Chapter 81

The spark ignited by Pyo Wol spread rapidly, as if to burn down all of Chengdu.

The Black Cloud Corps and martial artists clashed, and the sects supporting the Qingcheng Sect and the Emei Sect collided.

The clash of martial artists brought bloodshed, dyeing the entirety of Chengdu in terror. A few sects that had established their base near Chengdu tried to quell the unrest, but it was useless.

The madness spread not only among the martial artists but also among the common people.

Taking advantage of the extreme chaos, a few people began to loot shops and the homes of the wealthy. It started with a small number, but the looters soon increased exponentially.

Shop owners who couldn’t afford to hire martial artists took up clubs themselves to fight the rioters. The situation was no different for the wealthy households.

Normally, they would have easily hired martial artists with money, but there were no such martial artists left in Chengdu at the moment.

The fierce battle between those who sought to take and those who sought to protect plunged the already chaotic Chengdu into even greater turmoil.

No one could have imagined that Chengdu’s public order would collapse so easily.

The entire system of Chengdu, which had been solid for hundreds of years, was crumbling like a sandcastle in the tide.

The collective madness swallowed Chengdu whole.

Pyo Wol, the starting point of this whole affair, was not actually in Chengdu.

He had escaped Chengdu under the cover of the chaos.

There was a man tracking Pyo Wol.

It was none other than Jang Muryang, the Unit Leader of the Black Cloud Corps.

He chased after Pyo Wol with a face like a ferocious demon.

‘I will kill you, no matter what.’

Though he was a man who never lost his relaxed smile, his reason had flown out the window in the face of Daoshi Go’s injury.

Daoshi Go was not a mere subordinate.

He was like a master who had guided him since he was young.

It was because he had his back that he could become the Unit Leader of the Black Cloud Corps. That was why he had always treated Daoshi Go with respect and reverence.

Because his own attack had gravely injured him, Jang Muryang’s fury pierced the heavens.

His anger was directed squarely at Pyo Wol.

He was a target to be killed anyway, but he vowed to kill him even more brutally.

Whether by coincidence or fortune, the cavalry of the Black Cloud Corps was waiting in the direction Pyo Wol was currently running.

Due to the nature of cavalry, whose power is maximized on horseback, it was difficult for them to enter the streets of Chengdu, so they had been waiting on the outskirts.

Hwheeeek!

Jang Muryang let out a long whistle. Then, in the darkness far away, a single torch appeared and drew a large circle.

It was a signal from the waiting Black Cloud Corps.

Jang Muryang whistled once more.

Dududu!

The sound of hooves shaking the earth then echoed through the night sky.

Two hundred cavalrymen were moving in unison.

“You bastard! There’s nowhere left to run. Give up.”

Jang Muryang shouted loudly and swung his spear. A fierce spear energy rose and shot toward Pyo Wol.

In that instant, Pyo Wol’s body jolted.

As if he had eyes on the back of his head, he dodged Jang Muryang’s attack without even looking back. But the crisis was not over.

His eyes, which could see through the darkness, saw cavalrymen charging with terrifying momentum.

Two hundred cavalrymen, composed of martial artists from the Outer Regions.

They were the true power of the Black Cloud Corps.

Their martial arts might be slightly inferior to the other members of the Black Cloud Corps, but their true power was revealed when they charged on horseback.

When two hundred horsemen and riders charged as if they were one body, any expert in the Jianghu would feel their knees buckle.

“Haaat!”

“There’s the target.”

The cavalrymen simultaneously drew their spears and aimed forward.

The long spear was the weapon that best suited a cavalryman.

It was for the same reason that Jang Muryang’s weapon was a spear.

Dudududu!

Though it was not visible in the night, a massive cloud of dust rose behind the two hundred horsemen and riders.

Their target was one and only: Pyo Wol.

Two hundred horsemen and riders began their charge to kill Pyo Wol.

No matter how formidable Pyo Wol was, he looked helpless before two hundred cavalrymen.

Jang Muryang naturally thought Pyo Wol would choose to escape. But Pyo Wol, as if to mock his prediction, charged toward the cavalrymen instead.

“You must be crazy to die. Trample him to death.”

Jang Muryang’s voice echoed in the night sky.

As if in response to his words, the cavalrymen increased their speed even more.

Swish!

Spears were thrown before the horses arrived. The cavalrymen at the rear had imbued their spears with internal energy and thrown them at Pyo Wol.

Even in the darkness, their spears flew accurately, aimed at Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol threw himself toward the flying spears. He looked like a man desperate to commit suicide.

“Crazy bastard!”

