The Great Heavenly Sword Emperor - Chapter 16

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

#016. Worthy of Survival (4)

Beigong Danya stood midway up the Stone Stairs, sword in hand.
Beneath his clothes, strips of bandage wound around his entire body showed through in places.
Wounded as he was, he had to survive an encounter with Gwang An’s assassin—a desperate extremity.
Flick.
Beigong Danya’s gaze shifted downward.
A single thread of killing intent, sharp and fine as a needle, pierced the air and struck home.
‘They’ve come.’
One thread it may have been, but the concentration of killing intent within it was extraordinary.
Far more refined and sharper than the assassins he’d faced yesterday.
‘Stronger than those from yesterday, as expected.’
But he was not alarmed.
He’d anticipated this well enough.
What mattered was not how strong they were, but whether the location he’d chosen and the plan he’d devised would work.
‘It’s up to me now.’
Beigong Danya drew a deep breath and waited for the enemy to appear.
The sword he’d already drawn gleamed in the moonlight, and in the instant the reflected light flashed—
Clang!
In the mere blink of an eye, the assassin’s shadow had closed the distance and swung a short dagger at his face.
Beigong Danya raised his sword to block, and though he kept his expression steady, a chill ran down his spine.
The chilling realization that a heartbeat’s hesitation would have cost him his life swept through him entirely.
The vibration that thrummed through his fingertips spoke volumes about the assassin’s strength.
Having withstood the blow of a formidable foe, Beigong Danya felt a small surge of confidence kindle within him.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
The assassin, whose initial strike had been blocked, began shaking his body rapidly, wielding the short dagger with vicious cuts.
A frontal assault, but one that burrowed in by swinging up and down, left and right.
Clang-clang-clang-clang!
Beigong Danya raised his concentration and flailed his sword in a desperate blur.
He was parrying well.
His tension and focus held steady.
But the assassin was more composed.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
He gave no opening for counterattack.
He drew his speed higher and higher still, and the sharpness of his wedging strikes grew ever more keenly honed.
Beigong Danya’s movements became more violent in turn.
In doing so, the wounds from the previous day—which had had no time to heal—tore open again, causing exquisite pain.
Beigong Danya deepened his draw on the Jinmu Jeongshim Gyeol.
Internal force surged rapidly through his meridians, lending him strength.
Power bloomed in the Hyeonjeong Sword Technique that Beigong Danya unleashed.
He began to match the assassin’s tempo, and defending against the onslaught became effortless.
‘Something’s wrong.’
Though the engagement flowed smoothly, with each passing moment Beigong Danya was seized by an inexplicable foreboding.
‘It’s too straightforward.’
Though he’d deliberately chosen a location that would limit the assassin’s options, this was not how an assassin typically fought.
An assassin who wouldn’t shy away from a direct confrontation like an ordinary swordsman?
This assassin was individually more formidable than those he’d met yesterday, yet yesterday had felt more dangerous.
‘There’s definitely something more to this!’
Beigong Danya refused to lower his guard.
But as doubt occupied his thoughts, his focus wavered.
Crack!
The assassin caught the lapse instantly.
He seized the moment Beigong Danya’s defense had loosened and drove through the opening with surgical precision.
“Hah!”
Struck in the gap of his defense, Beigong Danya gasped and stumbled back a step.
Totter!
But in that instant, his foot caught the edge of a step, and his body lurched violently off-balance.
His center of gravity lost.
Under ordinary circumstances, this would have spiraled into the worst possible crisis—but not this time.
Whoosh!
The assassin’s Short Dagger sliced through empty air.
Had he not stumbled, that strike would have bored through his chest or abdomen—a lethal blow any swordsman would dread.
Pressing a trembling hand to his heart, he’d barely regained his footing when—
“Ugh!”
Beigong Danya cried out in alarm, twisting his body with desperate speed.
A second assassin had materialized from nowhere, sliding in from the side to thrust a Short Dagger at his ribs.
He’d nearly died in that instant.
‘Of course—that ominous feeling was warning me about this.’
The assassin who’d attacked from the flank moved with fluid grace, landing behind the first one.
Now there were two.
Beigong Danya gathered his scattered focus, drawing the threads of tension taut around him once more.
Thump!
The first assassin lunged at him again.
Swish-swish-swish-swish!
The assassin unleashed a flurry of dagger slashes.
Naturally, Beigong Danya’s gaze fixed on the enemy before him.
He had no mental space to watch the one behind.
Whether to shatter his concentration, the rear assassin shifted left and right in rhythm with the front one’s movements, probing for gaps.
Clang!
“Gah!”
A groan escaped him.
Yesterday’s wound had caught up with him, gripping his ankle.
Blood wept from the torn flesh, soaking not just the Bandage but the cloth above it, turning everything crimson.
Beigong Danya clenched his teeth.
Fortunately, the rear assassin still couldn’t penetrate the flank easily.
The narrow Stone Stairs’ geography was working in his favor.
But that advantage granted him no respite.
As moments passed, the assassins’ movements grew more cunning.
Swish-swish! Slash! Crack!
An assassin who played with rhythm, breaking the cadence.
Beigong Danya fought a desperate defense with the Jinmu Jeongshim Gyeol and Hyeonjeong Sword Technique, but the assassin was adapting.
Reading his sword path, disrupting his breathing—the variations multiplied.
And with each new variation, the crises bearing down on him grew more frequent.
Crack!
In that split second, the front assassin moved in a way he couldn’t comprehend, and suddenly the rear one appeared.
