Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 32

Ma Young knew how crucial it was to understand the enemy’s situation, so he tried several times to reason with the stubborn fat man. However, he was repeatedly thwarted by the An Sect Leader’s token and even forbidden from going out to investigate himself.

Thus, Ma Young was rendered helpless by the fat man. In the Seven Mysteries Sect, disobeying orders and acting independently were severely punished, potentially leading to the abolishment of one’s martial arts, expulsion from the sect, or even execution.

So, even with the fate of the Seven Mysteries Sect possibly hanging in the balance, he was forced to remain confined to the residence.

* * *

Han Li and Lü Bìyǔ were completely unaware of this situation as they made their way there. They had skillfully avoided the enemy along the way, but it was only when they arrived near Elder Lee’s residence that a battle finally broke out.

The appearance of three unidentified individuals together was enough to perplex even the leader of the group, who considered himself somewhat experienced in the martial world.

He glanced at his subordinates, signaling them to remain vigilant, and shouted loudly,

“Whoever you are, the Seven Mysteries Sect is finished! Surrender now, and I’ll spare your lives!”

Han Li smiled faintly and turned to Lü Bìyǔ, asking,

“Who should go? You or Gok Hon?”

Lü Bìyǔ immediately replied,

“Judging by their attire, they’re clearly low-ranking disciples of the Dansu Sect. I need to vent the humiliation I suffered while being chased by the Arangdan these past few days. Besides, I like that weapon.”

Before Lü Bìyǔ finished speaking, he had already approached the man in blue closest to them.

The man in blue was startled and tried to block him, but before he knew it, his sword was in the enemy’s hand.

He hurriedly retreated to save his life, but when he saw the flash of the blade, his head was already separated from his body.

The movement was so clean and swift that one of them was already dead before the Dansu Sect disciples could even react.

The enemies realized that they had encountered an expert beyond their ability to handle, and the leader decisively gave an order.

“Scatter! Send a signal that an expert has come to save the Seven Mysteries Sect!”

At this command, they began to scatter in all directions. Some of them reached into their pockets while running, seemingly searching for the signal.

The man who was running the fastest was rejoicing at his successful escape when he felt a chill down his spine, and a sharp sword emerged from the back of his head and disappeared.

As he slowly fell to the ground with his eyes wide open, he finally realized that someone had stabbed him in the neck.

He couldn’t believe that he had been caught and killed so easily after running so far.

Gathering his last strength, he barely turned his head and saw the last scene before his death.

A black shadow flickered behind one of the blue-clad men who had escaped with him, then lightly extended a sword and disappeared again in an instant.

Immediately, the same sword light flashed on another man, and only then did the body of the previous victim fall to the ground, blood gushing from his throat.

It was clear that the bizarre black shadow would not leave anyone alive.

* * *

Ga Cheon-ryong was very triumphant. His usually pale and gloomy face was flushed with excitement.

The Seven Mysteries Sect, the Arangdan’s main enemy, was collapsing miserably under his scheme. As the leader of the Arangdan, how could he not be happy!

He was currently surrounded by numerous red-clad iron guards on the mountainside of Nagil Peak. These were young soldiers he had painstakingly trained, not only skilled in martial arts but also extremely loyal.

They were mainly in charge of guarding, but today, he had brought them along, fearing that the small and medium-sized factions might harbor ulterior motives.

Therefore, the leaders of the Iron Spear Society and the Dansu Sect were following his orders without complaint.

In reality, these factions did not want the Arangdan to monopolize everything. They could only survive if the Seven Mysteries Sect and the Arangdan maintained a balance.

If Ga Cheon-ryong had not taken the wives, children, and families of the faction leaders hostage and promised them huge profits, they would have already turned against him.

Thinking this, Ga Cheon-ryong unconsciously looked at the dozens of leaders of the small and medium-sized factions standing behind him.

Some of them glared at him with angry eyes, while others were hesitant and dared not meet his gaze.

In his mind, Ga Cheon-ryong was contemplating how to deal with those factions after taking over the Seven Mysteries Sect.

In front of Ga Cheon-ryong, nearly a thousand people were fiercely attacking the outposts of the Seven Mysteries Sect. They were not in any particular formation, and their movements were uncoordinated, resulting in numerous casualties.

However, Ga Cheon-ryong did not care. Once the disciples of the Seven Mysteries Sect were exhausted, he planned to send the elite soldiers of the factions to attack with repeating crossbows.

Ga Cheon-ryong’s face was filled with joy as he thought of the military repeating crossbows. The Arangdan’s dominance so far was largely due to these military weapons.

If they had failed to annihilate the opposing negotiation team, they would have lost a tremendous amount of manpower just to break through the outposts of Nagil Peak. Then, his plan to swallow the small and medium-sized factions later would have been disrupted.

Moreover, Ga Cheon-ryong had not put in any effort to acquire these military crossbows. It was as if they had fallen from the sky while he was sitting still.

Three months ago, he had already planned this major event. Then, one day, a military officer claiming to be his relative came to visit. He was a sworn brother who had been with the Arangdan when they were a bandit group. He said that he was on his way to Gyeongju to transport supplies and had stopped by to ask how Ga Cheon-ryong was doing after hearing that he had become the leader of the Arangdan.

The two were overjoyed to see each other and talked about their circumstances.

When Ga Cheon-ryong told him about the Seven Mysteries Sect, the officer said that with about a hundred military crossbows, they could easily wipe out the Seven Mysteries Sect.

Even though the speaker had said it casually, how could the listener take it lightly? When Ga Cheon-ryong immediately asked if he could get the crossbows, the officer secretly told him that there were many such crossbows among the supplies he was transporting, and it would be possible if he had the silver to bribe the manager.

