Puuhk!

The sword that had pierced through that massive fist and arm, and even the shoulder, finally stabbed into Hwangbo Yeongcheon’s neck.

“Kuhugh…!”

Even if his energy had become unstable, the absurdly thick qi flame and external energy that had regained its prime—

None of it could withstand my sword.

Or rather, the will contained in that strike.

The ash-gray hue covering Hwangbo Yeongcheon’s body from his internal energy faded, and his skin began to return to its original color.

His gigantic frame started to collapse, deflating like a punctured balloon.

In the blink of an eye, he returned to the appearance of an old man.

He tried to press his hand against the blood gushing from his neck, but eventually gave up and let his arm drop.

Was it because his aged body could no longer apply enough force?

Or had he realized that stopping the bleeding now would not save his life?

It didn’t matter.

What mattered was that Hwangbo Yeongcheon had accepted his death.

His face, full of liver spots and wrinkles, opened its mouth.

“…Just now. What was that…?”

“What do you think? I simply tried to reproduce the Hwangbo Clan’s martial arts in my own way.”

“To think… that technique… had such power…”

“If you hadn’t turned away from it, it’s a strike you could have reached. You’ve trained in the Hwangbo Clan’s martial arts far longer than I have.”

“…Yes. Perhaps you’re right. Had I not abandoned the clan’s martial path… maybe even I could have…”

Kuhak!

Hwangbo Yeongcheon coughed up a mouthful of blood and let out a deep sigh.

“…A meaningless what-if… In the end, it was I who chose the unorthodox path…”

“Well, then use what you learned properly in the next life.”

“Kuhk. Geniuses, huh… All of you are equally unpleasant…”

He forced a laugh through a throat bubbling with blood.

As his laughter faded, so too did the sound of his breathing.

“What do you think will happen to the Hwangbo Clan now?”

“No matter how untouchable by local authorities your family might be, the evil you and your descendants committed won’t be overlooked. Once word of this spreads, the royal court will surely intervene. Your clan will be wiped out.”

“Wiped out… Well, we were practically there already… But hearing it out loud hits differently.”

“Practically? …Ah.”

A thought flashed through my mind.

Hwangbo Yeongcheon had stirred up chaos in various corners of the Namgung Clan to scatter their forces.

In that gap, he planned to devour talented late-stage practitioners—People like me, Tang Sowol, Seol Lihyang… and, if possible, even Namgung Jong.

But how had he managed to stir up that chaos?

The Namgung Clan is powerful.

Even without the Sword King, its internal strength alone makes it worthy of being called the strongest family under the heavens.

A crumbling clan like the Hwangbo could never hope to contend.

They would have had to commit everything they had.

“…Don’t tell me you brought the current head and all the elders with you.”

“Heh…”

Hwangbo Yeongcheon silently closed his eyes, and I couldn’t help but sigh.

He must’ve thought: if he were to become enemies with the Sword King anyway after this, he might as well hide the rest of his clan’s members until he reached the Flowering Stage.

But his plan had no chance of success from the start.

First, no matter how much power Hwangbo Yeongcheon gained, it was clear he couldn’t surpass even me.

And even if the clan’s full power had been scattered to cause disturbances across the Namgung territory, it would all be quickly cleaned up by Seo Mun-Hwarin, a master of the Flowering Stage.

It wasn’t just a metaphor—he truly intended to sacrifice his entire clan for his warped ambitions.

“…He really was insane.”

I shook my head.

Then came his barely audible whisper, slipping between fading breaths.

“Taesan Great Fist…”

“Huh?”

“That’s the name of the technique you stole.”

“You’re trying to claim that now?”

“…Through my foolishness, the name of the Hwangbo Clan will be tarnished and forgotten…But the martial art itself bears no sin…From now on, that sword technique… will be called Taesan Piercing Sword…”

No reply came after that.

At some point, Hwangbo Yeongcheon had quietly breathed his last.

I looked down at his pitiful corpse for a moment, then lifted my head.

From a distance, I saw Tang Sowol running toward me, realizing the battle was over.

“Brother Cheon!”

I sheathed my sword and waited.

But something felt off.

Even after getting quite close, Tang Sowol didn’t slow down. In fact, she sped up.

“Ah, wait—??”

In the blink of an eye, she crashed into me at full speed—no, not a tackle. A hug.

By the way, I was still physically and mentally drained from trying to use a half-formed realization in actual combat.

Puuhk!

“We won!”

“Gguhk!”

The impact struck my unguarded body, knocking the wind out of me.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Was the poison too strong—did it affect you too, Brother Cheon?”

Nope. I hadn’t been hit. The poison didn’t affect me.

Just… that impact from a moment ago really hurt…

“Thank goodness! When his body started getting younger, I was really worried…”

“…Are you listening to me?”

“But I believed you’d win, Brother Cheon!”

“Definitely not listening.”

Was it because it was her first time facing someone who had mastered Golden Bell, or the crushing pressure from a giant cloaked in qi flames?

Now that the tension had left her body, Tang Sowol hugged me and bounced like an unbridled foal.

With all my strength drained, I had no choice but to be shaken helplessly.

It probably left a bruise… and my vision was still swimming from earlier. But even so—

Maybe it was the warmth and clarity of the contact—

A bit of strength returned to my exhausted body.

I gently wrapped an arm around her slender waist. Tang Sowol flinched.

I slowly released her and spoke.

“It’s too early to celebrate. From what I heard, there are still attacks going on in other areas.”

“What?! Don’t tell me there are more man-eating monsters like him?! Then what about Lihyang…!”

