Clang!
The sound of iron clashing echoes in all directions.
Grrrrr-! Clang!
Every time the swords collided, sparks flew.
The sword containing internal energy traced lines across the air.
The light drawn along the sword paths resembled streams of water.
Also, the footwork was fast and diverse.
The Namgung clan's Changryongbo (Azure Dragon Steps), trained to contain the essence of the fast sword and speed sword, added power to the techniques.
It was a footwork resembling the flexible body of a dragon.
Namgung Bi-ah maintained the framework of the Jegwanggeomhyeong (Emperor Sword Form), the ultimate technique of the three families, and continued to swing her sword.
The internal energy in her dantian was gradually hitting bottom, but there was no other way.
How long had she been swinging her sword?
At most, only a few minutes must have passed.
Even so, Namgung Bi-ah felt that her body had already reached its limit.
Subjectively, it felt as if she had been swinging her sword all day long.
Her arm, broken from the shock just before, was complaining of severe pain every time she moved it.
Her body, tense from the sudden real combat experience, wouldn't move as swiftly as the wind.
'I can't... reach him...!'
Just how big was the gap between her and her opponent?
Ya Hyeol-jeok wasn't even using his weapon, merely dodging.
She bit her lip to regain her senses.
She bit so hard that blood trickled down.
The internal energy in the unfolding footwork gradually thinned out, and the sword containing the ultimate technique lost its strength.
The light slowly disappeared from the sword paths that once gleamed brightly.
As if reacting to her exhausted body, the sword slowed down.
Seeing that, Ya Hyeol-jeok swung his arm and pushed Namgung Bi-ah away.
"Ugh!"
With a light palm strike, Namgung Bi-ah was sent tumbling across the ground!
"It seems our little beauty hasn't killed anyone yet?"
At Ya Hyeol-jeok's words, Namgung Bi-ah barely exhaled.
Looking at such Namgung Bi-ah, Ya Hyeol-jeok thought.
Had she passed adulthood? Seeing her smooth skin, she might have, or might not have.
It didn't really matter.
Whatever the case, with that appearance and that level of skill, not only her face but her body would be firm and elastic.
It was just a bit fascinating.
Was it Thunder Dragon? The guy who was certain to be the young lord of the Namgung clan.
To have the Namgung surname and be called Thunder Dragon instead of Sword Dragon, how much did he laugh when he heard that.
That old man called Cheonjon was like that, and so was the current lord.
In this current era, the Namgung clan was unable to flex their power, but seeing this girl, his thoughts changed a little.
Was it called Emperor Sword Form?
The Namgung clan's ultimate technique that exudes a sense of presence with form and suppresses the surroundings.
It must be draining internal energy rapidly as if a dam had burst.
Even maintaining it itself must be a difficult task.
That girl was maintaining the form while taking such flexible movements.
'Is the level of the late-stage masters these days all like this?'
He thought they were just kids with overinflated reputations, whether Sword Phoenix or Sword Dragon, but seeing that, he had no choice but to think differently.
If time passed like this, the Central Plains would definitely be crawling with monsters.
'That aside.'
Ya Hyeol-jeok approached Namgung Bi-ah.
'I wasted time uselessly.'
He wasted too much time trying not to hurt her face or upper body.
Honestly, it would have been easier to just slice her down, but it was an appearance too precious to just kill.
With that level of martial arts, she wouldn't age easily, so it was an appearance he wanted to keep by his side and look at consistently for at least a few decades.
"That's why I must treat her preciously."
If push came to shove, he wanted to enjoy it a bit, but the girl who escaped earlier bothered him.
How much longer would it take for this news to reach Huashan?
If he thought it would take about an hour for the news to reach and for them to arrive here...
"Hmm, if I consider erasing the traces, it'll be slightly annoying."
Saying so, Ya Hyeol-jeok felt around Namgung Bi-ah's neck and hit her acupoint.
". . .!"
"Stay still for a moment, your big brother has work to do."
She probably didn't have the strength to run away left, but just in case, he prevented it in advance.
Ya Hyeol-jeok approached where the qi barrier was said to be.
As he approached beyond a certain distance, a transparent membrane blocked Ya Hyeol-jeok's body from entering any further.
