The elf, who was being held the entire time by Lee Sungmin at his neck like a ragdoll, let out a painful groan.
He was desperately gripping his hands around Lee Sungmin’s wrists to prevent his neck bones from snapping on the spot.
Lee Sungmin glanced at the elf as he already registered with his fast senses, just where the arrows were coming from and their trajectories.
Just in case, he swung his arm that was holding the elf by the neck.
When Lee Sungmin dragged the elf around like a shield to block him from the arrows, the arrow’s trajectory took a sharp turn and avoided the elf.
‘Seems to be controlled by spiritual magic.’
However, just because it was spiritual magic did not mean it was troublesome for Lee Sungmin. He just wanted to confirm whether the trajectories of the arrows were changeable or not.
‘So you don’t want to kill your own people, do you?’
He could use this. Lee Sungmin formulated an easy workaround method to exploiting this weakness.
Lee Sungmin lept back quickly and landed on a branch with the elf in tow. As he turned his gaze up, several arrows were homing in on him quickly.
Lee Sungmin then lifted the elf’s body who was in his hands, up without hesitation. As he did this, the arrows that were homing in on him, stopped mid-air, as if it were all a lie.
“First of all.”
Lee Sungmin’s voice was not that loud. However, all the elves who shot the arrows at Lee Sungmin could hear his deathly and calm voice, loud and clear.
The arrows that were all pointed at him started to writhe and shake slightly as Lee Sungmin started to lay the elf in his hands down on the ground.
The arrows flinched and moved forward a little, and Lee Sungmin immediately in response put his foot on the head of the fallen elf.
The fallen elf began to struggle, but Lee Sungmin took at his spear and twirled it quickly downwards.
Crack!
The deathly sharp speartip of Lee Sungmin’s orchicalcum spear, stabbed right into the struggling elf’s right thigh.
“AHH!”
The elf screamed. The arrowheads then completely halted in their tracks. Lee Sungmin’s actions were blatantly obvious to them, and his intent was clear.
He was going to use a hostage.
Lee Sungmin did not feel shameless in the slightest about his actions. Who the hell had time for that when Wijihoyeon was suffering at this very minute?
Lee Sungmin did not know much about the elves’ customs or traditions, but they were the ones who blatantly attacked and ambushed him in the first place.
Of course he wasn’t ignorant to admit that he was the one stepping into their territory, but to not respond with words and rather just shoot arrows at him? Hilarious.
“Let’s just talk face-to-face.”
Lee Sungmin already knew the locations of all his assailants through his keen senses.
However, Lee Sungmin spoke while slowly grinding and twisting the blade of the spear in the poor elf’s thigh that was laying on the ground.
Lee Sungmin put aside his thoughts of blatant and rouge methods of torture, like pulling out teeth in front of them, so he used a… slightly less barbaric method.
Despite the situation, Lee Sungmin did not want to completely break down relations with the elves just yet. If that happened, his chances at killing Qian Zun were minimal at best.
“You know what your actions indicate? To treat an elf like you are, in this forest….”
“Let’s just have you shut up for now.”
The elf lying on the floor tried to speak with a hostile town and Lee Sungmin shut down his annoying words bluntly.
It wasn’t just empty words either from Lee Sungmin. If they pushed too far with their actions and continued to act imposing, he wouldn’t hold back.
Lee Sungmin waited for the reactions of the hidden elves to see how they would respond. There was no reply, and there was no indication of the arrows moving at the moment.
Suddenly the thought that they might be calling for reinforcements crossed Lee Sungmin’s mind. Thinking so, Lee Sungmin acted accordingly and lifted his spear out of the wound.
When the pain in the thigh disappeared, the elf became visibly relieved.
It was because he thought Lee Sungmin had softened up his attitude and came to his senses. However, Lee Sungmin’s true intentions were the polar opposite of what the elf was thinking.
The spear then dropped down and stabbed the left thigh of the imobile elf brutally.
“AGHHHH!”
The elf screamed horrendously. The arrows that were stopped above Lee Sungmin’s head trembled slightly, clearly displaying the malicious and angry intent from the elf’s comrades.
Lee Sungmin continued to twist the spear and grind the left thigh with the blade, keeping a completely stoic face. The muscles and tendons underneath the flesh could be heard tearing apart and the bone snapped directly into several little shards. The elf started to cry and beg desperately as he clawed at the ground; his nails bleeding at this point.
“Are you not going to come out?”
Lee Sungmin asked once more. He looked up at the arrows above his head. The little wind spirits holding the arrows were growing restless at Lee Sungmin’s brutality.
Lee Sungmin’s golden eyes that were looking at the arrows, moved sharply all of a sudden, to the side. Then, in synchronization, the arrows in the air shook and moved sharply in accordance with the direction of Lee Sungmin’s eyes.
