Kwak Il-guk twitched his eyes.
"Do you know me?"
"Of course. I am Seo Eun-hyun, known as Infinite Fighting Monster. Pleasure to meet you."
As I greeted him with a polite bow, he seemed a bit perplexed.
"Strange. I don't know someone like you. I haven't heard of Infinite Fighting Monster in the martial arts world, nor in the intelligence service."
"Hahaha, naturally. I've never engaged in martial arts activities in this lifetime."
At my words, Leader looked at me as if I was speaking nonsense.
Meanwhile, red threads extended from him, aiming for my neck.
But I read all his moves with my purple intent and countered his initial moves with a convergence of intent.
He seemed to put all his effort into our clash of intents, and I spoke to my disciples behind me."Look, this is the power of the Shadow Guards. None of you can stand one-on-one against him in a clash of intents, right?"
"...Indeed."
Tension filled my disciples' faces.
Especially since I had constantly compared them to the Shadow Guards, the name must have left a significant impression in their minds.
Leader in front of me was sweating profusely as he kept losing in our clash of intents, and I continued to explain while comfortably wielding my sword.
"If you face the entire Shadow Guards one-on-one, you're bound to lose. Each of them has reached the mature stage of mid-peak where one can freely manipulate Qi Silk. While some can't manipulate Qi Silk, those types are even more dangerous, using poison or more sinister methods like me. The Palace Guards is also of similar strength to the Shadow Guards. The difference is that the Palace focuses on 'protecting' the Emperor, while the Shadow is trained to 'kill' assassins attacking the Emperor."
I pointed to the Palace Guards on the pavilion, maintaining a solid stance and guarding against us.
"You will face the Palace Guards. They are superior in skills to you, but with your numbers and the Transcending Cultivation Formation, you can break through. Your learned martial arts are more defensive, so you'll be relatively safer.
Now, go and break through the Palace Guards, kill the Emperor, and fulfill your revenge!"
"Yes!!!!!"
My disciples answered in unison, fervently.
Red rage surged from them.
I looked at Kwak Il-guk, engaged in our clash of intents, and the entire Shadow Guards lurking in the shadows below the pavilion, ready to support him.
"The Shadow Guards I will handle."
My disciples leaped over me, storming the pavilion.
The Palace Guards drew their weapons and formed a defensive formation, with the Emperor beginning some sort of spell in the center.
I, continuously launching intent, kept the entire Shadow Guards in check.
"...Three, Three Flowers. Even... a master in the late stage of Three Flowers..."
Kwak Il-guk, struggling with our battle of intents, spoke with difficulty.
"Impressive. Knowing it's the late stage... Have you entered the world of intent?"
Leader was on the boundary between mid and late peak.
He might just be able to perceive the faint third color.
"Why would a genius like you, of your age, at that level, side with the rebels...! Yanguo is enjoying peace now...!"
As he spoke with sweat dripping, he gripped his halberd.
I laughed sarcastically.
"Peace... surely, for the ordinary commoners, there's no better peace. But someone of your level must know... that the Makli Imperial family of Yanguo are cultivators and what they are scheming in the shadows..."
"I know. But you have joined hands with the former Imperial family, the Jin. They are no different! They too are cultivators, and they..."
"See us as nothing more than tools."
I acknowledged the fact calmly.
"You are right, Leader. No one knows that fact better than me."
I understood his views from my past life.
The Jin Clan wasn't much different.
But...
"Being a tool is slightly better than being livestock waiting to be eaten."
The Makli Clan should no longer sit on the throne of Yanguo.
The lesser of two evils.
That's all.
"Of course, our views will never come to agreement. Come at me."
I showed a small gap in my intent as a trap.
The Shadow Guards, knowing it's a trap, still came at me gritting their teeth.
"Don't underestimate the power of the Shadow Guards!"
The leader's halberd lunged at me, and simultaneously, a member wielding a slashing sword aimed for my ankle.
Behind me, a member with a two-handed sword lunged at me.
Certainly, they were formidable forces.
I remember even killing a master in the late stage of Three Flowers in a combined attack with them.
A typical master of Three Flowers could be matched by the Shadow Guards.
However, I had reached the late stage of Three Flowers Gather at the Summit and had learned Records of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts.
In an instant, I cut through their consciousness and escaped the combined formation.
Click
I slowly sheathed my sword in the midst of the melee.
After all, these were colleagues from my past life.
Of course, the people from my past life and those now are entirely different.
But emotionally, it wasn't easy to harm them.
'I won't kill you.'
In an instant, my sword touched the vital points of the members.
After scattering paralysis powder and subduing them all, I appeared in front of Leader and struck with my sword.
"Argh...!"
Boom!
Our weapons collided, sending out waves of energy.
Realizing his men were subdued, despair filled Leader’s eyes.
"You have no personal feelings. You only serve loyalty."
Clang, clang!
I pressed him with my sheathed sword, speaking calmly.
"So I won't kill you."