“‘Man-eating monster’… not wrong. But there probably aren’t any others. This guy seemed to be the mastermind behind it all.”

Tang Sowol looked between me and Hwangbo Yeongcheon’s corpse with surprise.

I gave a faint smile and continued.

“Don’t worry too much. Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin is there, so Seol Lihyang will be fine. The other areas should be held down well by Namgung Clan’s warriors. I’m just saying we should try to minimize unnecessary injuries. Also, it seems some in the Hwangbo Clan were forced to take part.”

“Now that you mention it, once Hwangbo Guang came to his senses, he looked terrified of someone. If that ‘grandfather’ of his was this man…”

“Then Hwangbo Yeongcheon’s death will bring this fight to a swift end.”

Even weakened, the Hwangbo Clan was still a prestigious name.

They brought enough force to cause serious damage to the Namgung Clan.

If casualties can be avoided, they should be.

I exchanged a glance with Tang Sowol and nodded.

While I sliced off Hwangbo Yeongcheon’s head and held it tightly—

Tang Sowol instructed the hesitant Namgung Clan warriors to gather the fallen Hwangbo Guang and his escorts in one place.

Quite a few were dead, but since the clan was known for its physical toughness, many were still alive.

Of course, abolishing their dantian was standard procedure.

I wasn’t sure what they’d taken to cause such a frenzy, but internal energy was clearly the cause.

“Shall we go, then?”

“Yes. We should probably head to the place furthest from where Sister Hwarin was.”

To get to the conclusion: we managed to resolve the whole situation without much trouble.

As expected, the truly dangerous targets—like the Hwangbo Clan Lord and the elders—had been handled swiftly by Seo Mun-Hwarin, who shattered their limbs.

The others were either subdued by the Namgung Clan or surrendered the moment they saw Hwangbo Yeongcheon’s severed head.

The only real surprise was how well Seol Lihyang performed.

The Hwangbo Clan had thrown their full force into attacking the Namgung Clan.

The Sub-Perfection masters were stopped by Seo Mun-Hwarin and Namgung elders, but there were still many other warriors.

Seol Lihyang’s martial arts combined demonic sound techniques and yin-cold internal energy.

Her attacks were hard to block, and once hit, enemies froze almost instantly, unable to move.

And with her Pure Yin Physique, she wielded absurdly pure and powerful yin energy.

So, what happened was obvious—

No matter how many enemies stood before her, if they weren’t Peak Stage or higher, they fell helplessly.

Once things settled, we questioned Hwangbo Guang and the other survivors.

And then—

“…This situation was worse than I imagined.”

“What do you mean?”

Namgung Jong had gathered our group to share what he’d discovered. He let out a deep sigh.

“It seems the entire Hwangbo Clan had been under the control of Hwangbo Yeongcheon, that ghost from the past.”

“We already figured as much.”

“But anyone who learned the clan’s martial arts was required to meet him at least once. Using certain drugs and sorcery, he planted a deep-seated fear of himself in their unconscious minds.”

“…I see. That would work.”

Martial artists are prideful by nature.

Even if suppressed by power and fear, someone would eventually overcome it.

But if their rational mind is suppressed to the point where they don’t even try to resist—That’s a different story.

Not everyone, of course, but many would live in terror for the rest of their lives.

“He especially made sure to reinforce that fear in the Clan Lord and his successor. That might explain the rumors of the Hwangbo Clan’s increasing violence.”

“But fear doesn’t erase humiliation and shame.”

The most direct way to release such humiliation is to kill the source. But the easiest method is to lash out at others—those more vulnerable.

“On top of that, if someone got injured, stood out, or made a small mistake, they were immediately eaten. Especially outsiders who came hoping to join the Hwangbo Clan— None of them lasted a day before becoming a meal.”

“…How many people did they eat?”

“I don’t know the exact number. But according to the Hwangbo Clan Lord—who had been closest to Hwangbo Yeongcheon for the longest time—he personally knew of over a hundred.”

“…Maybe I let him die too easily.”

“You pierced his throat and let him bleed out slowly. That’s more than enough. No need for us to become cruel just because our enemy was.”

Namgung Jong shook his head, then cleared his throat.

“Anyway, most of them were forced into battle under threat of being eaten. They did harm Namgung Clan members, so I don’t intend to forgive them—But since they’re all falling over themselves to reveal the Hwangbo Clan’s secrets, we’ve locked them in the prison for now.”

“What will you do next?”

“First, I’ll wait for my father to return. The urgent part is over, and the final decision must come from the Clan Lord.

Oh, and of course, your contributions will be formally recognized then, Brother Cheon.”

He smiled as he glanced between me and Tang Sowol.

“And we’d best calculate the Tang Clan’s contribution and debts carefully… otherwise, it could turn into a mess.”

“Ehh… Let’s hope not…”

“Haha…”

Tang Sowol and I laughed awkwardly.

Then Seo Mun-Hwarin, who had been silently listening, began poking me in the back.

“Hey, you. Hey, you.”

“What is it, Senior Seo Mun-Hwarin? If it’s about refreshments, I should remind you—you already ate mine too.”

Crumbs still clinging to her mouth, Seo Mun-Hwarin shook her head with a pout.

“That’s not why I called you. The master of the house has returned. I thought I should let you know in advance.”

“…Huh?”

I turned around, confused—

Thud.

Something heavy hit the ground, followed by the door flying open.

A middle-aged man entered, his expression sharp and icy.

Though it was my first time seeing his face, the atmosphere around him was as cutting as a drawn blade.

The Sword King.

The head of the Namgung Clan had finally returned.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep