Chapter 174. Even If I Have to Paint Myself with Lacquer or Swallow Charcoal (20)

Then, Lee Gang dragged his massive, armored body out onto the road leading to the Kunlun Sect and waited for Woo-Moon.

Following behind, the Formless Flying Sword called out to her adjutant.

“For the next three hours, divert all traffic heading for this road. Close off the entire area within... a two hundred zhang radius.”

“Understood!”

As the adjutant ran off, Princess Mok Yong asked the Formless Flying Sword, “Who do you think will win?”

“Whether it’s Magistrate Jeong Yi-Moon or General Lee Gang, they’re both stronger than me. Their skills are the greatest among the Heavenly Martial Emperors... Still, Young Hero Song will win.”

“Is that so?”

Even with what the Formless Flying Sword said, Princess Mok Yong felt as though Lee Gang would win.

Jeong Yi-Moon may not know it, but in her mind, Lee Gang was the greatest of the generals, stronger than anyone else. She felt as though he was invincible and couldn’t be defeated by anyone.

Growl.

Eun-Ah growled lowly, sensing the fighting spirit directed at Woo-Moon.

“It’s fine, you little rascal. Stay here and watch.”

Woo-Moon jumped off Eun-Ah’s tail, landed in front of the Battle Emperor, and cupped his fist.

“It’s an honor to meet the weapon and shield of the Imperial Palace.”

Woo-Moon couldn’t say his title out loud. Just like the Saber Emperor, the Battle Emperor would only get angry and feel that Woo-Moon was being disrespectful.

“Hmph. I heard from Jeong Yi-Moon, that old bastard. So you’re a Paragon, huh? Well, I’ll find out if that’s true for myself!”

Although he looked like Guan Yu, his temperament was a perfect match to Zhang Fei’s.[1]

As soon as the Battle Emperor finished speaking, he dashed toward Woo-Moon, swinging his guandao up before striking down in a wide arc.

WHOOOSH!

With a tremendous roar, all of the dust and stones in the vicinity were sucked into a whirlwind by the movement of the guandao.

Truly domineering!

Most swordsmen would be dragged into the blow without being able to even move their swords properly due to the immense rotational force of the guandao, eventually ending up shattered alongside their swords.

It was the perfect example of guandao technique—crushing speed and variability with pure force!

Woo-Moon drew Inkblade without hesitation and thrust into the center of the storm created by the Battle Emperor’s move.

Neither fast nor slow, his thrust moved at just the right speed.

Clink.

The sound of metal touching metal resounded softly, and Inkblade coiled around the side of the guandao like a snake before borrowing the guandao’s force to push it down and to the side.

Swish, woosh!!

Unable to touch its target, the guandao spun in a circle twice and struck the ground far away from Woo-Moon’s position.

Bang!

With a loud explosion, a hole roughly a zhang in diameter appeared in the ground, and at the same time, the guandao’s qi created a furrow along the road approximately ten zhang in length.

“How impressive! To think you’d use softness to subdue my guandao!”

After he finished speaking, the Battle Emperor drew the twin sabers he wore on his waist and ran toward Woo-Moon again.

Swish! Woosh! Woosh! Whirl!

The twin sabers seemed to cut the wind as they mercilessly swung all around Woo-Moon.

Although it seemed as though he would be cleaved open and blood would splatter on the ground at any moment, Woo-Moon avoided every attack with just the slightest of movements, avoiding a horrible fate by a hair’s length.

As Woo-Moon continued to dodge, he suddenly lowered his body and swept the ground with his feet.

Bang!

As the Battle Emperor leaped into the air to dodge Woo-Moon’s attack, Woo-Moon stood up and kicked twice with his right foot simultaneously.

Clang, clang!

The Battle Emperor’s twin sabers flew listlessly through the air.

“Hey, that’s enough! You already look pathetic!” the Saber Emperor shouted teasingly from behind.

The Battle Emperor, whose face flushed red, picked up a spear he had previously stabbed into the ground and pierced forward with three thrusts that flickered like lightning.

His attack was truly the pinnacle of swiftness that could be shown through a spear.

However, Woo-Moon leisurely kicked up three stones.