Jang Muryang cursed, but he did not let down his guard.

The things Pyo Wol had shown until now had always far exceeded expectations.

It was the same this time.

Just before being hit by dozens of spears, Pyo Wol’s figure vanished from everyone’s sight as if by magic.

The place where Pyo Wol reappeared was above the head of a cavalryman in the lead.

He had instantly shortened the distance using Black Lightning.

Shhh!

The Ghostly Rain was unleashed.

“Not a chance.”

“Haap!”

The cavalrymen, all elites, instinctively sensed the danger and swung their spears to protect their entire bodies.

But they did not know.

They didn’t know that the Ghostly Rain Pyo Wol threw was not a simple flying dagger.

The Ghostly Rain, combined with the Soul Restraining Thread, could freely change its trajectory according to the movement of Pyo Wol’s fingers.

The Ghostly Rain burrowed between the spears like a loach. And it took the lives of two men.

“Keuk!”

“Keoheok!”

That was only the beginning.

Pyo Wol moved with Black Lightning.

The place where he reappeared was on the back of a horse that had lost its rider. Standing on the horse’s back, he threw the Ghostly Rain.

Shhh-ing!

A chilling sound of something cutting through the air echoed in the night.

“Kuaack!”

“Ack!”

Screams rang out once again.

“Get him!”

“Damn it!”

Chaos erupted among the cavalrymen.

They had trampled and pierced countless enemies with their spears until now, but no one had ever dared to jump into the middle of charging cavalrymen. It was tantamount to suicide.

Pyo Wol was doing that insane act.

Pyo Wol moved by stepping on the horses that were charging at an insane speed. And he slaughtered the cavalrymen with the Ghostly Rain.

By the time the cavalrymen swung their spears to attack, Pyo Wol had already vanished.

Darkness was Pyo Wol’s greatest weapon.

Pyo Wol moved through the darkness using Black Lightning and assassinated with the Ghostly Rain.

Pyo Wol was thoroughly shattering the prejudice that an assassin would naturally attack from hiding.

“Stop! You crazy son of a bitch.”

Jang Muryang belatedly joined the cavalrymen.

He mounted a horse that had lost its rider and charged at Pyo Wol.

Hwoooong!

His spear spewed out spear energy.

With a twist of his wrist, the spear energy rotated and surged toward Pyo Wol. But his spear energy missed Pyo Wol and cut through empty air in vain.

It was because Pyo Wol had thrown his body in another direction.

Pyo Wol moved between the horses, making a fool of the cavalrymen.

Shhh-ing!

Two strands of Soul Restraining Thread, carrying two Ghostly Rain daggers, cut through the darkness horizontally and vertically. Each time, cavalrymen died.

The dance of death performed by the assassin Pyo Wol was brutally violating the cavalrymen.

Amidst it all, Jang Muryang’s shouts echoed emptily.

“Stop! I said stop, you son of a bitch!”

＊＊＊

“What is this? This crazy scene…”

Guhwa Satae stared ahead for a moment with a dazed expression.

The city was on fire.

It wasn’t just a feeling; large fires had actually broken out in various parts of Chengdu. The looters had not only stolen goods but had also committed arson.

As a result, Chengdu was spiraling into even greater chaos.

In the midst of it, martial artists were fighting fiercely to kill each other.

Countless martial artists had already died, and many more were groaning from their injuries.

The blood they shed soaked the ground.

It was as if hell had unfolded.

All of this had happened in just a few shichen.

No one had expected that Chengdu, the heart of Sichuan Province, would turn into a living hell in an instant.

Yong Seol Lan said to Guhwa Satae.

“Master, we must save the Qingming Room and calm the situation as soon as possible. If we miss the timing, we won’t be able to get the situation under control.”

“I understand.”

This time, Guhwa Satae agreed with Yong Seol Lan’s opinion.

The situation was more serious than she had expected.

In the worst-case scenario, Chengdu, the center of Sichuan Province, could be devastated and become irrecoverable. If that happened, there would be almost nothing to gain even if they won the war against the Qingcheng Sect.

Such a worst-case scenario had to be prevented at all costs.

Guhwa Satae shouted.

“All of you, attack the Crimson Dragon Clan.”

“Waaah!”

At her command, the disciples of the Emei Sect and the Hundred Flowers Room stormed into the battlefield where the Qingming Room and the Crimson Dragon Clan were fighting.

The intervention of the Emei Sect greatly flustered Po Sanhae, the Boss of the Crimson Dragon Clan.

“Everyone, be careful. The Emei Sect has arrived.”

