The Great Heavenly Sword Emperor - Chapter 42

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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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#042. Darkness Seeps Into Danae Valley (2)

Cheon Mujgyeol and Bukgung Danya took a brief rest in the village before setting out again without delay.
As Cheon Mujgyeol walked quietly beside him, Bukgung Danya was absorbed in something quite intently.
Bukgung Danya wound rope he’d procured in the village around his blade.
He was binding the handle and scabbard in alternating crisscross patterns to ensure the sheath would never slip loose, no matter how the sword was swung.
“At this point, there’s no way it could come loose, right?”
Bukgung Danya swung the blade lightly once the binding was complete, speaking as he did.
He wasn’t entirely free from doubt, but after wrapping it so many times over, the scabbard seemed unlikely to slip.
“I’m not sure such precaution is truly necessary, though.”
“It has to be done. A careless strike could kill someone.”
At Bukgung Danya’s answer, Cheon Mujgyeol turned his gaze forward again and continued speaking.
“Dwelling too much on such thoughts makes your movements unnatural. I’ll exercise caution, but if death comes, it comes—there’s nothing to be done about it.”
“Still, if I take precautions like this from the start, no one has to die.”
Cheon Mujgyeol said nothing in response to Bukgung Danya’s words.
A person marked for death could perish from a stick, never mind a sword.
He understood well enough what Bukgung Danya meant, yet he remained convinced such measures were unnecessary.
“Besides, if we continue straight ahead, we’ll come to a place called Danae Valley.”
“Danae Valley?”
“Yes. It’s a narrow gorge. The sort of place that’s perfect for an ambush, no matter how you look at it.”
At Bukgung Danya’s words, Cheon Mujgyeol gazed toward the distant, still-unseen expanse of Danae Valley.
“The Cheonglimmun moved alone before, but there’s no reason they’ll do so again going forward. If they do, you might find it difficult to manage alone. This precaution isn’t because I doubt you—it’s to minimize mistakes on my end.”
If multiple sects, not just one, coordinated an ambush in terrain as favorable as Danae Valley, it would certainly be too much for Cheon Mujgyeol to handle alone.
And unknown to them both, three factions were already waiting in Danae Valley for their arrival.
“Your thoughts won’t change, and neither will mine. If we can avoid a confrontation, we should. There are alternative routes, faster speeds to pass through before nightfall, night travel—”
Bukgung Danya asked Cheon Mujgyeol’s opinion once more, but again received no answer.
Since he’d never truly expected one, Bukgung Danya showed no particular reaction to the silence.
The two of them did not increase their pace.
And by early afternoon, when the sun had begun its descent from its zenith, they arrived at a point where Danae Valley came into view.
“It’s fortunate we didn’t arrive later. If darkness had begun to fall, it would have been far more dangerous.”
[Quite a gathering we have here.]
“Their numbers are considerable.”
The Cheonsingeom and Cheon Mujgyeol spoke simultaneously.
At those words, Bukgung Danya’s expression hardened in an instant.
“Are there truly that many?”
“They’ve prepared well. It appears they’ve even formed a proper formation.”
“Hah……”
Whether from tension or something else, Bukgung Danya exhaled a long breath.
Though he’d steeled himself for this moment, now that he stood before Danae Valley—and worse, having learned the enemy was numerous—his steps felt impossibly heavy.
Without Cheon Mujgyeol, passing through a gorge where enemies held formation would have been unthinkable.
As such thoughts occupied him, Bukgung Danya found a smile breaking through despite himself.
“You still have leisure to smile?”
Cheon Mujgyeol spoke curtly at the sight.
“It’s not leisure. It’s just… I’ve realized I’m depending on you far more than I expected.”
“That’s not good.”
“I know. I understand you can’t be my shelter forever. I know I need to pull my own weight and more. Yet at the same time, because of you, I can attempt things I’d never have dared alone, and that brings me an odd joy.”
At Bukgung Danya’s words, Cheon Mujgyeol glanced at him.
Honest as it was, he found it difficult to grasp Bukgung Danya’s sentiment when Danae Valley loomed so close and what awaited within it.
“You’re the one who seems to have leisure.”
