Chapter 530
I could see the sunset slowly sinking.
It was time. Once I realized that, I stepped outside.
As soon as I came out, I saw the people waiting for me. Yu Yeon and Peng Dojun.
Peng Dojun was one thing.
“What are you doing here? You’re coming too?”
The fact that Yu Yeon was there was ridiculous. At my question, she nodded.
Was there any need to bring her along? A small question sprouted in my mind.
Hmm.
Should I take her for now? The thought passed through my head. Well, it probably would not matter.
The Heaven-Slaying Star bothered me, but I thought I could suppress that.
We had come this far anyway, so what was the point of digging my heels in now?
“Then let’s go. Ah, and.”
I turned my gaze. The people standing there in a daze entered my sight.
When their eyes met mine, they flinched. I smiled faintly.
“Let’s go. You too. And you.”
“...Pardon?”
“What?”
Cloud Dragon and Poison Dragon. I decided to bring the two-headed dragon along too. If they were going to be left idle, they might as well do something like this. That was the thought that crossed my mind.
*****
I took the group and moved out. The so-called five younger-generation prodigies. When I put it that way, Poison Dragon looked utterly disgusted.
“Why? What? Got a problem?”
“...The name is rather crude, is it not?”
“Then you come up with one.”
“How does Four Dragons and One Peak sound?”
“That reeks completely of old men. What part of that sounds good?”
Four Dragons and One Peak, my ass. When I looked at him pathetically, Poison Dragon grew sullen. He seemed to be getting stranger the longer this went on too.
Originally, he had only been rude, but he had still looked like he had something going for him. Why was he turning out like that?
...Did I bully him too much?
It also felt like I had bullied him so much the kid had broken. I did feel a little sorry about that.
Then he should do better.
How long did he have to train in Ten Thousand Flowers Rain before he came to his senses? He had only just reached the point where he had a feel for it and could use it.
No, hadn’t he gained some insight from his spar with Peng Dojun? The fact that he was still squeezing mileage out of that up to this point was astonishing.
...Or not? Am I expecting too much?
I could not help thinking that too. It was the process of learning an ultimate art. Taking more than a year to learn it was only natural.
He had not even trained for a full year yet. From that standpoint, I did wonder if I was expecting too much from Poison Dragon.
Then get good if you’re upset.
I did it. You do it too, then.
I had no intention of thinking from Poison Dragon’s position. Honestly, teaching someone was exhausting as hell too, you know? He needed to understand that.
Poison Dragon is one thing.
As for Cloud Dragon...
It’s too early to use him.
The future of the Wudang Sect. That one also had an arrogant and messy temperament, but he had been rather quiet throughout this trip.
Is it because of Peng Dojun and Yu Yeon?
That might be it. The reason he had gone around with his shoulders held high as a younger-generation prodigy was because, in his own way, he was still a genius.
But there are already two people here greater than him.
Putting me aside as an exception, there was Yu Yeon, called the greatest younger-generation prodigy, and Peng Dojun, born with the Heavenly Martial Body.
It would be funny for that guy to strut around here.
In truth, whether he strutted around or not was not particularly important. He only needed to fulfill his use, exactly as that.
There’s still a little time before we reach that purpose.
Using Cloud Dragon came a little later. How he spent the time in between was not all that important.
“Let’s go for now. We need to finish before night falls.”
We were going to raid this Murim Alliance branch that had joined hands with Sky-Crushing Palace. Everyone moved for that simple, straightforward reason.
Freak Demon is... hmm.
There was no need to ask or order him to do anything. He would be handling things on his own.
All right, then.
Let’s go.
It did not take long to bring everyone to the branch.
This time, I did not sneak in secretly or watch the mood. I headed boldly for the entrance.
When we appeared, the Alliance martial artists flinched.
“...What brings people from the main Alliance here...?”
“Call the branch chief. I have something to say to him.”
“Pardon...? What do you mean...! The branch chief is currently away.”
“He’s away? Still? That’s absurd.”
I let out a hollow laugh.
“He said he would issue the permit, and he’s still away? Can I take this as him treating us like dogs?”
“That is not—”
As he spoke, I checked the martial artist over. This one carried that energy too.
Looking at it, I said,
“Or maybe he’s running around so busily because he’s afraid his dogshit will be exposed.”
“...What are you—”
“The Alliance Leader will be furious when he sees this. The people he trusted and entrusted this place to became lackeys of Sky-Crushing Palace.”
“...!”
Clench.
The martial artist’s arm, which had moved to draw his sword the moment he heard me, stopped. I had grabbed his hand and blocked it.
“You should have denied it instead. That would have been better.”
No. I knew anyway. It was closer to something I said just to say it. I wanted the people watching to react.
“You—!”
The moment he tried to say something...
Whoosh! Boom!
Peng Dojun grabbed the martial artist and threw him. He broke through the wall and slammed into it. Ah.
“...I told you to go easy. He’ll die like that.”
“We’re not allowed to kill them? They’re traitors anyway.”
“...I told you that isn’t necessarily the case.”
Sky-Crushing Palace energy. There had been people whose personalities changed once that appeared.
We could not just kill them all without thinking.
“Subdue them as much as possible.”
