The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 94

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

94
Woo Geom-san’s Struggle
The Red Cloud Sect was located on the fringes of the Jianghu, so its true nature was rarely known.
Although the existence of the Four Great Envoys and the Ten Direction God-Kings was widely known, few knew the specific details of each individual.
Im So-ryeong was one of those few people.
It was because she moved diligently, never neglecting to gather information.
Of course, even Im So-ryeong could not know all of the Four Great Envoys and the Ten Direction God-Kings. She only grasped a tiny fraction of them.
One of them was precisely Xuanxuan Xinjun.
It was because his characteristics were so distinct.
Xuanxuan Xinjun was a ruthless killer who tore people alive with razor-sharp, hook-like fingernails.
The man standing on the small boat precisely matched the characteristics of Xuanxuan Xinjun she knew.
“Is the man with Xuanxuan Xinjun Xueying Xinjun?”
Xueying Xinjun always moved together with Xuanxuan Xinjun, even while fighting like cats and dogs.
So he was easily recognizable.
The probability of two of the Red Cloud Sect’s Ten Direction God-Kings appearing here by chance was slim.
Im So-ryeong’s gaze unconsciously drifted toward Ning Yunxiao.
‘It’s because of that boy.’
Chilian Xinjun, who died at the hands of Woo Geom-san, had also tried to kidnap Ning Yunxiao. Im So-ryeong, who did not know Ning Yunxiao’s secret, could not understand why the Red Cloud Sect was trying so tenaciously to take him away.
Xuanxuan Xinjun and Xueying Xinjun simultaneously leapt into the air from the small boat and landed on the Express Vessel.
“Who gave you permission to board my ship without asking?”
Zhang Wangchu drew his Straight Sword in anger.
Whether small or large, a ship was the Captain’s domain.
Boarding a ship without the Captain’s permission was an act of defying him.
Therefore, even Im So-ryeong followed Zhang Wangchu’s orders on the ship.
Chwaaaa!
The sailors, who had been exhausted, also pulled out their respective weapons to watch out for the intruders.
However, Xuanxuan Xinjun and the other God-King who had boarded the ship did not even spare a glance at Zhang Wangchu and the sailors.
Their gazes were locked onto only one person, Ning Yunxiao.
Woo Geom-san grumbled as he saw Ning Yunxiao’s face turn stark white upon facing the two men.
“I barely brought him back to normal by feeding him a Yeongbo Vitality Pill, should I feed him another one?”
At Woo Geom-san’s voice, Ning Yunxiao felt his mind snap back to reality.
“I’m sorry. I’m fine now.”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
“Right! Let’s keep our heads straight.”
“Yes!”
A look of peculiar interest flickered in the eyes of Xuanxuan Xinjun and Xueying Xinjun as they saw Ning Yunxiao quickly regain his composure.
It was because the Ning Yunxiao they knew was a very soft-hearted child. That was why his father, Ning Hanming, had always been displeased with Ning Yunxiao.
If Ning Yunxiao had been just a little more daring, Ning Hanming might have considered him a proper successor rather than a target for internal energy extortion.
Xuanxuan Xinjun extended his hand to Ning Yunxiao.
“Come here, Confucius! This is not the place where you belong.”
“I’m not going.”
“If you keep acting like this, I may have to take you by force. You won’t receive good treatment then.”
“I’ll die if I go anyway, and I’ll die if I don’t. Even if I’m going to die, I don’t want to watch that man profit by making me a sacrificial lamb. It would be better for you to just kill me right here and now!”
Ning Yunxiao screamed.
He felt like crying because he was so terrified, but he had nowhere left to retreat.
Above all, there was something he believed in.
It was precisely Woo Geom-san.
A belief had formed that Woo Geom-san would protect him from these fiendish people.
It was then.
“How dare you board the ship this lady is riding without permission, you’ve got some nerve!”
Leng Tianxiang’s cold voice echoed across the gunwale.
When the two turned their heads, Leng Tianxiang was glaring at them, radiating killing intent.
Leng Tianxiang was in a very foul mood.
She was already displeased just from having water splashed all over her while passing through Salyonghyeop, but unexpected uninvited guests had suddenly jumped onto the ship.
Unlike Im So-ryeong, she did not know the identities of Xuanxuan Xinjun and Xueying Xinjun. She was simply displeased that unpermitted people had boarded the ship she was on without authorization.
Xueying Xinjun stepped forward and said.
“Do not meddle in our sect’s business, Leng Tianxiang!”
“Do you know this lady?”
“That’s right. I know you.”
“And yet you act like this despite knowing?”
“The last Sect Leader of the destroyed Geangeak. Why should anyone fear something so insignificant?”
