The Unorthodox Faction experts who had descended the mountain after watching the Sichuan Tang Clan were dashing toward the Tang Clan with vigor.
“The Heavenly Mountain Divine Demon and thirty great fiends of the previous generation are here. With that number, the Tang Clan, whose elders are all dead, is as good as destroyed!”
“Let’s go pull out the bones of those Tang bastards too!”
“Ha ha ha! I have great interest in the Tang Clan’s poison! If anyone finds Tang Clan poison, I will reward them handsomely!”
“What idiot would sell Tang Clan poison for mere money?”
“Hurry!”
As dozens of martial artists shot swiftly toward the Tang Clan, a group of martial artists from the Tang Clan also approached at high speed.
“The Tang bastards are coming out to welcome us!”
SHING SHING!
At the sight of the martial artists drawing their weapons and increasing their speed even further, the approaching Tang Clan martial artists began lightly shaking out their bodies.
CLATTER! CLATTER!
As the martial artists of the Flat Bat Unit lightly shook their bodies, metallic sounds began coming from them.
CLANG CLANG CLANG! CLANG!
They had undone the seals on the hidden weapons stored in their long robes.
“Kill them all!”
At the shout of the Unorthodox Faction experts, Dang Miryeong raised her hand and gave a signal.
Then the Tang Clan experts began spreading out widely. The Unorthodox Faction experts approached the Tang Clan experts, who were spreading out like a fan, while scattering killing intent.
“Kill...... huh?”
The face of the Black Serpent Slaughter King, Gang Leader of the Black Serpent Gang, who had been shouting at the front, filled with confusion.
He had seen the Tang Clan experts...... aiming metal tubes at them.
“Unrestrained Tube!”
It was one of the Tang Clan’s Ten Great Forbidden Hidden Weapons , bearing a name that meant acting however one pleased, arrogantly and without restraint.
“R-Retreat!”
The instant the Black Serpent Slaughter King shouted and hurriedly tried to throw himself backward, flying needles poured from the Unrestrained Tubes.
PIPIPIPIPIPIT!
With sharp sounds, dozens of hidden weapons shot from the Unrestrained Tubes toward the Unorthodox Faction experts.
“Kraaaagh!”
“Aaagh!”
“My eye!”
Those with flying needles lodged in their eyes, those with flying needles lodged in their bodies—dozens of Unorthodox Faction experts began collapsing as their bodies were densely pierced with flying needles.
The Unrestrained Tube...... a hidden weapon named for acting however it pleased, arrogant and unrestrained.
Normally, one evaded hidden weapons by estimating the direction they were fired, as well as their position and path, through the mouth of the hidden weapon.
But the Unrestrained Tube, true to its name, fired hidden weapons however it pleased, regardless of the weapon’s opening. Moreover, it was a bizarre hidden weapon that changed direction at will even while flying.
That was why even the one using the hidden weapon could not specify a target and could only fire while hoping it would hit.
That was why, despite its power, it had been forbidden. It fired hidden weapons without distinguishing friend from foe.
But in a situation like this, where enemy and ally were facing each other across a distance, it did not matter.
PAPAPAT!
While retreating, the Black Serpent Slaughter King grabbed the neck of an Unorthodox Faction expert beside him.
“H-Huh! G-Gang Leader?”
The Black Serpent Slaughter King used the subordinate as a shield before him.
PIPIPIPIT!
Flying needles lodged in the subordinate’s body, and the subordinate screamed.
“Kraaaagh!”
Feeling the tremors through the screaming subordinate’s body, the Black Serpent Slaughter King’s face twisted.
“You mad bastards! To use forbidden hidden weapons! Do you not fear the eyes of the martial world?”
At the Black Serpent Slaughter King’s shout, the Tang Clan martial artists said nothing. They simply dropped the Unrestrained Tubes and threw hidden weapons.
PAPAPAT!
PAPAPAT!
Feeling the hidden weapons embedding themselves in his subordinate’s body, the Black Serpent Slaughter King rushed forward.
“Hidden weapons cannot be used at close range! Charge in!”
Besides, he even had a human shield to block the hidden weapons.
THUD THUD THUD!
The subordinate’s body had already lost all life, and only the impact of hidden weapons lodging into it could be felt.
The Black Serpent Slaughter King, who had not even lifted his head for fear of being hit by hidden weapons, suddenly shoved the subordinate forward with force.
WHOOSH!
“You cowardly bastards!”
The cowardly bastard who had grabbed his own subordinate to find a way to survive was furious at the Tang Clan’s hidden weapons.
With that shout, the Black Serpent Slaughter King swung his saber with force.
FWOOSH!
A powerful Saber Aura surged from the saber and shattered the hidden weapons pouring toward him.
PAPAPAPAT!
Sweeping through the front in a single breath, the Black Serpent Slaughter King charged toward the nearest Tang Clan expert.
