Chapter 46
The three Absolute Realm masters didn’t even have to step in. The Great Huangfu Family and Great Namgung Family’s martial artists overpowered the Great Sima Family’s martial artists. Baek Mu-Gun also only watched the situation unfold.
However, the Great Sima Family’s upper brasses never showed themselves. There was a high possibility that the Asura Cult’s demonic cultivators had disguised themselves as the Great Sima Family’s upper brasses and patriarch, and this battle would be meaningless if they weren’t caught.
“I think I should go to the patriarch hall. To reveal their true identity, we have to catch those disguised as the Great Sima Family’s upper brasses.”
“Let’s go together. Just in case, the two of you should stay here.”
Huangfu Gang volunteered to go with Mu-Gun, thinking it would be difficult for him to handle the Asura Blood Monarch alone. Huangfu Jian and Namgung Ho also thought that it would be better for Huangfu Gang to accompany Mu-Gun rather than let Mu-Gun go alone.
“We’ll be right back.”
“Let’s go.”
Mu-Gun headed to the Great Sima Family’s patriarch hall along with Huangfu Gang. As soon as they entered the patriarch hall, twenty of the Asura Cult’s elite demonic practitioners appeared and surrounded the two. They planned to drag the time out while Wee Jong-Ak and two of the Asura's Twenty-Four Demonic Generals escaped through the secret passage. Mu-Gun quickly examined the patriarch hall’s interior and realized that the upper brasses had already escaped.
“Where did the Asura Blood Monarch go?”
“We will tell you when you go to the underworld. Kill them both!”
The Asura Cult’s demonic practitioners attacked Mu-Gun and Huangfu Gang.
“I’ll handle the ones on the right.”
Huangfu Gang extended his fist toward those who were rushing in from the right, unleashing and filling the space in front of him with a myriad of fist qi. Its shockwave mercilessly blasted away the demonic practitioners, crushing and creating dents all over their bodies that prevented them from getting back up.
Mu-Gun also threw the Flying Golden Shield toward the demonic practitioners storming in from the left. Laced with a golden aura, it flew in an arc, leaving ten severed heads in its trail.
Huangfu Gang looked at Mu-Gun in admiration upon witnessing him defeating the Asura Cult’s demonic practitioners in a single strike.
“I think they escaped through a secret passage.”
“We’ll have to find where that is.”
Mu-Gun invoked the Thunder God's Heavenly Eyes and looked for the entrance of the secret passage. However, it had been closed from the inside. It seemed like secret traps were installed inside to prevent anyone from giving chase.
“We definitely can’t let them slip away,” Huangfu Gang said with urgency in his voice.
“I’m sure they’ll try to escape using Yangzhou’s waterway channel.”
“We should go to where the waterway leads, then.”
“We’ll have to hurry.”
“Let’s go.”
Mu-Gun and Huangfu Gang immediately left the Great Sima Family and dashed to the nearest waterway. Mu-Gun then activated the Thunder God's Shadow and flew through the night sky so fast that Huangfu Gang couldn’t keep up.
Due to the urgent situation, Mu-Gun didn’t pay any heed to Huangfu Gang and went as fast as he could. After a little less than fifteen minutes, Mu-Gun arrived at the waterway and found a ship that was just about to leave. He immediately tossed the Flying Golden Shield he was carrying on his back.
The Flying Golden Shield, which was enveloped in golden vajra qi, flew like an arrow and struck the ship’s waist[1].
Destroyed in half, the ship submerged into the water. The people on board hurriedly dove into the water to get out of the waterway. Mu-Gun caught the Flying Golden Shield when it returned after cutting the ship in half. He then proceeded to check every single person who got out of the water.
There were three people in total, one of which looked to be an Absolute Realm master in his fifties. The other two appeared to be in their forties and seemed to be in the early Peak Realm. Mu-Gun realized that the man in his fifties was the Asura Blood Monarch.
“It’s you, isn’t it?”
The moment he saw Mu-Gun, the Asura Blood Monarch, Wee Jong-Ak, immediately realized that he was the instigator of this incident.
“And you’re the Asura Blood Monarch fucker, aren’t you?”
“Did you just call me a fucker?”
“Did you expect me to use honorifics to address the likes of the Asura Cult’s demonic practitioners?”
“Keke, you bastard. You’re basically asking to be killed, aren’t you?”
“Do you think you’re capable enough to do that?”
Jong-Ak’s expression viciously distorted at Mu-Gun’s ridicule. This was the first time in his life that he had been subjected to such insults.
“Make that bastard kneel before me right this instant!” Jong-Ak shouted at the two men standing beside him.
