The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 7
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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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7
Woo Geom-san Challenges for Supremacy
A crowd that seemed to number at least fifty people was entering the entrance of the Village.
The men, swaggering as they walked, carried weapons such as swords, clubs, and pitchforks over their shoulders.
Exuding a fierce aura, these men were far from ordinary.
The first to react to their appearance were the young men of the Village.
“Damn it!”
“It’s the Bandits.”
The young men quickly rose from their seats and blocked the front of the elders and children. An unhideable tension was reflected in their faces.
From a few years ago, Bandits had been rampant everywhere.
The Bandits would raid villages in remote areas like this and plunder indiscriminately.
Because of this, the Village young men usually kept a strict guard, but because it happened to be the day of a feast, they had let down their guard.
Thanks to that, the Bandits were able to enter the Village easily.
Thick smiles were reflected on the faces of the Bandits looking around the inside of the Village.
This was because just seeing them holding a feast made it clear that it was a fairly wealthy Village.
“Good. From now on, we take over this place.”
The one who declared this in a loud voice was a man named Zhang Pei, the leader of the Bandits.
Zhang Pei boasted a huge frame that was a full two heads taller than an ordinary person.
Born with Innate Divine Strength, he had also mastered an External Martial Arts called Iron Mountain Fist, boasting tremendous physical power.
Since his personality was also very brutal and self-indulgent, his notoriety was widespread in the village where he was born.
Even for someone like him, there was a dream.
It was none other than making a name for himself as a Martial Artist. However, he realized it after seeing the war between the Cheonmyeong Association and the Nine Great Sects.
That someone like himself wouldn’t even be a single meal for real Martial Artists.
Setting aside the Nine Great Sects, even a low-level Martial Artist of the Cheonmyeong Association could lightly subdue someone like him with a single finger.
Realizing reality, he was frustrated.
If he had the courage, he would have stood up again and challenged them, but unfortunately, his heart was small, unbefitting of his huge body.
What he chose was none other than banditry.
He formed a bandit gang with the younger brothers and friends who had followed him since childhood and plundered indiscriminately.
Atrociously, they took not only food and property but also people’s lives.
Already, three villages had been completely destroyed by the bandit gang he led.
The number of people who died by their hands was well over two hundred.
The momentum of the Bandits, having tasted blood, was at its peak.
In their eyes, the Village looked like a treasure storehouse.
In the rice paddies cultivated on the mountainside, rice was ripening, and in the large Village, unbefitting of a remote area, there were also quite a few pretty women.
Zhang Pei said.
“It is laudable of you to open a feast table for us. If you surrender, I will not kill you and will accept you all as members of our Zhangjia Fort.”
Zhangjia Fort was a name he came up with on the spot.
He had named it Zhangjia Fort after his own name.
The Village young men shouted.
“Cut the bullshit. Do you think we would surrender to Bandits like you?”
“You can’t take a single grain of rice from our Village.”
“Bring it on. Because I will kill you all.”
The young men held up clubs, bamboo swords, and bamboo spears.
The momentum of the Bandits looked unusual, but they couldn’t just take it without any resistance.
This Village was their everything.
It was the hometown where they were born and raised.
They vowed to protect the Village from those vicious Bandits no matter what happened.
But even their firm vow was useless in the face of overwhelming martial might.
The sturdy young men rushed forward in high spirits, but they were blocked before they could even reach Zhang Pei.
By none other than Zhang Pei’s trusted henchmen.
Although not prominent because they were overshadowed by Zhang Pei, they were also Martial Artists who had learned Martial Arts.
They were of a different quality from the ragtag Bandits.
No matter how sturdy the young men were, they could not match a Martial Artist who had learned Martial Arts.
“Hehe! Where do you think you’re going?”
“How cute.”
Zhang Pei’s henchmen subdued the young men without much difficulty.
“Argh!”
“Urgh!”
