The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Novel - Chapter 176

Chapter 176
## Chapter 176. The Black Flame Dragon Who Devours a Sea of Blood (6)

-Twelve dead from the Qingcheng Sect and its secondary branches.

-Six dead from the Emei Sect and its secondary branches.

-The commanding senior figure has vanished.

Reading the sparse briefing brought by the courier bird, the expression of Victory Tiger Hall Master Gu Jeong-ryong hardened instantly.

“……Good heavens.”

He had originally assumed this task was merely intended to give Jin So-un a modest amount of reinforcement.

Although Jin So-un had projected an ominous sense of dread regarding the adversary throughout their journey, the reality of it had not truly hit home until now.

Ever since the Murim Alliance prohibited the “Ten Forbidden Arts” that had once thrown the martial world into chaos, the foundations of the Unorthodox Side Path styles had been completely eradicated.

Consequently, even if someone understood the concepts academically, they could not fathom how truly horrific they were in practice.

“The Qingcheng Sect…… they are a recognized righteous Daoist lineage, are they not?”

Yet, even the inner students and an ordained elder of that renowned Qingcheng Sect had fallen victim.

Instinctively, he realized this surpassed the typical concept of “witchcraft” taught at the Murim Academy, which supposedly could not breach a disciplined, focused mind.

Furthermore, a more pressing issue loomed…….

“Gam Cheon-ak…… do you recall the lessons regarding Dispelling Evil and Spirit Suppression?”

Gam Cheon-ak, the Deputy Hall Master of Victory Tiger Hall and a longtime junior colleague, scratched his head forcefully.

“Dispelling Evil and Spirit Suppression? What on earth is that? Is it a local delicacy from Sichuan that Jin So-un promised to buy us?”

“…….”

This was the harsh reality.

“Did you bring along a Spirit-Suppression Bead?”

“What exactly is that?”

Seeing Gam Cheon-ak look completely blank, as if it were only natural to be ignorant of the item, a pulse beat angrily on Gu Jeong-ryong’s brow.

“……You idiot. Are you telling me you have no idea what gear we were allocated by the Alliance?”

“……A Spirit-Suppression Bead??”

After pondering the words for a good while, Gam Cheon-ak smacked his palm with a clenched fist.

“Ah! It comes back to me. Those little spheres crafted from timber and green jade, correct?”

“Precisely! Those! They are mandatory equipment we are required to take on every single deployment!!”

“I do not possess one.”

“You utter fool!!!”

Gam Cheon-ak shifted slightly to evade Gu Jeong-ryong’s incoming fist and retorted,

“Well, did you remember to bring yours, Hall Master?”

Gu Jeong-ryong, who had been breathing heavily in rage, froze mid-motion.

Gam Cheon-ak narrowed his eyes and pressed further,

“Honestly, did you even receive one to begin with?”

“…….”

“Go ahead and ask anyone in the Alliance. See if a single soul still has theirs.”

Gam Cheon-ak dismissed the idea with a shake of his head.

“Nine out of ten will have parted with it.”

“How can that be? It is not as if we have been skirmishing with the Unorthodox Path. Where did they all disappear to?”

“Where do you think the lads found the coin to frequent the public houses every evening before our first official stipends arrived? Those trinkets look quite elegant, so the local entertainers pay a handsome price for them.”

Though infuriated internally, he knew the claim was entirely accurate.

Such was the state of the contemporary Murim Alliance.

Because the Unorthodox Path, the Demon Path, and the Demonic Path had been dormant for generations, things like “witchcraft,” “sorcery,” and “demonic arts” were viewed by the Murim Alliance as mythical beasts—fables rather than real threats.

‘How did I allow myself to get reeled into this mess…….’

He had agreed to join the excursion lightheartedly, partly to settle a favor owed to Maeng Ju-won.

And partly due to his intrigue regarding Jin So-un, who was reportedly already clashing with the Righteous Path Association, the Orthodox Path Association, and the Twelve Peak Citadels within the Murim Academy walls.

From the perspective of Gu Jeong-ryong, who naturally harbored disdain for the entrenched ruling factions, he viewed this as an excellent pretext to utilize Maeng Ju-won and Jin So-un to provoke the Elder Council.

He had treated this mission half as a casual tour, but now this crisis had suddenly materialized.

As these grim reflections mounted, a powerful desire to flee the situation crept over him.