Clang, clang, clang!

The flying rocks blocked all three thrusts.

Seeing this, the Battle Emperor decided not to hold back anymore and let out all of his powerful aura. He leapt forward and thrust his spear at Woo-Moon, imbuing his attack with a mighty spear aura.

Woosh!

Woo-Moon’s figure suddenly blurred. When it reappeared, he was dangerously close to the Battle Emperor, and his hand was placed against the latter’s dantian.

“Let’s stop here.”

The Battle Emperor felt his blood run cold.

“Ahem... fine, I lost.”

Understanding that he was no match for Woo-Moon, the Battle Emperor meekly admitted defeat.

“Thank you for letting me off easily,” Woo-Moon said courteously.

The Battle Emperor just threw up his hands at Woo-Moon’s humility.

“I don’t need some consolation from the winner! I never would have thought that the saying about the tide washing away the stagnant water on the banks of the Yangtze would ever apply to me. Ha...”

Although the Saber Emperor had hoped for the Battle Emperor to make a fool of himself, actually seeing the Battle Emperor be toyed around and beaten so easily left him conflicted.

Swish!

“Hey, you bastard, take it.”

The Battle Emperor caught the flying object, realizing that it was a high-quality bottle of liquor that the Saber Emperor had been savoring sparingly.

“Are you sympathizing with me?”

“What point is there for us old bastards to keep our pride? I’m giving it to you out of pity, so just drink it!”

“Hmph.” With a snort, the Battle Emperor began to chug.

“Hey, hey, stop it, you idiot! That’s for tasting, not for quenching your thirst! Do you know how expensive that is?!”

“What, you’re going to give it to me and then take it right back? I’m going to drink it all.”

“No, give it back!”

While the Saber Emperor and the Battle Emperor bickered over drinks, Woo-Moon walked over to Princess Mok Yong and greeted her.

“We’ve obtained the North Sea Ice Palace and the Kunlun Sect’s cooperation. All that’s left is to act.”

“Good. Now, we can finally drive out those ruthless Cruel Sandstorm Riders. When do you plan on taking action?”

“In two days at most.”

“Is that so? Understood. We’ll make sure we have all of our preparations complete by then.”

“Understood.”

Messengers were immediately dispatched to the North Sea Ice Palace, the Kunlun Sect, and the Baek Family.

***

The next day.

In a large pavilion within a corner of the Regional Military Commission, three hundred people of all statures, wearing heavy outer robes, stood in front of Princess Mok Yong, Woo-Moon, and the others.

Each of the men in the heavy robes exuded an extraordinary aura.

“Well met.”

As the Battle Emperor greeted them, the three hundred people grabbed their robes, tore them off, and kneeled.

Underneath, they all wore the same black armor as the Battle Emperor!

They were the most elite force in the North, under the direct command of the Battle Emperor—the Iron-Blooded Black Cavalry!

“Following the orders of the Grand General, we’ve come to aid Princess Mok Yong. Please help us cut down those evil horse bandits. Long live!” they shouted in one voice.

The Iron-Blooded Black Cavalry had a total of a thousand members. Lee Gang and the others picked the most elite of the cavalry, three hundred strong. It was clear that these mighty soldiers would play a crucial role in battle.

Princess Mok Yong personally walked forward and helped one of the cavalrymen stand.

“I really appreciate all of you coming all this way to help me. Everyone, please stand.”

About fifty female warriors entered the hall at this time. Not only were their auras on par with those of the Iron-Blooded Black Cavalry, but many of them seemed even stronger. They were the elite female warriors of the Imperial Demonstration Department led by Formless Flying Sword Yoon Ha-Rin.

“Long live! Following the Chief’s orders, we’ve come to become the Princess’ sword!”

“Even you have come! Thank you.”

While Princess Mok Yong looked impressed, Jeong Yi-Moon looked dissatisfied on his own.

‘Hmph, I used to have a lot of subordinates, too.’

Jeong Yi-Moon was the general of the Embroidered Uniform Guard—even though he was currently serving as a simple magistrate due to the crime of breaking the Lion God Saber.

Suddenly, while Woo-Moon was admiring the imperial government’s troops, an additional hundred men wearing imperial uniforms arrived.

