Tales Of The Nine Dragons [EN]: Chapter 120

Ninth Dragon Chronicles (120)

After hearing that the Nine Dragons Clan had no intention of joining the Righteous Heaven Alliance, Zhuge Tak accepted Sima Maeng’s offer without hesitation.

The offer was that the Righteous Heaven Alliance would not intervene when the Blood Evil Alliance attacked the Nine Dragons Clan, in exchange for taking the profits from the Nine Dragons Inn.

From the Righteous Heaven Alliance’s perspective, there was no reason to care about a manor that didn’t belong to the alliance, so they were simply grateful for the Blood Evil Alliance’s proposal.

As soon as the Blood Evil Alliance heard Zhuge Tak’s intentions, they dispatched the Hongryeong Myeolsadae (Crimson Dragon Extermination Squad) and Daeryeong Myeolmadae (Great Dragon Extermination Squad), which they had been preparing, to Shanxi Province.

Their mission was to destroy the Nine Dragons Clan and seize all of its businesses, as well as to rebuild the evil sects in Shanxi Province. With their orders in hand, they left the Blood Evil Alliance’s gates.

As the warriors from the Blood Evil Alliance moved out, the rumor quickly spread throughout the Murim [martial arts world].

In addition, rumors spread that the White Horse Valley, which had a direct relationship with the Nine Dragons Clan, had also sent its elite warriors to Shanxi Province, making the destruction of the Nine Dragons Clan seem like a foregone conclusion.

However, something completely unexpected happened in Shandong Province first.

“Stupid fools, kill them all! Leave no one alive!”

The White Horse Temple, located in Jinan, Shandong Province, was under attack.

With the elite warriors gone, the White Horse Temple’s defenses were greatly weakened, and the invaders unleashed relentless attacks on the remaining warriors.

“Kuaaaak!”

Screams and blood filled the White Horse Temple.

“Don’t hold back! Make sure every strike takes a life!”

The one commanding the invaders was none other than Nangong Suyeon, and the members of the Nine Dragons Squad, including Hyeok Ji-seok, followed her orders precisely.

The White Horse Temple was instantly turned into a scene of carnage. Nangong Suyeon took the lead, mercilessly cutting down the White Horse Temple warriors with techniques she had learned and mastered in the Fierce Tiger Blood Evil Squad.

“Manho, Yongsu, Hyeon Guk, and Chae Deok, guard the entrance. Kill anyone who tries to enter the White Horse Temple, even if they are allies.”

At Nangong Suyeon’s command, four members of the Nine Dragons Squad took their positions at the entrance.

“You bastards!”

“Why do old geezers always say the same thing when they show up, whether it’s now or then?”

Nangong Suyeon moved her sword towards the warriors who were shouting and rushing out.

‘Emperor’s Thirteen Swords, First Sword, Emperor’s Strike!’

Nangong Suyeon had created the Emperor’s Thirteen Swords, a sword technique that combined the Thirteen Supreme Arts she learned from Hwa Ryeong and the Nangong family’s secret manual, the Emperor’s Sword Arts.

She had been honing the Emperor’s Thirteen Swords through sparring with Hyeok Ji-seok, striving to perfect it as a complete sword technique, and she unleashed the results for the first time against the elders of the White Horse Temple.

“Heot!”

The sword energy emanating from Nangong Suyeon’s sword drew a bizarre curve like a whip and stretched out towards the elders.

“Dodge it!”

The elders hurriedly dodged and scattered in all directions, and a faint smile appeared on Nangong Suyeon’s lips as she watched them.

Paat!

Nangong Suyeon kicked off the ground and soared into the air, flying towards the elder who had dodged to the far left.

It was an ordinary lightness skill called Biruyeon (Flying Swallow Step), but when Nangong Suyeon used it, it looked like an exquisite martial art.

Nangong Suyeon, who had quickly caught up, moved her sword towards the elder’s waist.

“You bitch!”

He raised the sword in his hand to block Nangong Suyeon’s sword.

‘Emperor’s Thirteen Swords, Second Sword, Emperor’s Flutter!’

Nangong Suyeon changed the direction of her sword by twisting her wrist. At that moment, even illusions were created, with Nangong Suyeon’s sword multiplying from one to two, and from two to four.

The elder was flustered by the swords that suddenly multiplied before his eyes and could not move the sword in his hand.

Seogeok. Seogeok… Seogeok… Seogeok…

With the sound of flesh being cut by the sword, Nangong Suyeon’s figure passed him.

The elder, struck by Nangong Suyeon, looked down at the wounds on his body as if unable to accept his death.

Blood seeped out of the wounds, and then the wounds gradually widened, and eventually blood poured out.

After killing one elder, Nangong Suyeon moved towards another.

Seeing the death of their fellow elder, the elders of the White Horse Temple decided to attack Nangong Suyeon together rather than fighting alone.

The elders occupied all the directions in which Nangong Suyeon could move and then used the Combined Formation, a unique sword formation of the White Horse Temple that applied the Five Elements Sword Formation.

Nangong Suyeon was briefly flustered by the elders’ Combined Formation, but she recognized that the principle of this sword formation was based on the Five Elements Sword Formation and began to counterattack.

‘Emperor’s Thirteen Swords, Third Sword, Emperor’s Break!’

Nangong Suyeon’s sword moved lightly. But the power contained in the sword was like the weight of a thousand-year-old giant rock.

The Emperor’s Thirteen Swords that Nangong Suyeon created contained the mysteries of the Thirteen Supreme Arts, so from the outside, it looked like she was simply moving her sword, but the power of the moves was far greater than it seemed.

Kwaaaang!

The internal energy contained in Nangong Suyeon’s sword exploded, breaking the elders’ sword formation.

“Ugh!”

As one of the elders was thrown out of the sword formation due to the explosion of internal energy, Nangong Suyeon did not miss the opportunity and immediately moved to stab her sword into his chest.

“Why are you attacking us…?”

They still did not know who was attacking the White Horse Temple or why.

“That’s why you shouldn’t have bothered people who were minding their own business.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Nine Dragons Clan!”

The elder’s eyes widened at the mention of the Nine Dragons Clan.

“You started it, but I will end it. You guys made a mistake.”

As Nangong Suyeon pulled her sword from his chest, blood spurted out.

“Keoeok… a mistake?”

He wanted to know what mistake they had made, but he did not get an answer.

“They say there are a few people in the world you shouldn’t mess with, right? One of them that I know is my senior [Hwa Ryeong].”

Nangong Suyeon turned to the remaining elders and said.

“Today, the White Horse Temple will disappear.”

As soon as she finished speaking, light emanated from Nangong Suyeon’s sword.

‘Emperor’s Thirteen Swords, Thirteenth Sword, Emperor’s Manifestation!’

Nangong Suyeon raised her sword to the sky, and light from the shining sword shot up into the sky.

It was similar to sword energy, but it was not sword energy. And soon, the light that had been shot into the sky created a shape: a sword of light.

The giant sword of light emitted an intense light as if to reveal its presence. The elders below could only watch the sword of light in stunned silence.

The sword of light fell down, instilling fear in everyone inside the White Horse Temple.

One of the elders unconsciously muttered as he watched the falling sword of light.

“The… the Emperor’s… Sword…”

* * *

Lee Seung-cheon, the third-in-command of the White Horse Temple, hurried back, but it was already too late.

“Damn it!”

A fight was taking place inside the White Horse Temple, and screams were coming from within. People nearby were startled by the sudden screams and turned their attention to the White Horse Temple, but soon realized that a fight between Murim warriors had broken out and quickly left the scene.

They knew that it would only bring trouble if they watched and were targeted in retaliation.

“If I can just catch Nangong Suyeon, we can still win.”

Lee Seung-cheon had served in the military with Nangong Suyeon, so he thought that if he approached her using their past acquaintance and ambushed her, there would be a good chance of success.

