The Great Heavenly Sword Emperor - Chapter 58

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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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#058. The Gateway of Dongbang (2)

The climb had been steep, but the descent was gradual.
The two men walked quietly, their footsteps drawing them steadily closer to the village below.
‘Surely nothing’s happening in the village.’
The village that had formed in front of the Dongbang Family Sect was not one built by deliberate design.
It was a village born naturally, as those who made their living from the sect’s economic enterprises had gathered of their own accord—a place untouched by the conflict that surrounded them.
So Bukgung Danya had thought nothing of what might happen in the village.
He believed that even the Dongbang Family Sect would not dare endanger innocent lives.
And yet.
“No.”
Bukgung Danya’s voice wavered as he stood at the village entrance.
Now that they had arrived, he could see it clearly.
“The village is empty,” Cheon Mujgyeol said quietly.
At his words, tension hardened across Bukgung Danya’s face.
It wasn’t merely emptiness.
He could sense multiple presences—other energies—filling the spaces where people should have been.
Bukgung Danya’s gaze fell to the ground beneath their feet.
They stood just before the entrance, not yet crossed into the village proper.
One or two steps forward, and they would be fully exposed to the Dongbang Family Sect’s unobstructed force.
“Huu…”
Bukgung Danya drew a deep breath, steadying his resolve.
Cheon Mujgyeol, waiting for him to finish, moved forward the moment he heard the breath released.
Bukgung Danya followed, his face set with determination.
The two men crossed the threshold into the village at last.

