The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 57

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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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57
Woo Geom-san’s Battle
Woo Geom-san stepped onto the tip of a tree branch so thin it looked ready to snap at any moment, and leaped into the air.
Boing!
The branch, which had bent to its absolute limit, launched Woo Geom-san high into the sky with tremendous elasticity.
Having soared dozens of chang like that, Woo Geom-san kicked off another branch and flew upward once more.
Flying through the sky like a bird, Woo Geom-san lightly landed on the top of the tallest tree in the area.
It was the exact spot where Hongbaek was circling.
Woo Geom-san looked down with his hands clasped behind his back.
Without even realizing that he was looking down on them, nearly twenty men were moving in a line.
Every single one of them possessed a thick and dark murderous intent, looking far removed from ordinary people.
Among them, an ominous energy was uniquely felt from the entire body of a man as gaunt as a withered tree moving at the front.
‘What kind of martial arts did he learn for his energy to be that wicked?’
Woo Geom-san furrowed his brow without realizing it.
Because Woo Geom-san had learned the martial arts of the Quanzhen Sect, the pinnacle of Taoism, he reacted more sensitively to this kind of wicked energy.
Although Woo Geom-san did not know it, the people he was watching were precisely Pa Gung and his subordinates.
They were advancing straight toward the place where the village youths were located.
At this rate, it was certain that the village youths would be caught up to before long.
It was just when Woo Geom-san was contemplating what he should do with them.
“That bird bastard has been, since a while ago…”
Pa Gung looked up at the sky with an irritated expression.
His gaze was fixed on Hongbaek.
Hongbaek, who kept circling above his head, had gotten on his nerves.
Pa Gung flicked his finger toward the air where Hongbaek was circling.
Swish!
Instantly, an invisible force was shot toward Hongbaek.
It was a technique called the Baigu Tanzhi Gong.
As a kung fu that condensed Qi and shot it out like a fire ball, it boasted a fierce might enough to pierce a hole the size of a coin through a boulder.
If it struck, it was certain that Hongbaek’s flesh-and-blood body would blow apart in an instant.
Screeech!
Belatedly feeling the ominous energy, Hongbaek tried to change direction, but the Baigu Tanzhi Gong had already flown right up to his nose.
It was impossible for Hongbaek to evade.
Bang!
Instantly, a powerful explosion occurred in midair.
In the aftermath of the explosion, Hongbaek was pushed far away.
The startled Hongbaek flapped his wings in midair. Fortunately, not a single wound was made on Hongbaek’s entire body.
This was because just before the Baigu Tanzhi Gong struck, Woo Geom-san broke a tree branch and threw it. The tree branch he threw accurately blocked the Baigu Tanzhi Gong.
The wood was shattered without a trace, but thanks to it, Hongbaek was able to be safe.
“Who goes there?”
Pa Gung shouted while glaring at the direction the branch had flown from.
His face was full of rage.
Rage toward the person who dared to interfere with his business filled his head completely.
Confirming that Hongbaek was safe, Woo Geom-san jumped down from the tree.
He landed in front of Pa Gung as lightly as a dandelion seed.
At the sight of Woo Geom-san suddenly appearing, Pa Gung’s eyes sank deeply.
“Why are you interfering with my business?”
“Because that hawk is a child I am raising.”
At Woo Geom-san’s calm answer, Pa Gung’s eyebrows arched toward the sky.
He secretly raised his internal energy.
Because a man who suddenly appeared as if dropping from the sky could not possibly be an ordinary existence.
Until Woo Geom-san revealed himself directly, Pa Gung had not noticed his presence at all.
It meant that Woo Geom-san’s martial arts were that lofty and profound.
He had truly not expected that he would face an expert like Woo Geom-san in such a remote mountain valley.
Pa Gung asked Woo Geom-san while preparing to strike at any moment.
“Have you been spying on us?”
“I was merely protecting the villagers.”
“You are a bastard from the Upper Village too.”
“The Upper Village?”
“Yeah! The bastards living deep in the mountains. Are you one of them too?”
“That is correct. Why did you people approach us?”
“To rule over you.”
“Rule?”
Woo Geom-san furrowed his brow.
Because the nuance given by the word ‘rule’ grated on his nerves.
‘As expected, they aren’t mere bandits.’
