Chapter 305

Chapter 305
Chapter 305. The Rising Star of the Black Path, the Black Flame Dragon (3)

—

Sang-mun-bang.
Staring up at the signage, I remarked,
“Hey, are you people illiterate? That’s clearly the character ‘Sang.’ It isn’t ‘Hang.'”
“Gggh!”
The henchmen held back the massive thug who looked ready to swing a fist at my face.
One of the lackeys hissed in a low voice.
“Just hold back for a second. We’re already at the base. Once we get him through the doors, the boys can tear him apart…”
Listen, pal, my ears work perfectly fine.
Are you completely blind to the disparity in our cultivation?
Regardless, I had already anticipated this exact development.
In scenarios like this, making a theatrical entrance by stirring up trouble is usually the best approach.
With an air of confidence, I delivered a sharp kick to the entrance.
Had it broken apart with a satisfying crash, a spectacular commotion would have erupted within…
Crack.
“…….”
Just how cheaply built was this wooden door? My foot simply punched straight through the flimsy material, leaving me stuck.
“Hey, you guys… forget it.”
Gathering the energy of the Great Yang Palm into both of my hands, I unleashed a blast, finally producing the thunderous impact I wanted.
Boom!
Splinters of wood shattered into dust, scattering violently in every direction.
Seriously, whatever bargain-bin lumber they used, it left the air thick with airborne sawdust.
Right on cue, furious shouts erupted from the interior of the compound.
“Who goes there!”
“Do you have a death wish, breaking in here!”
“How dare you cause trouble at the Sang-mun-bang!”
It appeared only the dim-witted were left on guard duty. They couldn’t even state the name of their own organization correctly.
A ruffian from the Black Path, gripping a lethal weapon with hostile intent, scowled deeply upon spotting the massive thug.
“Huh? Sal-gwon? Sal-gwon! What in the world happened to you?”
“Bwing the Sect Weadew Out!”
“What? What is this fool babbling about?”
“I said! Bwing the Sect Weadew out!”
“This utterly useless bastard…”
Eventually, one of the lower-ranking lackeys rushed forward to give a report.
“Hall Master! The Sect Leader, we need the Sect Leader out here immediately…!”
“What?”
“So-un Jin… I mean, the Black Flame Dragon! The Black Flame Dragon is here!”
“The Black Flame Dragon? That Rising Star of the Black Path, the Black Flame Dragon?”
“Yes, sir!”
The moment my moniker was uttered, an immediate, heavy silence fell over the entire area.
My reputation certainly preceded me.
After the brief spell of quiet broke, the leader of the Black Path thugs exploded in a fierce rage.
“You worthless pieces of trash got humbled by some kid and ran back here crying for the Sect Leader?!”
Judging by the prominent scar cutting across his lip, he had likely received that wound by running his mouth to the wrong person in the past.
Watching the Black Path outlaws close in on me while wielding their weapons with lethal intent, I turned my attention back to the giant.
“Hey, is your actual name Sal-gwon?”
“Th-that’s right…”
“What a ridiculous name to give someone.”
“…I wiww definitewy kiww you.”
Ducking beneath a massive broadsword that cleaved through the air aiming to split my skull, I drove a powerful counter-punch straight into his stomach.
Crash!
With a thunderous boom, the Black Path rogue was sent flying like a projectile from a cannon, slamming hard against the far wall.
Immediately afterward, I intercepted a spearhead thrusting directly at my chest, utilizing the Myriad Flowers technique to pull the weapon forward before sweeping his legs out from under him.
“Gah!”
Next came an axe slicing down toward my collarbone.
These degenerates didn’t even bother to standardize their weaponry.
Clack!
“Eeeek!”
The outlaw froze in sheer terror as I caught the sharp edge of the axe blade barehanded.
Wrenching the weapon from his grip entirely, I caught the handle mid-air and swung it down with force right at his crown.
“N-no!”
This hypocrite had no issues when he was trying to cleave open my own skull.
Talk about a textbook case of self-centered double standards.
Even so, because I am a true champion of justice who avoids senseless bloodshed wherever possible,
I reversed the weapon in mid-swing, using the blunt handle to deliver a corrective strike to his head.
Thwack!
