Chapter 157

Chapter 157
## Chapter 157. The Black Flame Dragon Who Calms the Chaos (2)

‘Blast it.’

How could I have overlooked this?

To the factions of the Black Path, momentum and timing were far more precious than gold.

They needed to strike before any legitimate opposition could rally.

Finishing the assault with a swift, devastating blow before superior forces could intervene was precisely the strategy they would pursue.

“Young Master Jin, what is our course of action? The Firmament Unit is still a long way from reaching us.”

Had the arrival of Namgung Seon-hwa forced their hand to accelerate their timetable?

The moment the Namgung Clan involved themselves, the pressure bearing down on the unorthodox murim would multiply.

“Everyone, brace yourselves for combat.”

Leaving them with that command, I sprang onto the roof of the Yujang Sect pavilion and leaped straight into the air.

Executing the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art, I shot up more than ten jang, allowing the grid of Yueyang’s streets to unfurl beneath me.

Focusing my vision, I locked onto the direction where the chaotic roars were erupting.

“Forward!”

“Leave none alive!”

A massive horde resembling a carpet of dark insects choked the pathways.

They were surging directly toward the Yujang Sect compound.

A quick calculation suggested their ranks easily topped a thousand men.

The Mukhyul Gang clearly had no intention of letting the night conclude peacefully.

Dropping back down to the courtyard, I barked orders to my companions and the Academy Students.

“The disciples of the Taeul Sect along with the two young ladies will defend the eastern perimeter. The Academy Students must reinforce the west.”

“And what of your position, Young Master Jin?”

“I shall hold the front entrance.”

“What? Surely you don’t mean to……”

“We are out of time. Their goal is to completely wipe out the Yujang Sect before dawn.”

“…….”

“Ensure you do not sustain injuries. If the defense crumbles and danger mounts.”

I paused, locking eyes with each of my allies in turn.

“Do not waver. Retreat to my position immediately.”

“Understood!”

As they met my gaze, the anxiety clouding their eyes gave way to grim determination.

“And you three, Gold-Silver-Copper!”

I caught the arms of the Gold-Silver-Copper Brothers just as they prepared to charge out, delivering a stern injunction.

“Unleash everything you have.”

“……!”

Though addressed to them, it was a directive meant for everyone present.

This was a clash where clemency had no place.

“Yes, sir!”

“Eldest Senior Brother, please ensure your own safety!”

Once they acknowledged the order, I surged toward the primary gateway.

The defenders of the Yujang Sect had not only bolted the heavy wooden doors but had stacked massive wooden furnishings against them as a makeshift barricade.

“…… shreds of hope.”

“…… hold fast.”

Despite the impending slaughter, a heavy silence hung over the crowd.

Instead of speaking, every man clamped his jaw shut, transfixed by the barrier.

Then.

BOOM.

The massive door shuddered, a heavy shockwave jolting the defenders’ nerves.

BOOM.

Terror began to ripple across the expressions of the Yujang Sect guards like a stone thrown into still water.

BOOM, BOOM.

The reinforced gates groaned under the strain, the thick wood starting to splinter.

SCREECH, CRASH.

Gradually, even the heavy furniture piled behind the entrance began to give way under the relentless pressure from outside.

Right then.

CRASH!

A violent detonation tore the gates to splinters, sending the shattered remnants of the furniture flying inward like shrapnel.

“Look out!”

“Get down!”

Channeling my internal qi to its absolute limits, I invoked the Lotus technique from the Flowing Cloud Divine Art, redirecting the lethal storm of wooden shards away to the flanks.

“The path is clear!”

“Swarm them!”

BOOM!

Driven by the fierce Palm Force unleashed by the vanguard, the remaining debris disintegrated, and hundreds of unorthodox martial artists cleared the path through the wreckage, flooding into the courtyard.

“Release!”

The archers of the Yujang Sect loosed their volleys in unison, raining arrows upon the advancing Black Path warriors as they breached the threshold.

“Despicable cowards!”

“Stop pushing from behind! They’re using bows!”

“Back off, damn it!”

Caught in a bottleneck, the front ranks of the Mukhyul Gang collapsed beneath the rain of arrows.

Yet, the lawless martial artists were not easily deterred.