Bandits plunder and kill; they do not bother to rule over people, which is a headache. The very fact that he used the word ‘rule’ meant that they were no ordinary bandits.
Pa Gung said.
“This is rather perfect. Guide us to your village. If you do, I will at least spare your life.”
“If I refuse, you will obviously kill me, right?”
“I never leave any future trouble behind.”
The murderous intent lingering on Pa Gung’s face became even thicker.
Shring!
The subordinates, including Gwak Ju-cheon, all drew their weapons.
As soon as they grasped Pa Gung’s intention, they completed their preparations to attack Woo Geom-san without a shred of hesitation.
It was evidence showing that they were not a ragtag group of bandits, but a thoroughly prepared armed group.
“Phew!”
Woo Geom-san let out a sigh without realizing it.
If they were bandits who had gathered to clumsily rob the villagers, he had intended to give them a light admonition and disband them. However, if it was such a well-trained armed group, the story changed.
These people were not simply going to take the villagers’ wealth; they intended to suppress the villagers and use them like slaves.
Not only was the intention itself impure, but the murderous intent they emanated was too heinous.
He could tell just by looking at their eyes and murderous intent.
Just how many people they had killed.
These people were not mere bandits, but butchers who had learned the killing technique known as martial arts.
Above all, what offended Woo Geom-san’s feelings was the impure energy flowing out from the bandits.
A turbid, dark, and wicked energy was felt.
‘Did they learn a demonic art?’
It was an energy that could never be felt from a person who had learned ordinary martial arts.
Just as Woo Geom-san guessed, Pa Gung’s subordinates were also in a state of having learned the demonic art found in the secret vault.
However, because they had learned it through an accelerated method without proper guidance, most of them were in a state of being invaded by demonic Qi.
Even if they looked fine on the outside, the demonic Qi had penetrated deeply into their marrow.
As time passed, the demonic Qi would penetrate even deeper, and they would eventually lose their reason.
“Huuu!”
Woo Geom-san let out a deep sigh.
Because he had truly not expected to see people who had learned a demonic art in this place.
Would these people really reflect and go back just because he delivered a light admonition? Woo Geom-san thought absolutely not.
A harsh murderous intent and a desire for destruction were swirling in the eyes of Pa Gung and his subordinates.
It was too late to turn back.
‘If this is the will of heaven, it is too cruel.’
Woo Geom-san looked at Pa Gung and the others with deeply sunken eyes.
Pa Gung did not miss the fact that Woo Geom-san’s gaze changed in a short period of time.
From experience, he knew very well that it was impossible to change the mind of a person with the same gaze as Woo Geom-san.
“Attack!”
Pa Gung secretly sent a sound transmission to Gwak Ju-cheon.
Receiving his sound transmission, Gwak Ju-cheon immediately attacked Woo Geom-san along with the subordinates.
“Die!”
“Yaaah!”
It was a surprise attack carried out without any warning.
Their weapons all aimed for Woo Geom-san’s fatal acupoints.
It was an intention to cut off his breath at once without giving him room to prepare.
Before the swords and sabers could even touch him, the murderous intent they emanated overwhelmed Woo Geom-san first.
The murderous intent emanated by as many as twenty people was like a massive tidal wave.
Woo Geom-san’s body reacted first to the intense murderous intent.
Swoosh!
As if someone was pulling him with a rope, Woo Geom-san’s body slithered backward.
Slash, slash, slash!
The weapons of Gwak Ju-cheon and the subordinates tore up the spot where Woo Geom-san had been standing.
If he had stayed still, Woo Geom-san’s body would have been torn up like that as well.
“Stand right there!”
“You bastard!”
Gwak Ju-cheon and the subordinates immediately pursued Woo Geom-san.
Like wolves engaged in a drive hunt, Gwak Ju-cheon and the subordinates sought to corner Woo Geom-san into a dead end.
No matter how strong a martial artist was, they could not help but be flustered by such a orderly group attack that whipped up like a storm.
In fact, many martial artists had lost their lives after falling prey to the drive hunt of Gwak Ju-cheon and the subordinates.
However, Woo Geom-san was no ordinary martial artist.
Before he could even think, his body reacted first.
Woo Geom-san broke through the watertight attack of Gwak Ju-cheon and the subordinates, and abruptly appeared on the opposite side.
