Chapter 50: White Ghost 2

As Baek Moo-jin calmly surveyed those surrounding him, someone behind him glared at Baek Moo-jin and warned his subordinates.

“He’s strong. Be careful.”

At those words, those at the very front halted, tension etched on their faces. Then, with a deep, resonant voice, someone pushed others aside and stepped forward.

“Move aside.”

Three squad leaders stepped forward.

A giant, a head taller than the others, held a bizarre weapon that looked like it had been torn from a pillar. Besides the giant, a gaunt man gripping twin swords and another figure covered head to toe in strangely shaped armor stared at Baek Moo-jin.

The burly man and the gaunt man smiled the moment they saw Baek Moo-jin.

The giant spoke.

“What’s the master worried about? He’s just a kid…”

The man beside him, his mouth hidden by the collar of his robe, spoke in a chilling voice.

“Zhongshan, it’s best to heed the master’s warning.”

“Heh heh.”

At that moment, Baek Moo-jin strapped his sword to his waist and extended his left hand, summoning the White Flower Formation. People stared at Baek Moo-jin’s hand as if witnessing something wondrous. Then, from behind Baek Moo-jin, one of the leaders of the Nine Heavenly Clans, gripping a bizarre hook-like weapon, spoke softly.

“It’s Ice Magic. Be careful.”

“Just kill him!”

As the tendons bulged on the right arm of the burly squad leader, trained in external martial arts, Baek Moo-jin flicked the white flower he had created from his palm into the air.

In the midst of this chaos, Baek Moo-jin had essentially created a single flower and hurled it at his enemies.

Unaware of what the flying white flower was, someone from the rear of the formation let out a sharp cry, “Sssshhh!” and unleashed a sword energy that shattered the white flower suspended in the air.

With a loud crack, the white flower shattered, and a chilling snowstorm swirled over the heads of those surrounding Baek Moo-jin.

“Huh? What is this?”

It was truly as cold as snow.

As everyone’s gaze was irresistibly drawn skyward…

Baek Moo-jin spat out a straight sword energy and soared into the air.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Pah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bah

Amidst the deafening clamor, the bodies of the low-ranking warriors, unable to block the sword energy, were sliced apart in all directions. Simultaneously, the screams of multiple victims formed a chorus.

Landing amidst the densely packed enemy ranks, Baek Moo-jin slid across the ground as if his feet were glued to it, weaving through the enemy lines.

Wherever Baek Moo-jin passed, blood spurted and screams followed.

In an instant, a torrent of blood splashed onto Baek Moo-jin’s face. Yet, he swiftly transformed into a cold-enveloped left-hand commander, displaying the composure to freeze the blood before swinging his sword.

At that moment, a giant flew toward Baek Moo-jin’s former position, swinging a pillar gripped in both hands like an axe.

CRASH!

When the dust settled, Baek Moo-jin had already leapt into the air, using the Cold Moon Technique to flick the giant’s brow before soaring upward.

Clang!

Someone shouted the giant’s name.

“Zhongshan!”

The cold energy spreading from the giant’s brow made a loud, crackling sound as it began to consume his body. Immediately, cries of battle and a barrage of weapons rained down from all sides onto Baek Moo-jin, who was standing on the giant.

Baek Moo-jin, who had swiftly dodged behind the giant, grabbed the back of his frozen neck and hurled him away with force. As if struck by a massive boulder, over a dozen men sprawled out with a clatter.

The giant’s body was already frozen solid, indistinguishable from a rock.

After that, two straight swords carrying a rather chilling aura flew toward Baek Moo-jin’s back. Baek Moo-jin thrust off the ground, spinning his body while lying diagonally, and deflected the two straight swords in a sweeping motion.

Clang!

Thinking it was a decisive strike, the squad leader thrust his dagger forward only to be deflected by Baek Moo-jin’s sword. He stopped unconsciously, staring down at his dagger. A pure white chill clung to the two crossed daggers. As the squad leader exerted force, the daggers fell again with a sharp snap.

“Ice… Ice…”

Baek Moo-jin, who had returned after slashing through three or four Gucheon Myeongwon, struck the squad leader’s throat as he shouted a warning, then leapt to the opposite side.

Then, one of the sect leaders at the rear, who had sensed Baek Moo-jin’s unusual martial prowess, let out a low groan and said.

“I warned you to be careful… It seems the Grand Master must come after all.”

The sect leader tapped a dazed subordinate standing beside him and ordered.

“You, get out of here fast and fetch the Sect Leader. If this keeps up… No. Just go.”

“Understood.”

When Baek Moo-jin’s gaze suddenly fell upon him, the sect leader hurriedly slipped between his subordinates, beginning to look for an opening. A chill ran down his spine as he sensed this was not the full extent of the opponent’s abilities.

