CRS Chapter 39
by BlossomTLThere was an incident that recently shook the martial arts world.
It was none other than the death of Woo Jung-do, the Sea Sword[1], one of the Twenty-four Martial Arts Masters. He had come to the Central Plains to avenge his disciple and was searching frantically for traces of the Blood Cult.
However, the Blood Demon he had been searching for came directly before him.
And the martial artists of the Hainan Sect were annihilated.
Except for one person, that is.
The Blood Demon didn’t try to hide this fact.
Rather, by deliberately sparing one person, he warned the entire world.
‘My martial prowess has surpassed your heavens, so tremble in fear and prepare for the new era,’ he said.
And upon receiving this news, the Martial Alliance was in utter chaos.
They never imagined that the leader of the Blood Cult would enter the Transformation Realm.
The Martial Alliance immediately sent a message to the Imperial Palace and hurriedly formed a new strike team consisting of the Sword Saint Namgoong Yong, the Fist King Peng Ji-yeol, and the Eighteen Arhats of Shaolin, sending them to the Imperial Palace.
They judged that those already dispatched could not possibly handle his martial prowess.
They could only desperately hope that everyone would be safe until they arrived.
***
A group of people was stretched out in a long line, crossing a mountain path.
At the very front, a quite young man was advancing on horseback, and the horse he rode was clearly a fine steed among fine steeds at first glance.
“It feels good to come out like this after a long time.”
A middle-aged man with a complexion contrasting the young man’s bright expression carefully approached and said,
“Your Majesty. You must absolutely not leave my side.”
“Ho ho, I’ve said I understand, but you keep saying it. Don’t worry.”
The procession following behind them looked like ordinary court officials on the surface, but they were actually martial artists of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, each hiding weapons.
And at the end of the procession were the martial artists of the Martial Alliance, who were just walking silently without a word.
This was probably because the hierarchy had become subtle due to Eunho’s sudden appearance, which completely disregarded the original rank system.
“Fortunately.”
“What is?”
Hwa-yeon was puzzled by Eunho’s sudden remark.
“If people could kill with their eyes, I would have died today.”
Hwa-yeon carefully looked back.
The Azure Sky Squad’s Captain Namgoong Hyeok was glaring fiercely at the back of Eunho’s head.
While rubbing the bridge of his nose.
And for some reason, the Vice Captain In-cheol was just looking at distant mountains.
It seemed like Eunho had done something again.
She was anxious.
No matter how excellent Eunho’s martial prowess was, and even though there were four transcendent masters, the Blood Cult was not an easy opponent.
Having experienced it firsthand, she could be more certain than anyone.
She turned her head slightly to look at Eunho.
He was just leisurely walking with his hands behind his back.
He was even savoring the mountain air in between, saying, “Wow, it’s so fresh.”
“This is right, isn’t it?”
“Didn’t you want to wipe them out?”
“That’s true, but…”
“Don’t worry.”
How could she not worry?
Suddenly looking up at the sky, even the weather was gloomy.
Although her anxiety wouldn’t easily subside, she clenched her hand on her sword and resolved.
If they really appeared, she would fight to avenge her comrades even at the cost of her life.
Eunho, who had been watching this with indifferent eyes, said,
“If those guys appear, there are two possible situations.”
“What are they?”
“First, they’re too strong for my expectations, and I die instantly.”
Hwa-yeon’s complexion paled.
How could he say such things so calmly?
“Th-then what’s the second?”
“Conversely, I’m stronger than they expect, so they rush in while raising their primal energy. Probably the latter is more likely.”
Hwa-yeon nodded.
From her perspective too, it didn’t seem like Eunho would be defeated instantly.
“If I die, you should run away without looking back, and if they bite their poison pills and rush in…”
Not only Hwa-yeon but also the martial artists of the Martial Alliance focused on Eunho.
They were also tense for the same reason.
Eunho thought for a moment and then continued.
“Hold out no matter what. They’re the ones in a hurry after raising their primal energy anyway. Just keep blocking and blocking, and those who use up all their energy will die on their own. For any that are still alive, I’ll kill them one by one.”
That’s when it happened.
Someone pointed to somewhere in the bushes.
There stood a young wild boar, not yet fully grown, frozen in place.
The Emperor aimed his arrow.
Soon, the tightly drawn bowstring made a strong sound as it released the arrow.
Bang!
The arrow sharply cut through the air and shot towards the wild boar.
