Chapter 35
That night, Baek Mu-Gun wore a black outfit and mask and then left the Heavenly Underground Cave. Upon invoking the Thunder God's Heavenly Eyes and coming out of the Thousand Pine Forest’s trap array, he found the Great Huangfu Family’s martial artists camping outside. They numbered a little over sixty.
Mu-Gun saw less than ten warriors standing guard. They didn’t seem that alert either, perhaps because of the notion that no one would dare ambush one of the Seven Great Clans.
For Mu-Gun, that was a good thing. He immediately moved in search of the array masters. It would be difficult to identify them among the over sixty people camping here since he had never seen their faces before, but he could roughly surmise where they would be. Three barracks were built behind the warriors that had made a campfire and laid a blanket on the bare ground.
Unlike ordinary warriors, those in high positions could have a comfortable sleep in the barracks. That made it highly likely for the array masters to be in one of those three, all of which had light coming from inside. Mu-Gun stealthily approached one of them.
The array masters had to have taken a look around the Thousand Pine Forest and understood the array formation to some extent. If so, they should be racking their brains trying to find out how to destroy it right about now.
And they’d likely be staying up all night to devise a way to demolish the trap array as soon as possible. Taking that into consideration, Mu-Gun decided to inspect one of the barracks, from which he could hear two voices. Considering they were discussing matters related to the trap array, they were undoubtedly array masters. He examined the energy inside the structure, sensing only two auras.
‘This’ll be easier than I thought.’
Mu-Gun lightly jumped on top of the barracks, then cut its ceiling with a sword. The moment he slipped in between the gaps, the array masters, who had spread out across a wide desk dozens of sheets of paper that illustrated how they could destroy the trap array, looked at Mu-Gun with surprise.
Mu-Gun executed the Vajra Exorcism Finger before they could shout. Imbued with thunder qi, the Vajra Exorcism Finger pierced through the middle of the array masters’ foreheads, causing them to collapse and enter their death throes.
Mu-Gun gently lowered himself to the floor and looked at the fallen array masters. They had definitely stopped breathing, and they died with their eyes wide open, making them look mortified. Mu-Gun smiled bitterly and shut their eyes.
It was kill or be killed in murim. And this was the only way to protect the Medicine King Family. Having achieved his goal, Mu-Gun tried to leave without any further delay. However, just as he was about to leave, the barracks’ entrance opened and someone came in.
As soon as the person saw the black-masked Mu-Gun and the two fallen array masters, he immediately shouted.
“It’s the enemy! Kuhkk!”
Mu-Gun reflexively invoked the Vajra Exorcism Finger, but he was a step too late.
“We’re being attacked!”
“The enemy is at the left barracks!”
The people standing guard outside shouted. Mu-Gun quickly escaped through the split ceiling of the barracks without panicking. He was confident he would be able to run away despite being discovered by the enemies.
Mu-Gun dashed right away as soon as he exited the barracks. With the sound of an explosion, he then flew up in the air like a bird using the Thunder God’s Shadow, a secret movement art of the Heavenly Descent Thunder God Sect.
“You bastard! You came as you pleased, but I’m not letting you leave as freely!”
A figure shouted and soared into the air just as Mu-Gun was about to leave the Great Huangfu Family’s barracks. The man blocked Mu-Gun’s way and immediately threw a punch at him. It was difficult to change direction mid-way with the Thunder God’s Shadow. In addition, they were far too close.
With dodging now out of the options, he had no choice but to block it or counterattack. Mu-Gun chose to defend. He equipped the Flying Golden Shield hung on his back and intercepted the man’s attack.
As soon as the man’s fist force hit the Flying Golden Shield, a strong deflective force formed and blasted the man away. Mu-Gun did not suffer any damage because the Flying Golden Shield absorbed the shock. However, he descended back down to the ground since he had to decelerate.
The martial artists of the Great Huangfu Family quickly surrounded him. Considering how swiftly and skilfully they responded to a single cry stating that the enemy had appeared, the Seven Great Families were certainly different.
Mu-Gun remained calm. He tossed the Flying Golden Shield, causing it to fly in a curve and strike the warriors of the Great Huangfu Family. Failing to expect that he would throw his shield, the fast-spinning projectile struck the chest and abdomen of the Great Huangfu Family’s martial artists, knocking them out.
“You fucker!”
The man that blocked Mu-Gun earlier rushed toward him again and threw two punches. A series of fist auras were launched toward Mu-Gun. In response, Mu-Gun retrieved the Flying Golden Shield after it had blasted away the Great Huangfu Family’s martial artists, then stopped the man’s fist auras.
The man’s fist auras struck the Flying Golden Shield consecutively, causing a loud roar to resonate. The shockwave pushed Mu-Gun back, but he still looked relaxed. The Flying Golden Shield dispersed the majority of the fist auras, preventing the aftershock from damaging him.
Huangfu Ming, the man who unleashed the fist auras, wriggled his thick eyebrows. As soon as his fist auras and the Flying Golden Shield collided, he felt the majority of their power dispersing and scattering. He knew then that the Flying Golden Shield was no ordinary item.
“You seem to trust that item, but I’ll make you regret it.”
Huangfu Ming took out the Black Iron Gauntlet, a black metal glove hung around his waist, and wore it on one of his hands. It was a secret divine weapon of the Great Huangfu Family that was made of black iron extracted from a meteorite. The black iron was pulled into a thin steel wire and knitted with a special method, then formed into a glove.
