Chapter 192: The Altar of Flames (2)

(TLN: We got DMCA nuked So all korean novels will be removed this week If you want to get updated on What might happen join the discord or Kofi If you can )

As dawn deepened, the group that had been meditating stood up.

Everyone had pushed their stamina and internal energy to the limit in preparation for the upcoming battle.

As they checked their weapons one by one, Cho Un-hwi was the first to rise.

“I’ll go ahead.”

“Good luck.”

“Don’t worry.”

With the air of someone going for a stroll in front of their house, Cho Un-hwi disappeared.

Soon after, Wang Woo also moved with the Azure Sky Hundred Sword Squad.

“May you all stay safe.”

After they left, Namgung Il-jun climbed the rocky mountain with Baek Ri Seon-ho and Mo Yong-ju.

They crouched down and peered at the enemy camp shrouded in darkness.

[Do you see anything?]

Mo Yong-ju, who was asked the question, pointed with his eyes.

Looking down at the camp, a faint silhouette was moving stealthily.

It moved quietly, then suddenly leaped explosively, scaling the cliff.

The way it climbed the nearly vertical cliff was so ghostly and agile that it didn’t seem human.

[Incredible. He climbs better than a monkey.]

[It’s hard to imagine how much he needs to surprise people to be satisfied.]

In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he moved straight towards the cliff, then slithered into a cave at the back of the encampment.

Amazingly, his acrobatic movements went unnoticed by the many enemies.

*Whistle!*

His agile figure disappeared into the cave.

*Boom!*

Soon, a signal flare shot up from the dawn twilight.

*Bang! Boom!*

With the bright explosions of the signal flares, the enemy camp, which had been sleeping, erupted with a fierce killing intent.

***

Seeing the signal flare, the enemies inside the cave muttered.

“…A signal flare? It seems there are still some playing hide and seek.”

“It seems the Apostle is favored by the heavens.”

“This is a good chance to make up for the lacking sacrifices.”

As the outside became noisy, a group of enemies, exuding killing intent, rushed out.

Sticking to the cave ceiling, Cho Un-hwi expanded his senses and counted the dispersing presences.

‘It worked. More than half of them left.’

The Heavenly Destruction Society’s obsession with sacrifices hadn’t changed from the past.

‘Pure young souls trained in martial arts. They couldn’t resist something so tempting.’

Knowing their intentions, it was a delightful situation.

However, not everything was going smoothly.

There were still considerable masters guarding the inside.

But with no need to worry about being watched, it wasn’t a big problem.

“Now I can move more freely.”

The position of a lowly instructor was too cumbersome.

*Swish! Thud!*

Quickly descending from the ceiling, Cho Un-hwi drew his sword.

*Swish.*

As he moved forward, the enemies who noticed him were startled.

“Your senses are quite good to detect my presence.”

*Slash!*

But that was all. With a swift slash, the enemy spewed blood and collapsed.

“E-enemy….”

*Slash! Slash!*

In quick succession, Cho Un-hwi cut down the Red Flame Squad members and looked back at the path he had taken.

He had only walked twenty steps, but eight bodies lay with their heads in pools of hot blood.

“Is that all?”

Cracking his neck, Cho Un-hwi tapped his sword sheath and continued inward.

***

*Thud!*

Piercing the heart with a single thrust from behind, he twisted the blade and pushed it up, feeling the bones crack through the blade.

*Thud.*

Catching the falling body, Mo Yong-ju glanced around.

The instructors, with tense expressions, were dealing with the enemies one by one.

“We’ve almost cleared the perimeter.”

“Now the real battle begins.”

Just as they were about to feel relieved.

Trying to climb the watchtower and deal with the enemy, So yang moved clumsily and got counterattacked.

*Boom!*

“Ugh!”

‘That fool.’

Namgung Il-jun, startled, kicked off the watchtower pillar and stabbed the enemy, but the commotion had already started.

