Chapter 181 - Rewriting the Sichuan Blood Tragedy

THWACK. SWISH!

A sharp arrow cleaved through the open sky.

However, let alone reaching its intended destination, it lost its direction and fell weakly to the ground before exploding as it was.

BANG!

The arrowhead shattered and scattered in all four directions, but no one was harmed by it.

"Are you kidding me right now?"

Standing beside him with his arms crossed, Jin Sowoon's voice turned foul.

Moyong Jaehwa, who had fired the arrow, was sweating profusely.

"Let alone two hundred zhang, it didn't even reach a hundred and fifty zhang, you punk!"

It was an incredibly unfair situation for Moyong Jaehwa.

In the first place, an arrow was considered impressive if it even reached a hundred zhang.

But right now, it had flown past a hundred zhang and reached a hundred and twenty.

It was a level that would make even the archery instructor currently taking a break at the academy click his tongue in awe, yet Jin Sowoon was clicking his tongue as if it were nowhere near enough.

"Hyungnim... No matter how you look at it, this is nonsensical. Let alone a hundred and fifty zhang, no archer..."

"So are you saying I'm lying right now?"

"No, that's not it..."

"Ah! Then did I eat some weird drug and hallucinate?"

"... No, Hyungnim, that's not it."

"Or did I hallucinate because I took a medicine I was supposed to take?"

"..."

Jin Sowoon's eyebrows twisted as he made a face full of dissatisfaction.

Of course, he was someone who always kept his word once spoken and had never said anything wrong, but still, wrong was wrong, wasn't it?

'What kind of human shoots an enemy from beyond two hundred zhang...'

Even the great Breaking Sword was not this irrational about the realm of martial arts.

But Jin Sowoon was going beyond irrationality to spout unrealistic stories as if they were perfectly natural, making Moyong Jaehwa feel like he was going crazy.

"T-Then please show me once, Hyungnim."

"I can't show you, though?"

"Pardon?"

"I said I can't show you."

"..."

No, why is he saying that so confidently...?

Sometimes, Geumpyo and Eunho would talk about how they secretly wanted to beat Jin Sowoon to a pulp.

Back then, he couldn't understand why they harbored such disrespectful thoughts toward such a magnificent hyungnim.

... Now he understood.

'Ah, man! Seriously!'

Jin Sowoon shook his head as if he were pathetic and spoke.

"Shoot it again..."

"Um... Could I circulate my internal energy a bit before shooting?"

Jin Sowoon asked with an appalled expression.

"You already used up all that internal energy?"

"... Well, I don't have that much..."

"Didn't you eat the Fire Monkey's core? Yet you lack internal energy?"

"..."

"On top of that, didn't you slack off entirely in the Moyong Noble Clan while eating spiritual elixirs like tonics every chance you got? Yet you lack internal energy?"

"... H-Hyungnim."

"Furthermore, Lord Breaking Sword probably cleansed your marrow when you were young, didn't he? Yet you lack internal energy?"

"..."

Ah... If only he could hit him just once...

Even if he packed his internal energy in with all his might and fired the arrow, flying a distance of a hundred and twenty zhang was his limit.

But Jin Sowoon wasn't satisfied with that.

So he had no choice but to load almost two or three times more internal energy than usual.

No matter how much internal energy one had, there was no one in the world who could endure this method of martial arts execution.

"That person never ate a Fire Monkey's core, but they relentlessly fired off Thunderbolt Arrows at enemies three hundred zhang away. The enemies couldn't even pinpoint that person's location, let alone dare approach them."

"No... I mean, who exactly is that?"

"... Are you rebelling right now?"

As Jin Sowoon glared at Moyong Jaehwa with a foul expression, Moyong Jaehwa quickly tucked his tail and bowed his head.

Moyong Jaehwa couldn't understand why, when it came to scariness, he seemed even scarier than his grandfather, Breaking Sword.

"If you shoot from a distance of a hundred zhang, your firing position will eventually be discovered. If you're quickly discovered, you'll have no choice but to keep changing locations."

Jin Sowoon continued speaking as if reminiscing about the past.

"Then the enemy won't be afraid to face you as a target. They'll just think they only need to send a pursuit team to catch you, and it's over."

"..."

"Are you confident in constantly running away alone in enemy territory like that every time? Especially when the enemy this time is an Iron Jiangshi?"

"... No."

