Chapter 87

Chapter 87: When the Blood Star Moves, a Storm of Blood Follows (3)

Dam Ho raised his head.

He could see Jwa Mun-hyo and the warriors of the Hengshan Sect. They radiated a menacing aura. But it made no impression on Dam Ho whatsoever.

Dam Ho's gaze fell to the corpse at his feet. It was the body of the man who had been called An Gyo-ik in life.

He had been a member of the Black Tiger Band.

After the band's disbandment, An Gyo-ik had wandered the world before settling here. He was a relatively clever man for a bandit.

He had amassed considerable wealth. And An Gyo-ik knew how to spend money.

First, he built the estate and won the goodwill of those around him by sharing what he had. Then he began associating with local influential figures, gradually expanding his influence.

He used his business acumen to earn substantial profits and reinvested that money in powerful sects. One of them was the Hengshan Sect.

An Gyo-ik pretended to be magnanimous, but in truth he was deeply suspicious. While pretending to build friendships, he investigated their weaknesses and recorded them in a secret ledger.

He suspected everyone around him to the point of never marrying and living alone. That was why, despite the vastness of the An Family Manor, though he had subordinates, he had no blood relatives.

Yet for all his suspicion, An Gyo-ik had less patience than No Cheol. He had confessed everything he knew.

The problem was that what he knew was not particularly significant. That was why Dam Ho was not in a good mood.

Dam Ho asked Jwa Mun-hyo.

"What?"

"What do you mean, 'what'? You wretch! You commit such a massacre in the An Family Manor and ask 'what'?"

Jwa Mun-hyo's furious roar reverberated through the estate.

He strode toward Dam Ho. After confirming that the corpse on the ground was indeed An Gyo-ik, his eyes burned with rage.

He had lost his greatest benefactor in his plans. With An Gyo-ik dead, the plan to rebuild the Imperial Temple would inevitably be postponed.

If the Imperial Temple was delayed, so too would the recruitment of new disciples. No—all of Jwa Mun-hyo's plans were thrown into disarray.

"Who are you, to dare commit murder within the Hengshan Sect's domain?"

Dam Ho stared at Jwa Mun-hyo intently. The sight both infuriated and unsettled Jwa Mun-hyo.

Dam Ho finally spoke.

"Did you know?"

"What are you talking about?"

"One should not meddle carelessly in the grudges of the martial world."

"How dare you threaten me—Jwa Mun-hyo, Sect Leader of the Hengshan Sect?"

"This is not a threat. It is advice."

"You wretch! You are impossibly arrogant. I shall see what gives you the confidence to be so insolent."

"You will regret it."

Dam Ho's voice dropped lower. Conversely, Jwa Mun-hyo's voice rose.

"No one has ever spoken such nonsense to me. Not even the sect leaders of the Nine Great Sects would dare say such things to me."

"Sect Leader."

Chae Gyu, who stood beside him, tried to calm Jwa Mun-hyo. But Jwa Mun-hyo's anger was not the kind that subsided easily.

Chae Gyu had realized that the man before him was no ordinary martial artist. Though purchased with money, the warriors of the An Family Manor had still been of considerable skill. Yet dozens of them had been slaughtered by this single man.

An ordinary martial artist could not have accomplished this.

'Has there ever been such a man in the martial world?'

Chae Gyu searched his memory but could not recall anyone who matched the description of the man before him.

Jwa Mun-hyo shouted.

"What are you waiting for? Subdue that wretch at once! Make sure to keep him alive—I will deal with him personally."

"Yes!"

The warriors of the Hengshan Sect answered in unison. Before Chae Gyu could even try to stop them, they charged at Dam Ho.

A hundred warriors of the Hengshan Sect were a force capable of wiping out a small to mid-sized sect. And it was thanks to them that the Hengshan Sect still maintained its position among the Five Great Sects of Hunan.

"Chaa!"

The leading disciple of the Hengshan Sect swung his sword at Dam Ho with a battle cry. His face was filled with the desire for glory.

Until that moment, Dam Ho had shown no movement. At that, the Hengshan Sect disciple rejoiced.

'You're mine!'

CRACK!

