Chapter 127: Defeated

‘How can I raise my level?’

‘You fool, the level of martial understanding can be achieved in a flash—but do you think it comes just because you want it to? Ridiculous brat. You’ve been getting some recognition lately and now you’re starting to look down on things, huh? If you don’t realize this, you’ll be stuck at this level forever.’

Those words struck me like a blow to the chest.

It was similar to what I, Yong Hwarin, had been feeling recently.

In this life, I was living with a sense of accomplishment and confidence I had never felt in my past life.

Because of that, without even realizing it, I had grown arrogant, treating martial arts too lightly and approaching them carelessly.

It was true—I hadn’t yearned for martial arts with the desperation I once had. After gaining fame, I had slacked off in my training, thinking it would be enough to just get by.

‘There’s no end to martial understanding. Even Zhang Sanfeng and the First Patriarch Bodhidharma merely grasped a sliver of it. And I, despite having reached many levels and learning countless martial arts, could only realize that what I’ve attained is but a mere part of the world called martial understanding.’

As I stood absentmindedly, lost in thought, the Three Chivalrous Sisters shouted at me during the fight.

“Young Master Yong, what are you doing?! The bandits are coming from behind!”

The Three Chivalrous Sisters couldn’t break away from Bang Yeorip.

Even if they wanted to retreat, they were already caught within his sphere of influence and couldn’t escape.

If one of them tried to pull back, the other two would fall into danger.

Even so, it was frustrating that Bang Yeorip didn’t seem to be going all out.

—Sis, let’s break the seal and attack.

—No! We can’t lift the seal recklessly! If others recognize us, we’re finished!

The distant thoughts snapped back to reality at the Three Chivalrous Sisters’ words.

‘Then tell me a way to break past my current level. You could at least do that much.’

Desperate, I pleaded, and the Demonic Master clicked his tongue.

‘Pitiful brat. You only reach higher levels when you awaken to them on your own. But if I were to tell you one thing—it’s that you’ve never seen a real battle between true experts. That’s why you don’t even know what you’re lacking. Only by witnessing a clash between those beyond the Transcendence Stage will you realize what you’re missing. If I tell you in words, it’ll only confuse you more. Enlightenment comes in an instant—once put into words, it’s no longer enlightenment, just mere explanation. Right now, your best option is to run.’

To hear this from the Demonic Master, who had always helped me until now, gave me a sense of betrayal.

And after that, the Demonic Master said no more.

I unleashed all the power of the Three Harmonies and launched a strike.

Using the Dragon Claw Crashing Mountain, I attacked, and Bang Yeorip swung his heavy spear with a pleased expression.

“Ahahahaha! It’s been a while since I’ve taken such a solid hit!”

Boom!

Sword and heavy spear collided with a thunderous crash.

Both of us were knocked back.

‘He’s a strong opponent I’ve never encountered before.’

I looked at Bang Yeorip again. Though he looked like a common bandit, his martial skills were formidable enough to stand proudly anywhere in the martial world.

The Three Chivalrous Sisters were pale-faced.

It seemed they had suffered internal injuries from facing that heavy spear.

“Let’s fall back from here.”

Even the Three Chivalrous Sisters nodded, realizing he wasn’t someone they could handle.

He was simply too strong—fighting him would only lead to loss.

‘When I give the signal, run back.’

The four of us exchanged signals. Then, gathering my energy again, I struck with the technique of Dragon Mountain Tower Destruction.

Immediately after, I turned and fled. Bang Yeorip, who had been tense, shouted in frustration.

“Did you think I’d let you get away that easily?!”

With a roar, Bang Yeorip hurled himself forward.

In that moment, I spun around and unleashed the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm.

As the long black object shot toward him, Bang Yeorip didn’t hesitate to thrust out his heavy spear.

Woom!

Zzing!

Though the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm clashed with the heavy spear and rang out, it didn’t transfer its vibration to me.

‘Even true qi is being absorbed—the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm is drawing in the energy from the heavy spear.’

Bang Yeorip stared at the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm and then gave a crooked smile.

