Chapter 101
After leaving the Baek Sword Sect, Baek Mu-Gun and his group decided to cross over to Anhui Province from Zhejiang Province. From Tongling, they then made their way to Muchang via the Changjiang River. It would take them at least twenty days to reach their destination, no matter how fast they traveled. Hence, amid their journey, Mu-Gun sparred with the Six White Wolves to guide them with their martial arts. Left with no one to hang out with, Hwang Rei ended up bored. After a few days of enduring it, he finally gave up and decided to participate in the Six White Wolves’ sparring training.
“You’re going to spar with us too, venerable elder?” Mu-Gun asked in surprise.
“Can’t I?”
“No, that’s not what I mean. We simply do not want to be a bother.”
“You’re worrying over nothing. Doing some sparring is no big deal.”
“Please do join us, then,” Mu-Gun politely told Hwang Rei. He was being as polite as he could because his six followers were watching.
Hwang Rei sparred with one White Wolf after another. Getting to spar with Hwang Rei, one of the Four Peerless Wanderers, was rare, and the Six White Wolves were well aware of that. Hence, they gave it their all. They first sparred one-on-one, then the Six White Wolves split up into two groups of three and faced off against Hwang Rei. The first group of three to face Hwang Rei used the Three Absolute Soul Crushers Formation, a joint attack formation that Mu-Gun had taught them. Looking amused, Hwang Rei confronted them. Although the Three Absolute Soul Crushers Formation was strong, their skills, which were barely in the First Rate Realm, were not good enough to threaten Hwang Rei. Nevertheless, it was very wise of them to use the Three Absolute Soul Crushers Formation to spar against a martial arts master like Hwang Rei.
“Your joint attack formation is quite interesting. However, you are all too lacking in skills to fully unleash its effects.” Hwang Rei said after witnessing their performance.
“It’s called the Three Absolute Soul Crushers Formation. If Upper Peak Realm masters use it, they could even overpower an Absolute Realm master.
“That’s a pity. The match would have been more interesting if properly trained martial arts experts were the ones who executed the formation as I faced it.”
“If you’re curious about it, it would be best to try sparring with the Baek Sword Corps’ squad leaders.”
“I'll think about it.”
“If it’s alright with you, can you participate in another spar?”
“Another spar?”
“We actually have another joint attack formation. It requires six people. However, if you’re tired, we can stop here.”
“I don’t mind, but I don’t know if they still want to continue.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Fighting despite being exhausted is also a part of training,” Mu-Gun told Hwang Rei, then turned to his followers. “You all can keep going, right?”
“Yes,” the six answered without hesitation.
“Well, it’s always best to work hard,” Hwang Rei said, agreeing with Mu-Gun’s severe methods in training the Six White Wolves.
To survive in murim, they had to endure and grow in harsh conditions, not in a sheltered environment. Meanwhile, Hwang Rei was pleased that the six did not show any signs of exhaustion and instead conveyed their willingness to train. He now understood why Mu-Gun paid great attention to them.
The sparring session between Hwang Rei and the Six White Wolves continued. The Six White Wolves displayed great teamwork and chemistry as they activated the Six Dimension Destroyers Formation. The trust they had in each other could be felt from their movements, which were as perfectly in sync as cogs interlocking in flawless harmony. Trusting each other was an absolutely necessary component when executing joint attack formations. If they didn’t believe that the person next to them could stop an attack, especially those that are fatal, the sword formation would instantly collapse.
The Six Dimension Destroyers Formation, in particular, had a lethal ultimate move where one of the six martial artists would launch an attack while the other five used internal energy body transfer to funnel their internal energy into the martial artist going on the offensive. To carry out the ultimate move, five of the martial artists would have to the person they were giving all their internal energy to. On the other hand, the one going on the offensive had to launch an attack believing that the other five would transfer all their internal energy to them.
The Six White Wolves didn’t just trust each other deeply but also gave their all training and practicing the sword formation in unison. Their efforts resulted in extremely high proficiency and chemistry with the sword formation, making it very powerful. Hwang Rei was honestly shocked beyond belief when he went face-to-face with their Six Dimension Destroyers Formation.
