A flicker of puzzlement passed through Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
‘And with so many of them.’
The assassins of the Hundred-Split Assassin Sect were so skilled that, no matter how difficult the mission, they typically operated in small groups of five or fewer.
Yet now, over fifty assassins were moving as a single unit.
Swish, swish, swish!
At that moment, the sharp needles from the Hundred-Split Arrows rained down toward Bu Eunseol’s face. It seemed they considered him a witness, intending to kill both him and the girl called Soyo.
Whoosh!
Soyo’s movement technique was extraordinary, allowing her to evade the range of the Hundred-Split Arrows in an instant.
Twang, twang!
At the same time, she fired short arrows from her silver short bow.
Unlike the Hundred-Split Arrows of the sect, she used ordinary arrows commonly employed by assassins of the Central Plains.
Thud, thud!
Soyo’s arrows were perfectly accurate.
With each shot, an assassin fell, their vital points pierced without fail.
Twang!
Moreover, her arrows didn’t fly in straight lines but curved freely, as if alive.
‘Her archery is impressive.’
Bu Eunseol didn’t actively join the fight, merely deflecting the incoming Hundred-Split Arrows while observing Soyo’s martial prowess.
Clang, clang, clang!
As Bu Eunseol stood tall, watching the battle and deflecting the arrows, the assassins’ focus and energy split in two directions. Soyo seized the opportunity, moving unpredictably like a butterfly with her elusive movement technique, taking down the assassins one by one.
The assassins of the Hundred-Split Sect fired their arrows relentlessly, but her movements were so swift and erratic that they couldn’t land a hit.
“Form the Blood Whisker Formation to trap her!”
Seeing Soyo dominate the battlefield, the assassins moved chaotically to form a formation.
Twang! Twang!
The assassins, now in the Blood Whisker Formation, fired their Hundred-Split Arrows into the sky.
The arrows raining down created a circular wall, not only trapping her but also blocking all directions, preventing her elusive movements.
Clang! Clatter!
Soyo drew a dagger to fend off the incoming arrows.
As the arrows grew more intricate and the formation’s power intensified, she blocked the attacks with apparent ease.
“What… what?!” The lead assassin let out a cry of dismay.
The reason Soyo could hold her ground so calmly within the Blood Whisker Formation was Bu Eunseol, who stood idly, deflecting the arrows with a bored expression.
“It’s because of him!”
Originally, the Blood Whisker Formation was designed to trap a single exceptional martial artist.
But with Bu Eunseol casually deflecting the arrows by Soyo’s side, its power and effectiveness were reduced to that of a third-rate formation from a backwater martial school.
“These arrows are endless.” Meanwhile, Bu Eunseol, continuously deflecting the arrows, furrowed his brow.
He had assumed their arrows would soon run out.
Yet the barrage showed no sign of stopping.
“No choice, then.”
Shing.
Drawing his black sword, Bu Eunseol unleashed the Waning Moon, Dawn Star technique in a single motion.
“Get back!” The assassins, startled by the massive sword energy descending upon them, retreated in a panic.
But the enormous cross-shaped sword energy didn’t allow their escape.
Flash!
With a dazzling burst of light, the sword energy shattered the solid wall of the Blood Whisker Formation in an instant.
Boom!
With a sound like thunder, the formation collapsed, its meticulous structure crumbling.
Soyo didn’t miss the chance, spinning gracefully and firing her short bow to take down the assassins one by one.
“Argh!”
“Ugh!”
One broke the formation at close range, while the other struck from a distance with her bow, their coordination flawless.
Thud, thud, thud.
In the end, more than half of the fifty assassins lay dead on the ground, cold corpses. If this continued, their complete annihilation was only a matter of time.
“Retreat!” At the lead assassin’s shout, the remaining assassins executed their movement techniques in unison, fleeing the battlefield.
Bu Eunseol didn’t bother pursuing them, watching calmly.
“Phew.” As the assassins retreated, Soyo let out a heavy breath.
In truth, her skills alone weren’t enough to handle fifty assassins perfectly.
