Light Novel: Volume 24 Episode 17
Manhwa: N/A
Boom!
With a thunderous roar, flames shot high into the night sky.
For someone who did not know of the actual situation, it might have been a beautiful sight worthy of applause.
Go Il-won stood with his arms crossed, watching the flames illuminate the night sky.
Fires were erupting all over Haimen.
People who had been peacefully sleeping in the middle of the night were startled awake, rushing out into the streets.
They fell into a state of panic as they saw the streets crumbling and the flames rising high.
Explosions erupted one after another and the flames shot high into the sky as if there was a war going on.
The thick, acrid smoke overwhelmed people’s senses, leaving many burned or injured.
The residents couldn’t think clearly.
Their instincts told them to flee from the flames, so they ran aimlessly through the streets.
“Aaah!”
“Save me!”
As a large number of people crowded into narrow alleyways, many were crushed to death.
Crack!
The sound of bones breaking and people screaming rang out simultaneously.
It was a scene straight out of hell.
People were being pushed to their deaths, without even knowing why such a thing was happening.
Go Il-won watched the entire scene.
Even though he was standing quite a distance away, his sharp eyes, honed by years at sea, captured every detail.
This was the disaster he had orchestrated.
Because of his orders, so many people were dying, losing their homes. Yet, Go Il-won didn’t blink an eye.
His world was a place where the strong trampled on the weak and took everything from them.
He had been raised with that belief from a young age, and he thought it was only natural.
It was that mindset that had allowed him to take command of the Phantom Fleet at such a young age and grow it to this extent.
“Pyo-wol! How long do you plan on hiding?”
Originally, he intended to completely take over Haimen before going after Pyo-wol. But now that he knew Pyo-wol was already in Haimen, he couldn’t just leave him alone.
He decided to proceed with both the takeover of Haimen and the hunt for Pyo-wol simultaneously.
Fortunately, with Dok Gohyang and the Martial Sword Alliance tracking Pyo-wol to Haimen, it made it much easier to plan.
The more pieces you have to play with, the easier it is to form a plan.
Go Il-won used every piece he had at his disposal.
The result was the tragic devastation of Haimen.
Innocent civilians were fleeing from the flames, but even in the direction they ran, explosive blasts erupted.
Boom!
With a scream, a storm of fire swept through the area.
The people caught in the explosion couldn’t even scream before being reduced to ashes.
It was a truly horrific death.
The martial artists of the Phantom Fleet were faithfully executing Go Il-won’s orders. They were plunging Haimen into even greater chaos. However, Go Il-won was no longer watching the spectacle.
His eyes were focused on something else other than the devastation.
Suddenly, his pupils began to move erratically.
As if there was an earthquake, his pupils darted around with frightening intensity.
They shifted to the left, then to the right, then upward. His pupils dilated greatly, then contracted again.
Just then, a faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“There you are!”
Swish!
Just directly after he finished his sentence, a frighteningly faint tearing sound echoed.
In an instant, a translucent barrier formed in front of Go Il-won.
Ting!
Immediately afterward, something struck the translucent barrier and was deflected.
The object that had been deflected was a silver thread so thin that it was nearly impossible to distinguish with the naked eye.
The silver thread dispersed like a mirage in the air.
It was the Soul-Reaping Thread woven from qi.
In the Jianghu, the only one capable of wielding the Soul-Reaping Thread was Pyo-wol.
Emerging from the darkness, Pyo-wol revealed himself.
Go Il-won spoke.
“So, you’ve found me. I expected nothing less from you.”
“Go Il-won!”
“What do you think? Isn’t it magnificent? It must have been like this when the New Moon Manor was destroyed, don’t you think?”
“Is this revenge for destroying the New Moon Manor?”
“Revenge? No, this is a token of appreciation.”
Go Il-won responded to Pyo-wol’s question with a faint laugh.
He still hadn’t unfolded his arms.
Pyo-wol found Go Il-won to be threatening.
Just a moment ago, he had ambushed Go Il-won with the Soul-Reaping Thread. Yet, Go Il-won had precisely raised his protective qi barrier at the exact moment the Soul-Reaping Thread was unleashed, and thus defended himself.
And that wasn’t all.
