Chapter 436

Ga Mu-ru lowered his great sword and tapped it on the ground.

He was breathing heavily and roughly. His body was covered with wounds inflicted by the Emei Sect nuns. Blood was still seeping from his side.

Ga Mu-ru looked at the river. His gaze was fixed on the ships carrying salt. The hundreds of ships had almost all passed through this area, leaving only the wreckage of destroyed ships.

“Huhuhuh…”

Ga Mu-ru suddenly began to laugh.

“Huhuhuhuh.”

Then he asked Jin Ja-gang.

“Do you know what those ships are carrying?”

“Salt containing poison.”

“No.”

Ga Mu-ru looked at Jin Ja-gang.

“They are carrying nothing important at all.”

Jin Ja-gang paused momentarily while trying to use his hands.

“If it’s nothing important, why did you risk your lives to protect it?”

“Until a little while ago, it had meaning. It carried enough poison and salt to overturn the entire martial world.”

Has the meaning changed now?

Ga Mu-ru glanced toward Divine Nun and the Emei Sect nuns.

“What do you think they were poisoned with?”

“Don’t tell me…”

Though Jin Ja-gang didn’t speak it aloud, he could tell that Ga Mu-ru was referring to Five Paths Fatal Poison.

“It has begun.”

Ga Mu-ru said through gritted teeth.

“The sinking of the martial world.”

Jin Ja-gang’s eyes narrowed.

How did the Five Paths Fatal Poison! And why were the Emei Sect nuns poisoned with it?

Jin Ja-gang asked.

“What was the reason you said at first that King of Hell would find it difficult to succeed?”

Ga Mu-ru exhaled heavily and said.

“Our Northern Heaven evil faction has been involved in this matter for a long time. We joined hands with King of Hell and prepared step by step to enter the Central Plains.”

Jin Ja-gang realized immediately.

“You were planning to steal those ships.”

Ga Mu-ru smiled with his eyes.

“That’s right.”

The Northern Heaven evil faction was playing the role of escort guards for the salt fleet. But inwardly, they had different intentions. They planned to seize the ships at the right moment and claim the poison and salt for themselves!

But before they could steal the ships, the Five Paths Fatal Poison had already leaked out and the Emei Sect nuns were poisoned.

Are other parties involved?

Ga Mu-ru clicked his tongue.

“But in the end, both King of Hell and our Northern Heaven became clowns.”

Those who crawl are surpassed by those who run, and those who run are surpassed by those who fly.

It was wickedly complicated and entangled.

“That fellow Baek Li-jung revealed the existence of salt to the entire martial world for his own benefit, and that fellow Mang Ryo drove the salt fleet into one place out of his own greed…”

The Demon Cult, the Northern Heaven evil faction…

Individuals consumed by personal desires… even the leaked Five Paths Fatal Poison.

It was truly chaos.

There was no other way to explain it.

Even if the Tang Clan had been intact, it seemed uncertain whether it would have succeeded as Ga Mu-ru said.

If all of this had occurred under someone’s planning, that person would have to be one of two things.

Either an unparalleled genius or a thoughtless fool.

“How foolish.”

At Ga Mu-ru’s words, Jin Ja-gang twisted his lips.

“Who was it that got involved in such foolish business?”

Ga Mu-ru muttered as if talking to himself.

“In my youth… Haewol and I fought with each other’s ideals at stake. To prove each other’s justice. But in the end, what drove our Northern Heaven out was the interests of the martial world.”

A deep sense of betrayal could be felt in Ga Mu-ru’s eyes. His low voice rumbled and echoed.

“Should the survival of swordsmen in the martial world be decided based on profit and loss like the beads on merchants’ abacuses? Is a martial world where great causes are determined by a few coins and a few measures of land functioning properly?”

Ga Mu-ru revealed his fighting spirit.

“I don’t think so. Now I will defeat you and find those who used me to kill them. And I will raise a new banner in the martial world!”

“Unfortunately.”

Jin Ja-gang raised his internal energy while standing as if to block Ga Mu-ru’s path.

“Even if the martial world sinks, you won’t see that spectacle. Your journey ends here.”

Jin Ja-gang drew up internal energy to the centers of both palms.

Asura Blood seeped from where he had cut with the sickle earlier. Jin Ja-gang activated Blazing Flame Twin Palm while clapping his hands together.

CLAP!

Blood droplets were rubbed together and steam rose from his heated palms. As Jin Ja-gang continued to circulate internal energy, more vapor billowed from his palms.

