The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 96

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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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96
Woo Geom-san Competes for Hegemony
The typhoon turned into a gentle breeze and vanished, but people’s minds were still as dizzy as if they were in the midst of a storm.
That was how astonishing the situation unfolding before their eyes truly was.
One of the Red Cloud Sect’s Ten Direction God-Kings lay on the ground with a deep wound in his chest, while the other was kneeling, vomiting dark blood.
The one lying on the ground was none other than Xuanxuan Xinjun.
Xuanxuan Xinjun lay there with one arm severed and a deep sword wound to his chest. His face was deathly pale from losing so much blood.
Xueying Xinjun was in a slightly better state.
At the moment of crisis, he had transformed his Thousand Weapons Robe into a shield to protect his entire body. Thanks to that, he avoided death, but instead, his flank was slit wide open along with the Thousand Weapons Robe.
Blood gushed frantically from the torn muscle, but he could not even dare to try and staunch the bleeding.
The shock to his mind was greater than the trauma to his body.
He could not believe that two of the Ten Direction God-Kings had been defeated despite joining forces.
Their opponent was a young martial artist who did not even look thirty yet.
No matter how much he had inherited the lineage of Quanzhen, this made no sense.
The fact that someone at such a young age had established a style grand enough to overwhelm the Ten Direction God-Kings was mind-boggling.
No matter how outstanding his innate talent was, it was a terrifying rate of growth that defied explanation.
At least as far as Xueying Xinjun knew, no one had attained achievement this rapidly.
Even Ning Hanming, the Sect Leader of the Red Cloud Sect, was not this strong at that age.
It was truly an unfathomable level of martial arts.
He could not think of any way to face such a man.
It felt as if a massive, endless wall stood right before his eyes.
While Xueying Xinjun was floundering in deep despair like that, Leng Tianxiang was also unable to shake off her profound shock.
“Quan… zhen?”
“Master?”
“An descendant of Quanzhen, so is that why he was so arrogant?”
Leng Tianxiang bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.
Only now did she understand the attitude bordering on arrogance that Woo Geom-san had shown until now.
Because he had inherited the lineage of Quanzhen, he had acted so loftily.
She still remembered vividly.
Baek Ho-yang, who boasted matchless martial prowess during the war with the Cheonmyeong Association.
She had been shocked by his incredible martial arts, and so a certain degree of respect had sprouted. However, she did not envy the situation he was in.
At that time, Quanzhen had declined significantly, and Baek Ho-yang alone was barely keeping the lineage alive.
What was the use of being so strong?
He was barely a single person.
On the other hand, Geangeak had hundreds of disciples.
Though the individual martial power could never compare to Baek Ho-yang, Geangeak was on an ascending path, while the Quanzhen Sect was walking a descending path.
She had thought that the magnificent sword art with which Baek Ho-yang relentlessly cut down the martial artists of the Cheonmyeong Association would not be seen in the next generation.
This was because mastering such an exalted martial art required genius talent as a prerequisite. The reason the Quanzhen Sect had fallen this low was because they could not find outstanding talent at the right time.
When he participated in the war with the Cheonmyeong Association, Baek Ho-yang was already quite elderly, and even until then, he had been in a situation where he could not take a disciple.
Even if he were to take a disciple now and pass down the martial arts, it would take at least several decades to properly raise them.
There was no chance Baek Ho-yang would be alive until then, and above all, there was almost zero probability of finding a prodigy to inherit the martial arts of the Quanzhen Sect.
This was because the outstanding prodigies at that time had already been taken in by the orthodox sects of Jianghu, including the Nine Great Sects.
For this reason, Leng Tianxiang had predicted that the lineage of the Quanzhen Sect would be cut off.
On the other hand, she did not doubt that Geangeak would soar even higher using the war with the Cheonmyeong Association as a springboard.
But the result was the exact opposite of her prediction.
Geangeak, which she had considered so reliable and believed in, was destroyed, and Baek Ho-yang lived to the end to leave a disciple named Woo Geom-san.
Compared to Leng Tianxiang’s disciple, Leng Shuiyue, who still had a long way to go, Woo Geom-san seemed to have already reached some level of completion.
‘How ridiculous must I have seemed to him? As nothing more than the leader of a destroyed sect, I was telling him, who inherited the lineage of the Quanzhen Sect, what to do.’
Leng Tianxiang thought that Woo Geom-san had deceived her.
If he had revealed to her from the very beginning that he was a disciple of the Quanzhen Sect, she would not have even told him to yield the cabin.
