Black and White Martial Emperor

“Dammit! Clan Lord! Hurry—get the First Young Master...!”

“Wait.”

“Wha—?!”

“Wait.”

“B-but Clan Lord! The First Young Master is in danger!”

“Where do you see that?”

Hidden in the trees, the Azure Hawk Squad could watch the entire fight unfolding ahead.

Shin Mo’s eyes flashed.

“The First Young Master is fully able to handle them.”

“R-really that strong?”

“He is strong. But it’s a little different from that.”

Even Shin Mo could not be certain how the First Young Master was dealing with the enemy. The distance alone, and the sheer number of foes, made it hard to read.

But one thing was certain.

‘He knows the enemy’s weakness.’

Not merely knows it — this was almost a systematic dismantling. With a step or a flick of his hand, the enemies’ martial arts collapsed like straw.

When they tried to close and seize him, he would already have slipped out of range and run another group through; an unknowing observer would think they had rehearsed their moves in advance.

Shin Mo was baffled.

‘He sees through the enemy’s art, line by line. How is that possible?’

Could the First Young Master have memorized every scroll of the Ming Clan’s martial formulae? How—

Then.

Chirp! Chirp!

From beyond the bushes came bird calls. A faint song carrying a trace of internal energy.

The Azure Hawk Squad’s eyes snapped.

“Get ready.”

Woooooom.

The power of Dragon-Embrace rose, slow and viscous, inside Shin Mo’s body.

“When the signal comes, push all at once.”

****

Thud!

Flesh and blood burst out.

‘I can see.’

Crack! Rasp!

One axe swing split the horse’s head and the Death Sword’s torso clean in two; pieces flew.

‘I can see everything.’

White Tiger energy swelled; Black Tortoise energy spread wide.

The Four Spirit warrior’s technique grew more furious with each passing second. Yet it was not merely brutal.

Rough and savage, yes, but also delicate and flexible. Where Jade Wave True Qi and Qilin Divine Art rioted, Yeon Hojeong’s martial skill bloomed more brightly than ever.

Thud! Thud!

An inspired flurry of axe strikes.

Spear technique, saber method, staff art, and wild-assault technique converged into an axe art reborn: a lethal, composite axemanship.

He slashed and struck. He smashed and shattered.

It was a martial art designed to maximize the destructive potential of a gigantic war-weapon.

But that was not all.

Ziiiiing!

Sweeping blades and whirling sword-energy and spreading palm-force were disrupted by the White Tiger and Black Tortoise energies rising and acting of their own accord.

No — it was not merely disruption; it was absorption. The devastating outgoing bursts were broken apart by axe and fist, and the dissipated energy latched onto the White Tiger and Black Tortoise forces, which then neutralized it and devoured it outright.

Yeon Hojeong’s gaze grew harder.

‘Enough!’

He did not tire.

The enemies’ qi, their discharge, the shockwaves — all only fanned his genuine vital energy hotter.

The axe propelled with that intensified force became an invincible divine weapon, severing necks and crushing torsos.

Babababam!

Yeon Hojeong’s movements quickened noticeably.

The axe’s power exploded. The Yeon Thirteen Fists, the chained Flying Swallow strikes — their releases struck like iron hammers and stole the lives of the Death Swords.

The captain of the fifty Death Swords, Ming Jeokryang, gaped in horror.

“Th-that monster!”

Yeon Hojeong swept the Death Swords with a terrifying killing aura.

He was literally a gale. When the Western Grand Master White Tiger’s art passed, a fountain of blood erupted; when the Northern Grand Master Black Tortoise’s art rose, the sound of bone breaking echoed.

He was invincible. To the Ming warriors who had mastered the Four Great Divine Arts, Yeon Hojeong was nothing short of catastrophe.

Thuuud!

With a monstrous sound, two sweat-blood horses’ necks flew high into the sky. At the same instant, three Death Swords’ bodies were torn to pieces.

Flash!

For a moment Ming Jeokryang felt a chill.

A giant war-weapon the size of a human body had locked onto him. The glance from the Black-and-White energies felt as if it would pierce his skull in an instant.

Bang!

