The Undefeatable Swordsman

Chapter 241. Within Ten Paces, You'll Find A Fragrant Flower (12)

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After finishing his closed-door training and achieving a level that he believed surpassed even Woo Bok-Hee’s, that phenomenon had ceased to occur. Yet now, it was happening again, for some reason he couldn’t understand.

'Why is this happening?'

The Martial Heaven God was lost in thought. However, no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure out a reason for this.

In the end, the Martial Heaven God went back to his quarters and sat there frozen in place like a stone Buddha, neither sleeping nor eating.

***

The Absolute Master led the way as the Zenith Master followed.

Naturally, their traveling speed was mind-boggling. Yet even after traveling like this for a long time, Martial Heaven’s headquarters was nowhere in sight.

This was not because it was terribly far and they couldn’t reach it; the actual reason was the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor's memory issues.

A special characteristic of the Blood Devil Merciless Art was that it forced the user to absorb blood to replenish their vital energy periodically. Otherwise, not only their meridians but even the actual blood vessels throughout his body would harden and result in death.

That was the crux of the problem.

The Blood Cloud Devil Emperor took Woo-Moon on a search for Martial Heaven's base using what vague memories he had of his encounters with Martial Heaven’s representatives. However, his mind gradually grew troubled as he wasn't able to kill and consume blood.

The first and last time he had visited Martial Heaven’s headquarters was forty years ago. The memories would’ve been faint even if he was perfectly lucid, let alone when his Blood Devil Merciless Art was causing his mind to be as unstable as it was now.

"...So it wasn't here, either. There's no waterfall on this mountain, right?"

"Don't push me too hard. We would have already arrived at Martial Heaven if you hadn't wasted our time at the inn."

"You're pretty good at making excuses. We barely spent a few minutes there. And even if we spent that time here instead, do you really think that you would have found the way?"

As the two argued, not hiding their sharp thorns, they spotted a group running toward them from the opposite mountain path.

Woo-Moon naturally stepped forward, protecting the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor.

Right now, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor was his only link to Martial Heaven's base, and he couldn't afford to lose him.

Those who came from the other side of the path looked quite impressive—all of them were Transcendent experts or higher.

A moment later, the young man at the front spotted Woo-Moon and let out a shout.

"You bastard! Song Woo-Moon, enemies really do meet on a narrow path!”

The man was Eun Dang-Hwi, the son of the Martial Heaven God and the Martial Heaven Emperor. He was also the person whom Woo-Moon had encountered in front of the Heavenly Demon Mound in the past.

Woo-Moon smiled brightly as he saw him and the Silver Martial Squadron guarding him. Considering the circumstances of their meeting, he was by now aware that this young man had to be someone important in Martial Heaven—in other words, someone who had information he needed.

"How great. It's a relief that we've run into you."

Eun Dang-Hwi pulled out his sword, pointed it at Woo-Moon, and shouted, “I should have killed you back then! I let you live because you looked fun, and I thought that you might be able to become my future rival. How fucking dare you do this to me?! How dare you hurt my mother?!"

Woo-Moon’s eyes widened, and then he sneered coldly. ‘Well, well, what do we have here!’

“I see... so you’re her son, huh? The son of the Martial Heaven Emperor! You sure know how to hate others for your own lack of power. If you truly pitied your mother, you should have tried to change Martial Heaven with your own two hands and try to return her to her original state. However, you couldn't. Moreover, someone like you doesn't get the right to take pity on someone."

“Shut up, Song Woo-Moon!”

"Even the concept of you taking pity on someone, anyone, is a betrayal and an insult to the countless innocent people who were killed by you bastards. A devil like you pretends he’s the victim? Are you even serious? Stop saying such boring nonsense. No matter what the cause or motive, no matter what sort of strange fate you've been given, in the end, you committed all of your evil deeds with your own two hands and of your own personal will. You claim to be the victim? As if! You bastards can only be divided into more evil and less evil perpetrators!"

Eun Dang-Hwi couldn’t listen to Woo-Moon’s words any longer. No, he didn’t need to listen. Now that he was standing before his enemy, he had to kill him, and that was that.

“Kill him!”

