Black and White Martial Emperor

JJEOOOOOEONG!

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes flashed.

Amazing.

Yeon Hojeong had been charging toward Seok Gyeong, but he instantly changed direction and attacked Mu Seong.

It was an irregular attack, so to speak. Even so, Mu Seong blocked Mad Dragon as if he had been waiting for it, and the shock of the explosive force transmitted through the axe blade was truly tremendous.

He is still fine.

It was a strike he had unleashed with White Tiger Qi packed into it to the limit. Yet even after knocking that strike aside with a bare-handed blade, Mu Seong’s hand had not been destroyed.

PABABAK!

Still, because of Yeon Hojeong’s distinctive strength and Mad Dragon’s weight, Mu Seong was forced two steps back. At the very least, in raw power, Yeon Hojeong held the advantage.

“You bastard!”

Seok Gyeong immediately thrust a Heat-Fire Divine Palm at Yeon Hojeong.

HWARURURUK!

The left side of his face grew hot. A tremendous heat was bearing down on him in an instant.

PAAK!

Yeon Hojeong soared high into the air.

KWAAAAANG!

The Heat-Fire Divine Palm smashed into the cliff. It was not merely hot. It also carried enough power to crush stone.

Seok Gyeong looked up at Yeon Hojeong. As if he had known Yeon Hojeong would evade into the air, another palm force was already gathering in his left hand.

It was then.

Hup!

A sinister fist-wind shot toward Seok Gyeong’s torso.

It was a palm force flowing in along the grain of the air. Its power was not great, but if it landed, even briefly, it would lower his combat strength. The poison qi felt within the palm force was extremely fierce.

The Tang Clan?!

Seok Gyeong thrust his left hand toward Tang Gwan’s palm force.

KWAAAAANG!

With a thunderous boom, flames scattered in every direction. A sweet scent rode the flames as it dispersed. It was the smell of a poison palm breaking apart.

Tang Gwan smiled coldly.

“Arrogant bastard.”

Killing Intent rose on Seok Gyeong’s face.

“Vermin of the Tang Clan.”

PAAAAAK!

Seok Gyeong charged toward Tang Gwan.

He was considerably faster than Gok Gang. Even so, there was ease in his movement. He had left room in his movement technique and footwork so he could respond at any time, to anything.

Tang Gwan received Seok Gyeong with his hands calmly behind his back.

Seok Gyeong’s eyes deepened.

Is he aiming for something?

At that moment, tremendous Killing Intent swirled behind his back.

......!

Seok Gyeong quickly dodged sideways.

KWAAAAANG!

Mad Dragon came spinning through the air like a cartwheel and embedded itself where Seok Gyeong had been standing.

FLASH!

Yeon Hojeong, who had somehow landed atop the axe’s shaft, thrust a palm toward Seok Gyeong.

BOOM!

Seok Gyeong stepped back.

The impact was not great. It was not a palm force that exploded, but a palm force that pushed.

As Seok Gyeong retreated, Mu Seong immediately charged in.

Blue light swirled in Yeon Hojeong’s pupils.

CRACK!

He pulled Mad Dragon free in one motion.

FLASH!

Mad Dragon swept horizontally with a speed faster than any swift sword.

Mu Seong blocked with three layered Heat-Fire Divine Palms, but the destructive power of the single strike Mad Dragon produced was strong enough to shatter the three-palm barrier outright.

KWAAAAANG!

Mu Seong was driven back again. His face, which had remained expressionless all along, twisted slightly.

KUNG!

On the narrow path between the cliffs, a massive divine general stood blocking the way.

Holding the enormous axe, Yeon Hojeong was emitting a presence that did not match his slender build at all.

HOOOOOOONG! HOOOOOOONG!

The Yeon Clan Divine Core rotated at high speed. At the center of the spinning internal core, Jade Wave True Qi held the balance, and Dragon-Embrace Qi stretched outward like the heat of the sun.

WHOOOOOOOSH! WHOOOOOOOSH!

White radiance rose from Mad Dragon. The translucent white light split into three or four strands, repeatedly wrapping around the axe blade and shaft of Mad Dragon.

HWARURURUK!

The red Killing Intent rising from behind him held the rage of a soaring phoenix. The Killing Intent of the sun god was amplifying with every passing moment.

WOOOONG.

A faint greenish-blue wind swirled from both legs, creating an understated ease, while one zhang in front of Yeon Hojeong, a translucent hexagonal black armor rose and built an absolutely invincible defense.

The Yeon Clan Divine Core, in which the Jade Wave Art and Dragon-Embrace Divine Art had unified, activated to an extreme degree. Four Spirit Qi ran through his entire body, completely opening its master’s combat strength.