Using the bodies of their fallen comrades as human shields, the Black Path fighters began hurling a deluge of hidden projectiles in retaliation, their numbers vastly overwhelming the handful of archers the Yujang Sect possessed.

SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH.

“Argh!”

“Take cover……!”

“Projectiles!”

A chaotic storm of throwing blades and concealed weapons cut through the air, striking down the Yujang Sect defenders.

Exploiting the momentary chaos, the Mukhyul Gang forces, having utterly demolished the entrance, poured into the estate like a tidal wave.

“Deploy the Sword Formation!”

Thirty swordsmen of the Yujang Sect rapidly locked into a coordinated defensive pattern.

CLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANGCLANG!

Their synchronized blades formed an iron wall against the advancing tide, temporarily checking the intrusion, but the sheer, overwhelming mass of the Black Path threatened to drown the formation entirely.

“Aaargh!”

“Ugh!”

“Mercy!”

Shrieks and death groans echoed from all quarters, as blood spilled indiscriminately from both the Mukhyul Gang and the Yujang Sect.

For every casualty the Yujang Sect sustained, their line was forced back two paces, whereas each casualty among the Mukhyul Gang only spurred their massive reserve to surge forward four paces more.

Worse still.

“What is this garbage wall?!”

“Trying to stop us with mud and tile……!”

Unorthodox fighters climbing the outer walls, which were lined with sharp ceramic shards, began smashing the structures in frustration. Fist Power and Palm Force laced with dense internal energy proved more than enough to shatter the earthen bulwarks.

BOOM! CRUMBLE!

With a resonant roar, sections of earth and roofing tiles disintegrated, creating massive breaches through which additional hordes of the Mukhyul Gang began flooding into the grounds.

I summoned the full power of the Taeul True Scripture.

In a meat-grinder of this scale where we were severely outnumbered, the enemy wouldn’t break simply from taking losses.

Their massive numerical superiority served as an emotional shield, blinding them to fear and reinforcing the certainty of their eventual triumph.

“Die!”

To shatter that psychological momentum, a demonstration of overwhelming terror was required.

Four blades from the Ten Thousand Swords technique levitated into the air.

The manifestations of the Ten Thousand Swords shifted deliberately, beginning to deploy the intricate patterns of the Twin Heaven Sword Formula.

“What trick is that?”

“Look at the sky, there are swords everywhere!”

“They are mere phantoms! Keep moving!”

Intoxicated by the thrill of impending slaughter like addicts under the influence of the poppy, the Mukhyul Gang rushed forward blindly.

In response, I saturated the air with a dense coat of Sword Qi.

As my energy core—now advanced to four cycles—felt as though it anchored itself deep within my being, the razor-sharp Sword Qi enveloped every illusionary and tangible blade hovering in the sky.

WOOOOOOONG.

A resonant hum vibrated through the air as the hundreds of blades aligned themselves, their tips dropping simultaneously toward the ground.

“Wait…… Hold on! Are those actually illusions?”

“No, that whelp definitely cast an illusion technique…… wait, what?”

“What?!”

Then, they descended.

SQUELCH, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, SQUELCH, SQUELCH.

SQUELCHSQUELCHSQUELCHSQUELCHSQUELCHSQUELCH!

“Defend yourselves! Move!”

“Get out of the way, you fools!”

Faced with a torrential downpour of Sword Qi from the Ten Thousand Swords that fell like a monsoonal storm, the elite of the Mukhyul Gang desperately swung their weapons to parry the onslaught.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOBOBOBOOM!

The violent collisions of raw energy tore through the atmosphere, sending deafening concussive waves tearing through the courtyard.

The charging raiders, completely disoriented, clamped their hands over their ears as the sheer acoustic pressure threatened to rupture their eardrums.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOBOBOOM!

The cobblestones were pulverized, sending razor-sharp stone fragments whistling through the air.

Stray weapons knocked from lifeless hands flew wildly, impaling allies through the torso, instantly breaking the ferocious momentum of the Mukhyul Gang’s assault.

“What manner of monster is this?”

“Nobody mentioned the Yujang Sect possessed a master of this caliber!”

“Mukhyul Gang! You bastards lied to us……!”

It became apparent that the Mukhyul Gang had reinforced their own ranks with auxiliary muscle hired from the surrounding regions.

