Chapter 161. Even If I Have to Paint Myself with Lacquer or Swallow Charcoal (7)

“Haha, I’m sorry. You were just so cute.”

“S-stop lying...”

Yeo-Seol felt so embarrassed by hearing Woo-Moon call her cute that she wanted to dig a hole and hide her burning face in the dirt.

“Now, we should move on to the next flag.”

Woo-Moon ran forward first, while Eun-Ah followed quickly behind with Yeo-Seol in tow.

Not long after, they arrived at a scene of eight pairs of young men and Snow Flowers entangled in a violent melee.

Some of the combatants had already been injured to the point of having to drop out of the competition, and one couple had collapsed due to serious injuries.

The pairs were so focused on fighting each other that none of them had noticed the arrival of Woo-Moon, Eun-Ah, and Yeo-Seol yet.

“Eun-Ah,” Woo-Moon softly called.

Their souls linked, Eun-Ah immediately understood and threw her head back.

ROOAAARRR!!!

It was the roar of the Silver Tiger!

Although it wasn’t as pervasive as an Absolute Master's Absolute Qi, it conveyed a much wilder and more destructive force.

“Eeek!”

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

The combatants all suddenly froze as if they had all been carved out of ice.

One of the combatants even suffered from her qi reversing course as Eun-Ah’s roar forcefully interrupted her technique, causing her to vomit blood.

Whoosh!

Woo-Moon suddenly appeared next to someone holding a flag.

“M-my flag...!” the man shouted, only now waking from the effects of Eun-Ah’s roar.

However, Woo-Moon was already running with Eun-Ah to find the next flag.

***

“You dirty bastards! To think you'd attack together”

“What about it is dirty? There weren't any rules against joining forces anyway!”

Geon Oh-Yeob, a lay disciple of the Mount Zhong Sect, took the flag from the grasp of the defeated opponent.

“Now, let’s go find the next flag.”

Right as he said that, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder.

“Y-you...!”

Although they weren't the best of friends, he and the attacker were still close. That was why Geon Oh-Yeob had even joined forces with him in the first place.

His attacker was Su Hwi-Cheon, a fellow lay disciple of Mount Zhong.

Thanks to their prior relationship, the two had joined forces and successfully attacked one couple who had gotten a flag first. But now...

“I'm sorry. It's just that we decided that it would be best to guarantee at least one flag in our possession first. After all, it would be a complete disaster if we ended up with nothing, right?”

The number of flags obtained in this competition determined one's status within the North Sea Ice Palace. In addition, it also affected the martial arts that they would be allowed to learn.

If a couple wasn't able to get any flags, they would be forced to start from the bottom.

After completing the Marriage of the Snow Flowers, each couple had to stay within the North Sea Ice Palace for ten years. Thus, it would be a great waste if one couldn't get anything during that period, which was why Su Hwi-Cheon had secretly attacked Geon Oh-Yeob from behind.

After piercing Geon Oh-Yeob’s shoulder and simultaneously striking his acupoints, Su Hwi-Cheon attacked Geon Oh-Yeob's Snow Flower together with his own Snow Flower, striking at her from both sides.

Still, not only was Geon Oh-Yeob’s Snow Flower very familiar with the insidious nature of the Marriage of the Snow Flowers, but she had also grown up in the barren and unforgiving North Sea from a young age. Thus, she admirably fought back without a word.

However, in the end, she collapsed with both knees cut out from under her.

"Good, good. We've gotten the first one, at least. Now, let's get out of here quickly!”

It was time for Su Hwi-Cheon and his partner to flee and avoid the other competitors.

Growl...

“W-what the hell? Is that a white tiger?”

Suddenly, Eun-Ah blocked Su Hwi-Cheon's path. Her red eyes flashed as she swung her front paw.

Bang!

As she had already been warned not to kill anyone, she didn't use her claws, but rather just smacked him.

Su Hwi-Cheon's sword was completely crushed and he spewed red blood and white teeth, spinning dozens of times in the air before landing in the snow.

"Ah... Ah...”

At the end of the day, a wild beast was still a wild beast.

Although the people of the

murim

viewed tigers as nothing special, even they would be terrified if all tigers showed the overwhelming power Eun-Ah had shown now.

Growl.

Eun-Ah let out a low, menacing cry as she glared at Su Hwi-Cheon's partner, the Snow Flower Bang Min-Yeon.

