"You won't even draw your sword! Are you looking down on ?!"
Namgung Jehyun's sword stretched out towards Shinseung like a hawk crossing the blue sky.
The flow of his sword seed to dare to contain the heavens.
"What sword for a monk."
Shinseung stretched out his hand towards such a sword.
A feeling of putting his hand directly on the sword.
It seed as if his hand would be cut off.
Sreuk.
Shinseung's hand gently swept the sword and struck it away.
A scene that was hard to see as a battle between a bare hand and a sword passed by countless tis.
At the sa ti as they clashed.
"Kill the monks!!"
"Block them! We must protect our ho!!"
The martial monks of Shaolin and the martial artists of the Martial Alliance also began to clash.
Nurous martial artists passed by the scene where Shinseung and Namgung Jehyun were clashing.
At that sight, Shinseung's eyes trembled minutely.
"Benefactor, you could have ended this with just a life-and-death duel with , so why do you seek to slaughter innocent living beings?"
"Because they are also traces of Shaolin!"
"Do you really intend to slaughter them all?"
At Shinseung's question, Namgung Jehyun's lips curled up.
It was a strange smile that looked like madness or sadness.
"If necessary."
At the sa ti as Namgung Jehyun's declaration, his sword pierced through Shinseung's defense and stretched out.
The sword, which stretched out with the montum to cut Shinseung's waist in two, finally cut his monk's robe.
Kaang!
The sword that touched Shinseung's flesh made a frictional sound as if it had hit a lump of iron and then bounced off.
As the sword did not pierce properly, Namgung Jehyun frowned.
"It is said that so of Shaolin's martial arts make the body like diamond."
"This is also the power of the Buddhist faith."
Originally, the one with a weapon would have an overwhelming advantage, but since the sword did not pierce the opponent, a strangely tense battle continued.
"Since your sword does not pierce my body, how about you retreat?"
"This kind of trick!"
After exchanging a round of sword and fist, they distanced themselves from each other, and a silent confrontation ensued.
"The 700 years of Shaolin are as hard and firm as my body. So how about you retreat now?"
During the confrontation, Shinseung smiled benevolently and quietly suggested.
Around Shinseung.
Although the martial monks of Shaolin were also outnumbered and could not overwhelm them, since it was their front yard, they were pushing back the soldiers of the Martial Alliance using the terrain and fixtures.
"It's certain that if this continues, only the damage will accumulate."
Muttering so, Namgung Jehyun sheathed his sword.
Although it looked as if he would retreat.
"That is, if I were the sa as before."
Namgung Jehyun's hand went to the hilt of his sword.
"That firmness. I will cut it."
At the unusual montum, Shinseung also beca quite tense.
"O man who was close to a king in the past, receive this sword."
The sword that had contained the heavens until now was gone, and an aura that seed to tear the heavens overflowed.
"That is!"
The sword strike ca down on Shinseung.
That sword was like.
"The sword of a king..."
Shinseung could not continue his words.
The montum of the mighty heavy sword crushed Shinseung.
Slice.
It cut right through Shinseung's chest, which had been like diamond.
Chwaak.
Red blood spurted from Shinseung's chest.
"Keoheuk."
For the end of a fierce and intense battle, it was a futile and empty conclusion.
Namgung Jehyun passed by the fallen Shinseung, who was clutching his chest.
"My last rcy. Watch the 700 years of Shaolin burn from that spot."
"Keuk, are you not afraid of the heavens?"
"That damn sky."
Namgung Jehyun frowned and looked up at the sky.
"What is there to be afraid of a sky that does nothing, my friend."
For a very brief mont, the past flashed in Namgung Jehyun's eyes.
Like the eyes of a boy from that ti when he had swung the sword just because he liked it, because he liked the sword of Namgung.
Although a very brief hesitation flashed by, Namgung Jehyun, who had quickly returned to his original gaze, jumped into the scene where the battle was taking place.
The two forces, which had been in a tense confrontation, had their tables turned by a single absolute master.
As Namgung Jehyun's sword ca down, the walls that had been protecting the bodies of the martial monks of Shaolin collapsed in an instant and were swept away.
Namgung Jehyun, who stood proudly in the center, raised his sword and pointed at Shaolin.
"Kill them all and burn them."
At the sa ti as Namgung Jehyun's command, the martial artists of the alliance moved quickly to annihilate Shaolin.
At this rate, annihilation seed inevitable.
At that ti, a subtle crack appeared.
Among the monks, very unsuitable figures were intervening and helping them.
Wondering if he had seen wrong, Namgung Jehyun rubbed his eyes and watched the scene again.
Among the monks, n in very unsuitable shabby clothes were moving busily.
No matter how one looked at them, they were a kind of people to whom the na 'beggar' was a perfect fit.
"Hey! Get out! Get out!"
"If you've hit, then run!"
"You beggars who can't do martial arts, just throw stones from behind and pull back the injured monks!"
On top of that, although it was clumsy and unsuitable, they were performing martial arts.
"What on earth is this?"
"This humble monk does not know."
Wondering if Shinseung had planned it, he looked at him, but Shinseung also had a rarely seen flustered face.
