* mild implied possible sexual assault so ignore it if you are uncomfortable with that. There will be a short summary at the start of the next chapter.
At Guyang Cheongjeong’s words, Ma Han jumped in a panic.
"You’re risking your life for that guy?"
"But…" As Guyang Cheongjeong hesitated, the leader, realizing they were about to retreat, signaled his men.
"They’re planning to escape over the western wall. Stop them!"
Whoosh!
The warriors immediately unleashed a flurry of palm techniques, swinging their arms rapidly. Though simple, their palm strikes were swift and powerful. In the end, Guyang Cheongjeong and Ma Han, cornered once more, lost their chance to escape.
"Brother Ma Han, I’ll hold them off. Go first!" Regaining her composure, she spun her body fiercely, deflecting the incoming palm energies.
It was the supreme technique that had rooted the North Wind Sword Sect as a renowned sword clan in Qinghai: the Twelve Slashes of the Spinning Wind.
"Heh." But the Blood Sea Demon Well masters sneered, easily dodging her swordplay.
Sword techniques require harmony between inner power and sword intent. Without that, they’re merely flashy forms. Like the other young masters of the Seven Sword Sects, Guyang Cheongjeong lacked real combat experience and inner power, and she hadn’t even grasped the true intent of her sword techniques.
Though her form was perfect, she couldn’t execute the right moves for the situation, leaving her continuously pushed back.
Boom! Boom!
In the meantime, four of the young masters were struck by palm attacks and collapsed one after another. Only Guyang Cheongjeong, Ma Han, and Weiji Un remained standing.
"Qingmei!" Realizing they’d missed their best chance to escape, Ma Han shouted in frustration. "Damn it! All because of that guy…"
"I’m sorry, Brother Ma Han!"
"Forget it! Let’s hold out and break through somehow!" They gritted their teeth and stubbornly held their ground.
Though not exceptionally strong compared to the others, the three somehow managed to withstand the warriors’ onslaught.
"Hoh." Watching them, the leader smirked as if he’d realized something. "So that’s how it is."
With a menacing grin, he suddenly approached them, unleashing a palm technique. The move was a critical strike aimed solely at Guyang Cheongjeong, standing in the center.
Boom!
As a lightning-like palm energy surged, Ma Han and Weiji Un, disregarding their own safety, turned to protect her. But as if anticipating their move, the leader’s palm energy curved widely, striking at Ma Han and Weiji Un’s backs.
It had never been aimed at Guyang Cheongjeong—it was a spinning technique targeting their backs all along.
‘Oh no!’ Only then did the two realize they’d fallen for the leader’s trick.
Bang! Bang!
Struck in the back and side, they collapsed, spitting blood.
"Because of their determination to protect her, they instinctively created an exquisite joint attack." The leader sneered.
He’d seen through how Ma Han and Weiji Un, driven solely by their resolve to protect Guyang Cheongjeong, had managed to hold out so far.
Swish!
At that moment, Guyang Cheongjeong swung her sword in front of the two. This time, she was pouring all her strength into the Twelve Slashes of the Spinning Wind to protect them.
"Heh heh heh. You don’t know the masters of this sect well." The leader curled his lips.
No matter how exceptional her sword technique, she was still a young woman with little martial world experience. In contrast, the villains of the Blood Sea Demon Well were trained to be accustomed to fear and pain, like killing demons.
Even if their limbs were cut, they pressed forward without hesitation.
"Ugh." In less than ten moves, she was stabbed in the shoulder and leg, collapsing to the ground.
"Heh heh heh." The leader’s gaze roamed over Guyang Cheongjeong’s sweat-soaked body, her clothes clinging tightly, and he let out a lecherous chuckle.
"Not bad." Licking his lips, he grinned wickedly. "You’d taste fine even raw."
"You filthy bastard! Don’t even think about touching Qingmei!" Weiji Un, collapsed on the ground, shouted.
The leader sneered and strode over, grabbing Weiji Un’s shoulder and infusing his fingers with inner power.
"Argh!" As the man’s five fingers dug deep into his shoulder, Weiji Un let out a piercing scream. "You don’t shout or make demands in front of the strong," the leader whispered coldly, staring at the screaming Weiji Un.
"Haven’t you learned that?"
"Ugh…" Swallowing his pain, Weiji Un shouted, "I’m the successor of the Gwanghan Sword Sect!"
Instantly, the leader’s eyes turned venomous, like a viper ready to strike. Seeing this, Weiji Un immediately shut his mouth, fearing a single wrong word would bring a blow to his head.
"Successor?" The leader looked at Weiji Un and the fallen young men, sneering with contempt. "You brats. Instead of holding these gatherings like you’re something special, you should’ve trained your martial arts."
At his words, the fallen young men trembled slightly—not from fear, but from bitter regret. As the man said, instead of dressing up and spending money for these gatherings, they should’ve trained their martial arts even one more day.
The Blood Sea Demon Well masters were strong, but not invincible.
If they had trained diligently, they could’ve held their own. But their laziness and complacency had led to this outcome.
"Take them away."
"Ugh…" The successors of the Seven Sword Sects could no longer resist, trembling in defeat.
They realized no amount of pleading or words would work against these fiendish villains. The weak have no right to demand anything from the strong.
