“Seo Jinha.”
“I’m fine.”
Seo Jinha, blood dripping from all over his body, spoke calmly.
“I avoided the vital points.”
“Why on earth…?”
“Because I figured this much pain was necessary to snap me out of it.” Seo Jinha gave a wry, apologetic smile.
He had not yet reached the level where he could freely control his own mind like Bu Eunseol could.
That was why he had deliberately inflicted pain on himself—to force his consciousness back and escape the grip of the Emotion-Severing Secret.
“Here, take this.” Seo Jinha took out a single Sleep-Demon God Pill from his robes and offered it to Myo Cheonwoo. “Eat it quickly. If you don’t, you might lose the use of your left arm.”
“What about you?”
“This level of injury won’t kill me.”
Seo Jinha grinned.
“Besides… a bit of pain is necessary for proper negotiation, isn’t it?”
In truth, he had not completely shaken off the Emotion-Severing Secret.
He was deliberately maintaining the pain in order to regain a clear mind.
“But what happened?” Seo Jinha asked. “I thought you had no intention of ever returning to Majeon.”
Since Seo Jinha himself had also received treatment for his dantian at the Azure Cloud Sea Palace, he had already guessed that Myo Cheonwoo had recovered his internal energy long ago.
Yet even so, he had not returned to the Death Shadow Corps.
That led Seo Jinha to believe either Myo Cheonwoo had no intention of returning to Majeon, or he had quietly left the martial world altogether.
“You’re right. The treatment is already finished. And for a while, I helped out with the Martial Soul Society.”
“Martial Soul Society?”
“Yes. Bu Eunseol had been making various plans for a long time to build his own independent force. And I was carrying out his orders, traveling around the martial world.”
“I see… So that’s how such a massive alliance formed so suddenly.”
The Martial Soul Society had not sprung up overnight.
It was something Bu Eunseol had poured his heart and soul into over a long period, and Myo Cheonwoo had been sent out to prepare the groundwork.
It was also Myo Cheonwoo who had delivered Bu Eunseol’s intentions to Dae Guhwi and Bing Hanpung.
“Moreover, that guy gave me orders from the moment he decided to return to Majeon. He said something strange would probably happen there, so I should wait nearby.”
“He predicted he would receive a mission like this?”
“Yes. From the very beginning, that guy returned to Majeon with the intention of challenging the Demon Emperor.” Myo Cheonwoo took a deep breath and continued. “And the fact that his prediction was exactly right… means the Demon Emperor is highly likely to become our enemy in the future.”
Seo Jinha nodded.
The Chief Instructor could not force such an order on Bu Eunseol on his own… which meant this entire situation ultimately came from the Demon Emperor’s command.
The problem was—if the Demon Emperor had truly decided to draw his blade against Bu Eunseol like this?
Then the Death Shadow Corps would no longer have any place left in Majeon.
“But how did you manage to win over the Blood Cult Leader? He’s someone who grinds his teeth at the very mention of Majeon—especially since the Demon Emperor is blocking his advance into the Central Plains.”
“Bu Eunseol had me bring herbs from the Azure Cloud Sea Palace here.”
Myo Cheonwoo spoke calmly.
“The Blood Cult uses all kinds of great arts involving blood… and apparently, it’s all because their dantians are gradually hardening.”
The Blood Cult possesses numerous powerful martial arts and great arts that utilize blood. The problem is that practicing their arts carries a thirty percent chance of permanently sealing the dantian.
Knowing this, Bu Eunseol had immediately instructed Myo Cheonwoo to bring herbs that could serve as a bargaining chip.
“I see.”
Seo Jinha smiled.
“The Azure Cloud Sea Palace can even restore a completely destroyed dantian, so repairing one that’s been sealed by martial arts should be nothing to them.”
“Exactly.”
“So that’s why…”
— Even if the negotiation fails, you will be safe.
Recalling Bu Eunseol’s words, Seo Jinha took a deep breath.
He hadn’t sent Seo Jinha into a death trap.
Instead, he had sent Myo Cheonwoo ahead of time so that, even if the negotiation failed, Seo Jinha could return safely.
“For now, I’ve brought a thousand geun of the Azure Cloud Sea Palace’s medicinal herbs as a gift.
With this much, they should be able to save quite a few of their masters whose dantians are hardening and causing them pain. Pae Yukgyeol will have no choice but to start negotiating.”
“Well done.” Seo Jinha nodded and began walking outside.
“Are you leaving?”
