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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: A Battle Painted Over the Pond
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'Hm?'
Maeng Ak, who had dozed off while standing before the pond, opened his eyes to a gradually approaching presence.
This was only possible because he possessed exceptional five senses, both in his past life and now.
Well, if that hadn't been the case, he wouldn't have dozed off in the first place.
Rustle. Rustle.
The bushes stretching out behind the pond rustled loudly.
It was a scene where it wouldn't be strange for someone to pop out at any moment.
Just then, someone emerged from between the bushes. It was Geom Cheon-ha.
And behind him, dozens of students followed in succession.
"Ha! To think this dullard is sleeping, unaware he's walked right into a trap."
His eyes glinted as if he were about to charge at any second.
A haze shimmered from his entire body, a sign that he had even raised his internal energy.
Despite his menacing appearance, Maeng Ak simply smiled.
"Pahahaha. So that's why I dreamt of my dear brothers."
While lightly sleeping, Maeng Ak had seen his brothers from the Green Forest in a faint dream.
But upon waking, he found the bushes shaking wildly as some kids came crawling out.
Just like his brothers from his past life used to do.
Yes, their appearance reminded him of bandits.
Unaware of Maeng Ak's circumstances, the students began to raise their auras.
They thought Maeng Ak was ignoring them.
Of course, they weren't wrong. To Maeng Ak, no matter how many of them gathered, they were just fledglings.
But they were the rising stars of the Five Heavenly Pillar Gates and the students So Ryong had handpicked, nine from each.
In other words, every single one of them was a student who had made a name for themselves among their peers.
When they all gathered their internal energy at once, the pressure was quite palpable.
As befitting the rising stars of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, a thick, viscous demonic energy could be felt.
And yet, it posed no threat to Maeng Ak whatsoever.
Just a few days ago, hadn't he crossed hands with the Left Guardian, Yeomje, one of the cult's greatest masters?
To him, even if these guys were the best of the best among fledglings, they were still fledglings.
All of them combined would be boring compared to the Left Guardian at full power.
But the fledglings, ignorant of this, thought Maeng Ak was scared.
After all, they had a significant numerical advantage.
They believed that as long as they were together, they could easily handle someone like Maeng Ak.
However, they were fledglings for a reason. How much experience could they possibly have, and of that, how many times had they faced a single opponent as a group?
To them, Maeng Ak was just a rabbit caught in a trap, and they saw themselves as predators enjoying a hunt for sport.
In the end, they failed to utilize their numerical advantage at all as they clashed with Maeng Ak.
The first to move were Geom Cheon-ha, Do Cheon-mu, and So Ryong.
The competitive spirit they had felt toward Maeng Ak during the first test played a large part in this.
The twenty-seven followers under them surrounded Maeng Ak as their masters had ordered.
"Just make sure he doesn't escape! I won't forgive anyone who interferes without permission."
"Shut up, Geom Cheon-ha! I'm first!"
"You two should yield to me!"
Geom Cheon-ha, Do Cheon-mu, and So Ryong rushed Maeng Ak simultaneously.
The first to clash with Maeng Ak was Geom Cheon-ha, who had emerged from the bushes a little earlier than the other two.
As if to prove his status as the young master of the Sword Heaven Pillar Gate, he unleashed its ultimate techniques from the very beginning.
His sword emitted a blue sword ki as it lunged for Maeng Ak's neck.
Martial arts that dealt with demonic energy usually manifested as crimson or black ki, but the Sword Heaven's Azure Demon Sword, known as the ultimate art of the Sword Heaven Pillar Gate, was blue.
It wasn't just the color of the ki that was different.
It contained a profoundness that set it apart from other sword styles.
And that was clearly demonstrated in the sword aiming for Maeng Ak's neck.
Swoosh!
The sword was clearly a little short of reaching his neck. Yet, it felt as if it stretched in mid-air and even accelerated.
Maeng Ak's eyes gleamed at Geom Cheon-ha's surprisingly decent swordsmanship.
'Hoh. I heard that among demonic arts, there are many that would be called divine arts if not for their restrictions. So there are sword arts like this, too.'
Maeng Ak had been through thick and thin, but he was a martial artist to the core.
Experiencing a new martial art firsthand was always exciting.
Even if that martial art was aimed at his own neck.
Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to take it head-on.