This clash wasn’t going to conclude simply.

‘If that’s the case, I must deal a decisive blow right here.’

Once more, a massive reservoir of internal qi drained from my core, causing a heavy, thrumming vibration to manifest within my palms.

RUMBLE, RUMBLE, RUMBLE.

The Radiant Heaven Divine Palm—an art unmatched in the entire Jianghu when it came to pure, unadulterated destructive capacity.

WONG, WONG, WONG.

The exact technique that excelled most when facing a vast sea of adversaries manifested once more.

BOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOOM!!!

The colossal projection of the palm art, expanding until it dwarfed the remains of the front gate, surged forward in a straight trajectory, obliterating the dense ranks of Mukhyul Gang warriors attempting to force their way inside.

BOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOPOP!!!

The resulting shockwave completely eclipsed the previous detonations of colliding Sword Qi.

The unorthodox fighters attempted to scatter, but the velocity of the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm vastly outpaced their desperate reflexes.

“Aaargh!”

“Noooo!”

“Ggah!”

pulverized soil and debris erupted into the air, creating a dense curtain of dust that completely obscured the battlefield.

As the frantic shrieks and agonizing moans drifting through the haze began to fade alongside the settling dust,

the clearing view revealed dozens of shattered bodies belonging to the invaders.

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

The bloodlust that had driven the horde instantly evaporated into a chilling silence.

As though the phantom high of the poppy had suddenly broken, the frenzied breathing of the survivors slowed to a tense, cautious rhythm.

“Who do you think you are?! By what right do you meddle in the affairs of the Yujang Sect and the Mukhyul Gang!”

A sharp, grating voice cut through the stillness as a man wielding a massive scythe stepped over the mangled remains of his men.

His features were contorted in sheer fury.

It was glaringly obvious that his grand design had just been utterly derailed.

I cast a brief look back at the Yujang Sect fighters.

The majority were bleeding from severe wounds, and many looked incapable of sustaining further combat.

With a subtle nod to Jang Woo-jae, indicating he should withdraw the wounded, I stepped forward to meet the leader.

“I am Jin So-un of the Taeul Sect.”

“Jin So-un? The one they call the Black Flame Dragon? Why does a rat like you poke your nose into this conflict?”

“I merely happened to be visiting a companion’s residence and found myself drawn into the fray.”

“Are you ignorant of the code? Sect matters are to be settled between the parties involved! Withdraw this instant.”

“Yet, from what I gather, the Mukhyul Gang has seen fit to import a vast number of outsiders to bolster your ranks.”

“Regardless, this is a matter confined to Yueyang. It is not an affair for an outsider to dictate.”

“Whether I choose to involve myself is my prerogative. More importantly, do you truly wish to press this issue?”

The scythe-wielding commander let out a low, predatory snarl.

“Before the sun rises, the Yujang Sect will be permanently erased from the world.”

“As we speak, the ground is held not merely by the Taeul Sect, but by representatives of the Iron Sword Sect and the Namgung Clan as well.”

The leader twitched, desperately trying to mask his sudden alarm.

“Should any harm befall them, this affair will quickly escalate far beyond the borders of Yueyang.”

“……Do you believe the Mukhyul Gang bows to such threats?”

“It would be wiser if you did. Should the Namgung Clan commit their strength, the Murim Alliance will inevitably follow. In that scenario, Diancang, the traditional master of Yueyang, will surely return to claim what is theirs.”

“……I will grant you a single concession. Gather your companions and depart immediately.”

“I decline.”

“Then you are prepared to dye this ground with your blood?”

“Why not call an end to the hostilities for this evening?”

“What?”

I surveyed the destruction around us.

The main entrance was reduced to splinters, and significant portions of the outer wall lay in ruins.

There wasn’t a corner of the Yujang Sect compound that hadn’t been breached by the Mukhyul Gang, and very few of the defenders remained uninjured.

“I am suggesting that given the steep casualties suffered by both factions, we grant ourselves an opportunity to regroup.”

“Hah. They say the Black Flame Dragon possesses a cunning mind…… Did you truly believe you could glide out of this like a viper slipping through the grass?”

His resolve remained absolute; he had no intention of abandoning the field.

It was clear they needed a definitive resolution tonight.

