Chapter 11: The decisive battle with a first-rate expert

People say that the difference between 1st class and 2nd class is like heaven and earth.

Even if five 2nd class martial artists ganged up, it would be difficult to defeat one 1st class expert.

That was common sense in this world, and I couldn’t deny that common sense either.

But it was different now.

Nan-cheong, who was a peak 2nd class, and I, who was an early 2nd class, were fighting equally with a 1st class expert.

No, perhaps we were gaining the upper hand.

There were two main reasons.

First, I actively stepped up.

Actually, this was because the foolish woman in front of me revealed her plans.

That obvious plan to capture me.

I already knew.

How much of a high-quality workforce I, a Harmony Body, was coveted in each Murim faction.

And she really hesitated.

She couldn’t aim for a spot that would inflict a fatal wound, and the sharpness of her attacks dulled.

Her greed to capture me alive actually held her back.

The second reason was a little more obvious.

The woman’s condition said it all.

As I planned, she seemed to have struggled quite a bit while dealing with the skeleton.

In addition, our surprise attack was added.

I couldn’t touch her vitals, but the bleeding worsened.

Now the woman’s movements became scattered.

She had to move three steps every time I moved one step.

Falling blood pooled on the floor.

If it were Earth, she would have already fainted, but the martial artists of this world were different.

Inner energy supported the body, and mental strength lifted them up.

But there was a limit.

Her pupils were losing focus.

“Ugh, damn it!”

Perhaps sensing that she would lose if she kept bleeding, the woman in red clothes suddenly charged.

It was a bold move.

No, it was more reckless than bold.

In return, Nan-cheong’s sword deeply cut her thigh.

But she didn’t care.

Rather, as if aiming for that moment, she knocked my sword away with tremendous force.

Pak-!

My sword spun and flew away, falling next to the torch she had abandoned.

“Hehehe… this is the end of your childishness, pretty boy…”

Even in the darkness, her figure was vaguely visible.

Seeing her say that with a confident voice, she seemed to think she was a beauty.

If a pretty woman said something like that, my heart would flutter even a little.

In reality, she wasn’t very… no, not at all a beauty.

Rather, it was close to the opposite.

That’s why I didn’t hesitate.

I lost my sword, but I didn’t lack attack methods.

What I learned was Shaolin martial arts.

And what was Shaolin’s specialty?

Of course, it’s the fist technique.

The qi in my body wriggled.

I took the Palm Strike stance that I had practiced countless times.

An honest posture slightly modified from the horse stance.

But its power was in no way inferior to the martial arts of the Sangseung.

The qi in my body moved violently.

The energy that started from the dantian flowed through the meridians and climbed up the muscles.

It was as quick as lightning.

This would be stronger than even a decent ax chop.

I had that conviction.

Of course, this was a martial art with many gaps.

I knew very well that it was a dangerous technique to use in actual combat.

But it was different now.

An opponent who was barely clinging to consciousness with mental strength.

Moreover, it was an opponent who was careless in her desire to capture me, and showed a big gap with a reckless charge.

My fist accurately dug into her chest.

Kuwang!

With a roar, dark red blood gushed out of her mouth like a fountain.

“Euheuheuheok!”

That scream was mixed with blood and turned into a bizarre sound.

Not only that.

The wounds from the battle with the skeleton burst simultaneously due to the impact of my strike.

As if a seal had been released.

Blood gushed out from all over her body.

The wound on her shoulder, the torn mark on her side, the cut marks on her arms and legs.

All the wounds opened their mouths and spat out blood.

The torchlight was illuminating the scene.

Red droplets fluttering under the dancing light.

It was as if a red mist made of blood was surrounding her.

It was a grotesque sight.

“Haa… Haa…”

I groaned, panting roughly.

The woman in front of me had already lost consciousness.

No, maybe she was dead.

Knowledge from Earth came to mind.

Humans die if they lose about 30% of their blood.

Looking at the scene in front of me now, it seemed to exceed that enough.

The crimson pool of blood on the floor proved it.

Moreover, numerous blood vessels would have ruptured due to the suddenly bursting wounds.

In this state, hemostasis would be almost impossible.

Of course, as a superhuman who had mastered inner energy, she might not die to that extent…

But vomiting blood meant that internal bleeding was serious.

In addition, she must have shed a lot of blood while fighting the skeleton.

In fact, there was no need to even think about this.

Chwaak!

Nan-cheong’s sword cleanly cut off her neck.

It was a confirmation kill.

No matter how skilled in inner energy you are, you cannot survive if your torso and head are separated.

That was common sense in this world.

If you go beyond that, it is no longer martial arts.

It’s only possible in high fantasy or xianxia.

As far as I knew, ‘Wind and Cloud Murim’ didn’t go that far.

Of course, it got closer to Xianxia as the level went up, but at least there was no case of a human being resurrected with his neck cut off.

There was a somewhat fantastic martial arts element, so it was possible to be reforged as an undead, but that was hard to see as a resurrection.

