Genius Martial Arts Trainer

“An attack!!”

“Kill that bastard!!”

Immediately after Mujin delivered his flamboyant declaration of war.

All kinds of noise erupted from every direction, including shouts and whistles.

At the same time, the soldiers waiting atop the walls of Tiananmen, some distance away from the hole, aimed their bows and began shooting at Mujin.

They had already been aiming their bows at Mujin from the moment he first approached Tiananmen.

They simply had not expected something like this to happen, so their response had come one step too late.

And once again, their response was one step too late.

BOOM!!!

By the time they fired their arrows, Mujin had already performed the Mountain-Shattering Divine Steps, passed through the hole he had created, and entered the Imperial City.

Despite there being a perfectly intact entrance, Mujin entered through the dog hole he had personally created by smashing apart the wall.

After passing through the hole, which was far too enormous to be called a dog hole, and entering the Forbidden City, he saw soldiers beginning to converge from every direction.

But whether they gathered or not.

BOOM!!

Mujin continued advancing without pause, repeatedly performing the Mountain-Shattering Divine Steps.

Every time Mujin moved one leg, the ground burst apart, and his body seemed to split into several phantoms as he advanced at astonishing speed.

Some of the soldiers who could not possibly close the distance with Mujin shot arrows in an attempt to bind his legs, while others even fired matchlock guns.

However, most of the arrows and bullets could not accurately target Mujin because he was far too fast.

And even on the rare occasion that one reached him, it meant very little.

CLANG!

All that emerged was a sound too unreal to have been caused by an arrow or bullet striking a human body.

Mujin possessed a body no different from the Indestructible Vajra Body. On top of that, he had spread a faint protective aura over himself, making arrows and matchlock bullets far too fragile to harm his body.

As though the soldiers’ interference did not even exist, Mujin repeatedly sprinted at full speed and reached another wall and gate in an instant.

It was Duanmen, built between Tiananmen, the entrance to the Imperial City, and the Meridian Gate, the entrance to the Forbidden City.

The soldiers atop Duanmen had already finished preparing themselves and were all aiming arrows or guns at Mujin.

However.

Mujin’s response to the soldiers targeting him and the wall blocking his path was extremely simple.

“Haaap!!”

Along with Mujin’s enormous shout, another vast amount of natural energy was drawn into his body.

BOOM!!!!

Without exception, the wall of Duanmen exploded into pieces with a tremendous blast.

After passing through Duanmen, Mujin advanced with the Mountain-Shattering Divine Steps once more. Before long, he arrived at the Meridian Gate, the entrance to the Forbidden City.

The soldiers who had guarded Tiananmen and Duanmen were running desperately after him, while more soldiers were waiting at the Meridian Gate to block him.

BOOM!!!!

Once again, Mujin performed the Formless Divine Fist and created an enormous hole in the Meridian Gate with absurd ease.

“Ho.”

At the sight visible beyond the hole, Mujin let out a faint nasal sound.

Perhaps because this was the Forbidden City where the emperor resided, several groups had managed to prepare themselves and were waiting behind the Meridian Gate despite the short amount of time that had passed.

'Those must be the Embroidered Uniform Guards I have only heard about.'

Every person waiting there with a weapon seemed to have learned martial arts to some degree, and they gave off a severe, intimidating presence.

But that was the full extent of Mujin’s impression.

BOOM!!

Staring directly at the Embroidered Uniform Guards blocking the entrance he had opened, Mujin performed the Mountain-Shattering Divine Steps and charged straight toward the hole.

And what followed was far too ridiculous to even be called a battle.

BOOM!

CRUNCH.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

“K-Kill him!!”

Mujin simply continued moving forward.

He performed the Mountain-Shattering Divine Steps—which, true to its name, could reduce even a mountain to ruins—to its utmost extreme, while covering his entire body in the golden armor of his protective aura.

Because of his absurd strength and speed, the Embroidered Uniform Guards blocking Mujin had every bone in their bodies shattered merely from colliding with him, and they were sent flying in every direction.

After breaking through the Embroidered Uniform Guards standing before the hole with absurd ease, Mujin continued advancing straight ahead.

More Embroidered Uniform Guards and soldiers rushed in to stop him.

SWISHHH.

BOOM!

Arrows and bullets flew in from every direction, but not a single wound appeared on Mujin’s body.

Furthermore, those who blocked Mujin’s path had their bodies crushed and were sent flying merely from colliding with him.

Nothing could stop Mujin’s advance, and some of the soldiers witnessing his unreal martial prowess found themselves thinking the same thing.

'......He is nothing less than the reincarnation of the Hegemon-King of Western Chu.'

Xiang Yu, the emperor of Chu, who was also famous for the phrase, “His strength uprooted mountains, and his spirit covered the world.”

He had never been defeated even once before the final Battle of Gaixia, had crushed an army of five hundred and sixty thousand with only thirty thousand soldiers, and had even broken through five thousand cavalrymen pursuing him during his flight from that final battle with only twenty-eight subordinates.

The scene naturally brought to mind the protagonist of that unbelievable historical tale.

He had never been defeated even once before the final Battle of Gaixia, had crushed an army of five hundred and sixty thousand with only thirty thousand soldiers, and had even broken through five thousand cavalrymen pursuing him during his flight from that final battle with only twenty-eight subordinates.

The scene naturally brought to mind the protagonist of that unbelievable historical tale.

Even at the moment someone was reminded of the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, Mujin simply continued moving forward.

After blasting away everyone who blocked his path and destroying several more gates.

Mujin finally reached his destination.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The main hall of the Forbidden City, where the emperor and high-ranking officials discussed affairs of state.