The wind spirits controlling the arrows grew incredibly frightened at the sheer vastness of Lee Sungmin’s internal energy. Not only that, but Lee Sungmin’s eyes and demeanor had a rather… horrifying look to them.
With the arrows under Lee Sungmin’s control due to his internal energy now in command of the arrows, Lee Sungmin didn’t even bother to shoot them back at the owners but rather, shot one of the arrows down right in the right thigh of the crying elf on the ground. The thigh opposite to the one currently skewered to the ground.
“I’ll just go one by one then if you continue to keep up this farce.”
Lee Sungmin murmured.
Bang!
The second arrow then shot down with an explosive force on the calf of the crying elf, causing him to sob and scream horrifically.
“Stop!”
At last, a loud shout could be heard in the distance from where the arrows were first shot.
The Elves in hiding came out of their spots. They were exactly in the places Lee Sungmin had assumed them to be earlier with his keen and incredibly sharpened senses.
Four elves walked out, their faces contorted with anger and malice. They aimed their glaring eyes at Lee Sungmin who was fiddling with their arrows as if to play a joke on them.
“Let Fred go this instant!”
“Was your name Fred?”
Lee Sungmin asked while looking down at the elf who had been sobbing and screaming with snot down it’s face..
“Who the hell are you?! Why have you come into this forest just to cause a scene!”
“What do you mean ‘cause a scene?’ I hadn’t even done anything yet, but you guys were the ones who attacked me first and shot your arrows without hesitation.”
“It was you who first invaded our territory…….”
“There’s no point in this rambling.”
Lee Sungmin murmured in a small voice. He didn’t necessarily want to pick a fight but they had threatened him, and he needed information. Lee Sungmin simply continued to gaze at ‘Fred’ with apathetic eyes as he raised the spear again and stabbed it once more in the left thigh.
The whole bone this time was penetrated and broken apart into bone powder and Fred howled. Unless Fred decided to amputate the leg, Lee Sungmin’s spear would not be pulled out.
After stating his words, Lee Sungmin started to move the other arrows suddenly at the elves that had come out of hiding. At the sudden movement, the elves jumped in fright.
However, as fast as their reactions were, Lee Sungmin’s control on the arrows with his internal energy was firm and accelerating at an incredibly fast pace.
Although there was a considerable distance between him and the elves, Lee Sungmin’s speed and control over his internal energy was too fast for even the native elves to react in time..
Pututuck!
The four elves rolled and hit the ground almost simultaneously. Standing in the middle of the fallen elves that were once entrapping him, Lee Sungmin shot the arrows at their legs and rendered them immobile and glanced at the groaning elves.
Once he confirmed they were no longer a threat, Lee Sungmin returned to where ‘Fred’ was to continue his questioning.
“I don’t want anything to do with enslaving your people or having illicit relationships with any of them.”
Lee Sungmin clearly stated that he did not have the intentions of enslaving them or doing what most humans wanted with elves, even though he held their lives in his hands. That made the sight of Lee Sungmin all the more frightening in their eyes.
Lee Sungmin then took the spear out of Fred’s thigh and took out an elixir from his subspace. Fred watched as Lee Sungmin took out an elixir with a confused but still wary, expression. Lee Sungmin then crouched down and poured the contents on Fred’s wounds which in turn, started to heal at an incredibly fast and visible pace.
“If you attack me, I’ll obviously have no choice but to defend myself and attack back. Let’s make that clear first.”
Lee Sungmin took his grip off Fred and relaxed his expression as he faced the other elves.
“I don’t have any intention of killing you. To be completely honest with you, I do not wish to hurt you any more than I already have. Do you understand?”
“What nonsense…….”
“All you have to do is nod your head.”
The Elves’ words were cut-off quickly by Lee Sungmin’s authoritative tone.
“I’ll ask the questions, and all you have to do is just answer them. First of all, where is your village located?”
“Do you really think we would tell you that……!”Lee Sungmin quickly changed the question.
“A man must have entered this forest a few days ago. A man equipped with a sword by his waist. Who is he? Is he in your village right now?”
“I don’t know…”, one of the elves muttered.
“In your village…there is an Elf who has entered the Realm of Transcendence. Well, I don’t know if they use those kinds of terms in this area. To put it simply, do you know an elf named Qian Zun?”
“We will not give you anything!”
“It seems we can’t even get the basics of communication laid down yet.”
Lee Sungmin grumbled and glanced at Fred who was in silence and pain all this time. Fred’s face turned pale white when his eyes met with Lee Sungmin’s.
“This is probably the best way then to deal with you lot. You see, if another martial artist injects their internal energy into the inner circuitry of another forcibly, it causes quite a unique reaction. Not only will the receiving martial artist suffer immense pain and their circuits break down, but the injuries and scars to the inner circuit can’t be healed even with an elixir.”
