Chapter 157 - The Black Flame Dragon Quelling the Chaos (2)

'Damn it.'

Why couldn't I foresee this?

To the Underworld, time is more precious than gold.

Before a justification could be established.

Settling this with a swift and decisive battle before stronger experts arrived was the best scenario they could picture.

"Young Master Jin, what should we do? It will still take a long time for the Cangqiong Squad to arrive."

Did Namgung Seonhwa joining us also become a reason for them to rush their timeline?

Because the moment the Namgung Clan intervened, the burden on the Underworld Murim would multiply.

"Everyone, prepare for battle."

After saying that, I immediately stepped on a pavilion of the Yujang Sect and leaped into the sky.

Unleashing the World-Traversing Lone Footwork to soar over ten zhang, the streets of Yueyang came into view at a glance.

I focused my vision and looked toward where the battle cries were ringing out.

"Let's goooo!"

"Kill them all!"

A crowd resembling a swarm of black ants completely filled every alleyway.

They were rushing straight toward the Yujang Sect.

Even at a rough count, their numbers easily exceeded a thousand.

From the very beginning, the Dark Blood Gang had no intention of letting this night pass.

Landing back on the ground, I spoke to my companions and the academy students.

"Disciples of the Taiyi Sect and the two ladies, please take charge of the east. The academy students should go support the west."

"What about you, Young Master Jin?"

"I will face them at the main gate."

"What? What do you..."

"There is no time. Those bastards plan to annihilate the Yujang Sect tonight."

"..."

"Do not get hurt under any circumstances. And if it becomes dangerous..."

I paused for a moment and met the eyes of my companions one by one.

"Come to where I am without delay."

"Yes!"

In the gazes facing me, a resolute determination began to settle in place of anxiety.

"And Geum, Eun, Dong!"

I called out and stopped The Geum-eun-dong Brothers as they were about to rush off, giving them a firm request.

"Show no mercy in your strikes."

"...!"

This was a message directed at everyone, borrowing the words spoken to the Geum-eun-dong Brothers.

Mercy was not needed in the current battle.

"Yes, sir!"

"Eldest Senior Brother, please be careful too!"

After hearing their responses, I immediately moved toward the main gate.

Not only had the Yujang Sect's warriors firmly locked the main gate, but they had also piled up massive pieces of furniture in front of it.

"..."

"..."

Even though the battle was on the verge of starting, no one opened their mouths.

Instead, everyone kept their lips tightly sealed, solely staring at the main gate.

Right then.

THUD.

A massive impact sound rang out against the main gate, as if to jolt everyone awake.

THUD.

Fear rippled across the faces of the Yujang Sect warriors, like ripples forming on a calm lake.

THUD, THUD.

The firmly locked main gate rattled, the wood on the verge of splintering.

CRASH.

Eventually, just as the furniture piled in front of the gate began to slowly be pushed back.

KABOOM!

With a massive explosive sound, the main gate shattered into pieces, and the furniture began to pour down like a bombardment.

"Aaagh!"

"Dodge!"

I spread my inner qi widely, then used the Lotus hand technique of the Flowing Cloud Divine Art to push the sharp wooden splinters to one side.

"It's open!"

"Attack!"

CRUNCH!

Due to the palm energies being indiscriminately unleashed, the gate and furniture were destroyed, and hundreds of people mercilessly cleared away the wooden debris before surging inside.

"Fire!"

The Yujang Sect warriors simultaneously shot their arrows, beginning their attack on the Underworld practitioners entering through the gate.

"These cowardly bastards!"

"Hey! They're shooting arrows, don't push!"

"I said don't push!"

The tangled members of the Dark Blood Gang began to fall one by one before the arrows.

Even so, the Underworld practitioners did not just stand still.

Using the bodies of their fallen comrades as shields, the Underworld practitioners began to counterattack by throwing hidden weapons one by one, and that number could not even be compared to the arrows shot by the Yujang Sect warriors.

SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!

"Gah."

"Dodge...!"

"Hidden weapons!"

Blind blades and hidden weapons flew in, attacking the Yujang Sect warriors.

During that brief falter. The Dark Blood Gang members who had completely destroyed the main gate began to pour into the Yujang Sect.

"Activate the sword array!"

Thirty Yujang Sect warriors formed a sword array.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

The sharp blades blocked the Underworld practitioners' entry like damming a waterway, but the overwhelming numbers of the Underworld were a scale sufficient to swallow that sword array entirely.

"Aaagh!"

"Kuaagh!"

"Save me!"

In every direction, people from both the Dark Blood Gang and the Yujang Sect collapsed while shedding blood, without distinction.

Every time one person fell, the Yujang Sect was pushed back two steps, and every time one person died, the Dark Blood Gang advanced four steps forward.

That wasn't all.

"Ack! What is this trivial garbage!"

"These bastards foolishly set up this kind of...!"

