Chapter 8 : Defying Heaven (3)

‘Uncle! He will definitely make a move!’

Heo Munhak clenched his teeth.

He did not trust his uncle. Also, the indecisiveness of his brother and mother was truly frustrating. It was pathetic.

One must understand power correctly.

Power is not something that is handed over. It is something that is seized. The nature of power is not to give. It is to take.

His brother did not know power. His mother was the same.

His mother had lived as the mistress of the Sacred Sword Sect for half her life, yet she did not know the nature of power correctly. In the Sacred Sword Sect, secret struggles occurred almost daily, but it was because his father had deliberately hidden them.

His mother thought that the Sacred Sword Sect was peaceful.

Even so, his mother was a martial artist, so how could she be so ignorant of power? Wasn’t she the daughter of the Blood Sea Sword God, the owner of the Blood Sword Sutra?

His mother’s personality played a part in her ignorance of power.

His mother was not interested in the activities of the Sacred Sword Sect. To be more precise, his mother had no connection to the martial world. A good wife and wise mother who only took care of her family? She only cared about such things.

His brother had inherited his mother’s personality completely. That was why he had made such a decision.

To hand over the position of Sect Master to his uncle? Why did they have such a pathetic idea?

‘Uncle will move as soon as he finds out that father has passed away. He will strike as soon as the funeral is over. The maximum time left is only seven days.’

He would announce the Sect Master’s death to the martial world. He would receive mourners, and escort his father to the family shrine… exactly seven days. As soon as the seven day funeral was over, his uncle would surely attack.

He had to stop him before then. He had to launch a preemptive strike.

He was prepared to attack his uncle. It had been a long time since he had formed his guards into a suicide squad that could even throw away their lives. Their number was a full hundred, while his uncle only had the Ten Lesser Swords.

If he just organized his thoughts, he could eliminate his uncle just by taking his guards.

He had to eliminate his uncle. That was what power was. He was not coveting his brother’s position. He was just trying to clean up the mess so that his brother could safely ascend to the position of Sect Master.

Gulp! Gulp!

Heo Munhak drank the cold water.

‘Let’s be calm.’

He renewed his resolve. His heart was as cold as ice, but his decision was as swift as the wind.

Gulp! Gulp!

Heo Munhak lifted the water bottle and drank half of it in one go.

His throat was burning. Thirst surged. It was easy to say, but was it an easy thing to attack his uncle?

The fact that he had to kill a close relative was frightening.

The fact that he had to attack an absolute martial artist who was second only to his father in the world was also frightening.

If the matter succeeded, he could at least make an excuse, but if it failed, then his brother would also be in danger.

Did he really have to attack?

‘I have to. Uncle, he will definitely move.’

Heo Munhak hardened his resolve, but then,

“Kuk…!”

Heo Munhak suddenly clutched his stomach and bent his waist.

It hurt as if his intestines were being torn. An extreme pain surged from his abdomen, so much so that even Heo Munhak was flustered. And then he noticed a taste of rust in his mouth. It felt like he had licked a heavily rusted piece of iron with his tongue.

‘Intestine Severing Poison!’

As soon as he realized the identity of the metallic taste, his brow furrowed deeply.

Intestine Severing Poison was a poison extracted from the Intestine Severing Grass. The Intestine Severing Grass was a plant called the Heartbreak Vine, and if one took the Intestine Severing Grass, their intestines would turn black and stick together.

One would die while feeling extreme abdominal pain.

There was an antidote. The immediate measure he could take was to wash his stomach with salt water. Just washing the stomach would have a great effect. After that, if he boiled and drank mung beans, honeysuckle, and licorice, he would be detoxified.

The Sacred Sword Sect had an antidote for the Intestine Severing Poison.

The Intestine Severing Poison was easy to obtain and was a widely used poison, so they always had an antidote prepared.

‘This can’t kill me. It’s a trick to drain my strength. The real killing move is from now on!’

Someone had started an attack.

Perhaps his uncle had started the attack. But he couldn’t guess who had put the poison in the water bottle. Because the only people who could enter his residence were his guards.

Then was there someone among his guards who belonged to his uncle?

Anyway, the attack would start from now on.

He gripped his sword tightly and left the room. At that moment,

Shwaek! Shwaeek! Shwaeek!

Sharp sounds of something cutting through the air erupted from all directions.

