Kang Sogun

The Dragon Slaying Society was active based in Shandong. If they had come down to the vicinity of Nanjing, it was highly likely that it was a fight with the Great Righteous Martial Hall.

The saber guests of the Dragon Slaying Society aimed their sabers.

"Are you on the side of the Great Righteous Martial Hall?"

Kang Sogun frowned, his gaze on the saber aimed at him.

He had no intention of turning back on the main road in the middle of the night. However, thinking of Jo Unryong, he did not want to clash with the Dragon Slaying Society.

Kang Sogun kicked the ground and jumped up. It was so instantaneous that the saber guests could not even think of catching up and just stared.

Only after Kang Sogun had moved away did they sound the signal.

As Kang Sogun unfolded his lightness skill to its extreme and passed the mountain pass, he saw a thatched hut from which a light was flowing in the darkness.

"Who is it?"

Two figures shot out from the thatched hut and sent out saber lights. A faint red light lingered in the saber lights that cut through the darkness.

'Fire Dragon Saber?'

When Kang Sogun saw the approaching figures, it was not Jo Unryong. However, since the same energy was contained, he could tell that they were Jo Unryong's fellow disciples. They looked a little older.

'They must be Jo Unryong's senior brothers.'

Kang Sogun had no weapon. As he spread his hands in the air and stirred, a current of air formed and scattered the flying saber lights.

Yeom Gichang and Seok Byeongdo were inwardly surprised. They had not known that there was someone who could neutralize the Fire Dragon Saber Art, which they had unfolded with their seven-star internal energy, with their bare hands.

-Boom!

The saber qi, which had been swept away by the Tai Chi Fist and had been deflected, hit the ground, and an explosion erupted.

"Waaah!"

Saber guests poured out from all directions.

Kang Sogun, finding it difficult to break through, stopped and looked back. At a rough estimate, there were over a hundred saber guests.

'If they have mobilized this much military power, it's not a small fight.'

Kang Sogun's mind spun rapidly.

'The Great Righteous Martial Hall is escorting Zhu Zhanji. The fact that the Dragon Slaying Society is blocking this place means they are trying to capture Zhu Zhanji.'

Kang Sogun was puzzled. Although not much was known about the Dragon Slaying Society, he had not thought that they would be connected to the court.

He had just considered them to be a faction of the martial world, but it was surprising that they were blocking the Great Righteous Martial Hall.

Yeom Gichang stepped forward.

"For what reason have you come to the Dragon Slaying Society?"

Yeom Gichang had misunderstood that Kang Sogun had broken into the thatched hut where the leaders of the Dragon Slaying Society were.

"I am just a passerby."

"A passerby? Did you not hear that this mountain is sealed?"

"The roads of the world were made by all the people of the world. Who can block the road?"

As Kang Sogun answered calmly, Yeom Gichang was inwardly impressed.

Kang Sogun's dignified attitude, even while being surrounded by over a hundred saber guests, was surprising.

The moonlight shone on everyone. Yeom Gichang examined Kang Sogun, who was revealed in the moonlight, and asked.

"May I ask for your name and sect?"

Yeom Gichang's voice had softened.

"I am a person who has nothing to do with the martial world."

Kang Sogun had never thought of himself as a person of the martial world.

"Hahaha. A person who is more amazing than any master I have seen has nothing to do with the martial world? Who would believe this?"

Yeom Gichang believed Kang Sogun's words that he was a passerby. However, he could not just let him go without knowing his identity.

He was facing a big fight with the Great Righteous Martial Hall. A great matter could be ruined by a small crack.

Kang Sogun looked around. He looked so relaxed that one could not believe he was a person surrounded by over a hundred people.

-Swish!

Kang Sogun's figure suddenly disappeared.

"Hah!"

The saber guest next to him took a breath. His arm tingled, and he dropped his saber. That saber was in Kang Sogun's hand in an instant.

As soon as Kang Sogun grabbed the saber, he soared into the air and brought it down. A saber qi of nearly ten feet shot out and headed towards the saber guests.

"Avoid it!"

Yeom Gichang shouted, swinging his saber to meet it. Knowing that the internal energy contained in the saber qi was great, he used all his strength.

-Boom!

As the saber qi scattered in all directions, Yeom Gichang was thrown back.

The internal energy contained in Kang Sogun's saber was immense. The moment it clashed with Yeom Gichang, he released his internal energy and spread the saber qi in all directions.

"Kuh!"

The saber guests retreated from the fierce saber qi.