Although the Three Absolute Soul Crushers Formation was also excellent, it was nothing compared to the Six Dimension Destroyers Formation. Fortunately, the Six White Wolves’ martial arts skills were still weak. If they had reached the Peak Realm, Hwang Rei would have desperately struggled. Nevertheless, even with their current martial prowess, they could still easily overpower a Peak Realm master, and if they improved a bit more, they would be able to overpower even an Upper Peak Realm master.
Hwang Rei was convinced that the Three Absolute Soul Crushers Formation and the Six Dimension Destroyers Formation, which the Six White Wolves had demonstrated, would increase the Baek Sword Sect’s combat power by at least a few folds. Mu-Gun’s ability also impressed him for having created those joint attack formations.
Mu-Gun and his party sparred whenever they had spare time during their travels, and Hwang Rei continued to help the Six White Wolves as well. As they spent time together through the sparring sessions, Hwang Rei and Mu-Gun’s subordinates naturally became closer. From the former’s perspective, the Six White Wolves were like his disciples.
Hwang Rei wanted to give them something even though they were not officially his disciples, but the decision was not up to him. He had to obtain Mu-Gun’s permission first since he was technically their teacher. Hence, he informed Mu-Gun of his intention to pass down some of his martial arts to the Six White Wolves. In response, Mu-Gun gladly accepted.
The Six White Wolves used swords as their main weapon. Although swordsmen had a sword close to them most of the time, they could still find themselves in situations where their sword wasn’t within reach or had been rendered unusable due to unexpected turns of events.
To prepare for such situations, learning martial arts that didn’t revolve around swordsmanship was necessary. Mu-Gun had thought of teaching them a fist or palm art when their swordsmanship had reached a certain level, but it seemed he wouldn’t have to anymore since Hwang Rei had just made a similar proposal. Hwang Rei’s martial arts, the Supreme Nine Dragons Fist Art, was an outstanding fist art strong enough to be considered one of the best fist-type martial arts in all of murim. It was unlikely that Hwang Rei would pass on his entire martial arts, but learning even just a part of it would already be of great help to the Six White Wolves. There was no reason to refuse his offer.
Upon getting Mu-Gun’s permission, Hwang Rei summoned the Six White Wolves and asked them if they were interested in learning his martial arts. Even if Hwang Rei wanted to teach them, there was nothing he could do if they didn’t want to learn it. Having been informed that Mu-Gun had already given his permission, they didn’t hesitate to learn Hwang Rei’s martial arts.
Hwang Rei had no intention of passing on every single technique of the Supreme Nine Dragons Fist Art, his famed martial arts, to people who weren’t officially his disciples. Hence, he decided to just teach them the first half of his martial art, which consisted of five techniques. Even so, that alone would be enough for them to reach the Peak Realm.
After the Six White Wolves’ training, Hwang Rei passed down the Supreme Nine Dragons Fist Art. It was a shame that they could not learn the Nine Dragons Overlord Energy, which was the perfect internal energy cultivation method for the Supreme Nine Dragons Fist Art. The support of that cultivation method was required to maximize the power of Hwang Rei’s martial arts, but he chose not to pass it down to them since they weren’t officially his disciples.
Nevertheless, the Supreme Nine Dragons Fist Art was still worth learning. After all, it was such an outstanding martial art that it could still exert considerable power even when paired with a different internal energy cultivation method.
* * *
“Of the three outlaw groups, only the Myriad Tribulations Clan responded,” Ji Seok-Hwan, the Blood-Crazed Clan’s vice leader, informed Mad Demon King Hyeok Ryeon-Pae upon entering their clan’s palace.
“What did they say?”
“They will join hands with us.”
“Did they not ask for other conditions?”
“Yes.”
“That’s unexpected. What about the Invincible Clan?”
“We haven’t heard from them yet. The Heavenly Killer Sect contacted us, however.”
“The Heavenly Killer Sect?”
“The Nine Prominent Sects and the Seven Great Families will be holding a meeting in Wuchang, and they have invited the Zhejiang Martial Alliance to attend.”
“And?”
“It seems Baek Mu-Gun, the Baek Sword Sect’s young patriarch, will be the one representing the Zhejiang Martial Alliance. Nine Dragons Fist Hwang Rei, one of the Four Peerless Wanderers, is accompanying him.”
