The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 21

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

21
The Supremacy of the Sword
The remaining vitality and sharpness completely vanished from the monk’s eyes.
It was because the Gongfu and Internal Energy he had painstakingly cultivated all this time shattered and scattered to the winds.
The Wudang Sect and Kunlun Sect might be able to match it in terms of sheer vastness, but the depth and philosophy of a martial art built over nearly a thousand years were not something other sects could dare approach.
Following the teachings of the Quanzhen Sect and breathing correctly allowed one to initiate into the Choyeon Simgyeol.
The Choyeon Simgyeol was broadly divided into five realms, and its core essence lay in becoming one with nature.
Instead of dividing Internal Qi and External Qi, one let themselves flow as nature itself, allowing them to freely utilize the energy scattered between heaven and earth.
Thus, among the countless mind cultivation arts Under Heaven, the Choyeon Simgyeol could truly be considered the paramount.
The Choyen Sword Technique was a Sword Art executed on the foundation of the Choyeon Simgyeol.
Just like the Choyeon Simgyeol, the Choyen Sword Technique was the culmination of all martial arts within the Quanzhen Sect.
The Choyen Sword Technique consisted of nine stances in total, with each stance possessing distinct characteristics; among them, the fourth stance, the Heart-Shattering Resolution, was the natural enemy of those who practiced sinister external strengths like this monk.
Created to sever Heart Demons, the Heart-Shattering Resolution was optimized for destroying Martial Cultivation Force built through Sinister Sorcery.
Sinister Sorcery and Demonic Arts were easier to learn and brought faster accomplishments compared to orthodox martial arts. Therefore, in the early stages, the power of Demonic Arts was far stronger. However, because they were learned through shortcuts, their foundation was bound to be weak and their framework flimsy.
On the other hand, one could only initiate into orthodox martial arts after solidifying a vast foundation.
Naturally, the speed of learning had no choice but to be slow.
However, because the foundation was so solid, there was no hesitation in mastering it, nor did it waver. For this reason, as time passed, orthodox martial arts would eventually overwhelm the martial arts of the demonic path.
The martial arts of the Quanzhen Sect were uniquely strong, pure, and gentle even among them.
Although it took a long period of time to master, once completed, it could become the natural enemy of all sinister and demonic martial arts.
The monk who had attacked Baek Ho-yang with the Rakshasa Soul-Snatching Hand could not form a single thought.
Not only had the Martial Cultivation Force he spent his entire life building vanished without a trace, but his sanity had also grown hazy.
That did not mean he would lose his life or become an idiot.
However, having lost all the power that served as his foundation, he would suffer from an intense sense of loss.
Baek Ho-yang looked down at the monk who had collapsed onto the floor and spoke.
“Do not regret it. From the very beginning, all the Martial Cultivation Force accumulated in your body was never yours.”
It was Internal Strength built by extorting the Essence and Blood of others through Sinister Sorcery.
Since he had plundered what belonged to others to make it his own, it had never truly belonged to the monk.
Since he had been using the property of others as his own strength, it was only right to scatter it back into nature now.
Baek Ho-yang walked past the monk and ascended the stairs.
A fork in the path appeared midway.
One looked large and wide, seemingly the main passageway, while the other was extremely narrow, as if used secretly.
Baek Ho-yang chose the narrow passageway.
After climbing dozens of steps, a small door appeared.
Baek Ho-yang pushed the door open without hesitation.
Creak!
As the door opened, the interior of the Buddha Hall revealed itself.
Colossal Buddhist statues filled the Buddha Hall, but they were not the typical statues commonly known to the public.
They were statues of the Buddha and the Four Heavenly Kings sacrilegiously copulating with women.
Inside the Buddha Hall, not only the scent of incense but also a thick, carnal musk hung heavily in the air.
It was evidence that a sexual tryst between a man and women had been taking place here until just moments ago.
At the unexpected sight and smell, Baek Ho-yang furrowed his brow involuntarily.
“To trespass into the Buddha Hall so fearlessly, it seems you do not value your life. I wonder what the Eighteen Blood Monks are doing, letting an intruder breach the sacred Buddha Hall.”
Right then, along with a heavily raspy, metallic voice, a young monk draped in a red cassock appeared from one side of the Buddha Hall.
He was a handsome monk with clear, flawless brown skin and a smooth face without a single wrinkle.
On either side of the young monk stood two equally beautiful women.
Their garments, slipping down past their shoulders, made it obvious that they had been engaged in a sexual act inside the Buddha Hall until just a moment ago.
The furrow on Baek Ho-yang’s brow, already deeply creased, dug even deeper.
It was because a profound sense of dissonance emanated from the young monk.
