‘East Challenger God?’

Woong!

The moment when 2nd leader, Saint Gak-yeon mumbled those words, all the leaders of the Forces of Justice and the clan heads were astonished.

East Challenger God, Ark Wui.

He is one of the Five Strongest Warriors of Jianghu.

Called the God of the East, he was the only man of the five strongest warriors who wouldn’t use any weapons and only his fists.

Among the five, he was the first one to be given the title of God.

‘Is that person really the East Challenger God?’

‘Was it really true that he is hiding in Changbai Mountain!’

The people of Jianghu didn’t know his whereabouts.

Ark Wui was a name they heard for a brief time before the man disappeared, but in reality, only a few people in Wulin knew the truth.

‘Amazing.’

‘For such energy to come out with simple moves…’

Even the leaders of the Forces of Justice were looking at the man with trembling eyes.

All he did was come down, and the energy around them fluctuated.

It was as if he controlled the air around them.

All five thousand troops of the Yulin went stiff, unable to move because of the sense of suffocation from the man.

However, his purpose was malicious too.

‘The thick smell of blood… and the East Challenger God… not good.’

“Amitabha.”

Gak-yeon, who looked at the man in front of him, had a stern expression.

Even though he didn’t want to be that stiff, he couldn’t help it because of the hostile energy the man was giving out.

The advance squad, which should have been waiting for them, couldn’t be seen, and the entrance only gave out the smell of blood.

[Saint Gak-yeon, do you see the bloodstains on the man’s clothes?]

Peng-gyu sent a telepathic message to Gak-yeon, who was in his thoughts.

He was so stuck in the overwhelming sense of intimidation that he didn’t see it, but there were bloodstains on the man’s white coat.

‘This…’

They didn’t want what they were thinking to turn out to be true.

The advance squad seemed to have failed in persuasion and died at the hands of the person who thought that the unit had malicious intentions.

That was when Hong Palwoo sent a message.

[… I, I think that the plan should be abandoned.]

It didn’t seem like they would be able to persuade him anytime soon.

1st leader and commander, Mu Gu-cheon, didn’t share his thoughts, but his hand was trembling while holding the sword on his waist.

Mu Gu-cheon, who was ready to leave, looked at the other leaders, and they nodded in agreement, and he spoke to the man blocking their path.

“Are you the God of the East, Ark Wui? I am Mu Gu-cheon, leader of the Forces of Justice and the Shanxi Sword Master.”

Even if a conflict arises, they wanted to try negotiating one more time.

Even if the advance squad failed to convince him and got annihilated, bringing the God of the East to their side despite the losses didn’t seem like a bad idea, he was an ally they wanted.

It was because this man could compete against the Demon God, Chun Yeowun and the Blade Lord.

‘We're different from the two hundred people in the advance squad.’

The two hundred elite warriors in the advance squad were dead.

Now there weren’t any first-class elite warriors, but they had 5000 men with them.

Even if the God of the East was skilled, he wouldn’t attack them in haste.

‘Why isn’t he saying anything?’

The man didn’t respond but turned his head slightly and glanced in the direction of Changbai Mountain.

As if he was conscious of something.

Although he didn’t affirm his identity, he didn’t deny it either, so Mu Gu-cheon brought up the main topic right away.

“You must have heard what our intentions are from the man leading the advance squad?”

Looking at the blood, it was evident that he met with the warriors.

However, if Mu Gu-cheon asked him to take responsibility, confrontation might happen, so he only mentioned them.

“God of the East. There seems to have been some kind of misunderstanding, but we will do our best to prevent future crisis…”

“Leave.”

‘!?’

That was the first time the man in the bamboo hat had spoken.

The problem was that his words were more like a warning.

“Lord. As you might have heard, there are forces aiming for the spirit beast of…”

“Leave right now.”

‘… he isn’t listening.’

Had someone else said it, they would have tried to be more persuasive.

However, this man in the bamboo hat didn’t seem to leave any room for negotiation.

Mu Gu-cheon looked at the other leaders, and they too sighed as they nodded their heads.

‘I wished he would join us… we can’t help it. Even if it requires sacrifice, we need to obtain the spirit beast’s core.’

The fact that this man, who was presumed to be the God of the East, was still guarding the place meant that neither the Demonic Cult nor the Blade God Six Martial clan had arrived.

If so, they had no choice but to push through with their power.

“Nothing else can be done.”

Srrrng!

Mu Gu-cheon pulled out his sword.

He may not be one of the five strongest warriors, but he was still a leading martial artist in the Yulin, and he was called one of the best swordsmen.