Along with saying that, Lee Sungmin roused his violet purple internal energy once more and reached out for Fred’s neck with his bare hands. Fred opened his mouth wide when he realized what Lee Sungmin was going to do.
Lee Sungmin injected his internal energy into Fred’s blood flow as well to restrict the blood going to the vocal cords, to avoid the screaming.
Lee Sungmin simply twisted his thumb as he continued ruthlessly. Fred’s ten fingers were suddenly snapped and bent in deformed figures, clearly all broken at once. Fred could no longer take the ensuing pain, and fainted on the spot
As if this weren’t much of a problem Lee Sungmin then walked over and crouched down to touch the hands of another nearby elf. The elf, like Fred, had all ten fingers broken on the spot.
The elves could no longer say anything as they watched Lee Sungmin’s behavior in fear.
“Hey! I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
The next male elf, who was the next one to be tortured by Lee Sungmin, hurriedly spit out.
The female elf, who had been angry and spewing malicious words the entire time at Lee Sungmin, opened her eyes wide as she heard her comrade’s words.
Seeing that this was going to be a distraction Lee Sungmin stretched out his finger without hesitation and pointed at the female elf.
Flick!
When Lee Sungmin flicked his fingertips, the invisible internal energy struck the female elf’s body ruthlessly. The female elf’s body flew backwards and crashed into a nearby tree.
“Do not worry, I simply let her faint.”
Lee Sungmin told the male elf so that he wouldn’t misunderstand and think Lee Sungmin would contradict his own words earlier. The male elf hesitated for a moment but then, opened his mouth.
It didn’t take long to find out the basic answers Lee Sungmin was looking for. Qian Zun was indeed residing in the village, and the man who had come into the forest recently was also in the village as Qian Zun’s friend and guest.
Friend.
Lee Sungmin instantly thought of the Crazy Heavenly Demon and the words he had spoken to Lee Sungmin at one time about one of the Transcendents in ‘Beyond the Heavens’.
The master that The Crazy Heavenly Demon had faced in his time when he was younger, was a swordmaster from Beyond the Heavens known as ‘Wolhu’. The Crazy Heavenly Demon was still at the Peak Realm then, but was not known as ‘Crazy’ yet, nonetheless he still suffered a humiliating defeat to that man.
And now… The Crazy Heavenly Demon was dead.
Lee Sungmin raised his body up. He opened the lid of the elixir to heal the wounds of the elves and to release them after healing them.
“It’s too late.”
The female elf who was flung back earlier, who came to her senses, suddenly spoke with a grin.
“Before we approached you, I had already sent a message through the spirits to the village. We’re just guards, but soon a hunting group will come to kill you. They are specialized in killing those who enter the forest with impure intentions.”
“……Is that right?”
Lee Sungmin muttered while looking at the face of the female elf.‘So that’s what their choice was in the end.’
Thinking so, Lee Sungmin moved his hand.
Woosh-POP!
The heads of all the elves except the male elf who answered the questions of his, burst like watermelons.
“What… what have you done?”….”
“I’t seems I’ll be having to fight with your village anyways.”
Lee Sungmin said while looking at the bodies pouring copious amounts of blood.
“I saved your life merely because you answered my questions properly. If you value your life, you’d better leave this forest.”
“What…?”
“You’ve saved your life with your own words. Do you want to lose it right after you saved it?”
Lee Sungmin said so and came down from the tree. Heoju, who was watching Lee Sungmin’s behavior from inside his ghost form, talked to him.
[Do you not think you are going too far?]
“If I am to go into their village and kill Qian Zun anyway, I’ll have to face them sooner or later.”
[You could have acted more covertly at the very least. Or you could have gone with the assasination route.]
“The swordsman they mentioned seems like he could be dangerous. He might be already at the village if he moved quickly. Plus, I am not too worried about what the elf said. As long as I kill that hunting group with more efficiency this time and prevent their communication efforts, I can still choose the option of assasination.”
[In the worst case, Qian Zun may give on maintaining the curse and join forces with the swordsman named Guan Zun to fight you. If that happens, no matter how lucky you might have been till now, you will most probably die. No matter how strong you are, Dealing with two masters of transcendence and even one of them being hugely advantageous in the forest, is suicide.]
“I know. If it comes down to that, I don’t intend to fight at all.”
Lee Sungmin replied without hesitation.
“If Qian Zun gives up on maintaining the curse, Wijihoyeon will be lifted from the effects as well and in all, my purpose of coming here is fulfilled. If Qian Zun does not give up on the curse, we can destroy him easily and kill him.”
[But are you confident that you’ll be able to take down the man known as Guan Zun if that is indeed the case?]