The moment she met Eun-Ah’s eyes, Bang Min-Yeon felt goosebumps cascade down her body as she found herself unable to move.

Woo-Moon walked over to the stunned Su Hwi-Cheon and snatched the flag out of his hand.

Crack!!!

Su Hwi-Cheon must have been truly obsessed with obtaining a flag. Even in his unconscious state, he was holding onto the flag so tightly that Woo-Moon was forced to break all of his fingers in order to take it.

“Aaaah!”

Su Hwi-Cheon had fainted from Eun-Ah’s strike, but the pain woke him up.

All he could feel was the simultaneous pain radiating from his mouth and hand! That said, the pain coming from his mouth was much worse.

“If, ip...”

He tried to say “it hurts.” However, he found himself unable to pronounce anything. Naturally, after being hit by Eun-Ah, not only was his cheek split open, but all of his teeth had been knocked out.

Unless he was able to reach the Absolute realm and undergo complete metamorphosis, he would never be able to speak properly again.

“And that makes five. Let's go get the others.”

Leaving Su Hwi-Cheon and Bang Min-Yeon behind, Woo-Moon followed the traces he felt from the other flag holders.

After that, he took a flag from two couples who had hidden themselves after finding a flag. Before he knew it, Woo-Moon already had seven flags in his hands.

‘Now, we're in first place.’

There were only ten flags in total. Of course, Woo-Moon and Yeo-Seol were currently in first place.

One of the other flag holders had fled far into the distance and hidden himself. However, not even that had been enough to avoid the tracking skills of Woo-Moon, who had learned tracking arts directly from Ma-Ra.

***

“Damned bastard!”

So Mu-Yong gritted his teeth.

He hadn't been concerned about the Marriage of the Snow Flowers at first. Even if he were to be generous, the only possible threat he could think of was Yu Cho of the Mount Hua Sect.

Even so, he didn’t think that he would lose. He was confident that as a member of the Evil Faction, if this was a fair spar and not the Marriage of the Snow Flowers, he would be able to beat all of the Righteous Faction bastards.

However, Song Woo-Moon just fucking

had

to appear out of nowhere. He was an expert that the likes of Yu Cho truly couldn't be compared to.

An Absolute expert.

‘That bastard. That dog bastard! Song Woo-Moon... you bastard! To think you've reached the Absolute stage... and we’re the same age!’

So Mu-Yong gritted his teeth. He refused to acknowledge Woo-Moon.

If nothing else but for his pride, he

had

to beat Woo-Moon. That was why he had taken it upon himself to recruit others.

At a road that had to be crossed if one wanted to return to the North Sea Ice Palace, he had gathered a large number of people to fight Woo-Moon.

Everyone in the competition except for Baekri Yeong-Woon, Namgoong Sung, and those already beaten up by Woo-Moon, was gathered here. Every single one of them felt a great sense of crisis due to Woo-Moon’s incredible strength and the fact that he had already gathered five flags.[1]

The sense of crisis was so high that even though the gathering was being led by someone from the Evil Faction, Yu Cho and the other youngsters of the Righteous Faction had still joined.

That

was how much Woo-Moon worried them.

‘No matter how strong that bastard is... even if he really is an Absolute Master, he can't beat all of us together.’

Even if Woo-Moon really was an Absolute Master, So Mun-Yong didn't believe that his cultivation could have been stabilized already.

A fresh Absolute Master could be dealt with through the combined force of ten Transcendent class experts.

Among those gathered here now, there were only seven Transcendent class experts. However, there were also close to a hundred Peak class martial artists. It was worth trying.

Everyone's eyes met, each nodding one by one and confirming that they all felt the same way.

Public enemy number one, Woo-Moon!

Every single one of the remaining competitors, except for Baekri Yeong-Woon and Namgoong Sung, had joined the alliance.

There were sixty-four Snow Flowers remaining, and combined with their partners, the alliance had a total of one hundred and twenty-eight members.

People of the Hegemon Clan, the Justice Coalition, and various sects across the

murim

were all gathered together, putting their grudges aside and joining forces to deal with their public enemy number one.

A short time later, roughly thirty people appeared in front of the slowly walking Woo-Moon and Yeo-Seol.

They were the Alliance For Eradicating Woo-Moon.