“Amitabha.”

Golden brilliance shone from the hands of Gak-yeon.

After Gu-jung, Gak-yeon was the only one who was notable in taking up the position.

Chang!

Likewise, the others too drew their weapons and raised their energy.

Since the opponent was one of the five strongest warriors, everyone had to do their best in subduing the man without taking much damage.

‘I thought that we could talk it out and solve it, but it doesn’t seem like he wants to… for now, step back and watch what happens. I will be able to tell if the rumors are exaggerated or not.’

The new commander of the Black Shadow group, Mak Wijong, looked at it and decided not to move ahead.

The energy from the unknown man was too strong.

Mu Gu-cheon gave signals to the other leaders with his eyes.

If the first plan failed, the second plan was for all the leaders and warriors to work together and suppress the supposed God of the East.

‘I wish it didn’t come to this.’

For their end, they advanced and decided to open the formation that they worked on during their journey to the mountain.

The leaders of the Forces of Justice moved into a dipper-shaped formation, and with each posistion, the power only increased.

Goooo!

When they were getting ready, the man in the bamboo hat opened his mouth again.

“This is the last warning. If you don’t leave now, all your lives will be in danger.”

At the warning close to the threat, Ho Hyeon-ja mumbled.

“Goodness. No matter how great of a warrior he is, to act like this in front of 5 thousand warriors!”

They realized that their levels were very different.

Mu Gu-cheon shook his head and shouted.

“Move ahead! Now!”

Phat!

When the orders fell, all the leaders of the Forces of Justice who were on the frontlines began to move out.

Woong!

Anticipation stood in the eyes of the people who were behind watching it.

Although they failed to persuade him, did there really have to be a confrontation between the two?

As the seven leaders leading the troops moved, they surrounded the man.

‘I will be the north lead!’

Mu Gu-cheon, one of the best swordsmen, decided to take the lead seat of the formation.

The dipper formation was created by a pioneer in strategies, and it was based on the constellations and the harmony of Yin-Yang.

The north lead was the weakest in the formation, which was why Mu Gu-cheon had taken that spot.

Tat!

The moment he took his position, he was ready to unfold the Linked Invincible Sword.

Once the formation was done, not a single person bothered with basic techniques.

Chowchowchow!

From the moment the north lead decided to attack, the attacks would only increase.

‘Yes!’

Even Mu Gu-cheon, who was unfolding the sword, could feel how perfectly the formation was done.

“God of the East! Feel my sword!”

Mu Gu-cheon’s exquisite sword aimed for the man.

Indeed, he only concentrated on his sword and didn’t bother thinking about how the opponent would respond.

It was then.

Rnnnng!

‘This?’

The man slightly stretched out his fist towards the sword.

It wasn’t any special fist technique. It was just a simple fist.

Mu Gu-cheon was puzzled, until,

Grrrr!

‘What is this?’

Space seemed like it shook, and the outstretched fist made an invisible gust of wind erupt.

Cha! Cha! Cha!

“Th-this can’t be…”

His sword, which was hit by the wind, wasn’t just pushed back, it shattered into pieces, the very sword which was treasured by his family.

Shocked at his broken sword, he decided to gather his energy to avoid any internal damage.

Puck! Thud!

“Kuak!”

The unknown man’s kick hit him in the ribs.

With the sound of breaking bones, the body of Mu Gu-cheon flew dozens of steps away.

“How could this happen?”

The six leaders couldn’t hide their bewilderment.

Even though he was the East Challenger God, Mu Gu-cheon was trained and experienced.

Such a person got taken down with just one kick and one punch.

That wasn’t all.

Punch!

“Ugh!”

Before long, the man arrived near Peng-gyu.

Shocked, Peng-gyu tried to defend himself, but the man’s fist hit him faster than he could defend.

Punch!

“Kuak!”

It seemed like he had been hit with a dagger to his chest, coughing up blood.

‘This monster.’

Two of them were taken down in an instant. This man was super strong.

The problem wasn’t overpowering him.

The problem was that they had to be ready to die.

Chachachahca!

Deciding so, Ho Hyeon-ja moved stealthily and decided to stab him in the back.

However, his sword didn't even reach the man.

Srrr!

‘This?’

As soon as the sword touched the form of the man, he dispersed like smoke.

As they were trying to find the man's location, they heard the cry from Monk Sathi.

“Up!”

‘Up?’

A completely unexpected location.

He tried to create distance to avoid it, but it was already too late.

Bang!

“Kuak!”

Crack!

