Chapter 94 - The Sharpest Blade in the Dark

"Why isn't it here?"

Rummaging through the oldest storehouse within the Taiyi Sect, Jin Taesan tilted his head.

"What are you looking for?"

Hong Mungi poked his head in.

"Ah, Sect Leader."

Jin Taesan's eyes trembled slightly as he looked at Hong Mungi.

The achievements of this man, who was now nearing fifty, increased with each passing day, making him feel like a completely different person.

"Were you cultivating?"

"As the Sect Leader in name, shouldn't I at least not be weaker than my disciples?"

While Jin Taesan himself was too frantic organizing the assets handed over from the Cangqiong Merchant Group to cultivate, Hong Mungi and the Hall Leaders of each hall, along with the junior brothers, were completely absorbed in mastering the Taiyi Sword Emperor's martial scripture, forgetting to eat or sleep.

"Then please go back to your cultivation. I can find it on my own just fine."

"Still, as the Sect Leader in name, how could I not help when the External Hall Leader is experiencing difficulties?"

"..."

He was definitely slacking off because he got tired of cultivating.

Even in his childhood, he was a man who constantly got scolded by his masters for being unable to focus steadily on a single thing.

Jin Taesan thought he might have gotten a bit better with age, but it seemed that still wasn't the case when it came to cultivation.

"It's because I can't figure out where the sect flag was placed."

"Are you talking about the Taiyi Sect's flag?"

"Yes."

The reorganization of the merchant group was roughly finished, and the production output of the iron ore mine was steadily increasing.

If they found buyers for their goods, they needed to establish a regular distribution network.

Although they had sealed their gates, it was slowly becoming necessary to put the Taiyi Sect's name forward and expand the merchant group's influence.

Because the Taiyi Sect's power would grow just as much as the size of the merchant group.

"Someone else took that."

"... What?"

Jin Taesan thought he had heard incorrectly.

A sect flag sometimes served as a moving nameplate.

The Taiyi Sect had always been such an insignificant sect that there was never a reason to raise its flag, but even so, a flag that was practically the sect's pride wasn't an item to just be given away to anyone.

"Sowoon said he needed it, so I gave it to him."

"Jin Sowoon? You mean my son?"

"Yeah."

Why was that damn kid's name coming up again here?

"... For what reason?"

"I wouldn't know about that. He just said he would take it just in case. So I told him to go ahead."

"..."

Jin Taesan's nerves now stood completely on edge no matter what action Jin Sowoon took.

"Do you need the sect flag? Should we make a new one while we're at it?"

"Forget it. I will just place an order for one."

"Ahem. How could we do that? A sect flag ultimately represents the spirit of the sect. As the Sect Leader, it is only right that I put my utmost sincerity into making it stitch by stitch..."

"Go back to your cultivation. What kind of sect leader sits around making sect flags these days?"

SLAM!

Out of anxiety, Jin Taesan nervously slammed the storehouse door shut for no reason.

* * *

"First of all, from now on, we will only use the official roads to travel during the day."

They decided to leave behind those among the group who were injured, those who had difficulty moving, and those whose bodies could no longer move due to fatigue at the Red Pavilion.

At the instruction not to take a single step outside the Red Pavilion, the ones left behind made strange(?) expressions, unable to hide their joy even as they worried for those who were leaving.

"The problem is the official road from Hataek to Bokyang."

If they rode their horses to death, they could reach the village in Hataek while the sun was still up.

However, on the road from Hataek, across the provincial border to Bokyang, there were no villages within a half-day's distance. They would have to sleep outdoors or travel at night.

"Once night falls, they will definitely make their move."

Fighting the Dark Soul-Severing Squad in the dark was no different from fighting water while submerged in water.

"If we ride through the night..."

I shook my head at Seong Moran's words. The Dark Soul-Severing Squad learned the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps.

It was a footwork technique that ranked within the top ten in the world, not only in terms of destructive power but also in speed.

They were not beings one could escape from with mere horses.