The Silver Martial Battalion, which consisted of two Absolute Masters and about a hundred Transcendent experts, rushed Woo-Moon with the momentum of a typhoon. This battalion alone was strong enough to compete with the Allied Forces.

The Blood Cloud Devil Emperor flinched at that overwhelming momentum.

There were two Absolute Masters who were no less powerful than him and an incredible hundred Transcendent experts. Moreover, Eun Dang-Hwi was moving toward them with incredible momentum—he was clearly a Paragon! His sheer aura made even one of the world's strongest, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor, tremble!

However, Woo-Moon was completely relaxed. He simply let Eun Dang-Hwi’s attacks slide by like a swaying willow branch.

Swish! Shing! Bang!

While Eun Dang-Hwi's sword continued to swing at Woo-Moon, accompanied by cracking sounds that made it seem as if space itself was tearing, not a single one of his blows even grazed the hem of Woo-Moon’s clothes.

"You said something about a future rival? Well, I’m sorry about that."

"Sorry for what?"

"There’s already something pretty important between me and you."

No matter how much Eun Dang-Hwi attacked, nothing he did succeeded. He felt like he was going crazy right now.

"And what's that?!"

Tap.

Woo-Moon simply grabbed Eun Dang-Hwi’s head.

“...!”

Cold sweat ran down the young man’s face. He had no way to dodge Woo-Moon's hand. How could he, when he couldn't even see when or how Woo-Moon moved?!

As long as Woo-Moon applied a little amount of force, if he just struck Eun Dang-Hwi's acupoint, Eun Dang-Hwi would instantly die.

He froze in fear.

"Let go of the Little Heaven!"

Eun Dang-Hwi's subordinates rushed at Woo-Moon from behind.

Clang, clang, clang!

Suddenly, a whirlwind formed around Woo-Moon and flung them all away. About half of the Transcendents died instantly, their torsos torn apart like rags, while the other half were badly injured, left rolling across the ground.

"I stopped you from attacking innocents, but they are not innocent. Whatever you do now is up to you."

Immediately, madness flashed in the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor's eyes. And the moment his hand rose, a domain was created around him.

Blood Cloud Vampiric Membrane!

All of the Transcendents, dead or alive, fell within the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor's domain. Their blood was instantly sucked out and into the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor's body.

"Keke... Kekeke!"

The two Absolute Masters, although not fatally injured, were unable to move due to their severe internal injuries. Of course, now that the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor was dealing with them, they would no longer move... at all, ever.

Meanwhile, Woo-Moon sneered at Eun Dang-Hwi, who was clearly in a panic.

“There’s a gap.”

Eun Dang-Hwi glared at Woo-Moon, who snickered again.

"There's a gap between you and me that a bastard like you can never overcome."

Born and raised in Martial Heaven, Eun Dang-Hwi had lived his entire life in the light of the Martial Heaven God. The pride he held was equivalent to the prestige with which he had been imbued since birth.

And that prideful Eun Dang-Hwi was being laughed at by the very enemy who had killed his mother! He was treated like trash by the scum of the murim that he had so generously spared in the past!

Overcome by shame and humiliation, he started yelling at Woo-Moon with complete disregard for his own life.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!!!”

“I’m sure you would if you could. Sadly, that’s not possible, and it never will be. Allow me to demonstrate," Woo-Moon’s coldly said.

Thud!

Eun Dang-Hwi’s arm fell off and rolled on the dusty ground. Normally, a severed arm was dead and gone, but his arm kept flapping like a fish, clearly still usable.

"AGH!!"

Eun Dang-Hwi clenched his other hand into a fist and tried to strike Woo-Moon.

Shing! Thud!

The other arm rolled across the ground, too.

"Ugh... AHHH!"

The next moment, Eun Dang-Hwi’s lung was pierced by Woo-Moon’s sword, and he spat out blood.

Eun Dang-Hwi had just become a Paragon; in front of a Zenith Master, he couldn't boast about his resilience.

His body was being torn apart, and his mind was disintegrating.

“Maybe we’ll meet in the next life and be actual rivals, who knows.”

With these last words, Woo-Moon drew his sword and finished off his wannabe rival.

