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Chapter 286

Clang!

The sound of metal reverberated all around, but the roars of battle cries overshadowed even that noise.

“Do you still think you deserve to be called the epitome of justice?!”

“Why do you torment the innocent people?!”

The members of the Martial Alliance blamed Shaolin and Wudang, their eyes blazing as they wielded their weapons.

However, Shaolin and Wudang were not simply on the receiving end.

“You are being deceived!!”

“The ones who slaughtered the innocent people in Woe-hyeon were Wi Ji-hak’s subordinates!!”

They tried to persuade the misled alliance members, not only with words but also by taking action.

The foremost line of defense against the alliance members’ charges was mainly composed of Wudang swordsmen. They voluntarily formed groups and deployed one of Wudang’s unique formations, the Seven Star Formation. By utilizing the power of the formation, where seven move as one, the Wudang swordsmen easily deflected the reckless attacks of the alliance members.

And whenever one of the alliance members lost their balance due to a Wudang swordsman’s sword…

“Urgh.”

Without fail, Shaolin monks lurking behind seized the opportunity to subdue them. They employed various Shaolin techniques, such as Tanji-gong and Baekbo-shingwon, sending energy to strike their acupoints. Naturally, aiming to subdue rather than kill, they struck the minor acupoints instead of the lethal ones.

This was possible because Shaolin and Wudang’s average skill levels were higher than those of the Martial Alliance members. However…

Slash.

“Guh…”

The battle was not going entirely smoothly. Despite the lower average skill level, there were still masters within the Martial Alliance. Furthermore, with the addition of experts from Shinchun, as Jegal Muhwan feared, it wasn’t easy to subdue the opponents without harming them.

While the Shaolin and Wudang martial artists struggled to subdue the Martial Alliance members without killing them, the leader Wi Ji-hak appeared on the battlefield.

“Hyaah!”

With a battle cry, he leaped into the air using qinggong and began striking alternately with both hands. The barrage of his fist energy, flying towards the Shaolin and Wudang martial artists, looked like a meteor shower, befitting his martial name. ℟âΝöBÊš

Just before his barrage struck the Shaolin and Wudang disciples…

Boom!

Mu-jin, who had rushed to the battlefield, narrowly blocked the barrage with the Golden Turtle Technique.

“How about you match yourself with me, leader?”

“Haha, I’ve matched with you too often; it’s getting tiresome.”

“If you find my face tiresome, why not leave this world? You’ll have to face me as long as you live.”

As if to prove his words, Mu-jin charged at Wi Ji-hak the moment he finished speaking.

And so the chase began. Wi Ji-hak continued to launch his Falling Star Fist at Mu-jin, but Mu-jin persistently chased him, utilizing the Golden Turtle Technique and the Fast Ascent Step.

Boom!

Watching his fist energy burst against Mu-jin’s golden aura, Wi Ji-hak clicked his tongue lightly.

‘What a leech.’

He had no intention of wasting his energy on Mu-jin here. His goal was to sacrifice the foolish Martial Alliance members to inflict damage on Shaolin and Wudang, depleting their strength to remove obstacles for Shinchun’s grand plan in the future.

Originally, his plan was to expand his authority using conflicts with the demonic sects and then swallow the entire righteous sect. However, Shaolin and its allied forces disrupted his plan. Thus, he shifted to leading the righteous sects to self-destruction through internal conflicts.

The ultimate goal of Shinchun was to conquer the imperial family after neutralizing the righteous sects and using the demonic sects’ power. To achieve this, Wi Ji-hak attacked Shaolin and Wudang martial artists while being chased by Mu-jin.

“Ugh.”

One of Wudang’s second disciples, who had been deflecting the alliance members’ attacks, failed to counter Wi Ji-hak’s fist energy. When he lost his stance, the alliance members continued their attack on him.

But the leader wasn’t free to attack the Shaolin and Wudang disciples at will either.

“Wi Ji-hak!!!!!”

While he was briefly distracted attacking others, Shaolin Dragon had closed in on him. Seeing Mu-jin’s fist, shimmering with golden energy, Wi Ji-hak also covered his right fist with energy and swung it.

Boom!

‘As expected, close combat is tough.’

Although he didn’t show it outwardly, his right fist ached from the clash with Mu-jin. Without his special equipment, the Black Scale Fighting Gloves, his hand might have been completely shattered. Despite the pain, Wi Ji-hak used the momentum from the clash to leap back, creating distance between himself and Mu-jin.

And as for Mu-jin…

“You bastard!!!”

Overcoming the recoil from the clash with brute strength, Mu-jin charged at Wi Ji-hak again, abandoning formalities and calling the leader a bastard.

The leader, while fleeing with the recoil, sent another barrage of fist energy toward a Wudang disciple.

