Book 2: Chapter 421
“I have to go.”
Sama Ryeong looked up at the sky.
When a being becomes affiliated with a certain territory, a thin thread is formed between that being and the territory. Because of this, even if they didn’t know their location, it was still possible for them to return to their territory.
Sama Ryeong could see the ‘thread’ stretching out of her body and realised that their current location wasn’t very far from Flower Mountain.
If she hurried, she would be able to return before the sky changed colour three times.
“Aren’t you going to stop her?”
Lukas fell silent for a moment at Pale’s words. Amid his throbbing headache, he speculated about a few possibilities.
First was the possibility that Sama Ryeong was lying. She could be pretending that there was a crisis in order to return to Flower Mountain… Of course, the odds of this were low. As far as Lukas could tell, Sama Ryeong was not that cunning. He couldn’t be certain, but this woman had a similar scent to his old friend. In a sense, she was very inflexible.
Second was the possibility that the danger signal that Sama Ryeong had received was a trick. Through some means, they realised that Sama Ryeong and Lukas were together, and they’d set a trap to lure him to their den…
“…”
No. Even for Lukas, the odds of that being the case were low. In the first place, he hadn’t had a proper encounter with the members of Flower Mountain in this life. He’d rescued Lesha, but they hadn’t left any traces, so there was no reason for them to be hostile towards him. Instead, the possibility that they didn’t even know he existed was much higher.
“Stop.”
Lukas tried to stop Sama Ryeong, but she kept moving without stopping. As her body warmed up, she gradually gained momentum.
He’d brought her here, so he wouldn’t let her leave like this.
Lukas restrained her body.
Clang, unable to walk forward any further, Sama Ryeong collapsed.
“What… kuk.”
Sama Ryeong struggled to move her body, but she remained motionless as if her entire body had been paralysed.
“Amazing…”
Jacob let out a murmur of admiration, but he didn’t fully understand Lukas’ power.
“Undo this, right now.”
Sama Ryeong’s low voice was mixed with killing intent. She glared at Lukas with tearful eyes.
“Stop doing useless things. I don’t care that your territory is currently in danger. In fact, it is a rare opportunity for me.”
“…I heard that you plan to kill Yang In-hyun.”
She’d overheard their conversation. Had she been awake since then?
Lukas had this thought, but his expression didn’t change as if he was wearing a mask. Sama Ryeong stared at his face for a while but eventually, she let out a resigned sigh.
“…I do too.”
“What?”
“I also desire to kill Yang In-hyun.”
This was an unexpected development.
Lukas looked back at Jacob but he slowly shook his head as if to say ‘I never heard about that’.
“I have been sharpening my blade with hate ever since that b.a.s.t.a.r.d killed the Sect Leader and took his place.”
“…”
“I know it must be hard to believe. But you need to believe me.”
Pale spoke with a smirk.
“There is a sense of desperation in her voice. If this is an act, doesn’t that make her an amazing liar?”
Lukas looked down at Sama Ryeong and said.
“Have you ever fought Yang In-hyun?”
Sama Ryeong couldn’t understand why he suddenly asked her that question, but she decided to answer first.
“No.”
“Then do you know about his swordsmanship?”
“…I know.”
“I’m not talking about the Plum Blossom Sword Technique. I’m talking about Yang In-hyun’s lethal sword technique.”
Nevertheless, when he didn’t receive an answer, Lukas brought it up first.
The name of the sword technique.
“Everlasting Plum Sword, First Move, Martial Annihilation.”
Sama Ryeong’s eyes were filled with hesitation.
She looked as though she was contemplating whether to confess or not. However, the look in her eyes soon changed as if she thought she had no choice.
“…I’m not very clear on the details either. I’ve never experienced it personally. I’ve only heard about it from the previous Sect Leader. The Everlasting Plum Sword consists of a total of four forms, and with each successive form, the power is doubled.”
“…”
That meant the second form was twice as strong as the first, and the third was twice as strong as the second.
His head throbbed.
Lukas had died to the first form, Martial Destruction. He couldn’t even fight back. This made it hard for him to accept that the first form was the weakest. Of course, Lukas’ strength had grown incomparably since then, but Yang In-hyun had been hiding three other forms.
