Welcoming The Guest. (1)

The atmosphere of the Defeating Blade Clan had changed greatly.

With an impenetrable guard, an unprecedented tension overflowed.

Except for the Clan leader’s office.

Baek Gyu, sitting across from Yu Jinsan, kept grinning.

“Ha! Truly congratulations, brother. But how did you break through the Supreme realm’s barrier?”

Yu Jinsan, who had appeared after a few days, showing up as a Supreme-realm warrior, naturally brought joy.

He looked genuinely congratulatory.

“It happened unintentionally. I received a massage and attained enlightenment, so I awakened.”

“You said a massage? Come on, does that even make sense?”

Enlightenment to the Supreme realm was a fateful opportunity granted only to the chosen; Baek Gyu himself had only reached it after twenty years of effort.

That he obtained enlightenment casually while getting a massage was hard to believe.

Baek Gyu’s reaction was natural; even Yu Jinsan couldn’t rationally understand it.

“Whether you believe it or not, it’s a fact. At that time I experienced paradise.”

“Was the masseur the Buddha himself? Or a celestial maiden descended from the heavens?”

Yu Jinsan chuckled at his joke.

“Well, you weren’t far off. That masseur was actually my granddaughter, prettier than any celestial maiden.”

At that moment Baek Gyu slapped his hands once and laughed heartily.

“Ha! Well I’ll be damned. Seol had such talent?”

“She’s a child with innate talent and sense. From birth, she’s different from us.”

“Ha! I agree. I guarantee she’s unprecedented in martial arts history.”

“By the way, are you laughing at a time like this?”

Soon the Blood Death Guest would come to challenge the Defeating Blade Clan.

But Baek Gyu’s face showed not a shred of nervousness.

“As you said, he already refused the challenge; what’s there to worry about?”

“Still, he’ll surely come here to attack.”

“Hmm. That’s troublesome, what should we do?”

Yu Jinsan glanced at his Dragon Slaying Spear standing beside him and said.

“I’ll fight alongside you.”

“For real, over this matter?”

“Is there some problem with that?”

Though he had refused the challenge, coming to fight made it no issue.

Yet his expression was uneasy.

“Still, isn’t it a bit cowardly in front of the kids?”

“Ridiculous. Since when did the Evil factions ever fight so honorably?”

Baek Gyu had no rebuttal.

There was no choice anyway; having been defeated by the Kunlun Martial Emperor, he couldn’t hope to win alone.

After a moment of thought, he nodded in agreement.

“True enough. Compared to the Justice Faction these days, this isn’t even cowardly. I’ll do as you say.”

A faint smile appeared on Yu Jinsan’s face.

“Good thinking. Do you know the best way to shorten one’s lifespan in the martial world? It’s obsessing over honor.”

“That’s true. You’ll probably survive to the end, brother.”

They both grabbed their bellies and laughed together.

After a while Yu Jinsan stopped laughing and spoke again.

“The one who survives to the end is the victor. In any case, I don’t know if the two of us can manage it.”

“No matter how great he is, can he handle two Supreme-realm warriors?”

“We know nothing about the Heavenly nations (India) martial arts. Those who studied them are the Blue Dragon Troops, and they’re our enemies.”

There was some chance, but it couldn’t be seen as an outright advantage.

They needed additional preparations just in case.

“But Seol isn’t here now, right? It’s dangerous to pull in other kids.”

Yu Jinsan said quietly with a meaningful look.

“Isn’t there one person here?”

“You don’t mean… the monk?”

“That’s right. If necessary, we could even get the monk’s help.”

Including Baek Gyu, Jeong Hye, and himself, there would be three Supreme-realm experts.

What would they have to fear?

“If the three of us are together, no one who attacks will be a problem.”

“Hmm. I agree with you as well.”

All that remained was to wait.

Baek Gyu’s expression brightened further.

“Shouldn’t we tell the monk about this as well?”

“Hmm. Not yet. Since the enemy is in Heavenly India, he might run wild and ruin things.”

“He wouldn’t listen to me anyway. Only you can control him.”

Yu Jinsan snorted; he imagined Baek Gyu being at the mercy of Jeong Hye.

Though his mind wasn’t entirely normal, he was the master of Hye Gwang, the greatest master of Shaolin at the time, and an incredible expert.

“I’ll handle the monk. You evacuate the disciples and kids to the back; don’t let them get dragged into harm.”

“Understood, hyung. I was just thinking the same.”

As Baek Gyu and Yu Jinsan rose from their seats,

Their expressions suddenly went cold.

“…Did you just feel that too?”

Baek Gyu answered, grabbing his twin blades from the wall of the office.

“It seems he came a step early.”

“Go see what’s happening.”

At that moment, a deathly scream was heard from somewhere.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“Do you think you’ll get away with this?”

The Defeating Blade Clan disciples hesitated at the entrance because of a single uninvited guest.

He wore a monk’s robe, but his appearance was extremely strange.

With dark skin and thick prayer beads around his neck, his face was marked with blood-red patterns that were terrifying.

