Chapter 413

Chapter 413

The speed of the Left Protector and Right Protector accelerated dramatically, and the raw energy streaming through their blades swelled to twice its previous intensity.

Clang!

Even so, the elderly monk blocked the incoming slashing swords and heavy saber with nothing but his bare palms.

This was in spite of Yeom Ga-hwi and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang throwing their weight into the assault from the flanks.

Yet, the two aging protectors did not falter, nor did panic cloud their features.

For decades, they had served a supreme master who possessed martial dominance far eclipsing even this ancient monk.

Without needing a single word to coordinate, the Left and Right Protectors unleashed a furious volley of strikes while bellowing toward the rear.

“Zhuge Clan Head!!”

Zhuge Mun, intently monitoring the flow of the engagement from afar, immediately comprehended the underlying message of that shout.

Gnashing his teeth in bitter realization, he roared with all his might.

“All forces!! Fall back!!”

The signalmen waiting to broadcast his commands across the field froze in temporary shock.

It lasted only an instant. They scrambled to execute Zhuge Mun’s desperate decree.

The brass gongs began to chime in an unfamiliar, urgent cadence, while columns of distinctively colored smoke billowed up from the heart of the Zhuge Clan estate.

“Curse it all.”

On paper, they held the upper hand. That is, if one chose to ignore the terrifying reality of the duel between that ancient monk and the frontline champions of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

If this state of affairs persisted just a little longer, they could have devastated the enemy ranks.

Yet, that tactical edge was nothing but an illusion. The very moment one of the Cult’s top masters succumbed to the ancient monk, the entire tide of battle would turn against them in a heartbeat.

This moment represented their absolute last window to mitigate their casualties and withdraw while they still dictated the terms of engagement.

The instant Zhuge Mun’s directive rippled across the expanses of Yungzhong Mountain, the warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult alliance executed a highly coordinated retreat.

The defensive arrays and hidden mechanisms scattered across Yungzhong Mountain remained functional, allowing the coalition forces to pull back in an orderly fashion.

The fighters engaged along the mountain slopes and at the valley floor pivoted away from their opponents, breaking contact.

“Withdraw!!”

Members of the Wudang Sect, who had been locked in a grueling two-front battle against the combined forces of Shaolin and the Peng Clan, broke off and retreated directly toward the main complex of the Zhuge Clan.

“After them!”

“Do not let a single rebel slip away!”

Those martial artists who were unencumbered by the mountain’s defensive grids bounded forward in pursuit of the retreating forces, as the vanguard of Shaolin and the Peng Clan breached the perimeter of the Zhuge Clan grounds.

As they surged inside, however, looks of profound confusion washed over their faces.

They had anticipated a bloody, suicidal last stand within the walls of the Zhuge Clan estate, yet the Wudang fighters were executing a structured withdrawal without breaking formation.

Furthermore, Zhuge Mun along with the core martial forces of the Zhuge Clan had already evacuated the area ahead of Wudang.

Right at that moment.

Boom!!

Following a thunderous detonation, the four ultimate masters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult were hurled backward into the open courtyard of the Zhuge Clan like broken dolls.

The ancient monk trailed immediately behind them, gliding through the air with a profound lightness technique that made him appear as though he were walking on the clouds, pursuing his prey deep into the compound.

“What are you waiting for!!”

Bellowing from his vantage point in the sky, the monk’s reprimand snapped the pursuing experts from their daze, forcing them to resume the chase against the fleeing coalition.

“Hunt down those cowards immediately!”

Amidst the swirling bedlam, the four elites of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult found themselves relentlessly driven backward by the old monk’s overwhelming power, yet they somehow managed to maintain their footing and prevent a total rout.

After verifying that the forces of Wudang, Shaolin, the Peng Clan, and the Cult’s own frontline champions—alongside the monstrous old monk—had all converged inside the Zhuge Clan perimeter, Zhuge Mun detached himself from the retreating main body and slipped away toward the central hall of the clan head.

As the old proverb went, a clever fox always keeps multiple exits. Zhuge Mun had meticulously structured a contingency for the absolute worst-case scenario.

‘I truly believed we could have maintained the defense for at least a few days before reaching this point.’

Suppressing his deep bitterness, Zhuge Mun crossed the threshold of the grand hall and began rapidly manipulating specific tables, decorative pieces, and texts scattered throughout the room.

By altering the alignment and placement of these designated objects in a precise chronological sequence, a concealed trapdoor directly beneath the main conference table slid open.

Srrrrk.

Stepping down into the dark opening, Zhuge Mun activated the ultimate esoteric cultivation method reserved solely for the lineage leader—the Mysterious Origin Sandalwood Divine Art—surging raw energy from his lower dantian.

He channeled this volatile energy directly into his right hand without restraint, slamming his palm against a specific stone block protruding from the masonry near the entry point.

