Chapter 128: Battle for Qinghai (2)
Chapter 128: Battle for Qinghai (2)
The Demonic Army flooded into Qaidam Basin like a tidal wave.
They rushed in relentlessly, shoving the Martial Alliance to the sides.
Of course, they could only enter through the hole in the fortress walls. Not everyone could enter at once, but there were enough of them.
Even now, the main force was entering through the passageway.
And how did the Orthodox respond?
“Aah!”
“My legs -!”
“Ah, help me!”
“My arm! ”
There was no response. The abyss of destruction had unfolded.
Only a few sect leaders were barely standing and giving out orders.
“Fall back! ”
“Fall back! Get into the basin. Stay together or we’ll be surrounded!”
Their expressions were humiliating and disappointing, but they seemed to be aiming for a counterattack.
Despite the situation so far, they seemed to think there was still a chance of reversal.
Perhaps he had read this thought. Sang Gwan-chuk picked up his Blood Pen and ran towards the Orthodox forces.
“I think they have something prepared.”
Woon-seong nodded, agreeing with him. They would not simply flee to the basin just because the fortress had been seized.
Construction of the base had to take into consideration when the walls were breached.
What have they prepared?
Watching the basin with sharp eyes, he told the Strategist, “Have the generals be prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.”
The Strategist bowed his head and added, “I’ll tell them to stay in sight, even if they are fighting.”
When Woon-seong nodded, the Strategist disappeared.
Woon-seong continued to fight.
However, his current method was different from when he first attacked.
At first, Woon-seong’s movements had been quite spectacular. The Divine Flame exploded. He continuously attacked, breaking down the walls.
It was different now.
Quiet and discreet.
It was efficient.
With a flick of his hand, he reached for the neck of a martial artist.
Crack.
Woon-seong snapped his neck.
He then reached out and kicked another in the shin. With another crack, the martial artist with a broken leg screamed.
“Aaahhhh!”
Puchi.
Woon-seong plunged the White Night Spear into his heart.
Keep it short and concise.
He avoided attacks with minimum movement and focused on killing people in one blow.
Woon-seong’s hand swept across three martial artists.
With a crack, their necks were snapped.
A quiet, but terrifying offensive.
There was a reason for Woon-seong’s change.
The use of glamorous movements was to boost morale.
Woon-seong was the Heavenly Demon of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon.
He was the zenith of the 100,000 demonic practitioners and the nightmare of Murim.
The visual effects of his fighting would boost the morale of his allies greatly. On the contrary, the morale of enemy Orthodox martial artists would be greatly reduced.
His first few moves were the cornerstones to building this stage.
All of his actions were computed.
And now?
Even if it was Woon-seong, his dantian was not infinite. It was best to reduce unnecessary energy consumption by keeping his movement to a minimum.
Because of this, he kept concise spear movements instead of brilliant arts.
Of course, they were those who jumped at this opportunity.
“You bastard! ”
“Haha, no matter how many soldiers you command, you’re still just a brat”
“As long as you’re human, you must be tired! ”
Like right now.
Spear, sword, blade. Different weapons aimed at Woon-seong.
And…
Clang-
Their weapons bounced off as they collided with the Black Dragon Robe. It was the power of the evil dragon, which twisted the strongest silk threads in the world into the hide of a dragon.
Those who did not know it were startled.
“Huh!”
“What happened?”
It was then that Woon-seong moved. He reached out and caught one of the swords that bounced back.
Woon-seong tapped on the blade and used Lightning Stitching Art [‘empty-handed blade steal’?].
“Huff!”
The blade spun and slipped out of its master’s hand, sucked into the hands of Woon-seong.
At the same time, the sword swung, along the same movements the White Night Spear would have.
Thwack-
There were the gruesome sounds of flesh and bone being cut, blood splattering.
Fragments of flesh splashed in all directions.
Woon-seong threw the sword in his hand away, feeling nothing.
Fwah—
The lightly thrown sword smashed into a soldier’s head, one who was heading towards the rest of the Demonic Army.
It was so overwhelming that no one could deny his strength.
It wasn’t only Woon-seong who launched a wild offensive against the Orthodox.
Gwan Tae-ryang was like a wild horse racing through the field. With every gallop, the corpses of his enemies would increase.
There was, of course, movement to stop him .
But…
Boom!
With a blast of qi, the soldiers around him flew into the air.
Not only that.
Trunk! Trunk! Trunk!
Gwan Tae-ryang had loosened the iron bracers weighing down his body.
He watched Woon-seong grow in strength by his side and tried to chase after him. It was only natural for him to mimic Woon-seong’s habits.
The iron bracers which sealed his strength were also quite heavy. They were nothing compared to Woon-seong’s, but the moment he threw them off, his body became unbelievably light.
He could understand why Woon-seong was constantly wearing the weights.
Good. Stronger!
Gwan Tae-ryang began to attack even more ferociously.
Behind him, Back Woon-ji flitted through the battlefield.
Baek Woon-ji trained herself in a slightly different way than Gwan Tae-ryang.
