Chapter 75. The Cold Glint of a Well-Polished Sword (22)

Although their cultivations had increased by more than five times their original amount, the Savage Twin Moon Monster and the Life-Death Go Monster would never be able to regain their sanity again.

While part of the reason they had tried to buy time in the Red Fog Valley was because they wanted to defeat Princess Namar and her troops first, the other was because they also wanted to buy time to prepare the pill.

The recipe for the Blood Frenzy Pill had been given to them by the Black Bull Gang. The Three Peak Monsters had planned to feed it to their subordinates first, as they suspected that the recipe was flawed. However, they didn’t have that luxury due to Woo-Moon's appearance.

Filled with rage at the death of their eldest brother, the Blood-Soaked Buddha Monster, the two Monsters immediately swallowed the two pills they had just made. Regretfully, just as the Three Peak Monsters had expected, the recipe for the Blood Frenzy Pill they had been given was indeed flawed.

The pill allowed them to produce a much greater power than what the normal Blood Frenzy Pill would give them. However, in return, not only would they never regain their sanity, but when the effect of the pill ran out, their dantian would be forever dried up, and they would never be able to gather qi again. The Black Bull Gang had conveniently forgotten to inform them of these side effects.

“AGHHHHH!”

Letting loose a feral roar, the Savage Twin Moon Monster drew moon discs from within his massive robe and threw them forward.

Swish!

The moon discs were quickly accompanied by go pieces as the Life-Death Go Monster also targeted Woo-Moon.

Although the moon discs had been reduced from eight to six, they were faster and had more momentum, and they were flying in from all directions. Any gaps were covered by the go pieces that rushed in between them.

Woo-Moon raised his right foot and hit the ground hard.

With a stomp, the ground shook violently as if there had been an earthquake. A massive amount of soil erupted from the ground in front of Woo-Moon’s foot, creating a thick dirt wall.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

Although the moon discs and go pieces pierced through the dirt wall, their momentum significantly fell.

‘Concentrate!’

Woo-Moon stared at the moon discs and go pieces intensely, just like when he had dealt with the boulders. The direction, speed, and rotation of the projectiles were all analyzed in his head.

However, there were too many of them this time.

‘A line! I need to find a line.’

The moment he determined a path that could hit the most projectiles in a single swing, Woo-Moon’s sword moved dazzlingly.

Swish! Clang, clang, clang!

The sound of the collisions stretched into one continuous noise as the sound of his sword and the projectiles colliding repeated ever so quickly.

Woo-Moon’s sword created a single net-like line in the air and struck dozens of projectiles at once. Moreover, the projectiles that collided with his sword bounced off and collided with other projectiles, causing all of them to deviate from their paths. Woo-Moon had even planned all of their rebound trajectories.

Woosh, woosh, woosh!

Not a single projectile could even touch Woo-Moon’s hair; they all fell helplessly to the ground. In the meantime, the rest of the enemy’s forces were eliminated, and the allied forces now gathered to watch the battle between Woo-Moon and the two Monsters.

The Savage Twin Moon Monster and the Life-Death Go Monster unleashed a torrent of moon discs and go pieces once more. There were so many of them that Woo-Moon was left wondering just how many the two Monsters had and where they actually kept them.

This time, Woo-Moon avoided directly confronting the projectiles and ran to the side, dodging most of them while knocking aside what few he couldn’t dodge. His dodging also conveniently brought him closer to the second Monster.

Woo-Moon kicked off the ground, and as he flew forward, he stomped the side of the cliff and jumped up even higher.

More projectiles flew at him, but Woo-Moon imbued his sword with qi and used it to redirect the projectiles right back at the Life-Death Go Monster. A strong vortex of sword qi blasted toward the Monster alongside the go pieces and moon discs the two had initially thrown at him.

Woo-Moon quickly followed, sword swinging down.

Boom!

As the Life-Death Go Monster hurriedly dodged, Woo-Moon’s sword shot down and embedded itself deeply into the ground where he had just been. At the same time, the vortex of sword qi and projectiles landed around him, forming a whirlwind pattern on the ground.

