Chapter 345: The Showdown Between Man and Ximen Qing (13)

Flames of wrath surged in Wang Cheolgun’s eyes.

Oh? So your eyes flare up when you get mad? Is that how it works?

“No more words. Everyone—”

“Wait! Why do you keep dragging innocent people into this when I’m clearly asking for a one-on-one? You scared? You’re scared you’ll lose, so you have to bring your lackeys with you, huh?”

Complete nonsense.

No one throws away their advantage and chooses a disadvantage on purpose.

And if Qing could wear down a bunch of disposable underlings even just slightly with one swing of her sword, that was still a win.

More than anything, though—he had no confidence.

No confidence in capturing her alive.

He was barely managing to suppress the overwhelming urge to slice her in half right now. If it came to a one-on-one, he might just rip her to pieces without meaning to.

He couldn’t allow that to happen. That’s why he was forcing himself to hold back.

“If you insist on that, then you die today. I promised my children I’d make you regret being born. A father who failed to protect them can at least keep his promise.”

Qing’s eyes lit up.

“Wow! Listen to this old fuck talk! Everyone! You hear that? He just said he’s gonna shove all his underlings into a death trap just so he can get his revenge all nice and dramatic! And y’all still call this guy ‘boss’? ‘Sir’? That ain’t a boss—that’s a senile mutt!”

The Green Forest bandits couldn’t brush those words off.

She was right—wouldn’t it be over if they just killed her?

All this mess was just to capture her alive, wasn’t it?

If someone slipped and accidentally killed her with a blade, wouldn’t they be blamed instead?

Only then did Wang Cheolgun realize his mistake.

But at this point, unless he stepped forward to fight one-on-one, nothing he said would matter.

Scared? You cowardly bastard.

This is just more advantageous? If your underlings die for your gain, how the fuck is that leadership?

To capture her alive? — Bullshit.

He’d fucked up the whole approach from the start.

He’d handed the tail of the conversation to a master tail-puller, and once that happened, the only way to deal with an annoying bitch like her was to say, bark all you want, I’m doing my job, and ignore her completely.

Trying to match words with her would only hurt him.

Wang Cheolgun realized this a beat too late.

“She’s not worth responding to. Everyone, cross the river and seize that insolent—”

“Wait! Just let me say one last thing! I’m innocent! You’re making it sound like I’m the one who killed your sons! I didn’t kill them, okay? So why’s the starting point already ‘I’m the enemy who murdered your kids’?!”

Wang Cheolgun had made up his mind to ignore whatever she said.

But this—he couldn’t ignore.

“What...? You didn’t do it? You’re saying you didn’t harm my sons?”

“Wow. This is insane. Alright, let’s talk about your firstborn, shall we? I promised to let him live. And I kept that promise, okay? I only smashed both his shoulders, broke his legs, and ripped out all his fingers. But I didn’t kill him, alright?”

“You... you bitch. That’s what you call letting someone live?”

Even the bandits were stunned speechless.

So what was a father supposed to feel?

Qing didn’t give a shit. She kept going.

“That dog tried to rape me—why the fuck should I treat him? He was sobbing, begging for his life, like a fucking child. I swear, he was crying so hard, snot and tears everywhere, crawling on the ground like a worm. Your precious son, the heir of Green Forest’s branch leader, crying his fucking heart out. He was pathetic. So pathetic I didn’t even want to waste my blade on him. I let him go. And he ran like hell, fell into a pit, and died all on his own.”

Flames flickered and surged from Wang Cheolgun’s gaze.

“I found him the next morning, floating face-down in a puddle. You know what? His belly was bloated like a pregnant woman’s. Guess he tried to drink all the water to escape. His limbs were busted, so he couldn’t crawl out. Probably thought if he drank the water, the puddle would disappear. But it was pouring rain. Did he really think drinking would help? Isn’t that funny? Like a man drowning in the river trying to drink the river dry.”

Wang Cheolgun’s whole body shook.

The horrific image burned into his mind: his son, limbs broken, flailing desperately to survive, chugging filthy rainwater as he died.

“The second son? Now that one is really unjust. I didn’t lay a finger on him. Not even a single hair. He pushed his own subordinates forward to die in his place and ran like hell. Then he tripped on a rock and fell face-first. I’m not even kidding—he flew ten jang and slammed into a boulder. Like this—BANG!”

Qing clapped her palm with her fist—SMAACK! The sound echoed clearly across the river.

“Now that I think about it, like father, like son. Look at you now—sacrificing your men just to capture me. Where do you think they learned that cowardly shit? Must’ve been you. Anyway, the second one was completely innocent. Maybe the first deserved what he got, but the second? He just got scared and ran himself into a grave.”

