The boxes contained not only the Forbidden Demon Pills but also a useless go board and a longsword.
Go Ryongpung’s face twisted in rage. “What is all this?”
Whoosh!
A piercing sound cut through the air as forty warriors in blue robes ascended Mangyeongdae. Led by Bang Wook, they were Mount Hua’s second-generation disciples seeking retribution.
“Senior,” Nam Jingun, the youngest disciple, pointed at the Mount Hua sword among the boxes.
Bang Wook gritted his teeth. “So that’s how it is…!”
Whoosh.
Another piercing sound rang out as dozens of white-robed warriors descended.
Led by Yang Yeoryong, the disciple of Zhongnan’s Spiritual Treasure Hall Master, they were Zhongnan’s second-generation disciples.
“There it is,” the Zhongnan disciples said, nodding at the box containing the go board.
“The Marauder Sect vermin have some nerve. Allowed to set foot in Shaanxi, and you dare insult our sect?” Yang Yeoryong shouted.
Go Ryongpung’s eyes widened, realizing he’d fallen into a trap.
“We were just hired to do a job!” Jo Namcheon protested to Go Ryongpung. “Vice-Leader, didn’t you say to quietly deliver the items, and the Marauder Sect would handle the rest?”
“What nonsense—”
Before Go Ryongpung could respond, Bu Eunseol shouted, “No choice. We’ll clear a path!” With a roar, Hyeok Sojin and the Rootless Brigade charged at the Mount Hua and Zhongnan masters.
Boom!
Leading the charge, Hyeok Sojin subtly unleashed a trace of his Divine Rift Demon Energy, spreading it skillfully. The Mount Hua disciples’ formation instantly faltered.
“A strange demonic technique! Form a battle array!” Bang Wook shouted.
Ping!
A series of air-piercing sounds followed as throwing knives rained down. Bu Eunseol unleashed a barrage of throwing knife techniques, disrupting the Mount Hua and Zhongnan disciples’ attempts to form ranks.
Boom!
Using the chaos, the Rootless Brigade broke through the encirclement, descending Mangyeongdae one by one.
“Now! Vice-Leader, escape while you can!” Hyeok Sojin shouted, but he and the brigade fled without looking back.
Bu Eunseol, still hurling knives, vanished from Mangyeongdae with wind-like speed.
“…” Mangyeongdae fell eerily quiet.
As the Marauder Sect disciples stared blankly at the fleeing group—
‘What’s going on?’ Go Ryongpung snapped to attention, frowning. The Mount Hua and Zhongnan disciples were glaring at him menacingly, their eyes fixed on the boxes containing the go board and Mount Hua sword at his feet.
‘Those lunatics…!’ Go Ryongpung tried to retreat, but a shadow approached like a ghost.
It was Yang Yeoryong of Zhongnan.
“Kneel!” he demanded. Seeing the killing intent in the Mount Hua and Zhongnan disciples’ eyes, Go Ryongpung gritted his teeth.
‘They won’t believe me even if I explain.’ He bit his lip. A master who had reached the peak of the Absolute Realm and stepped into the Transcendent Realm, he hadn’t avenged the theft of the Forbidden Demon Pills.
Would he now grovel before these second-generation disciples? He’d rather die biting his sword.
“Get lost, brats!” Go Ryongpung roared, drawing his great saber.
Thus began a bloody battle between the Marauder Sect and the Mount Hua and Zhongnan disciples.
* * *
At the same time, near a mountain pass from Zhangxian to Yulin.
Step step.
Thirty warriors in black robes moved quietly.
They were masters of the Dark Star Brigade, tasked with missions in the martial world. Their current task was to verify goods and treasures sent to escort agencies and pawnshops in their sphere of influence before returning to the Marauder Sect.
—Don’t provoke Mount Hua or Zhongnan!
The goods bore the Marauder Sect’s mark.
Per the sect leader’s orders, they were personally transporting the goods and treasures back to the sect. Normally, they’d swagger through towns in blood-red robes and ghost masks. But carrying the sect’s wealth and under orders to exercise restraint, they wore black robes, maskless, and took secluded mountain paths to Yulin.
Swish.
Suddenly, five or six shadows appeared at the pass’s end. Their gleaming eyes surveyed the Dark Star Brigade.
‘Who are they?’ thought Lee Gwak, the brigade leader, his eyes flashing. ‘Could it be?’ Focusing his vision, he saw their forms clearly.
They carried swords at their waists, either unusually thick or thin—unmistakably the longswords of Mount Hua and Zhongnan.
Swish.
Another five or six figures appeared behind, blocking the path. They too carried the same swords.
‘We must avoid a fight,’ Lee Gwak thought, taking a deep breath and clasping his hands as they approached.
“What’s the matter?” They advanced silently, step by step.
Each step brought a strange pressure, and Lee Gwak bit his lip. ‘Have we been found out?’ As he gripped his saber—
“We are disciples of Mount Hua and Zhongnan,” a young man with a scruffy beard said in a low voice. “We’re guarding this pass after hearing Marauder Sect disciples who attacked our sects passed through.”
“I see,” Lee Gwak replied, inwardly relieved. ‘They haven’t identified us.’
“Who are you?” the man asked sharply.
Lee Gwak sighed softly and said calmly, “We’re disciples of the Black Sand Sect, returning to our base after business.”
“Black Sand Sect,” the man said, nodding as he scanned Lee Gwak and his brigade. “I see.”
“Then we’ll pass,” Lee Gwak said, signaling his brigade. “Move out.”
Whir!
A sudden gust of wind preceded a spinning longsword aimed at Lee Gwak’s face.
‘Zhongnan’s Whirlwind Sword?’ Lee Gwak swung his saber to block, but the spinning blade grazed his shoulder.
