Chapter 197. Eight Years of Hardship and Suffering (18)
As Ye-Ye blanked out, stuttering as she stared in one direction like a crazy person, Hye-Ryeong turned and glared at whatever it was Ye-Ye was looking at.
Then, her eyes opened so widely it seemed as though they would tear apart.
“You!"
They weren’t the only ones who reacted in this manner. Ju-Ryeong, Jeong Yun-Seong, and Heon-Won were all shocked.
Under their gazes, Woo-Moon stopped in mid-air and looked around at the miserable Baek Family.
Anger welled up in his heart.
‘One, two, three...’
Just the bodies he could see numbered a staggering two hundred. In reality, two or even three times as many people must have died.
He wasn’t just saddened and enraged by the deaths of those who bore the Baek surname and were related to him by blood.
As the son of an innkeeper, he had been close with the servants and maids when he lived in the Baek Family Estate. How could he not be enraged by their unjust deaths? No... regardless of whether they were close or not, the fact that innocent people who had never learned martial arts had died at the hands of martial artists made him so angry he couldn’t bear it.
‘Martial Heaven. Your reason for existence was to transcend sects and perfect martial arts, right? Bullshit. All I can see is a bunch of lunatics obsessed with cultivating. If you really gathered together for such a pure purpose, don’t you think it’s strange for you to have become so warped and twisted?’
Woo-Moon took the time to look at each of the victims, one by one.
Although it was a horrifying sight and there was no logical reason for anyone to suffer through it, Woo-Moon never turned his eyes away.
He swore to himself, ‘Martial Heaven will be destroyed! I will raze it to the ground!’
Woo-Moon floated in the sky, the breeze making his clothes flutter.
It was like a painting, a scene of an immortal descending from heaven that a martial artist would only see in their dreams.
Hye-Ryeong, who was staring at Woo-Moon with blank eyes, felt dizzy and staggered. A hollow laugh flowed out of her mouth.
“Hahaha. Haha. So you’ve surpassed the Absolute realm, then. You’re what, thirty? No,not even thirty yet. The Absolute realm, the wall that stopped me for so many years... you’re saying you’ve not only broken through but gone past it altogether?"
Although it was a shock to her system, the psychological impact wasn’t as bad as she would have expected.
Everyone around looked at Woo-Moon with eyes of disbelief. Some of them looked at him as if he were a ghost, then realized that it was actually him after hearing Hye-Ryeong speak.
Ye-Ye, who was momentarily shocked into silence, suddenly burst into tears.
“Uncle! You’re alive! You didn’t pass away!"
When Woo-Moon borrowed the power of the Baek Invincible Forged Squadron and Song Family guards to attack the Cruel Sandstorm Riders—in fact, the Song Family guards were called more so that they could accumulate experience than in order to help him—he had strictly warned them not to let people know that he was alive. That was why even Ye-Ye hadn’t been aware that Woo-Moon was alive.
“I’m here, so you don’t have to run away anymore. Just clean up this place. I’ll be back soon," Woo-Moon said to Ye-Ye.
As he finished speaking, his figure suddenly disappeared. No one, not even Hye-Ryeong, was able to see his movements.
Baek Heon-Won muttered to himself, “I didn’t just see a ghost or something, did I...?"
Standing next to him, Ju-Ryeong shook her head.
“No, I saw him too. That definitely wasn’t a hallucination. He really didn’t die..."
“To think he can use the Void-Conquering Path... has he reached the Paragon Stage?" Jeon Yoon-Seong said pitifully.
At that moment, Hye-Ryeong suddenly stood up.
“Regardless, it’s all over now. Start cleaning up like he said."
Woo-Moon used the excellent eyesight of a Paragon with the tracking technique he had learned from Ma-Ra to track the Blood Devils.
It didn’t take long.
The Blood Devils had gathered at a shabby manor and were just about to leave.
“Let’s go. It’s time for the Baek Family to perish," Mu Hu said.
On top of the twenty Blood Devils surrounding the Baek Family Estate, there were twenty more Blood Devils gathered in the area.
Left Devil and Right Devil were both present, and so was their master, Mu Hu.
Right Devil was delighted by Mu Hu’s words.
“Keuk-ka-kat! Let’s go see blood!”
