Chapter 236

An absolute martial artist called one of the Three Venerables, along with the Martial Venerable, Yeom Bul-ui, and the Wind Venerable.

A Sword Hero who had trained in nothing but Sword Art, dedicating his entire life to its mastery.

With a single sword in hand, there was no one in All Under Heaven who dared to be his rival.

He was the idol of all swordsmen in All Under Heaven.

His level was so unrivaled that anyone who held a sword wished to be like him.

It was understandable that the martial artists gathered at the Jin Clan were ecstatic at Han Yu-cheon’s appearance. Although many martial artists had come to help the Jin Clan, this was the first time a martial artist of Han Yu-cheon’s caliber had arrived.

With an aloof expression and gaze, Han Yu-cheon scanned the people surrounding him.

Most of their expressions were the same.

Expressions of coexisting reverence and fear.

They were faces all too familiar to him.

Ever since he had earned the alias of Sword Venerable, people had looked at him with such expressions wherever he went.

Han Yu-cheon found such gazes bothersome.

If he had his way, he would not have wanted to come to a place where so many people were gathered.

Gathering together like this and getting into a scuffle did not suit his temperament. But he had no choice but to come here.

‘That wretched girl!’

It was to uncover the truth behind the death of his disciple, who had returned as a cold corpse.

No matter how she had driven a nail into his heart and left, the fact that she was his disciple did not change.

The people gathered at the Jin Clan were mistaken.

Mistaken in thinking that Han Yu-cheon would, of course, help them. He was sorry, but Han Yu-cheon had not the slightest intention of doing so.

He had disliked his disciple accompanying Jin Geum-woo in the first place. They stuck together like that, and in the end, this disaster occurred. That was why he did not like the Jin Clan.

Why would he help the family that had caused his disciple’s death?

The heroes who looked at him with expectant eyes, not knowing his circumstances, were pathetic.

However, not everyone was looking at him with such eyes.

‘That one!’

Han Yu-cheon’s gaze fixed on a certain spot.

He was there.

A man with a face more beautiful than a woman’s.

Only he was looking back with eyes devoid of any emotion.

The moment their eyes met, he felt a shiver.

It was as if an invisible knife was gouging out his heart.

It had been a long time since anyone had made him feel this way.

‘Was there such a person in the Jin Clan?’

The unpleasant feeling that had consumed him just a moment ago vanished, and curiosity about the man before him arose.

He was curious if the man was truly qualified to meet his gaze head-on. So, he put more force into his eyes.

A gaze concentrated with Internal Power was no different from a blade.

A martial artist with weak Internal Energy would suffer great damage to their pupils and mind just by meeting his gaze. But there was no change in Pyo Wol’s eyes as he looked at him.

Han Yu-cheon’s gaze grew even more chilling.

His pride was wounded by Pyo Wol’s unchanging demeanor in the face of his challenge.

Chiiii!

He focused even more Internal Power into his eyes. A cold chill then spread out from him.

“What is this?”

“Ugh!”

Only then did the heroes crowded around Han Yu-cheon sense the strange atmosphere.

A feeling like thousands, tens of thousands of invisible needles were pricking their entire bodies. It did not take long for them to realize that this was the killing intent emanating from Han Yu-cheon.

“B-back away!”

“Why?”

The martial artists stepped back in fright.

Han Yu-cheon frowned at their fuss. Because of the chaos they caused, Pyo Wol, whose eyes had met his, had vanished without a trace.

‘What the?’

He hurriedly raised his Qi Sense, but he could not feel Pyo Wol’s presence anywhere. He had completely disappeared.

For a moment, he felt the blood in his entire body run cold.

It was because he thought that if someone who could hide their presence so perfectly decided to launch a surprise attack, even he might be in danger.

But he soon shook his head, denying his own thought.

‘Such a useless worry…’

No matter what anyone said, he was the Sword Venerable, Han Yu-cheon.

An absolute master who prided himself on having no rival when it came to the sword.

The thought of him being ambushed by someone was unimaginable.

