Chapter 77

Chapter 77
Chapter 77. The Black Flame Dragon Who Leaps over the Trial (5)

Conflagrations in the mountains during autumn were a common occurrence.

Particularly after a dry summer season had concluded, leaving dense blankets of dried foliage across the peak, a mere breeze was enough to ignite a massive inferno.

Anticipating this danger, local villagers typically gathered their wood for the cold season early and cleared wide paths to act as barriers, ensuring any stray sparks could not expand out of control.

“However, Twin Curtain Stronghold explicitly forbade the local peasants from ascending the slopes.”

An overgrown, thick wilderness offered the perfect sanctuary for outlaws seeking concealment.

To ensure their isolation, Twin Curtain Stronghold banned not just woodchopping but also the collection of wild plants; ironically, this parched, overgrown thicket was no longer concealing the villains, but was instead choking the life out of them.

As the marauders rushed aggressively down the path, they froze when a sudden wall of fire erupted from the pre-laid oil, causing the blaze to ripple out wildly in all quadrants.

A host of roughly a thousand outlaws attempted to reverse their course and retreat uphill, but scaling the ridge backward proved far more agonizing.

“Aaaagh!”

“Get out of the way!”

“It burns!”

Screams echoed as they collided and tripped over one another, utterly shattering their formation in an instant.

Those who attempted to stray from the path to escape through the brush were instantly consumed by the rapidly intensifying wildfire; as they thrashed and rolled in agony to extinguish themselves, they inadvertently dragged the embers across the forest floor, accelerating the destruction.

“This is unbelievable.”

Eun-ho muttered, gazing up passively at the heavens, which were choked with dense, dark plumes.

A powerful gale swept the soot away, yet this influx of oxygen only fueled the conflagration further, making it rage with an unnatural ferocity as if it had consumed a potent Spiritual Medicine.

Though the entire force of a thousand outlaws possessed martial training, their individual levels of cultivation varied wildly.

The weaker martial artists quickly succumbed to the toxic air, losing consciousness as they breathed in the thick ash.

“Young Master So-un, did you foresee the shifting of the winds?”

Yang Gun-baek inquired, pushing his hair away from his face against the howling gusts. Remaining silent, I unsheathed the Black Dragon Sword.

“Get ready.”

At my command, the three brothers each drew their respective blades immediately.

“The raging inferno blocks any escape back up the ridge. They have no choice but to push forward down the oil-slicked path.”

“Count us in.”

Yang Gun-baek declared, advancing alongside his Hao Gate comrades.

“We must crush them while they emerge disoriented and scorched from the firewall.”

The moment I finished speaking, a cataclysmic, ripping roar shattered the air.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.

Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and One-Eyed Blood Axe pooled their combined might to tear up the earth, launching massive waves of dirt and rock outward to smother the path.

“The fire is dying down! Move through right now!”

Spurred by that booming command, the frantic outlaws seeking a way out surged back onto the main thoroughfare.

Men whose robes were ablaze tried frantically to swat out the sparks, but they were ruthlessly crushed into the dirt by the stampede of their panicking allies behind them.

CRAAACK!

Massive trees, left untouched specifically to serve as cover for ambushes flanking the pathway, ignited thoroughly and plunged directly onto the road.

“Aaaagh!”

“Get clear!”

“Help me!”

Despairing, a portion of the outlaws abandoned all hope of keeping pace with the two Stronghold Masters, turning instead toward alternative trails leading over the far side of the peak.

As their underlings dispersed in utter disarray, Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and One-Eyed Blood Axe were too preoccupied to direct them.

To keep their escape route viable, the pair were forced to repeatedly unite their strength, flinging earth to suppress the surrounding inferno.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM.

Waves of intense internal energy rippled outward, driving stones and debris across the path and taming the fire momentarily.

Yet, the moment the two leaders advanced, the lagging bandits behind them were caught by the re-igniting flames and incinerated.

“You absolute wretches!!!”

Furious malice consumed Golden-Faced Buddha Saber as he witnessed his men fall time and again. Disregarding even One-Eyed Blood Axe, he charged down the slope, pushing his Movement Art to its utmost velocity.

“Pay close attention.”

“Why bring this up now?”

“If any of these outlaws escape, the horror that befell the settlement will happen again.”

“……Understood.”

“Keep the view from that hill fresh in your minds.”

My intention was clear: they must show zero leniency.

Grasping the weight of my instruction, the three brothers set their jaws tightly.

“Move out!”

At my cry, the trio alongside Yang Gun-baek’s detachment bolted forward. The hesitation and dread they had initially felt toward the outlaw horde had vanished, replaced by a resolute bravery.

“Jin So-un!”

