Chapter 327: Fought Soyonghwa (2)

Soyonghwa accepted the torn half and lightly skimmed through the book.

It was indeed the part where Gwigokja discussed the Sword that Overcomes the Blade.

After receiving the book, Soyonghwa spoke.

“This one’s too precious to simply kill. What a waste.”

Clicking her tongue, Soyonghwa continued.

“Even if you die within ten seconds, don’t hold a grudge. In return, I’ll kill you without pain.”

Yong Hwarin smiled softly.

“How could a martial artist resent dying at the hands of a master like the Little Valley Lord?”

“Good. I’ll give you the first move.”

“I’d like to ask permission to send this lady away first.”

Yong Hwarin looked at Mae Yeongyeong as he spoke.

“That’s difficult.”

“What the Little Valley Lord needs is this book, not a person, is it not?”

Soyonghwa generously conceded.

Though an enemy, Yong Hwarin did not treat her like an insect but with respect, and that pleased her.

“I’m not leaving.”

As Mae Yeongyeong said that, Yong Hwarin quickly sent a telepathic message.

–Miss Mae, leave now and quickly smuggle out Musician Urak. They may spare others, but they will definitely try to kill him. We need him.

Upon reflection, if they lost the latter part of the Royal Consort Record, they could always ask Musician Urak.

“Understood. Please be careful, Lord.”

Yong Hwarin gave a slight smile seeing that she still called him “Lord” to the end.

Once Mae Yeongyeong left, Yong Hwarin spoke.

“Thank you for granting all my requests. If I lose, I will certainly hand over the book.”

“A man of your caliber would surely keep his word. Come.”

Soyonghwa stood up from the chair.

Yong Hwarin had already devised a plan.

That was why he had confidently torn the book in half and handed it over to Soyonghwa.

Now was the time to put his plan into action.

“I won’t hold back.”

Yong Hwarin didn’t use the forms of the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword, but instead faced her using only the qi of Hoi Eulshin.

He thrust with his sword imbued with the energy of the Gentle Wind of Temperament.

Though it looked like a simple thrust, the qi of the Gentle Wind of Temperament made it strike like lightning.

Soyonghwa activated her Protective Energy and exclaimed.

“As expected! You’ve the skill to make such a proposal!”

Yong Hwarin pressed in, channeling the energy of Impetuous Flower.

It may have been only thrusts, slashes, and downward strikes, but with the energy of Hoi Eulshin imbued, they were no simple techniques.

Yong Hwarin was keeping the energy level of Hoi Eulshin deliberately at the Three Gaps level.

Raising it beyond that would make Soyonghwa more wary.

‘I need to make her think this is all I’ve got. Only then will I have a chance with the final strike.’

Yong Hwarin attempted a slash once again, lacing it with the energy of the Gentle Wind of Temperament.

“It’s been five seconds, and you’re still using the same tricks. That’s irritating.”

Soyonghwa thought that although his power and aura were impressive, he lacked real combat experience and his technique execution was poor.

“This time, I’ll attack.”

As she stretched out her hand, the sword she carried on her back was drawn, pulled straight into her hand.

Fwooong!

Yong Hwarin staggered, blocking Soyonghwa’s strike with his Protective Energy. Her power shattered his momentum.

“If you have no more hidden cards, you’ll die here.”

She sheathed the sword and pulled out a saber from the scabbard strapped to her back.

Matching her weapon to the opponent’s attacks, Soyonghwa intended to conclude this fight with her saber.

Without giving Yong Hwarin any chance to breathe, she launched a continuous attack within two seconds.

If he could just endure ten seconds like this, he wouldn’t even need to execute his plan. He could just quietly slip out of the inn.

However, at her ninth move, Soyonghwa unleashed power equivalent to the Three Gaps, forcing Yong Hwarin backward.

“A shame, but you’ll have to die. I must obtain the Royal Consort Record whole.”

Yong Hwarin smiled.

“Try, if you can.”

Soyonghwa summoned up saber qi equal to the Three Gaps.

She believed that would be enough to slice through Yong Hwarin.

“This technique is called Blade of Hollow Echoes. I use it out of respect, so don’t feel bad.”

Drawing out the power of Three Gaps, she raised her saber, and Yong Hwarin leapt like a cat, slashing down his sword to meet her saber head-on.

Until now, even the Five Guards had never seen the Little Valley Lord fail to defeat someone with Blade of Hollow Echoes.

Even Dao Dragon Flame Sword No Il, known as the top master of Shanxi, eventually fell to Blade of Hollow Echoes.

It was a technique that even a top master like Dao Dragon Flame Sword No Il, one of the Ten Absolutes of the Martial World, couldn’t withstand. And with the power of Three Gaps, Blade of Hollow Echoes was sheer terror in itself—a form that erased space.

The ripple of qi that started from the saber annihilated the space within one jang.

Blade of Hollow Echoes manifested the wave of qi at the level of transformation and exploded it with the power of a transcendent realm.

