CHWARURURURUK! CLANK!

With exquisite handwork, Yeon Hojeong retrieved the Flood Dragon Chain and quickly mounted the warhorse.

The warhorse reared up on its hind legs and cried out as if in triumph.

HIIIIIHIIIIIING!

It was a magnificent neigh that made the mountains, streams, grass, and trees tremble.

This was the warhorse that had run through the wilderness for months without its master. Now, at last, it carried him again and became one with him, and its cry overflowed with towering pride and joy.

“Commander!”

“Brother!”

Joy shone on the faces of the soldiers calling out to Yeon Hojeong.

But the situation was not good enough to savor the joy of reunion.

“Everyone, north!”

The eyes of the Evil-Smiting Corps soldiers changed instantly.

It was an order from the Tiger Commander of Green Mountain that made their lower bellies vibrate just from hearing it. Faces that had been full of delight turned solemn in an instant.

KWAANG!

Yeon Hojeong took the lead, and the Evil-Smiting Corps formed up in an instant behind him.

KURURURUNG!

Stone fragments shattered by the hooves of fifty warhorses scattered in every direction.

Hoo.

Even someone with excellent horsemanship had no choice but to be cautious when riding through a dark mountain path.

And Yeon Hojeong was even dealing with internal injury. He was well enough to ignore it and keep fighting, but he still could not be the same as usual.

WOOOOONG.

He drew up Azure Dragon Qi and activated his liver meridian function to the extreme.

It was the mutually generating True Qi that constantly drove off fatigue. On top of that, he drew in Azure Dragon Wood Qi and made the Vermilion Bird Fire Qi in his heart burn even hotter.

Wood gives rise to fire.

It was the principle by which he pushed his body’s burden aside and drew out explosive power for another battle.

Thump! Thump!

His heart pounded as if it might burst.

He forcibly increased his cardiac output and sharpened every muscle in his body to the limit.

WOOOOOOONG!

Vermilion Bird Qi flowed along the black shaft and gathered on the pure white blade of Mad Dragon, radiating dazzling brilliance.

It looked ready to unleash a strike at any moment. The fighting spirit of Yeon Hojeong at the front burned like flame and heated the air around him, and naturally the fighting spirit of the Evil-Smiting Corps began to shimmer like a heat haze as well.

“Young Master Yeon.”

Mookbi moved up close beside Yeon Hojeong.

Without taking his eyes off the front, Yeon Hojeong said,

“You had a rough trip getting here. It could’ve turned ugly.”

“It was nothing.”

Tension deepened across Mookbi’s face as well.

“But is there a reason to be this urgent? Of course we have to consider pursuit from reinforcements, but...”

“Soul-Slaughter Band.”

“What?”

“The ones chasing us before we ran into those bastards were the Soul-Slaughter Band. I thought they’d given up once the distance opened, but after seeing those people, I changed my mind.”

Then Je Gal Ahyeon, riding behind Mookbi, said,

“Detour.”

Yeon Hojeong nodded.

“Right. That’s the most likely possibility.”

The Death-Soul Team was made up of several groups of thirty men each.

They specialized in fighting masters, so they did not need large numbers. What mattered to them was mobility, perfect teamwork, and a thorough investigation of the target.

The Soul-Slaughter Band was different.

They were a combat unit made by gathering murderous fiends from the Dark Path who treated killing like eating a meal. Their combat methods and tactics were different, but in sheer tenacity, they were, if anything, even worse than the Death-Soul Team.

“We were heading north. They could’ve pushed all the way to the far north of Hunan, maybe even southern Hubei. And now that Yangcheon is awake, he’ll try to catch us no matter what.”

Je Gal Ahyeon’s face turned grim as well.

“Then the people who went ahead are in danger!”

“It’s called the north, but the boundary is enormous. The odds are higher that they passed by than that they actually met them. But if, by some chance, the Soul-Slaughter Band circled around and cut off the group’s path...”

Anxiousness flickered across Yeon Hojeong’s face.

“The operational team, exhausted as they are, could never handle them. And if they stopped to rest in the northern part of Cheonja Mountain to conserve their strength, the odds of running into the Soul-Slaughter Band after its detour would be even higher.”

Mookbi shouted.

“Pick up the pace!”