“No.” Seo Jinha gave a small smile. “The negotiation hasn’t even started yet.”
“Negotiation?”
“I came all this way—I should at least earn my meal.”
Seo Jinha grinned.
“Since the table’s already set, I’ll be the one to sit down and negotiate properly with the Blood Cult Leader.”
***
Clang! Clang! Clang!
In the front of Eumgyeol Demon Territory, the Death Shadow Corps—now completely surrounded—continued to deploy the formations created by Bu Eunseol, cutting down wave after wave of incoming enemies.
But the battle showed no sign of ending.
The Eumgyeol Demon Territory kept up relentless wave attacks, tormenting the Death Shadow Corps’ warriors day and night.
And the so-called terrifying Iron Hammer-Hard Men… had still not even shown themselves, remaining stationed in the rear.
If they launched a full-scale assault, the Death Shadow Corps would surely fight to the death in desperation. In that case, even if they won, Eumgyeol Demon Territory would suffer massive casualties.
So instead, they were slowly grinding the Death Shadow Corps down, minimizing their own losses.
— This isn’t easy.
Yet the Eumgyeol Demon Territory’s plan was proving far from simple.
The warriors of the Death Shadow Corps were no ordinary fighters.
Despite being vastly outnumbered, they boldly clashed head-on and continued to block the enemy’s attacks.
As a result, the area around the formation had turned into a literal sea of blood, and the corpses of Eumgyeol Demon Territory’s warriors piled up like mountains.
—Pursuit Soul Corps! Shift to the Dyeing Mist Formation and disrupt their ranks!
Centered around Yoo Unryong, the other great captains directed their units, continuing the endless battle without pause.
Before long, the fight had entered its second day.
Yet the battle raged on without end.
Eumgyeol Demon Territory still held overwhelming numerical superiority—and they possessed the Iron Hammer-Hard Men as well.
No matter how many corpses piled up like mountains, no matter how many severed limbs rolled across the ground like stones… in the end, they would win.
But the Death Shadow Corps refused to give up.
Whenever they felt pressed, they counterattacked.
Whenever they felt pushed back, they somehow managed to push forward again.
The one small mercy was that the battlefield was a vast forest.
Forests favored defenders, while making large-scale attacks much more difficult.
—Waaaaah!
After yet another grueling clash, the Death Shadow Corps once again repelled the incoming forces of Eumgyeol Demon Territory.
As the victorious warriors’ roar shook the heavens,
“Idiots!”
From far away, Yong Mungyeok—commander of Eumgyeol Demon Territory’s First Unit, the Blood Trace Soul Corps—who had been watching the battle, shouted at his subordinates.
“They can’t even deal with a force of less than five hundred! Is this even possible?!”
Then his vice-commander, Kang Baek, bowed his head and answered. “Their martial prowess is truly extraordinary. Moreover, they keep switching between strange formations…”
“Silence.”
Yong Mungyeok tossed bamboo flutes toward the Corps Commanders.
They were the Flipping Death Flutes—the instruments used to control the Iron Hammer-Hard Men.
“Deploy fifty Iron Hammer-Hard Men to the battlefield.”
“Corps Commander Yong.”
At that moment, Du Hyo—commander of the Second Unit—spoke up.
“If we use the Iron Hammer-Hard Men now, when Majeon eventually comes to attack us later, there will be a huge gap in our forces.”
Even if they annihilated the Death Shadow Corps, the ultimate enemy would still be Majeon.
Each Iron Hammer-Hard Man cost hundreds of thousands of taels to create.
If they used fifty of them now, when the real Majeon forces arrived, their strength would be reduced by that much.
“There’s no need to worry about that. Majeon will not be sending any more units.”
“What do you mean?”
“These ones were sent here on a suicide mission from the beginning. They were meant to die while attempting to subjugate this territory.”
Shockingly, Yong Mungyeok knew exactly how the Death Shadow Corps had ended up with such an order.
Which meant that Majeon’s internal information had been leaked to them.
Yet the masters of the Death Shadow Corps remained completely unaware of this fact.
“What are you all standing around for? Begin immediately!”
At his command, the unit leaders began blowing their flutes.
With the sound of the flutes, massive black-robed warriors slowly stepped forward from the rear of each unit.
They all had ferocious appearances and skin dyed pitch black.
They looked like jiangshi, yet they were unmistakably living people.
Iron Hammer-Hard Men.
Bodies as hard as steel, blood like deadly poison, completely stripped of fear and the sense of pain.
