The Patriarch of the Northern Heavens - Chapter 67
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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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Master of the Bukcheon Sword Family – Chapter 67
“Ugh!”
The Spear Assassin wielding his long spear cried out as he was sent flying backward.
But he quickly regained his footing and launched a counterattack.
A serpentine thrust that traced a sinuous path through the air.
Yet I could sense exactly where he was aiming, so I twisted my body and evaded the strike effortlessly.
“Impossible!”
He cried out in disbelief.
“How could you suppress the Heavenly Assassination Nature so completely? The Heavenly Assassination Nature should run berserk at the sight of blood….”
“I thought the same thing at first.”
I spoke in a clear voice so everyone could hear me well.
“I came to kill So Hye-rim because I believed she possessed the Heavenly Assassination Nature, before you could exploit her. But that was a misunderstanding.”
“What, a misunderstanding?”
“That’s right. So Hye-rim never possessed anything like the Heavenly Assassination Nature. She simply had an exceptionally dense natural killing intent.”
“That’s… don’t lie to me!”
“Does my words sound like a lie to you?”
I twisted the corner of my mouth into a smile.
“Then how does that appearance look to you?”
I gestured with my eyes toward So Hye-rim, who was fighting earnestly.
Despite her awkward swordplay using martial techniques learned in childhood, she had not crossed the final line.
She was only subduing her opponents, not killing them.
This was hardly the behavior of someone with the Heavenly Assassination Nature, which supposedly harbored killing intent toward all living things.
The Spear Assassin’s eyes wavered as he watched her.
“Could it really be… that the information was wrong?”
“Yes. You’ve come on a fool’s errand. A spectacular one at that.”
I mocked my opponent while sighing inwardly.
‘Fortunately, So Hye-rim is holding up far better than I expected.’
In truth, before coming here, I had infused So Hye-rim with about thirty percent of my own vital energy in the form of the Diamond Yaksha Technique.
The faint golden radiance hovering around her body was proof of this.
Using it, So Hye-rim was unleashing the Diamond Yaksha Divine Art beyond her own capabilities.
This meant she was fully accepting the mental image of the Diamond Yaksha King contained within it.
She was likely gritting her teeth and suppressing her killing intent to protect her master.
‘But she won’t be able to endure like this for much longer.’
Her cultivation was still insufficient to sustain herself for long in this bloody battlefield.
Therefore, I had no choice but to end everything before the enemies noticed her transformation.
The first step toward that goal was killing this Assassin before me.
So I redirected the Assassin’s attention.
“What’s your name, Assassin?”
“Hundred-Face Killer Yu Hoe. Remember the name of the man who will kill you.”
Yu Hoe answered obediently and took his stance.
Was he a fairly renowned assassin?
An extraordinary aura emanated from him.
Likely at the Johwa Realm level.
Perhaps he was a match for the Blood Hand Demon Lord I had faced before.
‘But I mustn’t let fear take hold.’
I calmly drew up my energy and wrapped the wind around myself.
At the same time, my senses sharpened.
What I perceived was the trajectory of his incoming assault.
I could sense at least three or more possible paths.
Whoosh!
Even as I thought this, he burst forward and came at me.
A thrust—the fundamental technique of spear arts.
But not just one. Dozens of them.
As if attacking a surface rather than a point, an enormous barrage of strikes unfolded simultaneously.
To me, it was almost laughable.
Windgod Palm.
Boom boom boom crash!
The wind condensed in my palm completely engulfed the surface Yu Hoe controlled with his spear.
The palm force that extended not only shattered his thrusts but swept over Yu Hoe himself. He clicked his tongue and spun his spear in a circle.
Whoosh!
Again, the palm force tore through the air.
But in that instant, I was already moving forward.
-When facing someone wielding a long weapon like a spear, never give them distance. You understand?
‘Yes, Senior.’
Using Windgod Step, I closed the distance to Yu Hoe and unleashed a barrage of indiscriminate slashes.
Gale Wind Consecutive Slash.
Clang clang clang clang crash!
Each strike alone could cleave through stone, and they came in relentless succession. Yu Hoe’s expression hardened. My attacks were far more powerful than he had anticipated.
“What kind of inner power does this brat possess…!”
“I’ve picked up quite a lot of things.”
The amount of inner energy I possessed after consuming the Heavenly Stone Jade far surpassed that of most masters at the Johwa Realm.
Yu Hoe began to give ground, unable to withstand the relentless onslaught.
