Nothing Has Changed. (1)

“Waaaaargh!”

Tang Pae scattered his hidden blades with all his might.

Thrown blades in battle must always be retrieved in mind.

But in Tang Pae’s mind now, there wasn’t even the slightest plan to retrieve those blades.

There was only a single determination: to somehow stop the enemy.

“Take this!”

Puh-eong! Puh-eong! Puh-eong!

And at the same time, black poisonous mist erupted wildly in the gorge where the Blood Sword Troops members were charging.

The Blood Sword Troops members, having warded off the flying blades with full force, gritted their teeth and charged into the poison cloud.

They were resolved to give the enemy no room to retreat, even if they succumbed to the poison.

But waiting for those who broke through the blinding poison was none other than Yu Yiseol’s blade.

Shararak!

Graceful yet utterly decisive, Yu Yiseol’s blade swung in a half-circle toward the charging necks.

Such an elegant strike was hard to be sure anyone could block, even in the ordinary course.

The fate awaiting those who frantically burst out of the poison to meet that blade had already been decided.

Puuuuut!

A fountain of blood burst forth from the cleanly severed neck.

Yu Yiseol’s blade efficiently cut only the enemy’s vital points. Thus those struck by her blade met death without grave wounds.

However, the wound Yu Yiseol’s blade now made was noticeably larger and deeper than the marks her blade usually left.

“Aaaaah!”

Tang Pae surged out beside Yu Yiseol and scattered the concealed weapons in his sleeves as best he could.

Terrible hidden weapons representing the Tang Family—cow-hair needles, the Ghost King Order, and Soul-Severing Sand—mixed and were flung about at will.

But those indiscriminately scattered weapons indeed took effect.

Those who were already hard-pressed to pass through the poison cloud could not possibly block the mad barrage of needles, liquids, and sand.

“Gkwaaaah!”

Needles piercing their bodies, sand and liquids beginning to dissolve skin.

Even the mouths of the Blood Sword Troops members, unparalleled fighters, burst out with screams from the horrific pain those weapons inflicted.

“Let’s go!”

As screams echoed inside the poison cloud, Tang Pae turned and sprinted at full speed without looking back.

“Not yet!”

Just as Chung Myung raised his blade to slaughter those rushing out, something abruptly grabbed Chung Myung’s hand.

Yu Yiseol forcibly seized Chung Myung’s wrist and, before he could react, pulled him along at full force and ran out.

She pulled so hard that pain could be felt in his wrist and shoulder.

“Sago!”

“Follow me!”

Just as Chung Myung was about to speak, a shout burst from Yu Yiseol as if to silence him.

For a moment Chung Myung stood dazed and looked back at Yu Yiseol. He knew he shouldn’t take his eyes off the enemy, but he was that startled.

A shout?

Yu Yiseol?

Chung Myung tried to open his mouth again, but Yu Yiseol was adamant—determined not to let him fight again.

Only then did Chung Myung’s gaze take in the scene ahead in the gorge.

He could see it.

The cursed end of the gorge.

Baek Cheon and Mount Hua’s swordsmen were piercing through that end.

“Waaaargh!”

Kwaaaaang!

A huge white sword-ki detonated. Namgung Do-Wei, having gathered a little strength, was empowering those in front.

The enemies desperately tried to block them, but it was hopelessly uneven.

The gorge was far too narrow and steep to hold back Mount Hua’s thoroughly trained swordsmen.

“Damn! They’re coming again!”

At that moment Tang Pae cried out. Chung Myung reflexively tried to run back, but Yu Yiseol grabbed the collar at the nape of his neck with her sword hand and forcefully pulled him again.

“Run!”

“They’re coming from behind…”

“I know, so run!”

Chung Myung flinched and turned to Yu Yiseol. She glared at him, all wrath revealed.

Chung Myung swore he’d never seen Yu Yiseol make this expression before.

No—he had never even imagined she could wear such an expression. Not once.

