The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 83

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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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83
The Battle for Woo Geom-san
Liu Jiayan looked up at Chilian Xinjun with an expression of disbelief.
She had never imagined that Chilian Xinjun would plunge his dagger into her without another word, without questioning her further.
“H-how…?”
“You are quite right, Madam. In truth, the Sect Leader has no interest in your life or death. He is only interested in the young master.”
Chilian Xinjun grinned, baring his white teeth.
His cruel smile plunged Liu Jiayan into utter despair.
Chilian Xinjun grabbed the handle of the dagger buried in Liu Jiayan’s lower abdomen and twisted it slowly.
“Aaaagh!”
Screaming loudly in unbearable agony, Liu Jiayan contorted her entire body.
“Hehe!”
Chilian Xinjun laughed as he watched her writhe.
The Sect Leader’s command was absolute: retrieve Ning Yunxiao and bring him back.
Liu Jiayan’s survival was never part of that mandate. In other words, it meant she could be killed.
Chilian Xinjun possessed a thoroughly sadistic nature.
He never killed anyone mercifully; he could only be satisfied when he witnessed them thrashing in agonizing torment.
Thus, those who fell into his clutches would find themselves begging for the sweet release of death.
Liu Jiayan would be no different.
Though she had been the Sect Leader’s wife until just recently, she was now nothing more than a traitor to be executed.
She had attempted her escape under the guise of taking her son out for a stroll.
It was not an impulsive act, but a breakout meticulously prepared over several years. However, there was one variable she failed to calculate.
It was the betrayal of the carriage driver.
The driver had fed the horses poison to make them run wild and alerted the Red Cloud Sect of her escape.
The enraged Sect Leader then commanded Chilian Xinjun to retrieve his son.
Liu Jiayan’s life or death was completely outside his concern.
Chilian Xinjun twisted the dagger once more.
“Aaaagh!”
The sensation of her raw flesh being torn to shreds made Liu Jiayan scream until her throat tore.
She tried to endure it for the sake of her son, but it was futile.
Her screams echoed into every nook and cranny of the inn.
“Mother!”
Ultimately, Ning Yunxiao, who had been hiding in the inn’s basement, came rushing out.
Ning Yunxiao’s face was completely stained with tears.
He had been hiding in the inn’s cellar alongside Niu Jinshu. The moment Liu Jiayan realized Chilian Xinjun had raided the place, she begged Niu Jinshu to take Ning Yunxiao and hide securely.
Niu Jinshu had hidden in the cellar just as she requested. The problem was that the external situation could be clearly seen through the cellar’s tiny ventilation hole.
He had to watch vividly as Niu Jinhong and the martial artists collapsed, and even as Liu Jiayan was subjected to torture.
Niu Jinshu swallowed his tears of frustration and tried to restrain Ning Yunxiao, but the boy eventually shook off his grip and bolted outside.
“You’ve finally come out.”
Chilian Xinjun grinned.
He knew it would happen.
No matter how clever the boy was, he was ultimately just a young child reliant on his mother’s embrace. There was no way he would possess the patience to watch his mother suffer.
Chilian Xinjun tapped the handle of the dagger and said,
“If you do not wish to witness more of your mother’s agony, come over here.”
“D-don’t come here. Run away, quickly!”
Liu Jiayan squeezed out the last of her strength to shout. At that, Chilian Xinjun twisted the dagger’s handle again with an annoyed look on his face.
“Aaaagh!”
“Mother!”
Unable to endure his mother’s screams, Ning Yunxiao charged forward.
Like a hawk snatching its prey, Chilian Xinjun grabbed Ning Yunxiao as the boy tried to embrace Liu Jiayan.
“Let me go! Mother, Mother…!”
“The Sect Leader is anxiously searching for you, Young Master!”
“I said let me go…!”
“Madam has no chance of survival anyway. Forget about her cleanly and return with me.”
“Eeeek!”
Ning Yunxiao bit down on Chilian Xinjun’s forearm to break free. However, Chilian Xinjun merely laughed without even blinking an eye.
“Hehe! Seeing that you are so energetic makes me feel quite pleased.”
“Damn it!”
“The Sect Leader will also be delighted to see how healthy you are, Young Master.”
Chilian Xinjun slung Ning Yunxiao over his shoulder and stood up.
Numerous people lay scattered across the floor, including Liu Jiayan, who was bleeding with a dagger still embedded in her.
Many were dead, but many were still alive.
The survivors were also eyewitnesses.
Chilian Xinjun had no intention of leaving any witnesses behind.
He intended to cleanly destroy all evidence so that Punglim Fort could not raise any issues.
As Chilian Xinjun raised his hand, a terrifying energy began to gather.
A look of despair washed over Niu Jinshu’s face.