“Are you certain this report is accurate?”

Gam Cheon-ak gestured toward the written message from the carrier pigeon and shrugged.

“Why ask me?”

“Pardon?”

“You were the one who insisted we travel here, Hall Master, and you were the one who dictated we halt for a full day of rest in Sichuan despite this supposedly ‘critical’ emergency, were you not?”

Observe this rogue. Was he attempting to absolve himself of blame now?

“Therefore, the final decision rests squarely on your shoulders, Hall Master.”

“You scoundrel! Do you believe I am the solitary one who will face ruin if this collapses?! The Hall Master and the Deputy Hall Master share the same fate! You go down alongside me!”

“What blame lies with me?!”

“You were the one who rallied the troops by suggesting we alter the route to lodge at a superior tavern! If I am hauled before the Execution Pavilion, I will dragging you down the steps right next to me!”

As Gu Jeong-ryong yelled wildly in frustration, Gam Cheon-ak let out a soft breath.

“Setting aside whether the report is verified, this is clearly beyond what our division can manage alone, is it not?”

Leaving aside the casualties suffered by Academy pupils linked to the Qingcheng Sect, a ranking member of the Elder Council was now unaccounted for.

This was definitively not an incident that could be brushed under the rug.

“We should dispatch a bird back to the Alliance immediately.”

“The situation will be long decided if we wait for their response before making a move.”

Yet, they could not simply remain stationary indefinitely awaiting the Murim Alliance’s command.

If Jin So-un’s words held true, the enemy was actively hunting the remaining Academy students and superiors.

‘Who in the current martial world would dare provoke the Alliance so brazenly?’

The notion was so preposterous that even though he stared at the evidence, it remained difficult to fully comprehend.

Had it been a simple political dispute, it could be dismissed as commonplace, but executing actions of this gravity meant the perpetrators intended to press forward to the bitter end.

“Regardless, that fellow Jin So-un left us specific coordinates, did he not? For the time being, following his path seems our best course.”

“Agreed, we shall mobilize instantly.”

Gu Jeong-ryong spun around to face the ranks of Victory Tiger Hall.

Predictably, the assembled warriors had been eavesdropping on the exchange, and their gazes locked onto his simultaneously.

“From this moment on, we press forward at maximum velocity!”

“Understood, sir!”

The demeanor of the Victory Tiger Hall contingent, now grasping the weight of the crisis, shifted entirely in a heartbeat.

The men who had been loafing about and swapping jests immediately began inspecting their weaponry, and the pace of their mounts never faltered.

After riding relentlessly for two full hours, they managed to intercept Namgung Seon-hwa’s Twelve Peak Citadels detachment, which had departed a half-day prior.

Namgung Seon-hwa was attempting to force her way into the ranks of the Zhongnan Sect, but the Zhongnan pupils were actively barring her path.

“Lady Namgung.”

“Ah! Hall Master!”

“What is the situation here?”

“My apologies. No matter how I explain the danger, they refuse to heed my words.”

Gu Jeong-ryong immediately dismounted and strode toward the gathering.

While the Academy students, recognizing Gu Jeong-ryong, hesitated uncomfortably about how to handle his intrusion into their ranks, Gu Jeong-ryong escorted Namgung Seon-hwa directly to where Elder Suheo of the Zhongnan Sect was positioned.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Upon hearing the explanation, Suheo gave a dismissive scoff and remarked,

“You speak absolute nonsense. Who on this earth would possess the audacity to disrupt an official operation of the Murim Alliance?”

“……Might I inquire when you last established contact with Elder Hye-seong or Elder Myeonghyeon?”

“…….”

Gu Jeong-ryong exhaled a weary breath despite himself.

“Does that mean you have failed to communicate with any of the vanguard detachments as well?”

“Our directive was to deploy via separate routes and rendezvous at Badang. I utilized this march to instruct the youths on the grand history of how our Murim Alliance anchored the virtuous tenets of the Orthodox Path within Sichuan.”

“…….”

Listening to this, Gu Jeong-ryong cursed silently.

From the very beginning, these elders had no genuine intention of hunting down adversaries or conducting a real investigation.

They had used the assignment merely as a grand excuse to enjoy a leisurely excursion.

“For now, you must alter your course and join our ranks.”

Even given Gu Jeong-ryong’s urgency, Suheo responded with hostility, showing he still failed to comprehend the reality of their environment.