Go Il-won had also detected Pyo-wol’s stealthy approach in advance and prepared accordingly.
Until now, no master had ever detected Pyo-wol’s covert approach. But now, for the first time, a master had appeared who could foresee his movements.
When Go Il-won detected Pyo-wol’s approach, the movement of his pupils was not ordinary.
His pupils had clearly followed Pyo-wol’s trajectory.
“It seems you’ve mastered a special eye technique?”
“Everyone has a secret trick up their sleeve.”
Go Il-won responded nonchalantly.
He had indeed seen Pyo-wol clearly.
It wasn’t just intuition that made him aware of Pyo-wol’s approach; he had actually seen and prepared for it.
The technique he used was called Asura Eye,1 a secret eye technique.
Originating from the Western Region, this eye technique does not miss any stealthy and subtle movements.
It allows one to see as clearly at night as during the day and doesn’t miss even the fastest movements.
It was a skill that could be considered the natural enemy of assassins.
Go Il-won continued.
“Assassin, you are the last one. Watch as this place falls, feeling your own helplessness with every fiber of your being.”
“You’re brimming with confidence.”
“Confidence? No, it’s a certainty.”
Go Il-won genuinely believed he was stronger than Pyo-wol.
Pyo-wol was undeniably strong.
He was definitely at the level of an absolute master of Jianghu.
Judging by the martial artists he had killed so far, it was clear how powerful he was.
As an assassin, Pyo-wol had reached an almost unbelievable level, but everyone has a natural enemy.
The Asura Eye technique that Go Il-won had mastered was the nemesis of assassins.
Having perfected the Asura Eye, Pyo-wol was no different from a monkey in the palm of Buddha’s hand.
It was then.
Chiii!
With a strange sound, four figures appeared around Go Il-won.
They were monks dressed in the attire of the Western Region.
The one at the forefront had his eyes covered with cloth, while the second monk wore prayer beads, each the size of a child’s fist, around his neck and wrists. The other two carried an enormous monk’s staff and a Green Dragon Crescent Blade, respectively.
These were the Four Great Demon Monks.2
They were subordinates who had followed Go Il-won all the way from the Western Region.
Although they rarely revealed themselves, once they did, they were monks who destroyed everything in their path.
They were the last line of defense for the Phantom Fleet.
Go Il-won spoke to Pyo-wol.
“If you want to kill me, you’ll have to get through them. The sooner you do, the better. The longer you delay, the more people will die.”
“It won’t take long, I promise.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
Go Il-won smiled as he started walking away.
Ssshh!
Pyo-wol unleashed the Snake Qi Thread at Go Il-won’s back.
He aimed to wound him with a surprise attack.
At that moment, the monk with the blindfold appeared in front of Go Il-won.
It was a movement reminiscent of the legendary footwork of the Buddhist sect, the Immovable Divine Steps.
Bang!
He clapped his hands together.
A powerful shockwave shot out, blocking the Snake Qi Thread. Meanwhile, the rest of the Demon Monks launched an attack on Pyo-wol.
“Haaah!”
“Chaaah!”
“Om!”
Boom!
A powerful wave of energy swept over Pyo-wol.
Their offensive was so strong that even Pyo-wol couldn’t easily counter it. He had to use his Snake Steps to retreat backwards.
Boom!
A massive crater appeared at the spot where Pyo-wol had just been as their combined assault landed.
“Haaah!”
The second monk let out a shout and flicked his thumb. The prayer beads, each the size of a child’s fist, shot toward Pyo-wol like cannonballs.
Pyo-wol dodged the beads by shaking his head.
Boom!
With a deafening explosion, a large hole was blown through the wall behind him.
It was truly a terrifying power.
Even if just one of those beads hit, it would undoubtedly leave a hole in his body.
“Die!”
The second monk flicked a string of prayer beads.
The attack, which even calculated the directions where Pyo-wol might dodge, was reminiscent of the legendary hidden weapon technique of the Sichuan Tang Clan, the Heavenly Flower Rain.
‘I can’t win if I only dodge.’
He was outnumbered, and his opponents’ martial arts were formidable.
Once he fell on the defensive, it would be nearly impossible to regain his momentum.
Especially against masters like them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Their attacks synchronized perfectly, like the cogs of a well-oiled trap mechanism.
