Reincarnation of the Martial Emperor

Chapter 39: How about a pitch-black dark cloud?

Early in the morning.

When I barely managed to pull myself together and arrived at the Phoenix Martial Emperor Pavilion, the Blood Demon was there.

The Blood Demon frowned as he checked my appearance.

“What kind of ordeal have you been through now?”

As I had guessed, Dark Phantom was no ordinary Alliance member.

The Guardian Secret Sword Sect.

A place that turned talented individuals handpicked from the Nine Sects into killing machines through harsh training.

I, too, had been tracking their operations for a long time.

I still did not know the reason why they had tried to assassinate me.

In any case, those meticulous bastards had made a mistake, and in the end, my subordinates had succeeded in tracking them down.

That was precisely why I knew about the Guardian Secret Sword Sect.

“Mind your own business. But why did you come out?”

A guy who was extremely reluctant to come outside had suddenly come to the Phoenix Martial Emperor Pavilion with his mask half-off?

I was puzzled for a moment, but I was soon able to guess his intention.

“Oh-ho, you’re curious about the disciples.”

Today was the day the members of the Shadowless Terrace had promised to come.

“……What disciples.”

I looked at the flustered Blood Demon with interest.

Was he saying that despite being a crimson Demonic Cultist, he had some sense of loyalty?

Or was it some kind of responsibility for the juniors he had taught with his own hands?

Well, whatever his feelings, it was none of my business.

But it would be a different story if he started carelessly giving me advice about my methods.

“You’re not here to interfere, are you?”

“Shut up. They are already coming over there.”

The members of the Shadowless Terrace, led by their leader, were entering the Phoenix Martial Emperor Pavilion with orderly footwork.

As they approached the training ground, they lined up flawlessly and performed a sword salute.

“We greet the Third Young Master.”

I then began to slowly examine the Shadowless Terrace leader who was performing the sword salute.

The chaotic and explosive wavelength characteristic of the Dark Soul Demonic Ki was now almost gone.

His internal ki was calmly contained, and his eyes were not of a deep inky light but profound with a dark qi.

The internal art I engraved on their bodies.

It was a kind of Mixed Origin Ki Art made by mixing Shaolin’s Brahma, which had the property of not drying up easily, Diancang’s Red Yang, which was hot and destructive, and Kunlun’s Grand Monad, which was gentle and harmonious, in appropriate proportions.

Of course, even though the explanation was simple like this, it was by no means a light and shoddy internal art.

In fact, it had many aspects that were even more outstanding than the Pine Harmony Connection Ki Art I had taught Moyong Baek.

“A few people seem to be missing?”

The Shadowless Terrace leader answered with a heavy expression.

“Five members have fallen into qi deviation.”

Hmm. As expected.

Although I had forcibly engraved the ki circulation path, that act could not change a martial artist's martial soul in one fell swoop.

If they operated the Dark Soul Demonic Ki according to the inertia of their training, some ki meridians could be destroyed, and if their internal ki went berserk because they couldn't control their surging desires, their entire ki points could be crushed.

No matter how much of a Martial Emperor I was, I couldn't know all of a person's mental capacity.

In the end, there were casualties, but I had no intention of stopping here.

“You’ve worked hard. I will devise a suitable compensation plan for the sacrifice of some members in the near future.”

“Please be specific.”

It might seem like insubordination, but I did not reprimand the Shadowless Terrace leader for that.

Words that could only be said because he was the leader.

He was a man who was not ashamed in front of his subordinates who only looked at his back.

“You should know well the public duty this family has upheld, right? But what can be decided here? I’m not the clan head.”

“But……”

“I don’t know what form the compensation will take, but I promise you this one thing. This family will take responsibility for the families they have supported until now.”

“Are you serious?”

The Shadowless Terrace leader seemed quite surprised.

He, too, knew that although the words sounded easy, it was by no means a light compensation.

At my words, a few members were also trembling with emotion.

