Chapter 420

Chapter 420

Hwang Bo-ak pushed his lightness skill to its absolute limit to keep pace with the Geol King. While tearing through the chaotic environment at maximum velocity, he detected a massive, turbulent shockwave of opposing energies radiating from a short distance away. Veering his eyes slightly toward the source, he caught sight through the dense branches of Gu Yang-pae, the patriarch of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s prominent Gu Yang line, engaged in a fierce duel against Namgung Jin. However, the Geol King paid absolutely no attention to this sidebar confrontation, refusing to spare it even a fleeting glance as he continued his headlong rush forward.

“He stated that the Cult Leader is facing a mortal hazard, correct?”

Bringing the Geol King’s urgent words back to the forefront of his thoughts, Hwang Bo-ak focused entirely on maintaining his pursuit. The contents of the missive Il-mok had presented to him previously surfaced in his mind. The document had detailed that during their prior clash, Cult Leader Wi Jin-hak had already sustained profound internal injuries at the hands of the Divine Monk.

‘This signifies he threw himself onto the front lines without even allowing those severe ruptures to properly heal.’

As Hwang Bo-ak assembled these fragmented pieces of information into a coherent deduction, his facial expression grew immensely grim. The trajectory the Geol King was tracing was clear. Directly ahead of them, a violent, chaotic symphony of clashing forces was echoing through the air. Registering the massive pressure as well, the Geol King dug deep to find another burst of speed, and within moments, the two masters erupted onto the primary battlefield.

An emaciated, skeletal elderly monk was fluidly rotating his arms through the air. Yet completely betraying his fragile, gaunt appearance, the sheer volume of energy concentrated within the old monk’s palms was cold enough to freeze the blood in one’s veins.

“Urk.”

Cult Leader Wi Jin-hak let out a choked gasp as he was forced backward by the immense concussive force radiating from the monk’s dual palms.

Mirroring that unstable, dark radiance that seemed on the precipice of blinking out entirely, a sinister, pitch-black miasma swirled erratically within the Cult Leader’s pupils.

“Haah!”

Stepping forward to shield the vulnerable Wi Jin-hak, the Silver Wing Pavilion Lord, Yeom Ga-hwi, charged directly at the elderly monk, unleashing a barrage of concealed projectiles accompanied by heavy fist strikes. A brief distance away, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang was desperately pushing his lightness skill to close the distance. A trail of crimson leaked from the corner of his lips, indicating that he, too, had fallen victim to severe internal trauma.

“Tch.”

Clicking his tongue in mild irritation, the elderly monk executed a swift backstep and grumbled in a piercing, scraping, metallic voice that oozed dissatisfaction.

“Tch. Every single one of you wretched degenerates from the Demonic Cult behaves exactly like the bloodthirsty asuras that have crawled out from the depths of the Avici Hell.”

Evoking the memory of the previous Left and Right Protectors who had tenaciously clung to his person until their final heartbeats, the old monk fluidly evaded the Silver Wing Pavilion Lord’s incoming hidden weapons and snapped his left palm outward to deflect Yeom Ga-hwi’s oncoming fist. Despite the movement appearing incredibly effortless and devoid of weight, Yeom Ga-hwi was sent looping backward through the air like a discarded toy. Just as the old monk pivoted to drive his right palm toward the Silver Wing Pavilion Lord.

“Haah!”

The Geol King, finally bursting onto the scene of the struggle, unleashed the defining technique of the Yellow Dragon Eighteen Palms directly at the adversary, driving his twin palms forward with explosive force. The elderly monk managed to intercept the Geol King’s signature assault with minimal disruption to his balance, simultaneously managing to repel the Silver Wing Pavilion Lord with the trailing trajectory of his right palm. As the Silver Wing Pavilion Lord coughed up a spray of crimson and went sailing backward.

Wi Jin-hak, exploiting the fleeting window of time to steady his erratic breathing, swung the Heavenly Demon Sword in a wide arc once more, while Hwang Bo-ak, completely enveloped in a dense layer of protective energy, likewise plunged headfirst into the fray against the monk. While actively neutralising the synchronized pressure applied by Wi Jin-hak and Hwang Bo-ak, the remaining masters who had sustained internal damage or been previously thrown back rallied their remaining strength to rain a cascade of strikes upon the elderly monk.

Hyeon-am had previously maintained a comfortable upper hand while holding off four adversaries, but with the sudden introduction of the Geol King and Hwang Bo-ak into the equation, his fluid transitions began to show signs of strain.

“Eeeeek!! You repulsive Demonic dregs dare to raise your hands against me!!”

