Chapter 418

Go Geom-wol, the former leader of the Divine Demon Association, was an absolute expert the likes of which the world had never seen.

No martial artist in the Jianghu could stand as Go Geom-wol’s equal.

He had only one rival. Lee Gwak, the Sect Leader of the Radiant Martial Gate.

In their final moments, the two men clashed, betting everything they had.

In the end, the victor was Lee Gwak of the Radiant Martial Gate.

He had subdued Go Geom-wol. But the one who actually ended Go Geom-wol’s life was the young Manor Lord of the Heavenly Martial Fortress, Jang Cheon-hwa.

When Go Geom-wol, defeated by Lee Gwak, fell at his feet, he had brandished his sword in a daze and taken his life.

This incident brought Jang Cheon-hwa fame, and the Heavenly Martial Fortress developed rapidly.

Even before, the Heavenly Martial Fortress’s wealth was great enough to encompass All Under Heaven. But with this incident as a turning point, countless martial artists pledged their allegiance to the Heavenly Martial Fortress, and its power expanded explosively.

Thanks to this, it was a widely known fact that the Heavenly Martial Fortress became one of the Two Powerhouses of All Under Heaven, gaining a reputation that rivaled the Radiant Martial Gate.

“But the truth is that the Heavenly Martial Fortress was the successor to the Divine Demon Association? I wonder if Jang Cheon-hwa killing Go Geom-wol was also part of the calculation.”

From a few simple lines of text, Pyo Wol had discovered a hidden truth of the Jianghu.

“If this text is true, then the Divine Demon Association’s leader, Go Geom-wol, sacrificed his own life to successfully execute the Golden Cicada Shedding Shell stratagem.”

Honestly, he thought it was incredible.

Executing such a plan at the cost of one’s own life was not something just anyone could do.

He didn’t know what kind of man Go Geom-wol was, but the mere fact that he had executed and succeeded in such a plan was enough to call him a strategist for the ages.

He had never known that such a secret history existed in the underbelly of the Jianghu. And he had never imagined he would learn of such a secret in the ruins of the Divine Demon Association.

Pyo Wol’s gaze turned to Gwak No-saeng.

Even then, Gwak No-saeng didn’t know what to do.

He had tried to escape while Pyo Wol was distracted, but he hesitated because Yong Seol Lan was blocking the entrance.

Pyo Wol said to Gwak No-saeng.

“You must have known too. That the Heavenly Martial Fortress is, in fact, the successor to the Divine Demon Association.”

“What of it?”

“And yet you’re unfazed? Is it not that you learned it here, but that you’ve actually known for a long time?”

Pyo Wol did not miss the slight hardening of Gwak No-saeng’s expression for a moment.

Pyo Wol was certain his guess was correct.

Realizing his mistake, Gwak No-saeng shouted.

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“We’ll soon find out whether it’s nonsense or not.”

Pyo Wol walked toward Gwak No-saeng.

Gwak No-saeng stumbled backward until his back hit a wall.

Realizing there was nowhere left to retreat, Gwak No-saeng’s expression turned vicious.

For the first time in his life, he was cornered.

His original plan was to grab anything useful here and get out before Pyo Wol arrived. But all his plans were ruined because Pyo Wol had chased him at a speed that surpassed his expectations.

He, too, was confident in his own martial arts. But he had no confidence in facing the monster before him head-on.

Not under normal circumstances, that is.

After a moment of conflict, Gwak No-saeng made up his mind and put his hand inside his robes.

When his hand emerged, it held a black pill.

Without hesitation, Gwak No-saeng swallowed the pill.

Instantly, veins bulged all over his body and his muscles swelled.

The pill he had taken was an elixir called the Demonic Spirit Amplification Pill.

It was something he had personally created based on the enlightenment he’d gained here, and once taken, it had the effect of momentarily amplifying one’s internal energy and physical abilities three to four times over.

As is typical for this kind of elixir, it had massive side effects, so he had intended not to take it unless absolutely necessary. But cornered with no way to escape, he had made an extreme choice.

“Heeeuuugh!”

A bizarre breath escaped Gwak No-saeng.

A terrifying Ghost Fire flickered in his eyes.

“You will pay the price for making me take the Demonic Spirit Amplification Pill.”

Phat!

Gwak No-saeng kicked off the ground and rushed at Pyo Wol.

