Chapter 50
The canyon was longer than expected.
After passing through countless wooden stakes and reaching the end of the canyon, a barrier built to connect the canyon walls appeared.
Between the barriers was a shabby gate, but no one was guarding it.
Creeeeak.
Gok Bo-ok pushed open the old door and stepped inside.
Surprisingly, there was a village formed inside.
However, judging by the crumbling buildings, it didn’t seem like a place where people could live.
“This is kind of creepy, isn’t it?”
Gok Bo-ok craned his neck this way and that, muttering unnecessarily.
He suddenly felt regret.
Sa Bigang had given the students a standby order and headed straight into the canyon.
Mae Seol-lan had finished preparing the camp with the students, but Yeon U-gyeong and others planned to secretly follow Sa Bigang when they had the chance.
While Yeon U-gyeong and others were keeping watch, Gok Bo-ok had slipped into the canyon.
If Mae Seol-lan discovered his absence, the clever Yeon U-gyeong would somehow make up an excuse for him.
‘By the way, where did Sa Bigang go?’
Gok Bo-ok looked around cautiously as he moved forward.
That’s when it happened.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing and bouncing off!
Gok Bo-ok quickly hid behind a building.
‘That sound just now…!’
He carefully peeked his head around the corner.
Light flashed at the end of the street in the distance.
‘There it is!’
He had finally caught his chance.
Today, he might finally be able to reveal Sa Bigang’s true identity.
‘I will definitely find out what he’s doing here!’
Gok Bo-ok approached that direction even more carefully.
***
Sa Bigang looked quietly at the blade in Ku U-jung’s hand.
“You’re making a mistake.”
“You’ll lose your life to my mistake.”
Swoosh!
As soon as he finished speaking, Ku U-jung kicked off the ground and flew right up to Sa Bigang’s face.
Swiiiiing!
His sword slashed diagonally across Sa Bigang’s body.
But.
‘Huh?’
There was no resistance?
He had definitely cut a person, but it was as clean as cutting through empty air.
Then from behind.
“Are you thinking of making my sword submit through force alone?”
“Cheap tricks!”
Ku U-jung quickly twisted his body and swept his sword horizontally.
Swiiiiing!
A speed so fast that ordinary people would have trouble following it with their eyes.
However.
Click.
“……!”
Ku U-jung’s eyes widened.
His sword, swung with all his might, was caught and stopped perfectly between Sa Bigang’s thumb and index finger!
‘What is this…?’
Crack!
The next moment, the blade was broken in half by Sa Bigang’s hand.
Sa Bigang casually tossed the broken blade over his shoulder.
“Isn’t this verification enough?”
“You, what exactly is your identity…!”
“How many times must I tell you? I’m an instructor from Yongcheon Hall. My name is Sa Bigang.”
“Nonsense! You’re not just at the level of an instructor!”
Ku U-jung shouted angrily, quickly retreating and pulling out throwing knives from his chest to hurl them.
A total of eight throwing knives cut through the air and rushed toward Sa Bigang.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoooosh!
‘This time he won’t be able to block them easily!’
Each throwing knife was imbued with strong energy.
No matter how much he deployed an energy membrane, he wouldn’t be able to deflect strong energy.
But…
Clang clang clang!
Surprisingly, the throwing knives imbued with strong energy were deflected.
However, he couldn’t deflect all the throwing knives.
The moment the fifth one was deflected, the Shield surrounding Sa Bigang cracked and shattered.
‘As expected, strong energy.’
Three throwing knives embedded themselves in Sa Bigang’s heart as he grinned.
‘A hit.’
Ku U-jung clenched his fist.
But…
‘An afterimage?’
This time too, Sa Bigang’s form disappeared like smoke!
“……!”
Sensing something, Ku U-jung quickly drew a dagger and turned around.
Swooooosh!
At the same time, his dagger shot up diagonally.
Clang!
After an eardrum-piercing sound, the dagger flew into the air.
Sa Bigang, who had appeared behind him, was holding Veritas.
There was no time to panic.
Tap!
Ku U-jung lightly tapped the ground and retreated while stretching both hands upward.