Releasing a piercing, high-pitched shriek that felt entirely inappropriate for a holy ascetic, a violent maelstrom of energy erupted around Hyeon-am’s physical form, and a blinding golden aura exploded outward in all directions.

Boom!!

The staggering pool of internal power amassed over decades was brought to bear through one of the Shaolin’s ultimate secret arts, the [Supreme Great Ability].

The six martial artists actively pressuring him each immediately triggered their own respective signature techniques to withstand the expanding wave of raw energy. Several individuals spat blood as their internal organs suffered trauma, while others were cast backward through the air entirely. Although Hyeon-am had succeeded in temporarily repelling his opponents’ unyielding assault through this display, his own physical state was rapidly deteriorating.

He could distinctly sense his internal energy reserves, which had once felt as boundless as a vast sea, evaporating at an alarming rate, and as he was gradually forced into a defensive posture by the collective weight of their strikes, deep contusions formed across his body, with blood beginning to ooze from the broken skin.

The Shaolin Abbot, who was currently locked in a fierce duel against the supreme leader of the Wudang Sect, found his focus completely shattered by the sudden explosion of brilliant golden light unleashed by Hyeon-am. And it was only in that delayed moment that he finally register the heavily battered, blood-stained condition of his senior martial brother.

“Senior Brother Hyeon-am!!”

Overcome by sudden panic, the Shaolin Abbot experienced a momentary lapse in his defensive concentration, providing an opening for the Wudang Leader’s sword to streak directly toward his chest.

“Urk….”

He violently wrenched his torso at the absolute final microsecond to escape immediate death, but the maneuver resulted in a deep, clean laceration slicing across the Shaolin Abbot’s side. Observing that the Abbot had just sustained a catastrophic injury, Hyeon-am’s features contorted into a mask of pure, unadulterated fury.

“You degenerate Demonic vermin!!”

Immediately after forcibly extracting the entirety of his remaining internal energy reserves without any regard for future consequences to force back the surrounding masters one more time, Hyeon-am launched himself in a lightning-fast, predatory strike. His trajectory bypassed his immediate perimeter, heading straight toward the Wudang Sect Leader who was currently preparing to follow up his strike on the wounded Shaolin Abbot.

“Get clear!”

In response to the Geol King’s frantic, booming warning, the Wudang Leader threw aside all concerns for dignity befitting an elite master, throwing his body into a desperate roll across the dirt to narrowly evade the lethal vector. Hyeon-am, who had fully intended to press his tactical advantage against the narrowly escaping Wudang Leader, was almost instantly forced to abandon the pursuit. The various masters he had temporarily thrown back were already recovering and closing the distance to surround him once more, and directly beside him lay the heavily bleeding Abbot.

Disciples of Shaolin, execute an immediate withdrawal from the terrain of Wudang Mountain!

Hyeon-am activated the advanced Hye-gwang Mind Voice technique, broadcasting the directive uniquely to the ears of the Shaolin brotherhood.

‘I cannot permit any more of our order’s future to be slaughtered on this ground!!’

Driven by that desperate realization, Hyeon-am hoisted the severely compromised Abbot onto his shoulders and initiated a rapid retreat. His chosen path of flight was highly unorthodox. Instead of breaking toward the coordinates where the Shaolin monks were clustered, he deliberately fled toward the sector where the other secondary allied factions were positioned. He went so far as to unleash powerful palm gusts to forcefully shove these allied combatants into the path of his pursuers, effectively utilizing them to disrupt the advancement of the enemy masters. Even while actively employing friendly troops as human shields to guarantee his own escape, Hyeon-am experienced not a shred of remorse.

“The venerable Shaolin order has spilled oceans of its own blood to safeguard the integrity of the martial world, and yet you dare imply that you cannot forfeit a single drop of your own to preserve us?!”

The moment Hyeon-am, undeniably the most formidable combat asset on the side of the anti-Demonic Cult coalition, turned his back and began to flee, the entire frontline infrastructure experienced a catastrophic collapse. Furthermore, since their coalition lacked a centralized command hierarchy, the retreating troops possessed absolutely no coordination required to reform their lines while pulling back. Each distinct clan and sect clustered exclusively with their own kin, fleeing the field in what resembled a frantic race against one another, while the warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult capitalized on the surging momentum, hunting down and systematically butchering the fleeing enemy.

At that exact juncture, an abrupt disruption manifested among the elite group pursuing the fleeing Hyeon-am.

“Urk.”

As Wi Jin-hak pressed forward at full lightness skill velocity, a muffled groan escaped him, and a violently erratic, destructive pressure began to erupt uncontrollably from his physical frame.

