As Chung Myung kicked off the branch and jumped, the sound of leaves shaking could be heard.

It was a terrifying sound in the darkness of Mount Hua. Chung Myung smiled, showing his teeth, in reaction to this qi which was making his skin shudder.

Paat!

At that moment, two swords came from below and shot at Chung Myung’s stomach and neck.

And then came three more swords.

These swords were cut off from the concept of swordsmanship; rather, their sole purpose was to stab and kill their opponent.

The tip of the three swords shone in the moonlight and glowed eerily.

And the other two poisoned swords were still incoming.

However, there wasn’t even the slightest sign of hesitation within Chung Myung’s sword.

Kang!

Chung Myung’s sword, which struck and blew away the flying swords, split from one into dozens in a matter of seconds and mowed down his attackers.

Puak!

He could feel a distinct sensation in his hand.

It was evident that his sword had pierced through flesh.

But even though he had wounded someone, not a single groan came out, and this went to show how thoroughly this assassin group was trained.

Tat!

Chung Myung had launched himself through the air using a tree branch, moving through the air like a bird spotting its’ prey.

But, as soon as he had touched the ground, two members of the Black Swan troop, who were hiding near the trees, pounced on him like wolves.

Swish!

A straightforward sword.

A sword only meant for attacking, ignoring defense.

A sword that was covered with a vicious poison that would instantly kill a person.

A single wound would poison their opponent. They knew all too well how to deal with those stronger than them.

If they had no experience dealing with skilled people, they would die without even being able to demonstrate half their true skills.

But…

Paaah!

But Chung Myung’s sword spread out like a beam of light.

Before his opponent’s sword could reach him, Chung Myung’s sword pierced his first opponent.

Tuk!

The three swords which touched his sword parted right away. Even so, Chung Myung’s sword didn’t lose momentum and soon bisected his opponent’s body.

The body split in half and either side fell down, as blood rained down.

Even though they saw their comrade’s body split in half, the attackers on either side of Chung Myung never slowed down.

Chung Myung stared coldly at the sword that was coming for his neck and stretched out one leg to the side, and turned his body around.

Swish!

The hem of his robe was slightly cut, but the blade never reached Chung Myung’s body.

And…

Slash!

Chung Myung swung his sword once again, and once again another head flew.

Thud!

With his head cut off, the body fell and began to cool.

Chiik!

As soon as the poison sword fell, the grass around it began to instantly turn dry and brown.

How much poison did they have to apply for such a result to occur?

After swinging his sword to shake off the blood, Chung Myung turned to the sky with the tip of his nose picking up the scent of blood.

It felt dirty.

The smell of blood seeping into his nostrils and the constant killing. The coldness he could feel from the corpse. It was as if he had gone back to the past, a sense of déjà vu.

Grrrn.

He could see the dark clouds gathering, and eventually, thunder and lightning started to strike down from the sky.

And not long after, rain began to pour down.

Chung Myung calmly lowered his gaze as he was soaked in the rain.

Circumstances were in their favor.

Those who hid in the darkness and looked for an opening to kill their opponent would now try to hide more with lightning coming down.

This was the battlefield they would like the most, and having to fight in such a situation was foolish for only one.

But Chung Myung could follow each of their movements. If he threw himself into their hunting ground, then these people wouldn’t be able to change their focus to the disciples of Mount Hua.

Rain dripped down his wet hair.

Faced with the cold rain, which cooled his body in an instant, he said,

“If you don’t come, I will.”

He kicked the ground, and Chung Myung shot up like a firework, red plum blossoms blooming in the darkness. They were the cleanest, most beautiful kind of blossoms, and this was why these plum blossoms appeared so alien on the battlefield.

Plum blossoms fell on those who were hiding in the darkness.

Slash!

The plum blossoms, which seemed to have bloomed softly, began to cut down everything they touched.

“…. Kuk.”

With a faint shout, another body fell.

And it was then…

Swish!

Dozens of black shadows moved for Chung Myung, cutting through the pouring rain.

Eyes colder than pouring rain shone in the darkness.

Thud!

Soon after, Chung Myung’s sword, which was pointed downwards, moved through the air like a snake. The beautiful and amazing plum blossoms born from the tip of his sword covered the place once again.

Once again, there was no hesitation.

Kakaka!

The poison swords of his opponents couldn’t even pierce through the plum blossom swords. The swords which collided with the plum blossoms bounced around in all directions.

At that moment.

Pah!

A dark poison sword came for Chung Myung’s feet, who had to jump up to avoid the strike.

Although he did avoid the strike, he couldn’t maintain his sword technique. Soon, the plum blossoms vanished, creating an opening for his enemies to charge at him once again.

Chung Myung gritted his teeth and grabbed his sword, and with his body in the air, he began to unfold another sword technique.

Among the Twenty-Four Movement Plum Blossom Sword technique was a move called the Disordered Falling Plum, where countless plum blossoms of different shapes floated through the air as their petals slowly rained down. And soon, countless petals were pouring down.

