Chapter 28. Twin Swords of the Wind and Clouds (3)
"Huh!"
The two Absolute Masters, the Palm Martial Emperor and the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor, had noticed since the beginning that Woo-Moon was acting strange. However, they hadn't expected him to suddenly jump forward.
Woo-Moon grabbed his sword as soon as his feet hit the ground.
Shaak!
A silver spark lit the air of the dark forest. The qi of the Forbidden Divine Art explosively ran through Woo-Moon's whole body. His near-infinite potential was being displayed, and his body was shouting at him that his meridians were too narrow to accommodate all that power.
Due to the partial metamorphosis that he had undergone, his meridians were much wider than other people's. Despite that, they were no match for the true potential of the Forbidden Divine Art, which was ferociously pushing his qi through his body. As a result, Woo-Moon's meridians expanded once again.
This time, however, there were no side effects. His body had already become strong enough to handle such changes.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
Like a raging river flooding and breaking dam after dam, the energy of the Forbidden Divine Art was concentrated on Woo-Moon's sword sword. The energy exploded brightly, skipping the steps of sword qi and sword threads and directly manifesting a bright golden sword aura.
The tip of Woo-Moon's sword danced splendidly. The image of the Gentle Celestial Sword came to his mind, engraved in Woo-Moon's mind. The wrath of the Forbidden Divine Art, set to destroy everything in its path, had cooled down, replaced by silent magnificence. The sword was quiet, but it was far more frightening than before.
Woo-Moon's sword carried a cold flame and energy as fierce as the north wind. The sword emanated a shriveling chill and flew toward the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor at a tremendous speed, intent on splitting everything apart.
There was nothing special about his technique at first glance, but the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor could vaguely see that there was something more to it than met the eye.
'What a sharp sword!'
Woo-Moon's attack looked simple and sharp, with snowflakes blooming from the tip of his sword.
The Northern Blizzard was another technique of the Gentle Celestial Sword Technique that was resonating from the tip of Woo-Moon's sword. It looked somewhat similar to the Raging Storm at a first glance, but it was completely different in nature.
If the Raging Storm was a technique that struck an opponent head-on, with all its might fully exposed, the Northern Blizzard was a simple and unassuming one. It was a quick, sharp attack that hid its potential in the shadows, an aspect that could only be noticed by an Absolute Master. Even the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor had to focus on it in order to recognize that there was something wrong with this attack.
The hidden energy of the sword was flying right at the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor's head.
"Insolent bastard!"
As he shouted, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor took out the Mad Devil Blood Fan he had tucked under his belt and unfolded it, activating one of his ultimate attacking techniques. Blood energy spurted out from the tip of his fan and quickly formed into qi threads. The qi threads wrapped around his entire body as the fan shot forward to meet Woo-Moon's attack.
BOOM!
Following a thunderous impact, Woo-Moon was blasted in the opposite direction like a cannonball.
Crack!
"Brother!" Seeing the scene, Woo-Gang used a lightness art and quickly propelled himself toward Woo-Moon.
On the other hand, Baek Sang-Woon chuckled. "How is it, Shit Cloud Piss Error? Isn't my grandson pretty decent?"
Hearing the mocking words of the Palm Martial Emperor, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor wiped his forehead and found that his hand was drenched in blood.
"You bastard....!"
A crazy murderous aura flashed in his eyes. At the same time, the blood that flowed from the wound moved backward, as if time itself was turned back, and returned to his forehead. The moment all the blood was collected, the wound on his forehead also closed itself, as if it had never been there.
Seeing that, the Palm Martial Emperor said coldly, "The Blood Devil Art is truly amazing. It has already transcended the human realm. Hey, bloody asshole, are you listening?"
However, the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor ignored the Palm Martial Emperor, staring with murderous intent at where Woo-Moon had flown. He had come here for the Palm Martial Emperor, and the fact that he had been injured by someone he thought of as an ant hurt his pride tremendously.
"Oi, bloody bastard! You've already become a public enemy of the murim, so I guess you're their dog now! Stop being so pathetic and fight me!" Yelling, Baek Sang-Woon rushed toward the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor.
