* * *
“Woahhhhh!”
The several martial artists, who were filling the streets, rushed at Sima Ryunju with a collective and wild shout.
Among them, those who were especially skilled leaped up or moved faster than others and approached Sima Ryunju to attack.
For Sima Ryunju, their actions were not even reasonable or justifiable, but utterly foolish.
Sima Ryunju swung his right hand as if their approach was merely annoying.
Vwoooomph!
The martial artists all suddenly flipped upside down. Sima Ryunju held and straightened his left-hand once before clenching it tightly as he pointed towards the ground that was cracking apart.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
A frightening and incredible scene played out. As if the earth was under Sima Ryunju’s command, the earth started to collapse and form earthen spears that shootout and pierced the martial artists. The several martial artists were hit and started to scream in agony.
Sima Ryunju then crossed his arms in approval as he glanced at the halted martial artists behind the injured and dead.
“Did you kill them all?”
“The unlucky ones are dead.”
As Lee Sungmin and Sima Ryunju started to stride by casually, as if nothing had happened, there were many martial artists waiting on the street with fierce eyes. But, they did not rush in. Those who recklessly ran, even though they knew that their opponents were Transcendent Martial Artists, were idiots.
In other words, standing on the boulevard and waiting were fighters who knew their place. However, it was no different from those who attacked first and then fell out, or those who were waiting here.
“It’s just the difference between those who want to die quicker and those who want to die later.”
Sima Ryunju strode forward, continuing his walk. He was feeling dissatisfied at heart. He intended to give his disciple a proper demonstration of his power to instill discipline and respect into his student. Although he made such an excuse, his hidden intention was to bring forward Jehu and the other warriors of the Black Dragon Association.
He had demonstrated his power a few times, but clearly he thought it wasn’t enough. The opponent was too weak to properly show his disciple his true strength. Beating up bugs was worthless.
“Not these ones….”
Sima Ryunju paced, speaking behind himself to Lee Sungmin, as if telling him to watch and listen. He didn’t even take his hands out from his robe sleeves. It was because he didn’t believe these bugs were worth it. Lee Sungmin saw the spectacle unfold before him as Sima Ryunju approached the martial artists.
The hem of his robe was fluttering despite it not being windy. His internal energy started to swell like a haze that rose on a hot summer day. The appearance of Sima Ryunju standing calmly amidst the storm of hazy internal energy was deafening.
Criiiek- Creeaakkk!
Black electricity started to surge and crackle around Sima Ryunju’s figure.
Although Sima Ryunju was not a giant, Lee Sungmin’s vision of Sina Ryunju had enlarged beyond belief.
“Bring out the leaders of your factions.”
His quiet words came out as a loud yell to those on the floor. Those who were weak-willed collapsed in the spot, foaming at the mouth. While the rest simply screamed in terror.
Those who were able to control their bodies gave up on the thought of fighting and withdrew themselves.
“Look, it’s the-them!”
“Here comes the Heavenly Martyrs!”
“Take down this bloody monster!”
The frightened people started to collectively rant. Among the several groups under the Murim Alliance in Cron, the Heavenly Martyrs, who are renowned for their excellent skills, were dispatched.
People cheered and shouted the names of the masters of the Heavenly Martyrs. They crossed the gap between the frightened fighters and approached the figure of Sima Ryunju that was surrounded in a shroud of black lightning.
“…… Sima Ryunju?”
“The alliance has improved a lot, too it seems! Such a ragtag bunch of brats is now called the Heavenly Martyrs.”
When one of the Heavenly Martyrs recognized Sima Ryunju and called out his name based on the robes he was wearing and the electricity around him, Sima Ryunju laughed and openly mocked them. The Heavenly Martyrs were martial artists that were at the very pinnacle of the Peak Realm, they were not simply people that others would refer to as ‘brats’. They were the elite warriors of the Heavenly Fist Sect.
“I thought you told the entire world to call this old man, the Demonic Emperor.”