Ho Hyeon-ja, whose neck broke with just one punch, got his knees pushed into the ground.

What outstanding power.

“Help us! Saint!”

Path!

As he moved towards Monk Sathi, he began to unfold the sword of the Hangsan clan.

‘Amitabha!’

Hearing her cry, Gak-yeon tried to help by shielding the leaders from this madman’s unstoppable attacks.

Tatatata!

A golden shot stretched out from his palm, hitting the man wearing the bamboo hat.

Whoo!

Papapak!

The man didn’t move back but only rotated his posture. Shockingly, the energy which was shot at him got absorbed by his body.

“What is all this?”

It was an incomprehensible phenomenon.

Shockingly, the man pretended to punch Gak-yeon, who was thirty steps away.

Gak-yeon was shocked, as the space in front of him shook.

Phut!

“Kuak!”

With a huge gust of wind, Gak-yeon got pushed back as he coughed up blood.

He quickly used ‘Diamond Never Breaks’, but he couldn’t stop the wave of energy penetrating his body.

“Saint!!!”

Hong Palwoo cried out as he saw Gak-yeon flying.

It was the first time that he had seen saint Gak-yeon suffer so helplessly.

‘Th-this isn’t right!’

He couldn’t believe it.

The man, who defeated the saint with just one punch, didn’t bother and quickly knocked down Monk Sathi, who was trying to strike his neck.

The remaining leaders were Hong Palwoo and Yeon Young-in.

‘Ugh, that person is different. He isn’t human.’

They knew that he was a monster, but this man was different.

He didn’t act like he was trying his best either, he just lightly punched, and the best of the Forces of Justice got thrown to the ground with a punch and a kick.

Which meant that they weren’t even drawing out the full power of the opponent.

“… ugh! Leader Hong!!!”

As he was in disbelief, the shouts from the commanders entered his ears.

When he came back to his senses, he saw the man defeat Yeon Young-in and walk towards him.

“Da-Damn it!”

Chow!

Hong Palwoo unfolded the sword of ‘Sleeping Dragon in Water’ (Meaning the Sleeping Dragon would drown in water).

It was a method where the opponent was meant to die. As the sword unfolded, dust began to rise everywhere.

“Kwak!”

Puck! Whoops!

He didn’t even know that he had been hit; the fist had come for his stomach.

Hong Palwoo’s consciousness got cut off with the pain of his organs getting hit.

“This… is impossible.”

“For the leaders to be defeated…”

The clan heads and the commanders who were supposed to take part in the formation were shocked.

All seven of them had fallen to the ground and showed no signs of waking up.

Hesitant about losing their lives, but Mak Wijong shouted.

“W-we don’t have time to watch! We are five thousand! We need to work together…”

At that moment.

Goooo!

All the people, including Mak Wijong, looked at where the energy rose to see energy gathering at the man’s right fist.

The energy seemed strong enough to bring down the entire mountain in front of them.

“N-no!”

The place where the man was aiming for was where Mak Wijong and his men were gathered.

The commanders and the clan heads who sensed that shouted.

“Spre-spread away…”

Before they could even finish.

The man’s fist stretched across the distorted space.

Kwak!

With the sound of everything being destroyed, the gust of energy centered around the man’s fist struck where the warriors were gathered.

Kwakwakwang!

The ground cracked, the trees were uprooted, and the wind was being pushed.

It wasn’t an attack to stop them from attacking.

The gust of energy was to make sure that no one would be able to take one step into the mountain, it was to destroy every one of them.

The only things that could be heard were the cries of the warriors who had been hit and swept away by the gust.

“Kuak!”

“Kaaak!”

There was no exception.

‘… we need… to move!’

Woong!

“Ackk!!”

Even Mak Wijong, who was ready to run away with his tail between his legs, was swept away by the wind and fell down unconscious.

As the gust blew, warriors collided with each other, only causing secondary damage.

The people in the back row were the only ones who didn’t get hit, but they were too shocked.

‘… how…’

Around a thousand people and the leaders were scattered all around.

It was hard to believe that a single man had caused so much damage.

All the people had one thought running through their minds.

‘This is the power of God of the East, Ark Wui!’

A monster out of monsters.

Seeing strong people lose in front of them, the warriors lost their will to fight, and the man in the bamboo hat spoke in a loud voice.

“If you have no intention to die, take them and get lost.”

Hey all, I just paid the TL for this month and we're back to 0 funds, I had to use some funds from my credit card to complete the payment but that's not a problem.

So here I am asking again for your cooperation, I'm sorry if this is a bother but that's how things roll here.