Chapter 23 Gale (3)
Myeong Horim clenched his fist.
Crack!
The shattered glass turned to powder.
It was not an act possible through mere physical training. To pulverize glass shards by emitting internal energy was truly remarkable.
"A mistake?"
Yeon Hojeong nodded.
Interest sparked in Myeong Horim's eyes.
"And who might you be?"
"Keep your eyes on your opponent."
"What?"
Myeong Horim burst into laughter.
"An interesting young man. Are you perhaps from Gangso Byeoksan?"
Yeon Hojeong didn't answer. Instead, he brought over a new glass and poured liquor. Then, he slowly drank. He even casually propped one leg up, looking like nothing more than a dissolute playboy who haunts gibangs (Korean traditional gisaeng houses).
Myeong Horim's eyes gleamed.
At that moment, Dang Yangseon said without turning around,
"You piece of trash. One more useless move, and you're dead."
Again, Yeon Hojeong did not answer.
Dang Yangseon didn't expect an answer either. Myeong Horim was the only one important to him.
He took a step forward.
Fsssss.
A faint heat haze rose from beneath his feet.
It was the Samyang Gong of the Tang family, a highly difficult martial art that, when mastered, would naturally lead to the Tang family's secret technique, Dobansamyanggwiewongong.
Even Myeong Horim couldn't afford to relax forever. Even setting aside his skill, he couldn't ignore Dang Yangseon because of his specialty: poison.
Dang Yangseon gritted his teeth.
"I'll turn you into a bloody pulp..."
At that moment, a sonic boom erupted once more.
Shing! Crash!
The powdered glass scattered in all directions.
Unlike before, Myeong Horim had extended his fist. The glass struck by his fist had turned to powder.
Myeong Horim's eyes deepened.
'Impressive.'
The fist that had shattered the glass was faintly trembling. There was no pain, but it meant that there was power enough to shake the internal energy of the Myeong family.
Myeong Horim, loosening his fist, asked with a smile,
"Another mistake, friend?"
Yeon Hojeong held up his empty hands.
"It was a mistake."
"Haha! A friend prone to mistakes. Anyway."
"......"
"I wouldn't go poking a wolf if I were you."
Whoooong!!
From Dang Yangseon, who had lowered his head, killing intent flowed out.
Not poison, but killing intent. And that killing intent was directed not at Myeong Horim, but at Yeon Hojeong.
"Trash of the Yeon family."
"......"
"Do you take me for a fool?"
"......"
"Do I look like the kind of guy who takes crap from trash like you?"
Again, Yeon Hojeong did not answer. Looking around, there were no empty glasses, so he was filling Jegal Ayeon's glass.
Namgung Hyeon, who had calmed down the guards from afar, frowned at the sight.
Han Hoomyeong shouted.
"Young Master! Control yourself!"
Dang Yangseon turned his body.
Jegal Ayeon flinched. Dang Yangseon's eyes, glaring at Yeon Hojeong, were filled with madness.
"You're gonna pay for disrespecting me."
Jegal Ayeon moved.
"Don't...!"
Whack!
Everyone's eyes widened at the brutal sound.
Yeon Hojeong dusted off his hand. The glass was gone, and only a few drops of liquor remained on his hand.
Dang Yangseon's expression went blank.
Drip.
Blood dripped from his split forehead.
Thud!
Soon, Dang Yangseon fell backward. He had lost consciousness after being hit by the liquor glass Yeon Hojeong had flung.
Myeong Horim's face hardened.
Yeon Hojeong, dusting off his hands, slowly rose from his seat.
"Poisoning people at a drinking party is just bad manners."
A moment of silence fell.
Everyone watching the sudden situation was in shock. Han Hoomyeong, Dang Yangseon's guard, was even more surprised.
Dang Yangseon had fainted. From a thrown liquor glass, of all things.
The Tang family's main martial arts were poison and hidden weapons. For Dang Yangseon, the heir of such a family, to not even be able to block a single liquor glass was a great shock to everyone.
Jegal Ayeon's eyes wavered.
"A-Are you alright?"
Again, Yeon Hojeong did not answer. No, from the start, he was not in a situation to answer anyone.
