Chapter 111

Yeom Sang’s eyes, which had always pretended to be relaxed, glinted viciously.
Ju Ok-hwa’s voice transmission came through.

[End it as fast as you can. Dragging this out with Seventh Young Lord’s condition is impossible.]

I was going to anyway.
Even with Ju Ok-hwa standing by right next to me, dragging the fight out was impossible.
There were too many problems.
The most fatal ones were the True Blood Severed Meridians nearing its limit time, and the aftermath of Revolving Annihilation, but those didn’t even need explaining.
Besides that, there were two more.
First, the wound on my left shoulder from Du Jung-baek.
Ju Ok-hwa had stopped the bleeding, but if it got aggravated, there was a high chance it would open up again.
My empty dantian was also a problem.
During treatment earlier, Ju Ok-hwa made me take some unknown medicine.
Thanks to that, I’d gained a little over a year’s worth of internal energy, but even so, a drawn-out fight was impossible.

‘I have to end it in a single blow.’

To do that, I had to conserve my internal energy and strength and wait for him to come in.

“Everyone praises the Seventh Young Lord’s martial arts in unison, saying they are formidable.”

Yeom Sang said as he drew a weapon from inside his clothes.
It was an iron fan giving off a faint gleam.
When he snapped his arm and opened the iron fan, a sharp metallic ring echoed.

“But that ends today. I will make you realize what happens when you put lies in your mouth. I’m looking forward to seeing how long that body will endure. Heh heh.”

A laugh slipped out before I knew it.

‘Always with the bluster.’

The Demon Bell Geuk Clan’s specialties were saber arts and fan arts.
Rumors even said both arts had reached an extreme pinnacle.
But that essence was for the Geuk Clan alone.
For those who didn’t share their blood, like Yeom Sang, they passed down a degraded version with the level greatly lowered.

And yet Yeom Sang swung that iron fan, deluding himself into thinking he was a true member of the Demon Bell Geuk Clan.
A man who only put on expensive silk clothes when Geuk Mu-hyeok wasn’t around, and used degraded martial arts while pretending to be a big shot.
That was Yeom Sang.
If he was going to be at the same realm anyway, learning saber arts would have been far better than fan arts, whose use was trickier and whose effective range was shorter, yet he insisted on fan arts.

‘Come at me all you want.’

I drew the cold-iron dagger.
Yeom Sang lowered his stance and moved left and right like a snake stalking prey.
It was meant to make it impossible to predict when and how he would attack, but I’d already experienced his fan arts many times.
Geuk Mu-hyeok had him fight me for one quarter of an hour.
Afterward, he meant to toy with me when I couldn’t use internal energy because of the True Blood Severed Meridians.
Back then, I truly wanted to kill them both.
I didn’t know that experience would become useful later.

“Chaat!”

Yeom Sang, who had been watching me carefully, finally charged in.

‘It’s Snake Shadow Fan Art (蛇影扇法).’

I recognized the move he was using immediately.
Twin Serpents Strangling.
A method where he attacked while gripping the fan with both hands, like two snakes constricting a neck.

Generally, fan arts are said to have two advantages.
You can open and close the fan to vary the shape of attacks.
And because the weapon itself is light and short, you can create more changes with less force.
Yeom Sang’s choice was the exact opposite.
An extremely aggressive move focused only on power rather than variation.
Like me, Yeom Sang didn’t seem to have any intention of dragging the fight out.

‘Did he decide this based on instinct?’

For someone exhausted like me, it was easier to deal with an iron fan that carried less force.
I didn’t know whether Yeom Sang acted with that in mind.

Jjaejaejaeng-!

The iron fan traced a crescent and surged toward my solar plexus.
Sword Eye clearly caught its trajectory.
With minimal movement, I twisted my body and let the attack slide past.
The iron fan cut through empty air.
But as if he expected it, Yeom Sang crouched and swung the iron fan in from my left.

Kkang!

I knocked the iron fan aside with the cold-iron dagger.
My grip tingled from the internal energy infused into the iron fan.

“For the sake of the First Young Lord, accept it obediently!”
“Do you think I’m crazy?”

Yeom Sang was utterly relentless.
Even a slave of a great house is better than most, and thanks to the crumbs he’d picked up from the Demon Bell Geuk Clan, he had a fair amount of internal energy.
In his own way, he’d even reached a level hovering between mid-Peak Realm and late-Peak Realm.
Up to now, most of the people he faced were likely weaklings who collapsed helplessly because of that.

‘This isn’t enough.’

I let each of Yeom Sang’s attacks slide by while waiting for the perfect opening.
When the iron fan cut through the air for the sixth time, impatience surfaced on his face.
It wasn’t like I was fine either.
I’d only been dodging, yet my shoulder had started to throb. It showed signs it would split open again soon.

“It seems the rumors about Seventh Young Lord were exaggerated. You can’t even counterattack, and you only run away!”