In the meantime, Kang Sogun threw himself forward.

"How dare you!"

When his senior brother was defeated, Seok Byeongdo threw himself forward and blocked the way.

-Swish!

As Kang Sogun drew his saber horizontally, Seok Byeongdo rotated his body and raised his saber.

-Boom!

"Kuh!"

Seok Byeongdo also could not withstand Kang Sogun's internal energy and was thrown back.

In the meantime, Kang Sogun withdrew his body and unfolded his lightness skill.

It had all happened in an instant.

Although Yeom Gichang and Seok Byeongdo staggered and raised their sabers, Kang Sogun was already running over twenty feet away.

"The young pup is amazing!"

From the thatched hut, another ray of saber light cut through the darkness and flew. It was a dazzling saber light with a red energy, and it felt as if the surroundings were lit up.

The huge saber light had a physical form, and as it flew, it grew larger, and when it reached Kang Sogun, it was three feet long.

It meant that it contained an enormous amount of saber qi.

Even Kang Sogun could not take it lightly and rotated his body in the air, swinging his saber to deflect the saber light.

As soon as Kang Sogun landed on the ground, he soared up again, retreated three feet, and then went over the mountain pass.

Wu Mungeuk came out of the thatched hut. His complexion was extremely grave.

'To have blocked the saber that contained my seven-star internal energy. Who on earth is that bastard?'

Wu Mungeuk, who had been in the thatched hut, had also heard the conversation outside.

Although he had known that he had nothing to do with the Great Righteous Martial Hall, he had tried to hold him back just in case, but the opponent had deflected his saber qi and had disappeared.

Moreover, he could not help but be surprised by the fact that the opponent was a young man younger than his own disciple.

The middle-aged woman called the Buddha Mother stood next to Wu Mungeuk.

"It seems he has nothing to do with the Great Righteous Martial Hall. Since a great matter is at hand, please let him go."

As the two were watching Kang Sogun's disappearing back, a gasp was heard from behind.

"Ah!"

When the Buddha Mother looked back, the Flower of the Teaching was staring intently at Kang Sogun's disappearing back.

"Do you know him?"

The Flower of the Teaching had come out late and had only seen Kang Sogun's back disappearing into the distant moonlit darkness. But for some reason, he seemed like a familiar person.

"The person I know is dead. It seems I saw wrong."

The Flower of the Teaching's face returned to its usual cold expression.

Wu Mungeuk said to Yeom Gichang and the others with a grave face.

"It will soon be dawn. The reinforcements of the Great Righteous Martial Hall will come, so be prepared."

If he had not been facing a great enemy, he would have chased him himself and would have confirmed who he was.

He, too, as a martial artist, was curious about the one who had deflected his saber qi, but facing the Heaven's Center One Sword, Baek Jeongmu, was more urgent.

***

'He was a truly amazing man. If he had intended to kill me, he would have spread his saber qi.'

To be able to spread a materialized saber qi of three feet in size meant that he was a master who could also use saber qi.

There would be only a handful of people in the world who could use saber qi. It was more difficult than sword qi.

Although the Fire Dragon Saber, Jo Unryong, was gaining fame, he could only barely form a shape at the tip of his saber. A proper saber qi could cut through anything.

Kang Sogun could also use saber qi. He could even spread spear qi.

But there were also sizes and levels to saber qi.

If he was a person who could spread a saber light of about three feet, he would be able to use a saber qi of at least half a foot.

'The Dragon Slaying Society Master!'

The nickname of the Dragon Slaying Society Master naturally flashed through Kang Sogun's mind.

Seeing that his arm, which had deflected the saber qi, was still numb, it was clear that he was the Dragon Slaying Society Master.

'To think he is one of the ten great masters. As expected, he is worthy of it.'

Kang Sogun's Golden Elixir True Art was in a state of having reached its peak.

To reach Kang Sogun's achievement normally, a person with outstanding talent would have to train for a lifetime.

The Golden Elixir True Art, which was based on the Two Principles Heart Art, was much slower than the study of general internal energy.

The Golden Elixir True Art was a study where one circulated one's qi with another consciousness, just like the Two Principles Heart Art. But there would be no one who would constantly divide their consciousness in their daily life and practice the Golden Elixir True Art.

Kang Sogun had had to constantly operate the Golden Elixir True Art to suppress the Blood Dragon Qi after it had entered him in the Martial Tomb.

He even had to operate the Golden Elixir True Art while sleeping to prevent the rampage of the Blood Dragon Qi.

