Light Novel: Volume 10 Episode 23
Manhwa: N/A
The weight of the rod Seongam is holding is over eighty pounds. It is several times heavier than an ordinary rod because it was made of a mixture of cast iron and other metals.
Since the rod is over 80 pounds, the power of the Demon Subduing Rod when unleashed doubles.
Once the rod hits the opponent, their bones and flesh would completely be crushed to the point of making them unrecognizable.
Buuung!
Seongam spinned the heavy rod lightly like a windmill.
But the aftermath was by no means light.
Kwaaang!
The rod would cause an explosion on whatever it touched.
It even caused the ground to crack and burst.
The power contained in the rod was so incredible that anyone who saw it with their own eyes would even find its power unbelievable.
Every time Seongam swung his rod, the rod would emit energy similar to sword qi.
Kwakwakwang!
The place where the energy from the rod was struck burst out. However, no matter how many times he swung the rod, he could not hit Pyo-wol.
Pyo-wol was like a snake.
He evaded all of Seongam’s attacks just by moving his body a bit.
“What a coward! The only thing you can do is evade. As expected, you can only resort to such dirty tricks!”
Seongam sneered at Pyo-wol.
Assassins were one of the most despised classes in Jianghu.
In particular, warriors who belonged to prestigious sects, such as the Shaolin Temple, hated assassins even more. Seongam was no exception.
He was the type to strike first if he learned that the other party is an assassin.
He considers assassins as the most useless thing in Jianghu to the extent that he wants to wipe them all out.
The power that went into his hand as he wielded his rod was as great as his hatred.
Huung!
He unleashed all Eighteenth Strokes of the Demon Subduing Rod.
The rod seemed to tremble as it differentiated into 18 rods and stabbed Pyo-wol’s entire body.
It was a completely calculated attack that predicts and goes to the direction where Pyo-wol would move next.
“I got you.”
Seongam had a delighted expression.
He was confident that he would be able to inflict great damage on Pyo-wol with this technique.
However, his wish did not come true.
Pyo-wol had slithered like a snake and avoided all of his attacks yet again.
“How much longer are you going to run away?!”
In the end, Seongam could not stand it anymore and screamed.
His anger had reached its peak.
This was the exact moment Pyo-wol was waiting for.
Ciiit!
Two phantom daggers were released with a horrifying sound. It flew in two different trajectories and aimed at Seongam’s body.
“Do you think such crude attacks will work on me?”
Seongam swung his rod and knocked out all the phantom daggers.
Daggers are usually only useful in the dark or an ambush. It cannot demonstrate its power in a head-to-head confrontation like this. It was even more difficult to demonstrate its power against a master like Seongam.
But at that moment, something unexpected happened.
The daggers, which had bounced off, changed direction in the air and flew back again towards the Seongam.
“How dare you use demonic arts against a Shaolin monk! Ha!”
Maneuvering the phantom daggers using the Soul-Reaping Thread actually takes a high level of skill, but Seongam easily dismissed it as demonic arts.
This is an act of thoroughly ignoring Pyo-wol.
Seongam attacked Pyo-wol again using the Demon Subduing Rod. His rod deflected the two phantom daggers and made it bounce back.
Huuung!
Terrifying winds and pressure weighed down Pyo-wol’s whole body. Ordinary people would have already been intimidated and scared, but Pyo-wol was different.
His composure was not weak enough to be shaken by a few seconds of Seongam’s ferocious attack.
Pyo-wol has reached his current state by going through so many things that Seongam could not dare to imagine. His experience was vastly different from Seongam who trained his martial arts and foundations in the comfort of the Shaolin Temple.
Pyo-wol simultaneously observed the movements of the Shaolin disciples while dealing with Seongam.
They had already formed a perfect siege against Pyo-wol.
They used one of the representative formations of the Shaolin Temple, the Eighteen Arhats Formation which is a scaled-down version of the One Hundred Eighteen Arhats.
Pyo-wol’s opponent was not just Seongam.
The monks who performed the Eighteen Arhats, Un-hae, Bo-kyeong, and even the warriors on the fence were after him.
As Lee Yul intended, Pyo-wol had become a public enemy.
And out of all the places, he became one in the Jin manor in which he had come to help.
