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Chapter 85. Hell Regular Exam’s ‘Second’ Trial (2)
The one I had worried about most when leaving them behind was Dong-ryong.
I was afraid he might use his talent and give up his own life.
I was most worried that he might do that for his brothers.
Thank goodness.
“Eldest…….”
Perhaps not knowing how proud I was of him, Dong-ryong stared blankly in my direction with his mouth open.
“Well done.”
I unfolded the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art and charged at Gam Cheol-jin with all my strength.
He avoided me with the method of Bow-Body Bullet Shadow, dodging my mad rush.
And I immediately ran toward Jong Seo-gang.
“Damn it……!”
Perhaps thinking I would attack him, a curse burst from Gam Cheol-jin’s mouth, but I had already closed in on Jong Seo-gang.
CRASH!
“Keuk.”
When Jong Seo-gang clashed swords with me, he was pushed back three zhang.
“What kind of inner arts…….”
He was startled by the unexpected destructive power, but only for a moment. Jong Seo-gang quickly regained his stance.
I continued pressing only Jong Seo-gang, forcing him away from the group.
The warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect, who had to prioritize protecting Jong Seo-gang, stretched out into a long line as they followed.
The Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare slowly began to collapse.
“……Truly, you are far too lucky.”
Jong Seo-gang, who seemed to have had his insides shaken, spoke while blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, forcing his complexion to recover.
“Does your heart feel at ease only when you convert everything into luck?”
“Are you saying you knew that Demonic Beast was here?”
“Your mistake was thinking I could not break through a flimsy Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare like this in the first place.”
“……”
As half of the Yellow Sword Sect’s warriors, including Gam Cheol-jin, pulled away, the killing intent of the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare flowed backward.
Those who had been emitting killing intent until now were drenched in it as though receiving the water of a stagnant reservoir head-on, and their eyes turned red.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang.
The feints and true strikes of Twin Heaven Sword Formula confused Jong Seo-gang’s eyes, and his desire to rely on Gam Cheol-jin and the other warriors made him unable to concentrate.
In an instant, the front of his garment was cut, his topknot was severed, and a long wound was carved into his left arm.
“Keuk.”
“Young Master!”
Clang!
Only then was my sword stopped by Gam Cheol-jin’s blade.
“Young Master, are you all right?”
“……”
He did not answer.
Jong Seo-gang, turned into a ragged mess, glared at Gam Cheol-jin and the warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect with eyes full of resentment.
His gaze seemed to ask why he had to suffer such a state.
“……My apologies.”
When Gam Cheol-jin lowered his head, Jong Seo-gang finally turned his gaze toward me.
Meanwhile, the warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect, their expressions rotten, began forming a Sword Formation to protect Jong Seo-gang.
“I feel sorry for your sect members. To think their Young Master does not even understand the grace of having his life saved.”
Grind.
The sound of Jong Seo-gang grinding his teeth rang out.
“Are you still acting relaxed? If I were you, I would have taken my junior brothers and run away with that proud Movement Art of yours.”
As Jong Seo-gang said, other sects began filling the empty spaces left by the Yellow Sword Sect.
The Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare, hastily repaired, was now targeting not only the disciples of Taeul Sect but even the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake.
“It seemed troublesome to leave future trouble behind.”
“Puhah. Still bluffing, are you?”
Jong Seo-gang laughed while clutching his arm, from which blood was flowing.
“Bluffing, you say. It seems you investigated me thoroughly.”
“I know your sect has obtained new martial arts. However, you will not deceive them with a mere Illusion Sword.”
Martial artists who reached the Peak level gained eyes for falsehood and truth.
No matter how outstanding an Illusion Sword or Variation Sword was, before the level of a Peak Warrior, it was nothing more than a mere illusion.
“Why? Is there a Peak Warrior mixed in here?”
“……”
Jong Seo-gang pressed his mouth shut as though he had eaten honey.
“Well, if the Yellow Sword Sect’s hidden warriors secretly participated, it makes sense that you passed every exam in history so easily.”
“don’t speak carelessly!”
Jong Seo-gang’s face flushed red.
“Why are you getting excited? If you are proud of yourself, then is it not something you have no reason to be ashamed of?”
“……What are you all doing?! Kill that bastard at once!”
“……”
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Jong Seo-gang’s speech, which had at least been respectful until then, changed into blunt casual speech, but the warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect seemed used to it. Without changing expression, they formed a Sword Formation and began charging.
Twilight One-Sword Formation.
A unique Sword Formation specialized for many-against-one combat, in which multiple warriors moved like a single sword.
With Gam Cheol-jin at the forefront, the warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect began rushing in like one sharp blade.
“Taeul Sect does not possess only Illusion Sword and Variation Sword.”
“……”
“This sword will show you that we did not cross the line of death by coincidence.”
[Ten Thousand Seas Heaven-Earth Sword Formula]
Four illusions scattered from the Black Dragon Sword.
