Chapter 210. Nine in the Fifth Place (6)
However, Woo-Moon just lifted the Sword King by the collar and looked him straight in the eye.
“Even if he is the king of gods, if he's from Martial Heaven, he'll die by my hand. End of story.”
The moment the Sword King locked eyes with Woo-Moon was the last moment of his life.
Woo-Moon decapitated the Sword King with one swift slash of Inkblade. He then dropped to his knees and kowtowed in the direction of the Heavenly Demon Shrine, where the Palm Martial Emperor had died.
“Grandfather! I've finally avenged you! But this isn't the end, so look forward to it! Martial Heaven dared to touch those precious to me, and they will be exterminated by my hand.”
Those who saw the scene felt an extreme chill fall over them, as if they had suddenly been cast under an icy waterfall. That was how extreme Woo-Moon's bloodlust was.
Woo-Moon suddenly stood up straight and used Spatial Manipulation to pick up the Sword King's head. He impaled it onto the tip of Inkblade, then headed toward Divine Monk, who was still fighting Ma-Ra.
Their battle was evenly matched.
No... actually, at a closer look, Divine Monk was losing ground little by little. He was constantly getting caught off guard by Ma-Ra's array of attacks, as she continuously slipped in various hidden weapons and projectiles while using the Soul-Stealing Meteor Sword.
“Hey,” Woo-Moon called out.
Ma-Ra glanced at him and immediately realized what he was thinking. She slowly began to relax, drawing back from her barrage of attacks without Divine Monk noticing.
Divine Monk finally got an opportunity to catch his breath, but at the same time, he also caught a glance of Woo-Moon.
The moment he realized that the head on top of Woo-Moon's sword was the Sword King, he burst out in surprise.
“F-father!!”
Woo-Moon was stunned, and so was everyone else. They had no idea Divine Monk was the Sword King’s—or the Sword Emperor’s—son.
But then Woo-Moon sneered.
“Oh, sorry. Here, take care of him.”
Woo-Moon swung his sword and hurledthe Sword King’s head toward Divine Monk. At the same time, Ma-Ra rushed in and swung her sword, blocking every direction where Divine Monk could move to avoid the Sword King’s head.
There was no way for him to avoid it!
Well, obviously, there were ways for him to avoid it, but he was not in any state to think about them. The combination between his father’s death and Ma-Ra’s sudden onslaught left him panicked.
'If I knock it aside, my father's head will...!'
Of course, given the sheer force of Woo-Moon’s throw, the head would be shattered into pieces.
And while Divine Monk hesitated, the Sword King’s head struck him in the chest.
Thud!
“Cough!”
Spit and blood flew out of his mouth as four of his ribs broke. On the other hand, the Sword King's skull half-collapsed, his head caving in and blood flowing out.
The brilliant young Mu Heons that would then become the Sword King and Saber King were each dispatched to the Justice Coalition and Hegemon Clan, respectively.
Then, as their martial arts skills and reputation rose rapidly, they acquired the status of the Sword and Hegemon Emperors.
During that time, the Sword King had an affair with a young nun from the Emei Sect. When he found out that she had become pregnant and secretly gave birth to a child, he had her killed. But, since the child had already been born, not even the ruthless Sword King could have it killed—it was blood of his blood, after all. Thus, he secretly left the baby at the Shaolin Temple and, once his son had grown up enough to learn the truth, made him join the Mu Heon path.
He himself later became a Paragon, ascending from the Mu Heon path and becoming one of the Three Heavenly Martial Kings of Martial Heaven, while Divine Monk himself rose to become an Absolute Master.
Divine Monk never found out that it had been the Sword King who had his mother killed, and given their history together, he truly respected and loved his father.
And that love was what brought him misfortune now.
The moment Divine Monk was struck by the Sword King's head, Woo-Moon attacked from the front and Ma-Ra from the back. They crossed paths right as their swords cut through Divine Monk’s midriff and neck, respectively.
Looking at Divine Monk's head rolling on the ground, Woo-Moon scoffed coldly.
“Since you and your father planned to exterminate the murim together, it’s only fitting that you are punished together.”
Ma-Ra disappeared again, while Woo-Moon moved forward, once again picking up the Sword King's head with his sword. In the distance, he could see Saber King and Si-Hyeon fighting.
“Let's see...”