"That is why you must shoot from far away. Moreover, you don't even need to be accurate, do you? It's not a difficulty harder than a normal archer's mission, so why can't you do it?! Is it because you haven't suffered enough yet?"

At this point, Moyong Jaehwa desperately wanted to see Eunho.

'I'm sorry for misunderstanding you all this time...'

Jin Sowoon's mouth didn't rest.

"If you had been able to shoot opponents from two hundred zhang, or even three hundred zhang away, would those blood-robed figures have even dared to think of unleashing the Iron Jiangshi?"

"..."

"You make approaching itself impossible. You cause confusion and make them tremble in fear. What else is divine punishment falling from the sky? What could the enemies possibly do under such divine punishment?"

"... Run away."

"Yes! That's exactly it! You don't need to relentlessly fight one person. Another expert can handle that. What you need to do is deal with the majority. Merely preventing them from approaching means you've succeeded."

By this point, Moyong Jaehwa's competitive spirit was slowly flaring up as well.

Just as Jin Sowoon said, when he had become powerless in front of the Iron Jiangshi, how much had he wished for strength?

Moyong Jaehwa fell into deeper thought than at any other time in his life.

'No matter how much internal energy I pour in, I can't shoot more than a hundred and twenty zhang. Then how am I supposed to shoot two hundred or three hundred zhang like Hyungnim says?'

This was a matter of surpassing the physical limits set by nature.

It was the same principle as humans being unable to fly in the sky or breathe underwater.

Jin Sowoon's calm voice seeped into the ears of Moyong Jaehwa, who had fallen into a state of selflessness.

"Do not set limits. Humans have always broken free from their limits by themselves. A human cannot face a tiger with their own physical abilities alone, nor can they run faster than a deer. They cannot be harder than steel, either. But haven't humans already overcome all of this?"

Humans cannot fly in the sky.

Therefore, they developed movement techniques and flight arts that allowed them to float in the air for a long time.

Humans cannot breathe underwater.

Therefore, they created aquatic techniques that allowed them to endure underwater for a long time.

'I cannot reach it with internal energy... In that case...'

Opening his eyes, Moyong Jaehwa drew the bowstring of his iron bow.

He didn't pull it as forcefully as before, when it felt like the iron bow would break.

He didn't lower the angle of the bow like he did earlier, either.

He merely aimed it high, as if shooting at the sky.

And then.

THWACK. SWISH!

The moment the arrow was fired with a light snapping sound.

BOOM.

An explosion erupted from the back of the arrow, and the arrow disappeared from sight in the blink of an eye.

"..."

Moyong Jaehwa lowered his bow and gathered every last ounce of his visual acuity to find the arrow he had fired.

Fifty zhang...

A hundred zhang...

Even as it passed a hundred and twenty zhang, the arrow's speed showed no signs of slowing down.

A hundred and thirty zhang...

A hundred and fifty zhang...

A hundred and eighty zhang...

Eventually,

Two hundred zhang...

BANG!

The falling arrow exploded with a small popping sound.

It was too far of a distance to clearly hear their screams, but he could see blood-robed figures stumbling out of the tents in pain.

It was a success.

"Ha..."

"See? Isn't it possible?"

Jin Sowoon was looking at Moyong Jaehwa with a triumphant expression.

Moyong Jaehwa marveled more at the man in front of him than the arrow he had just shot.

"Hyungnim!"

"You need to carefully select the explosion range at the moment of firing. That way, the direction won't be skewed."

As he listened, Moyong Jaehwa suddenly sensed something strange.

"... Don't tell me, did you know about this from the very beginning, Hyungnim?"

If internal energy wasn't enough, he used martial arts.

He had placed the power of the Heaven and Earth Breaking Flash Sword, which he originally channeled into the arrowhead, into the tip of the arrowhead as well.

Could it be that Jin Sowoon already knew this absurd method of executing martial arts?

Jin Sowoon's relaxed voice dug into his ears.

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"..."

He was certainly amazing, but looking at that smiling face, he also felt a little wronged.

"Then... if you had just told me sooner..."

He wouldn't have had to suffer through that useless harassment...

Jin Sowoon spoke bluntly, as if asking what nonsense he was talking about.

"If I had done that, you wouldn't have reached enlightenment on your own. Considering that you must develop yourself even when I'm not around in the future, gathering these small experiences will serve as a great foundation for you."

"..."

He was right...

Those were definitely correct words.

They were certainly right, but...

