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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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Even after fifty years of wandering the world, Guo Duan still marveled at its vastness.
Namgung-Woo agreed.
He was finally beginning to grasp the sheer scale of the Central Plains.
Han Gye-ran, the Haedong Martial Consort, was undeniably powerful. He suspected a direct confrontation would leave at least one of them crippled.
But this man…
Namgung-Woo finally faced an opponent he couldn’t envision defeating.
‘The Commander of the Imperial Guards, was it?’
He lived up to his reputation as the strongest in the Imperial Court.
The way he’d seamlessly combined Protective Qi and Sword Qi…
Namgung-Woo could do the same, but Guo Duan’s split-second decision-making was astonishing.
With his limited combat experience, Namgung-Woo couldn’t replicate it with confidence.
Like onlookers in a game of Go or Janggi who often spotted brilliant moves the players missed, due to tunnel vision.
Intense focus could narrow one’s perspective, making it difficult to see the bigger picture.
This was especially true in life-or-death situations.
Yet, Guo Duan had remained aware of Li Zi-long, instantly reinforcing his Protective Qi the moment the spear of light was launched.
‘So this is how Dao Lords fight…’
He admired Guo Duan’s skill, but he couldn’t afford to be distracted.
Even those few seconds had given his opponent time to recover.
“You’ve finally arrived.”
Li Zi-long’s words made Namgung-Woo’s eye twitch.
He spoke as if he’d been expecting him.
“Do you know me?”
“Perhaps. But it’s a question I don’t need to answer.”
“…Then I’ll make you.”
Another reason to fight.
This man knew something.
He recognized Namgung-Woo.
Thought turned into action. Namgung-Woo’s form blurred, becoming like a heat haze.
‘Thirteen Lightning Sword Techniques, Lightning Play.’
His sword, wreathed in Sword Qi, traced an erratic path, resonating with the surrounding energy.
He imagined flickering lightning.
Afterimages left behind by flashes of light that briefly illuminated the world.
Beyond a certain level, martial arts wasn’t just about moving the body. It was about manifesting intent, shaping reality with the mind.
The stronger the will, the more drastically it warped reality.
Melding with the fluctuations of Qi, Namgung-Woo used the Infinite Steps to appear behind Li Zi-long.
A voice echoed in his mind.
[He has a defensive spell!]
‘I know.’
He’d sensed it from the beginning.
He’d activated his Ever-Clear Vision the moment he’d entered Longevity Hill.
It allowed him to perceive the world’s secrets, including sorcery.
‘I can break it.’
Sword Qi alone might not be enough.
But if he could target the core of the spell, the flow of its energy…
*Thud!*
His sword pierced the mystical barrier, striking Li Zi-long’s flesh.
‘He dodged?’
He wasn’t just a sorcerer.
Namgung-Woo’s Ever-Clear Vision followed the flow of Qi within Li Zi-long’s body as his three dantians resonated.
Internal energy surged through Li Zi-long’s meridians, converging at his fingertips.
‘Earth Technique!’
Earth Qi solidified, forming a blade of wind.
‘Six Bone-Severing Strikes.’
He was sacrificing flesh to cut bone.
Namgung-Woo recalled Guo Duan’s technique.
He channeled the Heavenly Star Protection Art, enveloping himself in Protective Qi.
*BOOOOM!*
“A costly exchange.”
Li Zi-long’s voice, laced with resignation, was barely audible over the thunderous crash of colliding energies.
Namgung-Woo’s sword had sliced through Li Zi-long’s right shoulder.
‘Judging by his lack of killing intent, he’s never taken a life. I assumed he’d hesitate…’
He’d even tried to bait Namgung-Woo into holding back by implying they shared some secret knowledge.
Li Zi-long’s calculations had rarely been so wrong.
“A worthy opponent. But it’s futile… Your attempts to defy the True Son of Heaven are pathetic.”
While Li Zi-long was distracted, Namgung-Woo assessed his own condition.
‘The wound is shallow. His martial arts aren’t particularly threatening. Peak Realm, at best.’
The combination of sorcery and martial arts was impressive, but individually, neither posed a significant threat.
Guo Duan, observing their exchange, noticed this as well.
He sent a mental message, a subtle transmission that didn’t even require lip movement, unlike Peng Ha-ryeong or Peng Mu-ho.
[You handle Li Zi-long. You can break his sorcery, right? I’ll deal with that ginger zombie and the Ghost Gate.]
Even as he sent the message, Guo Duan continued fighting the Yellow Dragon Guardian.
The guardian was in bad shape.