"Argh...aaaaah!"
His intent surged more rapidly.
I faced his intent head-on, slowly engaging in the battle.
Matching his moves, stance, and intent, almost like a mirror image, excluding the weapons and subtle martial arts!
Leader, thinking I was mocking him, turned increasingly red.
At a certain moment, his intent changed.
Kwak Il-guk's intent, which had failed to properly follow my trajectory, began to intertwine with mine.
Intermingling.
Gradually, a sense of bewilderment crept into his eyes, which were previously ablaze with intensity.
I led him on.
Ting!
My sword clashed with his halberd.
At the same time, clarity returned to his eyes.
He had seen the third color.
"This is..."
Lost in the midst of battle, he murmured in a daze.
Boom!!!
A tremendous shockwave and explosion spread out.
His coordination faltered under the vast surge of energy.
Eventually, my sheathed sword, which had been parallel to his, penetrated his coordination and struck his neck.
"Argh!"
He collapsed on the spot, unconscious, from my controlled strike.
'Anyway, having seen the third color, he should ascend to Three Flowers once he awakens and comprehends his realization.'
Though time had passed and he was not the same person.
It was the greatest respect I could show to my former superior.
Leaving the unconscious Leader behind, I turned towards a huge explosion that just gone off.
Whoooosh!
A massive whirlwind tore apart and lifted an entire building in the distance.
From the pavilion, the Palace Guards facing my disciples screamed in horror.
"The Crown Prince is there! Argh!"
'That location must be the Hidden Dragon Hall. The Emperor evacuated here, and the Crown Prince was in his place. Did Makli Jung use his son as bait? But then...'
I frowned.
'That whirlwind's power doesn't seem like Makli Hyun's magic?'
In the center of the whirlwind, a dark shadow loomed.
An imposing presence.
Seeing the size of the consciousness in the whirlwind's center, I realized.
'That person... is the founder of Yanguo. The cultivator of the Makli Clan who reached Qi Building...'
Makli Wangshin!
Around the whirlwind, someone was moving.
It was Kim Young-hoon.
"That's..."
Kim Young-hoon held something in one hand.
Focusing my vision, it looked like someone's head.
'It must be Crown Prince Makli Hyun's head, given the circumstances.'
I thought Makli Jung had hidden in the Glowing Scenery Pavilion with the Palace and Shadow Guards, using his son as bait.
It seems I was mistaken.
'It wasn't about leaving his son as bait in the Hidden Dragon Hall. Instead, he had placed the strongest guard there.'
However this was the result.
Kim Young-hoon’s understanding of the Record of Surpassing Cultivation and Martial Arts, derived from the Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts that is specialized in escaping and ambushing cultivators, allowed him to catch Makli Wangshin off guard.
Whoosh!
Numerous wind bullets and wind blades shot towards Kim Young-hoon from the whirlwind.
A single wind bullet obliterated an entire floor of a building.
The monstrous power of a Qi Building cultivator!
But...
Boom! Boom, boom!
Nine spheres rose behind Kim Young-hoon and shot towards the Qi Building cultivator.
Bang!
With a loud noise, the Gang Spheres pierced part of the whirlwind, bringing down an entire building.
The Imperial City crumbled under their battle.
"Argh, what is this! These cursed Jin Clan, breaking the agreement and secretly bringing a Qi Building cultivator into the barrier!"
The cultivators of the Makli Clan burst into fury and cast their spells.
The Jin Clan cultivators just smirked, not responding.
However, Makli Jung, performing spells in the center of the pavilion, burst into a hearty laugh.
"Hahaha! What's everyone so worried about! Our ancestor recently achieved a breakthrough in his training, ascending to the third stage! Even Core Formation is just around the corner, do you think he would lose to a mere cultivator?"
Hearing that, the Jin Clan cultivators' expressions darkened.
"Already at that stage!"
"Just a Qi Building cultivator...!"
"Can we really hold out?"
Unlike others, I climbed onto the pavilion with a light heart.
'Not to mention the Record of Surpassing Cultivation and Martial Arts, Kim Young-hoon had already killed a late Qi Building cultivator and severed the hand of a Core Formation cultivator when he created the Record of Transcending Cultivation and Exhausting Martial Arts.'
There's no chance of defeat.
The interior of the pavilion seemed much larger than from the outside, perhaps due to a space-condensing spell.
In the center, the Emperor who was performing spells was protected by the Palace Guards around him.
The guards were desperately blocking my disciples' combined attack.
But they were overwhelmingly outnumbered and faced the Transcending Cultivation Formation.
There was no way they could win!
"Let's finish this quickly."
I too drew my Sword Gang, ready to enter the formation, when suddenly...
Boom!
Another loud noise tore off the roof of the pavilion.
'What's this?'
Confused by the sudden turn of events.
Swoosh!
Blood rained from the sky, splattering down.
The guards and my disciples were baffled, but the cultivators and I were shocked.
The intent in the blood!
The terrifying consciousness within!