The ominous premonition struck true.

Pushing the Death Swords back with sheer force, Yeon Hojeong kicked off a sweat-blood horse’s flank and launched himself at Ming Jeokryang.

“For profit!”

Ming Jeokryang’s hand went for the great sword strapped to his back. Phoenix energy flared like flame.

Then—

Kwahhh!

With a tremendous shockwave, Yeon Hojeong’s body snapped backward.

Krack, krack!

He landed and recovered stance, but the aftershock was so great his two feet gouged long trenches in the ground.

Fwoosh!

In an instant a swordsman appeared before Ming Jeokryang, flames of the Fire God burning on his blade.

“Arrogant brat!”

Creeeeak!

The ground around the two feet where Ming Cheon had planted himself began to crack like a spiderweb.

Flare—!

Devouring flames swept the surroundings.

‘Impossible!’

Ming Jeokryang felt a crushing shock.

‘He’s already trained Phoenix art that much—!’

It was overwhelming. He had himself drilled in Phoenix art day and night, but the levels were incomparable.

The head of the Gu-ju Ming Clan, Thunder-Fire God Sword Ming Cheon.

A peerless master whose lightning-speed, fire-strong swordplay had won renown across the four seas had finally entered the fight.

Ming Cheon’s eyes flashed with murderous intent as he scanned the scene. In that brief skirmish, more than half of the Death Swords had already fallen.

“You useless cowards! I cannot stand this any longer!”

Surprisingly, his anger was not aimed at Yeon Hojeong but at the Death Swords.

“How badly did you neglect your cultivation to be taken down by that brat?”

An absurd taunt.

Ming Cheon could not have failed to see what everyone else had seen. Yeon Hojeong’s art was not only powerful in itself; it was perfectly dismantling their techniques.

In other words, he was exploiting the weaknesses of the Four Great Divine Arts and defeating them. Yet Ming Cheon accused them of sloppy cultivation?

“You vermin! I trusted you lot to uphold the realm and I was a fool!”

Of course Ming Jeokryang knew the Death Swords’ art had no flaw. He knew Yeon Hojeong’s martial skill exceeded imagination, knew the boy had probed the Four Great Arts’ weak points down to the core.

But Ming Cheon refused to admit it.

The Ming house was the family founded by ancestors who had once driven the Blood Sect from the world alongside the Four Directions Martial Emperor — a clan called the strongest in martially turbulent history.

And now the art they had cultivated — the art that had defined the worst and greatest era of the martial world — was being dismantled by a brat. Ming Cheon could not accept it.

Krack.

Planting his feet and stamping up, Yeon Hojeong rose and looked at Ming Cheon with a smile.

“Finally arrived, have you?”

Ming Cheon’s eyes flashed.

He struck, putting serious force behind a single sword. The blow would have crippled even a Death Sword-level master, yet Yeon Hojeong seemed unfazed.

A heavy voice issued from Ming Cheon.

“Not bad. You have one proper move.”

Shreeeong!

A vibrant keening rose from Ming Cheon’s blade.

It was not a common sword of the Central Plains. A great blade — a full hand longer than ordinary, twice as broad — the form of a military greatsword rather than a gentleman’s fencing blade. It was a two-handed sword that exceeded a full Chinese foot in length.

A fanatic gleam crossed Ming Cheon’s face.

“I will cut off your head and throw it in front of Yeon Wi, to see whether that wretch can keep his composure when shown his son’s severed head preserved in salt.”

A heavy provocation. For Yeon Hojeong, already burdened with a crushing filial debt, there could be no greater taunt.

‘.......’

And yet why was he so calm?

Against the very man who had ordered his clan’s annihilation, his eyes were clear.

Whoooosh.

A white wind shivered along the slowly moving axe blade.

Yeon Hojeong looked up at the sky and closed his eyes.

‘This is finally the place.’

He had left the clan and come to Henan. Since then, battle after battle had shaken the Ming house.

It had not been a long time in years, but to Yeon Hojeong it had felt like an age.

‘Father. I will erase one old grudge you do not know about right here. You may not know, but I will take my revenge.’