Boom!!

The architectural trigger absorbed Zhuge Mun’s internal force and smoothly recessed into the wall structure.

With his preparations finalized, Zhuge Mun cast one final, lingering glance down the subterranean corridor behind him.

‘I beg of you, buy me whatever time you can.’

Picturing the four cult champions fighting above, he tore his thoughts away and sprinted into the dark recesses of the hidden path, utilizing his maximum lightness skill.

Meanwhile, just across the threshold of the Zhuge Clan courtyard.

Yeom Ga-hwi and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang made a desperate attempt to ignite their foundational internal reserves.

With their profound combat instincts, they understood exactly what the Left and Right Protectors were planning to do.

As disciples of the demonic path, neither possessed a temperament so craven as to allow these two elders to shoulder the burden of death alone.

However, it was as if their intentions had been anticipated.

Boom!!

The Left and Right Protectors barely managed to deflect a crushing wave of energy radiating from the ancient monk’s outstretched hands, shouting fiercely over the din.

“Cover the Wudang Sect’s escape!”

As Yeom Ga-hwi and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang wavered at the unexpected command, the Left Protector barked again.

“An honorable end is the duty of old relics like us. You both have far too much left to accomplish in this world.”

Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang and Yeom Ga-hwi could only manage a grim, self-deprecating smile.

They themselves were of an advanced age, routinely addressed as venerable elders by others.

Yet, when measured against the two protectors, they were practically in the springtime of their lives.

Fully comprehending the ultimate sacrifice intended by the Left and Right Protectors, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang and Yeom Ga-hwi immediately tapped into their lightness techniques, leaping away to reinforce the Wudang retreat.

“Insolent fools, you shall not escape!”

Naturally, Hyun-am was not about to stand idly by and permit their flight.

An incredibly dense, oppressive aura that completely belied his emaciated physical form coalesced in Hyun-am’s hands. He threw a rapid succession of punches into the open air, launching highly compressed spheres of kinetic force directly at the retreating pair.

Despite sensing the apocalyptic pressure of the vacuum blasts tearing toward their backs, Yeom Ga-hwi and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang refused to slow down or even look back, driving themselves forward.

Boom!!!

A fraction of a second later, the earth-shattering detonation of those very blasts being intercepted by the Left and Right Protectors echoed across the courtyard.

“Cough….”

The consequence of deliberately absorbing Hyun-am’s catastrophic power directly into their bodies caused both elderly protectors to violently cough up crimson lifeblood simultaneously.

“To think that aberrations lower than wandering spirits dare obstruct my path!”

Bellowing in a discordant, rasping metallic tone, Hyun-am lunged forward to close the distance.

An adversary they could scarcely contain when fighting as a group of four was now being faced by only two—it was a fundamentally impossible endeavor.

Boom!!

Every single time they attempted to parry Hyun-am’s devastating fist strikes or sweeping kicks, a agonizing, bone-shattering sensation flooded the sensory networks of the Left and Right Protectors.

Their internal energy centers groaned under the strain as if on the verge of rupturing entirely, while blood welled up continuously from their throats.

“Kehehehe.”

In spite of the horror, the two veteran elders of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult burst into manic laughter, spitting crimson foam as though the physical agony was entirely beneath their notice.

“You old fools have truly lost your minds.”

They managed to endure several more devastating exchanges under Hyun-am’s unrelenting offensive.

Eventually, the Left Protector’s arm, pushed far past its structural breaking point, failed to withstand the sheer mass of Hyun-am’s strike and snapped backward.

Crack.

The sickening sound of splintering bone echoed through the air, and the follow-through from Hyun-am’s subsequent left palm strike completely severed the limb from the shoulder.

Even as his vision blurred from the shock of the mutilation, the Left Protector utilized the Air Grasp technique to summon a discarded blade from the ground directly into his remaining hand.

“Haaah!”

By that point, the Right Protector was already bringing his heavy saber down toward Hyun-am in a sweeping arc.

Yet, Hyun-am casually extended his bare fingers and caught the descending blade by its edge.

Crack!

With a swift, brutal counter-kick, he shattered the Right Protector’s right leg completely.

Ignoring the agonizing trauma, the Right Protector released his left hand from the weapon’s grip and drove his fingers straight toward Hyun-am’s fatal acupoint.

“Uahaha!”

Simultaneously, the Left Protector, firmly gripping the sword with his left hand, leveled a ferocious slash at Hyun-am’s exposed back, his laughter echoing wildly.

Hyun-am contorted his torso to evade the blade from behind while executing a lightning-fast thrust at the Right Protector with his free hand.

Kwachik!

The Right Protector’s left hand imploded under the strike, another gruesome sound of ruin reverberating through the space.

Following that exchange, Hyun-am remained locked in a brutal grapple with the twin Dharma Protector Lions for a few final breaths.

