Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 201 – Water Demon (3)

“You don’t seem to know what a threat is, should I explain it to you?”

The calm voice coming from behind caused Elder Beom’s expression to stiffen.

In an instant, he didn’t even perceive it. For someone to be able to take his back with such internal skill, they were definitely not a low-level martial artist.

‘Hmm.’

Based on his perception, they were clearly at the peak realm.

But for them to be able to conceal their qi to this extent and deceive his senses meant they were a master who could fully control their energy.

‘…Unbelievable.’

Elder Beom inwardly denied this.

That’s because in order to deceive him to this degree, one would have to surpass the wall.

But wasn’t this brat before him only 17 or 18 years old at most?

To have reached the Transformation Realm at such a young age?

‘Right. That’s impossible. It’s more likely he cultivated some special internal cultivation method.’

Even he, who had cultivated martial arts for nearly 60 years, had not reached that realm.

How could a young lad like this possibly have surpassed the wall?

Convinced of this, Elder Beom stomped on the ground.

-Pop!

He had to get away from the bastard first.

Leaping forward, Elder Beom twirled his body, his gray Taoist robe fluttering.

‘Two Extremes Connected Hands!’

The moment he spun, the sleeves of his robe turned into sharp blades, unleashing a murderous energy.

It instantly sliced through the heavy downpour within a radius of almost 50 feet.

-Swish!

But it didn’t end there.

Elder Beom stomped his foot towards the ground.

‘One Step Scattering Strength!’

The instant he stomped on the accumulated rainwater, the splashing droplets absorbed his true energy and transformed into a dispersing hidden weapon.

The range was so wide that–

“Damn it!”

“Block it!”

-Shing!

Seop Chun and Mong Mu-yak simultaneously drew their sabers to fend off the incoming water droplets.

-Clang clang clang!

The power of the droplets infused with true energy was enough to make their hands holding the sabers go numb.

The two of them defended against it while inwardly clicking their tongues.

Not only had he reached the peak-stage of the Transcendent Realm, but it would be no exaggeration to say the old man’s internal energy had already surpassed that level.

-Clang! Tremble!

With internal energy of this caliber, he could almost be considered on par with the Five Kings, who were high-ranking executives.

Seeing them being pushed back while blocking the true energy-infused water droplets, Elder Beom rolled his eyes and searched for Mok Gyeong-un.

He had unleashed quite a powerful technique to distance himself from the fellow.

Both were quite formidable, but they consumed a considerable amount of internal energy.

However, Elder Beom felt that at least this much was necessary to definitively separate the fellow from his back.

‘Where is he? Where the hell is he?’

The downpour was so heavy that it was difficult to secure his vision right away.

But then,

“What an interesting technique.”

Elder Beom’s expression stiffened at the voice coming from behind him.

Naturally, he had thought he had gained some distance.

But what was going on?

‘…I failed to create distance?’

Elder Beom was utterly baffled.

He had unleashed an omnidirectional offensive technique, yet not only did he fail to gain distance, but his back was still being seized. How was this possible?

-Nngh!

Elder Beom gritted his teeth.

How could he repeatedly have his back taken by this young brat?

“Impudent bastard!”

Elder Beom changed his approach.

Rather than trying to gain distance, he took the Five Sequential Steps, a poison stepping method, to change direction while simultaneously unleashing the Two Extremes Connected Hands to attack Mok Gyeong-un.

This time, since he hadn’t gained distance, if Mok Gyeong-un wanted to block or dodge the Two Extremes Connected Hands, the boy wouldn’t be able to continue his antics of seizing his back.

-Swish!

At that moment, a dark shadow appeared before his eyes.

‘Got you!’

Elder Beom unleashed his claw technique towards the dark shadow.

‘Two Extremes Roaring Claws, Overturning Grasp!’

-Bam bam bam bam!

It was like a roaring tiger lunging at its prey, baring its sharp fangs.

Elder Beom intended to seize the victory the moment he caught the figure.

However,

-Swish!

‘What?’

At that instant, his two hands executing the claw technique grazed past the shadow.

Then, a voice came from behind.

“Too slow.”

“You punk!”

Elder Beom swung his claw backwards.

-Swish!

But his hand touched nothing.

Instead, only Mok Gyeong-un’s mocking voice reached his ears.

“At this rate, will you even be able to see my face?”

‘Is this bastard toying with this old man!’

-Bam bam bam bam!

Enraged by the mockery, Elder Beom was about to unleash his claw technique indiscriminately.

He felt that he had to get this brat in front of him to vent his frustration.

But right at that moment,

-Thud!

A piercing pain shot through his right leg, and Elder Beom’s figure slipped on the rainwater, about to collapse on the ground.

Startled, Elder Beom hurriedly reached out his hand to avoid falling.

However,

-Thud!

“Ugh!”

A kick struck his exposed left rib as his figure crumbled, and he was sent tumbling to the ground.

-Bang!

“Aargh…”

Fallen on the ground, Elder Beom clutched his ribs and groaned.

It seemed his bones had been broken by that recent strike.

It was difficult to even breathe.

Mok Gyeong-un’s voice reached Elder Beom’s ears.

“You’re quite the exaggerator. Or is it that you’ve aged to the point where enduring this level of pain is challenging?”

“Cough, cough.”

Elder Beom raised his head with a stiff expression.

He saw Mok Gyeong-un standing there with his hands behind his back, looking down at him.

To be so humiliatingly knocked to the ground and have to look up at this punk’s face…

Elder Beom was genuinely at a loss for words.

‘…Did this brat really surpass the wall?’

The gap was so evident that he had no choice but to acknowledge it.