By concentrating its destructive power within one jang, it amplified the might of nascent qi to that of twisted qi—a transcendent technique.

This Blade of Hollow Echoes was undoubtedly the supreme life-saving ultimate technique among all saber arts Soyonghwa possessed.

Eeeeeing!

Woooooong!

A sound like a cat’s wail settled beneath the floor, and the buzzing of bees filled the inn.

‘Indeed!’

Yong Hwarin realized that Soyonghwa’s seventy victories in the Hundred Martial Challenges of Murim had not been mere luck.

In that brief instant, Yong Hwarin entered the realm of Sword Unification.

In the past, reaching Sword Unification had taken quite a long time.

But now, it was a realm he could enter the moment he set his mind to it.

This was because he had crossed from the Boundary of the Upper World into the Qi-Vision Realm, and he had only recently begun to feel the difference between those who had broken through that wall and those who hadn’t.

Yong Hwarin harmonized the energy of Dongyeoraejin with the power of Three and a Half Gaps, then amplified it using his Tai Chi Dantian.

As a result, thunder qi filled the White Tiger Demon-Subduing Sword, and it felt as though blue ocean waves were surging within it.

Then those waves became a tide, erupting from the White Tiger Demon-Subduing Sword.

That force, through the form of Yongjonoejin from the Soaring Dragon Emperor Sword, unleashed its thunder qi.

Rumble-rumble-rumble!

Yong Hwarin’s thunder qi enveloped Soyonghwa’s Blade of Hollow Echoes, which had been condensed within one jang.

Because of this, the originally circularly formed Blade of Hollow Echoes was suddenly wrapped in blue energy, appearing like a blue orb.

“Get beyond thirty jang!”

Oh Howi sensed the explosive force of the two clashing energies would tear them apart and shouted.

At once, the black-clad subordinates darted out of the inn.

They too had felt that staying in the inn would mean certain death.

Boom!

Blue energy shot out through the windows and roof of the inn.

The roar was like the explosion of a hundred geun of gunpowder.

The two-story inn collapsed completely, leaving only its frame behind.

With two forces equivalent to twisted qi colliding, it wasn’t surprising a whole building was destroyed.

Soyonghwa’s martial arts uniform was scorched by the thunder qi and had holes burned all over.

“Who are you?!”

Soyonghwa had believed the opponent to be only a master at the level of One Gap, but the clash had revealed she had been deceived.

Yet even without an answer, she could now tell.

From the collision of the two, Yong Hwarin’s Invisibility Mask had been shredded and fallen off.

Had he not protected his body with Protective Energy, Yong Hwarin would have ended up completely burned, standing there naked.

“You? You’re Yong Hwarin!”

Soyonghwa felt foolish for having fought someone she hadn’t even realized was Yong Hwarin.

‘I’ve been completely fooled.’

“Are you affiliated with the Muhwa Group?”

Yong Hwarin shook his head.

“No.”

Soyonghwa muttered.

“So it is as I thought. Your clan must be connected to the Four Great Divine Items, which is why you wanted the Royal Consort Record.”

It was no longer a secret that the Heavenly Central Sect was connected to the Four Great Divine Items.

“That’s right. I helped the Martial Flower Lord as a favor in order to obtain it.”

‘So that’s why he gave me the part about the Sword that Overcomes the Blade.’

Soyonghwa had found it strange that he handed over the section any martial artist would covet.

“Our agreed ten or so seconds have passed. May I take my leave now?”

“Hm!”

Even if the opponent was Yong Hwarin, Soyonghwa could not go back on her word. She could not break a promise made in the name of the Little Valley Lord of Dark Echo Valley.

“We will surely meet again. I shall look forward to that day.”

Yong Hwarin respectfully clasped his hands.

“I, too, will await that day.”

As Yong Hwarin turned and walked out, Oh Howi and the black-clad subordinates blocked his path.

–Little Valley Lord, this man has surely suffered internal injuries from your clash. Now is the perfect opportunity to finish him.

Hearing Oh Howi’s telepathic message, Soyonghwa frowned and waved her hand.

At that, Oh Howi and the black-clad subordinates cleared the way.

Oh Howi sighed inwardly.

‘Ah, Little Valley Lord is letting him go just to preserve face. This is exactly like when Xiang Yu let Liu Bang go at the Feast of Hongmen after having him in his grasp.’

Had Xiang Yu killed Liu Bang at Hongmen, it would have been Xiang Yu, not Liu Bang, who ruled the continent.

To Oh Howi, this moment was a stark reminder of such a historical lesson.

After Yong Hwarin walked out, Soyonghwa’s figure staggered.

“Little Valley Lord.”

Oh Howi, startled, rushed to her, but Soyonghwa spoke coldly.

“Everyone out. I’m going to circulate my qi!”

Oh Howi knew full well how proud Soyonghwa was. She didn’t want her subordinates to see that she had suffered internal injuries, and so she dismissed them.

“Set a perimeter so tight not even an ant can get in!”

The black-clad subordinates spread out around the skeletal remains of the destroyed Jinyang Inn.

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