2.

Baek Moo-jin silently cut through the Nine Heavens Alliance members without uttering a word. Yet, he was holding back his full strength. Moving lightly on his feet, conserving his energy, he only inflicted superficial wounds with his sword as he circled around. His plan was to kill the squad leaders who stood out first.

With every two or three swings, three or four fell. The fifty or so men who had initially surrounded Baek Moo-jin were quickly being slaughtered. Yet, drawn by the sounds of battle, reinforcements were arriving, steadily swelling the ranks fighting Baek Moo-jin.

The Gu Tianmeng formation was now completely shattered.

Baek Moo-jin deliberately took long, sweeping movements.

Weaving through the gaps between the Nine Heavens Alliance members, he occasionally lashed out with his sword, scattering white sword light. He would leap high, trampling people in succession as he passed over them, then descend, scattering white sword light.

As he did this, the white light and bright red blood crossed paths in the air, creating a strange contrast.

Whoosh!

At the sound of someone’s whistle, those who had been literally slaughtered by Baek Moo-jin stamped their feet and retreated en masse. But retreating wasn’t without casualties. As he unleashed sword energy toward the group of over ten, those whose legs were severed as they stumbled backward began rolling on the ground.

Whoosh!

At that moment, a net with blades attached flew in from the sky above Baek Moo-jin’s left.

But after that first net shot soared through the air, dozens more followed in rapid succession, all aimed at Baek Moo-jin.

Simultaneously, the retreating Nine Heavens Alliance members drew various hidden weapons and began hurling them at Baek Moo-jin.

Swish!

Shushushushush!

They were clearly weaker than Baek Moo-jin, yet true to their reputation as a major power dominating the region, their counterattack following the retreat flowed as naturally as water.

Baek Moo-jin didn’t know these men were from the Waterway Clan.

They were now surrounding a single ship and launching a coordinated attack.

At that moment, Baek Moo-jin found himself thinking of Ju Ja-woon for some reason. He felt inexplicably sorry.

Yet, completely independent of his thoughts, the sword Baek Moo-jin raised now radiated a hundred-fold light, imbued with just the right amount of martial energy.

Whoooooosh!

The flying grappling hooks, along with all manner of projectiles, were struck by the white-colored cold energy, losing their direction and falling.

Thud! Thud!

A moment of silence fell as an unbelievable sight unfolded before their eyes.

Then, from the sword Baek Moo-jin swung downward to the lower right, a white, icy coldness began to swirl.

Finally, one of the Heavenly Dragon Sect’s leaders stepped forward.

“Step aside.”

“Chief Gwak, we must fight together. We are severely outnumbered…”

“Enough noise. Do you intend to step forward only after we’re all dead?”

As people parted to the sides, a dark-skinned man wielding hook-bladed weapons in both hands charged at Baek Moo-jin.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

In an instant, exchanging three or four moves, the clan leader and Baek Moo-jin made sparks fly from their respective weapons. But when Baek Moo-jin thrust his heavy sword forward with a simple strike, the two hooks clung to it with a strange sound.

‘······!’

The moment the sect leader looked at Baek Moo-jin, a white beam of light shot out from Baek Moo-jin’s left arm, which was extremely close.

Thud!

The moment Dangju’s neck snapped, Baek Moo-jin surged forward again, charging into the ranks of the Nine Heavens Alliance members maintaining their formation. But this time, the enemy’s morale was undeniably shattered.

Despite still being quite numerous, dozens of Guqianmeng members simultaneously began retreating.

Those pursued by Baek Moo-jin retreated, while the remaining forces cautiously followed his trail. When no one else stepped forward, Baek Moo-jin ignited the white flame he had realized in the Hong Rakjang, unleashing it at the left flank.

What kind of flame could possibly burn white?

Knowing the white flame’s flight speed was slow, Baek Moo-jin launched it into the air and immediately carried it on the sword wind generated by the White Lotus Sword, sending the white flame flying backward.

Whoosh!

The trouble began when someone threw something, intending to strike the flame away. With a thud, the white flame met the external impact. A strange sound followed as it engulfed dozens of members of the Nine Heavens Alliance. The scene that unfolded next was a brutal spectacle even Baek Moo-jin could scarcely have anticipated.

Dozens began writhing on the ground, literally melting away as if consumed by the white flames.

Baek Moo-jin stared blankly at the surviving members of the Nine Heavens Sect, who had momentarily lost their will to fight. His clothes remained clean, stained only with Ju Ja-woon’s blood. Yet, the utter lack of emotion on Baek Moo-jin’s face only terrified the Nine Heavens Sect members more.

The moment Baek Moo-jin took a step, the survivors surrounding him, disregarding their once-feared discipline, began scattering in all directions. Fear, it seemed, acted like a contagious disease.