At Bukgung Danya’s remark, Cheon Mujgyeol let the Cheonsingeom dangle downward.
“Since leaving Cheongeomjang, I’ve never had a moment of ease.”
As they exchanged these words, the two of them stepped deeper into the narrow passage of Danae Valley.
And before long.
They encountered a throng packed tightly into the gorge’s narrow chokepoint.
Cheon Mujgyeol and Bukgung Danya stopped in their tracks.
Their eyes moved ceaselessly as they searched the figures blocking their path for any opening.
“Cheon Mujgyeol.”
Bukgung Danya, who had been watching them, opened his mouth.
“There are more than just those ahead of us—I can sense it clearly now. There are enemies flanking us on both sides, and others crouched behind them as well.”
“That’s correct.”
“So here’s what I’m asking—would it be acceptable if I took the vanguard?”
“You’re certain about this?”
Cheon Mujgyeol’s question hung in the air as Bukgung Danya offered a bitter smile before answering.
“No, I’m not certain. But it seems like the best choice I can make right now.”
Cheon Mujgyeol said nothing, merely nodding in acknowledgment of Bukgung Danya’s words.
“My martial art has weaknesses against attacks from the flanks. Ideally, you’d take the vanguard and I’d support from behind, but my skill hasn’t reached that level yet.”
Bukgung Danya was unsparing in his judgment.
He had made his decision after carefully weighing both his own ability and the particular strengths and weaknesses of his martial art.
“Understood. Don’t overextend yourself.”
Cheon Mujgyeol accepted Bukgung Danya’s assessment.
With that settled, he turned his gaze to sweep across both cliffs in turn.
He could sense the presence of those in hiding above.
The cliffs were not as high as he had initially thought.
High enough for enemies to drop down and strike at any moment.
In his mind, Cheon Mujgyeol was already sketching out how the battle in Danae Valley would likely unfold.
“Are you the Cheon Mujgyeol party?”
Jang Cheolyun, the master of Hyeonmugwan blocking their path ahead, shouted out.
“If you already know, why ask?”
Bukgung Danya shot back with equal force.
“This is where you will meet your end! We will execute you as criminals of the Murim and restore justice to the martial realm!”
Jang Cheolyun declared his grand ambitions.
And Bukgung Danya’s brow furrowed deeply.
It was the sort of empty rhetoric he despised.
Thud!
Without another word, Bukgung Danya charged forward.
His grip on the sword—its sheath lashed tight with cord—tightened with deadly force.
“Attack! Show them the might of Hyeonmugwan!”
‘Hyeonmugwan.’
Whether it was overconfidence or simple stupidity, Bukgung Danya hardly cared.
But by announcing the sect’s name, Jang Cheolyun had inadvertently handed him a crucial piece of intelligence for this battle.
‘They specialize in defense.’
The martial art of Hyeonmugwan leaned far more toward protection than offense.
Especially when multiple practitioners formed a unified formation like this, their defense became formidable—difficult to breach without extraordinary power.
Yet Bukgung Danya did not slow his charge.
To rush headlong at an enemy with such solid defenses might have seemed reckless.
But the martial art of the Bukgung Family was no less formidable in direct combat.
Though he faced many alone, he wanted to test just how effective his family’s techniques truly were.
Hwaaaack!
Bukgung Danya drew up his internal energy.
From the very first move, he unleashed Taeak Jingyeong.
Which meant he was committing his full strength from the outset.
“Ha-pressure!”
Crack-crack-boom!
The Jungbong Apjeong technique from the Cheonak Geomgyeol style bore down upon Hyeonmugwan’s defense with crushing force.
“Ugh!”
The weight behind Bukgung Danya’s blade was formidable.
Even though many had banded together to form a formation, it was ultimately only one or two who bore the direct force of his strike.
The Hyeonmugwan martial artist who took Bukgung Danya’s blade head-on let out a cry of pain and collapsed under the impact.
But this was merely where the true strength of Hyeonmugwan’s martial art began to show.
Though one fell, there were always others ready to take his place.
The Hyeonmugwan fighters swiftly moved to close the distance from both sides, attempting to encircle Bukgung Danya.
