Chapter 7
Dark Celestial Full Moon
The trajectory of the low-hanging black full moon swept lightly across the rushing black-clad figures.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Amid the sound of successive explosions, blood and flesh scattered wildly in the air.
Cheon Woo-jin’s gaze darted sharply from side to side. Half of the attackers had already fallen back.
Although he had held back his strength, the black-clad figures were no match for someone of Cheon Woo-jin’s caliber.
Song Yi-yeon let out a dry laugh at the sight that had unfolded in an instant.
The martial skill of the black-clad attackers was respectable—they could handle perhaps two opponents each at most.
Yet there were over twenty of them.
Even with Cheon Woo-jin and Zhuge Liang present, Song Yi-yeon had anticipated a tough fight.
He was wrong.
In the span of a single exchange of breaths among the warriors, five black-clad figures had already fallen to the ground, their skulls shattered.
There had been no time to comprehend it. Something black had blurred past, and then blood burst forth.
Song Yi-yeon stared at Cheon Woo-jin in silence.
“Even if I fought with all my strength, I would still lose.”
Since boarding the ship bound for the Martial Alliance, Cheon Woo-jin had never displayed his full power.
He had even held back during the ‘Evaluation Rankings’ on purpose—so he could end up in the same group as Cheon Woo-jin.
Song Yi-yeon had always prided himself on his skills. He was confident that if he gave his all, only a handful in the world could rival him.
But Cheon Woo-jin’s single strike had shown him an insurmountable wall—a towering height that seemed impossible to overcome, a summit whose end he couldn’t even glimpse.
Zhuge Liang was just as shocked as Song Yi-yeon.
Unlike the dazed expressions of the lower-ranking warriors, the two of them, being on a higher level, could grasp the overwhelming disparity.
The black-clad figures exchanged glances.
It wasn’t just Song Yi-yeon or Zhuge Liang who were the most surprised—it was the attackers themselves.
They had thought they were merely dealing with a few trainees from the Martial Alliance and a clueless instructor.
-Captain, this is beyond us.
One of them communicated telepathically to their leader, who agreed.
Though Cheon Woo-jin’s martial skill was beyond his comprehension, it was clear he wasn’t someone they could handle.
The leader of the black-clad group calmly assessed the situation.
‘An unfathomable master and a woman from the Zhuge Liang. The odds are against us, but the good news is they’re burdened with those lower-level warriors. If we exploit that, we can escape.’
The leader sent a telepathic command to target the weaker warriors. The plan was to incapacitate them and use them as hostages.
But just as they moved into action—
Swish
Cheon Woo-jin stepped in front of the trainees, planting his Crescent Moon Staff like a shield.
The black-clad figures narrowed their eyes, their movements pausing.
Cheon Woo-jin hadn’t made a move yet, but it was as though he had read their intentions.
“Vice Captain…”
“Uh, ha..?”
Zhuge Liang, startled, let slip an informal tone but quickly stopped herself.
Cheon Woo-jin didn’t seem to mind. After briefly evaluating the combatants, he spoke.
“Protect the trainees, both of you. It seems the enemy plans to use them as leverage.”
Without hesitation, Song Yi-yeon drew his blade and stood guard, with Zhuge Liang taking up the opposite flank.
The black-clad figures were formidable, but if the two focused on defense, they could buy enough time.
Relieved, Cheon Woo-jin swung his Crescent Moon Staff lightly in the air.
Whoosh!
Even this simple motion exuded a heavy, oppressive energy.
The black-clad attackers felt a chill run down their spines, despite not being the target.
The air grew tense, like a drawn bowstring.
Rustle.
The sound of a single footstep reached his ears.
Cheon Woo-jin’s gaze locked onto the source.
“Run, and you’ll die first.”
One of the black-clad figures, who had been preparing to flee, froze mid-step.
The others exchanged glances. They had just met Cheon Woo-jin, but they instinctively knew he was a man who kept his word.
With no other choice, they attacked in unison.
“Attack!”
At the leader’s command, the black-clad figures rushed at Cheon Woo-jin, their blades aiming solely for him.
“Cheon! Watch out!” someone shouted.
But Cheon Woo-jin stood his ground. He didn’t take a single step back as the attackers closed in.
Their blades came at him from every angle.
Cheon Woo-jin swung his staff.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Hundreds of strikes were exchanged in the blink of an eye. The attackers’ blades couldn’t so much as scratch the Crescent Moon Staff.
Cheon Woo-jin dodged what he could and blocked what he couldn’t.
Small cuts began appearing on his body, but he remained calm. His counterattacks with the staff were precise and devastating.
Bam!
With each strike, a black-clad figure fell.
Though it seemed like an evenly matched fight, the attackers knew the truth:
‘We can win.’
Cheon Woo-jin’s martial prowess was astonishing for his age, but prolonged combat would work against him. Besides, they had a hidden technique:
Tiger-Hunting Black Flash.
-Prepare yourselves.
At the leader’s telepathic signal, the attackers subtly shifted their movements, gathering power for a single, decisive strike.
‘He is tired.’
When Cheon Woo-jin took a deep breath to recover, they seized the moment.
-Formation!
The confident leader sent out another signal.
One attacker lunged forward, his blade aimed at Cheon Woo-jin’s heart.
The others followed, their blades converging on him.
‘What…?’
They clearly stabbed him, but they didn’t feel any flesh or bone being cut.
Soon they realized that their weapons were cutting through the air.
What they had believed to be Cheon Woo-jin became blurry and disappeared in an instant.