Without Bu Eunseol’s intervention, she would have been gravely injured or forced to flee immediately.
Click.
Sheathing his black sword, Bu Eunseol asked her,
“Why are your fellow sect assassins chasing you?”
“None of your business.” Despite his help, Soyo showed no gratitude, her expression cold.
“I see.” Bu Eunseol nodded at her curt, indifferent response.
It was just a fleeting encounter, after all. There was no need to care or pry into her circumstances.
“Then.” With a single word, Bu Eunseol calmly walked away from the shrine.
He continued toward Myogaso in Namanbu without pause. One might expect him to stop at a village or city for good food and a comfortable bed at an inn. Yet he stubbornly stuck to remote paths, avoiding populated areas.
The journey to Myogaso was not short.
And the assassins who had attacked him would likely be watching for any opportunity.
If he entered a city or village?
They would undoubtedly use the commoners as shields to attack him.
‘By now, they should be making their move.’
The assassins’ goal was clearly to keep Bu Eunseol from passing through populated villages or cities. In other words, they wanted to create an opportunity to send a large force to take him down in one fell swoop.
Yet they still hadn’t shown themselves.
‘Are they waiting for the right moment?’ But as Bu Eunseol deliberately chose remote paths, the ambushes had stopped. ‘That means they have another purpose. What could it be?’ Lost in deep thought while using his movement technique, Bu Eunseol gradually slowed to a stop.
He spotted a dilapidated, half-collapsed house in the distance.
Entering through the broken gate, he saw a front yard overgrown with weeds. The inner pavilion was mostly in ruins but sufficient to shelter from the night dew.
“Perfect.”
The sun was just setting.
Bu Eunseol decided to camp there for the night.
Crackle.
Gathering broken wood from the surroundings, he lit a fire and leaned against a garden stone in the yard, closing his eyes.
In truth, he felt no fatigue at all.
He could maintain his movement technique for four days straight without issue.
But enemies could appear anytime, anywhere.
If he arrived at Myogaso exhausted, both physically and in terms of inner energy, he wouldn’t be able to handle unexpected situations.
Especially since the Divine Mountain Sage was closely tied to the righteous factions. Even with the Boeun Coin, he might refuse to meet, or this could all be a trap.
Thus, Bu Eunseol intended to arrive at Myogaso with his inner energy and stamina fully preserved.
Swish.
At that moment, a piercing sound came from the distant sky. Simultaneously, a small figure entered through the gate.
It was Soyo, the girl who had fought the Hundred-Split Assassin Sect.
“Hm.” Seeing Bu Eunseol sitting by the fire, Soyo let out a low hum and stopped.
Whoosh.
As she turned to leave,
“No need for that.” Bu Eunseol’s lips moved, his eyes still closed. “I won’t bite.”
At his words, Soyo whipped her head around, glaring at him. Her silver eyes gleamed with a fierce light, but Bu Eunseol remained resting with his eyes closed.
“If you’re scared, you can leave.”
If she were an ordinary martial artist, he might have said something kind like, “Rest easy.”
But Bu Eunseol had already read her personality and deliberately provoked her. Otherwise, she’d force herself to travel through the night instead of resting here.
Step, step.
With a cold expression, Soyo walked past him.
She gathered wood at a distance and lit her own fire.
‘Was it inevitable we’d cross paths?’ After a moment of thought, Bu Eunseol realized why their paths kept overlapping.
She, too, was being pursued by the Hundred-Split Assassin Sect. Their tactics involved firing massive volleys of arrows.
If a fight broke out in a village, it would undoubtedly cause massive harm to innocent commoners.
Like him, she was avoiding villages and cities to prevent collateral damage.
Crackle.
The sound of burning wood echoed through the night sky.
An ordinary martial artist might have seen this as fate and asked about each other’s circumstances.
But neither Bu Eunseol nor Soyo did.
And so, time passed.
Yet, strangely, sharing a deserted ruin with a stranger felt no different from being alone.
Kindred spirits.
Their personalities and auras were somehow alike.
Thus, even sharing the same space, they felt no discomfort.
Swish.