Snap-crack!
Yet Bukgung Danya’s reflexes were even faster.
Though still imperfect, he deployed the Paejin Dap footwork technique—one designed precisely for moments like this—and slipped through the gaps in their encirclement.
Whoosh-crack!
Only after Bukgung Danya had withdrawn did the blades of the Hyeonmugwan fighters pierce through the space where he had stood.
Bukgung Danya’s eyes blazed as he felt Hyeonmugwan’s reaction lag—a breath, perhaps two—slower than it should have been.
Thump!
Bukgung Danya stamped down with Paejin Dap once more.
The first use had been defensive retreat, but the true power of Paejin Dap revealed itself when driving into enemy formation.
A stepping technique that forced open the opponent’s gaps, bore through their defenses, and seized control of distance and momentum.
Precisely the technique this moment demanded.
Shriek!
Bukgung Danya’s blade moved again.
Similar in appearance to the Jungbong Apjeong he’d deployed first, yet this was Akse Bongcheon—a technique that compressed space itself rather than targeting the opponent directly.
Crash-crash-boom!
Another deafening explosion erupted.
At the same instant, every warrior of Hyeonmugwan felt a tremendous pressure bearing down from above.
Their heads bowed involuntarily, their spines bent under weight that had physical form.
And through that gap, Bukgung Danya drove in again using Paejin Dap.
Shriek!
The Pajin Hucham technique carved a long gash where the defense had wavered.
Yet Hyeonmugwan could not be called what it was if everything went smoothly—they had built their reputation on defense, after all.
The ranks positioned in layers behind the front fell into flawless coordination, their movements synchronized to intercept Bukgung Danya’s assault.
Those whose stances had crumbled under the pressure, unable to endure it, gritted their teeth and watched for their opening at his back.
Caught between offense before and behind, Bukgung Danya drew deeper from his inner reserves.
In doing so, he chose to drive forward through the center rather than attempt what lay behind.
Abandoning Paejin Dap for steady footwork, he pressed ahead.
He anchored his center with Hyeonjeong Geombeop rather than Cheonak Geomgyeol, shouldering through the gaps in their defense and meeting their counterattacks.
Crash!
His blade’s heavy, crushing weight drove back the defenses and ripostes of Hyeonmugwan’s warriors, and Bukgung Danya seized that space to advance.
The attack pressing from behind missed him by the narrowest margin, dispersing into empty air.
Snap!
Then came a sound from behind Bukgung Danya.
He did not turn to look.
He needed no eyes to know that Cheon Mujgyeol had entered the fray.
Since Bukgung Danya’s initial charge, Cheon Mujgyeol had maintained a precise distance between them.
He could predict well enough which stepping technique Bukgung Danya would employ, which sword method, which form—allowing him to time his movements with exactness.
Though Bukgung Danya’s responses were sound, any peril threatening his back was neutralized smoothly by Cheon Mujgyeol.
Those struck by the Cheonsingeom’s blade reeled from the ranks, crying out in agony.
Snap! Crack!
Cheon Mujgyeol remained firmly at Bukgung Danya’s back.
The Cheonmyeol Sibi Geom was too destructive, too lethal, to suit a fight where death was forbidden.
Yet using only a single technique from his arsenal, Cheon Mujgyeol was rendering Hyeonmugwan’s warriors helpless.
The Paroun Jeolmaek—Cheonmyeol Sibi Geom’s only technique that avoided killing, targeting meridians and vital points not to end life but to render the body incapable of fighting.
“Hold nothing back! Defend with everything you have!”
It was the only command Jang Cheolyun could muster as events spiraled beyond expectation.
According to the plan, Hyeonmugwan was to hold longer, exhaust Cheon Mujgyeol and Bukgung Danya, then Songpungmun would intervene in turn.
But as things stood, that plan was collapsing before his eyes.
And Ju Hando, watching this spectacle unfold from the cliff above, harbored the same thought.
“Hyeonmugwan alone won’t be enough. But that’s precisely our opportunity.”
Ju Hando murmured softly to himself.
“All forces—attack!”
Having judged the moment ripe, Ju Hando gave the order.

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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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