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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Collision (2)
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Mok Jagyeong's eyebrow twitched as he watched Jinmyeong block his attack.
"Oh?"
He had blocked the attack without being pushed back at all.
'I was hoping to see that peculiar martial art of his...'
But Jinmyeong showed no sign of using it.
Whoosh!
He swung his sword toward him instead.
His movements were like those of any ordinary martial artist.
'It's not that impressive of a martial art...'
Jinmyeong's swordsmanship was neither particularly fast nor sharp.
It wasn't flashy with varied forms, nor did it aim for openings.
'Then why is it so tricky?'
It was just basic swordsmanship.
He was only swinging and thrusting, yet finding an opening to press him was difficult.
Fwoosh!
It was surely because of the pure white flame enveloping Jinmyeong's sword.
That flame, with its extraordinary aura, made it difficult for Mok Jagyeong to close the distance.
"Tsk."
It was a great blow to his pride.
The fact that he couldn't even easily subdue his youngest disciple, whom he had always looked down on.
Hiding his inner turmoil, Mok Jagyeong observed Jinmyeong closely.
'Because it's basic swordsmanship, it's actually harder to find a flaw.'
Its concise nature made openings difficult to spot.
While it lacked the speed of a fast sword or the power of a heavy sword, it carried a force that couldn't be ignored, a sign he hadn't neglected his training.
"Junior Brother, you've certainly improved."
Seeing Mok Jagyeong's smile, a smile also appeared on Jinmyeong's lips.
"Thank you. I'm overwhelmed by your praise, Senior Brother."
"But I can't look kindly on you acting so arrogant with just that much skill."
He would admit it.
Jinmyeong had grown stronger than he'd expected.
Strong enough to clash with him even without that strange martial art he'd heard about from Gye Buil.
But that was all.
Clang!
He'd been observing to figure out the nature of the white flame, but he had no intention of letting Jinmyeong run wild indefinitely.
Mok Jagyeong immediately rushed at Jinmyeong, his hands a blur.
"Ugh!"
Mok Jagyeong's movements had certainly grown bolder.
Unlike before, he closed in, not giving Jinmyeong any advantageous distance.
Blocking Mok Jagyeong's attacks, Jinmyeong was slowly being pushed back.
'This isn't easy.'
Jinmyeong frowned.
Perhaps due to his lack of real combat experience, he quickly began to lose ground to Mok Jagyeong.
'I'm managing to block, but...'
He needed to block Mok Jagyeong's attacks and counter, but it wasn't easy.
He was too busy just defending against Mok Jagyeong's relentless assault.
'Still, if it's just this much...'
Thinking he was holding up well enough, Jinmyeong glanced at the wooden box he had set down.
Instantly, the swords inside the box stirred, as if ready to move at any moment.
"Stop!"
At the same time, someone stepped between Jinmyeong and Mok Jagyeong.
"Didn't you say you wouldn't interfere with our duel, Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade?"
Mok Jagyeong frowned at the sudden appearance of the Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade and asked.
It looked as if he had suddenly intervened just when Jinmyeong was in a dangerous situation.
"It seems this duel must end here."
"So, to protect my junior brother?"
"Wouldn't it be to protect you, Senior Brother?"
At Jinmyeong's words, Mok Jagyeong's eyebrow twitched again.
Perhaps because his opponent was Jinmyeong, maintaining his composure was proving truly difficult.
"Your skills can't keep up with your mouth. As your senior brother, I worry you'll meet a terrible fate."
"Don't worry about me. Shouldn't you be worried about yourself, Senior Brother?"
The two snarled at each other once more.
They looked as if they might lunge at each other at any moment.
"It's nothing like that, so stop your nonsense."
The Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade cut them off, as if their conversation wasn't worth listening to.
"The Kunlun Sect has made a move."
"Hmm."
It hadn't been long since Mok Jagyeong killed two Kunlun Sect Daoists, but it seemed they were already on the move.
Since Qinghai itself could be called the territory of the Kunlun Sect, it was only natural.
"So the Kunlun Sect is coming here? How far are they?"
"They aren't coming here."
"Hm?"
Before leaving the inn, he had told the innkeeper about this place.
He had naturally assumed the Kunlun Sect would come here.
But things were unfolding differently from what Mok Jagyeong had expected.
"It seems they're headed for the Second Young Master."
"Hmm."
He was talking about Jang Hu.
'The others seemed to have gone out with him, too.'
Jinmyeong recalled that Jang Hu had left this place with quite a few people.
Not just the other disciples of the Heavenly Demon, but also the young martial artists who followed them had gone.
"Then the First Young Master should go and take care of it."
"You're not going, Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade?"
"Isn't this something you all started? So you should resolve it yourselves."
The Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade glanced over Mok Jagyeong, Jinmyeong, Biyoung, and Shin Yehyang.
"Is that why you stopped our fight, to make us solve this? How very kind of you."
"Isn't it obvious? It's fine if one of you two dies, but if that many people die, it will interfere with the mission."
It didn't matter if Jinmyeong or Mok Jagyeong died.
It wasn't just the two of them.
It was fine if a few of the young martial artists who went out for drinks died.
But he didn't want a situation where only a few survived.
'If only I had the Demonic Shadow Brigade here...'
If he had been able to bring more of his Demonic Shadow Brigade members, he wouldn't have cared if they died.
"Tsk. I told them to just rest here if possible."
The Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade clicked his tongue and turned away.
"This is why useless brats are the problem."
If it had been his Demonic Shadow Brigade, they wouldn't have ignored his words and gone out to fight the Kunlun Sect in the first place.
"Handle it yourselves. If this mission fails, you won't escape unscathed either."
The Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade began to leave, as if he had nothing more to say.
"Are you just going to slip away like this?"
