Chapter 84: The Place that the hidden message led me to (3)

Translator: hwarang

Editor: Kidyeon

I wasn’t nervous at all, despite there being a sword pointed at me.

I didn’t look at the blade, but directly looked into Sim Hw.a.n.g’s eyes.

At that point, someone entered the room and said, “You’re right. An invitation card is used to invite people.”

It was the lord of the Chu manor, Chu Do Chi. Although he’d shown his warmth and compa.s.sion in front of all those people, in this room he was showing off his coldness and sharpness. It was as if his evil twin had shown up.

“Take off your hat.”

“I don’t want to.”

Sim Hw.a.n.g flinched at what I said. He looked as if he wanted to killed me right now, but couldn’t due to lord Chu’s arrival.

He proceeded to warn me with a cold look in his eyes, “You should watch out. I’m the type of person who only gives one warning, and you used that warning when I drew my sword.”

However, Chu Do Chi stopped him. “Stand down.”

Sim Hw.a.n.g withdrew his sword, but he still seemed to have his suspicions about me.

Afterwards, Chu Do Chi proceeded to give me a warning as well, “You should be careful. You only have one chance.”

I could only smile. Who would have thought that such a situation would be awaiting me at the place that the hidden message had led me to.

“You still don’t want to show me your face? It’s not like you’re a pretty boy. You think too much of yourself.”

“It’s not like you’re hunting a pig.”

Chu Do Chi started laughing and said, “Hahaha. I guess you’re right. Alright, since you have the skills to decode the message on the invitation card, you’re already qualified. However, the original owner of that invitation card is already dead. How do you have it?”

“Because I was the one that killed him.”

“Interesting. Then who might you be?”

“Just think of me as someone who couldn’t stand the kidnapping of young girls.”

Chu Do Chi looked at me with a pair of cold eyes, but he didn’t say anything, as I was hiding my ki.

“After I killed Jo Byuk, I found this invitation card by luck, and it brought me here. Now then, let me ask you a question. What is this place?”

Chu Do Chi smiled. “As you’ve seen, we have many guests today since it’s my birthday. But you’re one of my special guests.”

“Pray tell.”

“I sent out invitations to those who shared the same ideals as me. I told them not to come if they didn’t want to. Those that are here share the same ideals as I do. Although you might have come here due to your curiosity, I have a feeling that it was the work of fate.

“How many people received this invitation?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Will you tell me how many people you invited?”

After a moment, Chu Do Chi answered, “Seven in total.”

“I’m worried about the four that aren’t present.”

Chu Do Chi smiled at my comment as if he’d expected this response from me.

“If you’re worried, why don’t you consider yourself lucky that you’re still alive?”

He said this both as an a.s.surance, as well as a warning.

“I plan to change this Kang Ho.”

“How?”

“To a Peaceful Kang Ho. To an uncorrupt Kang Ho. Thus, I’m gathering people. Not some Kang Ho ruled by the Old, but to a new Kang Ho ruled by people like you.”

I smiled.

“Why are you smiling?”

“You want to make a Kang Ho that isn’t ruled by the old, yet you don’t seem too young yourself.”

Chu Do Chi stared at me, but didn’t show his true intention. “That’s why I invited you.”

“Let’s talk for real. You want to rule the Kang Ho?”

“If you follow the lord, you’ll naturally come to understand his wish.”

“Let’s say that I come to understand your wish. What do I get out of it in the end?”

“Power.”

Receiving Chu Do Chi’s signal, one of his subordinates brought three boxes over.

There was a pill inside of each box.

“A Great Firmament Pill. You’d be able to receive thirty years of internal energy with this.”

The other two’s eyes twitched.

In times like these, where medicines such as these were rare, obtaining such medicine was definitely a blessing.

But that wasn’t all.

“I also want to gift you a high tier martial arts.”

Chu Do Chi said to the other two, “If you can kill him, you can also get his Great Firmament Pill.”

This was a world where the strongest survived. With two Great Firmament Pills, one could obtain sixty years worth of internal energy.

However, the two of them were a bit hesitant since they didn’t know my true skill. Seeing that I was talking to Chu Do Chi like it was nothing had gotten on their mind.

In the end, however, this was too great of a chance for them to give up.

One of the two moved and aimed his sword at my chest.

I easily dodged it, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him towards me. When his body got close to mine-

Sik!

I inserted a hidden weapon into his throat.

“Uaahhh!”

He collapsed after screaming.

The other man instantly said, “I’ll be content with just my own.”

The other man walked towards one of the chests and grabbed a Great Firmament Pill.

I looked at him and said, “Are you sure that that’s really the Great Firmament Pill?”

He became hesitant.

“Think about it. If you had the choice to rule the Kang Ho, but in the middle of the room are a couple of Great Firmament Pills, would you choose to eat it to raise your cultivation or would you watch others eat them?”

The man looked at me with a cautious expression.

s.h.i.+ng!

The man suddenly fell down.

Chu Do Chi held a blade that was dripping with blood.

It seems like he’s an expert who’s a level above Sim Hw.a.n.g.

“You’ve ruined today’s business. Kill him.”

As if he was waiting, Sim Hw.a.n.g and his men released their killing intent.

s.h.i.+ng!

I threw a hidden weapon at him. However, Sim Hw.a.n.g dodged easily.

But my true aim wasn’t to kill him.

Right after I threw, it I ran towards him

Sim Hw.a.n.g quickly slashed at me with his sword.

s.h.i.+ng! s.h.i.+ng! s.h.i.+ng! s.h.i.+ng! s.h.i.+ng!

He swung five times in a blink of an eye, all of which only hit air.