“You bastard!”
FWOOSH!
The Black Serpent Slaughter King’s Saber Aura swung toward the Tang Clan expert as if it would split him apart in a single stroke.
But the Tang Clan expert did not even look that way. He merely continued throwing hidden weapons forward.
Instead......
PHEEE! PIP!
A sharp sound came from behind the Black Serpent Slaughter King’s head.
“Keuk!”
Hurriedly turning his body, the Black Serpent Slaughter King swung his saber.
PAPAPAT!
A round hidden weapon struck the saber and shattered. In truth, it was not a hidden weapon.
It was a bead that made a sound when thrown, a Life-Saving Bead thrown to create an opening when a comrade was in danger.
When something that made sound came flying, it was a martial artist’s instinct to turn toward it.
“Damn it! You cowardly bastards!”
Shouting, the Black Serpent Slaughter King tried to swing his saber again at the Tang Clan expert he had been aiming for, but Dang Miryeong appeared before him.
“Heavenly Net Fairy Dang Miryeong.”
The Black Serpent Slaughter King gripped his saber tightly. And the instant Dang Miryeong was about to open her mouth, the Black Serpent Slaughter King’s body shot toward her.
He was not attacking without giving her time to speak. He was attacking the instant she was about to speak.
RUMBLE!
At the sight of the Black Tiger Saber Art being swung with the sound of thunder, Dang Miryeong lightly unfolded her footwork and evaded the saber.
‘Why is it not landing? Why can she match me? Dang Miryeong’s Martial Prowess should not be this outstanding.’
The Black Serpent Slaughter King had fought Dang Miryeong several times before. His child, not knowing she was a female disciple of the Tang Clan, had tried to harass her and created a grudge, and at that time, it was Dang Miryeong who had come to the Black Serpent Gang.
Her Martial Prowess then and her Martial Prowess now were entirely different.
SWISH!
As he watched Dang Miryeong evade his attacks, a question and anger appeared on the Black Serpent Slaughter King’s face.
Dang Miryeong’s gaze as she avoided his attacks was not on him, but elsewhere.
Glance!
The Black Serpent Slaughter King looked that way with his eyes, and there, the assembled heroes who had descended from the mountain were watching this side.
And their expressions were filled with shock and fear.
‘What is this?’
The Black Serpent Slaughter King swung his saber forcefully to push Dang Miryeong back and quickly looked around.
And...... the Black Serpent Slaughter King’s face hardened.
There were no Unorthodox Faction experts standing around him.
The Taecheong Devil, One-Slash Death, One-Shadow Black Ghost......
The peak realm experts and Unorthodox Faction experts who were not inferior even when compared to him were all...... collapsed.
‘When did this happen?’
Only a few breaths had passed since the Unrestrained Tubes had fired and the hidden weapon attack had struck.
And yet all of them had been dealt with in that short time?
His shock lasted only a moment before the Black Serpent Slaughter King’s body kicked off the ground with force.
PAAT!
Then, in an instant, he began racing into the midst of the assembled heroes. Dang Miryeong quietly watched the fleeing Black Serpent Slaughter King.
“Unit Commander, shall we pursue him?”
At the unit member’s words, Dang Miryeong shook her head.
“There is no need to pursue a dead man.”
At Dang Miryeong’s words, the unit member looked at the Black Serpent Slaughter King.
The Black Serpent Slaughter King was frantically forcing his way into the assembled heroes. His only path to survival was hiding among them.
No matter how fearsome the Tang Clan was, they would not be able to use hidden weapons when the assembled heroes of the Righteous Faction were present too.
A hidden weapon was something released into flight, and once it had flown, it had no eyes. It would not distinguish between the Righteous and Unorthodox factions, and would strike someone.
The Black Serpent Slaughter King, who had been fleeing blindly into the midst of the assembled heroes, suddenly stopped. Then......
“Haa......”
After exhaling a long breath, he collapsed just like that.
“Immortal Ascension Breath!”
“It’s Immortal Ascension Breath!”
Immortal Ascension Breath...... a poison whose name meant the breath by which one became an immortal.
Once poisoned, one died at the end while peacefully exhaling. Because the victim felt no pain, they did not even know they had been poisoned, and only when the moment of death came did they exhale their final breath and die. It was one of the Ten Great Forbidden Poisons.
The reason the Tang Clan designated this poison as a forbidden poison was simple: one could only confirm the poisoning after death.
That was why even Tang Clan experts who handled Immortal Ascension Breath had been poisoned and killed by it, and it became a forbidden poison.
And the reason the assembled heroes were shocked was because one of the Ten Great Forbidden Hidden Weapons and one of the Ten Great Forbidden Poisons had appeared together in this battle.
This meant the Tang Clan had lifted the prohibitions on poison and hidden weapons.