Hmm… did I swing a bit too hard?
The thug collapsed into unconsciousness, bleeding heavily from the impact.
Oh well, at least when he finally opens his eyes again, he might possess the clarity to read his sect’s sign correctly.
Right after that, another fellow charged at me with a sword… wait a minute.
Why on earth was he wielding a blade belonging to the Mount Hua Sect?
Has he completely lost his mind?
“You… look like you’re in desperate need of a severe lesson.”
“Go to hell, brat!”
Employing the Flying Dragon Claw, I ensnared and yanked his wrist while simultaneously delivering a sweep that sent him crashing to the dirt.
Inspecting the confiscated weapon, it was undeniably an authentic sword from the Mount Hua Sect.
“You are a special kind of stupid. Listen here, idiot, if you walk around with this and a true member of the Mount Hua Sect spots you, you’re a dead man.”
As I took the blade and snapped it cleanly in two for his own protection, the man’s eyes widened in sheer panic.
It seemed he still couldn’t comprehend the reality of his situation.
“Hey, I just spared your life.”
“Wh… at?”
“Normally, a person says thank you when their life is handed back to them, right?”
“Th-thank y…”
“Save your breath, you moron!”
My fist connected with his chest, sending his body sailing through the air until he crashed right through the building’s inner doors and landed inside.
I paused to look down at my own hand.
‘I’ve gotten remarkably powerful, haven’t I?’
Because I had been dealing exclusively with monstrously strong entities lately, my benchmark for what constituted a formidable martial artist had become completely warped.
Then again, the disciples at the Martial Academy were essentially living weapons engineered by the absolute pinnacle of each sect. It made perfect sense that my standards had skyrocketed.
These ordinary Black Path thugs, who would have terrified me to the point of avoidance in my previous existence, looked like clumsy children to me now.
After studying my palm for another second, I turned back to the thug with the scarred lip.
“Hey, don’t you think I have the unmistakable aura of a righteous hero?”
“…What kind of nonsense are you spouting, you psycho!”
Was he supposed to be a master of fast-draw techniques? Because he was incredibly slow.
Smack!
The scarred thug was laid out flat by a singular kick.
“Arrgh! I’ll butcher you!”
How could a single organization fail so entirely to have a unified martial style or weapon?
If you rounded up a random assortment of wandering vagrants from the streets, they would display a better sense of coordination than this rabble.
Furthermore, these fools possessed nothing but stubbornness, continuously pushing themselves back up no matter how many times they were struck down.
‘Any martial artist who received a proper orthodox upbringing would have recognized the massive gap in our abilities by now.’
Not that it mattered to me.
“Die!”
Parrying a punch thrown by the finally mobilizing Sal-gwon, I seized him firmly by the collar.
“It just so happens that I used to be a member of the Small Cleaning Unit.”
“Huh?”
Without further delay, I drove his head straight down into the dirt.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
You like getting back up after a beating?
The remedy for that is incredibly straightforward.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
I simply have to keep hammering you until it is physically impossible for you to stand.
“Blub…”
Sal-gwon coughed up a mixture of blood and a few shattered teeth from his mouth.
Chewing on anything solid like meat was going to be a luxury of the past for him. Quite a pity, honestly.
Taking a momentary breath to steady myself, I channeled my inner energy into a loud shout.
“Bring it on, you bastards! Keep them coming, come on!”
Men who live entirely on false bravado never learn their lesson until they realize they are dealing with an absolute lunatic.
Which meant,
I needed to demonstrate exactly how terrifyingly methodical my madness could be.
Weaving through the remaining crowd, I shattered skulls, snapped knees, and dislocated arm joints with fluid precision.
In short order, every single low-ranking Black Path member was writhing on the ground.
“……W-what in the name of heavens is going on here!!!”
The Sect Leader of the Anus Sect finally made his appearance.

