Episode 176
Spending sweet moments with Dang Ye-eun, Sun Woo-jin experienced something entirely new—time seemed to fly by.
As they kissed, he suddenly glanced up to check the sun’s position—and was shocked.
“Has it really been this long already?!”
He was not just surprised; he was utterly dumbfounded.
He’d often felt time slow down when using the Moonlight Sword Dance or when Muk-rang appeared, but never had he experienced time speeding up like this.
He simply couldn’t believe this sweet time had to end so soon.
Sun Woo-jin felt like he never wanted to move from this spot, much like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a freezing winter day.
But he wasn’t someone who confused duty with pleasure. He knew exactly what he had to do.
Forcing his lips apart, he spoke to Dang Ye-eun.
“Ye-eun, I think I have to go now.”
“Ah…”
Her eyes filled with regret as she looked at him.
But she was a warrior on the front lines, too.
And a wise woman who understood that holding a loved one close wasn’t always what was best for them.
Dang Ye-eun forced a smile and nodded.
“Yes, you should. Please be careful.”
Just as she was about to let him go, she suddenly remembered what had been on her mind earlier.
Wasn’t the reason she couldn’t leave before because there was something she needed to discuss about the expedition?
She hurriedly stopped Sun Woo-jin.
“Jin, wait! There’s something I need to tell you. There are people who came with me from the Dang clan. If it’s them…”
Sun Woo-jin’s eyes lit up as he listened, intrigued.
One of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World—the White Crane Elder Sword, Yang Moon-heon. If such a formidable master could accompany them, nothing more could be asked for.
So the two of them quickly went to find Yang Moon-heon.
After explaining the situation, they asked him to join them.
But Yang Moon-heon’s response was less than enthusiastic.
With a sigh and a look of regret, he said, “Ah, I don’t think I’m the right person for this mission. I’m sorry.”
Sun Woo-jin and Dang Ye-eun were taken aback.
They hadn’t expected such a blunt refusal from someone as renowned as the White Crane Elder Sword.
But it wasn’t that he didn’t want to go.
Hong Hae-ah, Jung Chil, standing beside Yang Moon-heon, chuckled lightly and interrupted.
“Ha ha ha! I told you to practice the new techniques more often! You never listened, and now look at you. That gentleman is hopeless when it comes to the new methods, ha ha ha!”
Then, Je-un swordsman Byeok Ri-jung cleared his throat and said, “It’s not that he’s lazy, but his personality is just too laid-back, hmm, hmm.”
“Ah…”
Dang Ye-eun suddenly recalled her slow-moving, easygoing grandfather and understood perfectly.
Feeling a bit apologetic, Sun Woo-jin and Dang Ye-eun quickly said, “No, Elder Yang, it’s fine. We can manage without you. Sorry for troubling you.”
“Yes, Grandfather. We’d be grateful if you came, but there’s no need to feel bad if you can’t.”
At that moment, Yang Moon-heon smiled faintly and looked at Hong Hae-ah.
“I can’t go, but now that I think about it, there is someone perfectly suited for this mission—a supreme warrior skilled in the new techniques and stealth. Isn’t that right, grandson?”
All eyes turned to Hong Hae-ah.
He looked momentarily flustered but scoffed.
“Huh? Grandson? Me? Oh, right, I’m the grandson. Ha! Forget it! Why would I go play with kids down there? It’s a hassle! My little sister’s going, and I’ll just stick right by her side!”
He turned his head sharply and took a swig from his gourd, clearly showing he had no intention of going.
Yang Moon-heon tried to persuade him gently.
“Come now, this grandfather is telling you to go.”
But Hong Hae-ah was stubborn.
“No! Even if it were great-grandfather telling me, I wouldn’t go! And you only call me grandson when it suits you, always nagging me otherwise!”
“Ah, well…”
Just then, Sun Woo-jin, observing Hong Hae-ah’s behavior closely, sent a private message to Dang Ye-eun.
Dang Ye-eun glanced at Sun Woo-jin, then smiled softly and began to coax Hong Hae-ah in a sweet, teasing voice.
“Oh, big brother. If a master like you came along, I’d feel so much better. Are you really that reluctant?”
Her playful charm was powerful.