“What an interesting weapon. Looks like a soft sword… and it managed to endure my ‘Yellow Dragon Roar’. Impressive. So you were hiding something after all.”

I thought to myself,

‘I should’ve used the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm from the start…….’

It was the perfect weapon to counter that heavy spear.

Bang Yeorip now moved with amusement, spinning his heavy spear and pressing in on me.

Unlike before, I began countering with a sword style that fused the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword and Azure Bamboo Sword.

This brought balance to our previously one-sided fight.

The soft defense of the Azure Bamboo Sword properly blocked the power of the heavy spear.

And when I attacked, the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword’s sharp and domineering techniques created parity in our duel.

Bang Yeorip was quite surprised when the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm turned into a sword, then loosened into a whip to coil around his spear.

“A tempting item. I should give it to the Great Lord as a gift. Hand it over!”

He spun his spear, creating a vortex that drew in the air around us.

Swoooosh!

Even the fallen leaves on the ground slowly floated up into the air. His energy, rotating through the heavy spear, caused the very atmosphere to spiral.

Sensing that Bang Yeorip intended to end the fight in one blow, I turned and ran without hesitation.

I didn’t have the confidence to block his next strike.

I had managed to put some distance between us while fighting, so I believed that was enough.

And there was no reason to risk my life fighting Bang Yeorip.

He wasn’t a life-or-death enemy.

There was no need to gamble my life against someone like him.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

As blue energy gathered at the tip of his spear, Bang Yeorip hurled it at my fleeing back.

Fwoooooosh!

As the spear came flying straight at me, I instantly turned around, injected all Three Harmonies’ power into the Black Silk Celestial Silkworm, and countered using the technique of Compliant Heaven Piercing.

Clang!

The heavy spear was deflected and shot up into the air, but I was also blown away, coughing up blood as I flew in the direction I’d been trying to escape.

The energy from the spear had ripped through my body with unbearable pain.

But just then, two energies surged up from my Tai Chi Dantian, absorbing the true qi pouring in through the spear.

Even though the qi was foreign, the Yin Dantian recognized it as hostile energy and absorbed it, preventing a qi rampage.

As I soared through the air, Bang Yeorip gave a crooked smile.

“You dare try to run from me?”

He began approaching slowly, thinking I’d hit the ground and flop around like a freshly caught fish.

But the moment I landed, I used lightness technique to quickly widen the distance again.

This made Bang Yeorip momentarily hesitate.

“What the hell is that guy? Someone actually got out of the Thousand Shear Constriction Dragon? In my entire life, no one but the Great Lord has ever survived after taking that.”

He was so shocked that he didn’t even think to chase after the fleeing Yong Hwarin.

“Hahaha. He’s quite the extraordinary one.”

Bang Yeorip looked at the fleeing Yong Hwarin with admiration.

Meanwhile, Yong Hwarin felt like death.

His entire body felt shattered, like his bones had broken into pieces and were moving separately.

“My first defeat wasn’t even to a supreme master but to a bandit.”

He couldn’t help but laugh bitterly—beyond disappointment, it was simply absurd.

After running for a while, he met up with the Three Chivalrous Sisters.

They had been waiting for Yong Hwarin.

If he hadn’t arrived within half an hour, they had planned to head back up the mountain.

They hadn’t been able to run away because they thought Yong Hwarin would be coming with them.

When they saw Yong Hwarin bleeding from his nose and mouth, Jeong Minji shouted.

“Young Master Yong, are you alright?”

Jeong Minji, without hesitation, supported the staggering Yong Hwarin.

“Haha, that was the first time I’ve seen a monster like that. They say the world is wide and full of strange talents… barely managed to escape.”

They felt relieved that despite his retreat, Yong Hwarin wasn’t discouraged.

For most martial artists, their first defeat was as traumatic as their first kill. For someone like Yong Hwarin, who had never tasted defeat until now, the shock should have been even greater.

But such mental shock usually happened to those who had lived solely for martial arts since childhood.

Yong Hwarin, who had already experienced countless trials and tribulations, wouldn’t be shaken by a defeat of that level.