Sima Ryunju frowned and spoke.
“Do you have a death wish?”
As evidence of Sima Ryunju’s attitude, the dark and black lightning from the Dark Storm Arts began to spread out and crackle ominously.
* * *
‘Crazy.’
Chigweol was in Cron at that moment. He had escaped from the forest on his own during the subjugation of Kim Jonghyun. He abandoned his men and left them behind in the forest to fend for themselves.
As a result, Murong Dae, who was imbued with madness, led the remnants of the Murim Alliance’s warriors and attacked the Wizard Guild. The Young heir to the Murong Family was held responsible for it because his father had already died in the attack. Thanks to this, they collapsed from internal problems shortly after, and Murong Chae’s whereabouts became unknown.
Of course, punishment did not escape Chigweol for his actions. He was stripped of his position and disciplined in public. Still, he was given a position as a martial artist within the Murim Alliance.
It was partly because there were no other talents comparable to Chigweol among the other young men in his generation, but it was also because he was already learning a martial art from his master within the Alliance that contained a hint towards Transcendence.
As a result, Chigweol did not leave the Murim Alliance.
It was a demonstrative disciplinary action, and he did not complain about it. Even if things got worse, he was still a promising martial artist, so there was no inconvenience in taking a bit of a punishment. He was coming to Cron to receive the punishment.
However, at this moment, Chigweol was resentful of the punishment. Why did it have to be Cron at this very moment?
Who would have imagined the current situation? Sima Ryunju, Lord of the Sama Order, The Demonic Emperor, was wreaking havoc in the middle of Cron like it was his own backyard and committing blatant murder.
“What are you doing?”
Chigweol’s Master, the Legendary Fist, retorted at Chigweol. Chigweol’s eyes contained disdain and anger.
He had never blamed his teacher. But for now, he had to resent the situation. Chigweol spoke to his master.
“The Lord of the Sama Order is a monster beyond the other monsters in the Realm of Transcendence. The amount of people who can stop him can be counted on one hand.”
“Yes, there will be no one who can stop that man if he gets serious, other than the Heavenly Sword of the Wudang or the Lord of the Murim Alliance. This old man thinks that even if the Lord comes forward in his current condition, it will be difficult to stop that man.”
The blunt answer made Chigweol even more frustrated. Even if Jehu, a master in the same Realm of Transcendence, came forward, his master doubted that he would be able to intercept Sima Ryunju? If he knew that clearly, why was he trying to be so brave and try to stop him when his master was clearly weaker than the Lord?
Chigweol barely swallowed the words that threatened to pour out his mouth.
Yeah, he knew why. Murim had branded them as traitors and despicable men without them doing anything wrong. Chigweol was no idiot and knew it was all a hoax and that the Ghost Spear had been framed. But yet, Murim Alliance had a standard to withhold and would not allow these scoundrels tarnish the image of justice.
It was unforgivable. Cron’s Murim Alliance Headquarters was a symbol of the entirety of the Orthodox Faction. But Sima Ryunju had come all alone to wreak havoc and made fools of them; making them look like a band of idiots who did nothing but flap their gums.
‘It’s wiser to live and seek the future for opportunities to strike back.’
Chigweol genuinely thought so. If one died, it was all over. Chigweol glanced at the Tonfas at his side. They were something he only brought out when the Murim Alliance warriors had to fight with their lives on the line.
Chigweol looked bitterly at the several martial artists and other leaders of the smaller to mid-sized clans and sects.
They were the best martial artists that the Murim Alliance had to offer in Cron. They were incredibly strong, and even Chigweol, who was praised to be incredibly talented, completely acknowledged their strength.
“It may be dangerous, but…….”
Chigweol wanted to tell his master to stop the false bravado and to run away. Or to at least pretend like he didn’t know what was going on. If they continued at this rate, everyone here would be slaughtered mercilessly.
He had already thought of leaving the Murim Alliance several times due to the incompetence and idiotic actions that the Alliance took out of ‘carrying out justice’.