Thud.

Woo-Moon landed right next to his sword, and before the two Monsters knew it, his sword was again in his grasp.

“Let’s get this over with!”

Raging Storm blew toward the two monsters, shattering and splitting the ground as a golden sword flew toward them like an arrow.

Right behind the sword was a rain of sword shadows that seemed both irregular and ruthlessly vicious, creating a tidal wave of sword qi that was so large that it would overwhelm anyone.

“AGH!!!”

The Savage Twin Moon Monster and Life-Death Go Monster were in a beast-like state, but beasts instinctively sensed death even better than humans. They drew on every last fiber of their being to imbue their qi into their moon discs and go pieces. However, even with all of that effort, they were nothing but fireflies before a full moon.

Not only did Woo-Moon’s blow turn the Monsters into powder, but the mighty momentum of Raging Storm continued onward and crashed into the cliff behind them.

Rumble!!

“Dodge it!”

Following Ye-Ye’s shout, everyone quickly retreated from the bottom of the cliffside as the top of the canyon collapsed into dust. Woo-Moon’s martial skill was beyond their imagination.

Do-Gun, well aware of the horrid relationship between Woo-Moon and his family, was both terrified and astounded.

‘H-he might be even stronger than Mother!’

“What are you doing, dodge!”

Do-Gun finally came to his senses due to the shout of a warrior of the Lion Fang Squadron, and he retreated with a dazed expression.

However, Woo-Moon, who was in the most dangerous location, didn’t move.

“Ma-Ra, help me.”

“Okay.”

Woo-Moon’s dantian was currently empty. It was only natural; he had continued to use qi without any rest, and even his enormous qi reserves were not unlimited.

Ma-Ra grabbed him by the waist and disappeared, pulling him out of the impact zone of the landslide. As they flew through the air, Eun-Ah stuck her head out from Woo-Moon’s robes, looking around and crying softly.

“Roar!”

***

“His martial arts skills are incredible. There isn’t much of an age difference between him and me, either, so...” muttered Princess Namar.

She and the others had left quickly while the Baek and Namgoong Family members were celebrating their victory. Fortunately, most of the allied forces had forgotten about Princess Namar and the others by then, so they had been able to leave safely.

Although they hadn’t committed any crimes, they were still wary of being exposed to the public eye. Thus, it was good to avoid any awkward situations.

“I agree. I really lost confidence today,” Hye-Rim replied.

The two girls were confident in their martial arts.

The best of the younger generation of the Iron Sword Baek Family was unquestionably Do-Gun, but he was at best equal in skill to the weakest of the Three Peak Monsters. Meanwhile, the two girls’ skills approached that of the Blood-Soaked Buddha Monster, the strongest of the trio.

With that level of talent, it was more than understandable that they had such confidence. However, what Woo-Moon had displayed today was far beyond the scope of the younger generation’s abilities.

“Is the Iron Sword Baek Family really so great? I just can’t believe that they kept such a terrifying dragon hidden.”

Although they had nearly failed and risked extermination due to their enemy’s scheme, in the end, they were able to complete their mission. However, the shock and surprise they received was greater than their joy.

“By the way, we couldn’t even say thank you to that person because we were in such a hurry to leave,” Princess Namar said.

“I know. But, well, it can’t be helped. We can’t help but seem ungrateful in the current situation.”

While the two girls spoke, they made their own resolutions in their hearts.

‘When we return, I have to practice harder. I’m too weak right now.’

Su Ran, who had been silently following them, finally opened her mouth.

“I’m going to investigate who he is as soon as we get back. I’m sure of it. He’s going to leave a mark in the

gangho

in the future.”

She also resolved herself as she spoke.

‘The only thing I can trust is my own head. I will never allow my temper to get in the way of our mission again. I will become calm and cool-headed. Moreover, I have to study the art of formations even more diligently when we return.’

Even though the formation had been hastily made, she still didn’t like the fact that it had been destroyed so easily.

Thus, the three girls and their warriors returned home.

***

“I’m truly sorry, Uncle.”

“I apologize, too, Young Hero Song.”