Hong Hae-ah, who’d never been on the receiving end of a woman’s coquettishness, found it hard to resist.
He swallowed hard, visibly shaken.
“R-Really? You’d feel better if I went?”
Just then, Sun Woo-jin frowned slightly.
“There’s no need for that. If Elder Yang doesn’t come, I doubt it would help much. Besides, he’s too old to keep up with us.”
His words dismissed Hong Hae-ah as unnecessary, which only stoked the younger man’s pride.
He exploded in anger.
“What did you say?! You dare say you don’t need the help of Elder Jung Chil?!”
Sun Woo-jin chuckled.
“Sorry. I just meant it would be hard for you to keep up at your age. You shouldn’t overexert yourself.”
Even saying that while giving Hong Hae-ah a sly once-over was enough to rile him up.
His pride finally snapped.
He roared like a wildcat.
“You insolent brat!”
At once, his spiritual energy shot out like a beam.
Bang!
In an instant, his energy manifested right before Sun Woo-jin.
His hand shot out like lightning, aiming to grab Sun Woo-jin’s ear.
He was about to teach this insolent kid a lesson.
“How dare you…?!”
But to his surprise, Sun Woo-jin’s spiritual energy slipped through his grasp like air.
Swish!
Sun Woo-jin had already moved two steps to the side, grinning as if to say, “Is that all you’ve got?”
That only fueled Hong Hae-ah’s fury.
“Oh? So you do have some skill! Fine! I’ll show you there’s a sky above the sky today, you brat!”
Whoosh!
Hong Hae-ah’s energy surged again like lightning, charging at Sun Woo-jin.
But once more, Sun Woo-jin’s energy was too elusive to catch, slipping away like a breeze.
Soon, Hong Hae-ah forgot why this fight had even started and threw himself into the chase with all his might.
“Got you! Huh?! You little—Eh?! Argh?!”
Their spiritual energies became twin gusts of wind playing a game of tag.
Hong Hae-ah’s attacks grew more violent.
“Haah!”
Crash!
“You brat!”
Smash!
Hong Hae-ah was a master famed for his new techniques, palm strikes, and stealth arts.
As he unleashed his palm strike toward Sun Woo-jin, the trees and ground where Sun Woo-jin had just been were utterly devastated.
Boom! Boom! Crash!
Dang Ye-eun watched with worried eyes, clasping her hands tightly as she looked at Sun Woo-jin.
Je-un swordsman Byeok Ri-jung frowned and asked Yang Moon-heon, “Should we just let that wild one be? He might seriously hurt the boy.”
Yang Moon-heon shook his head slowly.
“No. That boy doesn’t seem to be giving his all yet. Besides… I want to see just how far he can go.”
Byeok Ri-jung looked at Sun Woo-jin in astonishment.
He had always thought Dang Ye-eun was the best among the twenty-somethings, but what Sun Woo-jin was showing now was even more impressive.
And that wasn’t even his full strength—just the mastery of the new techniques.
Then, as Sun Woo-jin danced just out of reach using the Heavenly Wind New Technique and Explosive Step, Hong Hae-ah finally lost it and fired a stealth attack.
“You brat!”
Whoosh!
A lightning-fast hidden strike pierced Sun Woo-jin’s spiritual energy.
Dang Ye-eun gasped, covering her mouth in shock.
“Ah!”
But Sun Woo-jin wasn’t hit.
Only his afterimage was pierced; his true form lightly dispersed, letting the attack pass by as if it were a sheet of paper.
Swish!
To Sun Woo-jin, who had already experienced the secret techniques of Am Hyeol-hyang—the world’s deadliest assassin—Jung Chil’s secret technique was neither threatening nor particularly fast.
After dodging Jung Chil’s attack, Sun Woo-jin slipped behind a tree, as if trying to avoid further strikes.
Scoffing, Jung Chil flew at the tree trunk like lightning and struck it.
“Where do you think you’re hiding?”
KRAAASH!
CRACK!
The thick tree trunk split weakly and began to topple.
But there was no one behind it.
Confused at the sudden disappearance of the figure he was sure had been there, Jung Chil frantically scanned the surroundings.
“Huh? What the—where did he go?”
Sun Woo-jin had clearly been behind the tree, but now he was nowhere to be seen.