“I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!”

Qing quickly shouted back.

“Wait! I’m not done! Your daughter—the one who went into the forest!”

He had just stepped to use Jin-gak, but his feet froze and slammed into the ground uselessly.

My daughter... my girl...

“Didn’t you see the body? Her belly and back were carved up with writing. ‘I am Eon Yeonyeong of the Blood Cult of the Zombie King,’ it said. So why the hell are you screaming about vengeance at me?”

“You... it was you! You knew! How else could you have known?!”

“I’m not telling you shit. Wanna know? That’ll be five hundred gold ingots.”

Qing calmly held out her hand.

“You! You knew! Just the fact that you know means it was you! Y-You... you’re the one who did it!”

“Oh? Don’t even know how she died, huh? Well, it suited a bitch who ate human flesh alive. It was a fitting death. She screamed her lungs out for someone to save her. Maybe she called out for you, huh? ‘Daddy, please save me! Daddy, help! You said you’d protect me!’ Where were you, Daddy? What were you doing, huh? You killed her! You’re the one who let your daughter die, you old fuck! And now you want to blame me?!”

Blood tears streamed from Wang Cheolgun’s eyes.

The blue inner flame of his wrath was starting to mix with a violet-colored poison Qi—leaking out in dangerous hues.

But Qing kept running her mouth.

“To sum it up: blaming me for your kids dying? That’s seriously fucked up. Honestly, wasn’t that all just natural causes? One tried to rape someone and died, one panicked and killed himself, and one turned out to be a flesh-eating monster. Sounds like divine punishment to me.”

“Y-You—!”

“I’ll go to paradise even if I die! Unlike your bastard kids! You know murderers go to the snake pit in hell, right? Your kids are gonna suffer even after death! Torn apart alive for a thousand years, screaming in agony! If you miss them so much, just die! Go reunite with them in hell, Daddy dearest!”

“I’LL KILL YOU!!!”

Wang Cheolgun finally snapped.

Twin flames of wrath burst from his eyes, flickering wildly as he charged forward with frightening speed.

Qing, who had tried water-skimming multiple times herself, knew just how hard it was.

Why had she attempted water-skimming so many times, you ask? Because once she learned it was possible to run on water, how the hell could she not try?

Anyway, Su-sangbi required you to stomp down with the entire sole of your foot while simultaneously springing forward with explosive force. It demanded intense concentration.

Which meant—it was a vulnerable moment.

Qing hurled her arm with all her strength.

SHWAAACK!

With a piercing sound like a drawn cable whipping through the air, it shot straight like a line. It was the ultimate secret technique she’d shown several times already: the Meteor Shot of the Wandering Hero.

But Wang Cheolgun was a master of the Hwaygyeong realm.

A mere stone wouldn’t stop him.

He cloaked himself in a visibly glowing layer of Protective Qi and twisted his body to the side.

Shwaaack—THUD.

A blade—not a stone—pierced just beneath his shoulder.

A bladed dart. A barbed throwing knife, at that.

Not something that’d come loose once it was in.

She had sharpened it thoroughly, worried it wouldn’t pierce through Protective Qi.

Was the Qi the problem?

Maybe the power behind it was the real issue.

If she could crack skulls with rocks, then imagine what she could do with a proper throwing weapon.

So why had she stuck to stones all this time?

Because if she kept throwing stones, they’d assume she only had stones.

Qing’s ploy hit its mark.

Wang Cheolgun’s eyes, glowing with that eerie blue fire, rolled downward as his massive body splashed into the water.

Splash!

She’d been aiming for his heart, but he twisted just in time and took the blade in the arm.

And even that hit would’ve missed, if not for her godlike accuracy—no, her godlike aimcraft.

“I got him! Bases loaded, grand slam! Four runs for Ximen Qing!”

Anyone hearing her would instantly know she didn’t know shit about baseball.

Because she didn’t. Qing didn’t know baseball at all.

Still, at this rate she could probably carry the Giants to a championship, right?

With her stamina, there’d be no controversy about overusing pitchers—just make her the sole starter, scrap the rest of the team, let her play every game.

Besides, the more you use your shoulder, the stronger it gets, right?

Qing peered out over the water.

A Peak Realm master wasn’t going to drown just because he took a blade to the arm.

Was he planning something?

Waiting to ambush if she got close?

So Qing recited the forbidden resurrection spell—the one said to raise even the dead:

“...Did I get him?”