"It will only result in meaningless casualties."

"..."

Seong Moran pressed her lips tightly together.

The fear induced by their presence was so immense that it made even a bold girl like her terrified.

Namgung Seonhwa spoke, struggling to hide her trembling voice.

"Then... what should we do?"

I looked at Eunho.

"This is it."

Eunho spread out the cloth in his hands wide.

Both the sullen Seong Moran and the quietly trembling Namgung Seonhwa became wide-eyed like rabbits.

"A-Are you crazy?"

"Even so..."

The sentiments of the people who saw the Taiyi Sect's flag were not much different from those of the two women.

"What they want the least is for their true identities to be discovered. We are going to hide among the people."

"No, wait... Haa."

"Young Master Jin, I don't think this is right. If we raise that flag, everyone in the world will come chasing after us."

"That is exactly what I am hoping for."

The two women let out a sigh at the same time.

* * *

"Is this really the right thing to do?"

While they were riding their horses toward the first village, Anhyeon, Seong Moran asked Eunho, who was holding the flag.

"This is practically like wrapping yourself in straw fire and jumping into a blaze."

There were over ten warriors left behind at the Red Pavilion in Punghyeon. Now, the number of warriors was slowly approaching a hundred.

No matter how much of an absolute expert one was, they could not win against sheer numbers.

And they weren't even absolute experts.

Furthermore, Jin Sowoon was recklessly attracting enemies by raising the Taiyi Sect's flag.

"I really don't know."

Eunho shook his head, saying that he didn't know either.

That reaction was quite refreshing. Among the Geum-eun-dong Brothers, Eunho was the smartest and the most articulate. Wasn't Eunho the one who explained most of the things they couldn't understand about Jin Sowoon's actions?

"Really?"

Yet even such an Eunho said he didn't know.

"Yes. Eldest Senior Brother sometimes acts in ways that don't make sense rationally. Ah, no. Not sometimes, frequently."

"... Yet you're still working quite hard at it."

Eunho had personally fetched a bamboo pole and held the flag high.

Even though riding a horse while carrying a flag was not an easy task, he stepped forward to do it himself without passing it off to anyone else.

"I don't understand it, but I still trust Eldest Senior Brother."

"Huh?"

"Eldest Senior Brother's choices are always directed toward us. They have never once been for his own sake. In this choice as well, he probably thought of us before himself."

For some reason, Seong Moran felt a thud in her chest.

The things they had done together over their short time flashed through her mind.

He could have easily stayed with his junior brothers, practicing sword forms and eating warm meals, yet he stayed with them instead.

Thanks to that, Kang Seopyo and Cho Mubin, who had to protect her and Namgung Seonhwa, were able to pay more attention to the other warriors.

For the majority of the time, she hadn't even seen him sleep. He was awake when she poked her sleep acupoints to fall asleep, and when she woke up, he was already up before her, rummaging for kindling.

"That's why I sometimes stop my own thinking. If I needlessly wrack my brain, my actions become sluggish as I try to figure out Eldest Senior Brother's intentions."

"... You really like your Eldest Senior Brother."

Eunho, who was grabbing a piece of beef jerky to eat even while holding the reins and carrying the flag as they rode.

Eunho mumbled as he chewed, then grinned.

"How could we not follow him? An Eldest Senior Brother like that."

"..."

Her head nodded in agreement on its own.

"Yeah, then I guess I shouldn't think anymore either."

"Good thinking. Given our upcoming schedule anyway, it will be much more comfortable for you to act without thinking."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"When we left the village this morning, Eldest Senior Brother asked Haomun to spread our location to the other examinees. I don't know for sure, but we probably won't even have time to eat beef jerky from now on."

"Hey! You should have told me that sooner!"

Seong Moran hurriedly pulled a pouch of beef jerky from her chest.

* * *

There were no major casualties by the time they reached Anhyeon.

There were a few groups that appeared to be examinees, but unable to prepare against the completely irrational tactic of 'shut up and charge,' those examinees did not prove to be major obstacles.