“Woo-Moon! You have five flags, right? Hand them over right now!”

Right as those words were shouted, thirty more people arrived on each of the three remaining sides, trapping them in.

“Hoho, so you’ve surrounded us.”

Yu Cho responded with a cold smile, “You can’t run anywhere, so just hand over the flags.”

“Run? Haha. So you surrounded us because you were afraid we would run away. What a waste of effort.”

“A waste of effort?”

“Well, a tiger doesn’t run away just because some random wild cats start strutting around. But, by the way, this is really impressive. You’re planning on attacking me with all of these younger generation talents at the same time, right? Everyone has to have their own pride, though... Getting them all together was pretty impressive.”

As Woo-Moon spoke, shame appeared on the faces of those surrounding Woo-Moon.

“Shut your dirty mouth. There’s nothing else to talk about. Attack!”

With Yu Cho’s shout, those surrounding Woo-Moon attacked at the same time.

However, their bodies froze before they could reach Woo-Moon.

“Ugh...”

“Cough, cough!”

Before they knew it, Woo-Moon’s aura had encroached on the entire area.

None of them could withstand it.

‘I-I can’t move...’

Under the tremendous pressure, So Mu-Yong was reminded of a scene he had seen when he was young: an insect whose entire body was wrapped in a spider’s web, unable to move whatsoever and just waiting to die.

As that scene flickered before him, he was filled with an overwhelming despair.

He was no different from that bug.

However, in an instant, the terrifying pressure disappeared.

“Huff, huff...”

The gasps of everyone struggling to breathe filled the air.

They were only able to do so because Woo-Moon had restrained his aura.

“Well, if you want to attack me, then this is your chance. This way, none of you can say anything after.”

Woo-Moon’s words were incredibly arrogant.

However, none of them could move, regardless of whether or not Woo-Moon was pressuring them.

What Woo-Moon had just done was seared in their brain with a red-hot needle.

Fear, pure fear.

Even if they fought, there was no way for them to win.

In the midst of the crowd’s despair, there was one person who actually overcame it and attacked Woo-Moon.

“AHHHHHH!!!!”

Jeong Gyeong.

The hatred for Woo-Moon and jealousy for Yeo-Seol had fully suppressed her fear.

Seeing her “courage,” the others soon followed suit and rushed Woo-Moon as well. After all, the most difficult part of anything was the beginning.

After looking at them for a moment with a cold gaze, Woo-Moon kicked the ground.

BOOM!

The snow around them was incredibly light and soft.

However, as Woo-Moon kicked it, it turned harder than steel. It flew faster than any hidden weapon, hitting the four people running at Woo-Moon.

“Ugh!”

“Agh!!!!”

Ribs broke and blood spurted from four mouths.

It was such an absurd situation that people were sure to laugh if the scene was described to them and chalk it up to an overexaggerated rumor.

However, Woo-Moon had made such an impossible feat happen.

Moreover, it wasn’t just against any ordinary humans, but against fighters who had reached the Peak class.

With a single move, he had dealt with four people.

Afterward, roughly twenty people rushed toward him and attempted to attack him.

Woo-Moon took a step forward, his right foot twisting as if he was about to spin, and drew Inkblade.

The Black Inkblade stood out in vivid contrast with the pure white snow field.

Swish! Swiiiish!!!!

Woo-Moon made one single revolution as he struck the air twenty times.

As if time had stopped, everyone around him stopped moving.

Thwip, thwip, thwip!

“Cough, cough!”

All twenty people froze like statues, stuck mid-stride. Woo-Moon’s sword attacks had hit their acupoints.

Still, there were a hundred and four people left.

When Woo-Moon stretched out his hand toward the ground, all the snow around him flew out and condensed to form a long ice club.

The young men and Snow Flowers opened their mouths in surprise at the sight as Woo-Moon reinforced the ice club with an appropriate amount of qi and swung it wide.

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

He had adjusted his strength to the point where he wouldn’t break any bones but inflict some internal injuries.

“Ugh!!!”

“H-how is this possible?!!! Agk!!”

Both those stuck with their acupoints locked and those behind them were hit by the ice club and sent rolling on the ground.

“BLERGHHHH!!”

The sound of blood being vomited echoed from everywhere.

1. No one knows he's gotten the flags of the hidden pairs. ☜