Chapter 77: Shura Never Retreat (3)

Across the Nine Provinces under heaven, there was only one person known to have reached the Mysterious Realm.

The Alliance Leader—Sword Sovereign Namgung Ak.

Those known to have reached the Transformation Realm numbered around ten.

So if you included the unexposed experts of the Demonic Cult and the unorthodox, and the reclusive eccentrics...

Even then, it probably wouldn’t exceed thirty.

So how many experts had reached Transcendent Apex?

It wouldn’t exceed five hundred.

And once you dropped down to Apex, there were so many you couldn’t even count them.

Only five hundred in the martial world of the Central Plains.

Does that sound like a lot?

The population of these Central Plains was estimated at around one hundred million.

Five hundred out of one hundred million.

And that meant one of those five hundred was the fourteen-year-old girl standing in front of him.

“Is that really true?”

“I’m only at the threshold, but yes.”

“...Could you show me?”

So shocked he kept slipping out of formal speech, Yang Goeng realized too late that his words might sound like doubt.

But Soyak had already drawn her sword.

“I’m not trying to doubt you...”

“It’s fine.”

Light filled the blade of Falling Blossom Tranquil Edge.

When the constellation of the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions of the Three Origins filled one by one with radiance...

Sword Qi like heat haze spread along the blade.

Soyak gave the sword a light swing.

Even though the blade didn’t reach, the stem of the hydrangea set in the water jar was severed.

Just from being touched by that haze.

It was unmistakably Sword Qi.

“Primordial Heavenly Worthy—good heavens...”

“Were you originally a Daoist?”

“Ah—when I was young, my father was, um...”

Yang Goeng couldn’t close his hanging mouth.

Of course, you couldn’t judge strength by internal energy realm alone.

The world was full of strange things.

There were real cases where someone who couldn’t even draw out a sliver of Sword Light killed an Apex martial artist.

Especially in recent years, it was becoming more common.

Because great sects and clans force-fed their descendants elixirs.

They’d have massive inner power, and they’d be taught insights to use Sword Light—

But how many young “talents” reached Apex without ever killing a person even once?

Under the Sword Sovereign’s rule, the martial world had grown wealthy and peaceful...

And in exchange, it had lost its edge.

But that only applied to Apex experts.

To reach Transcendent Apex at fourteen?

Even if you searched through all martial world history, it was rare.

Even the Sword Sovereign hadn’t reached Transcendent Apex at that age.

“...Young Hero, have you ever fought a life-or-death duel?”

Even so, he had to ask.

Because the other person was a fourteen-year-old girl.

How many people lost their minds the first time they were drenched in hot blood?

“You mean, have I ever killed someone?”

“...Yes.”

Soyak counted quietly in her mind.

She had killed Ak Seowon, the Flame-Saber General.

She had killed the assassin who stabbed her Head Senior.

The sensation of splitting bone and flesh...

It didn’t leave her.

“Two.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ve killed two people so far.”

Yang Goeng stared into Soyak’s eyes as she said it without emotion.

Strange eyes.

Even though the room was bright, her black pupils were dark and empty.

Like the eyes of the dead...

“I understand that you’re worried about me, Branch Hall Leader.”

“Huh? Y-yes. Th-that’s right.”

“But a martial artist is someone who wears a blade.”

“...Yes?”

Soyak rose from her seat.

Sword Qi settled down from the sword in her hand.

Slowly, she put the sword back into the scabbard.

Very slowly.

Yang Goeng noticed the longsword in Soyak’s hand wasn’t an ordinary thing.

A Third Generation disciple of Mount Hua?

Something more than that—something hidden in this small girl’s past.

But now wasn’t the time to pry into that.

“Before I’m a girl, I’m a martial artist. If drawing a sword and cutting people was something you wouldn’t do, then no one would ever become a martial artist.”

“...That’s true.”

A sword is a thing made to cut people.

Unlike other tools...

It’s a tool made for one purpose only: killing.

So anyone who wears a sword is someone prepared to kill.

“I came because I want help from you, Branch Hall Leader.”

“What help?”

“An estimate of the Sura Unit’s and Yacha Blood Gate’s scale.”

CLICK.