By this stage, the Left Protector had been stripped of his right arm and bore an atrocious laceration across his left flank that left his inner organs completely exposed.

The Right Protector’s right lower limb and left fingers were reduced to splinters, and one of his eyes had been completely destroyed.

It was solely due to the Left Protector ignoring his eviscerated core to provide desperate deflections that the Right Protector’s skull had not been crushed entirely.

Though reduced to little more than animated corpses, their defiance manifested in continued, bloody laughter.

A profound sense of absolute revulsion finally swelled within Hyun-am, his face twisting into a furious snarl as he unleashed a full-powered double palm strike.

This time, lacking the structural integrity they possessed before, the two elders were sent skittering across the dirt like autumn leaves.

The internal energy driving their forbidden techniques was rapidly drying up, and the vital spark anchoring their physical forms was flickering out.

‘What is this anomaly?’

Directly beneath the stone tiles where his feet rested.

Far below the foundations of the Zhuge Clan estate, an immense, volatile accumulation of destructive energy began to vibrate.

He snapped his head around, noting that a significant portion of the Shaolin monks had not yet cleared the perimeter of the Zhuge Clan grounds.

This tactical delay had occurred because Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang and Yeom Ga-hwi had successfully reinforced the Wudang retreat, slowing down the pursuit.

Finally grasping the true nature of the trap, Hyun-am pivoted and bolted through the air toward the position of the Shaolin monks.

The two mutilated elders bleeding out on the ground would inevitably perish within minutes even if left entirely alone.

Yet, without warning, the two broken old men who had been collapsed in the dust surged upward with a final burst of life force, wrapping their bodies entirely around his lower legs.

Their faces were contorted into unsettling, triumphant smiles.

“Why must an ancient relic of your years be in such a desperate rush?”

“Given that your remaining days on this earth are already so few, why not join us on the journey down?”

In absolute desperation, Hyun-am slammed his twin palms downward into their bodies.

Kwachik!

The monumental internal force radiating from his hands instantly pulverized the skulls of both elders.

Yet, even with their life completely extinguished and their heads gone, the death-grip of the protectors’ corpses remained locked around his limbs, while the cataclysmic energy pulsing from the bedrock reached its flashpoint.

“You maniacs… you absolute demonic lunatics.”

Gripped by raw panic, Hyun-am unleashed a frenzied barrage of palm strikes downward.

Only after a succession of localized shockwaves shredded the two corpses into unidentifiable fragments did Hyun-am manage to wrench his legs free from their grasp.

Boom!!!!

With a catastrophic roar that shattered the sky, the entire Zhuge Clan estate detonated in a single, blinding instant.

Even after successfully breaching the outer perimeter of the burning Zhuge Clan grounds, the Tai Chi Sword Sage, Yeom Ga-hwi, and Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang held their positions at the extreme rear, continuing to trade blows with their pursuers.

They methodically repelled the attacking waves of Shaolin monks and Northern Peng Clan fighters to shield their retreating subordinates, conceding ground step by step.

The moment the cataclysmic shockwaves erupted from the heart of the Zhuge Clan manor, the three masters instantly funneled their remaining internal reserves to project dense defensive barriers of sword aura around themselves.

Boom!!

Gritting their teeth against the agonizing friction of their internal wounds tearing further open, the trio stared through the translucent sheen of their defensive barriers at the unfolding nightmare.

It was an apocalyptic inferno of flame and concussive force built out of absolute, unadulterated hatred.

In the event that the Zhuge Clan ever faced total subjugation by external enemies or internal treason, the architects had resolved to leave absolutely nothing behind, ensuring the total annihilation of their conquerors—a terrifying trap refined over more than a century with pure, unyielding malice.

The firestorm born of that hatred consumed everything in its path.

Even the apex masters who had managed to put considerable distance between themselves and the epicenter struggled desperately to withstand the atmospheric backlash, while those trapped within the walls or immediately outside were instantly vaporized or torn to pieces by the overpressure.

Just as abruptly as the catastrophic inferno had manifested, the malicious flames dissipated into nothingness.

Fewer than ten martial artists from the combined forces of Shaolin and the Northern Peng Clan remained among the living.

At best, only those who had been actively engaging Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, Yeom Ga-hwi, and the Tai Chi Sword Sage near the outer edge—comprising the strongest figures of the generation, including Peng Mu-yeol, Bul-jon, and the Shaolin Abbot—clung to life, severely incapacitated by profound internal trauma.

Yet, despite facing an enemy force that was now reduced to a mere handful, the warriors of Wudang, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, and Yeom Ga-hwi did not make a move to finish them off.

Every eye was anchored to the absolute center of what had once been the Zhuge Clan manor, where heavy gray smoke was slowly being swept away by the mountain breeze.

