Chapter 163 - The Black Flame Dragon Quelling the Chaos (8)

The area around the Yujang Sect, which had been quiet for the past three days, was full of commotion.

Every Underworld member in Yueyang who claimed to know how to use a blade had flocked over, and because of that, there was no room to step anywhere inside or outside the Yujang Sect.

Among them were guys fighting over who claimed a spot on the wall first, guys setting up gambling dens in the middle of it all, and guys who had brought alcohol and snacks while waiting for the sparring match to begin.

All sorts of strange folks had gathered.

Of course, a few sects from the Orthodox faction were also observing, but the difference in numbers was so great that they couldn't easily stand proud.

"You Orthodox faction trash, step back!"

"Hey! Your sect is next after the Yujang Sect. You know that, right?"

"The Murim Alliance doesn't care about the likes of you! Don't even think about getting help!"

The decisive sparring match hadn't even begun yet, but the heat was gradually rising, and just as the crowd's murmuring reached its peak...

"They're here!"

With one man's shout, everyone's gaze in the area turned backward.

Like the parting of a sea, the dense crowd stepped aside, opening a path to the already broken main gate of the Yujang Sect.

"So cool! Dark Blood Gang!"

"Show them what you're made of!"

"Let's take this chance to kick all the Orthodox faction out of Yueyang!"

Behind the Vice Gang Leader of the Dark Blood Gang... no, So Gyeongchu, who had now become the Gang Leader following the previous Gang Leader's death, assault captain Sang-gwan Baek, Sword Evil, Snake Evil, and the warriors of the Dark Blood Gang crossed the broken main gate of the Yujang Sect without hesitation.

Passing through the Yujang Sect's Grand Equestrian Ground, the Dark Blood Gang members stood on the grand training ground and looked straight ahead.

The Yujang Sect warriors, the people from the Murim Academy, and Jin Sowoon's group, who had been standing at the pavilion entrance, slowly stepped to the opposite side of the Dark Blood Gang.

When even the loud chatterers fell silent, a strange tension swept through the area.

Eventually, Dang Hyeokjae, standing on one side of the training ground with the Murim Alliance members, shouted out.

"We will begin the decisive sparring match."

"Waaaahhhh!"

As expected of Underworld bastards who loved watching a fight, a roar of cheers erupted loud enough to blow the Yujang Sect away.

So Gyeongchu frowned as he scanned the Yujang Sect camp.

"Where did that arrogant bastard go?"

At So Gyeongchu's words, Sword Evil also stepped forward.

"Target. Not here. Bring Target."

Dang Hyeokjae answered instead.

"Jin Sowoon is currently getting ready and coming out."

"Ha! Did he look down on our Dark Blood Gang that much?!"

At So Gyeongchu's booming shout, even the commotion in the area died down.

Dang Hyeokjae spoke with a calm expression.

"... You all came early in the first place."

"..."

"Why are you Underworld bastards keeping appointments so strictly? Tsk."

He muttered it to himself, but it was heard clearly by the Underworld members all around.

People were grinding their teeth and spewing out murderous intent from all over, but Dang Hyeokjae ignored them, picking his ear with his pinky finger.

Eventually, the sound of footsteps came from the pavilion, and everyone's gaze gathered in one spot.

"No... my god..."

"What the? What's with that state?"

"Is that really the Black Flame Dragon?"

The gathered crowd began to panic and look bewildered.

The Black Flame Dragon was coming out of the pavilion, supported by Namgung Seonhwa.

He was just skin and bones, looking as if he would draw his last breath at any moment.

It had only been three days, but he had changed so much that one would wonder if he was truly the same person they saw three days ago.

"Target, condition is weird."

At Sword Evil's words, So Gyeongchu let out a smirk.

"I can tell without even looking."

A bloodless face, deeply hollowed eyes, blood vessels all over his body bulging as if they would burst, and at the same time, severely emaciated flesh.

"He has fallen into qi deviation."

"Qi deviation?"

"He must have failed while trying to develop some new move over the three days. Sword Evil, you'll be saved some trouble."

"..."

Jin Sowoon, who had appeared supported by Namgung Seonhwa's hands, slumped into a chair brought out by the Yujang Sect group.

At that, a loud burst of laughter erupted from among the Underworld members.

"Hey! Black Flame Dragon! That's the Orthodox faction's seat! Wake up, you bastard!"

"Hey! You belong on this side~!"

"The Four Emperors Peak Master says hello!"

The slumped Jin Sowoon slowly lifted his head toward the direction of the voices.

"..."

And then he slowly raised both arms and made an obscene gesture.

Even then, seeing how slow his movements were, some in the Underworld camp grabbed their bellies and fell over laughing.

So Gyeongchu stepped up onto the grand training ground.