In that instant, a shock like a bolt of lightning struck, and the Hengshan Sect disciple's consciousness was severed. Dam Ho's Fortress Breaking Fist had connected.

The disciple, transformed into a mass of flesh, flew backward like a cannonball and crashed into those behind him.

"Kuhuk!"

"Damn it!"

A dozen or so men tangled together and tumbled across the floor.

Dam Ho turned toward Jwa Mun-hyo.

His right foot stomped, his left foot dragged—a series of repeated movements. Under normal circumstances, one might have mocked a cripple's bluff.

But Jwa Mun-hyo could not. As Dam Ho drew closer, he felt a menacing aura unlike anything he had encountered before.

Jwa Mun-hyo shouted again.

"What are you waiting for? Subdue that wretch!"

The Hengshan Sect warriors, who had momentarily faltered, charged at Dam Ho once more.

"He's just one man! There's nothing to fear!"

"Whaaaaa!"

The war cries of the Hengshan Sect disciples echoed through the An Family Manor.

Watching them descend upon him like a flock of geese, Dam Ho murmured:

"If you wish to see hell that badly…"

Crack!

Dam Ho pushed off the ground.

"Then I will show you."

His body collided with the warrior who had been leading the charge.

CRUNCH!

A sickening sound of crushing bone accompanied the warrior's body as it flew backward. Blood erupted from every orifice of the warrior's body. The tremendous pressure and impact delivered in an instant had ruptured every blood vessel in his body.

That was the beginning.

Every time Dam Ho's fist cleaved through the air, someone died. Not a single person could withstand his strike.

Those who tried to block with their arms had them shatter like reeds. Those who tried to block with their legs had their joints destroyed.

"Kuhuk!"

"Ack!"

Desperate screams erupted from every direction.

Dam Ho was like a tiger that had plunged into a flock of sheep. No matter how numerous the sheep, they could not harm a tiger—and the Hengshan Sect warriors could not so much as scratch Dam Ho.

A fierce wind swept through the An Family Manor. Where the wind passed, only the corpses of the Hengshan Sect warriors remained.

"Madman!"

Jwa Mun-hyo and Chae Gyu, watching the slaughter, murmured in disbelief.

CRASH!

With a sound like a thunderbolt, three or four warriors were sent flying as masses of blood and flesh. The sight was utterly surreal.

Like a dam collapsing, the Hengshan Sect disciples fell one after another, and Dam Ho pressed forward.

Black hair whipping in the wind.

Through it, eyes of infinite darkness flashed. And the black leather robe billowed.

Nothing about him was ordinary.

Only then did Jwa Mun-hyo realize that Dam Ho was no ordinary martial artist. He was not an opponent to be trifled with lightly. But his realization came too late.

Half of the disciples he had brought were already corpses under Dam Ho's fists. The sight of his disciples reduced to masses of flesh rolling across the ground was vividly clear before his eyes.

His former disciple Myo Gong, his neck bent at an unnatural angle with his tongue lolling out—had been a clever young man whom Jwa Mun-hyo had personally trained with great care.

The boy whose chest was caved in, blood streaming from his nose and mouth—Ju Yun-pyeong—had been blessed with outstanding intellect and loved by all.

Many others he had brought were also dying. Unable to bear it any longer, Jwa Mun-hyo launched himself at Dam Ho.

"Stop, you demon!"

In his hand, he now held the Hengshan Sect's treasured sword—the Cheongpyeong Sword.

Jwa Mun-hyo unleashed the Hengshan Sect's secret ultimate technique—the Mysterious Heaven Water Flow Sword.

Whoooosh!

Sword energy coalesced around the Cheongpyeong Sword.

The hazy sword energy took definite shape before splitting into dozens of blades that shot toward Dam Ho.

It was the Lightning Flight Sword—the ultimate technique of the Mysterious Heaven Water Flow Sword.

Though impatient by nature, Jwa Mun-hyo was arguably the Hengshan Sect's finest martial artist. The sword energy behind his strike carried enough power to cleave a massive boulder in two.

The Lightning Flight Sword targeted Dam Ho's throat.