Unable to hold out any longer, he suddenly bellowed toward his surroundings.
“What are you all doing! Help me kill this bastard!”
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
In that moment, a barbed chain suddenly flew from somewhere, attempting to ensnare me.
I immediately struck it away with my hand wrapped in the Heavenly Chain.
Crash!
The chain bounced back with a heavy clang.
But what followed were four or five flying blades. This time, I didn’t even use my hands—I simply stamped the ground with a precise step to conjure a gale.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Bang!
The flying blades caught in the whirlwind scattered in all directions.
When ranged attacks proved ineffective, the assassins began rushing at me directly.
There were more than ten of them.
‘No choice then.’
I drew a couple of flying blades from my sleeve and hurled them at the charging assassins.
“Ha! You think you can fight assassins like us with blade-throwing techniques? How foolish….”
Yu Hoe’s words, spoken with the confidence of someone who thought they had me figured out, never finished.
Whoosh!
Thud!
A sudden gust of wind swept across, bending the trajectory of the blades in ways that defied comprehension.
Those bent blades pierced straight through the chests of two assassins who had been charging at me.
It was a movement reminiscent of the legendary Returning Blade Sword Technique from ancient tales.
“You mad bastard!”
With Yu Hoe’s curse, the assassins whose hearts had been pierced collapsed without ceremony.
He stared at me with eyes full of disbelief.
Rather than offer him any explanation, I simply stamped the Wind God Step and proceeded to dispatch the remaining assassins.
Revolving Heaven.
Whoooosh!
A semicircular vortex erupted around me, cutting down all the assassins who had been rushing forward.
I then unleashed the Chaotic Dance technique, pouring blades of wind upon the survivors.
The common assassins were, at best, below the peak realm.
Unlike Yu Hoe, they couldn’t withstand such an assault, and the assassins who had charged at me fell in an instant.
“You son of a bitch!”
Watching his subordinates die so easily, Yu Hoe’s eyes went wild as he lunged at me.
He swung at me with a crimson aura infused into his strike.
Each swing of his spear shaft brought a devastating blow crashing down.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
I blocked his attacks and threw the flying blade I had retrieved earlier.
The Soul-Severing Blade Technique, a martial art of the Assassin King, unfolded with the aid of the Windgod Sword’s power.
Yu Hoe’s eyes widened reflexively as he deflected it.
“You?! How do you know that technique….”
“The fact that you recognize it tells me you were an assassin of the Heavenly Assassination Sect.”
Yu Hoe’s eyes trembled at my words.
He couldn’t comprehend what was happening.
It didn’t matter.
Whether he understood or not, there was only one thing I could offer him.
Death.
“Haah.”
I drew in a deep breath and activated Yaksha Transformation.
The Vajra Yaksha Qi, merged with the Northern Wind Heart Method, became a golden tempest that enveloped my body.
A sensation as though time itself had slowed.
Simultaneously, a strange sensation bloomed from my dantian.
Similar to what I’d felt before, yet distinctly different.
But it melded into my movements with perfect naturalness.
I committed that sensation to memory and channeled a storm into my blade.
“Impossible!”
Anticipating that I would attempt something, he began to resist.
Crimson energy coalesced at the spear’s tip, and what appeared to be his ultimate technique erupted toward me with explosive force.
Yu Hoe’s spear flashed as though intent on tearing my limbs asunder.
A terrifying attack that would prove fatal even from a glancing blow.
But I had already read its trajectory.
The incoming wind itself was announcing the enemy’s attack beforehand.
Exhaling the breath I had drawn in moments before, I unleashed my blade with all my strength toward his opening.
In that instant, the golden tempest coiled around the Windgod Sword was released entirely.
Gale Slash!
Krakakakakakaboom!
Dozens, hundreds of wind-forged slashes contained within the tempest consumed Yu Hoe’s attack and shredded him.
Shwishwishwishwish!
Yu Hoe gritted his teeth, desperately attempting to defend, but it was futile.
From the moment he allowed the attack to connect, his defeat was already sealed.
Droplets of blood erupted in all directions.
As though a tempest of blades had swept across his entire body, Yu Hoe, transformed into a blood-soaked figure, staggered backward. In that instant, he became a living wound.
That moment.
-It’s over.
Screech!
Wild Wind Flash unfurled, severing the defenseless Yu Hoe’s neck.
Yu Hoe seemed unable to believe until the very end what was befalling him.
His head, wearing an expression of bewilderment, fell to the ground.