In the distance, Jin Si-woo, having heard the news of his arrival, was running over.

The sight of Jin Si-woo laid a frost over his already cold heart.

The thought of the man he had seen a moment ago was no longer in his mind.

Jin Si-woo respectfully performed a Fist-Palm Salute.

“Welcome, Great Hero Han! Why did you come without sending word? If you had contacted us in advance, we would have gone out to meet you.”

“What’s so great about the Jin Clan that I should send word in advance?”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I did not come to help the Jin Clan.”

“Then?”

“I came to watch the Jin Clan fall.”

Han Yu-cheon imbued his last words with Internal Power so that everyone could hear.

“…”

It was a shocking declaration that threw cold water on the escalating atmosphere of the Jin Clan.

＊＊＊

Pyo Wol left the Jin Clan.

Pyo Wol felt no particular emotion at Han Yu-cheon’s declaration. Since he had no expectations of him in the first place, he felt no disappointment.

He only thought that his martial arts were incredibly profound, and that he would have a tough fight if he were to face him later.

It was a vast improvement compared to when he first met the Wind Venerable.

When he first saw the Wind Venerable, it felt like facing a colossal wall that he couldn’t even dare to think of surmounting. The fact that he felt only this much after seeing an absolute martial artist of the same rank showed how much Pyo Wol had developed.

He did not think he would be pushed back even if he faced Han Yu-cheon head-on.

It was not baseless confidence.

During his time with Daoist Master Ilgeom, something had changed within Pyo Wol. He didn’t know exactly what it was, but it made Pyo Wol feel confident.

The place Pyo Wol headed for after leaving the Jin Clan was Runan.

Despite the major battle a few days ago, there were still many martial artists in Runan.

They were people who had come to watch the fight without taking either the Jin Clan’s or Snow Blade Sword Manor’s side.

The clash between Snow Blade Sword Manor and the Jin Clan was the first major battle to occur in Henan Province in decades. Because of that, many people were watching with interest.

It was clear that the landscape of Henan Province would be divided depending on which power won. Although they couldn’t dare to surpass the absolute powerhouse of Henan, the Shaolin Temple, they would at least solidify their position as the Second-in-Command.

That was why many factions sent people to assess the military strength of the two powers.

One of the professions that came to prominence in the Jianghu after the Great Blood War was that of the spy.

Through their experience fighting the Divine Demon Association, each sect had come to realize the importance of spies and the information they brought.

They realized that superiority in information was superiority in military power.

While small and medium-sized sects obtained information through the Hao Clan, the eleven sects renowned throughout All Under Heaven trained and utilized their own spies.

In particular, the intelligence groups operated by the Heavenly Martial Fortress and the Radiant Martial Gate were said to have information networks that surpassed even the Hao Clan.

They did not particularly trust the Hao Clan.

It wasn’t that they didn’t believe the Hao Clan’s information, but rather they were wary of their own secrets being leaked by commissioning information from them.

They used the Hao Clan for trivial information, but handled truly important information internally.

It was the same for Pyo Wol.

Although placing a request with the Hao Clan was the easiest way to obtain information, he was reluctant to use it because his movements would be clearly revealed.

It wasn’t as if he had his own information network either.

While he could easily obtain information in Sichuan Province, here, where he had nothing, he had to move himself to get information.

Pyo Wol entered the back alleys of Runan.

The back alleys were extremely filthy. They were so full of the reek of urine and unidentifiable stenches that martial artists did not venture this far.

The people living in the back alleys were the lower class or the poor of Runan.

Unlike the well-maintained main streets, the back alleys were left neglected. As it was a place even martial artists were reluctant to enter, the back alleys had established their own order among the people living there.

At Pyo Wol’s appearance, people looked at him with eyes full of curiosity and wariness.

“Shit! He’s damn handsome.”

“Is that a man? Or a woman?”

They didn’t dare to speak loudly, just murmured amongst themselves.

