Not Easy.

Maybe it was out of fear, but Bong Seok’s movements were more frantic than the others.

That did not mean his skill was inferior.

Each time he unleashed his palms, the enemies’ bodies burst apart.

For all their speed and strength, their flesh was far too fragile.

There were many of them, but their numbers were not infinite.

Once the wave passed, everything would be over.

That was how it should have been.

Bong Seok’s palm brushed past the side of a child’s head.

It was the first time his strike had missed.

The anomaly did not end there.

Stagger.

“Wh, what?”

Bong Seok’s body tilted and sagged.

One of the children did not miss that moment and hurled its body at him.

It moved like a wild beast.

At that moment, a sword flashed.

“Get a hold of yourself!”

Jeon Pyeong shouted. Even as he cut down enemies, he was checking his surroundings.

“Ah, sorry. Just a slip.”

Bong Seok said that and settled back into stance.

But his hands only struck empty air.

He looked as if even standing was hard. Anyone could see it was strange.

“Fall back.”

Jeon Pyeong swept his sword in a broad arc. Bong Seok retreated and dropped to the ground.

They were one man short now, but it was not a problem. The others quickly filled the gap.

However, that only lasted for a short while.

“Sahyung!”

Jeon Hong cried out urgently.

When he turned his head, he saw Jeon Gwang staggering.

It was similar to Bong Seok’s condition.

On top of that, it was obvious that Jeon Hong was struggling as well.

By this point, even Jeon Pyeong was starting to panic.

Just then, Seo Jong-dae shouted from behind.

“The blood. Be careful of the blood!”

At his words, Jeon Pyeong’s gaze darted between Bong Seok and his juniors.

Bong Seok, who had collapsed first, was drenched in the enemies’ bodily fluids.

Jeon Gwang was not as bad as Bong Seok, but he also had a lot of fluid on him.

‘Poison.’

Jeon Pyeong frowned.

Come to think of it, he felt a little dizzy himself.

He had thought it was because of the sweet smell, but there was another reason.

Jeon Pyeong’s sword grew more cautious.

He now had to cut the enemy while avoiding their fluids.

On top of that, his juniors were in bad shape.

‘We need to pull back…’

But there were enemies on all sides.

Jeon Pyeong’s gaze turned to Seo Jong-dae.

Even Seo Jong-dae could not think of a way out.

So he shouted.

“Great Sahyuuung!”

He was calling out to Gyo-ha.

---

Gyo-ha, who had been separated from the group and was pulverizing enemies with his iron shackles, reacted to Seo Jong-dae’s call.

Enemies tried to block him, but he broke through quickly.

The instant he saw the group, he felt what he needed to do.

It was not something he understood in his head.

He realized it instinctively.

He stepped on the head of a charging child and leapt.

Flying Dragon Chasing Lightning.

Gyo-ha’s body became a streak of lightning and shot up into the air.

Once he rose into the air, the situation became clear.

Children gathered around the group.

They clogged the surroundings in a solid black ring.

Yet there was ground where no children stood.

Right around the tree.

Was it to avoid the fighting?

Or was there another reason?

Even the newborns that had fallen from the fruit were quickly crawling away from the tree.

By the time he had confirmed that, Gyo-ha’s body was already beginning to fall.

He twisted his body in midair.

The ground drew closer and closer.

The children reached their hands out to grab him.

What rose in his mind was a newly honed technique.

But he soon pushed it out of his mind.

That one could only be used with his feet on the ground.

Even now, the ground was approaching.

At that moment, Gyo-ha’s eyes flashed.

At the same time, both his hands traced circles.

Jade Dragon Eight Palms, second form.

Jade Dragon’s Regret.

Pung!

The Beggars’ Union’s proud palm art erupted from Gyo-ha’s hands.

With a shockwave, the children’s bodies were torn apart.

Gyo-ha rose from the mound of earth that had billowed up.

Watching that scene from afar, Jeon Pyeong swallowed hard.

It was exactly the same Jade Dragon Eight Palms that Bong Seok had used.

Its power, if anything, was greater.