Seeing that, the corners of Ya Hyeol-jeok's mouth went up.
From the membrane, he could clearly feel blade qi.
Seeing it in person made him feel it more certainly.
This was set up by Maehwaseon.
Just as Bae Chong said, the only one in Shaanxi who could deploy a qi barrier of this level would be Maehwaseon.
"To go this far and yet not leave a single guard... What is their scheme?"
Just in case, he used his internal energy to check the surroundings, but no one was caught by Ya Hyeol-jeok's qi sense.
If they were at a level where they wouldn't be caught by his qi sense, it was safe to assume there was no one.
He couldn't understand why the Huashan Sect was taking such a defenseless posture, but it was a good thing for him.
If there was a Divine Physician inside, that is.
"First, if I break it, I'll know."
Whether there was a Divine Physician inside or not was something he could find out by looking inside.
He gradually poured internal energy into the great saber he held tightly.
The surrounding air could be seen deteriorating from the gradually accumulating blade qi.
Namgung Bi-ah watched that and unknowingly swallowed a gasp.
It was an absurd amount of internal energy.
To think he could compress that level of power to a single point.
Because her acupoint was sealed, no voice came out.
If she had any internal energy left, she would have at least tried to release it, but it was impossible for the current Namgung Bi-ah.
She had luckily succeeded in sending Gu Ryeong-hwa away, but she didn't know when reinforcements would arrive.
If this continued, it was the end.
That man wanted her.
Even if Namgung Bi-ah lacked proper knowledge, she could predict that being captured would definitely lead to something bad.
'What on earth should I do...'
She didn't want to be dragged away.
Namgung Bi-ah remembered the touch of Ya Hyeol-jeok stroking her cheek earlier when she was tired.
It was nauseating and dirty.
So much so that just imagining it made it hard to find a part of her body without goosebumps.
That man's touch meant that much to her.
Unlike that person.
Namgung Bi-ah lamented herself at the sudden thought that crossed her mind.
'...Even now...'
To face such a situation and the only thought that comes to mind is this.
She didn't know what would happen to her right now, yet the fleeting thought was someone's face.
'Please...'
Namgung Bi-ah struggled to somehow release it, but with her internal energy depleted, there was no way it would be released.
Even so, Namgung Bi-ah tried tenaciously.
If she made a mistake, her meridians might be damaged, but there was something more important than that.
Perhaps because of the thought that she would never be able to meet that person again if this continued, Namgung Bi-ah couldn't stop.
As she endured the welling-up pain and tried to apply more force.
"...Don't try to force it open."
At the voice piercing her ears, Namgung Bi-ah stopped the force she was applying.
At the touch grazing the back of her neck, Namgung Bi-ah's stiff body relaxed in an instant.
"Ah...!"
Was the acupoint not fully released? Namgung Bi-ah realized her voice wasn't coming out properly.
Because of that, she couldn't utter a single word she wanted to say.
The boy looked at Namgung Bi-ah and spoke.
"Don't make a sound. It's not like you'll listen if I tell you to run away, so just stay quietly hidden."
Saying that, he stroked Namgung Bi-ah's head.
Gently, careful not to ruin it in the slightest.
"...Thank goodness."
As if spitting out the words she had been holding back, she let out a small, breath-filled word, and then.
The boy immediately approached Ya Hyeol-jeok.
Namgung Bi-ah was startled and tried to grab him, but the boy had already burst out like a flame.
At the cold warning running up his spine, Ya Hyeol-jeok released his internal energy and immediately twisted his upper body.
Kuuuk-!
He succeeded in dodging instinctively, but perhaps because he couldn't evade completely, he felt a severe pain piercing his abdomen.
He belatedly tried to wrap his abdomen with internal energy, but as the attack kept pushing in, he eventually felt a crisis and retreated backward.
With the shock pushing against his abdomen, Ya Hyeol-jeok was pushed back.
Kwadeudeuk.
The soles of his feet trying to support themselves on the grassy ground scraped, making a rough sound.
"Ptoo...!"
Ya Hyeol-jeok, who barely stopped, spat a bit of blood on the ground.
Even though he belatedly wrapped it in internal energy, the attacked side of his abdomen was trembling.
It smelled like burning.
From his own belly, that is.