Yeon Hojeong had drawn out all his power. He glared at his enemies like an invincible general sent down by heaven, and before that fierce light in his eyes, even Seok Gyeong and Mu Seong flinched and stepped back.

Yeon Hojeong lightly cut through the wind with Mad Dragon.

HOOOOOOONG.

The pure-white wind amplified and gave Mad Dragon the fangs of a beast.

“Now.”

Yeon Hojeong extended his left hand to the center line.

Hup.

Crimson flame and white wind mixed wildly at his fingertips, forming a threatening atmosphere.

“Come at me.”

It was a provocative remark.

Seok Gyeong’s face twisted.

FLASH!

Astonishingly, the one who moved before Seok Gyeong was Mu Seong.

Had being pushed back in the previous exchange shamed him? Mu Seong charged with blue flames rising from his entire body, and the qi wave he emitted was truly savage.

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes blazed.

JJEOJEOJEOJEOJEONG!

The martial arts of the two men collided, releasing a terrifying Inner Qi wave.

CRAAACK! CRUNCH!

The shock wave cracked the ground and the cliffs. The collision between two Transcendent Peak masters using all their strength had scratched stone walls that nature had spent thousands of years shaping.

Mu Seong’s Flame King Fist aimed for Yeon Hojeong’s chest.

Yeon Hojeong simply raised the shaft and struck upward.

JJEOOOOOEONG!

It was a brilliant collision.

The flames erupting with the Flame King Fist scattered in every direction, and the white wind that had wrapped around Mad Dragon spread out like smoke.

PABABABABAK!

At that instant, Yeon Hojeong’s eyes flashed.

He had stopped his enemies with his spirit, but that did not mean he would keep taking their attacks forever. A hundred Divine Flame soldiers were charging while running along the cliffs on both sides.

They intended to seize the rear, surround him, and attack. It was a simple and efficient tactic.

Of course, Yeon Hojeong was not going to stand by and watch.

Yeon Hojeong stamped powerfully.

KWAAAAANG!

Gathering the force that erupted like an explosion, he unleashed Tiger King’s Nine-Wall Breaker, Tiger-Claw Turmoil.

KWAKWAKWANG! KURURUNG!

It was an extraordinary chaotic-strike technique that cut and smashed not only the front, but also the left and right.

It was no different from the axe work of a mad killer. To unleash a chaotic-strike technique with a heavy weapon weighing over eighty geun—the pressure was so overwhelming that it was difficult to describe in words, regardless of one’s level.

THUUUUD! PUHWAAAAK!

The claws of a great tiger raising a gale tore three Divine Flame soldiers apart and sent their bodies flying. The chaotic strikes covered a range beyond imagination, and the men were struck down while still thinking it surely could not reach them.

Mu Seong’s eyes flashed.

THUD!

Yeon Hojeong stepped back two or three paces. He had blocked entry from the left and right with the chaotic-strike technique, but the attack aimed at Mu Seong directly in front had naturally weakened.

Hup!

Mu Seong moved with the recoil.

Mu Seong charged straight in, and the Fire Dragon Demon Blade he unleashed with his hand-blade aimed at Yeon Hojeong’s lower body.

......?!

For an instant, Mu Seong could not hide his confusion.

Why?

With that bastard’s skill, he could use any method he wanted: evasion, defense, counterattack. Mu Seong had aimed for the lower body only to press Yeon Hojeong with the linked attack that would follow.

And yet Yeon Hojeong was paying no attention whatsoever to the attack coming at him. Instead, he was trying to unleash another chaotic-strike technique toward the left and right, as if he did not care if his leg was cut off in the process.

Why?

It was then.

“Mu Seong!”

FLASH! KWAAAAANG!

Seok Gyeong, who had closed the distance in an instant, blocked above Mu Seong’s head.

“Urgh!”

Mu Seong and Seok Gyeong staggered backward.

Chiiiiik!

Turbid gray smoke rose from both men’s hands. It was poison qi.

Startled, Mu Seong looked ahead.

BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!

Yeon Hojeong was unleashing a chaotic-strike technique that covered every direction.

And behind Yeon Hojeong’s shoulder stood Tang Gwan, his eyes giving off a blue light.

Tang Gwan flicked his fingers.

FWIIIIING!

With a sharp sound that tore through the air, two daggers flew in a curve.

It was unbelievable. They were not flying in a straight line, but in a curve, and as they rotated, their speed even doubled.

THUD! JJEOOOEONG!

The dagger Mu Seong avoided embedded itself in the abdomen of a Divine Flame soldier. Seok Gyeong shattered the dagger with his fist.

That was not the end of it.

“To charge bare-handed before a Tang Clan man.”

CHWAAAAAAAK!