The eyes of the men in black quickly rolled left and right, but no matter where they looked he wasn’t there.
If so, just one place was left.
The men in black also seemed to be skilled warriors, as they immediately raised their heads and drew their swords straight.
As expected, Cheon Woo-jin was falling from the air.
The men in black smiled in monetary delight.
There was nothing easier to injure than a person falling from the air.
Unless your opponent was a master who could do a spacewalk.
But Cheon Woo-jin didn’t need to do that.
Crash!
Their blades shattered under the weight of the Crescent Moon Staff before they could retreat.
Bam! Bam!
Cheon Woo-jin struck again, smashing their heads and shoulders.
Amid the bloodied scene, Cheon Woo-jin stood tall, calmly addressing the fallen attackers.
“Was that Tiger-Hunting Black Flash?”
The remaining five of the black-clad men, barely clinging to life, gasped for breath.
They hadn’t expected to hear the name of their combined attack technique from the mouth of a martial arts alliance trainee.
Cheon Woo-jin observed their energy flows carefully. Something about their aura felt oddly familiar.
‘It’s strangely similar to Master Heukno’s.’
Moreover, the Tiger-Hunting Black Flash was a tactic he had heard of from his master. It was a joint attack created by the disciples of the Dark Emperor, a former giant of the martial world and a notorious villain, to defeat him.
— But it was ultimately futile. The Dark Emperor wasn’t someone so easily subdued.
The faint image of Master Heukno’s rare bitter smile lingered in his mind. These individuals1The ones who created the formationwere likely followers of someone among Heukno’s former disciples.
As Cheon Woo-jin lost himself in thought, Zhuge Liang spoke up.
“Young hero Cheon, should we restrain them for now?”
These were individuals who had disrupted the martial alliance’s event. It was only natural to detain them, but Zhuge Liang asked out of respect since Cheon Woo-jin was the one who had resolved the situation.
When Cheon Woo-jin nodded, Zhuge Liang, Song Yi-yeon, and the other trainees began to act.
However, all of them looked somewhat dazed, unable to shake the memory of Cheon Woo-jin’s earlier battle. Especially Zhuge Liang, the most skilled among them, was deeply shaken.
‘He might even be stronger than the Leader…’
As she restrained the black-clad men, Zhuge Liang kept stealing glances at Cheon Woo-jin.
Her curiosity about him was growing. Before, it was out of pure interest, but now, it was genuine.
He was no ordinary trainee of the martial alliance.
Zhuge Liang had seen countless so-called geniuses among the alliance’s trainees. But Cheon Woo-jin was on an entirely different level.
His skills evoked the legendary tales of Buk Ri-cheon, the Martial Alliance Leader.
While the defeated black-clad men, who had long since lost their will to fight, were being bound, Cheon Woo-jin calmly wiped the blood off his staff, the Crescent Moon Stick.
Though it was just a weapon, it was still a keepsake from his master.
‘If they’re followers of the Dark Emperor, there’s no reason for them to commit such base acts like pillaging small villages.’
Villains tracing their lineage to the Dark Emperor were already notorious in the martial world. Why would their disciples stoop to raiding a small village, assaulting women, and killing men?
There had to be another motive.
Cheon Woo-jin, well-versed in the ways of villains thanks to Master Heukno, was convinced of this.
‘Moreover, they were clearly waiting for us. It’s highly likely that information leaked from within the martial alliance.’
One person came to mind: Gu Jin-seok, the audacious troublemaker.
But could even someone like him, a trainee of the White Path, have committed such acts?
After pondering for a while, Cheon Woo-jin shook his head.
‘I’ll find out soon enough.’
Zhuge Liang seemed to have already sensed the same. True to her reputation as the youngest Vice Leader of the martial alliance, she began interrogating the black-clad men in her own way.
But even though they groaned in pain, they refused to speak.
As a relatively young martial artist with little experience in torture, Zhuge Liang struggled. Furthermore, the alliance strictly limited interrogation methods in field situations.
Of course, if they refused to talk here, they would be transported to a proper facility, where they would face harsher methods.
But Cheon Woo-jin had no such patience.
Without a word, he approached. Zhuge Liang and the others turned to look at him.
“Who is your leader?”
One of the black-clad men raised his hand.
Cheon Woo-jin scanned the group, then nodded.
Judging by his well-maintained aura and the fact that his energy was the strongest, this man was likely their leader.
Cheon Woo-jin lightly swung the Crescent Moon Stick.
Thwack!
One of the black-clad men’s heads burst open instantly.
Everyone froze, staring at Cheon Woo-jin in shock.
He, however, remained indifferent, fixing his gaze on the leader. Then, he swung again without hesitation.
Thwack!
Another man’s head shattered, blood splattering everywhere.
Lowering the blood-soaked staff, Cheon Woo-jin slowly approached the leader.
The black-clad leader glanced nervously at both Cheon Woo-jin and the staff. A deep fear took root in his heart, as if that dark staff would crush his head at any moment.
Recalling Master Heukno’s methods of interrogation, Cheon Woo-jin spoke in a quiet voice.
“Two left. You’re next, aren’t you?”
The leader looked at the two remaining subordinates beside him.
The message was clear: after they were dead, he was next.
Cheon Woo-jin continued, his voice cold and unwavering.
“Say something worth my time.”
The black-clad man kept his mouth shut.
Without hesitation, Cheon Woo-jin swung his staff once more.
Thwack!
Another man fell, his head shattered.
“One left.”