‘It seems today will be the final day of the Feiyun Merchant Group.’
Niu Jinshu had never anticipated that a decision made out of a sense of justice would invite such a disaster. Yet, even if he were to return to that moment, he would make the exact same choice.
Right then, Chilian Xinjun swung his hand.
With that movement, the crimson energy gathered in his hand split into dozens of strands and flew toward Niu Jinshu and the other living people.
Red Blade Flying Snake Finger.
It was the ultimate technique that symbolized Chilian Xinjun.
It was a vicious method that unleashed dozens of snake-shaped finger blasts to slaughter enemies.
Swoosh!
Like snakes targeting their prey, the dozens of finger blasts flew along completely different trajectories.
At the end of those paths were Niu Jinshu and the martial artists of the Feiyun Merchant Group.
The martial artists targeted by the Red Blade Flying Snake Finger could not move an inch, frozen like mice before a serpent.
Just before the Red Blade Flying Snake Finger could strike him, Niu Jinshu squeezed his eyes shut.
It was at that exact moment.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind blew out of nowhere, brushing past the bodies of Niu Jinshu and the martial artists.
Niu Jinshu and the martial artists caught a refreshing fragrance carried within the wind.
Even in the midst of a life-or-death crisis, a scent capable of clearing one’s mind was riding the breeze.
The refreshing wind instantly obliterated the Red Blade Flying Snake Finger blasts that had been flying to claim Niu Jinshu and the martial artists.
When no pain was felt despite the passage of time, Niu Jinshu and the others finally opened their eyes.
The first thing that caught their sight was the back of a man blocking Chilian Xinjun’s path.
It was a familiar back, having traveled together with them for the past few days.
“Senior… Woo?”
The owner of that steadfast back was none other than Woo Geom-san.
Woo Geom-san had appeared before them at the precipice of death.
Chilian Xinjun’s face stiffened into a hard mask.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Please let that child go.”
“I asked who the hell you are.”
“I am called Woo Geom-san.”
“Woo Geom-san? Do you know who I am to dare meddle like this? Surely you know that half-baked interventions in the Jianghu only invite calamity?”
The fingertips of Chilian Xinjun, who was rebuking Woo Geom-san with a ferocious face, were trembling.
It was the hand that had just unleashed the Red Blade Flying Snake Finger.
He himself did not know whether his hand was trembling from pain or from fear.
One thing was certain: the man who had appeared before his eyes was an expert he had never encountered before.
The others had failed to see because they had squeezed their eyes shut, but he had seen it clearly.
He had seen every single one of the dozens of Red Blade Flying Snake Finger blasts he unleashed get severed by a single strike from Woo Geom-san’s sword.
It was an unrealistic sight that he would never have believed had he not witnessed it with his own eyes.
Cutting down dozens of strands of finger blasts with a single sword strike was a feat that would not be easy even for the other Ten Direction God-Kings.
Yet, the man before him had severed all of his finger blasts as if it were nothing.
The man might be his equal, or perhaps even his superior.
The appearance of an unexpected expert imposed a heavy burden on him as well.
Chilian Xinjun glared at Woo Geom-san while covertly raising his internal strength.
He hoped that his aura would intimidate Woo Geom-san.
But unfortunately for him, his aura had absolutely no effect on Woo Geom-san.
Instead of answering, Woo Geom-san looked at Liu Jiayan and the fallen martial artists.
“Sigh. To think such a thing would happen right when I was making the Sinmyeonggo.”
When Chilian Xinjun launched his raid, Woo Geom-san had been deeply engrossed in refining the Sinmyeonggo.
Because crafting the Sinmyeonggo properly required zero room for error, Woo Geom-san had focused his entire mind on it.
For that reason, he had noticed Chilian Xinjun’s raid a moment too late.
Woo Geom-san looked at Ning Yunxiao, who was captured by Chilian Xinjun.
Just in case, he had secured lodgings close to Ning Yunxiao, and he could only feel regretful that he failed to prevent this tragedy due to refining the Sinmyeonggo.
Woo Geom-san spoke to Chilian Xinjun.
“Let the child go.”
“Do you intend to meddle in the affairs of the Red Cloud Sect?”
“The Red Cloud Sect?”
“That is correct. This child is the Sect Leader’s son. There is no reason for an outsider like you to interfere in the sect’s business. If you still choose to intervene, you will make an enemy of the entire Red Cloud Sect.”
Woo Geom-san frowned slightly at Chilian Xinjun’s threat.
Having lived isolated from the world for a full fifteen years, he did not know much about the Red Cloud Sect.
Even so, through his conversations with Gong Hwapyeong and others, he knew that the current Jianghu was ruled by the Ten Pillars and the new Five Great Clans, and that the Red Cloud Sect was one of the Ten Pillars.