“Are you suggesting that I alter my deployment based entirely on the dictates of Jin So-un?”

“…….”

Where precisely had the leadership of the alliance decayed?

Had this man achieved his rank on the Elder Council merely to practice absolute denial when a crisis struck?

“Hall Master.”

Because Gam Cheon-ak abruptly interjected into the exchange, Elder Suheo’s features twisted in profound anger.

Naturally, very few individuals possessed the sheer audacity to interrupt a high elder of the Murim Alliance mid-sentence.

Then again, that scoundrel Gam Cheon-ak cared little for etiquette. Did he truly need to provoke the elder knowing full well how fragile their tempers were?

“You need to examine this immediately.”

The moment Gu Jeong-ryong laid eyes on the fresh message Gam Cheon-ak held aloft, his anger vanished, replaced by cold dread.

This was no longer a dispute over status or protocol.

“Elder, you are coming with us whether you wish to or not.”

“What nonsense are you spouting now?!”

“This is an explicit directive from Mantongbu.”

At the utterance of “Mantongbu,” Elder Suheo’s face flushed so red it appeared on the verge of bursting.

Gu Jeong-ryong thrust the newly arrived bird-post into the senior leader’s hands.

“If these contents prove false, you may claim Jin So-un’s head with my blessing.”

Breathing heavily in fury, Elder Suheo unrolled the small parchment so violently it nearly shredded in his grip.

And then.

“…….”

-Fifteen dead from the Mount Hua Sect and its secondary branches.

-Twenty-two dead from the Kongtong Sect and its secondary branches.

-The demise of Mount Hua Sect Elder So Chung-hyeon has been verified.

-The demise of Kongtong Sect Elder Jeong Sa-ik has been verified.

Elder Suheo’s gaze wavered erratically as he locked eyes with the text on the page.

This information far exceeded the bounds of an elaborate prank, yet it remained too catastrophic to readily process as reality.

“If this turns out to be a deception orchestrated by Jin So-un to preserve his petty status, I shall personally escort him to the Execution Pavilion for termination.”

“…….”

“However, as it stands, we are bound to execute the orders of Mantongbu.”

Following a brief pause of indecision, Suheo ultimately gave a rigid nod.

“We shall advance……. If this text speaks the truth, we must offer reinforcement.”

Though Gu Jeong-ryong had managed to sway Elder Suheo, whose stubborn nature seemed entirely impervious to reason, a deep sense of foreboding weighed on his mind.

If the Zhongnan Sect, situated at the absolute rear, had already reached this point, it was merely a matter of time before the advanced groups collided with the enigmatic threat.

Furthermore, the fighting strength of Victory Tiger Hall was severely lacking, forcing them to press the Academy students into active service as they marched.

He could foresee the casualty rates climbing rapidly.

“We mobilize without a moment’s delay.”

The sole course available to them now was to accelerate their march by any means necessary.

And.

‘I pray you are still breathing, Jin So-un.’

He could only offer silent hopes for the survival of the vanguard.

—

As Murong Jae-hwa fitted an arrow against the bowstring, he detected an unfamiliar attribute within the weapon’s head.

‘It possesses greater mass…… yet allows more fluid release…….’

This was a deliberate accommodation from Jin So-un, recognizing that he had not yet fully mastered the Thunderbolt Arrow technique.

“In truth, Brother, how do you comprehend my capabilities so perfectly?”

Though trapped in a catastrophic predicament, a slight grin surfaced on his face.

Drawing upon the absolute depths of his remaining internal arts, he channeled strength into his upper body.

The rigid steel rod began to warp under the pressure.

The immense strain placed a brutal load upon his limbs, and the sheer tension made it feel as though the Heavenly Silkworm Thread would sever his fingers down to the bone.

Even so, he harbored none of the anxiety that the weapon might snap like a standard horn bow.

TWANG. WHIZZ.

The projectile sliced through the open air, tracking the exact trajectory he had envisioned.

Realizing that Murong Jae-hwa had resumed his archery barrage, the blood-robed cultists once more hoisted their massive iron-reinforced shields and sought cover behind boulders.

THUD!

The shaft drove deep into the stone face, yet ultimately failed to pierce through to the hidden foe.

Undeterred, Murong Jae-hwa gripped another shaft and drew the string back once more.

RIIIIIP.

It felt as though the fibers of his upper arms were actively tearing apart.