Then.
“Ugh, uaaaaaaah!”
“Flee!”
The Evil Faction martial artists who witnessed this began to panic and scatter.
After all, Yu Hoe was the greatest master among those who had come.
Having witnessed such a powerhouse fall so pathetically, they had lost all will to fight.
“The enemies are retreating!”
“Uwaaaaaaaah!”
Our forces erupted in cheers as they watched the Evil Faction warriors withdraw.
Perhaps it was because we held the momentum from the very beginning.
The Jinwon Sect’s casualties seemed almost nonexistent.
‘Should I chase them down and kill them all?’
I hesitated for a moment, but soon shook my head.
If I did such a thing, I would not only shed more blood than necessary, but….
‘It would also cast a negative light on the Jinwon Sect.’
There was a possibility that the resentment accumulated this way could turn toward us.
If that happened, there was a risk that the Heaven Killing Sect I had barely suppressed would run rampant.
It was better to eliminate even the slightest possibility of that.
Besides….
‘I need witnesses to what happened today.’
I had publicly denied before many people that So Hye-rim was the Heaven Killing Sect.
Moreover, So Hye-rim had demonstrated her ability to endure even when witnessing blood.
These stories would spread far and wide through the surviving enemies.
Then the Black Night Fortress would have no choice but to question the information they possessed.
Even if I denied being the Heaven Killing Sect, So Hye-rim’s ability to endure at the sight of blood was crucial evidence that they were wrong.
‘In any case.’
This incident would raise the reputation of the Bukcheon Sword Family and my own name even further.
With that thought, I turned around.
Now it was time to clean up.
* * *
As Jin Muyeol had anticipated, the attack on Jinwon Sect spread throughout Sanseo, centered on Sak Province.
There were too many survivors for it to be concealed.
However, the surface reason given for this incident was that nearby Evil Faction forces had united to covet So Hye-rim.
Most of the martial artists who participated in this attack believed this was indeed the reason behind it.
Naturally, the martial artists of Shanxi Province were shocked.
Over a hundred Evil Faction members had attempted to abduct a woman from a minor sect.
Even though Sanseo was a place where Evil Faction forces held greater sway than the Orthodox Faction, this was far too extreme.
Criticism never ceased regarding what the other Orthodox Faction forces in Sak Province had been doing.
Meanwhile, the more they were criticized, the higher the evaluation of Wind God Dragon Jin Muyeol, who had taken responsibility and resolved this crisis, continued to climb.
Not only had just two people—himself and his escort—engaged in combat against over a hundred enemies to protect a single woman….
Rumors even circulated that among the enemies he had fought and defeated were the branch leader of the Heavenly Assassination Sect led by the Assassin King, and the Hundred-Face Killer.
Naturally, the situation had descended into chaos with talk of him.
“Indeed, the depth of the Bukcheon Sword Family’s power is formidable.”
“I thought they had declined considerably compared to the past…. Yet the name ‘Sanseo’s First Noble Family’ is no mere exaggeration, it seems.”
“I hear Wind God Dragon is the current family head of this generation? Perhaps it won’t be long before the Bukcheon Sword Family rises again.”
“He might even become one of the Thirteen Venerables in the future….”
Rumors about Jin Muyeol continued to grow larger.
In a sense, it was inevitable.
The martial world was always thirsting for new and young heroes.
Jin Muyeol’s feat of standing against over a hundred enemies to protect a single woman was more than sufficient to satisfy such desires.
Meanwhile, there were those who viewed the situation from a different perspective.
“So Hye-rim truly wasn’t Heaven Killing Star?”
The executives of Black Night Fortress, who had received reports from their subordinates who were present at the scene.
“Haha. That fellow, he’s barely been gone and he’s already stirred up quite the commotion.”
The Phantom God, who was observing the movements of the Central Plains from beyond the northern barrier of Shanxi Province.
And….
“Wind God Dragon, is it? Hehehehe, an interesting scent wafts from this.”
Even to a battle-crazed fighter who happened to be staying in Sanseo.
All of them were watching this incident with keen interest.
And Jin Muyeol himself, who had resolved this matter….
‘Is this how it works?’
He was reviewing the battle he had waged in the Training Grounds.
That movement of energy he had felt in the final moment, just before using Storm Slash.
That energy, like a fierce gale blowing from the north….
‘It must be.’
The inner energy cultivation method founded by the ancestor Pungsin.
It was a trace of the Bukcheon Divine Art.
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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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