CHAPTER 412: GREAT DESERT, HIDDEN DRAGON BASIN (1)

It was not an easy time for Dam Hyun.

Go Yo-ja was busy with other matters, and Peng Mu-ah hugged her father, shedding tears little by little.

One could not blame her for lacking resolve because of that.

Because the bulky Gal Dong-tak was hugging his father and crying loudly.

“Father! Hahaha!”

“You, you rascal!”

Even bandits have family affection.

Of course, even considering that, their reunion had a dramatic aspect.

Gal Sa-hyeok was very old, but at least his body was sturdier than that of a young man.

Moreover, because he always slathered snail oil on his body, he looked younger.

However, his obsession with youth seemed to have long disappeared.

Gal Sa-hyeok’s less adorned appearance looked his actual age.

But the change in his youngest child was even greater.

The bulky Gal Dong-tak had lost a lot of weight.

That did not mean he looked bad.

His previously buried facial features became clear, and thanks to his naturally tall stature, he looked stylish.

He looked like a young hero, if one were to exaggerate a little.

But to his father Gal Sa-hyeok’s eyes, he looked quite different.

“How much hardship did you endure to lose so much weight! You look as if you have a fatal illness.”

“No, I’m fine. But father…”

“Oh dear!”

Is having a large build truly a virtue of bandits?

That saying did not seem to be nonsense when it came to Gal Dong-tak.

But the one who was most sorrowful was someone else.

The dying Noh Shik was collapsed.

Beggar crowds swarmed there.

They were the Beggar Gang. Even the gang leader was present.

“You Noh Shik…”

The gang leader’s face was twisted with complicated emotions.

He must have been glad that Noh Shik had returned alive.

But it was not a state to feel relieved.

Noh Shik’s body was blackened like charcoal burned by fire.

“If you get beaten to death while begging, you end up like that.”

“He looks like someone who drowned.”

The old beggars muttered so.

Though their words were harsh, it was likely due to the beggars’ blunt nature and insensitivity.

The gang leader finally shed tears.

“I will definitely save you.”

There were many wounded and not enough doctors now.

But how could he withhold support when this poor disciple who had not recovered returned alive from the Demon Cult?

Such touching reunions were happening everywhere, but some could not smile.

They were those who had lost hope.

Many were kidnapped, but few returned.

Those who returned explained the experiments conducted in Sky Shattering Island, and that most must have already died.

Some froze with stern expressions, others reddened their eyes.

Dam Hyun explained the situation directly to Iron-blooded Merciless.

His sons stayed behind on Sky Shattering Island.

Yi-gang broke his leg without hesitation and fell into the water to help the group escape.

And Ha-jun, who jumped into the water to save his brother.

Dam Hyun spoke imagining Iron-blooded Merciless’s reaction.

He had thought he might get angry or grieve.

But Baek Ryu-san’s reaction was none of those.

“Is that so…”

“Yes, well, I think they will return soon…”

Dam Hyun spoke sincerely, but others did not seem to think so.

Because those beside Baek Ryu-san cautiously added their words.

“Heroic deeds… They were youths with the spirit of great heroes.”

“They risked sacrifice for their comrades.”

They praised Yi-gang and Ha-jun to Baek Ryu-san.

It was not flattery; it was clearly comforting a father who lost his sons.

“Yes, they were such children.”

Baek Ryu-san answered bluntly.

His calm demeanor rather made Dam Hyun uncomfortable.

“You said Yi-gang is your sworn brother?”

“Thank you for helping my son.”

Baek Ryu-san said so and saluted.

That was overly polite for someone much younger like Dam Hyun.

Everyone including Dam Hyun was embarrassed, but Baek Ryu-san did not care.

“Stay here and recover from your fatigue. You won’t be able to rest long… The battle will begin tomorrow…”

He said that and left.

He pretended to be fine, but it was clear he was not.

“…He will surely return, but still.”

Do Meng approached beside him.

“A father’s heart is like that. Is there a day without worry for one’s own children?”

“You’re a Taoist who’s never married, what do you know?”