Spotting my name, Golden-Faced Buddha Saber—barrelling ahead like an enraged beast caught in a brushfire—spotted me and accelerated.

Activating the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art, I matched his momentum and intercepted his path.

BOOM.

“You’re dead!”

As his massive Great Saber, coated in shimmering Saber Qi, clove downward to split my skull, I executed Lotus, deflecting his momentum and hurling Golden-Faced Buddha Saber directly into the roaring furnace.

THUD, THUD, THUD!

Emitting a savage, non-human shriek, Golden-Faced Buddha Saber crashed through a succession of trunks before plowing deep into the burning brush.

“Gaaaaaaah!”

Seizing the moment, I initiated the Breaking Strike Form of the Minor Heaven Sword Art, systematically cutting through the fleeing outlaws who were desperately gasping for clean air.

“P-Please……!”

“Ack!”

The precise thrusts targeting critical Vital Acupoints painted the clearing with crimson, amplifying the panic. Striking down a foe with every completed sequence, my unrelenting blade left a trail of dead bandits in its wake.

Yet the survivors could not halt their flight, even as their allies dropped around them.

Lungs burning and stripped of logical thought, they dashed blindly ahead, and those who collapsed merely dragged themselves along the dirt.

CRASH!

Amid my rhythmic, unceasing swordplay, a massive shockwave jolted me back two paces.

Looking up, I met the murderous glare of One-Eyed Blood Axe, who radiated an overwhelming aura of death.

“You have a lot of nerve, brat.”

“How does my technique look to a senior?”

“You’ve signed your death warrant!”

CRASH. CRASH. CRASH. CRASH. CRASH. CRASH.

Violent concussions reverberated through the forest with every clash between the Blood Axe and my Black Dragon Sword.

The shockwaves were so fierce that even the panicking bandits chose to skirt around our battlefield to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

Transitioning smoothly away from the Breaking Strike Form of the Minor Heaven Sword Art, I immediately initiated the Twin Heaven Sword Formula.

The Black Dragon Sword wove a tapestry of overlapping afterimages resembling a blooming fan before thrusting directly toward his Vital Acupoints.

“Damn you! You were holding back your true strength!”

One-Eyed Blood Axe roared, his single eye blazing with fury.

His heavy Blood Axe swung wildly, sometimes cutting harmlessly through an empty Illusion Sword, and at other moments managing to connect solidly with my actual blade to parry the strike.

Nevertheless, between the endless wave of his own men trampling past from behind and the constant expenditure of internal energy required to ward off the heat, his defensive movements grew increasingly frantic and clumsy.

“You little insect!”

A concussive Lion’s Roar erupted from the burning brush as Golden-Faced Buddha Saber leaped back into view, his skin blackened by soot.

“I’m going to flay the meat from your bones and grind them to dust!”

Backing away two paces, I readied myself and unleashed the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven-Earth Sword Formula.

—

Meanwhile, the Gold, Silver, and Bronze brothers were completely overwhelmed by the chaotic nature of the skirmish.

Though they managed to lock into their structured Sword Formation, the advancing adversaries paid no heed to the blades aimed at them; they were entirely consumed by a manic urge to outrun the inferno.

“Eun-ho! Dong-ryong! Hold the Sword Formation! Focus on nothing but that!”

“Brother, the numbers against us are overwhelming!”

“Just don’t break the Sword Formation! And then…… then……”

Geum-pyo desperately wanted to offer reassurance, but the words failed him.

Was there any visible end to this onslaught?

How much longer could they hold the line?

Even though their foes were retreating in a blind, terrified frenzy, could the three of them realistically contain such a massive tide?

Furthermore, the combat prowess of the twin leaders of Twin Curtain Stronghold was vastly superior to anything they could hope to match.

“Then what?!”

Hearing Eun-ho’s panicked cry, Geum-pyo shook off his hesitation and shouted the first thought that entered his head.

“Our Eldest Senior Brother will reinforce us! Do you honestly think he would throw us into a fight we couldn’t survive?”

“But isn’t Eldest Senior Brother just judging our capabilities by his own ridiculous benchmarks?”

Geum-pyo had no counterargument for that logic.

Truthfully, accepting a standard request to clear out a local bandit den, only to pivot toward annihilating the absolute strongest faction within the Seventy-Two Green Forest Strongholds, was completely unprecedented and absurd.

“Urgh!”

“Aaaagh!”

“Curse it all……”

In that brief moment of distraction, the wet thuds of dying outlaws echoed near them.

Glancing over, they saw Dong-ryong tearing through the opposition using completely unfamiliar sword forms.

The underlying roots of his strikes belonged to the Taeul Sect, yet the actual execution and angles were completely transformed.

They possessed a terrifying precision, tracing the most direct and lethal Sword Path conceivable.

