Swaaaaah!
Thin, thin flying needles, imbued with clear internal qi, filled the sky as they flew in. Baek Cheon's pupils trembled involuntarily.
"D-Defend!"
The disciples of Mount Hua were startled and quickly drew their swords.
"Hiyah!"
They emitted sword qi, creating an impenetrable defensive barrier.
Kagagakang!
Soon, with the sound of metal clashing against metal, the flying needles that struck the swords were deflected in all directions.
The sword qi was so flawless it could block even falling rain, but the needles shot by the Tang family were far sharper and fiercer than ordinary needles.
"Ugh!"
"Ah, that hurts!"
Screams echoed here and there.
If they had prepared earlier, they could have formed a denser sword barrier. But since the sword qi was hastily deployed, tiny gaps existed, and the Tang family's needles mercilessly pierced those gaps.
The fortunate thing was that the needles lost power trying to penetrate the sword qi, so they only scratched the skin without piercing deeply.
"These bastards are cowardly ambushing us?"
Sparks flew from Jo Gul's eyes.
Thinking about yesterday, it was shameless nonsense that shouldn't be spoken, but naturally, Jo Gul didn't consider that fact.
"Kill them!"
"Cut them down!"
The strength of bandits is sometimes judged by how large and high a mountain they occupy. The bandits of Mount Hua, one of the Five Great Mountains of the Central Plains, with their eyes wide open, charged fiercely at the Tang family.
No, they tried to charge.
"Smash them all… grr, grumble…"
"Ugh!"
"Guh!"
"W-What?"
Hearing screams from behind, Baek Cheon violently turned around. His disciples were foaming at the mouth and falling backward rapidly.
Seeing their faces turning pitch black, Baek Cheon's eyes widened in shock.
"P-Poison?!"
No, what is this? Crazy, they're using poison in martial arts training?
Baek Cheon, momentarily unable to comprehend the situation, shouted urgently.
"Raise your internal qi to resist the poison! Those bastards are using poison!"
After shouting, Baek Cheon turned sharply to look at the Tang family. His eyes bloodshot, he raised his voice to protest. No, he tried to protest.
But before him, someone else was cursing loudly.
"Using poison in martial arts, you cowardly bastards! What a filthy poison attack, poison attack! You dirty and despicable bastards!"
Huh… hehe…
Ah, right. That's true. Yeah, that's what I wanted to say.
But you know… don't you think it's a bit strange that you're the one saying that, Soso?
I'm infinitely happy that you've become a full-fledged disciple of Mount Hua now. But… I think your brother is over there too… isn't your sense of belonging a bit too much?
"Exactly! Using poison in martial arts training!"
"Cowardly!"
"Since when did the Tang family become such a dishonorable place!"
Hearing the pouring "praise," the Tang family naturally responded with all their might.
"Get downnnnn!"
Startled, the Mount Hua disciples flattened themselves on the ground as shurikens imbued with internal qi whizzed overhead. They looked slick and polished, clearly coated meticulously with poison.
"Hyung, where is that noise coming from?"
"Sounds like dogs barking."
Hearing that voice, the Mount Hua disciples' eyes reddened with fury.
"But those bastards?"
As they flared up, the Tang family members chuckled.
"Oh dear, you're really angry."
"Those who kept saying martial arts should be like real combat are foaming at the mouth just because we used a bit of poison."
"Fine, let's be cowards then."
"Since we're being cowards, let's be properly cowardly. Throw it on them!"
As the Tang family people flicked their sleeves, a thick, acrid grayish-white smoke billowed out. The smoke quickly rode the wind and engulfed the Mount Hua sect.
"What is this?"
"I-It's Qi Dissipating Poison!"
"Don't breathe! Internal qi will scatter!"
Even a little inhalation disrupts internal qi control; the Qi Dissipating Poison rose like clouds and covered Mount Hua disciples.
Words like "dirty" and "despicable" rose in the throat, but now was not the time to say such things.
Swaeaeaeaeak!
Piercing through the thick poisonous smoke, flying daggers swarmed densely. The Mount Hua disciples rolled on the ground to dodge the maddening combined attack, their eyes wide open.
"Argh! You bastards!"
"Kill them!"
Screaming, the Five Swords leapt forward, shaking his sword. The Plum Blossom Sword qi they deployed swiftly struck down the flying daggers.
Of course, the poison the Tang family used now was not lethal.
Moreover, Mount Hua disciples generally have high internal qi and, thanks to their constitution changed by the Heavenly Vitality Pill, have high resistance to poison, so if they had been prepared, getting hit by one or two needles wouldn't have caused such fuss.
Those who fell were the ones who couldn't even think about the poison and raised their internal qi all at once.
But that's that!
"These bastards fight dirty in martial arts training!"
"You wanna try it once?"
"Those rotten poison-using bastards, I never liked how they looked down on people claiming to be prestigious! Those country bumpkins from Sichuan!"
Hearing that, the Tang family also widened their eyes.
"But those bastards have loose lips?"
"Asking a sect that uses poison to fight without poison is dirty! How is that different from playing chess without the chariot and elephant?"
"Then you shouldn't use swords! How dare you talk about cowardice!"
"Since when were you a prestigious sect!"
The hostility was fully confirmed. The accumulated grudges were fully confirmed.
Then only one thing remains.
"Beat them to death!"
"Kill them!"