During the journey from Anhyeon to Seongmu, the volume of the crowd changed entirely.

Seeing the flag visible from afar, examinees and warriors rushed in from all directions.

They didn't bother forming sword arrays or defensive formations.

Just an unconditional charge.

If a horse was injured, they would immediately commandeer someone else's horse and keep riding.

By the time they entered Seongmu, hundreds of examinees were trailing along behind them.

From Seongmu onward, they stopped by the Cangqiong Merchant Group again.

Because crowds of hundreds had gathered around the branch of the Cangqiong Merchant Group, glaring at it, there was no need to deliberately go to the Red Pavilion, which kept its lights on all night.

The greatest number of stragglers occurred during the journey from Seongmu to Hataek.

Some were injured in battles with other examinees and could no longer stay with them, while others fell victim to the Dark Soul-Severing Squad.

Right before entering Hataek, they were ambushed by other examinees, causing the sun to set entirely. Any warriors who lingered in the lightless darkness amidst the chaotic melee never returned.

The number of warriors was now down to a mere eighty.

Most were thoroughly exhausted due to the forced march.

"Now is the real thing."

They had run like madmen from Hataek with a long line of pursuing examinees tailing them, but by the time they crossed the border into Shandong Province, the sun was beginning to set.

From the rear, hundreds of examinees began to light their torches one by one, while up ahead, the examinees lying in wait lit their torches as if announcing their presence.

"How are we supposed to tell those beings apart?"

At Seong Moran's question, Jin Sowoon answered as if it were obvious.

"If you don't feel any presence at all, pour your Sword Qi into that spot."

"What?"

It was a completely absurd and irrational countermeasure.

"If there is a spot where you feel absolutely no presence despite this many people surrounding us from all sides, that is where those beings are."

"... Understood."

Torches began to light up in all directions.

In the nearby woods, on the distant ridges, and from the dust-kicking rear.

Hearing the information from Haomun, hearing the intelligence from the Beggars' Sect, seeing the Taiyi Sect's flag, and witnessing the movements of the other examinees.

Nearly a thousand people had gathered to snatch the admission tokens.

And even more terrifying beings were slipping into the darkness between them.

Being acutely aware of reality would only amplify their terror and dread.

They held onto only one continuous thought.

"If there is no presence, slash. If there is no presence, slash."

Only Dongryong's voice, repeating Jin Sowoon's words, echoed among the people.

* * *

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

CLANG-CLANG!

"I leave this to you."

Ultimately, the group of eighty was blocked by a wall of hundreds.

The horses they had ridden easily stumbled or fled in panic, abandoning their riders. Those who fell from their horses did not hesitate to swing their swords at their enemies, using the small torches as their guiding lights.

"Please return safely."

Kang Seopyo, whom I had tried to leave behind due to the scar on his chest but who had stubbornly followed, grabbed my reins.

He immediately forced his horse forward, trying to approach Namgung Seonhwa.

I separated from him and executed the World-Traversing Lone Footwork, distancing myself far from the battlefield.

Then, I pushed the Taiyi True Scripture to its limits and scanned the presences in all directions.

I pinpointed everyone—from those with formidable internal energy to those who had joined the battle with lowly martial arts.

And I began to chase after the spots amidst them where absolutely no presence could be felt.

This was a method of finding those bastards that would only be realized after the outbreak of the Orthodox-Demonic Great War and the discovery of the Dark Soul-Severing Squad's existence.

Because so many people were swarming the area, it actually made it possible to find the spots where there was no presence at all.

Then, I unleashed Fist Qi into the empty air.

They were bastards who couldn't even be damaged by anything other than qi-based attacks.

THUD.

From the darkness where there should clearly have been nothing, pupils popped up, wide-eyed with shock like a frightened rabbit.

"Surprised?"

The eyes quickly vanished back into the darkness.

I felt something wrapping up along my arm. I unleashed Fist Qi toward that empty space, but this time, I felt nothing.