"... He doesn't look to be in good shape, but is he still participating?"

At So Gyeongchu's question, the Yujang Sect Leader looked at Jin Sowoon, who nodded.

"That is right. He plans to go ahead with it."

"To think that the only person you're relying on is a wooden dummy like that. It's only natural that the Yujang Sect is doomed!"

"..."

Finishing his words, So Gyeongchu stepped down from the training ground, and as a man holding a sickle stepped up next, Jang Ujae also came forward from the Yujang Sect side.

"If you want to resent my cruel methods, then resent Jin Sowoon."

At the sickle-wielding man's words, Jang Ujae looked at Jin Sowoon.

How shocked he had been when he heard that the man who told him not to use the Exploding Blood Pill had ended up in that state after making a reckless attempt for the sake of the Yujang Sect.

He always exceeded expectations, sacrificing and enduring.

Jang Ujae stared intensely at the sickle-wielding man again.

"Even if I die today, that will not happen."

When Jang Ujae took the starting stance of the Flying Stream Sword Technique, the sickle-wielding man also took his starting stance.

"Begin!"

At the same time as Dang Hyeokjae's shout, the two of them shot toward each other like arrows.

The first to draw a weapon was the sickle.

Utilizing a short trajectory, he drew a cross (十) shape in the air, and then struck with the sickle, aiming for five dead acupoints.

At the sharp attack, Jang Ujae, who had been executing the Flying Stream Sword Technique, hastily pulled back his sword and blocked the attacks aimed at his dead acupoints.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG.

Originally, the attack form of a weapon like a sickle was very unfamiliar, so even someone with a fair amount of experience would find it overwhelming to block, yet Jang Ujae defended against the sickle's attacks quite skillfully.

"Now it's my turn!"

Using the absorption formula of the Flying Stream Sword Technique to pull the sickle and shake his opponent's balance, Jang Ujae immediately attacked the sickle-wielding man, aiming for three vital acupoints.

The man tried to quickly dodge the attack, but against the unprecedented pulling force, he had no choice but to take a wound on his arm.

"Tch!"

Glancing at the wound once, the man even drew the medium-length saber tied to his waist.

"Now it begins."

The moment he drew the medium-length saber, which was only half the length of a normal sword, the man's aura completely changed.

GULP.

Jang Ujae unknowingly swallowed dryly.

Just then.

["The sickle is a tool meant to draw attention in the first place. Focus on the medium-length saber."]

A sudden sound transmission.

When he met eyes with Jin Sowoon, the latter nodded.

Jang Ujae gritted his teeth again and moved first this time.

"Uwaaaah!"

Along with the Returning Wind Flying Stream Form, wind began to rise around him, and riding that wind, Jang Ujae's sword began to constrict the sickle-wielding man.

"Did you think you could do something with a parlor trick like this!"

The man's sickle dizzyingly grazed Jang Ujae's face.

An attack that a normal person would have more than easily avoided.

However, recalling Jin Sowoon's words, Jang Ujae swung his sword to the very end, aiming not for the sickle but the medium-length saber.

"Kuaaaagh!"

A long laceration was left on the cheek of Jang Ujae, who hunched over while screaming.

After retrieving the sickle, the man viciously swung it three more times.

A ruthless attack to the point where afterimages of qi were left in the air.

However, even while dripping blood, Jang Ujae raised his body again and attacked the man's left hand with the Flying Stream Sword Technique until the very end.

STAB, STAB, STAB.

Along with the sound of flesh being pierced, blood poured like a fountain from Jang Ujae's abdomen, thigh, and left arm.

However, the scream actually came from the sickle-wielding man.

"Kuaaagh! My hand!!!"

The hand that had been holding the medium-length saber was entirely severed.

He looked at his empty left arm with an expression of disbelief.

With both of them collapsed on the ground, it was a situation where it was unknown who had won.

So Gyeongchu looked at Dang Hyeokjae and asked.

"Who won?"

"..."

Dang Hyeokjae tapped Jang Ujae's cheek to check his consciousness and then said.

"The Dark Blood Gang wins!"

At Dang Hyeokjae's ruling, a sound of cheering rang out briefly from the Dark Blood Gang.

The Yujang Sect people moved Jang Ujae and began emergency treatment, and Jang Sagyeong, who had stepped onto the training ground, watched the sight intently.

"..."

"Does the Yujang Sect hold enough value to endure even while driving your own child to the brink of life and death?"

When Jang Sagyeong turned his head, So Gyeongchu, who had stepped onto the training ground, continued speaking.

"Didn't he spare his life thanks to the Black Flame Dragon's wit? You could have just matched him with a moderate opponent and then forfeited."

"Vice Gang Leader... no, I suppose I should call you Gang Leader now."