Only now did Falling Blossom Tranquil Edge fully vanish into the scabbard.

Soyak sat back down slowly.

“Can you help me?”

“Young Hero. The Beggar Union’s information is expensive. And information about the scale of specific forces is usually top secret.”

“I know.”

Soyak looked Yang Goeng straight in the eye.

That black gaze looking up at her—

In that unmeasurable, boundless darkness, Yang Goeng felt it.

He was going to lose this negotiation.

“But information about me is expensive, too, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean...?”

“I know myself well. Mount Hua’s qilin who defeated the Namgung Clan’s Young Head. If someone like me has reached a certain realm, that’s information a lot of people would be interested in.”

Yang Goeng’s face drained pale.

He’d been had.

From the moment this little girl chose to hand him that information—

“You’ll have to settle accounts for me, Branch Hall Leader.”

Information about someone’s strength was expensive.

The more the martial world’s eyes were on them—

And the more their future was anticipated—

The more expensive it became.

He had no way out.

*****

Deep in Yacha Valley, Mount Meng, southern Shandong.

A man stood before Yacha Blood Gate’s signboard.

A gaunt body, and a Great Curved Blade that didn’t match him.

The blade was thin, but the vicious curve was beyond ominous.

And the edge was blood-red, as if it had soaked in blood.

Just like his cruel nature.

“The Mount Hua brats are with them?”

“Yes, Commander.”

He was the Blood Sword Commander.

The Night Ghost, Ju Heung-a.

An unorthodox expert just stepping into Transcendent Apex.

A figure infamous for freely whipping around his Great Curved Blade and tearing people’s limbs apart.

“Looks like they want to die.”

“But if we kill them, Mount Hua...”

“No. Mount Hua probably won’t be able to spare attention for us.”

“Yes?”

“I heard something from those Demonic Cult bastards. Heh-heh-heh...”

Night Ghost Ju Heung-a.

He was closer than anyone to the Sura Unit.

Because his ferocity and cruelty matched theirs so well.

“Are you saying Shaanxi is in chaos too?”

“Not yet. More like it will be soon.”

“How would they know that...”

“How would I know?”

Soon, Blood Sword Unit members began gathering under Yacha Blood Gate’s signboard.

Ju Heung-a counted heads with his eyes and checked if everyone had arrived.

“Good. Everyone’s here.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Tonight, we strike the Ak Family first. Remember it. The goal is to make the enemy unable to rest!”

“Yes, sir!!!”

*****

Episode 77. Shura Never Retreat (3)

Across the Nine Provinces under heaven, there was only one person known to have reached the Mysterious Realm.

The Alliance Leader—Sword Sovereign Namgung Ak.

Those known to have reached the Transformation Realm numbered around ten.

So if you included the unexposed experts of the Demonic Cult and the unorthodox, and the reclusive eccentrics...

Even then, it probably wouldn’t exceed thirty.

So how many experts had reached Transcendent Apex?

It wouldn’t exceed five hundred.

And once you dropped down to Apex, there were so many you couldn’t even count them.

Only five hundred in the martial world of the Central Plains.

Does that sound like a lot?

The population of these Central Plains was estimated at around one hundred million.

Five hundred out of one hundred million.

And that meant one of those five hundred was the fourteen-year-old girl standing in front of him.

“Is that really true?”

“I’m only at the threshold, but yes.”

“...Could you show me?”

So shocked he kept slipping out of formal speech, Yang Goeng realized too late that his words might sound like doubt.

But Soyak had already drawn her sword.

“I’m not trying to doubt you...”

“It’s fine.”

Light filled the blade of Falling Blossom Tranquil Edge.

When the constellation of the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions of the Three Origins filled one by one with radiance...

Sword Qi like heat haze spread along the blade.

Soyak gave the sword a light swing.

Even though the blade didn’t reach, the stem of the hydrangea set in the water jar was severed.

Just from being touched by that haze.

It was unmistakably Sword Qi.

“Primordial Heavenly Worthy—good heavens...”

“Were you originally a Daoist?”

“Ah—when I was young, my father was, um...”

Yang Goeng couldn’t close his hanging mouth.

Of course, you couldn’t judge strength by internal energy realm alone.

