Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1343

Woo-woo-woo-woong!

Bloodscale felt a heat rising in his chest.

The jade orb he held vibrated. More precisely, the jade orb, now a replica of the Blood Jade, was reacting to the power of another orb and began to glow.

Bloodscale’s eyes pierced through the clouds, focusing on the towering Mount Tai.

“It’s the Essence-Gathering Demonic Array. The Sect Leader has made a great decision.”

Among the Four Kings, only a few had mastered both sorcery and martial arts.

Bloodscale was one of them. Despite being a King, he was capable of handling the jade orb.

“Seventh King.”

“Speak.”

Hang Mu’s face was pale.

He had stopped the bleeding, but he had already lost too much blood. His mangled left arm was still not fully healed.

Bloodscale, unconcerned with his condition, said,

“There, at the summit of Mount Tai, the Essence-Gathering Demonic Array has been deployed. Once we reach that place, everything will be over.”

Hang Mu’s lips curled upward.

The Heaven-Defying Divine Pearl, another Blood Jade created by human hands, was about to be born.

‘Yes, it’s almost complete.’

The Four Kings of the Demonic Sound Sect, and even the young sect leader of the Blood Fiend, knew that Sa Moon-hyang would create the Heaven-Defying Divine Pearl.

The young sect leader of the Blood Fiend bowed his head, pledging to follow the tide, and the Four Kings were prepared to sacrifice their lives for it.

‘Once the Heaven-Defying Divine Pearl is complete, everything will be over.’

The Blood Jade is a demonic artifact that reverses time.

And so was the Heaven-Defying Divine Pearl. If the Heaven-Defying Divine Pearl was completed and the Sect Leader used it to turn back time by just ten years, history would change.

Then, his dead younger brother could be revived, and the countless disciples who had perished in vain would be brought back to life.

Most importantly, the Blood Sect could be resurrected.

The Sect Leader, with the power of the Heaven-Defying Divine Pearl, could unite the three sects, declare the Blood Sect’s revival in one fell swoop, and place the world under his feet.

While the revival of his kin was desirable, the Blood Sect’s dominance was far more important. If he had to choose between reviving his kin and establishing the Blood Sect’s world, anyone would choose the latter.

To them, the Blood Sect’s world was that important.

“But the pursuing experts are unusually persistent.”

“I know.”

“You don’t understand.”

“What?”

Bloodscale’s pupils turned crimson.

“The Tang Clan Head’s upper dantian [energy center in the forehead] ability is formidable. Even now, he is constantly trying to disrupt my focus.”

Hang Mu was startled and looked back.

Far in the distance, Tang Gwan and the elites of the Moyong Clan were rushing towards them.

“He’s attacking your upper dantian from this distance?”

“That’s impossible. To be precise, it’s not an attack but an attempt to induce confusion.”

“That bastard doesn’t know how you handle the jade orb.”

“He doesn’t, but he’s using his divine energy to constantly disrupt my concentration. He seems to instinctively know that I have the most important task among this group.”

If that was truly instinct, then Tang Gwan was a truly formidable man.

“If only the Demonic Sound Lord were here…”

Hang Mu frowned.

Demonic Sound Lord Yayul Daeguk.

He was a master who would lead the Four Kings in the future and one of the top experts in the Demonic Sound Sect, but Hang Mu didn’t particularly like him.

However, Bloodscale was right. If Yayul Daeguk were here, things would have been much easier.

“If there’s a problem, I’ll handle him. You conserve your strength for the decisive moment.”

So far, Bloodscale had not engaged in a single battle.

This was to ensure that he would reach Mount Tai no matter what, even if it meant squeezing out his last drop of strength.

More precisely, to reach the Sect Leader. Even if everyone else here died, Bloodscale must not be harmed in the slightest.

“I understand.”

“By the way.”

Hang Mu looked back again.

The faces of the pursuing disciples were pale. They had fought countless battles to get this far, but their stamina was already at its limit.

‘We’re already on the brink of life and death anyway.’

He was no different.

The most important thing now was to make that thread as thick and long as possible.

Hang Mu focused his vision on Tang Gwan, who was far away.

He was too far to read his expression, but he could tell that his aura was lofty.

Flames flickered in Hang Mu’s eyes.

‘I will definitely kill you with my own hands.’

He was his younger brother’s enemy. It was a grudge that could not go unavenged.

But apart from that, he couldn’t help but be chilled by the man’s thoroughness.

‘Like Bloodscale, that bastard is probably conserving his strength for the decisive moment.’

Hang Mu had experienced Tang Gwan’s martial arts.

His skill in handling poison was terrifying, but the real threat was his unimaginable martial art that had wiped out about half of their forces in the first exchange.

If that martial art was directed solely at him, he honestly didn’t have the confidence to stop it. Even though he was proud and even an enemy, Hang Mu thought so.

‘If we fought properly, perhaps…’

Hang Mu looked at the devastated land in front of Mount Tai.

The area was completely ruined, showing how vast the destruction was. There wasn’t even a trace of energy left there.

The land had been shattered by pure destructive power alone.

‘It’s there.’

From there to Mount Tai, if a master of the Limitless Art pushed their limits, they could run without slowing down.

Hang Mu felt it instinctively. That land, where unknown monstrous beings seemed to have fought, was where the fate of the world would be decided.

‘But.’

Hang Mu turned his head again.

‘What is this? Something is heading towards the back…’

If his senses weren’t at their peak, he wouldn’t have noticed the subtle presences heading south, or rather, southwest.

It was too stealthy to ignore. It was definitely not an ordinary group.

