Chapter 227 : Chapter 227
Chapter 227. Mount Heng Sect (2)
The Geoncheongmun Leader, who had been relentlessly attacking Mokheoja, retreated.
He scowled and shouted at the two newcomers.
“What brings the leader of the Beggars’ Sect and the abbot of Shaolin to this distant land of Hunan?”
Though it was a question posed with some courtesy, the Beggars’ Sect Leader had no intention of reciprocating.
“Damn it all. You should have stayed put in Guangxi, so what business brings you here?”
The Geoncheongmun Leader’s face crumpled completely.
“No matter how renowned the Beggars’ Sect may be, I am also the elder of a sect. Are you not being too rude?”
“An elder has to act like an elder to be treated like one! Now, give me an answer! What business brought Guangxi's Geoncheongmun crawling all the way here to start a sword fight?”
“Hmph. It is, of course, to look after the sentient beings of Hunan!”
At the Geoncheongmun Leader’s answer, which had abandoned all formalities, a vein popped on the Beggars’ Sect Leader’s forehead.
But it was not because of the Geoncheongmun Leader’s rude tone.
“Are you saying this whole mess is for the sake of protecting sentient beings?”
The Beggars’ Sect Leader could see it.
The figures of the fallen Mount Heng Sect Taoists were scattered everywhere.
They were originally true Taoists who were only interested in cultivating the Way.
It was they who had dragged them into the secular world because of the enemy known as the Demonic Cult.
Although it was Jin Yuseong who had persuaded Mokheoja, they were all in the same boat, so they also bore responsibility.
Deeming further conversation worthless, the Beggars’ Sect Leader launched himself forward.
“I will never stand by and watch you commit your crimes!”
The Geoncheongmun Leader, not to be outdone, also shouted back.
“Hmph! So the rumors were true! The rumor that you joined hands with Shaolin to take over the Central Plains!”
“Where do you get off spouting such nonsense?”
In an instant, the Beggars’ Sect Leader closed the distance, his left palm striking out toward the Geoncheongmun Leader.
The Geoncheongmun Leader swung his sword to meet it, as if to cut off that palm.
An explosion erupted as the palm, imbued with intense energy, and the sword clashed.
BOOM!
The Shaolin Abbot, who had been silently watching the conversation, recited the Buddha's name.
“Amitabha.”
He stepped forward, looking at someone as if he had no interest in the Geoncheongmun Leader.
“It seems the benefactor is this humble monk’s share.”
The man the Shaolin Abbot was targeting was the one the Geoncheongmun Leader had called Great Hero Yang.
Great Hero Yang frowned and surveyed his surroundings.
‘Damn it.’
The Beggars’ Sect Leader and the Shaolin Abbot.
Though they were overshadowed by the Three Venerables, both were among the top experts in the martial world.
And it did not end with just the two of them.
Beyond the dust cloud created by the abbot and the sect leader, new shadows were gradually approaching.
They were the monks of Shaolin and the beggars of the Beggars’ Sect.
An overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation.
Grasping the situation, Great Hero Yang made a quick decision.
He lunged toward the nearest Mount Heng Sect Taoist.
‘I’ll take him hostage.’
The monks of Shaolin would not be able to attack him easily if he had a hostage.
But there was one flaw in his calculation.
The moment Great Hero Yang took a step.
A fierce energy cut through the air and flew toward him.
BOOM!
Great Hero Yang, who barely managed to block the energy by swinging his blade, scowled.
He turned his head and saw it.
The Shaolin Abbot, who had at some point assumed a starting stance.
In a horse stance, his left hand was extended forward as if in a half-palm strike, and his right fist was at his waist.
Soon, the Abbot thrust out the right fist that was at his waist.
It was a perfect textbook right punch.
And from that punch thrown into the air, a massive amount of energy flew forth.
It was one of Shaolin’s ultimate arts, the Hundred Steps Divine Fist.
Great Hero Yang was busy just trying to block the Shaolin Abbot’s Hundred Steps Divine Fist.
Seizing the opportunity, Yeongcheon quickly shouted.
“Retreat!”
Yeongcheon, who had the most combat experience in Mount Heng, had noticed.
The fact that the man called Great Hero Yang was trying to use the sect elders as hostages.
At this, the Mount Heng Sect Taoists quickly retreated.
