect…….’
There was no way he could surpass someone like that.
Hyeol Je, who had been about fifty paces ahead, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“What rat follows me?”
Dan Yeop’s heart lurched, but he held his breath and stood firm.
Hyeol Je then drew his blade and slashed through the air in one fluid motion.
Whissh!
Reeds were cleaved, and a young man shot upward like a grasshopper.
Hyeol Je’s eyes narrowed as he watched.
To evade the Void Slash, one would have needed to move first, yet the youth had sprung up only after the reeds were cut.
‘Perhaps the distance was too great?’
Hyeol Je decided to think it that way.
There was no reason why this youth’s movement technique should surpass that of the Five Evil Sword Sect elders.
“Who are you?”
Dan Yeop answered while maintaining his distance from Hyeol Je.
“I am a Pokwae of Jang An County.”
“A Pokwae? I’ll forgive you this once. Follow me again, and I will kill you.”
In that moment, something flickered in Dan Yeop’s eyes.
The Great Demon Lord, the legendary assassin—one who would slit a man’s throat merely for meeting his gaze—speaking of forgiveness? It was beyond belief.
“Grant me just one question, if you would! Could you answer it?”
Hyeol Je decided to humor the young Pokwae’s courage.
“Troublesome fellow. What is it?”
“Did you kill a female disciple of Haowen at Hwacheong Palace last winter?”
“Yes, I killed her.”
“Why did you kill her? With your skill, you could have achieved your aims without resorting to such methods!”
“Why walk a hard road when an easy one lies before you?”
“I heard you were once a Chivalrous Swordsman, yet now that you’ve slaughtered the Five Evil Sword Sect, hasn’t evil soaked into your very bones?”
“Hmph! Don’t speak recklessly just because your mouth opens. I’ve answered your questions—now get out. If you trouble me again, I will kill you without hesitation.”
As Hyeol Je turned to leave, Dan Yeop’s voice cut through the air.
“Hyeol Je! You don’t kill corrupt officials for the greater good! In my eyes, you’re nothing but a capricious murderer! You kill the corrupt today, but when that grows tedious, you’ll simply find another target and move on!”
Stung by those words, Hyeol Je spun around and slashed his blade through the void.
Dan Yeop, already braced, evaded with the footwork of the Water Moon Divine Movement.
Swish—!
Reeds with severed waists scattered wildly through the air.
‘This man?’
Enraged, Hyeol Je swung his blade three times in rapid succession.
Swish—! Swish—! Swish—!
Dan Yeop’s form drifted through the reed thicket like a loach through water.
Only now did Hyeol Je recognize that this pokwae’s skill was extraordinary, and he halted his strikes.
It made no sense—even with great distance, to evade the Void Slash so effortlessly was impossible.
The elders of the Five Evil Sword Sect could barely escape only by leaping high into the air, yet this young pokwae slipped free with mere inches to spare.
“Who are you?”
“I am Dan Yeop, a pokwae of Jang An County. Remember my name well—for I am the one who will one day sever your head.”
With that, Dan Yeop fled at full speed.
His breath was already ragged from deploying the Water Moon Divine Movement repeatedly in succession.

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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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