Jang Sagyeong slowly drew his sword.

"Do you know why even the most prosperous Underworld sects cannot last more than a hundred years?"

"..."

Jang Sagyeong's eyes flashed.

"It is because they lack conviction."

"... Words typical of an ink-stained Orthodox faction bastard."

Unbothered, Jang Sagyeong looked around and said.

"No, this is truly important. Without a powerful conviction to build a sect and a family, it is nothing more than a group of thugs."

"Then it will be proven today. The fact that even with conviction, the weak will die in the end."

"Perhaps so. If you return out of here alive, think about what spirit forms the pillar of the Dark Blood Gang."

"What a trick, trying to test me with wicked words."

So Gyeongchu raised his great saber and prepared his starting stance.

Just like Jang Ujae, Jang Sagyeong completed his preparations by taking the starting stance of the Flying Stream Sword Technique.

SWISH.

Dang Hyeokjae hadn't even said to begin, but the two of them simultaneously unleashed qi at each other.

BOOM.

The moment Sword Qi and saber qi exploded in the air, and the sand dust spread out on the training ground floor thickly blossomed.

The two of them, without either taking the lead, entered the thick dust and continued their sparring match.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!

CRASH! BOOM! BANG!

The sound of metal clashing against metal.

The sound of qi exploding against qi.

The thickly piled dust scattered in all directions, obscuring people's vision.

"Ptooey!"

"What, the Yujang Sect Leader was this good?"

"Then why did they get beaten up so one-sidedly all this time?"

People's questions were soon answered after the sand and dust all cleared.

A martial artist's use of internal qi is originally meant to be utilized in the most efficient way.

Only on the fists for a fist-fighter, only on the sword for a swordsman.

However, right now, Jang Sagyeong had qi wrapped not only around his sword but his entire body.

"He's using innate true qi?"

"Isn't it a lost fight anyway? Why go that far...?"

"He's making quite the desperate struggle, a desperate struggle."

Mockery from the Underworld members erupted from all directions.

The people of the Yujang Sect were just as surprised to see that sight.

"Sect Leader!"

"Father!!!"

They were horrified and called out to Jang Sagyeong at the top of their lungs, but Jang Sagyeong only looked at So Gyeongchu in front of him.

"... Do you intend to go down together?"

At So Gyeongchu's question through gritted teeth, Jang Sagyeong replied rather leisurely.

"Are you afraid?"

"Did you think you could close the gap between us with this sort of petty trick!"

"Are you afraid of death?"

"You bastard!"

So Gyeongchu's Demonic Steel Blood Calamity Saber roared as it explosively shot out saber qi.

Eight streams of saber qi stretching out in all directions crashed wildly into the training ground and pavilions, exploding.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Amidst that immense destructive power, Jang Sagyeong quietly swung the Flying Stream Sword Technique to deflect the saber qi and block the debris.

"Do you know why you are afraid of death?"

"What?"

"It is because you have left nothing behind."

"What bullshit is that!"

Jang Sagyeong briefly turned his gaze and looked at Jang Ujae.

The boy, who had been unconscious just a moment ago, was looking at him with a pale complexion.

It was a face full of fear, but he was clearly and vividly looking at him.

"That is why conviction... spirit... is important. Because even when death approaches, there is something that remains."

"Right, I'll grant you a death you won't fear so much!"

So Gyeongchu's great saber heated up bright red.

And above the great saber, bright red saber force measuring two cheok bloomed.

"Blood Calamity World Reign!"

As So Gyeongchu swung down the saber force, the saber force split into eight and shot toward Jang Sagyeong, tearing wildly through the blue steel stone of the training ground.

"Of course. I am not afraid."

Following that, the amount of qi wrapping around Jang Sagyeong increased even more.

The people of the Yujang Sect called out to him in terror, but he no longer looked back.

"Returning Wind Flying Stream!"

Centered around Jang Sagyeong, a wind of qi began to wrap around him.

He immediately shot forward, blooming Sword Force measuring one cheok at the tip of his sword.

CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!

The floor of the training ground was overturned, and mounds of dirt were pushed away like waves.

BAM-BAM-BAM!

"D-Dodge!"

"Gravel is flying!"

As smoke and sand rode the astral qi and swept in all directions, the Underworld members who had been watching leisurely retreated in terror.

"Flying Stream Control!"

Along with Jang Sagyeong's shout, a massive roar struck their eardrums once more.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

And at some point, the roars abruptly ceased.

A brief moment of silence.

"W-What happened?"

"Who won?"

Those who had turned their heads away could not close their mouths at the sight spread out on the training ground.

"... My god."

"What in the..."

The great saber that was the beloved weapon of So Gyeongchu, the second-in-command of the Dark Blood Gang, which had been stained with the blood of hundreds of people, was snapped in two.