He only felt a sense of self-blame for having grown arrogant and failing to fully utilize even the strongest cultivation technique he possessed.

It was his first time meeting someone who truly overwhelmed him, and so he hadn’t responded properly.

“I don’t understand how someone like him has remained unknown to the world.”

“They must’ve thought he was just some bandit.”

Jeong Minji responded, though she too was amazed at Bang Yeorip’s skill.

“First, we should catch up to the rest of the group.”

After resting briefly, Yong Hwarin tracked the traces of the River Center Escort Agency’s group.

When they came down from Mount Pyeongyeo, Ho Cheongun and Poong Imso were waiting.

They had already moved the cargo to a nearby inn and had come looking for Yong Hwarin and the others.

“Are you alright?”

Yong Hwarin nodded when he saw the Mount Hua people who had waited for him.

“If you didn’t come soon, we were planning to climb the mountain ourselves.”

“I just had the misfortune of meeting a monster.”

The way Yong Hwarin spoke so casually made them feel both grateful and apologetic.

If it weren’t for Yong Hwarin, they would’ve undoubtedly had all their cargo stolen by the bandits and likely become prisoners at their mountain fortress.

They knew Bang Yeorip was formidable.

They had witnessed Yong Hwarin’s power during incidents like the Bongdu Military Post and the Southern Heavenly King case.

For someone like Yong Hwarin to be pushed this far, calling Bang Yeorip a monster wasn’t an exaggeration.

“We asked around at the inn about the bandits in Mount Pyeongyeo. Apparently, they’ve been there for quite some time. They only steal expensive goods and, if martial artists resist, they kill them without mercy. At the very least, they don’t rob the poor or harm nearby villages, so the locals don’t fear them.”

Yong Hwarin debated whether or not to share what martial techniques Bang Yeorip had used—but in the end, he decided to stay silent.

Yong Hwarin entered the inn, took a bath, and began circulating his qi.

He needed to check his physical condition and recover his strength.

Fortunately, thanks to the Tai Chi Dantian, after absorbing the energy of the heavy spear, his body had stabilized.

As he came out of his qi circulation, a sudden thought struck him.

‘If I hadn’t joined this escort mission, they probably would’ve been taken by those people. It’s lucky I was here, and no one or nothing was seriously hurt or lost. If I hadn’t been here, the situation could’ve turned out completely differently.’

That thought made a few things click into place.

It occurred to Yong Hwarin that the River Center Escort Agency might have actually benefited greatly from meeting those people.

‘The River Center Escort Agency, which had been struggling financially, stabilized its funds with this escort mission and expanded rapidly. Not only did they suddenly hire a lot more escorts, but their martial strength increased so much that within a few years, they were threatening the Sky Ocean Merchant Union.’

Yong Hwarin recalled the events of that time and organized them in his head.

‘That means those bandits must have come down from the mountain in alliance with the River Center Escort Agency. Looking for an opportunity, they must have taken the Hajung people hostage, shared their plans, and formed an alliance. Hoi Unkyung couldn’t handle the resulting strength of the River Center Escort Agency, and in trying to secretly ally with other forces, she ended up handing over the Sky Ocean Merchant Union to them.’

The more he thought about it, the clearer it became—this wasn’t something to take lightly.

He would have to meet them directly to truly understand their identity and intentions.

If they were planning to enter the world, and he could take them in, the Heavenly Central Sect’s power could grow several times over.

“Fortunately, the bandits rarely come down from the mountain, so let’s stay at this inn for the night and leave early in the morning.”

Ho Cheongun saw that Yong Hwarin was extremely fatigued and didn’t force a hard march.

To them, Yong Hwarin was now the top expert in their group—they had to build their plans around him.

The Heavenly Central Flying Dragon Unit then began guarding Yong Hwarin’s quarters in a protective formation.

Yong Hwarin summoned Mu Iso, the squad leader of the Flying Dragon Unit, and instructed him that he was stepping out for a short while and to keep guarding the room as if he were still inside in qi circulation.

Mu Iso, being a loyal and trustworthy man, followed Yong Hwarin’s words without question.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep