Chapter 20 – Tomb of the Sword God (8)

While Yu-jin was making Na Ye-jin his own, a major incident occurred on Mount Huang. Monstrous beings had suddenly appeared and begun slaughtering martial artists indiscriminately. Of course, the martial artists did not stand idly by.

“Die!”

A swordsman swung his sword, imbued with sword ki, fiercely at one of the beings. His blade cut through the creature, yet its body remained completely unscathed.

“Krrrrr.”

The being, letting out a beastly sound, threw a punch. The immense force behind it not only shattered the swordsman’s abdomen but pierced straight through his back.

“This is… insane…”

With those last words, the swordsman died.

He was not the only one to die in such a manner. Those with even slightly weaker martial arts skills were cut down in an instant.

So, were the peak masters, capable of wielding aura ki—a power beyond sword ki—at an advantage? The answer was no.

“What in the world are you!”

Jo Eom, known by the title Black Saber, stared at the being in disbelief. He had clearly struck it with powerful saber ki, but the creature’s wounds regenerated in an instant.

Jo Eom steeled himself and swung his saber again. Each time his saber swung, deep gashes appeared on the creature’s body, but it was only for a moment; the wounds continued to regenerate.

“Kuaaaang!”

The being lunged toward Jo Eom, who was exhausted from expending so much internal energy. It thrust its hand forward. Jo Eom hastily defended himself with the flat of his saber, but the creature’s hand shattered the blade and shot rapidly toward his heart.

Just then, a pure white, crescent-shaped aura ki flew out and severed the creature’s arm, allowing Jo Eom to narrowly escape death.

“My thanks!”

Jo Eom looked at the three young men standing before him and expressed his gratitude. They were all handsome youths exuding powerful energy.

The young man who appeared to be the leader spoke.

“There will be time for thanks later. For now, it seems we must fight.”

“Right. By the way, may I know your name, Young Hero?”

The young man nodded at the question and, gesturing to the other two, began to speak.

“Those two are the Buddha Sword Dragon, Jin Won-ho, and the Wise Sword Dragon, Yong Cheon-hwi. I am the Flying Sword Dragon, Kang Yong-hoon.”

At Kang Yong-hoon’s words, Jo Eom couldn’t hide his admiration. The remaining three members of the Seven Dragons had appeared.

* * *

“The Young Master will be alright, won’t he?”

At Namgung Hwa-rin’s question, the four maids—Yeon, Ye, Hwa, and Rin—nodded. Yeon, the head maid, spoke to reassure her.

“You’ve seen a glimpse of the Young Master’s power, haven’t you? There are few in the martial world who can harm him. I’m sure he will return completely unharmed.”

Yeon’s words brought a smile to Namgung Hwa-rin’s face. However, their own situation was not much better. With seven beautiful women gathered together, the other martial artists wouldn’t leave them alone.

Fortunately, they were all skilled enough in martial arts to protect themselves without any harm; otherwise, they would have been in danger.

“Are more coming?”

Namgung Hwi frowned and drew his sword once more. Judging by the loud explosions nearby, a fight was clearly taking place close by.

As such, he couldn’t afford to lower his guard. The rest of the group also gripped their weapons, remaining vigilant of their surroundings.

*Boom!*

Another loud explosion echoed, and soon, several figures burst out from the bushes. Namgung Hwi quickly swung his sword to cut them down.

However, one of the figures emerging from the bushes blocked his strike. Frowning at how easily his sword was stopped, Namgung Hwi soon recoiled in shock.

“Yong-hoon, what are you doing here? And isn’t that Won-ho and Cheon-hwi?”

Namgung Hwi couldn’t help but be surprised to see Jin Won-ho, the sole swordsman of Shaolin, and Yong Cheon-hwi, the pride of the Wudang Sect’s younger generation. All the members of the Seven Dragons were now gathered in one place.

“Hwi, it’s you. Damn! There’s no time! Run, quickly!”

“What are you talking about? Run? Won-ho, Cheon-hwi, what is the meaning of this?”

Namgung Hwi asked with a look of disbelief. To run away was a dishonorable act, something a member of the Seven Dragons could never say.

