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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Cyno
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The dagger was a weapon scorned by martial artists.
Shorter than the sword, weaker than the sword, and far less graceful than the sword.
Its only advantage was that it could move quickly with the hand. Yet even that became meaningless once one reached the realm of Body and Sword as One.
Martial artists, by nature, were arrogant beings. They carried immense pride in the martial arts they had trained in all their lives.
Many believed their sect’s martial arts to be the greatest under heaven, and often could not distinguish humility from servility. They quarreled endlessly over whether the sword or the blade was supreme, while openly despising poison arts or sinister techniques.
If one resorted to something like the Falling-Dragon Escape Tactic to survive, others would sneer, “Better to die than to crawl away like that.” Even in the so-called unorthodox factions, where philosophies of martial arts were more liberal, the criticism differed only in degree, not in kind.
And yet, there was one martial artist who had recognized the usefulness of the dagger early on and trained diligently with it.
That was none other than Flying Blossom, Namgung Soso.
She had always been someone whose venom matched or surpassed anyone else’s.
During the Great War of Righteous Blood, which had raged for ten years, she had shadowed Namgung Cheolbin as he swept across the world. To keep pace with him, Namgung Soso had trained in every sort of unorthodox trick she could find.
Among them, naturally, was the dagger art.
A weapon that could be thrown, slashed, thrust, and even hidden.
Why would one not train in it? At worst, if rumors spread, the orthodox sects would hurl insults—but as long as she wasn’t caught, it was of no consequence.
Shuaaaak—!
And now, in this very moment, Namgung Soso’s dagger sliced through the air like an arrow, streaking straight toward her foe.
Startled, Cheolhogak instantly drew up his internal energy and reached for his sword hilt—but even he was not as fast as Flying Blossom Namgung Soso, who was famed among even the highest elites for her unparalleled swiftness.
Whiiish—!
In the end, Cheolhogak was forced to twist his waist as far as he could. It was a hurried move; completely evading the dagger was impossible.
Ssschkkk—!
“Ghhk!”
The sharp blade tore across his flank. Pain flared from deep within the flesh, making him grit his teeth.
But he was given no time to catch his breath. Namgung Soso, in battle, was nothing short of a master among masters.
“Haaap!”
Her dagger swept on a diagonal arc. The keen blade split into three streaks of light, slashing toward Cheolhogak.
This…! She’s not the Alliance Leader!
In an instant, Cheolhogak judged the situation. Channeling as much energy into his legs as possible, he stamped the ground and leapt away.
Three lines of blade light pierced his clothes and carved shallow wounds across his body—but his focus was solely on escaping.
Kwaaang—!
“You wretch!”
“Ghhk…! Y-you bitch…!”
Blood flowed freely, and his clothes hung in tatters, but Cheolhogak managed to open distance between them. Without delay, he drew his sword.
Seeing that, Namgung Soso’s body tightened.
He hasn’t fallen…? Even the Alliance Leader crumpled from this poison…!
Her dagger was coated in lethal venom. Four strikes—more than enough for the poison to seep into his veins.
And yet the hulking man before her showed no signs of collapse.
She could tell—he was not a master above the Sword Sovereign’s level. His aura, his earlier movements, all proved that.
“Don’t tell me…!”
Namgung Soso’s eyes rippled with shock. As Cheolhogak steadied himself, he raised his sword in formal stance and spoke.
“So it was hidden poison, eh? Cunning wench.”
“……!”
“If not for my Immunity to a Hundred Poisons, I’d have been finished.”
Cheolhogak was Namgung Bin’s right arm.
Unlike the Sword Sovereign, who had lived buried in books, he was a man who had forged himself in countless battles.
Under Namgung Bin’s command, he had dirtied his hands with every kind of vile deed.
Namgung Bin, worried for him, had given him immunity against all poisons.
For Namgung Soso, this was a dire misfortune.
“Are your little tricks finished?!”
Now fully composed, Cheolhogak charged. From his sword erupted a storm of blade qi.
Sword Threads.
Hundreds of strands of sword energy, sharp enough to cleave iron itself. A realm that even many masters at the peak of perfection could only gape at in awe.
For Namgung Soso, a peak master, it was utterly beyond reach.
How am I supposed to win this?
Though she was seasoned in real combat, she forced herself to stay calm and think. Yet no matter how hard she racked her brain, no solution came.
This opponent was not like the Alliance Leader.
Her instincts, honed by countless life-or-death fights, told her plainly—this man could not be beaten.
Unlike the Alliance Leader, he had lived through endless battles. The scars that crisscrossed his bared torso, visible through his torn garments, told the story more clearly than words.
Poison had failed. His martial realm surpassed hers. His experience outweighed hers.
Run.
Namgung Soso was not a fool.
At once, she unfurled her lightness skill. Her body shot like an arrow, smashing through the wall of the building.
Kwoooaang—!
She did not know who the man truly was. But he had seen through her disguise, had realized she was not the Alliance Leader. Worse, they had already exchanged deadly blows.
No matter what, she could not allow herself to be caught.