"Your methods haven't changed."

I swiftly turned my head.

SWISH!

A pure white bone sword slashed sharply through the exact spot where my head had just been.

It wasn't that there was absolutely no way to deal with these bastards. It was just that the method was exceptionally difficult and tricky.

"That's how it is when you face them for the first time. But this isn't my first time seeing you bastards."

I grabbed the bastard's bone sword just as he was about to instantly melt back into the darkness.

CRACK!

I applied enough pressure to snap it if it were human bone, but it remained completely intact.

Perhaps shocked by the fact that I had dodged and then grabbed this bone sword, his rabbit-like eyes popped out of the darkness once again.

"I am absolutely sick and tired of this."

Gripping the bone sword, I executed the Lotus hand technique in the reverse direction.

As I applied force in the exact opposite direction of its original axis of rotation, I heard the sound of flesh bursting open, unable to support the bone sword.

CRRRACK!

THUD.

More blood flowed down the bone sword than before. The bastard had also sustained damage from the Lotus hand technique.

The bone sword that had pierced out from his palm tried to retract back inside, but...

"Not a chance."

I immediately filled my right foot with true qi and stomped heavily on the bone sword.

CRUNCH!

-SCREECH!

Eventually, the bone sword snapped off, and the bastard let out a shriek.

"Even your screams sound just like a beast."

-!

The bastard's eyes reappeared.

As if he had truly become a rabbit now, his eyes were completely bloodshot red.

-Who exactly are you?

A voice, presumed to be the bastard's, rang inside my head.

Because their vocal cords melted away during the Liquid Bone Sword procedure, they used a special martial art known as the Heavenly Demon Telepathy Art.

"Do I have to tell you that?"

The bastard eventually succeeded in pulling the broken bone sword back into his palm.

Soon after, he hid his body in the darkness.

In that brief moment, the torches held by the people in the area simultaneously extinguished.

'They're coming...'

In the darkness, I relied on my memories from my past life to predict the directions the bastards were moving from.

Because I couldn't feel any presence at all, I depended on my memories and moved first.

SHLUK!

Three bone swords had pierced the illusion left behind by the Taiyi Eighty Thousand Divine Steps—each stabbing right where the head, heart, and Dantian would be.

In that brief instant, two other bastards had appeared.

It was an image of what my future would have been if I hadn't moved according to my memories.

Not wanting to make the same mistake as their comrade, the bastards quickly hid their figures back into the darkness.

I temporarily set aside the teachings of the Taiyi True Scripture and brought forth the teachings of a different martial scripture.

The Reverse Demonic Scripture.

The martial art of reversing demons, created by the Hell Demonic Emperor, the Heavenly Demon of his era who was trapped in the Boundless Eight Trigrams Soul-Extinguishing Array, out of deep-seated resentment toward his cult members who didn't come to save him. As a martial art created with a truly demonic mindset, its purpose lay in ruthlessly eliminating demons.

"To think a Heavenly Demon and I share the same intent. Doesn't such a contradiction only exist in literature? What do you think?"

RATTLE!

As I extended the Flying Dragon Claw to its full length, a white light shimmered on the Heavenly Silkworm Thread.

The halo of light traveled up the Heavenly Silkworm Thread, coating the thin thread thickly until it eventually reached the sharp claws.

Just like the Heavenly Demon Scripture left behind by the Hell Demonic Emperor, the Reverse Demonic Scripture only had martial principles without any set forms or techniques.

Therefore, the forms and techniques manifested purely depended on my enlightenment and my desires.

My most desperate desire for vengeance, forged from tens of thousands of nightmares I experienced in my past life.

And the manifested form of that desire was exactly...

The Demon-Severing Light Whip.

CRACK!

The cruel whip designed to sever demons was swung.

It grabbed onto something in a space where there should clearly have been nothing.

"!!"

And from the darkness, three pairs of eyes, wide-eyed with shock like frightened rabbits, suddenly popped out.

A smile formed naturally on my lips.

"Finally caught you."