In an instant, swords and spear blades touched the necks of the Village young men who were slammed into the ground.
Zhang Pei stepped on the head of one of the subdued young men with his foot.
“If everyone doesn’t surrender, I will kill these guys.”
“Ugh!”
“How can this be!”
As the young men they trusted were subdued, the faces of the village people turned pale.
As the village people were shaken, the Village Chief shouted loudly.
“Do not be shaken. Our numbers are much greater. If we stick together firmly, we can defeat those guys.”
At the words of the Village Chief, who had led the Village for a long time, the agitation of the people calmed down a little.
Zhang Pei’s gaze turned toward the Village Chief.
“As expected, the old man is the problem. Unnecessarily escalating the issue.”
He strode toward the Village Chief.
The young men who were still standing tried to block such a Zhang Pei.
“Stop!”
“You bastard!”
Forgetting their fear, they rushed at Zhang Pei.
The price for that was harsh.
Crack!
Bang!
“Argh!”
“Gah!”
They flew away vomiting blood at Zhang Pei’s fist.
The Iron Mountain Fist, when mastered to great completion, possessed enough power to strike down even a large ox with a single punch.
Zhang Pei had dug only into the Iron Mountain Fist and mastered it to the realm of great completion.
To someone like him, no matter how many Village young men there were who hadn’t learned Martial Arts, they could not pose a threat.
It was the same logic as hundreds of sheep not being able to match a single wolf.
Thud, thud!
Zhang Pei walked fiercely, deliberately raising his aura.
Every time he took a step, a dull sound of footsteps echoed.
Along with it, the faces of the village people also turned white.
It was at that moment when the fear of the village people reached its peak.
“Stop right there, big child.”
Suddenly, an old man’s voice was heard from among the people.
Naturally, the attention of the Bandits and the village people was focused on the owner of the voice.
The owner of the voice was none other than Baek Ho-yang.
Toward Baek Ho-yang, who suddenly intervened, Zhang Pei glared with his bulging eyes.
“Did you just say those words to me? Old man!”
“That is so, child.”
“Ha! Ridiculous. A child? Is there a child this big?”
“That is why I called you a big child, did I not?”
“Fuck! Is this old man trying to play word games with me?”
Zhang Pei approached toward Baek Ho-yang.
Although he was raising his aura to the fullest, a streak of doubt was blooming in his heart.
‘This old man, what is he?’
In Jianghu, there was a proverb to be careful of old men and children.
The Jianghu was precisely a place where one would be hit with a fatal blow by such an unexpected existence.
Even while moving his steps, Zhang Pei did not neglect to observe the signs of the people around him.
All the village people were looking at Baek Ho-yang, who suddenly stepped forward, with puzzled expressions.
As if reading the vibe of, ‘What is that old man, stepping forward at such a critical moment?’
‘Does it mean he is not a person of this Village?’
A somewhat ominous feeling arose.
But it was a situation where he couldn’t back down.
Not only the village people but also his subordinates were already focusing.
If he showed a weak appearance here, it was certain that his dignity would be cracked.
Suppressing his ominous feeling with an effort, Zhang Pei stood in front of Baek Ho-yang.
“Old man, do you want to die?”
“Who in the world is there that wants to die? I naturally do not want to die either.”
“Then why the fuck are you stepping forward? You should have just quietly kept eating the food you were eating.”
“I was intending to do so, but did you not interfere?”
“Then eat quickly and get the fuck out.”
“I cannot do that. I have already received lavish hospitality from this Village, and if I turn a blind eye and leave, Taishang Laojun will not leave this body alone.”
“Taishang Laojun? Old man, could you perhaps be a Taoist?”
Zhang Pei opened his eyes wide in surprise.
Baek Ho-yang said as he rose from his seat.
“Yes! I was a Taoist. Though now I am nothing more than an ordinary village rustic.”
“Fuck! Where are you lying…”
“Do you really think it is a lie?”