“Cult Leader!”

The Silver Wing Pavilion Lord, Hyeok-ryeon Cheon-gang, Yeom Ga-hwi, alongside the Geol King and Hwang Bo-ak all pivoted toward him with expressions of sudden alarm.

“I am entirely functional.”

With the ominous dark miasma encircling his eyes having intensified significantly in its depth, Wi Jin-hak made an attempt to re-engage his movement.

“Cult Leader, I implore you to immediately halt, circulate your internal energy, and attend to your severe trauma.”

“Silver Wing Pavilion Lord, remove yourself from my path.”

In spite of the terrifying, predatory aura radiating from Wi Jin-hak, the Silver Wing Pavilion Lord refused to yield his ground by even a hair’s breadth. Instead, he turned his head to issue orders to the remaining masters.

“I shall remain behind to safeguard the Cult Leader’s meditation, so I leave the liquidation of the remaining survivors entirely in your hands.”

The four masters, shifting their anxious gazes back and forth between the unyielding Silver Wing Pavilion Lord and the volatile Wi Jin-hak, quickly offered a collective nod of agreement and reactivated their lightness skills to continue the chase.

“What do you imagine you are accomplishing here?”

As Wi Jin-hak’s spiritual pressure grew exponentially more violent, the Silver Wing Pavilion Lord dropped down to a single knee and answered firmly.

“Cult Leader, you must regain mastery over the Heavenly Demon Divine Art without delay. If you persist along this path, our entire forces risk annihilation—not by the hand of that ancient monk Hyeon-am, but by your own actions.”

“Silence your tongue!!”

Immediately following that savage, roaring outburst, Wi Jin-hak expectorated a thick glob of congested blood and clamped his right hand tightly against his temple, potentially due to having dislodged the stagnant blood blocking his channels. Amidst the blinding migraine splitting his skull, Wi Jin-hak managed to reclaim a fragile hold over his faculties.

“My apologies.”

“There exists absolutely no mandate for the supreme Sovereign of Demons to offer expressions of regret to a loyal follower.”

Receiving the Silver Wing Pavilion Lord’s reassuring answer, Wi Jin-hak assumed the lotus posture, completely surrendering his safety to the guard of his subordinate, and plunged into deep qi circulation to mend his fractured internal network.

After a duration of approximately half a shichen had ticked away.

The triumphant combatants of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult alliance, having entirely scattered and destroyed the opposing coalition, made their return to the main grounds of the Wudang Sect.

“This represents a monumental triumph for our forces.”

In response to Je-gal Mun’s assessment, every single individual assembled within the grand Sect Leader’s Hall displayed deeply satisfied expressions. The lone exception to this collective mood was Wi Jin-hak.

‘Curse it all.’

Had it not been for the untimely backlash and near-loss of control over the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, this engagement might have transcended a mere grand victory—they possessed the positioning required to end the entire campaign permanently.

“We have not yet finalized the precise casualty assessments, but we have successfully eliminated at least half of the total adversarial deployment. Furthermore, given that we succeeded in ending the life of Paeng Mu-yeol, they will lack the tactical resolve to attempt another ascent of Wudang Mountain for a considerable timeframe.”

Concluding his summary, Je-gal Mun brought his hands together in a formal martial salute directed toward Wi Jin-hak.

“This magnificent outcome is entirely a byproduct of the Cult Leader consistently neutralizing that formidable Divine Monk throughout this entire campaign.”

The various masters gathered inside the Sect Leader’s Hall nodded their heads in unanimous concurrence or raised their hands to salute Wi Jin-hak. However, from Wi Jin-hak’s personal vantage point, these declarations resonated merely as empty platitudes designed to soothe his pride.

“This is nothing more than empty praise.”

As the icy, abrupt response delivered by Wi Jin-hak engineered a sudden, uncomfortable silence throughout the chamber, Je-gal Mun moved quickly to shift the focus of the conversation.

“Shifting topics, what specific catalyst has prompted the Hwang Family Head and Lady Jin to journey all the way to the Wudang sector?”

Receiving the prompt, Hwang Bo-ak and Jin Ha-yeon delivered a concise summation of the strategic dilemma unfolding at their original post.

“Precisely as we anticipated… So that is the cynical game the Imperial Army has chosen to play.”

“Hah. Even at this advanced stage of the conflict, their primary objective remains to engineer mutual liquidation among the various factions of the martial world.”