Rage welled up at the fact that her own appearance had been made to look ridiculous by Woo Geom-san’s deception.
Leng Tianxiang knew it too.
The fact that this emotion stemmed from her twisted inferiority complex. Yet she could not control her anger.
“Shuiyue!”
“Yes! Master.”
“Take a good look at that man. For he may very well become the greatest obstacle in your path.”
“I understand.”
Leng Shuiyue nodded and looked at Woo Geom-san.
With his sword lowered, Woo Geom-san’s figure looking down at Xuanxuan Xinjun and Xueying Xinjun appeared incredibly lofty.
A strange heat colored Leng Shuiyue’s eyes as she looked at Woo Geom-san.
It was then.
Woo Geom-san suddenly raised his head and looked at the empty air where nothing existed.
While everyone looked at his behavior with puzzled expressions, a chilling sound echoed through the air.
Shhh!
At that moment, Woo Geom-san slashed his sword vertically toward the empty air.
Clang!
The sound of shattering glass echoed in the air as a powerful shockwave spread out in all directions.
“Ugh!”
“Ack!”
The sailors caught in the shockwave screamed, losing their balance and collapsing or flying backward.
“This is?”
“It’s a new expert.”
Im So-ryeong and Zhang Wangchu felt goosebumps rising across their skin.
Her senses were responding first to a terrifying presence.
It was the same for Leng Tianxiang and Leng Shuiyue as well.
Flutter!
Then, someone suddenly fluttered a blue hem and landed between Woo Geom-san and Xuanxuan Xinjun.
The man who appeared suddenly without a sound or sign was hiding his face behind a blue mask.
Upon seeing him, a bright color returned to Xueying Xinjun’s face.
“Lord Qingyi Shizhe!”
“You stepped forward with such confidence, only to end up looking unsightly.”
“I am sorry.”
“Take Xuanxuan and leave.”
“But…”
“I am not asking for your opinion.”
“I am sorry.”
Xueying Xinjun hastily supported Xuanxuan Xinjun and retreated backward.
Qingyi Shizhe did not even spare a glance at the two of them.
He did not have the leisure to divert his gaze.
His gaze was fixed entirely on Woo Geom-san.
Though he pretended to be composed on the outside, he was actually in a state of tension.
Seeing the crisis of Xuanxuan Xinjun and Xueying Xinjun, he had deployed his signature technique, the Qingyi Yinxuedao, from a distance.
The Qingyi Yinxuedao was a sword art that vibrated the sword to create and attack with ultra-high-frequency sound waves like a bat.
Because it attacks using ultra-high-frequency sound waves that humans cannot hear, neither sound nor sign can be felt. Yet Woo Geom-san had noticed his attack from afar and countered immediately.
It was clear that he possessed senses and martial arts equal to or greater than his own.
“You inherited the lineage of Quanzhen?”
“And you are Qingyi Shizhe?”
“Baek Ho-yang, that old man did not die in the war with the Cheonmyeong Association but fled, and he managed to raise a disciple like you well.”
“You seem quite interested in my grandfather. To even know that he participated in the war with the Cheonmyeong Association.”
Baek Ho-yang was not a widely known person.
He lived in seclusion his entire life, and only after the war with the Cheonmyeong Association broke out did he actively operate in Jianghu.
Because of that, no one except the people from the sects that participated in the war with the Cheonmyeong Association knew him. Yet the Red Cloud Sect, which had stood by during the war with the Cheonmyeong Association, knowing Baek Ho-yang’s tracks meant they had observed him that carefully.
“Disciples of the Quanzhen Sect are always the number one target for execution. Because you are no different from sworn enemies. From now on, we will continuously observe your every single move. When you sleep, when you rest, every single moment.”
“So you intend to kill me if I show a weak appearance?”
“That is only natural…”
Slide!
At that moment, Woo Geom-san vanished from Qingyi Shizhe’s field of vision.
Before Qingyi Shizhe could even perceive it, Woo Geom-san appeared right next to him.
He had deployed the Flowing Void Steps to the absolute limit to shift through space.
“What?”
Slash!
At that moment, Woo Geom-san’s sword sliced across Qingyi Shizhe’s neck and passed by.
Even until then, Qingyi Shizhe did not realize what had happened to him.
Trickle!
Just as a line of blood seemed to form on his neck, blood came gushing down.
That was the end of Qingyi Shizhe.