The Dark Blood Gang warriors scaling the wall embedded with broken ceramics irritably began to smash the wall, and their fist and palm power laden with inner qi was more than enough to shatter the earthen wall.

CRASH! RUMBLE!

As the piles of dirt and roof tiles collapsed all at once to create another passageway, the martial artists of the Dark Blood Gang began to pour in from there as well.

I drew up the Taiyi True Scripture with all my might.

In a hopelessly outnumbered battle like this, the enemies would not retreat no matter how much blood they shed.

Because the clearly visible numerical superiority dulled their fear and gave them a blind sense of absolute victory.

"WAAAAAAAH!"

And to shatter their spirit, a much more powerful single strike was needed.

Four of the Ten Thousand Swords floated up into the air.

The Ten Thousand Swords slowly moved and began to scatter the Twin Heaven Sword Art.

"W-What?"

"What is with this massive number of swords?"

"It's a phantom sword! Ignore it!"

Like people intoxicated by poppy seeds, the Dark Blood Gang warriors rushed in wildly, desiring only slaughter.

I then began to coat them with Sword Qi.

At the same time as my Dantian, which held two hundred and forty years' worth of internal energy, felt a sudden sinking sensation, Sword Qi enveloped the true swords and phantom swords generated all around.

VWOOOOM.

Spreading fine vibrations in all directions as if resonating, the swords simultaneously pointed their tips downward.

"Hey... hey! Is, is that really a phantom sword?"

"Ah, this bastard, it's definitely a phantom... Huh?"

"Uh, uhh!"

And they all pierced forward in unison.

STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB, STAB.

STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB-STAB!

"Damn it! Counterattack!"

"Move out of the way, you bastards!"

Against the Sword Qi of the Ten Thousand Swords raining down like a torrential downpour, the Dark Blood Gang warriors swung their own Sword Qi with all their might.

CRASH, CRASH, CRASH, KABOOM.

The clash between Sword Qi and Sword Qi transmitted through the medium of the air, generating explosive shockwaves in all directions.

The Dark Blood Gang members, who had been recklessly charging forward over and over, covered their ears against the pain that felt like their eardrums were tearing.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM!

The surface of the ground flipped over, and shattered bricks were scattered everywhere.

As even the ownerless blades flew out in all directions and lodged into their comrades' stomachs, the Dark Blood Gang's momentum broke.

"W-What the hell is this?"

"There was never any word that the Yujang Sect had an expert like this!"

"Dark Blood Gang! You bastards! You deceived us...!"

It seemed the Dark Blood Gang felt their own numbers weren't enough and had brought in even more people from the outside.

I had a premonition that this battle would absolutely not end easily.

'If that's the case, I need to push forward once more.'

Once again, a massive amount of inner qi vanished from my Dantian, and a heavy vibration hummed in my hands.

RUMBLE. RUMBLE. RUMBLE.

The Radiant Heaven Divine Palm, whose raw destructive power could not be compared to any other palm technique in Jianghu.

VWOOM, VWOOM, VWOOM.

The Radiant Heaven Divine Palm, which had always shown the greatest effectiveness in a one-versus-many battle, revealed itself once more.

KABOOOOOM!!!

A massive palm strike, easily exceeding the size of the main gate, shot out in a straight line, sweeping away the Dark Blood Gang martial artists who were trying to storm into the Yujang Sect.

BA-BA-BA-BANG!!!

It was a massive explosion that couldn't even be compared to the explosion of Sword Qi.

The Dark Blood Gang martial artists tried to flee with all their might, but the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm was far faster than their impromptu evasions.

"Kuaaagh!"

"Aaaaaagh!"

"Keuhugh!"

Thanks to the overturned topsoil, the sand and dust spreading everywhere severely obscured my vision.

When the desperate screams and agonized moans heard through the opaque air began to slowly fade away alongside the settling dust.

What appeared within it were the corpses of dozens of Dark Blood Gang members.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The area, which had been filled with excitement and heat, instantly fell into a chilling silence.

As if the bastards intoxicated by poppies had finally snapped back to their senses, even their rough breathing returned to a steady rhythm.

"Who is it! Just who are you to interfere with the affairs of the Yujang Sect and the Dark Blood Gang!"

With a sharp, grating voice, a man holding a long scythe stepped forward, treading over the corpses.

His face was distorted with rage.

This clearly revealed that everything he had planned had gone awry.

I briefly glanced at the Yujang Sect warriors. Most were severely injured, and there were many who looked unable to fight any longer.

I gave Jang Ujae a subtle signal to move the people back before stepping forward.

"I am Jin Sowoon of the Taiyi Sect."

"Jin Sowoon? You mean the Black Flame Dragon, Jin Sowoon? Why the hell did you stick your nose into this fight?"

"I came to hang out at a friend's house and ended up joining in by chance."

"Do you not know that matters between sects must be resolved between sects? Get the hell out of here at once."

"However, from what I heard, it seems the Dark Blood Gang also dragged in a lot of people from elsewhere."