Becoming talkative meant the situation wasn’t going his way.
He unleashed a few more attacks, then changed his strategy as if it just wouldn’t work.
He abandoned power and chose variation.

Chaeng!

The folded iron fan moved with a loud clatter.
Trajectories wriggling like snakes, true to the art’s name, came flying in from all sides.
I didn’t like the man, but for someone using a degraded martial art, he wasn’t bad.
An ordinary person would have gotten dizzy and failed to respond properly.
But it didn’t work on me.

“How long do you plan to keep running away!”

Yeom Sang’s face twisted.
He realized changing strategies was useless.
Repeated failures breed impatience.

“That’s strange. The Geuk Clan’s fan arts can’t possibly be this sloppy, can they? Is it because this is a degraded version?”

I provoked him with a grin.
Yeom Sang’s face flushed as if it might burst in an instant.

“How dare someone like Seventh Young Lord act like he knows anything!”

On impulse, he threw down a decisive gambit.
The iron fan swung powerfully and snapped fully open.

‘This is it.’

The moment I’d been waiting for arrived.
Serpent Head Splitting Heaven.
The ultimate move of Snake Shadow Fan Art.
A move that pours out three consecutive attacks at once.
First, he cuts the neck with the opened fan, then uses that momentum to close the fan and stab a vital point. Then he opens it again and delivers the final strike.
Usually you get caught by the first attack, or even if you dodge it, you get caught by the follow-up thrust.

Shuuk!

The sharp fan edge surged toward my neck.
I pulled my left foot back and leaned my head slightly away.
The fan edge grazed beneath my chin.
He tried to fold the iron fan for the second attack.
But then my right hand moved.

Pajik!

“……!”

Yeom Sang’s eyes widened in pain.
Because the cold-iron dagger had pierced straight through the iron fan’s handle, hand and all.
The thrust and the final slash were neutralized before they even began.

I let go of the cold-iron dagger and grabbed him by the collar instead.
I yanked him in and drove my knee into his dantian.
Puk.
Yeom Sang’s body folded like a shrimp.

‘Weak.’

I didn’t stop, striking repeatedly around his dantian.

Puk!

Still not enough.
I gathered what little internal energy I had, loaded it into my knee, and planted my other foot firmly on the ground.

Ppaak!

“Aaaagh!”

Yeom Sang screamed and rolled on the floor.
Clutching his abdomen, spitting blood.
His dantian had been destroyed.

‘Too bad for you, but they’re all moves I know.’

Like I said earlier, the fan art Yeom Sang learned was a degraded version missing its essence.
And not only that, I also knew the original, Dragon Roar Fan, well. Just like the names ‘snake’ and ‘dragon,’ the art’s completeness and power were on a completely different level.
Even in my current poor condition, I could win against this much.

“…….”

No sound could be heard except Yeom Sang’s screaming and rolling on the ground.
The Demon Bell Geuk Clan’s warriors hesitated.
They seemed torn over whether they should save Yeom Sang or not.

“Kgh… I… am… the Demon Bell Geuk Clan’s chief steward…! The First Young Lord will not leave you alone…!”
“No matter what I do, Geuk Mu-hyeok won’t leave me alone anyway.”

I pinned his body with my right foot and raised my arm.
Then I flipped his sleeve inside out.

“Wow, gold thread. It really was clothing from Thousand Hues Brocade House.”

I said with a grin.
Murmurs rose among the Demon Bell Geuk Clan warriors.

“What Seventh Young Lord said was true!”
“Did Chief Steward Yeom really siphon money on the side?”

I looked at Du Jung-baek and asked.

“Did you know? Inside the Guardian Court, there are going to be quite a lot of unreasonable dealings.”
“…I will root them out.”

A heavy expression.
I turned my head back toward Yeom Sang.
By then, he’d already fainted from the pain.

“With the money you embezzled, you should’ve bought a fan instead of clothes.”

I pulled out the cold-iron dagger and stood.
I shifted my gaze to Jang Seong-chan.

“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Take him and get out.”
“…Yes.”
“And tell him not to show his face around the Guardian Court again.”

Jang Seong-chan slung Yeom Sang over his shoulder like baggage.
The Demon Bell Geuk Clan’s warriors left in a rush after him.
Inside, I felt good.
In my past life, I’d beaten up a lot of the bastards who’d made me angry. Except for a few, including Geuk Mu-hyeok.
But those memories alone couldn’t overcome the rage of reunion.
I’d gotten proper revenge once more, so I could finally set down the grudge that belonged to Yeom Sang.

I spoke to Du Jung-baek.

“You’ll be busy from here on out.”
“I will. I’ll have to cut off one limb.”

He meant the people Geuk Mu-hyeok had planted.

“It’ll hurt for now, but in the long run it’ll be much better.”
“Seventh Young Lord is truly decisive. You seem like the type to quickly accomplish whatever you set your mind to.”
“I am.”