“I’ve never met him before. Therefore, we’ll see if we meet with him and fight.”
After answering, Lee Sungmin immediately began to move. Now that things had come to this, he decided he was going to act boldly from here on out.
He heard the location of the village, but he didn’t intend to visit it. What Lee Sungmin wanted was for the man known as ‘Guan Zun’ to come to him himself.
Qian Zun would not be able to move because of the curse. Guan Zun might come with a few reinforcements from the locals, but it wouldn’t matter much.
It would be better for Lee Sungmin to fight here, rather than to fight in the village where the elven population had a complete advantage.
The problem however, was the “hunting group,” which the deceased female elf had mentioned.
Lee Sungmin couldn’t know how strong they were nor could he get an estimate of strength based on the elf’s vague words. Acting without taking into the account the hunting group and whatever their power may be, would be reckless.
‘The woods are a nuisance.
Lee Sungmin looked around. He could only see tall, big trees. Lee Sungmin held the spear with both his hands.
The internal energy and yokai strength surged throughout his body met with the spear’s shaft as it resonated and pulsated fervently with the orchicalcum base. Lee Sungmin swung the spear with fluid movement.
Kwa-kwa-kwaquaquaqua!
Dozens of trees fell down around Lee Sungmin. He didn’t stop and continued to explode forth his aura as he sliced and chopped several dozens of more trees around him. He had completely cleared his surroundings within a mile of his position in all directions.
Now… all he had to do was wait.
* * *
The Elves were a race known for their beautiful appearances, long lifespans, superior affinity with mana and spirits, as well as their communication with all forms of nature.
They were indeed a superior and capable species in almost every aspect to other races, but they had one critically fatal flaw.
Reproducing was incredibly difficult for them. Therefore, Elves genuinely treasure each and every one of their own. Since every life was crucial to their existence.
Because of their charm though, many slave hunters and people with malintent came to their forest to try and capture them.
The very existence of elves in the current day and age within all of Eria, was incredibly rare and their appearances would only be found in storybooks.
After several years and decades of harm and lenient attitudes, the elves had had enough of the poort treatment they received, as well as the imminent danger their race as a whole was facing.
Their hunting group that the surviving elves created, was like a symbol of their change. They had no forgiveness, no mercy, and had been taught since childhood how to take down and commit murder if it meant the protection of their own kind.
“Fred, Jean, Joseph and Decan were killed.”
“What about Rajun?”
“Rajun… is alive. He betrayed us and gave out information to a human.”
It was a gloomy voice. The wind spirit who was delivering the message, also had the same expression as the sullen and disappointed faces of the rest of the elves within the hunting group.
The face of the hunting captain, who was gutting down the fur of a large tiger, turned cold.
The death of their kind was always heartbreaking, but anger and murderous intent was arising from him over the fact that Rajun had betrayed his own kind and sold them out. That was the worst taboo and crime to commit within their village.
“Where is Rajun?”
“He is trying to leave the forest.”
“Kill him.”
The hunting captain gave out the order without hesitation. The elf who received the order, climbed on the back of the wolf next to him. The hunting captain opened his mouth as she looked at the rest of the hunters that remained here.
“We are going to hunt down that human.”
“……is it really okay if we don’t report this to the elder?”
One of the hunters spoke up with a quiet voice. But, the hunting captain shook her head in response.
“The elder is sick from maintaining a curse. I don’t want to cause him any more anxiety during his responsibilities and pain he is suffering through right now.”
“Then why don’t we ask for help from the man who came to visit the elder as his friend…….”
“This is our village’s problem and our duty as elves. I don’t want to borrow human hands for such a matter.”
The hunting captain replied in a cold voice. The hunters bowed their heads deeply and refrained from speaking any more useless words.
The hunting captain wiggled her ears and frowned at the distant roar she suddenly heard in the distance.
“………you’re doing something barbaric human….”
Now, there was one more reason to kill the bastard human who had invaded their territory.
199 – Elven Forest (5) – FinT/N : Why do I get the feeling that Lee Sungmin will inevitably fight one-on-one with Guan Zun? And the weirdest thing is that I feel that fight if it does happen, might be the fight to push him fully into the realm of transcendence?Super hyped and glad hope you enjoyed the chapterHowever there’s good and “meh” newsThe “meh” news is that PN will have a temporary lull in updates for 2-3 days so I can tl and stock up some chapters for another tier of the patreon once more.Good news is that I’ll be updating a chapter each of the other two novels on the site (Reincarnation of the Swordmaster and Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon) maybe I might have enough time to do one each day for both meaning 2 for both total during the short lull in updates for this novel, but no promises on double updates lol.Either way, hope you all are having a lovely valentine’s day weekend! – BetterdaysP.S. no updates on the 14th/valentines day since I mean… I got plans you know lmao