HIIIIIHIIIIIING!

The Evil-Smiting Corps sped up even more.

“The one reassuring thing is...”

Yeon Hojeong glanced behind him and smirked.

“You really did train them well. Their military aura is razor-sharp.”

Mookbi smiled.

“It’s not just their military aura that improved.”

“True. The whole process of forming up and breaking apart has gotten incredibly fast and smooth. And each of their martial arts has become much more practical too.”

Yeon Hojeong nodded, giving her full credit.

“You worked hard. It couldn’t have been easy.”

“The operational team had it much harder than we did.”

“That’s true. By the way, when did you learn spear technique?”

“My father said that if I was going to fight mounted battles, it would be better to learn one more martial art besides archery.”

“Your father?”

“Yes. A sword didn’t feel right, and a short spear was easier to handle than a long spear, so I learned that. It hasn’t been long.”

“For something you haven’t learned long, your forms were excellent.”

“My father went through a lot because of me.”

If Yeon Wi had taught her personally, there was no way he had taught her carelessly.

Still, Mookbi’s talent and instinct were astonishing in their own right, considering she had casually deflected the Death-Soul Team leader’s attack with a short-spear art she had learned only recently. Since she had already trained one weapon to the level of mastery, it only made sense that she learned other weapons quickly as well.

Of course, arrows and spears were worlds apart.

“Well, if there’s no need, that’s one thing, but if you have the ability to use it, then that’s good too. The distance gap between fists-and-feet combat and archery always did feel too wide.”

Je Gal Ahyeon shouted,

“Talk about that later! Focus on riding right now!”

“Ah, my apologies.”

KURURURUNG.

The speed of the warhorses was far greater than expected.

It truly could compare to the movement technique of a Peak master. Considering the size of the horses and the difficulty of running through mountain paths, it was all the more impressive.

How long did they ride like that?

They had crossed several peaks and leaped over several streams when—

Hm?

Yeon Hojeong’s expression suddenly hardened.

The sound of weapons.

From somewhere far away came the sound of iron striking iron.

A vicious Killing Intent flowed through the silent mountain ridges.

There was no mistaking it. It was a slaughter where lives were being taken.

Mookbi shouted.

“Young Master Yeon!”

“I know! Faster!”

HIIIIIHIIIIIING!

The warhorses had been running all this time without a proper rest.

By now they should have been exhausted, yet with a shake of the reins they accelerated even more. Even their endurance alone far surpassed that of ordinary famous steeds.

WOOOOOOONG.

Above the Vermilion Bird Qi gathered on the blade of Mad Dragon rang the roar of the king of the mountain.

Yeon Hojeong gripped the shaft of Mad Dragon with both hands.

“Haaaap!”

KWAAAAANG!

Everything blocking the way was smashed apart as he advanced.

Under the sweeping wave of force, giant trees were torn apart and sent flying, and boulders shattered and scattered. Mookbi and the soldiers each swung their weapons, smashing aside the wooden splinters and stones blocking their path as they rode.

And then, after another brief span—

“You sons of bitches!”

PUH-PUH-POONG!

Even though the owner of that voice was breathing hard, the palm force he unleashed was still overflowing with power.

The incantation of the palm art releasing such formidable power was truly extraordinary. ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) The occasional dragon’s roar shook the mountain peaks.

Je Gal Ahyeon cried out without thinking,

“Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms?!”

Also known simply as the Subduing Dragon Palm, the Beggars’ Union’s greatest secret art.

Not only was the destructive force of a single strike overwhelming, even its linked techniques ranked at the pinnacle of the Central Plains. Its might was so great that within the Beggars’ Union, no one but the Union Leader or the Hu Gae was said to be able to cultivate it.

Damn.

Yeon Hojeong’s face twisted.

Not just the Hu Gae.

PUUUK! CHWAAAAAK!

Under soft yet elastic sword strikes, crazed killing fiends screamed and died.

It was the descent of real-combat swordsmanship, staining the dark night sky red. The Azure Mountain Sect’s martial arts, said to be the most practical among the Nine Great Sects, were ravaging the enemy without mercy.

PUH-BUH-BUH-BUH-BUK!

If there was any relief at all, it was that the throwing-knife art shredding everything in all directions was more ordinary than expected.

