The Mad Dog Inspector of the Martial Alliance

Chapter 124 : The Beginning of the War (4)

The difference between the Dark Cloud Guest and Jang So-gil was stark. The Dark Cloud Guest had entered the Black Way with a low-grade martial art learned on the streets. He had relied on a trivial, low-class martial art that would not have been learned even if it were given for free if he had belonged to a decent sect, and had broken through numerous adversities to finally rise to the ranks of a master. His internal energy had not a speck of purity.

In contrast, Jang So-gil had risen to the ranks of a master in one go with the divine arts he had learned under the protection of the Martial Alliance Leader.

Although his training period was short, thanks to consuming various elixirs such as the Fierce Bull Live Bezoar Pill, his internal energy exceeded one sixty-year cycle. The purity of his internal energy, which had been consolidated with the Sima Divine Art, was also as outstanding as that of a Daoist martial artist who had trained for a lifetime.

Objectively speaking, it was a condition where Jang So-gil had no choice but to be stronger. As time passed, this difference would only widen, and it would never be narrowed in a lifetime.

One year, two years, three years. If a few more years passed, the Dark Cloud Guest would not even be able to raise his head in front of Jang So-gil.

But it was not now.

Experience.

Overwhelming experience.

The Dark Cloud Guest had a wide range of experience, from street ruffian fights to bloody battles with renowned masters of the martial world.

What about Jang So-gil? Jang So-gil had no such experience. Although he had punished many villains to fill his lack of real combat experience, he had never fought a bloody battle with someone stronger than himself. When he fought, he had always fought with an enemy below his own level.

The reason for that was because of his personality, which considered it pathetic to fight without preparation against someone stronger than himself.

Just as he had asked for Byeokryeokja's help in advance before fighting Man Bakja.

Just as he had persuaded the Sword Dragon, Song Baek, with words and made him an ally.

Just as he had prepared the Byeokryeoktan when he was hostile to the Seomun Clan.

The quality of a schemer who did not fight a losing battle from the beginning, avoided things with a low chance of winning, and increased the chances of winning with external methods rather than martial arts.

To Jang So-gil, martial arts were merely a means to make things easier, and unlike other martial artists, he did not consider martial arts as the answer to all things in the world or make it a purpose in itself.

That thought was the same even now. Jang So-gil's reason told him that there was no need to fight the Dark Cloud Guest. If he took a step back and used the Cloud Dragon Nine Forms to run away, the fight would be over.

There was no reason to put his own one and only life, which was more precious than a thousand gold, on the scale.

But that was only from the perspective of a merchant and a schemer.

Now was the time to act as a martial artist representing the orthodox sect.

'I can't do it. It doesn't suit my temperament.'

For Jang So-gil, who was not a martial artist by birth, this method was like clothes that did not fit his body.

Like when a beggar kid from the streets became the adopted son of a merchant and wore silk clothes for the first time. It felt like wearing awkward clothes and clenching his molars until they bled, forcibly putting strength into his shoulders.

But it was okay. Awkward clothes would eventually fit the body.

Jang So-gil, receiving the Dark Cloud Guest's killing intent, which was pouring down like a sharp blade, head-on, controlled his breathing.

The opponent was a master of the Black Way. He himself had said that he was ranked within the top fifteen in the Four Black Alliance.

It seemed he had the skill to be that confident.

"How dare you roll your eyes in front of your elders. I really don't like your face."

"Why? Are you jealous because I'm so handsome?"

"This brat who deserves to be beaten to death, the way you talk is not just a little bit rude."

"The conclusion is that you're jealous, right?"

There was no reply, and soon silence followed. The war of words they had exchanged had gone in one ear and out the other.

Jang So-gil was too sly a person to get excited over a few words, and the Dark Cloud Guest was an experienced person. While rolling in the Black Way, he had heard words dirtier than that.

Jang So-gil gave up on the idea of using a war of words on the Dark Cloud Guest. Recalling the maxim that a martial artist speaks with his martial arts, he grinned.

That saying needed a little more explanation. It did not mean that a martial artist should speak through his martial arts, but that they could only communicate with each other through martial arts.

The Dark Cloud Guest lowered his body. He held the skewer with his left hand and spun the hook with his right hand.

It was a stance he had never seen in any secret manual. It must have been a unique martial art that the Dark Cloud Guest himself had created.

Jang So-gil, while being on guard, raised his internal energy.

The use of internal energy was like using muscular strength. You had to be conscious, concentrate. And you had to take a stance.

When one reached the realm of 'Three Flowers Gather at the Crown' and 'Five Qi Return to the Origin', one could handle internal energy freely without such preparation. It was also the realm that Jang So-gil, who had just set foot in the ranks of a peak master, was aiming for.

