Rebirth of the Thunder God

-Cheokcheokcheok! Cheokcheokcheok!

Presences rushed in from all directions, and in an instant, he was surrounded.

Considering the presences, the number of people surrounding the pavilion was at least twenty.

And all of their ki surpassed the Transcendent realm, and some of them were exuding a distinct presence, as if they had reached the realm of the Extreme Demonic.

Namgung Hui and the Red-Haired Monster exchanged glances and then began to retreat.

Because fighting against such a number of people was no different from a suicide act.

-We have to escape right away.

-Let's do that. Then let's split up and escape. I'll go east.

-Then I'll go west.

Namgung Hui set his direction towards Qilin Peak, where the Blood Qilin was.

First of all, he was familiar with the path.

And if an unexpected situation occurred, he could ask the Blood Qilin for help.

No matter how strong they were, they would not be able to defeat the divine beast, the Blood Qilin.

"They're running away! Catch them!"

"It's okay to kill one of them. But make sure to capture the other one alive!"

As the Red-Haired Monster flew away first, Namgung Hui followed him and performed a movement technique towards the west.

Wind God Steps. The chapter of escape. The Fast Run.

A lightness technique solely for escape.

Although it was difficult to apply or change direction, its speed was top-notch.

As Namgung Hui changed into a dot, the distance between him and the pursuers widened in an instant.

The pursuers performed their lightness techniques with all their might, but the more they did, the more the distance between them and Namgung Hui widened.

In the end, the pursuers who had stopped their legs could only stare at Namgung Hui like a dog that had been chasing a chicken.

"Tsk! We're heading to the military affairs department!"

"Yes!"

The pursuers turned their steps and disappeared.

Namgung Hui, at the presence of the pursuers whose presence was gradually fading, stopped his feet and spread his electric net wide.

It was to eavesdrop on whether the Red-Haired Monster had escaped safely and what they were talking about.

But as expected of trained personnel, they did not leak any conversation.

Or perhaps because of the illusion cast by the Demonic Phantom, he couldn't feel anything being detected.

'It was the same in the clan village. The electric net worked inside, but it felt cut off from the outside.'

Still, the good thing was that the Red-Haired Monster was also escaping safely.

He had secretly worried that the pursuers would flock to him because he had increased his speed too much, but the remaining pursuers were turning their steps towards the military affairs department, as if to go and complain to Bukgung Jinwu.

'What on earth will Bukgung Jinwu say as an excuse? I don't think he'll say he ordered it.'

Well, he must have had a plan to have plotted such a thing.

Even as if he had expected Namgung Hui to kill someone.

He had even told him to use his hands without hesitation.

Namgung Hui, for now, headed to the campsite he had set up earlier on his way to Qilin Peak.

It was late at night, and he needed to organize his thoughts for a while, so he planned to spend some time in the tent.

When he arrived at the campsite from last time, there seemed to be no trace of wild animals or other intruders, perhaps because of the formation Namgung Hui had set up.

On top of that, since there was some meat left, it seemed he could have a meal.

Namgung Hui set up a formation so that the smoke would not leak out, gathered some firewood, and started a fire.

Jigeuljigeul.

He grilled the meat on a stone plate and ate it with a tree branch.

It wasn't a bad taste.

And so, after filling his stomach, idle thoughts began to creep in.

'Can this really be called revenge? Isn't it just venting my anger?'

The revenge he had taken on the Dugucheon, Dugu In, Dugu Sang, and the Ouyang family.

At that time, he was so angry and had resolved to wipe out their seeds.

But after fighting with the members of the Dugu family, his heart was calm, as if he had never harbored such feelings.

No, a ripple did occur in his heart.

Even if he did this, would his mother, whose memory was faint, come back to life?

She would probably be smiling a bitter smile in the afterlife, telling him not to do that.

Perhaps it was a self-justification to release his anger.

Now that even that anger had subsided, only a sense of emptiness lingered.

When he killed the middle-aged man of the Dugu family, it wasn't regret, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling either.

Still, it was a relief that he had considered him an enemy. If he had thought of him as a good person, Namgung Hui would have been tormented by self-reproach and guilt.

But he couldn't just give up on revenge like this.

In fact, the moment they had harbored a grudge against the Namgung family, this might have been a predetermined course.

To be precise, it was probably predicted after the moment the Martial God and the Heavenly Demon had perished together during the Righteous-Demonic War.

Because to them, the Heavenly Demon was a god they revered. He was close to that.

And the Martial God was the same.

A man who was both a sworn brother and an idol to Namgung Hui.

Hadn't he lived his life looking up to and respecting such a sworn brother?

At the end of his life, he had closed his eyes, secretly envying the life of such a sworn brother.

'If it were my sworn brother, would he have punished the Dugu family? Or would he have generously forgiven them?'

Looking back, his sworn brother was a man who was clear about what to keep and what to cut off.

He thoroughly distinguished between favor and grudge and never did anything that would incur a grudge.

That was why he couldn't remember well how his sworn brother had resolved his grudges.

Because he had bestowed favors on everyone and only heard good things.

Envy? Jealousy? That was something you could only do if you were on the same level.

His sworn brother was like a noble crane in the celestial world, a person in a sublime position that people could not even be jealous of.

Still, if he had to pick one, he could think of one incident.

'Was it called the Iron Sand Faction? It was a martial arts faction in name only. There was a group of human scumbags who trafficked children. How angry my sworn brother was at them. He let out a roar and completely wiped out their seeds. At that time, I really thought a demon god had descended.'

At that time, his sworn brother had shed tears that he rarely shed.