He must have vanished into stealth.
A savage grin spread across Jung Chil’s face as he muttered, “So now you’re going to hide from this old master? Hmph! I’ll teach you what true stealth really means…!”
Just then.
Something suddenly lunged at Jung Chil from behind as he looked around.
SWOOSH!
But Jung Chil was an absolute master.
Sensing the movement instantly, he whipped his head around and shouted,
“Found you!”
Yet what met his eyes wasn’t Sun Woo-jin, but an enormous violet phoenix.
SCREEEEECH!
“What the—?!”
Sun Woo-jin had unleashed the Phoenix Manifestation technique.
Startled, Jung Chil leapt aside to avoid the attack.
“Eek!”
But in that moment, Jung Chil finally caught sight of Sun Woo-jin’s sword poised just behind the phoenix.
Sun Woo-jin, as if fused with his blade, thrust it forward like a ray of light.
The One-Second Sword Technique.
One moment, four strikes.
SWISH!
The speed was so incredible that even Jung Chil, a supreme master, struggled to keep up.
Now truly shocked, Jung Chil let out a scream.
“You—!”
In the next instant, their forms brushed past each other.
SWOOSH!
Moments later, both landed safely on the ground, as if nothing had happened.
But their expressions couldn’t have been more different.
Sun Woo-jin was grinning broadly, while Jung Chil’s face was flushed red with frustration.
That was because Sun Woo-jin had deliberately not struck him, simply passing by.
Humiliated at having been spared by a junior, Jung Chil shouted angrily,
“You arrogant brat! I cut you some slack because you’re a friend of my sister’s, but fine! Now I’ll show you the true power of this old master!”
The supreme master, Hong Hae-ah Jung Chil, was now determined to reveal his full strength.
But at that moment, Yang Moon-heon, the White Crane Elder Sword, who had been watching the two with a gentle smile, casually drew his sword and pointed its tip at Jung Chil.
The sudden chill that radiated forced Jung Chil to step back hastily.
“!”
CRACK!
Turning quickly, Jung Chil realized the source of the eerie feeling was Yang Moon-heon and shouted,
“What are you doing?! You scared me!”
Yang Moon-heon smiled warmly and said,
“Isn’t that enough? The boy has proven he’s no weakling, and you’ve shown you can keep up with him.”
But Jung Chil scowled even more and shouted,
“What do you mean ‘enough’?! I haven’t even shown my true power yet! I have to show him who I really am…!”
Just then, Yang Moon-heon interrupted and asked Sun Woo-jin,
“Child, you’ve learned the Moonlit Sword Dance like Ye-eun, haven’t you?”
Sun Woo-jin bowed respectfully and replied,
“Yes, sir.”
Yang Moon-heon nodded approvingly and turned back to Jung Chil.
“I see.”
Jung Chil was left speechless, unable to argue.
Dang Ye-eun was currently teaching the One-Sun, Two-Moon form of the Moonlit Sword Dance to her foster father, Yang Moon-heon.
Jung Chil knew well how skilled one could become using that technique.
He now realized that just as he hadn’t given his all, the young man hadn’t either.
Then, Sun Woo-jin suddenly bowed politely toward Jung Chil and said,
“Senior, you are truly an incredible master. I never imagined you would be so skilled in this new technique as well. I apologize for my ignorance and any disrespect I may have shown. Please forgive me.”
His apology was so sincere and humble that, despite thinking Sun Woo-jin was no pushover, Jung Chil’s mood softened.
Clearing his throat, he replied,
“Hmph, hmph. Well, that’s understandable. It’s good you realize it now.”
Sun Woo-jin then earnestly continued,
“Would you consider helping us rescue our comrades from the Blood Sect’s villains? Having a master like you on our side would be a tremendous help.”
At that moment, Dang Ye-eun didn’t miss the opportunity and added with pleading eyes,
“Yes, big brother. They’re my acquaintances too. Please, I beg you.”
Faced with their combined appeal, Jung Chil finally relented.
Clearing his throat again, he said,
“Hmph, hmph. Well, if my sister says so… then, very well. Let’s see what we can do.”
And so, the supreme master Hong Hae-ah Jung Chil officially joined the Blood Sect expedition team.