At this point, I was also flustered.

If my words now came across as moving to them, it meant that this Jaegal Clan had been treating their subordinates stingily until now.

Was it possible that a clan that was one of the Five Great Clans had been acting so petty?

Damn it, Father.

“Now, let’s stop mentioning that. It’s best to start with you, as expected. Everyone, move back as far as possible.”

The members of the Shadowless Terrace retreated in an orderly fashion outside the training ground.

As I casually raised my sword, the Shadowless Terrace leader’s face showed bewilderment.

I looked at him with a smile.

“What are you most confident in?”

“……A surprise attack.”

If he had been learning the Dark Soul Demonic Ki, that martial art was surely the Dark Demon Kill Sword Style.

Most assassination swords were martial arts specialized for surprise attacks, so that confidence was understandable.

But nine times out of ten.

Swish—

Chkang!

“Keuk!”

Like this, most assassination swords neglect defense.

I looked indifferently at the Shadowless Terrace leader, who quickly readjusted his grip on his sword with his torn palm.

“The shortest path. Closing the engagement distance in an instant. You’ve probably been obsessed with such things until now. Because of that, you inevitably forget to block.”

Defense.

Not only the Dark Demon Kill Sword Style, but most of the Demonic Cult's martial arts were weak in this defense.

That was why they always lost to the solidity of the orthodox faction's martial arts when the fight dragged on.

In ten days, the martial art that this Shadowless Terrace would have to face was none other than the most arrogant and powerful Namgung Sword Style in the world.

If it was a surprise attack on the rear, it would be a different story, but in a duel, they were in a very disadvantageous situation.

“Anyway, now that your internal art has changed, you can't use the Dark Demon Kill Sword Style. The best thing would be to learn another sword style with similar tendencies. But before that.”

I raised my sword again.

“I will first engrave the way to block onto that body of yours.”

Chkang!

Kwaaaang!

The Shadowless Terrace leader, who coughed up blood and retreated five steps like a drunken man, looked at me with eyes of disbelief.

“Keuuu…… What kind of sword art is this?”

“Light-Annihilating Single Flash Form.”

The fastest and most hegemonic single sword strike among the sword styles I knew.

The Shadowless Terrace leader’s face hardened as if his soul had left him.

“……Did I just mishear you?”

“No, you heard correctly. As you expected, this sword is from the Sword Fiend’s Illusory Demon Sword Style.”

Illusory Demon Sword Style.

The fastest and most hegemonic sword style among all the martial arts scattered throughout the world.

If one could block this single strike of the Sword Fiend, one could face the swords of the Anhui Sword Clan bastards while picking their teeth.

“But the Light-Annihilating Single Flash Form just now was only at seventy percent of its level.”

“W-What does that mean……?”

A smirk.

“And this is the second form, the Nine Hells Demonic Calamity Roar.”

Swaaaaaa— Read full story at novel•fire.net

A net of sword ki, intricately woven, surrounded all of the Shadowless Terrace leader's defenses.

What appeared was the pouring starlight of the Nine Hells.

Chwachwachwacha—

The Shadowless Terrace leader, who had been dedicated to the assassination sword, would not be able to block all the sword ki coming from thirty-six directions.

In the end, the Nine Hells Demonic Calamity Roar brutally mangled the entire body of the Shadowless Terrace leader.

“Kuaaaaaaaak!”

“Leadeeer—!”

Several members of the Shadowless Terrace, including the vice-leader, ran over, terrified.

I glared sharply at those members.

“This is a battlefield. If you are going to enter, come with your weapons drawn.”

The members of the Shadowless Terrace froze like a painting.

I was not trying to teach them about a martial artist’s duel right now.

This was the martial art of the battlefield, which decides life and death, that this Martial Emperor had experienced and mastered throughout his life.

To face my Nine Hells Demonic Calamity Roar meant that the Shadowless Terrace leader had to risk his life.

