Chapter 104

Chapter 104
## Chapter 104. Great Journey of Avici Screams (3)

During our time with the Sojeong Squad, desperation was our constant companion.

The assignments pushed onto us by the Murim Alliance usually meant positioning the Sojeong Squad at the absolute vanguard of the conflict or acting as decoys to pull the focus of the Demonic Cult.

Even so, we valued ‘staying alive’ above all else, employing any tactic imaginable to break free from adversaries we stood no tactical chance against.

Unleashing the deluge at Mount Jindan served as a prime example of such desperate measures.

Along the ridges of Mount Jindan lay a network of terraced catchments.

While no individual reservoir held a massive volume, rupturing the entire system simultaneously generated enough force to inundate the lowlands in moments.

In my past existence, when the Blood Demon Ghost Sword Unit pressed hard on my heels, I turned to this exact strategy to scatter them.

“This defies reality!”

Activating the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art, I closed the distance to Hyeon Su in the blink of an eye.

“You miserable wretch!”

Though gripped by panic, Hyeon Su spotted my advance and ground his teeth, lashing out with his blade. Yet, an attack launched in such a flustered state lacked any true cohesion or power.

CLANG.

His weapon was easily deflected, leaving him completely exposed as I struck his Numbing Acupoint.

“I belong to the Wudang Sect, I am Hyeon Su…”

He attempted to declare his identity, but I paid no heed to his words. Channeling internal qi into my fist, I drove a heavy blow directly into his dantian.

THUD.

“Keu-heuk!”

His form was thrown backward, plunging into the roaring torrent even faster than he had initially charged forward.

SPLASH.

The remaining Daoist priests from the Wudang Sect were thrown into a state of utter chaos, matching Hyeon Su’s disorientation.

“What manner of trickery is this?!”

“Could this be an illusionary array? Why would a flash flood materialize out of nowhere?!”

“Evade it!”

“Hold your ground! If it originates from a formation, moving will only trigger it!”

Caught in indecision over whether to scatter or stand firm, the Wudang Daoist priests ultimately chose to brace themselves.

“Keu-heuk!”

“Gurgle.”

“Damn it! This water is real!”

Debris, boulders, and shattered logs accumulated above the ravine were dragged into the rushing current, cascading violently down the face of the precipice.

Struck repeatedly by the falling timber and rocks, the Wudang Sect Daoist priests lost all ability to coordinate.

As the primary wave of the torrent receded, we launched our assault against the Wudang Daoist priests, who were left hacking and gasping for air in their panicked state.

“Launch them!”

Our companions and allied fighters, who had taken cover among the high branches overlooking the gorge, hoisted massive stones and hurled them downward without mercy onto the struggling priests.

“Keu-heuk.”

“Curse it! Keep watch above!”

“Retreat!”

Accompanied by the descending rain of stone, I dropped down toward Hyeon Myeong, Hyeon Hyang, and Hyeon Jin in rapid succession.

CLANG.

“To resort to such underhanded methods, you…”

THUD.

Parrying the incoming steel, I immobilized them via their Numbing Acupoint and delivered a punishing Straight Punch squarely into their qi center.

Sustaining a blow of that magnitude to the core meant they would require a minimum of four weeks of secluded recovery.

By the time they healed, the Murim Regular Exam would be long finished.

Having thoroughly incapacitated the challengers, I instantly triggered the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art, leaping back up to the safety of the ridge in a single bound.

“What sort of footwork allows someone to move like a fleeting phantom?”

Seong Mo-ran, who was actively dropping human-head-sized boulders into the chasm, stared at me with wide, startled eyes.

“We must depart immediately.”

“Meaning we retreat, correct?”

“Precisely.”

Having spent considerable time operating alongside the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect, our coordination was seamless, requiring no elaborate explanations.

“Will the Wudang Sect give up the pursuit so easily?”

Seong Mo-ran expressed a bit of disappointment as she looked down at the remaining rock still gripped in her hands.

“The strategy yielded better results than anticipated.”

Roughly half of their number suffered debilitating impacts from the reservoir torrent and the falling debris.

Furthermore, the fighters bringing up their rear were likely still debating whether the sudden inundation was the product of a grand array.

For martial artists unversed in the intricacies of formations, the prospect of being ensnared by one inspired immense dread.

Considering even the formidable Blood Demon Ghost Sword Unit hesitated under similar circumstances, those Daoist priests would not dare rush in blindly.

“But what compelled you to drop back down into the ravine at the final moment?”

As Namgung Seon-hwa kept pace beside me, she voiced the question, prompting Seong Mo-ran to nod in shared curiosity.