But then, a piercing sound came from the distant sky. Simultaneously, about fifty martial artists in black assassin garb descended, surrounding the area.
Glance.
Soyo opened her eyes and slowly stood, preparing to face the assassins.
But this time, Bu Eunseol stepped in front of her.
“Looks like these are my guests this time.”
The assassins exuded a different aura from those of the Hundred-Split Sect. Bu Eunseol instantly recognized them as the assassins who had been targeting him.
“They don’t seem to be their full force yet.” Looking down at the assassins, Bu Eunseol spoke calmly. “Are they still not ready? Or are they scheming something?”
Shing.
The assassins drew their poisoned swords instead of responding and charged, unleashing sharp sword techniques.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
It was astonishing.
These fifty assassins were not only skilled in swordsmanship but moved with a ghostly movement technique, strikingly similar to that of the Hundred-Split Sect. Whenever Bu Eunseol tried to unleash his sword techniques, they scattered like mist, evading his attack range.
‘These guys.’ The movement technique they used was none other than the Extended Wave Soaring Phoenix of the Shuying Sect, renowned for its exceptional lightness skill.
‘The Martial Alliance.’
The mysterious Shuying Sect, which rarely appeared in the martial world, wouldn’t suddenly become an assassin sect.
Moreover, the Shuying Sect had no enmity with Bu Eunseol.
The fact that these assassins used the Shuying Sect’s movement technique meant they weren’t its disciples but assassins of the Martial Alliance trained in its techniques.
Swish!
Meanwhile, the assassins launched another sword attack at Bu Eunseol.
‘Trying to find traces of my martial arts?’ Though their movement and sword techniques were impressive, they weren’t enough to trouble Bu Eunseol.
This meant they, too, were disposable pawns.
By sending assassins with advanced movement and sword skills, they were likely observing his true energy or analyzing his fighting style and habits.
‘Someone might be watching from afar.’
Shing.
Without hesitation, Bu Eunseol drew his sword and unleashed the Supreme Heavenly Flow.
There was no need to reveal his critical techniques like Heavenly Glacial Secret, Wishful True Binding, or Thirteen Guiding Energies.
But at that moment,
Swish!
With a sharp piercing sound, a steel arrow shot through the assassins’ evasive movements.
Thud!
With a dull sound, an arrow embedded deeply into the forehead of an assassin who had vanished like mist.
Soyo, standing behind Bu Eunseol, had used her short bow to take down a Martial Alliance assassin.
Pop, pop!
Two more steel arrows shot out in succession.
The shadows of two assassins, circling Bu Eunseol like mist, were instantly exposed.
Flash!
Seizing the opportunity, Bu Eunseol unleashed the Meteor Chasing the Moon technique.
Swish!
His swordsmanship had reached a sublime level, allowing even simple techniques to contain countless variations. As the tip of his black sword danced, the sword shadows it created traced unpredictable paths.
Pop, pop!
Bu Eunseol shifted his swordplay, weaving dazzling sword flowers in the air. Each time, blood flowers bloomed from the necks of the mist-like assassins.
Twang, twang, twang!
Soyo’s arrows flew relentlessly, restricting the assassins’ movements.
Whenever they did, Bu Eunseol’s black sword followed with terrifying precision.
Thud, thud, thud.
The assassins, who had been circling Bu Eunseol like ghosts, soon lay dead on the ground.
Click.
Having dealt with all the Martial Alliance assassins, Bu Eunseol sheathed his sword and turned.
“Why did you interfere?”
“The debt from before.”
A curt reply.
She likely meant, “I’m repaying the debt from earlier.”
Stowing her short bow, Soyo turned nonchalantly, leaving the ruin as if nothing had happened.
‘They’ll come again.’ Since the assassins chasing him had appeared here, the Hundred-Split Sect assassins chasing Soyo would likely arrive soon.
She was leaving quickly to avoid causing trouble for Bu Eunseol.
“…” Watching her departing figure, Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed.
‘She can’t shake them off alone.’