Dam Hyun scolded him, but Do Meng awkwardly wiped under his nose.

Seeing that, Dam Hyun’s expression twisted.

“I have a wife and children in the North Sea.”

“Oh my! You’re a disgrace to the sect.”

“Disgrace? It’s something permitted by the sect leader.”

The Azure Forest is a Taoist sect but surprisingly worldly.

A Taoist’s marriage was possible with the leader’s permission.

When Do Meng tried to brag about his daughter, Dam Hyun quickly moved away.

“Enough, enough.”

He was tired.

Dam Hyun also felt great fatigue.

But there would be little time to rest.

After returning, he heard that a battle would take place soon.

It was said that the forces of the Orthodox-Unorthodox alliance and all Demon Cult members from the Demon Cult would gather in one basin to fight.

It was a fight of brute strength without tactics.

But that is how Murim wars usually are.

Such large-scale bloodshed is rare even in the long history of Murim…

Dam Hyun wanted to take a rest he had not enjoyed for a while.

Because the camp became noisy everywhere.

People were rushing toward one place.

He grabbed a passerby and asked.

“…There will be an execution ceremony. The alliance leader will personally oversee it.”

“Execution ceremony?”

Whose execution ceremony was it?

Moreover, Iron-blooded Merciless would personally preside.

But the person who explained quickly left without hesitation.

Dam Hyun hesitated briefly, then followed the crowd.

Execution ceremony.

Some might mock martial artists for executing someone.

But those present could not laugh.

On the execution platform, a wounded man was tied up.

He had red tattoos near his eyes and looked unmistakably like a demon.

All the crowd’s murderous intent poured onto him.

“Kill him!”

“Disgusting bastard!”

Martial artists from the Unorthodox Union shouted with hatred.

The martial artists from the Martial Alliance were calmer but equally bloodshot.

Dam Hyun understood why the atmosphere was so serious.

It was because of the captive’s identity.

He was the Vice Palace Master of the Four Heaven Palace.

He had reached the pinnacle of the Extreme Demonic Realm and was among the top ten strongest in the Demon Cult.

Though not an Absolute master, as a practitioner of demonic arts, he was not the usual dangerous enemy.

Were they going to behead him to boost the morale of the allied martial artists?

It was a plausible guess. Humans get excited by blood.

But something no one expected happened.

The martial artists removed the demon’s restraints.

Moreover, they released his pressure points and handed him weapons.

The Vice Palace Master’s weapons were a pair of twin sabers.

He muttered suspiciously.

“What trick is this?”

And opposing him was none other than the alliance leader Baek Ryu-san.

“Demon Cult, Vice Palace Lord of the Four Heaven Palace, Blood Ghost Blade Hwang Gyeom.”

“I will give you a chance.”

Baek Ryu-san drew his long sword.

Dam Hyun sensed what was about to happen and chuckled.

“A chance?”

“If you fight me and win, I will spare your life.”

“I, Baek Ryu-san, head of the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance and alliance leader, guarantee this. Draw your weapon.”

“…Are you mocking me?”

Blood Ghost Blade gave a bitter smile.

He did not believe Baek Ryu-san’s offer at all.

He looked around.

There were masters, including the Unorthodox Union leader and other Absolute masters.

If he tried to escape, he would be cut down immediately.

“You expect me to believe such words…!”

“If you don’t want to die immediately, you’d better believe it.”

But Baek Ryu-san only raised his sword with a chilling voice.

Eventually, Blood Ghost Blade sneered.

“You unqualified fool who grabbed the alliance leader’s seat doesn’t know your place!”

Calling him unqualified was a criticism of Baek Ryu-san’s martial arts.

Though he joined the Twelve Supreme Masters, he had not reached the Absolute Realm.

He was a Transcendent Master , strong enough, but insufficient as a hero of turbulent times.

Blood Ghost Blade Hwang Gyeom was confident he could defeat Baek Ryu-san.

“Fine! I’ll take you as a companion to hell!”

He furiously raised his demonic arts to the extreme.

