novelraw Chapter 119 : Interference (2)
Chapter 119 : Interference (2)
Chapter 119: Interference (2)
The disciple of the Diancang Sect, struck defenselessly by Sewoon, flew through the air and collapsed unconscious.
What in the world was going on?
The Taoists of the Diancang Sect, except for Un-gil, all wore bewildered expressions at the revelation that the Central Plains man they had thought to be their ally was in fact a hidden warrior of the Beast Palace.
“Oh! What a joy to meet, nameless brother!”
“The nameless brother has come to help us!”
Waaaah!
On the other hand, cheers erupted from the ranks of the Beast Palace.
Their distinctive tone of speech resounded thunderously across the battlefield.
What pure fellows they were.
Sewoon thought this as he looked at them, rejoicing so sincerely at his presence.
Though their appearances were all rough and fierce like the chiefs of the Green Forest Bandits, right now they brimmed with an innate simplicity.
Not a single one of them questioned the sudden appearance of this stranger.
“Do not falter! It is but one more enemy added!”
“All disciples of Diancang, draw your swords!”
At that moment, the warriors of the Diancang Sect drew upon their qi even further.
A grave determination appeared in their eyes.
But it was not the same as the firm resolve one felt in a true life-or-death battle.
Through the memories of his regression, Sewoon could already guess what this situation was.
‘At this point in time, the Blood Massacre of the Diancang Sect has yet to occur. This seems to be nothing more than a clash of pride that escalated by accident.’
Even before his regression, the two sects rooted in Yunnan—the Beast Palace and the Diancang Sect—had suffered significant conflict.
But that had been due to misunderstanding on both sides.
It had all stemmed from the schemes of the Blood Cult, who had infiltrated the Beast Palace in secret.
‘With the atmosphere like this, I can manage to perform well enough to earn the favor of the Beast Palace warriors, without letting the Diancang Sect disciples suffer serious harm.’
It was indeed true that Sewoon had joined this battle to win the goodwill of the Beast Palace.
But he could not inflict lasting injuries upon the disciples of the Diancang Sect.
‘The Diancang Sect is also aligned with the Alliance Leader’s faction. They will be of use in the future against the Blood Cult.’
The Diancang Sect and their Sect Leader, Sword Sovereign Sa Il, were firm followers of the Sword Emperor and loyal to the Alliance Leader’s side.
There was no reason to weaken one’s own allies.
Thus, when Sewoon charged in, his strikes were thoroughly calculated.
It looked shocking when his first punch sent a man flying, but once the disciples of the Diancang Sect checked on their comrade, they would surely tilt their heads in puzzlement.
‘Do they know how carefully I adjusted my strength not to hurt him?’
For aside from some light bruising, the man’s body would be perfectly intact.
It was far harder to strike in such a way that caused no lasting harm than to simply smash one’s opponent.
And Sewoon had accomplished that balance flawlessly.
Now then, time to move on to the next stage.
At that moment, Sewoon raised his voice toward the Beast Palace warriors.
“Brothers, press from that side! I will push them from here!”
“Oh! A fine idea, nameless brother!”
“I, Oldoljeok, second son of Oldolgok, shall follow the nameless brother’s command!!”
Now it was truly time for a fierce fight.
With the warriors of the Diancang Sect caught between them, the Beast Palace fighters stood at one flank, and Sewoon at the other.
Pabat!
As Sewoon kicked off and charged, the Beast Palace warriors roared with excitement and rushed in from the opposite side.
In an instant, Sewoon closed the distance to his enemies.
“You traitor!”
‘Well, now, that’s a nostalgic name.’
Chwaaaak!
A lightning-fast sword strike, so swift the motion of unsheathing could not even be seen, slashed toward Sewoon.
The bluish glow of sword qi revealed that the opponent had clearly reached the Peak Master Level.
It seemed to be one of the foremost disciples, the pride of the Diancang Sect.
‘Is this the Thirty-Six Splitting Light Sword?’
Though naturally weaker than the exclusive Sword Sovereign’s Technique passed only to the Sect Leader’s disciple, the Thirty-Six Splitting Light Sword was still among the supreme arts of the Diancang Sect.
Swaeek!
Though it lacked killing intent, the blow carried enough force that an ordinary martial artist would need at least a month of recuperation.
Hwiik!
“……Hup!!”
But Sewoon evaded with ease, shifting one foot lightly, slipping past the attack as if it were nothing.
Tsk, tsk. Even without killing intent, if the sword is swung so dull at the edge, how can it show its true might?
Clicking his tongue inwardly, Sewoon…
Bwoong!
“!!”
…once again extended his fist in the shortest, straightest line possible.
The air quivered violently along the path his fist tore through.
Puh-uhm!
U-dang-tang!
With a resounding crash, another foremost disciple was sent flying through the air like the one before, before plummeting down.
“U, Un-jeong Sahyung……!!”
“No way. Un-jeong Sahyung, defeated with just a single punch……?”
The Taoists of the Diancang Sect could not hide their shock as one of their top-ranked brothers was defeated so easily.
“Snap out of it! He’s coming again!!”
“Khrrk!!”
But there was no time to dwell on despair.
“For daring to lay hands on my brothers, pay with your life!”
Pababat!
With a booming voice amplified through the Soul-Returning Melody of the Pointing Finger, Sewoon once again charged like a storm.
The Taoists of the Diancang Sect recognized the overwhelming disparity.
No longer daring to fight one-on-one, several foremost disciples joined together to face Sewoon.
Only then did the fight look somewhat balanced.