“The Left Protector possesses truly audacious tactical instincts. Deploying you to this location…”

In contrast to her controlled, elegant facial expression, her overall physical appearance was far from pristine. For an individual who had only recently crossed the threshold into the Profound Realm, confronting the two Nameless Warriors had proven to be a remarkably taxing and dangerous endeavor. Fortunately, owing to the enemy initiating their wholesale withdrawal from the mountain, she had managed to conclude her engagement without suffering any crippling trauma.

“The journey back to that front encompasses a vast distance, so prioritize repairing your internal injuries through focused qi cultivation first. You shall initiate your departure under the cover of night.”

Receiving Wi Jin-hak’s explicit directive, Jin Ha-yeon paused for a fractional moment before lowering her head in a respectful bow and replying.

“We shall align ourselves entirely with the Cult Leader’s directives.”

Wi Jin-hak, who had kept his eyes fixed upon her form for a brief interval, offered a single nod of acknowledgment and spoke.

“Convey my gratitude to the youngest—rather, convey it to the Left Protector. The Cult Leader must now dedicate his full attention to nursing his personal injuries, so there is no requirement for you to request an audience prior to your departure.”

With those final words, Wi Jin-hak exited the interior of the Sect Leader’s Hall and charted a course toward an isolated, unpopulated summit situated on Wudang Mountain.

A small handful of days later.

At the secondary military encampment positioned a short distance away from the defenses of An-gang. Within the primary command pavilion established at that site, the Main Army Commander alongside two high-ranking court eunuchs were engaged in a secret strategy session.

“To think that those identical targets who by all rights should be pinned down at this location have shown up on the battlefields of Wudang Mountain! Is such a massive intelligence failure even remotely tolerable?”

Gong Eunuch threw the question directly at the Main Army Commander, his tone deliberately confrontational as if seeking an argument. He was squarely attributing the breakdown in surveillance to the commander’s lack of oversight. As the Main Army Commander’s facial features darkened with frustration, Bang Eunuch stepped into the conversation to offer a defense.

“By what mechanism are common, low-ranking scouts supposed to successfully monitor the high-speed movements of such peak martial masters? More crucially, should our analytical focus not be directed entirely toward our subsequent course of action?”

“Our subsequent course of action? Pray tell, what is the nature of your proposal?”

“We are surely not intended to simply sit here idly, are we? With two of their most formidable combat assets confirmed absent from the local garrison, does the present moment not yield the ultimate opening to launch a devastating assault against An-gang?”

At Bang Eunuch’s prompting, Gong Eunuch pulled his brows together in a deep frown and countered.

“Has your memory completely discarded the explicit mandates left behind by Grand Eunuch Tae?”

“It is precisely in service of those mandates that we are obligated to strike now. The baseline martial artists of the Central Plains have sustained far more severe attrition than the Demonic Cult faction in the recent fighting, meaning we are required to re-balance the scales of loss, correct?”

Bang Eunuch, punctuating his point with a sharp gesture, parted his lips to reveal more.

“While meticulously monitoring his engagements over these preceding days, I have successfully deduced a singular reality. Regarding that Il-mok brat’s specific martial methodology. I have mapped out its parameters.”

As the Main Army Commander and Gong Eunuch simultaneously widened their eyes, their curiosity instantly piqued, Bang Eunuch allowed a cunning, mocking smile to spread across his lips before delivering the answer.

“There exist a set of rigid constraints governing whenever that scoundrel chooses to activate that particular divine technique. To begin with, he restricts its deployment exclusively to scenarios where zero friendly forces are occupying his immediate vicinity. Furthermore, he utilizes it solely at the absolute genesis of an engagement. Finally, it demands a significant, uninterrupted window of preparation time to successfully manifest.”

“A martial technique that completely fails to differentiate between comrade and adversary, and which can only be brought to bear a single time per conflict?”

“Precisely so. And even if the mechanics permitted him to utilize it sequentially, the tactical reality remains unchanged. At the very least, it becomes completely unviable once a chaotic, close-quarters melee has been initiated.”

The technique undeniably required a distinct setup window, and given its complete lack of discrimination regarding friendly casualties, it was utterly worthless once the ranks intermingled in a chaotic brawl. Leaving aside the potential slaughter of his own men, attempting to use it in such a scenario was a perfect recipe for getting skewered by random projectiles or stray blades while standing frozen in preparation.

“Therefore, with those two powerful bodyguards completely removed from the theater for the time being… what say we focus our entire offensive capability directly onto his head? The exact split-second he finishes manifesting that divine art in isolation, we possess the absolute capability to eliminate him permanently, do we not?”

Upon hearing Bang Eunuch’s calculated strategy, dark, predatory smiles slowly mapped themselves across the countenances of both the Main Army Commander and Gong Eunuch.