But as if mocking that thought, the moment the flying knives merely grazed their targets, the enemies spat blood and died. Anyone could tell the knives were infused with poison qi.

Pae Yul. Ga Deoksang. Tang Sang-a.

They were using the treasured secret arts of the most famous Nine Sects and One Union and the Six Great Clans.

Which means...

KWAAAAANG!

The warhorse at the front kicked off a large boulder and soared into the air.

It’s that dangerous.

HOOOOOOONG!

Pure white True Qi gathered around Mad Dragon.

PAAAAAK!

Yeon Hojeong kicked off the airborne warhorse and leaped even higher, then dropped straight into the middle of the battlefield.

KWAAAAANG!

“KRAAAH!”

“AAAAAGH!”

A savage gale of force whirled around the axe that struck the earth.

More than ten Soul-Slaughter Band members swept up in that gale spat blood and went flying. It was a strike with every ounce of his strength behind it: Tiger King’s Nine-Wall Breaker unleashed through Mad Dragon.

It’s been a while.

He exquisitely spun the eighty-geun Mad Dragon and lashed out sideways at a charging Soul-Slaughter Band member.

PUUUK!

It was not so much a cut as a brutal blow that sent the man flying. With every bone in his body shattered, the Soul-Slaughter Band member smashed through a tree and collapsed.

It really has been a while.

He had suffered internal injury, and yet he felt twice as powerful as when he had been fighting barehanded.

KWAANG!

Advancing with White Tiger Monarch-Step, Yeon Hojeong swung Mad Dragon like a madman.

PUH-BUH-BUH-BUH-BUK!

It was the very peak of destructive power.

Storm-like forms. Vermilion Bird Fire Qi riding on the axe blade that annihilated the enemy. With a Tiger Commander’s martial art that played freely with weight and speed, more than thirty Soul-Slaughter Band members were butchered in an instant.

Ga Deoksang cried out without realizing it,

“Young Master Ye—!”

Thwack!

“Ghk!”

“Shut up.”

The one who struck the back of Ga Deoksang’s head was Pae Yul. They had already used the martial arts of their respective sects, but to prepare for any unforeseen situation, he was still stopping him from saying Yeon Hojeong’s name aloud.

Yeon Hojeong shouted,

“Kill them all!”

“Uaaaaah!”

The Evil-Smiting Corps came crashing in and drove the Soul-Slaughter Band back viciously.

They had unquestionably grown. Even without separate orders, they scattered on their own and attacked the enemy, and their combat efficiency, even more than their power, was astonishing.

Yeon Hojeong shouted again,

“We’re changing the operation! Exterminate every enemy in sight!”

These were men who had seen the treasured secret arts of the Orthodox Path martial world. Not one of them could be allowed to live.

Killing Intent flared in the eyes of Pae Yul, Ga Deoksang, and Tang Sang-a.

“Looks like I finally get to vent some bloodlust.”

KWAANG!

Pae Yul rushed in with almost supernatural footwork and unleashed sword strikes even more savage than before.

Allies had arrived—comrades to whom he could entrust his back without worry. That alone had transformed their momentum.

And it was not just him.

Ga Deoksang’s palm arts and Tang Sang-a’s hidden-weapon techniques had also become even sharper and more precise.

That was what allies were, what comrades were. Their very appearance in a moment of crisis was enough to fill one with strength.

“Y-you made it out alive?!”

It seemed Gangryang had managed to kill a few of them too. Panting heavily, he had sticky blood smeared across his sword as well.

“You all right?”

“Of course. But...”

Gangryang stared at Mad Dragon with stunned eyes.

“That’s your weapon?”

“Yeah.”

“You swing something like that?”

Yeon Hojeong bared his teeth in a grin.

“If you don’t believe it, then watch.”

BOOOOM!

Every time a scorching gale like fire swept out, the Soul-Slaughter Band members were torn apart mercilessly.

Mad Dragon. Flood Dragon Chain.

And the Evil-Smiting Corps.

It was not just the operational team that was surging with strength after reuniting with comrades. Yeon Hojeong too, seeing the Evil-Smiting Corps, was manifesting his martial arts without limit.

Half a shichen later.

All nine hundred eighty members of the Soul-Slaughter Band that had circled around for a surprise attack were dead.