Pyo Wol had looks that stood out anywhere. Moreover, now that he no longer covered his face with a scarf, he was bound to be even more conspicuous.

Pyo Wol ignored the people’s murmurs.

He had heard it so often that he had even developed a poison resistance to it. Thus, he had reached a state where he could let it in one ear and out the other.

Pyo Wol scanned his surroundings with a calm gaze.

Those who lived in the back alleys were naturally suspicious. They never revealed what they had to the outside.

Because of that, finding what one wanted among them required a great deal of time and effort.

Pyo Wol walked through the back alleys, observing them closely. Only after putting in effort for a while was he able to find his target.

The place Pyo Wol found was a gambling den in the back alleys.

A large city like Runan was bound to have a gambling den. And most of them were hidden in secretive places like these back alleys.

On the outside, it looked no different from an ordinary house, but the fact that as many as thirty people entered and exited within half a shichen could not be considered ordinary. Furthermore, two men of sturdy build were checking the identities of the customers at the entrance.

Without a second thought, Pyo Wol walked towards the gambling den.

“What is it?”

“We don’t accept women.”

As Pyo Wol approached, the men standing at the entrance blocked his way.

Pyo Wol silently opened his pouch filled with gold taels and showed them. The men’s complexions changed in an instant.

“Well, look here, a distinguished guest has arrived.”

“Please enter.”

They obediently opened the door.

One’s status outside meant nothing here. Only those with a lot of gold taels were treated as honored guests.

As Pyo Wol entered the gambling den, the men spoke, watching his back.

“One shichen!”

“I think half a shichen is enough. From the looks of him, he’s a greenhorn who’s never gambled in his life…”

“You think so?”

“In half a shichen, we can strip him down to his underwear.”

“Hehe! And after that, we can make him sell his body. There are plenty of customers who like pretty-faced bastards like him.”

“Killing two birds with one stone, eh? Kehehe!”

They thought they were speaking quietly, but to Pyo Wol’s ears, it sounded as loud as a ringing bell. However, their lewd jokes could not stir Pyo Wol’s heart.

“It’s out.”

“It’s a Dice Game! Woooah!”

As soon as Pyo Wol entered the gambling den, a thunderous cheer erupted.

At the table where the cheer erupted, a man was jumping up and down with joy. On the table in front of him, two dice showed the number six.

It was the highest number in the dice game.

The man hugged the pile of money on the table, rejoicing. In contrast, the people who lost money looked as if they had lost their country.

Across a single table, people’s joy and sorrow were starkly divided.

Five or six men sat facing each other at each table. At one table, a cricket fight was taking place, and at another, a game of dominoes was in full swing.

The types of gambling were different, but everyone was engrossed.

Their bloodshot eyes staring at the tabletops clearly showed what a person addicted to gambling looked like.

The people blinded by gambling didn’t even give Pyo Wol a glance.

No matter how eye-catching Pyo Wol’s appearance was, the dominoes on the table were more important to them.

Nothing else entered their eyes.

Pyo Wol looked around and sat down in an empty seat.

As he sat, Jang Han, who was sitting next to him, scowled and spoke.

“Did you bring any money? The stakes at this table are quite high, kid! If you’ve sat down with just a few pennies, you’d better get lost right now.”

Pyo Wol silently turned his pouch upside down.

Twenty gold taels rolled out.

Twenty nyang of gold taels was well over two hundred nyang of silver taels.

In an instant, greed flickered across Jang Han’s face.

“Wow! The God of Fortune has descended. Hehe!”

He laughed slyly, as if Pyo Wol’s gold was already his.

It was the same for the others.

“Hurry up and deal the tiles. We need to teach this young friend that the world isn’t so easy.”

“Hehe! All that money is mine.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

In their eyes, Pyo Wol looked like tempting prey.

‘I’ll strip you down to your underwear.’

‘Hehehe!’

The men gathered at the table secretly exchanged glances.

They were hungry ghosts who coveted each other’s money, but occasionally, they would secretly band together.

It was when an easy mark, ripe for the picking, appeared.