* * *

Cheon Mujgyeol and Bukgung Danya advanced with deliberate caution.
Even Cheon Mujgyeol, whose steps rarely showed hesitation, moved with measured care now.
His stride was shorter than usual.
Rather than walking down the center of the street, he kept slightly to one side.
And Bukgung Danya followed silently, half a pace behind him.
Bukgung Danya’s expression was taut with vigilance, his eyes constantly sweeping the surroundings.
Someone was there.
But they could not be seen.
The sensation was suffocating, a pressure that made breathing difficult.
After scanning the area endlessly, Bukgung Danya looked toward the main street ahead.
What had seemed spacious from the hilltop now felt cramped and narrow.
The buildings lining both sides of the street cut off his line of sight.
Moreover, there were numerous side streets, and they ran deep.
Half-open doors, shuttered windows, low-hanging eaves—
With so much demanding attention, his mind shrank inward, and the whole world seemed to contract.
Tap-tap!
Faint rustling!
At the rapid sound of retreating footsteps, Bukgung Danya flinched.
He spun to look toward the sound, but found only emptiness—no figure anywhere.
The enemy watched while remaining unseen. That was the crushing weight of it.
Of all the trials Bukgung Danya had endured on the way here, this moment was the hardest to bear.
He stole a glance at Cheon Mujgyeol.
Though he could not see his face, Cheon Mujgyeol seemed unchanged from his usual self.
Except that his stride had grown slightly shorter.
Watching him, Bukgung Danya felt some calm return to his own heart.
A faith that whatever came, they could endure it.
That certainty came from seeing the line of Cheon Mujgyeol’s back.
Then it happened.
Whistle!
A sharp whistling sound cut through the air from somewhere.
Bukgung Danya’s hand instinctively moved toward his sword hilt.
“Don’t stop.”
Cheon Mujgyeol’s voice came sharp and brief.
Bukgung Danya kept his hand on the hilt, ready to draw at any moment, and continued walking.
After a few more steps, the two of them heard it.
Rattle-rattle-rattle! Crash!
Several roof tiles from a building on the right side of the road shattered and fell.
It was a signal.
In an instant, a stretched shadow descended upon them, swallowing both men whole.
The tiles had fallen from the right, but the shadow came from the left.
The approaching shadow struck at Bukgung Danya’s lower body.
Clang!
Bukgung Danya, whose attention had been drawn to the right, yanked his sword free and blocked the attack in panic.
In that same moment, two figures leaped down from the right rooftop, targeting Cheon Mujgyeol.
Slash!
One blade shot forward, aiming keenly for Cheon Mujgyeol’s throat.
The other assassin, landing swiftly, lowered his center and surged forward, striking at Cheon Mujgyeol’s ankles.
Slip.
Cheon Mujgyeol evaded the ankle strike with a swift, economical movement.
At the same instant, he twisted his body and slipped past the blade aimed at his neck.
The sword flowed past his cheek and over his shoulder, its trajectory crystal clear in his vision.
Whoosh!
And the Cheonsingeom traced a smooth arc.
Clash!
Crack-crack-bang!
The blade Cheon Mujgyeol knocked away slipped from his opponent’s grasp and buried itself in the building wall.
The sword, its hilt driven deep into the wall.
The assassin whose hand had been torn open staggered past Cheon Mujgyeol, rolled across the ground once, then surged to his feet and fled rapidly.
Slash!
At that same moment, the blade that had been aimed at the ankles shot upward.
The Cheonsingeom, which had traced an arc to knock away the upper blade, fell straight down and drove the rising sword into the earth.
Boom!
Pressed down by that overwhelming force, the sword that had been thrusting upward was pinned to the ground.
And the assassin gripping it stumbled badly, his body pitching forward.
Retch!
Crash-crash-bang!
Immediately after, Cheon Mujgyeol drove his shoulder forward, the Cheonsingeom still sheathed at his side.
The force was so tremendous that his opponent flew backward and crashed into an empty cart nearby.
Meanwhile, Bukgung Danya had also defeated his attacker and was catching his breath.
“Hah……”
Bukgung Danya exhaled heavily.
Then he looked down at the emblem sewn into the fallen man’s garment.
It was a black swallow in flight.
“By the emblem, they appear to be from the Biyoung Unit.”
“The Biyoung Unit?”
“Yes. They’re known to be the direct subordinates of Dongbang Mujin among the Five Great Dharma Laws of the Dongbang Family Sect. They’re characterized by movements that rival assassins in their speed and precision.”
At Bukgung Danya’s words, Cheon Mujgyeol nodded.
They weren’t identical to true assassins, but the resemblance was unmistakable.
“Perhaps Dongbang Mujin himself is nearby.”
“He is not.”
At Cheon Mujgyeol’s words, Bukgung Danya released a small breath of relief.
Even if he’d never faced Dongbang Mujin before, there was no way Cheon Mujgyeol wouldn’t sense someone of that caliber.
“That’s fortunate, then.”
“From now on, be vigilant. They will attempt to separate me and you by any means.”
Bukgung Danya nodded at Cheon Mujgyeol’s words.
Just now, it had been exactly that.
The attacks weren’t overwhelmingly dangerous, but the moment they struck at him, two more immediately rushed Cheon Mujgyeol.
Their intent was to tie down Cheon Mujgyeol’s hands while they dispatched Bukgung Danya.
Cheon Mujgyeol turned his gaze.
The Biyoung Unit warrior who had been crammed into the empty cart had vanished.
After a brief clash, silence returned.
The presence lingered still, but their movements seemed to have grown more cautious.
It felt as though Cheon Mujgyeol and Bukgung Danya had just taken the measure of their true strength.
“Do all five of the Five Great Dharma Laws have direct subordinate units?”
“Yes, that’s how I understand it.”
At Bukgung Danya’s answer, Cheon Mujgyeol nodded slowly.
And the expression on Bukgung Danya’s face hardened.
An ill omen had surfaced in his mind.
“Surely you’re not saying that all the direct units of the Five Great Dharma Laws are scattered throughout this village?”
“I can’t say for certain, but it seems that way.”
At Cheon Mujgyeol’s reply, Bukgung Danya slowly turned his gaze toward the end of the street.
In the distance, the main gate of the Dongbang Family Sect came into view.
Since it was plainly visible, it didn’t seem so far away.
But the path to reach it seemed as though it would be terribly long.