Killing machines that displayed terrifying power in chaotic melees—the greatest military asset of Eumgyeol Demon Territory had finally appeared.
“Attack!”
Once again the flutes rang out, and the fifty Iron Hammer-Hard Men charged straight toward the Death Shadow Corps’ masters.
Thud thud thud thud!
They trampled over the scattered corpses of their own fallen comrades without a care, charging forward like madmen.
Clang! Papapapak!
Countless hidden weapons and sharp sword energies rained down like a storm from the Death Shadow Corps’ masters, yet the warriors showed not the slightest hesitation.
Clang!
When weapons struck their bodies, metallic sounds rang out.
Charging like enraged bulls, they had already half-broken through the formation created by strong energy.
With just fifty Iron Hammer-Hard Men deployed, the energy wall was being shattered with terrifying ease.
If this continued, the Death Shadow Corps formation would completely collapse in less than the time it takes to burn one incense stick.
“They’re finally here.”
Yoo Unryong, who had been directing the formation, let out a heavy breath.
Now that the Iron Hammer-Hard Men had entered the field, he instinctively knew—this was the final battle that would decide the life or death of every warrior in the Death Shadow Corps.
“Deploy the Explosive Breach Reversal Path Formation! Open the central path!”
At Yoo Unryong’s shout, the formation shifted once more.
The transparent walls of strong energy that had blocked every direction vanished, and a wide, open path appeared straight ahead.
Since they could no longer repel the pouring enemies from all sides, they would face them head-on.
“Meet those monsters from the front!”
— Waaah!
At Yoo Unryong’s command, led by the great captains of each unit, they launched a desperate frontal assault.
“Haaap!”
At the forefront, Won Semun—the most valiant and battle-hardened of them all—advanced together with his Peerless Corps.
Boom!
When Won Semun swung his twin swords, a massive explosion rang out, and Iron Hammer-Hard Men fell like autumn leaves.
In that instant, Wi Cheongyeong’s Pursuit Soul Corps spread to the left and right, raining down hidden weapons and disrupting their formation.
Then Jo Namcheon’s Ten Thousand Forms Corps surged forward, pushing the enemy back with the Poison Strong Demon Art.
Tung! Tung!
Meanwhile, a small shadow darted across the battlefield, continuously firing powerful arrows.
Each time, Iron Hammer-Hard Men fell with holes pierced through their foreheads.
It was Soyo.
Swoosh!
Following her, a group of warriors moved at high speed, slashing through enemies with razor-sharp blades attached to their elbows and toes.
It was the Death Spirit Corps and their subordinate Flying Demon Corps—using swift footwork to slice past the enemy and bring down the Iron Hammer-Hard Men.
“Hold the line!”
Under Yoo Unryong’s command, the Upper Crane Unit and the remaining warriors of the Death Shadow Corps deployed the Explosive Breach Reversal Path Formation, blocking enemies trying to flank from all sides and forcing the battle into a head-on confrontation.
‘It’s almost the end.’
Looking over the battlefield, Yoo Unryong’s expression darkened.
The warriors of the Death Shadow Corps were united as one, desperately holding the defensive line and fighting to the death.
But… defeat was inevitable.
The fallen Iron Hammer-Hard Men were beginning to rise again like overturned dolls.
Their life force was not easily severed.
And behind them, Eumgyeol Demon Territory’s demonic warriors continued to advance and retreat in waves, launching ferocious assaults.
‘If we kill the ones controlling the Iron Hammer-Hard Men, we might be able to hold out a little longer.’
Two days. Perhaps if they could endure just one more day, Bu Eunseol might return from the Blood Cult.
For now, they had to survive this onslaught somehow.
Grip.
Clenching the Ten-Section Staff tied at his waist, Yoo Unryong bit his lip.
‘This is the only way.’
The best course of action now was to leap over the Iron Hammer-Hard Men fighting at the front and kill the commanders controlling them.
‘Since Bu Eunseol isn’t here, I have to do it.’
The Ten-Section Staff—implanted with ten harmonies, capable of devastating an area of twenty jang if he willed it.
If he used this to instantly kill the commanders, he could at least temporarily halt the advance of the Iron Hammer-Hard Men.
‘Even then, we’ll still lose.’
Even if he cut down every enemy charging at him right now, the Eumgyeol Demon Territory still had thousands of combat troops and four hundred and fifty Iron Hammer-Hard Men remaining.
Moreover, as one of the Four Great Demonic Grounds of the martial world, their upper echelons possessed outstanding martial arts and vicious techniques.
