Chapter 222. Nine in the Fifth Place (18)
Technically speaking, assassins were considered part of the Black Hand. While they didn't mercilessly harm or plunder civilians like the actual evil cultivators[1], considering they killed people for money, they were bundled together with the rest of the bandits.
After Ma-Ra ascended to the throne as the new Death God, her subordinates were far more selective with their contracts. But even so, they were still a branch of the Black Hand.
Now, however, Ma-Ra had stated that she would help Woo-Moon destroy the branches of the Black Hand. This would effectively draw a bloody line between the Assassin Gate and the Black Hand.
“I would be grateful if you could do that, too, Ma-Ra,” Woo-Moon said.
Si-Hyeon also pledged to the cause.
“When I return, I'll dispatch the Blood Heaven Asura Squadron to the other regions to wipe out their branches there, too.”
Because of the actions of their captain, Hwi Ji-Gang, the prestige of the entire Blood Heaven Asura Squadron had fallen to rock bottom.
Si-Hyeon wanted to give them a chance to make up for it by ordering them to destroy the Black Hand.”
“I will send a letter to my mother,” Yeo-Seol quipped. “We’ll make sure nothing like this happens in the North Sea territories.”
Woo-Moon smiled. He was happy that the three women supported him.
***
As they descended the mountain where the Yoo Family Village was, they found a group waiting for them at the foot of the mountain.
“Great Hero Song!”
Woo-Moon recognized them all—elders of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Eight Great Ancient Families that he had encountered several times throughout the war against the Black Bull Gang. There were one or two elders from each force.
“Hello, elders! What brings you all the way here?”
At Woo-Moon's words, the Myriad Lives Monk, who was in the lead, bowed his head.
“I was deeply moved by your magnanimous intentions to forget all grudges and reconcile with the Heavenly Demon Cult, Great Hero Song. So, I've gathered those who shared the same intentions to greet you and Great Heroine Yeon.”
It wasn't easy for those of the Righteous Faction to call cultists “heroes.”
Woo-Moon’s brow wrinkled slightly.
‘That didn't seem sincere. What could they be up to?’
He had a bad feeling, but he kept it to himself. In order to make the cooperation with the Righteous Faction as smooth as possible, he had to make sure he didn’t cause unnecessary trouble.
Woo-Moon smiled, hiding his true feelings.
“Thank you for saying that.”
An elder of the Beggar Gang and an elder of the Qingcheng Sect, who were standing next to the Myriad Lives Monk, walked towards Si-Hyeon.
“Great Heroine. We would like to greet you as a sign of our desire to reconcile with the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
Si-Hyeon also knew that she couldn't cause any trouble. So, she smiled and cupped her fist in return.
The moment her two hands came together, the elder of the Qingcheng Sect and the elder of the Beggar Gang flicked their cupped fists forward, and a number of needles hidden within flew toward Si-Hyeon.
Swish!
While Si-Hyeon was bewildered by their attack, she didn't concern herself with it that much, thinking that there wasn't any need to dodge an attack of that level.
The qi of her Immortal Heavenly Demon Divine Art was triggered by her deepest instincts; the moment she sensed the slightest threat, even unconsciously, it automatically activated to protect her.
Boom!
However, the needles the elders shot weren't any ordinary needles.
Aura Shattering Needles.
They were Absolute-grade hidden weapons, secret weapons that the Sichuan Tang Family had created to deal with Absolute Masters.
The Aura Shattering Needles pierced through Si-Hyeon's defensive aura as if it weren’t even there.
Squelch!
Because she had put her faith in her defensive aura, her reaction was delayed. While the needles didn't hit her heart or head, they lodged themselves into her shoulder.
“Ah...”
Si-Hyeon let out a small groan of pain, while Woo-Moon’s eyes filled with anger.
“Die, you slut!”
The Myriad Lives Monk, who was standing in front of Woo-Moon, and the dozen or so elders behind him, simultaneously rushed Si-Hyeon and threw their own Aura Shattering Needles.
Woosh!
Due to their unique materials and design, the Aura Shattering Needles were able to pierce through aura by spinning at incredible speed. However, Woo-Moon directly jumped in front of Si-Hyeon and unleashed his own aura.
This time, it wasn't just any aura; it was an aura barrier reinforced by a Paragon’s Transcendent Aura.
Ting! Ting, ting!
The spinning needles all bounced off and flew back at the elders.
“What?!”
The elders gasped in surprise as their own needles pierced their bodies.
“Ugh!”
“Agk!!”