Lee Yul had underhandedly made the people of the Jin family hostile towards Pyo-wol without them noticing. He successfully took advantage of the instinctive reluctance that not only Seongam but most people have toward assassins.
It was a truly meticulous plan.
However, there was something Lee Yul had missed.
It was Pyo-wol’s martial arts.
Ciiit!
Pyo-wol released his phantom daggers again.
“You—”
At that moment, Seongam was rendered speechless.
The number of phantom daggers flying in the air had increased to ten.
He wouldn’t have been so surprised if the daggers had simply been an increase in numbers. But all ten phantom daggers were moving in their own direction, as if they were all alive.
Each phantom dagger was connected with a Soul-Reaping Thread.
Pyo-wol only used to manipulate four or five strands. However, his meeting with Il-gum had caused a big change inside his body, and this was the result.
Pyo-wol is now capable of producing ten strands of the Soul-Reaping Thread.
The Soul-Reaping Thread moved the phantom daggers according to Pyo-wol’s will.
Kwakakakang!
The phantom daggers took turns in attacking Seongam.
Seongam tried to deflect all of Pyo-wol’s attacks by using his Demon Subduing Rod. However, the continuous attack of the phantom daggers was beyond Seongam’s imagination.
Cracks began to form in Seongam’s rod as it continuously clashed with Pyo-wol’s phantom daggers.
No matter how much the phantom daggers bounced back, it would always come back and go for his rod.
Tadadadang!
“Keugh!”
Seongam’s face became horribly distorted.
Due to the shock transmitted through the rod, his muscles started to bulge out.
‘W, What?’
The power behind one or two hits wasn’t that great. But having ten phantom daggers alternately take turns in attacking and striking hundred of times in a matter of seconds was a different story. Even Seongam couldn’t handle such a barrage of attacks.
Jjoooeng!
Just like how water droplets that fell one by one could eventually make a hole in a rock, the rod couldn’t stand the constant rain of the phantom daggers and broke.
“Unbelievable!”
Seongam looked stunned as he held his rod which was split into two.
He had no idea that his rod, which was made by mixing various metals, would break like this.
At that moment, Pyo-wol pierced Seongam’s chest.
Pyo-wol used Jade Destruction into Seongam’s wide open chest.
Poeng!
“Kuergh!”
Seongam flew back with a groan.
“Ah, Senior Brother!”
“Dodge!”
The monks of Shaolin Temple moved.
But Pyo-wol was much faster than them.
Parararak!
Ten phantom daggers spread widely and swirled like a storm.
“Kargh!”
“Keuk!”
Around a dozen monks fell down, bleeding.
The formation that surrounded Pyo-wol collapsed in an instant.
Pyo-wol broke through the encirclement and escaped.
“Stop him!”
“Everyone, attack!”
The warriors who were guarding the other side of the fence tried to block Pyo-wol. However, before they could even approach him, they all collapsed. The phantom daggers had stopped them from their tracks.
Pyo-wol, who broke through the encirclement in an instant, soon turned into a small dot and disappeared from everyone’s view.
“Oh my!”
“I can’t believe he’s this strong–!”
The warriors looked at the direction where the Pyo-wol disappeared with dazed expressions.
They thought that Pyo-wol was just an ordinary assassin. After all, that’s the extent of their information on him. But the martial arts Pyo-wol demonstrated just a moment ago was far beyond their imagination.
The venue had turned into a sea of blood, and dozens of warriors are now currently groaning on the floor suffering from fatal wounds.
Among them was Seongam.
He wasn’t as fatally wounded as the others, but he was still in pain.
If he hadn’t trained his body to be like steel, he might have even lost his life.
“Keugh!”
Seongam trembled with shame.
His pride was greatly wounded since he was hurt by an assassin, whom he initially belittled.
“That bastard! I will never forgive him!”
Seongam seethe in anger.
“Are you okay?”
Un-hae approached him.
“I, I’m alright, Senior Brother!”
“His martial arts are really amazing. I can’t believe an assassin possesses such martial arts.”
Un-hae also couldn’t believe what he just witnessed.
To think that the time it took for Seongam and the rest of the Shaolin Temple elites to collapse was just a matter of minutes.
Pyo-wol incapacitated everyone in that short moment and leisurely escaped the Jin manor.
Luckily enough, no one died.
‘Is it a coincidence?’
He suddenly thought.
