Chapter 77: The Dao (3)
Seojun chased after the man fleeing in the distance.
Whoosh! He cut through the air in an instant, the man’s back appearing right before him.
“Eek...!”
Startled, the man twisted his body and swung the whip at his waist.
Tear!
The air ripped as the blade at the end of the whip flew towards Seojun who caught it with his hand wrapped in reinforced qi.
“Ah!?”
The surprised man tried to retrieve his whip, but Seojun yanked it hard.
“Ugh...!”
When the force of the pull dragged him along, Seojun set his right fist ablaze with burning reinforced qi.
“W-Wait a moment...! Great Expert...!”
Gulp. The man swallowed at the fist stopped right before his nose. One wrong move and his head would be smashed. He had already witnessed Seojun’s brutalness. It was clear that the person in front of him wouldn’t hesitate to kill him, and if he wanted to live, he needed to talk well.
The man immediately kowtowed.
“P-Please spare me! We honestly haven’t done anything that wrong! As a martial artist yourself, you must understand! In this world, the strong naturally eat the weak!”
“The strong eat the weak?”
“Yes! Look at the Namgung Clan! Don’t they rule Anhui because of their strength? We’re just doing something similar...”
“So I’m the strong one here?”
“That’s true...”
“And you pissed me off, so you get the death penalty?”
“Kugh...!”
The man suddenly sprang up and swung his leg.
Seojun rolled his eyes slightly. The trajectory of his kick was obvious. He grabbed the leg and squeezed.
Crunch!
“Aaarghh...!!”
The man screamed, clutching his crushed leg.
Seojun sighed and stomped his foot down.
Splat! The man went silent as his head disappeared.
“Next is...”
They were still within the vicinity of his qi detection.
Yellow dragon qi arose from his toes as he took off, the form of a dragon materializing beneath his feet.
While swiftly gliding through the air, Seojun spotted another man.
The man also noticed Seojun. He gritted his teeth and pulled out a bow from his back.
Swish swish swish!
About a dozen arrows flew towards Seojun in strange curves.
Seojun’s eyes lit up. This was the first time he had seen someone use a bow in murim.
He imbued the reinforced qi in his hand with the mental image of All Rivers Returning to the Ocean and imagined a large circle.
The incoming arrows slowed down and dropped.
The fleeing man glanced back and immediately nocked another arrow.
“Haaap...!”
The arrow qi increased in size greatly at the arrowhead, which was firing toward him at a speed incomparable to before.
Boom!
The air exploded. The arrow, easily breaking the sound barrier, flew towards Seojun’s chest.
Seojun’s gaze fixed on the arrow. It carved an arc through the sky, spinning swiftly. He understood the principle behind it in an instant.
Crunch!
He caught the arrow and snapped it, then pressed his thumb against his middle finger.
Fragments of knowledge flashed through his mind. The form of a bullet, its streamlined body, and the rotation imparted by the rifling in the gun barrel.
He mixed this knowledge with the insights gained from the man’s arrow.
Crackle!
A brightly glowing golden finger bullet took the shape of a bullet and began rotating rapidly.
The principle? He wasn’t quite sure. He just had to fire it to find out.
Bang!
The finger bullet fired along with the sound of an explosion.
At a speed nearly invisible to the naked eye, it pierced through the man’s torso.
Splat!
Seojun nodded as he confirmed the corpse falling with most of its torso missing.
“Not bad.”
He had dealt with four now, leaving just one.
Rather than immediately giving chase, Seojun chose to wait for Hwan Baeho.
Standing still for a moment and blankly staring at the sky, he soon sensed Hwan Baeho’s presence.
“Young Master.”
Hwan Baeho approached, panting, and bowed his head.
“Shall we pursue immediately?”
“No, let’s take it slow.”
Seojun took the bow from the dead man’s hand.
Twang, twang, he pulled the bowstring a few times. The feel wasn’t bad.
“Young Master, though it’s unlikely... if we’re unlucky, the trail might disappear completely. Wouldn’t it be better to pursue right away?”
“Ah, it’s fine. I can track him.”
“Pardon? Did you bring some tracking incense?”
Tracking incense, as the name implies, is made to track others.
The most famous is the Far-Reaching Pursuit Incense. Ordinary people can’t smell it, but those who have learned related martial arts can track the target from even ten thousand li away with its scent.
Of course, Seojun had never learned such martial arts.
“It’s not that, my qi is on his arm.”
Seojun tapped his arm.
Remember the man who was injured by the first finger bullet? He could track him by following that trace.
“Is that... possible?”
“It is. I find it more amazing how you tracked them all the way here with barely any traces.”
Those are just tracking skills anyone can learn.”
“Well, I don’t think so.”
Anyone can learn that? He wasn’t joking when he thought it was actual magic.
“Anyways, let’s follow at our own pace. The people running away are the ones always on edge.”
Seojun chuckled.
Hwan Baeho, watching him, quickly bowed his head.
“Yes!”
A Transcendent Realm martial artist. Though this was the first time he had witnessed their skills, Hwan Baeho thought this was a day he would never forget.
*Seojun fired the bow a few times while following the trace of his qi.
Whoosh!
An arrow flew in an arc and stuck into a tree. That wasn’t where he was aiming.
