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Chapter 42
A surging force boiled within him like an erupting volcano.
The energy that crashed over him like waves—its nature was shockingly familiar to Yang-hwi.
‘Immortal energy. This is... immortal energy.’
Every spiritual medicine and elixir holds its own unique nature.
The Great Elixir Pill of Shaolin and the Taiqing Pill of Wudang both carry not only the distinct temperaments of Buddhism and Taoism but also the purifying essence to expel inner demons.
Millennium Snow Ginseng and Millennium Fire Plum, as their names suggest, grant extreme yin and yang energies respectively.
And the elixir that Yang-hwi had just gulped down—its essence was unmistakably immortal energy.
The immortal qi radiating from the elixir merged with the flowing Heavenly Energy within him, blending perfectly, becoming one.
‘So that’s why the Immortal Pill seemed like it wanted the elixir... Wait—damn it!’
Clang!
He blocked the first assassin’s strike.
As expected from an assassin, the weapon was less of a sword and more like a sharpened iron skewer—one of those slim Chivalrous
swords.
Their blades met in a metallic clash. Using the principle of Harmony and Redirection, he parried it.
Shhhk!
With swift, efficient swordwork, Yang-hwi severed more than half the assassin’s neck.
Dodging the collapsing, blood-gurgling body, he yanked the Chivalrous sword from his hand and hurled it.
“Aargh!”
The sword pierced the heart of the second assassin just as he charged in.
It bought him a brief moment to gather his thoughts.
‘First things first—let’s destroy every one of these bastards.’
It had been impossible earlier due to the overwhelming numbers and their superior skills.
‘But with all this energy coursing through me, taking them down is easier than eating rice cakes lying down.’
—Gu-Hyung, just take care of that bastard Master!—
With a mental transmission, he spread the swirling Heavenly Energy through every inch of his body.
He was still young. Lacking in muscle, in training, and with barely a thread of internal energy to speak of.
Even with all his memories and insights from before regression, his martial ability was still stuck at a third-rate level.
But—
‘If you have enough internal energy, most of your shortcomings can be covered up!’
He launched into the Thousand Vessel Step.
He couldn’t contain a “thousand” in a single step just yet, but ten—no, even more than that—were within reach.
As Yang-hwi closed the distance in an instant, the assassin at the front lunged with his Chivalrous sword.
Shhk!
Just a hair’s breadth off—an impossibly efficient movement allowed Yang-hwi to dodge the strike and drive his blade right through the assassin’s throat.
“He may have taken the elixir, but he’s still just a brat! Surround him and kill him in one go!”
Don’t these idiots know the martial saying—Beware women, the elderly, and children?
Assassins closed in from all directions—every angle of the Six Harmonies except top and bottom—stabbing at him with their thin iron swords.
“Underestimate a kid and you’ll all die like dogs, you bastards!”
In Yang-hwi’s vision, a line formed, connecting their attacks into one clear trajectory.
Fifth stance of the Heaven-Shrouding 108 Sword.
Scattered Hawk Feathers,
With a single sword stroke, he deflected the incoming swords from both sides and the front.
Spinning with the momentum, he caught the sword from behind with his bare hand.
Even though the sword was little more than an iron skewer, its edge was still sharp.
Ordinarily, grabbing it barehanded would slice through his fingers—but his hand, now brimming with Heavenly Energy, withstood the deadly aura.
“Die, you bastard.”
As Yang-hwi yanked the sword gripped in his hand, the assassin’s body was dragged forward.
Without hesitation, Yang-hwi drove the blade straight into the assassin’s forehead.
‘One down.’
From three directions—every side except his rear—he saw more assassins preparing for the second wave of attacks.
He hurled the stolen sword and killed the one in front. Of the remaining two, he dodged the left one’s attack first.
“Urgh!”
Failure to strike meant death. The left assassin’s head flew clean off.
Unfazed by his comrade’s death, the right-side assassin aimed for an opening in Yang-hwi’s guard.
The distance and speed were too close to avoid—ordinarily.
But the sheer amount of Heavenly Energy running through him made the impossible possible.
Shhkk!
Exhaling his qi forcefully, he bent his waist at a perfect right angle.
Dodging the unavoidable strike, he cleaved off the assassin’s legs while still crouched low.
“Gaaaah! Hrk!”
“Hurts, doesn’t it?”
“It... hurts. I’m scared. Please, spare m—urk!”
