Black and White Martial Emperor

A man wearing a bamboo hat raced across the mountains and streams.

Hooooong.

The movement with which his toes kicked off the ground was extremely light and elegant.

And yet it was fast. Each time he kicked off the earth, he easily crossed more than ten zhang, and he repeated that motion dozens of times without even taking a deep breath.

His legs were full of spring, his breathing was perfectly steady, and the movement of his arms, which doubled his speed, was so flexible that it looked like the beating of a bird’s wings.

So the man ran.

With a noble and elegant posture, yet at a speed that allowed no comparison with any master.

How long had he run?

FLASH!

Beneath the bamboo hat, pale-green light poured from the man’s eyes, which had been darkly shadowed.

There.

PAAAAAK!

He had already been fast before, but now he was even faster. The sight of him kicking off a boulder and soaring into the sky was, quite literally, like a single bird.

TADADADAK!

The man flew high into the air and advanced by stepping across countless tree branches, and at last, one middle-aged man came into his sight.

FLASH!

The bamboo-hatted man moved like lightning and, before anyone knew it, landed in front of the middle-aged man.

Subtle admiration appeared on the face of the middle-aged man, Mo Yonggun.

“I heard there is a saying throughout all of Gangdong. When the Judge takes flight, all evil holds its breath...... Indeed, your movement technique is as astonishing as your decisiveness.”

“You flatter me.”

The man removed his bamboo hat.

He was Yeon Wi.

“You are fast. I thought it would take at least two more days.”

“When we do not know when battle might break out, I could not afford to take my time.”

Mo Yonggun nodded.

“I was starting to think I might have to go catch them alone.”

Yeon Wi asked, “Did you receive word from your commander?”

“I did. It seems the commander will arrive in another half a day.”

“Half a day.”

Yeon Wi turned his head.

It was a dark night. The moonlight was clear, but there were also a moderate number of clouds. It was not insufficient for distinguishing objects, but it was difficult to see as brightly as in broad daylight.

However, except for the masters of the Supreme Heavens who were said to have reached the realm of gods through martial arts, these two were experts for whom it would be difficult to find a match in the entire martial world.

With this much light, by using Inner Qi and their outstanding vision, they could see objects clearly.

“It is there.”

Where Yeon Wi pointed, there was a vast estate.

Its scale was so large that even high officials of considerable rank would have clicked their tongues in admiration. It was not flashy, but it was large and spacious enough to comfortably accommodate several hundred household members.

Mo Yonggun said, “I hear they relocated the surrounding civilians elsewhere over the past year. Thanks to that, with that estate as the center, there are no civilians within a ten-li radius.”

“That is fortunate.”

“Whether it is fortunate or unfortunate is something we will only know after we fight.”

“Have you grasped their combat strength?”

“Of course.”

Mo Yonggun took a small letter from his robe.

“This is what the intelligence organization of Lord Yeo Sangdo, the Provincial Defense Commissioner, uncovered.”

Yeon Wi accepted the letter and read it. His eyes deepened.

“Four.......”

“To be precise, I mean there may be four in the worst case. Since we have stirred up trouble here and there, they should be disoriented as well. If they sent people to other places, then we can assume there are two or three masters over there capable of facing us.”

“I doubt they will be the only ones there.”

“Of course. Even excluding Transcendent Peak masters who have crossed the Wall of Martial Arts, there will be hundreds of masters with fairly outstanding skill.”

“Hundreds.”

“When I secretly went to meet Lord Yeo, there were roughly fifty men watching him. Those fifty were all masters who boasted outstanding skill, and they were certainly not people to be taken lightly.”

Yeon Wi nodded.

“According to Hojeong, they are called Divine Flame soldiers.”

“Divine Flame soldiers.......”

A sneer touched Mo Yonggun’s face.

“What a grand name. Then again, they must have possessed extraordinary confidence to try to seize control of the authorities.”

That was not the important part.

Then the number of masters the Divine Flame Cult originally sent to the Henan authorities was......?