‘Did the Sect Leader move himself? If so, then they must be the remnants of the defeated forces.’

Hang Mu dismissed the thought.

Now was not the time to consider such things. The Heaven-Defying Divine Pearl would soon be created, and their job was to defend this place until it was completed.

‘Even so, to deploy the Essence-Gathering Demonic Array… Did one of the orbs break?’

It was then.

Krrrrrr.

Hang Mu’s eyes turned to the left.

“Who are those…?!”

They no longer bothered to hide their presence.

Two experts were running at a flying speed, followed by hundreds of warriors. They seemed to be running parallel to their group, but it felt like the distance was gradually closing.

Hang Mu’s eyes flashed.

‘It’s them! The ones who have been chasing us since Shanxi!’

If there had been an expert among them who had surpassed the Extreme [a martial arts realm], they would have been thoroughly shaken off. Since that wasn’t the case, they had ignored them and come this far.

But why?

Why did they reveal themselves at this moment?

They were no match for his martial arts anyway. Yet, Hang Mu felt a strange unease.

‘They must know the level of our forces. And they don’t know what we’re going to do. Yet, why are they closing the distance at this crucial moment?’

Something was up. Hang Mu felt it instinctively.

It couldn’t be a simple coincidence. Whether their anger had reached its limit or they had sensed the energy of the Essence-Gathering Demonic Array, the thought that he couldn’t just let them be came first.

‘First, I need to catch Tang Gwan. That’s the priority. Even if they have something up their sleeves, the existence of an expert who has reached the Extreme is the most troublesome.’

The place where the battle was planned was getting closer.

The distance of two hundred yards quickly narrowed to one hundred yards.

From one hundred yards to fifty yards.

And when the distance went from fifty yards to twenty yards.

Bloodscale shouted.

“Seventh King!”

“I know!”

Whoosh!

Hang Mu’s final strength surged like a flame.

“Complete the mission!”

It was then.

Peeeeeeek!

A grating, eerie sound erupted from the left.

A flute sound filled with inner energy. It was surely a means of contacting someone.

“……?!”

Hang Mu’s eyes deepened.

The faces of the two approaching experts, Gang Ryang and Jin Yang of the Black Emperor Castle, came into view.

Gang Ryang had a small flute in his mouth. It was unbelievable that such a small flute could produce a sound like thunder, even with inner energy.

Whoosh!

A faint crimson aura surged from Bloodscale’s body.

‘What is this?’

Hang Mu felt his heart pounding. An intangible unease seemed to be tightening his chest little by little.

‘What exactly have they prepared?!’

It was that moment.

Fweeeeng!

A refreshing sound, as if his chest had been cleared, came from the distant forest to the right front.

It was not the sound of a signal arrow, yet it was much clearer than one. It was the sound of an arrow tearing through the air at an incredible speed.

Hang Mu raised his head.

‘What?!’

High in the sky.

Five slender objects were flying up from there.

They became dots in an instant, then grew in size as they descended to the ground.

‘Arrows!!’

The power contained within the arrows was extraordinary. He couldn’t even guess how far they had been shot from, yet the inner energy contained within the arrows did not dissipate despite the distance.

An extreme mastery of inner energy, in terms of qi cultivation alone, it was no less than that of an expert who had reached the Extreme.

Hang Mu shouted.

“Get out of the way!”

Thwack!

He moved forward a step ahead and powerfully extended his fist.

Kwarurung!

An invisible fist wind split apart, sweeping away the five arrows.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!!

The shattered remains of the arrows fell like snowflakes, exploding like fireworks.

Hang Mu was in shock.

‘Such an amount of inner energy!’

The density of the inner energy did not match his own. Nor did the spiritual power contained within. It was not an expert who had reached the Extreme.

But the amount of inner energy contained within was beyond imagination. Was he trying to win with quantity if he couldn’t win with quality? He felt a heavy sensation in his fist, indicating how much inner energy had been poured into those slender arrows.

Hang Mu’s gaze naturally turned to the right.

And he could see.

A single expert was rushing from the southeast, raising a cloud of dust, and a large cavalry force with tremendous momentum was following behind.

Surprise flickered in Hang Mu’s eyes.

‘A woman?!’

She was too far away to see her face. But he could tell she was a woman just from the curves of her body.

She was holding a red horn bow and running at an incredible speed. She was nocking arrows from her waist quiver while running, and the series of movements was unbelievably natural.

Here, near Mount Tai in Shandong, numerous destinies collided.

Yeon Ho-jeong had, Sa Moon-hyang had, and now Hang Mu’s group and Tang Gwan’s forces were being drawn into such a destiny.

But those who were not permitted broke through the wall of destiny and unleashed their own new fate here.

From the moment they chased the Demonic Sound Sect’s forces, Gang Ryang and Jin Yang activated all the black market intelligence networks in the Central Plains, and their request for support soon reached the strongest archer of this era, who was chasing the enemy on the eastern front.

She immediately abandoned the pursuit of the enemy and traversed the shortest distance, reaching Shandong in an instant. In her hands were a burning bow and iron arrows filled with deadly intent.

The head of the Five Great Generals, who had bypassed the remnants who were unfamiliar with the geography of the Central Plains and had not even properly ascended Mount Tai, and the Yu Army, who followed her with the determination to die, had reached Mount Tai, the land of their own making.

And three arrows from the archer, who had torn through even the net of a thousand miles, were released from the bowstring pulled to its limit.

Bloodscale shouted.

“It’s dangerous!!”

Fweep! Fweep! Fweep!

Three arrows shot in a straight line flew towards Hang Mu with the power of shattering the heavens.