Rebirth of the Thunder God

'General Yi...! That bastard was here.'

As soon as Namgung Hui entered Zhenhai, he spotted a familiar man in the distance.

General Yi, who, despite being a eunuch, did not show the characteristic androgyny.

That was probably due to the side effects of the Sunflower Manual or the use of some other strange technique.

'He must be supplementing a massive amount of yang energy through some method or taking a peculiar drug.'

Namgung Hui thought it was a relief that it wasn't General One, who possessed the Insightful Eye.

General Yi didn't seem to have any special spiritual eyes or the ability to see through disguises.

Hadn't he failed to recognize Namgung Hui's female disguise when they first met?

However, there was one thing about General Yi that was puzzling.

He had definitely sprinkled the Thousand-Li Tracking Scent on him during their first encounter.

But how was it that the scent had faded since their second meeting and was now completely gone?

'To wash off the Thousand-Li Tracking Scent, a special substance must be used. Usually, animal oil is used, but unless one bathes their entire body in it, it should be impossible. Hmm... I'll have to ask Tang Soso about this later. Since it was the Tang family's Thousand-Li Tracking Scent, she should know something.'

The reasons to meet Tang Soso as soon as possible had increased.

Tang Soso, who was still isolated on Putuo Mountain.

If she were to unleash her poisons, this large imperial army wouldn't be too frightening, but if she participated in treason, the crime would extend to the Sichuan Tang family.

No matter how much some within the imperial army held resentment towards the Hoicheon Association.

If it was a matter related to treason, they would act more aggressively than the Hoicheon Association.

After all, their very purpose was to dispose of traitors who challenged the imperial family.

Namgung Hui gave up on lifting the blockade in Zhenhai and was about to pass by General Yi to go to Ningbo when...

"Hey there. Centurion. You see me and don't even greet me? I was once your martial arts instructor, you know. I'm a little hurt."

It was quite a predicament that General Yi happened to be acquainted with the Centurion Namgung Hui was disguised as.

If he was a martial arts instructor, even if not a complete master, it would be proper to show respect.

As if he had no choice, Namgung Hui approached General Yi and offered a greeting.

"Instructor. It's been a while."

"Instructor? You're even using the title you so disliked. By the way, where are you going now? As far as I know, you were in charge of Shaoxing."

"I left it to my subordinate for a moment and am on patrol."

"As expected. Your diligence is to be commended. Well. I've taken up your valuable time. Carry on with your work."

Namgung Hui, thinking he had safely passed the encounter with General Yi, let out a sigh of relief inwardly and saluted him.

It was clear that he was a superior officer.

And General Yi's position within the imperial army was likely not low.

Just as Namgung Hui lowered his hand and was about to head to the next base.

-Swoosh...!

A stealthy attack suddenly flew towards Namgung Hui.

It was a palm technique difficult to notice unless one's Ki sense was sharpened by reaching the Transformation Realm.

General Yi had launched a ranged palm strike at Namgung Hui using the stealthy energy of the Sunflower Manual.

Namgung Hui dodged the palm technique with his footwork and glared at him, saying.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"As I thought, you're not the Centurion. Not only did you dodge my palm technique, but that's a footwork I've never seen before. Who are you?"

Namgung Hui used his feigning skill and played dumb.

"I am the Centurion. Can you not even recognize someone who was once your student?"

"First of all, the you I knew was not so polite to me. At first, I thought it was a sarcastic attitude, but somehow the feeling is strangely different. And above all, the fact that I couldn't read your Ki sense was very suspicious. So, I launched a palm strike just in case, and as expected, you dodged it."

"What if I hadn't been able to dodge it?"

"Then you would have died. What else could be done?"

"What? But am I not your student?"

"He was a lacking fellow, hardly worth calling a student. By the way, you have a strange scent on you. The scent of a woman... you can't be the one I was thinking of."

Namgung Hui didn't understand General Yi's words at first, but he soon came to understand.

'This bastard, he suspected it was me from the beginning. But whether it's Yewol's scent or the Centurion's wife's scent, he's mistaking me because he smells a woman.'