Even within the cooperative framework of their unified Sword Formation, the pure, unadulterated bloodlust radiating from Dong-ryong sent a shiver straight down their spines.

“Blast it!”

Geum-pyo cursed under his breath, exchanging a knowing, worried look with Eun-ho before nodding firmly.

Understanding the volatile condition gripping Dong-ryong, Eun-ho’s expression turned grim.

The curse of the Heavenly Killing Star was a hardwired, inner urge that demanded slaughter.

Just as Eldest Senior Brother had warned, if this dark trait fully awakened before Dong-ryong could temper his mind, the consequences would be catastrophic.

“Brother!”

“I’m with you!”

Without needing to speak, Geum-pyo and Eun-ho moved in perfect harmony.

“Aaaagh!”

“Gah!”

By stepping up their own aggression, the pair drastically increased their own body count, which gradually drew attention away and allowed Dong-ryong’s overwhelming bloodlust to subside slightly.

“Brother, the opposition is still too dense!”

Though their deep breathing and Moving Circulation techniques kept their reserves from running entirely dry, a vast multitude of outlaws remained standing.

To make matters worse, some of the outlaws were beginning to regain their composure, actively bypassing the trio or adopting cautious, defensive postures to prolong the engagement.

The fifty fighters from the Hao Gate worked tirelessly to secure the perimeter around the well and repel the encroachment, but the sheer volume of bodies meant they were steadily being enveloped.

Relying on reinforcement from Jin So-un was out of the question; he was fully occupied near the valley entrance, locked in a brutal clash against Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and One-Eyed Blood Axe while simultaneously slaughtering any escaping remnants.

If the pressure didn’t relent, they would perish long before Jin So-un could finish.

“Stay focused! Do not let your minds wander beyond the foes directly before your blades!”

Geum-pyo roared over the din, striking out with renewed desperation.

Just then, an immense plume of dirt billowed from the outskirts of the settlement, accompanied by a wave of roaring voices.

“Charge!”

“Waaaaaaaah!”

Spearheaded by Village Chief Heo, the townsfolk who had previously evacuated abandoned their hiding spots and stormed the battlefield, wielding makeshift agricultural implements.

“Protect the youths first!”

“Show no mercy to these spent dogs!”

Alongside simple scythes and garden hoes, many carried freshly honed woodsman’s axes and sharpened bamboo pikes.

Common folk who possessed absolutely zero combat training fell upon the physically spent bandits, striking them down with savage intensity.

“H-Have mercy!”

“You let my boy starve to death!”

“Did you think I’d forget what you did to my sibling?!”

“Slay them all!”

Driven by a lifetime of bitter grievances and fury, the raw violence of the villagers proved just as lethal as the refined skills of lifetime martial artists.

—

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

The intricate trajectories of the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven-Earth Sword Formula radiated outward in a wide arc, claiming the lives of surrounding bandits even as I continuously traded blows with Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and One-Eyed Blood Axe.

Although both opponents were bleeding from multiple lacerations, fending off two peak-tier experts simultaneously pushed me to my absolute limits.

Without the multifaceted coverage of the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven-Earth Sword Formula and the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist—which leveraged advanced principles to make a lone fighter seem like a small army—I wouldn’t have stood a ghost of a chance at surviving.

“I’ll slaughter you! I’ll rip you apart!”

“Perish!”

Their desperation made them incredibly dangerous, as Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and One-Eyed Blood Axe completely abandoned traditional defense to press their offensive, shielding only their most critical organs while throwing caution to the wind.

“If I’m going down, you’re coming to hell with me!”

“I respectfully decline the invitation.”

“Suffer!”

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

Lethal arcs of Saber Qi detonated across the clearing, indiscriminately blasting apart anything in their path without regard for ally or adversary.

The outlaws who were blown to pieces by Golden-Faced Buddha Saber’s stray attacks threw looks of utter disbelief at their chief, but he paid his dying subordinates no mind, single-mindedly focusing his devastating Saber Qi on my position.

“Your evasive footwork is remarkably slick!”

One-Eyed Blood Axe hissed, frustrated by his inability to land a clean blow.

“It should be, considering it was forged by the two most legendary masters to ever live.”

“A pity that such pristine techniques will be extinguished by us today. It must sting.”

“Allow me to clarify: neither of you possesses the capability to end my life.”

“That’s not your call to make, boy. It’s ours.”

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

Each sweeping arc of his heavy Blood Axe kicked up shards of burning timber, launching them toward me like a volley of projectile weapons.

Activating the Taeul Eighty-Thousand Divine Steps, I barely managed to slip past the fiery debris, only for Golden-Faced Buddha Saber to instantly capitalize with a massive swipe of his Great Saber.