His left hand was gone, his right arm crushed below the elbow, and his torso was riddled with deep gashes, spilling his innards.
Any ordinary person, even a Dao Lord, would have bled out by now.
Yet, the Yellow Dragon Guardian fought on, his movements were unchanged.
Was he even alive? Guo Duan hadn’t called him a ginger zombie for nothing.
“Getting impatient, Guo Duan?”
His mental message had been intercepted. Guo Duan’s eyebrow twitched.
Sorcerers always had unexpected tricks up their sleeves. He’d seen too much to be fazed by something like this.
But…
What happened next stunned both Guo Duan and Namgung-Woo.
“I’ll end this here.”
As Li Zi-long spoke, the air around them shimmered and distorted.
*Creak… screech…*
The sound of ancient hinges straining under pressure.
A chilling, unsettling noise.
The gate was opening.
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The opening of the Ghost Gate on Longevity Hill wasn’t just a shock to Namgung-Woo and Guo Duan.
The mystical barrier concealing the Gate became pointless.
The energy emanating from the open Gate far exceeded the barrier’s ability to contain it.
Han Gye-ran, facing the Azure Dragon Guardian, the last of the four guardians, felt a shiver run down her spine as the ominous energy washed over her.
“That child was right.”
A power like this would have overwhelmed Guo Duan on his own.
“I hope Hyang-ah likes him.”
Her resolve to make Namgung-Woo her grandson-in-law solidified.
“But first, let’s finish this.”
She moved with the Eight Trigrams Wanderer’s Stride, her movements were fluid and unpredictable.
She slipped past the Azure Dragon Guardian’s defenses and her hand gently touched his side.
But the result was anything but gentle.
*BOOM!*
The sheer force of the impact was unbelievable.
It was the destructive power of her self-created martial art, Pear Blossom Fall, a perfect blend of explosive palm strikes and internal energy manipulation.
“Ugh!”
Even though they were both Transcendent Realm experts, all the Azure Dragon Guardian could do was try to push back the invading energy with his own internal power.
But it was a delaying tactic, nothing more.
With a rustle of silk, she stood before the staggering guardian.
Her shadow, backlit by the moon, fell upon him.
He saw a flicker of movement in his blurred vision.
The flick of a reaper’s sleeve.
*Thud!*
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Were the Dao Lords the only ones who sensed the energy from the Ghost Gate?
No.
Even those with far less skill could feel the shift in the air.
Even the Yang brothers, who hadn’t yet reached the Peak Realm, knew something irreversible was happening.
They were the lucky ones.
Either their internal energy was strong enough to shield them from the external influence, or they were too weak to fully comprehend the nature of the energy, feeling only a vague sense of unease.
But for those who were aware of the true nature of the energy, yet lacked the skill to protect themselves, it was a poison.
Like Peng Ha-ryeong.
“Ah…”
The encroaching demonic energy brought her to a halt.
It was like being frozen by an icy blast.
She’d opened all her meridians to match the stronger Black Tortoise Guardian, to sense even the slightest shift in his Qi.
It had backfired.
She’d been barely holding her own, a late-stage Peak Realm expert against an early-stage Transcendent Realm guardian.
The guardian hadn’t yet mastered the full use of his meridians, a fact Namgung-Woo had told her.
He also had a hidden technique.
And as one of the barrier’s anchors, his internal energy was partially restricted.
These factors had allowed her to fight him on equal footing.
But the sudden influx of demonic energy had disrupted her balance, tipping the scales.
‘An opening!’
The Black Tortoise Guardian was merciless.
He didn’t hesitate.
His spear, like a striking snake, aimed for her heart.
“Got you!”
He’d been frustrated by his inability to defeat an opponent of a clearly lower realm.
A triumphant roar escaped his lips.
It was his last.
“I’ve got your head.”
A giant hand clamped down on his face.
“Huh?”
*CRACK!*
Unfathomable strength crushed his skull.
His spear, losing its momentum, clattered to the ground.
The owner of the hand casually flicked the blood and brain matter onto the ground.
A simple gesture revealed calloused palms, a testament to years of rigorous training.
The hand gently landed on Peng Ha-ryeong’s head, stroking her hair.
“Are you alright?”
“Ah…? How…?”
“You’ve done well. Leave the rest to your father.”
Peng Ha-ryeong blinked and stared at the impossible figure before her.
Was she dreaming?
But the warmth of his hand on her head was undeniably real.
“F-Father…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”
The head of the Peng Family.
Known in the Jianghu as the Saber Sovereign.
Peng Hu-sang, the Heaven-Shaking Saber King, had arrived in Beijing.
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