The world was full of strange things.

There were real cases where someone who couldn’t even draw out a sliver of Sword Light killed an Apex martial artist.

Especially in recent years, it was becoming more common.

Because great sects and clans force-fed their descendants elixirs.

They’d have massive inner power, and they’d be taught insights to use Sword Light—

But how many young “talents” reached Apex without ever killing a person even once?

Under the Sword Sovereign’s rule, the martial world had grown wealthy and peaceful...

And in exchange, it had lost its edge.

But that only applied to Apex experts.

To reach Transcendent Apex at fourteen?

Even if you searched through all martial world history, it was rare.

Even the Sword Sovereign hadn’t reached Transcendent Apex at that age.

“...Young Hero, have you ever fought a life-or-death duel?”

Even so, he had to ask.

Because the other person was a fourteen-year-old girl.

How many people lost their minds the first time they were drenched in hot blood?

“You mean, have I ever killed someone?”

“...Yes.”

Soyak counted quietly in her mind.

She had killed Ak Seowon, the Flame-Saber General.

She had killed the assassin who stabbed her Head Senior.

The sensation of splitting bone and flesh...

It didn’t leave her.

“Two.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ve killed two people so far.”

Yang Goeng stared into Soyak’s eyes as she said it without emotion.

Strange eyes.

Even though the room was bright, her black pupils were dark and empty.

Like the eyes of the dead...

“I understand that you’re worried about me, Branch Hall Leader.”

“Huh? Y-yes. Th-that’s right.”

“But a martial artist is someone who wears a blade.”

“...Yes?”

Soyak rose from her seat.

Sword Qi settled down from the sword in her hand.

Slowly, she put the sword back into the scabbard.

Very slowly.

Yang Goeng noticed the longsword in Soyak’s hand wasn’t an ordinary thing.

A Third Generation disciple of Mount Hua?

Something more than that—something hidden in this small girl’s past.

But now wasn’t the time to pry into that.

“Before I’m a girl, I’m a martial artist. If drawing a sword and cutting people was something you wouldn’t do, then no one would ever become a martial artist.”

“...That’s true.”

A sword is a thing made to cut people.

Unlike other tools...

It’s a tool made for one purpose only: killing.

So anyone who wears a sword is someone prepared to kill.

“I came because I want help from you, Branch Hall Leader.”

“What help?”

“An estimate of the Sura Unit’s and Yacha Blood Gate’s scale.”

CLICK.

Only now did Falling Blossom Tranquil Edge fully vanish into the scabbard.

Soyak sat back down slowly.

“Can you help me?”

“Young Hero. The Beggar Union’s information is expensive. And information about the scale of specific forces is usually top secret.”

“I know.”

Soyak looked Yang Goeng straight in the eye.

That black gaze looking up at her—

In that unmeasurable, boundless darkness, Yang Goeng felt it.

He was going to lose this negotiation.

“But information about me is expensive, too, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean...?”

“I know myself well. Mount Hua’s qilin who defeated the Namgung Clan’s Young Head. If someone like me has reached a certain realm, that’s information a lot of people would be interested in.”

Yang Goeng’s face drained pale.

He’d been had.

From the moment this little girl chose to hand him that information—

“You’ll have to settle accounts for me, Branch Hall Leader.”

Information about someone’s strength was expensive.

The more the martial world’s eyes were on them—

And the more their future was anticipated—

The more expensive it became.

He had no way out.

Deep in Yacha Valley, Mount Meng, southern Shandong.

A man stood before Yacha Blood Gate’s signboard.

A gaunt body, and a Great Curved Blade that didn’t match him.

The blade was thin, but the vicious curve was beyond ominous.

And the edge was blood-red, as if it had soaked in blood.

Just like his cruel nature.

“The Mount Hua brats are with them?”

“Yes, Commander.”

He was the Blood Sword Commander.

The Night Ghost, Ju Heung-a.

An unorthodox expert just stepping into Transcendent Apex.

A figure infamous for freely whipping around his Great Curved Blade and tearing people’s limbs apart.

“Looks like they want to die.”

“But if we kill them, Mount Hua...”

“No. Mount Hua probably won’t be able to spare attention for us.”