“...Tsk. What a pain.”
Was this man really orthodox faction? Judging by his behavior and the way he talked, he was the unorthodox faction itself.
It was ridiculous. I let out a faint hollow laugh and entered.
Inside, there were plenty of people looking at me with startled eyes. The fact that we were martial artists from the main Alliance was part of it, but the bigger issue was that we had smashed one of their comrades outside and come in.
Looking at them, I said,
“I am Bang Seongyeon of the Azure Moon Sect.”
I skipped polite speech. This was right for the moment. I needed to create pressure.
Rumble.
I released the energy I had locked away. Only inner qi. I used only that to overwhelm the surroundings.
Crack-crack-crack-crack!
“Guh!”
“Ughhh...”
The martial artists staggered and fell apart. Peng Dojun watched it and widened his eyes.
“Oho...”
Seeing it, Peng Dojun looked at me with renewed interest.
“Did you cross another wall while I wasn’t looking? The quality of your energy makes no sense.”
“...Now is not the time to admire that. Don’t talk to me and break my concentration.”
This was harder than I expected. Because I had never done this sort of thing before, it was even more so. I had never gone anywhere and bluffed with energy.
Roughly like this should do.
Of course, even though I had never done it, I more or less had a feel for it. It was simpler than I had expected and convenient to use.
All I had to do was drag together the energy I had and did not have, then apply pressure.
So this actually made it easy to show off my presence?
Simple and most convenient.
It was a power that poured out only an excessive quantity of energy, and the result depended on how strong the opponent’s energy was.
You can tell at once what realm the person emitting it has reached.
Showing off the depths of a strong person was unbelievably easy. Just looking at the current situation proved that.
“Guh... Haaah...! What is this energy...!”
The fallen martial artists were trembling as they stared at me in terror.
This quantity is easy to control too.
Sword Emperor had told me to be careful when using energy, but using it did not feel particularly inconvenient.
I was not emitting all of it, so I still could not be certain, but for now, that was how it felt.
I walked slowly.
Walking while pouring out inner qi was a little harder than I had expected. If my concentration wavered even slightly, the energy I was emitting would shake.
Keeping it maintained, I moved toward the hall.
Rumble! Creak, groan!
As the energy grew harsher, the building itself began to vibrate. It was enough that I worried it might collapse.
For now, I pretended not to know and sat down.
Since I had seized the momentum, I needed to use it.
“I did not place much faith in what I saw and heard at the main Alliance—but now that I face you like this, it has become clear.”
I turned my gaze. I looked at the fallen people one by one. Each time, they trembled.
All of them were Sky-Crushing Palace spies.
“Do you truly believe I came here simply to go to Xinjiang?”
“...”
“If you thought that, you were mistaken. The Murim Alliance is not so thoughtless and simple a place.”
Sorry. Thinking of my maternal grandfather, I sold out the Murim Alliance. They knew nothing at all about the situation.
“I will ask. What did Sky-Crushing Palace intend to do here?”
Rumble!
I made the vibration even stronger.
Crack. The wall split. Wow. That worked.
This is why masters are human calamities.
If releasing energy alone could do this to a building, of course people would be terrified.
Right now, I simply found it fascinating that a petty citizen like me had become this kind of existence.
“No answer. Insolent.”
I added killing intent.
Whoooom!
“Gaaaaah...!”
I caught sight of some foaming at the mouth and collapsing. In the meantime, I adjusted it again.
Exclude those without energy.
I made it so the ones who did not show Sky-Crushing Palace energy were avoided in their own way. That worked too. The more I controlled energy, the stranger it seemed.
“Where is the branch chief? If he does not come, everyone here might die.”
I pressed down as hard as possible and crushed them. So the bastards could not pull any useless tricks. No, to be exact—
So they would pull one instead.
I was acting with that in mind. I had already thought of how to respond once the branch chief appeared.
It should be about time. If he felt the energy, he should come. Even if he had gone far away, he must have received a report.
So just as I thought I could slowly reduce the energy and prepare—
—My Sky.
I heard a voice transmission.
It was Freak Demon’s voice transmission. But he sounded extremely urgent.
—Something is coming...! Be careful—!
The voice transmission cut off. Hearing that, I frowned.
[Well, would you look at this?]
The Heavenly Demon’s amused voice. I immediately withdrew my energy and amplified my energy sense.
“...What is that?”
Peng Dojun muttered with a chilling expression. Once I heightened my energy sense, I felt something too.
A shiver ran down my spine.
At the eerie force, I looked somewhere. The sky. Something was falling from there.
Thud. Roll.
“...”
What fell and rolled over was someone’s head. He had died with bloodshot eyes and his mouth unable to close.
Seomdo?
It was the head of Branch Chief Seomdo.
It looked as if it had been torn off. The head was one thing, but I was sensing the presence of someone slowly descending.
“Interesting.”
Someone descended with his robe fluttering.
“I came just in case, and here you were doing something interesting. Yes.”
“...”
A thin figure wearing a black mask.
I did not know who it was.
“Are you Moon Hero?”
Sky-Crushing Palace.
It was someone from Sky-Crushing Palace. And on top of that—
...Strong.
He was a martial artist so strong it was truly enough to send a chill through me.