In any case, since Jang So-gil had not yet reached that realm, his use of internal energy was a bit clumsy.

The Dark Cloud Guest's eyes, which had caught the opening, narrowed. He had read Jang So-gil's response one step faster.

Jang So-gil's internal energy flowed to the 'Gathering in the Middle' acupoint, the acupoint behind the knee. This meant he was going to leap forward.

In the next moment, Jang So-gil used the Plucking String Body Step and rushed forward. The reading of the move was correct.

At the same time, the Dark Cloud Guest threw the skewer straight ahead. It was a position that was aimed precisely at Jang So-gil's throat.

But Jang So-gil avoided it without much difficulty.

"Heo-!"

The Dark Cloud Guest, terrified, let out a breath.

To think he could avoid a skewer that flew in at the moment of such acceleration, it was an absurd visual acuity.

This time, it was the Dark Cloud Guest's turn to respond to Jang So-gil's offensive.

But the thrust of the Sun-Shooting Sword Art was fast and strong. It was difficult to avoid, and if you blocked it, the part you blocked would be pierced.

The method the Dark Cloud Guest chose was the 'Lazy Donkey Rolls on the Ground'. He avoided the thrust by falling back on his back and then spun his two legs like a windmill. In time with his legs, the chain and hook attached to the skewer swirled.

A dust wind blew, drawing a concentric circle. It looked like nothing special, but in reality, it was a fatal attack that contained internal energy.

Jang So-gil, withdrawing his sword as it was, once again unfolded his form towards the hook and chain. It seemed the chain was not an ordinary chain, as it only made a 'kkagang' sound and sparked when it touched the White Azure Divine Sword, a divine weapon, and did not break.

At that time, the Dark Cloud Guest, riding the momentum, leaped up as if he were ascending to heaven. His legs were up and his head was down, so his appearance of standing upside down like a handstand was quite amusing, but Jang So-gil, who was facing him, did not laugh.

Because the Dark Cloud Guest's signature supreme skill, the 'Rain of Falling Death', which attacked more than twenty times in a single strike, was pouring down.

Jang So-gil, taking a step back from the Dark Cloud Guest's attack, which continued like a shower, sneered.

"To use the 'Lazy Donkey Rolls on the Ground' against a much younger junior, aren't you ashamed?"

"I admit it's unsightly. But if I were to be ashamed of such a thing, I wouldn't be able to live the life of the Black Way."

"It's good to see you're shameless. Well, if you weren't shameless, you wouldn't be able to use such a form. What is that form that rises to the sky like a windmill?"

"It has no name. The people around me tried to give it a name like 'Ascending Dragon' or something, but I refused because I didn't like it."

"Heuheung. Not like a martial artist. But I like it."

Although it was the common habit of martial artists to give a name to each and every trivial form, unlike them, he was a very practical person.

That was also reflected in the direction of his martial arts. The combination of forms that had just followed from the 'Lazy Donkey Rolls on the Ground' was unsightly, but it was very practical. Evasion, counterattack, and continuous attack followed like flowing water.

'So this is the way of the Black Way martial artist.'

To win, even if the form was a bit off, they pursued real combat. Rather than living as a martial artist of the orthodox sect, this side rather suited Jang So-gil's temperament.

If you died, you were just a corpse. It was a hundred times better to live in this world, even if you had to roll in a dog's dung heap, than to die and smell incense.

As if he had gained some enlightenment, Jang So-gil swung his sword without a word.

His use of the form was more concise and practical than before.

"Keut..."

The Dark Cloud Guest, letting out a groan, blocked Jang So-gil's sword.

The use of the form that Jang So-gil unfolded was becoming cleaner and cleaner. He was rapidly absorbing real combat experience while dealing with the Dark Cloud Guest. He was growing like a bamboo shoot, using a good model as a nutrient.

The Dark Cloud Guest, who had fought dozens of clashes in one go, had a stream of sweat flowing down his back.

'It's a chilling visual acuity and understanding.'

Every time the White Azure Divine Sword and the hook met, it became new. Jang So-gil, with every attack, was reflecting on his own mistakes and changing the basis of his attack.

It was not a matter of gaining enlightenment in one go and jumping over a wall. Like climbing a staircase one step at a time, he was unraveling and interpreting the Dark Cloud Guest's experience one by one.

The talent for martial arts was a little more instinctive and direct. Jang So-gil's talent was not a talent for martial arts, but a talent for understanding.

In other words, it was the talent of a martial arts scholar, not a martial artist. This was the way of the martial arts scholars.

The dragon of divine calculation, the Zhuge Clan. The tiger of demonic schemes, the Sima Clan.