At that moment, a rich floral fragrance wafted through the air.
Just as he had the illusion of colorful flower petals fluttering down from the sky.
Swoooooooosh!
Countless throwing knives that had blackened the sky fell at terrifying speed.
This time they were thin needles that were hard to see with the naked eye.
“A good attack. But it won’t work on me.”
Ting ting ting ting ting!
The needles that hit an invisible barrier fell around like rain.
Soon after, Sa Bigang kicked off the ground and charged forward.
Tap tap tap!
Ku U-jung’s pupils shook again.
‘Grass Flying!’
That was right.
Sa Bigang was running on top of sparsely grown weeds.
Something only possible for someone with tremendous internal energy!
It meant his opponent was at least a supreme master.
But…
‘No! That’s not Grass Flying!’
Looking closely, Sa Bigang’s feet were barely moving.
It would be more accurate to say he was flying.
‘What exactly is that?’
In fact, this was the low-level flight magic Fly, but there was no way Ku U-jung could know that.
Anyway, the fact that his opponent was floating over grass blades was an unfavorable condition for him.
Actually, the needles he had just unleashed were coated with deadly poison.
Although Sa Bigang had blocked the attack, if he stepped on the needles that fell to the ground, there was a ninety percent chance he would be poisoned.
But…
‘Did he know?’
Or was it just coincidence?
Judging by Sa Bigang’s relaxed expression, it didn’t seem like mere coincidence.
For some reason, his opponent was trying to recruit him as a subordinate.
So he probably wasn’t charging in with the intention of killing him in one blow.
Many thoughts flashed through his mind, but the actual time that passed was only an instant.
In the blink of an eye, Sa Bigang arrived right in front of him, let out a battle cry, and brought Veritas down.
“Haah!”
‘Heh, you’ve fallen into my trap!’
Ku U-jung quickly drew his short sword and blocked Veritas.
Veritas imbued with strong energy and the short sword clashed, creating a tremendous sound.
Screeeeech!
Rattle rattle rattle!
The surrounding windows and roof tiles trembled, unable to withstand the energy waves.
“Grrr!”
Ku U-jung’s brow furrowed.
His arm tingled painfully.
Gritting his teeth, he quickly extended his other hand.
“This is the end!”
In an instant, he channeled all the energy in his body into his palm strike.
Since it was an ultra-close-range attack, his opponent wouldn’t have time to deploy an energy membrane.
Sure enough, his prepared finishing blow struck Sa Bigang’s solar plexus.
Thwack!
Sa Bigang staggered and retreated.
The clothing around his solar plexus, which had been hit by the palm strike, was completely torn, revealing bare flesh.
Sa Bigang, who barely managed to regain his balance, was breathing heavily.
“Huff, huff. Indeed… impressive.”
Meanwhile, Ku U-jung, who had unleashed all his internal energy in that palm strike, couldn’t hide his surprised expression.
‘Even after taking a palm strike head-on… he’s still standing?’
Rather, he was the one who was exhausted and about to collapse.
“You… are a monster.”
“Actually, I only became a monster a few days ago.”
Since consuming the Dragon Heart.
Sa Bigang swallowed the rest of his words and looked quietly at Ku U-jung.
“What do you think? Still don’t want to become my sword? I absolutely need you.”
“Hehehehe. You don’t think you’ve won, do you?”
“……?”
“You were certainly strong. But you were careless. In the end, you lost.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Hehehehe. Can you see my palm print carved into your stomach?”
Indeed, there was a black palm print carved into Sa Bigang’s solar plexus area.
Ku U-jung smiled.
“It’s the Black Lotus Divine Palm that I mastered. Now poison will spread throughout your entire body within half a gak and you’ll die.”
Sa Bigang grinned.
“Exactly that. I wanted to see this directly.”
“What? Kekeke. Still can’t grasp the situation? You’ve paid with your life for the privilege of seeing it directly.”
“Unfortunately, that won’t be the case.”
“What?”
Sa Bigang slowly brought his right hand to his solar plexus.
The next moment, wasn’t pure white light gently emanating from his hand?
Ku U-jung, who had been agitated, flinched and retreated.