That alone was a reckless burst of latent power that would cause severe internal injuries.

A three-foot-long red aura surged from his twin sabers.

He leapt forward, swinging his twin sabers left and right in a spinning motion.

A reckless strike ignoring defense, a fight to the death.

A fierce momentum completely ignoring the flow of the technique.

That sudden attack was the terror of a demonic martial artist.

The crowd, previously full of anger, gasped in awe.

But Dam Hyun remained calm.

Because he saw it.

The Absolute masters gathered for emergencies were not disturbed at all.

And Baek Ryu-san moved.

He stepped forward with his sword raised.

His steps were slow and sluggish, showing no fighting spirit.

But he was not despairing or giving up because he lost his sons.

A strange, eerie sound emanated from him.

Whoosh—

Everyone in the arena watched Baek Ryu-san’s movement.

It was like a sword that looked extremely sorrowful.

Immortal Divine Skill, Heavenly Shadow Sword Technique. Baek Ryu-san’s martial art was surely a strong sword technique…

With an expression enduring gut-wrenching sorrow, his sword brushed past Blood Ghost Blade’s nose.

It was not a miss.

Because Blood Ghost Blade’s body fell to the ground helplessly.

With a crashing sound, the Extreme Demon Realm demon collapsed.

No external wounds were visible.

“That is…”

Dam Hyun’s pupils widened.

The Unorthodox Union leader watching the duel muttered.

“…Soul-Dissolving, Gut-Severing.”

It means losing one’s soul and feeling as if the intestines are cut by sorrow.

Dam Hyun realized what the term meant.

“A Supreme Ultimate Technique!”

“T-the Absolute Realm!”

Baek Ryu-san acquired a Supreme Ultimate Technique.

Moreover, it harms a person without the sword cutting through…

A heart sword!

Killing an extreme demon with one sword is not easy even for masters in the Absolute Realm.

Yet Baek Ryu-san neither rejoiced nor wavered.

He just silently shed a single tear.

The crowd did not know, but it was a small side effect of his newly acquired Supreme Ultimate Technique.

A new Absolute Realm master was born.

The tear shed by that Absolute Realm master deeply engraved in the crowd’s hearts.

“…Tomorrow.”

Baek Ryu-san said softly before the martial artists.

“We will eradicate the villains from the Demon Cult.”

A solemn atmosphere.

“Sharpen your swords and prepare to fight.”

And the leaders and masters surrounding the execution platform.

The Unorthodox Union leader, the sect leaders of the Nine Sects One Gang, the Green Forest Alliance leader, and the Sword Pavilion leader.

All respectfully saluted.

“We will do so, Alliance Leader.”

The crowd saluted simultaneously, bowing their heads.

It could not be a better ritual before the war.

Dam Hyun, who had slipped away, received a secret message.

-Dam Hyun, come here.

He glanced and saw Do Meng calling him from afar.

-What is it?

-A chance has come. To contact that boy Yi-gang.

Is there a way?

Dam Hyun quickly left and headed to his senior uncles.

And the Great Desert.

The desert where fugitives passed and pursuers followed.

Their footprints scattered in the wind, and the sun-heated sand dunes cooled in the night air.

Under the stars that seemed to pour down.

The unfilial sons who engraved sorrow so deeply in their father’s heart that it reached the Absolute Realm were walking the desert.

Yi-gang, the eldest among the unfilial sons, looked up at the sky.

The stars seemed to be pouring down.

The air was clear and transparent, letting the light of stars beyond the universe pass through.

Ha-jun was sitting heavily in the shadow of a sand dune.

Yo Yeon-bi was staring blankly toward Sky Shattering Island.

And Do Cheon and Wi Se-ryeong.

The Honor Flower disciples from the far Western Region were doing something strange.

“Oh, a comet is coming!”

Do Cheon shouted so.

When Yi-gang asked what he was doing, Do Cheon answered.

It’s a way to communicate with the Honor Flower Disciples far away.

“Everyone gather!”

At Do Cheon’s call, Yi-gang and the others gathered closely.

They soon understood how they would communicate.