SPLAAASH! Twin eyeballs burst from the water like they’d resurrected, flying up toward the sky.

Yup, that line never fails. Guaranteed results!

This was exactly what Qing had wanted—a proper one-on-one.

Drawing her Moonlight Sword, she shouted triumphantly:

“Alright, come on then! I’ll give you three moves for free—young folks’ privilege! C’mon, you’re a Peak Realm master, right? You won’t even give a Mid Realm kid a three-move head start? Stingy little shit!”

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I’LL KILL YOU!”

“Oh, now you’re gonna kill me? But you just said you were gonna let me live! Hey, bandits, you saw that, right? This bastard can’t even keep his story straight!”

“DIIIIE!”

Soaked and ragged as he looked, his skill was real.

Wang Cheolgun soared high into the sky, then suddenly snapped downward like a falling blade—SHWAAACK!—hurtling toward Qing like an actual meteor.

The fuck? How do you even pull that off from mid-air?

Qing panicked and immediately activated her footwork.

Eight distinct versions of herself burst out—some leaping, some crawling, some sprinting—scattering in all directions.

BOOOM!

His massive hammer slammed into the earth, sending the ground nearly a full jang into the air.

Behind him, a translucent Qing who had been crawling low to the ground emerged mid-air, turned solid, and rose to her feet with her back to him.

Just for a moment, though.

She immediately turned, eyes wide.

What the hell? Was that a literal meteor drop? Did he crater the fucking earth? Should I be the one calling it Meteor Shot instead? No—this is full-on Meteor Drop, huh? Bandit Meteor Drop?

Fuck, that shit’s gotta hurt.

But she’d already prepared herself for this.

Qing clenched her teeth.

So this... this is real Peak Realm.

Not some baby who’d just stepped into it—a true master steeped in it.

This is ideology? Where the fuck did science go? No wonder Zhongyuan’s basic science education is absolute trash!

High-level masters didn’t feel human anymore.

Flying on swords (Flying Blade Step), walking slowly across water (Step Across Still Surface), and wielding weapons like space-age psychics—pulling people and objects with invisible force (Force Draw).

Mid Realm?

Mid Realm forges starlight itself.

But Peak Realm sits in a weird in-between zone.

The biggest thing was that their condensed Qi attacks were far stronger.

Yes, they had long-range projection techniques like Energy Rings, but those weren’t as deadly as Qi-coated weapons.

And yet—when Mid Realm fought Peak Realm, the gap was as vast as the one between a First-Class fighter and a Mid Realm one.

Because at Peak Realm, warriors first stepped into the realm of ideology.

It was where you constructed your own martial path and began walking it.

As the Heavenly Martial Emperor once put it: “It’s like learning how to swing a sword. You’ve just taken your first steps.”

You twist the rules of the world through your own interpretation. You carve your personal philosophy into the earth with your martial arts.

Chohwa (Harmony) meant understanding all things and the reason they must be so.

A martial art that reaches universal logic and etches it into the fabric of heaven and earth.

Thus—Chohwakyung. The Realm of Harmony.

Or shortened—Hwaygyeong.

Establish the world’s logic through your martial art? You’re in Hwaygyeong.

If the logic of your martial art instead controls you, that’s Pre-Devil Realm (Ipmajigyeong)—called Ipma for short—and it ranks just below Hwaygyeong.

To escape from Ipma required even greater enlightenment.

Surpassing it gave birth to martial artists who were closer to ideology itself, which is why the next realm, Post-Devil Realm (Talmajigyeong), was often considered half a step above Hyungyeong.

“XIMEN QIIING! I’LL KILL YOUUU!”

The boiling scream shattered Qing’s awe.

She fired right back.

“Why the hell are you talking down to me! If an old bastard like you is about to die, then when you see a bright young talent like me, shouldn’t you say, ‘please, noble youth, would you be so kind as to die in my place?’ Learn some manners—WAAAAAGH!”

Before she could finish, the meteor dropped again.

The hammer came down like a comet.

Qing scattered once more, splitting into eight forms.

Wave-Slicing Phantom Step was also a martial technique steeped in ideology.

Under normal circumstances, it should’ve been way above her level.

But Qing’s approach to martial arts was... well, world-class scammer-tier.

So of course she pulled it off just fine.

BOOOM!

The ground flipped again.

This time, Qing appeared mid-stride—bent low with arms swept back as she dashed forward. Her form shimmered briefly, revealing itself just as she slid past the hammer strike and spun around.

Behind Wang Cheolgun’s striking pose, hammer planted in the ground—

Qing stood with her back to him, facing the opposite way.