Since Namgung Hui had neither a wife nor a lover, the strong scent of a woman clinging to him must have felt strange to General Yi.

And right now, Namgung Hui was altering the energy he felt by creating a new heart art.

In other words, the flow and wavelength of the Ki constantly circulating in his body were different from when he was Namgung Hui.

This was a skill made possible only after reaching the Transformation Realm and improving his blood vessels with the Hwaryeong Divine Pill.

Just by changing his Ki like this, it was difficult to unconsciously perceive him as the same person.

Furthermore, for someone like General Yi, whose depth of martial arts was shallow, it was bound to be even more confusing.

He had shown outstanding achievement through the power of the Sunflower Manual.

It wasn't that the essence of his martial arts was purely outstanding.

"Well, I'll find out where you're from once I capture you. The wenches trapped on Putuo Mountain haven't come out, and I was getting bored. This is perfect. Let's have some fun."

Namgung Hui nodded and drew his sword.

It was a spare sword he had acquired, so there was no way General Yi would recognize it.

On top of that, he also had the demonic art he had obtained from the Blood Cult, so if he used it with the One Yang Divine Art, it would all look unfamiliar to General Yi.

Perhaps he might even mistake the extreme yang true Ki for the martial art of the Sun God Palace.

"All of you, retreat twenty zhang!"

As General Yi gave the command, the imperial soldiers who were watching from the surroundings immediately withdrew.

In a fight between supreme masters, even being grazed by their Ki could lead to death.

Falling back that far was the best option.

In fact, he thought even twenty zhang was not enough.

Namgung Hui's sword momentum would not stop at a mere twenty zhang.

'Still, it's a difficult situation to go all out. Unless I'm going to slaughter all those imperial soldiers, my identity can't be revealed.'

The reason martial world factions didn't pick fights with the weak imperial army wasn't just because of the non-aggression pact.

The imperial army far outnumbered even the hundred thousand members of the Beggars' Sect.

The number of personnel they could mobilize immediately was a million-strong army.

And if they conscripted by force, they could easily mobilize up to three million.

Beyond defeating such numbers, the act of taking innocent lives was something the Taoist and Buddhist sects extremely disliked.

Of course, if a battle for the fate of the martial world like the Righteous-Demonic War were to occur, it might be a different story, but among that three-million-strong army, relatives of the martial world families would surely be mobilized.

That was why the martial world factions did not create trouble with the imperial army.

Perhaps the non-aggression pact came into being due to this influence.

If it was discovered that Namgung Hui had directly interfered in a government affair, it would undoubtedly bring great trouble to the Namgung family.

He would become a great sinner involved in treason, and the Hoicheon Association would not miss this opportunity.

'Even the most vicious demonic master couldn't kill all those witnesses.'

Some would flee to the sea.

Some would flee by land.

They could even send messages via carrier pigeon and express letter.

There was no guarantee that not even one of those many people would be missed.

If that happened, he would have to face the Emperor and the entire nation, whom he had not yet turned into enemies or who could have become allies.

That would be troublesome, so Namgung Hui decided to perform his martial arts in a way that would make them mistake him for someone else as much as possible.

'As it happens, I have the demonic art manual I looted after killing the members of the Flying Moon Heavenly Family. No matter how much of a General Yi he is, he would never expect that I've even learned a demonic art.'

For a direct descendant of the Namgung family, and the successor of the Thunder God Sect at that, to learn a demonic art was absurd.

Beyond simple perception, demonic arts, as their name suggests, had many side effects.

The act of learning them itself often acted as a risk factor.

Hadn't Namgung Hui heard all about the side effects of demonic arts from the first cult leader's diary?

Nevertheless, the reason Namgung Hui learned and used the Asura Sword Art was partly to use it effectively in situations like this, but also...

'As long as I have the Two Forms Heart Art, there's no danger. I just need to divide my mindscape into two and operate them.'

He would separate the mindscape space with the Two Forms Heart Art.

The original orthodox art and the newly used demonic art would be separated on either side and operate independently.

