Chapter 249
“What a fool!”
Mak Jong-gi, leader of the Blood Lotus Sect, who had been watching Jin So-eun’s fight from halfway up the mountain, suddenly shouted in rage.
He couldn’t believe it—Gok Mu-ssang, one of the top three warriors of the Third Division, was being defeated by such a young girl.
How could this be possible?
The very warriors he had trained as deadly weapons of the Blood Lotus Sect were being killed by a child like her. Was she some kind of master at the level of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Sages? Impossible.
Mak Jong-gi shouted aloud, unable to contain his disbelief.
“That can’t be true!”
Of course, it was undeniable that Jin So-eun possessed remarkable skill for her age. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to withstand the full assault of the Blood Lotus assassins for so long.
But that was just it—she was impressive for her age, nothing more. There was no overwhelming aura like that of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Sages emanating from her.
Yet the outcome was undeniable, and Mak Jong-gi simply couldn’t accept it.
He continued to vent his fury.
“And what about the First and Third Divisions? What have they been doing while the Second Division was being torn apart like this? Why aren’t they doing anything?!”
At that moment, a voice answered from behind him.
“She’s already dead.”
Mak Jong-gi nearly jumped out of his skin.
He had never heard that voice before, not from the place where his men had been hiding just moments ago.
“!”
With a snap, he lunged forward and turned around.
There, standing behind him with arms crossed and a smile on his face, was a young man dressed in white.
Seeing his face, Mak Jong-gi gasped in shock.
“You… you?!”
He couldn’t believe his eyes.
It was In Parang—Seon Woo-jin himself.
But that made no sense.
How on earth had he come here?
As if reading his thoughts, Seon Woo-jin spoke calmly.
“The old man who uses poison told me. That you were here.”
“What?!”
If the old man who uses poison referred to the Third Division’s Nu San-tu, then it was unthinkable that he would reveal his location.
Even if tortured, as one of the top three of the Third Division, he wouldn’t betray his own.
“That’s a lie! Don’t be ridiculous!”
Mak Jong-gi shouted desperately, standing at the edge of the cliff.
But deep inside, suspicion gnawed at him.
‘If he didn’t say anything, how else could that guy have found me? Could it be… he really betrayed us?’
If that were true, it was a grave matter.
Not only had the Blood Lotus Sect’s strongest warriors been killed, but one had defected to the enemy.
Still, Mak Jong-gi decided to put that thought aside for now.
‘More pressing is that I can’t sense any of my men nearby. That must mean they were all killed while I was focused on the Second Division’s fight.’
That was astonishing.
No matter how focused he had been on the battle, the fact that such a skilled assassin had approached this close and wiped out his men without him noticing was staggering.
Mak Jong-gi’s conclusion was clear.
‘He must have been killing my men while remaining hidden. If that’s true, his stealth technique is truly at the Blood Lotus’s highest level!’
Sighing inwardly, Mak Jong-gi glanced at the cliff just behind his feet.
One more step back, and he would fall into the dizzying abyss below.
But he wasn’t afraid.
In fact, that was exactly what he wanted.
Though the cliff was high, it was better than fighting this opponent here.
Besides, some of his men were lying in ambush down there.
Having made up his mind, Mak Jong-gi spat out bitterly toward Seon Woo-jin.
“Don’t think the Blood Lotus Sect’s strength is only this much.”
Without waiting for a reply, he leapt off the cliff.
Whoosh!
Using his Thousand-Pound Weight technique to increase his body’s mass, Mak Jong-gi accelerated rapidly downward.
Still, he remained alert, focusing on the cliff above.
He expected Seon Woo-jin to follow or attack from above.
But looking up, Seon Woo-jin did not descend.
He simply stood there, arms crossed, watching him fall.
He seemed to mutter something but took no action.
‘Is he underestimating me?’
It was strange for someone like him to be careless.
But if that was the case, Mak Jong-gi couldn’t be more grateful.
Before he knew it, the ground below rushed up to meet him.
Quickly, Mak Jong-gi lightened his body with the Spirit-Refining Technique and twisted midair to slow his fall.
His body, now much lighter, was caught by air resistance and decelerated sharply, allowing him to land safely on the ground.
Thud!
The technique he displayed was impressive.
Still, the cliff was so high that the impact was significant.
He bent his knees and tried to roll forward to absorb the shock.
But he couldn’t.
Someone was standing right where he landed.
“Ugh!”
Mak Jong-gi grimaced in pain.
Unable to perform a proper fall technique, the impact shot through his legs and back.
The pain twisted through his body.
But he had no time to dwell on it.
Surrounding him were five sword-wielding figures, all seemingly expert swordsmen.
Around them lay numerous bodies—his own men, assassins of the Blood Lotus Sect, all dead.
Mak Jong-gi quickly scanned the area.
He didn’t know who these people were, but since they had killed his men, they were certainly enemies.
“Who are you?!”
He shouted at them, not expecting an answer but hoping to distract them and create an opening.
But the five remained indifferent, expressionless, simply pointing their swords at him.
‘Wrong move.’
Mak Jong-gi realized words wouldn’t shake them.
He would have to break through by force.
Glancing up, he saw Seon Woo-jin still watching from the cliff, arms crossed.
His heart raced.
He couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
He had to escape before Seon Woo-jin came down.
‘I’ll have to break through. Luckily, these look like peak-level fighters at best. Even five of them…’
Without hesitation, Mak Jong-gi scattered his hidden weapons in all directions.
Whirrr!
Then he charged toward the woman among the five.