Lukas’ gaze turned to Sama Ryeong again.
“If you want to kill Yang In-hyun, why do you want to go to Flower Mountain?”
“…”
“The level 7 warning, if what you said was true, means Flower Mountain was partially destroyed and Yang In-hyun was at least in critical condition. Isn’t that a good thing for you?”
“All I want is Yang In-hyun’s death. I don’t want the other disciples of Flower Mountain to get hurt.”
“…”
Apparently, the relationship between Sama Ryeong, Yang In-hyun, and Flower Mountain was a bit complicated. Of course, Lukas had no intention of delving deeper into it.
Shuk, he withdrew his hand and released the restraint. Realising this, Sama Ryeong got up from the ground. She might have thought she was hiding it, but the others could still feel her glower at Lukas.
“Impudent girl…”
Jacob displayed his displeasure before Lukas even had the chance to, but Lukas raised his hand and stopped him. For him, the situation where this man was getting upset when he was insulted was unpleasant enough.
“Let’s head to Flower Mountain first. That way we can find out what’s going on.”
“…I think that’s a good idea.”
Jacob agreed and Sama Ryeong nodded as well.
It was at this time that Pale raised her hand.
“Before that! Why has no one said the thing that should be said right now?”
“…the thing that should be said?”
Pale tilted her head to the side with an innocent expression.
“Who was it that made a mess of Flower Mountain and drove Yang In-hyun to a critical condition?”
* * *
When they entered Flower Mountain, the territory was filled with a pungent smell of burning.
The turquoise landscape that he’d seen in the past was nowhere in sight.
Fwoosh…
Flames soared in every direction, and ashes, which used to be trees, floated in the sky.
“It’s like a forest fire.”
It was on a very large scale. Jacob added, casually patting soot off of his robe.
Crunch.
On the other hand, Sama Ryeong gritted her teeth. There was a sharp glint in her eyes.
Srng.
She drew her sword and swung it furiously. The wave of wind from her slash swept through the area like a storm, extinguishing the raging flames in an instant.
“…this level of flame could easily be handled by a few senior disciples.”
Sama Ryeong muttered in a low voice.
“That must mean they don’t have enough time for that…. Hmm. Wait a minute.”
Jacob narrowed his eyes.
“Someone is coming this way. Three people.”
Tch, he clicked his tongue. The goal of putting out the fire was good, but the sword wind that Sama Ryeong had created had been too noticeable. If there were enemies currently invading Flower Mountain, it would have naturally drawn their attention.
It was only then that Sama Ryeong realised her mistake and made a slightly apologetic expression.
“I acted rashly. My apologies.”
“Is that supposed to be an apology?”
Jacob made a sarcastic remark, but Sama Ryeong didn’t respond. The presences of those approaching were familiar.
Taht!
Three human figures landed from the sky with gentle movements. They were all men dressed in black, white and green robes respectively. They all had swords at their waists and exuded auras that could not be easily ignored.
Lukas could tell at a glance that these three were stronger than the Flower Mountain elders he’d encountered before.
In addition, they all had slightly similar auras to Sama Ryeong.
“Martial Brother Chun.”
The young man in black at the front took a step forward.
“Long time no see, Martial Sister.”
“You returned too.”
“I just happened to be not so far away.”
Jacob, who was beside Lukas, got closer to him and whispered.
“They seem to be members of the Seven Flowers like Sama Ryeong.”
Jacob’s guess was correct.
Standing in front of them was the Third Sword Cheon Jong-woo, the Fifth Sword Man Seol-gun, and the Sixth Sword Jo Sang-ak.
The Seven Swords was the most elite group in Flower Mountain, and it was a rare occasion for most of them to gather in the same place.
“Do you have an understanding of the situation?”
“No. We just arrived. Fifth and Sixth joined me along the way.”
“Martial Sister, long time no see.”
“I hope you’ve been well.”
Man Seol-gun and Jo Sang-ak respectfully greeted her.
A soft smile also spread across her cold face.
She was lucky. All of these people were members of the Seven Flowers who disliked Yang In-hyun. In other words, it meant they were strong allies for Sama Ryeong.