He glanced back without thinking, but fortunately, Bong Seok was unconscious.

In the meantime, Gyo-ha broke through the enemies and reached the group.

He had killed so many that the sweet smell was now cloyingly thick.

“There are none of them by the tree.”

At Gyo-ha’s words, Seo Jong-dae and Jeon Pyeong’s faces hardened.

It was far too suspicious.

But they had no other choice.

“Young Master, open the way.”

Jeon Pyeong moved to carry Jeon Gwang on his back and support Jeon Hong.

But Jeon Hong shook his head.

“I can still fight.”

He was clearly exhausted, but the flame in his eyes was still burning.

With no choice, Jeon Pyeong nodded. At this point, even one more hand was precious.

“…So I am the one who has to carry this fellow?”

Seo Jong-dae looked at Bong Seok with a reluctant expression.

Neither Jeon Pyeong nor Jeon Hong replied.

Their faces were no different from Seo Jong-dae’s.

But they could not just leave him.

Seo Jong-dae slung Bong Seok over his back. It went without saying that his face twisted at the smell rising from Bong Seok’s body.

Seeing him like that, Jeon Pyeong seemed to feel bad and spoke.

“I will take the rear.”

With that, the group advanced with Gyo-ha in the lead.

---

Opening the way was not difficult.

Gyo-ha was like a storm.

He shattered everything that blocked his path. Unlike Seo Jong-dae or Jeon Pyeong, he showed no sign of caution.

“Is Young Master Gyo truly all right like that?”

The answer came from his side.

“He will be fine. He stuffs himself with poison all the time.”

“Ah.”

At Seo Jong-dae’s words, Jeon Pyeong and Jeon Hong nodded without thinking.

They had both experienced Gyo-ha’s recovery firsthand.

“Hm? What? I cannot hear you!”

Gyo-ha shouted as he swung his fists.

“It’s nothing. We are almost there. Just hold on a little longer.”

Even from the rear, he could tell. The number of enemies charging from the front was decreasing.

The end was not far.

Soon their view opened up. The attacks had stopped.

The group panted for breath.

When they turned their heads, they saw the great tree.

‘Can you even call this a tree…’

Divine Tree.

Seen up close, it was overwhelming.

But in truth, it was no Divine Tree at all, but a Demon Tree.

Jeon Hong collapsed where he stood.

He had finally reached his limit.

Seo Jong-dae tossed Bong Seok down as if throwing him.

After checking their foes, Jeon Pyeong also quietly sat down.

The enemies were brimming with hostility, yet they could not bring themselves to approach the group.

It was as if they were afraid to step into this place.

Seeing that stirred a new worry.

“We will catch our breath and then find a way.”

Puk.

“Jeon Hong, take some treatment medicine and start circulating your energy first. Give one pill to Young Master Seo as well.”

Puk.

“Yes, Sahyung.”

“Young Master Seo, you should circulate your energy as well. I will stand guard.”

Puk.

As he continued speaking, Jeon Pyeong frowned.

He had been hearing an irritating sound for a while.

He turned toward the source, and then he swallowed hard.

There he saw Gyo-ha smashing the falling fruits.

He would glance up at the tree, then hurl his body forward each time a fruit fell.

“What in the world…”

What was he even doing?

“Do not try to understand. That brat is just like that.”

He had called him Great Sahyung, then Gyo-ha, and now ‘that brat.’

At the freely changing way of addressing him, Jeon Pyeong let out a dry laugh.

Seo Jong-dae popped the medicine he had received from Jeon Hong into his mouth and sat down with a thump.

He was just about to begin circulating his energy when Gyo-ha suddenly stopped.

“…It’ll probably be useless?”

At his words, Seo Jong-dae opened the eyes he had closed.

Gyo-ha kicked one of the fruits lying on the ground.

“This place is absorbing qi.”

Gyo-ha was sensitive to qi, so he could tell. The air felt heavy and thick.

It was not just the air. It was trying to steal the qi within his body as well.

“If you start circulating, it will get sucked out even faster. Probably.”

He added ‘probably’ at the end, but his face was full of certainty.