Gam Cheol-jin, who had thought it was a common Illusion Sword, began to look gravely serious.
“Graaagh!”
“Keuheok!”
“I-it’s coming!”
“Maintain the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare!”
Screams rang out from every direction.
Like a swarm of ants attacking one worm, the seven hundred people who had established the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare surrounded the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake and attacked it without pause.
The Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake swallowed the nearest humans into its mouth, bit them to death, and crushed them beneath its body.
Moreover, when someone tried to approach it, it spewed blue venom from its mouth, and the first warrior covered in that venom died before he could even scream, his vocal cords melting away.
“Put distance between yourselves!”
“Face it with throwing swords and arrows!”
Throwing swords and arrows were lethal Hidden Weapons against humans, but they did not affect the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake at all.
The throwing swords and arrows that touched the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake’s hard, slippery scales were blocked by the fluid the snake secreted from its skin and fell helplessly to the ground.
“Keok!”
“R-run!”
“don’t run! I will not forgive anyone who retreats!”
There was no chaos quite like this.
As the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare broke, the killing intent that had filled its interior spread in every direction.
Among those who had formed an alliance and spread the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare, some even began swinging their swords at one another.
Hell on earth had unfolded here.
“Huh…….”
And Geum-pyo, who was positioned closest to the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake, let out a calm exclamation.
“Geum-pyo! Step properly with your Footwork Art! Didn’t you see that shit-colored snake swallow a person in one bite?”
“It doesn’t seem interested in us anyway.”
Among the warriors forming the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare, not a single person could question why the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers, who were clearly closest to the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake, were not being attacked.
Right before their eyes, the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake was spewing venom and opening a maw as large as a huge cave.
“The snake is not the problem. We are still inside the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare.”
“I said I know.”
It was a Footwork Art that Jin So-un had forced them to learn when they did not even have enough time to sleep.
‘I thought it was just a Footwork Art with an ominous name.’
They had no inner arts left at the time, and because it had all happened while they were half asleep, Geum-pyo did not even remember well how he had learned it.
He was merely following Eun-ho’s feet to death because Eun-ho had a good memory.
This Footwork Art called Ghost-Breathing Step was said to hide one’s traces perfectly.
When he had asked whether they could not just flee with it, he had been told that because they had not separately learned Concealment Art, they would eventually be caught if they were seen. At that, he had inwardly cursed Senior Brother for keeping them from sleeping because of something completely useless.
I am sorry, Eldest Senior Brother.
I am stupid, and I am a fool.
How vast as the heavens is Eldest Senior Brother’s grace?
Thanks to this incomplete Ghost-Breathing Step, that shit-colored snake could not see them and was rolling its body and opening its mouth to death against the people emitting intense killing intent.
“……Dong-ryong, are you all right?”
“……Yeah. I’m fine.”
“You bastard, I told you not to take this off carelessly!”
Geum-pyo quickly hung the Demon-Purging Spirit Beads around Dong-ryong’s neck.
He knew with what feelings Dong-ryong had rushed out.
And in truth, if not for Dong-ryong, one of the three of them might truly have become the One-Armed Flying Sword, or the three Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers might have become two brothers.
Even so, the fact that the youngest had done something dangerous weighed on Geum-pyo’s mind, so he said a word to him.
“Yeah. I’m sorry.”
“If you do something dangerous one more time, I’ll really leave you behind then.”
“Okay! Stop saying you’re going to leave me behind.”
“Anyway, I think we only need to stay like this. don’t you?”
The Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare was also gradually breaking.
The thick killing intent that had been strangling their throats was slowly thinning, and the enemies who had been rushing from every direction to kill them were busy dealing with the shit-colored snake.
“……”
For some reason, however, no refreshing answer came from Eun-ho.
“Hey, anyway, because of the killing intent those people are giving off, we—”
“No. Look over there.”
The place Eun-ho pointed to.
Men in blue clothes, carrying great sabers, finally released the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare and stepped forward.
Then they leapt into the air all at once and poured out Saber Qi wildly.
Kiiieeeek—!
The Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake, which had looked as though it was displaying peerless might among the humans, screamed for the first time.
The scales that had not budged even under the rain of arrows fell away with a clatter, and blood flowed from the exposed flesh beneath them.
“A wound has appeared. Focus your attacks!”
The Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake struggled even more fiercely under the concentrated attack of the Blue Saber Gang’s warriors.
The warriors avoided it while fearing harm, but even in the midst of that, they fired arrows and threw throwing swords.
Kiiieeeek!
“Run!”
“Damn it!”
At Eun-ho’s signal, the three Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers stepped with Taeul Eighty-Thousand Divine Steps and shot out.
“There are the disciples of Taeul Sect!”
“Catch those bastards first!”
As the Blue Saber Gang focused on dealing with the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake, the warriors of the other sects, who had gained a little more leeway, began rushing toward the three brothers.