Squeal!
The young wild boar, with the arrow precisely lodged between its eyes, collapsed with a thud.
“As expected!”
“Magnificent!”
“Even Yi[2] would have to concede to your divine archery skills!”
Applause and formal praises poured out from everywhere.
Yi[3] was a legendary immortal famous for his archery skills.
According to one tale, when ten suns simultaneously rose in the sky, scorching the world, he shot down nine of them with his arrows…
Eunho clicked his tongue watching this.
What Yi.
The ten suns were a metaphor symbolizing ten great demons at the time.
And the one sun that Yi couldn’t shoot down was Eunho himself.
From Eunho’s perspective, having directly faced Yi’s arrows, it was just laughable.
Rustle.
Something huge appeared, pushing through the dense bushes.
“A wild boar?”
It was too big to be called that.
The saying “as big as a house” wasn’t just an exaggeration; it really was as big as a house.
The size of its head was comparable to that of a full-grown man.
It was clearly a spirit beast that had long fed on the essence of the forest.
It looked at the carcass of the young wild boar for a moment, then turned its head to stare at them.
“Huh?”
“Uh oh?”
Then it charged towards the Emperor.
Apparently, the wild boar killed by the Emperor’s arrow must have been its offspring.
When everyone was stepping back due to its fierce momentum,
The Director drew his sword and stood in front of the Emperor.
Boom!
A massive collision sound erupted.
He blocked it holding his sword with both hands, but the beast was so strong that the Director’s feet were being pushed back, digging into the ground.
“Kugh! Your Majesty, please escape! This is no ordinary spirit beast.”
Someone might click their tongue, wondering how a so-called transcendent master is struggling with just one beast, but the Director who was directly confronting it was truly in a life-or-death situation.
He should have used sword energy or sword force from the beginning.
Having already blocked it, he couldn’t withdraw his sword now.
If he withdrew his sword, it was clear the beast would immediately charge at His Majesty.
That’s when Eunho, who had been standing at the very back of the procession, leaped forward.
Arriving with a single bound, Eunho lightly swung his sword.
In an instant, the wild boar’s head was severed.
Boom-!
It was so huge that when the head fell to the ground, it spread a faint vibration.
The Director, feeling somewhat frustrated, returned to his position silently, and the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards watching this clicked his tongue softly.
While everyone else was letting out sighs of relief,
Eunho was still staring at the wild boar’s corpse without sheathing his sword.
‘A spirit beast?’
Nonsense. This thing is absolutely not a spirit beast.
He could tell because he had eaten countless spirit beasts.
Its energy was different from theirs.
It was more similar to those Blood Cult bastards who had bitten their poison pills and rushed in like beasts before.
Eunho slowly expanded his energy sense and looked at a certain spot.
“Come out.”
Everyone was puzzled by his sudden words.
What’s supposed to come out?
Soon, the Emperor asked Eunho.
“Is there something wrong?”
Eunho nodded slightly, and seeing this, the Director and the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards quietly gripped their swords.
At that moment, Eunho’s gaze turned towards somewhere in the dense bushes.
“Not coming out?”
Eunho lightly kicked a small stone lying on the ground.
Whoosh-!
The stone shot through the air and.
“Kugh!”
A groan burst out from somewhere.
Even an idiot could understand what had happened.
Eunho had killed someone who was hiding in ambush!
The Director and the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards quickly dismounted and drew their swords, and the martial artists of the Martial Alliance also leaped to protect the Emperor.
Shing!
The Embroidered Uniform Guards who had been disguised as ordinary court officials also drew out their weapons and guarded the surroundings.
“Tsk tsk, for a young boy, your moves are quite sharp.”
An old woman with wrinkled skin slowly walked out, parting the bushes, and simultaneously, dozens of men wearing red robes revealed themselves from various places.
“Are you the Blood Demon?”
The old woman glared at Eunho for a moment, then spoke to her subordinates.
“Use the poison pills. He’s no ordinary person. We must resolve the situation before the Blood Lord arrives.”
Crunch, crunch.
The sound of martial artists biting their poison pills could be heard from all around.
Bloodshot eyes and bulging veins.
Eunho and Hwa-yeon, who had seen this sight before, were calm, but the others didn’t seem to be.
“W-what’s this?”
Fear suddenly appeared in their eyes.
One of the Blood Cult martial artists rushed towards an Embroidered Uniform Guard right in front of him.
