“Let’s see.”

A smile formed on Im So-Byeong’s lips as he looked down at the battlefield from the cliff.

“It will be done soon. Actually, this is too much for just one river family to handle.”

It was true that Green Forest lost some of its strength due to the rebellion, which engulfed the Great Bandits, but the name of Shenzhou Five Sects is too heavy for it to be devalued.

Of course, the people he was dealing with were all members of the river family, but they couldn’t be compared with the Green Forest, led by the Green Forest King himself. They were nothing more than helpless idiots now.

“Green Forest King.”

“Hm?”

The elder of Green Forest, who was thinking next to him, frowned slightly and opened his mouth.

“I wouldn’t dare guess the noble intentions of the Green Forest King…”

“I know, I know! Why are we fighting against the Yangtze River family? The internal assignment after the rebellion isn’t done yet.”

“… Right.”

“What can I do? That guy told me to come.”

Im So-Byeong’s eyes turned to Chung Myung. As he watched Chung Myung running wild like a tiger, he chuckled.

“If you don’t want to be messed with, we do as told.”

“… Green Forest King. Maybe this is…”

The elder had a stern face.

“The Green Forest King, you are the ruler of the mountains in the central plains, the one who leads the Green Forest and its 72 Bandits! A member of the Shenzhou Five Sects.”

“I know.”

“And that person is just a young disciple of Mount Hua….”

“First elder.”

“Yes, Green Forest King.”

“Watch your mouth.”

The Green Forest King spoke with a smile, but the elder couldn’t see it. This was because the eyes were warning him.

“As people get older, they get wiser, but they also get caught up in their common sense and become duller. Is it displeasing to me to listen to what that young disciple says?”

“… I didn’t mean that…”

“Well, it could be so. I get annoyed by it, too, at times.”

“… Uh?”

As Im So-Byeong thought about it, he grew angry and then flapped the fan in his face.

“We cannot just bring all the power of the bandits because of a single letter they sent! Not even the damn emperor would give me such orders, damn it!”

Hearing his complaints, the elder’s face changed strangely.

But… it was the Green Forest King who followed those orders, right? It felt on and on, whether he could or not…

At that moment, Im So-Byeong shrugged his body.

“But what can I do? The person who rewrites history will be Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon.”

And he smiled slightly.

“A person needs to be able to see the fortune. If I cling to the reputation of being the Green Forest King and stay arrogant, wouldn’t I have long been beheaded and turned to manure for trees?”

“W-why would…”

“Gambling in small amounts is never fun. You have to stake everything you have, even to the point of ruin. That way, when we harvest something back, we get as much as we want.”

Im So-Byeong’s lips twisted.

“That person is who I gambled on. Maybe thanks to him, I and the Green Forest can be in a different situation than before.”

A strange desire was burning in his eyes.

“Ah, and you should watch your mouth in front of him. He doesn’t discriminate between men and women or people of any age.”

“…”

Even though he was silent, the elder couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with this Green Forest.

“Kuaak!”

The karambit blade that Chan Bo-Heuk used split the air.

It was like watching a rabid wild cat swinging its claws, but thanks to his large size, his intimidation didn’t do much.

Kakakak!

Three blades at the end of his gauntlet rubbed against the blade, creating a screeching sound.

The snakehead fish was much more vicious in the river than people think. If it were a river rather than an ocean, the snakehead fish would have no enemies.

A river king that gulped everything in sight. Just by noting that such a snakehead was used as a title, one could understand the position it had on the Yangtze River.

Kakakakak!

The blades attached to the end of the gauntlet interlocked like scissors.

‘You brat!’

Chan Bo-Heuk was confident of his victory.

He wasn’t someone who particularly overestimated, nor was he someone who underestimated his enemies. And he wasn’t one to let down his guard just because his opponent was young.

Those who looked down on the river would be devoured by it. Having survived in that river, he was one of the best at what he did, and he knew what to be cautious of.

Nevertheless, the reason he was confident of victory was because Chung Myung was none other than a swordsman.

Kakak!

His blade wasn’t an ordinary weapon.

In general, it wasn’t like the 18 River families to use blades, swords, spears, or sticks, but to use bizarre weapons, which the Kangho people rarely dealt with. It was usually called a weapon that used qi.

It had the disadvantage of being shorter and less versatile than the weapons mainly used by Kangho warriors, but in certain situations, it showed strengths that normal weapons didn’t have.

The characteristic of the karambit blade that Chan Bo-Heuk had was that it was strong when dealing with a sword.

Because it was shorter than a sword, it could not be used as an advantage by swordsmen, but as it was shorter, it had more delicate movement, and it could be held closely by hand.

As long as you placed the sword between it, it would become nothing. Moreover, he wielded two blades.

Those who showed off their brilliant swordsmanship in front of him were all overpowered by him and died being pierced by his karambit blade.

Even if Chung Myung was a better warrior than him, he could not win over the great captain. That was how confident he was.

‘I will rip his stomach open and kill him!’

He could not forgive this young man. Everything was messed up because of him!

There was no guarantee that if he abandoned the place and ran away, he could recreate the same troops again. No, he might have to run and avoid any contact with the Black Dragon King. All that anxiety and anger were directed at Chung Myung now.

“DIE!”

His blade moved furiously, aiming for Chung Myung’s entire body.

However, Chung Myung dodged the attack and tried to slash his body without much effort.

“This damned flying squirrel! How long will you run? Do you plan to waste that sword of yours?”

“Ah, right? You want to see this unfold?”

At that moment, Chung Myung threw himself back and widened the distance.

“If you really want to see it that way, I have to show it. You might wonder what the sword of Mount Hua is like.”

At this, Chan Bo-Heuk’s face contorted. But this was only an outward appearance; inside, he felt happy.