“Yes?”

“I heard something from those Demonic Cult bastards. Heh-heh-heh...”

Night Ghost Ju Heung-a.

He was closer than anyone to the Sura Unit.

Because his ferocity and cruelty matched theirs so well.

“Are you saying Shaanxi is in chaos too?”

“Not yet. More like it will be soon.”

“How would they know that...”

“How would I know?”

Soon, Blood Sword Unit members began gathering under Yacha Blood Gate’s signboard.

Ju Heung-a counted heads with his eyes and checked if everyone had arrived.

“Good. Everyone’s here.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Tonight, we strike the Ak Family first. Remember it. The goal is to make the enemy unable to rest!”

“Yes, sir!!!”

Dongpyeong County, Shandong Province.

Where the Shandong Ak Family was.

There was a massive lake there called Dongpyeong Lake.

In the middle of it, a small skiff floated.

The skiff carrying Sura Unit Commander Sword Ghost Danya.

The one rowing was his daughter, Deputy Commander Dan Honga.

“Around here?”

“Probably around here, yes.”

Danya and Dan Honga began rummaging through the bundle they’d brought.

Inside were snacks and sweets.

The kind a child would like.

They began dropping them into the lake, one by one.

It was a kind of ritual.

A ritual for the little girl who had gone ahead—his daughter, her granddaughter.

“Just how much that child had looked forward to it.”

“Yes. The day before her fourteenth birthday...”

“The Ak bastards. I will chew them to death.”

The reason they bore a grudge against the Ak Family—

Was a clash fifteen years ago.

Back then, they hadn’t been ready to accomplish their great work.

They still had to gather more people, infiltrate more deeply.

“If it weren’t for that, Father would have already reached the Transformation Realm.”

Dan Honga sighed softly.

Danya felt the same.

“Yeah... she was so happy, saying she could help this grandfather achieve the Transformation Realm.”

“She was a loyal child, and blessed.”

“Where else would you find a young blood relative with the Nine Yin Severed Meridians?”

And then the conversation turned wrong.

If anyone were listening, they would have had chills.

A child helping a Demonic Cult martial artist’s advancement?

And it had to be a blood relative with a special constitution...

“Didn’t the Sword Demon say he reached the Transformation Realm with this Heaven Yin Blood-Siphon Scripture?”

“That’s right.”

The Heaven Yin Blood-Siphon Scripture.

An old and sinister secret technique of the Demonic Cult.

A wicked art that required a child born with powerful yin energy.

You had to carve ritual patterns across the entire body with an awl, then rip out the heart while the child was still alive.

The blood that poured from that heart the sixth time—

If a Demonic Human drank it, they could rise to the Transformation Realm.

Of course, it wasn’t the only way.

It was possible to reach the realm by normal, ordinary means.

Possible.

Demonic arts were martial arts that used demonic energy through the “connection” passed down from the Heavenly Demon.

From the very beginning, you possessed at least half a nail’s worth of demonic energy.

And compared to any unorthodox martial art...

It boasted growth speed beyond comparison.

But of course, there were side effects.

Reaching the Transformation Realm through demonic arts wasn’t an easy thing.

That was why arts like this were developed.

Even the Sword Demon himself had reached the Transformation Realm through the Heaven Yin Blood-Siphon Scripture.

Meaning he had devoured his own young blood relative.

“Ha... if we’d eaten our granddaughter’s heart back then.”

This father and daughter weren’t seeking revenge for their child.

They were seeking revenge for being stopped from conquering Shandong.

Revenge for Sword Ghost being unable to reach the Transformation Realm and inherit the Sword Demon’s name.

“Father. But I heard one strange rumor.”

“A strange rumor?”

“They say one of the Mount Hua disciples who came to Shandong is the Heavenly Killing Star.”

Sword Ghost’s eyes lit up.

The Heavenly Killing Star.

Every Heavenly Demon had been born under the Heavenly Killing Star.

Even if she wasn’t blood...

Her heart would be an offering for the Heaven Yin Blood-Siphon Scripture.

“...Sounds delicious.”

No one intoxicated by demons kept their humanity.

If you thought about why that character existed at all, it was only natural.