Chapter 69

‘When did this guy...?’

Seeing Yushin Yun appear like a mirage at the end of the curtain, Cheongsu Dojang's expression was clearly flustered.

There was nothing he could do. His senses, which should have been heightened during the battle, had failed to detect the appearance of this unfamiliar presence. Only a martial artist with even greater skill could infiltrate his sensory range without being noticed.

But that meant...

This guy must possess power surpassing his own.

‘...No, I just let my guard down for a moment while dealing with a cornered rat.’

It was absurd. Cheongsu Dojang quickly calmed his inner confusion. How could a mere third-rate escort agency operator be stronger than him?

With a composed mind, Cheongsu Dojang frowned and carefully observed the opponent who had blocked his sword. Yushin Yun was emitting a chilling aura from his entire body.

“It’s the Lord of the Country!”

“The Lord of the Country has returned!”

The Baegun Escort Agency's guards, who had belatedly realized Yushin Yun's presence, erupted in a loud cheer. Despite the appearance of just one person, they reacted as if they had gained an entire army.

By now, Yushin Yun had become such a significant figure to the Baegun Escort Agency's members.

In contrast, the Huangshan Sect's Taoists were blinking in confusion, having not seen Yushin Yun's appearance at all, just like Cheongsu Dojang.

At that moment, Cheongsu Dojang subtly withdrew his sword and took a step back. He then shot Yushin Yun a look as if he were looking at a bug and spoke.

“From the looks of it, you’re that half-breed. If you want to keep your life, drop your sword and surrender...”

However, before he could finish his sentence,

“Shut up!”

Yushin Yun's curse hit his eardrums.

“If you utter another word, I’ll tear your mouth apart.”

The deep, resonant voice that followed made Cheongsu Dojang's face turn blank.

‘...?’

He felt as if he had been hit on the head with a blunt object, completely shocked. After all, he, who was revered as the next leader of the Huangshan Sect and had a high nose, had never experienced such insulting words.

But Yushin Yun paid no attention to him and immediately turned around to lift Doo Jin-woo, who was lying on the ground, covered in blood, with both hands.

“You... have come... I am... relieved...”

Doo Jin-woo whispered in a voice as faint as a breath.

Yushin Yun nodded silently and gently placed him on the ground below the training hall. He then summoned mana and cast a skill.

‘Hobaek Hyeon (Protect Hundred Hope)’

The aura that rose from Yushin Yun's fingertips quietly enveloped Doo Jin-woo's body.

[Hobaek Hyeon (A+)]

Increases the self-healing ability of the user or a designated target, allowing recovery from injuries.

-Effect increases with skill proficiency and level.

Hobaek Hyeon, one of the new healing skills Yushin Yun had obtained, possessed the power to heal injuries.

As the skill's effect took hold within Doo Jin-woo's body, his pale complexion gradually improved.

‘This should be enough for emergency measures.’

Relieved by this, Yushin Yun immediately returned to the training hall without any hesitation.

Whoosh! Swish!

His inner energy began to explode from his entire body. Just like when he fought Do Nam-gang, the 'Power Enhancement' skill was activated.

‘I’ll kill him.’

The ferocity in Yushin Yun's eyes, as he glared at Cheongsu Dojang, was akin to that of a beast.

“That, that insolent brat dares to...!”

Seeing Yushin Yun, Songhak spat and shouted.

‘Tsk, what a fool! That old man is digging his own grave.’

Dooak Chil, standing beside him, was inwardly rejoicing. The moment Yushin Yun insulted Cheongsu Dojang, his chances of survival became zero.

Cheongsu Dojang, who pretended to be benevolent but had a heart as cold as a flounder, had been brought here with considerable donations and the promise of the entire Baegun Escort Agency. However, Dooak Chil secretly thought it was too much to expect Yushin Yun to be dealt with.

Now that this guy was struggling to go to hell on his own, things became much easier.

‘Hehe! I’ll cut off his limbs and throw him into a cesspool.’

Dooak Chil smiled and looked at the training hall.

Crack!

A loud grinding sound, as if his teeth were breaking, echoed.

Cheongsu Dojang, filled with rage, emitted a dense killing intent that was far from what one would expect from a Taoist.

“...You’re as evil as I’ve heard, a demon who defies the heavens. Fine, there’s no need to bring you to the capital; I’ll execute you right here!”

Whoosh!

Cheongsu Dojang once again unleashed the Yunhae Hwanjongbo. However, this time, the speed was incomparably faster.

Enraged, Cheongsu Dojang had unleashed the full power of the Tianshui Divine Skill, making his martial arts even more formidable.

It was an incredible speed that even first-class martial artists found hard to follow with their eyes.

Thud!

Arriving near Yushin Yun in a flash, he executed the Na Yue Tianluo, the ultimate move of the Na Yue Sword Technique.

Swish, swish, swish!

With just one sword strike, dozens of trajectories were woven in the sky. It was the pinnacle of illusory sword techniques.

‘I’ll tear you to shreds!’

He was confident that Yushin Yun would be unable to respond to this move.

But...

Clang! Clang! Clang!

‘...What!’

The next moment, his eyes widened.

Yushin Yun's sword perfectly followed every single one of his sword paths without missing a single one.

Orange sparks continuously flew in the air. Yushin Yun was on par with him.

Cheongsu Dojang's sword tip trembled slightly from the shock.

‘...I’ve used up all my luck in life!’