The Blood Cloud Devil Emperor had already absorbed the blood of the two Absolute Masters while treating his internal injuries. Then, he saw Woo-Moon discard Eun Dang-Hwi’s corpse. He brought that corpse into his domain and absorbed his blood as well.

"You should be feeling better now. Let’s go."

As soon as he finished speaking, Woo-Moon started moving ahead, without waiting for the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor's guidance.

His eyes were seeking the traces of Eun Dang-Hwi and his men, using the tracking technique he had learned from Ma-Ra in the past.

From that point on, things went far more smoothly. Not only did Woo-Moon have some more hints to follow, but the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor’s condition had stabilized and his memories were getting clearer the closer they got to Martial Heaven's base.

Since the two of them had found their paths, and their methods complimented one another's, they were no longer wandering aimlessly.

***

“It’s been forty years. What if... my sister is already dead?”

Although he seemed to be asking Woo-Moon, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor already knew the answer.

Woo-Moon didn't respond to him. He wanted to distance himself from Seob Un-Ha as much as possible.

He didn’t get along with Seob Un-Ha by nature. It had been that way since the first day they met. He still vividly remembered the vengeful spirits of the thousands of people who had been unjustly killed by Seob Un-Ha.

He was an unforgivable villain.

Even now, having no other choice but to work with him made Woo-Moon so disgusted that he almost broke out in hives. However, he couldn't help but feel someone moved, little by little, by the earnest feelings and words of the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor.

'This isn't good.'

"Before our family was annihilated, my sister and I were truly happy. Well... were we? Who knows, it might just seem better than it actually was because it's the past."

"..."

Woo-Moon didn’t say anything and continued to look for the way to Martial Heaven. However, Seob Un-Ha continued to speak, as if he was just talking to himself.

"That little rascal.... There was an entire eight years between us. In fact, when my mother or our nanny wasn't around, I used to carry her on my back and take care of her. Haha, you don't know how cute she was, I almost died of cuteness when I looked at her getting rice on her cheeks because she couldn't use her chopsticks properly."

Woo-Moon realized it for the first time—that even a villain who had abandoned his humanity like the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor could laugh as purely and clearly as a young child.

Seob Un-Ha's excited voice gradually softened. He slowly told Woo-Moon about his family and his little sister, all the way until... as it turned out, his entire family was murdered, his sister included.

"After that, my family was annihilated, and I was sold to a slave trader. And that's when I met my younger sister."

Woo-Moon had assumed that the younger sister that Seob Un-Ha wanted to save was his blood sister. As it turned out, that wasn't the case.

"My younger sister, Cho-Ah, was the daughter of a poor farmer. She had been sold to the slave trader in the midst of a famine. She was such a kind child... She approached me first and spoke to me warmly, even though everyone else was avoiding me and calling me a traitor.

"Cho-Ah and I were the most beautiful slaves that the slave trader had, and the two of us were sold to the Blood Cult together. At first, we were both really happy because we could stay together. Keke...

"I started my life as the cult leader’s servant, and my younger sister, who was fourteen at the time, as the cult leader’s concubine. But less than a month later, that bastard revealed his true nature.”

Woo-Moon found Eun Dang-Hwi’s traces in a stream. If he continued on, it seemed like it wouldn’t be long before he reached the end.

'There should be a waterfall, right? Looking at the mountains ahead, there has to be a waterfall.'

"Taking me in as a servant and my younger sister as a concubine was just a ploy to hide his homosexuality. That bastard was a pervert who couldn't get an erection in front of women. From then on, I became his dirty plaything, and my younger sister... my younger sister became the prey of his sadistic and perverted hobby.

“It's still so vivid. Whenever he wasn't assaulting me, I would hear my sister's screams...

"He... hehe... I swore that I would protect her, but in the end, I couldn't. Even though my little sister looked for me to save her, I didn't have the strength to help. While there were some within the sect and even some outside the sect who found out about our situation, all of them pretended not to know. They all just looked at us with disgusted pity. Each of their gazes seemed to say, 'please understand that the Blood Cult is too strong and we can't help you.' Haha. Yeah, that's how it was."

When Woo-Moon heard this, he realized something. The blind hatred and distrust that the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor had toward people had been formed during this time.

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