Each time he forced the steel bow back, his physical form shrieked in agony, yet the action yielded a bizarre sense of absolute control.

The concentrated energy of the Heaven-Earth Wave-Splitting Sword was now fully infused into the projectile’s tip.

In that precise moment, the words Jin So-un had spoken while they practiced archery during the Regular Exam echoed clearly within his consciousness.

-A bow is an instrument designed to exploit an adversary’s blind spot. It claims a life at an unanticipated interval, through an unpredicted vector. When exposed to that specific terror, even cold-blooded killers whose awareness of mortality has grown numb can be driven to absolute panic.

Murong Jae-hwa immediately released the shaft toward the heavens.

TWANG. WHIZZ.

Without pausing, he notched another projectile and unleashed it directly at the cluster of foes.

TWANG. WHIZZ──

As the secondary projectile streaked forward, the blood-robed cultists raised their protective barriers and took cover behind the rocks.

THUD!

Once again, when the direct shot slammed harmlessly into a thick, triple-layered shield, the overconfident blood-robed cultists began stepping out from their covered positions.

And at that exact fraction of a second.

Just as the initial arrow that had soared high into the sky descended, aligning perfectly above the exposed targets.

The projectile detonated violently in midair, fragmenting into countless jagged pieces that sprayed outward in every direction like a volley of Hidden Weapons.

BOOM.

RUMBLE.

The figures taking refuge behind the boulders had no opportunity to defend against the descending iron shards.

THUD THUD THUD THUD THWACK.

The blood-robed cultists, their flesh riddled with perforations as if caught in the legendary Ten Thousand Flowers Rain, collapsed lifelessly to the dirt.

The remaining cultists who had been lingering further back and evaded the blast of the Thunderbolt Arrow retreated deeper into the distance, seeking absolute safety from this monstrous marksman.

-Simply because a foe is obscured from your sight does not mean they have vanished from the field.

It was guidance that felt custom-tailored for his current predicament.

However, before he could process it, the internal voice shifted from Jin So-un’s tone to that of an individual whose identity he could not place.

‘Whose voice is that?’

An image formed of a man displaying a massive, powerful back.

He cut a figure of absolute isolation, solitude, and desolation.

Yet upon those shoulders, he bore a catastrophic weight of responsibility.

That phantom figure spoke.

-Map their exact positions within the theater of your mind. If you can visualize their coordinates, your weapon can strike them at any given moment.

The words were undeniably the concepts Jin So-un had imparted, yet the tone belonged to an unfamiliar entity.

A figure he had never encountered in his waking life, yet who felt intimately familiar and deeply recognized.

Heeding the phantom counsel, he pulled the string back once more.

-There is no requirement to verify the target with your sight.

Because the mind maps their location perfectly.

-There is no requirement for pinpoint precision.

Because you are not targeting a solitary foe.

-There is no requirement for extreme velocity.

Because the terror will ensure they remain frozen in their positions.

TWANG. WHIZZ──.

The arrow unleashed along that precise arc dropped directly behind the solid barricades where the blood-robed cultists had sought refuge.

BOOM.

Aaaagh.

Uaaaagh!

Kraaaagh!

From across the distance, the agonized shrieks of the blood-robed cultists echoed through the pass.

“Hah…… hah…….”

Murong Jae-hwa, having pushed past the absolute threshold of his physical endurance, looked barely recognizable as a living youth.

Though he had successfully forced the enemy into an absolute state of terror using the iron bow, his physical vessel was rapidly deteriorating with every shot.

“Young Master Jae-hwa, the skin on your hands……”

Murong Jae-hwa’s fingertips were no longer merely blistered; the flesh had split completely wide open.

His digits had been utterly shredded by the immense tension of drawing the heavy steel bow string.

Glancing at his mangled hands with absolute detachment, Murong Jae-hwa murmured,

“Lady Eun, could you apply your frost energy to numb them slightly?”

“Y-You must cease this immediately. Young Master Jae-hwa……!”

“If we stop, they will ensure none of us leave this valley alive.”

“…….”

Faced with that stark reality, Eun Seol-ran reluctantly grasped his hands and channeled the internal energy of the Plain Hand Divine Art.

The moment the flowing blood congealed under the frost, Murong Jae-hwa hoisted the heavy bow once more.

The enigmatic entity’s voice echoed within Murong Jae-hwa’s consciousness a final time.