Artificially created blood mist!

Ga Mu-ru’s eyes deepened. Tension also appeared in his gaze. Countless wounds had formed on his body from the earlier battle. If that blood mist touched them, the poison would invade his body.

Ga Mu-ru lowered his great sword and prepared for battle.

Jin Ja-gang pulled both arms back then simultaneously extended them forward while deploying Asura World Annihilation Soul.

SWOOOOSH!

The extending Asura Sutra dragged the blood mist along as it whirled violently and covered Ga Mu-ru.

Ga Mu-ru brought down his great sword while simultaneously emanating blade energy to cut through the blood mist and Asura Sutra.

CLANG!

The Asura Sutra trembled and bounced as if hitting a solid wall, then hesitated before flying toward Ga Mu-ru again.

The Asura Sutra whirled violently and engulfed Ga Mu-ru. Ga Mu-ru concentrated his internal energy further to activate Lightning Blade.

ZZZZZT!

Lightning swept through the blood mist that had risen like fog. The blood mist scattered into small droplets. Some collected on the blood lines of the great sword before flowing and bouncing off.

Due to the injuries he had sustained earlier, Ga Mu-ru’s great sword had become slower. So Ga Mu-ru embedded his great sword in the ground and faced the blood mist and Asura World Annihilation Soul with pure palm force. Though his body was a mess, his internal energy remained intact.

WHOOOOOM!

Ga Mu-ru’s palm force punched holes through the web of Asura World Annihilation Soul. The blood mist exposed to the palm force couldn’t even touch Ga Mu-ru’s body and fell as droplets.

Finally, the Asura Sutra lost all its power and fluttered weakly. As Jin Ja-gang retrieved the Asura Sutra and tried to emit it again, Ga Mu-ru sent palm force flying to strike Jin Ja-gang’s right shoulder.

Jin Ja-gang tried to dodge but the Thousand-Year Turtle Shell on his shoulder cracked with a sound and his arm went limp.

Jin Ja-gang knelt and forcefully planted his left hand on the ground. Asura Sutra emerged from beneath Ga Mu-ru’s feet.

POP POP!

Thin threads invisible to the eye shot up from the ground like needles. Amazingly, Ga Mu-ru instantly stepped on the tips of the five emerging Asura Sutra strands in sequence and leaped to Jin Ja-gang’s front.

He reached Jin Ja-gang’s front in an instant. Jin Ja-gang tried to straighten his body to resist, but Ga Mu-ru’s hand was already raised above.

“Die.”

Internal energy dwelt in his blade hand. Jin Ja-gang’s head seemed about to be crushed like tofu at any moment.

Then.

POP POP POP POP!

Asura Sutra burst out through Jin Ja-gang’s abdomen, piercing through the broken Thousand-Year Turtle Shell.

Ga Mu-ru’s body flinched.

Three rigid strands that had emerged from Jin Ja-gang’s abdomen pierced through Ga Mu-ru’s chest. They penetrated his lungs, heart, and internal organs.

Ga Mu-ru looked down at Jin Ja-gang with a rigid expression. Jin Ja-gang’s right arm was behind his back.

The Asura Sutra extending from there had penetrated Jin Ja-gang’s own body and pierced through to Ga Mu-ru’s chest.

A low groan flowed from Ga Mu-ru’s mouth.

“Mmm…”

Ga Mu-ru breathed in roughly.

Gurgle, gurgle. With each breath, the sound of blood boiling came from his lungs and throat. Blood and pus had already filled them.

Ga Mu-ru stepped backward. Swoosh, the rigidly threaded Asura Sutra pulled out of Ga Mu-ru’s body.

Jin Ja-gang gasped for breath while looking at Ga Mu-ru.

Slowly, crimson annihilation flowers began to bloom petal by petal on Ga Mu-ru’s torso.

Ga Mu-ru’s face contorted.

“Asura Blood…”

Because his internal energy was so profound, the speed at which the extinction flowers spread was slow.

Ga Mu-ru staggered and picked up his great sword. The moment he lifted the great sword, Jin Ja-gang released Asura Sutra again.

POP POP POP!

The Asura Sutra became several small points that pierced through Ga Mu-ru’s body.

Ga Mu-ru’s movement stopped completely.

It was over.

As the poisoning worsened, the number of extinction flowers blooming on Ga Mu-ru’s body began to increase. Blood and pus dripped continuously from the countless wounds on his body.