Lowering his center, the assassin slid with impossible speed along the Stone Stairs’ railing and finally pierced through to Beigong Danya’s flank.
Crack!
The flanking assassin’s strike was ruthless.
Swish!
At the same moment, the front assassin’s assault—no less formidable—split his attention.
Rip!
Another wound opened.
Blood poured from a long gash along his ribs.
But it wasn’t over.
Were the assassins angered that the blow hadn’t cut deep enough?
Their movements grew more precise, more vicious.
In that moment, Beigong Danya’s eyes flew wide open.
“Hah!”
Boom!
With the shout, the air between all three compressed violently, then erupted outward.
A shift from the Jinmu Jeongshim Gyeol to the Taeag Jingyeong.
The far more powerful Taeag Jingyeong threw both assassins backward in an instant.
Space opened. Breath returned.
Now it was a contest of who would seize the ground first.
Thump!
Beigong Danya moved first.
He was desperate not to miss this opportunity.
This was where the Cheonju Bo revealed its mastery.
A stepping technique that maintained the body’s axis even on uneven ground like stairs, keeping the stance steady and composed.
Beigong Danya used the Cheonju Bo to seize the space, then began driving the assassins back with the Hyeonjeong Sword Technique, channeling the power of the Taeag Jingyeong.
Screech!
The blade shot forward in a sharp cutting arc, straight toward the assassin.
Though his internal cultivation was still incomplete, the assassins found it difficult to ignore the force behind his strikes entirely.
Using their signature fluid movements, they evaded Beigong Danya’s attacks, yet they could no longer slip past his guard as easily as before.
Had this been an open courtyard, things might have been different—but the narrow stairs severely restricted their room to maneuver.
Thwack!
Beigong Danya’s plan was working.
Blood sprayed from the first assassin’s shoulder, and his movement froze for an instant.
Beigong Danya pressed the advantage without hesitation.
The second assassin moved to intercept, flinging a Short Dagger quickly—but Beigong Danya was faster.
Screech!
Hiss!
The second assassin’s Short Dagger aimed for Beigong Danya’s back, but he paid no mind and thrust his blade forward.
It was a calculated gambit: taking a wound to the back was worth eliminating one assassin.
Then it happened.
Hiss! Clang!
Crash!
Something invisible flew from the shadows and struck Beigong Danya’s sword directly, the impact throwing off his blade’s trajectory.
The wounded assassin’s life was spared, and blood erupted from Beigong Danya’s back.
“Ugh!”
Beigong Danya staggered, a groan escaping his lips.
The second assassin seized the opening, driving straight for his guard.
Screech!
But Beigong Danya, clinging to consciousness by force of will, desperately unleashed his blade to block the assassin’s advance.
Whish-whish-whish-whish-whisk!
In that instant, multiple Hidden Projectiles rained down upon Beigong Danya without mercy.
Clink-clink-clink-clink-clink!
Beigong Danya swung his sword wildly, deflecting the throwing blades.
Screech!
The two assassins who had appeared first now converged simultaneously, launching their assault.
Beigong Danya gritted his teeth and swung his blade.
Boom!
The heavy momentum of the Cheonag Sword Technique—not the lighter Hyeonjeong—blocked the assassins’ path forward.
Hiss!
As Beigong Danya moved to counter those whose advance had been halted, more Hidden Projectiles flew at him.
One aimed at the space between his eyebrows, another at the wrist holding his sword.
The speed and force of the projectiles were too much for Beigong Danya to ignore.
Clink!
While Beigong Danya was deflecting the projectiles, the repositioned assassins drove in from his front and flank.
Hidden Projectiles flying from the darkness, two Short Daggers thrusting toward him.
For all his skill, Beigong Danya found it nearly impossible to guard against this onslaught.
‘There’s no choice.’
Squelch!
The Short Dagger from the flank drove deep into Beigong Danya’s ribs.
Clink-clink-clink!
But he managed to completely deflect the frontal assault, and in that opening, a Hidden Projectile missed him by hiding behind the body of the wavering assassin in front—he slipped clear of death.
“Gah!”
Beigong Danya groaned and staggered as he weathered the crisis.
In particular, the wound to his ribs was grievous.
Swaying, he retreated backward.
With great effort, Beigong Danya wrenched out the Short Dagger and quickly sealed the Meridian with Pressure Point Sealing to stanch the bleeding as a temporary measure.
He climbed backward up several steps, never ceasing to feint and hinder the assassins’ advance.
“Huff… huff…”
Beigong Danya exhaled in ragged, exhausted gasps.
How much longer could he hold?
Honestly, it would be no surprise if he collapsed to the ground this very moment.
Beigong Danya steadied his breathing, holding the assassins at bay.
They did not rush at him.
It was not that they had been pushed back by his momentum, but rather a careful deliberation—ensuring the death of wounded prey by cutting off its air completely.
‘If this drags on, I’m finished.’
Beigong Danya realized he did not have the strength to hold out much longer.
One move. He had to settle it in a single move.
The moment Beigong Danya hardened his resolve and drew upon the Taeag Jingyeong—
Shwick!
Suddenly, from behind, a fourth assassin who had been holding his breath emerged and thrust a Short Dagger.
It was a masterful strike—completely disrupting both the flow of Internal Force through the Taeag Jingyeong and the breath needed to unfold the Cheonag Sword Breathing.
Beigong Danya threw himself aside.
Crash-bang-tumble!
He rolled down the Stone Stairs, barely evading the fourth assassin’s strike.
“Cough!”
But it was fatal.
His Internal Force flow and sword technique breathing had been completely disrupted, leaving him with severe internal injuries.
“Hah… hah…”
Beigong Danya gripped the railing and struggled to his feet.
Though the fourth assassin’s strike had missed, the shadow of death now hung far more heavily over Beigong Danya.

