Chapter 46 Zongnan Sect (2)

Chapter 46 Zongnan Sect (2)

Just as Gu Yangji’s footsteps threatened to invade the inner sanctum.

“Who goes there!”

He had chosen this time of night when few were about.

Yet, the sudden voice made Gu Yangji’s upper body jerk upright.

As expected, things wouldn’t go smoothly.

Especially since this was the Dongxue Cave, where Ye Dongbin, the founder of Taoism, had resided.

There was no way it would be left completely unguarded.

Gu Yangjie hid behind a tree, then cautiously peered out.

‘About twenty-two or twenty-three years old.’

His eyes briefly scanned the appearance and the state of the Taoist robe of the man who seemed to be a Zongnan Sect cultivator.

Small cuts on every knuckle and a filthy robe.

Judging by the unkempt, bushy beard, unless he had an unusual physique, he seemed to have trained here for quite some time.

Not good.

Gu Yangji knew that sort all too well.

‘A martial arts enthusiast.’

A Taoist robe is the history and pride of a sect, the very soul emphasized time and again by the ancestors.

To train until such a thing becomes soiled suggests many things.

Not changing into training clothes signifies deep pride in one’s sect.

Training alone here signifies an aspiration to reach the level of the Taoist founder, the Immortal Lü Dongbin.

Whether that was arrogance or talent backed by genuine ability, he couldn’t say.

Gu Yangjie sensed it intuitively.

“…Not bad.”

He knows a little about wielding a sword.

Swish.

Gu Yangjie deliberately widened his stride, then exhaled the breath he’d held coldly.

Gradually, he stopped cooling his body to hide his presence and instead pumped his heart with all his might, spreading hot blood throughout his entire body.

Sensing him, the Taoist looked this way with a subtle expression.

“You won’t be able to see my form, will you?”

Gu Yangji closed his eyes for a moment.

He was trying to recall the voice and footwork of the masked intruder who had infiltrated Huashan.

Then, concealing his true tone, he opened his mouth.

“No.”

Gu Yangjie’s hand rose to the top of his head, pressing down his headscarf.

Suddenly, he remembered telling the intruder who had infiltrated Huashan that he was unremarkable, and chuckled softly.

‘In a situation like this, even I can’t help it.’

The single stroke Gu Yangji swung down severed the pine tree blocking the space between the Taoist and himself.

Swoosh!

Clean. Neat.

Seeing that single stroke, which could only be described that way, the Taoist’s eyebrows twitched.

“What is your name?”

“Just someone.”

“No need to ask, then.”

With that, the Taoist swiftly scanned Gu Yangji with sharp eyes.

“You don’t draw your main sword?”

At those words, Gu Yangji’s eyes shifted to the sword tied at his left waist.

But he gave no reply.

Go ahead.

If you can make me.

That gaze pierced the Taoist.

Gulp-

Fury flared in the Taoist’s eyes for an instant.

Seeing this, Gu Yangji inwardly rejoiced.

Anyone would be angered when respect sent first was met with contempt. Just like that fellow now.

Kwoong!

The Taoist’s foot struck down with the weight of a thousand pounds. The stone floor before the blood pool erupted in a massive crater.

This place was not far from the Zhongnan Sect.

It would take some time, but it was a distance that could be covered quickly. The Taoist must have been counting on that.

‘I’ll just confuse him with something else.’

Gu Yangji’s lips parted wide.

Kwaaah!

The roar of a great tiger devouring a tiger’s gallbladder swept through the upper reaches of Zhongnan Mountain.

Even the Daoist, who had been prepared, frowned at that sound.

“The Lion’s Roar?”

“My internal energy overflows.”

When Gu Yangji retorted with a relaxed tone, the Daoist responded with a hollow laugh.

His gaze was fixed on the Black Dragon Shield tied at his waist.

“If I beg for my life, will you let me go?”

Gu Yangji answered coldly.

“No.”

“What about asking to be left alone, since I won’t interfere?”

“Cut the nonsense.”

Gu Yangji gripped his sword fiercely. Spider-like tendons bulged prominently across his knuckles.

“I have business to attend to here first. If possible, I’d prefer you wait for me in the afterlife.”

“……”

Seeing the cultivator’s eyes, resolved to fight to the death, Gu Yangjie too had to embrace a different resolve.

It was a goal etched anew as he reviewed his entire life.

‘The only things precious are Huashan and me.’

The luxury of respecting other sects? He discarded it.

That was why he had abandoned all the connections forged in his past life and never gave up on meeting the Ten Thousand Treasures Sect.