Woo Geom-san, who had killed Qingyi Shizhe in an instant, deployed the Flowing Void Steps once more.
Flash!
Leaping through space, the place where he appeared was right in front of Xueying Xinjun, who was supporting Xuanxuan Xinjun.
Belatedly realizing the death of Qingyi Shizhe, Xueying Xinjun let out a sound close to a scream.
“You?”
Thrust!
In an instant, Woo Geom-san’s sword pierced through the flanks of Xueying Xinjun and Xuanxuan Xinjun simultaneously.
Not to mention Xuanxuan Xinjun, who was in a near-death state, even Xueying Xinjun, who was supporting him, failed to respond in time.
That was how much Woo Geom-san’s movements surpassed their expectations.
No one thought that Woo Geom-san, a disciple of the orthodox Quanzhen Sect, would launch a surprise attack.
Not to mention Qingyi Shizhe, who was the first to fall, and even the people who were watching.
For a disciple of an orthodox sect, a surprise attack or a sneak attack was practically a taboo.
Unless the opponent picked a fight first, it was the atmosphere of orthodox sects not to strike first.
Therefore, they had vaguely thought that Woo Geom-san would naturally fight fair and square. However, Woo Geom-san caught them completely off guard and ended the lives of the three men in a single breath.
Thud, crash!
Belatedly, Qingyi Shizhe, Xuanxuan Xinjun, and Xueying Xinjun collapsed.
“…”
At this unbelievable sight, everyone in the venue fell into shock.
Faced with the unprecedented situation where three core figures of the Red Cloud Sect lost their lives at the same time, they were at a loss for words.
Because it was such a shocking sight, they did not know how to react.
Not to mention Zhang Wangchu or Im So-ryeong, even Leng Tianxiang, a renowned elder of Jianghu, froze at the brutal sight.
Leng Tianxiang barely opened her mouth.
“How… could you do that? How could a disciple of Quanzhen…”
“Are you asking how I could launch a surprise attack during a conversation?”
“That is right.”
“Do you think it is cowardly?”
“That is only natural…”
“Then are you saying I should have waited until they caught me off guard when I became weak?”
“That is…”
Leng Tianxiang could not bring herself to continue speaking.
“They are ready to ambush me at any time, so why can I not ambush them?”
“…”
“They have already called me a sworn enemy. If I show even the slightest softness or weakness, they will relentlessly provoke and ambush me. I have no intention of being one-sidedly targeted like that.”
Woo Geom-san’s voice was exceedingly firm.
Long ago, after being forced to kill bandits at Cheonbaeksan, he had agonized and suffered for countless days.
He could not even sleep at the fact that he had killed a person for the first time in his life.
After spending countless days awake like that, Woo Geom-san finally realized.
Whether he liked it or not, he was a martial artist.
As long as he was a descendant of the Woo Family Manor, he could not help but continuously be entangled with Jianghu.
He also lacked the confidence to leave the secular world and live in seclusion for the rest of his life like Baek Ho-yang. If so, he had to live either in the Woo Family Manor or in Jianghu.
When operating in Jianghu, it was inevitable to form relationships with other people.
It would be fortunate if there were only good relationships, but Woo Geom-san knew all too well that the affairs of the world did not flow only in such a good direction.
A person who regarded him as an enemy could arise, and sometimes, he might have to engage in a life-and-death match due to deep-seated resentment.
If he inevitably had to see blood, and if he inevitably had to kill people, he had to achieve the maximum effect with the minimum sacrifice. That was the minimal way to reduce the number of victims.
Just as Qingyi Shizhe said, Woo Geom-san had already crossed paths with the Red Cloud Sect. Furthermore, his master’s sect, the Quanzhen Sect, was the sworn enemy of the Red Cloud Sect.
They were bound to continuously clash.
If he had just let Qingyi Shizhe, Xueying Xinjun, and the others go, they would view Woo Geom-san as a soft person and continue to attempt ambushes, or target the people around him.
Even to prevent such a situation in advance, Woo Geom-san needed to show a ruthless appearance.
Therefore, the Red Cloud Sect also needed to know clearly that if they targeted him, they would surely die or suffer equivalent damage.
It was, in a sense, a warning of death.
Even if because of this, people in Jianghu called him a cold-blooded murderer with neither blood nor tears, it did not matter.
No matter what anyone from the outside said, his essence would absolutely never change.
The thirty-sixth generation Sect Leader of the Quanzhen Sect, and a stubborn martial artist who risked his life on the path of the sword.
That was his essence.

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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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