"You punk!" The Blood Cloud Devil Emperor also shouted right back at the Palm Martial Emperor, then turned around to confront him.
Crack! Crack!
Woo-Moon broke a tree in half as he flew, then another one. He had been blasted back with such force that within a few moments, the fight scene was already way out of sight.
"Brother!"
Hearing the shout of his brother Woo-Gang, Woo-Moon came to his senses and quickly twisted in the air, using the Thousand-Catty Ballast technique to weigh himself down and fall to the ground—a technique he had learned from the Martial Arts Fundamentals.
"Uck!"
A sudden rush of pain told him that he had suffered an internal injury in that clash against the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor. Woo-Moon couldn't stop himself and continued to roll on the ground at tremendous speed. Finally, he crashed into a large tree and came to a halt as blood dripped from his mouth.
The cost of using a powerful offensive technique that surprised even the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor, one of the Six Rising Challengers, was more significant than he had expected. Woo-Moon's insides were a complete mess, and he was surprised that his trembling hand was still gripping the hilt of his sword.
His technique was above average, but Woo-Moon was still young and inexperienced, and his qi was by far not enough to bridge the formidable gap in strength between him and an Absolute Master.
After that one attack, it felt like the wrath that had taken over him had mostly dissipated.
After a few moments, Woo-Gang caught up and grabbed Woo-Moon's shoulders with both hands. "Brother, are you okay?"
'In the end, we're still brothers, huh.'
Now less angry at his brother, Woo-Moon replied, "I'm okay."
When he said that, something miraculous happened. The energy of the Forbidden Divine Art, which was still coursing through his body like a roaring river, suddenly headed toward Woo-Moon's internal injuries, repairing them to the extent that they were nothing more than minor inconveniences.
"Whew..." As he exhaled a short breath, Woo-Moon's slightly blurry vision cleared up like before.
Woo-Gang had just watched the situation earlier from the sidelines, unable to react in time. After confirming that his older brother was okay, Woo-Gang heaved a sigh of relief, then blushed in shame at his own lack of ability and coughed to hide his embarrassment.
Just then, the two of them heard the voice of their grandfather.
—I'll deal with the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor, so hurry and deal with the remaining scumbags. If you're late, the guild will be annihilated.
Their grandfather was right. The Blood Cloud Devil Emperor hadn't come alone. His subordinates' martial arts skills couldn't possibly be as good as the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor's, but they were definitely not just some run-of-the-mill mercenaries.
Woo-Moon hurriedly kicked the ground and headed toward the guild. His body moved forward almost by itself, and his movement technique was similar to that of the Gangho Solitary Stride, the lightness art of the Palm Martial Emperor, and also similar to that of the Night Spear Devil's Flowing Water Steps.
Woo-Gang was using the Hundred Divine Shifts of the Mount Hua Sect, and as he followed Woo-Moon, he thought, 'Did Grandfather teach him that lightness art? No...if he did, then why does it look so similar to the lightness art of the Spear Devil?'
In fact, Woo-Moon wasn't even aware of the technique he used. The only thing he knew was that the guild was in danger and he wanted to go there as quickly as possible. Thus, two of the best lightness arts he knew came to mind, and he unconsciously imitated them, eventually combining the two into one.
"The Blood Cloud Devil Emperor is dealing with the Palm Martial Emperor, so where did the other two guys go?" said one of the warriors in brown clothes who had accompanied the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor, killing one of the warriors of the guild.
"I'm not sure. Let's search for them after killing these guys."
Jo Mu-Jae, who had stepped out to protect Si-Hyeon, couldn't endure even a single blow, and he directly collapsed with grave internal injuries.
"Hey, isn't this woman quite beautiful? It's quite surprising that there is such a beautiful woman in this small countryside merchant guild."
Another man in brown clothes approached Si-Hyeon together with one of his comrades. "That's great. Let's kill them all and play with her for a while before sending her to the other world, haha."
"Shall we? I think the squad leader would like it too."
Hearing their words, Si-Hyeon bit her lip.
"First of all, don't hurt her. I'll seal her acupuncture points first."
The warrior in brown clothes stretched out his hand.
Si-Hyeon closed her eyes tightly and tried to pull out the dagger she had in her sleeve.