Baek Ho-yang looked at Zhang Pei’s face.
There was a difference of two heads, so he had to look up for a long time, but Baek Ho-yang did not mind.
At the gaze of the slender old man who was not even half his size, Zhang Pei felt his spirit being suppressed.
His instinct was whispering.
That the old man in front of his eyes was a real Taoist who had learned Martial Arts.
That he was a real Martial Artist, not a mere bandit like himself.
But he couldn’t back down now.
“Fuck! Die!”
Zhang Pei swung his fist spasmodically.
A fist as large as a pot lid flew in as if it would crush Baek Ho-yang’s face at any moment.
At that moment, Baek Ho-yang poked the Quchi Acupoint of the elbow area hard with the chopsticks he was still holding in his hand.
“Argh!”
Feeling as if he had been struck by lightning, Zhang Pei screamed.
Looking at such a Zhang Pei, Baek Ho-yang shook his head.
“Your exaggeration is severe. To scream at just this much, you cannot even act your size… Tsk tsk!”
Clicking his tongue, he placed his palm against Zhang Pei’s abdomen.
Boom!
Along with an explosive sound, the large Zhang Pei flew away smoothly for dozens of feet like a kite with its string cut.
At the too unrealistic sight, the Bandits opened their mouths wide.
This was because they couldn’t believe the sight of Zhang Pei, whom they believed to be the strongest, being defeated so helplessly.
However, Baek Ho-yang, who actually incapacitated Zhang Pei in a single blow, was not looking at the Bandits.
His gaze was fixed on Woo Geom-san, who was still sitting on the chair.
“I will show you what happens when you properly learn how to walk correctly. Open your eyes wide and watch.”
“Yes! Grandfather.”
At the very moment Woo Geom-san answered, Baek Ho-yang disappeared from view.
In the blink of an eye, moving through space, the place where he appeared was in front of the Bandits who were subduing the Village young men.
It was a sight as if he had moved by skipping through time and space.
But Woo Geom-san knew well that it was not that.
This was because right before moving, he saw Baek Ho-yang’s knees move slightly.
It was the leg movement that he had shown in front of his eyes to the point of boredom for the past three days.
That movement which he couldn’t understand even while continuing to watch.
Baek Ho-yang’s voice was heard.
“It is not that I intend to walk, but I must entrust my body to the flow.”
Boom!
At that moment, along with an explosive sound, one bandit flew away just like Zhang Pei.
Following that, Baek Ho-yang, who instantly moved in front of another bandit, said.
“If you walk correctly, someday you too will come to feel it. That the path opens before the one who walks correctly.”
Boom!
Again, along with an explosive sound, a bandit flew away.
He couldn’t even scream.
This was because an unbearable great shock had struck him.
Before anyone knew it, Baek Ho-yang was moving to find another victim.
“Following the flow of nature, this is called Smooth Flow.”
“Argh!”
At the appearance of Baek Ho-yang who instantly appeared before his eyes, the targeted bandit let out a bizarre scream.
Thwack!
Baek Ho-yang’s chopstick dug into the bandit’s shoulder.
The bandit’s body ended up paralyzed, and he sank down on the spot.
Once again, Baek Ho-yang disappeared from view, and then abruptly appeared in a space no one expected.
“Stepping on an empty place, space naturally opens up, so this is called Stepping on the Void.”
Thwack! Thwack!
In succession, the Bandits trembled as if struck by lightning and collapsed.
“If you step on the void following the smooth flow, in the end, it is not I, but nature that makes me walk, so this is called the Flowing Void Steps. This is the final realm of the correct way of walking that you must master.”
Thud! Thud!
As soon as Baek Ho-yang’s words finished, the bodies of the Bandits who were standing blankly collapsed like scarecrows.
It was the moment when the correct way of walking, which contained the summation of progress, manifested in the remote Village by borrowing Baek Ho-yang’s body.
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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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