Ga Mu-ru would never recover again.

Ga Mu-ru staggered and was about to fall. However, he never knelt to the very end.

THUD!

Ga Mu-ru embedded his great sword in the ground and leaned against it.

Then he looked at Jin Ja-gang.

“Poison… Dragon!”

Complex emotions were contained in Ga Mu-ru’s tightly pressed lips.

Jin Ja-gang said while gasping for breath.

“If you have any last words, I will listen.”

Ga Mu-ru glared at Jin Ja-gang for a while before spitting out thick bloody foam.

Then he raised his eyes to look at Jin Ja-gang.

“Cut him down.”

The light of death cast a shadow over Ga Mu-ru’s eyes.

“Cut down the one I could not, in my place. Successor of Haewol. The one I tried to cut. The one Haewol tried to cut. The same one who corrupted King of Hell and made a mess of the martial world.”

“Who is that?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps… he might be right before our eyes and we still cannot see him. But… his influence has spread throughout the entire martial world…”

Bloody foam poured from Ga Mu-ru’s eyes, nose, and mouth.

Divine Nun came before Ga Mu-ru and raised her sword.

“Thunder Emperor. In the end, you meet your death in the Central Plains rather than a foreign land, so this is all Buddha’s grace. I will bestow mercy upon you, so please achieve enlightenment.”

“I’m grateful.”

Ga Mu-ru was not as resentful as expected.

With bloody foam bubbling in his throat making gurgling sounds, he spoke to himself.

“I stayed away… from the Central Plains for too long…”

Divine Nun’s sword severed Ga Mu-ru’s neck.

Ga Mu-ru’s body fell like an old tree toppling over. Wounds all over his body festered and burst as bloody foam bubbled up.

Divine Nun looked at the salt fleet that had already passed by long ago and asked.

“What happens to those ships?”

“The Poison Sect’s Three Cliques will block them downstream.”

Only then did Jin Ja-gang catch his breath and ask.

“What happened?”

Rage bloomed on Divine Nun’s face. Jin Ja-gang had never seen Divine Nun, who always wore a gentle expression, display such anger.

Divine Nun suppressed her anger and slowly opened her mouth.

“There was a rebellion in our sect.”

“…!”

Divine Nun’s words were enough to shock Jin Ja-gang.

It was such sudden news.

How could a rebellion occur in Emei Sect, the sacred ground of Buddhism!

It was too shocking.

“The majority of our sect was poisoned this morning. I was delayed because I had to suppress the rebellion and then rush here immediately, so please understand.”

From Jin Ja-gang’s perspective, he was grateful just that she had come running in that condition. To come to keep her promise while poisoned was no ordinary matter.

But more than that, the rebellion at Emei Sect was a bigger problem.

Especially if that poison was Five Paths Fatal Poison.

Jin Ja-gang’s expression also hardened greatly.

Jin Ja-gang looked up at the Heaven.

It was hard to believe.

“I believe it means there were double and triple schemes behind the plan King of Hell prepared.”

“It appears so. Probably prepared for when the salt would be stolen.”

“But…”

Jin Ja-gang felt that something didn’t quite add up.

“But it failed.”

Jin Ja-gang said again.

“This is presumptuous, but doesn’t the fact that Master is here mean the rebellion definitely failed?”

“That’s right.”

Divine Nun’s eyes also narrowed as if she found it strange.

“The poison wasn’t in the salt but in the tea water.”

“Tea instead of salt…”

“However, the amount of poison was less than expected, so it didn’t reach the worst situation.”

Jin Ja-gang felt even more suspicious.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

If someone had deep schemes, they could prepare double and triple plans. But in such cases, they must ensure success, not failure.

Moreover, as Ga Mu-ru had said, too many variables were involved in this affair.

If the goal was to seize control of the martial world, they should put maximum support behind the Tang Clan’s plan, not create double and triple traps to cause confusion as they did now.

“Young hero.”

Divine Nun spoke with pale lips.

“It seems incomprehensible events are occurring. After hearing your words, I too can no longer understand their purpose.”

Divine Nun said to Jin Ja-gang with a stern face.

“But I suspect this didn’t happen only in our Emei Sect. I’m worried something might have happened to the Tang Family Compound, so hurry back and check.”

Jin Ja-gang suddenly recalled.

The signal!

The signal that Baek Li-jung’s military strategist Sim Hak had raised just before dying!