Approaching Pyo Wol at a terrifying speed, Gwak No-saeng unleashed his signature technique, the Soul-Collecting Hand.

Kwaaaa!

A fearsome energy whipped toward Pyo Wol.

Unflustered, Pyo Wol used Serpentine Steps to evade Gwak No-saeng’s attack.

“You think you can escape?”

Gwak No-saeng pursued Pyo Wol at a terrifying speed.

This, too, was an effect of the Demonic Spirit Amplification Pill.

“Die!”

Gwak No-saeng continuously swung his Soul-Collecting Hand.

The Soul-Collecting Hand was a martial art derived from medical arts. If even one vital point was struck by the Soul-Collecting Hand, Death Qi would immediately invade the body, destroying the heart meridian and leading to death.

Gwak No-saeng pursued the retreating Pyo Wol, continuously unleashing the Soul-Collecting Hand. But all his attacks missed by a hair’s breadth.

Thoroughly incensed, Gwak No-saeng shouted.

“If you have any pride as a man, stop running away like a coward and face me head-on.”

But Pyo Wol paid him no mind and focused solely on evading Gwak No-saeng’s attacks.

“Hoo!”

Watching them crisscross the stone chamber, Yong Seol Lan let out a sigh without realizing it.

The two men’s movements were so fast that she couldn’t follow them even with her Eye Power.

The flashes of white here and there looked as if they were performing the legendary Buddhist Body Technique, the Immovable Wisdom King Steps.

That was how fast they were moving, at a speed that defied common sense. But Yong Seol Lan wasn’t too worried.

Because even after taking the Demonic Spirit Amplification Pill, Gwak No-saeng couldn’t completely catch up to Pyo Wol.

To her eyes, it looked as if Pyo Wol was just waiting for Gwak No-saeng to tire himself out.

And that was indeed the case.

There was something Pyo Wol absolutely had to find out from Gwak No-saeng. That was why he was waiting for all of Gwak No-saeng’s Qi to be depleted.

Pyo Wol knew that items like the Demonic Spirit Amplification Pill were bound to have side effects.

If left alone, he would self-destruct over time.

That was why he waited for Gwak No-saeng to tire out without bothering to lift a finger.

“Cowardly bastard! You plan to just run away like a rat?”

Unable to catch Pyo Wol, Gwak No-saeng shrieked at the top of his lungs. He hurled all sorts of curses, but Pyo Wol didn’t even blink.

No matter how many curses like these he heard, his heart would not be swayed.

“Keuuugh!”

In the end, unable to catch Pyo Wol, a groan escaped Gwak No-saeng’s lips. Then, like air escaping a leather drum, Gwak No-saeng’s body rapidly shriveled.

The effects of the Demonic Spirit Amplification Pill had run out.

In that instant, Pyo Wol unleashed and swung the Soul Restraining Thread.

The Soul Restraining Thread wrapped around Gwak No-saeng’s waist. Pyo Wol threw Gwak No-saeng against the wall.

Kwang!

“Keuk!”

Gwak No-saeng let out a groan as he collided with the wall.

At that moment, Pyo Wol swung the Soul Restraining Thread toward the opposite side again.

Gwak No-saeng, dangling from the Soul Restraining Thread, was slammed into the opposite wall again.

Kwaang!

“Keoheok!”

Unable to withstand the impact, Gwak No-saeng coughed up a mouthful of black blood. But his misfortune was not over yet.

Shwaak!

Pyo Wol used the Soul Restraining Thread to swing Gwak No-saeng this way and that.

Slammed into walls and smashed into the floor, Gwak No-saeng became a complete mess.

His once-neat hair was disheveled, and it felt as if every bone in his body had been fractured.

Gwak No-saeng struggled to break free from the Soul Restraining Thread, but it was useless.

The side effects of the Demonic Spirit Amplification Pill were so severe that he no longer had the strength to lift a single finger. Pyo Wol knew this. Yet, Pyo Wol did not stop his merciless assault.

Kwaaaang!

Finally, Gwak No-saeng was slammed into the floor.

The stone floor shattered, and Gwak No-saeng’s body, half-buried, trembled.

The extreme exhaustion and side effects that came as soon as the Demonic Spirit Amplification Pill wore off, combined with the massive impacts, had completely pulverized Gwak No-saeng’s internal organs.

“Keoheok!”