Startled by his words, Jeon Pyeong quickly looked to the side.

As expected.

Cold sweat was running down Jeon Hong’s face as he sat in meditation.

He was in a worse state than before.

Jeon Pyeong hurriedly struck his pressure point, and Jeon Hong toppled over to the side.

At that sight, Seo Jong-dae quietly rose to his feet and closed his eyes.

It was not to circulate his energy, but to observe his own body.

Jeon Pyeong closed his eyes as well.

Then both of them opened their eyes at the same time.

“Our internal energy…”

“…is vanishing.”

Their voices overlapped.

Earlier they had been too exhausted to notice, but now they could tell clearly.

This ground was sucking in qi.

If anything could be called fortunate, it was that they were martial artists. Since childhood, they had stored qi in their dantians, so they were far fuller of energy than ordinary people.

But what would happen if they had no internal energy left.

The gazes of Jeon Pyeong and Seo Jong-dae turned to the pile of bones under the tree.

Looking closely, they saw it was not only human bones.

There were bones from all kinds of beasts, and even bones of shapes they could not identify.

Qi was the same as life force.

“Now we know why those things do not come here.”

He bit down hard on his lip.

The enemies had formed a ring around the tree.

So the group could not escape.

It was as if they wanted them to become food for the tree.

Now only three of them were still standing.

They could not even circulate their energy.

“A way…”

“There is one.”

It was Gyo-ha. He chuckled as he tapped the tree’s trunk.

“If this thing is the cause, we just have to deal with it.”

The answer was simple.

“And it’s the boss, right. Our master always said when there are many enemies, you take the head first.”

It was sound logic.

However.

“But how in the world…”

How were they supposed to destroy that enormous tree?

“With strength.”

At his words, they blinked.

“I tried it earlier. As long as you do not use internal energy, it’s fine.”

Had he smashed the falling fruits earlier just to confirm that.

Jeon Pyeong’s eyes widened.

Gyo-ha swung his fist at the tree.

Koong!

The leaves rustled, but all it left on the trunk was a dent.

“It really isn’t easy.”

Despite his words, Gyo-ha was smiling.

He glanced at the iron shackles on his arms and legs.

“…I just had these refitted.”

Clicking his tongue in regret, Gyo-ha stepped forward.

His body spun.

Soon the shackles on his arms slammed into the tree.

Kwaang!

This time it worked. A deep gouge was left behind.

Yet in terms of the whole tree, it was still tiny.

But the children surrounding them were in an uproar. Some rushed inward, then retreated again.

It meant Gyo-ha’s method was the right one.

“…We have no choice but to try.”

Jeon Pyeong drew his sword.

He could not infuse it with internal energy. The moment he did, his qi would be drained even faster.

Jeon Pyeong swung his sword.

The trunk was sliced in a long line, but the cut was only about two inches deep.

‘It’s hard.’

It was not like an ordinary tree.

Once again, he felt how formidable Gyo-ha was.

Even now, Gyo-ha was mindlessly smashing away at the tree.

Jeon Pyeong adjusted his grip on his sword.

“Step aside. At times like this, it is faster to aim for a point than a line.”

He turned his head at the voice behind him.

Seo Jong-dae was drawing Jeon Gwang’s sword from its scabbard.

Seo Jong-dae assumed a piercing stance.

It was a form Jeon Pyeong knew.

Seuk.

With the sound of slicing wind, Seo Jong-dae’s sword stabbed into the tree and slipped back out.

It was so swift they barely knew when it had struck.

The movement was unbelievably smooth.

“So you really are…!”

Jeon Pyeong recalled memories he had forgotten.

Why had he become a disciple of Kunlun?

Curiosity rose within him. Seo Jong-dae frowned under Jeon Pyeong’s gaze.

Understanding what that meant, Jeon Pyeong nodded.

“Right. That is not what matters right now.”

Jeon Pyeong raised his sword.

His target was the small gap Seo Jong-dae had made.

Soon, Mount Hua’s sword moved.

Kwajik.

From that gap, cracks began to spread.