“Huh!”

Those who rushed in to kill him were shocked by this, but it was too late to back down now.

The members of the Black Swans didn’t care anymore and threw themselves into the rain of plum blossoms petals.

Swish! Swish!

The plum blossoms fell all over their bodies and even in this situation where their bodies and bones were being wounded, they didn’t lose their focus and went to stab Chung Myung.

A simple move.

A straight attack, with no flashy steps or movements to delude their opponent.

However, the moment the dozens of swords gathered close, they became one, a single terrifying strike.

This attack from his opponent moved for Chung Myung. A few swords lost their force and just fell, but none of them were strong enough to even get close to Chung Myung.

Tat!

Chung Myung landed on the ground and looked at the scene. Kicking off the ground, he threw himself between the shooting swords.

Kwang!

The thin and sharp sword collided with Chung Myung’s plum sword and shattered. Fragments of the sword scattered at terrifying speeds and were sent flying back at the members of the Black Swan troop.

Paaah!

Taking advantage of the moment when his opponents were hesitating, Chung Myung’s sword went for the ones who moved like leaders. The moment he noticed them, his sword moved in that direction.

The plum blossoms bloomed.

Blood gushed.

In an instant, the forest, which was flooded with heavy rain, was now stained with red plum blossoms.

The severed limbs all fell down with their parts lumped together, unable to even scream.

However, Chung Myung wasn’t safe.

Slash!

The poisoned sword flew in right then got close enough to touch Chung Myung’s shoulder.

“E-Enough….”

Paat!

However, the one who managed that was thrown back like a ball after Chung Myung kicked him.

Chung Myung, who had violently slashed across his enemy’s throat, took their poison sword by its handle. Then, he plunged it down into the next person who attacked him.

Stab!

The sword dug into their shoulder with an eerie noise.

Slash!

The sound of a sharp blade cutting through flesh could be heard even through the rain. There was no hesitation within the hand of Chung Myung.

Without blinking his eyes, he cut off a handful of flesh and then returned to clenching his own sword.

Bang!

And as if waiting, a huge roar broke out, and with this, five more people moved forward to stab Chung Myung.

Paah!

Chung Myung, who had blown away the heads of those before him, brought his sword to his side again…

Slash!

With very delicate movements, he could down his opponent, and so they fell.

After doing that, he turned his face and turned to one side.

His gaze accurately pierced through the dark forest, spotting Black Jackal, who was watching all of this.

“Hu…”

A sound similar to a chuckle escaped from Chung Myung’s mouth.

“…”

Black Jackal stared at Chung Myung with snake-like eyes.

‘This is odd.’

He could feel his body go cold.

‘Never have I met someone like him.’

The reason he was this shocked was because this man seemed so used to this kind of fighting.

He had no hesitation in his hand when he went down to slice a person’s throat or chop through their bodies or even at the sight of dozens dying.

In addition, he was hitting them with their own poison swords.

Black Jackal had met countless enemies, but never had he faced someone like him.

Twenty lives were lost in an instant.

While nearly half their members had lost their lives, the only thing they had managed were two small cuts on this man.

Normally that should be enough. Since it was just a slash, their opponent would become careless, and the poison would spread inside, killing them.

But there seemed to be no carelessness or hesitation in this man.

Clench!

Black jackal’s hand began to move. His enemy was strong.

But…

‘Nothing excites me more than the cries of a strong person.’

Catching and killing the weak was easy, like stomping on bugs. So he failed to feel excited.

But the blood of the strong was special.

Clench.

He bit his lip and, feeling the taste of blood fill his mouth, he smiled.

His eyes, through the bandages, looked excited.

Chung Myung was walking toward him.

Even though it was raining, the blood stains on his shoulder and the side of his robe were clear.

But…

The sight of him approaching with his body and sword dragging brought out an unknown emotion.

Fear. Right, this was fear.

‘I am feeling fear…’

Kaka!

His long claw-like nails protruded from his sleeves as they were rubbed against one another.

‘I need to kill him.’

If he failed to kill this child then their clan would fall at his hands. And considering that he was still young, the growth he would experience couldn’t be stopped by his clan.

And so, he had to be killed here.

“… seventh form.”

His voice was so subtle as it moved through the air.

Seventh form.

A way to disregard his own life and kill his opponent at any cost. And this was something they had never been ordered to perform before.

Step.

Whether Chung Myung knew this or not, he continued to approach his target.

“Now, speak.”

A voice colder than the cold rain.

“How should I kill you?”

The eyes of Black jackal who heard this shone.

“Kill.”

The signal fell from him and dozens of shadow forms moved for Chung Myung.

Chung Myung smiled at this,

“This is good.”

He was glad it was raining.

Because this dirty blood will be washed by the rain.

A slightly sorrowful and sad plum blossom rose from the tip of Chung Myung’s sword.