Through this process, Kang Sogun's study of the Golden Elixir True Art had become very deep, and perhaps it was even beyond that of the creator, Hyeonchija.

Moreover, Kang Sogun had the blood qi that he himself called the Blood Dragon Qi. The Blood Dragon Qi that had seeped in from the Martial Tomb had been suppressed by the Golden Elixir True Art and had spread throughout his body.

But as the years passed, the Blood Dragon Qi was also gradually being influenced by Kang Sogun's body and the Golden Elixir True Art.

The Blood Dragon Qi flowed through Kang Sogun's body as if it had a consciousness.

Fortunately, now, there were almost no cases of it running wild without reason as it had in the Martial Tomb.

It was gradually stabilizing, considering Kang Sogun's body as its own home.

Kang Sogun felt that after running wild yesterday, the Blood Dragon Qi and he had become more fused.

When he had become angry upon hearing of his parents' death, the Blood Dragon Qi had run wild like a blood dragon soaring into the sky, breaking through a storm and a thunderstorm.

After that, as he had sobbed, letting out his deep resentment, the Blood Dragon Qi had become quiet as if it knew Kang Sogun's heart.

Although he had not known it when he had been sobbing, when he had woken up and had thought about it, he had felt as if the Blood Dragon Qi had caressed his entire body as if to comfort him.

And now, the Blood Dragon Qi was following him more obediently than ever.

He could control the Blood Dragon Qi with much less consciousness than when he usually operated the Golden Elixir True Art.

So the Golden Elixir True Art that Kang Sogun could use now was more powerful than ever.

After coming out to the martial world, Kang Sogun had easily subdued any opponent thanks to the Golden Elixir True Art and the Blood Dragon Qi.

Nevertheless, the saber qi that had just flown was overwhelming.

'In terms of internal energy or saber art alone, he was above the Yocheon Pavilion Master.'

Although the Yocheon Pavilion Master, who was skilled in evil arts, was also a very tricky opponent, the one who had just sent the saber qi would be an opponent beyond that.

'If he was the Dragon Slaying Society Master, then the Heavenly Martial Faction Master, Gu Yeongang, would also be a master no less than him.'

For the first time, Kang Sogun thought about the masters of the martial world.

The Heavenly Martial Faction Master, the Thousand Hands No Trace, Gu Yeongang, was ranked fifth among the ten great masters, and he was considered to be a cut above the Fire Dragon True Man, Wu Mungeuk.

Although the ranking between the ten great masters was meaningless, there must be a reason why they were divided like that.

As he was thinking about this and that and running, he had reached Nanjing before he knew it.

Kang Sogun's expression, looking at Nanjing, which was waking up from the faint darkness of dawn, was cold.

***

"It's a truly strange place. It's still early spring, but it's so mild."

Yeon Hwasim muttered, walking along the shore of the lake where the lotus leaves were green.

The Clear Lotus Pond was certainly a strange place. It was also surprising that there was such a wide basin in the mountains and a clear lake in it.

It was like a separate world, away from the world. Even the climate was different from the outside and was mild.

"This place is cool in the summer and warm in the winter."

A maid named Cheongmae took Yeon Hwasim's words. When Yeon Hwasim had said she wanted to look around the Clear Lotus Pond, she had volunteered to be her guide.

"The two seniors are living like immortals here."

Cheongmae did not answer. She was a very loyal maid who did not say anything about her master.

Only after coming to the Clear Lotus Pond did Yeon Hwasim learn that this was a place where the masters of the Great Righteous Martial Hall were raised.

There was a village at the foot of the mountain where the Clear Lotus Pond was located. The large village of over two hundred households, located deep in the valley, was not an ordinary mountain village.

Masters selected from various places in the Great Righteous Martial Hall were staying and training.

Since the Clear Lotus Pond was in a basin that had to be climbed a long way from the village, the village did not even know of its existence.

Thanks to Yu Mungwang's letter, Yeon Hwasim and Jungrang had stayed at the Clear Lotus Pond, not the mountain village.

The picturesque manor on the shore of the lake full of lotus flowers was Yu Mungwang's residence. In the Clear Lotus Pond manor, the rising stars whom Yu Mungwang had specially selected were staying and training.

As Yeon Hwasim was passing through the bamboo forest by the lake, a young man in martial arts attire with a sword came up.

"Miss Yeon. Where have you been?"

The young man, with clear eyes and a white complexion, was very handsome.

(End of Chapter)