—

“So-un… Jin? So-un Jin, the Black Flame Dragon!”
“The one and only.”
The Sect Leader of the Anus Sect trembled with barely contained fury as he surveyed the absolute devastation before him.
“What is the meaning of this outrage?”
The sheer murderous intent rolling off him was thick enough to make my skin prickle with a cold numbness.
“Big Brother, let’s take off his limbs before we do anything else.”
“I agree, Big Brother! These young Black Path upstarts get a shred of notoriety and suddenly think they rule the world.”
“We need to teach a punk like this exactly how brutal reality can be…!”
The subordinates flanking him unleashed their own killing intent, matching their leader’s hostility.
At the very least, out of everyone I had encountered from the Anus Sect so far, these individuals possessed the most refined cultivation.
‘Hmm, the Sect Leader is roughly on par with a Hall Master… while his inner circle members are around the level of a Squad Leader.’
As I silently calculated their capabilities, the Sect Leader ground his teeth together.
“Sever his arms and legs one by one and bring them to me. Leave his tongue intact! I want answers from him.”
“Understood!”
Upon receiving the Sect Leader’s decree, four men advanced in perfect unison.
The way they immediately claimed the four cardinal directions to lock down my movements proved this wasn’t their first time executing such a maneuver.
‘The Four-Direction Jade Lock Formation.’
It was a foundational sword formation, yet it remained highly efficient when attempting to overwhelm a single target with numbers.
“You arrogant brat… I hear you’ve been causing quite a stir within the Sa-heuk-ryeon?”
“Today, we are going to beat that insolence right out of you.”
“Granted, you won’t ever be able to grip a weapon again after we’re through.”
“Haaaah!”
Regrettably for them, it wasn’t going to be very effective.
A proper combat formation requires absolute, unwavering mutual trust.
It must be executed with the profound willingness to shield the comrade next to you with your own life.
On the other hand,
‘This is an amateur imitation.’
The execution of their formation was vastly inferior in both technical proficiency and raw determination when compared to what kids like Gold, Silver, and Bronze could pull off.
Crack! Thud-thud!
Incapacitating the first attacker by smashing his face into a pulp with my Myriad Flowers Invincible Fist, I immediately lashed out with a kick toward the second man swinging his blade.
In a real formation, the third man should have thrown himself forward to intercept my kick to protect his partner, but these thugs possessed nowhere near that level of self-sacrifice.
Ultimately, it was nothing more than a superficial tactic designed purely to bully weaker opponents.
Thud! Crash-thump!
Delivering a devastating blow to a solar plexus, I simultaneously snapped the wrist holding the sword and shattered another set of teeth with a brutal headbutt.
This guy was going to join Sal-gwon on a strict liquid diet. Truly tragic.
“Gah!”
Griping the collar of the collapsing swordsman, I slammed my forehead into his face one more time.
The man, who had momentarily felt relieved that only his teeth were ruined, passed out as his nose structure completely caved in.
Turning my attention toward the remaining survivors.
“W-wait a second!”
“No time for waiting!”
Lashing out without a moment’s hesitation, I closed the distance to the man right beside me, fracturing his shinbone before driving a heavy fist square into his face.
His nose flattened instantly.
He’d be relying entirely on mouth-breathing for the rest of his days.
Tripping his legs to send him crashing down, I finished him off with a swift kick to the temple to ensure he stayed asleep.
That left exactly one person remaining.
As I slowly rotated my gaze toward him,
“Hiieee! Y-you literal monster!”
Finally, I received the validation I deserved from their own lips.
Dear customer, it would make me very sad if you tried to leave without completing your transaction.
Swoosh!
The Flying Dragon Claw shot forward, snagging his garments, and with the sharp whine of the mechanisms retracting, his body was dragged violently backward directly toward me.
The instant he arrived within arm’s reach,
Boom!
My fist connected solidly with his jaw, sending the fourth brother spinning twice through the air before he crumpled to the ground.
Having effortlessly dismantled the Four-Direction Jade Lock Formation, I offered a bright, cheerful grin to the Sect Leader of the Anus Sect.
“Should I come over to you? Or would you prefer to approach me? Oh, and don’t bother trying to run.”