The Hundred-Split Assassin Sect was among the most formidable assassin organizations in the outer regions. With them pursuing her so relentlessly, Soyo might face endless pursuit until her death.
“Hm.” Bu Eunseol let out a low hum.
There were only two reasons someone so young would join an assassin sect.
Either they joined voluntarily to escape starvation.
Or they were kidnapped for their exceptional talent, noticed by the sect’s masters.
Either way, it wasn’t a life this small girl would have chosen.
“No choice, then.”
The martial world was harsh.
No sane person would help a girl pursued by the terrifying Hundred-Split Assassin Sect. Doing so would risk not only their life but the survival of their sect.
Fortunately, there was someone who could help her.
Someone not only sane but powerful enough to risk their sect’s fate.
“Why are your fellow sect assassins chasing you?”
Bu Eunseol followed Soyo. He had decided to help her.
A stone thrown is repaid with a mountain; a sip of water is repaid with a well.
That was the iron rule of Nangyang, one of the Ten Demonic Sects.
“I’ll help you.”
But Soyo ignored his offer, continuing to walk silently.
“Think I’m lying?”
“Stay out of it.” Despite her icy response, a faint smile crept onto Bu Eunseol’s face.
When it came to cold and ruthless personalities, he was second to none.
In the past, he would have passed her by without a second thought. Forcing help on someone who didn’t want it would be overbearing.
But now, he didn’t hesitate to help this frozen girl.
This wasn’t the demeanor of a cold demonic master but that of a righteous hero walking the path he believed in.
“You don’t have to explain. I’ll help you anyway.”
“Why?”
“The debt from earlier.”
“Besides that.”
—The real reason you’re helping me.
Her eyes seemed to ask that question.
As Soyo’s gaze locked onto his, Bu Eunseol paused briefly. He wasn’t a righteous faction member, nor did he care about chivalry.
“Well, I don’t know.”
It was the truth.
It wasn’t about becoming a hero or repaying a debt. There was no compelling reason to help. He didn’t even know the real reason himself. Seeing the sincerity in his words, a strange light flickered in Soyo’s eyes.
“How old are you?”
“Roughly… past twenty.” Abandoned too young, Bu Eunseol didn’t know his exact age.
Soyo’s eyes sparkled.
“You’re young.”
“Young?”
“I’m… roughly thirty.” Her unexpected answer made Bu Eunseol’s eyes widen.
She looked no older than fifteen at most, yet she was over thirty?
“Are you joking?”
“Does it seem like a joke?” As her large eyes gleamed, Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
They were kindred spirits.
Neither was the type to joke or lie without reason.
‘Did she consume the Rejuvenation Fruit?’
Soyo’s youthful appearance wasn’t just due to a unique constitution or cute features.
She had the skin of a young girl, impossible for a woman in her thirties.
A thought flashed through Bu Eunseol’s mind.
“Are you connected to the Azure Cloud Sea Palace?”
Those who consumed the spiritual herbs growing atop Mount Golap in the Azure Cloud Sea Palace stopped aging in their teens.
Their physique and skin remained youthful for life.
Perhaps Soyo lived near Mount Golap and became a disciple of the palace, or she consumed its spiritual herbs.
But no answer came.
After a brief silence, Bu Eunseol spoke.
“Let’s first shake off those persistent pursuers.”
The Hundred-Split Assassin Sect was relentlessly chasing Soyo. And the Martial Alliance assassins were doggedly pursuing him.
By exploiting this, they could buy time.
“…” But Soyo remained silent.
It was a clear rejection.
‘No choice, then.’ There was no way to force help on someone who didn’t want it.
Besides, she was older than him.
As an adult capable of taking responsibility for her choices, he didn’t need to interfere.
“Alright, then there’s no—” As Bu Eunseol started to speak,
Swish.
Another piercing sound came from the distant sky. This time, about a hundred assassins surrounded the area.
It was the Hundred-Split Assassin Sect’s pursuers.
“Soyo!” The lead assassin shouted angrily.
Bu Eunseol ignored him and moved to continue on his way.
But he stopped.
Because the lead assassin shouted,
“Hand over the Boeun Coin now!”
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