All the while, the Shaolin Abbot was continuously punching the air.
And the moment a small gap opened between the Mount Heng Sect Taoists and Great Hero Yang.
FWOOSH!
The Shaolin Abbot, who launched a surprise attack, closed in on Great Hero Yang.
The Geoncheongmun Leader and the Beggars’ Sect Leader, and Great Hero Yang and the Shaolin Abbot, each pair clashed.
The warriors of Geoncheongmun stepped forward to help them, but.
THWACK!
“Keok…”
They were often sent flying by a single light flick of the Beggars’ Sect Leader or the Shaolin Abbot’s finger.
Even with the joint attack of the Geoncheongmun warriors, the Beggars’ Sect Leader and the Shaolin Abbot were pushing back the Geoncheongmun Leader and Great Hero Yang.
BOOM!
The Geoncheongmun Leader, who barely blocked the Beggars’ Sect Leader’s Yellow Dragon Eighteen Palms, coughed up blood.
At some point, the Geoncheongmun Leader’s hair had become disheveled, and his eyes were bloodshot.
‘Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.’
Even after learning the special martial art he received from Great Hero Yang, he could not face the Beggars’ Sect Leader.
Anger welled up inside him.
Furthermore, his internal energy began to waver due to the internal injuries accumulating in his body.
At that moment, the energy clumped in his dantian suddenly surged up on its own.
“Kraaaah!”
As the Geoncheongmun Leader vomited blood and swung his sword, a black energy swirled from the blade.
Sparks flew in the Beggars’ Sect Leader’s eyes.
“You bastard! So you were practicing a demonic art after all!”
The Beggars’ Sect Leader’s attacks became even more ferocious.
Amusingly, the Geoncheongmun Leader was pushed back even more than when he had been hiding the demonic art.
From the beginning, the Beggars’ Sect Leader had been holding back.
He had intended to subdue him alive in case he had not learned a demonic art.
But not anymore.
“Just how many people have you devoured all this time?”
The enraged Beggars’ Sect Leader took out the staff tied to his back.
The staff, wreathed in Enhanced Qi, and the sword, wreathed in demonic qi, clashed.
BOOM!
With an explosion, the arm of the Geoncheongmun Leader holding the sword was sent flying.
The staff flew toward his defenseless body.
THWACK!
“Keok…”
With several ribs broken, the Geoncheongmun Leader vomited blood.
The Beggars’ Sect Leader did not care.
He relentlessly swung his staff at the Geoncheongmun Leader.
Even when the Geoncheongmun Leader fell to the ground, the staff art did not stop.
Dog Beating Staff Art.
The scene of him beating the Geoncheongmun Leader looked just like beating a rabid dog.
While the Beggars’ Sect Leader was pushing back the Geoncheongmun Leader.
The Shaolin Abbot was also one-sidedly pushing back Great Hero Yang.
THWACK!
Struck in the side by the Tathagata Divine Palm, Great Hero Yang vomited blood and was pushed back.
“Keuk.”
Driven into a corner, Great Hero Yang also finally drew out the dark energy from his dantian.
“How dare a mere bald monk!”
Even at the black energy swirling from Great Hero Yang’s blade, the Shaolin Abbot’s gaze was as calm as could be.
“Amitabha.”
Reciting the Buddha's name, the Shaolin Abbot used the Vajra Unmoving Body Art to simply evade Great Hero Yang’s blade.
At the same time, he stealthily flicked his finger and used the Finger Flicking Divine Art.
THWACK!
“Keuk…”
Struck on a paralysis point, Great Hero Yang let out a short groan.
He hastily tried to use his demonic qi to push away the Buddhist internal energy pressing on his paralysis point.
But the abbot did not give him the leisure to do so.
FWOOSH!
The Shaolin Abbot, who closed in in an instant, used the Dragon Claw Hand to relentlessly strike various meridians on Great Hero Yang’s body.
PAPAPAPAK!
Unlike the Beggars’ Sect Leader, the Shaolin Abbot intended to subdue this man.
It was not because of Shaolin’s precept against killing.
The Geoncheongmun Leader was, from the beginning, a figure whose name was somewhat known in the martial world.
Such a person had suddenly learned a demonic art.
‘This man must have given it to him.’
He intended to capture him alive and continue the interrogation, as this man seemed to be a pawn of the Demonic Cult.
