Episode 114
Bun Sa-cheong, the elder swordsman of the Thousand Meetings Sect, was a master who had surpassed the seventy-year barrier of internal energy cultivation—a top-tier expert and the third-ranking figure in the sect’s outer faction.
When he heard the commotion and stepped outside, what caught his eyes was the sight of Maeng Woong, the sect’s grandmaster, collapsing like a lifeless puppet.
“W-what is this?!”
Though utterly shocked, Bun Sa-cheong reacted swiftly.
He immediately ordered the bodyguards who had followed him.
“Send the Maeng Guard and the Maeng Wolf Guard out at once! Immediately! And inform the sect leader of this incident right away!”
Drawing his sword, he advanced toward the two men and women before him.
Around them, countless outer faction warriors drew their blades, ready to defend, but with the Maeng Woong Sect’s two pillars already toppled, their help seemed unlikely to turn the tide.
Bun Sa-cheong shouted fiercely, “Who are you to cause such chaos within the Thousand Meetings Sect?!”
The two pale figures, wrapped in swirling red and blue auras, stared back at him expressionlessly.
The man in blue spoke first, his voice sharp and hard to place in age.
“We are the Azure-Scarlet Twin Swords! Where is Mak Woo-jeon, the greatest villain of the Four Provinces?!”
Bun Sa-cheong’s face twisted in anger.
“How dare you blaspheme against our sect leader?! Calling him the greatest villain of the Four Provinces?!”
At that, the two burst into eerie laughter.
“Ki ha ha ha ha ha!”
“Oh ho ho ho ho ho!”
Their strange, unsettling laughter echoed, shaking the spirits of the surrounding warriors, who groaned and staggered under its weight.
Even Bun Sa-cheong frowned deeply, unable to bear it.
When the man in blue ceased laughing, he said to Bun Sa-cheong, “You know well why he is called the greatest villain of the Four Provinces, don’t you?”
Bun Sa-cheong’s expression hardened instantly.
“Nonsense! What are you waiting for?! Attack them at once!”
His warriors charged at the two.
Bun Sa-cheong readied his sword, looking for an opening to strike.
“Haaah!”
“Die!”
“Ughh!”
Blades surged from all directions.
In response, the two clasped hands and began spinning like a taiji symbol.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
“Gah!”
“Ugh!”
“Arrgh!”
Their spinning formed a dragon-fist whirlwind, repelling every attack.
The red and blue taiji-shaped vortex grew faster and faster.
Watching this, Bun Sa-cheong’s face grew grave.
He had been waiting for a chance to strike, but in this state, no opening would appear.
“You fiends!”
Unable to stand by any longer, Bun Sa-cheong lunged forward, sword raised.
“Hyaaah!”
His blade shimmered brilliantly, splitting into several curved strikes—each a sinuous, snake-like stroke that had earned him the nickname “Swordsman of the Thousand Meetings.”
But then, the two who had seemed to spin endlessly suddenly changed tactics.
The woman in red threw the man in blue forward like a projectile.
Whoosh!
The man drew his sword in a flash and thrust a single strike.
It was a reckless attack, ignoring defense, almost a suicidal move.
Bun Sa-cheong flinched and switched to defense, caught off guard by such recklessness.
“What the—?!”
But as he swung to parry, he realized his sword had sliced through empty air.
He shouted in shock, “Phantom blade?!”
The seemingly suicidal strike was a feint.
At that moment, the woman in red, having swapped places with the man, launched a sudden attack.
Three sharp sword energies shot out—a lightning-fast surprise strike.
“Ugh!”
Bun Sa-cheong slammed his foot into the ground with all his might.
Caught completely off rhythm, he planned to retreat.
But as he stepped back, the woman in red hurled the man forward again with fierce force, like throwing a hidden weapon.
Crash!
Bun Sa-cheong’s back slammed into the pavilion wall behind him.
He couldn’t retreat any further.
“What?!”
Pale-faced, Bun Sa-cheong saw the sword-wielding man flying toward him like a thrown dart.
With no way to dodge, he gritted his teeth and focused on the man’s blade.
Knowing the enemy used phantom blades, he had to carefully block every attack.