It was the Qi Building cultivator who had just been fighting Kim Young-hoon.
His soul, his divine consciousness, was in that blood!
In such a short time, Kim Young-hoon had killed Makli Wangshin, the Qi Building cultivator of the Makli Clan!
The blood containing the divine consciousness of the founding emperor, Makli Wangshin, shot towards the stupefied Makli Jung.
The Emperor's face began to show terror.
"An, ancestor! No, this can't be! Ancestor, please, spare me!"
"....!"
"Ah, aaaaaah! Ancestor, please, please!"
Splash!
Makli Jung screamed in horror, but the indifferent blood, splashed onto his face.
"Aaaaaaagh!"
Makli Jung's screams echoed for a while.
And after a moment.
"....!"
Shiver!
I shouted at the top of my lungs.
"Everyone!!! Retreat!"
Fortunately, my disciples instinctively backed away in terror.
But the Palace Guards, protecting Makli Jung, failed to grasp the situation and couldn't evade the founding emperor's grasp as he possessed the Emperor's body.
Swoosh!
"Aaaaaaagh!"
"Argh..."
The life force and essence blood of the Palace Guards was being sucked into Makli Jung.
No, into Makli Wangshin, who had taken over Makli Jung's body.
Woosh-
A massive consciousness filled the entire pavilion.
'Dangerous!'
Makli Wangshin extended his hand.
His gesture was pointing at me, the highest level presence here.
Then, it happened.
A flash of light burst from outside the pavilion.
Boom!
Makli Wangshin, who was gathering his power against me, hastily extended his hand towards outside the pavilion, deploying a defensive spell.
A violent wind blew, breaking his defensive spell like fragile glass. Half of the pavilion affected by the spatial spell was torn away.
There, I could see Kim Young-hoon slowly approaching.
"Kim Hyung...!"
My face turned pale.
Kim Young-hoon was bleeding all over, with a chunk of his flesh torn from his waist.
"Cough, cough!"
It seems his internal organs were damaged too, as he was spitting blood with every step he took.
'Kim Young-hoon didn't kill Makli Wangshin without harm!'
Makli Wangshin had inflicted considerable damage on Kim Young-hoon, even as he was being killed.
"Cough! Argh..."
Then, Kim Young-hoon, who seemed to be regathering his strength, suddenly lost consciousness due to his severe wounds and collapsed.
'This is the worst!'
"Hmm..."
Shiver!
Makli Wangshin, gasping for breath, spoke,
"Fortunately, his energy just dropped in the nick of time. What a monstrous man. I was almost killed."
Stomp, stomp!
He kicked away the bodies of the fallen guards around him, clicking his tongue in disgust.
"Damn it, having to take over the body of such a low-quality descendant. Even my cultivation has dropped to the level of Qi Refining 4th Star... Hmm..."
He looked up at the sky.
Simultaneously, the Makli Clan cultivators fighting the Jin Clan cultivators started fleeing in panic on their flying devices.
"These worthless things! Running away in front of the clan elder! Once this replacement battle is over, I'll have to melt them all into a handful of blood water!"
Swoosh!
The consciousness of the terrifying Qi Building cultivator, soared into the sky.
Makli Wangshin's consciousness transformed into a hand shape, reaching out for two Qi Refining 1st Star cultivators trying to escape.
As Makli Wangshin cast a spell, faint light circled around the hand of consciousness, and it seemed to physically pull in the lower-level cultivators.
"Elder, please spare us!"
"Please! I am a distant relative of ancestor..."
"I have never had descendants who are no better than trash mortals."
As he extended his hand towards the Qi Refining cultivators, their life force, essence blood, and cultivation were all sucked into Makli Wangshin.
Slurp-
Gulp
After devouring his blood-water turned descendants, Makli Wangshin's power surged from Qi Refining 4th to the brink of 5th.
Qi Refining 5th Star cultivation.
But, one who once reached the extreme of Qi Building!
Tingle, tingle...
Normally, I could rush in and slit the throat of a cultivator of this level but my instincts were ringing alarm bells.
'It's not just Qi Refining 5th Star. Combined with the consciousness of a cultivator who had reached the peak of Qi Building, his power is...'
Our eyes met.
A crawling sensation surged over my body.
Makli Wangshin smirked.
"Quite perceptive for a mortal. Assessing my power? Let me tell you kindly. The strength I can exert right now is..."
Rumble!
Wind swirled around Makli Wangshin.
A wind incomparable to that of Makli Hyun enveloped him.
"The level of Qi Refining 13th Star."
I gritted my teeth.
"To all disciples, listen!"
I needed to buy time.
"Feed Kim Hyung the recovery pills each of you brought! Do your best to make him regain consciousness!"
I took the primary sword stance.
"I'll stall for time!"
Severing Mountain Swordsmanship (斷岳劍法)
Twenty-third Move (第二十三招)
'I'll hold on no matter what!'
Endless Mountains Beyond Mountains (山外山不盡)!
***
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