“So does that mean one of us is fated to inherit the true transmission of the One-Armed Flying Sword after all?”
“Geum-pyo! Please stop saying unlucky things in this kind of situation!”
“That’s right! Big Brother only ever says unlucky things!”
“……”
Geum-pyo, scolded while forming the Sword Formation, stood at the very front and stared at the enemies.
“Huh……. How can this be?”
Jong Seo-gang could not take his eyes off the scene unfolding before him.
“……What is this?!”
It made no sense.
Gam Cheol-jin was a master with the skill of an Elder in the Yellow Sword Sect.
And yet Jin So-un had broken through even when such a master had formed the Twilight One-Sword Formation?
As the investigation had said, Jin So-un used a method of pressuring his opponent by alternating between Illusion Sword and Swift Sword.
On top of that, he inserted variation and weight, throwing his opponents into even greater confusion.
If they were warriors of the same level, he was certainly an extremely difficult opponent to face.
That was, only if they were of the same level.
The condition of Gam Cheol-jin, who had rushed over to protect Jong Seo-gang after the Twilight One-Sword Formation broke, did not look very good either.
“Wh-what…… is this……. A mere illusion-sword peddler…….”
From the Peak level, where the distinction between falsehood and truth became clear, Illusion Sword became useless.
That was why gossipers of the murim belittled warriors who used Illusion Sword by calling them illusion-sword peddlers.
“It is not simply an Illusion Sword.”
Unlike usual, Gam Cheol-jin spoke firmly.
“What?”
“It is not simply an Illusion Sword. It is a true sword that appears like an Illusion Sword.”
“What nonsense.”
“Young Master…… I think it would be best to avoid him for now.”
“What are you saying?! Run away?!”
A disciple of an insignificant sect had eight First Trial Tokens.
Whether by chance or intention, a Demonic Beast that seemed to possess a Spiritual Pill had also appeared.
If he fled here because he feared a disciple of Taeul Sect, he would be unable to sleep from contempt for himself, let alone endure the gazes of the people of the murim.
“……”
“All disciples of the Yellow Sword Sect, gather!”
Jong Seo-gang’s voice rang out loudly.
The Blue Saber Gang, which was dealing with the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake, and the warriors of the sects that had barely been maintaining the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare with them, all stared at Jong Seo-gang with eyes full of doubt.
“I said gather at once! We have to catch this bastard! This bastard has the First Trial Tokens!”
“……”
However, none of the Yellow Sword Sect’s warriors moved rashly.
“You……”
Just as Jong Seo-gang’s face reddened at the behavior of the sect members who did not listen to him, Gam Cheol-jin finally sighed and quietly spoke.
“Everyone, gather.”
At his words, the warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect who had been barely holding up the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare all descended around Gam Cheol-jin and Jong Seo-gang at once.
“Huh…….”
Seeing those who had not budged at his own command as the next heir move like lightning at one word from Gam Cheol-jin, Jong Seo-gang was dumbfounded. He soon realized this was not the time and swallowed his anger.
Then he forced himself to wear a triumphant smile and looked at Jin So-un.
“You have quite a move. However, the Hell Regular Exam is not something you can pass with petty tricks and cheap skills alone.”
Even with nearly fifty warriors of the Yellow Sword Sect standing before him, Jin So-un did not look tense at all.
“I wondered what you were going to say.”
“If you hand over the First Trial Tokens even now, I will pretend this never happened.”
“Ha. More than fifty of your sect’s members have become casualties, and you are going to just let it pass? Do you think the warriors of your sect will simply let this go?”
“……”
Jin So-un’s skill was real.
Even so, Jong Seo-gang had confidence.
In truth, the Golden-Scaled Blue-Line Snake was slowly being hunted by the Blue Saber Gang, and more than five hundred allied warriors were still spread out in every direction.
No matter how outstanding Jin So-un’s skill was, there was no possibility that he could escape from here or overcome them.
“Do you intend to die here?”
“Die? Us? Did you not hear what I said earlier? I entered Mount Makgan on purpose.”
“Yes, thanks to that, we will also pass the Second Trial easily.”
Jin So-un soon put his sword into the Sword Sheath.
Jong Seo-gang asked with a delighted expression,
“Have you given up?”
“Given up? Puhut.”
“Do you think you can get out of this place?”
“If not, why would I have come here?”
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Suddenly, the earth shook.
Grrrk. Grrrrrk.
“Gueok!”
“What is this now?!”
“Damn it!”
Screams began sounding from afar.
The eyes of the Yellow Sword Sect warriors, who had been preparing for battle, now widened like rabbits.
“Did you think I had prepared only that snake?”
One-Horned Black Toad.
A black toad said to devour snakes, with a long horn on its head, was scattering Poisonous Qi in every direction and hopping toward them in a way that did not suit its enormous bulk.