‘You caught the bait, you idiot!’

It didn’t matter what kind of sword technique it was. No matter how strong the sword technique was, it ultimately came from a single sword. As long as he attacked, he could snatch that sword in an instant.

“YOUUU!”

The moment Chan Bo-Heuk shouted as if he were angry, the sword of Chung Myung began to move.

Drrrr.

The tip of the sword trembled very lightly. The tremors grew louder, and soon dozens or hundreds of sword forms began to overlap.

‘What?’

Chan Bo-Heuk was flustered.

‘N-No!’

There was no need to panic.

How many times had he seen the sword technique of Mount Hua bastards? It was true that it was flashy and majestic, but that didn’t mean it had any strength.

If you accepted it calmly and without being deceived, it meant it could be broken…

At that moment.

It seemed like the sword of Chung Myung, which had divided countless times, spread out into the air, and soon flowers began to bloom at the tips of the swords.

Like an entire plum tree blooming all at once.

‘C-catch it…’

Chan Bo-Heuk’s face turned pale in an instant.

The blooming flowers all flew at once as if blown by the wind.

A flower garden. It felt like the entire world was covered with flowers.

All they could see was the blue sky and flower petals fluttering across it.

“Uh…”

He needed to catch it?

What? But what should he grab?

All he saw were petals!

Wasn’t this a sword technique he had seen before?

Even if it was the same technique, its status varied depending on who used it. The Arhat fist that monks used and the Arhat that the Shaolin monks used were the same martial arts, but they changed depending on who used them.

Why did he forget such an obvious fact?

Peeet!

A flying plum leaf passed by his face.

The bridge of his nose cracked then, sending blood dripping down his face. But Chan Bo-Heuk didn’t feel any pain.

Slash~ slash! Slash! Slash!

All parts of his body were cut, and red blood splashed out.

“Uh, uahhhhhh!”

He gritted his teeth and screamed.

He had deep roots in battle. He knew for sure what he had to do now.

The moment he stepped away, he would die.

The moment he hesitated and stepped back, these petals would continue to come for him and turn him into a beggar.

Where he needed to go was forward, not back!

Chan Bo-Heuk raised his qi and concentrated it on his arms and stomach. He crossed his arms to protect his head from being hit and ran ahead.

“AHHH!”

Slash! Slash! Slash!

The plum blossoms split off his arms and legs. It felt like he was going to drown in this pit of blades. That was how terrible the pain felt.

‘J-Just once!’

Chan Bo-Heuk looked spirited.

Slash!

In an instant, another deep cut was made on the side of his neck, and a line of blood flowed down.

Slash!

There was a long cut on the side. This was clearly a serious injury, to the point where the bone was exposed.

Slash! Slash!

A plum blossom sword that was completely stuck in the body wasn’t as fatal as a petal that cut through the body, burrowing an inch at a time.

‘J-Just one step!’

Chan Bo-Heuk let out an animal-like scream as he pierced through the wall of flower petals in front of him, his body so injured it was easier to find places without wounds.

“AHHHHHH!”

Pat!

The only part of his face not covered in blood, which was no longer red, were his two eyes.

When he finally saw Chung Myung, he shouted.

“You fucking BASTARDDDD!”

The karambit blade on his gauntlet flew toward Chung Myung’s head.

At that moment, Chung Myung raised the sword he had pulled back to block the attack.

Kaaak!

Two weapons collided in the air.

Kakak!

This was the moment Chan Bo-Heuk had been aiming for since the start of the battle.

As if he didn’t want to miss this chance, he used all his strength to hold Chung Myung’s sword. It seemed as if he wanted to break the sword at once.

Kakakaka Gakakak!

The karambit blade and the Dark Fragrant Sword intertwined, and Chung Myung’s sword stopped for an instant.

‘Caught… you! You shit!’

Chan Bo-Heuk’s eyes said it all.

“DiE!”

He swung the blade violently, aiming to split Chung Myung’s body at once.

But at that moment.

Kuung!

The intense qi clash between the two created winds in all directions, and dust rose as if responding to the qi.

After a while, as the cloud-like dust slowly settled down, the scene that unfolded felt so different from before.

Chan Bo-Heuk.

He was clearly about to cut Chung Myung’s stomach, but now he was kneeling on one knee, crossing the blades of both hands, entangling Chung Myung’s sword. No, it was closer to blocking the sword with his hands.

In front of him, Chung Myung was holding down the sword with an indifferent look.

“I was afraid that despite being a pirate, you might not show your tricks.”

“Kuak… ack….”

It was truly a strange sight.

Chung Myung was just holding the sword down with one hand, showing no sign of exertion.

But Chan Bo-Heuk, who was twice as big as Chung Myung, was using all his strength to push the sword away.

Even so, he couldn’t budge Chung Myung’s sword.

“Kuak…”

Crack! Crack!

Chan Bo-Heuk’s arm screamed.

Blood was gushing out insanely from the wounds around his body, and the eerie sound of bones cracking could be heard.

Chung Myung looked down at the scene with an arrogant expression and a sneer on his lips.

“You fool.”

Chung Myung’s sword shone with a sunset red sword qi and instantly cut off the karambit blade.

Paaak!

Chung Myung appeared right behind Chan Bo-Heuk and shook the blood from his sword onto the ground.

“…”

Tak. Tuk.

The cut blade fell to the ground.

After a while, red blood splashed out like a fountain along the red line that formed from the tip of Chan Bo-Heuk’s face to his groin.

“No… way…”

Chaaak!

His body split apart like a fish being fileted and fell to the floor with a thud.

Srrng.

Chung Myung, who swung the sword, spoke without even looking back.

“Start regretting in hell for touching Mount Hua.”

A cold voice that pronounced the end of the battle.