*Ding ding ding ding!*

“Enemies!”

The alarm bells echoed in the night, and the enemies around the altar shouted in confusion.

“Damn it, just when things were going well.”

“We can only hope Instructor Cho succeeds in time.”

As the angry footsteps echoed, the instructors hiding drew their swords.

***

*Thud! Thud!*

Emerging from the shadows, he thrust his hand forward, piercing the enemy’s chest like tofu.

*Thud. Thud.*

Seeing the expanding pool of blood, Cho Un-hwi paused.

“It’s getting noisy.”

He could feel the clash of internal energies creating shocks through his senses.

“Just let them suffer a bit.”

Smirking, Cho Un-hwi flicked his sword towards the darkness.

*Swish.*

The Red Flame Squad member, who had been preparing an ambush, was split from head to groin by a bloodline.

“Oops.”

Dodging the splattering blood with a light step, he moved forward with no one else daring to confront him.

Thanks to that, he reached the massive iron gate at the cave entrance in less than half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

It seemed to be a natural cave modified, with iron bars embedded in the rough rock, leading into a dark hollow.

Examining the iron gate, he noticed the unusually black iron bars.

“Is this ten-thousand-year cold iron? They must have a lot of money.”

Ten-thousand-year cold iron.

A rare metal found in the deep sea of the North Sea, worth dozens of times more than gold of the same weight and extremely difficult to obtain.

Using ten-thousand-year cold iron to make an iron gate showed how much the Heavenly Destruction Society valued their sacrifices.

“Wasteful spending.”

*Crack.*

Grabbing the iron bars with his bare hands and twisting, he quickly made a space large enough for a person to enter.

*Thud thud.*

Squeezing through, he saw thirty-five men and women sprawled inside.

“Here you are.”

Flipping over the unconscious Namgung Yong-ho with his foot, he checked the other disciples.

“They’re all unfamiliar faces.”

The unfamiliar faces were probably the disciples under Senior Instructor Eo Jeong-geun.

“Seeing them here, my guess was right.”

Recognizing a few familiar instructors, he quickly tapped their acupoints.

*Tap. Tap tap tap!*

In an instant, he tapped seventy-five acupoints, making Instructor Ja-gyeom twitch his shoulders.

‘They’ll wake up soon.’

As he methodically tapped the acupoints, he noticed a familiar face leaning against the wall.

‘Why is she here….’

Seeing the red butterfly ornament in her hair, he approached quietly.

Suddenly, the girl opened her eyes and flipped in the air, crossing her hands like lightning.

*Swish!*

The sharp sound of a hidden weapon whistled through the air, but he already knew she was awake.

*Swish.*

Lightly stepping aside, he moved behind her and blew hot air on her neck.

“Eek!”

What an amusing voice.

The girl, who sounded like a startled sparrow, blinked her teary eyes.

“Tang Ae-hui.”

“Cho Un-hwi… Instructor?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

*Plop.*

As her legs gave out, he helped her up and grabbed her wrist.

“…You’re from the Tang Clan Your resistance to poison is impressive.”

“…It’s shameful for a Tang Clan member to be poisoned.”

“It seems they treated you specially.”

Unlike the others, Tang Ae-hui’s body was filled with a much stronger poison.

“…It’s a poison I don’t recognize. It’s hard to detoxify…”

“This will get better with some acupuncture.”

Holding her pulse, he infused his internal energy, making Tang Ae-hui open her mouth slightly and blink her large eyes.

“There. You should feel much better now.”

“…How did you do that?”

“Hehe. Don’t try to uncover the secrets of a lowly instructor like me.”

You need at least one secret weapon to make a living.

“…A secret weapon?”

“Now that you’re awake, help me out.”

There are too many unconscious people here.

‘Honestly, I could wake them up myself.’

But there’s no need to draw unnecessary attention by doing it all.

“Got it.”

“Glad you understand quickly.”