“Ugh.” As flesh tore away, he groaned and staggered back. “What’s the meaning of this?”
“What’s the meaning? We’re here to deal with demonic vermin who exploit the commoners’ blood and seize commerce.”
“You knew who we were!” Lee Gwak shouted, biting his lip and addressing his brigade. “Deal with them quickly—” His words were cut off.
“Argh!” The men surrounding the brigade unleashed a barrage of precise sword techniques.
Whir!
From the front, Zhongnan’s Whirlwind Sword and Drunken Rain Sword poured out intricate strikes with their thick blades.
Slash!
From behind, Mount Hua’s Falling Flower Chain Sword rained down like a swift hawk.
‘All first-generation disciples?’ Lee Gwak thought, parrying frantically, his eyes flashing. Their swordplay differed from typical righteous sect techniques.
Whir!
As he was distracted, another sharp strike grazed his shoulder and arm, clearly Zhongnan’s style, targeting non-vital areas.
Whoosh!
A gust of wind blew, and a man with long bangs appeared inches from Lee Gwak.
‘What kind of movement technique…?’ Before Lee Gwak could adjust, it was too late.
Flash!
A brilliant sword light from the man with bangs pierced his heart.
That radiant light was the last thing Lee Gwak saw.
* * *
For a time, Shaanxi was stained with blood.
It began with the Marauder Sect’s ambush, or so it was said. The Marauder Sect had destroyed martial halls and branches set up by Mount Hua and Zhongnan, mercilessly killing their disciples. Enraged, Mount Hua and Zhongnan rallied their first-generation disciples.
—We turned a blind eye for too long!
Rumors spread rapidly that the two sects were forming punitive brigades of their elite disciples. The Marauder Sect, a persistent thorn, had grown too large to handle easily. But with their branches and halls attacked, the furious sects united to crush them.
—This is a plot to drive a wedge between us and the two sects!
The Marauder Sect denied it immediately. No matter how bold, would they, rooted in Shaanxi, kill Mount Hua and Zhongnan disciples?
That would be suicidal.
—We’ll investigate the truth!
The Marauder Sect sent four hall masters and ten disciples skilled in saber techniques to each sect to explain. No matter the scheme, their Marauder Saber Technique, created by Jeon Ilhon for his disciples, was unique.
Examining the wounds on the dead would prove their innocence, they thought.
The Marauder Sect’s envoys confidently met with Mount Hua and Zhongnan’s masters.
And they saw it clearly with their own eyes. Traces of the Marauder Sect’s exclusive saber technique on the dead. Traces cleverly concealed to erase the technique’s marks.
Ten days later, fourteen severed heads—the envoys—arrived at the Marauder Sect’s gates. The furious leaders of Mount Hua and Zhongnan had personally beheaded them.
—Wipe out those demonic vermin!
At the sect leaders’ stern command, punitive brigades of elite disciples were formed.
Mount Hua and Zhongnan had resolved to annihilate the Marauder Sect.
* * *
Tap tap tap.
Over a hundred figures sped through the forest with lightness techniques.
Their faces were covered with eerie masks.
It was Jeon Ilhon, the Marauder Sect leader, and his loyal followers.
They had no choice. Mount Hua and Zhongnan, pillars of the Nine Great Sects, had resolved to punish them with force. How could they resist?
While their disciples held off the advancing masters, Jeon Ilhon and his core group fled Shaanxi.
Whir! Tap.
Racing through the forest, they stopped upon finding a hidden cave.
“We’ll rest here and assess the situation,” Jeon Ilhon said, biting his lip.
Mount Hua and Zhongnan had likely set up blockades everywhere. To escape Shaanxi safely, they couldn’t rush blindly but needed to move discreetly over time.
“How did this happen?” Jeon Ilhon roared, his face contorted with rage, as they entered the cave. “Who stole our sect’s saber technique to kill those righteous sect bastards?”
The Marauder Sect’s saber technique wasn’t recorded in manuals.
Jeon Ilhon taught it to hall masters, who then passed it to disciples. For dozens of people, not just one, to master a technique exclusive to the Marauder Sect was unthinkable.
“What? You thought it’d blow over if we laid low?” Jeon Ilhon’s fury turned on Go Ryongpung. “Those who stole the Forbidden Demon Pills did this! If you’d caught them, this wouldn’t have happened!”
“They were too fast. Even with the bridge cut, they had a clever device…” Go Ryongpung protested.
“Then you should’ve reported to me then!”
“I thought we could catch them quickly.”
Crack.
As Go Ryongpung made excuses, Jeon Ilhon’s fists trembled with the sound of grinding bones.
He wanted to draw his saber and behead him. But in this crisis, every bit of strength was vital. He couldn’t kill Go Ryongpung, his loyal and powerful subordinate.
“I’m sorry, Sect Leader,” Go Ryongpung said, bowing.
“Enough,” Jeon Ilhon said, regaining his composure and staring into the void. “With Mount Hua and Zhongnan dominating Shaanxi, this was bound to happen.” Biting his lip, he continued, “That’s why I established branches elsewhere. We’ll rebuild our strength there and, one day, repay this humiliation to Mount Hua and Zhongnan.”
Despite their expansion, the Marauder Sect avoided Mount Hua and Zhongnan’s scrutiny by limiting their main influence to Yan’an, while quietly establishing branches in Gansu and Lanzhou, subtly controlling commerce.
Three burrows for a cunning rabbit.
Jeon Ilhon had prepared multiple strongholds in case of such a crisis while growing the sect in Shaanxi.
“Ambitious dreams,” a low voice echoed from across the cave.
“Who’s there?” Jeon Ilhon shouted.
Dozens of shadows descended to the ground.
It was Bu Eunseol, Hyeok Sojin, and the entire Rootless Brigade.
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