He clicked his tongue and threw the bow far away.
“Wow, the bow’s just really not for me.”
As he grumbled, his eyes suddenly widened when he sensed something.
“Wait, what’s this...”
He immediately kicked off a tree and rose into the air, then bloomed plum blossoms beneath his feet to jump even higher.
From his high vantage point, he saw a black wave in the distance. It was a wave of demonic creatures.
How many are there?
It certainly exceeded several hundred. Probably thousands.
Seojun frowned as he landed.
Where did so many demonic creatures come from?
There’s no way thousands of demonic creatures could have been hiding somewhere.
Unless it was some deep forest, but Seojun hadn’t seen any such forest nearby.
When he explained what he saw to Hwan Baeho, the man’s eyes widened.
“A demonic creature flood!”
“Ah, a monster wave?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing. So, what exactly is this situation.”
When he asked that, Hwan Baeho made a serious expression and answered.
“This happens occasionally. Demonic creatures pour out like a wave from who knows where.”
“What do you do then?”
“Usually the major sects in the area respond... but it will take quite some time for the Namgung Clan to assess the situation and send forces. Especially since the clan’s current situation isn’t great...”
“So a few cities will be swept away?”
“Yes...”
Seojun sighed. As expected of this inauthentic fake-ass murim. He was starting to look forward to seeing how far this would go.
“For now, it looks like their path is in a similar direction to where that guy went? Let’s go that way and see if there are any cities.”
“Yes!”
It would be better to hurry. Though Hwan Baeho’s light body art was impressive for his realm, he was naturally slower than Seojun going all out.
So Seojun grabbed him by the collar, and Hwan Baeho went limp without resistance.
“...My apologies.”
“Sure, no worries. Just try not to bite your tongue.”
Whoosh!
Seojun shot forth, a golden trail slowly dispersing in his wake. The white clouds were tinged with a faint gold, resembling a sunset.
*They soon came across a city along the expected path of the demonic horde.
Seojun landed in the middle of the city and released Hwan Baeho.
“For now, make sure to spread the news about this demonic creature flood or whatever it is.”
“This city is slightly larger than the one before, but there won’t be any significant forces here.”
“Doesn’t matter, better than being caught unaware.”
“Yes!”
Hwan Baeho hurried off. Seojun watched him for a moment before following the trace of his qi.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the last man had fled somewhere in this city.
As he walked slowly, the number of people gradually decreased.
Do trash like these have a thing for back alleys?
He clicked his tongue as he moved. After a while, Seojun stood still in an empty alley and looked down at the ground.
He could sense his own qi below, along with the man’s presence.
Seojun lifted his foot and stomped down hard.
Boom!
The thick ground collapsed, and his body fell down with it. He roughly landed and looked up, his eyes meeting the shocked man’s.
“Found you.”
The corners of Seojun’s mouth rose up.
*Hwan Baeho recalled information about Shitai County and hurried towards the largest sect in the area. The Azure Thunder Sect should be the largest sect in this region.
“Halt!”
A gatekeeper tried to stop him, but only for a moment. The gatekeeper bowed hurriedly, recognizing the distinctive blue uniform of the Namgung Clan.
“What business does the Namgung Clan have?”
“The Sect Leader! I must see the Sect Leader!”
“I’ll send word inside first...”
“There’s no time!”
Hwan Baeho pushed past the gatekeeper and entered, his eyes wide.
Traces everywhere. He quickly deduced the location of the Sect Leader’s quarters and hurried his steps.
“Azure Thunder Sect Leader!”
Luckily, the Sect Leader was outside.
“You are...”
“The situation is urgent!”
Hwan Baeho approached quickly, and the Sect Leader frowned.
“Is this not too rude, even if you are from the Namgung Clan?”
“There’s a demonic creature flood!”
“What did you say?”
“Damn it! I said there’s a demonic creature flood! There’s no time to waste!”
The Sect Leader held his forehead upon hearing those urgent words.
“Eugh, they say demonic creatures have been increasing lately... Will the Namgung Clan provide support?”
“There is only one person here right now.”
“The one person you say is...”
“The Young Master of the clan.”
“You mean Young Expert Namgung Myeong?”
“Not him...! In any case, this is not the time! He is a Transcendent Realm martial artist, we must join forces to stop them!”
The Sect Leader bit his lip after contemplating with his eyes closed.
“I understand... for the moment I shall secure an escape route. A Transcendent Realm martial artist may be powerful, but nonetheless he is but a single man. There is a limit to his stamina and qi. The countless demonic creatures cannot be stopped alone.”
“I will leave that to you, Sect Leader. Please pass news of this to other sects as well!”
“I shall do so.”
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The Sect Leader disappeared quickly using his light body art.
Hwan Baeho stood still, looking up at the sky with a sigh.
How should I handle this situation?
The Azure Thunder Sect Leader wasn’t wrong. Though the Young Master had shown incredible prowess, he was still human.
Even with all of the qi in the world, there were limits to being human. His qi would be far from enough to handle thousands of demonic creatures.
He couldn’t let Lady Namgung Suah lose her beloved this way.
If things went wrong, they should withdraw immediately and wait for reinforcements. But would the Young Master retreat willingly based on solely his words?
Hwan Baeho’s worries deepened.