‘Hmm, for now, this seems about right.’
Though Sewoon had reached the Transformation Realm, this situation had a simple reason.
Not only was he limiting his strength, but he was also restricting himself to a single martial art.
Reverse Heaven Qi, Divine Poison Qi, Golden Bridle Qi—
He could not employ any of his primary inner arts.
The reason was clear to anyone observing the battle of the Beast Palace warriors on the other side.
“Splitting Clouds Sword Formation!”
“Central Plains man, shut your mouth! Fight without talking!”
Jjeojeong!
Even as sharp blades poured down, the Beast Palace warriors faced them with nothing but their bare fists.
“Taaat!”
“Black Cat, to the right!”
Roar—!
Even while fighting alongside a tiger the size of a house, he insisted on close combat (搏鬪).
But what was truly astonishing was that no trace of qi emission could be felt from them.
‘Of course. The Beast Palace doesn’t use inner qi.’
Indeed. The Southern Barbarian Beast Palace had the peculiar trait of not using internal martial arts.
Instead, the warriors of the Beast Palace trained solely in external arts (外功) to an extreme.
In the Central Plains, even when external martial arts reached their peak, the training only hardened the outer skin to the point where the body felt as if clad in iron armor.
But the warriors of the Beast Palace, through special methods handed down by their ancestors, had strengthened their external arts to a new realm, making it possible to confidently stand against internal qi techniques like Sword Qi.
‘That’s why I can only use external arts as well.’
There was no choice if one wished to infiltrate the Beast Palace.
He had to engrave into their minds that he too was from the Beast Palace. The moment he used inner qi, his lie would be exposed.
“Huff, we’ve cornered him!”
“Restrain him slowly!”
At that moment, the first disciples of the Diancang Sect shouted, their breathing ragged but their tone filled with triumph.
Three first disciples joined forces, driving Sewoon’s back against a wall before anyone realized it.
It seemed like a moment of true crisis.
Smirk.
“……!!”
Restrain him slowly? What a joke.
Sewoon’s lips curled upward.
How utterly adorable.
The ones cornered were not him.
It was those fools.
Pa-bat!
Sewoon launched his body with incredible speed into the midst of his enemies.
“Gasp!”
“Block him!”
Sewoon charged at full speed.
The startled first disciples swung their swords in unison.
They had intended to subdue him without inflicting lethal injuries, but if he came flying at them head-on like someone seeking death, there was no way to stop it.
They hadn’t wanted to cause needless casualties, yet—
Zzzeok!
Cha-chaeng!
‘……!!’
‘What?!’
The result was shocking.
The swords that struck Sewoon’s back and arms all bounced off uselessly.
Even worse, the sword blades wrapped in Sword Qi had their edges shattered.
‘Did you really think mere Sword Qi could pierce this body?’
Sewoon had already reached the extreme (極) of external arts.
A realm none of the Beast Palace warriors had ever attained.
It was none other than the Shrine Maiden Sect’s Flawless Heavenly Garment (先衣無縫).
‘Flawless Heavenly Garment itself originated from the external art Iron Cloth (鐵布衫).’
He had recreated the martial art, which hardened garments into armor, directly upon his body.
“Uwahhh!”
“Retreat, retreat!”
“Urk!”
Kwaaaang!
This time, it wasn’t the sound of a drum bursting, but the explosion of a cannon.
Having broken through the rain of swords, Sewoon slammed into the first disciples with a full-body charge.
The three first disciples were flung into the air before crashing back down.
“Oooh!”
“The nameless warrior has struck down more enemies!”
“Amazing! A little higher and he’ll touch the clouds!”
The warriors of the Beast Palace cheered in awe at Sewoon’s prowess.
They had been struggling in a stalemate against the skilled Central Plains martial artists, but ever since this mysterious new brother appeared, victory had tilted firmly in their favor.
‘His muscle mass is a little lacking…!!’
‘But his external arts are far too exceptional!!’
‘Tch, if only he had a bit more muscle!’
While the Beast Palace warriors expressed their admiration, someone else thought differently.
This couldn’t continue!
Yoon Gil, the great disciple of the Diancang Sect who was fighting Beast Palace warriors on the other side, changed his mind.
“I’ll take that one! First disciples, handle the Beast Palace warriors. Second disciples, rescue the wounded on the battlefield!”
“Yes, Senior Brother!”
Pa-bat!
Confirming that his fellow disciples obeyed his command, Diancang’s Il-ryun Yoon Gil charged at Sewoon.
‘Shameless barbarian!’
His slit-like eyes glinted sharper than ever that day.
Woooong!
From his sword erupted a Sword Qi so clear it could not be compared with that of the first disciples.
‘Such a beautiful Sword Qi!!’
‘Is Senior Brother planning to take his arm?!’
The overwhelming force, proof of his ascension to the peak of mastery, made even fellow Diancang disciples forget the battle and gasp in awe.
Swaeeeak!
The ultimate form of the Swift Sword, the One Kick of the Sun-Shooting Sword Technique (射日劍法), unfolded before Sewoon.
But Sewoon’s gaze did not waver as he received it.
For even the highest-ranked prodigy known as Il-ryun (日龍), one of the Young Successors, was nothing more than a worm to him.
Whiiik!
“……!!”
With just a half-step, he lightly evaded a strike filled with the opponent’s entire enlightenment.
‘Time to end this.’
Thwack!
In an instant, Sewoon seized his opponent’s back and struck Yoon Gil’s head with full force.
Darkness suddenly spread before Yoon Gil’s eyes.