Dam Ho, having just crushed a Hengshan Sect warrior beneath his foot, raised his head and watched Jwa Mun-hyo's sword approach.

He was the Sect Leader of the Hengshan Sect. A man who led a sect with centuries of history—the pressure he would exert should have been immense. At least, that was what Dam Ho had assumed.

The sword technique was sharp, and the power behind it was considerable—but that was all. There was no will to kill, no spirit of dominance. It was a dead sword technique.

A martial artist who had found his own path would never swing such a sword.

Dam Ho launched himself into the rain of sword energy.

The moment he pushed off the ground, his body was already tracing a line through the air.

At the end of that black line that sliced through the air stood Jwa Mun-hyo.

CRACK!

The Fortress Breaking Fist struck.

But Jwa Mun-hyo was no insignificant master either. He barely managed to raise his sword in time to block the full force of the blow.

Dam Ho's fist connected with the Cheongpyeong Sword's blade, bending it like a bow. At the same time, Jwa Mun-hyo's body was sent hurtling backward.

"Kuhuk!"

A strangled groan escaped Jwa Mun-hyo's lips.

The impact that pierced through his body made his entire torso reverberate. A crack appeared on the blade of the Cheongpyeong Sword.

"I will not forgive you."

Jwa Mun-hyo twisted his body and unleashed the ultimate techniques of the Mysterious Heaven Water Flow Sword in rapid succession.

Shhh-shhh-shhhick!

Now Jwa Mun-hyo was fighting with everything he had. The killing intent in his sword grew denser.

"Sect Leader!"

Chae Gyu shouted at the sight.

He wanted to join the fight. But Jwa Mun-hyo's aura was so ferocious that he dared not intervene.

The expression on Jwa Mun-hyo's face, visible to Chae Gyu, was one of utter desperation. Chae Gyu had never once seen Jwa Mun-hyo like this.

"Die!"

Jwa Mun-hyo's roar echoed loudly.

The sword energy gathered on his blade spread like the ribs of a fan and enveloped Dam Ho.

In that instant, Dam Ho's left foot plunged into the ground. Following it, his waist rotated and his right foot swung out like a spinning top.

Demon-Splitting Kick.

A technique left behind by the Demonic Cult was being unleashed through Dam Ho's body.

Though the name was the same, it differed from the Demonic Cult's Demon-Splitting Kick.

This was Dam Ho's own Demon-Splitting Kick, created anew.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

Like a sand castle crumbling before an incoming wave, Jwa Mun-hyo's sword energy was swept away by the Demon-Splitting Kick.

"How can this be!"

Jwa Mun-hyo's eyes trembled in disbelief.

Dam Ho's palm opened wide like a plum blossom in full bloom. Jwa Mun-hyo tried to sever Dam Ho's hand with the Cheongpyeong Sword.

In that instant, Dam Ho's palm contracted slightly and met the Cheongpyeong Sword. And then something incredible happened.

BOOM!

The Cheongpyeong Sword shattered like glass. Five Finger Rock Breaking Technique had been unleashed.

"Kuhuk!"

Jwa Mun-hyo vomited blood. The impact of the sword's destruction had inflicted internal injuries. But Dam Ho's attack was not yet over.

Three consecutive punches struck the defenseless Jwa Mun-hyo's chest.

Triple Cannon Shadow Fist.

This, too, was a martial art left behind by the Demonic Cult. Dam Ho had reinterpreted it in his own way once more.

"Stop!"

Chae Gyu shouted too late.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Dam Ho's fists struck Jwa Mun-hyo's chest in succession. All in the same spot.

The first punch shattered his ribcage entirely. The second crushed his internal organs. And the final punch burst his heart.

Jwa Mun-hyo collapsed, blood erupting from his seven orifices.

"Huuuk!"

Pinned to the ground, Jwa Mun-hyo looked up at Dam Ho with fading eyes. In his pupils, the God of Death had already descended.

Even if the Great Immortal himself had come, he could not have wrested Jwa Mun-hyo from death's grip.

Dam Ho's cold gaze looked down upon Jwa Mun-hyo.

"I told you."

"Wh-what?"

"That one should not meddle carelessly in the grudges of the martial world."