-Rethink the nature of merciless foes; they inflict catastrophic harm even in their throes of death. Confronting them directly to halt their advance results in a mutual loss.

Therefore, you must break them before they close the distance. You must instill such profound dread that they lose the will to advance.

Not merely the heartless, but the numb, the slaughter-mad, those consumed entirely by depraved ambitions, even those who have discarded their very souls—strike them with absolute terror.

Murong Jae-hwa pulled the bowstring to its limit.

To sow the seeds of panic and freeze the enemy in their tracks.

The arrow, released as if intending to pierce the heavens, sailed clean over the defensive boulders and plunged directly into the center of the hostile formations.

BOOM! RUMBLE!

Kraaaagh!

Keheuk!

Scatter! Take cover!

That was the absolute manifestation of the Breaking Bow.

Wails echoed from the far edge of the canyon.

The blood-robed cultists who had been aggressively closing in were now actively scrambling backward, desperately seeking to place distance between themselves and the blast zone.

Observing this incredible spectacle, Il-gak found himself trembling from head to toe.

‘Good heavens…….’

Who else could possibly achieve a feat of this magnitude?

An objective that remained out of reach even utilizing the elite martial traditions of the Shaolin Sect and the Diancang Sect had been accomplished by Murong Jae-hwa through a solitary bow.

His absolute reverence for the martial arts of the Shaolin Temple—which he had always considered the Mount Tai and Big Dipper of the martial world, the absolute zenith of combat prowess—crumbled entirely.

‘Though I understood intellectually that no style is absolute or flawless…….’

Il-gak closed his eyes tightly for a brief second before opening them with renewed clarity.

‘This realization is itself a form of enlightenment…….’

Furthermore, he considered the steel bow and customized ammunition that Jin So-un had supposedly arranged to send.

He instinctively discerned that the dormant potential Murong Jae-hwa was unlocking was intrinsically tied to that man.

Just how far ahead had Jin So-un calculated?

Regardless, a flicker of genuine hope had finally manifested.

The hope that they might actually survive this ordeal.

Just as Murong Jae-hwa noted, if Jin So-un and the main body of reinforcements arrived in time, they would be spared the catastrophic slaughter he had anticipated…….

“Huh……?”

Murong Jae-hwa, the very architect of this miraculous turnaround, suddenly stared into the distance with a look of profound confusion.

Il-gak, Eun Seol-ran, and Nam Hwa-seong instinctively tracked his line of sight.

A solitary form emerged from the gaps between the rocky cover.

Unlike the rank-and-file fighters who wore uniform blood-red vestments, this particular entity was adorned in bizarre ceremonial ornaments.

Yet, its attire was not the most unsettling detail.

“The way it moves……”

The entity was advancing by bounding forward with both feet locked together.

“It cannot be…… Cortège of the dead……”

“By the gods……”

“Amitabha.”

As Eun Seol-ran, Nam Hwa-seong, and Il-gak voiced their collective horror one after the other.

Murong Jae-hwa’s expression darkened into a deep scowl as he strained the bowstring back to its absolute maximum capacity.

TWANG. WHIZZ──

The exact instant the arrow cleaved through the rushing wind, tracking perfectly to obliterate the bizarre entity’s skull.

The creature, which had been bounding forward erratically, abruptly snapped its head sideways and caught the projectile out of mid-air.

GRAB.

Naturally, the payload Murong Jae-hwa had engineered was not limited to a simple impact.

BOOM!

With a deafening roar, the arrowhead detonated, sending a cloud of lethal iron shrapnel blasting outward in all directions.

A thick screen of dust erupted, entirely swallowing the entity’s frame.

As the smoke began to drift away, a mangled form riddled with countless iron fragments slowly materialized within the clearing…….

“Heavens preserve us…….”

“This defies nature.”

Though it lacked absolute mastery, that very Thunderbolt Arrow had successfully driven an army of blood-robed cultists into a frantic retreat.

Yet, despite the countless jagged iron fragments embedded deep within the strange entity’s flesh, not a single drop of vital fluid leaked from its wounds.

Then, as if completely unaffected by the trauma, it fixed its dead gaze directly upon the ridge where the arrow had originated.

Il-gak let out a hollow breath, uttering a single, terrifying classification.

“A Jiangshi…….”

A legendary Demonic Beast believed to have been eradicated from the face of the earth had returned.