'Is it similar? Or not? I still don't know. But...'
The unpleasant fighting spirit emanating from Myeong Horim's refined energy.
An indefinable sense of unease.
A unique temperament lurking behind the stable internal force typical of the Orthodox Faction. And the explosive force (balkyeong).
The balkyeong that shattered the glass followed a method of operation never seen before.
Neither the internal energy nor the balkyeong of those who attacked the family. It was a color Yeon Hojeong had never seen before.
But one thing was certain.
Myeong Horim and the attackers' internal energy and balkyeong, though different in color, shared a commonality of 'darkness.' There was a point of contact that could not be found in the Jegal Clan and the Peng Clan.
Flash! Flash!
As the Byeokrajingyeol was activated, Yeon Hojeong's pupils turned a faint blue.
Whirr! Whirr!
It was as if interlocking gears were turning in a corner of his head.
His concentration improved at a terrifying speed. His qi flowed along Myeong Horim's energy channels and instantly penetrated into the opponent's dantian.
'......?!'
Myeong Horim's neck tensed.
'He's reading me?'
The opponent's sharp gaze felt like releasing hundreds of venomous snakes coiling around his body.
'Hup!'
Myeong Horim unconsciously stopped breathing. By stopping his breath, his qi was fixed, and his internal energy was firmly consolidated.
Swish!
The snakes that had been groping his entire body raised their heads, flicking their forked tongues.
The reaction was immediate. By forcibly stopping the flow of internal energy, the opponent's qi that was probing him faltered.
Yeon Hojeong's face contorted.
Tsss tsss tsss.
The surging Byeokrajin qi fluctuated wildly. He was displeased with the opponent's response.
'Gasp!'
Jegal Ayeon unconsciously held her breath. Yeon Hojeong's change was clearly conveyed to her, being the closest to him.
"Brother!"
Yeon Jipyeong ran over from afar.
Jegal Ayeon hurriedly stopped Yeon Jipyeong.
"Big sis?"
"Wait."
Jegal Ayeon looked at Yeon Hojeong's back with trembling eyes.
"Don't go near him."
"B-But, Brother!"
Jegal Ayeon intuitively realized that she couldn't stop Yeon Hojeong now.
Yeon Jipyeong also knew. That his brother was different now.
'With my or Jipyeong's skills, we can't stop Hojeong now. Then...'
Just leave him alone because we can't stop him?
She couldn't do that. If things went wrong, it could leave a stain on the history of the Seven Great Families Assembly. Beyond simply who was in danger, the issue of the Orthodox Faction's honor was also at stake.
Of course, the most worrying thing was Yeon Hojeong. A moderate quarrel would be one thing, but making an enemy of the Sichuan Tang Family was never a wise move.
Jegal Ayeon said to Jegal Jun.
"Tell Namgung to stop the banquet! Every guard, get your young masters back to their rooms!"
"Yes, Big sis!"
At that moment, a groan was heard.
Surprisingly, it was Dang Yangseon. He had lost consciousness in one blow, but he woke up quickly. It meant that his recovery was excellent.
Whoosh!
Han Hoomyeong quickly approached Dang Yangseon's side.
"Young Master! Are you alright?"
A bewildered look was on Dang Yangseon's face. He didn't even know what had happened to him.
"What? Where did that bastard go?"
"Young Master, this is not the time to be doing this...!"
"Let go!"
Dang Yangseon, looking around, saw Yeon Hojeong's back.
His eyes blazed with fire.
"You, you trash! I'll kill you!"
Whoosh!
Dang Yangseon, pushing away Han Hoomyeong, rushed out and threw a fist at Yeon Hojeong's back.
No matter how angry he was, attacking someone who had turned their back was not the way of a warrior. Those who were coming to stop him were once again surprised by Dang Yangseon's rudeness.
The fist, imbued with Samyang qi, reached right in front of Yeon Hojeong's vital point, the Myeongmun point.
A cruel smile spread across Dang Yangseon's face.
'I'm gonna make you suffer!'
At that moment, Yeon Hojeong's body moved.
Thump!
"Huh?"
Dang Yangseon's eyes widened.
His body stopped in the posture of throwing a punch. And Yeon Hojeong was holding his forearm.