The moment he gave an order, his subordinates charged at Mu-Gun and unleashed the Asura Hellfire Palm Strike, launching a red palm force imbued with hellfire aura toward Mu-Gun from both sides. Reminiscent of hell’s inferno, it was one of the ultimate techniques that represented the Asura Cult.
Mu-Gun stepped back, allowing their Asura Hellfire Palm Strike to concentrate in one place. He then positioned the Flying Golden Shield in front of his chest and rotated it at high speed, encircling himself with a huge golden energy barrier large enough to completely cover him.
The golden energy barrier blocked the incoming Asura Hellfire Palm Strikes, scattering them in all directions. At the same time, Mu-Gun had soared into the sky and poured down countless rays of moonlight from mid-air toward the two men.
Unable to grasp Mu-Gun’s movements since he was covered by the Flying Golden Shield’s energy barrier, the two men appeared to be flustered as they hurriedly defended themselves. The moonlight Mu-Gun had projected landed on them, and a series of explosions broke out.
“Keukk.”
Their pained groans could be heard amidst the explosions. They dropped to their knees as the moonlight-like sword qi shredded them, blood dripping down from all over their bodies.
As Mu-Gun was trying to land the finishing blow, he hurriedly swung his sword at the red orb that was flying toward him. The two men’s critical situation had forced the Asura Blood Monarch to step in.
When Mu-Gun’s sword and the red orb clashed, Mu-Gun was pushed back greatly as a deafening roar resonated. Jong-Ak followed right behind him and fired several red orbs again. These red orbs were Asura Blood Jade Stars, each of which possessed extreme power.
Mu-Gun went face-to-face with the Asura Blood Jade Star, imbued his sword with vajra qi, and blocked them. Unable to withstand the impact, Mu-Gun was blasted back whenever he deflected them. The Asura Blood Jade Star was indeed really powerful, but the reason he was pushed back was the disadvantage that came with defending.
Although the Iron Blood Vajra Body Cultivation Technique’s effect greatly reduced the impact, big trouble came in small packages. At this rate, Jong-Ak would take the lead in the offensive, and, if the impact accumulated, he could suffer internal injuries.
Mu-Gun needed an opportunity to change the tide of the battle. Using the Heavenly Descent Thunder God Sect’s martial arts would create one. However, Mu-Gun refrained from using it since Huangfu Gang, an Absolute Realm master capable of changing the current situation, was approaching.
Huangfu Gang arrived at the waterway channel later than Mu-Gun, but the moment he saw Jong-Ak driving Mu-Gun to a corner, he immediately charged toward Jong-Ak and launched vajra qi amplified through the Black Iron Gauntlet toward Jong-Ak’s flank while the Jong-Ak was trying to fire the Asura Blood Jade Star toward Mu-Gun. With the appearance of an unwelcome guest, Jong-Ak’s expression distorted and redirected the Asura Blood Jade Star to the left.
With a deafening roar, the resulting shockwave swooped over and pushed Huangfu Gang and Jong-Ak back at the same time.
Finally able to stop being on the defensive thanks to Huangfu Gang’s support, Mu-Gun rushed toward Jong-Ak. He then unleashed vajra qi in the form of moonlight through his sword and indiscreetly poured it down on Jong-Ak.
Pushed back, Jong-Ak hurriedly activated the Asura Blood Fog Field. A red mist-like vajra qi rose and wrapped around him.
The moonlight-shaped vajra qi stabbed and clashed with the Asura Blood Fog Field until it exploded and dispersed. The Asura Blood Fog Field was a kind of protective vajra qi. Although it had a severe internal energy consumption rate, its defensive power was extremely strong, to say the least.
“Let’s see you try blocking this too!”
Upon witnessing the Asura Blood Fog Field blocking Mu-Gun’s attack, Huangfu Gang gallantly extended his fist. Amplified by the Black Iron Gauntlet, his vajra qi struck the Asura Blood Fog Field’s central area, causing a shockwave strong enough to shake the ground. However, it couldn’t break the Asura Blood Fog Field either.
Jong-Ak tried to counterattack, but there wasn’t any gap for him to do so. As soon as Huangfu Gang’s offensive was blocked, Mu-Gun immediately followed through with another attack.
The Asura Blood Fog Field stopped Mu-Gun’s attack as well, but the situation didn’t become better at all for Jong-Ak. With Mu-Gun and Huangfu Gang taking turns in attacking, Jong-Ak became too occupied with blocking their attacks. Not only did they not allow Jong-Ak to counterattack, but they also didn’t give him any space to escape from their barrages. As the battle prolonged, Jong-Ak gradually became exhausted. He wasn’t strong enough to overpower the joint assault of two masters in the same realm as him. If this continued, there was a high possibility that Jong-Ak would eventually collapse from exhaustion.