‘I knew it!’

Heo Munhak did not panic and calmly deflected them with his sword.

Taang! Tang tang! Tang!

Thin iron arrows, two spans long, were deflected by his sword and bounced off.

‘…This is!’

Heo Munhak guessed what the iron arrows that had attacked him were.

The Crossbow Soul Summoning Demon, Gwak Chung!

He was a murderer who had killed a full seventy two people by shooting a crossbow.

He had many enemies. Many people wanted to kill him. He had shot and killed seventy two people with a crossbow, so how many enemies would he have? But it was not easy to punish him. Those who had attacked him were instead caught in the ultimate technique called Ten Arrows in an Instant and died.

The person who had killed the Crossbow Soul Summoning Demon, Gwak Chung, was Heo Munhak.

‘The Crossbow Soul Summoning Demon definitely died at that time…’

That’s right. These arrows were fakes imitating the Crossbow Soul Summoning Demon. It was a disguise to make it look like the Crossbow Soul Summoning Demon had attacked.

“Uncle!”

Heo Munhak shouted into the empty air.

His residence was in the innermost part of the compound. One had to pass through seven layers of security to reach it. No matter how outstanding the Crossbow Soul Summoning Demon was, he could not cause a disturbance in his residence.

It was his uncle! His uncle had drawn his sword on the day his father passed away, of all days.

Shwaeek!

Suddenly, a sound of something cutting through the air came from above his head.

‘The roof!’

He immediately turned his body.

It was too late to execute a sword form. He didn’t know who the opponent was, but they were very fast. So he just slightly raised his sword. He used the sword like a spear. He didn’t swing the sword, but just pointed the tip of the sword at the opponent.

A sword is a weapon. Just by pointing it, it can faithfully perform the roles of both attack and defense. If the timing is right, it can become an ultimate technique that surpasses any other ultimate technique.

Sword Reaches the Moon!

But the opponent, as if he knew the defensive form of the Illuminating Thousand Swords, Sword Reaches the Moon, immediately struck the sword body.

Taang!

Sword Reaches the Moon was pushed back in an instant. And he felt a chilling pain in his chest.

Peok!

The sound of flesh being torn was heard later.

Heo Munhak frowned and looked at his opponent.

There were two of them. One had deflected his sword, and the other had struck his chest.

He knew the two people. One was Jinga. It meant trash. Jinga handled all the trash that his uncle left behind. The other was Jeombak. He had a large mole on his neck.

“Kukukut!”

He laughed foolishly.

He knew that his uncle was attacking, but there was nothing more he could do.

His chest was split open. And red blood flowed out like a spring. It was a fatal blow that even Hua Tuo could not heal.

Thud!

He collapsed like a rotten piece of wood.

* * *

He had to prepare for the funeral.

He had to inform the martial world that his father had passed away. His brothers would be out of their minds, so he had to give the detailed instructions himself.

Heo Mungi walked towards the Hall of Records.

The Hall of Records was in charge of communication between the Sacred Sword Sect and the martial world. All matters related to documents were handled there.

First, he would inform the Sacred Sword Sect of the Sect Master’s death, and then he would also send word to the martial world.

But… Heo Mungi stopped walking abruptly.

A gloomy energy arose from the surroundings. A dampness filled the air, as if walking through a swamp. It was humid. Heat also rose from his body. He wanted to take off his outer garment.

It was winter now. White snow covered everything.

If the sun shone brightly and the accumulated snow melted, it would be muddy, but a dampness would not fill the air. The feeling of humidity was also abnormal.

‘Primordial Yin Poison Formation!’

The Primordial Yin Poison Formation was a formation used by the unorthodox sects.

The mystery of the formation was simple. It was a chaotic stone formation. It could also be called a maze formation. First, it would trap one’s footsteps with obstacles like rocks, and then it would confuse the mind with drugs scattered everywhere.

If he felt stuffy, he was already poisoned by the drug.

If one was caught in the Primordial Yin Poison Formation, they would wander until they were exhausted and then die. It was impossible to get out of the maze formation with eyes that saw illusions. Furthermore, since he was poisoned by the drug, it was easy to self harm.

It was his uncle! His uncle had finally raised a rebellion!

Building a chaotic stone formation required a lot of manpower. Several people had to place the stones according to the formation.