Ga Cheon-ryong was overjoyed and immediately gave over 20,000 silver coins and received about 300 crossbows. Thanks to that, he was able to achieve victory today.

“They’ve broken through!”

“We’ve finally broken through!”

A roar that seemed to shake the sky was heard.

Ga Cheon-ryong hurriedly turned his head towards the summit of Nagil Peak and frowned. The outpost, where the flag of the Seven Mysteries Sect should have been, was now filled with people from various factions.

‘Considering the defense level of the previous outposts, I thought the final defense line would be even more difficult, but how did such a disorganized group break through it? Could there be some kind of conspiracy?’

As his face darkened, his subordinates knew that if they angered him or upset him in this state, they would suffer a terrible fate.

“Hey, they’ve already broken through, what are you waiting for?”

Someone spoke, but there was no respect for Ga Cheon-ryong in his tone. Normally, he would have been furious, but now he politely answered the voice.

“Master Jang, I think it’s strange that they broke through so easily. We should move cautiously in case they have prepared some kind of trap.”

“What’s there to be afraid of when I’m here? What can these ordinary people do to you? Let’s go, let’s go! At this rate, we’ll be here all night. Let’s deal with the Seven Mysteries Sect quickly.”

The one who spoke next to Ga Cheon-ryong was a dwarf about three feet tall.

This dwarf was over forty years old and very thin, wearing a red robe embroidered with gold thread. He was covered in gold ornaments, and even his mouth glittered with gold every time he spoke.

He was expressing his dissatisfaction with Ga Cheon-ryong, who was trying to be cautious, with an impatient expression.

When the vile-looking dwarf dared to show disrespect to Ga Cheon-ryong, the loyal iron guards around him glared with wide eyes. However, he didn’t care at all and spoke strongly to Ga Cheon-ryong.

“Leader Ga, there must be a reason why you invited me all the way here. Tell me clearly who I have to deal with. You should be able to handle the sect leader of the Seven Mysteries Sect, so why did you spend so much money?”

“I wouldn’t have asked for the Master’s help just because of a mere sect leader of the Seven Mysteries Sect. I asked for the Master’s help because of the sect leader’s granduncles. They are known to the outside world as having already passed away, but in fact, they are said to be in seclusion in a secret chamber on Nagil Peak, undergoing closed-door training. Their power may have already reached the Transformation Realm [a high level of martial arts mastery], so how could ordinary experts deal with them? Their power is the greatest strength of the Seven Mysteries Sect, so I had no choice but to ask for the Master’s help.”

Ga Cheon-ryong answered very humbly.

This dwarf in the red robe was someone Ga Cheon-ryong had accidentally met in the border area of the barbarians, and he called himself the Golden Light Master. (金光上人) [a title of respect for a powerful cultivator]

He had boundless magical power and had shown Ga Cheon-ryong his flying sword technique and the Vajra Indestructible Body Technique [a technique that makes the body extremely resistant to damage].

He was greatly amazed by the power of these two techniques. Knowing that the other party was a cultivator, he had spent a large sum of money to build a relationship and get a promise to help. That was why he did not show any displeasure at his arrogant attitude.

This Golden Light Master was someone the Arangdan could never stand against. After hearing his answer, the Golden Light Master laughed heartily, then barely stopped laughing and said arrogantly.

“No matter how high their power and martial arts are, they cannot be a match for my flying sword technique, so leave it to me.”

“Then I will trust in the Master. If things go well, I will give you an additional 2,000 gold coins as a token of my gratitude.”

Ga Cheon-ryong was overjoyed and quickly increased the reward.

Hearing this, the Golden Light Master was very satisfied with Ga Cheon-ryong’s sensible words and praised him.

Since Ga Cheon-ryong was assured of safety with a capable person like the Golden Light Master, he did not delay any longer and ordered all the Arangdan members to advance to the summit of Nagil Peak. He was about to attack the Seven Mysteries Hall, the main headquarters of the Seven Mysteries Sect.

By the time Ga Cheon-ryong and his group arrived at the summit of Nagil Peak, it was already getting dark. Even in the darkness, they were overwhelmed by the imposing and magnificent aura of the Seven Mysteries Hall.

Ga Cheon-ryong vowed that once he had destroyed the Seven Mysteries Sect, he would immediately move his headquarters here. Such a magnificent building was the perfect place for him.

He did not advance immediately but surrounded several stone platforms tightly. After examining the atmosphere at the entrance to the Seven Mysteries Hall and looking around at his subordinates, he slowly raised his right hand.

At that moment, the entire Nagil Peak became as silent as a graveyard. The moment his hand fell, a fierce battle to annihilate the Seven Mysteries Sect’s headquarters would begin.

“Wait a moment.”

Suddenly, a cold voice echoed from the pitch-black entrance of the Seven Mysteries Hall.

Soon, the sound of footsteps became clearer and clearer. The shadow disappeared, and the face that slowly emerged was none other than Sect Leader An. He was wearing a white shirt, a large hairpin in his hair, and a long sword at his waist. Although his complexion was extremely pale, his eyes were as sharp as blades. There was no trace of fear on his face.

“Ga Cheon-ryong.”

Sect Leader An called out the leader’s name.

“An Jeol-cho.”

Ga Cheon-ryong, also not intimidated at all, recognized his opponent.

“Haha. Who do we have here? Isn’t it Sect Leader An? It’s good to finally see you.”

Ga Cheon-ryong looked at him and slowly withdrew his right hand. As Sect Leader An stared at Ga Cheon-ryong expressionlessly without saying anything, the tense atmosphere intensified.

“Sect Leader An, coming out alone, are you thinking of surrendering?”

Ga Cheon-ryong asked with a mocking tone.

“That’s right. I came out to discuss the matter of surrender.”

Sect Leader An of the Seven Mysteries Sect replied in a voice as cold as ice.