The Black Iron Gauntlet was so flexible that it made one wonder if it was actually made of metal, yet it possessed a firmness that couldn’t be cut by sword or saber qi. To top it all off, its unique trait amplified its user’s internal energy.
The Great Huangfu Family’s warriors used Black Iron Gauntlets to overcome the disadvantages of fighting barehandedly against armed opponents. Its excellent qi conductivity and unique qi amplification feature made it easier for its user to unleash fist qi and even made it possible to emit an amplified fist qi. In short, if one were to equip the Black Iron Gauntlet, they could exhibit a stronger martial prowess than their actual skills. However, black iron was rare. Currently, only around twenty Black Iron Gauntlets had been made.
The Great Huangfu Family only gave the Black Iron Gauntlet to their greatest experts. The fact that Huangfu Ming possessed one meant that he was one of their highest-regarded experts.
He wasn’t one of the Four Peerless Heavenly Kings, which only consisted of Absolute Realm masters, or one of the Ten Heavenly King Fists, which was made up of Lower Peak Realm masters. However, he was still considered one of the most powerful experts. Moreover, he was also the father of Huangfu Sheng, whose right arm Mu-Gun had broken.
Huangfu Ming volunteered and came all the way here to avenge his son. He equipped the Black Iron Gauntlet with the intention to confront Mu-Gun seriously. However, Mu-Gun didn’t intend to fight him. It wasn’t because Huangfu Ming was scary. Huangfu Ming had great capabilities, but Mu-Gun was confident that he could kill him if he wanted to. However, if Mu-Gun defeated him now, the Great Huangfu Family would send someone even stronger.
Bringing down Huangfu Ming now would basically be asking for trouble. From Mu-Gun and the Medicine King Family’s perspective, it would be more advantageous to let Huangfu Ming remain here. Therefore, it was crucial for Mu-Gun to avoid taking Huangfu Ming out.
Huangfu Ming rushed toward Mu-Gun quickly. The Black Iron Gauntlet equipped in his right hand released and fired an amplified fist qi toward Mu-Gun. Mu-Gun invoked the Thunder God's Aerial Steps and evaded to the right of Huangfu Ming as the latter charged at him.
The fist qi, which had missed Mu-Gun, struck the ground heavily and caused a loud explosion. Huangfu Ming immediately chased after Mu-Gun and threw punches again. However, this time too, Mu-Gun avoided Huangfu Ming’s attack by activating the Thunder God’s Aerial Steps.
“You fucker! Stop running away like a rat and fight like a man!”
Huangfu Ming burst into a rage.
“Why are you blaming me? Aren’t you the one lacking the skills to hit me?” Mu-Gun mocked.
“Ah, I will definitely kill you today!”
Mu-Gun’s provocation heated up Huangfu Ming. He charged toward Mu-Gun with movements he hadn’t used before, then threw more punches at Mu-Gun with the Black Iron Gauntlet.
The fist qi amplified by the Black Iron Gauntlet zipped toward Mu-Gun like a cannonball. Instead of avoiding it, Mu-Gun extended the Flying Golden Shield to the front and blocked Huangfu Ming’s fist qi.
A roar echoed the moment Huangfu Ming’s fist qi struck the Flying Golden Shield. Mu-Gun was pushed back. At first glance, it would seem as if the shockwave had blown Mu-Gun away. However, Huangfu Ming immediately knew that that wasn’t the case. Mu-Gun used Huangfu Ming’s fist qi to propel himself to the opposite side.
The place where Mu-Gun was blasted away to was the Thousand Pine Forest, a forest formed by a thousand pine trees. Mu-Gun used the Thunder God’s Aerial Steps to move toward the Thousand Pine Forest.
Realizing that Mu-Gun had deceived him a little too late, Huangfu Ming hastily chased after Mu-Gun. However, the distance between them had already widened to more than fifty feet.
Mu-Gun used Huangfu Ming’s fist qi as a pivot to jump back, then turned around and kicked the floor. He kicked the ground so hard he shot forth like a cannonball and quickly disappeared into the Thousand Pine Forest.
Huangfu Ming stopped by the Thousand Pine Forest’s entrance, unable to chase him any longer. He trembled, enraged by the fact that Mu-Gun had thoroughly toyed with him. He had never experienced such humiliation in his entire life.
“Uarghhh! You fucker! I swear on my name that I will definitely catch you and give you the most horrible death!” He uttered a cry of anger toward the Thousand Pine Forest, where Mu-Gun had disappeared into.
However, all that came back was the sound of branches and pine needles shaking in the wind. Huangfu Ming returned to the barracks after failing to catch Mu-Gun and confirmed the death of the family’s array masters. Without the array masters, it was impossible to break through the Thousand Pine Forest’s trap array.
‘Should I just burn everything up?’
Huangfu Ming thought about setting the Thousand Pine Forest ablaze for a moment. However, he didn’t know what was inside it. In addition, it would be a big problem if he set fire to the Thousand Pine Forest and something happened to Shangguan Bihe in the process. Shangguan Bihe was the key factor needed for the Great Huangfu Family to acquire the Shandong Merchant Association.
The problem was that the two people Mu-Gun killed were the only array masters of the Great Huangfu Family. Hence, they either had to somehow break through the trap array using normal means or look for an array master somewhere else.
Huangfu Ming immediately delivered a pigeon message to the Great Huangfu Family in Jinan to inform them of the situation and request a countermeasure. While waiting for the head family’s countermeasure, Huangfu Ming didn’t just stand idly by. He sent his subordinates in all directions and ordered them to search for a way to enter the Thousand Pine Valley without going through the Thousand Pine Forest.
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