No matter how many times they fought unit by unit, without a master of Bu Eunseol’s caliber or large-scale reinforcements from Majeon, there was no path for the Death Shadow Corps to survive.
“Mu Gwang! Take command of the formation for a moment!”
Shouting to Mu Gwang—his trusted vice-captain of the Upper Crane Unit—Yoo Unryong leaped into the air.
Whoooosh.
Leaping straight over the heads of the Iron Hammer-Hard Men, Yoo Unryong landed in front of the commanders blowing their flutes.
“Haaap!”
With a fierce shout, Yoo Unryong’s Ten-Section Staff began whipping through the air like a ferocious evil dragon.
“Stop him!”
The commanders who spotted Yoo Unryong immediately pushed their troops forward but even warriors who merely approached within five jang of him screamed as their limbs were torn off.
The transparent Ten-Section Staff moved with the agility of a living snake, unleashing unpredictable attacks on every enemy within five jang.
In the end, the boldly charging troops could not approach him at all—only throwing long-range hidden weapons.
Every time he advanced, they were swept back like leaves in a wave.
“He’s someone we can’t let live.”
At that moment, a low voice sounded, and a razor-sharp energy poured toward the back of Yoo Unryong’s neck.
Sensing the danger, Yoo Unryong used the Blood Dragon Reversal technique to twist his body sideways in midair.
A sharp something grazed past his nape.
When he turned around, a middle-aged man with long, sharp nails and fierce, bulging eyes was glaring at him.
It was Du Hyo—commander of the Second Unit.
“If you were cast out by Majeon, you should have quietly offered your neck. Why rampage like a wildfire-crazed boar?”
“Perfect timing.” At Du Hyo’s mocking laugh, Yoo Unryong instead showed a cold smile. “If I can take your head, we might be able to hold out for another half day.”
“Nonsense.” Du Hyo snorted.
Even if the Death Shadow Corps had made a name for itself, it was all thanks to the existence of the Martial Soul Command Lord.
For a mere second-rate captain of Majeon to declare he would take the head of a Corps Commander?
“Die!”
As Du Hyo extended his nails, invisible energy shot forward.
It coiled around him like a whirlwind, stabbed toward his forehead, then suddenly pierced toward his lower abdomen.
The power unleashed from those nails was truly elusive and unpredictable—impossible to track where or how the next attack would come.
Slash!
Yoo Unryong immediately swung the Ten-Section Staff, spreading sharp winds in all directions.
The trajectories of the unseen finger-force attacks suddenly became clear.
‘I have to kill him in one strike—no dragging this out.’
Having fully grasped how the finger-force changed, Yoo Unryong stopped moving and closed his eyes.
Fortunately, Du Hyo was underestimating him.
He would use that to take Du Hyo’s head in a single blow and shatter the enemy’s momentum.
Shhh!
In the meantime, Du Hyo’s finger-force pierced toward his forehead and lower abdomen.
Standing motionless and calmly observing the trajectories, Yoo Unryong waited until they were right in front of him.
Clang!
Just as they reached him, he stiffened the Ten-Section Staff and struck the finger-force with full power.
At the same time, Yoo Unryong vanished from Du Hyo’s line of sight.
“Huh?”
The moment Du Hyo lost sight of his target and widened his eyes,
Slash!
From the empty air, a transparent Ten-Section Staff spun like a rigid snake, aiming straight for the top of his head.
“No way…!”
Just as Du Hyo tried to execute a life-saving technique, his movement froze once again.
The Ten-Section Staff was moving—but Yoo Unryong himself was nowhere to be seen.
“There you are!”
Sensing Yoo Unryong behind him, Du Hyo immediately unleashed the Revolving Poison Stain technique.
But something was strange.
Yoo Unryong was standing there with arms folded, calmly watching.
Slash!
Suddenly, from near his left leg, another Ten-Section Staff shot up like a snake, passing through his jaw and piercing straight through his skull in one motion.
“So… there were two Ten-Section Staves…”
Only then did Du Hyo realize that a second Ten-Section Staff had been coiled around Yoo Unryong’s body.
It was a technique Yoo Unryong had recently perfected.
In the instant he threw the first Ten-Section Staff overhead to draw all attention upward, he used the hidden second Ten-Section Staff concealed in his robes—the Twin Dragon Return Home technique—to pierce straight through the enemy and sever his life in a single strike.
“A mere second-rate captain of Majeon…”
Those were his last words in this world.
Thud.
Du Hyo collapsed, eyes closed, skull pierced by the Ten-Section Staff.