On the other hand, Gi Ju-han, the Boss of the Qingming Room, was filled with courage and shouted.

“The Emei Sect has come to help us. Everyone, give it your all.”

“Waaah!”

The roar of the Qingming Room thundered through Chengdu.

With the addition of the Emei Sect’s martial artists, the morale of the Qingming Room rose, while conversely, the momentum of the Crimson Dragon Clan was greatly broken.

“Out of my way!”

Kwakwakwa!

Guhwa Satae struck down the Crimson Dragon Clan members blocking her path with her Bludgeon Palm and headed toward Po Sanhae, the Boss of the Crimson Dragon Clan.

“Keuk!”

“Kak!”

The Crimson Dragon Clan members hit by the Bludgeon Palm let out single screams and flew in all directions. Their appearance as they rolled on the ground was wretched.

Broken limbs and caved-in chests were the norm. Even if they somehow survived, they would have to live as cripples for the rest of their lives. It was worse than death.

Guhwa Satae applied the Golden Light Swordplay, a Divine Art Supreme Technique of the Emei Sect, to her staff technique.

Its power could be called earth-shattering.

No one dared to withstand a single blow from her.

In an instant, a dozen members of the Crimson Dragon Clan became bloody messes and rolled on the ground.

When the situation turned like this, Po Sanhae rushed to stop Guhwa Satae.

“You Demoness! Will you not stop at once?”

“You’ve got some nerve, Boss Po. To dare call me that.”

Guhwa Satae glared at Po Sanhae with fierce eyes.

Po Sanhae’s spirit faltered under her intense aura. But he couldn’t back down or show weakness.

Although his sect was of a much lower rank than the Emei Sect, he too was the master of a sect.

If he showed weakness, the morale of the Crimson Dragon Clan members would fall. That was why he had no choice but to act strong.

“Shut up and withdraw your forces. This is a matter between the Crimson Dragon Clan and the Qingming Room. It’s not something for the Emei Sect to interfere in.”

“Hmph! You should say something that makes sense. Everyone knows the relationship between the Qingming Room and the Emei Sect, and you’re spouting such nonsense? Does Boss Po think I’m a fool?”

“Who said that? I just…”

“Shut up!”

Guhwa Satae cut off Po Sanhae’s words and attacked.

Kwaang!

“Keuk!”

Po Sanhae swung his saber and barely blocked Guhwa Satae’s attack. But Guhwa Satae’s attack was only just beginning.

Hung! Hung!

The Golden Light Staff Technique, an application of the Golden Light Swordplay, unfolded.

The power of the Golden Light Staff Technique, based on the Matchless Golden Light Divine Art, one of the Emei Sect’s supreme mind arts, was truly terrifying.

Po Sanhae, the renowned Boss of the Crimson Dragon Clan, couldn’t last even ten seconds and staggered.

Po Sanhae’s face was deathly pale, and blood was visible at the corner of his mouth. He had suffered a deep internal injury in just a dozen clashes.

‘The Demoness’s martial arts are truly fearsome.’

Po Sanhae sensed his death.

He knew there was a gap between the Crimson Dragon Clan and the Emei Sect, but he truly had not known the difference would be this enormous.

This was no match at all.

Only then did Po Sanhae realize why the many sects of the Jianghu feared prestigious sects like the Emei Sect.

Kwang!

Every time he clashed with the Bludgeon Palm, he felt a shock as if he were being directly hit by an iron club.

“Keok!”

In the end, Po Sanhae could not withstand the shock and vomited blood.

Hwoong!

Guhwa Satae’s Bludgeon Palm fell upon the head of Po Sanhae, who had lost his strength and knelt down.

If hit directly by the Bludgeon Palm, Po Sanhae’s head would surely be shattered to pieces.

It was at that moment, when a look of despair clouded Po Sanhae’s face.

“Stop!”

With an aged voice, someone jumped in front of Po Sanhae.

He swung his sword in Po Sanhae’s place and blocked Guhwa Satae’s Bludgeon Palm.

Jjeo-eong!

With a sharp sound, Guhwa Satae was thrown back.

A strong sense of vigilance appeared in the eyes of Guhwa Satae as she retreated a dozen steps to regain her balance.

She had put eighty percent of her internal power into that attack.

That much could easily turn a house-sized boulder into dust. Yet, the martial artist who had suddenly intervened had not only received such an attack without much shock but had even forced Guhwa Satae to retreat.

There were not many in Sichuan with that level of martial prowess.

“Mujeong… Jin-in.”

The cold-faced Daoist who stood before Po Sanhae, Mujeong Jin-in, was one of those few people.