And the place where, until moments ago, the emperor and those officials had gathered to discuss eradicating every martial artist root and branch.

Of course, there was no reason for the emperor and high-ranking officials to remain here while an attack was underway.

It was only natural for them to evacuate.

However, the problem was the amount of time Mujin had taken to reach this place.

From the moment Mujin declared war at Tiananmen until he arrived here, not even half an incense stick had passed, let alone a full one.

By the time news of the attack reached this place, Mujin had already been running through the Forbidden City.

Seeing the high-ranking officials only now beginning to leave the Hall of Supreme Harmony under the protection of the Embroidered Uniform Guards and soldiers, Mujin’s lips twisted into a vicious smile.

“So all the vermin who discussed war and plunged the entire Central Plains into a mire were gathered here!!”

Mujin’s shout, filled with profound natural energy, thundered throughout the area.

As those who had only just begun leaving the Hall of Supreme Harmony flinched beneath that fierce momentum.

“Then let us begin the war you bastards wanted so badly right now.”

Mujin exploded toward them and unleashed one final roar.

“Try surviving it!!”

What followed was something so horrific that even the word massacre could not describe it.

Mujin’s arms, legs, fists. His head. Anything that so much as brushed against any part of him caused human flesh to burst apart, creating a scene of utter pandemonium.

Despite being men who had discussed war, some were so terrified that their legs completely locked, leaving them unable to move as they pissed and soiled themselves. Others tried desperately to flee even amid the chaos.

CRUNCH!

Along with the golden radiance bursting from Mujin’s fist, their entire bodies exploded.

As Mujin slaughtered the high-ranking officials and advanced deeper into the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he caught sight of someone wearing a yellow dragon robe.

“Haaap!!”

Without hesitation, Mujin performed the Formless Divine Fist toward Emperor Taiping.

He was not trying to kill the emperor immediately.

The moment Mujin performed the Formless Divine Fist, more than a dozen men emerged from the darkness and blocked the emperor.

Having already been trained by Mukyeong, Mujin had known they were hiding there.

The emperor’s personal guards.

Men whose eyes had been blinded, ears deafened, and tongues cut out, leaving them unable to see, hear, or speak of anything.

They spent their entire lives learning concealment techniques and martial arts solely to protect the emperor. It was said that because their hearing and sight had been destroyed, they could detect threats through an unreal sense of energy.

And in accordance with the shackles imposed upon them, they boldly threw themselves forward to protect the emperor.

Around half of them were able to escape the shackles that had oppressed them.

Because their bodies were torn apart, and their souls departed this world.

Whether their vengeful spirits would resent Mujin, who had killed them, or the world and imperial family that had reduced them to such a state was impossible to know.

The remaining half of the personal guards, who survived thanks to those in front dying after being struck first by the Formless Divine Fist, charged toward Mujin.

Their movements resembled those of assassins as they drew daggers and short blades hidden within their clothing.

Yet for some reason, Mujin saw them not as assassins, but as puppets.

Puppets hanging from strings, moving only according to their conditioning and commands.

They threw their bodies forward to save the emperor despite lacking the skill to withstand even a single exchange against Mujin.

THUD!

Perhaps because their tongues had been cut out, or because some form of training had made them unable to feel pain.

Even as their entire bodies were crushed by collisions with Mujin’s limbs, they merely died without releasing a single scream.

It took Mujin only a few seconds to dispose of the personal guards. It was an absurdly short amount of time considering that they had sacrificed even their lives.

After passing over the bodies of the personal guards, Mujin charged toward Emperor Taiping, only for a middle-aged man to block his path.

'Ho?'

The flow of energy began surging around the middle-aged man standing before Emperor Taiping. Following the saber he swung, a fierce wave of power gathered into a powerful aura.

Of course, Mujin was not someone who would retreat merely because a little aura had gathered around a blade.

Maintaining the momentum of his charge toward the emperor, Mujin swung his fist directly against the man.

BOOM!!

Immediately after the aura-covered saber and Mujin’s fist collided, a thunderous explosion erupted, and the man was pushed back around three steps, nearly crashing into the emperor.

And just as Mujin was about to launch another attack at him.

SWISHHHHH!

A slender sword flew toward Mujin’s back.

Normally, he would have simply ignored it and charged at the man, but Mujin lightly clicked his tongue, twisted his body, and avoided the slender sword.

“Tsk.”

That was because the slender sword aimed at his back was also wrapped in powerful aura.

From the entrance to the Imperial City all the way to the emperor’s very nose, Mujin had never once stopped advancing.

This was the first moment he came to a halt.

“Commander! Director of Ceremonial! Cut off that bastard’s head at once!”

Having narrowly escaped death, Emperor Taiping pointed at Mujin and issued his command.

Thanks to the emperor’s shout, Mujin learned the identities of the man who had blocked him and the eunuch who had thrust the slender sword at his back.

'So they are the leaders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot.'

The Embroidered Uniform Guard was an abbreviation of the Embroidered Uniform Imperial Guard Command Commission, and just as the heads of the other Provincial Military Command Commissions were Provincial Military Commanders, the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was also called the Commander.

Furthermore, although the head of the eunuchs was the Director of the Seal, the Eastern Depot among the eunuchs fell under the authority of the Director of Ceremonial.

Both the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot were organizations symbolizing the emperor’s military power and were also treated as intelligence agencies.

In other words, those two were the greatest experts within the imperial family and the final bastion protecting the emperor.

'So he did have something he was relying on after all.'

Mujin smiled faintly and looked down at his right fist, which had collided with the Commander’s saber moments earlier.

A drop of blood formed along the shallow wound on the back of his hand.