A thread of uneasy premonition rose in his mind, but he desperately denied it and continued the Na Yue Sword Technique.

He simultaneously struck dozens of acupoints with the Na Yue Zhihui and unleashed the Na Yue Zhouyu by spinning in the air.

He aimed the Na Yue Haiha at a clear opening he saw.

But none of these moves...

‘This, this is impossible! No, this can’t be!’

None of them could even cut a single piece of Yushin Yun's clothing.

Instead, as time passed, Yushin Yun became better at predicting and blocking his sword paths.

This meant one thing.

In that short time, Yushin Yun had completely dismantled his sword techniques.

‘Too slow.’

This was Yushin Yun's assessment of Cheongsu Dojang, who had reached the peak of mastery.

Yushin Yun had just fought Do Nam-gang, who had reached the Hwa-kyung realm. Although it was just one step higher, the gap was enormous.

Yushin Yun began to analyze Cheongsu Dojang's martial arts.

‘His inner energy and sword technique are based on water qi. Therefore...’

Through the ongoing battle, Yushin Yun realized a fact.

Generally, martial arts contain one of the five elements. Depending on the nature of the element, the advantages and disadvantages in battle varied.

Cheongsu Dojang's martial arts contained water qi.

Thunder qi corresponds to metal, so using the Thunder Cloud Twelve Swords would be disadvantageous.

According to the principle of the Five Elements, metal generates water, meaning that thunder qi would stabilize and maximize water qi.

In simpler terms, when using thunder qi, the opponent could easily counter with minimal effort.

Thus, Yushin Yun decided to use a different element.

Swoosh.

Yushin Yun's sword blade turned as white as snow on a winter day. Cold energy began to seep from the sword.

The extreme cold absorbed from the Heavenly Ice Water was raging madly inside the sword.

‘Using wood qi would be best, but since I haven’t absorbed any yet, I’ll crush him with this for now.’

The combination of the Thunder Cloud Twelve Swords and the cold energy from the Heavenly Ice Water began to change the dynamics of the battle.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

“Gah!”

Dozens of exchanges occurred in an instant, and a groan escaped Cheongsu Dojang's lips. He was gradually being pushed back by Yushin Yun's sword techniques.

‘This is impossible! I can’t lose to a nobody like this!’

Just as he was denying reality...

A more terrifying event was unfolding for Yushin Yun.

[The cold energy of the Thunder Cloud Twelve Swords and the Heavenly Ice Water has harmonized.]

[The harmony of the Thunder Cloud Twelve Swords has reached the mature stage.]

[The proficiency of the Thunder Cloud Twelve Swords has significantly increased.]

[The Thunder Cloud Twelve Swords has reached a critical point.]

[The level of the Thunder Cloud Twelve Swords has been adjusted upward.]

[The level of the Thunder Cloud Twelve Swords has been changed to 'Hwa-kyung/Evolvable'.]

A system message appeared before Yushin Yun, indicating that the level of the Thunder Cloud Twelve Swords had been adjusted to Hwa-kyung.

Boom! Boom!

Simultaneously, the energy surrounding Yushin Yun's sword became twice as intense as before.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

The next moment, a chilling slicing sound echoed.

“Aaaah!”

The scream came from Cheongsu Dojang.

He quickly changed to a defensive stance, but Yushin Yun's attack was even faster.

Yushin Yun's sword rained down on him like a torrential downpour.

His dao guan and dao fu were torn to shreds, turning into rags. The blood from the large and small wounds all over his body quickly dyed his gray dao fu red.

“Aaaah!”

At that moment, Cheongsu Dojang, like a cornered beast, let out a howl and moved away from Yushin Yun.

“Huff, huff!”

Standing at the end of the training hall, he was panting heavily.

Sigh.

A chilling silence enveloped the training hall at the sight of his gruesome state.

Everyone's faces were filled with shock, unable to comprehend the situation.

Feeling the mess he was in and the attention focused on him, Cheongsu Dojang experienced the greatest humiliation of his life.

To be pushed back by such a young upstart!

What on earth was happening?

‘There’s no way he could have reached the peak of mastery at such a young age!’

That was the only explanation he could come up with for this situation.

“...Taking advantage of a weakness and using black magic! You’re definitely a demon!”

More black magic talk.

Finding no value in responding, Yushin Yun just tightened his grip on his sword.

Seeing this, a wild look began to appear in Cheongsu Dojang's eyes.

Swoosh.

At that moment, an alien energy began to mix with the energy emanating from Cheongsu Dojang.

‘So that’s it.’

Seeing this energy, Yushin Yun's eyes lit up.

Whoosh!

Cheongsu Dojang charged forward. A completely different martial art, not the Na Yue Sword Technique, was about to be revealed.

‘Bend!’

As their swords flew towards each other's necks.

Pew!

A sharp whistling sound echoed.

‘Huh!’

Cheongsu Dojang, realizing a hidden weapon was aimed at his acupoints, dodged to the side in shock.

Yushin Yun also retreated to the opposite side.

Thud!

The next moment, a mysterious hidden weapon was embedded in the center of the training hall.

Cheongsu Dojang, who was about to shout, suddenly stopped.

‘...That’s!’

Recognizing the hidden weapon embedded in the ground, he could not hide his shock.

It couldn't be helped.

There, embedded in the ground, was the exclusive hidden weapon used by the Sichuan Tang Family to announce their presence.

The Tang Leizhan (Tang Thunder Arrow).

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