Gyu Jeok, and Yo Roe.

Adding to them the three Warrior-Generals who went to Yeon Hojeong and Tang Gwan, and the masters at the place the two of them were about to attack?

Nine Transcendent Peak masters alone.......

It was a chilling number.

It was fortunate that they had defeated two of them first by striking each separately. Now, even assuming Yeon Hojeong, Tang Gwan, and Mookbi wiped out all the enemies over there, four would remain.

It was an extraordinary force. Then again, if they wished to seize everything in a province, they would have to deploy that level of strength.

Moreover, it was said that there were also hundreds of masters under them.

Can we attack it?

Yeon Wi’s eyes deepened.

He looked at Mo Yonggun.

Clan Lord Mo Yong...... He definitely has a hidden card.

Because Mo Yonggun’s schemes and strategies were too outstanding, the martial arts he possessed tended to be underestimated.

Even just looking at him in silence like this, Mo Yonggun’s martial power was no different from his own. On top of that, he had heard that Mo Yonggun was cultivating another martial art in addition to Heaven-and-Earth Martial Arts, the clan lord’s discipline of the Mo Yong Clan.

In other words, it meant he was hiding his true skill.

Though I am the same.

There was a difference. Mo Yonggun had intentionally hidden it to prepare for the future, while Yeon Wi had simply never had an opportunity to reveal his skill.

What mattered was that both he and Mo Yonggun were at least one move stronger than what was publicly known.

But their martial arts may also be greater than expected.

In particular, the place the two of them were targeting could be called the enemy’s headquarters.

Originally, it was said to be a place Yeo Sangdo had built for the purpose of gathering with his subordinate officials and actively discussing military administration. Thanks to that, it was not only vast, but also boasted fairly excellent effects in terms of defensive battle.

Moreover.

“May I go out for reconnaissance for a moment?”

Mo Yonggun glanced at Yeon Wi.

“Are you confident you will not be discovered?”

“Do not worry about that.”

“Good. Let us go together.”

Hup!

The two men killed their presence and closed the distance to the estate.

How far had they approached?

Mo Yonggun’s eyes flashed.

[Do you smell it?]

[I do.]

Mo Yonggun frowned.

[These bastards have prepared very thoroughly.]

The first thing to stimulate the two men’s extremely heightened senses was the faint smell of oil.

The smell had been concealed so well that an ordinary person—no, even a Transcendent Peak master—would have passed by without noticing it unless their senses were heightened this far.

[They are all masters of heat-yang arts. According to Commander Yeon, they can create fire themselves and absorb the amplified Fire energy, not only reducing the consumption of their internal force but increasing their power.]

[I heard the same.]

In fact, Yeon Wi had personally gone to the battlefield where Yeon Hojeong and Gyu Jeok had fought.

It was fortunate he had moved quickly to block it; otherwise, it could easily have spread into a massive mountain fire.

That had been truly astonishing. No matter how great a master of heat-yang arts might be, turning one’s surroundings into a sea of fire was not an adventure one could easily attempt.

What was an adventure for ordinary warriors was not an adventure for them. It was a tactic that could never be used unless it was founded on the body’s powerful resistance to heat.

Of course, even before considering the adventure, the Inner Qi explosive force that had set fire to such a vast area itself had been extraordinary.

Fighting in an advantageous environment...... It is basic combat doctrine, but still.

The two men moved even more carefully.

No matter how outstanding they were as masters, the two of them were people who had learned the traditional martial arts of the Orthodox Path. Their understanding of qi arts was great, so they could freely reduce or expand their presence, but it was difficult for them to unfold top-class stealth arts as well.

In other words, it would be difficult to penetrate all the way inside. If the area had been filled only with masters who had not crossed the Wall of Martial Arts, that would be one thing, but if there was even one Warrior-General-class master, the chances of being discovered were high.

So the two men circled the entire perimeter and returned to their original spot.

“This has become troublesome.”

Mo Yonggun’s eyes deepened.