At that moment, Woo-Moon’s voice rang out above them.
“No, there’s no need for you to go anywhere," he said in a soft voice.
Woo-Moon had no intention of talking for long.
The fingers of his left hand extended, and thirty strands of Flawless Finger aura shot toward the Blood Devils. From Golden Dragon in his right hand, golden sword aura flew in a long arc.
Thwip!
In his single attack, thirteen of the Blood Devils lost their lives without even being able to react.
Usually, it took seven or eight Transcendents to fight an Absolute Master. Similarly, it took seven or eight Absolute Masters to match a Paragon.
Thus, mathematically speaking, a group of Transcendents ought to be able to fight a Paragon as long as they numbered about fifty or sixty.
However, mathematics could never take into account all the variables, and in this case, the numbers didn’t add up at all.
A Paragon could butcher a hundred or so Transcendents like chickens. The gap between the two levels was so large that it simply couldn’t be made up in numbers.
Mu Hu gave a bitter laugh.
“So you’re that brat Song Woo-Moon or whatever. Here, let me see how much you’ve grown."
A blood-colored aura flowed out from both of her palms, forming a whip.
Thwack!
The Blood Whip Aura swung through the air and struck the air where Woo-Moon was floating. However, Woo-Moon had already disappeared by the point she made her move and appeared elsewhere.
Mu Hu used another Blood Whip Aura to draw a circle in the air.
Thwip, thwip, thwack!
Tens of millions of streaks of bloody dark qi were created from the circle, pouring out endlessly with Woo-Moon as the sole target.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
Woo-Moon quickly used the Impenetrable Golden Wall to block the dark qi offshoots of the Blood Whip Aura. The moment the dark qi struck the Impenetrable Golden Wall, the other Blood Whip Aura returned, striking at his back. However, since the Impenetrable Golden Wall was indeed like a castle wall that covered his entire body, the returning Blood Whip Aura was blocked as well.
Then, Mu Hu simultaneously controlled both of the Blood Whip Auras and wrapped them around the spherical Impenetrable Golden Wall, trapping Woo-Moon.
‘What is she doing?’
Right Devil, who was watching Mu Hu and Woo-Moon’s fight from below, suddenly shouted.
“Move out to the Baek Family!”
They knew they couldn’t get involved in Mu Hu’s battle anyway. So, instead of staying still, they wanted to make their move and attack the Baek Family while Woo-Moon was busy.
However, a white shadow appeared at that moment with a tremendous roar.
It was only then that they remembered that Woo-Moon had two beings accompanying him at all times, one of which was a terrifying beast.
After passing all of the Blood Devils in a single leap, Eun-Ah swung her front paw at Left Devil.
Eun-Ah’s claws, which were stronger than even aura blades, flashed like cold swords.
Clang!!!
As the Left Devil blocked Eun-Ah’s attack, a loud noise echoed around the area, and a flash of light erupted. Taking advantage of the commotion, Ma-Ra suddenly leaped out of Eun-Ah’s shadow and attacked Right Devil.
“Wha—?!"
Ma-Ra threw the eight daggers she had grasped between her fingers simultaneously, then proceeded to display an incredible quickdraw technique.
As expected, it was an outstanding assassination art!
Since she was using the techniques of the Death God, techniques that could even threaten a Paragon, Right Devil was quickly forced on the defensive.
Squelch!
Although Right Devil was able to deflect all of the daggers, he failed to properly block Ma-Ra’s sword, and blood spurted out from his right shoulder. However, the attack wasn’t deep enough to damage bone.
Yet as soon as her sword hit Right Devil’s shoulder, Ma-Ra vanished.
‘Where did she go?’
The moment that thought formed, Right Devil felt a chill down his spine.
‘Behind me!’
He quickly turned around and sent out a spray of sword aura. Unfortunately, Ma-Ra wasn’t there.
Suddenly, he felt a very faint sensation above his head.
Swish!!!
He quickly rolled forward, barely able to avoid another fatal wound. Even so, he was left with a deep gash on his back.
The fight between Right Devil and Ma-Ra was a clear victory for Ma-Ra!
On the other hand, the fight between Left Devil and Eun-Ah was an outright brawl. While Left Devil was able to occasionally land a blow while doing his best to dodge Eun-Ah’s fangs and claws, nothing he did was enough to penetrate Eun-Ah’s hide.