Moreover.

To think that the Zhongnan Sect would resolve to act based solely on traces of the Black Dragon Sect’s intrusion was nothing but romanticism.

‘I will defeat that hermit here.’

Without that level of damage, that level of motivation, settling a sect-to-sect conflict in the short term was nearly impossible.

Moreover, Gu Yangji was neither the sect leader nor an elder.

He was merely a proxy. To extract a definitive answer from him, not just traces but tangible damage was required.

A reason to get an answer on the spot and compel action.

Through this, the plan was to swiftly unite the Zhongnan Sect with the Huashan Sect and march to confront the sect.

Amidst this, mastering the Heavenly Dull Sword Technique was also indispensable.

‘Right then, what should I use to take him down?’

Gu Yangjie recalled the martial artist from the Golden Ring Society.

He’d heard later that he was called the Four-Sword Master, Zha Meng.

He was pitifully weak and needlessly obscure, making it hard to identify him by the wounds on his corpse.

Gu Yangjie resolved to mimic his sword style.

Gu Yangjie unfolded the Heavenly Sword Manual, his gaze indifferent as he watched the approaching Taoist.

“Hwaaaaah!”

The battle cry, meant to alert someone nearby, sounded pitiful.

But Gu Yangjie did not sneer at him.

That cry wasn’t to protect his own life.

He was likely doing it deliberately to alert others to the enemy infiltrating Dongxue at dawn.

To Gu Yangji, the Taoist appeared like a moth scattering dust.

Therefore, he harbored a shred of goodwill toward the Taoist.

“First strike.”

“……?!”

Countless sword energies descended upon the startled Taoist’s face.

A pinnacle unseen even for a hundred pieces of gold, the ultimate peak of martial prowess!

This was the favor Gu Yangji showed the Taoist.

“Let you glimpse the heights, if only briefly.”

Gu Yangji’s sword spun in a semicircle.

Its form was chaotic, like a child grasping a thin twig and swinging it wildly.

Yet within it lay a perfect center.

Strength.

The realm where accumulated energy within the body erupts outward, solidifying into pure, tangible form.

The Taoist watched the pure sword energy Gu Yangji forged and gasped in horror.

“My God, you are…!”

A fellow Taoist?

The Taoist could not bring himself to utter the words and collapsed.

The hollow sound of a human body tumbling rolled before the blood-soaked ground.

Blood spilled out, flowing chaotically over the stones.

Gu Yangji watched, lost in thought for a moment.

‘The vital point was struck correctly, but the wound is too clean.’

Crouching down, Gu Yangji drew his sword and defiled the cleanly severed wound.

Normally, he should have applied something repulsive to wild animals, like sap, to prevent further injury.

But he couldn’t do that.

The picture Gu Yangji desired was one where the Black Dragon Fang, devoid of even a speck of mercy, had killed the Taoist.

There was no way a heretic sect would perform funeral rites for a corpse they believed was dead.

‘My apologies.’

At least he had the decency to leave a single word of apology.

‘When you wake, you’ll only remember that a master of the Sword River attacked you.’

As Gu Yangji repeated this thought, his eyes fell upon a seal written in ink.

The Eternal Void.

A swordsman who later became famous for partially restoring the Heavenly Sword Technique.

Though now, he was merely a simple Taoist.

Gu Yangjie shrugged his shoulders and stepped into the blood cave.

The first thing he saw was, as expected, the phrase Yeo Dongbin had left behind in his final years.

One Slash Cuts Desire and Disturbance.

With one slash, he would sever greed and delusion.

Two Slashes Cut Evil and Malice.

The next he would cut down was solely wickedness and malice.

“The Taoist does not sell swords.”

The Taoist does not sell swords.

“I cannot protect anything, nor do I intend to.”

Gu Yangji drew his sword and aimed it at the stone statue of Huaryong Jinren standing at the center of the blood cave.

‘They say he was the immortal who bestowed the Divine Sword and the Heavenly Sword Technique upon Yeo Dongbin’s ancestor.’

Cut off greed and delusion.

Gu Yangji’s eyes suddenly twisted with fierce intensity.

The sword energy seized the evil qi coiled within the True Existence.

Swoosh!

With that single slash, Gu Yangji cleaved the statue in two. He surveyed the stone statues positioned throughout every corner of the cave.

The Evil Dragon, said to have been beheaded in his final years.

And the former master of the Old Demon Sect, the Divine Demon, who had once nearly conquered the Central Plains, was carved there.

All were creations made by Yeo Dong-bin himself.