The assassin who had been screaming in pain turned into a corpse a moment later, slain by Yang-hwi. That’s when a strange thought struck him.
“Scared?”
All the assassins from Nameless Killing Valley were known to have mastered the Emptiness technique.
They were essentially emotionless killing machines, incapable of fear or empathy.
Yet the man he just killed had clearly experienced fear.
‘Could it be… the effect of the elixir?’
The assassins seemed just as confused. A question flew his way.
“You brat. How did you break the Emptiness technique?”
He didn’t know the exact reason himself, but Yang-hwi responded with feigned ease.
“You curious? Then come stick your neck out. I’ll show you.”
“……”
“It truly is strange. Not only surviving after ingesting an elixir, but moving normally too…”
The assassin’s suspicion was justified.
When consuming a spiritual medicine, one must begin circulating their qi immediately.
If not, the explosive surge of energy could cause the body to rupture from within.
‘If the elixir’s qi hadn’t naturally harmonized with my Heavenly Energy… I’d be a dead man.’
On top of that, internalizing the Insight of Life from Stillness in the Five Trials of Proper Sound had been a godsend.
Without it, he would never have displayed this level of martial ability.
“Exceptional talent turns the impossible into possible, you mediocre bastard.”
“So it is the elixir’s power. We should kill you fast, split your belly open, and drain your blood.”
“It’s not the elixir, it’s raw talent. Now shut up and come at me. I’ll kill every last one of you.”
“…Eight-Segment Convergence.”
The assassin furthest in the back issued a command, and eight assassins charged at Yang-hwi in unison.
Their spacing was so tight, they could almost touch the shoulders of the one in front.
A linear formation—executing a rapid strike.
Just from the formation alone, Yang-hwi saw through their tactic.
Eight-Segment Convergence.
Literally, an eighth of a segment each.
Just hearing the name was enough to understand the strategy.
Eight attackers striking consecutively with one-eighth of a second’s spacing.
A suicide attack formation—used by weaker opponents to take down a master through sheer numbers.
‘As expected of these assassin bastards. They have no concept of preserving their lives. You really think I don’t see through your tricks?’
Wuuuuung!
His sword trembled, emitting a buzzing sound like a bee’s wings.
As the assassins surged forward in single-file, he blocked the first attacker’s strike and slashed his throat.
Before the first even hit the ground, the second assassin’s blade aimed straight for his forehead.
He twisted his neck, dodging it, and returned the favor with a stab right into the assassin’s forehead.
The third assassin lunged in before even fully drawing his sword, aiming for Yang-hwi’s heart.
Before he could regroup or defend, the next strike was already incoming.
This—this was what made Eight-Segment Convergence so terrifying.
‘But once you know the counter… you’re all just walking corpses, bastards!’
He twisted his body and flung himself backward, dodging the strike aimed for his heart.
A fatal technique where a group of low-tier fighters could kill a master?
Sure, it’s effective—if the master stays in place and trades blow for blow.
But what, do they think their target is a moron? That he’d just stand there?
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
Yang-hwi stepped back using footwork, widening the distance. And with every step, gaps began to appear in the rhythm of the
Eight-Segment Convergence formation.
He was forcibly extending the attack intervals by increasing the space between them.
That—that was the proper way to break the suicidal formation used by assassins like this.
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
After slaughtering all eight assassins, Yang-hwi gave his sword a flick, spraying blood onto the ground.
“Well, now what? You came after a ‘brat’ and couldn’t even scratch me—and half your numbers are gone?”
“……”
Thanks to mastering the Emptiness technique, their eyes showed no trace of fear.
Even if immortal energy could theoretically disrupt the Emptiness technique, based on what he’d seen, the technique didn’t break unless they were seriously wounded.
Still, maybe their logical reasoning was intact, because they’d finally stopped attacking—at least for now.
Not that Yang-hwi had any intention of waiting.
“This time, it’s my turn, you bastards!”
First stance of the Heaven-Shrouding 108 Sword.
Feather Shot Pierces Stone.
His sword thrust forward with the momentum of a feather piercing stone.
It shattered the assassin’s short sword and plunged directly into his solar plexus.
“Gah?! It hurts! It hurts—it hurts so bad!!”
Yang-hwi ignored the whimpering man’s cries like those of a child and locked eyes on the next target.
He stepped forward with a force that felt like he was leaping dozens of meters in a single stride.
Then, he slammed into the staggering assassin’s body with his shoulder.
Shhk! Shhk! Shhk!