His appearance was definitely young, but the scent of an old man came from him.
The unique body odor that only elderly men who have lived through long years could possess wafted strongly from his frame.
Even if one could deceive their appearance through Sinister Sorcery, the distinct scent of an old man could not be completely hidden.
Baek Ho-yang questioned the young monk.
“Are you the master of this temple?”
“Indeed. I am the Holy Monk, the master of this temple.”
The young monk had no intention of hiding his identity.
He loudly proclaimed himself to be the Holy Monk.
That was how confident he was in his own martial prowess.
The immense Internal Energy he had built since his time at the Joyous Thunder Temple by extorting the Essence and Blood of others allowed him to appear as a young man despite being over eighty years old.
The women flanking the Holy Monk were Bai Mian Xianzi and Hei Hua Xianzi, two of the Four Immortals of Baihong.
They had delivered the Essence and Blood extorted from the village men to the Holy Monk through sexual intercourse.
Baek Ho-yang let out a sigh.
“What on earth were the martial artists of the Jianghu doing while an evil cult from the Western Regions established such a foothold? Our sins are truly great.”
If the Jianghu had been functioning normally, it would never have sat idly by until an evil cult established such a base.
The order of the Jianghu had been greatly disrupted by the war between the Cheonmyeong Association and the Nine Great Sects, creating vacuums in public security everywhere.
The remnants of the Joyous Thunder Temple led by the Holy Monk had burrowed into that very gap to settle down.
If left alone like poisonous mushrooms, they would not stop at swallowing this Village but would spread throughout the entire Jianghu.
Baek Ho-yang spoke.
“If you will return to the Western Regions even now, I shall let you go, so pack your bags and leave immediately.”
“What is an old man like you to dare order me around?”
The Holy Monk snorted.
The Holy Monk was an elder of the Joyous Thunder Temple.
He had possessed considerable martial prowess from the start, but after settling in this Village, his power had increased beyond comparison.
It was because he had steadily extorted the Essence and Blood of others for several years.
The same applied to the Four Immortals of Baihong.
They had not offered all the extorted Essence and Blood to the Holy Monk. After keeping a portion for themselves, they had steadily internalized it.
Thanks to that, their Martial Cultivation Force had also increased several times over compared to when they first arrived here.
With this level of Martial Cultivation Force, they could act as peak experts in the Jianghu.
Consequently, their confidence had reached its absolute peak.
They feared no expert the Jianghu could throw at them.
“The Honglian Festival is tomorrow. We cannot let this old man ruin it for no reason, so let the Eighteen Blood Monks step forward and subdue him.”
“We accept the Holy Monk’s command.”
No sooner had the Holy Monk’s words fallen than seventeen monks who had been waiting outside marched into the Buddha Hall.
They were none other than the Eighteen Blood Monks.
Although one of them was nowhere to be seen, none of them thought much of it.
“I will mince your corpse and throw it to the fish as bait, old man!”
“Offer your neck obediently.”
The Eighteen Blood Monks tightened their perimeter while unleashing a ferocious aura.
A sinister energy emanated from the Khakkhara and Monastical Cleavers gripped in their hands.
The Holy Monk had absolutely no doubt that the Eighteen Blood Monks would subdue Baek Ho-yang without much trouble.
Muttering to himself, he pulled Bai Mian Xianzi and Hei Hua Xianzi close with both arms.
“It looks like I will enjoy a good show after such a long time.”
His hands slipped inside the garments of Bai Mian Xianzi and Hei Hua Xianzi, kneading their breasts carelessly.
“Hehehe! I wonder what Chie Xianzi and Qinghan are doing, missing out on such a splendid spectacle.”
“It is obvious. They must be hiding in some corner, indulging themselves with that young lad. Those wenches always try to keep the good things to themselves.”
Enjoying the Holy Monk’s touch, the two women criticized the other two who were absent.
Having grown up together since childhood, they shared a tight bond, but they also had many petty squabbles.
Thus, when they were not in the same room, they frequently slandered one another.
It was the same this time.
Since they took their victory for granted anyway, they threw wild criticisms at the two women who were not present.
Right then, the Eighteen Blood Monks launched a simultaneous attack.
A crimson energy exploded from the Khakkhara and Monastical Cleavers they held, enveloping Baek Ho-yang.
It was the Eighteen Blood Arhat Formation, the coordinated battle array of the Joyous Thunder Temple.
It was their strongest coordinated technique, one that could be deployed even without exactly eighteen people. However, their opponent this time was a bad match.
The old man with a transcendent, Daoist appearance before their eyes was an existence who had faced the leader of the Cheonmyeong Association, the strongest under heaven.