Blood gushed out like a fountain from the beheaded corpse.

Now it was really over.

“W, we won…”

Nan-cheong opened her mouth first.

Only then did I realize it.

“W, we…”

“With just two people… we defeated a 1st class expert.”

We sat down as is.

I couldn’t control the laughter that suddenly burst out.

“Euheuheuheuheuheuheuheuheu!”

I laughed like crazy people, but it would have been okay.

Even though it was a favorable situation in many ways, it was a great thing that two people, an early 2nd class and a peak 2nd class, took down a 1st class expert.

The sound of laughter echoed in the stone chamber.

It was crazy laughter, but we couldn’t stop it.

It felt like the tension from just now was bursting out all at once.

Nan-cheong was always calm and cool, but she was no different from me right now.

She laughed like a crazy woman, and shared her joy by hugging me, who was laughing like a crazy bastard.

Her cold reason had disappeared somewhere, and only pure joy remained.

The corpse lying on the floor was still twitching.

Even though its whole body was torn to pieces and its neck was cut off, it was burning its last life force or something.

It was a pretty unsightly sight, but that didn’t diminish our enjoyment.

We did it.

We defeated that monstrous 1st class expert!

And soon another enjoyable time came.

It was the loot farming time.

The pocket was full of silver coins.

I expected it, but as expected, it was the belongings of a 1st class expert, so it was thick.

“As expected of a 1st class expert.”

Nan-cheong nodded next to me.

In her hand was the sword recovered from the corpse.

There were no fancy decorations, but the blade shone as if a blue frost had fallen.

It certainly gave off a different feeling from ordinary iron swords.

Of course, not all loot could be collected like in the game.

Looking at the corpse lying on the floor, the clothes she was wearing were tattered.

The clothes that were torn all over and covered in blood were now worse than rags.

Moreover, I didn’t even want to take off the clothes because her neck was also cut off.

“Let’s search the rest of the guys too.”

I approached the corpses of the subordinates who had fallen around.

I searched each one, but all I got was a few silver coins.

As expected, it was obvious that they were grunts.

“N, now… let’s go tell the sect about their plans. It’s an urgent matter.”

Nan-cheong said, breathing roughly.

She also looked exhausted from the battle earlier.

“Yeah that would be good.”

It was the first battle I had ever done, but strangely, my heart was calm.

We started to go down the mountain.

When I came up, I was running without my mind, so I didn’t know, but now I saw that it was quite a rough mountain path.

Every time my foot got caught on a stone, I felt sorry for the stamina I had consumed earlier.

We, who had used up almost all of our inner energy and stamina, walked down the mountain path for more than two hours, which would not have taken even an hour normally.

Looking up at the sky, the sunset was already painting the mountain ridge.

The red sunlight shone on our blood-stained hands.

Strangely, that scene felt beautiful.

Master Gu-hyung’s house appeared before my eyes.

Barely dragging my tired legs, I entered the yard, and Master was pacing in front of the door.

“Where have you two been…?”

Master was making an angry expression, but I could read the relief hidden behind that expression.

“Oh, Elder! That’s not the problem. B, big trouble has happened!”

Nan-cheong said urgently.

At the urgency in her voice, Master’s expression turned serious in an instant.

We took turns explaining what had happened so far.

The fact that we had encountered the Bloodhand Clan martial artists, the fact that we had accidentally heard their plan to attack the Thousand Slaughter Valley, and…

“So we… fought and won against a 1st class expert.”

Master’s eyes widened at my words.

He looked at us alternately as if he couldn’t believe it.

“The two of you?”

“Yes… The opponent was already injured, and we took advantage of the gap when they were careless to capture me…”

“Hmm… You were lucky. And if it’s true, this is a problem for the entire sect.”

I stroked my chest at Master’s words.

At first I was worried that he wouldn’t believe our words, but fortunately he took it seriously.

“Well, then, is there any evidence? Is the corpse still there?”

“Yes, we left it as is. Until we came down, it was clear…”

Nan-cheong answered, and Master nodded.

“If so, let’s go to that mountain you mentioned.”

As soon as the words were over, Master’s arms grabbed us.

He hooked me and Nan-cheong on each shoulder, respectively.

‘What is it…?’

I had a question, but I soon understood.

Blue energy bloomed from the tips of Master’s feet, and in an instant, our bodies floated into the air.

“Ugh!”

I screamed without realizing it in surprise.

It felt like riding a roller coaster.

He stepped on the trees with lightness skill and ran.

Master, who was going up the mountain path, which took us two hours to climb, in just a few minutes, was beyond words.

Our bodies swayed up and down every time he stepped on a tree branch.

But strangely, I didn’t feel nauseous.

It seemed that Master’s inner energy was protecting us.

From the top of a tree to the top of another tree.

It was as natural a step as walking on clouds.

Master was going up the mountain path, which took us two hours to climb, without even catching his breath.

So that’s why he’s a top expert…

I now realized that the 1st class expert we killed earlier was only the first step towards this realm.