Even though they used their fallen comrade as a shield, the other assassins stabbed through the corpse without hesitation.
The sound of cold steel piercing flesh rang out clearly.
Before they could retrieve their swords, Yang-hwi pressed the corpse downward, creating a gap—then swung.
“Don’t you bastards have any sense of camaraderie?!”
Fifth stance of the Heaven-Shrouding 108 Sword.
Scattered Hawk Feathers.
Fourth variation, Second variation, Fifth variation, Sixth variation.
He activated Steps of Heaven’s Will , flowing through the forms in sequence.
Each movement matched a step—his sword danced with dazzling brilliance.
Each stroke was as sharp and deadly as a hawk’s talons.
The sword techniques linked together in fluid choreography, sweeping across every direction.
“Huff. Only two left now?”
From that swarm of assassins, only two remained—plus Master.
In a way, it was a relief they had trained inthe Emptiness technique.
Otherwise, they would have run off in fear long ago.
“Come on then. Who wants to die first?”
“……”
“……”
The two remaining assassins exchanged glances—then simultaneously turned and bolted in opposite directions.
Ah. So even without emotions, the desire to live was the same.
‘Makes sense. Emotionless doesn’t mean mindless.’
But it’s too late for that now, bastards.
He poured the churning qi still boiling inside him—like an active volcano—into his sword.
Lifting one leg, he slammed it down with force, channeling internal power into his throw.
Wuuuuung!
“Aaaargh!”
The sword flew with overwhelming speed and force—too fast to dodge.
It pierced straight through one assassin’s back, pinning him to the ground.
As he collapsed, Yang-hwi twisted and leaped in the opposite direction.
‘One of them? I don’t even need a sword for that.’
Even though quite a bit of distance had grown between them by now…
It still wasn’t enough to shake off Yang-hwi, whose body overflowed with the explosive energy of an active volcano, now imbued with the power of the elixir.
“Trying to run away now? How annoying.”
He slammed his foot into the ground and drove his knee forward with force.
With a single, clean strike, the last assassin’s spine snapped—and he dropped dead on the spot.
“Whew. That was close.”
It wasn’t exactly the kind of thing someone should say after killing over a dozen elite assassins, but…
Yang-hwi genuinely felt a flood of relief from his near-death experience.
No matter how strong his instincts had felt at the time, swallowing the elixir had been nothing short of a gamble.
It had worked out, but if it hadn’t… he’d have died without a trace.
‘Now all that’s left is to kill that bastard Master.’
Without wasting time, Yang-hwi launched himself toward the Yu Clan.
In the distance, he could see Gu-Ak still locked in fierce combat with the Nameless Killing Valley Master.
Cha-chang! Cha-cha-cha-chang!
Unlike before, there was clear desperation in Master’s sword strikes.
The dynamic had flipped—whenever Master tried to retreat, Gu-Ak would give chase and press his attack.
“Gu-Hyung! I’ll assist you!”
“Wahaha! You’re just in time!”
Right then, the Nameless Killing Valley Master shouted,
“You call yourselves righteous warriors, and yet you resort to ganging up like cowards?!”
“Yup!”
“…….”
“A demonic assassin like you talking about cowardice? That’s rich.”
Within moments, they subdued Master and forced him to his knees.
“Phew… Thought I was gonna die, but this worked out better than expected. Junior brother, what’s up with that martial skill of yours?”
Instead of answering, Yang-hwi said something else.
“Gu-Hyung. Press down on this bastard’s pressure point and guard me for a bit.”
This was why one had to meditate and circulate their qi the moment after taking an elixir.
Only then could the elixir’s energy be fully absorbed into the dantian—the body’s core energy center.
‘Looking back, it’s a shame. If it weren’t for those bastards, I would’ve started meditating right away.’
Yang-hwi sat down cross-legged immediately.
He’d taken an elixir for the first time in his life—he wasn’t about to waste it.
He had to store as much of it in his dantian as possible.
‘Not a single drop will go unused—I’ll convert it all into inner power!’
And so, Yang-hwi began the most desperate meditation of both his past and present lives.
Then… something clicked.
‘Wait... What is this...?’
He had fought a whole battle without ever entering meditation after consuming the elixir.
Yes, it had been to survive, but technically, it was no different than pouring the elixir straight into the dirt.
Yet now—at this very moment—
The immortal qi that had spread throughout his body was gathering, flowing gently into his dantian… completely and without loss.
---The End Of The Chapter---
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