“I suppose so, but we can’t just leave Sima Ryunju alone.”
‘Please, Master. Please distinguish between a pointless death and being messily courageous.’
Chigweol swallowed his thoughts down while looking at his master worriedly.
Not knowing the intentions of such his disciple, no- maybe he was pretending not to know. Mugeol-Gae didn’t stand still any longer. He ordered the gathered martial artists with a bitter expression on his face.
“Let’s go catch the bastard.”
It was a despondent, yet unwavering voice.
It didn’t even take a minute for Heavenly Martyrs to act.
Overpowering several men with only the pressure of one’s own internal energy. In the past, Lee Sungmin asked Sima Ryunju about his master’s true strength, and Sima Ryunju told him to leave it to his imagination. He asked him if he was even still in the Realm of Transcendence.
Lee Sungmin overpowered others with his internal energy and aura because he used Dragon Fear, not his internal energy alone. But for now, Lee Sungmin witnessed the true strength of his master. To be able to injure others without anything but simple internal energy. Nothing else but Sima Ryunju’s aura, was able to send the martial artists to their knees coughing up blood.
“Are you sure you are only still in the Realm of Transcendence?”
“They were merely frightened by this old man that they suffered internal injuries by looking at me.”
Sima Ryunju spoke in a sarcastic and mocking tone.
Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!
Dozens of voices were mixed, but undisturbed in their cries. It was a loud cry from all the martial artists gathered there, that shook the air.
Crack-Clap-Creaaaklle
The sound of a storm brewed around the air as black lightning surrounded Sima Ryunju in a vortex.
“Do you know about martial art formations?”
“I just know it’s a collective martial art used by many people for a single desired effect.”
“There are two types of formations that the Murim idiots practice. There is a thirty-two person formation, and then there is a hundred person battle formation.”
There was a satisfied smile on Sima Ryunju’s face.
“This old man had a small dream once upon a time. No, not a dream. If I had a chance someday, I wanted to face off against this formation…I’ll leave it at that.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“There are four sects that have their own unique hundred man formations. The Mount Hua Sect, the Heavenly Fist Sect, The Wudang Sect and the Dancing Feet Sect.”
(T/N : as you know, I am not completely proficient with Hangul just yet, and this last name was especially hard for me since I wasn’t too sure if I have ever heard of a Dancing Feet Sect in other Murim webnovels. Regardless, this is what we are going with.)
Sima Ryunju, who said so, laughed with genuine delight. He continued in an excited voice.
“Hundred man formations consist of one commander, thirty-three attackers, thirty-three defenders, and thirty-three independent and rotating warriors. Although I know that, it’s the first time I’ve experienced it myself.”
“What’s behind the logic of using thirty-three people independently to rotate?”
“Shouting, hitting their tonfas loudly against one another, and casting smoke all around to perform an illusion of sorts and block the martial artist’s senses. Anyone caught in the center of these formations had either died or gotten crippled due to the brutal beating one would receive.”
“Cover your ears!”
The fallen martial artists shouted to each other as they saw the Murim Alliance’s Heavenly Martyrs get ready for their formation. The formation hadn’t started yet, but the waves of internal energy and sound started to branch out and reach their ears.
They hurriedly covered their ears and calmed down their own internal energy to not be attacked by the formation. If one didn’t circulate their internal energy, they wouldn’t have to be attacked by the formation’s sensory attacks. Of course, Sima Ryunju simply cracked a toothy grin and didn’t even bother to cover his ears.
If you faced a hundred man formation head-on, you would never have the luxury to cover your ears while they attacked you ruthlessly.
Thump, thump, thump .
The hundred warriors finished their preparation and came to a halt. Sina Ryunju strode up to them with his hands behind his back and spoke leisurely.
“Are you the current commander?”
“……yes.”
“Is the leader of the Heavenly Fists and commander of the Heavenly Martyrs dead?”