—

The leader of the Sang-mun-bang was a seasoned veteran who had navigated the perilous waters of the Black Path Murim for decades.
Twenty years had passed since he first began carving out a living in the underworld alongside his four trusted sworn brothers.
Growing weary of sleeping on the cold ground and extorting meager coins from peasants, he had pooled his resources with his brothers to establish a proper organization.
When the Sa-heuk-ryeon emerged as a massive coalition capable of standing against the Martial Alliance, he believed he could finally stop worrying about righteous crusades wiping them out. He had intended to spend his remaining years quietly managing the growth of the Sang-mun-bang, but…
‘This is insane… what kind of absolute nightmare is this…’
The organization he had spent years meticulously building had been utterly demolished in a matter of minutes.
And to make matters worse, it was done by a boy who barely looked twenty years old.
Gulp.
A furious rage welled up deep within his chest, but he forced himself to swallow it down completely.
The survival instincts that had kept him alive in the Murim for two decades were screaming a dire warning.
‘The disparity in power is absolute.’
Setting aside the terrifying martial arts, the real issue was the kid’s psychological state.
‘He is an entirely different breed of psychopath.’
This wasn’t some self-righteous hero driven by a moral crusade against evil.
If that were the case, the boy would have drawn steel from the very beginning.
And every single member of the Sang-mun-bang would currently be missing their heads.
The terrifying youth standing before him was intentionally restraining his lethal power, choosing instead to thoroughly break his opponents for entertainment.
It was a distinction he could easily make, having encountered every flavor of deviant during his decades in the criminal underworld.
‘…He is completely unhinged.’
He desperately needed to understand what had driven this monster to march into his compound and unleash such chaos.
“…Why are you doing this?”
“What?”
“I am asking you what could possibly possess you to do something like this!”
“Hmm… wouldn’t it make more sense for us to exchange blows before we start chatting?”
Watching the youth casually wag a finger in a profoundly arrogant gesture, the Sect Leader’s eye twitched with suppressed anger.
However, pushing this lunatic any further would be suicide.
Suppressing his rage once more, he spoke as calmly as possible.
“I simply want to understand the reason.”
“The reason… Very well. I was enjoying a peaceful meal at an establishment alongside the members of our merchant caravan…”
As the explanation unfolded, the Sect Leader’s brow furrowed in utter disbelief.
“You tore my entire sect apart over a paltry ten silver coins?”
“…A paltry. Ten. Silver. Coins?”
The lunatic’s neck tilted sideways with an unsettling, mechanical creak.
A pair of wide, unblinking eyes locked dead onto his position.
Staring into those voids of pure, unadulterated madness, a sudden realization struck the Sect Leader with absolute certainty.
‘So those whispers weren’t a myth?’
The terrifying rumor circulating through the underworld that this maniac was the chosen, collective disciple of the supreme patriarchs of the Black Path Murim.
He had dismissed it as idle tavern gossip when he first heard it… but now, the truth was undeniable.
For whatever hidden agenda, the boy was publicly masquerading as a student of an orthodox, White Path sect, but his true identity was undoubtedly the shared successor of the ultimate masters of the dark world.
The psychotic youth’s voice rang out once more, dripping with menace.
“A. Paltry. Ten. Silver. Coins.”
The moment that realization fully set in, all the strength drained completely from the Sect Leader’s limbs.
The overwhelming martial prowess he had witnessed moments ago now took on a terrifyingly logical context, sending goosebumps cascading down his spine.
If this boy truly carried the legacy of those monstrous legends…
‘There is absolutely no universe in which I survive a fight with him…!’
As the madman—no, the supreme heir of the underworld—stepped closer, the Sect Leader instinctively recoiled, losing his footing and tumbling backward onto the ground.
“W-wait! Hold on! It was a complete misunderstanding!”
“A misunderstanding?! You extort people by mistake?”
“W-we walk the same path, do we not! The Black Flame Dragon turning against his own kind only serves to benefit those hypocrites of the orthodox factions!”
Hold on—
Did his desperate, frantic pleading actually register?
Or had he accidentally unmasked a deeply classified secret identity, meaning everyone in the compound was about to be permanently silenced?
While horrific scenarios flashed through his mind,
The sheer insanity gleaming in So-un Jin’s eyes suddenly vanished, replaced by a perfectly calm expression.
“Hmm… you make a fair point. We are technically on the same side, aren’t we?”
D-did that actually work?
Scrambling for safety, the Sect Leader nodded frantically.
“E-exactly! We are brothers in arms!”
“Right, right. Brothers. In that case, isn’t it incredibly poor form to steal money from your own brothers?”
“I’ll give it back! Every single coin will be returned immediately!”
“Be that as it may, the emotional trauma I endured still lingers.”
‘Damn you, you absolute psycho! What about the physical trauma you just inflicted on all my men?!’
He forcefully bit back the furious retort threatening to escape his lips.
If the supreme masters of the underworld had spent years covertly grooming a successor to infiltrate the righteous factions,
And his men had targeted the Dae-cheon Merchant Group backed by the Tae-eul Sect…
It meant his petty extortion racket had accidentally jeopardized a massive, strategic operation orchestrated by the true rulers of the Black Path.
This was entirely his own monumental blunder.
“I-I will personally ensure we reimburse three times the total amount we’ve collected from them.”
“Excellent. Oh, and one more thing regarding our future arrangements.”
“You mean the Dae-cheon Merchant Group managed by the Tae-eul Sect? I will issue a strict decree that they are never to be charged a single copper of protection money again.”
“Hmm, no, that’s not quite what I had in mind.”
Observing So-un Jin lazily shake his head, a cold sweat broke out across the Sect Leader’s body.
He couldn’t even begin to comprehend what kind of twisted demand this lunatic was about to make next.
“Since that caravan is run by my associates, shouldn’t we take it upon ourselves to safeguard them against any low-life thugs who might try to cause them trouble?”
“S-safeguard them?”
“Yeah.”
“……Without collecting any fees?”
“Naturally! Come on, aren’t we brothers?”
Somehow, the grip of the Black Flame Dragon, which had come to rest gently on the back of his neck, seemed to tighten with immense, underlying force.
Swallowing the cry of pain that threatened to escape, the Sect Leader forced his lips into a trembling, terrified smile.
“O-of course. Moving forward, whenever the Dae-cheon Merchant Group journeys through our territory, our men will gladly volunteer to act as their personal escort!”
“Perfect, perfect. Tremendous. I’ll take my leave then, placing my full confidence in your word. I genuinely look forward to our future cooperation.”
Watching So-un Jin offer a radiant, carefree smile as if he hadn’t just crippled an entire sect, before extending a hand in partnership, the Sect Leader came to a final conclusion.
As expected of the chosen successor to the legends of the underworld, the boy had clearly inherited every single ounce of their terrifying insanity.