“But this iron gate…”

Pretending to be unconscious, she had tried to break the iron gate, which was now bent like a licorice stick, and couldn’t hide her surprise.

“Oops.”

Too careless.

‘I can’t kill the witness.’

As he pondered, he gently placed his finger on her lips.

“…Our little secret. Got it?”

I don’t want to draw attention and complicate my life.

Fortunately, Tang Ae-hui, though blushing, didn’t refuse his small request.

“…Yes.”

‘This life’s Tang Ae-hui is quite agreeable.’

It’s a relief I don’t have to kill her.

(TLN: Aight boys you read it your selves all we have to do is bend a ten-thousand-year cold iron and well get unlimited rizz)

***

*Boom!*

Deflecting the incoming fire pillar, Mo Yong-ju unleashed his jade-colored sword energy.

*Swish!*

The fan-shaped sword energy sliced through the flames and cut the enemy in half.

*Slash!*

Continuing his swift movements, he charged at the enemy but soon coughed up blood.

*Sizzle!*

“Ugh!”

Just deflecting the Solar Yang Palm made his beloved sword’s blade turn red-hot.

Not only that, but the heat traveled up the blade, making the hilt feel like holding a burning poker.

‘This isn’t easy.’

As expected, the enemy was even more troublesome.

“Father!”

Rushing in with Jang Cheol-sim, Mo Yong Seon-ya unleashed a flurry of sword strikes at the enemy.

*Clang! Clang clang clang!*

As the sword clashed with the flames, her hair singed, but she managed to kill the enemy after a thirty-move struggle.

However, not everyone was doing so well.

“Senior Instructor! We’re at our limit!”

The first to waver were the young instructors.

Though they fought well initially, their internal energy was depleting with the prolonged battle.

“We’re outnumbered! We can’t hold on much longer!”

Even the veteran masters of the Inspection Department were running out of energy.

Sweating profusely, they managed to hold on thanks to Baek Ri Seon-ho.

“How dare you challenge us!”

Unleashing his White Dragon Sword Technique, Baek Ri Seon-ho cut down two or three enemies at a time.

“Indeed, it’s the White Dragon Sword Technique.”

“No, it’s thanks to the White Crane Sword Technique.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s no time to explain. We’re getting overwhelmed.”

Though he cut down many enemies, Baek Ri Seon-ho found himself retreating as more enemies remained unscathed.

*Boom!*

Namgung Il-jun, with a pale face, shouted after cutting down another enemy.

“I’m at my limit too.”

As an elder of the Ten Great Clans, even he, at the transcendent realm, was struggling.

The Solar Yang Palm, with its overwhelming numbers, drained his stamina and disrupted his internal energy.

As the exhausted fighters began to retreat.

“Your courage is commendable, but your recklessness is excessive.”

A man in a blood-red robe appeared among the enemies.

“Ugh!”

“Gah!”

Just his presence weighed heavily on their shoulders, making Yeo Mae-hong and Instructor Jo Hyeon, with weaker internal energy, stagger.

“For interfering with the great work, even eating you alive wouldn’t be enough.”

But my generous master has given you a choice.

“Offer your lives and blood to the altar.”

That is your only path to redemption.

“I will make you the cornerstone of the new heavens!”

*Swish!*

As he raised his hand to deliver the death sentence.

“To hell with your new heavens.”

*Slash! Slash!*

Before his hand could fall, blood spurted from countless wounds in the rear of the encirclement.

“!”

The man in the blood-red robe, the Red Flame Squad leader, turned in shock.

“Become a sacrifice for my performance review!”

*Slash!*

Amidst the spreading blood, thirty instructors and disciples began cutting through the rear of the Red Flame Squad.

“We did it!”

With a face on the verge of tears, Jang Cheol-sim declared.

“Everyone, hold on!”

Are you going to show disgrace in front of the disciples?

“Absolutely not.”

The exhausted instructors and veteran masters gripped their swords and stood up again.