But strangely, the man didn’t swing his sword.
He just flew straight at him.
As the man refrained from striking, Bun Sa-cheong’s eyes widened in confusion.
“What the—?!”
The next moment, the man in blue rammed his body into Bun Sa-cheong.
Boom!
“Gahhh!”
Like a frog crushed by a stone, Bun Sa-cheong’s body caved in, crashing through the pavilion wall and disappearing inside.
The wall was shattered, as if hit by a cannonball.
Moments later, the entire side of the pavilion collapsed, pillars and all.
Crash!
By then, the man in blue had already returned to the woman in red’s side, speaking calmly as if nothing had happened.
Despite two people laying waste to the Thousand Meetings Sect, their pale faces showed no change.
The warriors nearby now looked at them with fear, unable to attack.
At that moment, the woman in red—Dang Yeo-eun, wearing a mask—sent a private message to the man in blue, Sun Woo-jin.
When they decided to storm the Thousand Meetings Sect head-on, Sun Woo-jin insisted on restraint, avoiding murder since they couldn’t identify who was involved.
That’s why they mostly fought with unarmed techniques rather than drawing swords.
But this time, the elder they faced was utterly destroyed—far beyond death.
Dang Yeo-eun was asking why.
Sun Woo-jin replied in kind.
That one didn’t seem innocent. When others heard Mak Woo-jeon called a villain, they reacted with disbelief, but he flinched and tried desperately to silence them.
Ah, I see.
Dang Yeo-eun admired Sun Woo-jin’s insight once again.
She had thought the constant talk of Mak Woo-jeon as the greatest villain was just an act to seem strange, but there was real meaning behind it.
The more she observed him, the more impressive he seemed.
Sun Woo-jin asked Dang Yeo-eun.
Her bright voice came back.
Hearing her excited tone, Sun Woo-jin smiled wryly.
For someone who had always held herself back, this felt like an exhilarating adventure.
In contrast, Sun Woo-jin, despite his stoic, eccentric facade, remained tense inside.
Maintaining their boundaries was crucial—staying safe, keeping their identities secret.
He hadn’t been in the mood to enjoy himself, but hearing Dang Yeo-eun’s joy warmed him.
Bringing happiness to someone who had lived trapped inside a wounded child was deeply rewarding.
Also, using the Yin-Yang Harmonization Technique with her felt strange.
He had read about this technique in the Sun Woo family’s martial records and thought it would be fun to try with someone someday.
“More precisely, I hoped to use it again with So-jeo.”
But now, having to let go of Na Seo-yu, he was unexpectedly wielding it with Dang Yeo-eun.
Life was truly unpredictable.
At that moment, Sun Woo-jin spotted new figures approaching ahead.
About a hundred warriors, divided into two groups, all wearing matching uniforms—likely two military units.
Clearing his throat, Sun Woo-jin prepared to alter his voice again.
This voice modulation technique was a trick he had recently acquired from the Hao Sect.
“I no longer wish to deal with petty nuisances! Where is Mak Woo-jeon, the greatest villain of the Four Provinces?!”
His sharp voice echoed.
The leaders of the two military units shouted back in anger.
“What nonsense is this?! Why call our sect leader the greatest villain?!”
Carefully gauging whether their reaction was confusion or fury, Sun Woo-jin sent a private message to Dang Yeo-eun.
They both burst into laughter simultaneously.
“Ki ha ha ha ha ha!”
“Oh ho ho ho ho ho!”
Their chilling laughter resonated, filling the space.
Those with weak internal energy covered their ears and staggered.
Before storming the Thousand Meetings Sect, the technique they had practiced most with Dang Yeo-eun, alongside the Yin-Yang Harmonization Technique, was this eerie laughter.
The “Resonance Chamber” was a technique that amplified power through harmonizing sound waves. When perfectly in sync, the more people who used it together, the greater its destructive force became.
This was one of the martial arts skills Sun Woo-jin had memorized from the Sun Woo family’s secret techniques.
After breaking the enemy’s morale with his laughter, Sun Woo-jin spoke again in a sharp, clear voice.