“Wh-what are you doing now…?”
“Cure Poison. It’s magic that treats poison. Of course, if it had been my level from a few days ago, it would have been difficult to detoxify, but now that my Circle has risen, it’s fully possible.”
“Wh-what are you talking about…? There’s no way that kind of sorcery could remove the poison of Black Lotus Divine Palm…”
Ku U-jung, who had been continuing to speak, opened his eyes wide.
Surprisingly, wasn’t the Black Lotus Divine Palm mark carved into Sa Bigang’s solar plexus slowly being erased?
“That can’t be… impossible!”
He shouted in denial, but the phenomenon unfolding before his eyes was an undeniable fact.
Sa Bigang, who had finally completely erased the black mark, looked at Ku U-jung again.
“Still thinking of trying more?”
Deep wrinkles formed on Ku U-jung’s brow.
He clenched his fists tightly and shouted loudly.
“Attack!”
Instantly, dozens of martial artists who had been surrounding Sa Bigang leaped high into the dark sky.
At the same time, each of them scattered dozens of throwing weapons, so hundreds of throwing weapons rushed toward Sa Bigang in an instant.
Swoooooooooosh!
However, Sa Bigang’s expression remained calm throughout.
‘I knew it would come to this eventually. Tsk.’
Clicking his tongue, he muttered quietly.
“Gravity.”
In an instant.
Whoooooooooosh!
Wasn’t it that the hundreds of throwing weapons flying like a swarm of bees and dozens of martial artists suddenly plummeted to the ground?
The throwing weapons and people falling to the ground as if pulled by a giant magnet!
Clatter clatter clatter clatter!
Thud! Thud! Thud thud thud!
Even Ku U-jung, who had been standing opposite him, couldn’t withstand the sudden weight of the air and fell to his knees.
“Grrr! Wh-what is this…!”
Gravity.
It’s magic that amplifies the gravity of a specific space.
Ku U-jung and the martial artists had no choice but to panic at the suddenly increased gravity.
People struggling to get up while kneeling.
Sa Bigang, who had been looking around at them, narrowed his eyes and increased the gravity a bit more.
Rumble rumble rumble rumble!
“Grrrrr!”
Those who couldn’t overcome the powerful gravity each supported themselves with both palms on the ground.
The same went for Ku U-jung.
He ended up in a position of bowing toward Sa Bigang.
Sa Bigang stood upright and spoke to Ku U-jung.
“Become my sword, Ku U-jung.”
His tone had changed.
Ku U-jung’s eyes under the bamboo hat shook violently.
“Ku U-jung. No, I should call you ‘Tang Iháp (唐二俠)’.”
“You really know my real name…?”
“Hehe. Did you think I wouldn’t know after you revealed the Tang Family’s secret martial art Ten Thousand Heavenly Flower Rain followed by Black Lotus Divine Palm, an application of Red Lotus Divine Palm? Of course, I already knew before that.”
“Kuk, I acknowledge that you… exceeded my expectations. However, I cannot become a subordinate.”
“Why?”
“Don’t you know… the reason why I stay here with my subordinates? We have… cursed bodies.”
“A curse… What if I could lift that curse for you?”
“……!”
Ku U-jung, no, Tang Iháp opened his eyes wide and looked up at Sa Bigang.
Sa Bigang smiled and asked.
“How about it? Then will you become my sword?”
“What did you just… say?”
“I said I would lift that curse for you. No, to be more precise, you would be the one to lift the curse.”
“What?”
“I’ll provide the necessary materials and tell you the method.”
“Nonsense!”
“Well. Whether it’s nonsense or not, you’ll know if you try, won’t you? You wouldn’t want to spend your whole life hiding in such a dark place without even attempting it.”
“Really… can you free us from this bondage?”
Tang Iháp slowly removed his bamboo hat.
The Gravity magic had already disappeared.
Not only Tang Iháp, but other martial artists also removed their bamboo hats one by one.
Sa Bigang grinned at Tang Iháp.
“That depends on you.”
**
Meanwhile, Gok Bo-ok, who had been spying on them from a little distance away, fell on his bottom.
“Those people’s faces… Good heavens!”