"To even think about your future so you could develop on your own. You're thinking that it's extremely fortunate you met a hyungnim like me, aren't you? Mwahahaha."

"..."

Why did his figure, laughing with his shoulders thrown wide, look so detestable?

He once again understood the hearts of Geumpyo and Eunho, who deeply respected Sowoon yet practiced their sword array to death just because they wanted to land a single hit on him.

He truly, completely understood.

Moyong Jaehwa wondered why his own anger just wouldn't dissipate.

'Eunho... I'm sorry once again.'

Moyong Jaehwa thought that he would have to sincerely apologize to Eunho once they met again.

* * *

The Blood Cult bastards who were attacked by Moyong Jaehwa hurriedly reorganized their forces again and pulled their camp's location further back.

After secretly moving with Moyong Jaehwa and placing their unit within his firing range once more,

I came down the peak alone.

Waiting for the moment the moonlight was obscured by the clouds, when the darkness grew thicker, I stealthily activated the World-Traversing Lone Footwork and slowly approached their camp.

Because they had retreated so urgently, the Blood Cult's camp was incredibly hectic even in the middle of the night.

Even amidst all that, they hadn't lit any fires, likely out of fear of Moyong Jaehwa's arrows.

"Set up the tents quickly!"

"Shields! Bring out all the shields!"

"Assemble the search party! We're finding that bastard!"

Because hundreds of personnel were moving around, their figures were clearly visible even without any fires lit.

I intended to infiltrate their camp before they could establish their guard rotation.

'Huh?'

While secretly approaching the camp, I was blocked by something unexpected.

'What is this?'

The illusion array that had activated when Nam Hwaseong accidentally broke the lantern.

Something similar to that was currently deployed around the camp as well.

Wow, they're annoyingly sharp.

If there was a limitation to Qimen arrays or mechanical arrays, it was the fact that they couldn't be easily moved to another location once installed.

On the other hand, although I didn't know how they did it, it seemed they had converted an illusion array—which an array master would normally have to painstakingly deploy—into this kind of portable Qimen array.

'This... makes me a bit jealous.'

To think they could deploy an illusion array like a Qimen array anywhere.

This meant they could seize a massive advantage in battles or wars.

No, aside from that, considering that the most terrifying time for escort warriors or martial artists enduring a long journey was after they fell asleep, the level of tension would definitely be different depending on whether an illusion array was present or not, even if they kept watch the same way.

'Should I kidnap one of their array masters?'

Having that thought, I soon shook my head.

Right now, I was busy enough just stealing the Blood Sea Jade.

Considering that I'd have to take Moyong Jaehwa and run if things went wrong, delaying even a little bit could ruin everything.

"Still, it's a shame. Once the Murim Alliance launches its subjugation, the Blood Cult's array masters will all be wiped out."

As much of a shame as it was, nothing could be done about it. I quickly discarded my lingering regrets.

I carefully approached the illusion array.

RIPPLE.

Along with that sensation, a chilling feeling dug into my entire body.

Upon stepping inside the illusion array, the voices of the Blood Cult members that I had heard just a moment ago completely vanished.

And then.

The Blood Cult's camp that should have been in front of my eyes was nowhere to be found.

No matter how much I heightened my qi senses, I couldn't feel anything.

If I hadn't actually seen the Blood Cult from afar before coming here, I definitely wouldn't have even thought that they were still remaining in this place.

RIIING.

A moment later, a bizarre demonic sound pierced my head, and I quickly drew upon the Okcheong Heavenly Star Power to protect my Upper Dantian, Middle Dantian, and Lower Dantian.

AWOOO!

ROAAAR!

The cries of wild animals ringing in my ears faded, and the inside of the illusion array became clearly visible.

I moved forward as carefully as possible to avoid touching the Gate of Death.

Eventually, how much time had passed?

"Here! A wounded! There's a wounded man here!"

"Save the array masters first!"

"Has the search party still not found the culprit?!"

"There's no signal yet."

The hectic voices of the Blood Cult members could be heard once again.

'Where is it...'

Hiding my body in the darkness, I looked for a place where the Blood Sea Jade might be amidst the hundreds of Blood Cult members rushing about.

A moment later, a tent identical in appearance to the records I had seen in the archive caught my eye.

A chuckle slipped out before I even realized it.

"There you are. 'My' Red Light Sword."

I executed the Turtle Breath Footwork and hid myself among the people.