This bastard was truly a master of the Transformation Realm.

‘For someone not even in his prime to reach such an astonishing realm…’

He was a true monster.

Which sect was he from?

With martial prowess like this, his reputation should have been well-known in the martial arts world.

Even though he was from “that place,” Elder Beom was still aware of individuals with great renown in the martial arts community to a certain extent.

Elder Beom struggled to regulate his breathing and asked,

“Haa… haa… What is your name?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Haa… I don’t have any particular intentions. I was simply in awe of your martial prowess and curious about your esteemed name.”

“Then you can remain curious.”

“……..”

It meant he had no intention of revealing it.

Elder Beom let out a sigh that was almost a lament.

The situation had become quite ironic.

To think that the person he provoked at the young lady’s insistence turned out to be a master of the Transformation Realm…

How absurd could things get?

He had truly messed with the wrong person.

‘…It was this old man’s mistake.’

In fact, it was difficult to call this a mistake.

Encountering a supreme master who could completely deceive one’s senses was extremely rare.

And so was meeting someone who had reached the Transformation Realm at such a young age.

It could be said to be close to the realm of misfortune.

“Haa… haa…”

Elder Beom straightened his body and said,

“Alright. If you won’t reveal your esteemed name, I’ll just call you Little Junior.”

-Clasp!

Elder Beom brought his hands together in a polite gesture and bowed his head.

“This Elder Beom sincerely apologizes to Little Juniors.”

“Apologize?”

“That’s right. Regarding this matter, even if I had two mouths, I would have nothing to say. But this old man truly had no intention of causing harm. However, regardless of the circumstances, it’s clear that I made you feel threatened. For that, I apologize and will provide the maximum compensation within my means. So please, just this once, show some leniency.”

Elder Beom bowed his head respectfully once again.

Unlike that place, the martial arts world operated on the logic of power, so he discarded his pride and apologized accordingly.

But if he only did this verbally, it might not be effective at all, so…

-Swish!

Elder Beom took out a square jade token from his bosom.

He then presented it to Mok Gyeong-un and said,

“This is a first-grade jade token issued by the Seo Pyeong Money Vault.”

“Seo Pyeong Money Vault?”

“That’s right. This jade token allows you to withdraw 100 gold taels at once.”

“100 gold taels?”

A glint flashed in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes.

100 gold taels were equivalent to 10,000 silver taels.

It was a tremendous sum of money, enough for a sect of considerable scale to operate for about a year.

With this much, anyone would have to let the matter go.

“Oh? Is that so? I’ll gratefully accept it.”

Mok Gyeong-un received the jade token.

Seeing this, Elder Beom thought to himself, as expected.

Even martial artists were human.

Naturally, no one could resist such a huge sum of money.

Although it was unfortunate to lose half of the travel expenses he had received, it was better than unnecessarily escalating the situation.

“Thank you.”

Just as Elder Beom was about to break his hand gesture and stand up,

Mok Gyeong-un put the square jade token into his bosom and said,

“Compensation is compensation, but shall we continue the earlier conversation?”

“What?”

Elder Beom frowned.

What was he talking about now?

After receiving a Seo Pyeong Money Vault jade token that could immediately withdraw 100 gold taels, what was he saying?

“Look here. This matter should be concluded like this…”

“It’s not concluded. There are things that can be settled with money and things that can’t.”

“No. After receiving such a huge sum, you’re saying this now?”

“I am. If you were stronger than me, there would be no need to give money or apologize so meekly. You would have achieved what you wanted.”

“……….”

Elder Beom’s mouth closed at Mok Gyeong-un’s words.

It was hard to deny because it was true.

In the first place, he had tried to pressure them with force to take them to the young lady.

In fact, he had said those words, so it was difficult to make excuses.

Elder Beom tried to appease Mok Gyeong-un as tactfully as possible.

“Little Junior. I fully understand your feelings. If it seems like I tried to smooth things over with money…”

“What do you understand?”

“That’s…”

“It doesn’t seem like you understand at all.”

“…….. Didn’t I say that’s not the case? This old man simply…”

“Wouldn’t it be faster to directly experience it rather than just talk?”

“Experience?”

“Yes. It seems you can’t differentiate between a threat and cooperation.”

‘Is this guy really…?’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Elder Beom’s eyes sharpened for a moment.

Come to think of it, his companions were nowhere to be seen.

Right at that moment,

-Crash!

-How, how dare you!

‘!?’

Elder Beom’s pupils trembled frantically at the thunderous sound and familiar shout coming from the inn.

‘You, you bastard!’

-Whoosh!

With a distorted face, Elder Beom hurriedly leaped towards the inn.

As he entered the inn through the back door, Elder Beom’s expression stiffened.

There, along with the collapsed bodyguards, Mong Mu-yak was standing behind the veiled woman, pressing his blade against her slender neck.

Although Mong Mu-yak and Seop Chun were a level below Elder Beom, none of the other bodyguards were capable of handling the two of them.

“You… you bastards! Let go of that person right now!”

Elder Beom pressed them with a voice filled with anger.

In his heart, he wanted to tear them apart for pressing a blade against that person’s neck.

In response, Mong Mu-yak spoke in a cold voice,

“It’s best not to move.”

“Nngh!”

How could he handle this situation?

He hadn’t expected these bastards to actually commit such a disrespectful act.

Just then,

“How does it feel? Do you now understand the difference between cooperation and a threat?”

-Clench!

Elder Beom bit his lower lip at Mok Gyeong-un’s voice coming from behind him.

He never thought he would be retaliated against in this manner.

He had messed with the wrong opponent.