“There’s no need to go this far……!”

“What? What did you just say?”

I glared even more fiercely at those members.

“Didn’t you say you would live your whole life as a shadow to overcome the resentment of the Jaegal? And you people describe this man’s resolve as ‘going this far’? Are you guys insane?”

Stagger, stagger.

The Shadowless Terrace leader, covered in blood and having become a man of blood, was barely getting up.

A desperate killing intent flowed from his two eyes.

“Again…… I ask you once more.”

His gaze was not only filled with killing intent.

The joy of facing the invincible Sword Fiend's sword art right before his eyes.

At his attitude, which was infinitely proper for a martial artist, and for a swordsman, I became utterly serious.

With eyes blazing like feverfew flowers, I indifferently raised my sword towards the staggering Shadowless Terrace leader.

“The fourth form, Demonic Illusion Heavenly Net River.”

Hwaaaaaaak!

The pinnacle of swordsmanship manifested.

The Shadowless Terrace leader's eyes opened so wide they seemed to tear.

The world reflected in his eyes right now was a feast of all sorts of points and lines.

His entire heart was captivated by the pinnacle of the scattering and shimmering Sword Illusion Ki Art.

But to be merely consumed by the splendor here would just be a martial artist's demon.

He had to recognize the formidability of this complex trajectory, its perilous killing intent.

Chkang!

My sword ki, which was aiming for his Jimen acupoint, was deflected by the finger wind extending from his sword fingers.

Kaang!

His chain sword unfolded like a lotus, simultaneously occupying the left, right, top, and bottom.

The best move he could unleash.

He had blocked the trajectories from the four directions that had rushed in most powerfully.

And what he chose last.

It was a sword curtain made by squeezing out all his internal art.

Swaaaaaaah!

The Shadowless Terrace leader was desperately blocking the chain of sword ki from the pouring Demonic Illusion Heavenly Net River.

Only then did I withdraw the Martial Emperor’s sword.

And a stream of laughter flowed out.

“Remember. This is the entirety of the defense you are capable of right now.”

“Four directions……”

“That’s right. Just four directions. That is your today.”

“……”

A smirk.

“You increase it one by one. You blocked four directions today, so tomorrow it will be the sharp edges, a week later the rising edges, and a month later the surrounding edges. Widen your own defensive perimeter and narrow the angle your opponent can attack. To sweat tenaciously day by day. That’s a martial artist.”

I raised my sword again towards him, who was looking up blankly with his blood-soaked body.

“I’ll show you.”

I shook the tip of my sword violently.

The shaking sword differentiated into two, then three, occupying all the space.

The flowing sword ki intertwined densely, powerfully expanding its momentum.

The best defensive sword art I knew.

All sunlight was temporarily blocked.

It was rather an illusion as if a pitch-black dark cloud was encroaching on all space.

Like a person who had witnessed an unbelievable illusion, the Shadowless Terrace leader was looking at my sword as if possessed.

“W-What kind of sword art is that?”

“Black Cloud Dance Wall.”

When Dam Seo-gun completed this Black Cloud Dance Wall, he came to be called the Solitary Hegemon.

The reason I specifically chose the Solitary Hegemon's sword art.

The Solitary Hegemon had never appeared before the orthodox faction bastards, so naturally, the only ones who knew this sword art were Dam Seo-gun and myself.

Of course.

It was also I who had imparted the Black Cloud Hegemon Sword to Dam Seo-gun.

“Don’t you think it would be possible to cover the azure sky with this Black Cloud?”

Slosh.

The Shadowless Terrace leader collapsed in front of the pool of blood he had shed.

“I, Jaegal Neung-ji! Ask the Third Young Master for the teaching of a lifetime!”

For a leader, his name is a bit…….

I immediately looked around at the members and smiled.

“From now on, let’s be the Black Cloud Squad instead of the Shadowless Terrace.”

A smirk.

“All of you are going to become pitch-black dark clouds.”