As the pavilion filled up instantly, Jeong Yi-Moon’s eyes widened.

The older man standing in front of those in the imperial uniform winked playfully at Jeong Yi-Moon before kneeling.

“One hundred elites of the Embroidered Uniform Guard have arrived to express their loyalty to the former General and Princess Mok Yong. Long live!”

Princess Mok Yong smiled brightly, like a flower in full bloom.

“Even you all from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I thought you weren’t coming! Thank you very much.”

Fearing that there would be many problems if she failed to subdue the Cruel Sandstorm Riders, Princess Mok Yong sent a letter to every government force she could to gather reinforcements other than the troops currently at the Regional Military Commission. One of those forces was the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

She had done so with Jeong Yi-Moon in mind but had been skeptical about whether they would come or not, as Jeong Yi-Moon was only their former general and not their current one.

And yet, here they were!

“You brats! If you’re here, then who is protecting the Imperial Palace?”

The ones standing before him were the Embroidered Uniform Guard Company that the Saber Emperor had personally raised. They were easily the best of the best among the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

To his personal dismay, the current general of the Embroidered Uniform Guard couldn’t come because he couldn't leave his position in the palace. His lieutenant was thus taking his place here.

The lieutenant grinned. “Well, don’t we have some others from the other forces there? It’ll all work out somehow.

Hehehe

.”

“That’s your job, you idiot! Tsk, well... whatever. You were always a bunch of rascals.”

As soon as Jeong Yi-Moon finished speaking, the hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards simultaneously bowed toward him.

“Our general is still Lord Jeong Yi-Moon!”

The other forces grew rapidly, and the Embroidered Uniform Guards were starting to feel the pressure. They missed their past while under the Saber Emperor Jeong Yi-Moon. Back then, there was nothing rough about their lives; it was a time when their pride in being the best was sky-high.

On top of that, the Saber Emperor had always been incredibly kind to them as long as they did their work diligently.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

“You brats. No matter what you say, I’ll still be just an ordinary person now with a much lower rank than all of you. Don’t you think General Choong Woon would be disappointed if he heard what you said?

The lieutenant grinned again.

“Heh, what are you talking about? We were just repeating Choong Woon’s own words right now. So there’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“Ahem... there’s no winning with you. Just who did you learn this from...?”

“You’re one to ask?! Who exactly was the one who taught us everything, hahahahaha!!”

The Embroidered Uniform Guards burst into laughter.

Woo-Moon watched and assessed the forces gathered.

Although the female officers of the Imperial Demonstration Department had the highest average cultivation, they were outnumbered and thus weaker overall compared to the Iron-Blood Black Cavalry. On the other hand, while the Iron-Blood Black Cavalry had greater numbers compared to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the difference in cultivation was too stark to be overcome by mere numbers.

In other words, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who had come all this way out of loyalty to Saber Emperor Jeong Yi-Moon, was the strongest force here, followed by the Iron Blood and Black Cavalry, and lastly, the Imperial Demonstration Department.

“Alright, I am truly grateful to everyone for being here. Now that everything is in order, it’s time for me to get down to business.”

Princess Mok Yong nodded her head vigorously at Woo-Moon’s words.

“Understood. I’ll leave it to you. We’ll also move accordingly.”

“Thank you. I’ll get going then.”

Woo-Moon’s figure disappeared from the pavilion in the blink of an eye.

The Imperial Demonstration, Iron-Blood Black Cavalry, and Embroidered Uniform Guard experts, who had only just met Woo-Moon for the first time, were startled at his ghost-like disappearance. And it wasn’t just them—the three Absolute Masters in the room also let out disappointed sighs. None of them had been able to see Woo-Moon’s movement.

The Battle Emperor shook his head with a bitter smile.

“What the hell... Has that grandson of the Palm Martial Emperor been learning martial arts since he was a fetus? No, even that wouldn’t be enough. Just what is going on....”

1. Another Romance of the Three Kingdoms reference. Just like Guan Yu, Zhang Fei is the sworn brother of Liu Bei (a main character of the story) and he is famous for being brutal and heartless, as well as a nigh-invincible warrior. ☜