He possessed skills that could not even be compared to ordinary experts of the Jianghu.
Against such a Baek Ho-yang, the Eighteen Blood Arhat Formation could not work.
It merely looked flashy and dangerous on the surface, but its actual power could not even hold a candle to the Eighteen Arhat Formation of Shaolin Temple.
Baek Ho-yang deployed the Flowing Void Steps, evading every single one of their onslaughts.
His movements made him look exactly as if he were riding the wind.
Baek Ho-yang executed a technique that harmonized perfectly with the Flowing Void Steps.
It was the third stance of the Choyen Sword Technique, the Flowing Cloud Form.
From his Sword-Secret Finger, Sword Qi spread out softly like clouds, instantly severing the pulse of the Eighteen Blood Arhat Formation.
“Urgh!”
“What is this?”
The backlash from the severed pulse violently struck the Eighteen Blood Monks.
Without missing that window, Baek Ho-yang unleashed the Heart-Shattering Resolution.
Thud! Thud!
His Sword-Secret Finger struck the chests of the Eighteen Blood Monks in rapid succession.
In an instant, the Eighteen Blood Monks fell, defeated by the Heart-Shattering Resolution.
The Martial Cultivation Force that the Eighteen Blood Monks had built up through improper means until now scattered away like mist.
“N-No!”
“My God!”
The Eighteen Blood Monks glared with wide eyes. However, there was absolutely nothing they could do.
Like rotting logs, their bodies collapsed one after another.
Just like that, the seventeen monks were subdued in the blink of an eye.
“What?”
At the unbelievable sight, the Holy Monk cast away the immortals he had been fondling and glared at Baek Ho-yang.
Baek Ho-yang silently approached the Holy Monk.
Only then did the Holy Monk realize that his opponent was an existence with martial prowess far beyond what he had vaguely imagined.
Cold sweat trickled down the spines of the Holy Monk and the immortals.
“W-Wait! Let us talk.”
“Yes. There is no need for us to fight, is there?”
“If we talk, we will make sure you experience ultimate bliss.”
They tried to negotiate belatedly, but it did not work on Baek Ho-yang.
Baek Ho-yang was someone who had learned the cultivation of Quanzhen since childhood. To him, standing by and watching those who accumulated foul power that defied the natural order was utterly impossible.
Furthermore, he had already given them an opportunity to return to the Western Regions, yet they had kicked it away.
There was no more reason for Baek Ho-yang to converse with them.
“On behalf of heaven, I shall return the power you have extorted back to nature.”
Realizing he had no intention of talking, a bloody light erupted from the Holy Monk’s eyes.
“Choosing the hard way over the easy way, I see.”
Gnash!
The Holy Monk gritted his teeth and deployed the Blood Heaven Demon Art.
It was the strongest martial art of the Joyous Thunder Temple, executed on the foundation of the Internal Energy accumulated through the Blood-Returning Essence Absorption Art.
Back in the Western Regions, it was a martial art he could not complete due to a lack of Martial Cultivation Force. However, after settling down in this Village, he had diligently extorted Essence and Blood to barely complete it.
Rumble!
An energy resembling a tidal wave surged toward Baek Ho-yang.
Yet Baek Ho-yang did not even blink as he walked straight into the energy unleashed by the Holy Monk.
“Even if a storm blows and shakes everything, a steadfast mind is more than enough. What more could one possibly need?”
In Baek Ho-yang’s eyes, the flow of the Blood Heaven Demon Art, which raged like a tempest, was clearly visible.
He wedged himself into the flow and closed the distance to the Holy Monk.
That figure closely resembled a salmon swimming upstream against the river current.
“Crazy!”
“W-We have to run!”
The immortals beside the Holy Monk tried to flee in horror. However, they could not escape Baek Ho-yang’s grasp.
Because this very space was already Baek Ho-yang’s domain.
Baek Ho-yang swung his hand as if shooing away a common fly.
His Sword-Secret Finger embedded itself into the Holy Monk’s heart center and the Dantian of the women.
In that instant, the Martial Cultivation Force they had built up through sinister arts shattered to pieces.
Feeling their Martial Cultivation Force vanish, they shrieked in agony.
“N-No!”
“Arrgh!”
“Kyaaaak!”
As the Martial Cultivation Force that sustained their youth vanished, the time that had stood still until now flowed forward rapidly.
Aging caught up to them.
Their taut skin shriveled up at a terrifying speed, and dozens of layers of wrinkles covered their faces and entire bodies.
Just like that, the Holy Monk and the immortals took the direct hit of several decades of time.
That was the punishment Baek Ho-yang delivered to villains who accumulated power through foul methods.

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