Chapter 111
Using the Celestial Moonlight Sword Art, Baek Mu-Gun pushed Pung Hae-San back. The Sky-Shattering White Whale Sword Art, Hae-San’s sword art, revolved around overpowering the opponent by creating a series of strong pressures. Since it was similar to Mu-Gun’s Ten Thousand Sky-Shattering Pressure Sword Art, the best way to deal with it was to use nimble movements to avoid the pressure its techniques created. It was also relatively slow, so it couldn’t keep up with sword techniques that incorporated variability and speed.
In that regard, Mu-Gun had the perfect movement art and sword art to counter it—the Thunder God's Aerial Steps and the Celestial Moonlight Sword Art. Using the Thunder God’s Aerial Steps, Mu-Gun swiftly escaped the pressure created by the Sky-Shattering White Whale Sword Art. At the same time, he targeted Hae-San’s back and sides with the Celestial Moonlight Sword Art. The moment Mu-Gun launched a full-scale attack, Hae-San could no longer properly retaliate. He became far too busy trying to defend himself.
Hae-San initially just prevented Mu-Gun from going on the offensive using the White Whale Sky-Shattering Sword Art’s strong sword pressure. However, Mu-Gun’s attacks and irregular movement patterns gradually forced Hae-San to go on the defensive. No matter how strong his sword techniques were, he couldn’t exert their full power without the time to properly execute them.
Unlike Hae-San, Mu-Gun could exert the power of the Celestial Moonlight Sword Art to the fullest. With Mu-Gun overpowering Hae-San, Hae-San accumulated more and more damage as their battle continued. As a result, his reaction speed gradually decreased.
Mu-Gun eventually broke through Hae-San’s defences, allowing him to riddle Hae-San with grave wounds.
“Ughh,” Hae-San grunted as blood trickled down from his wounds, completely drenching him. Unable to hold on any longer, he fell to one knee with a groan.
“You’re amazing.”
Mu-Gun’s amazing skills genuinely impressed Hae-San.
“For a pirate, your skills were also decent. Now, it’s time to meet your end. I hope you live righteously in the afterlife,” Mu-Gun said, then decapitated Hae-San.
The headless Hae-San fell forward, blood splattering out of his neck. As Mu-Gun finished Hae-San, Woon Rei-Chu dropped into the Changjiang River, his chest completely destroyed by Hwang Rei’s fists.
The death of the two Kings of Changjiang flustered the five Supreme Commanders of the Four Seas. They didn’t expect that the two could be defeated one-sidedly. They couldn’t turn the ships around and run away now even if they wanted to. Their pirate ships were huge, and they were on a river, not at sea. Turning the ships around alone would take seven to eight minutes. Mu-Gun and Hwang Rei wouldn’t just stand by and watch that happen.
Since it was impossible to escape, they only had two choices: fight to the death or surrender. No, they actually had no choice. Before they could even make a decision, Mu-Gun jumped into the river and executed the Heavenly Sea Waves Saber Art once more. The waves of the Changjiang River rose violently. Pushed by the huge waves, the pirate ships smashed into each other, and the impact threw the pirates overboard.
The pirate ships then fell sideways and dropped onto the pirates in the river, killing most of them. Those who possessed stronger martial arts managed to move away and avoid being crushed. They climbed on top of the fallen ship, but they still hadn’t completely escaped danger. The ship they were standing on was gradually sinking. If they stayed put, they would eventually submerge along with the ship.
Though there was one ship still intact, Mu-Gun and Hwang Rei, who killed Hae-San and Rei-Chu, were aboard it. Stuck in between a rock and a hard place, they thought it would be much better to die fighting Mu-Gun and Hwang Rei than sink with the ship. The surviving Four Seas Gang martial arts masters, including the Five Supreme Commanders of the Four Seas, exchanged glances with each other and climbed up the ship carrying Mu-Gun and Hwang Rei.
In response, Mu-Gun swung his sword, sending a wave of moonlight sword qi at them. Right behind it was Hwang Rei’s violently rampaging dragon-shaped vajra qi. The Four Seas Gang pirates blocked the moonlight sword qi, but it was impossible for them to block the dragon-shaped vajra qi as well. Hit by the dragon-shaped vajra qi, they dropped into the river as blood splattered out of them.