“It was decades ago that they died.”
“Really? Well, I guess it’s been that long.”
After listening to what Sima Ryunju said, Mugeol-Gae held the tonfas in his hands tightly.
He ignored the goosebumps that he was feeling in both of his arms. The man in front of him looked no older than thirty years old. But Mugeol-Gae knew that Sima Ryunju was a monstrous martial artist who had lived for over 300 years.
It was frightening. One went through body transformation when they learned higher levels of martial arts. When one reached the Peak Realm, they could live up to 100 years of life.
But… Sima Ryunju had lived for over 300 years and still looked like a young man in his youth.
“Monster…….”
“I’m still a human.”
Sima Ryunju approached the group as the group slightly faltered from Sima Ryunju’s words of bringing up the past Head of the Heavenly Fist Sect.
“I’ve lived for hundreds of years, but I’ve never experienced your hundred man battle formation. Usually, there should be four factions that have their own hundred man formations, correct? Which sect do you think is the most brilliant with their hundred man formation?”
“The Heavenly Fist Sect’s.”
Mugeol-Gae spoke confidently, hiding his anxiety.
“That’s great. The first time this old man destroyed the formation of this sect, it was also called the strongest at that time. What do you think you’ve been doing the last 300 years approaching me without making any progress at all?”
The words enraged all of the martial artists there. Mugeol-Gae lifted up his tonfa into the air. That was the signal.
Pabababak!
Ninety-nine martial artists at their sides moved quickly and surrounded the three of them : Lee Sungmin, Sima Ryunju and Mugeol-Gae, as they got into position.
The rest of the martial artists who had been injured or killed moved far away from the fight; afraid of being attacked or caught up in the formation in progress.
“You’ve made a mistake coming here.”
Mugeol-Gae spoke with confidence, and was inwardly relieved. Inside this formation, was the easiest and safest place to handle the monster known as Sima Ryunju.
Thump, thump, thump .
Thirty-three martial artists, including Chigweol, tapped the ground with their feet. In pairs, two people at a time would hit their tonfas together, and shout random sounds to mix up the senses of Sima Ryunju.
The remaining men started to move silently through the formation like wind, preparing to strike.
“Jin!”
Mugeol-Gae screamed. The tonfa in his hand raised up into the air. Thirty-three attackers and thirty-three defenders moved. The defense rotated and turned into an attack. Sixty-six men moved in to attack from every angle possible.
The atmosphere was shaking, and the very space around Sima Ryunju and Lee Sungmin started to crack like glass. Sima Ryunju was a Transcendent Martial Artist who had long been capable of simply distorting space. He twisted the space around them without lifting a finger.
Sima Ryunju then, then raised his hands and pointed in front of him as he spoke with anticipation at Lee Sungmin.
“Look carefully.”
He smiled as he looked like a crazed old man at that moment that was enjoying his every moment.
“So that you, my incompetent disciple, can understand just how powerful this old man is. This old man will show you the true essence of the Realm he has reached.”
The space started to twist ominously as Lee Sungmin stared at his master; eyes wide-open, not daring to miss what he was about to see.
* * *
“That bastard came here and attacked us?”
Upon hearing the report, the face of Jehu turned white. He sat in front of his desk clenching his chest.
‘Why are you doing this to me? Now, of all times!’
The wound Juwon had left him in the Forest in the North hadn’t completely healed yet. In fact, the more Jehu thought about what happened at that time, the more he felt wronged and frustrated.
If only Kang Seok hadn’t acted like a fucking bastard and left. No, at least if he had stayed on course back the Murim Alliance instead of chasing the Ghost Spear impulsively, he wouldn’t have had to go through such bullshit and would have taught that dirty wolf a lesson another time.
“The report…My Lord…. What should I do……?”
“Shut up.”
Jehu spat out in a heated voice.
“I don’t know, so shut up.”
Jehu let out a sigh of frustration.
Strangely, he felt like he was going to cry.