I replied with a smile.
Du Jung-baek’s face, which had still held conflict until just a moment ago, no longer showed any hesitation. He looked refreshed.
He wouldn’t shrink under Geuk Mu-hyeok’s shadow anymore.

‘I didn’t expect things to go this well.’

Du Jung-baek, the Guardian Court Master.
I’d torn off one of the limbs that had moved for Geuk Mu-hyeok in my past life.
We would’ve had to clash someday, but I used this as an opportunity and made him entirely my ally.
For Geuk Mu-hyeok, it would be news that made his blood run backward.

[Good grief. I can’t live like this.]

Just then, Ju Ok-hwa came over with a deep sigh.
Why?
There shouldn’t be any problem—

‘There is?’

My shoulder felt hot, and the stopped bleeding came undone.
Ju Ok-hwa clicked her tongue and started to stop the bleeding with rough hands.

“Ah. That hurts.”

Ju Ok-hwa pretended not to hear and pressed harder.
Im Yeon, burning with loyalty, wasn’t about to stay still.

“Be gentle. You’re making the young lord uncomfortable!”
“If he’s uncomfortable, what then? He has to endure it. There won’t be a physician to fix him besides me.”
“…?”

Im Yeon tilted her head.
It was a voice she’d heard somewhere many times, but because of the disguise, she seemed unsure who it was.

“So now you’re following Seventh Young Lord around.”
“If you do good deeds, they all come back to you.”
“Good deeds have limits. Isn’t it understandable to refuse treatment to someone who keeps getting seriously injured like it’s on purpose?”

Im Yeon’s head stopped dead.
As she listened, she finally seemed to realize who this person was.
She stammered as she spoke.

“D-don’t tell me… Ink—”
“That’s right. Ink-Needle Hall Master.”
“Hk! I-I’m sorry!”
“Pretend you don’t know.”
“Yes, yes.”

And just like that, the incident surrounding the guards and the Guardian Court came to an end.

‘It’s about time Ak Mu-jin’s whereabouts come to light.’

Now that he’d lost the Guardian Court, I didn’t know what kind of move Geuk Mu-hyeok would make next.
So it would be better to gather everyone before that, but there was no news at all.

‘Where the hell is he?’

Four days later, the Ghost-Face Unit contacted me.
They said they had found Ak Mu-jin and the Longevity Ten’s whereabouts.

Inside a room with a modest interior.
A young man was reading a letter.
Before him, someone with an extremely faint presence knelt on one knee.

“Hm. The Guardian Court was taken over?”

The letter detailed the incidents that had occurred within the cult over the past few days.
Especially those involving Baek Su-gyeong, the Guardian Court, and Yeom Sang.

“Disappointing.”

A calm voice.
It was regrettable, but not fatal.
He still had plenty of pieces he could hold and shake around.

Yeom Sang?
He didn’t spare a single thought for that man.
Unlike how the man claimed to be his confidant, to him, Yeom Sang was merely a tool that could be discarded once broken.
Rather than that, strong interest rose in Baek Su-gyeong.

‘He keeps slipping out of dangerous situations, again and again?’

That wasn’t all.
He even turned crises around and created situations highly advantageous for himself.
Despite achieving quite a few results within mere months of joining.
Despite receiving reports that he’d defeated those beneath him one by one.
The man hadn’t taken Baek Su-gyeong seriously.
Because he thought he was still a greenhorn.
But it seemed he needed to revise that view, at least a little.

‘It is about time a proper example appeared.’

If he moved personally, Baek Su-gyeong wouldn’t be able to breathe from that day on, but unfortunately, he couldn’t return to the Divine Cult right away.
There were far too many seeds he had planted here.
If he’d revealed himself during the Sacred Fire Festival, maybe, but now wasn’t the right time.

‘Should I move the third?’

The man knew Gu Cheong-won well.
Unlike his naive-looking exterior, he possessed something terrifying.
Someone like Baek Su-gyeong could be dealt with well within that man’s bounds.

“Baek Su-gyeong.”

The man quietly repeated the name of the junior martial brother whose face he hadn’t even seen yet.

“It is time for your speech!”

Just then, a voice came from outside the door.
The man answered that he understood and rose from his seat.
The subordinate who had brought the letter had already vanished.

“The weather is fine.”
“Truly so.”

He headed for the great hall, bathed in dazzling sunlight.
As he passed, the martial artists he met bowed politely when they saw him.
Arriving at the great hall, the man stepped onto the podium with a gentle smile.
Those who looked at him with bright eyes of admiration.
Shaolin, Wudang, Mount Hua, Namgung…….
The junior talents boasted by the Nine Great Sects and the Six Great Clans.
The man stood before them.

“Now, the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly Leader, Great Hero Ho, will begin his speech.”

Not as Geuk Mu-hyeok, the Divine Cult’s First Young Lord, but as the Orthodox faction’s most promising top junior talent.