“The Tang Clan...... has released a forbidden poison.”
“They have released...... forbidden hidden weapons too.”
The faces of the assembled heroes filled with fear as they understood what it meant that the Sichuan Tang Clan had released the poisons and hidden weapons that they themselves had sealed away out of fear of their power.
After looking once at the assembled heroes, Dang Miryeong raised her internal energy and said, “The main house is currently not receiving outsiders.”
Then Dang Miryeong scattered something nearby as if for all of them to see.
FWOOSH! FWOOSH!
The instant the white powder spread around them, the assembled heroes hurriedly retreated.
If it was white powder scattered by the Tang Clan, then ten times out of ten, it would be poison.
Once the assembled heroes retreated, Dang Miryeong led the Flat Bat Unit and began racing toward the place where the Tang Clan’s battlefield lay, unfolding their lightness skill.
At that sight, the assembled heroes could no longer approach and retreated.
***
Dang Myeong was swiftly throwing the hidden weapons in his hand.
PAPAT!
“You rat-like bastard, throwing needles from behind!”
The Evil Fiends rushing in to kill the Tang Clan Lord were being blocked by the Secret Serpent Unit, who were fighting fiercely.
Unlike the Unorthodox Faction experts, who had been dealt with easily, the Evil Fiends were battle-hardened veterans and knew how to fight Tang Clan experts who handled hidden weapons.
They induced a chaotic melee.
Because of that, the Tang Clan experts could not use their hidden weapons comfortably.
“Keuk!”
As if swallowing the groan so he would not let out a loud scream, one expert of the Secret Serpent Unit was sent flying backward.
THUD!
“Uwek!”
At the sight of the Secret Serpent Unit expert coughing up blood, Dang Myeong’s face twisted.
“Spear Demon! I’ll kill you!”
Shouting loudly, Dang Myeong broke through the experts of the Secret Serpent Unit surrounding him and shot toward the Spear Demon.
“Clan Lord!”
“You must not!”
Shocked at that sight, Dang Hong and the experts of the Secret Serpent Unit hurriedly followed after him.
And a triumphant smile appeared on the Spear Demon’s face.
‘In the end, he’s still only a rising star!’
Seeing Dang Myeong charge in, his emotions inflamed to the point that he had forgotten his status as Clan Lord, the Spear Demon sneered at him.
‘I will uproot the Tang Clan!’
With a shout, the Spear Demon drew his spear back, then thrust it straight forward and kicked off the ground.
“Single Spear Pierces Heaven!”
The Spear Demon was an Evil Fiend from the military. Like a flash of lightning, the Spear Demon’s form shot toward Dang Myeong.
SWISH!
With a flash of Spear Aura that seemed to tear the very air apart, a smile appeared on Dang Myeong’s face.
CHILL!
At the smile on Dang Myeong’s face, the Spear Demon instantly felt that something was unfolding strangely.
And......
PAPAPAT!
In an instant, the ground heaved and burst apart.
“What?”
As the ground exploded, the hidden weapons that had fallen on the ground were all surging upward.
All the countless hidden weapons poured out while fighting the Evil Fiends rose into the air and were waiting for the Spear Demon.
“You...... crazy...... bastard......”
He had already launched himself forward. Moreover...... Single Spear Pierces Heaven was a killing move that unleashed a full-power thrust, so he could not stop.
Moving at the speed of a lightning flash, the Spear Demon’s body plunged into a mound of dirt and a forest of hidden weapons.
THUD THUD THUD!
Hidden weapons floating in the air began striking and lodging into the Spear Demon’s entire body.
After all, moving like lightning meant colliding like lightning.
THUD THUD THUD!
Dirt and hidden weapons burst outward, and hidden weapons drove into various parts of the Spear Demon’s body.
Stagger!
Then the Spear Demon’s body lost its balance and fell.
CRASH ROLL ROLL!
With a loud racket, the Spear Demon’s body rolled across the ground and slid along the floor.
“Kuhuk!”
The Spear Demon’s face had already turned pitch-black. Every hidden weapon that had fallen on the ground had been coated in deadly poison.
Since he had passed through hundreds of such hidden weapons, he had already been poisoned to the verge of death.
Step.
Dang Myeong looked down at the Spear Demon.
“Keuk keuk keuk......”
The Spear Demon looked toward Dang Myeong’s hand. Beneath Dang Myeong’s hand, a silver thread hung down.
And that thread was connected to the pit he had just broken through.
“You used yourself as bait...... to draw me in?”
At the Spear Demon’s powerless voice, Dang Myeong nodded.
“The Tang Clan never loses on a battlefield it has prepared.”
“Keuk keuk keuk. To think I would be defeated...... by a brat whose blood has not even dried......”
With a small laugh, the Spear Demon vomited blood, then breathed his last.