When the blindfolded monk swung his twin palms, the second monk fired beads. Taking advantage of that moment, the monks wielding the staff and the Green Dragon Crescent Blade launched close-range attacks.
Their combination attacks were nothing short of an art form.
It was no wonder why Go Il-won trusted them.
But it was Pyo-wol they were up against.
The Four Great Demon Monks were indeed beyond ordinary understanding, but so was Pyo-wol.
Pyo-wol activated Black Lightning.
As the lightning energy flowed through his entire nervous system, his reaction speed increased several times over.
In that state, Pyo-wol unleashed the Snake Qi Thread.
Siiick!
A thread-like compressed energy flew towards the monk who was firing the prayer beads.
“Not so fast.”
“Haah!”
The monks wielding the staff and the Green Dragon Crescent Blade stepped in to block Pyo-wol’s attack.
Their weapons also carried a flickering energy.
To block the Snake Qi Thread, they generated their own energy.
In Jianghu, it was common knowledge that in a battle of energy or qi, the one with the heavier weapon would have the advantage.
They were confident they would crush both the Snake Qi Thread and Pyo-wol’s body.
It was then.
Ssshhh!
Black lightning suddenly appeared on the Snake Qi Thread.
The black lightning quickly surged up the entire Snake Qi Thread.
Sensing something ominous, the monk with his eyes covered by cloth shouted.
“Everyone, be careful!”
But his warning was too late, as the Snake Qi Thread clashed with the two monks’ weapons first.
Slash!
In that instant, a chilling sound of slicing echoed.
It was a sound hard to believe came from a clash of qi.
“Grrk!”
“Ugh!”
Strange sounds flowed out of the mouths of the monks wielding the staff and Green Dragon Crescent Blade.
Blood were dripping off their mouths.
“H, How?”
Clatter!
In the next instant, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade and the staff snapped into two, falling to the ground, and a hole the size of a needle appeared, piercing through their hearts.
Pyo-wol’s Snake Qi Thread had not only cut through their weapons, which were infused with qi but had also pierced their hearts.
Even as their lives were slipping away, the two monks whose hearts had been pierced were unable to comprehend the situation.
They couldn’t understand why only their weapons had been one-sidedly severed in two, even though both had used qi.
What Pyo-wol had unleashed was the Black Lightning–Snake Qi Thread.
It was a unique technique of Pyo-wol, where he infused his qi thread with lightning energy.
The power of the Snake Qi Thread, enhanced by the lightning energy, far exceeded that of ordinary qi.
“Third Brother! Youngest Brother!”
The blindfolded monk, enraged by the death of his brothers, charged at Pyo-wol.
“No, don’t!”
The second monk, barely maintaining his composure, shouted, but it was too late.
Slash!
The body of the eldest monk was cut into pieces.
Unbeknownst to them, Pyo-wol had already set up the Spider Silver Net.
Charging in without realizing it was there led to an inevitable outcome.
“You, You bastard!”
The enraged second monk flicked his prayer beads repeatedly.
Thud, thud, thud!
A prayer bead, the size of a child’s fist, was shot toward Pyo-wol. However, for some reason, Pyo-wol did not evade the bead.
Bang, bang, bang!
The prayer beads exploded against Pyo-wol’s body, punching holes the size of a child’s fist through him.
“I’ve got y—”
Thud!
The second monk’s triumphant shout was cut short.
A burning pain shot through his back repeatedly.
Two daggers had been embedded in his Mingmen acupoint and the Dazhui acupoint on the nape of his neck. The owner of the daggers was none other than Pyo-wol.
“How…?”
The second monk’s face was etched with disbelief.
He couldn’t understand why Pyo-wol, who should have been killed by the prayer beads, was standing unharmed behind him.
At that moment, the figure of Pyo-wol, who had been pierced by the prayer beads, vanished. It was only then that the second monk realized it had been an illusion.
It was Pyo-wol’s Demon Shadow Exchange, an advanced form of substitution technique.
It was a unique technique which could replicate even the presence and texture, leaving no room for doubt.
“Damn it…”
Those were the second monk’s last words.
Pyo-wol, who had killed all four monks in an instant, looked around. But by then, Go Il-won had already disappeared without a trace.
LUNACAVE
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