Six of the elders who had been hit by the Aura Shattering Needles in their heads and chests died, while the remaining five groaned in pain as the Aura Shattering Needles pierced their shoulders, arms, and legs.
“What. The hell. Do you think. You’re doing,” Woo-Moon spat out, bloodlust as deep as the pits of hell rolling off him.
The members of the Dark Soul Squadron surrounded the elders and drew their weapons, their bloodlust in no way lacking compared to his.
“How dare you attack our lord?!”
“Hand over your heads, you dirty Righteous Faction bastards!”
The members of the Dark Soul Squadron were understandably beyond furious. These elders had tricked Si-Hyeon and ambushed her. As expected, the hypocrites of the Righteous Faction were not to be trusted!
However, Si-Hyeon raised her hand to stop them.
“Don't get involved. Put away your weapons and come behind me.”
“B-but, my lord!”
“Enough. Are you disobeying my orders?”
“No, my lord!”
Woo-Moon, not the Heavenly Demon Cult, had to deal with the elders. That would be the only way to keep whatever little harmony they still had.
Shing~
Woo-Moon slipped his sword out of its scabbard and touched the Myriad Lives Monk’s throat.
“Speak. What made you do something like this?”
The Aura Shattering Needle that had punctured Si-Hyeon's shoulder had already fallen out on its own, and her wound had already healed.
However, the Aura Shattering Needle stuck in the Myriad Lives Monk’s side was still leaking blood—as it turned out, it was hollow, like a straw, and it could not be removed without excruciating pain.
The Myriad Lives Monk glared at Si-Hyeon and the members of the Heavenly Demon Dark Soul Squadron with a murderous gaze.
“Our Abbot lost his life to the devils of the Heavenly Demon Cult. I must avenge him!”
The other elders also shouted.
“The Heavenly Demon Cult killed my junior brother!”
Master, grandmaster, junior brother, junior sister, blood brother, father...
The elders were all in a state of chaos, venting their resentment.
Si-Hyeon’s expression darkened, but Woo-Moon just sneered.
“Alright, and you didn't kill any of them?”
The Myriad Lives Monk tilted his head in confusion, as if he wasn’t exactly sure what Woo-Moon meant.
“Didn't you also kill thousands of Heavenly Demon Cult members during the Great War?”
Then, the Myriad Lives Monk burst into a rage.
“AHAHAHA! Yes, I killed them, so many of them that my hands overflowed with blood! I still feel ecstatic when I think about the time I took the lives of those dirty devils!”
Rage!
The eyes of the Dark Soul Squadron members were filled with bloodlust, and their hands grabbed the hilts of their weapons.
Having had enough of the monk’s tantrum, Woo-Moon imbued his voice with qi, and his words pierced the Myriad Lives Monk’s ears.
“And were those you killed sons of heaven, born from nature itself?”
The Myriad Lives Monk frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“I'm asking if they were all born out of rocks or trees or something. Answer me.”
“Hmph! How could I know the family history of those animals?”
“Well, of course you can’t. But unless you are a complete idiot, you know that they also had a family they were born in. You understand that they were also someone's father, someone's daughter, someone’s master...”
The Myriad Lives Monk frowned, belatedly realizing what Woo-Moon was alluding at.
“So what?! Why would I care about something like that when killing devils? Those bastards attacked and killed our Righteous Faction members! We were just exacting righteous revenge!”
“Oh, really? Do you really remember exactly who attacked first? Were you there for the entire thousand-year blood war between the Heavenly Demon Cult and the Righteous Faction, do you really know who was the first to kill?”
Of course not. By this point, no one knew who had really started it. Considering the length of time they had fought compared to the average human lifespan, this might well be a topic of myths and legends. If one really wanted to discuss who killed whom first, it would only end in a squabble between historians.
“Stop talking nonsense, Song Woo-Moon! What, you just want to do everything your way just because you've had some gains in your cultivation? You’re using your strength as a weapon to intimidate the Righteous Faction and support those dirty devils! You're a traitor to the Righteous Faction, you bastard!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the Myriad Lives Monk spat at Woo-Moon.
“Ah!”
Yeo-Seol, who was watching, screamed in surprise as tears welled up in her eyes.
Bloodlust exploded from Si-Hyeon and Ma-Ra as if they couldn't stand the disrespect anymore.
The Myriad Lives Monk felt the hair over his entire body stand on end. However, he bit his tongue hard enough to almost sever it, forcing himself to pretend to be calm.
Hiss!