“Is it not standard practice to claim the rewards of victory?”

“The rewards?”

I tossed a pair of Entry Tokens to both Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran.

Clutching the First Trial and Second Trial Tokens I had systematically stripped from the Wudang Sect Daoist priests, the two women stared at me with looks of pure disbelief.

“Would it not feel unjust to endure a groundless pursuit without extracting some compensation?”

“…….”

Namgung Seon-hwa fell completely silent.

“Utterly unhinged. Honestly…….”

Seong Mo-ran clicked her tongue in amazement.

—

“Young Master, what exactly is the nature of this exercise?”

Baek Won-gak found himself unable to mask his confusion.

“I am told it is a sword array that Brother So-un personally restructured.”

Hearing this, Baek Won-gak felt a sense of inevitability.

When it came to anything involving Jin So-un, the Young Master was always eager to participate without reservation.

Otherwise, why would the Young Master, who frequently neglected his own ancestral martial style, dedicate precious sleeping hours to mastering a collective sword formation?

‘Should I view this development positively or not…….’

Murong Jae-hwa appeared entirely willing to follow Jin So-un’s lead blindly on any matter.

Observing his sudden fervor for training, Baek Won-gak remained conflicted on whether to celebrate this shift.

From his youth, Murong Jae-hwa possessed little fondness for the way of the blade.

Despite his position as the firstborn son destined to control the Murong Clan in the future, he preferred occupying his time with esoteric and secondary disciplines rather than dedicated swordsmanship.

One could argue it was a relief he refrained from indulging in the typical vices of wine, courtesans, or dice like the problematic heirs of other prominent houses, yet that comparison offered little comfort when contrasted against his older sister, Murong Seol.

She had managed to cultivate her own internal energy through a basic Breathing Method introduced to improve her fragile health, and merely by observing the clan’s private guard, she mastered the sword through sheer observation.

Because Murong Jae-hwa stood constantly in her shadow, his demeanor always struck others as entirely too superficial.

When he initially announced his refusal to participate in the Murim Regular Exam, the Jincheon Pavilion erupted in chaos, prompting Lord Sword-Breaker, the patriarch himself, to wield a heavy staff while hunting for the young heir.

The unspoken sentiment within the estate suggested that matters would be far simpler had Murong Seol and Murong Jae-hwa been born as opposite genders.

Yet, did the shift occur after he returned from being forced along on the patriarch’s unusual expedition?

Following that journey, a gradual transformation manifested in Murong Jae-hwa.

He independently carved out hours to study the blade, even approaching the veteran martial artists of the Murong Clan to request rigorous combat practices.

Though he still engaged in his miscellaneous hobbies during his private moments, the clan members could not help but feel a sense of validation upon witnessing his genuine dedication to training.

Regrettably, because he constantly spoke of Jin So-un and the Taeul Sect, occasionally voicing a desire to enroll as a secular disciple, he simultaneously managed to distress his kin.

‘He has found his personal idol.’

Does everyone not harbor a larger-than-life figure during their developmental years?

For Murong Jae-hwa, that figure was Jin So-un.

When he initially declared his intent to forfeit his own prospects to assist Jin So-un’s faction, Baek Won-gak struggled to conceal his dismay. However, Murong Jae-hwa candidly acknowledged his lack of capability to secure a Third Trial Token on his own merits. He further noted that if he failed to provide at least this level of assistance to the man who saved his father’s life, he would forfeit his honor as the eldest heir of the Murong Clan. Ultimately, Baek Won-gak found himself unable to deny the request.

“Engaging in martial arts has become genuinely fulfilling lately.”

Beholding the radiant grin on the Young Master’s face, Baek Won-gak decided he could endure whatever reprimand awaited him from the Patriarch or the Young Patriarch later on.

After all, existence is a lengthy endeavor.

Even if Murong Jae-hwa failed to gain entry into the Murim Academy, his status as the primary heir of the Murong Clan remained unchanged. If this experience allowed him to cultivate his character, it yielded a positive outcome.

Yet, regardless of his renewed fervor, focusing on the White Tiger Sword Formation seemed excessive, did it not?

“Young Master, have you not already mastered our house’s exceptional collective technique, the Heavy-Wave Raging Fire Sword Formation? I implore you to take some rest for now.”

“I was informed that the fighters from the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect have also adopted this method.”

“Them? For what reason would those warriors bother?”

“They claimed that mastering this technique guarantees a hot meal.”

“Who precisely spread such nonsense?”

“The leader of the Namgung Clan’s Firmament Unit.”

Kang Seo-pyo of the Namgung Clan was an individual Baek Won-gak had cross paths with during their mandatory deployments within the Murim Alliance.