Countless hidden weapons appeared in Tang Gwan’s two hands.

It was impossible to know where he had hidden so many. Even their types were all different, so it was impossible to determine which hidden weapon had what effect.

“Understand that arrogance through death.”

Tang Gwan swung both hands.

PABABABABAK!

Dozens of hidden weapons poured toward the two men, avoiding Yeon Hojeong.

Seok Gyeong ground his teeth.

“You bastard!”

KWAAAAANG!

With a powerful Stamping Step, he thrust palms in every direction.

PUH-PUH-POONG! JJEOOOEONG! THUD!

Seventy percent of the hidden weapons were blocked by Seok Gyeong’s palm-force shield.

Seok Gyeong’s eyes shook.

They dodged?!

It was absurd.

He had poured out every bit of Inner Qi he could to block the entire front. Yet thirty percent of the hidden weapons rode the air, curved over, and attacked the Divine Flame soldiers behind him.

His surprise did not end there.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Gaaaah!”

The Divine Flame soldiers struck by the hidden weapons screamed and collapsed.

Screams?!

Seok Gyeong was startled, and so was Mu Seong.

Like the other Cult followers, the Divine Flame soldiers were also men whose minds had been properly armed with loyalty and conviction. They possessed a mental strength that would not make them so much as frown under ordinary torture.

Yet such Divine Flame soldiers were screaming. Merely because they had been struck by hidden weapons.

Soon after, they could tell why.

Crack! Crack-crack!

The collapsed Divine Flame soldiers vomited blood from their seven orifices. Their fallen bodies kept twitching.

It was the hidden weapons.

The hidden weapons that had dug into their bodies were moving through the blood channels of their entire bodies, tearing blood vessels and severing nerves.

It was an attack so cruel it beggared belief. Seok Gyeong shuddered at Tang Gwan’s brutal hidden-weapon techniques.

“You mad—!”

Tang Gwan flicked his fingers.

FWIIIIING! BOOM!

There was no time to curse.

Seok Gyeong knocked aside the hidden weapon that had flown in through an opening, but his wrist throbbed. Even that tiny hidden weapon carried an internal force that could not be ignored.

BANG! KURURURUNG!

The cliffs on either side were collapsing as much as they could collapse.

The already narrow path grew even narrower. Stone fragments kicked up from the walls carved away by Yeon Hojeong’s Tiger-Claw Turmoil left horrible gashes on the bodies of the Divine Flame soldiers.

WHOOM! THUD! WHOOM! THUD!

Tang Gwan did not miss the opening, and the Divine Flame soldiers helplessly collapsed under the palm force he shot out.

Chiiiiik!

The fallen Divine Flame soldiers vomited dark-red blood along with pale smoke. The Divine Flame soldiers who vomited blood did not rise again.

It was Tang Clan Thousand-Poison Hand. The vicious heavy-hand technique of the internal path that had killed Yo Roe was taking the Divine Flame soldiers’ lives in a single blow.

“......This is bad!”

Mu Seong let out that exclamation before he knew it.

In front stood a mad killer with an enormous axe, holding out with an ironclad defense. Behind him, the demon king of poison and hidden weapons, who would permit no approach, was launching savage attacks.

As if they had coordinated their hands and feet all their lives, the two masters were clearly carrying out their respective roles. Their plan to sweep the enemy away with an overwhelming difference in force would not work, at least not against these two men.

This will not do.

Seok Gyeong judged coldly.

For an instant, he had grown angry and ordered an all-out attack, but at this rate, he would only lose troops.

“Everyone, stop attacking! Fall back to the rear!”

A superior’s order was absolute. Mu Seong and all the Divine Flame soldiers immediately withdrew.

It was then.

PABABABAK!

Yeon Hojeong and Tang Gwan closed the opened distance again.

They intended to maintain the atmosphere of a battle in which they had already seized the advantage. The two men, incomparable under heaven when it came to real combat ability, moved in perfect coordination without exchanging a single word.

That was not all.

“Uaaap!”

KWAAAAANG!

Yeon Hojeong, who had been concentrating on defense, suddenly charged straight in and swung Mad Dragon at Seok Gyeong.

Seok Gyeong’s eyes flashed.

JJEOOOOOEONG!

Along with an intense shock wave, Yeon Hojeong rapidly retreated.

FWIIIIING!

At the same time, Tang Gwan’s seven daggers shot toward Seok Gyeong.

In that instant, Mu Seong moved like a shadow.

JJEOJEOJEONG!

Mu Seong’s Flame King Eight Fists knocked away all seven daggers.

Yeon Hojeong grinned.

As if he was slowly heating up, the back of his neck had turned red.

“So you really won’t just let yourselves be beaten?”