Scholar Demon Venerable

The escort masters rushed to the front.

Since it was a long procession of twelve carts, not all of them ran.

The porters kept the carts as close together as possible so that the horses pulling the carts would not run wild.

Jin Seolran, Kang Ho-poong, Namgung Ryong, and Zhuge Haemi also flew.

Cheongun did not follow them and spread his senses widely from his position.

Chaechachaechang!

Chajajajang!

A fight had already broken out at the front. Nevertheless, Cheongun did not move from his position.

Those with strong energy were rushing towards the center.

Seureureung.

Cheongun drew the sword at his waist.

The imperial sword bestowed by the Emperor was with the Jinyiwei. The sword he had now was a gift from Feng Tianhu.

Although it looked like a common blue steel sword on the outside, its sharpness was that of an outstanding famous sword, comparable to a divine weapon.

A group of people appeared from the forest on the right. They were all masked.

"There's a saying, 'Those who come are not good, and those who are good do not come.'"

Cheongun took a big step forward.

The escort masters next to him took their stances with their respective weapons.

The number of enemies was about thirty. At a glance, they were people with outstanding momentum.

'The first real battle.'

Cheongun gripped his sword tightly.

He had killed many beasts so far. But now, he might have to kill people.

Could he really kill people without hesitation?

"Phew..."

Cheongun took a deep breath and maintained his composure.

Since he had set foot in the martial world, killing was his destiny. If he hesitated like a fool, he could lead his comrades to their deaths.

"Attack! Recover the goods as quickly as possible and leave this place!"

As the order fell from the tall masked man, the masked men began to attack all at once.

Cheongun stepped forward and swung his sword.

Seogeok!

A line was drawn on the neck of the man who had started the attack first, and then it fell to the floor with a thud.

The attackers, as if time had stopped, stopped abruptly for a moment.

Their eyes wavered as if they couldn't believe their comrade's death. There was no one who had even seen properly how he had been killed.

In the time they hesitated for a moment, Cheongun cut down two more and passed by.

He had not particularly unfolded the moves of an advanced sword art.

Fast!

He had just swung his sword quickly along the appropriate sword path.

Only after cutting down those three did Cheongun confirm that he had no fear of killing.

No, far from fear, his mind had become calm. Was he talented at killing? He was at the point of having such a question.

'You guys tried to kill me first anyway. Don't resent my hand for being poisonous!'

The masked men became tense when they realized that there was an unexpectedly strong person.

But the superiority in numbers offset their fear.

This time, seven or eight people rushed at Cheongun at once. Thanks to that, the burden on the escort masters was lessened.

"Chahat!"

Shushushushuk!

With a loud kiai, sword energy erupted from Cheongun's sword.

The masked men who were about to attack Cheongun fell without even swinging their swords once at the bundle of sword energy that spread in all directions.

Cheongun moved without hesitation like a tiger that had jumped into a flock of sheep.

If they were people who had to be cut down anyway, there was no reason to leave any affection in his hands.

"Keuk!"

"Kek!"

With a series of last gasps, about ten people fell in an instant.

All that was left was the masked man who seemed to be the leader and about ten people standing behind him.

So much so that even the escort masters were so surprised that their eyes widened as if they would pop out.

"Don't worry about the others, just attack that guy! Spread out the formation and attack together!"

The masked man who seemed to be the leader shouted, glaring at Cheongun.

"As you command!"

The people standing behind him all unfolded their lightness skills at once and landed as if to surround Cheongun.

Cheongun also said to the escort masters.

"Leave this place to me and go help the other places!"

The escort masters knew well that they would not be of any help in Cheongun's fight.

"Alright, Young Master!"

About ten escort masters split into two and ran to the front and rear.

Cheongun raised his internal energy and glared at the masked men with cold eyes.

"Come on now!"

"Open the formation!"

At the shout of the tall masked man, the other masked men began to move in perfect order.

Cheongun observed their movements and recalled his knowledge of formation studies to grasp the essence of the combined attack formation.

'It's a movement based on the Four Symbols Formation.'

"Dragon and Tiger, attack!"

With the shout of the tall masked man, the masked men who were moving in all directions finally began to attack.

Shushuk!

Cheongun pulled his sword towards his chest and held it upright. Then he took a step and jumped into the Kun direction.

Although it was a sudden intrusion, the masked men were not flustered.

The formation they had unfolded was a simple yet complex formation that added the Eight Trigrams to the Four Symbols.

Those who knew a little about formations would attack the Kun direction first like Cheongun. But there were not many who could deal with the changes of emptiness and reality contained within it from moment to moment.

Chaeng!

The person who was occupying the Kun direction at the front stepped back.

The two people in the back obstructed Cheongun's path. Their movements were agile, as if they had been coordinating their hands and feet for a long time.

Chajajachaeng!

Swords flew at Cheongun from all directions.

Cheongun spun his body once and deflected the swords that were aiming for his vital points.

After that, he thrust his sword briefly towards the Li in the south, and then immediately stirred the Kan direction.

Cheongun, who had finished assessing the sword formation, unfolded the Eight Shadows of the Lightning Step and relentlessly dug into the inside of the sword formation.

No matter how outstanding a sword formation was, it could not exert its full power when its principles had been grasped.

Seogeok.

A crack appeared on the neck of the short masked man who was standing in the center.

Immediately after, his head fell off, unable to withstand the pressure of the swirling formation.

At the same time, a hole was pierced in the net of the people who were moving in perfect order.

For a moment, a shout erupted from Cheongun's mouth.