He had heard that they, unlike ordinary martial artists, dismantled martial arts.

And the Dark Cloud Guest had once mixed hands with an old man who called himself Seo Gwangdaesa a long time ago.

He felt the same way as then. The unpleasant sensation of being dug into covered his whole body.

'This fellow, could he be related to that strange old man? Or has he learned the martial arts of the Zhuge Clan or the Sima Clan?'

Jang So-gil, as if he couldn't bear the enjoyment, swung his sword continuously with a smile all over his face.

The sword and the hook sparked a hundred times. The Dark Cloud Guest felt his own resources gradually running out.

And Jang So-gil also felt that.

'I've read it.'

Jang So-gil thrust out the first form of the Sun-Shooting Sword Art, the 'First Sun Appears'. The Dark Cloud Guest had been avoiding Jang So-gil's form with the 'Lazy Donkey Rolls on the Ground' or responding by changing its trajectory with his hook.

In terms of ratio, out of ten responses, the hook was seven times and the 'Lazy Donkey Rolls on the Ground' was about three times. The Dark Cloud Guest had a tendency to rely on his weapon. And since he himself was aware of that habit, he would increase the ratio of responding with the 'Lazy Donkey Rolls on the Ground' to avoid having his moves easily read.

The 'Lazy Donkey Rolls on the Ground' was an unsightly movement of rolling on the ground. Therefore, it was an evasive movement that worked well against the martial artists of the orthodox sect who were not used to it.

But if he had read it, there was no reason he couldn't respond.

The Dark Cloud Guest had read Jang So-gil one step ahead. It was thanks to easily reading the unrefined movement of his internal energy.

Jang So-gil decided to use that. He left the usual movement that was read on the outside as it was, and separately operated the internal energy that moved secretly and exquisitely to avoid being read.

The Dark Cloud Guest could not see through that trivial trick.

"Heok!"

The trajectory of the White Azure Divine Sword changed. It looked like it was drawing a straight line, but it twisted sharply and drew a diagonal line.

That trajectory overlapped with the Dark Cloud Guest's knee, who was throwing his body to roll on the ground. A 'seogeok' sound of cutting was heard, and the knee and the body were separated.

The severed knee froze and stood on the ground as it was before it was cut. But the Dark Cloud Guest's body was thrown to the ground helplessly.

The Dark Cloud Guest's eyes, which had widened in shock, met Jang So-gil's eyes.

The smile that had been all over his face was now gone. With just calm and composed eyes, Jang So-gil said.

"You've been a great help. Go to heaven."

The Dark Cloud Guest closed his eyes. Jang So-gil cut his throat.

Fatigue belatedly rushed in. It was the first time in his life that he had concentrated so much.

Although immersion, absorption, and concentration were parts that anyone who learned martial arts experienced at the beginning, Jang So-gil felt it only after he had passed the stage of a first-rate master and was at the entrance of a peak master.

Since it was a belated experience, the immersion was strong, so he had slightly misjudged the limits of his body. There was a mistake in the distribution of his breathing. The internal energy to be shown and the internal energy not to be shown. Since he had operated it in two streams, the burden was further aggravated.

He could not show an unsightly appearance in front of others. Jang So-gil, forcibly suppressing the rising nausea, wrinkled his fine brow. He took out a comb, pretending to be nonchalant, and tidied his messy hair.

The core of the Sima Divine Art was a perfect mentality and stability through self-respect, self-confidence, and self-love. A clean appearance was helpful for all three.

But to think he was showing such a behavior in the middle of a fight, in the middle of a war at the headquarters of the Four Black Alliance!

Song Baek, who had just finished his own fight, said with a tone of being fed up with an unbelievable heart.

"Hey, is this the time to be tidying your hair?"

"It's my own way of mental unification."

"Well, that's a funny way to do it."

"Don't mind it. Rather than that, it seems you've handled your side well."

"Of course. The Fire Dragon's side also seems to be finishing up soon."

Several people had been defeated. Among the martial artists of the Huashan Sect, there were also quite a few injured.

But not a single master of the Four Black Alliance had survived. It was because their numbers were insufficient.

This was also thanks to the masters of their allies who had belatedly joined the ranks. This side, if an injured person came out, they would immediately switch with the next person and fight, but since the other side could not do that, no matter how much of a master they were, there was no way they could hold out.

Jang So-gil, looking back at the martial artists who were retreating from the front line on stretchers or on the backs of their comrades, and at the burning black market, brushed the ice off the White Azure Divine Sword and said.

"Good. So far, it's according to plan. Let's advance."

At the commander's words, the martial artists nodded their heads.

(End of Chapter)