Ya Hyeol-jeok glared with burning eyes at the opponent who had launched the surprise attack.
Just like his abdomen, his trembling lips gradually curled upward.
.
.
.
.......
"Look at this bastard...?"
Hwarreureuk-!
The heat and fiery breath engulfing the surroundings.
Ya Hyeol-jeok could immediately grasp the opponent's identity.
"...Our young master was wondering when he would visit, but he came in person?"
He had released his subordinates to at least figure out their location, but
the person himself had appeared in front of Ya Hyeol-jeok.
Draped in blazing flames all over his body.
"Is that an introduction?"
Was it like advertising that he was the bloodline of the Gu family?
Dammit, he was the spitting image of the Flame Demon who had swept across the battlefields in the distant past.
'So bloodlines are bloodlines, huh.'
Ya Hyeol-jeok thought so and heightened his tension.
On the outside, he looked younger than expected.
It was the appearance of a boy who seemed to have just taken his first steps as a martial artist.
But the attack just now was real.
Even though Ya Hyeol-jeok was focusing on gathering his internal energy, he hadn't been able to sense his presence.
It meant he had approached with the intention of killing his presence from the start.
At a level where he couldn't notice it momentarily.
'There are more monster bastards than I thought?'
The beauty he had laid on the ground was like that too, but the bastard in front of him had already surpassed that level.
It didn't seem like he had passed the Absolute realm, but it probably wouldn't take long.
Ya Hyeol-jeok himself had reached this level and been stuck in a standstill for over ten years.
"...I don't like this."
These sprouts that shine from a young age are bound to grow even bigger someday.
And if given time, they would easily surpass someone like him.
That was why Ya Hyeol-jeok liked trampling on sprouts.
He would trample them firmly from the start so they couldn't grow.
Especially the ones that shone like that, he had to trample them even more.
The problem was that the timing right now wasn't very good.
'I was trying to finish it quickly, but...'
Tsk.
He was planning to capture the Gu family bastard and torture him in various ways, but like this, he would have to kill him too easily.
It was disappointing, but it couldn't be helped.
Ya Hyeol-jeok gripped his great saber and took his stance.
He was hit because he let his guard down, but the opponent was at best a late-stage master.
If he just didn't let his guard down, there was no way he would be defeated...
'...What? Where did he go...'
The fireball flickering before his eyes instantly disappeared from his sight.
There was no way such a burning presence could disappear in an instant.
Ya Hyeol-jeok immediately spread his qi sense to grasp his location.
The moment he felt the bastard's location within the qi sense spread in all directions, Ya Hyeol-jeok swung his great saber.
Because the location was right behind his back.
Kwaang!
There was no sensation whatsoever in the empty space where the great saber passed.
Instead, with a massive impact to his side, Ya Hyeol-jeok was sent flying once again.
As his heavy body rolled on the dirt ground, thick dust along with heat blocked the surrounding view.
"You little bastard...!"
Infuriated at the thought of being hit, Ya Hyeol-jeok swung his great saber to blow away the surrounding dust with wind pressure.
Huuuk!
In the instantly cleaned area, the fireball from earlier was gone, leaving only the boy standing in a neat posture.
The flames swirling around the boy disappeared as if they were never there to begin with, leaving only a very slight heat.
"I remembered."
At Gu Yang-cheon's voice, Ya Hyeol-jeok growled.
It hurt his pride that he had been hit twice by a guy who hadn't even reached the Absolute realm yet.
Gu Yang-cheon looked at such Ya Hyeol-jeok and spoke.
From the deeply dyed red eyes and the lightly but gradually reddening hair, Ya Hyeol-jeok had to feel a strange sense of anxiety.
No matter how he looked at it, it was toward a kid lingering at the tail end of the first-rate level.
"Ya Hyeol-jeok... I think that was probably the name."
And his name quietly spat out.
"You shouldn't rudely call an adult's name, you bastard."
How did that young bastard know his name?
It wasn't that his alias, Dae Jeol Gwi, was unknown, but he wasn't famous enough to have his real name spoken so definitively.
Besides.
'Fuck, what is this feeling?'
When Gu Yang-cheon spat out his name, Ya Hyeol-jeok felt a chilling feeling for some unknown reason.