But Mok Jagyeong's words forced the Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade to stop.
"In the end, isn't it just that you lack the ability to properly command these people, so all you can do is complain?"
Mok Jagyeong said with a grin.
After being on the receiving end from Jinmyeong, he seemed to be enjoying himself now that he was the one getting under someone's skin.
'What's with these people all of a sudden?'
Jinmyeong watched the rapidly escalating tension between Mok Jagyeong and the Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade.
The atmosphere became so thick you'd think they were about to draw swords and fight.
'The others think this is perfectly normal, too.'
Neither Biyoung nor Shin Yehyang seemed to have any intention of stopping them.
Instead, they watched the two with eyes full of interest.
The Heavenly Demon's most trusted subordinate and the Heavenly Demon's first disciple.
The question of who was stronger between the two was a matter of curiosity for anyone in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
'Is it because this is the Demonic Cult?'
They didn't need a reason to fight.
It was perfectly natural to fight someone simply because you didn't like them.
"We don't have time for this. It would be best to go and handle the Kunlun Sect matter quickly."
But the Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade seemed to have no intention of fighting Mok Jagyeong right now.
"And I have no intention of slipping away."
The Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade didn't think he lacked the ability to command the group, as Mok Jagyeong had suggested.
He simply had no intention of commanding them.
"If I fail to complete the order given by my lord, I will take responsibility with my life."
To Neung Byeokmun, the Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade, the Heavenly Demon's command was absolute.
So much so that he believed he should naturally offer his life if he failed to complete the order.
"Of course, you all will also have to take responsibility."
With your lives, just like him.
'Was this mission really that important?'
Jinmyeong couldn't understand why the Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade was staking his life on this mission to such an extent.
It was a mission never even mentioned in the novel, so he hadn't thought it was very important.
"We can't lose our lives over something like this. Right, Junior Brother?"
After the Lord of the Demonic Shadow Brigade left, Mok Jagyeong spoke again with a smile.
He seemed to have completely regained his composure.
"Well, if you hadn't started this mess in the first place, or if you had finished it properly, none of this would have happened."
He couldn't understand why he had made the Kunlun Daoist's head explode.
It was enough to make him wonder if Mok Jagyeong truly wanted a war to break out.
"Junior Brother, are you trying to start again?"
However, he could roughly guess the reason Mok Jagyeong had ordered him to catch the fleeing Kunlun Daoist.
He probably wanted to establish his superiority by giving Jinmyeong such an order.
To remind him that no matter how strong he became, he still had to follow his orders.
"Are you going to keep this up? I don't think we have time for this."
As the two looked ready to draw their swords again, Biyoung finally sighed and spoke up.
"Junior Brother, let's postpone this little game for a bit."
Mok Jagyeong said so and immediately started walking.
The rest of the group followed him, heading toward the place where Jang Hu and the Kunlun Sect had clashed.
'They went quite far.'
Unlike them, who had a simple meal nearby, Jang Hu seemed to have traveled quite a distance for drinks.
And in front of a rather luxurious-looking tavern, they could see a large crowd gathered.
"I told you not to cause trouble! How dare you make a Kunlun Sect disciple's head explode in Qinghai?"
"I may not have been the one who did it, but if you really want, I can cut off your heads too."
They saw Jang Hu's group in a standoff with the Kunlun Sect Daoists.
'Hmm, I think I've seen him somewhere before.'
Jinmyeong was looking at the young Kunlun Sect Daoist facing off against Jang Hu.
"This is why you can't trust you filthy Demonic Cult bastards."
After hearing the young Daoist's words, Jinmyeong finally remembered who he was.
It was the same young Daoist who had suddenly attacked Mok Jagyeong in the Kunlun Mountains.
'Hmm. I think he was called some kind of 'New Dragon'.'
Unfortunately, he hadn't left a strong impression on Jinmyeong.
'Anyway, he was one of the Fifteen New Dragons of the Righteous Alliance, right?'
The Fifteen New Dragons of the Righteous Alliance.
It was a term used to refer to the most representative prodigies of the younger generation from the Five Great Families and the Nine Great Sects.
'They said the members could change, but it never happened.'
When the Righteous Alliance first created the Fifteen New Dragons, they claimed that anyone with skill could earn a place among them.
But unless one was from a prestigious sect like the Nine Great Sects or the Five Great Families, they could not become one of the Fifteen New Dragons.
In fact, even the protagonist, whose martial prowess was in no way inferior to the Fifteen New Dragons, couldn't become one because of his unclear origins.
"So, how long are you going to keep running your mouths? If you're going to do something, let's just do it."
Jang Hu grinned and drew his sword.
Even while surrounded by the Kunlun Sect Daoists, his group was overflowing with confidence.
"Overflowing with confidence, are we."
Then, one of the Fifteen New Dragons and the head disciple of the Kunlun Sect, the Great Void New Dragon, Daoist Haksu, stepped forward.
"Do you really think you can face us with less than ten people?"
Jang Hu's group, not even ten strong.
And the Kunlun Sect Daoists surrounding them numbered close to a hundred.
No matter how skilled these young masters were—disciples of the Heavenly Demon and successors to the Elders—facing all of them would be difficult.
"We'll have to see about that."
Despite this, not only Jang Hu but everyone else remained composed.
Their confidence stemmed from the belief that they could fight for a while and escape whenever they pleased.
"So sure of yourselves."
Daoist Haksu tried his best to maintain his composure.
But most could feel the anger laced in his voice.
"I'll make sure you never disrespect Kunlun again."
Daoist Haksu drew his sword.
At that, the other Kunlun Daoists also drew their swords, and Jang Hu's group drew their own weapons.
It was a hair-trigger situation, where they looked ready to charge at each other at any moment.
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