After all, if they allowed the dawn to break, they would spend every subsequent hour dreading the arrival of the Namgung Clan and the full might of the Murim Alliance.

“You possess an impressive parlor trick, but do you honestly expect to stand against our entire force using a method that only intimidates low-tier thugs?”

“The choice to test me remains yours. However, let me make one thing abundantly clear.”

“……Speak.”

“If this slaughter continues, I will personally ensure that more than half of your remaining forces are slaughtered, regardless of the cost.”

“We have already measured the limits of your techniques……”

WHOOSH.

The Holy Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand ignited, bathing both of my hands in brilliant, dancing fire.

At the sight of the sudden, intense flames manifesting upon my hands, a wave of shock rippled through both the Mukhyul Gang and the remaining Yujang Sect members.

True materialization of this caliber was an exceptionally rare sight among the martial arts of the Extreme Yang Art.

“And I will ensure they burn to ash in absolute agony.”

“……You arrogant whelp!”

“Understand that up until this moment, I exercised restraint because I had no desire to blindly slaughter men whose motivations I did not know.”

The commander went rigid, the sheer weight of the threat robbing him of words.

“The ultimate prize for the Mukhyul Gang isn’t merely the destruction of the Yujang Sect, is it?”

Adopting the exact same calculated bravado I used when pulling the wool over the eyes of the Sojeong Squad bastards, I delivered a desperate bluff.

“…… shreds of doubt.”

To my surprise, the gambit seemed to land. The scythe-wielding leader hesitated, unable to bring himself to order the final advance.

“““Uraaaaaah!”””

Right then, a thunderous roar echoed from the eastern quadrant.

Turning my gaze, I spotted martial artists clad in recognizable uniforms sprinting toward our position.

“The Firmament Unit?”

“The Namgung Clan has deployed?!”

“Those deceitful bastards swore the major powers of the Murim Alliance would remain neutral……! They played us!”

As the mercenary elements supporting the Mukhyul Gang began to break ranks in panic, the commander’s expression darkened considerably.

The Firmament Unit numbered a mere hundred blades.

On their own, they weren’t an insurmountable force, but the shadow of the Namgung Clan backing them was a terrifying prospect for any lawless faction.

I needed to seize this window of hesitation to drive the final nail into the coffin.

“Has there not been enough slaughter for one evening? Withdraw your men.”

“…….”

The leader ground his teeth so hard the sound was audible.

“Jin So-un. If we turn back now, you will find yourself permanently entangled in this web.”

He leveled the tip of his scythe directly at my chest.

“Are you truly prepared to gamble your existence for the sake of the Yujang Sect?”

“…….”

“I am asking if you possess the resolve to forfeit your life for these miserable wretches.”

From the periphery, Jang Woo-jae caught my eye, frantically shaking his head, imploring me to step back.

Ignoring his silent plea, I kept my tone perfectly level and steady.

“I am fully prepared to accept the consequences.”

Jang Woo-jae slowly lowered his gaze, his hands trembling as he balled them into tight fists.

The commander glared at me with pure, unadulterated venom before finally barking an order.

“Fall back!”

“…….”

“I said retreat, you deaf bastards!”

Slowly, the ranks of the Mukhyul Gang began to filter out of the ruined compound.

As the tide of hostile martial artists receded, they left behind a courtyard littered with the bodies of those who had sacrificed everything to defend the Yujang Sect.

THUD. THUD.

Those defenders who had managed to stay upright through sheer adrenaline began to collapse onto the bloody earth, their strength entirely spent.

They had successfully repelled a force of over a thousand men against impossible odds, yet there was no celebration to mark the victory.

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

The companions they had laughed and shared a meal with mere hours prior were now cold corpses.

The grim reality was simply too heavy to process.

“Please, no……”

A swordsman whose left hand had been cleanly lopped off in the melee ignored his missing limb entirely, cradling the lifeless form of his brother-in-arms while weeping hysterically.

“Wake up…… open your eyes……”

Another guard, blinded in one eye by a stray projectile that still dripped blood down his face, held a young disciple tightly against his chest, howling in inconsolable grief.

“Aaaaagh!”

They had somehow outlasted the brutal blades of the Black Path, but the taste of survival brought no joy.

“…….”

Not a single soul rejoiced.