Nevertheless, there was something he could rely on—the two men whom Mu-Gun had beaten earlier. While Jong-Ak was struggling with Mu-Gun and Huangfu Gang’s joint assault, the two men were quickly recovering using the Asura Demonic Soul Art.
The Asura Demonic Soul Art was one of the Asura Cult’s secret techniques. It maximized one’s regenerative capabilities. After they finished regenerating, they stood up and immediately rushed toward Mu-Gun, forcing him to stop attacking Jong-Ak and defend against their offensive.
At that moment, Jong-Ak immediately stopped using the Asura Blood Fog Field and invoked the Asura Blood Jade Star to attack Huangfu Gang. While the two demonic generals were keeping Mu-Gun busy, Jong-Ak planned to defeat Huangfu Gang, then finish Mu-Gun off afterward. He was confident he could win in a one-on-one battle, regardless of whether his opponent was Huangfu Gang or Mu-Gun.
His confidence wasn’t baseless. As soon as Huangfu Gang was left alone to deal with Jong-Ak, the former was quickly forced to go on the defensive. If Jong-Ak defeated Huangfu Gang here, the situation would unfold as he had planned. However, Mu-Gun’s skills were much better than he had expected. Jong-Ak believed that the two demonic generals would be able to keep Mu-Gun at bay while he was fighting Huangfu Gang, but the two demonic generals weren’t capable of that.
Mu-Gun activated the Thunder God's Shadow and stabbed one of the demonic generals in the chest with his sword, then used the Vajra Exorcism Finger to pierce through the middle of the forehead of the remaining demonic general. Having attacked them with all that he had, his opponents were killed without being able to hold out for even two seconds. They didn’t even get the chance to activate the Asura Demonic Soul Art again.
After defeating the two demonic generals, Mu-Gun immediately activated the Dark Specter Stealth Art to approach Jong-Ak from behind while he was driving Huangfu Gang to a corner.
Jong-Ak didn’t notice Mu-Gun at all. Not only did Mu-Gun execute excellent stealthy movements, but Jong-Ak also didn’t expect him to take down the two demonic generals so quickly. Hence, he focused on defeating Huangfu Gang, which proved to be a fatal mistake.
Having approached Jong-Ak from behind, Mu-Gun tried to sever Jong-Ak’s leg with the Moonlight Sky Splitter, the fastest technique among the Celestial Moonlight Sword Art. Although Jong-Ak didn’t notice any signs of the Dark Specter Stealth Art, he did sense Mu-Gun’s presence as soon as Mu-Gun tried to use the Moonlight Sky Splitter. He immediately invoked the Asura Blood Fog Field, but Mu-Gun was already too close.
By the time the red fog rose, the sword qi from Mu-Gun’s sword had already cut the back of Jong-Ak’s knees and his ankle. With his posterior cruciate ligament[2] and Achilles tendon cut, Jong-Ak fell forward. He had lost strength in his legs. Mu-Gun wasn’t done just yet. He swung his sword at Jong-Ak’s arm when he fell down, cutting his shoulder and elbow. Blood splattered.
With the ligaments and tendons in his limbs severed, Jong-Ak could no longer retaliate. If he had time, he could heal his cut ligaments and tendons with the Asura Demonic Soul Art. Unfortunately, Mu-Gun and Huangfu Gang wouldn’t just stand still and watch that happen.
If he were captured alive now, Jong-Ak would face all kinds of hardships and insults. He’d much rather die a clean death to protect his honor. Hence, Jong-Ak tried to kill himself by cutting off his own cardiac vein.
However, Mu-Gun had seen right through him. Before he could cut his cardiac vein, Mu-Gun struck the back of his neck and made him faint.
After confirming that Jong-Ak was unconscious, Huangfu Gang approached Mu-Gun. “It would have been dangerous if you weren’t here.”
“It would have been dangerous for me if Sir Huangfu didn’t arrive on time.”
“If I had arrived with you, we wouldn’t have fallen into such danger in the first place.”
“Well, I'm just glad we managed to capture this guy.”
“You’re the one that did all the work. Everything worked out because you arrived on time. Otherwise, they would have slipped right through our fingers.”
“No, we did everything together. Let’s head back for now.”
Mu-Gun and Huangfu Gang brought Jong-Ak back to the Great Sima Family with them.
1. The ship’s waist refers to the part of the upper deck of a vessel between the fore and main masts. ?
2. A ligament in the back of the knee. ?
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