Meanwhile, Namgung Ho, whom Mu-Gun had saved, watched Mu-Gun and Hwang Rei annihilate the Four Seas Gang pirates in a daze. The two wiped out two Absolute Realm masters, five Upper Peak Realm masters, and close to five hundred pirates. Despite witnessing it in person, he couldn’t bring himself to believe it. Mu-Gun’s martial arts, which created a huge tidal wave that knocked down the pirate ships, especially shocked him.
If Mu-Gun became the Great Namgung Family’s enemy right now, Namgung Ho was certain that they would be able to somehow defeat Mu-Gun. However, he couldn’t confidently say that they would be able to handle him in a few years’ time. For the sake of the Great Namgung Family, he had to somehow make sure that Mu-Gun was on their side. Fortunately, Mu-Gun and Namgung Hyun-Ah were quite close. It was also probably because of her that Mu-Gun came looking for them and lent a helping hand. Namgung Ho decided to push for the marriage between Mu-Gun and Hyun-Ah as soon as he returned to the Great Namgung Family.
After defeating the Four Seas Gang pirates, Mu-Gun rescued Namgung Ho, who was still floating along the river on the Flying Golden Shield, and brought him to the riverside, where Namgung Min and Hyun-Ah could be seen waiting. While observing the situation from the riverside, Namgung Min and Hyun-Ah waited instead of escaping when they saw Mu-Gun and Hwang Rei arrive. As a result, they witnessed Mu-Gun and Hwang Rei annihilating the Four Seas Gang.
“Uncle! Are you okay?”
Namgung Min ran to check on Namgung Ho as soon as the ship carrying Namgung Ho and Mu-Gun’s group reached the riverside.
“I’m fine. I just have some internal injuries.”
“On behalf of the Great Namgung Family, I sincerely thank you, Young Patriarch Baek. If it wasn’t for you, I would have lost my uncle. Thank you very much.” Namgung Min bowed to Mu-Gun.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t save the Great Namgung Family’s warriors.”
“That would have been better, but I am still very grateful that you saved my uncle. The Great Namgung Family will never forget this grace.”
“I contributed just as much as he did, yet you’re only thanking him?” Hwang Rei, who was next to Mu-Gun, complained with an unenthusiastic expression.
“Haha, of course not. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to you, Elder Nine Dragons Fist.”
“You won’t forget my grace either, then?”
“Of course.”
Mu-Gun shook his head when Hwang Rei demanded credit for his own contributions. He then approached Hyun-Ah.
“Are you okay? Did you get hurt anywhere?”
“I’m alright. What happened, though?” Hyun-Ah asked, wondering how Mu-Gun knew to come running after them.
“While I was at Wuchang, I received news that the Four Seas Gang was heading to Wuchang via the Changjiang River. The Great Namgung Family would be in danger if you encountered them, so I hurriedly chased after you.”
“So you chased after us because of me?”
“Yes. I was more worried about you, Lady Namgung, than anything else.”
Hyun-Ah’s face turned red. She shouldn’t be reacting this way, considering many of the Great Namgung Family’s warriors had been killed, but Mu-Gun’s feelings, which made him rush over to save her, moved her.
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. It is a man’s duty to protect the woman he has given his heart to,” Mu-Gun said softly so that only Hyun-Ah could hear it.
His sweet words made Hyun-Ah blush ever harder. If they were alone, they would have already made love to each other due to the mood around them. Unfortunately, many eyes were on them.
While watching Mu-Gun take care of Hyun-Ah, Namgung Min commented, “The Four Seas Gang acting like this means that they are also under the control of the Nine Celestial Demons Sect.”
“That’s most likely the case.”
“They said they have destroyed our Great Namgung Family’s subsidiary branch in Nanjing. Is that true?”
“From what I have heard, it is.”
“What do you mean by that? Our subsidiary branch was wiped out?” Namgung Min asked, looking surprised.
“I received news that the Four Seas Gang pirates attacked the Great Namgung Family and the Great Huangfu Family’s subsidiary families before coming here. Unfortunately, both branches were wiped out.”