Then, the other Blood Devils began to attack Eun-Ah and Ma-Ra as a group. However, Eun-Ah and Ma-Ra were the worst opponents they could have been matched with.
Eun-Ah had a body that a Transcendent couldn’t scratch, while Ma-Ra couldn’t even be seen by a Transcendent unless she purposefully revealed herself.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Woosh!
These demons who had completely demolished the Baek Family with their extraordinarily bewildering techniques had met their natural enemy.
Meanwhile, Mu Hu further strengthened her Blood Whip Aura as she watched her aura completely cover Woo-Moon and his Impenetrable Golden Wall.
Right as the blood aura darkened and Woo-Moon felt a sense of crisis, the blood aura exploded.
Since the explosive power was all directed inward, Woo-Moon was barely able to block the blast by erecting three separate Impenetrable Golden Walls an inch apart from each other.
Right as the fight-ending blow ended, the tragic scene of the Baek Family that he had seen earlier came back to Woo-Moon’s mind once again.
The qi of the Forbidden Divine Art rose on its own, rushing through his entire body like a raging storm, urging him to let his anger roar.
“AGH!!!!"
From Woo-Moon’s Golden Dragon, a golden Raging Wind and Heavy Rain emerged.
It was truly a spectacular sight.
Golden aura shining as bright as the sun poured down endlessly like Heavy Rain. However, each of the strands of sword aura had the same momentum as Raging Wind.
Looking at it, Mu Hu had no choice but to admit she was impressed.
Woo-Moon was indeed a solid Paragon in every respect, not lacking in any way compared to herself.
Mu Hu clasped her hands together, combining the two Blood Whip Auras into one, creating a single, very thick one. Then, she aimed for the very center of the incoming Raging Storm, swinging her whip fiercely.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
The golden sword aura exploded as it hit the Blood Whip Aura. Made of extremely concentrated and compressed qi, the Blood Whip Aura attracted the golden sword aura like a magnet, destroying all of it.
As that happened, Woo-Moon used Illusive Shift five times in succession and quickly approached Mu Hu, while Mu Hu took a whip made of the skin of a Blood Dragon from her waist.
Of course, Paragons could create whatever weapon they needed using only qi, whether or not they had a medium for channeling that qi. However, when fighting an opponent who was completely equal in strength, or even stronger, it was best to fight with a physical divine weapon to get as many advantages as possible.
The fact that she was forced to draw the Blood Dragon Whip was no different from her admitting that she was in a crisis.
While Raging Storm was a truly powerful technique, Woo-Moon’s attacks didn’t end there.
‘You brutish boarlike bastard,’ Mu Hu cursed inwardly.
Woo-Moon unleashed another attack with his eyes gleaming with anger.
Dragon Bind, Tiger Strike!
A golden dragon and a golden tiger flew together, trying to strike and bite Mu Hu. Mu Hu was forced to flick her Blood Dragon Whip in endless circles to intimidate the golden tiger before flicking it sideways to collide with the golden dragon.
BOOM!
A terrifying explosion rang out. However, Woo-Moon’s relentless attacks continued.
Thanks to the opening he had created using Dragon Bind Tiger Strike, Woo-Moon got close enough to hit Mu Hu with his sword directly and unleashed Northern Blizzard.
Swish!!!
Much unlike Woo-Moon’s burning heart, the Lightflash flew coldly and quietly into Mu Hu’s blind spot.
It wasn’t a strong and destructive attack like before. But for some reason, it brought an even greater chill in Mu Hu’s heart, terrifying her.
Mu Hu tried to block Northern Blizzard using a palm aura she formed with her free hand while attacking Woo-Moon with the Blood Dragon Whip. However, her split-second decision had been a mistake.
Woo-Moon’s sword cleverly rode over the palm aura’s momentum, showcasing a deadly movement like the tongue of a viper.
A sword technique like Northern Blizzard had to be countered in a single move using a powerful destructive attack that had a wide range. The problem was that Mu Hu didn’t have enough time or space to do so.
Riiiip!
She barely managed to dodge the full blow by using Illusive Shift. However, Mu Hu’s chest now bore a deep laceration from her left shoulder down to the base of her stomach, and blood gushed out like a river.