Maeng Ak lightly raised his right arm and parried the blue blade upward.
Clang!
The blue sword ki carried on Geom Cheon-ha's sword, which had been flying so fiercely, lost its direction as if it were nothing.
Geom Cheon-ha's expression contorted as his ultimate technique was blocked so easily.
But he wasn't one to give up so easily.
Unfortunately for him, the opportunity never came.
"Go take a nap."
As Maeng Ak, who had parried his sword, closed the distance and they crossed paths, a fist flew out with his murmur.
Thud!
Amazingly, Maeng Ak didn't stop at just using his right hand, which held the sword; he even unleashed a fist technique with his left.
Moreover, that fist technique was in no way inferior to the swordsmanship that had so easily blocked his own ultimate art.
No, it seemed as if the fist art was his primary discipline.
If not, there was no way he would have been defeated so helplessly.
Geom Cheon-ha lost consciousness and collapsed from the pain of a steel lump embedding itself in his side.
For one of the candidates for Young Cult Leader, he was defeated far too easily.
But the one who did it, Maeng Ak, wasn't pleased. Ah, to be precise, he had no time to be pleased.
Before the unconscious Geom Cheon-ha's body even hit the ground, Do Cheon-mu charged in, grinding his teeth.
This time, So Ryong was with him.
The two of them couldn't hide their shock at seeing Geom Cheon-ha defeated so easily.
So they set aside their competitive desire for a one-on-one duel and attempted a joint attack.
They had acknowledged their opponent, Maeng Ak.
From the left, Do Cheon-mu unleashed the ultimate techniques of the Blade Heaven Pillar Gate, and from the right, So Ryong unleashed the sword art he had learned from the Left Guardian, Yeomje.
Unlike Geom Cheon-ha, a thick demonic energy emanated from Do Cheon-mu's blade.
And along with the demonic energy, a domineering aura enveloped the wide blade.
In terms of sheer power, he looked stronger than Geom Cheon-ha and So Ryong.
So Ryong also unleashed an ultimate technique no less impressive than Do Cheon-mu's and Geom Cheon-ha's. It was only natural, as he had been taught directly by the Left Guardian, Yeomje.
A heat similar to Yeomje's blade arts could be felt from his sword.
It was a scorching heat that seemed like it would not only cut but also burn everything around it.
So Ryong truly lived up to his name as a sword genius. His master, the Left Guardian, Yeomje, used a blade.
Yet his disciple, So Ryong, had found the essence in his master's blade arts and created his own sword style.
As if to prove it, an energy of fire, similar yet different to Yeomje's, undulated from his sword.
Their combined attack was enough to make even a seasoned master flinch.
But their opponent was Maeng Ak.
Far from flinching, he was reminded of a memory from their joint attack.
'Looking at these guys reminds me of the Orthodox Faction punks from my past life. If they're raised well, they could be even better than them.'
He had even instantly found points to improve in their joint attack.
To him, these fledglings were not enemies or rivals, but talents who would one day become his limbs.
Of course, that didn't mean he would let the ones who dared to rush him go easily.
Slightly differently from what he had done with Geom Cheon-ha, Maeng Ak held his sword in a reverse grip.
And before they could reach him, he kicked off the ground and closed the distance first.
He had disrupted his opponents' predicted distance and breathing to seize the initiative.
Maeng Ak didn't stop there. With the reverse-gripped sword pointing outward, he imbued it with his internal energy and spun widely.
Clang-clang-clang!
Maeng Ak's energy-infused sword repeatedly struck Do Cheon-mu's and So Ryong's weapons.
Their joint attack, which had carried an undeniable power, was torn apart by his surreal movement.
That movement, which one wouldn't even dare to imitate, was possible only for Maeng Ak.
The demonic energy, combined with the core principles of the Divine Arts of the Green Forest Tiger, provided a solid center of gravity, and the demonic and unorthodox arts, based on his Heaven and Earth Body, achieved harmony.
That alone was more than enough to stun the onlooking students.
But Maeng Ak, while neutralizing the joint attack, simultaneously planted his right hand, which held the sword in a reverse grip, on the ground.
Then, inverting his body, he kicked Do Cheon-mu and So Ryong in the stomach in succession.
Thwack! Thwack!