“Pitiful fools! You’re so blind you can’t even recognize the greatest villain in all of Sacheon right before your eyes! There’s no use for incompetents like you! Hurry and bring Mak Woo-jun!”
At his command, the leaders of the two martial forces ground their teeth and shouted.
“Shut up, Maengsa Corps! Attack those intruders!”
“Maengrang Corps! Charge!”
As soon as the orders rang out, over a hundred warriors charged toward the two men, overwhelming like waves crashing against a sandcastle.
But they weren’t charging at a sandcastle.
Only the fierce, swirling red and blue dragon fist winds awaited them.
Kwah! Kwah! Kwah!
“Arrgh!”
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
The warriors who had charged were flung back faster than they had come.
Nearby pavilions caught in the dragon fist winds crumbled once again.
And then, at last, he appeared.
Mak Woo-jun—the head of the Suseon Assembly, the strongest warrior in southern Sacheon, standing at the pinnacle of martial prowess.
“Th-this can’t be.”
Mak Woo-jun looked around the battlefield with a grim expression.
Warriors groaning and lying scattered everywhere.
Pavilions shattered as if hit by cannon fire.
Seeing the devastation, Mak Woo-jun chastised his past self for even considering stepping in.
No matter how sudden the ambush, he never imagined two men could wreak such havoc.
Rage surged to his head, and he lunged at them without hesitation.
“You bastards!”
Shuaaaak!
Mak Woo-jun’s sword blazed with a brilliant green light as he slashed through the dragon fist winds that had been repelling the warriors.
His strike carried such overwhelming force it seemed to split the very space itself.
Pwah!
As his blade cut through the air, the dragon fist winds actually parted.
The combined assault of the two monsters who had shredded countless warriors was shattered in a single stroke by Mak Woo-jun.
The surrounding warriors watching erupted in cheers.
“Wooooah!”
“As expected of the Assembly Head!”
“The Skyward Swordsman! The strongest in southern Sacheon!”
But despite displaying such overwhelming skill, Mak Woo-jun’s face was far from bright.
The two figures who had been split apart were already regrouping just a few steps ahead of him.
They hadn’t been separated by his sword, but by Sun Woo-jin’s foresight in anticipating his arrival.
Sun Woo-jin’s clear voice rang out.
“So, you’ve finally shown yourself, the greatest villain of Sacheon—Mak Woo-jun!”
Mak Woo-jun flinched and shouted back.
“Greatest villain? You’re the intruder—what nonsense is this?!”
As he yelled in anger, Sun Woo-jin smiled coldly, the grin visible even through his mask.
“You sacrificed so many lives for your selfish desires, yet you deny being the greatest villain of Sacheon? Truly shameless.”
Mak Woo-jun’s face hardened noticeably for a moment.
But it was fleeting.
Gritting his teeth, he charged at them again, shouting as if to end this quickly.
“Nonsense!”
His attack was even more ferocious than before, a desperate all-out assault.
His martial prowess rivaled that of Hwayoungbin of the Fire God Sword or Seolpung, a truly formidable force.
Yet Sun Woo-jin remained unfazed.
As if expecting the charge, he simply threw something to the ground ahead of Mak Woo-jun.
Boom!
The object exploded on impact.
Black smoke billowed out like thick clouds, spreading in all directions.
Startled, Mak Woo-jun held his breath and retreated hastily.
He feared it might be a poison gas bomb.
But contrary to his fears, it was only a smoke bomb.
When the smoke cleared, all Mak Woo-jun saw was the empty space where the two monsters had vanished without a trace.
Unable to contain his boiling rage, Mak Woo-jun roared.
“You bastards!”
Humiliated by being toyed with without even a chance to strike back, and haunted by the cryptic words of the man in blue, Mak Woo-jun refused to let them go.
“Pursue them immediately! Use any means necessary to capture those fiends! Do not let them escape!”
Fueled by his furious energy, the warriors of the Suseon Assembly quickly formed a pursuit squad to follow the monsters.
But the trail of the two had completely vanished in the nearby forest.
And as dusk deepened into night, continuing the chase became impossible.
It was as if they were being mocked until the very end.