With poison in their eyes, Mount Hua madly charged at the Tang family. Seeing this, the Tang family scattered their hidden weapons like rain while spewing acrid poisonous smoke in all directions.
"Wild boar bastards are coming!"
"Trample them all!"
"Aaaaaah!"
Endless shouts, mournful screams, and the clashing of weapons began to swirl in the misty battlefield.
"Dieee!"
Jo Gul's sword struck the side of a Tang family warrior retreating backward.
Crack!
Of course, he struck with the flat of the blade, not the edge, but once internal qi is applied, even a thin sword becomes harder than an iron club.
The one hit directly on the side was flung away without even screaming.
"They can't do anything when engaged!"
Having cleanly dealt with one, Jo Gul quickly searched for the next target.
"Hiyah!"
As he charged recklessly at the opponent in his sight, the targeted Tang family member immediately leapt backward, scattering flying daggers.
"It's useless, man!"
Jo Gul's sword moved swiftly like a venomous snake, deflecting the flying daggers. No matter how agile the Tang family's daggers were, compared to Chung Myung's wildly swinging sword, this was nothing.
Swaeaeaeak!
But at that moment, poison-coated shurikens covered Jo Gul's entire body.
"I told you it's useless!"
Behind them were hair-thin cow-hair needles.
"Useless…"
After blocking those, poisonous sand and poison powder followed.
"U-Useless…"
After barely dodging those, poisonous irritants were scattered on the ground, and black metal balls rained down like rain.
"Aaaah! You bastard!"
Jo Gul's eyes rolled back.
These bastards really fight dirty. I didn't know when they were allies, but now as enemies, there's no one dirtier.
Those who were revered as masters of poison and hidden weapons, cold-blooded like venomous snakes and grim reapers, once the fight started, just ran backward throwing spit and scattering poison!
"Fight me properly! Properly!"
As he shouted desperately, a Tang Coin Mace (Dang Gunak's coin-shaped hidden weapon) flew straight into his wide-open mouth.
Startled, Jo Gul rolled his body to avoid the coin. After rolling once on the ground, he looked up, searching for the chuckling sound.
A Tang family warrior was smirking. With a sneer that rapidly raised Jo Gul's blood pressure, he said:
"You're like a wild boar that's been slapped first."
"Tang Zhan!"
Jo Gul gritted his teeth and gripped his sword tightly.
"You bastard… I never liked you from the start."
"Haha, if someone heard that, they'd think I liked you. You'd have been crawling under me if you were in Sichuan."
"Oh, right. Of course you would have."
"Huh?"
Jo Gul smirked.
"So it's really fortunate you left Sichuan. I can beat you up properly now. I wonder how the proud Tang family's young master would feel rolling on the ground crying with his head smashed by my sword?"
"But, this bastard!"
"What! What am I to do if you glare at me, you bastard!"
Jo Gul raised his sword and charged at Tang Zhan. At that moment, dozens of hidden weapons poured out from Tang Zhan's fluttering sleeves.
Kagagagakang!
Jo Gul deflected the flying hidden weapons and relentlessly pursued the retreating Tang Zhan. But Tang Zhan calmly stepped back, only scattering his hidden weapons.
Seeing Tang Zhan almost caught but never caught, Jo Gul shouted in frustration.
"Aaaah! You fight dirty in martial arts! Fight properly, you cowardly bastard!"
"Thanks for the compliment!"
"You, I will definitely kill you!"
Jo Gul, eyes rolled back, completely lost his reason and charged at Tang Zhan.
Others were the same. Swearing and shouting echoed everywhere. With so much hostility, both groups lost reason and rampaged as if mortal enemies.
Chung Myung, watching the chaotic carnage from a distance that could no longer be called martial arts or sparring, smiled contentedly.
'It's a total mess.'
He saw Baek Cheon rampaging and Tang Soso grabbing someone's collar with wild eyes, twisting their jaw.
Guys… of course, uh… I do want you to fight hard… but honestly…
'I didn't expect it to go this far.'
No matter what, there's a limit, you bastards…
I thought you'd keep some face and show some mercy. Did I ever think you'd fight like those slapped Evil Sect bastards, cursing nonstop? Huh? Guys?
"Well…"
Chung Myung glanced sideways at Tang Gunak.
"Is this… okay?"
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"It seems a bit overheated…"
Tang Gunak heard that and smiled gently.
"I don't think it's something to worry about. Kids usually grow up by fighting, don't they?"
"…"
Excuse me? They're not growing by fighting, they're dying by fighting.
"If they get hurt like that…"
"So what do you want to do?"
"We should stop them a bit…"
"Huh?"
At that moment, poison filled Tang Gunak's eyes.
"Ah, so you want to win and then run away?"
"…"
"That might be the rule in Shaanxi, but not in Sichuan. Understand? If you win and run away, be prepared to have a dagger plunged into your neck while sleeping."
Chung Myung was speechless and thought.
'This guy isn't normal either.'
Chung Myung often said that no martial artist who reached the pinnacle was normal. But the problem was he thought Tang Gunak was among the better ones. This man was ultimately a descendant of that crazy bastard's blood.
"Uh…"
Unintentionally turning his head, Chung Myung saw Yu Yiseol kicking Dang Pae's face with his foot. Chung Myung couldn't help but smile brightly.
'I don't know anymore.'
Yeah. Kids grow up by fighting, after all.
Hehe. Hehehehe. Hehehehehe!