At that very moment, an angry roar resounded. "Bastard, how dare you lay your dirty hand on her!"
A fierce wind blew, and the man's hand fell off his wrist just as he was about to touch Si-Hyeon.
"Arrrrrrrrrrrgh!"
The lustful smiles of the warriors instantly vanished as Woo-Moon stood in front of Si-Hyeon, who needed all her willpower not to fall on her knees. In front of her eyes, Si-Hyeon could see a strong, reliable back protecting her.
Woo-Moon looked around with an angry expression. Warriors and porters of the Leebi Merchant Guild were lying on the ground covered in blood. Among the warriors, there were a few acquaintances of Woo-Moon's, from the same neighborhood. Some of them had actually bullied him back in the day, but all he knew right now was that his neighbors were dead in front of his eyes.
Si-Hyeon saw Woo-Moon's sword aura burst out as his anger lit up once more. "Young he—Woo-Moon. They are strong. You can't win alone, so please be careful."
Si-Hyeon was worried about Woo-Moon. She knew he had learned martial arts, but she didn't think his level would be all that high.
"No worries, I am an employee of the Leebi Merchant Guild. Since the guild is being attacked, I can't just sit here and worry about my own safety."
With a shout, Woo-Moon fired a Raging Wind at a warrior in brown clothes.
"Huck!" The warrior in brown clothes moved his sword to defend himself, but it was in vain. At his level, his eyes couldn't even properly capture the movements of the Raging Wind.
Swoosh!
Woo-Moon's sword separated the man's head from his body.
Pshhht!
Blood spurted out, and the warrior collapsed.
For Woo-Moon, this was his first kill. Indeed, he had taken down the Venomous Devil only a few days back, but that had been a mere coincidence. All he wanted to do was to save the people around him from the Devil Cloud, and the Venomous Devil just so happened to be in the way of his palm wind.
However, Woo-Moon didn't care. After all, his enemies brutally killed innocent and unrelated people, so he didn't feel any guilt in particular. If anything, he thought it would be blasphemy to the dead if he didn't kill these people.
"Who is this bastard?" The two warriors nearby rushed toward Woo-Moon.
Thud!
Woo-Moon used the Divine Phantasm Step.
'He disappeared!' The two warriors in brown clothes were startled when the opponent's silhouette suddenly faded and disappeared. But that feeling didn't last long.
A sword silently pierced the hearts of both people at the same time.
"Ugh!" Before they could even scream, they had lost their lives to Woo-Moon's North Wind.
Just like the Raging Storm, Woo-Moon couldn't consciously use the full Northern Blizzard. However, he was able to use the two techniques that made up the Northern Blizzard—North Wind and Cold Snow. With that, Woo-Moon could now use four techniques of the Gentle Celestial Sword.
"What the hell is he...?" murmured the man in brown robes leading the Blood Cloud Devil Emperor's hundred-strong force.
The warrior in black who was next to him said, "Didn't you say that the only one we had to be mindful of aside from the Palm Martial Emperor is Song Woo-Gang? Who the hell is that guy?"
Meanwhile, Woo-Moon engaged in an all-out fight with the warriors around him and killed two more. In addition, Woo-Gang also appeared on the battlefield.
"The Plum Blossom Swordsman is here!" The merchant guild cheered, sensing that their life-threatening crisis was about to be resolved.
On the other hand, Woo-Gang was also surprised. 'Who the hell are these people?'
Their martial arts skills were not poor. They seemed to be Second Class martial artists, and there were a full hundred of them! Furthermore, the two men that were watching from the back without intervening were strong enough that even he couldn't easily guarantee victory in a clash.
'The Blood Cloud Devil Emperor came together with these people? The Blood Cloud Devil Emperor is definitely a lone wolf. That's suspicious. What organization are they from? Are they from the Black Bull Gang or the Hegemon Clan, hiding their identities?'
Woo-Gang jumped into battle, but he quickly became distracted as he realized that Woo-Moon was also fighting. However, his concern was unfounded. In the time it took Woo-Gang to cut down the three warriors in brown blocking his path, Woo-Moon incapacitated five of them.
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