As if Yeo Dong-bin’s words, “Do not damage them henceforth,” had been strictly observed, the carvings retained their pristine colors.

Yet, Gu Yang-jeok mercilessly destroyed what could be called the treasure of the Jongnam Sect…

Kagakang!

He sliced them off and stomped them into pulp with his feet.

The powdered remains of the Divine Demon and Evil Dragon were carried away by the wind, flying out beyond the Dongxue.

“A Taoist does not sell his sword.”

Gu Yangjie murmured the phrase once.

Then he wore a deep smile.

“Why would I sell it to those who don’t know its worth? It’s the blade that slew the evil dragon and divine horse—I must keep it.”

Gu Yangji’s feet seemed to dance lightly across the floor before he dashed toward the altar at the far end of the cave.

Immediately after.

Without hesitation, he thrust the sword into the center of the altar.

Sages do not sell swords. They merely preserve them for a greater purpose.

This must have been the true intent Yeo Dong-bin contemplated in his final years.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

At the sound echoing from somewhere, Gu Yang-jeok turned his head as if he had been waiting for it.

He planned to grab the scroll inscribed with the Heavenly Dull Sword Technique and flee before the sages swarmed in.

‘Of course, I must leave this behind.’

Thud.

The Black Dragon Shield fell from Gu Yangjie’s waist and rolled to the center of the bloodstained ground.

* * *

“…W-What on earth is this?!”

The late-arriving elder of the Zhongnan Sect, Shen Yuan Zhenren, stared at the corpse of Ling He with a look of utter disbelief.

It was a horrific sight.

But as a sect elder, he couldn’t simply turn away because it was horrific.

“Ugh!”

Hiding intense rage and sorrow within his wrinkles, Elder Sim Wonjin rummaged through Youngheoja’s corpse.

The severed stump was jagged and filthy.

The numerous wounds on the robe proved the killer’s sword was based on the Hwan style.

The skill level… was surprisingly rather low.

‘That’s why he barely managed to survive!’

Shim Wonjin hurriedly sealed the acupoints on Youngheoja to stop the bleeding.

For someone who had defeated Youngheoja, considered promising even among late-stage cultivators, his mastery of sword techniques seemed utterly inadequate.

‘But then, where in the martial world is victory ever decided solely by the level of martial arts skill?’

Shim Won-jin’s gaze shifted to Youngheoja’s eye area.

Whether it was a strike infused with some internal energy or not, grains of sand were embedded in his eye socket and skin.

Ah, Shim Won-jin let out a groan without realizing it.

“Youngheo, you stubborn fool!”

Why couldn’t you block such a dirty trick and ended up falling?

“Didn’t you think I was dead?”

Shim Won-jin gently removed each grain of sand embedded in his eye with sorrowful eyes.

‘He must live.’

Even as he spent time removing them, his vigilance never wavered.

Soon, reinforcements would arrive to handle the aftermath.

Above all, rooting out those who had touched the heart of the Zhongnan Sect was paramount.

Then, when Master Simwon’s eyes closed briefly and opened again.

Instead of tears, sharpness was etched there.

“Black Dragon Sect… You worthless scum!”

At the end of his gaze, far away, the Black Dragon Sect’s shield was formed.

* * *

Thump, thump.

Gu Yangjie, clad in a robe embroidered with plum blossoms, ascended the stairs with a composed expression.

Not a trace of apprehension was visible on his face.

‘I am an outsider.’

An outsider who knew nothing of yesterday’s events.

A fellow cultivator who had come to pay respects to the disciple slain by the Shaanxi Three Evils.

Reaffirming his position, Gu Yangjie silently recited the Taoist scriptures, sword manuals, and the Empty Mind technique of the Heavenly Dull Sword Method he had memorized overnight.

Though there was a slight stumble here and there, he had memorized it perfectly enough.

In his previous life, he had known this but lacked the time to master it properly.

But this time, he possessed the Vajra Fist Armor imbued with the energy of the Dharma.

With that, the energy of the True Existence, and the unique Demon-Subduing Sword Technique of the Heavenly Dune Sword Method, he needn’t fear any demonic cultivator.

Perhaps he could even repel even the most insidious energy-infused sorcery.

Suddenly, Gu Yangji’s head lifted upward.

“What of the Honorable Master? The Daoist from Huashan.”

“……”

Only now could Gu Yangjie answer the question he hadn’t been able to address to the Eternal Void yesterday.

“Outside, I am known as Gu Yangjie, the Plum Blossom Sword Hero.”

As if it were nothing.

Calmly.