“Aaaaah!”

Tang Pae flung hidden weapons in a near-hysteric frenzy.

The hidden weapons stowed in his sleeves were nearly exhausted.

But now was not the time to conserve them. He had to snare their heels even for an instant.

“Tang Family’s young lord!”

“Yes!”

“Grab him and run!”

In that instant Yu Yiseol hurled Chung Myung at Tang Pae and moved toward the rear.

“You damned—!”

The Blood Sword Troops members, smeared with poison and hidden weapons, spurted murderous intent from their eyes and brought their thin swords down on Yu Yiseol.

A thin sword is a weapon whose true power shows when it is thrust rather than slashed.

Even knowing that, their excitement led them to slash for a moment instead of thrusting.

Ka-ga-gang!

Yu Yiseol’s sword, extended at the shortest range, struck aside the incoming Blood Sword Troops member’s blade as if to intercept it.

But the moment blades met and separated, two more blades lunged as if to pierce Yu Yiseol’s entire body.

Under a crushing pressure that felt like her body would be crushed, Yu Yiseol’s sword swung without an inch of hesitation.

Kaaaang!

Sword qi traced a clear circle in the air and struck down the incoming blades at the same time.

At the same time, Yu Yiseol’s eyebrow twitched slightly.

Even though she had parried thin swords far thinner and finer than those used by Mount Hua, a heavy pain settled in her wrist.

Not even pierced nor touched, she felt a stinging like being sliced by a razor on an untouched body.

When life-risking full forces collide.

That battlefield pressure gnawed at Yu Yiseol’s stamina several times faster than usual.

But.

Swaaeaaak!

Still, Yu Yiseol’s blade swung unwaveringly, pushed aside enemy blades, and shot toward their necks with unrivaled speed.

Cheng! Cheng! Kwa-deuk!

Two were blocked, but one was not.

The sensation of a blade cutting through flesh and lodging into bone—before she could even fully feel that horrifying sense, Yu Yiseol pulled out the blade, kicked off the ground, and instantly retreated.

“Ugh!”

“You bitch!”

Sparks lit in the eyes of the Blood Sword Troops members.

Just as they were about to charge again, fine sand like dust was scattered above their heads.

The Blood Sword Troops members flinched and swung their blades to fend off the falling sand above their heads.

But no matter how much they swung their blades, they couldn’t stop all of the falling sand.

The sand that evaded the scattered blades bit into their skin.

“Grrk…”

A Blood Sword Troops member overcome by the surging poison coughed up dark, frothy blood.

One who followed shoved the faltering squad member off a cliff and, emitting a beastly howl, charged at Yu Yiseol.

“Dieeeee!”

A blade fell fiercely from above. One could tell without experiencing it how potent the energy it carried was.

A strike that seemed to put everything on a single blow. As Yu Yiseol bit her lip, ready to meet that strike.

Paaaaaat!

A sword qi sprayed past right beside Yu Yiseol’s neck and instantly pierced the neck of the Blood Sword Troops member who was charging.

The attacker was flung backwards as if hit by a shell from that residual force.

Blood gushed like a fountain from his gaping neck, flooding the gorge with crimson.

Paaaat! Paaaapat!

Blades flew in succession and pierced the necks of the Blood Sword Troops members who charged on without losing momentum despite their comrade’s death.

Seeing that, Yu Yiseol bit her lip and swung her blade again.

‘That’s my share!’

Her blade sliced the air like a ray and buried itself in the neck of a charging Blood Sword Troops member.

Puuuuk!

The sound of the blade tearing flesh. As she sensed that sound overlapping with something else, her gaze instinctively dropped downward.

The blade, stained with blood after penetrating the chest of the Blood Sword Troops member she had cut, suddenly popped out and flew toward Yu Yiseol’s solar plexus.

Yu Yiseol’s eyes widened in an instant.

From behind, it would have been blatantly obvious.