Making an enemy out of one of the most powerful forces under heaven was a burdensome prospect even for Woo Geom-san.
The grievances and enmities of the Jianghu ran incredibly deep and persistent; if one became wrongly entangled, it would drag them down into the deepest mire.
Therefore, no matter how strong a martial artist’s sense of justice was, they would find it distasteful to involve themselves in matters where they did not fully understand the circumstances.
Seeing Woo Geom-san fall into brief contemplation, Chilian Xinjun believed that his threat had worked.
“Yes! You had better think carefully. Our sect’s influence is truly vast, leaving no place under heaven untouched. If you make an enemy of our sect, you won’t be able to sleep peacefully for even a single day. Our sect will hunt you down to the ends of hell.”
“Why are you trying to take that child? Is the reason perhaps because of the massive internal energy accumulated within his body?”
“…”
Woo Geom-san did not miss the momentary tremor in Chilian Xinjun’s pupils.
It had been strange from the very beginning.
The internal energy accumulated inside Ning Yunxiao’s body was by no means normal.
No matter how outstanding an internal energy cultivation method was, it was impossible to accumulate this level of internal energy at his age.
Someone had clearly made him amass that internal energy with a definitive purpose in mind.
Right then, Liu Jiayan, who had been lying as if dead, painfully opened her mouth.
“That… child’s father did that to him. Because of a unique constitution, he can amass an immense amount of internal strength entirely without any loss. So he deliberately fed him spiritual elixirs to accumulate internal energy, intending to extort it using the Energy Absorption Art…”
“Are you saying he plans to use the Energy Absorption Art against his own son? Does he not know that if one is subjected to the Energy Absorption Art, their essence and blood will be completely extorted, resulting in death?”
“He knows, and he’s doing it anyway. Human decency and affection do not exist within him. He doesn’t care whether his son dies or lives. To him, even his son is merely a tool to become stronger. That is why I escaped the Red Cloud Sect. Please, save my son.”
Tears streamed down from Liu Jiayan’s eyes as she looked at Woo Geom-san imploringly.
As long as Ning Yunxiao could be saved, she did not care what happened to her own life.
In this current situation, Woo Geom-san was the only one who could save her son.
Just then, Chilian Xinjun placed his foot on the dagger embedded in Liu Jiayan’s stomach.
Under the weight of his foot, the dagger dug deeper.
Liu Jiayan gasped, her mouth falling wide open, unable to even scream from the excruciating pain.
If he pressed down with force like this, the dagger would penetrate deeper, and Liu Jiayan would perish.
“Quiet. What will you do? Will you simply back down quietly, or will you become an enemy of the Red Cloud Sect? I believe you will make a wise choice.”
“If I back down like this, what happens?”
“Everything that occurred here will be buried, and no harm will come to your grand reputation and prestige. What will you do?”
Woo Geom-san did not ask Chilian Xinjun how it would be buried.
He knew without needing to hear it.
The best way to keep a secret was to kill everyone who witnessed it.
Chilian Xinjun was a man fully capable of doing so.
If Woo Geom-san were to leave like this, Chilian Xinjun would likely slaughter everyone inside the Chunyang Inn to silence them.
Woo Geom-san had merely traveled with these people for a few days; they were not deeply connected.
They hadn’t shared profound conversations or deep affection; it was merely a passing acquaintance.
If he turned a blind eye like this, a lingering discomfort might remain in his heart, but the troublesome matter of making an enemy of the Red Cloud Sect would not occur.
Given the choices, anyone would choose the latter.
Unless they were a fool, that is.
However, Woo Geom-san was a fool.
He did not harbor a grand cause to save the world, but he could not at least look away and ignore the injustice happening right before his eyes.
Seeing Woo Geom-san’s expression and gaze turn resolute, Chilian Xinjun spoke.
“Are you going to make a foolish decision in the end?”
“Leave that child and go.”
“Do you think I babbled all this time because I feared you? To risk your life for a completely worthless sense of justice. How foolish.”
To become enemies with a colossal power like the Red Cloud Sect for the sake of a child with whom he had no relation might indeed be a foolish act, just as Chilian Xinjun said.
However, sometimes a person’s foolish choice could change the world.
Just like how Baek Ho-yang had participated in the war against the Cheonmyeong Association in the old days.
Even though he suffered from a lifetime of guilt because of that action.
Yet, if Baek Ho-yang were to come back to life and were given the same choice, would he choose differently?
Woo Geom-san thought not.
Even if he were to revive ten times, he would make the exact same choice ten times over.
Because he was that kind of man.
Woo Geom-san was of the same breed.
“No matter what you say, I will do what I believe is right.”
Shring!
Revealing itself, the blade of Woo Geom-san’s sword pointed toward Chilian Xinjun.

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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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