“The smell of oil is coming from every direction. If battle breaks out, they will begin by setting fire to the place.”

“My thoughts are the same.”

“They are truly interesting bastards. Fire attacks do not merely fail to work on them; they can actually help them...... Truly fascinating.”

After falling into thought for a while, Mo Yonggun spoke as if tossing the words out.

“With this amount, unless a downpour comes, it will be difficult to extinguish the flames.”

“.......”

“Creating an advantageous environment is basic to combat. If they have already completed all preparations, then the first thing we must do is erase that advantage before proceeding with the battle.”

“You are correct.”

“It likely cannot be put out with an inadequate amount of water. That means we need to move the battlefield.”

“Mm.”

“If we lure them to a place advantageous to us......”

“Is there truly a need to do that?”

“What do you mean?”

Yeon Wi held his tongue for a moment.

His face was especially serious. Mo Yonggun waited patiently until his thoughts settled.

A moment later, Yeon Wi said, “It would have been good if Clan Lord Tang had come here. He could release poison and sharply reduce the enemy’s combat strength.”

“The problem is that he is not here.”

“Correct. In that case, there are three choices we can make.”

“Tell me.”

“First. Give up the battle.”

“......Well, that too can be one of the choices. Rather than attacking recklessly and having things go wrong, planning for another day would be better.”

“Correct. The problem is that if my son and Clan Lord Tang send word of victory, I cannot imagine how these bastards will move.”

“That is why Clan Lord Yeon and I came here, is it not? Taking this chance to sweep them all away is the best option.”

“Then there is a second choice. As Clan Lord Mo Yong said, we can induce them to change the battlefield. In other words, we would have to use a lure.”

“I do think that is best. Ideally, a waterside location would be good.”

He was not trying to neutralize the Divine Flame Cult’s fire attacks. Mo Yonggun knew that the Thunderclap Art he had learned was amplified when it received water energy.

If things went well, he could render most of the enemy incapable of battle in a single strike. That was why he wanted to lure them toward water.

“The problem is whether bastards who have prepared this thoroughly would fall for a lure.”

“Mm.”

Mo Yonggun nodded, then asked with a puzzled expression, “Then what is the final, third choice?”

“Fight here.”

“That is the worst option.”

“It is the worst, but depending on the circumstances, it may become the best choice.”

“What do you mean?”

Yeon Wi whispered in a small voice.

In that instant, Mo Yonggun’s eyes widened.

“......Are you insane?”

In many ways, it was certainly a historic moment. It was truly rare for words like these to come from Mo Yonggun’s mouth.

Especially when they were words of admiration.

Yeon Wi sighed.

“If we had not joined hands with Lord Yeo, I would not have thought of it. Besides, whether Lord Yeo will readily permit it......”

“No, he will permit it.”

“Are you certain?”

“Of course. Lord Yeo’s anger toward those bastards is no less than mine. He is a man who risked his life to drive them out. What would he not do?”

“In that case......”

The corners of Mo Yonggun’s mouth rose.

“Even after the battle over there ends, it will take three days for the news to reach this place. And if Lord Yeo lends his strength, all preparations can be finished within two days.”

“......Good.”

Yeon Wi spoke with force.

“Then let us begin work immediately. Clan Lord Mo Yong, please go to Lord Yeo yourself.”

“Understood. Clan Lord Yeon, wait here for the Demon-Sweeping Corps.”

“I will.”

Mo Yonggun turned away, then paused for a moment.

“Clan Lord Yeon.”

“Speak.”

“Do not worry too much about Commander Yeon’s side.”

It was encouragement unlike Mo Yonggun. But once one understood his thoughts, it was also very much like Mo Yonggun.

Because Yeon Wi could not be allowed to lose his composure in this battle out of concern for his child.

Yeon Wi smiled.

“Go and return.”

PAAK!

Mo Yonggun moved with frightening speed.

Yeon Wi looked up at the sky.

“......It is all right if you cannot win. Just do not get hurt.”