* * *

The fortunes of the three observers diverged.
Gwang An, who had quietly rejoiced each time Beigong Danya held his ground admirably, was now consumed by despair.
Meanwhile, the longer the fight dragged on, the less uncomfortable Jang Pafung’s scowl became—and now a victor’s smile bloomed across his face.
[Beigong’s stubbornness has not yet faded.]
‘Is that so?’
[It is meager, but the tenacity carved into his blood remains.]
‘My judgment is complete. If you agree, then this will suffice.’
Having ended his exchange with Cheon Shingeom, Cheon Muggyeol spoke.
“It is over now. There is nothing more to see.”
“Does that mean you won’t watch the end?”
Jang Pafung addressed Cheon Muggyeol thus.
“The assassination contract is terminated here.”
“What?”
At Cheon Muggyeol’s words, Jang Pafung’s brow furrowed.
“Who do you think you are?”
“When I say it ends, it ends. I have seen what I came to see. There is no further purpose.”
Cheon Muggyeol spoke, his gaze fixed unflinchingly on Jang Pafung.
“Guh!”
Jang Pafung froze where he stood.
Under the weight of Cheon Muggyeol’s eyes, his entire body stiffened as though locked in place.
In that instant, the four assassins hunting Beigong Danya initiated their final assault.
“What?!”
Gwang An cried out in shock—
Pip-pip-pip-ping!
Cheon Muggyeol casually extended his fingers toward them, and all four assassins collapsed.
He had sealed the meridians of the four assassins using the technique known as the Cheonheo Jiin.
“You… you!”
Jang Pafung erupted in fury.
“I have merely sealed their meridians. The assassination contract is concluded, and the payment shall be delivered as promised.”
With those words, Cheon Muggyeol turned to leave.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Jang Pafung roared toward the empty air, his rage bursting forth.

* * *

“Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!”
Beigong Danya could only breathe heavily, unable to comprehend what had just transpired.
The assassins, suddenly fallen.
He couldn’t make sense of what had happened or how.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
A distant scream pierced the air.
At the sound, Beigong Danya understood instinctively that the trial was over.
“Ha… ha…!”
Beigong Danya collapsed where he stood, exhaling in relief.
“Ha! Ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha!”
Laughter spilled from him.
Only now, belatedly, did it sink in that he had survived the trial that had driven him to the very edge of death.

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