The Myriad Lives Monk's saliva on Woo-Moon’s face instantly sublimated to gas, and whatever traces it left were burned to ashes and scattered in the wind.
Slowly, without any emotion, Woo-Moon spoke up.
“See, you are wrong. Just like how some of you have managed to convince themselves, I am not a member of the Righteous Faction to begin with. Even my grandfather wasn't a member of your faction and didn't act according to your ways. You were the ones who decided that he was straddling the line between righteous and evil.”
“Of course! That's right! And just like what we expected, your grandfather took in a dirty witch from the Heavenly Demon Cult as his disciple, and you even protected her and made her your lover. Both you and the Palm Martial Emperor are evils that the Righteous Faction doesn't need!” the Myriad Lives Monk yelled.
He seemed confident that Woo-Moon wouldn't kill him.
The other elders had died because of the rebounding Aura Shattering Needles, so it could be said that it was instinctive self-defense. On the other hand, he thought that Woo-Moon would be reluctant to kill the rest of them now that he had to make a conscious decision to do so.
After all, Woo-Moon still had to reconcile the Righteous Faction and the Heavenly Demon Cult.
That was the monk’s source of confidence, or so Woo-Moon thought. But then, he suddenly understood something. The moment he saw the Myriad Lives Monk look at his sword with madness in his eyes, he realized that was not actually the case. No... these elders were prepared to either assassinate Woo-Moon and Si-Hyeon or die by their hands. And since the assassination had failed, they were now trying to provoke him so he would kill them.
“Oh, I see what’s going on. You never said anything to the Righteous Faction about trying to assassinate Si-Hyeon, right? You just said that you were coming to greet us. And if you were to die here, the Righteous Faction would regard Si-Hyeon and me as enemies. That's the game you’re playing, huh?”
Hearing that, the Myriad Lives Monk and the other elders turned pale. All their intentions had been revealed.
“Shut up, you dirty cultist bastard! I'm just sorry I couldn’t kill your grandfather with my own hands!”
The Palm Martial Emperor Baek Sang-Woon was Woo-Moon’s reverse scale. Well, any mention of his family in general was touching his reverse scale.
However, surprisingly, Woo-Moon didn't show any change in his emotions.
“But you know... even if the entire Righteous Faction fights against me, do you think they stand a chance? No, actually, do you even think they want to fight me? I am inclined to think not.”
It was precisely as Woo-Moon said.
In fact, the last time they met, the leaders of the Righteous Faction were unable to do anything in the face of Woo-Moon's hard stance and just meekly followed his orders.
The elders before him were nothing but a small radical group within the Righteous Faction.
The Myriad Lives Monk snorted.
“Even if our Righteous Faction is completely destroyed, we will never join hands with the Heavenly Demon Cult. All of us will sacrifice our lives under the banner of justice and righteousness!”
“Are you sure? That might just be your stance, and yours alone.”
Woo-Moon had been planning to simply kill them on the spot, but now, he changed his mind.
It wasn't because he was afraid of the Righteous Faction's retaliation. There was nothing to be scared of regarding a faction that couldn't see even an inch ahead and only shouted self-righteously about justice.
It was just that he didn't want things to go the way these elders wanted.
“I'll let you go, then. Do whatever it is you want.”
The Myriad Lives Monk and the elders would never be able to kill Woo-Moon and Si-Hyeon. Forget about them, even Ma-Ra alone could easily dispose of them.
As for the Aura Shattering Needles?
While they could break through normal aura, they wouldn't be able to break through the Transcendent Aura that Paragons could use. And besides, there wasn't any need to fight the elders or their needles anyway. Even those who couldn’t protect themselves with a Transcendent Aura barrier could circumvent the problem by just not being hit.
Currently, there weren't many people in Woo-Moon's party who couldn’t dodge the Aura Shattering Needles thrown by the elders. Namely, Woo-Moon's two disciples, some of the Ten Swords of the North Sea, and some of Ma-Ra's subordinates. And with so few of them, Woo-Moon and Si-Hyeon could easily defend them. It was only because Si-Hyeon hadn't been aware of the unique nature of the Aura Shattering Needles that she was hit once.
Even if they reincarnated and cultivated from scratch, none of these elders would be able to hurt even a single member of Woo-Moon's party in this life or the next.
As soon as Woo-Moon let him go, the Myriad Lives Monk picked up his sword again and swung it at him.
Crack!
The sword shattered and the shards were flung far away.
1. The word used here is di (敵), which literally means “enemy” and in this context refers to those who have no morals and earn a living by doing evil acts. ☜