“What, what’s happening!”
“Isn’t that…? T-the Alliance Leader?!”
Even in the late night, martial artists of the Alliance who had not yet gone to bed raised alarm at the sight of Namgung Soso in the Alliance Leader’s mask.
For a moment, she considered calling out for their aid—but quickly dismissed the thought.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—!
“You wench! Where do you think you’re running?!”
The monstrous speed of the man chasing her told her all she needed: he knew she was not the Alliance Leader.
Deng, deng, deng—!
The commotion triggered the great bells of the Martial Alliance. Their heavy, clear tones echoed across the compound.
“An attack! Arm yourselves!”
“Everyone up! The Alliance Leader is under assault!”
Though the title was hollow, the Alliance Leader was still the Alliance Leader. Warriors of the Alliance began to gather, weapons in hand, eyes blazing as they looked up at Namgung Soso and Cheolhogak darting through the night sky.
One by one, they stamped the ground and leapt into the air.
Heaven is helping me!
Seeing this, Namgung Soso put more strength into her legs. What else was her “Flying Blossom” lightness skill for? Among the Seven Blossoms, save only Jade Blossom, her movement art was the most outstanding.
Like a hawk soaring, she rode the wind without obstruction.
Of course, as with the Sword Sovereign before, even her lightness skill could not completely outpace a super-master like Cheolhogak.
“There! That fiend who attacked the Alliance Leader!”
“Form the Heaven-Sundering Formation!”
“You pack of mongrels…!”
The swarm of Martial Alliance warriors rushed at Cheolhogak, seizing his ankles, hurling blades at him from every side. For the moment, he had no choice but to halt his chase.
He could cut them all down, perhaps—but in doing so, he risked exposing the truth about his lord Namgung Bin. That was the greater danger.
Rumble—
The warriors of the Alliance were no pushovers. Though they had not yet grasped the full situation, they clearly knew who was friend and who was foe.
And Cheolhogak was the foe.
“Don’t back down! Together, we’re stronger!”
Among them were not merely mid-level fighters, but several masters of the peak realm. Even for Cheolhogak, wounded and bleeding, slaughtering them all was no easy task.
“Raaagh! Get off me!”
“Careful! He’s no ordinary man!”
“Alliance Leader! Where are you going, Alliance Leader?!”
But he could not simply let matters rest. The masked pretender had seen too much.
The documents on the desk—about his lord Namgung Bin.
A mysterious figure wearing the Alliance Leader’s skin, wielding vicious poison with ruthless abandon—such a one could not be allowed to escape.
Clang! Thud! Thwack!
The problem was that the situation forced his hand.
Dozens of grasping hands pulled at him from every side, while sharpened blades glimmered inches from his flesh.
“No choice, then…!”
At last, Cheolhogak swung his sword in a wide arc.
Chwaaak—!
Dozens of hands clinging to his legs were severed in one sweep. Blood sprayed across the night. The sudden carnage made the warriors recoil.
“Hrrryaap!”
In that instant, Cheolhogak hurled his sword. Not only to block the pretender’s escape, but also to lighten his load for flight.
Shuuuuung—!
The sword tore through the air with a terrifying whistle, a blur of deadly speed.
Cheolhogak did not even glance back. He fled in the opposite direction of Namgung Soso. Survival came first.
Kwoooooaaah—!
“D-damn…!”
Namgung Soso, glancing back without thinking, gasped. Her vision filled with a massive slab of steel.
The next moment—
The sword Cheolhogak had thrown pierced straight through Namgung Soso’s chest.
*****
Step… step…
A staggering gait wandered through the silence of night. From its owner, blood dripped with each step.
“Need… a place to heal… khhk!”
Namgung Soso coughed, her pallid face twisting. Hot blood spattered with the cough.
The sword lodged in her chest she had already torn free and discarded—but finding a place to treat the wound was another matter.
No—it was uncertain whether treatment was even possible at all.
“Haaah… haaah….”
How am I still alive…?
She lowered her gaze to her chest.
From the gaping wound, a pink light of inner qi was flowing, filling the empty space within her body.
I truly owe that benefactor everything…
It was the life force she had received from the pink-haired master wearing the bamboo hat—the one who had once revived her from the brink of death. That power now clung to her, keeping alive a life that should have ended.
But it would not last long.
Her own life force had already been dwindling. At this rate, she would collapse within hours at most.
And if she fell here, in this desolate place with not a soul nearby, it would mean death.
Ghhhk…! My legs… so heavy…!
Her legs, once as light as the wind, now felt leaden.
She could feel the crushing pain pressing through every part of her body as she stumbled onward.
Step… step…!
Whether she would make it or not, she did not know. But biting her lip, Namgung Soso forced herself to keep walking. Her faltering footsteps echoed faintly into the dawn.
From the moment she fled the Alliance, she had only one goal. She had run in a straight line for that destination.
The only place in the world where she could entrust her body. The safest haven in all of Henan.
If it’s there… I can trust them…
Toward Shaolin, the Guardian of Henan.
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