The path had been fine until his father passed away, but a chaotic stone formation had suddenly appeared. Furthermore, the place where the chaotic stone formation was spread was on the way from the Hidden House to the Hall of Records.

The Primordial Yin Poison Formation was spread in a place where it could not possibly be spread.

Could the Primordial Yin Poison Formation be spread without someone condoning it? And the only person who could condone it to this extent was his uncle.

‘Uncle!’

Heo Mungi circulated the Illuminating Divine Art.

Sink the qi to the dantian, he gathered the qi in his dantian.

He did not look at the outside, but only at his inner self. He gathered the drug that was wandering through his qi and blood in one place.

If he was not swayed by the drug, he could easily escape the maze formation.

A formation is something that you get caught in if you don’t know it, and you can get out of if you know it. If you think about it complicatedly, it’s too complicated. But if someone who knows it looks at it, it’s so simple that only a hollow laugh comes out.

Heo Mungi escaped the Primordial Yin Poison Formation in less than half a quarter of an hour.

‘He wouldn’t let me go this easily… The real attack will begin the moment I get out of the Primordial Yin Poison Formation.’

Heo Mungi stepped out of the Primordial Yin Poison Formation. At that moment,

Shwiik!

A hidden needle flew from somewhere.

Heo Mungi simply deflected the hidden needle. He was not weak enough to be hit by a hidden weapon like a hidden needle.

As he deflected the hidden needle, he carefully examined what kind of hidden needle it was.

The hidden needle had a peculiar shape. The tip was split into several strands like a hook. It was a Flying Fishing Needle that could not be pulled out unless a chunk of flesh was torn out with it.

The Flying Fishing Needle was a forbidden hidden weapon because it was cruel.

There was another surprising point. The moment he deflected the Flying Fishing Needle, his wrist tingled. The internal energy contained in the Flying Fishing Needle was not ordinary. It was so powerful that it could not be ignored.

What surprised Heo Mungi was not because of the powerful internal energy. He was surprised because of the Yang Gang Divine Qi contained in the internal energy. It was a very familiar energy, the energy that was revealed when using the Illuminating Divine Art.

The one who threw the Flying Fishing Needle had used the Illuminating Divine Art!

Shwek! Shwek! Shwek!

Sword winds arose from three directions.

North, southwest, southeast!

The sword winds were shot in a perfect triangular shape.

Heo Mungi immediately performed the Windmill Rapid Turn.

The Windmill Rapid Turn was not a form of the Illuminating Thousand Swords. It was a common form widely known in the martial world. It was similar to the Eight Directions Wind and Rain, but it was different in that it put all its power into one strike and swung.

The Windmill Rapid Turn must not be stopped in the middle. From the starting point, one had to swing the sword continuously without stopping until it returned to its original position. Only then would the desired speed of the Windmill Rapid Turn be achieved.

Kaang!

The Windmill Rapid Turn was blocked at the first stage.

As soon as he clashed swords with the first opponent, Heo Mungi’s sword could not go any further and fell into a stalemate.

The sword and the sword clashed and pushed each other with all their might. In that instant,

Peok! Peok!

Two swords swept past his body.

The sword wind that blew from the southwest cut his side. It cut through his ribs and split his torso in half. The sword wind that came from the southeast cut his chest. It cut through his lungs and even his spine.

Thud!

Heo Mungi collapsed without even a scream.

“Is this what a Dragon Bone is? He was poisoned by a drug… If I had come alone, I think I would have been the one to be hit.”

One person muttered.

“Even if two of us had come, we would have been hit. We won because there were three of us.”

Heo Munhak had underestimated the Intestine Severing Mountain. Heo Mungi had taken the drug lightly. He didn’t have the leisure to pay attention to such a poison… but if he hadn’t been poisoned first, he couldn’t have guaranteed victory.

Heo Mungi’s sword was accurate.

If he hadn’t been affected by the drug, the Windmill Rapid Turn would have succeeded. The swords of the three would have been deflected, the exact opposite of what had happened now. Didn’t he achieve a stalemate even when his internal energy had dropped to less than half?

“On the day the Sect Master passed away… I don’t know if this is the right thing to do.”

The one who had cut his chest muttered.

They looked at the fallen Heo Mungi.

The blood that flowed from Heo Mungi’s body was dyeing the white snow red.

(End of Chapter)