As a direct organization of the Martial Righteous Alliance, the Defense Sword Group had high training standards and discipline comparable to an elite army.

They were called martial artists in name only; in reality, they were essentially the Martial Righteous Alliance’s private army.

Therefore, when Defense Sword Group Leader Hyeok Cheon-wi gave the command, everyone drew their swords without the slightest hint of insubordination.

Clang clang clang!

Sharp killing intent heated the air.

Defense Sword Group Leader Hyeok Cheon-wi shouted:

“Activate the formation and advance!”

“We obey!”

As the sword formation activated, the positions of all 365 members shifted according to celestial stems, earthly branches, life gates, and death gates.

Soon, a formidable aura began to emanate from between them.

Thus, they began advancing toward the Unorthodox Alliance.

Naturally, both the Unorthodox Alliance and the Martial Righteous Alliance who were watching this unfold were bewildered.

Martial Righteous Alliance Leader Spear King Ak Jin tried to urgently shout something, but.

That brief moment was enough time for the Defense Sword Group to clash with the Unorthodox Alliance.

“So the Martial Righteous Alliance bastards strike first after alllll!”

“Do you think we’re pushovers?!”

“Ohhh yeaaah! Come on! All of you, come on!”

The first to clash with the Defense Sword Group was the Yellow River Yangtze Pirates Group within the Unorthodox Alliance!

The hot-tempered bandits drew their weapons haphazardly and charged, but the Defense Sword Group’s swords were sharper, instantly turning many into shreds of flesh.

Chwajajajajak!

“Uwaaaaagh!”

“Kaaaargh! Everyone, run! Ruuuun!”

Thus began the full-scale bloody storm.

***

‘The Defense Sword Group Leader moved without my command… Could he have been a spy? If so, whose spy?!’

But the battle had begun, and once martial artists were entangled, stopping it was impossible.

Into this human quagmire, the Martial Righteous Alliance Leader had no choice but to dive.

As he appeared on the battlefield, the one who blocked his path was the Technique Emperor.

“I knew this would happen. I should never sit at the same table as Martial Righteous Alliance bastards… Tsk tsk tsk.”

“…So it has come to this.”

“And you’re an incompetent bastard.”

Ghost Spirit Soldiers of the Ghost Spirit Sect’s unique technique appeared on both sides of the Technique Emperor.

Unlike during the duel, they had more arms, appearing to be summoned as combat familiars.

They had six arms each, not shaped like human arms but like elongated blades.

If caught by them, one wouldn’t just go “Ouch!” but would be sent to the afterlife without even time to scream.

Four such creatures appeared.

Considering their bizarre nature, each one had to be considered more troublesome than a martial artist who had reached the Transcendent Realm.

“I would like to withdraw reasonably…”

“Well? I think a bit differently. Something I’ve learned as I’ve aged is… it’s best to pull weeds when you can.”

“Are you saying you truly mean to go through with this?”

The Martial Righteous Alliance Leader. He straightened his spear and asked with a grave expression.

“Yes. To kill.”

“Sigh… I have no choice then.”

Tsutsutsutsutsu.

Energy overflowed from the Martial Righteous Alliance Leader’s entire body.

It writhed like mist before slowly enveloping and rotating around his body.

The sight of mist rotating as if alive seemed almost mystical.

“Senior… if you think our Alliance is ignorant of your mystical techniques, you’re mistaken.”

“Weeeell, that may be so. But you don’t know everything, do you?”

Facing such a Martial Righteous Alliance Leader, the Unorthodox Alliance Leader grinned and thrust forward the bell he was holding.

Unlike the Martial Righteous Alliance Leader, energy didn’t flow from his body, but bizarre phenomena began to manifest.

His shadow suddenly elongated and stretched.

Around him, several will-o’-the-wisps appeared and began to burn.

“Hmm… though this is the first time I’ve fought you seriously… it should be interesting!”

The Technique Emperor shook the bell.

Clink!

Energy infused the bell sound, striking directly at the Martial Righteous Alliance Leader.

Yet despite the attack, the Spear King waited calmly without the slightest tremor.

This was because the moment the bell rang, all four Ghost Spirit Soldiers pounced like tigers.

Four Ghost Spirit Soldiers charged with bizarre forms, being non-human.

Seeing them, Spear King Ak Jin calmly exhaled.

“Huuuu…”

Flash.

And when he took a step forward.

His spear multiplied into countless numbers, penetrating everywhere at once.

It happened in an instant imperceptible to human cognition, impossible to see or feel.

Literally.

It was as if thousands of spears had appeared and materialized.

Kwaaaa!

The four Ghost Spirit Soldiers were instantly torn to shreds and dissipated. Then Spear King Ak Jin inhaled.

The air current surrounding his entire body continued to rotate.

Like armor.

No. It was armor.

This was the secret technique of the Ak Family spear method.

General’s Energy Armor[1].

“The General’s Energy Armor. And on top of that, the Ak Family spear technique Thousand Kills Army Destruction[2]! Kekeke! Good, very good!”

Despite the Ghost Spirit Soldiers’ destruction, the Technique Emperor laughed bizarrely and shook the bell more vigorously.

Ting-a-ling, ting-a-ling!

“But your martial art is based on hard energy, a Strong Energy Technique! Moreover, Thousand Kills Army Destruction is a Mind Martial Ultimate Technique that depletes internal energy severely, just like Strong Energy Techniques. Using such power from the start, can you capture me?”

“Senior. You talk too much.”

“Kaha! Is that so! Then eat this!”

From the shadow, which had expanded bizarrely to the eerie bell sound, something began to boil.