Thinking of his father, his mind went to Yeon Jipyeong as well.

He could almost see his younger brother offering rice balls with a bright face, the small white hand reaching out — it dazzled him.

‘Peace.’

His hand tightened on the spear-strap.

‘From now on, every tear you shed I will drink up for you.’

Past father, present father.

Past brother, present brother.

The two people stitched through long-standing hatred and the two people leaping forward formed the present Yeon Hojeong.

His eyes ★ ★ snapped open.

Kwaaang!

A massive true-knowing burst, a qi-wave shaking heaven and earth, shot up.

Yeon Hojeong shouted.

A confident voice, the fighting spirit of a warrior.

“Come on, Ming Cheon.”

It was a presence no one had ever seen from him.

Ming Cheon’s face contorted.

“......brat!”

Fwoosh!

Ming Cheon rushed in.

It began. A duel, a blood battle — the debt the martial world had created now demanded the two men’s lives.

Yeon Hojeong’s axe and Ming Cheon’s greatsword struck head-on.

Kwahng!

A monstrous roar shook the earth.

It was collision of great weapons. Power meeting equal power.

Thud!

Yeon Hojeong’s body flew backward.

He was simply outmatched in strength. Ming Cheon was a peerless, top-tier swordsman on Yeon Wi’s level. For Yeon Hojeong to face him head-on was madness.

Bang! Kwahng!

But Yeon Hojeong did not stop.

He righted his recoiling body and stepped forward with the White Tiger Two-Step.

‘What?!’

Ming Cheon had thought a single strike would put him out of commission — but apparently not. The moment he was knocked back, Yeon Hojeong surged in with a storming momentum, twice as fierce as before.

Ming Cheon swung his blade.

Yeon Hojeong struck with ferocity as well.

Zzhshh! Zzhshh!

Their heavy weapons clashed and splashed brilliant sparks.

How many times they met in that short span, no one could count. The speed was beyond what even a peak master’s inner force could comfortably match. Both men wielded heavy arms yet moved with the swiftness of fine swords.

A gleam of qi rose in Ming Cheon’s eyes.

“Arrogant brat!”

Rasp!

Blood spurted from Yeon Hojeong’s chest.

A fairly deep cut. A diagonal sword wound from the left collarbone down to the right abdomen.

Ming Cheon curled a cruel smile.

Kwahng!

“Ugh!”

Ming Cheon’s body skidded back.

Although hit by a counter that should have made retaliation impossible, Yeon Hojeong immediately swung the axe. Had Ming Cheon been careless, this blow would have split him in half.

“You crazy bastard!”

Bang! Bang!

The White Tiger Two-Step unfolded.

This was a qi-form that drew increasingly potent force as time progressed. Even Ming Cheon could not help but be unsettled by the Tiger King’s aura.

Ting! Tzzzh!

The axe caught the rising momentum and grew ever more powerful.

Bang! Bang!

They advanced again — attack after attack.

Zzhshh! Tzzh!

Both power and speed increased. The violent power of the Tiger King’s Wall poured down like lightning.

Huk!

And then, Yeon Hojeong’s movement manifested an uncanny velocity.

Kwak, kwak, kwak, kwahng!

In an instant the assault overwhelmed Ming Cheon and his body staggered crazily backward.

It was the White Tiger Command’s linked forward advance. Pressed by extreme fighting spirit, Yeon Hojeong had drawn out the secret technique of the Tiger’s command, and the White Tiger energy itself was now alighting on the command steps.

Kwahng!

Ming Cheon’s body creaked. Blood flowed from his hand that gripped the sword-haft.

Yeon Hojeong’s face contorted.

The sight of his opponent’s blood stoked the ferocity in his heart.

“Ming Cheon...!”

Flash! Kwahng!

He blocked the downward axe, but both feet were driven into the ground up to his ankles.

Thud!

A startling sight: Yeon Hojeong’s fist finally hammered Ming Cheon’s shoulder.

Ming Cheon staggered.

On Yeon Hojeong’s face a furious beast’s shape rose.

“Don’t back down for just that! If you don’t do it properly I’ll tear you to pieces!”