On the way back, after collecting the bodies of their fallen comrades, Ye-Ye and Namgoong Sung came together and bowed to Woo-Moon and apologized.

It wasn’t an easy thing to do for the two of them, young talents of prestigious families with strong pride. However, they decided to do away with that pride and not put on any airs in front of Woo-Moon from now on. They weren’t shameless enough to continue acting like this to someone who had saved their lives.

Although Woo-Moon accepted their apology, Ye-Ye and Namgoong Sung repeatedly apologized and bowed three times.

They had ultimately brought themselves into danger by not listening to Woo-Moon and ignoring his judgment. Moreover, they had only been able to defeat their enemies due to his amazing martial skills.

To think that they had believed him to be nothing special and not only looked down on him but also treated him poorly....

The two were so ashamed and apologetic that they couldn’t bear it.

It was the same for the other talents and warriors.

They gained the courage to step forward after seeing Namgoong Sung and Ye-Ye and also apologized to Woo-Moon directly.

Watching all of this unfold from a distance, Do-Gun looked as if he was being forced to chew a fresh, steaming pile of shit.

‘All of you have gone crazy. What, you all want to bow to some bumpkin just because his martial arts skills are a little impressive? You cowardly and boorish bastards!’

Although it was difficult to tell who was the boorish person in this scenario, at least from Do-Gun’s point of view, all of those bastards who changed their tune at the drop of a hat really were cowardly.

Do-Gun was frightened by Woo-Moon’s formidable skills and wasn’t pleased to see him gain the trust of the people so easily. If an already strong enemy gained followers, that enemy would become even more difficult to deal with.

When the expedition had first set out, Woo-Moon had been ostracized and ignored by the others. However, now, he and Ma-Ra were standing in the center of the group, walking with everyone. In fact, it was Do-Gun who was actually pushed out to the side.

After a while, as the day slowly began to set, the allied family forces prepared to camp for the night.

As everyone was busy preparing for the night, Woo-Moon spoke to Ma-Ra as he added more wood to his fire.

“Ma-Ra. What’s your goal?”

“Goal?”

“Yes, a goal. A dream you have or something you want to do. Things like that.”

After a moment of thought, Ma-Ra answered.

“...Don’t know.”

“Hmm... well, don’t you have that? To get revenge on the oathbreakers that killed your sect.”

“Revenge? No.”

“Really? I see.”

After the conversation lulled for a moment, Ma-Ra spoke first for once.

“Not revenge. But, found oathbreaker.”

“What? Already?”

Woo-Moon suddenly realized something right as he spoke.

‘She said that the oathbreaker was a woman! Moreover, a woman strong enough to destroy the entire Formless Veil. But, if Ma-Ra had found this woman... considering she’s only been in the Baek Estate, then...!’

Woo-Moon, who had suddenly realized the identity of the oathbreaker, opened his mouth first and tried to stop Ma-Ra from speaking out of turn. Unfortunately, he was one step too late.

“Baek Hy—

mmm

!!”

Woo-Moon hastily covered Ma-Ra's mouth with his hand.

Ma-Ra just looked at Woo-Moon with an expressionless gaze and didn’t react in any way.

“Use qi transmission. Don’t say it out loud.”

Alarmed, Woo-Moon looked around. Fortunately, no one seemed to be paying attention to their conversation. However, as too many people were walking around, it was only natural that Woo-Moon couldn’t observe every single person. Therefore, he wasn’t able to notice Do-Gun, who was secretly watching the two of them from a distance.

When he saw Woo-Moon cover Ma-Ra’s mouth and scan his surroundings, Do-Gun quickly turned away and looked somewhere else. However, his mind was racing.

‘That girl was definitely about to say my mother’s name before Woo-Moon stopped her. What the hell is going on? What is this about a Formless Veil?

While Do-Gun’s mind was racing, Ma-Ra told Woo-Moon the name of the oathbreaker that had annihilated the Formless Veil, Baek Hye-Ryeong. Woo-Moon then proceeded to lie down right where he sat and continued to exchange transmissions with Ma-Ra. In doing so, he was able to find out something even more shocking.