“Those bastards are out of their minds. They dared mess with our family? We cannot let this incident slide.”
“Of course we won’t. However, we can’t act recklessly now that we’ve confirmed that the Nine Celestial Demons Sect is supporting the Four Seas Gang. Anyway, let’s head back to the head family first and discuss this with the patriarch.”
“Understood.”
“By the way, are you done with your business in Wuchang?” Namgung Ho asked Mu-Gun.
“No. I rushed here as soon as I found out that the Great Namgung Family would be in danger.”
“I see. I’m really grateful that you set your business aside to rush over and save our family. Once we reach the head family, I will make sure to tell the patriarch about this incident.”
“I didn’t do this because I was expecting to gain something in return, so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Still, I can’t just let this go. One way or another, I would like to express my gratitude.”
“What do you plan to do now? Traveling with that ship would be difficult.”
“For starters, I’m heading to a nearby dock to get a new ship.”
“I’d like to accompany you, but I unfortunately still have work left in Wuchang.”
“You’ve done more than enough by saving our lives, so please don’t worry about it and go,” Namgung Ho said, reassuring him that they would be fine.
“Please go ahead first. I will leave after seeing you off.”
“Thank you. Until we meet again.”
The Great Namgung Family’s group bid farewell to Mu-Gun, then headed to a nearby city that had a dock. Hyun-Ah turned her head and looked at Mu-Gun several times, seemingly sad for having to say goodbye to Mu-Gun. In response, Mu-Gun waved every time she turned back. When he could no longer see them, he headed back to Wuchang by boat.
* * *
As Mu-Gun had predicted, the executives of the Changjiang Waterway Alliance, who had fled from the righteous sect alliance at Dongting Lake, had contacted the martial arts masters of the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin in Mount Dabie and decided to attack the Great Zhuge Family together. Afterward, they planned to head to Mount Longzhong.
However, their strength alone wouldn’t be enough to take down the Great Zhuge Family. Hence, the Changjiang Waterway Alliance requested reinforcement from the Ten Thousand Calamities Clan, and the Seventy-Two Strongholds of Lulin requested reinforcement from the Blood-Crazed Clan. After much consideration, the Ten Thousand Calamities Clan and the Blood-Crazed Clan decided to send over two Absolute Demonic Realm masters each.
It didn’t matter how many martial arts masters they had against the Great Zhuge Family, however. The key to their victory was the destruction of the Forbidden Soul Destroyer Array, which the Great Zhuge Family had installed. No matter how many Absolute Realm masters were in their ranks, they couldn’t properly attack the Great Zhuge Family for as long as the Forbidden Soul Destroyer Array was still active.
The Nine Celestial Demons Sect knew that better than anyone else. After all, they had already tried taking down the Great Zhuge Family in the past, which resulted in their members getting mercilessly slaughtered. Since then, The Nine Celestial Demons Sect had spared no effort in finding a way to destroy the Forbidden Soul Destroyer Array, which the Great Zhuge Family developed with their hearts and souls for generations. However, even just finding such a method proved difficult.
Since they didn’t know the exact principle behind the Forbidden Soul Destroyer Array, they couldn’t come up with a way to demolish it. Failing to destroy it despite all their efforts, the Nine Celestial Demons Sect was ultimately forced to avoid attacking the Great Zhuge Family. until they had figured out a way to destroy the array.
Fortunately, there was a way to figure out how to demolish it. Zhuge Long, the Great Zhuge Family elder who participated in the Wuchang meeting, likely knew of such a way. Capturing him alive should open up a path to obliterating the Great Zhuge Family.
Hence, they focused their resources on capturing Zhuge Long alive. Currently, Zhuge Long was on the way to the Great Zhuge Family with seven of the representatives of the Nine Prominent Sects. Among the representatives, two were Absolute Realm masters, and the rest were in the Upper Peak Realm. Including Zhuge Long, there were six Upper Peak Realm masters in their group.
The Nine Celestial Demons Sect could easily overpower that small of a military force. Before attacking the Great Zhuge Family, the Ten Thousand Calamities Clan and the Blood-Crazed Clan decided to send their Absolute Demonic Realm masters to capture Zhuge Long alive first.
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