“How dare you!”
“This is the business of the Red Cloud Sect. Will you still meddle?”
“…….”
In an instant, Leng Tianxiang’s face hardened stiffly.
Having active in the Jianghu for a long time, she too knew the Red Cloud Sect well.
They had only stood out as one of the Ten Pillars after the Nine Great Sects sealed their gates, but in truth, the history of the Red Cloud Sect was quite long.
The Red Cloud Sect was an evil cult that had existed for at least a hundred years. That was why Leng Tianxiang also knew well about the Red Cloud Sect.
With the Sect Leader Ning Hanming at the forefront, the Four Great Envoys and the Ten Direction God-Kings were deployed. However, what was scarier than that was the countless number of believers.
The true power of the Red Cloud Sect lay in the numerous believers who had infiltrated and operated secretly all over the world under heaven.
There was no telling who might believe in the Red Cloud Sect with an innocent face. It was not uncommon for someone believed to be a closest aide to actually be a Red Cloud Sect member.
Becoming enemies with the Red Cloud Sect meant having as many believers as grains of sesame as enemies.
Once you became an enemy of the Red Cloud Sect, sleeping peacefully was out of the question. You had to be careful when eating meals and even when drinking water. It was because you never knew when a Red Cloud Sect member would release poison.
An expert of Leng Tianxiang’s caliber would not lose her life to a surprise attack by an ordinary believer. To her, they were beings less than ants. However, even ants would hurt if you were bitten a lot.
Leng Tianxiang, who held the heavy mission of reconstructing Geangeak, had no leisure time to waste.
If she stepped forward in vain for the sake of face and became an enemy of the Red Cloud Sect, the reconstruction of Geangeak would be delayed indefinitely.
At that moment, someone held her hand.
It was Leng Shuiyue.
“Master, when we fought the Cheonmyeong Association for the greater good, what did the Jianghu do for us? Far from helping, they consistently treated us with nothing but contempt and coldness. Is there any reason to repeat the same thing?”
“Your words are right.”
Leng Tianxiang nodded.
Backing down here would damage her face a little, but that was all.
Leng Tianxiang knew all too well that face did not feed you.
“Now that I think about it, there is no reason for us to involve ourselves in the internal affairs of the Red Cloud Sect. Do as you wish. I will not intervene.”
“Wise as expected. I will respect your decision.”
Xueying Xinjun offered a Cupped Hand Salute to Leng Tianxiang.
By offering the Cupped Hand Salute, he had saved Leng Tianxiang’s face.
Seeing that sight, Im So-ryeong found it absurd and shouted.
“Wait! Can you still call yourself a renowned senior of the Jianghu after doing that? How can you say that while leaving a child in danger?”
“Then, why don’t you step forward and save that kid?”
“What did you say?”
“I’m saying the grand Punglim Fort should step forward and face the Red Cloud Sect. You kept your mouth tightly shut during the war with the Cheonmyeong Association, and now you look for a renowned senior of the Jianghu. I am sick and tired of the behavior of you people who only talk big.”
“Urgh!”
Xueying Xinjun ridiculed the flaring Im So-ryeong.
“If you step forward and save that boy, the Punglim Fort Master will surely love it. Going to war with the Red Cloud Sect thanks to you.”
In an instant, Im So-ryeong’s eyes flipped.
She glared glaringly at Xueying Xinjun and said.
“Ha! It seems you completely take Punglim Fort for granted.”
“What?”
Xueying Xinjun wore an absurd expression, but Im So-ryeong continued speaking without caring.
“What? If we intervene, it’s war with the Red Cloud Sect? Fine, let’s do it! War!”
“Are you speaking sincerely?”
“Yes! I’m sincere. Did you think I’d be scared if you threatened me with the word war? War? I don’t like it either. But me and Punglim Fort do not avoid a fight that walks to us. We aren’t afraid at all of an evil cult operating secretly in the fringes. Above all, I am more afraid of our Fort Master than the Red Cloud Sect. If the Fort Master finds out that we gave up a guest riding on our ship because of something like the Red Cloud Sect, I am a dead person that very day!”
Punglim Fort was the descendant of the Greenwood.
As time flowed and the world changed, it had transformed like other Jianghu sects, but its basic disposition had not changed.
They preferred taking over being taken from, and they preferred trampling over being trampled on.
The Fort Master Zhang Guanghao was a man who inherited that disposition of the Greenwood completely.
By nature, he was lazy and disliked getting caught up in annoying matters extremely, but he could not tolerate being looked down upon by others.
If she stood by and watched them run wild on Punglim Fort’s ship out of fear of fighting the Red Cloud Sect, Fort Master Zhang Guanghao’s axe would split the skulls of her and Zhang Wangchu.