Just because the murderous intent was strong, there was no need to flare up murderous intent from this side as well.
Woo Geom-san rather utilized the murderous intent.
He moved by riding the wind of the murderous intent.
Just because the opponent was strong, there was no need to respond strongly from this side.
Similarly, just because the opponent emanated murderous intent, there was no need to fight while emanating murderous intent together.
A flow existed even in murderous intent, and the Flowing Void Steps was more sensitive to such a flow than any other martial arts.
As much as the opponent approached, he retreated, and as much as the opponent retreated, he approached.
Swish, swish, swish!
The weapons of Gwak Ju-cheon and the subordinates grazed past Woo Geom-san by a hair’s breadth.
“What?”
“Damn it! What is this?”
Those who were furiously pressing Woo Geom-san just a moment ago wore expressions as if they had seen a ghost.
The fact that they had attacked so fiercely yet failed to strike him even once turned them numb with horror.
Shring!
At that moment, Woo Geom-san drew his sword.
The expression of Woo Geom-san, who held the sword in his hand, was heavier than ever before.
Because the weight of the sword in his hand felt heavier than ever before.
It was not that the sword was actually heavy.
The weight of the lives that the sword had to take felt heavy.
‘Do not hesitate, Woo Geom-san! For your mercy may return as a disaster.’
Woo Geom-san firmly gripped his sword as he steeled his resolve.
“You bastard!”
A large saber flew toward Woo Geom-san’s neck. Blood vessels were straining in the eyes of the martial artist holding the saber.
A strong murderous intent and momentum to absolutely kill him was felt.
Whish!
Instantly, Woo Geom-san thrust his sword forward.
The Cheongryugyeol, the first form of the Choyen Sword Technique, was deployed for the first time.
“Kegh!”
The martial artist collapsed while clutching his neck.
Without even knowing what had happened, his neck had been slashed.
The martial artist lost his life as blood gushed out from his neck.
Woo Geom-san firmly bit his lip and shuddered.
It was because of the goosebump-inducing sensation felt through the sword when cutting through flesh.
The feeling of a person’s life, which had been alive and moving perfectly fine until a moment ago, fading away was vividly felt through his fingers.
It was a different feeling from when he killed a bear.
He hated that dreadful feeling to the point of shuddering.
Woo Geom-san desperately suppressed the urge to drop his sword.
Because he could not show a weak appearance at this point.
“Fuck!”
“This son of a bitch…”
Seeing the death of their comrade, the martial artists attacked Woo Geom-san with their eyes rolled back.
He had hoped they would retreat on their own by showing the dignity of making an example of one to warn a hundred, but it was nothing more than a futile expectation.
The martial artists pounced on Woo Geom-san while emanating an even more ferocious murderous intent.
Whish!
Woo Geom-san’s sword cut through the air once more. And someone lost their life.
“Gah!”
“Argh!”
With each single sword strike, a life is extinguished one by one.
The weight of lives piling up layer upon layer.
The sword grew heavier, and his breathing grew rougher.
He wanted to drop the sword right this instant.
Since they knew they were no match, he wished they would know better and retreat on their own even now.
However, they had absolutely no intention of retreating.
Rather, they were enraged by their comrade’s death, flaring up stronger murderous intent and rushing forward like mad dogs.
To them, who had completely lost their reason, Woo Geom-san’s naive wish did not work.
They were pouncing with the single-minded determination to absolutely kill Woo Geom-san, no matter what kind of sacrifice they had to make.
Ultimately, Woo Geom-san accepted reality.
The fact that he had to bear all this weight if he wanted to move forward.
The fact that a dreadful reality was not something to turn away from, but something to break through head-on.
Woo Geom-san widened his eyes.
He took the people he killed, and the people he would kill, into his eyes.
He had to take all those sights into his heart and move forward.
Slash!
The sword cut through flesh, taking the life of an nameless martial artist.
The martial artist who collapsed while glaring at Woo Geom-san with eyes full of deep resentment until the very end.
Woo Geom-san did not turn away from his gaze.
He now realized clearly.
Although he had learned the martial arts of the Quanzhen Sect, he was not a Taoist.
He was a martial artist.
A martial artist who gripped a sword.
Blood was his destiny.

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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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