But Yeon Hojeong's eyes were still fixed on Myeong Horim. He had only reacted to the killing intent; from the start, he had no interest in Dang Yangseon.
However, his instincts were different.
The minimum decorum he had been holding back as the heir of the Byeoksan Yeon Family crumbled before the instincts of the Dark Emperor, called the worst master in the history of the Black Faction.
Snap!!
"Aaaaargh!"
Dang Yangseon collapsed on the spot. His arm bone was broken by the immense pressure.
Just his grip strength alone had snapped the guy's arm. Monstrous.
But he couldn't faint comfortably like before. Because Yeon Hojeong was still holding onto his broken arm.
"Ugh, l-let go of this?!"
Crack crack!
"Aaaaargh!"
Dang Yangseon writhed in terrible pain.
He couldn't even think of drawing upon his poison skills. The bone fracture, which he was experiencing for the first time, was breaking down his mind.
But he was the heir of the Tang Family. Although this pain was new to him, the martial arts he had honed for ten years were not going anywhere.
Ssss!
Purple smoke rose from Dang Yangseon's body. His body realized first that the only way to get out of this pain was to shake off his opponent.
"Eek!"
Dang Yangseon struck Yeon Hojeong's shoulder with his unharmed left hand.
Smack! Snap!
"Arghhh!!"
Surprisingly, Yeon Hojeong, who was attacked, was unharmed and perfectly fine.
Rather, Dang Yangseon's left hand, which had attacked, was fractured. Due to the powerful recoil, his right shoulder bone even popped out. Because Yeon Hojeong was holding onto his arm until the end.
Whoooong.
Everyone held their breath.
A semi-transparent hexagonal tortoise shell (guigap) shape floated around Yeon Hojeong's body.
The martial art of the Four Divine Beasts (sasin) that had unconsciously manifested. It was the Bukcheon Sibibyeok (Twelve Walls of the Northern Sky) of the Hyeonmugong (Martial Art of the Black Tortoise), renowned for its absolute defense.
"Ugh, euheuheuk!"
Dang Yangseon's eyes and nose started running.
Flash!
Yeon Hojeong's eyes flared up once more. As the enemy who had been exuding killing intent showed weakness, the ferocity he had been hiding was stimulated.
He looked down at Dang Yangseon.
"Heok!"
Dang Yangseon's trembling body stiffened as if struck by lightning.
When he met Yeon Hojeong's eyes, which were as clear as glass beads, his heart rate instantly doubled. His hands and feet turned cold, and both sides of his uvula became hot.
It felt like his entire nervous system was in chaos. Some parts of his body were hot, and some parts were cold. His pores repeatedly opened and closed on their own.
Drip drip drip.
Dang Yangseon's lower garment became damp. He pissed himself.
A ferocious killing intent was contained in Yeon Hojeong's smile.
It was the true killing intent of the Dark Emperor, shown for the first time since reincarnating into the past. With Dang Yangseon's level of martial arts, there was absolutely no way to resist that killing intent.
"Gurgle...!"
In the end, Dang Yangseon foamed at the mouth and fainted. He'd be out cold for a good while.
Yeon Hojeong's eyes grew even darker. He was thinking of crushing the opponent's mind with this momentum.
It was then.
'No.'
Beyond the instincts of a beast, cold reason arrived.
'This is not the time to be concerned with that brat, is it?'
Yeon Hojeong's eyes wavered.
Flash!
The eyes that had been blazing with killing intent regained their former clarity.
Swoosh.
Only then did Dang Yangseon's body gain freedom. His crushed arm was twisted strangely, like the body of a dead snake.
"Y-Young Master!"
Han Hoomyeong wanted to rush to Dang Yangseon, to check on his safety and swing his iron flail at Yeon Hojeong, who had made his young master like that.
However, he could only hesitate from afar. A portion of the uncontrolled killing intent had also affected him.
"Well, that killed my buzz."
Crack.
Yeon Hojeong moved his shoulder as a habit.
Myeong Horim flinched.
"So, you're the Third Young Master of the Guju Myeong Family, huh?"
"......?!"
"How about you and I have a little fun?"