Woo-Moon hurled the Sword King’s head at the Saber King this time.
The Saber King was in the middle of a close battle with Si-Hyeon, but being a Paragon, he naturally noticed right away as something flew at him.
“Sword King!”
They had been close friends who had shared joys and sorrows together in their youth as Mu Heons and later bonded over their loneliness as they acted as Martial Heaven’s spies in their respective forces.
But while his relationship with the Sword King was even deeper than Divine Monk's, the Saber King was also far more ruthless.
He kicked out, sending a blast of aura that smashed the Sword King's head mid-air.
Even though his friend's brain, bone fragments, and blood had splattered his face, the Saber King didn't even blink.
“Tsk. That's pretty impressive,” Woo-Moon scoffed.
Then, he looked at the situation on the battlefield.
By this point, he had already recovered all of the qi he had expended while fighting the Sword King and unleashing the Sword Heart. His incredible cultivation allowed him to recover without actually circulating his qi consciously.
“Let's go, Ma-Ra.”
“Mmm.”
He wasn't worried about Si-Hyeon's battle. While to a less experienced observer it seemed as though both sides were equally matched, Woo-Moon could tell that Si-Hyeon was slightly more powerful. The real trouble was elsewhere.
The fifty thousand troops brought by Regional Commander Lee Pyeong-Ahn were clearly elites. However, they were bound to be inferior in terms of martial skill when faced with the combined forces of the Martial Heaven's Mu Heons and the Hegemon Clan's warriors.
While in the beginning they were able to overcome this discrepancy with their well-organized formations, as time passed, their formations began to collapse due to the overwhelming strength of the enemy's Absolute Masters. Gradually, they were pushed back, and casualties multiplied.
About twenty thousand troops had already lost their lives.
The Saber Emperor was fighting the Soul-Slaying Sword Demon, and the Battle Emperor, Ah Hee, and Formless Flying Sword were fighting the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Mu Heons.
That left the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Mu Heons.
These four Absolute Masters were destroying the formations and mercilessly slaughtering the soldiers.
As the Ten Swords of the North Sea and the other Transcendents of the North Sea Ice Palace were struggling against the Transcendents of the Hegemon Clan, they were utterly unable to help the soldiers.
Bang!
"Agh!"
With each swing of the Seventh Mu Heon's staff, three or four soldiers would have their heads crushed.
“I'll kill you all, you government dogs!”
While the Seventh Mu Heon's staff, soaked in brains and blood, was swinging ceaselessly, the Eighth Mu Heon walked forward, holding a short saber.
Thud. Thud!
One of the commanders, who was a fifth-rank official in the army administration, dropped to the ground, crawling backward. A yellowish liquid leaked from between his trouser legs as he uselessly tried to hold onto whatever dignity he had left, shouting, "H-how impudent! How dare you, a commoner, dare to harm me, a fifth-rank official! And you dare attack this great nation’s soldiers! This is a rebellion!"
The Eighth Mu Heon licked his sword, which was covered in blood.
“A-a-a-a... Y-y-y-you really a-a-a-are a g-g-good talker-r-r... ye-s-s-s... I-if I-I-I ea-t-t y-y-y-our ton-g-gue, t-t-then I-I-I-I shou-l-ld b-be goo-d-d-d a-a-t tal-k-king, to-o-o-o-o, r-r-r-righ-t?”
The Eighth Mu Heon, who had a habit of stuttering, wasn't able to fix his stutter even after becoming an Absolute Master. This was because the stutter wasn't a physical defect or an illness but an ingrained habit. As a superstitious person, he believed that this stutter would disappear if he ate the tongue of a good talker.
“I-if you stop here and don't kill me... I-I won't have nine generations of your clan executed. I swear. I—agh!”
The official tried to use threats, just like he always did when he dealt with witless civilians. Sadly, he was in a place where his
The Eighth Mu Heon wrenched open his mouth, grabbed his tongue, and pulled it out violently while stabbing him in the shoulder with his short sword.
"Agh! Aghh—!"
Squelch!
With a creepy sound, the Eighth Mu Heon ripped out the official's entire tongue.
Unable to overcome the intense pain and fear, the man keeled over, succumbing to a heart attack.
The Eighth Mu Heon chewed on the raw tongue with a big smile on his face. Meanwhile, the Sixth Mu Heon frowned from the side.