In the dead center of a landscape completely scorched and leveled into absolute desolation, a solitary silhouette remained upright.

His ancient, saffron-colored monastic robes hung from his frame in blackened ribbons, dark ash coated his exposed skin in uneven sheets, and a steady stream of dark blood leaked from his lips, betraying profound internal devastation.

‘He is… an absolute monster.’

‘How can an entity of flesh and blood endure a detonation of that magnitude?’

Not a single soul present could look upon the emaciated old monk’s battered form with anything less than sheer terror.

The moment the written dispatch reached him detailing the total destruction of the Zhuge Clan and the deaths of the Left and Right Dharma Protectors, Il-mok immediately redirected his Gansu regiments and marched hotfoot into Shaanxi Province.

Finding the marching velocity of the standard infantry units agonizingly slow, Il-mok detached a handful of mid-tier officers to maintain the main body’s advance while he pressed ahead with only his most elite core.

Flanked exclusively by Jin Ha-yeon, his personal attendants, and Dokgo Ryong, they pushed their lightness arts to their absolute physical limits for forty-eight uninterrupted hours, finally arriving at Xi’an, the administrative capital of Shaanxi Province.

Eskorted by scouts from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult who had been stationed to secure the approaches to Xi’an, they proceeded directly to the grand pavilion where Cult Leader Wi Jin-hak awaited their arrival.

“The Heavenly Demon manifests, and a myriad of demons bow in reverence. We offer our humblest greetings to the Cult Leader!”

With Il-mok leading the protocol, the assembled group dropped into a disciplined bow before Wi Jin-hak.

It required only a cursory glance for Il-mok to read the room. Wi Jin-hak’s posture was reminiscent of a subterranean volcano on the absolute precipice of a cataclysmic eruption.

‘It is a profound relief that we accelerated our journey without rest.’

Objectively speaking, the engagement could not be categorized as a simple, crushing defeat.

While a vast number of their fighters, including the irreplaceable Left and Right Dharma Protectors, had been wiped out and the Zhuge Clan estate lay in absolute ruins, the casualties inflicted upon the enemy were twofold.

In particular, the vanguard forces of Shaolin and the Northern Peng Clan had been brought to the absolute brink of total extinction, a fact explicitly outlined in the written briefing.

Even with this knowledge, Il-mok kept his tongue firmly in check.

Offering thoughtless platitudes in a desperate bid to assuage such monumental fury would likely achieve nothing but throwing oil onto an open flame.

“Youngest.”

“I await your command, Cult Leader.”

“Are you aware of exactly how long I have sat here awaiting your arrival?”

“I offer my deepest apologies for the delay in my movements.”

“No. That is incorrect. I am fully aware that you traveled with the maximum speed humanly possible. It is merely that exercising restraint is a grueling task, particularly when surrounded by voices claiming that this unworthy leader cannot justify abandoning his administrative seat.”

Il-mok easily deciphered the underlying political reality of the situation.

Shaanxi Province had only recently been brought under the absolute control of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s military apparatus. If their supreme figurehead abruptly vacated the region, the newly integrated factions might descend into instability.

Someone within the inner circle must have laid their very life on the line to offer such sobering counsel to the furious Wi Jin-hak.

‘…Even in the throes of such monumental wrath, he retained the capacity to heed strategic advice; he has truly evolved from the man he once was.’

As that realization crystallized, Il-mok intuitively anticipated the words that would inevitably follow from Wi Jin-hak’s lips.

“However, now that our stalwart brother has arrived to anchor this position, there remains no further justification for this cult leader to linger in this hall.”

Il-mok thought to himself, ‘Precisely as I foresaw.’

“The massive expeditionary force of the Central Army Command is currently executing a direct march toward our position. Brother, you will remain here to anchor Shaanxi Province against the advance of that Central Army Command juggernaut. This cult leader intends to take a streamlined contingent of elites and ride directly for Wudang Mountain within Hubei Province.”

Wi Jin-hak rose majestically from his high throne, his voice dropping an octave.

“I will personally decapitate that ancient bald donkey to appease the spirits of the Left and Right Dharma Protectors, who dedicated a century of unswerving loyalty exclusively to our cult. Brother, hold this fortress by whatever means necessary until this cult leader returns victorious. Do you accept this charge?”

Faced with Wi Jin-hak’s direct mandate, Il-mok lowered his head in an even deeper bow.

“By any strategy and at any cost, I shall secure this domain.”

“Let it be known to all present! Effective immediately, I install Il-mok into the vacated seat of the Radiant Left Protector!”

“We hear and obey the supreme will!”

“In accordance with the decree of the Left Protector, acting with the absolute authority of the Cult Leader, you will secure Shaanxi Province to your absolute final breath!”

“We hear and obey!!”

The unified, roaring acknowledgement of the gathered cultists shook the very masonry of the hall.