“Urgh…”

Another Wudang swordsman fell with a groan. Mu-jin wanted to throw himself to block Wi Ji-hak’s fist energy, but…

Grit

He could only grit his teeth and continue chasing Wi Ji-hak. This battlefield involved hundreds of combatants, meaning Mu-jin had too many allies to protect.

He lacked the hands to block each of Wi Ji-hak’s fist energies, so he chose to stick to Wi Ji-hak like a leech, which was the correct strategy. No matter how much of a leader he was, Wi Ji-hak couldn’t afford to attack others when Mu-jin was close by.

While chasing Wi Ji-hak and attacking the Shaolin and Wudang disciples, Wi Ji-hak finally frowned as he watched Mu-jin closing in on him again.

‘Tsk. I didn’t inflict as much damage as I hoped.’

The number he directly harmed was barely a dozen or so. Considering he could have killed over fifty if he fought alone, this was an unsatisfactory result. However, he wasn’t greedy. Chasing Mu-jin and attacking the disciples had consumed more internal energy than expected.

Continuing to fight here risked his failure to escape the battlefield. He intended to accumulate damage here but had no intention of sacrificing his life.

“How about we settle this at the Martial Alliance’s training ground since there are too many obstacles here!”

Using internal energy, Wi Ji-hak shouted and then immediately turned and fled towards the Martial Alliance.

Mu-jin tried to follow and finish him, but Jegal Muhwan’s voice reached his ears.

– Do not pursue him, Shaolin Dragon!

It was a difficult command for Mu-jin to understand. After all the effort to exhaust him, now he was being told not to pursue?

– Is there a trap in the Martial Alliance?

– There are traps, but more importantly, his call for a duel was a lie! He plans to trap you, then escape.

– Then what should I do? Should I abandon the leader and help with the battle here?

Though the leader had fled, intense fighting continued here. That was likely why the leader had shouted with internal energy, to keep the alliance members’ morale high.

Pretending to move for a duel with Mu-jin was a tactic to maintain morale.

– What nonsense are you talking about?

Jegal Muhwan’s response was rather cynical.

– We’ve suffered significant losses trying to save everyone. If we fail to capture the leader, we might as well give up on opposing Shinchun.

– So what do you propose we do?

– Haha. To catch a raccoon, you don’t enter its burrow but wait at its exit.

Mu-jin saw it clearly, even from afar, Jegal Muhwan’s lips curled into a sinister smile.

Wi Ji-hak headed straight for the leader’s residence after returning to the alliance. If Mu-jin had pursued, he would have led him to a trap, but realizing Mu-jin had stopped the chase, he changed his course.

Upon reaching the leader’s residence, he was greeted by three martial artists from Shinchun, serving as his guards. The lower-ranked fighters were still mixed in battle with the alliance members, but these were valuable assets he needed to preserve.

“Let’s go.”@@novelbin@@

Pushing aside the table in the center of the leader’s residence, where he usually worked, Wi Ji-hak tapped one spot on the seemingly identical floor.

Creaaaak.

A hidden underground passage revealed itself. This escape route had been prepared since he became the leader, for emergencies. He was confident no one else knew about it.

He entered the passage with his three guards, having already arranged for valuable subordinates like Jang Yo-san to join them at the exit. His next objective was to use his elite forces to disrupt the enemy’s rear.

He planned to buy time for the downfall of the Sichuan Tang Clan and escape. As he ran through the passage, formulating his next plan, he reached an incline and emerged in a small forest near Woe-hyeon.

What he saw there was…

“You really do look like a mole. Turns out you’re not a bastard but a mole rat?”

It was Shaolin Dragon, who he thought had given up the chase.

“How did you…?”

Wi Ji-hak’s face showed genuine surprise for the first time as Mu-jin smiled sinisterly, similar to how Jeg

al Muhwan had smiled when he revealed the passage’s location.

“Strategist Jegal said that raccoons always dig escape burrows.”

Just as Jegal Muhwan had been constantly monitored by Shinchun, he had also kept an eye on Shinchun. Thus, he knew about the leader’s secret escape route.

“Hahaha. I underestimated the strategist.”

Wi Ji-hak laughed heartily at Mu-jin’s provocation for a moment.

“No, no. It seems the strategist is still lacking.”

He suddenly turned serious.

“He sent only two to capture me.”

At his words, Mu-jin shouted into the air.

“See? I told you it wouldn’t work on him!”

From the empty space Mu-jin looked at, Mu-gyeong appeared.

“Ugh. I tried to mimic the Head of Salmak, but it’s not perfect yet.”

Mu-jin had brought Mu-gyeong along, anticipating the possibility of the leader not being alone. And to his most trusted reinforcement, Mu-jin added,

“Take care of those three guards.”

Giving instructions to Mu-gyeong, Mu-jin cracked his fingers like a back-alley thug and approached the leader.

“I’ll handle this one myself.”