“What’s going on, Brother Yong-hoon? Please explain in detail.”

As Mo Yong-jin stepped forward to ask, Kang Yong-hoon, Jin Won-ho, and Yong Cheon-hwi frowned. They were growing irritated by the delay when they had no time to spare. But since the reaction was understandable, Kang Yong-hoon began to explain.

“It’s a demonic creature. A very powerful one is killing people indiscriminately.”

After saying so, Kang Yong-hoon recounted what he had experienced.

* * *

“Huh?”

Kang Yong-hoon, who had saved the Black Saber Jo Eom by launching his aura ki, couldn’t hide his bewilderment as he watched the severed arm reattach itself and regenerate. He had never imagined such a demonic creature could exist.

“It seems to be a jiangshi. A very powerful one at that.”

“You’re right. I can feel a powerful demonic energy.”

Yong Cheon-hwi’s words were met with a nod from Jin Won-ho. Both men, initiated into Taoism and Buddhism respectively, were more sensitive to demonic energy than anyone else.

In particular, Jin Won-ho, a master of the Bodhidharma Tathagata Sword—a technique for vanquishing evil—glared at the Iron Jiangshi with disgust.

“How unpleasant, for a creature that defies heaven to exist in this world.”

With those words, Jin Won-ho drew the Tathagata Divine Sword, the only sword of Shaolin, and swung it. A golden sword ki shot out and sliced through the Iron Jiangshi.

“Keoheoheoheong!”

The Iron Jiangshi reacted in a completely different way than before. While it had regenerated from every attack thrown by other martial artists, the part struck by Jin Won-ho’s sword ki did not heal. The power to vanquish evil had suppressed its regenerative abilities.

At that, Yong Cheon-hwi also swung his sword, unleashing a blue sword ki.

“Keoheong!”

Once again, the Iron Jiangshi was unable to regenerate the wounded area. Yong Cheon-hwi’s sword was imbued with the profound ki of Taoism, allowing him to exert the same evil-vanquishing power as Jin Won-ho.

“It seems your attacks are effective against these creatures. Great Hero Jo, let’s lure them in together. Won-ho, Cheon-hwi, the two of you will finish off the ones we draw out.”

Quickly assessing the situation, Kang Yong-hoon gave orders to the others, and they nodded in agreement. The battle that followed was fairly straightforward.

Jo Eom and Kang Yong-hoon launched powerful attacks to draw the attention of the Iron Jiangshi, while Jin Won-ho and Yong Cheon-hwi finished them off as their focus was diverted.

After they had killed about eight Iron Jiangshi in this manner, a demonic creature appeared that was incomparably stronger than any they had faced before.

[So it was you. The ones who killed the Iron Jiangshi.]

The four men tensed. The creature before them exuded a demonic energy on a completely different level from the ones they had just killed. Despite being a jiangshi, it felt almost like they were looking at a living person.

[My master has ordered your capture. So you will have to come with me.]

As it spoke, the jiangshi appeared before Jo Eom with incredible speed and thrust out its hand.

“Keoheok!”

Coughing up blood, Jo Eom collapsed. He stared in disbelief at the creature that had just shattered his heart.

His protective aura, which he had deployed, was torn apart as if it were paper. Feeling a sense of terror at its overwhelming power, he closed his eyes for the last time.

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. He died before witnessing the true horror of the creature, unlike the others.

[Only you will die. The three of you will come with me to my master.]

“Don’t make me laugh!”

Jin Won-ho shouted as he swung the Tathagata Divine Sword again, this time sending a golden aura ki flying toward the creature.

[You are certainly troublesome.]

While the creature was vastly superior in terms of pure martial prowess, the combined power of the Tathagata Divine Sword and the Bodhidharma Tathagata Sword was a threat even to it.

Moreover, with Yong Cheon-hwi also launching a blue sword aura, the creature frowned slightly and drew upon its power.

*Kuooooo!*

A crimson energy erupted and enveloped the creature’s body. In that state, it blocked the attacks from Jin Won-ho and Yong Cheon-hwi, appearing to take no significant damage, unlike before.