In the martial world, dialogue only works when you have greater force than your enemy.
"Wait." Suddenly, the leader grinned coldly. "Cut their meridians."
His shocking command left the Seven Sword Sects’ successors frozen in terror.
"If we take them unharmed, who knows what they’ll try." The leader smiled at the trembling young men, paralyzed by fear. "But if we sever their meridians, they won’t even think of resisting. As long as we bring them back unharmed, that’s enough."
The rumors about the Blood Sea Demon Well were not exaggerated. Their cruelty and savagery surpassed even the tales, like demons incarnate.
"Oh?" The leader’s gaze fell on Guyang Cheongjeong’s trembling body.
"Don’t touch her. I’ll handle her myself." Swallowing hard, he licked his lips and lifted her into his arms. "If you please me, I might spare your meridians."
"Ah, ahh…" Frozen in extreme fear, Guyang Cheongjeong could only shed tears.
Just as the leader turned to enter a room in Seogangwon,
"Yawn—" A languid stretching sound echoed.
All eyes naturally turned toward the source. The one stretching and rising was none other than Bu Eunseol, seated at the banquet hall’s table by the open door.
He had remained calmly seated all this time.
"Ugh." Ignoring the piercing stares, Bu Eunseol stretched lazily once more.
‘No choice, I suppose.’ Despite his relaxed stretching, his thoughts were somewhat complicated. Originally, Bu Eunseol had no intention of getting involved in this fight.
The Blood Sea Demon Well warriors’ skills were far too mediocre for his interest. More importantly, he had come to Jinyang to lay low and digest his recent insights, not to get entangled in martial world disputes.
‘But I can’t just ignore it.’ Guyang Cheongjeong had given up her chance to escape to protect him. Having witnessed that, Bu Eunseol couldn’t bring himself to abandon her. The martial world is a ruthless place, but it’s also a place where debts must be repaid.
"Crazy fool." The leader, staring at the yawning Bu Eunseol, looked dumbfounded.
Step, step.
Meanwhile, Bu Eunseol walked straight toward the leader. As if he were the only person in the world, he advanced in a direct line.
"Get rid of him." At the leader’s command, two subordinates swiftly blocked Bu Eunseol’s front and back.
Without a word, they thrust out their palms, unleashing ferocious palm energy. The sudden attack, with two warriors striking from both sides, left Bu Eunseol no room to dodge.
Boom!
But with a thunderous explosion, the two warriors who had unleashed the palm energy were hurled through Seogangwon’s wall and out into the open.
"…" The unexpected scene caused everyone in the room to freeze momentarily.
"A master." The leader, quickest to recover, nodded in surprise. "You’ve trained in impressive fist techniques."
Despite the praise, Bu Eunseol wore a bored expression, as if suffering from indigestion.
"Get lost. This is annoying." It was the first act of mercy Bu Eunseol had shown since entering the martial world—a kindness toward the weak.
In his eyes, the Blood Sea Demon Well warriors were so pathetic that fighting them felt like a chore.
"Some guys think they’re hot stuff now and then." Raising his inner power, the leader sneered.
In response, Bu Eunseol, with his world-weary expression, glanced at him and grinned.
"…" The leader suddenly felt a surge of unease.
Bu Eunseol’s smile darkened the surroundings, as if some unknown entity were swallowing him whole.
"You…" The leader’s words were cut short.
Bu Eunseol threw a single punch at his face.
Boom.
A sound like a massive object crashing echoed, and a tremendous force surged toward the leader’s face.
"Hoh." The leader, with a shocked expression, narrowly dodged the punch.
But the immense force, clearly aimed at his face, suddenly split and attacked both his sides.
‘What?!’ Stunned, the leader hurriedly rolled on the ground. Unable to find a way to evade, he resorted to the humiliating Lazy Donkey Roll, a disgrace among martial artists.
"You!" Barely rising, the leader was about to unleash his fury when he suddenly widened his eyes.
‘Wait… he freely redirected an already-released punch?’ Redirecting an attack’s trajectory wasn’t unheard of in the martial world. But splitting an already-unleashed punch into different directions was a miraculous feat he’d never even heard of.
"You…" Only then realizing Bu Eunseol was no ordinary master, the leader’s expression turned grim.
"Not bad. In that case!" With a short shout, he unleashed a palm technique that seemed to claw and tear through the heavens and earth.
"Hm." Bu Eunseol, watching the intricate, net-like attack pour toward him, lightly twisted his fist and struck.
Boom!
As fist and palm energy collided, a vibration like a giant bell being struck echoed through the room.
Skid.
Simultaneously, the leader was pushed back eight steps, his feet still on the ground.
"What are you? Who the hell are you?!"
Collapse.
A man who had only ever instilled fear in others—what happens when he meets a formidable being who instills fear in him? His once-calm spirit crumbles uncontrollably.
"This can’t be! To think I would be pushed back by some brat?!" A man who had always held others’ lives in his hands—what happens when he meets someone who holds his life?
Denial. He denies that existence and flees from reality.
"Answer me! Who are you to interfere with this sect’s affairs?"
"Haven’t you learned?" Bu Eunseol said, looking at the leader with a faint smile.
"You don’t shout or make demands in front of the strong."
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