Xueying Xinjun let out a sigh.
“Ha! You babble without knowing your place. This is not a matter of a level you can handle. Greenhorn!”
“You overestimate yourself, old man!”
“What?”
“You’re just an old man whose shell is plausible but inside is shriveled up. So what if I call you an old man?”
“You bitch will definitely not die a pleasant death.”
It was right when a thick killing intent surfaced in Xueying Xinjun’s eyes.
“Who is going to kill my niece without my permission?”
Zhang Wangchu blocked the front of Im So-ryeong.
A killing intent as strong as Xueying Xinjun’s was also radiating from his body as he held his Straight Sword.
He was Zhang Wangchu, reputedly one of the Six Rivers Squadron Leaders.
In terms of martial power alone, he was a powerhouse within the top ten in Punglim Fort.
Since Im So-ryeong had clearly decided on a line, there was no reason for him to hold back.
Zhang Wangchu gave an order to the sailors.
“Kill all the bastards who board the ship without permission.”
“Yes! Squad Leader.”
“It’s been a long time since we’ve fought to our heart’s content.”
The sailors smiled, revealing their yellow teeth.
They were not ordinary sailors.
Each and every one of them was an expert trained in martial arts.
They never feared a fight.
Although numerous boats were surrounding them, they burned with fighting spirit without a single hint of fear.
Rather, they were shaking their shoulders as if excited by a fight after a long time.
Xuanxuan Xinjun did not like this atmosphere.
He had expected it would not be easy, but he never expected Punglim Fort to express hostility so openly like this.
‘This is why ignorant bastards won’t do. They can’t assess the situation. I should quickly take the kid and leave this place.’
Although he had threatened them, fighting an all-out war with Punglim Fort was a burden to the Red Cloud Sect as well.
If they fought an all-out war with Punglim Fort, the Red Cloud Sect’s Central Plains activities would be put on hold.
The best way was to take Ning Yunxiao and quickly escape this place. However, he could not move hastily.
It was precisely because of the man next to Ning Yunxiao.
A young man with a six-foot tall stature and an unconventional appearance.
The way he stood aloof with his hands behind his back as if the sharp confrontation between the Red Cloud Sect and Punglim Fort had nothing to do with him was oddly bothersome.
Xuanxuan Xinjun secretly pulled up his martial cultivation force and said.
“Hand over the young master.”
“I cannot do that.”
Woo Geom-san answered, hiding Ning Yunxiao behind his back.
“Foolish! To risk your life because of an insignificant child. He is not a child worthy of you risking your life to protect.”
“The value of this child is not something determined by you. He is a child protected by a mother who risked her life. He is a child more precious than thousands of gold pieces, and more precious than the entirety of the Red Cloud Sect.”
“So you will block me?”
“I promised Yunxiao’s mother. That I would take him to the Qingyu Clan.”
“To throw away your life because of such a trivial promise. You are the most foolish person I have ever seen in my life.”
“I hear that a lot.”
Woo Geom-san answered calmly without a single change in his expression.
If he just let go a little, he could have walked a comfortable path as much as he wanted. However, foolishly enough, he chose the hard path.
Even when training in martial arts.
Even when pioneering the Plank Road in Cheonbaeksan, he walked the right path with a stubbornness that bordered on foolishness.
Living each day faithfully, he had never broken his principles even once.
He had lived fifteen years in such a foolish manner.
Those fifteen years of time had accumulated to create the current Woo Geom-san.
In a way, he had brought the hardship upon himself.
No wonder So Seol-yeong, the Young Sect Master of the Man-sang Alliance, called him Woo Geom, meaning a foolish sword.
A human being like Woo Geom-san had no compromise whatsoever in front of the principles he had set.
Handing over a powerless young child out of fear of the Red Cloud Sect did not exist in Woo Geom-san’s options at all.
“I speak for the last time. If you do not hand over that child, I will kill both you and your family in the name of the Red Cloud Sect.”
At Xuanxuan Xinjun’s threat, Woo Geom-san looked up at the sky for a moment.
Because that appearance looked exactly like he was having a conflict, Xuanxuan Xinjun formed a smile.
It was because a conviction arose that Woo Geom-san, like Leng Tianxiang, would also surrender to the prestige of the Red Cloud Sect.
Unless it was a giant power like Punglim Fort, it was impossible for an individual to deal with the Red Cloud Sect. Therefore, he thought that even if he pretended to be so aloof, he must be full of fear inside.
However, Woo Geom-san’s reaction was far beyond his expectations.
Woo Geom-san raised the scabbard he was wearing at his waist and said.
“The sword of Quanzhen does not fear the Red Cloud.”

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