And in each hand he held a ring-like weapon—a sharp hoop-type armament not used in the Central Plains.

“I’ve come to challenge. Where is the head of the Defeating Blade Clan?”

His speech was clumsy, but he was definitely using the Central Plains’ language.

One of the clan disciples stepped before him.

“Our Clan leader said he has no intention to duel. So please go back—”

He couldn’t finish; suddenly a blood vessel burst in his throat.

Many watched, but none could understand why.

The disciples froze and couldn’t move.

Then the strange monk took another step forward.

Thud!

At that moment two more disciples collapsed with screams.

Only bloodstains clung to the sharp rings in his hands. No one saw his attack properly.

Everyone was aghast at the overwhelming gap in martial skill.

The disciples stepped back in instinctive terror.

Perhaps because the commotion grew, a group armed with weapons rushed in from somewhere.

They were children, not yet adults, but their movements and momentum overwhelmed the clan disciples.

“What’s going on!?”

“Uncle, get up quickly!”

“You bastard!”

Seeing the disciples’ corpses, the children’s eyes filled with murderous intent.

It was a fierce look that death did not frighten them.

It was the opposite of the official disciples who had been terrified.

Perhaps unsurprising—they were exceptional children who had survived Mount Emei’s hellish training and escaped.

Among them was Cheong Pung, the most skilled.

Then the expressionless monk showed interest for the first time.

“So they really do exist—the Blue Dragon Troops.”

For some reason he immediately recognized the children’s identity.

But that wasn’t the important thing now.

Cheong Pung stepped to the center, drew his sword onto his shoulder, and shouted.

“Chaos Killing Sword Formation!”

It was a formation taught by the Blue Dragon Troops at Mount Emei’s training grounds.

The children gathered around Cheong Pung and adopted formation positions.

A spectacle unfolded as sword auras surged from everyone’s blades; some even emitted sword-qi beams.

The monk’s expression subtly changed as he watched.

“You all will have to die today.”

It meant he intended to eliminate all future trouble.

The stunned disciples mustered courage and took positions around the children.

At the moment tension peaked,

a furious shout erupted from somewhere.

“Black-faced bastard!”

A golden beam swept over from the rear of the children and struck the monk.

It was as fast as a lightning strike.

The unexpected ambush forced the monk’s feet to skid along the ground.

But he appeared unscathed.

The newcomer was the renegade monk Jeong Hye. He thrust his fist straight forward.

Just as he and the monk faced off,

Baek Gyu and Yu Jinsan arrived in succession.

“Everyone, fall back!”

With firm reinforcements arriving, relief showed on everyone’s faces.

In contrast, the previously confident monk showed some tension.

“Hwang Gyun!”

At Baek Gyu’s shout, one of the disciples ran over and bowed his head.

He was the highest-ranking disciple here.

“It’ll be over soon; take the kids and hide away. Go somewhere out of sight.”

When Hwang Gyun blew the whistle, disciples and children withdrew like a receding tide.

No one questioned or hesitated.

With everyone gone in an instant, only four remained in the manor’s front yard.

Baek Gyu gripped his twin blades and stepped forward with blazing eyes.

“I am Baek Gyu, the clan leader. Did you dare kill our kids?”

The monk didn’t answer; he inspected the three one by one.

He was likely gauging whether he had a chance of victory.

At that moment Yu Jinsan was stealthily approaching Jeong Hye.

“Is that him? The bad guy my little brother mentioned.”

He was asking if the arch-enemy who drove him mad was the monk before them.

Jeong Hye shook his head with a grimace.

“He looks similar, but that’s not him. His face should be darker!”

“Hmm. Still, if they look the same, we’d call him a friend, right?”

“Yeah, a friend! A bad friend!”

“Then shall we catch this one and ask where he is?”

“Got it, hyung!”

There were as many as three Supreme-realm warriors.

Among them was Jeong Hye, comparable to the top ten martial masters.

Even so, the monk wasn’t flustered; only slightly stiff.

He opened his mouth in a clumsy voice.

“I came to duel. I will fight one-on-one.”

He had killed three disciples and yet demanded one-on-one duels.

It was utterly outrageous.

Baek Gyu looked at Yu Jinsan in disbelief.

There was an easy path; why take the risk? No need to ponder even a moment.

“He’s mad; just ignore him.”

“I planned to do the same.”

The strongest, Jeong Hye, took the monk head-on.

Baek Gyu and Yu Jinsan stealthily moved to the sides.

But he still didn’t seem inclined to flee.

He merely clasped his hands and chanted strange sutras without pause.

There was no reason to delay further.

Baek Gyu, about to lead the attack, suddenly flinched.

Because red currents suddenly emanated from the monk’s entire body.

It was a grotesque sight, as if blood-mist was gushing from his pores.

At that moment, an immense pressure he had never felt before emanated from him.

It was breath-taking in intensity.

Lowering his stance and preparing to charge, Baek Gyu asked,

“Jinsan hyung, have you ever seen a martial art like this?”

“I don’t know what it is either. Be careful for now.”