Gwak No-saeng belatedly vomited dark red blood.

Fragments of his crushed organs were mixed in the blood.

No matter how great a medical practitioner Gwak No-saeng was, he could not recover from such injuries.

“Cough!”

Gwak No-saeng coughed up blood once more. This time, even more organ fragments were mixed in.

Pyo Wol crouched in front of Gwak No-saeng and fixed his gaze on him.

Gwak No-saeng trembled with rage and said.

“You… you demonic bastard!”

“You’re from the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild, aren’t you?”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“Is the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild also connected to the Heavenly Martial Fortress?”

“Bullshit!”

Gwak No-saeng’s reaction made it certain.

The fact that he truly belonged to the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild.

Pyo Wol felt a chill run down his spine.

He had never even expected that they would have advanced as far as the ruins of the Divine Demon Association. He had no idea how far their reach extended.

“It seems the Heavenly Martial Fortress really is related to the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild. Seeing as you deny it so vehemently.”

“Heh heh! Think whatever you want.”

Gwak No-saeng sneered at Pyo Wol.

‘It seems he’s not directly related to the Heavenly Martial Fortress.’

Gwak No-saeng was already on the verge of death.

He had neither the mental state nor the leeway to lie.

The reason Pyo Wol had deliberately driven him to a near-death state was to not give him the room to think.

“Where is the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild’s headquarters?”

“Heh… heh! It’s in a place you’ll never find.”

“Why do you think I’ll never find it?”

“Because… you’ll be dead… before then. How long do you think… you can run wild like this? When I die, the Deathshroud will no longer turn a blind eye to you.”

“Is that so?”

“From… now on, your life will turn into a living hell.”

“That’s great.”

“What?”

“It means I don’t have to go around looking for you all one by one.”

“You… you’re truly insane.”

“That’s right! I am insane. And you’re the ones who provoked this madman first.”

“Eek!”

Gwak No-saeng’s face, seething with rage, turned completely red.

Peok!

Suddenly, a small explosion went off inside his head.

Simultaneously, blood poured from his Seven Orifices.

His heart meridian had burst from excessive rage.

Gwak No-saeng convulsed like a person having an epileptic seizure, then his movements stopped as if by a lie. His breathing had completely ceased.

Pyo Wol stared at Gwak No-saeng’s corpse for a while before getting up.

“Are you alright?”

Yong Seol Lan approached and asked.

Pyo Wol nodded silently.

His only regret was that the connection to the Nine Dragons Assassination Guild, which he had found with such difficulty, had been severed here.

After thinking for a moment, Pyo Wol approached the wall.

All of the legacy left behind by the man named Gyeong Chu-wol was here.

He might have left behind greater enlightenment after joining the Heavenly Martial Fortress, but in any case, all his enlightenment up to that point remained here.

If this place was left as it was, it was certain that a second and third Gwak No-saeng would appear.

Pyo Wol threw a punch at the wall.

Kwang!

With a single punch, the wall engraved with murals and mystic arts crumbled like a sandcastle.

Pyo Wol destroyed the remaining walls as well. He thoroughly erased everything so that no one who found this place in the future could obtain any secret transmissions.

Someone might criticize Pyo Wol if they found out.

For erasing precious mystic arts and secret techniques from the world.

They might say that the problem was not such secret techniques, but people.

But Pyo Wol’s thoughts were different.

While people were clearly the root of the problem, leaving behind flawed secret transmissions that incited human greed was also a problem.

Perhaps someone with good intentions might use them correctly, but as long as there was even a slight chance that someone without such intentions could possess them, it was best to get rid of them entirely.

After destroying all the walls, Pyo Wol said to Yong Seol Lan.

“Let’s go now.”

“Yes!”

Just as Yong Seol Lan answered.

Kwarurung!

Suddenly, the entire stone chamber shook as if it were about to collapse.

It was as if an earthquake had struck the area.

The color drained from Yong Seol Lan’s face.

“What the?”

“Let’s get out of here first. I’m sick and tired of being trapped underground again.”

“Yes!”

The two hurriedly used their Lightness Art.

The tremors continued even as they ran through the passage where the Mechanism Formation had been installed.

Perhaps due to the impact, the Mechanism Formation no longer activated.

Thanks to that, the two were able to reach the surface safely without any hindrance.

What greeted the two as they reached the surface was an overturned land.