In the middle of the fierce battlefield, only between those two did a silence fall.
Because the battlefield was so fierce, no one other than the two absolute masters had noticed the change.
And so, in the brief silence.
"No matter how many there are, a beggar is just a beggar."
Namgung Jehyun, who had co to his senses, was about to move his feet again.
At that ti.
Just before a beggar near him had his neck taken by a Martial Alliance martial artist, a young beggar intervened between them.
"Leader!"
The saved beggar cheered brightly, looking at the young beggar.
Although his physique was large and sturdy, the young beggar with a youthful face was holding a staff made of jade, which was unsuitable.
The young beggar intervened between the martial artist and the beggar, instantly flicked away the martial artist's sword with his staff, and then struck the martial artist's head, subduing him in an instant.
A high-level martial art of a different dinsion from the beggars seen so far.
Although it was far from the martial arts level of an absolute master like Namgung Jehyun or Shinseung, considering his young age, he was a beggar who had achieved a great accomplishnt.
Namgung Jehyun's feet moved towards that young beggar.
Having arrived in front of the young beggar, Namgung Jehyun narrowed his eyes and asked.
"What are you?"
"Uh... that's... I'm Hong Yungae."
The young beggar answered very naively, which was unsuitable for soone who had shown such high-level martial arts.
At that sight, Namgung Jehyun's frown deepened even more.
"That's not what I'm asking!"
"Th-then what are you asking...?"
"I asked what you are!"
Hong Yungae, who was facing the rough-spirited Namgung Jehyun, thought.
'Co to think of it? What am I?'
In Hong Yungae's mind, the past journey flashed by quickly.
It was certain that when he had left Sichuan, there were only four in the party.
But it had gradually increased.
This was entirely Hong Yungae's problem.
Hong Yungae had not been able to shake off his habit from Sichuan and had been extending his hand to every beggar he saw.
And the beggars, whether they had fallen for such a Hong Yungae or had hoped for a greater benefit, had begun to follow him.
On top of that, as if they had known that Hong Yungae had left, a group of beggars from Sichuan had belatedly joined and begun to follow him.
A huge group of beggars that had grown enormously.
Although it was normal for such a large group to require enormous maintenance costs, they were originally beggars.
If they couldn't see food, they would dig up tree roots, dig up grass roots, and if even that was not available, they would eat dirt.
Thanks to that, the group of beggars, which had now beco a legion, had left not even a single blade of grass in the places they had passed.
And so, as Hong Yungae's group of beggars was moving.
-What are you guys?
-What are you?
They had encountered another group of beggars.
Although it was smaller than Hong Yungae's group of beggars, which had attracted all sorts of beggars on the way from Sichuan, for so reason, they had all learned martial arts.
The two groups clashed as if it were natural.
Of course, at first, the group of beggars who had learned martial arts was a little more dominant.
But although they had learned martial arts, by the standards of the Central Plains, they were at best third-rate. Only those who had shown so promise had risen to the second-rate.
The group of beggars who had learned martial arts was pushed back by the violence of numbers, and in the subsequent duel of the leaders, Hong Yungae had overwhelmingly pressed down the leader of the group of beggars who had learned martial arts.
The leader of the group of beggars who knew martial arts, who had been overwhelmingly pressed down, imdiately knelt down to Hong Yungae.
-Leader!
He suddenly shouted 'leader'.
Naturally, Hong Yungae was just bewildered.
-What? What do you an, leader?
-I heard that soday, the heavens will send down a leader to lead the proper Beggar's Sect.
This was the cause of the trouble, the last words that Zhuge a certain soone, who had sent the group that knew martial arts to Mount Song, had said.
-You want to lead the Beggar's Sect temporarily?
-That's right.
-Although I have learned more than the other beggars... no, the mbers of the Beggar's Sect, I will be lacking...
-It's okay.
This was also as Zhuge a certain soone had expected.
Since he had prepared so words to smooth things over, he said to the beggar without a mont's hesitation.
-Soday, the heavens will send down a leader to embrace all the mbers of the Beggar's Sect in the Central Plains, so you just have to wait until then.
Zhuge a certain soone, who had said this, did not know of Hong Yungae's existence.
-I will try to solve this problem separately later, so for now, just appease them appropriately.
-I understand, Uncle Hyun.
Zhuge Hyun, who was behind him, also did not know.
And so, Hong Yungae's ddling and Zhuge a certain soone's smoothing-over words, and other coincidences overlapped.
The peak of the beggars, which had now surpassed the hundreds and was looking at the thousands, was born.
The reviews of the party who had seen this from the side were varied.
Zhuge Hwaryeong.
-Senior brother's bluff is the best in the Central Plains and the best of all ti. Sigh.
She just sighed.
-Brother Hong! As expected, you're the best! It's fun!
Zhuge Uhyeon was just enjoying it.
And Zhang Sanfeng.
-Junior Hong seems to have the look of a hero. That's why so many people are drawn to him.
He had said that he had the look of a hero.
No one would know if it was the truth.
And now, Hong Yungae, who had unintentionally co to stand in such a position, was looking at the man in front of him.