And Jang Sagyeong's sword was accurately piercing So Gyeongchu's heart.

"D-Damn it..."

With a thudding sound, So Gyeongchu fell backward and moved no more.

THUD.

Following that, the Yujang Sect people flocked around Jang Sagyeong, who fell to his knees on the ground as if he had exhausted all his fuel.

"Sect Leader!"

"Sect Leader!"

At that moment, a person wearing clothing mixed with black and white pushed through the crowd of Yujang Sect people and stepped forward.

He immediately took Jang Sagyeong's pulse, popped a pill into his mouth, and then inserted a dozen needles into him.

"Gasp!"

Jang Sagyeong, who had been completely motionless like burnt ash just a moment ago, snapped his eyes open.

"Do not move."

"W-Who are you?"

"I am from the Tang Clan."

"Is that so?"

"... Why did you push yourself so hard?"

The man taking Jang Sagyeong's pulse shook his head.

"I am sorry, but this merely bought you a little time."

Jang Sagyeong slowly nodded.

"... Thank you. That is enough."

Jang Sagyeong stood up from his spot with his own strength.

Shaking off the hands of those who tried to support him, he walked to his own seat.

Eventually, the moment Jin Sowoon stepped onto the training ground with Namgung Seonhwa's support, the two briefly faced each other.

Jang Sagyeong murmured as if exhaling a breath.

"Please... make an effort... so the Yujang Sect can... carry on its conviction."

Jin Sowoon grinned with his dry lips and slowly looked around.

"Sect Leader, you have already ensured that the Yujang Sect's conviction will break before it bends."

Following Jin Sowoon's gaze, Jang Sagyeong saw the eyes of the Yujang Sect, which were shedding tears but exuding an intense aura.

They were incredibly firm gazes.

Jang Sagyeong smiled with satisfaction.

"I see. I should have done this sooner. I should have stood tall on my own, without leaning on anyone."

As Jang Sagyeong stepped down from the training ground with the Yujang Sect members, Jin Sowoon also slipped out of Namgung Seonhwa's hands and slowly walked to the center of the training ground.

Staggering every few steps, Jin Sowoon eventually arrived at the center of the training ground and looked at Sword Evil.

"Come up. Shouldn't we see the end of this decisive battle?"

"..."

But for some reason, Sword Evil was just staring blankly at Jin Sowoon, not moving an inch.

"Sword Evil! Are you scared of a kid? Why aren't you moving!"

At Axe Evil's gruff voice, Sword Evil shook his head as if in response.

"Target, strange. Different from three days ago. I won't do it."

As Sword Evil displayed bizarre behavior like a puppy that had encountered a tiger, Axe Evil looked at Snake Evil and spat out a curse.

"Fuck, your puppy is trembling in fear. What are you going to do?"

"..."

Snake Evil briefly looked at Sword Evil before spitting out a curse as well.

"Crazy bastard! He says he doesn't want to, so what am I supposed to do? Then you go out there, you punk."

"Hmph! Stupid bastards. I should have expected as much from you guys."

Axe Evil roughly kicked off his seat, soaring high before landing on the training ground with a thud.

"Kid, you don't mind if I face you, right?"

Jin Sowoon looked at the Dark Blood Gang and asked.

"As long as your side acknowledges it..."

At Jin Sowoon's question, a brief commotion arose within the Dark Blood Gang.

With the Gang Leader and Vice Gang Leader suddenly dying, the decision-maker had vanished.

A moment later, a man appeared and nodded.

"Kid, the stage is like this, so is it okay? You don't even look like you can walk properly."

"It does not matter. I do not plan on moving my feet anyway."

"I heard the Black Flame Dragon's mind was going back and forth, and I guess it was true."

Jin Sowoon nodded for some reason.

"... These days, I also often suspect that it might be true."

"Crazy bastard."

Axe Evil began to swing his great axe around.

Then, green qi began to gather on his great axe, and he quickly rushed at Jin Sowoon with an agile movement unbefitting his large build.

The moment he swung his log-like arms, intending to cut Jin Sowoon's waist in half with a single strike.

CLICK.

SWISH!

Bizarrely, Axe Evil's great axe was ultimately never swung.

Axe Evil walked a few steps past Jin Sowoon and then began to touch his neck area with blank eyes.

"What... in the..."

At that moment, a thin line appeared on his neck, and blood began to pour out, before his massive body and head snapped apart and rolled onto the floor.

"..."

"..."

"..."

At the shocking sight, not a single sound of breathing could be heard even with thousands of people gathered.

Then, Sword Evil violently trembled as he grabbed Snake Evil and spoke.

"S-Sword Demon... It's the Sword Demon! The Sword Demon! We have to run away!"