"Regardless, this is Yueyang's business. It is not a situation for you to interfere in."

"I am the one who judges whether it is my place to interfere or not. More importantly, do you plan to continue?"

The man with the scythe growled lowly.

"Today, the Yujang Sect's name will be erased from Jianghu."

"Right now, there are people not only from the Taiyi Sect here, but also from the Iron Sword Sect and the Namgung Clan."

The man with the scythe forced himself to hide a startled expression.

"If anything happens to them, this will absolutely not end as just Yueyang's business."

"... Do you think the mighty Dark Blood Gang would fear that?"

"Wouldn't it be best to fear it? If the Namgung Clan steps up, the Murim Alliance will soon step up as well, and in that process, it seems the Mount Cangshan Sect—the former masters of Yueyang—will eventually return."

"... I will give you a chance right now, so take your friends and leave this place."

"I have no intention of doing so."

"So you intend to see this through to the end?"

"How about we just leave it here for today?"

"What?"

I looked around the area.

The main gate had already been completely destroyed, and the walls had collapsed significantly.

Within the Yujang Sect, there wasn't a single spot not occupied by Dark Blood Gang members, and it was rare to see anyone unharmed among the Yujang Sect's people.

"Since both sides have already suffered heavy casualties, I am saying we should take time to regroup."

"Hmph, they say the Black Flame Dragon is full of cunning tricks... Did you think you could smoothly slither out of this like a snake over a wall?"

His tone was firm, as if he had absolutely no intention of giving up.

As expected, those bastards planned to completely end this today.

True, if they let today pass, they would have to worry about the future intervention of the Namgung Clan and the Murim Alliance.

"It seems you have a decent trick up your sleeve, but do you really intend to face us by relying on a technique that only works on Third-Rate trash?"

"Whether you do or not is up to you anyway. However, I will say one thing."

"... What is it?"

"If you continue this fight, no matter what happens, I will kill more than half of the people standing here."

"We have already figured out your tri—"

FLARE.

I unleashed the Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand in both hands.

At the flames suddenly blazing from my hands, not only the Dark Blood Gang but also the people of the Yujang Sect looked completely startled.

True, among absolute yang martial arts, there were rarely any techniques that materialized this vividly.

"And I will burn them to death in the most agonizing way possible."

"... You bastard!"

"Just know that up until now, I held back because I was not fully aware of the situation between both sides."

The man froze as if he had lost his words at my threat.

"The Dark Blood Gang's final goal isn't the Yujang Sect, is it?"

I bluffed desperately, with the same feeling as when I used to con the bastards of the Minor Orthodox Unit.

"..."

Surprisingly, whether it worked or not, the man with the scythe couldn't give the order to charge.

"""WAAAAAAAH!"""

Just then, cheers rang out from the east.

Turning my head, warriors in familiar attire were rushing toward us.

"The Cangqiong Squad?"

"Has the Namgung Clan entered the battle?"

"I thought the Murim Alliance's major sects definitely weren't participating...! You lying bastards!"

As the agitation of the Underworld practitioners who had joined the Dark Blood Gang's side worsened, the face of the man with the scythe twisted severely.

The Cangqiong Squad, consisting of a mere hundred members.

While they weren't much of a threat on their own, the Namgung Clan backing them was an opponent burdensome enough to worry about.

I had to ride this momentum and drive the wedge in.

"We have both shed enough blood tonight. So let's end this here."

"..."

At my words, the man with the scythe ground his teeth.

"Jin Sowoon. If we retreat now, you will no longer be able to pull your foot out of this matter."

The man pointed his scythe at me as if taking aim.

"Are you prepared to that extent?"

"..."

"I am asking if you are confident enough to bet your life for the Yujang Sect."

Jang Ujae looked at me and shook his head, as if telling me not to do it.

I ignored Jang Ujae's opinion and simply spoke calmly.

"I am more than willing to bear it."

Jang Ujae clenched his fists tightly with his head bowed.

The man with the scythe glared at me murderously before opening his mouth.

"Everyone, fall back."

"..."

"Fall back! You bastards!"

The Dark Blood Gang warriors began to exit the Yujang Sect one by one.

Behind those retreating like the ebbing tide, only the corpses of the warriors who had fought with their lives on the line for the Yujang Sect remained.

THUD. THUD.

Those who had barely been holding on also slumped to the ground one by one as if collapsing.

They had fought a battle against nearly a thousand enemies and ultimately endured, but no one cheered for it.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Because the people they had been talking to and sharing meals with just four hours ago were no longer breathing.

Because they could not believe that fact.

"Sob..."

A warrior whose left hand had been chopped off during the battle began to shed tears while clutching his dead comrade instead of searching for his severed hand.

"Sob, sob..."

A warrior bleeding from a hidden weapon lodged in his right eye clung to the corpse of a younger man and wailed.

"Aaaaaagh!"

They had survived the hands of the merciless Underworld practitioners, but no one rejoiced at that.

"..."

No one at all.