Baek Won-gak recalled him as a composed man of serious and deliberate character, yet it appeared he had offered an absurd piece of humor to the gullible young heir.

“I never took that fellow for someone who played pranks, yet he filled your head with utter rubbish.”

Baek Won-gak dismissed the notion with a click of his tongue, but the reality of those words manifested before long.

—

Five days later, the caravan finally ground to a halt.

Jin So-un permitted a generous hour-long window for sustenance. Just as the travelers began celebrating the opportunity to simmer hot broth instead of consuming dry, unappealing trail rations and preserved meats, a cry shattered the peace.

“Raid!”

At the precise moment Baek Won-gak intended to soften his jerked meat inside the boiling broth, aiming to savor a spoonful of the meat-scented gruel, the persistent trackers ambushed them from every flank.

Fueled by irritation, the Murong Clan fighters countered with everything they possessed, successfully driving back the attackers without suffering casualties.

Nonetheless, those returning to their cooking stations could not suppress their dismay.

“My broth……!”

“Curse it all!”

Amidst the frantic clash, the cooking vessel had been upended, leaving the pale porridge thoroughly ruined by the earth.

“Do you comprehend now? They stated that mastering the formation ensures access to a hot meal.”

Turning his gaze, Baek Won-gak observed Murong Jae-hwa comfortably enjoying warm broth alongside Geum-pyo’s contingent.

“…….”

It was not isolated to Murong Jae-hwa either.

The provisions belonging to the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect remained entirely undisturbed.

Only the cooking vessels of the Murong Clan lay overturned in the mud.

“…….”

“Are you unharmed?”

Kang Seo-pyo and Cho Mu-bin drew near, each bearing a partially filled cooking pot.

“What caused only our family’s vessels to be upended?”

“Well…… that is the standard outcome. We prioritized safeguarding our provisions by utilizing the defensive array of the White Tiger Sword Formation.”

“…….”

The retort, ‘You employed a battlefield formation merely to protect food?’ nearly escaped his lips, but the sight of the rising steam from the broth caused him to hold his tongue.

From that afternoon onward, the martial artists of the Murong Clan abandoned their designated rest periods to study the White Tiger Sword Formation.

—

“We, we have made it!”

“I genuinely survived the trip! Heavens be praised! Immortal lords, I offer my gratitude!”

The moment Jin So-un’s contingent stepped inside the gates of the Azure Sky Merchant Guild located in Zhengzhou, they dropped directly onto the stones of the Main Courtyard.

The merchant guild officials, who anticipated a grand arrival of elite martial artists upon learning that the Namgung Clan, the Murong Clan, and the Iron Sword Sect were converging on their location, stood paralyzed at the sight of individuals resembling a shattered army.

“…….”

“Branch Chief, it has been quite some time, has it not?”

“Lady Seon-hwa…… you appear to have endured immense hardship….”

“That is an understatement. I recalled Brother San’s travels being entirely different.”

“Indeed, indeed. The contrast is remarkably profound.”

“Haha.”

“We arranged a grand welcoming banquet upon receiving word of your impending arrival, my lady…….”

The Branch Chief cast a worried glance toward the exhausted warriors strewn across the courtyard, seemingly incapable of lifting a finger.

“If it causes no inconvenience, could the tables be set out here? The entire group pushed forward for a solid week without a moment of slumber.”

“My word…… it is no wonder your arrival was so swift. Did you truly forego sleep entirely?”

“We did.”

Utterly astonished, the Branch Chief instantly directed his staff to organize the dining arrangements right there in the courtyard.

As the heavy cooking vessels were positioned in the open air and the scent of searing meat drifted through the space, the prone figures began to rouse themselves sequentially, consuming the provisions with primitive hunger.

“Are we hosting members of the Beggars’ Sect or descendants of the Five Great Clans……?”

“Lower your voice, can you not remain silent?”

The attendants, who looked forward to witnessing the refined elegance of the realm’s premier factions, felt bewildered by the primitive display that rivaled the most desperate beggars.

“What manner of trial did you face?”

“The explanation is lengthy and complicated…….”

Even Namgung Seon-hwa’s eyelids appeared heavy as she spoke.

“Ah! I have monopolized your time for too long. I pray you seek rest immediately.”

“Deeply appreciated…… and further…….”

“Please speak your mind.”

“Could additional portions be delivered directly to our quarters?”

“……Ah, naturally. I shall see to it at once.”

Retreating to their sanctuary, Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran fell into the same pattern as their fellow martial artists: consuming food, drifting into deep sleep, awakening to align their internal paths through Qi Circulation, and immediately returning to food and slumber.