When the startled Embroidered Uniform Guard was about to face death without even being able to react,
Clang-!
Hwa-yeon blocked his path and deflected the sword.
She felt her fingertips tingling.
Even a single martial artist was no ordinary opponent.
Hwa-yeon continued to swing her sword, facing the Blood Cult martial artists.
Suddenly, she noticed an Embroidered Uniform Guard blankly watching this.
His eyes held both fear and admiration.
The fear was probably towards the Blood Cult martial artists, and the admiration towards the martial artists.
Hwa-yeon, despite being a woman, was fiercely blocking the Blood Cult more than anyone else.
Recalling Eunho’s advice, she shouted.
“Snap out of it! Once they’ve used their poison pills, we don’t have much time. Focus on defense with the mindset of just holding out!”
At Hwa-yeon’s sharp words, the Embroidered Uniform Guard also began to swing his sword with a determined expression.
Starting with this, the scene instantly turned into chaos.
Clang-! Clash-!
The sound of weapons clashing could be heard everywhere.
“Kugh!”
Groans could be heard.
Most were from the Imperial Palace warriors.
This was because, although the Embroidered Uniform Guards’ momentum was impressive, they were overwhelmingly outnumbered by high-level martial artists compared to the Blood Cult.
Commander Yoon Pyeong quickly leaped towards the Emperor.
“Out of my way!”
He instantly beheaded a Blood Cult martial artist blocking his path.
The Celestial Dragon Flying Scatter Sword[4].
It was the Embroidered Uniform Guards’ unique martial art, boasting fierce momentum as its name suggests. To protect the Emperor, he cut down everyone blocking his path.
The eunuch Director was the same.
Already standing next to the Emperor, he calmly blocked the Blood Cult martial artists rushing to attack them.
The Fifteen Swords Facing Heaven.
He cut them down solemnly and heavily while just maintaining his position. Unless the opponent was a master like Eunho, it was the most suitable martial art for protecting someone.
Yoon Pyeong and Kong Jin, who joined instantly, thoroughly protected the Emperor while standing back to back.
With Hwa-yeon joining in as well, even the Blood Cult martial artists couldn’t easily target the Emperor.
Clang-!
However, as the overall momentum was shifting towards the Blood Cult, the number of people rushing to target the Emperor was gradually increasing.
They were blocking them, but it was also true that it was becoming increasingly difficult.
If even one of the three were to fall, the defense protecting the Emperor would instantly crumble.
Yoon Pyeong gritted his teeth and strongly deflected an incoming sword.
“Kugh!”
He felt a stinging pain in his wrist.
How are these bastards not getting tired?
They keep coming no matter how many are cut down.
This is the terrifying power of the Blood Cult with their raised primal energy!
Yoon Pyeong, who usually looked down on martial artists, ridiculously, at this moment, resented the Martial Alliance.
“Damn it, if only we had a few more high-level martial artists!”
If they had sent at least masters at the level of the Twenty-four Martial Arts Masters, the situation would have been better, wouldn’t it?
Look at that. The so-called transcendent master from the Martial Alliance is struggling against just one decrepit old woman.
Of course, she wasn’t an ordinary old woman.
She was the Vice Leader of the Blood Cult, guaranteed the position of ‘second only to one, above all others’ in the new world the Blood Demon would create.
She maintained her composure even while facing the Azure Sky Squad’s Captain, a transcendent master.
The blood-colored sword energy gathered at the tip of her sword rushed towards the Azure Sky Squad’s Captain with a chilling momentum.
Clang-!
Namgoong Hyeok, the Azure Sky Squad’s Captain, barely blocked it but was pushed back a couple of steps by the immense power contained in the sword.
Namgoong Hyeok caught his breath while creating distance from the old woman.
Looking around, he saw that the Blood Cult’s momentum was getting stronger.
At this rate, they would be defeated.
He gripped his sword even tighter.
It was right at that moment when a single figure dropped from the air.
Boom-!
Everyone’s attention was drawn to the tremendous sound.
“……”
Eunho had slammed the old woman’s head into the ground and was pressing down on it.
Eunho’s piercing gaze lightly swept over the red group.
“So, that Blood Lord or whatever is still hiding, right?”
“Kugh…”
The old woman with her head smashed into the ground let out a strange groan.
Watching this, Eunho gathered energy at the tip of his foot and stomped down with his heel.
Crack!