Instead of restraining herself with weights, she studied how to best use shadows and hidden weapons.
The basics of those who mastered stealth was how to hide oneself.
To do so, it was important not only to surround oneself with shadows, but also to assimilate with the energy of the environment.
Now, Baek Woon-ji had developed the art of stealth so far that she could hide from even Gwan Tae-ryang’s detection.
Puk-
Baek Woon-ji stepped out of the shadows, wielding her blade and knocking down two Martial Alliance members.
Her blade had also changed to suit her inclination towards assassination and stealth.
From long to short.
Moreover, she had not forgotten to apply black paint to the blade so that it would not reflect light.
Thanks to this, she was like a moving shadow. And wherever there was light and people, there would always be shadows.
Additionally, Gwan Tae-ryang and Baek Woon-ji’s cooperation caused an unexpectedly unreasonable impression.
“Rrrrghhh!”
With how aggressive Gwan Tae-ryang was, Baek Woon-ji’s presence became more and more faint in comparison.
The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.
While the two of them were running wild, the other demons were also rampaging.
Sang Gwan-chuk kept track of the troop’s movements while moving his brush.
His hand suddenly held the Pen of Life and Death, rather than the Blood Pen.
Tuk-tuk-
As he made his mark, the soldiers collapsed.
Most martial artists who used pens as weapons were scholars, since their weapons doubled as writing implements.
That was why Sang Gwan-chuk primarily used the Blood Pen to cut through his enemies, since blood was red as ink. Even the Cult did not know this.
“Watch out for the Blood Pen!”
“Is there anyone here who’s at the Transcendence? They’ll be safe.”
“Who knows blood transference?”
But the Orthodox faction didn’t know.
Sang Gwan-chuk wasn’t limited to using the Blood Pen, nor did he need to take their blood for the Pen of Life and Death to work.
He wielded the Pen of Life and Death.
A thin sword qi flowed out of the pen.
One of the orthodox warriors charged forward. The Strategist turned and snapped his finger in the man’s direction.
It was a small burst of energy.
Blood splattered the floor, dripping from the man’s wounds.
But the martial artist had not fallen.
“Haha, if we practice the method of transferring blood—”
The martial artist grinned, his eyes rolling back.
He had avoided being stabbed, but the Strategist’s sword qi exploded inside of him.
Sang Gwan-chuk clicked his tongue as he watched the falling soldiers.
“Tsk, even if you see me as a Demonic King, how foolish of you to judge me by your skills.”
As he turned his head, he saw five warriors flying forward.
And in the middle of them,
“Kuhahahahaha!”
A fully-recovered Wind Demon Fist King was in a frenzy.
If the fight surrounding Woon-seong and the Strategist could be compared to an abyss, then the fight surrounding Gwan Tae-ryang and the Fist King were more like natural disasters.
Where had the Wind Demon Fist King gotten his name?
He was a walking disaster. With every punch of his, the space around him collapsed. Draconic winds rose, swirling through the air, reminding onlookers of the Wind God.
Hence, the Wind Demon.
And he had become a Demonic Master through his fists.
Thus, the Wind Demon Fist King.
The Wind God was unstoppable, and the Fist King was violent.
Of course, it would take tremendous strength to unleash massive draconic winds.
However, the Fist King did not stop enjoying the fight despite that.
Because of his aggressive nature, he would fight with all of his strength until he died.
And the funny thing was,
“That was quite an attack! ”
If the strength of his enemies was good, he wouldn’t even bother avoiding their attacks. Instead, he would use his own move to counter their attacks.
Clang!
Of course, the Fist King’s skin was hard as iron blades bounced off his body.
The Fist King’s faction was not particularly favored, even in the Demonic Cult.
This was because they followed a path which exposed everything they had to their enemies, taking any decent attack with their steel skin and iron wills.
Though Wind Demon Fist King had a seemingly foolish tactic, there were also quite a few practitioners who liked this aggressive and crude way of fighting.
Of course, those who understood understood, and those who did not understand would never.
The Strategist shook his head.
It was then that someone among the Orthodox started yelling orders.
“Back up some more! Bring them in a little deeper!”
It was clear that something had been prepared.
The movements of the Martial Alliance were also strange. Instead of fighting them, they tried to surround the Demonic Army.
Of course, the encirclement itself was not very strong because there were more demonic practitioners.
However, it was clearly an ominous movement against the Cult. As the strategist, Sang Gwan-chuk needed to know what was going on.
He looked around with his sharp eyes.
He noticed stone towers piled up and down the Qaidam Basin.
Due to the large distances between one stone tower and another, it would be hard to notice a connection unless you were searching for one.
Beneath the towers were several ropes filled with oil.
What’s that?
The Strategist had found what he was looking for and shouted, “There’s a bomb, scatter!”
But before anyone could heed his words, someone from the Orthodox faction yelled, “It’s too late!”
Kuakuakua— Boom!
Crimson flames exploded.
That wasn’t the only thing the Orthodox had prepared.
“Open the Nine Heavens Devouring Array!”