Just as Lee Seung-cheon was about to enter the White Horse Temple, something brightly shining shot up into the sky, and soon the light transformed into the shape of a sword and fell down.

Lee Seung-cheon’s knees buckled and his legs trembled as he watched the scene.

“Was Nangong Suyeon senior’s martial arts at that level…?”

He felt that the sword of light, which emitted an intense light, contained the power to subdue all evil and all things.

“I can’t win…”

Lee Seung-cheon stopped walking and muttered.

“Kuaaaak!”

When the sword fell to the ground, another scream erupted from inside the White Horse Temple.

At the scream, Lee Seung-cheon turned around and ran away from the White Horse Temple. It was an action driven by instinct overpowering reason.

Driven by the instinct to survive by getting as far away as possible, Lee Seung-cheon ran blindly to escape the White Horse Temple.

It was only after running for a long time and getting away from the White Horse Temple that he was able to catch his breath.

As he calmed his startled heart while breathing heavily, one question came to his mind.

“Why is Nangong Suyeon with Squad Leader Hwa Ryeong?”

Nangong Suyeon was a member of the Nangong family. The fact that she was with Hwa Ryeong made him think that the Nangong family was backing Hwa Ryeong.

“No, that’s not it. Squad Leader Hwa Ryeong is not someone who would be under someone else. Then, did Nangong Suyeon inform the Nangong family about Squad Leader Hwa Ryeong, and the Nangong family put Nangong Suyeon by his side to capture Squad Leader Hwa Ryeong?”

Something was seriously wrong.

Hwa Ryeong alone was a difficult person to handle, but if the Nangong family was behind him, it was a fight that the White Horse Temple could not win.

Lee Seung-cheon caught his breath and then hurried away. He had to stop the elite warriors of the White Horse Temple, who had gone to Shanxi Province to attack the Nine Dragons Clan, before they took action.

“I mustn’t be late this time.”

* * *

Hwa Ryeong, who had left the Nine Dragons Clan, moved to Henan Province with Dongchun.

As the Blood Evil Sect, the number one evil sect in Henan Province, collapsed, the remaining Red Earth Gate and Warm Water Sect were watching each other and trying to undermine each other in order to take over the vested interests of the Blood Evil Sect.

Since the Blood Evil Alliance did not mobilize the warriors of the evil sects separately, the Blood Evil Alliance’s attack on the Nine Dragons Clan had nothing to do with the Red Earth Gate and the Warm Water Sect.

However, the Red Earth Gate and the Warm Water Sect had to face an unexpected disaster simply because they were evil sects.

Hwa Ryeong attacked the Red Earth Gate and the Warm Water Sect, which had the highest influence after the Blood Evil Sect, with the intention of sweeping away the evil sects in Henan Province.

They were ambushed by Hwa Ryeong and Dongchun, and they could not even resist properly.

Only Hwa Ryeong was fighting the warriors of the Red Earth Gate and the Warm Water Sect, and Dongchun was just guarding the door.

Nevertheless, the two sects could not handle Hwa Ryeong and were all killed by him.

The only people that Hwa Ryeong spared in the two sects were those who had no internal energy. Anyone who had even a little internal energy or traces of martial arts training, regardless of gender or age, was killed.

As the Red Earth Gate and the Warm Water Sect were destroyed in an instant, the entire Henan Province was thrown into chaos.

“Now that they are ruined, which of the remaining evil sects has any power? They are all third-rate rabble sects.”

“That’s right. How about taking this opportunity to eradicate the roots of the evil sects in Henan Province?”

“Good. Doing so will be of great help to us.”

The righteous sects that had taken root in Henan Province tried not to miss this opportunity, now that the troublesome opponents—the Blood Evil Sect, the Red Earth Gate, and the Warm Water Sect—were all destroyed.

They gathered their strength and planned to attack the evil sects that had taken root in Henan Province and drive them out, and they began to move.