“Ugh, you crazy bastard.”
Meanwhile, his hands continued to move and slaughtered the soldiers.
“You demons!”
The Regional Commander Lee Pyeong-Ahn leaped forward with a shout, his aura blazing as he communed with his sword, reaching sword-body union.
While the enemy's cultivations were so high that he hadn't dared to go all out and fight by himself, after seeing his subordinate's miserable death, he couldn't bear it any longer.
In the meantime, the Eighth Mu Heon had finished chewing on the tongue and drew his short saber again.
Clang!
"Ugh."
As the Regional Commander, Lee Pyeong-Ahn was a Transcendent. However, he was unable to overcome the power contained in the Eighth Mu Heon's sword and suffered internal injuries.
He backed away with blood flowing from his mouth and the Eighth Mu Heon followed him, making a strange sound while swinging his sword wildly.
"KEKEKEKEKEKEKE!"
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Lee Pyeong-Ahn tried to block the Eighth Mu Heon's relentless assault, but with every clash of their swords, he was being pushed back. Eventually, he was unable to stop the strikes anymore, and red lines began to appear all over his body.
Squelch, squelch!
Blood spurted out, and Lee Pyeong-Ahn's lacerated skin was soon fully covered.
“Ugh!”
“F-f-first... L-let-t-t's s-s-s-s-start wi-i-th you-r-r tong-g-g-ue.”
Even though he had just consumed the tongue of the smooth-spoken fifth-rank official, for some reason, the Eighth Mu Heon's stutter didn't show any signs of improvement. Thus, he grew incredibly angry.
“AGH!!!”
His sword was really short.
So short, in fact, that it was more like a big dagger. From this distance, he wouldn't be able to cut off Lee Pyeong-Ahn's arm unless he used aura.
However, the Eighth Mu Heon didn't do that; rather, he just continuously hacked at the Regional Commander's arm, hitting the same spot over and over again.
One swing, one inch deep.
Two swings, two inches.
“Save the general!”
Lee Pyeong-Ahn's subordinate, Jeong Cheon-Ho, rushed to save his superior, encouraging the terrified soldiers.
“Kekeke!”
Suddenly, a horrifying aura, so strong that it left the soldiers speechless, burst out from the Eighth Mu Heon's entire body.
“AGH!”
All four hundred soldiers who had rushed the Eighth Mu Heon froze, their feet cemented to the ground. So did Jeong Cheon-Ho, who was a Peak Class martial artist.
They were unable to move even a finger due to the Eighth Mu Heon's Absolute Aura.
“D-d-d-d-d-on't interf-f-f-ere!”
Dozens of aura blades shot out as he swung his short sword at the soldiers.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
“Mother!!!”
“NO!”
Jeong Cheon-Ho's expression froze, his face covered in blood. Half of the four hundred men behind him had been torn to pieces. It was an impossible sight.
‘D... damned Absolute Master...’
He looked down. He was missing a massive chunk of his torso; in fact, most of his chest had been replaced by a gaping hole. Blood poured down like a waterfall.
He fell forward, landing in a puddle of his own blood.
“KEKEKE!”
At the same time, the Eighth Mu Heon finally succeeded in severing Lee Pyeong-Ahn’s right arm.
“You son of a bitch!”
Lee Pyeong-Ahn let out a beastly roar—not because of the pain of losing his arm, but because his most loyal subordinate had just died while trying to save him.
However, no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't do anything to the Eighth Mu Heon.
“You're all insane.”
With this cold remark, a white flash flew in and landed between the Eighth Mu Heon and Lee Pyeong-Ahn.
“Ke? Y-y-y-ou...?”
The Eighth Mu Heon was confused. He knew that there were two Paragons who were on the opposite side, the Heavenly Demon Si-Hyeon and the Undefeatable Sword Hero Song Woo-Moon.
However, dealing with them was not the Mu Heons’ job; the Sword and Saber Kings were supposed to take care of them...
“ARGHHHH!”
The Eighth Mu Heon let out a scream. While he was pondering, Woo-Moon had simply grabbed him by the forearm and torn his arm clean off.
"Eighth Mu Heon!"
Hearing his scream, the Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Mu Heons, who were fighting the soldiers, came running over.
Seeing Woo-Moon, the Seventh Mu Heon flinched.