He had thought it was because he felt sorry for the children who had disappeared due to human trafficking, but looking back now, it seemed it was because he had killed even innocent people with his own hands.

Because he had made all the people related to the Iron Sand Faction lonely souls.

Could Namgung Hui be as cruel as his sworn brother and punish even the innocent?

And by whose standards was that sin judged?

Namgung Hui himself? Or a god whose existence was unknown?

He realized that all of this was just self-justification.

Self-satisfaction, venting anger, revenge...

Although he had resolved to break the chain of revenge, it was not as easy as it sounded.

That path was long and arduous.

Unless he annihilated the nine generations of his family like the emperor, another blade of revenge would surely be aimed at Namgung Hui at some point.

And to do that against the huge Blood Cult might be arrogance.

'If I define the Blood Cult as pure evil like in my past life, it would be easy on my mind. But now that I know that's not the case, it's not that easy.'

And what bothered him most of all.

Was the existence of Beak Seolhwa.

Wasn't she also from the Blood Cult, no, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?

It wouldn't be strange at all if she converted to the Blood Cult now.

Should he dream of revenge, which was not even a proper revenge, by turning even her into an enemy?

'I should meet Seolhwa and ask her. If she's been to the outer village, she might be able to give me some answers. And this time, I have to receive the great art from her.'

Internal problems aside.

The external problem was martial arts.

What he felt after facing many masters of the Extreme Demonic this time was the fact that he could not remain complacent.

He had secretly looked down on the current Blood Cult, so he had not expected their military power to be this strong.

Of course, if he took out the martial arts of the Thunder Sect and his hidden cards, he could deal with many more people with ease, but if that was discovered, he would have to turn even the moderate faction, which was not yet an enemy, into an enemy.

It wasn't the time yet, although he wouldn't have a reason to hide it if it came to the very end.

That was why he needed to completely melt the Hwaryeong Divine Pill.

'Before that, shall I go and see my great-aunt-in-law for a moment?'

It wasn't because he was hoping for some scraps to fall.

It was just because he was worried about the bleeding of the Blood Qilin that the White Snake and the White Wolf had mentioned earlier.

Namgung Hui, on his way up to Qilin Peak, tried to approach the Blood Qilin's residence, but for some reason, there was no reaction.

'Hmm... Is the wound bigger than I thought? Seeing as there's no reaction at all, it seems she has entered a long sleep.'

Usually, when a spirit beast is seriously injured, it recovers its body through a long sleep.

Since their lifespan was long, if they fell into a long sleep, they could sleep for hundreds of years, so the sense of time was a realm that humans could not dare to guess.

If it was the Blood Qilin, who had lived for a long time, just closing and opening her eyes could be more than half a month.

Since she had even placed the single-horned snake as a guardian, there would be no great worry.

'It's a shame, but I have no choice but to postpone it for the next opportunity. And since there are no problems with the barrier, it seems there are no problems with her personal safety.'

If a fatal wound occurred to the caster of the barrier, the magic system would surely be shaken.

This was definitely a different part from a formation.

Although a formation, once installed, would have no problem no matter what happened to the caster, a barrier, which was a type of magic, would immediately show the aftermath in the magic if a problem occurred to the caster.

Such a strong barrier would suggest that there was no problem with the Blood Qilin.

Namgung Hui looked around the barrier a little more and then left Qilin Peak.

The eyes that were following Namgung Hui's back gradually became blurry.

***

Namgung Hui, who had returned to the Blood Cult, was about to return to the military affairs department, but since the martial artists of the Blood Heaven Peak were said to be going to the military affairs department, he did not head there.

Since he needed to check the situation first, he disguised himself as I Jayeon and entered the market street.

At a time like this, it was best to check the situation from the villagers.

-Ungseong-ungseong.

The people were all whispering, and their faces looked quite heavy.

It was a look of being chased by something.

Although he didn't know who the target was, their restless and anxious appearance was just like that of a herbivorous animal that had been thoroughly frightened.

Namgung Hui looked at the dark faces of the villagers and then headed to the noodle shop.

There, he would be able to hear a more detailed story than from the villagers.

As expected, when he went there, the owner, whose back was straight, greeted Namgung Hui.

"Friend, what about you? Did you come alone today?"

"That friend has some other business for a moment. By the way, the village is in an uproar, is something wrong?"

"A young lady's ears are darker than an old woman's. Goodness. I heard that invaders came over from the Central Plains, I don't know how they found out. It's a big deal. I was just about to marry off my daughter, but a commotion has broken out."

A deep shadow was cast on the owner's face as well.

The reason this old woman was so gloomy was probably because of Namgung Hui.

In their standards, Namgung Hui was an invader, nothing more, nothing less.

No, perhaps he could be seen as a plunderer, a murderer, more than that.

And as a person who threatened her own daughter.

"Did you hear anything else?"

"Hmm... My old ears are dark, so I didn't hear accurately, but I heard they flocked to the military strategist because he had plotted something."

Namgung Hui thought it would be difficult to get a good look if he headed to the military affairs department now, so he decided to postpone it for a while.

Rather, at a time like this, it would be better to meet Beak Seolhwa first and share the situation.

And as soon as he had some free time, he would have to receive the great art from her.

Now, not only the masters of the Extreme Demonic, but also to deal with the absolute majority, the dissolution of the Hwaryeong Divine Pill was necessary.

'Then I should contact Seolhwa right away.'

Namgung Hui grabbed the earring artifact hanging from his neck and sent a telepathic message to Beak Seolhwa.

[Seolhwa. Where are you now?]

[Hui? Good timing. Come here right now. This is where...]

The moment Namgung Hui heard her location, he realized that Beak Seolhwa was also in a difficult situation.