But for someone pouring all their power into striking the enemy, there is no more vicious trick than this.

Sensing it was too late to react, Yu Yiseol could only watch the blade aiming to pierce her belly—when another blade-ki flew into her sight.

Kaaaang!

A red sword qi, flying like lightning, knocked away the blade that had been attacking Yu Yiseol in an instant.

The deflected blade cleaved the Blood Sword Troops member’s body in two with one stroke, and through the spurting blood, Gwi Yang’s face twisted like a fiend as he surged forward in a frenzy.

“You damned bastard!”

It’s sickening.

How else could one describe Gwi Yang now?

The Captains of the Ten Thousand People Clan—one would not dare take them as subordinates unless one were Jang Ilso.

Gwi Yang, one of those captains, doggedly pursued as if to prove that public appraisal of them wasn’t exaggerated but even understated.

“Get out of the way!”

But to Gwi Yang, someone like Yu Yiseol blocking his path was of no concern.

His gaze was fixed on Chung Myung behind Yu Yiseol—the wounded, panting predator.

Everything has its time.

This moment was the most decisive. If he let that one slip now, he’d have to go through a grueling process again.

Moreover, his certainty that he could definitely capture the man at the end of that process was crumbling now.

So now, now he must finish it.

But Yu Yiseol had no intention of letting Gwi Yang go easily.

Swaaeaaak!

A paradox: swift and sharp, yet supremely smooth.

Yu Yiseol’s blade, embodying that paradox in reality, swung smoothly and sliced Gwi Yang’s body horizontally.

Ka-gang!

Gwi Yang flicked aside the flying blade in an instant without even seeming to breathe.

Then, as if brushing off an annoyance, he aimed to slash Yu Yiseol’s torso, but the rebounded blade, as if expected, spun a circle in the air and came again to cut Gwi Yang’s neck.

“Ugh!”

A short groan burst from Gwi Yang’s mouth.

Kang! Kaang! Kang!

Gwi Yang’s and Yu Yiseol’s blades collided in the air several times.

“You…!”

A murderous rage boiled in Gwi Yang’s eyes.

This blade clung to him tenaciously. No matter how many times he struck it away, it flew back again as if it had anticipated it.

A blade resembling Chung Myung’s, yet clearly of a different grain—that blade was scratching Gwi Yang’s nerves raw.

“You damned—!”

Paaaaaah!

Just as Gwi Yang was about to unleash his rage, a lightning-like sword qi slammed down explosively from behind Yu Yiseol’s shoulder.

Gwi Yang twisted his body violently to the side, but the flying sword qi still pierced his flank without fail.

Blood gurgled up into Gwi Yang’s mouth.

Though his organs weren’t ruptured, being pierced and the force driving in shook his insides thoroughly.

Gwi Yang glared bloodshot as he looked behind Yu Yiseol.

Chung Myung, standing just behind Yu Yiseol, stared at him with the eyes of a predator eyeing its prey.

‘Hunt?’

To be hunted? He?

“You…”

As Gwi Yang could no longer contain his boiling fury and was about to howl.

Hwaaaaaak!

A vast river of Plum Blossom petals flooded his sight.

In front of him?

No, far away!

Plum Blossom petals, rising like rapids from the gorge’s end, swept away those who resisted in an instant.

And the flowing sword qi, as if a river pouring into the sea, passed over the narrow valley and spread out across the vast land.

Which meant…

“It’s open!”

Baek Cheon.

In his eyes, having broken the last resistance, the vast expanse of land appeared. The long, long gorge had finally revealed its end.

Seeing that, Baek Cheon clenched his fist and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Everyone run! Get out of the gorge!”

“Let’s gooooo!”

“Waaaaah!”

At Jo Gul’s shout, even Yoon Jong responded with a roar.

In an instant, the morale of Southern Island’s disciples surged a hundredfold as they all shouted till their throats hurt and sprinted full speed toward the opened path.