“Finally, my wits are returning to me.”

“I agree entirely. On that final leg, I must have contemplated abandoning this entire endeavor a thousand times over.”

“……As did I.”

Being born as daughters within elite lineages did not insulate them from adversity.

In truth, as offspring of prominent martial lineages, they had endured rigorous training since their formative years that ordinary women could scarcely fathom.

Even so, they had encountered the absolute threshold of their endurance, enough to fracture any lingering sense of entitlement.

The sole factor preventing them from feeling inadequate was the reality that even the veteran male fighters approaching their thirties had struggled just as severely.

“……Can we truly persist with this?”

Once their recovery period concluded, the journey required them to set forth once more.

And they would be forced to endure the grueling conditions of the past seven days for an entire month.

“I wonder if our presence acts as nothing more than an impediment…….”

Faced with Namgung Seon-hwa’s uncertain statement, Seong Mo-ran offered a silent nod of agreement.

For reasons unknown, Jin So-un appeared entirely unaffected, bearing the same countenance as when he departed Nanyue.

He had taken over watch duties for others, conducted scouting missions, and during intervals for sustenance, traveled deep into the perimeter to maintain security.

An undertaking of this nature typically relied on two strategies: operating quietly with an elite vanguard or progressing as a unified force.

Yet, due to the inclusion of Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran, Jin So-un seemed caught in a difficult compromise.

They had volunteered to assist Jin So-un and the Taeul Sect, yet they were undeniably restricting his operational capacity.

“Should we suggest that he proceed ahead on his own at this juncture?”

“…….”

Namgung Seon-hwa parted her lips to speak, but Seong Mo-ran offered no reply.

Parting ways with Jin So-un now meant accepting a high likelihood of failing to complete the journey.

Aware of that harsh reality, Namgung Seon-hwa could not force her companion to provide an answer.

As the two women sat with lowered gazes in the quiet room, an attendant rapped softly on the entrance.

“My lady, visitors have arrived requesting an audience.”

“Visitors?”

—

Twenty fighters belonging to the Murong Clan were completely incapacitated.

Though they lacked severe lacerations, their relentless pace meant they overlooked minor trauma, leaving those injuries to fester into serious complications.

“How do you wish to proceed, Brother?”

Murong Jae-hwa kept his gaze fixed on the floor, projecting the aura of someone bearing immense guilt.

“They must remain here to recuperate, naturally. If they were to perish while rendering assistance, how could I face Elder Sword-Breaker?”

“……My deepest apologies.”

“This situation warrants no apologies from you. Instead, verify whether any remaining warriors are harboring hidden injuries.”

“Understood.”

As Murong Jae-hwa departed to oversee the Murong Clan fighters, Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran approached.

Having cleansed themselves and changed into fresh garments, their appearance was a complete departure from the previous evening.

Even so, Namgung Seon-hwa maintained a fixed, analytical gaze on me.

“Is something amiss?”

“Young Master Jin, did you manage to secure any sleep?”

“Indeed. I rested.”

I had obtained roughly four hours of slumber during the night before rousing myself.

Extending that rest was impossible, given the necessity of reviewing the fresh intelligence reports delivered by the Hao Gate at dawn.

“You minimized your rest to analyze the tactical updates once more, did you not?”

Evading a pursuit relies entirely on the exchange of information.

Rather than merely fleeing efficiently, understanding the adversary’s positioning takes precedence.

Having shared meals and hardships over the preceding week, she had clearly begun to decipher the patterns of my daily schedule.

Seong Mo-ran released a weary breath.

“So, what is the assessment?”

“The situation is quite problematic.”

I offered an unvarnished response.

Though we had merely traversed a single territory, the complexity far exceeded a standard protective deployment.

Our sole viable strategy remained continuous, uninterrupted movement identical to our push toward Zhengzhou, yet I harbored doubts regarding the group’s physical capacity to sustain it.

“…….”

Realizing my assessment might place an emotional weight on them, I offered a reassuring smile.

“Do not let it trouble you. There are alternative paths available.”

Despite my reassuring words, the expressions on the two women remained somber.

After a protracted hesitation, looking as though she was wrestling with a difficult topic, Namgung Seon-hwa finally broke the silence.

“There are individuals requesting an audience with you, Young Master Jin.”

“With me?”

At this specific moment, I could not fathom who would seek me out. They certainly had not discovered any unexpected confederates within Zhengzhou that had been unavailable back in Nanyue.

“You are familiar with the Twelve Peak Citadels, are you not?”

“……?”

The Twelve Peak Citadels represented the premier military collective within the One Hundred Eight Peaks.

“They wish to convene with Young Master Jin.”