I dodged and attacked his men; that was my original intent.  The reason that I’d thrown a hidden weapon was to divert their attention away from me for a moment.

Smack!

The first man fell down to the floor. I didn’t know what sort of reaction they’d have when I took down one of them, so I immediately jumped towards the next one.

Smack!

I smacked the next person in the jaw. It shattered, and I proceeded to use him as a s.h.i.+eld.

s.h.i.+ng!

The men behind him slashed towards us with his sword. However, he was hesitant about harming his ally, thus I was able to easily dodge his attack. I used my human s.h.i.+eld to propel myself forward and attack him.

Smack!

When I reached him, I kneed him in the face, causing him to collapse to the floor.

When I looked towards my next target, Sim Hw.a.n.g yelled, “Watch out, he’s an expert!”

I was more of an expert than they’d expected, but they still didn’t know what I was capable of.

Why would one be called an expert if others could simply be prepared for them as simply as this?

I was like a wolf in the middle of a herd of sheep.

Usually it would be best if you took out the leader first.

However, in situations like this, killing the leader first wasn’t for the best.

I was going to kill all of the subordinates first, then fight the leader.

Smack!

I smacked the next man, then threw him by the hair into another person. After I threw him, I kicked the nearest person.

s.h.i.+ng!

A sword light flew in my direction. It had been created by Sim Hw.a.n.g.

I dodged by throwing myself to the floor. The sword light hit the person behind me, bisecting him.

As I was falling down, I changed my direction.

s.h.i.+ng!

I threw a hidden weapon towards the man in front of me, which found its mark and caused the man to collapse.

Smack!

As soon as he began to collapse, I kicked his head, causing him to fly towards the men behind him.

Another sword light flew towards my direction.

s.h.i.+ng!

I pulled another person in front of me and held him there until the last second, when I dodged; the person I’d used as a s.h.i.+eld was bisected.

Sim Hw.a.n.g cursed as I took down another person.

I continued to take down the remaining men with my hidden weapons.

Since they weren’t able to dodge them, they all ended up dead. If it had been a normal situation, they should’ve been able to dodge them with ease, but they couldn’t since because of their tenseness.

I used the moment that they’d least expected to attack them. This was the most efficient way use a hidden weapon.

Like this I was able wipe out all of his subordinates.

“You punk! I’ll kill you!”

Sim Hw.a.n.g charged at me with his sword. He was worthy of being called an expert.

His sword was extremely fast, and was aimed at my vitals. He was doing his best, since he knew that he was facing another expert.

Slas.h.!.+ s.h.i.+ng! Slas.h.!.+ s.h.i.+ng!

No matter how angry a hunting dog gets, it can never take down a tiger.

I broke through his defense easily, and attacked him.

By the time he’d realized what happened, my fist had reached his ribs.

He looked at me with a surprised expression. He never thought that I’d be able to strike him down this easily, but his expression became one of acceptance. If you can’t accept that your next moment could be your last, you shouldn’t ever enter the Kang Ho.

Bang!

Sim Hw.a.n.g was dead by the time his body hit the floor.

I looked up at the last person in the room, Chu Do Chi.

He seemed confident in his abilities, considering the fact that he hadn’t made a run for it.

I was curious to know if he was the ringleader, or if there was someone else behind him. If there was someone else, it would probably be related to that group.

“In the world of Kang Ho experts are as abundant as sand beneath the ocean. However, someone like you, I’ve never… ah.”

He seemed to have suddenly been enlightened.

“…I have heard about you. The Nameless Warrior[a] who killed Yeom Hwa barehanded. So that’s who you were.”

I didn’t say anything or de anything, but he was certain that that’s who I was.

“I should’ve sent you a special invitation—one that was just for you.”

I slowly walked forward and grabbed the Great Firmament Pill, then smelled it. Although it smelled like the Great Firmament Pill, it wasn’t exactly the same. I’d used the Great Firmament Pill many times when I was the mengju.

Although it had some traces of the Great Firmament Pill, it was something else.

The Devil’s Spirit Pill of No Regret.

It was a medicine that indeed gave thirty years worth of internal energy.

But there was a price to pay for it: Absolute death after seven years. Thus it was called the devil’s pill.

If you ate two you would gain sixty years worth of internal energy, but would only have three more years left to live, and if you took three you would gain ninety years worth of internal energy, but you would die after a year. Anything more than that was immediate death after consumption.

Since it was called the pill of no regret, the martial artists from the Demonic Sect had used it during their last struggles against me.

What was such an evil item doing here?

“How is it? I’m certain that you’ll make the most of the medicine if you use it.”

“Have you used it before?”

He was hesitant. I got the feeling that he’d already used it. Did he know what this really was?

Who would have thought that there was an organization that had used the Devil’s Spirit Pill of No Regret to create their organization.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Even if I don’t give it to you, there are many others who are willing to take it.” He said, and gave a signal.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

All the doors opened around the room opened to reveal hundreds of people surrounding the building.

I was surprised. They were the guests that he’d invited for his birthday.

These people were all looking at me. I could tell with a glance that they were all his subordinates.

Chu Do Chi said with a smile, “I told you that I only invited the people that shared the same dream as me.”

So it this was a place like this. It seems like he’d purposely held the birthday party so that he could gather more members.

Their level of ki wasn’t ordinary either. I could sense that there were many who’d reached the sixty year point, while there were some who’d even reached the one hundred and twenty year point.

Looking around myself, I smiled coldly. “As if you wanted to create a new Kang Ho.”

[a]If he's using this as a t.i.tle, add a comma after warrior. If not, don't capitalize the N and the W. Not sure which since it works both ways.