He planned to break through as quickly as possible where she stood, as she seemed the weakest.
His transparent glass sword, a poison weapon unique to the Blood Lotus Sect leader, aimed straight at the woman—Yun-yeong, the Six-Combination Swordmaster.
Ssshhh!
Yun-yeong stepped back lightly.
Instead of standing her ground, she chose to retreat.
Mak Jong-gi inwardly cheered.
‘Good! If she steps back, I don’t have to keep attacking. I can slip through that gap.’
But at that moment, as Yun-yeong moved back, two other swords stabbed in from either side.
Like interlocking gears, their coordinated attack was seamless.
“!”
Seon Woo-jin watched from above, arms crossed, as Mak Jong-gi moved.
Muk-rang spoke beside him.
Seon Woo-jin smiled in agreement.
‘Indeed. But now, they’re no longer the world’s finest—they’re the world’s finest no more.’
Mak Jong-gi was undoubtedly a supreme warrior.
But perhaps because he was an assassin, he lacked the close-combat prowess of other top-tier masters.
There was no way he could withstand the combined Six-Combination Sword technique with his skills alone.
Thud!
From below the cliff, the sight of Mak Jong-gi’s back pierced by two swords was visible.
The fight was over in an instant.
Then, Seon Woo-jin saw his head cleanly severed by Yun-yeong’s blade.
He looked up and gazed toward Jin So-eun’s battle in the distance.
The difference from the day before was staggering.
Jin So-eun was now slaughtering the Blood Lotus assassins with ease.
The assassins almost looked pitiful.
Seon Woo-jin turned to Muk-rang.
“Jin So-eun’s growth is truly remarkable. Perhaps this time, the next world’s greatest warrior will emerge from the Jin family.”
Muk-rang smiled and replied.
Seon Woo-jin gave a wry smile.
“Whether I can inherit it is not yet decided. And… there are still many mountains to climb.”
He cast his gaze far away.
Beyond the forest, the blue horizon was faintly visible.
That was Shantou, Guangdong Province—the easternmost port of Guangdong, bordering Fujian Province.
Fujian was home to Daenamdo, the stronghold of the Southern Sea Sword Sect.
So, to reach Daenamdo, taking a ship from there was the fastest route.
And naturally, everyone watching Seon Woo-jin’s path knew this.
Including Haenam Sword Sect’s Jin Tae-do and the Hyungsan faction.
Seon Woo-jin muttered softly.
“Haenam Sword Sect’s Jin Tae-do. I will finally meet him.”
The revenge drama for In Parang was now rushing toward its climax.
About an hour earlier.
Before he could even react, Nusan-tu, the third elder of the Blood Brotherhood’s elite trio, was captured and blood-sealed by Sun Woo-jin. Dragged off to a remote location, he was subjected to interrogation.
Without any preamble, Sun Woo-jin unleashed the tenth level of the Bone-Crushing Muscle Technique on him.
A searing agony tore through Nusan-tu’s entire body, as if every bone and muscle was being shredded apart.
“Ughhh!”
His whole body trembled uncontrollably under the unbearable pain.
Then, suddenly, Sun Woo-jin spoke.
“You must be among the Blood Brotherhood’s strongest fighters. If you’re here, does that mean the Blood Brotherhood’s leader is nearby as well?”
Despite the torment, Nusan-tu sneered. The idea that such a crude form of torture could extract any information was laughable. How little did this assassin think of him—the feared Blood Brotherhood’s own third elder—to resort to such a pathetic tactic?
What was more, the man had even forgotten to release the blood seal that would allow him to speak. Clearly, he was a novice who had never truly interrogated anyone before.
But just as Nusan-tu was thinking this, Sun Woo-jin suddenly nodded as if he’d figured something out.
“Hmm, I thought so. Then where is he now?”
Nusan-tu, his mind clouded by pain, was dumbfounded. He hadn’t said a word—how could Sun Woo-jin possibly know anything?
Yet the interrogator pressed on without hesitation, scanning the surrounding terrain.
“He must be somewhere with a clear view of this area… maybe up on that mountain?”
Sun Woo-jin pointed to a peak opposite the one where the Blood Brotherhood’s leader was believed to be.
Nusan-tu gave no response—no confirmation, no denial, nothing.
Then Sun Woo-jin continued, his tone almost casual.
“Hmm, so not there? How about there? No? Then maybe there?”
Nusan-tu began to wonder if the man had lost his mind.
But then, Sun Woo-jin said, “Then it must be here. Ah, so it is.”
He pointed directly at the mountain where the Blood Brotherhood’s leader was known to reside.
Even through the agony, Nusan-tu was shocked.
And Sun Woo-jin’s questions kept coming.
“Where on that mountain? The summit? No? Midway up? Oh, midway. Is it near that cave I see over there?”
Watching Sun Woo-jin smile faintly as if satisfied with the answers, Nusan-tu suddenly realized something.
‘This bastard… is he reading my mind?’
More precisely, Sun Woo-jin was gauging Nusan-tu’s reactions to his questions, confirming whether his guesses were right or wrong. But to Nusan-tu, it felt like mind-reading.
By the time he understood, it was already too late.
The Bone-Crushing Muscle Technique left no room for deep thought.
‘I shouldn’t have let any thoughts slip in response to his questions…!’
Just as Nusan-tu was thinking this, Sun Woo-jin mercilessly pressed down on the blood seal.
In that instant, the third elder of the Blood Brotherhood’s strongest trio, Nusan-tu, met a tragic and meaningless end.