CRACK!
Finally, the Geoncheongmun Leader’s head burst under the Beggars’ Sect Leader’s Dog Beating Staff.
THWACK!
His entire body’s meridians subdued, Great Hero Yang vomited blood and collapsed.
The remaining warriors of Geoncheongmun had also been subdued by the Shaolin monks and Beggars’ Sect beggars who had joined the fray.
Just then, Mokheoja, having more or less recovered from his internal injuries, approached the two with Yeongcheon’s support.
“By the Primordial Lord of Heaven. Haa. Thank you so much for your help.”
When Mokheoja expressed his gratitude with a fist-and-palm salute and a bow, the Beggars’ Sect Leader and the Shaolin Abbot also responded with a fist-and-palm salute and a half-palm salute.
“It was nothing. If anything, we are sorry for being late.”
“Amitabha. This humble monk feels the same.”
The abbot and the sect leader looked around with somber expressions.
They had rushed here as quickly as possible, but there were already Taoists who had lost their lives in the battle.
Just then, from the side, a cloud of sand and dust flew up, and a group began to approach.
It was Jin Yuseong and his companions.
Jin Yuseong, who approached quickly, assessed the situation and went straight to the three men.
Toward the approaching Jin Yuseong, the Beggars’ Sect Leader threw a joke as if to lighten the mood.
“What are you rushing for? It’s already over.”
Jin Yuseong forced himself to hold back a bitter smile.
Late to the party.
It was something the Beggars’ Sect had always done, but this time, he was the one who was late.
But he could not bring himself to smile.
Instead of responding to the sect leader’s words, Jin Yuseong first bowed his head to Mokheoja.
“Thank you so much for protecting the people of Heavenly Sun Village, Sect Leader. And I am truly sorry.”
The Mount Heng Sect had intervened in the secular world because of his request.
Mokheoja, who grasped the meaning behind those words, smiled bitterly.
“Hahaha. How could that be your fault? If anything, the damage was reduced thanks to you.”
Jin Yuseong looked at Mokheoja with a puzzled expression.
“If we had refused your request and distanced ourselves from the secular world, what would have happened? We would not have received help like this, would we?”
“…But you would not have gotten into this kind of trouble with Geoncheongmun or the Demonic Cult, would you?”
Mokheoja shook his head.
“Living in the secular world, I have come to realize. Even if we distance ourselves from the secular world, do you think those blinded by greed would have left us alone? If anything, we would have had to face this Geoncheongmun with only the strength of our Mount Heng later on.”
Having said that, Mokheoja this time bowed his head to Jin Yuseong.
“So, thank you. For opening the eyes of this foolish Taoist who was just trying to run away from the secular world. And thank you so much for helping the Taoists of this sect like this.”
At Mokheoja’s words, the Beggars’ Sect Leader smirked and threw a joke.
“My, oh my. This old bald monk and this old beggar did all the hard work, yet the young lad gets all the thanks.”
Thanks to the sect leader’s joke, the atmosphere was able to lighten up a little.
Only then did Jin Yuseong also calm down a bit and ask the sect leader and the abbot.
“But what brought you two here?”
“Tsk. Of course we had to come, didn’t we? I acted all high and mighty and told you to go into seclusion and train, so was I supposed to just let the Mount Heng Sect be destroyed?”
The Beggars’ Sect Leader said he could not do that, if only for the sake of his pride.
The Shaolin Abbot smiled faintly at the sect leader’s words and asked Jin Yuseong in return.
“More importantly, how did you arrive so quickly, benefactor? Weren’t you headed to Sichuan because of the Sichuan Sword Clan’s affair?”
“Just as this bald monk said. Tsk. We were planning to leave you all on Mount Hua and handle things ourselves somehow. We were just about to look for you when we heard that the Seomoon Clan had finally called for you.”
At their two questions, Jin Yuseong replied.
“The affair in Sichuan has been resolved rather well. And anyway, there is no need for me to continue my seclusion training anymore.”
“What do you mean by that? Have you reached grand completion?”
At the sect leader’s expectant question, Jin Yuseong shook his head.
“I have not yet reached grand completion. However, I have found the Demonic Cult’s base.”
As if it was something they had not expected at all, the eyes of the old monk and the old beggar widened.