With the power Pyo-wol showed earlier, he could have killed as many people as possible. However, the fact that he didn’t kill anyone implied that he had the situation under control.
‘If he really is the one who killed Seong-un, why would he show them mercy? He can just kill them and escape…’
Un-hae felt himself getting a headache.
At that time, Jin Siwoo approached Un-hae.
Jin Siwoo’s expression was as hard as stone.
“Monk!”
“Young Master Jin.”
“Please leave the Jin manor.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want you to take monk Seong-un’s body and leave the Jin manor.”
Jin Siwoo’s voice was very cold.
This was in great contrast to the attitude he had shown them a while ago. When Jin Siwoo first met and greeted the Shaolin disciples, he had been cautious and polite towards them. This was because he wanted to show his respect towards the Shaolin Temple.
But the Shaolin disciple’s attitude just now had forced him to act otherwise.
No matter how much the Shaolin disciples suspected Pyo-wol to be the culprit behind Seong-un’s death, fighting inside the Jin manor without his permission is clearly an act of disregard for him and the Jin family.
Even if it’s the Shaolin disciples, they couldn’t act freely in the territory of another sect.
There could only be one reason why Seongam and the Shaolin disciples dared to attack Pyo-wol in the Jin manor.
They’re looking down on the Jin family.
It was only then that Un-hae realized why Jin Siwoo was angry.
A flustered expression appeared on his face.
There is a line that shouldn’t be crossed.
But now, Seongam and the rest of the Shaolin Temple monks have crossed that line.
Even if they suspected Pyo-wol, they should never have done anything here if they had considered the reputation and influence of the Jin family. Especially in front of Jin Siwoo.
Just as the Shaolin Temple was angry at the death of Seong-un, it was natural for Jin Siwoo to be angry at the Shaolin Temple’s actions.
“Amitabha! There seems to have been some misunderstanding. It’s not as if we’re ignoring the Jin family—”
“How is it not an act of ignoring the Jin family when you dare attack my guest without my permission? Even if the Shaolin Temple is one of the great sects in Jianghu, you cannot just ignore the Jin family.”
“Amitabha Buddha!”
“It goes without saying. Although our Jin family can’t afford to fight the Shaolin right now because of our fight with the Snow Sword Manor, that doesn’t mean that we have to put up with such disregard. Get out.”
“Young Master Jin, we can still fix—”
Un-hae tried to convince Jin Siwoo to the end. However, Seongam, who got his pride hurt, thought differently.
“Does the Jin family dare ignore the Shaolin?”
Seongam radiated formidable momentum with his wounded body.
At that, Jin Siwoo’s complexion hardened even more.
He didn’t endure such treatment because he was a good person. He had only done so on behalf of the Jin family’s face. But since the opponent keeps on making a disturbance without thinking much of the situation, he couldn’t take it anymore.
It was then.
“That’s enough.”
Namgung Wol, who had only been watching so far, stood in front of Jin Siwoo.
There was a bleak energy coming out of Namgung Wol’s eyes.
Namgung Wol had come to help the Jin family because of his relationship with Jin Geum-woo. He had no choice but to endure the actions of the Shaolin Temple until now to preserve Jin Siwoo’s face, but he couldn’t take it anymore. Seongam keeps on provoking that it was starting to get on his nerves.
Seongam’s eyes widened.
“What?”
“I told you to stop.”
“You dare–!”
“Don’t even say, ‘You dare–!’. I’m tired of hearing it.”
Namgung Wol’s eyes were filled with murderous intent.
Seongam was so angry that he looked like he was about to attack, but Un-hae stopped him.
“Stop it, Seongam!”
“But, Senior Brother–!”
“Do you dare ignore my words?”
“N… No.”
No matter how strong Seongam was, he could not afford to ignore his senior brother, Un-hae.
As Un-hae’s voice grew cold, Seongam realized his mistake. His shoulders shrunk in return.
Namgung Wol said to Seongam,
“If you want to go on a rampage like a mad dog just like what you did earlier, don’t put out the name of the Shaolin Temple. It’d be like you trampling on Shaolin’s thousand-year-old honor. If you don’t want to listen to me, then go ahead and attack me anytime. I’ll deal with you as Namgung Wol, and not as Namgung Wol of the Heavenly Guardian Association.”