Do Cheon-mu and So Ryong had suffered a backlash when their ultimate techniques, into which they had poured their internal energy, were blocked.
Because of that, they barely managed to block Maeng Ak's kicks by crossing their arms, but they couldn't completely negate the impact.
"Urk. How on earth…"
Wiping the blood trickling from the corners of their mouths, Do Cheon-mu and So Ryong barely held onto their fading consciousness.
But their opponent was Maeng Ak.
He wasn't one to just stand by and watch.
Maeng Ak immediately pushed off the ground with the leg he had raised to execute the kicks.
Thanks to that, Maeng Ak's body shot fiercely toward Do Cheon-mu and So Ryong.
It was then.
The twenty-seven students who had only been surrounding Maeng Ak, deciding they could no longer just watch, disobeyed their masters' orders and charged in.
But a small smile formed on Maeng Ak's lips as he looked at them.
Seeing this, the twenty-nine students, including Do Cheon-mu and So Ryong, swallowed hard. Goosebumps rose all over their bodies.
'A monster has appeared!'
They must have all had the same thought.
If not, they wouldn't be making such expressions right now.
A faint sense of despair was painted on their faces.
It wasn't just those who had charged Maeng Ak who thought this.
The remaining thirty students in the rear, including Dok Cheon-roe, Eum Cheon-myeong, and Hwan Cheon-hwa, felt the same.
They were regretting it deeply.
The day they had schemed to capture Maeng Ak at the Demonic Heaven Inn, they had reduced their numbers to prevent him from noticing their pursuit.
With just sixty people, they couldn't even create an overwhelming atmosphere against him.
Dok Cheon-roe, who had been watching for an opening, shouted to everyone in the rear.
"We're going in too!"
And he brought out the Poison Heaven Palm he had shown before.
Compared to when his internal energy had been sealed, it looked several times more powerful.
But for some reason, he felt less confident now than he did then.
'It's only been three days… Back then, I felt like if I could just use my internal energy, if we could just attack together, he wouldn't be scary!'
The Maeng Ak before his eyes now seemed like a completely different person.
He was mercilessly crushing the twenty-seven who had charged before him, making his way toward Do Cheon-mu and So Ryong.
He didn't look like a fellow student at all.
He was sweeping the area, emitting an aura that was too sinister to be demonic energy and too vicious to be unorthodox energy.
'Tch. Still, if we all aim for him together!'
Dok Cheon-roe was furious. How had he managed to persuade the prideful rising stars of the Five Heavenly Pillar Gates and So Ryong… he couldn't fail like this.
'First, use poison to create distance from him, then have my followers help Geom Cheon-ha, Do Cheon-mu, and So Ryong recover!'
He pictured the best possible course of action in his mind.
He didn't like those three, but right now, he had no choice if he wanted to face Maeng Ak.
The distance to Maeng Ak had already closed. To execute the plan he had drawn in his head, he shouted.
"Everyone, use poison to create distance from him!"
At his command, his nine followers, students from the Poison Heaven Pillar Gate, each put their hands into their sleeves and pulled them out.
Poison could be seen dripping from their fingertips.
The sight was as menacing as when the twenty-seven students had charged in all at once.
It made sense; poison was a powerful weapon that could somewhat bridge the gap in martial skill with an opponent.
In fact, even a reasonably strong martial artist would avoid an opponent who used poison arts, as they would have to employ tactics that tore flesh and took bone.
But the one who had to face it, Maeng Ak, once again had a gleam in his eyes.
'Poison Heaven Pillar Gate, was it? They seem to use poison in a different way than the Sichuan Tang Clan.'
In his past life, he had a record of overcoming a joint attack from the patriarch and elders of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
So there was no way he would feel threatened just because these fledglings brought out poison.
Naturally, there was no reason to create distance as Dok Cheon-roe expected.
He simply moved forward, dealing with them one by one.
Sometimes planting a fist in their stomach, sometimes striking the back of their neck with the pommel of his sword.
As he advanced, the number of students who had lost consciousness after being struck by him steadily increased.
Feeling threatened in turn, Dok Cheon-roe turned to ask Eum Cheon-myeong and Hwan Cheon-hwa for help.
But the scene that met his eyes behind him was truly a spectacle.
"You crazy…!"
All he could do as he looked back was twist his face into a scowl and spit out a curse.
"You damned fools!"