Faced with such overwhelming power, Kang Yong-hoon felt they were no match and decided to retreat. He thought that even if their attacks were effective, it would be a difficult fight; in a situation like this, the vast difference in martial prowess was insurmountable.

“Let’s retreat for now. It’s not wise to face it here.”

Seeing their attacks so easily nullified, Jin Won-ho and Yong Cheon-hwi nodded in agreement with Kang Yong-hoon’s words.

And it was during their retreat that they encountered Namgung Hwi’s group.

“That’s why we have to fall back, Hwi. That creature is a master who has reached the Transformation Realm. On top of that, it possesses some unknown regenerative ability. The moment even Won-ho and Cheon-hwi’s attacks, which should be its weakness, failed to work, we lost any chance of defeating it.”

Even if all the Seven Dragons and Five Phoenixes were gathered, victory against a master of the Transformation Realm was not guaranteed. That was how formidable the realm was.

Namgung Hwi’s group frowned at Kang Yong-hoon’s words but accepted them. They knew better than anyone that he was not one to speak carelessly.

“But where is my brother? Why are only the maids here?”

When Kang Yong-hoon looked at Namgung Hwa-rin and asked, her expression darkened. At that moment, Yeon stepped forward and spoke.

“The Grand Young Master was temporarily separated from us due to an unfortunate incident. We believe he is on his way now.”

“If it’s my brother, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

No matter how strong that demonic creature was, in Kang Yong-hoon’s honest opinion, he couldn’t imagine Kang Yu-jin losing.

‘To think that I’m running away while believing my brother would win. How pathetic I am.’

Kang Yong-hoon inwardly lamented his own weakness but did not let it show on his face.

Meanwhile, the group, having accepted the explanation, tried to flee again. But it was already too late.

*Kwaaaang!*

With a massive explosion, the creature that had killed Jo Eom appeared.

[So you were all gathered here. All of you will have to come with me.]

“I refuse!”

Jin Won-ho once again used a technique of the Bodhidharma Tathagata Sword and launched it at the creature. In response, the creature also thrust out its hand, unleashing a crimson aura ki, and the two opposing forces collided at a single point.

The explosion created a cloud of smoke, but the creature charged through it toward the group.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Namgung Hwi unleashed a sword aura imbued with the power of lightning, which struck the creature’s body.

*Pzzzzzt!*

The power of lightning burned everything it touched. However, the creature regenerated even its charred flesh and reached out for Namgung Hwi.

Namgung Hwi swung his sword down, intending to sever the creature’s hand, but it quickly raised its aura ki and defended against the attack.

[You’re first.]

As the creature released a crimson energy, Namgung Hwi felt his consciousness waver. Just then, Yong Cheon-hwi swung his sword, blocking the creature from approaching Namgung Hwi.

The creature was forced to retreat. This time, Dang Geon-woo unleashed a storm of hidden weapons that battered the creature.

“What is that monster!”

Dang Geon-woo was horrified as he watched the embedded projectiles fall to the ground as the creature’s body regenerated.

Next, Dang Ga-hee unleashed a palm force laced with a potent poison, striking the creature’s body. It wasn’t entirely without effect, as parts of its body began to melt slightly.

But this, too, regenerated just the same.

[How annoying.]

Even if it could regenerate, a nuisance was still a nuisance. As the creature unleashed all the power it had been holding back, a tremendous storm erupted, sending the entire group flying.

“Kyaaak!”

“Keuk!”

The fierce wind sent everyone, man and woman alike, hurtling through the air.

They were thrown against the ground or walls, suffering heavy impacts.

It was a martial art unlike any conventional attack, and most of them lost consciousness. A strange, alien energy had clouded their minds.

In the end, they couldn’t endure it and collapsed, unconscious. Whether by good fortune or bad, Namgung Hwa-rin remained conscious, but she did not rejoice. The creature was staring directly at her.

[Just close your eyes for a moment, and it will all be over, woman.]

With those words, the creature approached Namgung Hwa-rin and reached out its hand.

‘Young Master.’

Namgung Hwa-rin closed her eyes, feeling extreme terror. Although she was one of the Five Phoenixes, she was powerless before a creature that could incapacitate the others in a single move. Just then, dark green flames wrapped around the creature’s arm.