This way, the side effects of the demonic art could also be sealed.

On top of that, it wasn't just the Two Forms Heart Art that produced this effect.

It was a skill that became possible as he rose to the Transformation Realm.

'In the first place, it's not like I learned a demonic art down to the heart art level. On top of that, the Purple Thunder Divine Art contains the energy of dispelling evil and upholding righteousness, so it won't be easily corroded.'

Rather, Namgung Hui himself might be the most optimized talent for learning demonic arts due to these characteristics and advantages.

The Asura Sword Art, which such a Namgung Hui had looted after dealing with the members of the Flying Moon Heavenly Family.

Although he only had the first half, it was more than enough to perform the martial art.

The Asura Sword Art was one of the three great sword arts representing the Demonic Cult.

As Namgung Hui was lost in deep thought, General Yi spotted an opening and immediately reached out his hand.

-Swoosh!

A martial art whose presence was faint even when watching it right in front of you.

It felt like it could be applied even more cruelly if one learned the stealth techniques of an assassin.

It was fortunate that General Yi's knowledge of martial arts was still narrow.

If his achievements deepened, he would surely become a more difficult opponent to face.

-Swish.

Namgung Hui used a clone from the Phantom Shadow Steps to deflect his attack.

Since his Ki sense was not yet sensitive, he could not distinguish between the clone of the Phantom Shadow Steps and the main body.

"Oho. This is a footwork close to an illusion art. A truly unfamiliar martial art."

"Then, why don't you appreciate my sword art as well."

Asura Sword Art. First Stance. Flash Kill.

Along with a flash of light, a thick killing intent bloomed from the tip of Namgung Hui's sword.

The petals of sword Ki, imbued with killing intent, headed for General Yi's forehead.

-Shararak.

Although it was only the first stance from the first half, the energy contained in the Asura Sword Art was powerful.

General Yi, also surprised by Namgung Hui's unexpected stance, twitched his eyebrows and launched a counterattack.

-Kang!

He barely managed to counter the sword Ki by creating a sword wave.

Inwardly thinking he had taken a loss, General Yi quickly rotated his hands like a waterwheel to create a huge palm wind.

A massive amount of internal energy, looking almost brutish, began to rotate and take on a tangible form.

Woong! Woong!

The condensed energy fluctuated and was shot towards Namgung Hui.

Perhaps because of the added rotational force, its power looked particularly formidable.

Namgung Hui had no intention of foolishly receiving such a massive amount of energy.

He deployed the Phantom Shadow Steps again, trying to dodge the huge palm wind, but...

-Whoosh!

Perhaps because of the rotational force, it turned towards Namgung Hui.

It was a ridiculous situation, but on the other hand, the corners of his mouth curled up.

'Look at this. It's following me like my Thunder Dragon Palm.'

Although it wasn't based on the principle of using magnetic force like the Thunder Dragon Palm, it strangely followed Namgung Hui.

Its power could not be ignored, so he put aside his appreciation and immediately responded.

Asura Sword Art. Second Stance. Annihilate.

The representative stance of the Asura Sword Art, notorious for its viciousness.

It had achieved brilliant results on numerous battlefields.

That fierce and cruel momentum split the bullet of energy that General Yi had fired and annihilated it.

"..."

The imperial soldiers watching from afar also stared blankly at the clash of the supreme masters.

General Yi, as if he had recognized Namgung Hui's stance, narrowed his eyes and said.

"Such a cruel sword art... it's the Asura Sword Art of the Flying Moon Heavenly Family. You bastard. Were you one of the Heavenly Family's men?"

"Who knows. I might have just picked up a manual and learned it, right?"

"Haha! Nonsense. What kind of people do you think the Flying Moon Heavenly Family are, to let the Asura Sword Art, which only the direct line can learn, leak out? Good. I'll have to see this through with you."

If it were up to him, Namgung Hui would have wanted to finish off General Yi right here.

But contrary to his wishes.

From a distance, a massive army had established a blockade, sealing off a certain radius around Namgung Hui.

(End of Chapter)