“So?”
“Hwang Rei is one of the Heavenly Killer Sect’s targets, but their failure to assassinate Thunderous Wind Palm Han Baek exposed their plans, ultimately allowing Hwang Rei to escape from his solitary abode and join the Baek Sword Sect before they could get to him. They haven’t given up on taking down the Four Peerless Wanderers, which is why they plan to take this opportunity to kill the Nine Dragons Fist. However, it seems Mu-Gun’s presence makes it difficult to carry out their operation.”
“Is that why they’re asking us for help?”
“That’s right. The Heavenly Killer Sect wants us to handle the Baek Sword Sect’s young patriarch while they deal with Hwang Rei.”
“They’re trying to involve us in this after finding out that that bastard killed Ma Yong-Seong.”
“I think so.”
“What do you think I should do?”
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea to play along.”
“Play along, how?”
“Looking at the route the Baek Sword Sect’s young patriarch is taking, they will likely pass through the Changjiang River from Tongling, Anhui Province to get to Wuchang.”
“It will be easy for the Changjiang Waterway Alliance to make a move at the Changjiang River.”
“That’s right. Together with one of the Three Kings of Changjiang, one of the Two Kings of Lulin from the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin, and the Heavenly Killer Sect’s forces, we’ll have a strong enough army to hunt down the Baek Sword Sect’s young patriarch and his group.”
“That’s a good idea. Sound out the Myriad Tribulations Clan and the Heavenly Killer Sect’s intentions immediately. If they agree, let’s proceed with the operation.”
“Understood.”
At Ryeon-Pae’s behest, Seok-Hwan sent a carrier pigeon detailing their plans to the Myriad Tribulations Clan and the Heavenly Killer Sect. The two factions responded the next day, expressing their intention to cooperate. The three wasted no time executing the operation.
Seok-Hwan placed great importance on secrecy, the core of this operation. He pinned the recent failure of the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin on their movements being exposed since that gave the Zhejiang Martial Alliance time to prepare against their attack. Hence, this time, they carried out their operations in total secrecy to avoid letting Mu-Gun and his party catch wind of their plans.
To that end, they only deployed the minimum number of people. The Changjiang Waterway Alliance mobilized the Changjiang King of Hell and just two of the Ten Dragons of Changjiang. The Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin deployed the Lulin Fist King and two of the Eight Commanders of Lulin, and the Heavenly Killer Sect mobilized the Dark Heavenly Killer Monarch of the Eight Heavenly Killer Monarchs and three of the Twenty-Four Heavenly Killer Demonic Generals.
The Heavenly Secret Hall had strengthened their surveillance on the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin and the Changjiang Waterway Alliance. However, the opposing factions executed their plan so flawlessly that the Heavenly Secret Hall failed to detect their movements. Since Mu-Gun and his group relied on the Heavenly Secret Hall for information, they naturally were not aware of the enemy’s movements either.
However, Mu-Gun had never once forgotten that the Nine Celestial Demons Sect could target him at any moment. He could have brought the Four Peerless Wanderers with him as a safety precaution, but doing so would have threatened the Baek Sword Sect’s safety. Hence, he decided to just accept the risks.
Mu-Gun and his group reached Tongling, Anhui Province two days after they left Wenzhou, but since it was already dark when they arrived, they couldn’t depart immediately. Hence, they checked into an inn instead to stay the night.
Mu-Gun unpacked his belongings in the guest room and took a quick bath. He then headed down to the restaurant on the ground floor, finding a familiar face there—the Divine Wind Sword Saint Namgung Ho, one of the Five Great Devas the Great Namgung Family was so proud of.
The middle-aged man was wearing a martial uniform with an azure dragon emblem engraved on his sleeve. Mu-Gun had met him the other day when they took down the Great Sima Family. In the middle of his meal, Namgung Ho raised his head when he sensed Mu-Gun’s gaze on him.
His eyes shone brilliantly the moment he saw Mu-Gun. He had never seen Mu-Gun’s real face, but even though Mu-Gun could cover his face, he couldn’t hide his aura. Analyzing his aura, Namgung Ho swiftly concluded that he was Gu Jeon-Saeng, a man whom Namgung Ho had met previously.
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