A man who was emitting an unusual aura and glaring, who was a little too old to be called middle-aged and whose atmosphere was strange to be called young.
Naturally, if it were the usual Hong Yungae, he would have run away as soon as he saw him.
"Wooo! It seems the leader is going to have a go with that boss over there!"
"The one and only peak of the Beggar's Sect! The king of beggars!"
"Ahem! Not a king, but a leader!"
"Get lost! You alliance bastards! Now is the era of the beggars, no, the mbers of the Beggar's Sect!!"
The gazes of nearly a thousand beggars were directed at him.
Conscious of those gazes, Hong Yungae's shoulders gradually straightened, and his back began to stand tall.
Since Hong Yungae's height was taller than Namgung Jehyun's, it beca a look of looking down.
Maintaining a solemn expression, Hong Yungae politely perford a fist-and-palm salute and lowered his voice.
"Greetings. I am called Hong Yungae, the leader who leads the hundred thousand mbers of the Beggar's Sect."
By Hong Yungae's mouth, the number of beggars, which had been close to a thousand, was inflated to a hundred thousand.
"A hundred thousand?"
At the words 'a hundred thousand', Namgung Jehyun's eyes twitched minutely.
Of course, Namgung Jehyun also thought it was a bluff.
"Wooo! Kill the alliance bastards!"
"Surround them! Ten of you stick to one and beat them up!!"
No matter how one looked at it, the number of beggars flocking was unusual.
At this rate, it seed the wide grounds of Shaolin would be completely filled with just beggars.
At the unexpected situation, Namgung Jehyun's composure was almost broken.
Who would have predicted that beggars would intervene in a fight like this as a group?
Namgung Jehyun, who had been spacing out for a very short ti, ca to his senses.
'No matter how many beggars there are, if I cut down their focal point, it will be resolved.'
Namgung Jehyun's sword was aid at Hong Yungae.
Although his martial arts were high-level, it was about the sa level as his own son who had left ho a long ti ago.
Namgung Jehyun's sword fell towards Hong Yungae.
It was the sword of a king that had cut down Shinseung before.
Seeing that sword, Hong Yungae was crushed by the overwhelming, unspoken pressure.
'I-I can't win this even if I die!!'
Hong Yungae's pupils shook like crazy.
Although he desperately looked for a way out, Namgung Jehyun's sword showed no opening at all.
Hong Yungae struggled to lift the Dog Beating Jade Staff, and a beat later, Namgung Jehyun's sword pressed down on the Dog Beating Jade Staff.
"Keuk!"
Hong Yungae knelt down.
But for so reason, Namgung Jehyun's sword, which should have cut through the Dog Beating Jade Staff and passed, was blocked.
At the completely unexpected situation, Namgung Jehyun frowned.
Then he imdiately realized the cause.
"That staff. It wasn't just a staff made of ordinary jade."
Hong Yungae, who had not noticed why it had beco like this, imdiately grasped the situation at Namgung Jehyun's words.
'The Dog Beating Jade Staff blocked it!'
Hong Yungae's gaze changed.
His voice also beca a low, dignified voice.
"...It is called the Dog Beating Jade Staff, the divine object of the Beggar's Sect."
Of course, since he had never decided so, it was just nonsense.
"Although I may be pushed back in martial arts, can you handle the power of a divine object?"
All of this was just Hong Yungae's random talk.
"Hah, a divine object."
But from Namgung Jehyun's point of view, since there was no way to determine if it was a lie, he had no choice but to believe the opponent's words while doubting them.
"Good. Then try to block my blow again with that great divine object."
But just because he believed it didn't an he couldn't attack.
Once again, Namgung Jehyun's sword ca down on Hong Yungae.
The sa sword path as before.
But at that blow, which had no opening, Hong Yungae had a premonition.
'This is really death!!'
In a situation where he might or might not live even if he ran away right now, Hong Yungae quickly scanned his surroundings.
Even though they were all in the middle of a battle, the gazes of the beggars were continuously glancing at Hong Yungae and mouthing words of encouragent.
'If I run away now...'
After this, he would never receive such gazes of respect.
Having had that premonition, Hong Yungae gave up the thought of retreating.
'Dog Beating Jade Staff! I'm counting on you!'
And so, at that desperate mont.
Kaang!
A sword intervened between Hong Yungae and Namgung Jehyun.
That sword was different from Namgung Jehyun's hegemonic sword.
It moved softly and flowingly, twisting the king's sword path into the empty air.
Kwagwagwang!!
The missed sword shattered an innocent wall.
Hong Yungae stared blankly at the back that had saved his life.
The owner of the intervening sword smiled leisurely and looked back at Hong Yungae.
"Junior Hong. I'm sorry, but can I take over this match?"
"Senior Zhang!!"
Hong Yungae's face brightened as he welcod him.
Although he did not show it, he felt as if he had t the Buddha at the entrance of hell.
"Of course, you should yield! Please take it!"
"Thank you."
Zhang Sanfeng gave Hong Yungae a light nod and then slowly turned his head.
At the end of his gaze, although he was younger than the appearance in his mory, his much colder and more heartless father... Namgung Jehyun was standing.
(End of Chapter)
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