If this war of attrition continued, my endurance would give out first.

“This concludes your story!”

“Haaat!”

Channeling the full reserves of my Taeul True Scripture, I combined it with the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist and leaped high into the atmosphere.

Just as One-Eyed Blood Axe and Golden-Faced Buddha Saber adjusted their weapons upward to impale me,

WHOOOOOSH. THUD!

“Gah!”

“What the—?!”

A massive boulder the size of a dwelling came hurtling through the air directly at the pair, forcing them to break their posture and dive clear.

Touching down safely on the dirt, I cast a glance backward.

“What took you so long?”

“You’re the one who stationed me on the far side of the mountain to begin with!”

“I figured someone of your caliber would have wrapped up sooner.”

Within that narrow window, Bang Du-chil and his contingent had successfully eliminated the outlaws fleeing via the alternate route before sprinting down the path to reinforce us.

“Take a breather if you’re spent. I’ll take care of these fools.”

He offered, a stark contrast to the suspicious, antagonistic attitude he had maintained since the start of our operation.

“I can manage. I just need to check on my martial brothers below.”

“In that case, let’s put an end to this farce immediately.”

Witnessing our casual conversation, Golden-Faced Buddha Saber and One-Eyed Blood Axe flushed with absolute humiliation and rage.

“You arrogant little trash!”

“How dare a couple of children look down on us!”

Recognizing that time was of the essence, Bang Du-chil brought his hands together and began concentrating his inner reserves.

His robes billowed violently from the pressure, releasing an immense, suffocating shockwave of energy.

‘So this is the power of the Heavenly Dipper Limitless Body!’

Sensing a caliber of energy he had never encountered before, One-Eyed Blood Axe’s complexion drained of all color.

“What sort of monstrous cultivation is—!”

Before One-Eyed Blood Axe, who had been charging in, could complete his step, he pivoted on his heel in a desperate attempt to run away. But it was too late; Bang Du-chil unleashed his signature technique, the Gale Divine Palm. The surrounding air pressure warped violently, causing the very sky to vibrate before a massive shockwave exploded forward.

BOOOOOOOM!

The explosive force of the Gale Divine Palm detonated through the air, momentarily snuffing out the surrounding wildfire while utterly shattering every bone within One-Eyed Blood Axe’s frame.

“Preposterous……”

Muttered Golden-Faced Buddha Saber, freezing mid-charge as his jaw dropped in sheer disbelief.

“You shouldn’t be looking away from your opponent.”

I remarked, launching the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm squarely at him.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

Golden-Faced Buddha Saber scrambled to evade, but there was no escaping the full, wide-area saturation of the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm.

As the vacuum exploded alongside the surrounding embers, Golden-Faced Buddha Saber’s physical form was utterly obliterated.

Whoooosh.

In the temporary vacuum created by the simultaneous destruction of the Gale Divine Palm and the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm, the raging mountain fire was smothered into silence.

“…….”

And within that space, Bang Du-chil was looking at me with his eyebrows trembling.

“Is something wrong?”

“…….”

Stepping into the silence where Bang Du-chil stood mute, Baek So-ryeong glided forward from the rear while sheathing her Soft Sword.

“He’s simply in shock because he’s never encountered an equal whose internal reserves exceed his own.”

That perfectly explained his stunned state; in all his years, he had likely never run across a peer from his own era who surpassed him in raw energy.

“You actually pulled it off…… Twin Curtain Stronghold has fallen. And with surprising efficiency, no less.”

Wildfires continued to lick the ridges across Mount Tianmu, cast a red glow over valleys littered with mounds of fallen outlaws.

Though small pockets of stragglers still lingered near the base of the mountain, the demise of the two Stronghold Masters meant that Twin Curtain Stronghold was completely dismantled.

“I appreciate your timely intervention.”

When I lightly clasped my hands and expressed my thanks, Baek So-ryeong along with the retainers under Bang Du-chil promptly returned the gesture.

“…….”

As Bang Du-chil continued to gawk at me like some bizarre anomaly, Baek So-ryeong nudged his ribs firmly with her elbow, jolting him out of his daze long enough to hastily clasp his hands in greeting.

“Forgive my earlier skepticism.”

“Think nothing of it. Regardless, our task isn’t quite complete, is it? Let’s wrap this up thoroughly.”

“Agreed.”

But just as we turned our attention toward the slopes to clean up the remaining outlaws, Eun-ho—who was supposed to be anchoring the defensive line further down—came sprinting up the trail, gasping desperately for breath.

“Eldest Senior Brother! Disaster has struck! You have to help Dong-ryong right now!”

Without waiting for him to finish his sentence, I mobilized every shred of internal energy remaining in my core and activated the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art to vanish down the mountain.