“…by the way, who are those behind you?”
Cheon Jong-woo, the young man in black, looked at the people behind her with flickering eyes. It was easy to tell that they were outsiders from their appearance and auras.
“Lower those eyes. Before I pull them out.”
The atmosphere cooled as Jacob sneered derisively.
Cheon Jong-woo didn’t draw his sword right away, but there was a glimmer of killing intent in his eyes.
“What a vulgar way of talking. I wonder if you have the skills to back that up.”
“Hoh. Would you like to test it? What will you do?”
The atmosphere between them became harsh.
This useless dispute was not something that Lukas wanted. Pressing down on his temples out of habit, he said.
“Jacob.”
“Yes.”
“Martial Brother Cheon.”
“I’m sorry.”
Jacob bowed his head politely. At the same time, Sama Ryeong played the same role on the other side.
Then, Sama Ryeong sighed and said.
“These are… reinforcements I called.”
“Reinforcements… do you mean?”
“Right. They can be trusted… for now.”
Sama Ryeong added a useless phrase at the end, but Lukas didn’t mind it. This level of boundary, this level of distance, was right.
“…I’ll believe it since it’s Martial Sister.”
“Thanks.”
“Shall we make our way to the main mountain? There don’t seem to be any enemies around.”
“Right.”
Cheon Jong-woo turned and led the way up the mountain, followed by the rest.
“Let’s hear what’s going on from Sixth first.”
“Martial Brother Jo?”
The young man in the green robe smiled and spoke.
“I came a bit before, so I was able to take a look around.”
“What was the situation on the main mountain when you came?”
“I didn’t feel any presences. There weren’t any disciples guarding the mountain or carrying out reconnaissance.”
Jo Sang-ak, the young man in the green robe, continued with a smile.
“That means there are two possibilities. One is that they can’t afford to, the other is that they’re all dead already.”
“…”
If it was the latter then the situation would be much worse than they expected.
This is because the disciples patrolling or carrying out reconnaissance never deviated from their a.s.signed positions or missions unless it was a fatal situation.
At that time, Man Seol-gu, the young man in white, spoke.
“Not so long ago, the Sect Leader went outside and came back injured.”
His voice was as cold as ice. It didn’t seem like he was in a bad mood, instead, it felt like that was his normal voice.
Man Seol-gu was probably the strangest out of the Seven Flowers that wandered around the world. He usually liked visiting other regions to train, but he returned to Flower Mountain the most frequently. Of course, he usually didn’t stay for very long and left quickly, but the frequency was incomparable to the other disciples.
During one of the times when Sama Ryeong had returned, Man Seol-gu had left and returned at least a dozen times.
“His left arm was covered in blood.”
“He was injured? The Sect Leader?”
Sama Ryeong couldn’t help but question it. Despite her hatred for Yang In-hyun, she acknowledged his strength. No, it would be more accurate to say she was keenly aware of it.
In all honesty, even if all the forces in Flower Mountain came together to fight Yang In-hyun, it was questionable whether they would even be able to inflict significant damage to his body.
“Yes. When I asked him the cause of his injury, he said it was a wound from [The Exile].”
“…the exile?”
“One of the Twelve Void Lords.”
Jacob interrupted their conversation.
“Are you talking about the Void Lord [The One who was Exiled from the Universe]?”
He tilted his head to the side.
“Doesn’t he only wander in the Eastern Region? As far as I know, he hasn’t left there for decades.”
“I don’t know the exact details. However, the Sect Leader said his wounds were made by his [Occult Hand] and that it couldn’t be healed by ordinary means.”
“…that means [The Exile] is the most likely culprit for why Flower Mountain became like this.”
It was certainly possible for one of the Twelve Void Lords to make Flower Mountain look like this on their own.
Sama Ryeong grit her teeth. She didn’t know the details, but in the end, this disaster was caused by Yang In-hyun. Flower Mountain wouldn’t have been like this if he hadn’t gotten into a needless conflict with the exile.
“-we’re here.”
Cheon Jong-woo stopped and looked up at the sky. Everyone looked at Flower Mountain, which seemed to have a strange atmosphere.
Except for one.
“…”
Only Lukas was looking somewhere else.