* * *

They had not grown cautious at all.
The scattered movements were merely converging into one.
Tap.
Not far away, the sound of a solid object striking echoed.
Tap, tap.
Cheon Mujgyeol raised his gaze without breaking stride.
No figures showed beneath the eaves, nor in the depth of the alley.
Yet the scattered presences that had been irregular moments before suddenly surged forward as one.
“Bukgung.
Cheon Mujgyeol called to Bukgung Danya in a low voice.
Before Bukgung Danya could even respond—
Bang!
The closed window of the building on the left exploded outward.
Between the scattering wood fragments, a black silhouette burst forth.
At the same instant, sword light flared from beneath the abandoned cart on the roadside.
Screech!
Cheon Mujgyeol drew the Cheonsingeom diagonally downward.
Clang!
The blade of the one who had pierced through the window rebounded away.
Yet the attacker showed no alarm even as the sword left his grasp.
He twisted his body mid-air, planted his feet upon the eaves, and vanished from Cheon Mujgyeol’s sight in a heartbeat.
As though waiting for that opening, another blade drove forward.
Clang-crash!
Two blades, three blades.
Swords crashed consecutively against the Cheonsingeom, releasing sharp metallic cries.
“Hah!”
Bukgung Danya spun about, whirling his blade behind him.
The weighty geomse of the Hyeonjeong Geombeop exploded from the alley, driving out the two attackers who had emerged at once.
Yet the Biyoung Unit warriors did not resist through force.
The moment they were driven back, they planted their feet on the wall, used each other’s shoulders to propel themselves, and scattered left and right.
Through the space between them, two more attackers surged forward.
Clang! Crash!
Cheon Mujgyeol and Bukgung Danya’s backs pressed together.
There was no front, no rear.
When one attacker fell back, another filled the void, and each parried blade became the springboard for the next assault.
They fell from roofs, vaulted through windows, vanished into alleys only to reappear at their backs.
The entire empty village seemed to rush at them with drawn swords.
Both Cheon Mujgyeol and Bukgung Danya
swung their blades wildly against the cascading Biyoung Unit warriors.
Each time, the Biyoung Unit warriors clung to them and fell away again, pressing the two men relentlessly with unending rhythm.
Like flies swarming.
‘Too many…… far too many!’
Bukgung Danya slashed at the air frantically, the cry rising in his mind.
Were there truly so many assassins in the Biyoung Unit?
It seemed as though the entire Biyoung Unit—hundreds strong—kept materializing from nowhere, an endless tide.
As Bukgung Danya’s limbs grew increasingly numb, as he lost all sense of which technique he was even executing anymore,
Cheon Mujgyeol became only colder, only more acute.
And then Cheon Mujgyeol summoned his strength to break through the deadlock.
The Cheonmyeol Sibi Geom’s techniques cascaded forth.
Void Single Moon, Destruction Form Shadowless, Light Cascade Shatters Heaven.
The sword forms optimized for facing multitudes erupted with terrible force.
Crash! Crack! Crash-crash-crash!
The assassins clinging to him were swept away by the overwhelming pressure of his blade, torn from the ground and cast aside.
It was not only the assassins who were cast aside.
A dwelling where people once made their home.
A humble stall where an owner had labored to earn their living.
An inn that had offered weary travelers a place of rest.
The surrounding buildings could not withstand the force of Cheon Mujgyeol’s sword forms and crumbled, collapsing inward.
Yet even that was not the end.
Still the assassins surged toward Bukgung Danya, relentless and undaunted.
Whoosh!
Cheon Mujgyeol moved.
In a heartbeat he was beside Bukgung Danya, his blade whirling toward the onrushing attackers.
“Gasp!”
Bukgung Danya exhaled deeply, as though his throat had been suddenly freed.
Clarity returned, and with it, his sword strokes steadied.
Bukgung Danya surged forward with renewed vigor.
As his energy returned, so too did his technique—and the Biyoung Unit’s warriors began to falter.
Bukgung Danya’s strikes grew more economical, more fluid with each moment.
His blade, honed through real combat and tempered by continuous trial, now faced genuine masters in numbers—and he advanced with startling speed.
Crash-crash-crash-crash-boom!
Overwhelmed by Cheon Mujgyeol’s crushing force and Bukgung Danya’s rapidly sharpening edge, the Biyoung Unit fell into complete collapse.
Between the ruins of devastated buildings, Cheon Mujgyeol and Bukgung Danya had passed the first trial.

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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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