"Chaat!"

Ureureureung!

With a thunderous sound, a dazzling flash of light flashed. A ferocious blue dragon that tore the heavens and the earth clawed the area like a storm.

Bodies falling with a thud.

The crimson blood gushing out from their bodies.

Cheongun frowned.

'I overdid it.'

The Blood Emperor, who had been quiet, also said a word.

[You bastard, control your internal energy moderately.]

He had poured out too much internal energy against those who could not be called masters.

The martial world was a place where it was not strange for anything to happen at any time. One always had to think of the worst case and fight efficiently, leaving some strength.

Isn't there a saying that to survive in the martial world, you have to hide three-tenths of your strength?

[It might be better for you to reveal three-tenths and hide seven-tenths.]

Cheongun agreed and looked at the leader of the masked men with cold eyes.

"Now it's your turn."

At Cheongun's cold words, the masked man flinched.

A cold sweat ran down his spine at Cheongun's unimaginable martial prowess.

To think that there was a guy in the escort mission who could break a combined attack formation by himself.

On the one hand, fear washed over him when he thought about being questioned for his failure.

"Who, who are you?"

His initial confidence had disappeared, and his voice trembled with bewilderment.

Cheongun made a cold expression and strode forward.

"You don't seem to be simple bandits. Why did you attack the escort mission?"

"..."

"Did you say you were recovering the goods a little while ago? What is the item you are aiming for?"

Although the questions continued, the masked man did not say anything.

Cheongun smirked.

"A taciturn person. Alright, if you're going to keep your mouth shut, I have no choice."

Pabat.

Cheongun lightly kicked the ground and slid forward.

The Flying Heaven Shadowless Divine Step of the Shadowless Divine Thief was unfolded.

Cheongun's figure became blurry and then disappeared like smoke in an instant.

"Gasp!"

"Where?"

The masked man rolled his eyes in all directions to find Cheongun, who had disappeared from in front of him. But Cheongun's figure was nowhere to be seen.

All that could be heard was the sound of fighting from the front and rear.

But at some point, the sound of fighting from the rear could not be heard.

"Don't tell me?"

The leader of the masked men trembled.

'Did he already take care of the rear?'

Seeing Cheongun's skills, it was not an impossible thing.

"Everyone, retreat!"

The masked man shouted with his internal energy.

He had to run away when the guy was not in front of him.

When he had planned to attack the caravan in the first place, he had not expected the variable of Cheongun. At best, he had only thought that there might be three or four more martial artists of a similar level to Jin Seolran.

Sure enough, there were the young masters of Qingcheng, the Namgung family, and the Zhuge family.

If it had only been them, he could have achieved his goal without any problems.

But to think that there was a monster-like guy who was more terrifying than all of them combined.

"Where are you going?"

Just before the leader of the masked men was about to fly, Cheongun appeared.

He threw two subdued masked men in front of the leader of the masked men.

Thud.

He didn't know if they were dead or alive, but they didn't move a muscle.

"We still have something to talk about, don't we?"

"...to think you've already taken care of them."

The voice of the leader of the masked men trembled slightly.

"Now. Shall we talk slowly?"

"From my mouth, no words..."

"Shut up!"

Cheongun cut off the opponent's words and said with his two eyes shining coldly.

"If you want to kill yourself, do it now."

"What?"

"I'm a busy person. If you're going to do it, do it quickly. Yes, you two there, if you want to die, die. There are many people who will talk instead of you."

Padeudeuk.

Perhaps because he had understood Cheongun's meaning, the sound of the masked man's teeth grinding was heard, and the other two masked men's shoulders drooped.

The Blood Emperor relaxed his coldly hardened face and crossed his arms.

'Hah, this guy. Now that I see it, he has a talent in this area. Shall I see his skills?'

Meanwhile, the masked man who was facing Cheongun's eyes twitched.

In any case, since he had failed in his mission, only death would be waiting for him if he returned.

He smirked and raised his middle finger, sticking it out at Cheongun.

"You won't find out anything."

Then, while Cheongun's eyes widened slightly, he stabbed the Ermen acupoint, a vital point on the side of his head, with that finger.

Puk!

With his finger stuck in the Ermen acupoint, he collapsed on the spot.

He had really committed suicide.

"Huh?"

While Cheongun was dumbfounded, the other two masked men also bit down on a poison pill and fell forward.

"..."

[...]

He didn't know what kind of guys they were, but they were really tough guys.

"Phew, if I had known this would happen, I should have subdued their vital points first so they couldn't move."

That was also a lack of experience.

But the Blood Emperor said nothing. When he looked at him, he was lost in deep thought for some reason.

"What's wrong?"

When Cheongun asked, the Blood Emperor tilted his head.

[The martial arts those guys unfolded. It's been modified, but... it seems like a martial art I know.]

"Huh? Really?"

If it were just a martial art he knew, there would be no need to worry like that.

Then...

"By any chance, is it a martial art related to you, Blood Emperor?"

[Umm, they're all dead, so I can't know for sure. It's a pity, but it can't be helped. Don't worry too much about it. Since it's been revealed once, it will appear again someday.]

The masked men who had attacked the escort mission from the front had all fled.

Of the seventy-odd escort masters of the Jintian Escort Agency, about twenty had lost their lives. The rest had also suffered major and minor injuries.

The only fortunate thing was that the masked men had not attacked the porters and carriers.

Perhaps the item the masked men were aiming for was not there.

Cheongun was inwardly relieved, but he also had a question.

'But how did those guys know that?'

(End of Chapter)