Swish!
Yoo Unryong retrieved both blood-soaked Ten-Section Staffs with both hands, shook off the blood, and coiled them around his arms once more.
For a brief moment, silence fell across the battlefield.
The demonic warriors of Eumgyeol Demon Territory stared in stunned disbelief.
How could a second-rate captain of Majeon kill a Commander of the Eumgyeol Demon Territory?
Piii!
Then, from somewhere, the sound of a flute rang out again.
Black energy began surging around Yoo Unryong from the rear.
Judging his martial prowess to be dangerous, they had once again deployed Iron Hammer-Hard Men to surround him.
“Good!”
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Pouring internal energy into both Ten-Section Staffs, they began emitting sharp sounds like living serpents.
Bang!
Charging fearlessly toward the Iron Hammer-Hard Men, he unleashed two streaks of light.
Boom. Boom.
Iron Hammer-Hard Men struck by the Ten-Section Staff fell like logs yet their bodies were so tough and their vitality so tenacious that even with their heads caved in, they continued moving as if nothing had happened.
Yoo Unryong’s martial arts were impressive, but he had not yet reached the Limitless Realm.
He poured everything into his techniques and managed to fell ten Iron Hammer-Hard Men, but gradually his energy began to drain, and his internal force started to scatter.
“Huff… huff…”
Yoo Unryong finally began breathing heavily.
The Ten-Section Staff was powerful, but it consumed enormous amounts of internal energy.
Moreover, since it primarily used striking techniques rather than cutting, it could not easily sever the life force of the steel-hard Iron Hammer-Hard Men.
Rumble.
Before long, the Iron Hammer-Hard Men had surrounded Yoo Unryong so densely that he could no longer see in any direction.
Most of them had caved-in heads or crushed bodies from the Ten-Section Staff, yet they refused to die and continued moving nimbly.
“Haaah!”
Suddenly, a rough battle cry rang out from the rear. Yoo Unryong turned around.
There, the warriors of the Death Shadow Corps—now in crisis due to the appearance of the Iron Hammer-Hard Men—were visible.
Outnumbered to begin with, and now facing wave after wave of these terrifying monsters, the tide of battle had tilted irreversibly.
‘Is this as far as we go?’
Yoo Unryong gripped the Ten-Section Staff tightly.
But his internal energy was nearly depleted, and his legs refused to move properly.
Won Semun, Wi Cheongyeong, Jo Namcheon—the great captains of the Death Shadow Corps—and their warriors, Mu Heon of the Death Spirit Corps, Soyo, and even Tak Ilhon and the Flying Demon Corps… all were fighting desperately, covered in blood.
Yet the battle situation had already collapsed beyond recovery.
There was no longer any way to hold on.
‘I’m sorry, Bu Eunseol. It looks like this is it.’
Sensing his impending death, Yoo Unryong looked up at the distant sky.
But he had no regrets.
He had fought to his heart’s content and used every skill he possessed.
The rest was up to the will of heaven.
— Gaaah!
At that moment, an Iron Hammer-Hard Man spread both arms wide and charged at him.
Yoo Unryong swung the Ten-Section Staff with all his remaining strength.
But without internal energy poured into it, the strike was nothing more than an ordinary whip.
Yet something strange happened.
Thud. Thud.
The Iron Hammer-Hard Men collapsed helplessly from that light swing.
‘Huh?’
Feeling something wrong, Yoo Unryong swung the Ten-Section Staff again.
Thump.
Even though no internal energy was infused—even though the swing was light—the Iron Hammer-Hard Men fell one after another.
“What…?”
Looking closely, he saw sharp cuts on their arms and legs.
Someone had completely severed the meridians in the limbs of these supposedly diamond-hard Iron Hammer-Hard Men.
‘Who could use such a technique?’
Yoo Unryong scanned his surroundings.
Far away, the other captains who had been fighting for so long all wore dumbfounded expressions.
They, too, were witnessing the same thing—the once-fiercely charging Iron Hammer-Hard Men suddenly collapsing powerlessly around them.
Thud. Thud thud.
As the ranks of Iron Hammer-Hard Men surrounding the Death Shadow Corps collapsed, a bizarre scene unfolded.
A single warrior wearing the uniform of the Upper Crane Unit was breaking through the encirclement and rampaging inside.
‘Geon Cheong-woo?’
It was none other than Geon Cheong-woo—a rank-and-file warrior in the Upper Crane Unit whose martial arts were considered among the most ordinary.
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