Like hell’s lava, dozens of arms shot up from the bubbling shadow and pounced on Ak Jin.

But Ak Jin neither retreated nor dodged.

He took a step forward and charged straight ahead.

Kwabang!

Energy met energy, causing a violent explosion.

While the two giants clashed with all their might, the martial artists of the Martial Righteous Alliance and the Unorthodox Alliance also began thrusting their swords and spears at each other with full force.

Blood flowed.

Death spread.

***

While the Technique Emperor and the Spear King clashed.

The battlefield was rapidly changing.

Among those gathered here seeking the Conquering Heaven Peerless Divine Arts, there were those who, though not among the Ten Great Masters, had entered the Transformation Realm.

If the Technique Emperor was the most anomalous among them, there was someone similar to him in the Righteous faction.

Though not among the Ten Great Masters, one considered on par with them.

The head of the Jinzhou Eon Clan, Corpse Puppetry Blood Fist[3] Eon Kwon.

He had mastered the Jinzhou Eon Clan’s Corpse Puppetry Technique to reach the Transformation Realm, and thanks to this technique, he could withstand sword energy attacks without any harm even with his bare body.

He leaped into the midst of the Unorthodox Alliance and swung his fists mercilessly.

The impact, like a massive hammer rather than a human hand, was terrifying.

With a single blow, human bones would break like twigs or shatter.

Instead of breaking cleanly, the fragments would burrow into the body, making death inevitable.

Naturally, swords and knives were swung at him, but he seemed to ignore defense entirely, taking attacks with his body while slaughtering his opponents.

Could a tiger leaping among sheep be like this?

However, even the advance of Corpse Puppetry Blood Fist Eon Kwon had to stop eventually.

“Halt!”

It looked less like a spear and more like something used for catching fish.

A trident.

His progress was halted by someone wielding this rare weapon in the martial world who leaped in and thrust it at him.

“Hmm!”

Eon Kwon knew the owner of this trident.

He had also seen the hard energy imbued in the trident.

Since hard energy could wound even his body with its mighty power, he immediately responded by extending both hands.

The Jinzhou Eon Clan’s secret divine arts.

Dream Soul Ghost Spirit Jiangshi Technique[4].

Those who master this technique gain not only a body that’s difficult to wound even with hard energy but also another ability.

Dream Soul Ghost Spirit True Energy!

This internal-external true energy obtained through the Dream Soul Ghost Spirit Jiangshi Technique possessed a bizarre and powerful strength different from ordinary true energy.

Such energy became hard energy and extended through his two hands.

Ghost Spirit Palm!

Woooooo!

With a ghostly valley sound, the palm force of hard energy that shot out collided with the trident, causing a massive explosion.

Kwabang!

The shock wave generated from the point of collision between the two hard energies overturned the surroundings.

If Jin Cheonhee had seen this scene, he would have said, “Wow! Did a modern bomb just go off?”

“Don’t just catch minnows, come play with me, corpse.”

“How dare a mere bandit call me, the head of the great Jinzhou Eon Clan, a corpse.”

“Then what should I call a corpse if not a corpse? Or would you prefer corpse thief?”

“You bastard! Let’s see if you still talk like that when you’ve become a hopping corpse and are being used like a slave!”

“Oh my, how frightening!”

Yellow River Yangtze Pirates Captain Leader Hwang Gang!

This eccentric figure, carrying a trident made with dark iron, was an absolute master of the Unorthodox faction with unclear origins.

Appearing suddenly thirty years ago and subjugating the Yellow River Yangtze Pirates bandits to become the Captain Leader, he was the overall leader of the bandits who controlled the vast Yellow River.

He charged at Jinzhou Eon Clan Head Eon Kwon again.

Black energy rose from Eon Kwon’s body, spreading an eerie murderous aura.

Far from their collision point, others were also clashing.

***

“It’s begun.”

The collision and explosion of hard energy between masters who had reached the Transformation Realm.

Jin Cheonhee only learned after falling into the martial world that visually, it was completely different from an ordinary bomb explosion.

Like a plasma explosion, or the flickering electricity of a Tesla coil.

The collision, expansion, and spread of two different types of energy called qi gave a feeling like watching fireworks.

Therefore, apart from its terrible power, the explosion of hard energy was extremely beautiful.

In a way, this was natural.

The process of light created by hard energy colliding, flickering, and questioning each other’s martial arts couldn’t be ordinary.

However.

Amidst those explosions, human bodies were probably being ground up like in a slaughterhouse blender.

Therefore, Jin Cheonhee observed himself calmly while watching it.

He knew that these lights weren’t simply competing in martial arts, colliding, and advancing to the next stage.

Ultimately, it was humans fighting to kill other humans.

‘Sigh…’

But soon, Jin Cheonhee calmed his mind.

Because he recalled the words of his master, Zhuge Rin.

Jin Cheonhee couldn’t control everyone.

They were there of their own will, for their own justice.

It wasn’t a reason he found convincing, but as an outsider, Jin Cheonhee couldn’t stop it or change their minds.

‘I can’t stop human greed. So I should do what I can.’

Thinking this while watching the battle, Jin Cheonhee briefly questioned his own state.

‘By the way… I’m quite alright. The ground doesn’t look tilted, and I don’t have other symptoms. PTSD can’t just slip away like this…’

Although Jin Cheonhee wasn’t specialized in psychiatry, he was still a doctor and knew that his mind could be somewhat vulnerable in this area.

Therefore, he also knew that such severe mental wounds disappearing somehow without notice was an impossible phenomenon.

‘Why?’